Masters of Death by enchanted nightingale
Beta Reader: pussycatadamah
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. I only use them in my plot for fun.
Pair: Harry Potter/ Methos
Chapter 2
Methos felt lazy that morning and he acted like it. With Kalas dead, only two Immortals knowing he was an Immortal and not just a Watcher and both of them no longer in Paris, Methos felt much more relaxed and it showed. However his lover was exasperated at this.
"Methos…" Harry whined.
"Mmm."
"I really need to change the sheets."
Harry received no reply.
"Come on! It's noon!"
The Immortal snuggled further under the blanket with his pillow.
"Methos!" Harry yelled. "Get up this instance or I'm showering you with a bucket of ice!"
His lover peeked from under the covers. "You know, there is another way."
Harry blinked. Before he could react Methos pulled him on the bed and started snagging off Harry's clothes.
"What the-?"
"Shut up and kiss me will you?" the Immortal whispered.
Harry was more than happy to comply.
o
"And this?"
Methos studied the jade green vase with the pink and white chrysanthemums. "If I recall correctly, about 1380 or so, Ming dynasty."
Harry whistled in appreciation. "That one?" He pointed at a piece of pottery about his height, in rich reds and whites, with phoenixes flying over the surface.
"One of my favorites. I think I acquired it during the Han period. I cannot recall who ruled at the time though, the Eastern or Western Dynasty."
The younger man nodded. "This one with the cute fish?"
"They are carp fish, also Ming Dynasty."
Harry gave him a bewildered look. "You are kind of amazing."
"Only kind of?" Methos smiled at him.
"Wouldn't want to give you a big head," Harry replied.
"I-"
"Don't even think of following that with a dirty joke."
Methos shook his head. "I wasn't going to!"
"I'll let this one slide," Harry allowed. "I'm still impressed at how many things you managed to gather."
"Five thousand years," Methos sing-sang.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, mister ancient, I have yet to forget."
"Yes, I managed to save quite a few things. Had I known, I would have saved many. That vase over there? We used it to pee at night."
"Not the kind of details I wanted to know," Harry said with a grimace. "This museum is not fun anymore."
"Want to see the garden?"
"Why the garden?"
"Lots of make out spots," Methos stated.
Harry grinned.
o
Methos grinned when Joe called him to tell him that he was now officially the new researcher for tracking down Methos, it was Don Salzer's old position. The Immortal missed the other bookworm but he had long ago gotten used to death and the ways mortals left this life. He was preparing to celebrate with Harry when for the first time he suddenly realized that his lover was a mortal and that like all mortals he would not be around forever or as long as forever was for Immortals.
o
"Harry?"
"Yes?"
Methos considered his lover. Harry looked worn out lately. He was starting to lose weight and he barely had time for any quality time to spend with him. Even Harry recognized it as a problem. The shop was a big hit and Harry had to hire two more people to help Mirka and Fifi, but still he worried over every little detail.
"You need a vacation," Methos told him.
Harry cracked his left eye open. "You don't say?"
Methos chuckled. "Careful Harry, you're starting to sound as sarcastic as me."
"The shock! The horror!"
"Yes, you need time to relax."
"I don't have time. The shop…"
"Runs perfectly well without you hovering over everyone. Mirka is a smart girl and that pastry chef of yours is amazing. By the way I have yet to meet her."
Harry grunted.
"So, what do you say?" Methos asked.
"Holiday, huh?"
"Yes. Wherever you want. Do you want Italy? Spain? China? Ivory coast?"
Harry sighed. He would love a break. Traveling around the world sounded amazing.
"Maybe," he told Methos.
"Okay, whenever you are ready."
o
Being Adam Pierson had advantages and Methos milked his new position for all he could. Knowing the location of most Immortals around the world was his best protection, his best weapon and the perfect pastime. It was also a way to keep track of MacLeod and that thief friend of his, Amanda. But when he found that a dangerous Immortal, one Kristin Gilles, had recently turned up in Seacouver, Methos grew worried. That woman was a danger to everyone around her and from the Watcher Chronicles he knew that MacLeod had at one point known her. He was eyeing the phone when an idea got into his head.
"It has merit," he said to himself.
"Are you talking to yourself?" Harry said from the door of the library.
"Hm? Yes, no."
"Yes or no?"
"Harry, is your passport valid?"
o
Harry had never been on a plane before and had told Methos so. The immortal had made him sit by the window so he could see the view as the plane took off. Harry found the experience very different from any form of magical travel but the unpleasantness of the noise was certainly a bit of a turn off for Harry. As were the long hours and the cramped space. And Methos was not helping any with his comments and suggestive leering. Harry had to put his foot down when the immortal suggested they snuck in the loo for a quickie. Harry because the bump he gave his lover healed almost immediately.
o
Methos left MacLeod's apartment and dojo feeling a bit frustrated about the Highlander's gallant attitude towards that immortal bitch. Methos had not yet had the unpleasant fate of meeting her but rumors traveled. Even Kristin's Watchers at one point or another grew tired of watching her kill off women younger than her and mortal. He was in a foul mood when he met up with Harry in the hotel room they had rented.
"Methos?" Harry asked. He was on the bed; one of Methos' chronicles open in his lap.
The immortal climbed on the bed and gave him a kiss on his lips. "Hey."
"You look worn out," Harry observed.
Methos slowly crawled towards him and laid his head on Harry's stomach. The green eyed man immediately burrowed his fingers in his lover's thick hair.
"Oh, that's nice," Methos sighed. "What are you reading?"
"Your adventures in China," Harry replied.
"Which time?"
"Thirteen fifty four."
"That was a boring visit."
Harry chuckled as he closed the book. "Can I help you?"
"Just keep doing that with your fingers."
"Okay."
o
The next time Methos went to see Duncan Harry tagged along. Methos had explained his plan to Harry but the younger man had not been happy. Harry let them have their little tumble with the swords and only made himself known when the fight was over. Duncan had been happy to see him again and he had given Methos an incredulous look when Harry had not been watching.
"There's wine and beer upstairs," he told them. He led the way to the elevator and the other two followed.
o
Harry enjoyed his stay in Seacouver. If he excluded the threat Kristin posed to Duncan's protégé, it was an amazing holiday. Methos and Duncan knew the best spots in town, the galleries, the theaters. But what Harry liked even more were the rainy spells that reminded him of his home country. One such day he and Methos had been invited to see the house the Scottish man was renovating and somehow started helping the long haired immortal paint the house.
"I guess that this must be what it's like to have kids," Methos commented while he painted the beam that held the roof over the porch.
"You think so?" Duncan asked.
"Yes. You do your best; teach them what you know…"
(Extract from the series)
"And what? Make the same idiotic mistakes you did?" the highlander queried.
"You gave him warning," Harry told him, never taking eyes off his task.
"Duncan sugar coated the story he had with that … woman," Methos butted in. "He should have told the full truth."
Harry winced. "Yes well, some things are hard to remember."
"Stop defending him Harry," his lover commented. "He should have killed her when he had the chance. But he has that blasted idea of what chivalry is, or should be."
"A killer is a killer," Harry agreed. "Whoever said women were harmless or weak …"
"A couple of medieval writers," Methos butted in again.
Harry snorted.
Methos and MacLeod went at it a while longer.
"Will you knock it off?" Harry said when he was fed up with the arguing and the barbs each immortal gave the other on their ages. "Duncan, Methos is right, the fittest survives. This woman has had too many chances. What if she kills Richie? Would you let her live then?"
"Would you take the life of someone you knew? Went to bed with?" Duncan asked.
"Yes to the first, hasn't happened yet to the second," Harry responded, making both immortals stare at him.
"Harry?" Methos asked.
"I killed the man who killed my parents," Harry explained, never meeting his lover's eyes. "It was him or me. And I'm glad I'm the one surviving."
o
Methos could not get Harry's words out of his mind even as the couple crawled in bed that night. In the darkness of the room that statement weighed even heavier on the immortal's chest.
"Say it."
"Harry…"
"Say it."
"How? Why?"
"Tom Riddle, that was his name. He was a true genius but also very cruel. So evil... If you think Kalas and his machinations were bad he was worse. Tom had a following that slowly built an organization of terrorists. Not many knew the threat they posed, not many could fight back. My parents did. They died too early. Teddy's parents were killed by them as well. The same day I finally managed to get Tom. I even got a medal for it. For my bravery and selfless actions they said. I say it was because the man I killed just happened to be a monster bad enough that his killer could be considered a saint and a hero."
Methos took Harry in his arms and held him close, no more words needed between them.
o
Harry was in the hotel when he felt the change in the air. The wizard froze as the same energy he had felt in Paris once again tickled his senses. It was far from his location, in fact the lightening was not even visible when the green eyed man looked out of the window, but the energy was now familiar much like the feel of his own magic.
"Another Quickening," Harry whispered. He hoped the defeated was not any immortal he was familiar with. But what had Harry even more worried was the fact that he could feel his magic reaction to this power surge. He needed to start looking into this but he had no idea where to start from. He loathed going to Hermione about this. He thought that he could start snooping around on his own and if he got stuck then he would include his friend. Making up his mind Harry started planning a visit to the nearest magical library.
o
A few days after Methos took Kristin Gilles' head, he and his lover started discussing whether to go back to France, stay in Seacouver or travel to a different place. One day they visited Joe Dawson's bar when they met one waitress, Alexa Bond. Harry grew attached to the girl and he was sad to hear from Joe that she had only a few months to live.
"That's sad," Harry told Methos later.
"That girl?"
"Yes."
"Humans are so fragile," the immortal commented.
"Yes, we are."
Methos swallowed hard at that. For the first time he realized that Harry was not an immortal. He would not be around forever.
o
"We should visit Egypt," Harry told his lover one morning.
"Really?" Methos asked.
"Yes. I haven't been there in a while…"
"Me either," the immortal commented.
o
"Egypt?" Duncan MacLeod asked.
"The land of Pharaohs and pyramids," Methos grinned.
"When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow. Harry made the reservations."
"And your work mister watcher?" the Highlander reminded him.
"Did you know that Methos was said to have spent a lot of time in the court of Pharaoh Djer?"
Harry gave him a sarcastic look. "You don't say?"
Methos chose to ignore his partner's snarky attitude. "Yes."
"Are there really any clues or treasures left there? Mementos even?"
"I remember I stashed them somewhere," the immortal admitted.
Duncan snorted. "Have fun."
"Oh, we will." A wicked smirk appeared on Methos' face.
o
When the heat hit them in the face both men knew that they had finally reached their destination. The weather was unbearable and Harry had to use wandless cooling charms on himself and his lover just in case. Harry had booked them a place to stay in the village where the curse-breakers that worked for Gringotts occupied with their families. The wizards and witches staying there did not use magic blatantly as the residual magic from the nearby sights and monuments was very volatile. Because of this Muggle's were welcomed in the village and Methos would not be the odd one out during this visit.
o
Returning to the land he was born millennia ago gave the immortal an eerie feeling every time. The sands surrounding them, the ancient monuments, the cloudless sky, the scorching heat, the smell of the deserts. Distant memories of a childhood long ago passed. A family he could not even remember save for the survival lessons he had gotten from them.
"Love?" Harry's voice reached him, shaking him out of his reverie.
The green eyed man had led him to a small house with a small door. It was white like most houses in this place and the inside was much cooler. It made the immortal sigh in relief at the change in temperature.
"This is so much better."
"I know," Harry replied. "Are you sure you have not regretted agreeing to this. I hear Cairo has many wonderful hotels…"
"But this is right in the Valley of Death, right next to the Valley of Kings. I heard there was a new site the archeologists worked on. I didn't know you were among them."
"I'm not a relic hunter or anything like that," Harry replied. "My best friend's older brother is sort of a tomb raider. He mostly helps open the tombs and record things. The rest is up to the local authorities. I came here a while ago. I had just graduated from school and traveled around a bit. Egypt was my first stop. Bill let me stay for about a year. Then his wife got pregnant for a second time and they left for Britain. I went back to Europe too, Russia."
"That's from one extreme to another," Methos commented.
"I know. But a great adventure."
"How about we put our things away?"
"How about a shower?" Harry offered.
"Together?"
"Is there any other way?"
Methos smirked and stalked after him.
o
Harry stared at the wall of the pyramid, his eyes following the hieroglyphs with reverence. This new tomb was amazing really. The wizard suddenly frowned, stumbling across an unknown symbol. He looked for the guide only to see him a few paces away.
"Adam?" he called out.
"What?"
"What does it say here? Not the whole passage, just this symbol."
The immortal squinted his eyes. "Really? A love story?"
"It is?"
"Apparently this guy had a thing for the priest at Osiris' temple."
"No way!" Harry laughed. "Wait, don't tell me. I want to read for myself. Just translate this one."
"Okay. But you better hurry and read that part over there?"
"Is that….?"
"Yes, an Egyptian version of the Kama Sutra," Methos replied.
Harry choked. Trust his lover to find something perverted even in an archeological site.
o
They were in bed that day. They had been in Egypt for a week and every day they visited the nearby sights. Just the day before they had reached what turned out to be an ancient village and Harry noticed that his immortal lover had been brooding since then. Harry was willing to bet that that place had some kind of significance for the man.
"Did you remember something?" Harry carefully asked that same night. The tavern they were in was like somewhat stuck in the 1900's, to the immortal at least. The people in there were from the village and not many of them were up this late.
Methos shook his head. "Just… flashes. This place holds no memories. The sands already drowned the places I went to. But this familiarity… It feels weird."
"Say, did you have family in Egypt?"
"I think I had a wife from one of the nomadic tribes but now it's all blurry."
"You weren't always a gentlemen's man?" Harry teased.
The immortal snorted. "Not really. Up until 250 B.C. I was only a ladies man. I even had a harem once. But then came the Greek philosophers. Socrates -or was it Aristotle- I met them both by the way, had one very good looking student, Alcibiades. And that guy was something else. Smart, cunning, devious, immoral, handsome, rich…"
"You're first man?" Harry asked.
Methos rubbed his temples. "Probably, maybe."
"You don't remember," Harry surmised.
"It was during an orgy," Methos admitted. "And after lots and lots of wine. Never mind the fact that it has been two millennia since then."
Harry threw him a look. "You've been to an orgy?"
"Kind of hard not to during those centuries. Then came the Middle Ages and took away all the fun," Methos complained. "Most immortals have done almost everything. Except those goodie two shoes like MacLeod. He wouldn't know what to do with a harem."
Harry was silent for a few minutes before an idea came to him. "Say, how many women in your largest harem?"
"I don't remember, but over a hundred for certain," the immortal responded.
The wizard was pensive again.
"Harry?"
"Mmm?"
"Are you jealous?"
"Of long dead people? No. But my opinion of you being a pervert is cemented."
"What?"
Harry just smiled at his lover and patted his cheek. "Don't worry, I still love you."
Methos choked. "You love me?"
The green eyed man blinked. Had he really said that out loud? He saw the smile on Methos' face. He had.
The immortal took Harry's hand in his and gave it a soft kiss. "I'm honored."
"Honored?" the wizard asked.
Methos gave him a radiant smile. "Yes. And by the way Harry, I love you too."
o
The Library of Alexandria stood tall, imposing and unchanging even after millennia. Harry ignored the surrounding Muggle's and slipped inside the building. He had written ahead and the scholars had already prepared a booklist for him to research through. Harry barely spent a thought to how amazed Hermione would be if she ever visited this place or how giddy Methos would be if he saw the Library intact. Harry just sat down and started reading. If there was an answer as to why he could feel the Quickening's this was the most likely place to be.
o
Methos noticed that while in Alexandria Harry seemed to be quite busy. He would leave him alone for hours at a time and disappear. The immortal had not asked even though Harry's excuse ('I'm meeting a few acquaintances of mine') was not very convincing. He it slip though because apparently whatever it was it had to be serious as Harry was a bit pensive the four days they spent in the city. He could only hope that Harry would tell him when he was ready.
o
"No!"
"But Harry…"
"No."
"It could be fun."
Harry's glare could melt ice. But Methos was not deterred. He really wanted this and he was willing to put his all in this.
"I am not putting myself in danger just because you want to be spontaneous."
"Just imagine though. You. Me. only water between us. The stars shedding their light on us. It will be worth it…" Methos whispered in Harry's ear seductively.
"I'm not going skinny dipping in the Nile!" Harry declared before stomping away.
Methos pouted but it soon disappeared when he focused his gaze on Harry's backside.
"I can work with a tub too," he said to himself as he sauntered after his lover.
o
Methos closed the phone with a sigh.
"I know that frown," Harry commented. "It's your ominous face."
The immortal snorted. "I have an ominous face?"
"Depends. Was it good news you just got?"
"It was Joe," Methos shrugged.
"What mess did Duncan land himself into this time?"
Methos smiled at Harry's exasperation.
"He was helping a friend…"
"Figures," the wizard cut in. Harry was now intimately aware with how Duncan acted and thought. The immortal had an even worse case hero-syndrome than Harry did. And he picked up more strays than Hagrid did pets. One of these days the Highlander would be in danger of losing his head and Methos often complained to Harry about this. The wizard just smiled and thought it was about time the five thousand year old immortal had a friend.
"…and he somehow got a Dark Quickening," Methos finished without any details and as though his lover had not cut in with a sarcastic remark.
"So…"
"I need to help him recover. He already nearly killed Richie."
Harry frowned. "But isn't he a danger to you as well?"
"I'm no hero Harry. And I am proud to say that I can run pretty well when I need to," Methos stated. "If I don't help him now, I don't know who will. But the Watchers won't stay idle for long. They usually hunt down immortals that turn psychotic. MacLeod, he doesn't deserve that."
And Harry could only nod in agreement.
o
Tracking down an immortal was hard work, as Harry learned when he followed Methos back to Europe. The only lead they had was that Duncan MacLeod had left Seacouver and not much else to follow. There was not even a body trail. Even after MacLeod took Jim Koltec's head he had not killed another. They spent their time in Paris, in Harry's house. The wizard would go to his shop to see how things were doing while Methos tried to find their wayward friend. Until one morning.
"He's in Le Havre, in France," Methos told Harry. "Apparently his ship docked a few hours ago. He made contact with Sean Burns, an immortal. Apparently they're old friends from the War."
"Impressive contacts," Harry mused.
"Not really, and I'm a favor short," Methos grouched. He grabbed his coat.
Harry followed after him. "I'm coming with you."
Methos paused and took his lover from the shoulders, meeting his eyes. The immortal's face was grave. "Harry please, it's not safe. Duncan is not that same idiot nice guy you met a while ago. Dark Quickening's are a nasty business. Promise me you won't interfere."
"Methos…"
"Promise!"
Harry swallowed his fear that something might go wrong with his lover and nodded.
"I want to hear you say it," Methos' voice was low and almost dangerous.
"I promise I won't follow and that I won't interfere."
o
Methos watched with horrified fascination when Duncan took Sean's head. The Quickening that followed was less violent than he expected but long all the same. Methos tried to avoid it but some of the power entered his body as well, making him tremble. His only thoughts when he was about to confront MacLeod was that he wanted to survive this ordeal. He hated making Harry worry.
o
When the phone rang Harry picked it up immediately.
"Hello?"
"Harry?"
"Methos! Thank gods! How are you? Where are you? What about Duncan?"
"Harry, I'm fine, really, but Sean is dead. And Duncan… I lost him but one of the Watchers said he was seen in Paris. He's back at his barge. I'm coming to Paris as well. "
Harry swallowed. "Okay. Just… be careful."
"I will. And Harry?"
"Yes?"
"I want a favor to ask of you."
"What is it?"
"I want you to research something and make a call. Can you do that?"
"Just tell me what you want," Harry replied with determination. At the same time he conjured paper and a pen and started taking notes.
o
Methos was hidden close to Darius' chapel. It was a long shot but he was willing to try. When MacLeod arrived, the oldest immortal alive thanked his luck for this. He slipped inside the church and saw the Scottish man almost lost to guilt and pain. The picture he made niggled at Methos' memories. Before entering the chapel Methos had decided to take the man's head, but now, seeing this, he changed his mind. As he stepped up to help he mentally prayed to his gods that Duncan listened to him. When MacLeod gave his sword to him Methos started hoping.
o
When Methos pulled Duncan out of the pool in that abbey ("The spring had been lost since the 7th century and was a bitch to find," Harry had grouched over the phone), he could not help the relieved laugh that escaped him. He had lived many years but still some things made him wonder. The water was still sparkling and shining with ethereal colors even as it dripped off the Highlander till it settled again.
"So, magical spring?" Duncan mused.
"It was a long shot, but it worked," Methos admitted. "There are records of this from the Watchers but that file was…"
"Before you start rambling," Duncan cut him off. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
o
Harry had been surprised to see the Scottish woman in the barge but no more than Rachel was at seeing him. The two started tidying up the mess the place was in, talking as they worked. That was how the wizard learned that Rachel's last name was MacLeod. She was from the same place Duncan came from (Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel). She tells Harry about her mistaking Duncan for a grave robber and the mess that followed. When he hears nothing of immortals and the like Harry realizes she knows nothing about who Duncan truly is though she apparently suspects that something is up.
"He's a good man," Harry told her.
"He is," she admits with a smile on her face.
o
Methos enjoys seeing MacLeod tongue-tied over Rachel when they enter the barge. He meets Harry's eyes and sees amusement reflected in them.
"We'll be going then," he announces. "We still need to visit Athens."
"Adam, wait," the Highlander says. He pauses. "You and Harry. I…"
"Hey," Harry's voice is soft. "It's okay."
"No big deal," Methos adds while giving Duncan a pat on the arm.
o
Outside the barge Harry turned to Methos and gave him a thorough and hard kiss. When he released him, the immortal staggered.
"Okay, I deserved that," Methos admitted. "And a few more so get cracking."
Harry shook his head, a smile on his face. "Athens?" he asked.
"If you like. Our visit in Egypt got interrupted but we have time and money and Athens is closer."
"And then?" Harry asked.
"Whatever you want."
"I like the sound of that."
End of chapter