LET BYGONES BE BYGONES
---------
---------
by Sannah
sequel to "Adam Pierson is dead", "Scion", "Whatever is necessary", "Chapter: Cassandra" and "Maat"
sixth in my "May God have mercy on your soul"-Series
---------
...'Methos - he's Methos!' Suddenly the realization flooded Chiara's mind. All during the last few days she had no idea that it was him! He was around her, tried everything to make her feel better - and it actually was him all this was about! O'Coerky was Methos! 'But how should it help me to know that it's him I see in my visions?! Nothing won...' At least it was an approach. Chiara raised and headed for the living room, but there was no Joe around. He must have left while she lay unconscious in her bedroom. 'Damn, he could have left a note behind.' But so what, time to be alone. And that she really needed, she recognized. She had had no time for herself since O'Coerky had appeared, even the day Joe had arrived she had slept during the hour Leonnard had picked him up. She should make the best of it...
---------------
Chiara had just made herself comfortable on the couch, a cup of tea in her hands and the TV turned on when a knock on the door disturbed the peaceful atmosphere.
"Who the heck is it?!" She growled - not knowing whether to be surprised or disappointed to hear Leonnard's voice answering:
"It's me. You mind letting me in..." Chiara opened the door not saying a word. She just dropped on the couch again and nipped on her tea, pretending everything was alright.
"Where's Joe?" He asked, placing himself on an armchair.
"Thought you should know..." She mumbled.
"Damn, Chiara! Could you please talk to me in whole sentences!" 'Ouch, that upset him.' But somehow it made her grin, she couldn't help.
"Don't you laugh at me, but just tell me what's wrong!" He had raised, obviously angry now. "Listen, I had a lousy day, and if you're not going to take me serious, I'll leave." He grabbed his coat and turned around. Chiara had gone too far, although she hadn't meant to.
"No, no, I'm sorry! Don't go. I was just... I mean... Sorry." She put an arm around him, leading him back to the couch. "Sit down, I'll explain."
'Great. This girl got some nerves!' Methos was now in the right mood to throw something against the wall - the cup, the vase, the girl...! 'No, no, no!' He had to let her tell him whatever she was about to. And to be honest, she didn't look too well.
"Fine, I'm all yours." Chiara left the couch again. Somehow not daring to look at him she turned around, so Methos couldn't follow her face and how the expression would change any moment, but he could feel it - and finally hear it:
"I know who you are - and more important who you were... Methos."
"Yes."
"What?!" Chiara stared at him. "You don't have more to say about it than 'yes'?!" Sure, he did. But whatever he said, it surely would not please her. It must have been hard enough to discover that the man she had learned to trust in during the last days had been one of the worst criminals the world had seen so far - not to say he had changed then living into hell for everyone who happened to cross his way...
Chiara felt exhausted, not knowing why. Maybe what Leonnard - no, she had to start thinking of him as Methos - what Methos hadn't said, what she had only seen in his eyes was the reason for it. Methos... Who was this man? Was he the one now sitting in front of her? The one who had taken care of her, who had offered her almost everything he had. Or was Methos the man of her visions, who had killed and had raped without batting an eyelid? Probably she simply should ask, but would he answer? Chiara didn't think so. And now he sat there, looking as innocent as ever and waited for an explanation, although it should have been his turn to explain.
"What do you want to hear from me? I guess, you already know more than I would ever be willing to tell you." Methos' statement came surprisingly late and bitter - and, to be honest, what else could she have expected... She indeed did almost know too much.
"Methos, can you help me?" Chiara knelt down in front of the man and put his hands into her own.
"Can you forgive me? Can you really forget what I have done? And after all you ask for my help?!" He tried to break free, but she didn't let go off him. Somehow she knew that Methos had changed, that he had drawn a line between his past and the present.
"I already have... Have you?"
"Oh, please, could you stop it!" Maat appeared, a cloud of light around her. She smiled, as every time she showed up, but her words didn't sound too amused. Chiara stepped back, surprised as well as frightened. Methos just stared at the Goddess. He knew, Maat had something in her mind, and somehow he was sure that it would be final, whatever it was.
"My Little Boy, answer her question - please! I'd like to hear it, too." But Methos did not: "Maat, why can't you just leave us alone?! Is there nothing else to entertain you?" He was desperate. Yet Maat began to laugh, and her laughter was like an earthquake. The room began to shake and Chiara lost balance. She fell down before Methos could reach her. Her head touched the edge of the table, so she lost consciousness.
"You may be five thousand years old, Little Boy, but you haven't understood anything about how we Gods think, eh! Then let me tell you something." And with it she laughed again and twisted three or four times, probably dancing. "No, nothing is as entertaining as you Mortals - or Immortals in this case. You and your sense of justice, your moral codes and your conscience... What do you think all this is useful for? You're much too easy to manipulate because of it. Haven't you realized it yet? Oh no, for you were busy with trying to undo everything that happened, and with reproaching yourself for it." She continued her laughter, suddenly ending it when Methos raised and took out his sword.
"What do you think you're doing? You can't kill me!"
"Probably not, but I'm sure I will feel fantastic while trying it!" He stepped further towards her, still threatening her and his face showed a bitter grin. He was ready for anything now.
"Stop it!" Maat shouted, waving her hand to disarm him. The sword flew away and came to rest pinned in the floor. "This is no longer amusing if you defend yourself against me." She almost seemed to be offended. At least she hadn't expected this much opposition.
"Fine, you don't want me to fight. Maybe you like me better when I do nothing at all." Now it was his turn to be offended, and as a conclusion he let himself fall on the floor, where he just sat, ignoring the Goddess.
Methos didn't know how much time had passed by, though it must have been several hours for it was dark around him now. Maat was still standing in front of him, surprisingly the smile hadn't left her face, yet. He was bored, but he would surely not be the first to give in. With a careful gaze to his right he checked Chiara, but she lay still unconscious on the floor. Somehow her expressions made her look dead, and Methos had to concentrate hard on not believing it. Maat seemed to be bored as well. She began sneaking through the room and her lips showed less and less of a smile. Instead her eyes showed the kind of glow that was followed by bursts of any nature. He indeed didn't have to wait long.
"Grrr... Methos!" She stopped and fixed her eyes on him. He only sighed:
"Why don't you go back to wherever you came from..." She was going to explode soon, Methos could tell. 'Who's the child now?! Goddesses...' Maat growled again, then sent a flash in Methos' direction, that impacted only millimeters beside his head and destroyed the slip of the couch.
"I don't want to. I haven't arranged all this only to leave it unfinished. I'm not pleased yet!" She was really sulky, not much godlike... So it now was Methos who was amused and he couldn't hide a grin.
"Don't!" Maat looked at him angrily. Then, some seconds later, she herself put on a grin and headed for where Chiara lay. With a move of her hands the girl soared.
"You know, I could kill her now. Do you want me to?" She asked. Methos didn't react for he had no idea, how. Probably he should let her do it. It would be fairer to Chiara than let her live on with no peace at all. But somehow he wasn't able to. Maybe he didn't want to lose her, 'cause she meant too much to him - more than he would admit. Still he didn't want her to suffer any more...
"Hey, Little Boy, answer me! Shall I kill her?"
"I told you once before -" Methos was sure now. "- Yes." Maat watched him surprised. "You still mean what you said in your dream?"
"Yes."
"Fine. - Oh, wait. No! I won't. That's too easy..." She put her hands down and Chiara fell on the floor again. Methos couldn't stand it, but he had to pretend to feel nothing, for Maat enjoyed it when she got him.
"Hey, what's wrong with you, Methos? Doesn't she mean anything to you?"
"Right."
"I don't believe you." Another time she turned to face Chiara and with her fingertips she drew deep red lines across her face. The girl groaned, but didn't wake up. Methos' fingers clenched with anger and pain. 'This has to come to an end!'
"That's more like it. Shall I go on?" No reaction, except for the nails that now drew blood in his palms. Maat in the meantime continued her doings on Chiara's face, once in a while turning around to size him up. All of a sudden she stopped.
"No, this is not going to be like I have planned it. You do not play your role!" She had raised again, gazing at him furiously. "I'm leaving! This is no longer fun. Farewell, Little Boy!" No sooner had she said the last word than she vanished - for good, Methos knew. Immediately he let himself fall beside Chiara, checking if she was okay. She was alive, though not much more... He placed her head on his knees and stroked her hair tenderly. Suddenly she straightened up, coughed blood and her face changed into gray. She opened her eyes slowly for all power had left her:
"Methos... You're here..."
"Shh... I'm here. Everything's alright. Don't worry..." He rocked her like a baby, stifling the tears that filled his eyes.
"I... thank you..." She smiled at him weakly - and finally all life left her body. She was dead and this time she wouldn't come back...
By the time Joe opened the door - he had used the key he had got from Chiara - after three unsuccessful attempts knocking, he was faced with a terrible scenery of devastation. Not one piece of furniture and other fixtures had remained in its former condition. Somewhere within the chaos there was the man Joe was looking for, hardly to be recognized as Methos.
"Methos... What has happ-..." He broke off, discovering Chiara's dead body. Silently he went to comfort the Immortal who had crouched down, crying. He couldn't do more.
Methos felt better again after Joe's embrace. To be honest, it had been exactly what he had needed during the last centuries. No, not only the comfort that Joe had offered, rather the pain that left him helpless and vulnerable, that proved the humanity he thought he had lost forever. As much as Maat had wanted him to suffer with involving Chiara in this terrible way, the girl had always been some kind of an antidote to it. Methos was able to love again, to care for someone else than himself - even if it meant to lose this person, it made him feel alive.
Joe still didn't know what had happened, maybe he even didn't want to know it. But he's been a Watcher and this mentality predominated time by time.
"Methos, can you tell me how she..."
"Maat!" And Methos told him everything, as far as he could remember it clearly. It was half as bad as he had expected to talk about it, it even made him proud.
Chiara had died like he would wish to die some day - fully conscious and with no regrets left behind...
TO BE CONTINUED
sequel to "Adam Pierson is dead", "Scion", "Whatever is necessary", "Chapter: Cassandra" and "Maat"
sixth in my "May God have mercy on your soul"-Series
---------
...'Methos - he's Methos!' Suddenly the realization flooded Chiara's mind. All during the last few days she had no idea that it was him! He was around her, tried everything to make her feel better - and it actually was him all this was about! O'Coerky was Methos! 'But how should it help me to know that it's him I see in my visions?! Nothing won...' At least it was an approach. Chiara raised and headed for the living room, but there was no Joe around. He must have left while she lay unconscious in her bedroom. 'Damn, he could have left a note behind.' But so what, time to be alone. And that she really needed, she recognized. She had had no time for herself since O'Coerky had appeared, even the day Joe had arrived she had slept during the hour Leonnard had picked him up. She should make the best of it...
---------------
Chiara had just made herself comfortable on the couch, a cup of tea in her hands and the TV turned on when a knock on the door disturbed the peaceful atmosphere.
"Who the heck is it?!" She growled - not knowing whether to be surprised or disappointed to hear Leonnard's voice answering:
"It's me. You mind letting me in..." Chiara opened the door not saying a word. She just dropped on the couch again and nipped on her tea, pretending everything was alright.
"Where's Joe?" He asked, placing himself on an armchair.
"Thought you should know..." She mumbled.
"Damn, Chiara! Could you please talk to me in whole sentences!" 'Ouch, that upset him.' But somehow it made her grin, she couldn't help.
"Don't you laugh at me, but just tell me what's wrong!" He had raised, obviously angry now. "Listen, I had a lousy day, and if you're not going to take me serious, I'll leave." He grabbed his coat and turned around. Chiara had gone too far, although she hadn't meant to.
"No, no, I'm sorry! Don't go. I was just... I mean... Sorry." She put an arm around him, leading him back to the couch. "Sit down, I'll explain."
'Great. This girl got some nerves!' Methos was now in the right mood to throw something against the wall - the cup, the vase, the girl...! 'No, no, no!' He had to let her tell him whatever she was about to. And to be honest, she didn't look too well.
"Fine, I'm all yours." Chiara left the couch again. Somehow not daring to look at him she turned around, so Methos couldn't follow her face and how the expression would change any moment, but he could feel it - and finally hear it:
"I know who you are - and more important who you were... Methos."
"Yes."
"What?!" Chiara stared at him. "You don't have more to say about it than 'yes'?!" Sure, he did. But whatever he said, it surely would not please her. It must have been hard enough to discover that the man she had learned to trust in during the last days had been one of the worst criminals the world had seen so far - not to say he had changed then living into hell for everyone who happened to cross his way...
Chiara felt exhausted, not knowing why. Maybe what Leonnard - no, she had to start thinking of him as Methos - what Methos hadn't said, what she had only seen in his eyes was the reason for it. Methos... Who was this man? Was he the one now sitting in front of her? The one who had taken care of her, who had offered her almost everything he had. Or was Methos the man of her visions, who had killed and had raped without batting an eyelid? Probably she simply should ask, but would he answer? Chiara didn't think so. And now he sat there, looking as innocent as ever and waited for an explanation, although it should have been his turn to explain.
"What do you want to hear from me? I guess, you already know more than I would ever be willing to tell you." Methos' statement came surprisingly late and bitter - and, to be honest, what else could she have expected... She indeed did almost know too much.
"Methos, can you help me?" Chiara knelt down in front of the man and put his hands into her own.
"Can you forgive me? Can you really forget what I have done? And after all you ask for my help?!" He tried to break free, but she didn't let go off him. Somehow she knew that Methos had changed, that he had drawn a line between his past and the present.
"I already have... Have you?"
"Oh, please, could you stop it!" Maat appeared, a cloud of light around her. She smiled, as every time she showed up, but her words didn't sound too amused. Chiara stepped back, surprised as well as frightened. Methos just stared at the Goddess. He knew, Maat had something in her mind, and somehow he was sure that it would be final, whatever it was.
"My Little Boy, answer her question - please! I'd like to hear it, too." But Methos did not: "Maat, why can't you just leave us alone?! Is there nothing else to entertain you?" He was desperate. Yet Maat began to laugh, and her laughter was like an earthquake. The room began to shake and Chiara lost balance. She fell down before Methos could reach her. Her head touched the edge of the table, so she lost consciousness.
"You may be five thousand years old, Little Boy, but you haven't understood anything about how we Gods think, eh! Then let me tell you something." And with it she laughed again and twisted three or four times, probably dancing. "No, nothing is as entertaining as you Mortals - or Immortals in this case. You and your sense of justice, your moral codes and your conscience... What do you think all this is useful for? You're much too easy to manipulate because of it. Haven't you realized it yet? Oh no, for you were busy with trying to undo everything that happened, and with reproaching yourself for it." She continued her laughter, suddenly ending it when Methos raised and took out his sword.
"What do you think you're doing? You can't kill me!"
"Probably not, but I'm sure I will feel fantastic while trying it!" He stepped further towards her, still threatening her and his face showed a bitter grin. He was ready for anything now.
"Stop it!" Maat shouted, waving her hand to disarm him. The sword flew away and came to rest pinned in the floor. "This is no longer amusing if you defend yourself against me." She almost seemed to be offended. At least she hadn't expected this much opposition.
"Fine, you don't want me to fight. Maybe you like me better when I do nothing at all." Now it was his turn to be offended, and as a conclusion he let himself fall on the floor, where he just sat, ignoring the Goddess.
Methos didn't know how much time had passed by, though it must have been several hours for it was dark around him now. Maat was still standing in front of him, surprisingly the smile hadn't left her face, yet. He was bored, but he would surely not be the first to give in. With a careful gaze to his right he checked Chiara, but she lay still unconscious on the floor. Somehow her expressions made her look dead, and Methos had to concentrate hard on not believing it. Maat seemed to be bored as well. She began sneaking through the room and her lips showed less and less of a smile. Instead her eyes showed the kind of glow that was followed by bursts of any nature. He indeed didn't have to wait long.
"Grrr... Methos!" She stopped and fixed her eyes on him. He only sighed:
"Why don't you go back to wherever you came from..." She was going to explode soon, Methos could tell. 'Who's the child now?! Goddesses...' Maat growled again, then sent a flash in Methos' direction, that impacted only millimeters beside his head and destroyed the slip of the couch.
"I don't want to. I haven't arranged all this only to leave it unfinished. I'm not pleased yet!" She was really sulky, not much godlike... So it now was Methos who was amused and he couldn't hide a grin.
"Don't!" Maat looked at him angrily. Then, some seconds later, she herself put on a grin and headed for where Chiara lay. With a move of her hands the girl soared.
"You know, I could kill her now. Do you want me to?" She asked. Methos didn't react for he had no idea, how. Probably he should let her do it. It would be fairer to Chiara than let her live on with no peace at all. But somehow he wasn't able to. Maybe he didn't want to lose her, 'cause she meant too much to him - more than he would admit. Still he didn't want her to suffer any more...
"Hey, Little Boy, answer me! Shall I kill her?"
"I told you once before -" Methos was sure now. "- Yes." Maat watched him surprised. "You still mean what you said in your dream?"
"Yes."
"Fine. - Oh, wait. No! I won't. That's too easy..." She put her hands down and Chiara fell on the floor again. Methos couldn't stand it, but he had to pretend to feel nothing, for Maat enjoyed it when she got him.
"Hey, what's wrong with you, Methos? Doesn't she mean anything to you?"
"Right."
"I don't believe you." Another time she turned to face Chiara and with her fingertips she drew deep red lines across her face. The girl groaned, but didn't wake up. Methos' fingers clenched with anger and pain. 'This has to come to an end!'
"That's more like it. Shall I go on?" No reaction, except for the nails that now drew blood in his palms. Maat in the meantime continued her doings on Chiara's face, once in a while turning around to size him up. All of a sudden she stopped.
"No, this is not going to be like I have planned it. You do not play your role!" She had raised again, gazing at him furiously. "I'm leaving! This is no longer fun. Farewell, Little Boy!" No sooner had she said the last word than she vanished - for good, Methos knew. Immediately he let himself fall beside Chiara, checking if she was okay. She was alive, though not much more... He placed her head on his knees and stroked her hair tenderly. Suddenly she straightened up, coughed blood and her face changed into gray. She opened her eyes slowly for all power had left her:
"Methos... You're here..."
"Shh... I'm here. Everything's alright. Don't worry..." He rocked her like a baby, stifling the tears that filled his eyes.
"I... thank you..." She smiled at him weakly - and finally all life left her body. She was dead and this time she wouldn't come back...
By the time Joe opened the door - he had used the key he had got from Chiara - after three unsuccessful attempts knocking, he was faced with a terrible scenery of devastation. Not one piece of furniture and other fixtures had remained in its former condition. Somewhere within the chaos there was the man Joe was looking for, hardly to be recognized as Methos.
"Methos... What has happ-..." He broke off, discovering Chiara's dead body. Silently he went to comfort the Immortal who had crouched down, crying. He couldn't do more.
Methos felt better again after Joe's embrace. To be honest, it had been exactly what he had needed during the last centuries. No, not only the comfort that Joe had offered, rather the pain that left him helpless and vulnerable, that proved the humanity he thought he had lost forever. As much as Maat had wanted him to suffer with involving Chiara in this terrible way, the girl had always been some kind of an antidote to it. Methos was able to love again, to care for someone else than himself - even if it meant to lose this person, it made him feel alive.
Joe still didn't know what had happened, maybe he even didn't want to know it. But he's been a Watcher and this mentality predominated time by time.
"Methos, can you tell me how she..."
"Maat!" And Methos told him everything, as far as he could remember it clearly. It was half as bad as he had expected to talk about it, it even made him proud.
Chiara had died like he would wish to die some day - fully conscious and with no regrets left behind...
TO BE CONTINUED