Disclaimer: Connor MacLeod and all 'Highlander' characters are copyright Davis/Panzer Productions, and Balthazar Blake and all 'Sorcerer's Apprentice' characters are copyright Disney. This fanfic is based off a lengthy Role-Play, heavily edited for added narrative. No profit made, but a hell of a lot of fun. Being an RP, this is effectively co-written by my girlfriend, who played Balthazar.

Okay, Highlander fans will recognize pretty quick we're hitting the start of the first movie, here. Those of you who haven't seen Highlander… should! Just for Connor's impossible accent and raspy chuckle if nothing else.

Sword and Sorcery

7. Heads will roll

In January, business pulled Balthazar away from New York, but on his return he took his new friends out to dinner, and continued calls and visits. In February he sent Rachel a dozen pink roses and a box of candy. She seemed delighted and grateful, but overwhelmed since Connor had showered her with roses and candy as well. Balthazar told her a woman could never have too many flowers, and joked that he'd almost sent Connor some, too.

The immortal pulled him into a drinking session or two, but he seemed to be absent often, possibly making plans, and his general mood seemed increasingly withdrawn and distracted. In March, over lunch, Rachel quietly mentioned that this was an annual habit with the approach of Heather's birthday. The explanation for his depression may have suited her, but Balthazar could think of additional things that might be on Connor's mind. He told Rachel to call him if they needed anything.

No phone call came, but on the last of March there was a front-page story of a man decapitated in the parking deck of Madison Square Gardens, with a possible connection to a similar crime two nights earlier in Newark.

Immediately concerned, he called Rachel to see what was happening and warn Connor to keep his head down and let him know next time if he needed help with clean-up.

When she answered, Rachel was quietly distressed. "The police had him, last night. He's here now, and he says they don't have anything on him, but…"

Balthazar tried to picture Connor in a police interrogation, with his hair-trigger temper. "Ngh. Well, I won't harass him, but keep me informed?"

"Oh B.B., we escaped attention for so long…"

"Hey," He said gently, "Hang in there. The police are no problem, and he hasn't lasted almost five hundred years out of pure luck. It'll be okay."

He could hear the slow breath as she composed herself. "I know. You take care, too…"

"Call me night or day. I'll be here."

"Thank you. We'll… be all right." After a polite good-bye she hung up, leaving him with worry that hung like a mist over the day.

When he was beginning to breathe easier again, two days later, the paper showed up with news of a third beheading, this time with eyewitnesses, and a police sketch. The artist's rendition that stared out at him was not by any stretch of the imagination Connor's face. Deeply concerned but wary, this time he went to visit them in person. Rachel wasn't there, and when the employee who was called down 'Mr. Nash', Connor stepped out of the elevator looking ready to kill.

"…Oh. It's you." The tone was quiet and flat, and Connor's expression didn't change.

Balthazar held up a hand defensively. "Just me." He confirmed gently. "Got a few minutes?"

There was a pause, as if the immortal was considering simply sending him away, before he stepped back. "Come on up." When the elevator rose out of the view of the ground floor he said, "You're lucky, the police just stopped watching me this morning." He was still radiating an aura of repressed rage, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"You look like hell." He sighed. "Is there anything I can do?"

"…Shield Rachel, somehow? I sent her home…" His tone softened at that. She had a room there in his loft, but seemed to prefer the independence of her uptown apartment. Connor pushed the grating open and stalked out across the landing. "That was Kastigir, last night. He was here to visit me. We had drinks, and parted outside the bar…"

"Consider it done. I'll stop by her place today." Balthazar frowned at the news. "…Hell. I'm sorry."

Connor led the way down the stairs and dropped onto a couch. His sword, oil, and whetstone were out. "…It's Kurgan. He's here for me."

Balthazar perched on the arm of a chair. "You haven't mentioned him before."

"…Maybe not by name." He picked up the sword, but it was clear he'd already sharpened it as much as it could possibly be sharpened, and in checking the blade he cut himself by accident. "He's the one that killed Ramirez, my teacher." He sucked on his finger briefly with a scowl. "He's the one that killed me."

"You have a score to settle, then." Balthazar rubbed his chin. "I kind of hate to see it, but… I wish you the best of luck."

"…Thanks." Connor gave an aggravated sigh and wiped his finger on his jeans. There was no trace of the cut left. "I owe it to Ramirez."

"Do you have plans, or is it his move?"

"I don't know where he is." Connor scowled. "But it's Heather's birthday. I promised her I'd light a candle, every year…"

"Do it, then. Just be prepared for him to find you. Should I go check on Rachel?"

"I'll be fine on holy ground. Would you?" Concern won through his anger. "I don't want him to find her. He's that much of a bastard…"

"I'll make sure she's safe." Balthazar nodded and stood.

"Balthazar… thank you." Connor sighed and rubbed his face.

"Mmh." He thumped the immortal gently on the back. "Just don't die, all right?"

Connor smiled up at him grimly. "I'm not planning on it." There was a glint in his eyes.

Balthazar nodded, understanding. "Call me when it's over. Or sooner if you need anything." He headed for the exit. Behind him, Connor rose and began moving through practice moves, so he saw himself out quietly.

Rachel opened the door warily when he arrived, then let him in with a hug.

"Connor told me what's going on. I thought I had better stop by." He hugged back and stroked her cheek gently.

Rachel leaned against him a moment. "How bad is it? He wouldn't tell me much…"

"He's not afraid, he's furious. That says something, but I'm not sure it's a good thing. What did he tell you?"

Rachel shrugged and moved away to fetch coffee. "This morning? Almost nothing, but I can make a few guesses. I know he went to see an old friend yesterday, and I know that's probably an immortal on the front page today. It's his friend that was killed, isn't it?" She gestured for him to sit. Her place was small, with elegant antique furnishings courtesy of Connor.

"Yes… Kastigir." He sat and sipped the coffee she'd brought. "Seems the killer is also an old acquaintance. He killed Connor's teacher…"

Her had flew to her mouth to cover a gasp. Possibly he'd just said too much. "That's Kurgan?"

He leaned over to put his hand on her shoulder, nodding slightly. "He wants you safe."

"Me? He's going to fight the man his own teacher couldn't defeat." She looked shaky now, which was probably why Connor hadn't told her.

"That was centuries ago. He's had time to learn plenty Ramirez didn't teach him."

She took a slow, shaky breath, getting a hold of herself. "Did he tell you about the woman?"

That brought his thoughts up short. "…Woman?" He raised an eyebrow, and assumed she didn't mean Heather.

Rachel picked up her coffee, hands shaking ever so slightly. "Brenda. I think she was looking for him over the… deaths." It seemed she couldn't bring herself to call them murders, knowing Connor was responsible. "But I think it's turned into something else."

"Really?" He was genuinely surprised. "How much does she know?"

"I don't know." Rachel frowned a little. "He talks to me less these days. But I don't think I've ever seen him look at a woman quite that way before."

Balthazar rubbed his chin. "…He didn't mention this at all. And I didn't see any woman there, but… I don't know, that might be good for him."

Smiling mildly, she nodded. "I know… you're both lonely, but you're so… calm about it. He's like a caged animal sometimes…" Rachel shook her head. "You both deserve someone." He couldn't quite tell if there was a note of jealousy or not.

He took her hand. "I'm waiting for someone. Someone specific. To be set free. Him… well, you know the story better than I do. It's different."

Rachel squeezed his hand. "I'm glad you have someone to wait for, at least."

Balthazar managed a weak smile, but he knew his gaze betrayed him, the thought that he'd been waiting for two of Connor's lifetimes wasn't helping.

"Oh…" Rachel leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry. I'm not saying the right thing at all…"

The touch made his smile more sincere. "No, no. You're sweet. Thank you." He sighed. "Listen, he asked me to keep an eye on you… he may be leaving here soon."

She closed her eyes suddenly and turned away, voice tight and quiet. "I don't want to hear about it."

He winced inwardly, and it occurred to him that she might know Connor too well not to have read the signs for herself before now. "…For what it's worth, he's… broken up about it." Balthazar stood and paced over to the window.

"He's broken up about it?" Anger flared in her voice, sudden and sharp, but her next words were a little more restrained. "It's not fair, you know. He doesn't want to see me grow old, or get hurt, so that should make it all right for him to just walk away from me?"

"…I don't think it's that," He said, measured, not looking at her. "He has all the time in the world, but you don't. He stayed with Heather her whole life, and I guarantee some part of him feels guilty, wonders what she could have had if he hadn't been in the way." He swallowed hard. If Connor had wanted to cut the strings, he probably should have done it sooner. "It's not fair, you're right. And in some ways it's not natural, but… things don't always work out the way we plan."

Rachel seemed to be quietly composing herself. Her reflection in the window was looking down at hands folded in her lap. "Nobody can know what could have been, but I don't care if my life hasn't been normal, and I'll never regret he took me in." She reached for a tissue and dabbed at her eyes delicately.

"…Don't you deserve someone, too, Rachel?" It was a gentle inquiry, almost plaintive.

"Haven't you ever heard it said all women look for someone like their father? How could anyone ever live up to him?" She gave him a watery smile. "I dated an immortal once, but that didn't end well."

He came over to sit next to her again, fiddling with the rings on his fingers. "I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say."

She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes again, answering primly. "Drink your coffee. You're not going anywhere, are you?"

He pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to her without looking. "No. I'm… settled here for at least another twenty years."

"Good." She tried to check her make-up carefully. "Connor always says we should try to live in the present. I refuse to live in fear of what might come."

He ran his hands over his face, feeling utterly miserable and desperate to hide it for her sake. "Right. Do you want me to stay a while?"

She watched him, and patted his arm. "I think… we should both talk about better things for a little while, don't you?"

He nodded. "Sure…" It was a sweet effort on her part, but he was completely unable to think of anything better for a moment, then fell lamely into musing about getting a pet bird.

Rachel's cheer was definitely forced, but she tried to make light conversation, too, encouraging him and wondering over whether she should get a pet, herself. She was still a little awkward and wistful by the time he politely took his leave. Balthazar left a light ward around her place, and tried to smile gently at her apologies, but he knew the expression was strained.

When he went home to his quiet, empty shop he sat down, and simply sat alone with his worries as the evening began to fall.

Author's Note: Rachel's comment about having dated an immortal once is an idea given to me by the fanfic 'Hostages to Fortune' by Teresa Coffman, which is an absolutely excellent read but I don't think it's available on I do not know that author, and don't have her permission, but her story would easily mesh with this one and I recommend it to anyone wanting to see more of Connor and Rachel's sweet father/daughter relationship, with her uncle Duncan there for a visit too. I'd give the link if didn't keep eating it...