AN- Many thanks for the positive reviews. I think I can promise that this is going to a looong day – for both of them!

***

After four hundred years very few things had the power to genuinely surprise Duncan Macleod.

This was definitely one of them.

"You're awake."

Not only was Richie wide awake, but he was dressed for running, tying the laces on the trainers that Connor had got him for his birthday.

"What did you have planned?" Richie smirked. "A drenching with ice water? Some really loud classic music?"

"I thought about it," Duncan shrugged. "But, I decided being up at 6 a.m. would be torture enough."

"That .. and you are gonna make me go running with you."

"Running isn't torture." Duncan shook his head at the familiar argument. "Its exercise."

"Tortuous exercise," Richie replied. "You know, they've invented the automobile now, right?"

"That's a horseless carriage to you, my lad," Duncan wapped him fondly on the head. "Are you ready to do some warm up stretches?"

"Me? I've been ready for the last fifteen minutes, you're the one who's running late." Richie declared.

Duncan winced.

"Hey, that was a pun, wasn't it?" Richie said excitedly, "Cos you're going running .. and you're late .. I made a pun."

He practically bounced on the bed in glee.

"Alright, calm down," Richie seemed awfully wide wake for someone who had only had a few hours sleep. "And I am not late .." he turned to look at the clock, and realised that he was, indeed, fifteen minutes behind his usual schedule. "How do you know what time I go running? You're always asleep when I .."

He paused.

It wasn't that he was ashamed of the fact that he had got into the habit of coming in to check on the lad each morning. Just to be sure that he was safe and well. But he wasn't sure how Richie would take his cosseting if he knew.

Then he saw that Richie's eyes had gone wide with horrified realisation and a crimson flush was creeping up his face.

"Except, you're not asleep, are you?" Duncan surmised.

"Not always," Richie admitted reluctantly, looking like he wished the floor would swallow him up. "Not .. um .. ever. Actually."

"Oh."

Remembering all the times when he had tucked a stray foot under the covers, or kissed the lad's forehead with a gentle affection that Richie would never allow when he was awake, Duncan felt pretty awkward himself.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Richie just shrugged, but the shadowed look in his eyes spoke volumes to the Immortal. He had been nervous about what the Immortal was about, creeping into his room in the early hours.

At least at first.

But what about now?

Surely the lad must know that he would never ..

"Richie .." he began.

Something must have shown in his expression, because Richie started babbling wildly.

"Oh, God, no Mac! I don't .. I mean I would never think .. that's so not who you are .."

He swallowed hard and visibly gathered his courage, clearly deciding that his embarrassment, was a small price to pay for reassuring the Immortal that he didn't think that.

"I guess, I .. um .. liked that you would .. you know." He managed.

"And you thought that if I realised that you were awake I would stop?" Duncan asked.

Richie gave him a rueful look.

"It sounds pretty stupid when you say it like that."

Actually, it made perfect sense to Duncan. But he wasn't sure how to explain that to Richie without bruising the lad's battered ego eve further.

So, instead he simply leant over and kissed him affectionately on the forehead.

When Richie looked up at him, wide-eyed, he just chuckled.

"Hey, who am I to break with the tradition?"

"You know Mac," Richie stood up. "You are one weird dude."

***

"I said I didn't like running. I never said I couldn't do it." Richie pointed out as they walked the last few blocks home to cool off.

"Its usual for people to like things that they're good at." Duncan observed mildly.

Richie gave him a quick, sideways glance, as if assessing how to answer that.

"It wasn't exactly a lifestyle choice."

Duncan looked at the suddenly downcast teen and decided that this wasn't a subject that they needed to get into here and now. He could well imagine how Richie had honed his running skills, tying to avoid jail.. or worse.

He deserved better. And Duncan was determined to see that he got it.

"Running from your girlfriends fathers, eh?" he deliberately misunderstood.

"Maac!" Richie laughed.

"Just answer me one question?" Duncan arched a brow.

"I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?" Richie agreed.

"Did you have fun today?"

"Do you mean apart from the getting up in the middle of the night? The garbage lorry that splashed me from head to toe? And the time I got a cramp?"

"Yes." Duncan stared him down.

"Well," Richie flashed him a quick grin. "The scenery was nice."

"You mean the way your eyes popped out of your head each time we saw a pretty girl in shorts, don't you?" Duncan groaned. "Anything else?"

 "And, I kinda liked hearing the stories about what Connor put you through when you first started training with him." Richie admitted.

"And?" Duncan pressed.

"You're gonna make me say it, aren't you?"

"Yep."

"Alright .. it wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be."

"See, I told you you'd like it, if you just tried it." Duncan said smugly.

"Hey, I never said that."

"You inferred it."

"Were you ever a lawyer, Mac?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Definitely a lawyer."

***

"Alright, hit the shower, breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes. OK?" Duncan instructed as they entered the apartment.

Richie gave him an odd look.

"You're gonna let me go take a shower without hovering?"

"That depends, do you promise to wash behind your ears?" Duncan teased.

Richie scowled at him.

"Funny Mac. I thought I wasn't to be allowed out of your sight?"

"I think I can trust you to take a shower." Duncan was already turning towards his own room.

Richie's voice stopped him.

"Aren't you worried that I'm going to make a break for it out of the window, or something?"

For the second time that day, Duncan was genuinely surprised.

And they hadn't even had breakfast yet.

He turned back to give the teenager his full attention.

"Of course not, Rich, you gave me your word."

"Yeah and that and a nickel will get you a cup of coffee." Richie said in a self depreciating tone.

Duncan hid his smile at the quaint expression. He'd already learnt that being bounced between various foster homes had left Richie with some odd quirks in his ongoing quest to fit in and be accepted. Sometimes he wondered what habits Richie would pick up from him. His taste in clothes? His liking for fine wine?

Hopefully how to keep his head.

"Hey, you signed up for the program, remember? And I know you're not a quitter." He assured him.

"Shows what you know, then," Richie scoffed.

"Richie .." Duncan tried to protest.

"C'mon Mac. My personal best, is a few weeks, at a boxing club. Boy Scout? Less than a week. Choir Boy? One service. When my foster parents signed me up for piano lessons, the teacher didn't even stay long enough to take off her coat."

"Boxing?" Duncan enquired.

"My foster father thought it would do me some good. Make a real man outta this scrawny little kid that he'd been lumbered with. But when my social worker finally came around she thought it was too violent and I had to stop going after that."

"Sounds to me like you would have kept at that .. given the chance." Duncan suggested.

"Yeah," Richie looked slightly surprised by the realisation. "Yeah, I guess I would .."

***

"You want to teach him to do what?" Tessa frowned from the bed, as Duncan towelled his hair dry after his shower.

"He's not going to be going in for any prize fights Tess, just a few rounds with the bag to see how he feels about it."

"First the swords, then the motorcycle, now boxing?" Tessa shook her head. "Could you not teach him to collect stamps or make models like any other child?"

"The only models I can see Richie being interested in," Duncan smirked. "Aren't made of plastic."

"That is a matter of opinion." Tessa sniffed.

"C'mon Tess," Duncan sat down by her on the bed. "If you have seen his face when I offered .."

"You have already told him of this?" Tessa's voice chilled.

"Um. It just slipped out?" Duncan offered hopefully.

"Ah! Duncan Macleod, sometimes I swear you are as bad as Richie. Worse even, for you should know better." Tessa threw up her hands.

"But since I have .. You wouldn't want to disappoint him, would you?"

"I suppose not," Tessa couldn't resist that pleading expression from Duncan, anymore than she could hold out when Richie used it on her. "But I am trusting you to take good care of him."

"Of course, thank you, sweetheart," Duncan kissed her.

"Hmm, this day will not be much of a punishment for him," Tessa observed. "If he spends all his time wrapping you around his little finger."

"You haven't checked the diary for today, have you?" Duncan gave her a tight smile.

"Of course I have .." Tessa's expression changed. "Oh Duncan, you cannot .. it is too much!" She laughed.

"Yeah, but he won't even think about breaking curfew again, will he?" Duncan grinned.

***

"And, what does the prisoner get for breakfast?" Richie jumped onto into the kitchen counter and started drumming his feet against the doors. "Bread and water? A spot of gruel?"

The hour long run didn't appear to have put the slightest dent in his energy levels, Duncan noted.

"Will you stop that?"

Richie ceased drumming his feet, only to take up the refrain with his tapping fingers a few seconds later.

"Richie .." Duncan warned.

"Fine, whatever," Richie hopped down off the counter and started pacing around the room, idly plucking a pair of chopsticks from a storage jar and starting a improvised percussion session on the stainless steel canisters.

Duncan lifted his head to tell him to give it a rest.

Except, he was surprisingly good at it.

"You have quite a talent for that." He observed.

Richie dropped the chopsticks, as if burnt, like he hadn't actually realised what he was doing. Duncan held onto every ounce of patience he had and waited.

But, sure enough, Richie changed the subject.

"So, What's the rest of my punishment then? Tedious boredom?" Richie offered. "Putting all your CD's in alphabetical order?"

"They already are," Duncan observed dryly. "As well you know."

"Mindless labour? Death by brio?"

"Actually," Duncan glanced at the clock. "We have to meet a supplier. He's only in town for a couple of days. So we'd better not be late."

"Hey, you were the one who was on this drag this morning." Richie teased.

"How did you manage to get up so early?" Duncan asked, . "I never heard your alarm."

"I figured I was only gonna get a few hours sleep at the most. What was the point in going to bed?"

"You haven't been to sleep?" Duncan clarified. "At all?"

"Chill Mac, I've had lots of coffee."

Duncan swallowed hard. Richie was a ball of energy at the best of times, Richie, full of caffeine, would be bouncing off the walls.

"How much coffee?"

"I dunno," Richie frowned. "How much does the coffee pot hold?"

"Please don't tell me you drank a whole one of those?" Duncan asked, in horror.

"Nope," Richie grinned at him. "I drank two."

"Riche!" Duncan protested.

"Hey, no biggie. We've got a big day ahead, right?"

 "That's exactly what I'm afraid of." Duncan muttered