Title: a taste of lightning
Fandom: Highlander/Avengers movieverse/Norse mythology
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: future!fic for Highlander; mentions of violence/death
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 575
Point of view: third
"There's something odd about Ashton's boys," Mac says after the evening rush settles down.
"Boys?" Joe parrots after he catches up and realizes who Mac must mean. "He only had one, last I saw."
"He has two now," Mac tells him. "His little brothers, Evan and Gunther. Except, Evan is also Van and his son, and Gunther is Gunnar, and Van's brother, but not Ashton's son." Mac sips his scotch, studying the patrons of the bar, while Joe tries to untangle that. He serves a few regulars and when he turns back to Mac, Mac continues, "Evan is a gifted warrior. He's been exceedingly well trained. And Gunther – I saw the beginning of some kind of style, I think, but he prefers overwhelming by sheer strength, which he has in abundance."
"Evan seemed like a good kid," Joe says. "The Old Man really cares about him, too."
Mac nods, staring down into his glass. "He told me that Adam Pierson was a mask he dropped when I killed Byron," Mac says quietly.
"Well, yeah," Joe replies. "Adam was always an act." He laughs. "Even after I knew it, though, he still fooled me most of the time."
"But how – " Mac cuts himself off as another patron comes up. He continues when the man leaves, with, "But how is his act different from the rest of us?" He stares across the bar at Joe with those big brown eyes, and Joe truly wonders, just for a moment, how in the hell Mac made it this long in the game.
"Mac," he explains, slowly and carefully, "you haven't changed anything but your profession in four hundred years. The Old Man changes his whole persona. The names are usually variations of each other, as far as I've been able to tell, but they're all also really common." He shrugs. "Ashton is a completely different man than Adam Pierson, or Adam Pierson as the Old Man."
Ashton is a father. And a good one, from what Joe saw. Adam Pierson had been an academic, and so young. He would've blown away in a strong wind. And then, Adam Pierson as Methos had been a smart ass, but still not all that frightening. Not as frightening as five thousand years should've been, anyway.
Joe knows for a fact that he has never met the real Methos. He also knows that he'll never hear Methos' real name.
He's okay with that. There are some things humans just aren't ready for.
But Mac – Mac is a good man. Maybe the best Joe's ever met. And as long as Mac remains one of Methos' favorites, he'll last a long time.
"Tell me more about this other kid," Joe says. Van was good, quiet and shy. If Methos had trained him (which, of course, Methos had) he'd be a damned fine warrior. You don't live to be the oldest only by running away all the time. Eventually, you had to fight it out.
"Gunther wanted to spar with me," Mac says after draining his glass. "He's good, Joe. With the skill level he and Evan are already at… they can't be new."
Joe pauses, tapping his fingers on the bar. "Can't be new?" he repeats.
Mac shakes his head. "That's why there's somethin' odd about them," he says.
Joe refills his glass. "Start at the beginning, Mac," he orders. Then, "Wait. Let's take this to the back."
Nodding, Mac stands and follows him.