Rachelle Ryan: I always hated that Tessa died. Quit frankly it pissed me off, I liked her. And I couldn't bring myself to let her die again, so I figured if Richie doesn't die, Tessa doesn't die! But then I couldn't resist killing Richie, seeing as he's immortal and looks so cute with a sword, so this was the solution I came up with. I'm glad you approve. : )

. . . . . .

*February 20, 1998: Madison Square Garden, New York City*

Richie sat on the edge of the stage sipping from a bottle of water ignoring the soundmen yelling back and forth across the stage. Suddenly he felt a strange surge of energy and a distant feeling a dread resonated in the back of his mind. Not sure what was going on, he looked at the people around him to see if anyone else felt it. Everyone was busily preparing for that night's performance.

"Hey, Richie."

Richie jumped and looked behind him. "Oh, hey Jean."

"I didn't mean to scare you," she sat next to him. "You mind?"

"Terribly," he answered with a smile.

"So are you as bored as I am?"

"Oh, yeah," he drawled. His back stiffened and he began looking around again as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

"Do you feel okay?" Jean asked looking concerned.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. I just feel like somebody's watching me, and it's driving me insane," he quickly explained.

"You just look a little pale."

"I feel fine."

"I tell you what," Jean said with a smile. "If you don't want people watching you, we can trade. I'll sing lead and you bang the drums."

"Works for me," he shrugged. The feeling of dread evolved into a strong feeling of danger and Richie swallowed hard. 'Immortal!' his head screamed. 'Immortal! Sword, I don't have a sword! I'm screwed!'

"Who's that?" he heard Jean whisper. Hastily he looked where she was pointing and spotted two men in long coats walking toward them.

Richie relaxed a little and smiled. "I'll be right back." He jumped off the stage and made his way towards the men, meeting them halfway. "Hey, Mac." He greeted cheerily giving Duncan a hug.

"Hey, Rich. How are you feeling?"

"I'm alive aren't I?" Richie shrugged.

"I see the lad kept his sense of humor." Connor said smiling. "I was planning on surprising you tonight after the concert, but Duncan called and told me what happened." He explained shaking Richie's hand.

"It's fine." Richie assured him. "I was pretty much expecting you show, too. Although, did you have to show up together? That whole vibe thing's pretty strong."

"Vibe?" Connor questioned.

"Yeah, you know. Immortal radar, whatever you want to call it."

"Oh, that," he smiled. "Get used to it."

"Hey, Ryan! Get your skinny little butt up here!" Somebody yelled.

"Okay!" Richie called back. "You guys sticking around?" he turned back to Connor and Duncan. " 'Cause there's food and all sorts of stuff backstage if you want."

"Yeah, we're going to be here." Duncan answered.

. . . . . .

* 1998*

Rylan whistled between her teeth, "What a way to go."

"You're telling me." Richie leaned back into the couch feeling a lot more at ease than he was expecting.

"Things have been pretty quite around here." Rylan commented absentmindedly after a short pause.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Well, since I got home from school it's just been me and Tessa. So, you know, no nightly fights to entertain us."

"Mac and I aren't that bad. . . are we?"

Rylan snorted. "Uh, yeah you are."

"No, we're. . ." he trailed off and went to the base of the stairs.

"Is it Duncan?" Rylan whispered.

"I don't know."

Motioning for her to stay put he slowly crept up the stairs. 'It's gotta be Mac,' he assured himself. 'Who else would it be?' He peeked through the curtains of the living room window at the unfamiliar car parked on the street. 'Then again he has a lot of scary immortal friends that tend to show up uninvited.' Quickly he bounded up the stairs two and three at a time to his room. He drew his sword from its hiding place in his duffel and went back down. Somebody was banging impatiently on the front door.

"MACLEOD!" They yelled.

Richie gulped and stared at the door trying to figure out what to do. Whoever it was obviously knew that he was there, but they didn't know that he wasn't a four hundred year old seasoned immortal. On the contrary, he was a twenty-three year old who hadn't the slightest clue about what to do in an immortal battle. Richie cast a glance to his right at Rylan who had wondered up from the basement and was now looking between Richie and the door from across the foyer. He waved his hand at her to go back downstairs, she shook her head no.

"MacLeod, I know you're in there!" The person outside yelled through the door.

Straitening his shoulders a little, Richie walked to the door and slowly turned the lock. Taking a deep breath, he threw the door open and jumped back holding his sword in front of him.

"Nice to see you, too, kid." The man on the doorstep greeted him with a cocky smile. "I didn't scare you, did I?"

AN: Guess who it is! I'll give you a clue, he was recently on an episode of "The Dead Zone" (which I do not own, by the way.)