Disclaimer: I don't Highlander (or Stargate when I get to it)
Rating: Warning this chapter is K+
Beta Reader: Michelle from the Official Highlander Message Board. Typo's are all mine.
Reviewers: Nedy Rahn – I got the one typo you pointed out, but the others I'm afraid will have to wait until I have the time to go searching. Thanks for pointing it out.
Author's Note: Hi everyone. Thank you to everyone who added the story to their favourites or alert lists. You might need a tissue for the end of this chapter, just thought I'd warn you.
Update (2014): I went through each chapter to fix any mistakes; if I've missed any please let me know. This chapter has Chronicle Extracts included.
AAD
Chapter 25: Thy eternal summer shall not fade.
March 1996
Mayo Abbey, Claremorris, Ireland
Jack woke to a throbbing headache and the sense he wasn't alone. Forcing his eyes open, he found himself in a large four-poster bed – naked, with an equally naked Nyssa lying next to him. To make things worse, he wasn't sure how he'd gotten there, or where there actually was.
He had a vague recollection of agreeing to go for a drink with the Immortal; after that, it was all a little bit fuzzy. Feeling a hand move over his stomach, he looked down – Nyssa was nuzzling his chest.
"Morning, Jack," she said softly and opened her eyes. She placed a kiss over his heart.
"Morning," he answered tentatively. "Where the hell are we?"
"Mayo Abbey, Claremorris, Ireland," she answered and let her hand wander further down. "You didn't seem too concerned last night."
"I was drunk last night," he grumbled.
Nyssa chuckled and moved nimbly, straddling his hips, her hair cascading over her shoulders. "You weren't that drunk, Jack," she whispered with a sexy breathiness that had his pulse racing from a standing start. She ran her fingers over his chest. "You knew what you were doing when you tied me to the bed posts and proceeded to make me purr like a cat."
His eyes widened. "I did?"
She laughed melodiously and picked up his left wrist, a light blue silk scarf was still tried around it. "Of course I got to do the same to you."
Jack pulled his hand free and rubbed his temples. "Oh God."
Nyssa laughed and clambered off the bed. "Oh come on Jack, it was just sex." She headed into the bathroom. "Good sex, I must admit."
He stared after her. Good sex? He scrambled out of bed and went after her; she was already in the shower. "What do you mean it was only good sex?" He pulled off the scarf and threw it on the laundry hamper as he said it.
She poked her head out from shower recess. "I've slept with some of the best lovers in the world, but none ever come close to Methos."
"Methos," he snorted. "Methos is just a myth."
She grinned and shut the door again. "Not in my bed he isn't. Has a particularly nimble tongue for a myth too for that matter."
He frowned, opened the shower door and stepped in. "You're telling me Methos is real?"
"Do shut the door, Jack."
"Huh?"
"You're dripping over the floor."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Of course he's real," she mused licking her lips.
"Who's real?"
"Methos – oh do pay attention, Jack."
Jack groaned. Damn he'd fallen for it. "Funny, real funny."
Nyssa giggled. She ran her hand down his chest, which seemed to be a favourite take-off point for those fingertips of hers – it certainly wasn't their intended destination, he noted, as they wandered lower. "What's the matter, Jack, jealous?"
He sighed, "No." He leaned against the shower wall taking her with him. He was never going drinking with an Immortal ever again.
She could see he wasn't in the mood for her teasing. "Come on Jack, shower and then I'll do something about that headache you have," she kissed the tip of his nose.
"Who says I have a headache?"
"I do." She pulled back and stepped under the water. "Now be a good boy and scrub my back."
Jack snorted, remaining where he was, eyes closed. He didn't open them until he heard the shower door open and close.
Nyssa dried off and hung up her towel. "Don't be long, Jack," she told him and then left the bathroom. She dressed, stripped the bed and had it remade by the time the retired colonel walked in, a towel around his waist.
"So what are you going to do?" he asked.
After rummaging through his bag, she threw him a pair of boxers. "Put them on then lie on the bed on your stomach."
Jack grabbed the boxers. "No aspirin?" He pulled on the boxers and hung the towel neatly over the back of a chair.
"What I can do is better than aspirin, Jack," she boasted and patted the bed.
Hesitantly he lay down, resting his head on his arms. "Be gentle," he murmured.
"Always," she promised and sat at his feet. She poured a little fragrant oil onto her hands and rubbed it into his calves. Working her way slowly to the bottom of his right foot, she pushed her fingertips into the sole at the pressure points then massaged over them.
Jack let out a moan before he even realized it. "God, woman where did you learn this?"
Nyssa smiled, poured more oil into her hands and moved to the other leg. "China, 1779. I also meet my 41st husband while studying medicine there."
He could feel his headache easing off. "Nice guy was he, your 41st husband?"
"He was; his name was André Pascal."
"Did he know you were Immortal?"
Nyssa pressed into the sole of his foot. "No, he didn't. He was killed during the French Revolution while thinking he was saving my life."
"Sorry kid."
She smiled warmly; he was sincere about it, she knew that. "It's okay youngling."
Jack chuckled. "Youngling?"
"Well there is nearly thirty centuries between us, Jack," she retorted lightly. "I was 2980 years old when you were born."
A shiver ran down Jack's spine. "You're kidding, right?"
"No, I was born in the Bronze Age, what would have been 1028 BC," she answered with composure. She put his leg down, poured more oil on her hands and then straddled his backside, massaging his back. "As I told you in Paris, I have seen things that would make your skin crawl and your stomach churn."
"I thought you were just pulling my leg, pardon the pun," he remarked. "Did you know Christ?"
"I did, we spoke once or twice when I was in Jerusalem. He was a fascinating man," Nyssa answered. "As were a number of men and women I've meet."
"So you really did meet Cleopatra and work in the Great Library of Alexandria?" he turned his head and closed his eyes.
"I did," she said with a smile. "I also knew Julius Caesar and his son Julius Caesar Octavianus, who is an Immortal as well as Mark Anthony, Cleopatra's lover."
"You got around," he mumbled.
Nyssa chuckled softly. "I did. I partied with Bryon, painted a picture of Frankenstein for Mary Shelly and was there when the Eiffel Tower was first opened to the public." She ran her hands down his spine. "I once caused a scandal in Paris."
Jack snorted. "You?"
"Yes, me," she smirked and leaned over, whispering in his ear. "I was Nicolet Pascal, the artist. I painted a couple making love."
Her voice sent the blood rushing to a certain sensitive part of his anatomy. He opened his eyes, his headache gone. "I've seen that painting."
She heard the huskiness in his voice and slowed the massage down to a fingertip caress. "And what did you think youngling?"
"It was… Well let's just say, it made my night interesting," he remarked.
Nyssa laughed. "It certainly made my nights interesting too." She gracefully rolled away from him and off the bed. Putting the oil away, she washed her hands in the bathroom and returned to the bedroom, seeing he hadn't moved.
"How's the headache, Jack?"
"Gone. You're good," he praised her. "Just don't ask me to roll over."
She smiled, finding that amusing. "Funny they all say that." She walked over, kissed the top of his head then straightened. "I'm going to make breakfast – I'll call you when it's done."
"Don't rush," he mumbled.
Chuckling, Nyssa left the bedroom.
After breakfast, they sat on the veranda of the 816-year-old house.
"I can see why you like it here," Jack declared. "It's quiet. How's the fishing?"
"Not bad, about a mile that way is a pond full of fish," she revealed. "There are rods in the barn if you want to try your luck. Do you ride? It's the easiest way to get there."
"I'm not bad on a horse," he answered. "What about you?"
She chuckled. "Jack, I grew up around horses, I could ride before I could walk."
"So you can ride?" he asked with a smirk.
Nyssa laughed. "Yeah, I can ride."
She heard the phone ring and headed inside.
Jack sat back, laughing softly. He could stay here for a while, go fishing. Hanging out with a 3000 plus Immortal wasn't all that bad.
When Nyssa returned, she had her travel bag with her.
"Going somewhere, kid?" he inquired not realising his daydreaming had caused that much time to pass.
She shouldered the bag. "I have to go to Switzerland. A friend just died and I promised her that, when it happened, I wouldn't leave her husband to face it alone."
Jack got to his feet. "Give me ten to grab my stuff."
"No, Jack, stay, go fishing. Mi casa es su casa," she said with certain bluntness that spoke volumes.
He folded his arms. "Is that a polite way of saying I'm not wanted?"
Grinning, she kissed his cheek. "Yes, Jack. Stay, I insist."
"Okay, kid, but call if you need me," Jack insisted.
"I will, I have you on speed dial."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah," she said and grinned. "I left directions to the pond on the table. Have fun, Jack."
"Thanks, kid." He waved as he watched her drive away then headed back into the house to look at the directions.
AAD
Switzerland - Sacré Coeur Hospital
Nyssa followed the directions to the chapel. She sensed his buzz before she entered and found him sitting hunched into himself. She walked to him and sat down putting her hand on his back. "Methos?"
He looked up then took her in his arms, built-up tears running down his cheeks as he buried his head in her shoulder.
She rubbed his back. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner for you."
Methos got control of himself. "You're here now."
"For as long as you need me," she promised. "We'll get through this."
He sat up and wiped his eyes. "I have to arrange for her body to be taken back to Paris. I thought about having her buried in Santorini, she loved it there, but I don't want her to be so far away from me."
Nyssa cupped his cheek. "Then we'll take her back to Paris and have her buried at Montparnasse cemetery," she told him.
Methos nodded. "Thank you."
She kissed his forehead and hugged him again. She knew how hard this was for him; it was always hard to lose love ones. They'd get through this together, just as they always had, and just as she had promised Alexa.
AAD
Extracts from the Nyssa Chronicles – Translated by Dr Daniel Jackson
March 1996
Mayo Abby, Claremorris Ireland – Poor Jack, he woke up with one monster of a headache; I have a feeling he will not be drinking with me again. The benefits of Immortality, the older you are, the quicker your recovery. Though I think, he was more surprised by the fact we were in Ireland, then the fact he was naked in my bed. I have to admit, Jack was good for a youngling.
I receive a phone call from Methos; it is one I have been waiting for – Alexa has died. I am flying to Switzerland to be with Methos and help him with the arrangements.
Switzerland – Arrangements have been made; Methos and I are escorting Alexa's body to Paris where she will be buried at Montparnasse cemetery. The next few months will be hard on Methos and because of that; I'm going to remain at his side. We'll get through this together, just as Alexa wanted. I think in her own way, Alexa knew I loved Methos as much as she did.
AAD
To be continued in Chapter 26: After midnight
Please review, I do love the feedback.
Authors Note Update (2014): The first time I posted this chapter there was a Sonnet added at the end. I decided to leave the Sonnet off this time and included the Chronicle Extracts.