AN – Thanks as ever for your feedback, despite the fact that ff.net appears to have eaten a whole stack of reviews I have them on e-mail alert so its great to know that there are new people reading this as well as those brave souls who have been there all along. This chapter is especially for all you Methos fans. This is something I've wanted to do for ages (grins).
***
"So. He's still here then." Methos observed, casting an eye over the rumpled figure asleep on the couch, before detouring to the fridge for a beer.
"How was your date?" Duncan raised a brow.
"Needed a shave." Methos smirked "Did the kid fess up?"
"How much?" Duncan asked.
"Sorry Macleod." Methos looked at him. "You're not my type."
"I meant, how much did you con Joe into betting you that Richie wouldn't "fess up"? Duncan clarified.
"He was pretty confident." Methos smirked.
"Your bar tab?" Duncan guessed.
"Well into the next century." Methos looked smug.
"And what did you have to put up that Joe would agree to certain bankruptcy?"
"Doesn't matter." Methos was unconcerned.
"What makes you think you've won?" Duncan asked with his best poker face.
Just for an instant Methos composure slipped. Then he swore in a language Duncan didn't recognise.
"Just because I'm turning into you .. does not mean you get to be me." Methos said sourly.
Duncan made a mental note to ask Joe exactly what Methos had agreed to.
"I've probably got a spare kilt somewhere you could borrow." he smirked.
"Actually." Methos studied his beer bottle. "I was wondering if you might lend me something else."
"Oh?"
***
The sound of Bohemian Rhapsody blasting through the loft brought Richie to his feet with his sword in hand.
"You're up than." Methos turned the stereo down.
"Jesus Christ! What the hell did you do that for!!" Richie yelled.
"You were sleeping. I wanted to wake you up." Methos said simply.
"You wanted to .. so you .." Richie spluttered.
Richie took a breath and counted to ten.
It didn't help.
"You couldn't just have said. "Wake up Richie!" he seethed.
"I tried that." Methos wandered over to the kitchen counter and picked up a mug.
"You did?"
Richie was surprised. He was usually a light sleeper. Especially around people he didn't know that well.
"Here." Methos handed him the mug. "Maybe this will help. Although personally I prefer beer."
Richie sniffed cautiously.
Coffee. Fresh.
"What do you want?"
"Such cynicism from one so young." Methos shook his head. "You want to put that away? Its still a little early for me."
"You were the one doing all the waking." Richie pointed out putting his sword down. "So. What was so important it couldn't keep a few decades?"
"Drink your coffee first. I want you to be awake enough to remember this."
"What did I do?" Richie asked warily.
"If you are thinking of telling me that you've forgotten .." Methos expression darkened.
"Um. No." Richie sank back onto the sofa. "But I was hoping you had."
"You lied to me."
"I didn't exactly lie. I just omitted certain parts of the truth." Richie offered.
"Do you believe that?" Methos inquired.
"No." Richie admitted. "But it was worth a try."
"Indeed." Methos murmured. "Few people have taken me for a fool and lived."
"I never said you were an idiot." Richie tried to defend himself.
"Yet you lied to me." Methos said calmly. "Does my good opinion matter so little to you?"
"Actually." Richie spoke without thinking. "I thought you'd be impressed."
Methos regarded him with an implacable expression for so long that Richie began to wonder if he might need his sword after all.
Then a grin blossomed across his expression.
"Oh. This is going to be fun."
***
"You want to do what?" Richie could not believe what he was hearing.
"I'm offering to be your teacher." Methos repeated.
"I already have a teacher." Richie pointed out.
"I thought you had got your memory back now?" Methos put his feet on the coffee table.
"Yeah. So?" Richie looked puzzled. "What does that have to do with it?"
"So, who taught you how to master that double handed upper cut?"
"Conner .. last Christmas. I told you that."
"And who taught you how to use tumbling?" Methos continued.
"Amanda .. you have to remember that .. you laughed hard enough when I fell on my ass."
"True." Methos smirked at the memory. Still the kid had persevered. "You're quite good now though."
"But? .." Richie eyed him warily.
"Doesn't anyone think I can do nice?" Methos demanded.
"Sorry." Richie shifted uncomfortably. "Actually. I wanted to thank you. I don't know how I would have made it through the last week without .." he took a breath. "Thanks. For everything. You know?" He offered nervously, as if he expected to be laughed at.
Methos regarded the figure before him with a certain sympathy.
"I wouldn't have helped you if I didn't think you were worth it."
The simple sincerity of that statement made Richie blink. Then a soft, pleased, smile spread across his face.
"Thanks."
Richie stood up and offered his hand. Methos took it his cool, firm, grasp. Then pulled the kid into a quick, slightly awkward, hug.
"Experience is a hard teacher." Methos told him. "The trick is to survive long enough to learn from it."
"You should know." Richie gave him a sheepish grin.
***
"So. We're cool now right?" Richie scooped up the last forkful of eggs. "You're not just waiting until I'm not looking?"
"You should always be looking." Methos instructed. "But if you fetch me another beer I may decide to forgive you."
"That I can do." Richie put his plate in the sink and veered towards the fridge. "I'm just so glad this whole thing is over."
"Its not over yet." Methos shook his head.
"Joe won't be a problem." Richie waved a hand. "I'll work a few shifts in the bar or something."
"Not Joe. Macleod."
Richie looked up in concern. "He said he wasn't mad."
"Richie. Not everything in this world is about you." Methos chided.
"If you have a point. Do you think you could just make it?" Richie scowled. "You may not have noticed this, but subtly? Not exactly my strong suit."
"You hurt him." Methos told him. "He's worked hard to earn you trust. Your love. And you shut him out."
"I thought .." Richie said quietly.
"I know what you thought." Methos allowed. "But Macleod deserved better."
"Its not like I'm a kid anymore." Richie floundered. "I can't go running to Mac with all my problems."
"If you didn't know, how old would you say I was?" Methos asked.
"I don't know. Thirty five?" Richie said, just to be mean.
"Funny." Methos scowled. "But still. You make my point. My body, its limbs, its cells, its molecular structure is frozen in time at the moment that I first died."
"You say this like I should be surprised." Richie scoffed.
"Did you know that recent research has indicted that the human brain doesn't fully mature until it is in its mid twenties?" Methos asked.
"Is that a dig?" Richie asked suspiciously.
"No. It's a medical fact."
"Really?" Richie wasn't convinced.
"Really." Methos affirmed. "What I'm trying to say is that, no matter how old you become, part of you will always be a teenager. Because your body never had the chance to mature to full adulthood."
"I'm not sure I like that idea."
"That's not really the point, is it?"
"So, what you are saying is that even when I'm a hundred I'm still going to be doing stupid kid stuff and needing you guys to bale me out?" Richie demanded.
"What I'm saying is that there is a part of you that will always need grounding ..."
"OK. Now I know you're snowing me." Richie interrupted. "No one is going to be grounding me when I'm a hundred. No way."
Methos waited.
An uncomfortable realisation swept across Richie's face.
"I'm acting like a teenager aren't I?"
"Pretty much." Methos agreed. "And – just for the record – I didn't mean it like that."
"You mean like an older, wiser, influence." Richie realised.
"Exactly." Methos nodded. "From someone whose decisions aren't ruled entirely by his hormones."
"Hey!" Richie protested. "I'm not that bad."
"Look on the bright side." Methos smirked. "You're libido will never let you down."
"There is that." Richie smiled.
Then sobered. "I really hurt him?" he asked softly.
"You've known Macleod longer than I have." Methos told him. "What do you think?"
"I think you probably have all his Chronicles memorized." Richie challenged.
Methos didn't deny it.
"Does this changing the subject thing ever work with Macleod?"
"Not often." Richie sighed. "I need to talk to him don't I?"
"I think." Methos twirled his empty beer bottle. "You need to tell him that you love him."
