Usual Stuff –Highlander is owned by Davis-Panzer Productions and I have written this story for fun and not profit. Any errors are all mine. I put a poem that I think has something to do with the story on every chapter. If it's not, your thing skip it.

A Red, Red Rose

BY ROBERT BURNS

O my Luve is like a red, red rose

That's newly sprung in June;

O my Luve is like the melody

That's sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi' the sun;

I will love thee still, my dear,

While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!

And fare thee weel awhile!

And I will come again, my luve,

Though it were ten thousand mile.

Each and every person Methos loved he promised that he would never forget them. When Alexa died, Methos made this same promise to always remember her.

Chapter 9

Club Sanctuary on April 23, 2012

Either Methos had left, or he was playing hide and seek. Amanda looked in several places for the old Immortal, but he was nowhere to be found. "Methos the story was just getting really interesting. Darling, you're not the type who lets someone like Ceirdwyn get under your skin? I thought you had a tougher hide than that." To her surprise, he appeared on the landing coming down the stairwell from her private apartment.

"Amanda you have a lovely place up there."

"Funny I thought I had locked the door, and I was the thief here."

"Can't a guy look around? You know your door is way too easy to pick you need a better lock."

"Thanks for the update, I'll be sure to do that. Methos you know what's really nice about living on holy ground. Obnoxious and annoying Immortals can't sneak up on me and mess up my place with a quickening."

"I would assume that could have its advantages. I saw the stairs led up to the next floor, do you have another apartment up there?" he asked knowing what her answer would be.

"Yes, and offices too, but they haven't been inhabited by anything but pigeons in years. In 1999, it was Nick Wolf's place before he became Immortal, but no one, but pigeons have been in there since, and it's rather a mess."

"Looks like someone trashed the place."

"So, you pick that lock too and saw in there?" Asked Amanda, but the only reaction she got was Methos shrugging his shoulders.

"The apartment needs a total rehab. Wolf really didn't need more than somewhere to sleep and an office, back then Nick was very pragmatic. I haven't done it because they are only a few people I could tolerate to have as my neighbor."

"Could you possibly tolerate moi?" Methos pointed at himself. "I may be pragmatic, but I prefer to live comfortably. I'll be sure to add sound proofing, so you wouldn't have to put up with my daily meditations and rock a' roll music."

"Hey, I love rock-and-roll. And Macleod told me about your loud meditation's when you bunked with him on the barge." A smile graced her face, but he could tell she was still digesting what he had asked. After taking a deep breath answered, "I'll think about it." She raised a finger pointing at him, "But I will not sell you any part of this building, and I do intend to collect a fee, and expect you to fix up the apartment yourself. Besides do you really want to live in the same building as little old me?" As she placing a hand upon her heart and feigned surprise.

Methos mood brighten, as his smile reappeared and softened his face. "I agree with you I wouldn't want a quickening to mess up the place either."

She smiled, "Darling, I haven't told you what my fee is yet."

Methos laughed for the first time all night. It was a deep chuckle that came from his belly, "Let me know when you decide exactly what that fee is. But your right I must finish this story. Amanda if you want to know more about this tale, let me crash here the next couple of days?"

"I guess that's not too much to ask especially with the amount of drinking you're doing, but you usually stick to beer. Not that I'm complaining, at least you're not stiffing me like you do Joe. But it seems me that today is more than just the date you lost Alexa and Rebecca?"

"Why do you say that? And I do pay my tap at Le Blues Bar. It was Adam Pierson who couldn't afford Joe's tab on a watcher salary. Maybe I am intruding by asking you if I can stick around?"

"It's not that, I'm happy to have the company, especially since MacLeod is otherwise entertained."

"Amanda, MacLeod will soon be back at your doorstep, Ceirdwyn is only a mere amusement, among Immortals you are his lady."

"Thank you for saying that, but I am not as sure as you are." She said with a sad smile on her face, then she asked another question. "How long do you intend to stay in Paris?"

"I'm not sure." He furrowed his brow then began to hem and haw, rehearsing the answer to himself before he spoke. Finally, putting his hands in his pockets, he looked her right in the eyes. "I think until Joe dies. He seemed quite upset when I disappeared on him for 3 or 4 years. I tend to do that a lot and mostly for much longer, but somehow Richie got a hold of me." Suddenly, he no longer could continue meeting her eyes as he spoke, he hunched his shoulders and looked out a window in the stairwell. "I only realized recently I liked Joe, and he is worth sticking around for." Methos then pulled up a hand and pressed it against his lips as if he was trying to keep any other of words from escaping but ended up scratching his chin.

Amanda smiled back at her friend, "I happen to agree with you. Joe is a remarkable person and is one of the reasons I am staying put here too, but…" She paused then smiled saying, "Why not?" She held out her right hand for him to take hold of. "Come on. Let's get back before they send out a search party."

"Amanda, that's a very good idea, I need to finish this tale tonight." He said grasping her outstretched hand and entangling his fingers with hers. "Dose why not translates to – I could have the flat above yours?"

"I will let you know after I decide on my fee, and if you're willing to pay it." They both laughed as they walked hand in hand towards the bar.

Back in the bar the troops were getting restless, MacLeod seemed less happy with the direction this story was heading and continued to question Ceirdwyn. Methos smiled at his old friends as Amanda and him entered the bar, "Hey Mac, don't be upset with her; this happened over twelve hundred years ago and most of us lived through it." Then he turned his face towards Ceirdwyn, "Sorry I probably have been too hard on you this evening. Then again, I don't like people to hijack my stories, must be why I tell so few of them." Then addressing the group, he clapped his hands saying, "We must get to the end of this story." Methos sauntered up to the bar for a fresh bottle of beer. He returned to the circle his friends were all sitting in. After positioning himself so everyone could hear. He sat down, and Amanda sat next to him leaning on his wide shoulders.

Flashback to 801 the Duke du Cléroy's castle

Methos studied his cell. It had the customary stone walls, thick iron bars, a bucket in the corner (for necessities) a dirt floor covered with hay and a small window about haft way up the wall. The only strange thing was it was fairly clean which surprised him. He had broken out of worst places before, and began plotting his escape. Soon he felt the presence of another Immortal. The guards dragged in a semi-conscious Constantine, who was healing from a beating. They opened the cell across from his and tossed Marcus in. One of the guards turned so he was facing Methos' cell and addressed him. "Don't worry the Duke wants to take care of you himself," the guard said as all the guards rattled the bars with their swords laughing as the departed.

Methos retrieved the bucket from the corner and flipped it over to make a seat, and watched his friend wake up. "Sorry I never intended you to be part of this, I thought Ceirdwyn was going to ensure your safety."

"I did too, but there is little she could do, she opened Pandora's box by telling the Duke he was Immortal. I think she regrets attempting to out fox you."

"I planned on killing him, so he would come back to life in front of his men, then he would have been unbalanced, confused, and his people would be frighten of him. I never expected Ceirdwyn to do what she did!"

"Methos you don't know her like I do, sometimes she just tends to react."

"Ceirdwyn is a warrior, and she was angry I spurned her. I shouldn't have told her about my plans and spent time alone with her. Then when you showed up at the castle, I practically tried to pass her on to you."

"Yes, that probably was a bad idea, I know she cares for you."

"I never realized she thought we were anything but two friends. I told her I was in love with a mortal, but she thought I wasn't serious."

"We both made misjudgments. I wanted to take Darius's Quickening, and you led Ceirdwyn on. Now we need to deal with what happened. It will not help either of us to have any regrets."

"Sometimes you remind me of Emrys, I know you have missed him too. Speaking of the old master do you know if Darius is here?" Methos asked Marcus.

"Yes, he has arrived and was speaking with the Duke when I was tackled by those brutes, he calls guards. The Duke du Cléroy is now one of us and he has no intention of following the rules. Darius is safe, Ceirdwyn and Rebecca are with the duchess and trying to do damage control, but I fear it's much too late for either of us."

"Don't be so glum I think we can get out of here easily enough. If we escape, what do you suppose will happen to Darius, Ceirdwyn and Rebecca?"

"Darius has the Empires protection, but I am sure the women are in great peril. The Duke is insane. I thought that was possible, but until now he was only dangerous to his own citizens. And most those know better than to irritate him."

The two men continued to talk for what seemed hours, until the sun set and the guards return, but this time they had brought Lydia. They opened up Methos' cell and tossed the Duchess in. The men did bring her a jug of wine along with a few blankets. Then they locked her in his cell.

Soon the Duke du Cléroy came in the dungeon and walked close to the cell with Methos and Lydia inside. He turned to Marcus and said, "I will have your head tomorrow, then I will possess your power, what did mistress Ceirdwyn call it?"

Methos helped Lydia back to her feet, as Marcus looked at the Duke and answered, "You mean the Quickening."

"Yes."

"Duke I have been your vassal for years as I was for your father. What is your reason for my death?"

"Because Constantine you have lied to me! And I can feel what you are, and I want your power for myself! The women are also of the same kind, and I will take their Quickening's if I have any trouble from either of you. Oh, sir Knight I will kill you by my own hand if this girl has any second thoughts about marrying me. You are both my pawns to control as I see fit. Milady, if you disobey me, I will torture your lover, and his death will be long and painful."

"Where are Ceirdwyn and Elizabeth?" Marcus asked, knowing the Duke only knew Rebecca as Elizabeth of Trent.

"They are locked in a room in the castle, they both need to attend to Milady tomorrow, so she can get ready for ourwedding."

Lydia looked at him with cold eyes, "Duke, you must not harm them, I must know how Father Darius is?"

The Duke sighed, "You know I cannot harm the priest he has signed papers from the Emperor and is required to return to him to report that the marriage took place. I will send my guards with him to protect him on that voyage. Do not fear for the priest, he will marry us tomorrow. If you behave Milady in a year or two, I will send you to a nunnery to live out your miserable life. I might give you to some of my men, so you can produce a child, I am told those who are like me cannot have children. It would be strange if your family found out you were to be childless, and I do not want to raise any suspicions about our marriage."

Lydia look him coldly right in his eyes and demanded, "Send me my Priest."

"He is taking the ladies confessions and preparing them to die tomorrow. Now I speak to you, Knight.

"What do we have to discuss, beside letting us out of here?"

"You are an amusing one, I see why she likes you. But" the Dukes tone turned very whimsical. "You must be quite the lover, Mistress Ceirdwyn loved having you here, and she does not entertain anyone. I know you claim to love Milady Lydia, so have your way with her tonight, prepare her for me. I don't like to bed virgins. They either are screamers or just lay there crying, and she is so looking forward to a night with you."

Methos eyes locked on the Duke and anger flooded his face, "Why would I do that?"

The Duke laughed at Methos. "It will be a pleasurable task." Then the duke continued to laugh while turning to leave. Just before he left, they could hear him telling the guards to bring the good Father to her.

Lydia fell into Methos arms and sobbed. He lovingly held Lydia until all her tears had dried, and comforted her.

"I love you; this maybe all the time we have." Lydia told him.

"No, Milady I will not ravish you. I do not want our first time to be on the floor of this dungeon with Marcus looking on. We must find a way out of this predicament."

"I will not let you die my love; I will do what he says as long as you are alive." Lydia proclaimed.

"No. You must not do what that bastard wants. If it's my fate to die, I will. Speak with Darius. He was a mighty general before he became a priest. He may have a plan; I know he can't just leave you to that monster."

"Methos, take me so we could have one night together in this lifetime of misery."

Darius booming voice said, "No Methos, I thought you were better than that."

"Priest, only Emrys would say that, not you. You know the worst of me and I know the worst of you. But you're not Emrys he was different. He saw me with kindness in his eyes. But that was his way to see only the best in everyone. Darius truly you are a man of peace but certainly you are different from my old teacher."

"True, but I do have the old man's quickening, and it tells me you are a better man than you think you are. Now step away from my charge."

"I will not harm her Darius."

"I was hoping you felt that way." Then Darius turned to Marcus, "I will do everything I can to save you."

"Thank you. I doubt there is much that can be done, he is a madman, with great power. His father worried he would become this way. He was cruel as a child. The old Duke hired many teachers and wise men to try to change his nature. We all thought it worked, but sadly we were wrong."

Then Darius turned to Methos, "You will treat this child what is accorded per her rank."

"I am not still a child. I have changed since we left on this journey." Lydia told the priest.

"You always have behaved like a true lady. Lydia, you are brave, good hearted, and intelligent. If I ever could have a child, I would have chosen you. We must find a way out of this mess; you were right Milady we should never have come here. I failed you."

Lydia took a step away from Methos and reached through the bars to touch Darius. "You were my friend when I had no one, you were both mother and father to me. I still believe we can all survive this."

A tear fell on Darius's cheek. "If you are expecting, a miracle it's not coming. The lord will not be helping us, my sins are too great, and Immortals are not governed by God's law. We kill to live, and I live on holy ground, so I refuse to be part of the game. There is little we can do besides killing the Duke, and I have made a vow not to kill but let peace find away."

Methos heard the sounds of a Quickening in the courtyard. "I think Cléroy found another Immortal who he just killed!"

Marcus asked, "Are you're sure it wasn't one of the women?"

"I hope not, but Ceirdwyn told me there are other Immortals in this province that would not fight her. They just wanted to live in peace, that's impossible now."

Methos went to the window and looked at the courtyard, there he saw a lifeless body. A man was beheaded not by the Duke but by an executioner. Only the Dukes men were there, and they looked frighten to see their leader get hit by the lightning. "I am afraid you were right; the Immortal was executed by a man in a hood if they were any closer to us the Quickening would have jumped into this dungeon. So, Cléroy has no idea what he is doing."

Marcus replied "The Duke must die. He is too dangerous to live."

Darius eyes were focused on Lydia, "My child. I have asked Ceirdwyn and Rebecca to take his head. From the time, I took the old holy man's Quickening any acts of violence were intolerable to me, but it seems I have used my friends to commit violence in order to save you," he said switching his gaze to Methos. "I was wrong, and it is not the way I should live. I have made a grievous mistake; I must pray to cast away these feelings of pride and walk-in peace. I am sorry I will not kill even to save you, Lydia. I must wash away any acts of malice put on sackcloth and ashes and return to holy ground; there I can repent my sins. I never should have loved you like I do. We are not meant to have children, and this is why, I have turned against my true nature, because of my love for you Lydia."

"Darius, don't be so hard on yourself, it seems we both fell under Lydia's magic." Methos said as he reached out to touch his old friend.

"I am sorry I dragged you into this. If I had not asked you to help me, you would be safe now." The priest lamented.

"If you had not asked me, my heart would never have mended, and I am happy I found Lydia. She has made me whole again. Now I'll stand in the back and give you some privacy, I will not need your services besides if I gave you my confession, we will be up all night."

Darius chuckled, "True old friend. Now I will take Lydia's confession and blessed her." Shortly the guard came in and escorted the holy man back to his private rooms.

Methos was busy moving the straw and blankets to make a softer place for Lydia to rest, then he handed her the jug of wine. "Take a drink it will help you relax." After she drank some of the wine, he asked her "Please Lydia lie down here and rest."

"Only if you lay with me and hold me."

"I could do that." He kissed her sweetly on the cheek, "Please try to sleep."

"I am strong and will find a way to stop the Duke. If I have too, I can kill him myself."

"Lydia, you realize that means cutting off his head. That is not an easy thing to do."

"Darius and I trained together with the sword; I am small but not incapable. We will get through this both alive. Have faith my love."

Methos closed his eyes and kissed her deeply while holding her tight. "I don't deserve you."

Lydia laid on the bed of blankets and straw. "Hold me, as long as I have you, I still have hope."

He held her tightly, "So you're an optimist, good to know."

"All, I know, is I love you." She said as she kissed him lightly at first but opened her mouth, clutching tightly on to him and seeking whatever pleasure he would give her.

"Lydia, I will not take you here in the dungeon, instead try to sleep. This day has been trying, and you need to rest." Methos said as he held her tightly. Finally, she fell asleep and Methos unwound his body from hers.

Marcus smiled at his old friend, "Methos you can be a good man, I just wished we still had the optimism of youth like she has."

"I wish I had it too because I fear tomorrow, we both will die."

Back at the Club Sanctuary on April 23, 2012

"So Ceirdwyn you and Rebecca were captives also?" Duncan asked her.

"It looked that way, didn't it?" Methos inquired as everyone's eyes fell upon her.

"Rebecca and I were working on a plan, to save you, Lydia, and Marcus, I would win the Duke's favor and behead him."

"Well, that's not what Rebecca told me, she said you were saving your own neck. But I have been too harsh. You did promise to help Lydia anyway you could. I do know, you wished to kill the Duke and regretted what you did. But Milady Ceirdwyn you were not planning on saving anyone but yourself."

"That's not what happened,"

"Darius, and Lydia told me everything including your actions." Methos said calmly.

"I'm not the bad guy here, I was a captive too, he had his men hold a sword at my neck."

"I know, we all made a lot of bad choices. I was angry at you, for a long time; I am truly sorry I have been so hard on you tonight. But I have looked at you differently since then, I knew you are a survivor. It's not like that was a new piece of information. I guess I was just surprised at the lengths you will go to survive."

"I told the guard I needed to speak to Cléroy, so they brought me to him." Ceirdwyn replied.

"Yes, I heard that you got cozy with that monster, he always wanted you in his bed, but I never saw how that was going to save anyone but yourself." Methos accused her.

"It was a man's world and women had to use their talents to gain any power. I am not proud of it, but I did win his confidence, and it did put me in a position to help Lydia. One thing Methos you never admitted to her you were also an immortal. What you don't know is Darius had already told her that."

"Sometimes it's easier to believe a lie, I didn't want her to know. It's not fair for the ones I love to grow old and die while I live century after century. I never intended to tell Alexa, but she found out." The old Immortal said with regret.

Joe interrupted in a tired voice, "I understand you all still have things to work out, has anyone here thought about trying Immortals Group therapy? Now can you just get to the end of this story before dawn?"

"Sorry Joe, now, where was I?" Methos asked as if he had forgotten.

The entire group moaned. Amanda looked at her old friend, "You were in the Dungeon with Lydia and Marcus."

"Yes, well…" Methos began again to tell the tale.

End of chapter