Highlander - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Just a Question ❯ Chapter 1

Just a Question

 

Disclaimer: I wasn't totally happy with the way HIGHLAND: THE SOURCE ended. Too many lose ends. So I thought I'd add a few more. Everything belongs to Panzer/Davis.

 

***

 

 

Methos spurred the horse back through the forest, snatching the Ivanhoe from the tree where its embedded length had decapitated the cannibal leader. He needed to get out of there. His heart was pounding; the stench of his own fear was nearly palpable in the air. He hadn't felt like this in . . . millennium. He also hadn't been mortal for millennium.

 

The cannibals perused, still baying for his flesh and blood, but the horse's pace kept him just out of their reach. The motorcycle riders got close, but Methos' ears told him their bikes were nearly out of fuel. MacLeod would find The Source. And whatever It was, Methos doubted it would corrupt him like it had the Delos Elder.

 

Methos cleared the woods, and broke into the clearing where the car was still blazing. His pursuers had long ago fallen back.

 

`I just hope whatever It is doesn't kill us all,' he thought. `I may not be totally pure of heart or motive, or whatever, but I'd like very much to keep living.'

 

The horse began to slow, and Methos encouraged it to walk without thinking, his ears and senses keenly alert for anything off. Silence reigned, but the old man remained wary was they walked, the horses' sides heaving with exhaustion.

 

Methos dismounted. “I'll walk,” he told the animal, patting it. “I need you to get me a long way.”

 

The animal huffed, and Methos glanced over his shoulder. Nothing moved.

 

“Live, Highlander . . .”

 

They walked for hours before they reached the house where Reggie lost his life. Poor, stupid boy. What was 313 years, as compared to 5,000 plus? An eye blink, that's what. Nothing.

 

Methos wanted to pass the house, push on; but the horse was close to collapse and he hadn't eaten anything in 3 days. He was still mortal, and going much longer without food or rest would be foolish.

 

Somewhat reluctantly, Methos moved towards the barn. The horse shied, disliking the smell of death that hung over the place, but Methos made him go into the barn anyway. Once the horse was settled, Methos locked the door from the inside and spent a restless morning in the hayloft.

 

***

 

PARIS

 

Weeks after returning to his flat, Methos found himself distracted from his daily exercises by the buzz of another immortal.

 

He'd barely made it to the dock alive and snuck aboard a boat leaving the island. He'd wanted to wait for Mac and Anne, but at the same time, he knew they'd be alright.

 

Now, he rose, and sword in hand, went to the door.

 

“Methos? I know you're in there!”

 

“MacLeod!” Methos yanked the door open, tossing the Ivanhoe away. “You survived,” he greeted the younger man. Duncan gave him a wan smile.

 

“So did you.”

 

Methos' lip quirked up. “I'm notoriously hard to kill.”

 

Duncan glanced past the old man. “May I come in?”

 

Methos stepped aside and let the younger man pass.

 

“I found it.”

 

Methos nodded. “So I gathered.”

 

“We were all wrong. All the . . . killing, all the blood . . . it can end. We,” Duncan made a grand, encompassing gesture. “Can just . . . be!”

 

Methos' eyebrows rose. “I'm all ears.”

 

***

 

Methos slowly lowered his beer to the window sill and studied his pale reflection in the glass. Their . . . quest . . . and the deaths of hundreds—nay thousands of their kind . . . was for a child?!

 

A single child? A half immortal? A new Messiah? The old man dismissed the thought, thought the Slaughter of the Innocents flashed through his mind briefly. He turned back to Duncan.

 

“Have you confirmed that she's with child?”

 

Duncan nodded once.

 

“And you're sure it's yours?”

 

Duncan's face turned murderous for a moment, as he glared at the older man. “Yes.”

 

Methos took a pull from his beer, still thoughtful. “So . . .” he said finally.

 

“How do you name the cause of a needless sacrifice of thousands?”

 

***

 

END

 

ChibiMethos 2008