Chapter Two The cowardly sadist

Approaching the bar, Duncan could feel the buzz of another immortal, indicating that the old man had taken off from work a little early, and was probably already nursing a beer inside. Entering, he noticed Methos at his customary table, a pitcher of beer and a glass in front of him. He nodded a greeting before looking around for Joe, spotting him in his usual place, behind the bar.

What was unusual, slightly, was the deep frown on his face.

"Hey Joe. The old man the cause of this one, or is there someone else to blame for the bad mood?"

"Sorry Mac, not the old man this time. I just received some bad news from headquarters. The slayer just killed another Watcher."

"The Slayer? But Joe, why would she do that? I mean, it's not like you Watchers hire vampires and demons, right?"

"Vamp..oh, no. Not The Slayer, Duncan. Just the slayer. An immortal bastard who likes to kill Watchers on sight, and probably civilians as well, at least if the few reports we managed to save were correct."

"He's a bad one," Joe continued; "a real bad one. We don't know much about him, not his real name, or when he first died. We only have guesswork on his age. We know he is old, at least 800, but we have possible sightings and reports matching his m.o. dating as far back as 1500, maybe even 2500 years."

Duncan frowned slightly. "Civilians? And what do you mean about saving reports?"

"The few times we had a Watcher on him, when he discovered it, he tortured the Watcher to death and destroyed all the files he could get access to. Last time he also used the poor guys password to access the database and make a god damned mess out of every bit of info we had on him. End result: no solid data on him."

"We've never been able to track him for long periods. Longest was about six months, and that was almost three hundred years ago. Current policy is to not follow him, he's too dangerous, too sadistic."

"Sounds like a real bastard, all right. But what did you mean with civilians, and what is so special about his m.o. that you can track it that far back?

"Like I said, we've been unable to track him for long, but he was observed twice kidnapping people. Just went into their homes at night, took them to his place, and dumped the bodies a few days later. And you really don't want to know the condition of those bodies. It was even worse than what he did to the Watchers who followed him."

"To make it worse, those two guys were his friends. They trusted him. And he killed them in ways that makes Caspian look like Mother Theresa!"

"As for modus operandi, he is a coward. Never a fair challenge in his life. He tends to use ranged weapons, and then take the head when the immortal challenging him is dead."

By now Duncan's frown had deepened into a scowl, the latest bit of info making him swear out loud.

"God damnit, Joe! Why haven't you told me about this guy before? You know how I feel about cheaters!"

"Look Mac, much as I like you, you are not a Watcher. Hell, I shouldn't even have told you about him now! You can't expect me to give you info on every immortal who's not playing by the rules. That is not what the Watchers are for!"

"Maybe not, but you still should have told me. And I need to know where he is. I'm going after him. There is no way I'm going to let that coward continue to prey on innocent people!" Duncan was almost growling at this point, making it clear that he would not let anything stop him.

Joe sighed. He should have known Duncan would react this way. Why had he not been able to keep his mouth shut? But Duncan was a friend, and he'd wanted to share the pain of the death of a fellow Watcher, and just hadn't thought things through. And now Duncan was about to go off on yet another quest, hunting down an old immortal with no qualms about breaking the rules, or killing people.

Duncan's last outburst had apparently alerted Methos to the possibility of amusement at the bar, and so he'd left the pitcher, but not the glass, and came over to Joe and the grousing Highlander.

"So, let me guess. You've learned of yet another immortal that does not live up to your high and mighty standards, and are now in the process of extorting info from our resident Watcher here as to the unfortunates whereabouts?" Five thousand years worth of observing humanity could give you excellent deductive capabilities. Having very good hearing and lip- reading skills helped a bit, of course.

Duncan shrugged. "This slayer guy is killing mortals, Watchers and cheating in Challenges as well. You seriously think I should let him get away with it?"

Leaning against the bar, Methos took a small sip of beer before answering. "Yes. He is not here, he is not after you or anyone you know. He doesn't even hunt Watchers. There is really no reason for you to waste your time looking for him."

"He just killed a Watcher! He tortures people before killing them, and still you say I should let him go? Is he another 'brother' of yours from your horsemen days?" Duncan was quickly working himself back into a rage, but this time the target seemed to be Methos.

Methos sighed. "No. The slayer is not a friend of mine. But while I was still in the Watchers, I did read up on him. And what I managed to scrounge together does not make you going after him look like a very good idea."

"You think that just because he cheats I won't have a chance, is that it? Need I remind you that I have dealt with cheaters using guns before? All I have to do is get close enough, and that gun of his will be of no use to him."

Author's note: There might be a bit of a delay before I can get the next chapter out, as I'm having some trouble deciding how much Methos should know about Michael; do I let him figure out the whole back story and reasons for killing mortals, or just bits and pieces scrounged up from the Watchers. Ideas, anyone?