Back at the station house ADA Cabot has gathered Captain Cragan and Doctor Huang and they are reading the text of the translated discussion recorded in the box. Cragan and Huang had been told a little about the content, but this is the first time they've read it. Huang mutters "My God… He said he'd rip his … testicles and penis off…" Cragan looks up unconsciously crossing his legs and says "The more chilling part is right after that…just one word…'again'." Cabot gets a slight smile before she can suppress it and says "Keep reading boys. He casually asks how long they took to grow back. You see why we can't accept this confession. It could be interpreted that Adam was an agent of the police since it happened in the interrogation room. Plus, who would believe it."
Alex asks Huang "What can you tell us about his personality?" Huang shakes his head. "There is no frame of reference. We're talking about a guy who is thousands of years old. Olivia said he saw Christians being fed to the lions, but he is far older than that if he speaks conversational Proto Indo European. It is said that all but the pyramids fear time… This guy…and the other one are older than the pyramids. Things we see as permanent are passing fads to someone like this. Olivia reported that she overheard him tell Melinda that the world they see isn't the same world we see. That isn't literally true, but his view of it is. I spoke to Melinda because I wanted to learn more…she said I was lucky I was talking to her and not him. She was right." Cragan takes this in and says "Doc, if 'Liv in danger?" Huang shrugs "I don't think so, but we have no idea what he values or what lengths he might go to protect them. He cares for Olivia, but there maybe other things he values more." Cragan nods but reasons "Well we know some things. He has been good to Olivia so far. He cares enough about Melinda to protect her and get this guy to confess…"
Alex suddenly has a revelation "I don't think the guy that confessed did it… If he did, and if Adam frightens him so much, he could have just framed him and then killed him. Isn't that what these…people do?" Cragan nods. "One thought that has allowed me to sleep since the 1980's is that, like the myth about the Mob, they only kill each other." Alex says "What if, like the Mob, that is a myth?" Cragan nods grimly.
As the meeting breaks up with more questions than answers Alex is thinking that she loved history and meeting someone who lived it would have been a fantasy come true, but now it fills her with terror.
Cragan runs all of the copies of the transcript except his through the shredder.
That night Alex slowly finishes a box of day old chicken lo mein cold watching the a program about ancient Rome on television without really following it lost in the thought about the days events. She goes to her bedroom, puts her glasses on the nightstand and slips out of her casual clothes and into a white silk nightshirt without turning on the lights and slips into bed. She lies staring at the ceiling as her eyes adjust to the darkness. Suddenly she has the thought that she's not alone. Trying not to be obvious and feeling a little silly she looks around to reassure herself that it was just a random thought. To her absolute horror she sees in the darkness a muscular man taking the clothes she tossed onto the chair off of his lap and her bra off of his head. Alex inhales violently and reaches for the nightstand where she keeps a pistol.
"Alex, a gun isn't going to get it done. You are in no danger." Alex turns on the light with the gun in her hand. "Point it at me if it makes you feel better." Alex levels the gun and cocks the hammer. "Who are you?" The man puts the last of her discarded clothing neatly over the back of the chair. "I am Duncan MacLeod." Alex processes this information. "The guy protecting Melinda? Adam's friend?" Duncan nods. "Why are you in my bedroom?" Duncan smiles "I wanted to talk to you privately. The guy that confessed was there, but he didn't do it." Duncan leans forward and starts to get up as Alex tracks him with her gun. "How do you know that?" she asks. Duncan stops and turns to face her. "Because, I did." Alex motions him back to the chair with the gun. Duncan goes back and sits, after putting her bra back up on the back of the chair from which it had fallen.
"You're in a lot of trouble mister. Breaking and entering, stalking, peeping, and some form of murder as yet to be determined…" Duncan shakes his head. "I entered, but I didn't break in, your window was unlocked. I haven't stalked you, I just waited for you. I didn't peep. I thought you'd turn on the lights and I heard you more than saw you. As far as murder goes…it was self defense." Alex studies Duncan carefully. "How old are you?" Duncan says "I was born in 1582, so just over four hundred." Alex digests this and asks "So you were protecting Melinda from…yourself?" Duncan looks down "Adam didn't know that when he brought her to me. She can never know…" Alex continues to study Duncan. He finally continues "When you are what I am, one of the facts of life is that sometimes one of your friends kills another one of your friends. As you get older, you finally accept that sometimes there is nothing to be done about it. Melinda won't see it that way yet. She won't accept that her student was trying to make a name for himself… He gave me no choice. Eventually, she will give me no choice…if she finds out…"
Alex says "So rather than try to explain it, Adam forced an innocent to confess?" Duncan shakes his head "He's not entirely innocent. He was there earlier and had told him he was a match for me." Alex says "Why did you come here? You weren't even a suspect." Duncan nods "What was it he said to me once… Oh yes... 'A couple of medieval song writers invent chivalry one rainy afternoon and you embrace it as a lifestyle. You live and die by a code that was trendy when you were a kid' or something like that."
Alex suddenly changes the subject "What is it like?" Duncan shrugs. Alex clarifies "What is it like to be what you are?" Duncan nods and thinks "We are just like you. But we are all predators and prey in various proportions. A great man once told me that we kill to live, we don't live to kill." Alex shakes her head. "No, I meant to see so much history." Duncan smiles "No different than you…just more of it."
"Don't sentence the guy that confessed." Duncan starts to get up. Alex says "Why do I think he's in more danger on the street." Duncan grins "Because you learn quickly. It will serve you well." A cold shiver runs down Alex's spine. She gathers herself and says "You are under arrest. Perhaps it was self defense, perhaps not, that is not my decision to make."
"I'm leaving now. Shoot or don't shoot, that choice is yours. Tell Melinda or don't, that is also your decision but if you do so' you will start a chain events that will likely end in death." He gets up moves toward the door as he does so she realizes he had his sword propped against the arm of the chair out of sight the whole time as he drew it smoothly as if it were part of him. It disappears under his long coat. He pauses and looks back over his shoulder "An immortal could do a lot worse than have Melinda as a teacher. It wasn't her fault."
Duncan leaves the bedroom but before he leaves the apartment he calls back "You know, that thing works better if it's loaded." Alex opens the revolver and sees that it is fully loaded. As her door to the hall opens he says "Made you look. Maybe you aren't so smart after all." She can tell by the tone of his voice that he must be grinning. After the door closes, she moves quickly to put its chain on. She closes her eyes for a second thinking a silent thank you for not removing her panties before opening them with the amused thought of her bra landing on his head.
Alex didn't sleep that night at all. She stared at her bedside clock watching it slowly progress toward dawn. She feels a bit like she's just interviewed a vampire. Yet there is the very real legal dilemma to be resolved. And then there were the semi-non-sequitors that were turning in her gut. Then again there was the feeling that she'd just met a man who embodied the best part of history. The next morning, she did something that she never did; she called in sick.
That afternoon the phone rings and she hears her secretary whisper "Alex, get in here. Adam Schiff is waiting in your office" before hanging up.
Cragan calls Olivia into his office and motions for her to close the door. He hands her the transcript. "I was ordered to keep this from everybody but Ms. Cabot and the Doc, But I thought you should know." Olivia reads the paper and hands it back. "Is that all Captain?" Cragan is surprised, but nods. Olivia leaves without mentioning anything about what Melinda told her. Keeping secrets is not unfamiliar territory for Olivia, but is always unsettling and this time was the worst.