Disclaimer: I don't own Highlander or Smallville.
My mind started thinking. I did this little fake thing in my profile on Facebook and it evolved into this.
AU from Highlander as RICHIE IS ALIVE! (Sorry, I didn't like it when he died.)
Since some people may not know about one show or the other, here's a small summary.
Highlander is about immortals that can only die by decapitation. The main immortal of the show is Duncan MacLeod. He's over 400 years old. Richie Ryan, one of the two main characters of the story, met Duncan, aka Mac, when he was robbing Mac's store. He moved in with Mac and Tessa, Mac's girlfriend and became a sort-of son to the two. Richie and Tessa were killed during a mugging. That was when Richie experienced his first death, becoming immortal like Mac. Mac is Richie's teacher and close friend. Methos, aka Adam Pierson, is the oldest immortal known to the others. He is around 5000 years old. He is (or was, I don't know) a Watcher, someone that records and studies immortals but don't interfere. He was, at one point, researching himself. Richie is right now living in Star City with his girlfriend, Andrea. (She is in fact Andrea Rojas, aka Angel of Vengence, from Smallville.)
Smallville is about the teenage years of Clark Kent, aka Superman. The second character in the story is super-speeder Bart Allen, aka the Flash or Impulse. This point of the story would take place around season 5 of the show. At this point, Bart Allen has met Clark, stolen Jonathon's wallet, become friends with Clark and almost gotten killed when he stole a priceless artifact from Lex's mansion. He tried to sell it to Hanison, got tricked and knocked out as Hanison arraigned for Lex to come and collect the artifact for a price. Hanison's enforcer got beat up by Lex; Hanison knocked out Lex and was about to shoot Bart. Clark came in, stopped Hanison by throwing him through a roof. Other guy ran off. Bart double crossed Clark and was going to kill him using kryptonite but Clark talked him out of it. Bart sped off after changing his mind. He gave the artifact back, challenged Clark to a race and won, leaving Smallville.
Star City, June 2005 (Richie Ryan's Side)
Richie Ryan was waiting for a friend to get out of the store he was currently waiting in front of. He kept checking his watch and waited for them to come out. It's not he didn't have time; he just wanted to get back and start on the dinner he had planned for a few old friends. Convincing Mac and Methos (as he now knew about him after watching Mac and him fight and Mac shouted his name) to come and visit had been a challenge, but nothing compared to going up against Mac in a challenge.
It was an hour before he had to get the older immortals from the airport. He was still waiting for his friend when he felt someone behind him trying to lift his wallet. He spun around while grabbing the offending wrist. Standing behind him was a kid, a couple of years younger than he was when he was trying to rob Mac's store. He was wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and a pair of yellow cords. His hair was trying to stand and failing miserably as it was beginning to get too long.
"Hey, let go," he immediately said, wriggling in his grasp.
"Right after you tried to lift my wallet. No way kid," he replied, taking back his wallet and putting him in a headlock. "How about I take you to the police station?"
"For what? A failed robbery? You wanna try explaining that?"
"Oh, I think I can." At that moment, Richie felt the presence of another immortal. While he searched around for a face in the crowd, he moved his arm down around the kid's shoulders. "Listen to me, I tell you to run, run."
"No problem about that," he whispered. His face took on a look of confusion and fear. Mac keeps saying I looked like that when I met him. This kid's a miniature version of me. Less experienced. He smirked until spotting what caused the feeling.
He moved his arm back up while shouting, "Mac! When did you get in?" The kid had noticed this and started fighting his grip again, his face erasing the fear and replacing it with an anger-type look. "Stop trying, it's not going to work."
"Girlfriend's?" another voice asked. Methos stepped to the side of Mac.
"Funny, Adam," he emphasized, wrestling him into a better hold that wouldn't hurt his neck. "I caught him trying to lift my wallet."
"Ahh, so he's a younger version of you," Mac joked.
"Funny, funny. For a moment, I almost forgot how funny you were," he said. He checked his watch again and looked back at the store.
"Problem, Rich?" Mac asked.
"It's Andrea. She's been in there for the last hour. How long can it take for a sales clerk to find two bottles of good wine?"
"Depends on how good the clerk is. I once had to wait for three hours before the guy finally read the labels on the shelves to find out he was in the wrong section of years," Methos recounted.
The kid cracked at this, laughing so hard that he had to lean into Richie to keep himself from cutting off his air supply. Richie, unsure if this was another attempt or simply a kid being a kid, let go of his neck, placed a hand on his shoulder and waited for him for him to stop bending over laughing. After a minute, he pulled himself up and Richie felt safe enough to just put an arm around his shoulders.
"Finally," someone exclaimed. All four turned around to see a woman wearing glasses, a modest skirt and blouse carrying a brown bag with two bottles of wine sticking out. "That man could not read. He kept trying to give me an '84 when I asked for an '89. Even I could tell." She tapped on her glasses to accentuate the last point. She then noticed the kid Richie had his arm around. "Something you want to tell me?"
Richie motioned her over and held her close so he wouldn't hear. "Pickpocket. Caught him in the act."
Andrea nodded and went over to him. "I have a proposition for you," she addressed the kid. He looked up. "No stealing any of our stuff and you have a bed, two free meals and no trip to the police."
"Two?"
"Dinner and breakfast."
He looked back to something off in the distance before answering. "Yeah, sure. No stealing." Richie pats his shoulder a couple of times and the group walks off.
"Honey?" Andrea poses.
Richie laughs. "Oh, this is Duncan MacLeod and Adam Pierson." He pointed out each as he said their names. Duncan shook her hand and Methos simply waved and gave a small smile. The kid looked behind them again as they were entering the building and Richie notices. "Hey, Andrea, why don't you take him up and start on dinner please? I'll be up in a couple of minutes before helping with the chopping," he distracted, kissing her lightly on the cheek and pushing the kid towards her. She nodded and lays a hand on his shoulder to lead him upstairs.
He turns back to the other immortals, serious. "See what I see?"
Mac nods. "He's watching a man that's been following us. Saw him appear when we were talking."
Methos looked across the street where the man was standing. "If I remember correctly, I was talking to a retired watcher and he noticed the man talking to a young male. Said his name was Hanison, a local fence of Metropolis' Suicide Slums."
"Wonder what the kid did to anger him," Richie noted.
"What, Richie? Didn't you piss off any of your fences by being late or skimming?" Mac asked.
Richie ignored the question, but his expression got darker. "Mac, if that kid's in danger, maybe we should help in out. He's almost like me. I noticed that all the times I gave him a chance to disappear, he didn't and that was before the Andrea's offer. Not to mention, I could have sworn he moved closer when I was talking to Andrea."
"Saw that too, had the same face you had when I challenged you in the store," Mac noted.
"So what is his backstory?" Methos posed as the ultimate question.
Same Place, Same Time (Bart Allen's SIde)
He's going to catch to me. Bart Allen was making his way through the crowd of Star City trying to get away from the guy that had pointed a gun at him a year ago. No Clark to save me this time. His face was grim as he maneuvered around the people to lose him in the crowd.
He had already gotten him once. Hanison had him for two days while he beat the crap out of him for getting him in jail. During one of his runs to get the drug he became addicted to in jail, Bart managed to cut the tape on his wrists by a piece of broken glass that came from the previous night's torture session.
After two hours of going down back alleys and through stories to the back, he had finally gotten rid of him. He looked for someone he could easily swipe off of so he could get a decent hotel to stay for the night to recuperate. Not like I'm going to be getting much sleep.
He spotted the curly haired guy standing outside of a wine store. He had a leather jacket on and a wallet sticking out of the back pocket. Way too easy. He slid behind the guy and started nudging the wallet out. That's when the hand slapped on his wrist. He winced as the hand was on the wrist he cut with the glass used on the tape.
"Hey, let go," he reacted, wriggling in his grasp. Crap, this guy could be working for him for all I know.
"Right after you tried to lift my wallet. No way kid," he replied. He pulled Bart forward and put an arm around his neck. He squirmed to try and loosen the grip. "How about I take you to the police station?"
It could be a trick. Something to make me give up so he can bring me back to Hanison. "For what? A failed robbery? You wanna try explaining that?"
"Oh, I think I can." Not working for Hansion. He twisted his head to look up at the guy's face. It went from slightly smiling to serious in a nanosecond. His head moved while his arm moved down from Bart's neck to his arms, pulling him in close in case of something. "Listen to me, I tell you to run, run."
Bart was taken back from the sudden change of events. This guy wanted to take him to the station a few seconds ago. Now, he was ready to protect him. Whatever this guy's serious about; it's enough to be afraid of. "No problem about that." The guy looked down for about half a second before scanning the crowd again.
"Mac! When did you get in?" he yelled, noticing two figures coming closer to them. The guy's arm moved back up to his neck and Bart started squirming again. "Stop trying, it's not going to work," he said in a condescending voice. He scowled and squirmed more.
He didn't hear a lot of the conversation after that. He heard the part about wrong section of years and started laughing. He kept laughing because his emotions were going to one place and wanted to get out. He didn't notice the guy had let go of his neck and stopped laughing after about a minute. He stood back up and only felt the arm on his shoulders. Friendly, but ready in case I bolt. He didn't feel that uncomfortable with them. It was sort of like with Clark and his family; they would look out for him because he didn't try anything that bad on them.
"Finally," someone exclaimed. Even he turned as the woman walked out of the wine store. The other three were looking at her. He was looking at something else in the crowd. Hanison. The man was about twenty feet away and closing in. He subconsciously moved closer to the guy. He saw the group that he was with and sent a body language that read plainly to coming after him.
"I have a proposition for you," someone said. He snapped his head back to see the lady in front of him. He listened to what she listed off. He was surprised when she said two meals.
"Two?"
"Dinner and breakfast."
He looked back to see Hanison holding something in his palm. Strangely enough, it looked like a gun and was coming up to meet him. "Yeah, sure. No stealing." A calming pat on his shoulder and they walk off.
Every couple of minutes he's looking back. Hanison's following, but not making a move. He keeps checking until they enter the building. He only notices the group again when he's being pushed a small bit toward the lady, who guides him upstairs.
The apartment is moderate. There was a couch with a matching loveseat and chair. An island in the kitchen substituted for a dining table and a TV was stationed by the wall facing the couch. It was in neutrals and blacks. Bart had comparatively the brightest colors there with his sweatshirt and pants.
"Here, I'll get you a drink," she proposed, moving him over to the island and sitting him down. She grabbed a glass and filled it up with milk.
"Thanks." He took a gulp out of it and watched as she started a couple of pans for the food. She had about half of it started when the guys came up. The guy that had been holding him, Richie, took up a knife and started chopping a bell pepper that had been left out. He finished his milk and went to join the other guys. They were on the couch, watching a game that was on the screen. He sat next to the guy that Richie had called Adam.
A buzzer sounded and Adam started getting animated. "It can't end this early. They haven't had the chance to play thanks to their best player," he scolded, at the TV. He turned to Bart after. "Bloody players can't even get in a hit thanks to the other team's best player. That and the ref keeps being on their side."
Bart smiled and watched the game with the guys until dinner was ready. Dinner was chicken parmesan with salad and a dessert of chocolate milkshakes with a peppermint after bite. Bart had two servings of each item and started feeling incredibly tired. "I think the day's events have gotten to him," a voice said. He pushed aside the dish in front of him and folded his arms to make a pillow for his head to rest on.
A sound of a chair rumbled in his semi-consciousness and he felt his arms being wrapped around two different bodies. "Room across the hall, Mac," another voice sounded. By now, he was already heading into slumber and didn't have enough energy to try and discern the voices. He didn't notice a difference until he felt himself being laid in a bed. Someone pulled the covers over him and ruffed his hair before heading out.
Back to Richie's Side
"He's already asleep?" Richie asked Mac as they came back out to join them. Mac nodded while Methos walked over to the fridge and grabbed himself a beer.
"He was out when we were getting him there," he replied, going back to his milkshake.
"What are you going to do with him?" Methos asked, taking another sip out of his beer.
"I don't know. I can't exactly take him in; he still has parents out there that are looking for him. Can't turn him into the police, even as a potential runaway. It breaks the deal and he won't be able to trust anyone again," Richie pondered, taking a drink of water from a glass he had during dinner.
"You could always send him to Seacouver. I could use an extra hand in the gym," Mac offered.
"Do you really think he would go for it?"
"Don't know. Let's ask him tomorrow. We've got to be getting back to the hotel." Mac ended, giving Methos a slap on the shoulder and making him get up and leave the room.
--
It's not a full Immortal. He cracked an eye open and felt the weak presence of a pre-Immortal somewhere in the building. He moved from his position next to his girlfriend in order to get up without disturbing her. He grabbed the sword he now kept under the bed and moved out of the room.
Noticing a male going into the guest bedroom, he followed. He saw him hover over the kid for a while before pulling out a gun. "That's as far as you're going, buddy," he whispered, wary of the kid asleep in the bed.
"This doesn't concern you," he hissed, pointing the gun at him. A shot fired and hit him in the lower abdomen while the sword slashed down and landed on his arm, cutting a bone deep gash in the forearm and causing him to drop the gun, causing the kid to wake up. He moved away from the guy hovering over him and tried to make himself as small as possible against the wall.
Richie got up to confront the man and block his view of the kid. Hanison, as he could now recognize his face in the little light available, brought up his gun again. Richie grabbed on the wrist and twisted it until it was 180 degrees from its intended position. The gun dropped from numb fingers and he caught it in his other hand.
The kid ran out of the room and stopped as soon as he hit the hall. Andrea had her arms around his upper body and was holding him against her. She watched the fight between her boyfriend and the intruder, keeping his face out of view from the action. She knew what was going to happen and didn't want the boy to see it.
Richie brought up the sword and used the hilt to knock the man out by hitting him in the back of the head. He looked down at the gunshot wound to see the familiar blue lightning going over the wound and closing it up with the bullet disappearing. He looked at Andrea and the kid in her arms, that was now watching the lightning come out of different parts and heal all the wounds that he had sustained. "It looks like I need to explain something," he mumbled.
--
The police had come, taken statements from them and left after. The kid was sitting on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate that was half gone. Andrea gave him a full mug as Richie went over to sit down next to him. "All right," he starts.
"What are you? Are you like Clark?" he asks.
"Who's Clark?"
"Never mind."
"All right, do you want to tell me why Hanison was after you?" The kid bowed his head over his mug. "Okay, how about a name? We never got that far."
"Bart."
"Bart? Bart Simpson? Where's your skateboard?" The kid snorted. And he's open. "Let's get back to Hanison."
"I got him put into jail a year before. He was my fence when I stole things and needed money." He looked warily at the guy, but he just nodded. "I stole something that I shouldn't of. I almost got killed if someone hadn't intervened." His mind went back to Clark throwing him through the roof. "I don't steal for money. Just to get myself off the streets whenever I run myself down." Like three days ago. He recalled not being able to run after wearing himself down and being captured by Hanison.
"Okay, so did Hanison cause the bruises along your back?"
He turned to him. "How…"
"Your sweatshirt lifted up a couple of times. How heavy of a beating and how long?"
"Umm," he stalled, looking at the chocolate in his mug.
Richie sighed, "Andrea, please get the first aid kit." She nodded and went to the bathroom. "Take off your shirt."
Bart looked at him. "What?"
"I could also see the numerous cuts along your back. They need to be treated before they become infected."
Bart nodded and took off his sweatshirt so just the back was uncovered. Richie instinctively winced at the color of blue, purple, black and streaks of red that patterned the back. Andrea sat a bowl of lukewarm water with a washcloth in front of Richie. She noticed his sweatshirt would be irritating to the cuts along his back and went to get a t-shirt to cover him. He squeezed out the excess water from the cloth and started wiping it across his back.
"So, what are you?" Bart asked.
"What do you mean, what am I?"
"The blue stuff that healed all your wounds, what is it?"
"If I told you, would you promise never to tell anyone?"
Bart considered something. "I've got one better. You tell me your dark secret. I tell you mine."
"I thought being a thief was the dark secret."
"Nah, got one better."
"All right. The blue stuff is called Quickening. It's something that Immortals have. It possesses our knowledge, memories and some other stuff that I can't remember right now."
"Immortals? Are you telling me you're going to live forever?"
"Something like that. I'll stay the same age physically until someone gets my head and kills me."
"Gets your head?"
"Decapitates me."
"Oh." Bart stayed quiet for a couple of minutes while Richie dries off his back, applies medicine and covers the major cuts with bandages. "What about those other guys? And how did you know Hanison was here tonight?"
"We feel each other. Hanison isn't Immortal, but he does have the essence, power, whatever inside of him that could make him Immortal on his death. Mac and Adam are Immortal." Bart doesn't ask any more questions as Richie pulls the sweatshirt completely off him so he can get to the front side.
A couple of minutes later and an empty mug for the both of them and Richie had finished patching him up. "All right, you know about Immortals."
"And you want me to spill my big secret?" Richie nodded. Bart got up off the couch and speeded everything back into place. Richie tried to watch as a yellow and white streak moved across the living room. The first aid kit, the bowl and the shirt disappeared and the mugs were refilled with hot chocolate. He stopped in front of him.
"What was that?"
"Super speed. One day, there was this accident and a flash of light and I started running as fast as the speed of light." He blinked his eyes a couple of times and yawned loudly.
"Come on, Bart. Let's get you back to sleep. So I can get some sleep." Richie led him back to the bedroom and pulled the covers over him as he went to sleep for a second time.
--
"All right, if you get into trouble or need a place to crash," Richie started.
"I'll come to you before even trying to lift another wallet," Bart finished, eating the rest of the pancakes that were in front of him.
"Are you sure about Seacouver?"
"Thanks, but the city's got a hold over my heart." He put on his sweatshirt over the t-shirt. "Thanks for everything. And thanks for the offer."
"Try not to be a stranger," Richie said. Bart nodded, waved and walked out the door.
Andrea sat with him at the table. "Maybe he'll be okay."
"Yeah. I hope so." Richie bent over to kiss her on the lips while pulling her closer. "Why don't we have some dessert that we didn't get to yesterday?" He brought a devilish smile to his face that made Andrea grab his hand and pull him to the bedroom.
Bart's Side, A few weeks later
Star City streets were quiet as he crept down to the fast food joint. He was in some serious mood for burgers and fries. Bart knew that Richie's offer still stands, but he didn't want to bug the guy when he was probably in the middle of something. Besides, he wasn't stealing a wallet; he was stealing a bag of food.
The fast food bag was waiting out on the table and the couple that was supposed to be enjoying it was preoccupied at the moment. He couldn't speed because his energy was depleted from trying to get away from Hanison again. He had read the paper about the riot and how he had died. Oh shit, he's Immortal. Hanison had been left behind in Seacouver where he had hid with Richie's friends for awhile without trying to get them involved with him. Now, he was back because Hanison had figured him out and followed him.
He was holding the bag and about to walk away from the table when someone grabbed him around the middle. He dropped the bag a few feet from the table and tried to wrestle whoever had him. He was carried back a few feet before being dropped on the ground. He twisted around and looked at the person.
What is this guy? A walking plant? The guy, I can tell that much, was wearing head to toe green leather with a hood over his face and nothing on his arms. Arms that could choke me in a second. He noted that the arms had plenty of muscle. "Hey, whatever you just saw," he started.
"Please, I've heard of you," a deep voice rang out. Sounds like something from the Scream movies. "I'm not here to hurt you. Just to offer you a job."
"What's the job?"
"Let's discuss this somewhere else." Bart didn't know why, but he felt safe with the guy somehow. Just like he felt safe with Clark's family and Richie and his friends. How do I keep meeting the people that want to help me?
Next chapter (and probably just as long): Richie gets involved with the Justice League and Lex Luthor.
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