Old Friends, New Friends

by dawn341

First season story. Old friends of Richie's come to visit. My very first story.

Old Friends, New Friends by Dawn Cunningham

Disclaimers: Richie Ryan, Duncan MacLeod and Tessa Noel belong to Rysher, all other characters belong to me.

This story takes place shortly after The Gathering episode first season

This is my first attempt at writing Fan Fiction, so please take that into account.

* HL * HL * HL *

Old Friends, New Friends by Dawn Cunningham

Richie Ryan was happy and that very fact bothered him. Things were looking too good, that usually meant that something bad was about to happen. That's how his whole life had been. Why should that fact change now even if the rest of his life had changed beyond belief.

He looked around the antique store, empty of customers for the first time that day, and thought about how much his life had changed in just a few short weeks. He would have never in his wildest dreams imagined working in an uptown antique store let alone living in one. And living with a drop-dead gorgeous woman and a 400 year old man who couldn't die. It was like being in a fairy tale or maybe a movie.

Even his appearance had changed. He was wearing new jeans that MacLeod had given him when he started helping out in the shop. Apparently Mac didn't think that jeans with holes in them would inspire customers to shop there. Secretly Richie had been thrilled when he had been given the gift but he had only grumbled out loud about Mac not understanding current fashions. He didn't want Mac to think that he had needed someone to buy him clothes.

Of course, not everything was going smoothly. He didn't think Tessa liked or trusted him. She was probably afraid that he was going to steal everything in the store some night. As for MacLeod, he was hard to figure out. In some ways, Mac frightened him. He kept remembering the night that Mac had chopped off that big dude's head on the bridge. He wasn't the kind of guy who you wanted to piss off. And yet, he had taken Richie in and given him a job and a home. Was it because MacLeod was afraid that Richie would tell someone what he had seen or was there another reason? Few people in Richie's experience did something for nothing. There were always hidden strings attached.

"Richie, would you come in here for a moment?" called a voice that still held a trace of a Scottish burr in it.

Richie headed into the office, "Yeah, Mac, what do you need?"

"Tessa just got a call from the city planners commission and they want her to come down to discuss her ideas for a sculpture in a city park." MacLeod said. "Getting this job is very important to her and she wants me to go along for moral support." He continued, "Do you think you can the handle the store by yourself? If not, we can always close up early."

Richie was thrilled but also nervous. Here was a chance to prove to Mac that he could handle things by himself. But what if he screwed something up? "Sure, no... no problem, Mac. You can count on me!" He managed to stutter out.

MacLeod looked at the younger man thoughtfully for a moment as if he were having seconds thoughts about the idea. Richie couldn't stop fidgeting while waiting for him to make up his mind.

Tessa came bursting into the office. She had changed into a suit from her more casual clothes she had been wearing earlier and was clutching a portfolio full of designs under her arm. "Duncan," she said, "we have to go now or we are going to be late!" She grabbed Duncan's hand and started to pull him toward the front door.

Duncan glanced back at Richie. "OK. You know what to do, Rich. If anyone has any questions that you can't answer, don't make one up!" He had just barely managed to calm down an irate customer two days ago who had bought a painting thinking that is was from the seventeenth century only to find out it was actually from the nineteenth century instead. Even after he had refunded the customer's money he had still stormed out of the store muttering about being ripped off. "Use the computer to look up the item or have them come back tomorrow."

"Sure, Mac, I've got it covered." Now it was Richie who was practically pushing him out the door. "Don't worry about anything. Just go. I'll be fine."

Duncan turned from helping Tessa into the car. "Oh by the way, we may be late getting back. We are going to stop somewhere to eat after the meeting. Try to keep the damage to a minimum."

Richie just grinned and turned to Tessa. "Good luck, Tessa. I know your designs will knock their socks off."

"Thanks, Richie," she said, "I put a casserole in the oven for your dinner."

They both watched Richie as he practically bounced back inside the store.

Tessa looked over at Duncan with a frown on her face. "Are you sure it's a good idea to leave him running the store alone?"

Duncan just grinned back at her. "How much damage could he possibly do in just a few hours, Tessa?"

"You may be surprised," She replied.

As the car pulled away from the curb, neither of them noticed the group of teenagers hanging around at the end of the street.

* HL * HL

Richie turned on the stereo that was in the showroom. He twisted the dial until the music changed from classical to heavy rock. Then he cranked the volume up. "Now that's the kind of music we need around here." he said to himself as he picked up the dust rag he had been using earlier.

As he danced around the store, dusting as he went, he kept hoping some customer would come in. Maybe he could make a big sale and show Duncan and Tessa just how useful he could be around the store. They would be so grateful, they might even make him a partner in the business. {Yeah right, Ryan, dream on. Just hope that they won't kick you out the first time you screw up.}

Half an hour later, with the radio still blasting away, Richie never heard the bell above the door ring. His first indication that someone else was in the store was when the music abruptly stopped. He spun around only to see a sight that made his heart plummet into his stomach.

There were five of them, all around Richie's age, each wearing the same type of leather jacket. The jacket that proclaimed to the world that they were members of the Blue Devils' gang. Richie knew them all.

Jake, who had just recently turned 21, was the leader of the gang. Richie had seen him use a switchblade on another gang member who had made the mistake of questioning one of his plans. Matt and Billy were Richie's age and had been in some classes with him when they bothered to show up for school. They idolized Jake and did their best to emulate him in every way. Pete and Mike were slightly younger than Richie but they would follow any orders that Jake gave them without questions.

At one time, Richie had considered joining the gang. He had badly wanted to feel like he belonged somewhere. While he hadn't exactly been a model citizen, the crimes he had committed had never caused anyone, especially himself, to get hurt. Jake, however, had been talking about getting some guns and robbing a liquor store. Richie knew from experience that whenever guns were involved someone got hurt and he didn't want it to be him. So Richie had taken off. A few weeks later, he had tried to break into the antique store and been caught by MacLeod who had threatened to take his head off.

Now he had a feeling that he was in big trouble. Especially when he saw Matt put the closed sign up and then locked the door.

"Um.. Hi, Jake,... guys," he managed to croak out. "What brings you to this part of town?"

"Why we just came to see an old friend who's moved up in the world," said Jake. "So tell me, Richie, old friend, how did you manage to pull this one off?"

"What do you mean?" Richie looked around frantically as the five boys surrounded him.

"Maybe the guy with the ponytail likes boys," snickered Matt.

"Nah. Who would want a boy with a woman like that in your bed? What I wouldn't give to have that piece of ass moaning and squirming beneath me," returned Billy. "Maybe she's the one who likes boys. Tell me, Rich, have you done the wild thing with her yet?"

Richie saw red. "Shut your filthy mouths!" he yelled. They couldn't talk about Tessa and Mac that way. Especially Tessa. Even Richie could recognize a real lady when he saw one and he knew Tessa definitely qualified. There was no way he was going to let this scum talk about her in that way.

He lunged at Billy only to feel his arms grabbed from behind by Pete and Mike. He squirmed around trying to get free. "You had better leave while you still can. Mac will be back any minute now and you don't want to mess with him!"

Jake just laughed and then he backhanded Richie across the face. "We heard him say they were going to be gone a long time, Richie. We gave him plenty of time to make sure that he wasn't going to come back for something. You shouldn't lie to your old friends like that."

Now Richie knew he was in big trouble. REALLY big trouble. He could taste the blood in his mouth from the split lip that Jake's slap had caused.

Jake turned to Billy and Matt. "Take a look around the place and see if you can find anything interesting." They left the room and headed back to the living quarters of the store. Jake strolled around the shop examining different antiques as he went. Finally, Jake picked up an antique glass bowl and walked back to where Richie was still struggling to get free.

"Now back to my original question, Ryan. How come you're living with these people? Do you have some kind of hold over them? See them do something they shouldn't have? Or maybe they are into something illegal and you're helping them out."

"It's none of your damn business," he snarled. "Why don't you crawl back under the rock you came from."

"Bad answer, Richie boy." Jake dropped the bowl on the floor.

Richie could only stare, stunned at the shattered fragments of the five thousand dollar bowl scattered across the floor. {Oh man! Mac's going to kill me if these guys don't do the job first} He flinched as he saw Jake pick up an even more expensive vase.

"Want to try to get it right this time, Richie?" as Jake waggled the vase between two fingers. "Or do you want a bigger mess to clean up?"

"Ok.. Ok. Just don't drop it," Richie said in a panicked voice. "Look it's like this... these people are just do-gooders. Mac caught me breaking into the store and he... he decided he could reform me. That's all there is to it. Honest. And after seeing that vase broke, I'll probably be back on the streets tomorrow morning."

"Hey Jake. Look at what we found! It's party time. And there's more where we found these."

Richie looked over at Matt and Billy who had just come back into the shop. Each boy carried four bottles from Mac's liquor cabinet. Richie heaved a sigh of relief as Jake put the vase down, grabbed a bottle from Matt and took a big drink directly from the bottle.

The boys holding Richie each grabbed a bottle but they never loosened their grip on his arms. Matt and Billy joined Jake in investigating the rest of the store. Richie watched helplessly as display cases were emptied and their contents examined. Every item seemed to send the boys into peals of laughter, growing louder with each drink they had. Finally, the arms holding him disappeared as the other two boys went to join in the fun.

{If I could just get to the door,} Richie thought, {I know this area better than they do, they would never be able to find me.} He started to inch toward the front door slowly, hoping the others would be too busy drinking to notice. He hadn't got very far though when Jake looked over and saw what Richie was doing.

"Stop him! Don't let him get away!".

Matt tackled Richie and they both went sprawling to the floor amidst the fragments of the broken vase. Richie had tried to break his fall by putting his hands out and now he felt the glass cut into his palms. As Matt hauled him to his feet, Richie could see the blood welling up from numerous cuts on his hands.

"Now, Richie, that wasn't a very smart thing to do." Jake had an evil look in his eyes. "I think you really need to chill out, man. Here, have something to drink."

Richie tried to turn his head away but Jake grabbed his hair and forced the bottle between his lips. At first Richie tried not to swallow but as the liquor ran back out over his split lip, the agonizing pain of it caused him to gasp and choke and he had to swallow so that he could breathe again. Richie had drunk beer before but he had never had much chance to drink hard liquor. He could feel it burning all the way down to his stomach. For a moment, he thought it was all going to come right back up but he was spared that humiliating event at least for the moment.

Finally, Jake stopped forcing the booze down Richie's throat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his switchblade. Flipping it open, he turned back to Richie.

"Now, Ryan, tell me how you are going to help your buddies share in all of this new found wealth." Jake waved the knife close to Richie's face.

Richie knew what Jake was after and was frantically trying to figure out how to convince him that he couldn't get away with anything. "What are you talking about?" he stalled.

"These people must be rolling in dough. I bet you get a big allowance or paycheck don't you so that you can buy new clothes and things." as Jake waved at Richie's obviously new jeans. "Surely you want to share with us don't you? After all, that's what buddies do for each other."

"Hey, I'm practically slave labor around here. They don't have to pay me much since I live here too! As for the clothes, they just wanted me to look good for the customers." Richie didn't believe what he had just said but he didn't want to tell these jerks the truth.

"Ok. Then I guess you will just have to re-locate some of these fine antiques over to our place. Maybe a new piece a week. How does that sound?"

"Like a bad plan." Richie gasped as the knife was pressed into his neck. He continued quickly. "Mac knows everything in this shop and if items started disappearing he would know that I'd taken them. I'd be back in jail within a week and you still wouldn't be any richer."

"Well then, I guess it's going to have to be a one night only shopping spree. And I know you won't rat on us to the cops will you, Richie?" Jake pressed the knife more firmly into Richie's neck, drawing blood this time. "If you do, I'll tell the cops it was your idea and that you let us into the shop and helped us. With your past record the cops would never believe you were innocent."

Richie didn't know what to do or say. He knew the cops would never believe him and he doubted that Mac would either.

Jake continued. "Even if they did believe you, I have a lot of friends. They could arrange some 'accidents' to happen. It would be a shame if the store burned down some night while you were all sleeping. Or some time when the blonde is all alone, some of the boys might come visiting. She might get hurt." He grinned evilly at the thought as he lowered the knife from Richie's neck.

The thought of them hurting Tessa gave Richie the strength needed to pull away from Matt's arms. He hurled himself at Jake. "If you hurt Tessa, I'll kill you myself," he growled and punched Jake with all of his strength.

For a moment, Jake considered using his knife but decided it would be more fun to just beat Richie up. It would teach him not to attack his betters. He slipped the knife back into his pocket and punched Richie in the face. The two started fighting in earnest. The others just stood and watched, cheering Jake on with each blow he managed to land on Richie.

Richie knew he couldn't win this fight, Jake was not only older than he was, he was also taller and heavier than Richie. But he wouldn't give up as long as he was still standing.

Suddenly, he felt himself being hauled back by his shirt collar and a deep voice asked, "What's going on here?"

* HL * HL Part 2

"I can't believe it, Duncan. One of my sculptures in the most visited city park in town." Tessa was practically jumping up and down in her excitement.

"There was never any doubt in my mind that you would get the commission. They only had to take one look at you to see what a winner you are." Duncan teased.

"Oh you. And I suppose my designs had nothing to do with it."

"Well, maybe a small part..." Duncan flinched as Tessa punched him on the arm. He took her arm and headed for the T-bird. "Now is that any way to treat your dinner date for the evening?"

"Where are we going to eat? I hope you're taking me to that new seafood place down by the harbor. Oh..." she exclaimed as she stumbled forward.

Duncan grabbed her quickly before she fell. "What happened, Tessa? Are you all right?"

"I don't believe this." Tessa clutched Duncan's arms to keep her balance. "I broke the heel on my shoe! Duncan, what are you doing?" as Duncan swung her up in his arms.

"Just carrying milady to her chariot."

"Put me down. Now!"

"Now, Tessa, you can't walk with only one high heel. This is the easiest way to get you to the car."

"I could manage. Either way, we will have to go back home so I can change shoes before we eat. There's no way you are carrying me into a restaurant!" She looked up into Duncan's face and saw the sudden frown. "What's wrong... am I too heavy?"

"You could never be too heavy my love. No, I'm just afraid that Richie will probably think we don't trust him if we return so soon."

"I'm sure he will believe us when he sees my broken shoe"

"Oh well, there's not much we can do about it anyway," he said as he put Tessa down in the passenger seat of the car. "I just wish this hadn't happened the first time we left him alone." He walked around the car and got in the driver's seat.

Starting the car, he pulled away from the curb and headed for the antique store. Fortunately, the antique store was close to city hall. They could easily stop there and still make their dinner reservation.

When he pulled up in front of the antique store he could see movement in the shop through the window. "It looks like we have customers."

"Then why is the closed sign on the door?" Tessa asked.

"I don't like this," Mac replied. "You had better stay out here while I check this out, Tessa."

He quickly moved to the door, unlocked it and slipped inside unnoticed by those in the store already. The sight that greeted his eyes caused him to come to an abrupt stop. Richie grappled with someone MacLeod had never seen before while four others egged on the fighters. He took in the glass fragments all over the floor as well as the empty liquor bottles.

He could see that Richie was getting the worst of the fight. He moved across the store and pulled Richie back by his shirt collar at the same time pushing the other fighter back. "What's going on here?"

"Mac!" was all Richie managed to say. His head spun not only from the booze but also from the blows Jake had managed to land.

Jake had always been the type who could think on his feet. He didn't like the looks of the guy standing between him and Richie. "Hey man, everything's cool. Richie just invited some of his old friends over to show off his new place. I accidentally broke a bowl and Richie blew his cool and started hitting me. I was just defending myself. Ask the rest of the guys, they'll back me up."

The other four quickly agreed. "Yep, that's what happened."

"Richie, is that the truth?" Duncan looked over at the boy, staring intently at the floor as if wishing it would open up and swallow him.

Richie didn't want to lie to Mac. Somehow, the older man always seemed to know when he wasn't being truthful. But he kept remembering Jake's threats. He decided to say nothing instead.

Mac waited several moments for Richie to defend himself. He was fairly certain that he hadn't heard the truth yet but if Richie wasn't going to tell him... He sighed. "I think the rest of you should leave now and I suggest you never come back here again." He turned his fiercest scowl on the youngsters.

Almost as one, they dashed for the door. Jake turned as he was leaving. "See ya around, Richie. Remember what I said." He grinned and left.

MacLeod turned back to Richie and looked him over. He could smell the alcohol fumes coming from the youth. He tilted Richie's head up and checked for damage. One of his eyes was already swelling up and he could see the split lip. "Are you all right?"

"I'll live." He mumbled.

"Do you want to tell me the truth now?"

"You heard them, I had a party the minute your back was turned and it got out of hand." Richie heard a gasp come from the doorway. Tessa stood there looking appalled. He knew that she must have heard his last statement and believed it. For some reason, he felt ashamed and his stomach churned. "Oh god...," was all he managed as he made a mad dash for the bathroom.

Tessa moved over by Duncan. "I told you we couldn't trust him, Duncan! He even admitted his guilt this time."

"That's why I'm sure it's not true. He would have tried to make up some story to blame someone else. Even when he was caught red-handed with jewelry from the store, he tried to talk himself out of trouble. There must be more to this than what he's saying."

"How can you be so certain?"

"I've had a lot of experience in 400 years in judging a person's character. Under that tough street punk exterior is a boy who's been hurt too many times looking for someone to believe in him. With your help we can make a difference in his life if we can earn his trust."

"How can I help?" Tessa looked puzzled.

"You're a wonderful caring person around most people but for some reason you don't open up to Richie. You're not afraid of him are you?"

"No, not really. I'm sure he would never hurt me. I guess I've been more afraid that he was going to cause trouble somehow. Or that he would come between us."

"He could never do that, Tessa. I love you." Duncan caressed Tessa's face. "I can't explain it but somehow I feel that he could become an important part of our lives. Just be yourself around him and Richie will respond to it."

"I'm not sure if I can but I will try Duncan. Why don't you go check on him while I change and fix us something to eat."

"All right, but I still owe you a celebration." Duncan headed for the bathroom.

"I'll remind you of that later tonight." Tessa blew him a kiss and headed for their bedroom.

Richie just barely made it to the bathroom in time. It seemed like forever as his stomach tried to turn inside out. Finally it was over and he slid down to rest on the floor. He heard a sound behind him and saw Mac standing in the doorway. His face turned beet red at the thought of Macleod witnessing this humiliation.

"Feeling better now?" Mac handed the younger boy a damp wash cloth. After Richie had wiped his mouth and face off, Mac reached down for Richie's hands to help him to his feet. He saw the look of pain cross the boy's face and looked more closely at Richie's hands. Most of the cuts weren't deep but he could see some glass still embedded in his right palm. "We'd better get those cleaned up before they get infected," he said as he led Richie back to the kitchen.

"Tessa, we need the first aid kit and maybe some tweezers so we can get the glass out of this cut." Duncan fetched a bowl of warm water and some cloths and started gently rinsing Richie's hands.

Once the blood was washed away, he picked up the tweezers that Tessa had set on the counter and tried to remove the glass fragment unsuccessfully.

"Here, let me try." Tessa said. "I can handle the tweezers easier than you can."

Richie looked stunned. He couldn't believe that Tessa was actually going to help him after what she had heard. He gasped as she pulled the glass shard free.

"I've got it." Tessa waved the tweezers in the air triumphantly. She took the gauze roll and gently wrapped Richie's hands. "You should keep these dry for the next few days until the cuts start to heal. Now why don't you go change those clothes so that I can try to get those blood stains out while I finish making dinner." Tessa was determined to follow Mac's advice about how to treat Richie.

Richie looked down at his clothes. For the first time he noticed the blood on his brand new jeans. He must have wiped his bleeding hands on them without even realizing it. "They're probably ruined," he said disconsolately. {Just like my life here.}

"Oh, I've had a little practice at getting out blood stains." Tessa winked at Duncan. "Now go and change."

"Um... I'd better clean up the mess in the shop first."

"No I'll do that." Mac said. "You would have a hard time holding a broom with your hands in that condition."

Richie left the room trying to understand why they were being so nice to him. He had expected them to tell him to pack his bags and leave. Instead, they were acting like nothing had happened. It just didn't figure. He'd been kicked out of other homes for less reason than this.

{What am I going to tell them? If I tell them the truth, Mac may go after Jake with his sword.} While he didn't like Jake, he didn't want to see him dead. After all, they had been friends. Well sorta. Going to the cops was out, he didn't trust them and they wouldn't believe him. Not with his rap sheet. {Maybe I could...}

"Richie are you going to hide in there all night?" Tessa's voice interrupted his train of thought. Sighing, he picked up his jeans and headed back into the kitchen.

Duncan was setting the table as he walked into the room and Tessa was putting the final touches on a salad she had just made. He could smell the casserole still baking in the oven but it just made his stomach churn.

"Here, I'll take those." Tessa took the jeans from Richie. "I'll just let them soak while we have dinner. Richie, do you feel like eating after being sick? I could make you some soup that might sit easier on your stomach."

"I'm not really hungry." Richie avoided looked directly at Tessa. "In fact, I think I may just go to bed now." {that's right, run away before they have a chance to yell at you.} He fled from the room.

Duncan looked over at Tessa. "He must really be upset if he doesn't want anything to eat. He's normally a walking garbage disposal. Maybe I should go talk to him now."

"At least eat first, Duncan. Maybe after he's had a chance to think about things, he may be more willing to talk."

"You may be right. I'll talk to him after dinner and see if I can find out what really happened today."

After dinner was over and the dishes had been washed, Duncan went to Richie's door and tapped lightly. When no answer came after several moments, he quietly opened the door and peered inside. He could see Richie in bed, sound asleep. Just as quietly, he shut the door and headed for his own bedroom and the waiting Tessa. It would have to wait until tomorrow.

* HL * HL

Duncan tossed restlessly, unable to sleep. By theory, he should have been exhausted. He and Tessa had celebrated her commission for the city with a bottle of champagne and several hours of passionate love. But his mind kept going around in circles refusing to allow him to sleep. He kept trying to figure out what had happened that afternoon as well as how he was going to convince Richie to trust him enough to tell the truth. He finally gave up, got out of bed and dressed in some sweats. He headed for Tessa's workshop with his sword. {Maybe if I workout it will help me think clearer.}

* HL * HL

Richie awoke with a start. He thought he had heard a noise outside the shop. {Maybe Jake had come back to set the store on fire! I've got to stop him!} He grabbed his robe with trembling hands and headed for the back of the store. He tried looking out some windows but couldn't see anything moving. Finally, he worked up enough courage to open the back door and look out. Nothing. {Maybe I just imagined it.} He let out a choked scream as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Twirling around, he saw MacLeod standing behind him with his sword.

"Looking for something?"

"Geez, give a guy a heart attack will ya!" Richie tried to slow down his breathing and his pulse rate. "I thought I heard something and was just checking it out."

Duncan frowned. "Maybe you just heard me but I'd better check it out just to be on the safe side. Who knows, it may be another teenage thief trying to break into the shop," he teased Richie. "Wait here."

Duncan went outside and looked around for several minutes. He finally came back in and told Richie. "I don't see anything wrong."

Richie gave a deep sigh of relief.

"It must have been me that you heard. I'm sorry I woke you. Why don't you go back to bed."

"I'm not really tired anymore."

"Well, since neither of us can sleep, maybe we should have a talk. Let's go into the living room."

{Here it comes. The big speech about how it's not working out} Richie slowly followed MacLeod. He wanted to delay the inevitable as long as possible. He got to the living room where Duncan was busy starting a fire in the fireplace.

"Sit down, Richie. I want you to tell me what happened this afternoon," MacLeod demanded. "And this time I want the truth."

Richie just sat there mutely. His eyes focused on his feet as if they were the most unusual things that he had ever seen.

Mac heaved a sigh of frustration. "I can be just as stubborn as you can, Richie. I'm going to find out the truth from you even if it takes the rest of my life. And that's a very long time, remember? Who are you trying to protect by keeping quiet?"

Still no response.

"Please, Richie, trust me."

"Why? You're just going to send me away like everyone else has."

"I'm not going to send you away. We can work through this together. I want to be your friend and help you."

"They were my friends too." Richie said bitterly.

"Were they, Richie? Friends are people who stand by you in the bad times as well as the good times. Friends are people you want to be with, do things for, help out. Friends are people you can trust. All the rest are just acquaintances. Ask yourself if you would be upset at the thought of never seeing them again. If they were true friends, the answer would be yes."

Richie thought about this for a moment. "Would you be upset if you never saw me again?" He finally looked at Duncan as if he had to watch him carefully to see if he was telling the truth.

"Yes, I believe I would. A few weeks ago my answer would have been different. But know that I've had the chance to start knowing the real you, I feel different. Granted, there are still times that I find you aggravating, especially when your motor mouth kicks in. But even Tessa aggravates me occasionally and we've been together for twelve years."

"So you don't want to me to leave? Even if I screw up like I did this afternoon?" Richie sounded hopeful.

"No, I don't want you to leave. And I'm not sure that you did screw up. Why don't you tell me about it."

And Richie did. He told MacLeod about how they came into the shop and locked the door, broke the antique, found the liquor, threatened him and Mac and Tessa. "When they threatened Tessa, I just lost it, Mac. That's when the fight started. It made me so mad to think of them hurting her."

"Oh, Richie, that's the nicest thing I've heard you say about me." Both men turned to see Tessa standing in the doorway. She crossed the room and kissed Richie on the cheek. "Thank you for trying to protect me."

Richie turned red and could only open and shut his mouth like a fish gasping for water. He just couldn't form a coherent statement after that kiss.

Duncan patted the sofa and Tessa came over and sat down beside him. "How much did you hear?"

"Everything. I think we should talk to the police." Tessa said.

"I doubt that would help much..."

"Yeah, they'd never believe me." Richie interrupted.

Duncan glared at the younger man. "As I was saying, at best Jake could be charged with assault. They didn't actually break into the shop. We can't prove they broke the dish deliberately and with the five of them backing each other up, I doubt the police would file charges."

"So they just get away with it? What if they come back to follow up their threats?" Richie asked.

"I doubt they will. They probably have decided blackmailing you is a lost cause. But just to be on the safe side, we'll just keep a closer eye on things for a while. Including, making sure that you are never left alone here in the store, Tessa."

"I'm sure I will be fine with two defenders like you around." Tessa smiled at both of them. "But can we go back to bed now?"

"Um... actually, I'm kind of hungry." Richie grinned sheepishly.

"Well then you must be feeling better. Let's see what kind of snack we can whip up." She took his hand and pulled him toward the kitchen.

{Maybe things will be all right.} A lot of progress had been made that night. Richie's trust in MacLeod was growing and so was Tessa's trust in Richie. Mac turned to bank the fire, before following the other two into the kitchen. Actually a snack sounded pretty good about now.

The end.(?)