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Part I
by Jesse R. Y.
Time: Somewhere between the episode "The Modern Prometheus" and "Archangel"
Place: Do they ever specify a place in the show?
Methos sat at the bar with a drink in his hand and thought about what had happened recently. He also thought about things which had happened far in the past. He had begun to wonder just how different the two were when the bartender shoved him and said gruffly, "Hey you! Are you gonna pay for those drinks, or are you gonna work it off?"
Methos looked at the bar, and immediately could understand why this bar was understaffed. Maybe he should have gone to Joe's. That train of thought was cut short when he thought about why he had come here. Sometimes a man needs time to just sit and think, and him walking into Joe's would be noticed. The last thing he wanted to do was to tell Joe.
He looked up to find the bartender waiting for his response. He promptly got up...then fell part way back down, before steadying himself on the bartender. Of course, he wasn't really that drunk, but he should have been, considering how many drinks he had that night. If he did it right, he could probably drink about ten times as much as a normal mortal before he got even slightly tipsy, but that would attract more attention than he wanted. He finally said, adding as much of a slur as he could without being indistinguishable, "How muj izit?"
The bartender smiled. A gesture which would have looked kind, if Methos were drunk. Since he was sober it looked nasty. The bartender wrote something on a piece of paper, then said "Here ya go Pierce, hope to see you again soon."
Methos found irony in that statement as he looked at the bill, and decided that the bartender really would want to see him again, when he discovered that Methos had taken his wallet. He probably would never see Methos again, especially since this was far away from where he usually roomed. Plus the bartender didn't have an accurate name to look for, and Methos probably wouldn't be using "Pierce A. Dameron" all that often.
Methos fished the wallet from his pocket, the same wallet he had just relieved the man of, and took out the indicated money. It was overpriced, and he was sure that if you added it all up, the amount of alcohol that the bartender was saying he had consumed was enough to destroy even the immortal liver that Methos was fortunate enough to have in his possession. He didn't care. It wasn't his money after all. Then he walked off, stumbling all the way out.
As soon as he was out of the bar, he looked at the wallet more carefully. It looked like this bartender had taken quite a lot of money from people too drunk too know, and he wasn't too smart with it, either. There was easily $500 in the wallet. Of course, maybe he was planning on buying something later, but then again, this isn't the kind of neighborhood to carry that much money in. He would probably learn his lesson in a short time, so Methos decided he'd better start walking, fast.
On the way home he thought some more, and still couldn't find an acceptable path to follow. Methos had sworn he wouldn't breath a word to anyone (at least not anybody who didn't already know), but if Duncan didn't find out, Duncan might not live long enough to find out. Methos chuckled; Duncan was a big boy, he could defend himself. Often Methos wished he had skill with the sword like Duncan. Of course, sometimes it's good to know you can be beaten, so that way you won't rely on your sword alone.
As Methos continued walking, he came to a decision. He wouldn't tell Duncan anything about the events underlying the past months' occurrences. He almost chuckled again, but caught himself: it seemed amazing that so much could come from Duncan missing a date with some old flame....
Duncan looked around, sure that there must be an Immortal present, and after a short time he found the man who had just walked by. He had a medium build, and short brown hair. Duncan wasn't in the mood for a fight, he was already late meeting Debbie, or Delloras, or whatever she was calling herself these days, and she'd always been temperamental. As Duncan was watching the man made no signal of noticing. He must still be mortal, Duncan thought, and turned around to continue on his way, still a little disturbed by the slightly sickening "buzz" that always accompanied another Immortal nearby. Suddenly he felt it again, and as he turned around he saw the man getting run down by a car, clearly violating the bright red light in front of him. Duncan ran over to where the accident had happened, hoping the car hadn't taken the man's head off on impact. When he got there, and saw the site of the accident, he was relieved. The relief must have shown on his face, since the woman directly across from him was staring with disgust, not at the grizzly site before her, but at Duncan. He quickly stood up and decided that it was time to call for an "ambulance" from Joe, before someone called a real one. He doubted that the accident victim would officially survive, but it's always difficult to carry a half dead man out of the morgue without being noticed.
John Donely awoke as if from a deep sleep, to find that not only was he alive, but inside someone's house.
"I'm alive! It's a miracle!", he shouted.
"That's what we all say, the first time." a voice said behind him.
He quickly turned around and found that there was a man behind him, looking to be well muscled, with long dark hair in a pony-tail. He seemed to be calm about a man being run over by a car in a brutal fashion, dying, then coming back to life. Or did he die? Obviously he must have just passed out, but John was marveling at the wonders of modern medical science when the man said, "What's your name?"
John faltered, sure that this man must be a doctor, he must have gotten his name from whatever methods those guys used. Or at least from the wallet he carried. The man was still waiting so John asked "D-Don't you know?"
It was then that he spotted the remains of the wallet, his wristwatch, and his jacket.
"John Donely, my name's John Donely", John said.
The man nodded and said, "My name's Duncan MacLeod."
John was busy being amazed by the fact that he could be brought back, without a scratch, from a wreck that so destroyed everything he was carrying. He was still wondering how they could manage to fix him up so well, when he was distracted by the clock on a table to his right. It read virtually the same time as his battered wrist watch. That he could be revived, was a stretch. That he could be revived completely, in under thirty minutes, was too much for him to bear. John Donely promptly passed out.
"Absolutely not! I mean, what do you really know about this guy. Nothing! Except that there is some Immortal gunning for him. I certainly haven't survived this long by stepping out in front of every bullet... or speeding car.", Methos said in a tone that had compelled many people to believe that maybe they were wrong, and that the man standing before them was indeed the most important man in the universe. MacLeod was used to it by now, so he just responded "Come on Methos. You haven't taught very many people. What will your legacy be when your dead?"
"The most recent person I have taught who was alive was Byron. And that didn't really turn out too well now, did it? Besides, I don't really trust that whoever is trying to kill him won't try and kill me as well,", Methos retorted.
"Do me a favor! Daphne was always a bit of a gypsy, I hardly ever get to see her, I could really use the extra time!" Duncan pleaded.
Methos was mildly amused, and was tempted to bring up some of the other people he had taught. Unfortunately the whole "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" era was a touchy subject around Duncan, and most of the others would almost certainly be even worse. Methos just decided to leave it at that.
"Well then, make Daphne help, or have Richie do it. I don't teach, and I won't make an exception."
Duncan was clearly disappointed, but wasn't a stupid man, and he probably realized that when Methos wants something, one way or another, he'll almost always gets it. Unfortunately, Richie wasn't really ready to teach someone else yet, and Daphne wouldn't even stick to the same name for over a week. She probably wouldn't be able to spend the time to teach anyone how to swordfight. Well, not enough to survive, anyway. Maybe Richie could get him started on the basics, and Duncan could come in the middle and teach him the rest....
The cloaked figure, or Roland Karlos, as he would hopefully be known as for the next couple decades, watched as John Donely walked into the dojo with the other Immortal who he'd had to work hard to identify as Richie Ryan. He was disappointed. He'd put a lot of effort into manipulating John into coming out here, especially without John knowing who'd arranged for this journey. He had really hoped Duncan MacLeod would teach him. Maybe if John was taught long enough by this youngster, Roland could convince his boss to let him kill Richie. He was really desperate to kill someone, but any time he tried to indulge himself, the Immortal who hired him would step out of the shadows or jump on him from above and prevent him from doing anything. Of course, Roland wasn't sure the guy really was an Immortal. Every time Roland was attacked by him, he didn't sense any other Immortals nearby. Of course, any time he questioned the holder of his future money about whether or not he was immortal, he would stab himself. Once Roland had tried to take his head, but the man had ducked under, pulled the sword out of his stomach, and shoved it right into Roland's.
Roland was really looking forward to finally being allowed to kill Donely, and then MacLeod, and anyone else he could get to after he was paid the large sum of money he would be owed. Sometimes he would ask his mysterious boss why he wanted to kill Duncan so badly, but wouldn't do it himself, but the only answer he'd gotten was that Duncan MacLeod had broken some sort of rule, and that he'd been judged guilty, and that almost all violations of these rules resulted in death. Roland just wished more people would break these rules....
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