"A Finale, Of Sorts"
or
"A Fanfic of Highlander: The Series"
by Shaule Sachs

This is a work of fiction. This work is not meant to infringe
on the Highlander copyrights and other things. It is written solely
for the therapeutic release of the author and enjoyment of others.
Any similarities between this and real life is pure coincidence.

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--- Part 3 ---

Friday, Late Morning
Duncan's Barge

Duncan was getting a little worried. The sauce was not coming
out right. Fortunately, he did not expect company until 4pm and the
sauce only took a half an hour to be made. So he simply threw away
the bad sauce and started over. While Duncan had been shopping he
had ran into, literally, an old friend, a mortal by the name of
Jean-Paul Picard. Jean-Paul was a wine maker by trade and
tradition. There had been a Picard wine maker for almost three
hundred years now who Duncan had met the very first time he was in
France. Duncan hoped that he could introduce Richie to Jean-Paul so
Jean-Paul could increase Richie's knowledge about wines and
culture, areas in which Richie's education were lacking in. If
Richie was to be able to move around like most Immortals had to
then Richie needs some more knowledge in other cultures besides the
American culture he grew up in, which Duncan was not sure if
America had its own culture. If nothing else, a few moments with
Jean-Paul would increase Richie's understanding of wines
significantly which would help Richie to get along in a high-
society setting that Richie seems to like.

As the day wore on Duncan began to wonder where Richie was. He
knew that there wasn't any races today and Richie had talked to him
after the race was over yesterday about how he had won the race.
Duncan had told him to come over for lunch and Richie had said he
would. So the fact that it was almost lunch time with Duncan doing
the cooking and the fact that Richie had yet to show had Duncan
slightly worried. It was not like Richie to miss a meal especial
one for which he didn't have to pay for. When lunch time had come
and gone Richie still had not shown up yet, Duncan went from
slightly worried to wondering what was keeping Richie. Duncan
quickly dismissed the idea of Kalas had killed Richie since Richie
was in a public place most of the time. Even Kalas would not break
the Rule of keeping Immortal fighting away from public view. /So
what was keeping Richie,/ thought Duncan. The idea that Richie had
met a girl entered Duncan's mind with a laugh but the more he
thought about the more the idea seemed likely. Duncan thought of
Richie as a kid when in fact Richie was twenty-one years old.
Duncan had to admit that within the last year Richie had grown up
a lot. Still Duncan couldn't picture some woman interested in a kid
but he had heard and seen that some older women seemed to like
younger men, so it was possible.

But Richie had promised he would come and Richie kept his word
so long as keeping his word didn't put others in danger. So when it
was close to three o'clock Duncan began to wonder if something had
happen at the track. He had not heard about any news about the
racing track that could account for Richie's disappearance. If
there was an accident at the track, he would have heard something
when he went grocery shopping. /So what was keeping him,/ thought
Duncan again. When the phone rang, its ringing shattered Duncan's
thought about the possible situations Richie might have been.
"Hello," Duncan said into the phone. Duncan had a bad sense of deja
vu come upon him as he realized he was talking to Joe. "Mac," said
Joe, "Kalas went after Richie last night."

"What?" said Duncan confused. "A Watcher spotted Kalas chasing
someone who fitted Richie's description last night," replied Joe in
a worried voice. "But," Duncan began, "but even Kalas would not
attack another Immortal in public." With a fieriness that Joe had
never heard before, Duncan said, "Its against the Rules. Even Kalas
won't break the Rules."

"Maybe," was all Joe said. Taking a deep breath that Duncan
could clearly hear over the phone Joe said, "The Watcher who saw
them said it was late, after when most of the people had left, and
Kalas was chasing Richie in a desert part of town by the track."

"I know the area," replied Duncan. He remembered dealing with
one or two Immortals in the same area himself some time ago. "What
else, Joe?" ask a worried Duncan. "The Watcher thought he saw a
Quickening being taken, Mac," replied Joe in a pained voice. "He
thought he saw a Quickening?" asked a incredible Duncan. "Don't you
people tell your rookie want a Quickening looks like?" replied a
sarcastic Duncan. "Yes, we do, Mac," came the patient reply for
Joe. "The Watcher who spotted Kalas has been Watching his Immortal
for over thirty years now," Joe said. "Then why does he only think
he saw a Quickening then?" asked Duncan. "Because when the Watcher
went into the alley to see who lost there wasn't a body or head
there. You can't even tell there was a battle there unless you know
what to look for and even then it was hard," Joe said.

"What?" asked a confused Duncan, "when a Quickening is
released, regardless of the strength of the Quickening, it still
makes a mess." While Duncan's mind would not accept the idea that
Richie was dead, the thought that Richie's Quickening would not
leave a mark to show his passing did not seem possible to him.
Richie may have not been an Immortal long but Duncan had thought
that Richie's Quickening was strong for one so young. Duncan also
thought that Mako's Quickening add to Richie's would make Richie a
target for those Immortals so sought strong Quickening within young
Immortals. It was one of the reasons that Duncan had trained Richie
so hard.

"True," replied Joe breaking into Duncan's dark thoughts. "Yet
a Watcher who has both seen and heard a number of Quickening taken,
heard one but cannot find the body or even evidence of the fighting
that he was but moments before Watching as he crossed the street to
get closer," continued Joe. "And when he got to the alley where he
saw the fight there wasn't any evidence of a fight, Mac," replied
a puzzled Joe. Finishing Joe said, "We don't know what happened."
Duncan was not listening, "So Richie is dead?" Duncan could hear
the shrug over the phone as Joe answered, "As I said, we don't know
what happened. He may have gotten lucky, Mac." Duncan hoped that
Richie did get lucky but he also hoped that Richie was not lucky
too. He hoped Richie was lucky so that Richie was still live but he
hoped not since if he was live then Kalas's Quickening was now a
part of Richie and Duncan did not know if Richie could handle it.
/Could I face Kalas in Richie's body?/ Duncan asked himself. To
which the practical side replied, /I don't know and I hope it won't
come to that./


*****
Friday, Afternoon
Duncan's Barge, Paris

Duncan hang up the phone after Joe had repeated everything he
knew. Duncan only half believed the coincidence that Joe was coming
to Paris tonight to buy some wine for the bar. Although Duncan
believed that Joe did not what to go through some middle man to buy
the wine and alcohol for the bar, still Joe had sounded as if this
was a spur of the moment idea. Duncan could easily envision that
Joe was going to send Mike to get the wine and decided to go
himself when he heard the news. Duncan had sat down on the couch
when he was talking on the phone and now he was simply sitting
there oblivious to everything. That's how Jean-Paul found him.

Jean-Paul had decided to come early to see how Duncan was
doing. When he had met him in grocery store Duncan seemed to have
some thing bothering him but now he seemed like the death warmer
over. "What's a matter?" asked Jean-Paul. "Bad news," said Duncan.
"Oh?" replied Jean-Paul. "A close friend of mine was in an accident
and the doctors don't know if he'll pull through," Duncan said
quickly to explain the situation. "Well, all you can do is pray and
remember that we all die at some point," remark Jean-Paul. /Not all
of us,/ thought Duncan sadly.

=== End of Part 3 ===