Highland Fling

A few days later Duncan had asked Joe whether Amanda was still alive. Joe told him she was but that Timothy refused to give up the hunt and Amanda was running scared. It wasn’t much later that Duncan received a call. It was Timothy. He told Duncan to either produce Amanda or prepare himself for a fight. Duncan played along saying he would bring Amanda to Timothy. Of course he still had no idea where she was and he couldn’t turn her over anyway, so he went alone to the warehouse Timothy had designated. When Timothy had seen that Duncan was alone, he went berserk attacking without warning. He fought with unbelievable ferocity. It was all Duncan could do to parry the blows that rained down on him. He was barely able to keep his own head much less take Timothy’s. Eventually Timothy’s rage quieted but Duncan could tell that his own skill was no match for this master swordsman. He held his own for a while but eventually Timothy’s greater skill enabled him to disarm his foe. Duncan watched in horror as the sword flew from his hand. It was too far away for him to reach without confronting Timothy. He backed away into the huge stacks of barrels, then turned and ran.

***

Lying on Joe’s couch Duncan twisted uncomfortably. He was still shocked to have lost the sword. He knew Timothy had it but even if he could defeat Timothy he would probably never see the sword again. It felt like a part of him had been taken. He shifted again, the sword Joe had retrieved for him was excellent but it didn’t feel the same. He sighed; it didn’t look like he was going to get any sleep tonight. He turned his head as he heard a light tapping against he window. He walked over to the window and peered out into the night but the moonlit world was cold and still. He returned to the couch shaking his head. This whole situation had really put him on edge. As he lay down he felt the familiar buzzing that signaled the coming of an immortal. He grabbed his new sword and stood in the center of the room, readying his highly trained body for a fight to the death. If Timothy had found him it would end here. Duncan heard a scratching at the door and watched as the knob turned. The door creaked open slowly to reveal...Amanda. MacLeod lowered his sword, heaving a sigh of relief and annoyance.

“Did I wake you?” Amanda asked.

“I should have known it was you when I heard the lock being picked.”

“Yes you should have,” Amanda replied unperturbed as she planted a quick kiss on his pouting lip. Duncan chuckled at her audacity and pulled her to him.

“I wasn’t sure if you were still alive,” he said.

“Methos was hiding me, he’s really a much nicer guy than he leads you to believe.”

“Only when he wants something,” whispered MacLeod bitterly.

“Well what did he want from me then?”

“Do you really have to ask? You are a beautiful woman.”

“I see and what do you want from me?”

“The same thing he wants, only I want it more,” he growled as he pulled her tighter. She squeaked in mock alarm, then wrapped her hands in his luxurious black hair. She pulled his head to hers and their lips met. Slowly he moved his lips down the line of her neck. He unbuttoned her shirt as she tore off her short skirt. He continued to kiss her, tracing his tongue along her chest to her breasts. They sank down on the floor in each others arms. She never wanted to lose the feeling of his comfortable weight on top of her. Her hands and tongue explored him everywhere, and his scent filled her nose. She felt as though it were the first time they had made love. He made love to her with a passion and tenderness that filled her eyes with tears, and when it was over he held her until the morning sun peeked in through the window.

* * * * *

Joe came out into the living room after a terrible night. He hadn’t been able to sleep at all. It seemed like this Timothy guy was more than a match for Duncan MacLeod and that definitely was not good news. Walking bleary-eyed past the couch he almost tripped over the sleeping immortals. Well he would never think about that carpet the same way again that was for sure. He placed a blanket over their sleeping bodies and began making coffee.

When Duncan woke up he tried to move his arm and couldn’t, he glanced over and realized that he was trapped under Amanda’s still sleeping head. Well, this was discomfort he didn’t mind at all. He heard noises in the kitchen and realized that Joe was up. Slowly he eased his arm out from underneath Amanda, being careful not to wake her. He put on a pair of boxers and wandered into the kitchen.

“How’d you sleep Joe?” he asked softly.

“Not too well, I had a terrible night unlike some people.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Are you blushing, Mac?” Joe teased. “Don’t worry I’ve known for quite a while that you're sleeping with Amanda.”

“You’re a goddamn genius. How’d you figure it out?” Duncan asked sarcastically.

“Oh you know,” Joe shrugged. “It’s because of that whole Watcher thing. Shhhh, don’ t tell anyone.

“Oooh, you’re secret’s safe with me.”

Joe shook his head sadly, “Too bad yours isn’t as safe. It’s in the Watcher database.” Duncan responded by throwing a dishrag at the old Watcher and fixing himself a glass of orange juice.

Amanda awoke to the tempting smell of pancakes sizzling on the stove. She stretched luxuriously, and then lay back down under the blanket. She was so happy she didn’t ever want to move. Eventually she dragged herself up and wandered into the kitchen. She sat down at the table with the two men and poured some syrup over the pancakes. The men stopped talking and stared at her for a moment.

“Oh, don’t stop on my account,” Amanda protested. “I swear I won’t listen if it’s private.” Duncan laughed and leaned toward her for a kiss which she gladly gave him. They stared into each others eyes for a while, until Joe forcefully cleared his throat several times.

“I don’t mean to interrupt you love birds but we do still have a crazed immortal running around loose out there.” Duncan turned toward Joe.

“You’re right” he agreed.

“Well, what do we do about Timothy?” Joe asked.

“You are going to go back to Watcher headquarters and look up everything you can on the time period a few months ago when Amanda first felt the mysterious presence. We need to find out who this immortal is. Meanwhile Amanda and I are going to find him and face him together.”

“Isn’t that against the rules MacLeod?” Amanda asked snidely.

“I said face him not fight him together,” retaliated Duncan.

“Why is that the immortals get to have all the fun?” grumbled Joe.

“For the same reason that you Watchers spend your whole lives following us around, and peeping in our windows...we have interesting lives and your lives are just boring,” teased Amanda. Joe scowled menacingly and then broke in to a grin.

“Funny how Watcher sounds so much more dignified than peeping tom,” he said chuckling.

***

“MacLeod?” Amanda asked later, as they drove back to the warehouse where Duncan had last confronted Timothy.

“What?”

“How are we going to find him, if he’s not still in the warehouse? Because if I were him I wouldn’t hang around here for long.”

“We’ll think of something. Try to keep a positive outlook here.”

“Yeah, ok.” The car pulled to a stop in front of the run down building and the two immortals stepped out of the car. The air was still, empty of the ringing buzz that signaled another immortal’s presence. Despite the apparent lack of any immortal lurking about, Duncan and Amanda entered the building cautiously. There was really no point in taking chances; you only got one head.

After a thorough search of the warehouse and its immediate surroundings they finally had to accept that Timothy was long gone. Feeling discouraged, they headed back towards the car. Amanda placed a deterring hand on Duncan’s arm as he began to climb into the driver’s seat.

“Wait,” she commanded quietly. “Joe told me that you lost your sword.”

Duncan nodded silently. “Well, is he really that good then?”

“He’s better.” Amanda stared into those impossibly dark eyes and found the truth staring back at her.

“I’ll run from him again.”

“You can’t run forever, and he will chase you until you are dead.”

“Then you have to let me face him alone. You are not part of this.”

“You made me a part of it when you came to me.”

“I wish I could say that I hadn’t realized you would involve yourself, but I knew.” She lightly stroked the side of his face, tracing his strong cheekbone and jawline, feeling the power and the heat, the essence that made him Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to let things go, but you have to listen to me. For once in your life you have to listen to what I am saying because I know that this time I am right.” He caught her hand as she spoke and brought it to his lips. “You have to uninvolve yourself. I got into this by myself and I am going to see this thing through. I caused this, let me face the consequences..alone.” Silently he shook his head.

“I can’t just send you to die,” he protested.

“You have to let me go, you have to let me do this alone. Who says you’re sending me to my death? I’m just going to explain things to him, rationally. If he listens, well maybe it will change things, if he doesn’t well I’ve had a good run.”

“I thought you were the one who grows more attached to herself the longer she lives.”

“I never said I’d welcome death, but you know I’m right Mac, you have to let me do this alone.” Alone, that word struck fear into Amanda’s heart. She was so afraid she thought she would faint dead away, but this was the right thing to do, and she knew she would never forgive herself if he died because of something she had done.

Duncan stared into Amanda’s beautiful face, he could see the fear she was trying unsuccessfully to hide. He knew he would have to let her go; he would have to let her face Timothy. She was right. He owed it to her, there were so many times he had killed for her, perhaps saved her life...but the truth was she had deserved to try, even if it caused her death. It was just so hard. Every instinct in his body demanded that he protect her. He sighed and drew her body close to his. It was so damned hard.

The sharp jangling ring of a telephone broke through their intimacy. Amanda extricated herself from his arms as he reached into his pocket to retrieve the phone.

“You know those things cause brain cancer,” Amanda informed him.

“I’ll live,” he answered with a smile. He flipped open the phone and said, “Duncan MacLeod.”

“Duncan,” Joe’s voice sounded agitated as he greeted his friend.

“Yeah Joe, you find anything?”

“You could say that, hurry up and get your ass over here.”

“On my way.” Duncan hung up as he climbed into the car. He glanced at Amanda who was still waiting for some kind of explanation. “Well are you coming or did you plan on walking home?” She grunted disgustedly and settled herself into the passenger’s seat. “Well aren’t you going to put on your seatbelt?” he asked innocently.

“Is that really necessary?”

“Why Amanda, it’s the law!” Duncan admonished in mock surprise. She sighed as she pulled on the seat belt, another benefit of riding with super morals man.

* * *

Apparently super morals man wasn’t above speeding as they rushed to Joe’s house. They screeched into the driveway and climbed out of the car. As they entered the house they heard Joe call them into the kitchen. He was sitting at the counter next to a girl who looked to be about twenty five. The girl smiled uncertainly at the two immortals as they entered. Joe smiled more certainly and introduced them to Anica Hartford. She was short and thin, she looked delicate, fragile. Her hair was brown but in the light it had a reddish sheen, she stared at them out of wide green eyes. Her uncertainty was evident in her nervous smile.

“I was totally against this when Joe suggested this,” she explained to Duncan and Amanda. “We aren’t supposed to have any contact with immortals.”

You’re a Watcher then?” Amanda asked.

“Yes, I watch Janie Simons.”

“Janie?” Amanda asked. “But I still don’t understand why you’re here.”

“You will,” said Joe grimly. “You aren’t going to like this. I was researching those months where Amanda felt someone following her like you asked. I decided to do a cross reference of all the immortals to find out which ones were in all the same cities as Amanda. Well there was one.”

“Timothy,” Amanda interjected. “It was him wasn’t it?”

“Actually, no it wasn’t. He was in several of the same places that you were but there were at least three cities where you told us you had felt a presence and he was clearly IDed elsewhere.” Amanda sat down with a thump, she stared at Joe disbelievingly.

“Then who was it?” Duncan asked for her.

“It was Janie.”

“But why would Janie follow me? She’s my friend.”

“Um, wrong again. Look I’m going to let Anica explain this, she has more information.”

“About two years ago Janie joined the Cult of the Osprey,” Anica began. “She quickly became enmeshed in it’s madness. This is a group of immortals that are completely dedicated to their cause. They disregard all rules but their own, killing mortal is nothing to them, killing immortals even less. I have been Janie’s watcher for almost twelve years, that’s a long time. She used to be so kind and giving, but the cult has changed her. She killed her own husband when the cult leader told her too; she killed countless others.”

“But Janie told me that George was the one who joined the cult,” Amanda interjected.

“She lied. She set you up, she was going to ask you to join the cult, but I heard her telling one of the other members that she could tell you wouldn’t join. She said you had gotten soft in your old age.” Amanda’s eyes flew open and her jaw dropped.

“Old age! soft! I most certainly am not, “ she paused as she noticed everyone staring at her outburst. “Please continue.”

“Thanks, anyway to the cult it’s either join or die, she didn’t think she could kill you in a straight fight, however soft she claimed you were, so she set you up. She made you so scared that you would attack Timothy, one of the world’s greatest swordsmen. He would do the dirty work for her, and then she would take his head while he was weak from the Quickening. So the plan didn’t go exactly as she hoped but she screwed you anyway.” Anica sat back in her chair waiting for a reaction to her story; she got one.

“That bitch!” Amanda spat.

“Calm down,” Duncan said. “We need to figure out what we’re going to do with this information.”

“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do, we’re going to find her and then I'm going to kill her.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to...” Duncan began to ask.

“Dammit MacLeod! I am not a child, I will take care of her myself, I can handle one woman!”

“OKAY, don’t get so touchy, I was just offering,” he said trying to dodge out of her baleful stare.

“Are they always like this?” Anica whispered to Joe.

“Sometimes they’re even more fun,” he said laughing. Both immortals turned angry stares on the Watchers.

“As happy as we are to amuse you, I think we should get down to business and figure out what we’re going to do here. If you two want to whisper and giggle you can go outside, but some of us actually want to solve this problem.”

“Amanda’s right,” agreed Duncan. The two Watchers just laughed as they all sat down to figure out a plan.

****

Amanda got dressed in the early chill of morning. She hung her sword by her side and pulled on her black trenchcoat. She glanced over at MacLeod, who was pulling on his boots. This was it; they had planned everything out to the letter. Of course plans can go astray. But she tried not to let herself think about that. They were meeting Janie in a deserted lot that had once been a playground. Anica had located Janie, and then Amanda had lured her to them by telling Janie she wanted to join that stupid cult. Janie had bought it, wonder of wonders, and today they would meet. Amanda shivered, trying not to think about steel clashing on steel. She knew she was good, but was she good enough? It was better to just fight on instinct, after a thousand years and change thinking sometimes just got in the way.

“Are you ready?” she asked Duncan.

“Ready if you are.”

“Then let's go. I’m in the mood to kick a little ass.”

“Isn’t that a line from a movie?”

“Who cares? Let’s get out of here.” They drove to the lot in silence.

Janie was waiting when they arrived, Amanda could feel it. She kissed MacLeod and climbed out of the car. The two women approached each other carefully, slowly. When they were just a handbreadth away from each other Amanda spoke.

“Hello, Janie.”

“Amanda,” Janie said warily. “I was so happy to get your message.” Amanda inclined her head.

“I thought you would be, but the truth is I don’t want to join your little club. I want your head.” She quickly pulled her sword out from under her coat, holding it ready.

“But we’re friends,” Janie said.

“Not anymore.”

“If that’s the way it is,” Janie removed her own coat and held her sword ready. “There can be only one.” Amanda attacked, swinging her sword for a slash at Janie’s head, but Janie saw it coming and easily parried. Amanda feignted, then thrust for Janie’s stomach, but again Janie was too quick. Amanda danced back, then advanced swinging her sword again. Janie was good, better than she had expected. But she was already making a few mistakes, it was just a matter of time.

The fight continued, steel scraped on steel. Duncan could hear the clanging discordant melody of the fight. He climbed out of the car and readied his sword just in case.

Amanda couldn’t hide a smile, she had her now. Janie left her right side open in an attempt to parry, and Amanda took advantage, thrusting her sword deep into Janie’s side. A look of shock, then resignation, passed over Janie’s face. She stared at Amanda as Amanda withdrew her sword from Janie’s side and slashed off Janie’s head. Amanda dropped her own sword as the Quickening rose up out of Janie’s body. It hovered for a moment, charging the air with incredible electricity and as it entered Amanda’s body she could distantly hear the sound of streetlights breaking. The energy rushed through her, and her body grew rigid as it possessed her. Pain coursed through her veins, followed by intense pleasure. She could feel the power, as it pounded in her blood. It forced every muscle to tense and when it released her she fell to the ground exhausted. Duncan helped her to her feet, and practically carried her to the car. She was too weak to protest. It was time for phase two.

CONTINUE