Duncan woke up to an odd sensation in his left ankle. It felt like the
massage from hell. He opened his eyes and looked down. At the foot of his
bed was a salt and pepper rabbit. Finny, Richie had called him. Or was
the dog Finny? Whatever its name was it had its front paws clinging to his
toes and its back legs thumping his ankle.
"Hey," Duncan hissed. "Get off!" He shook his leg, which only enticed the animal more. Finny hopped off the foot and prepared to attack again. "You think I'm playing don't you?" Duncan tried to sound angry, but the small ball of fluff was obviously under the impression it was all a game. "Come here." He grabbed the rabbit and put it in his lap. "I am trying to sleep. You should too." He put him...her...it down on the floor and rolled over. He was just drifting to sleep when it jumped back up, this time after Duncan's right foot. "Oh, no you don't." He picked up the rabbit and lay down with it in his arms. "You either bother someone else or sleep."
Two hours later, Richie woke up to Skye licking his face. "Umump," he mumbled sitting up. "Fetch." He threw an imaginary ball and the dog went tearing out of the room after it.
Richie rubbed his eyes and stretched. He looked at the clock; it was just past seven thirty. He lay back down and rolled onto his stomach. Skye came back in and nuzzled his hand that was hanging over the bed.
"Bed," he ordered the dog. Skye whined and pawed at Richie's arm. "Fine..." He sat up again. "Fine. I'm up. You happy now? Damn, you're worse than any alarm clock." He rubbed at his face and turned to see if Duncan was awake yet.
Duncan was asleep as was Finny, still tucked in his arms like a child's stuffed toy. A smile spread across his face as he rushed out of the room.
"Richie?" Heather asked as he streaked into the living room in his boxers. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing...I just need my camera!"
"What?"
"I need my camera. This is priceless."
"What?"
"AH-HA!!!" Richie held up his trophy which had been under a stack of junk mail in the movie cabinet. "I just gotta get a picture."
He ran off again and Heather followed. "Shh..." he warned.
He crept over to his bed and lay across it so he could get a good picture. Duncan didn't react to the first, but the second flash made him stir.
"Go-go-go..." Richie hissed pushing her out the door and down the hall. He herded her into the office and slammed the door behind him. "I finally got him!" he cheered, waving the camera.
"What?"
"Do you have any idea how many embarrassing stories he has on me? Now I have solid evidence of something embarrassing on him!"
Heather laughed. "What?"
"You don't understand," he told her plugging in the photo printer and putting the camera on the port. "This is a once in a life time opportunity. And for us, that is a long time."
"You're crazy."
"Probably right, but I'm a happy crazy man." He turned to face her and display his picture. "What?"
"Nothing," she assured him.
"No, you're looking at me funny. What's going on?"
"It's nothing."
Richie paused. "It's cause I'm standing here in my underwear isn't it?"
"No. I've seen you in your underwear before. It's just...I feel like nothing's changed. That we're still in college; we're still in Missouri; we're still..."
"Together?" he finished.
"You haven't changed at all, when I'm with you I feel like I haven't changed either."
"Me, too."
"I think I still love you," she whispered putting her hand to his cheek.
"I know I still love you," he answered putting his hand over her's.
"What do we do about it?"
"You're married, we can't do anything."
"What if I want to?"
"What if you wannna what?"
"Kiss you."
"I wanna kiss you, too."
Slowly he leaned in, closing his eyes after she had closed hers. Their lips were just about to meet when David called Heather's name. They jerked apart, each retreating to a different corner of the room.
"In here!" Heather called going to open the door. Richie put on his best neutral face and followed her. "Richie was excited about something and I wanted to see what," she explained to her husband.
"Really? Did you find out?"
"A picture," Richie said holding it up. "It's a long story."
David looked at the snap shot of Duncan asleep cuddling the rabbit. "Obviously."
Richie smiled slightly trying to ignore the condescending tone. "Well, I better go get the boys up." He side stepped David and went into the boy's room.
"What were you doing?" David asked Heather.
"Printing the picture."
"And you had to close the door to do that?"
"When he took the picture, Duncan started to wake up... we got caught up in the moment and tried to hide."
"Why was he in his underwear?"
"He just got up, I guess."
"Convenient." David answered just as Richie was coming out of the room.
"Too bad!" Richie called over his shoulder. "We're being nice so take what you can get!" He rolled his eyes at David and Heather. "Kids." Then went to get dressed.
"You're being stupid, David. He's just an old friend."
"An old boyfriend."
"Exactly. I married you."
. . . . . .
"Smells great," Richie commented entering the kitchen where David and Heather were making breakfast.
"Thanks."
"Wathcha makin'?" he asked peering over David's shoulder to see the frying pan.
"Omelets."
"Awesome. What kind?"
"A little bit of everything...peppers, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, onion, cheese, bacon, ham..."
"Oh..." Richie paused awkwardly.
"What? Is something wrong?" David asked.
"Well, I can't eat bacon or ham..."
"Oh, that's right." Was it Richie's imagination or did this seem like a set up?
"It's cool. I can make myself something else. Cheese omelet or something."
"No cheese or eggs." David gestured to the empty containers. "With so many people, you know?"
"Yeah, it's cool. I can do something else. Cereal or something. No worries."
"What's wrong?" Duncan asked catching the very tail end of the conversation.
"Nothing big. We got it covered," Richie assured him. "Just a little temporary memory loss, that's all."
"Oh." Duncan noted the tone of insincere understanding and made a mental note to ask about it later. "Did you tell them about the gym?"
"Gym?" Heather asked.
"We thought we'd take the boys to a gym today and get a real feel for where Brandon is physically and decide how to go about training him."
The boys came in and sat down. "Food, please," Anthony mumbled.
"Tired are we?" Richie asked looking through the cupboards.
"Yes."
"Aren't you glad we didn't get you up at four?"
"Yes."
"So you gonna shut up and get some sleep tonight?"
"Does this mean we aren't running today?" Brandon asked hopefully.
"No running today."
"We're going to the gym," Duncan supplied before the boys could get too excited.
"Aw man! I'm in Hawaii and all I ever get to do is work out," Brandon grumbled.
"You're not here on vacation," Richie reminded him. "You're here because you died."
"Oh, right."
"Exactly." Richie found the Lucky Charms, got a bowl and the milk before sitting at the table.
"You don't like omelets?" Anthony asked as Heather brought over two for the boys before going back for the rest.
"Can't eat pork."
"Oh."
"I am sorry, Richie," David said sitting down.
"Hey, six years ago I would have loved it."
They ate breakfast and Richie decided it was Anthony and Brandon's job to do the dishes afterward. Duncan gave him a look, but didn't say anything...until they were getting their things for the gym.
"You like being in change, don't you?"
"I'm just doing to them what you did to me."
Duncan paused. "I suppose you are...but don't get too hard on them. I can still boss you around, you know."
"And Conner can boss you," Richie shrugged.
"Conner's not here."
"I can call him...I'm gonna e-mail him tonight probably."
"Why?"
Richie stopped what he was doing and a grin slowly spread across his face. "I just have something I want to show him..."
"What are you up to?" Duncan asked knowingly.
"Nothin'."
"I know that look...you're plotting."
"So what if I am? Are you going to stop me?"
"I may not be able to stop you...but I can still make your life hell."
"Bring it on."
. . . . . .
"Okay, everyone out." Richie pulled the light blue wood paneled station wagon to a stop in front of Carson's Gym and Martial Arts Dojo. Heather and David had taken the jeep to look around town and do a bit of sight seeing while Duncan and Richie started Brandon's training.
"This is it?" Duncan asked looking at the large gym. "Isn't it a little...in the open?"
"I suppose. But this is Hawaii, people using swords and staffs and knifes in a work out is completely normal. You saw the show last night. It's what we do here." They got the practice gear Duncan and Anthony had brought along with what Richie had out of the trunk of the car. "Don't think we're going to go easy on you," he warned Brandon. "The first workout is one of the hardest."
"Yeah," Anthony agreed. "Mac can be a real drill sergeant while he pushes you to your limits." "My first workout as an immortal he nearly killed me," Richie said. "But you'll be okay. I won't let him kill you. Your sister would kill me."
As they made their way across the parking lot, all four immortals stopped as another approached. Duncan and Richie shared a look.
"C'mon you two." Richie led Anthony and Brandon to the side walk. "Go inside and tell whoever's behind the desk you're with Rick Noel and he was wondering if we could have a class room."
"Who's Rick?" Brandon asked.
"Me. No move it...and take this." He handed them the two bamboo swords he was holding.
Richie made it back to Duncan as the other immortal was approaching him.
"Richie..."
"What?" he snapped.
Duncan didn't answer; instead he turned his attention to the stranger.
"I'm Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod."
"Whitney Baker of the Mississippi Bakers."
"Never heard of 'em," Richie commented snidely. "I'm Richie Ryan."
"Never heard of you. What do you want?"
"Nothing. What about you?"
"I'm on vacation with my family. I don't want trouble."
"Good. Then we have no further business."
"I suppose not."
"And if we see you around, I assume you'll still want no trouble?"
"That's right."
"Fine with us." Richie's hard tone softened back to his usual easy self. "Enjoy your stay in paradise."
Whitney Baker paused awkwardly, thrown off by the sudden change of mood. "Um, thank you..."
"Aloha." Richie turned and headed back for the gym. Duncan gave Baker a nod and turned to follow.
When he got to the door, Richie was holding it open for him. They shared a glance as Duncan walked past. Nothing else of the incident was said.
"Hey," Duncan hissed. "Get off!" He shook his leg, which only enticed the animal more. Finny hopped off the foot and prepared to attack again. "You think I'm playing don't you?" Duncan tried to sound angry, but the small ball of fluff was obviously under the impression it was all a game. "Come here." He grabbed the rabbit and put it in his lap. "I am trying to sleep. You should too." He put him...her...it down on the floor and rolled over. He was just drifting to sleep when it jumped back up, this time after Duncan's right foot. "Oh, no you don't." He picked up the rabbit and lay down with it in his arms. "You either bother someone else or sleep."
Two hours later, Richie woke up to Skye licking his face. "Umump," he mumbled sitting up. "Fetch." He threw an imaginary ball and the dog went tearing out of the room after it.
Richie rubbed his eyes and stretched. He looked at the clock; it was just past seven thirty. He lay back down and rolled onto his stomach. Skye came back in and nuzzled his hand that was hanging over the bed.
"Bed," he ordered the dog. Skye whined and pawed at Richie's arm. "Fine..." He sat up again. "Fine. I'm up. You happy now? Damn, you're worse than any alarm clock." He rubbed at his face and turned to see if Duncan was awake yet.
Duncan was asleep as was Finny, still tucked in his arms like a child's stuffed toy. A smile spread across his face as he rushed out of the room.
"Richie?" Heather asked as he streaked into the living room in his boxers. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing...I just need my camera!"
"What?"
"I need my camera. This is priceless."
"What?"
"AH-HA!!!" Richie held up his trophy which had been under a stack of junk mail in the movie cabinet. "I just gotta get a picture."
He ran off again and Heather followed. "Shh..." he warned.
He crept over to his bed and lay across it so he could get a good picture. Duncan didn't react to the first, but the second flash made him stir.
"Go-go-go..." Richie hissed pushing her out the door and down the hall. He herded her into the office and slammed the door behind him. "I finally got him!" he cheered, waving the camera.
"What?"
"Do you have any idea how many embarrassing stories he has on me? Now I have solid evidence of something embarrassing on him!"
Heather laughed. "What?"
"You don't understand," he told her plugging in the photo printer and putting the camera on the port. "This is a once in a life time opportunity. And for us, that is a long time."
"You're crazy."
"Probably right, but I'm a happy crazy man." He turned to face her and display his picture. "What?"
"Nothing," she assured him.
"No, you're looking at me funny. What's going on?"
"It's nothing."
Richie paused. "It's cause I'm standing here in my underwear isn't it?"
"No. I've seen you in your underwear before. It's just...I feel like nothing's changed. That we're still in college; we're still in Missouri; we're still..."
"Together?" he finished.
"You haven't changed at all, when I'm with you I feel like I haven't changed either."
"Me, too."
"I think I still love you," she whispered putting her hand to his cheek.
"I know I still love you," he answered putting his hand over her's.
"What do we do about it?"
"You're married, we can't do anything."
"What if I want to?"
"What if you wannna what?"
"Kiss you."
"I wanna kiss you, too."
Slowly he leaned in, closing his eyes after she had closed hers. Their lips were just about to meet when David called Heather's name. They jerked apart, each retreating to a different corner of the room.
"In here!" Heather called going to open the door. Richie put on his best neutral face and followed her. "Richie was excited about something and I wanted to see what," she explained to her husband.
"Really? Did you find out?"
"A picture," Richie said holding it up. "It's a long story."
David looked at the snap shot of Duncan asleep cuddling the rabbit. "Obviously."
Richie smiled slightly trying to ignore the condescending tone. "Well, I better go get the boys up." He side stepped David and went into the boy's room.
"What were you doing?" David asked Heather.
"Printing the picture."
"And you had to close the door to do that?"
"When he took the picture, Duncan started to wake up... we got caught up in the moment and tried to hide."
"Why was he in his underwear?"
"He just got up, I guess."
"Convenient." David answered just as Richie was coming out of the room.
"Too bad!" Richie called over his shoulder. "We're being nice so take what you can get!" He rolled his eyes at David and Heather. "Kids." Then went to get dressed.
"You're being stupid, David. He's just an old friend."
"An old boyfriend."
"Exactly. I married you."
. . . . . .
"Smells great," Richie commented entering the kitchen where David and Heather were making breakfast.
"Thanks."
"Wathcha makin'?" he asked peering over David's shoulder to see the frying pan.
"Omelets."
"Awesome. What kind?"
"A little bit of everything...peppers, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, onion, cheese, bacon, ham..."
"Oh..." Richie paused awkwardly.
"What? Is something wrong?" David asked.
"Well, I can't eat bacon or ham..."
"Oh, that's right." Was it Richie's imagination or did this seem like a set up?
"It's cool. I can make myself something else. Cheese omelet or something."
"No cheese or eggs." David gestured to the empty containers. "With so many people, you know?"
"Yeah, it's cool. I can do something else. Cereal or something. No worries."
"What's wrong?" Duncan asked catching the very tail end of the conversation.
"Nothing big. We got it covered," Richie assured him. "Just a little temporary memory loss, that's all."
"Oh." Duncan noted the tone of insincere understanding and made a mental note to ask about it later. "Did you tell them about the gym?"
"Gym?" Heather asked.
"We thought we'd take the boys to a gym today and get a real feel for where Brandon is physically and decide how to go about training him."
The boys came in and sat down. "Food, please," Anthony mumbled.
"Tired are we?" Richie asked looking through the cupboards.
"Yes."
"Aren't you glad we didn't get you up at four?"
"Yes."
"So you gonna shut up and get some sleep tonight?"
"Does this mean we aren't running today?" Brandon asked hopefully.
"No running today."
"We're going to the gym," Duncan supplied before the boys could get too excited.
"Aw man! I'm in Hawaii and all I ever get to do is work out," Brandon grumbled.
"You're not here on vacation," Richie reminded him. "You're here because you died."
"Oh, right."
"Exactly." Richie found the Lucky Charms, got a bowl and the milk before sitting at the table.
"You don't like omelets?" Anthony asked as Heather brought over two for the boys before going back for the rest.
"Can't eat pork."
"Oh."
"I am sorry, Richie," David said sitting down.
"Hey, six years ago I would have loved it."
They ate breakfast and Richie decided it was Anthony and Brandon's job to do the dishes afterward. Duncan gave him a look, but didn't say anything...until they were getting their things for the gym.
"You like being in change, don't you?"
"I'm just doing to them what you did to me."
Duncan paused. "I suppose you are...but don't get too hard on them. I can still boss you around, you know."
"And Conner can boss you," Richie shrugged.
"Conner's not here."
"I can call him...I'm gonna e-mail him tonight probably."
"Why?"
Richie stopped what he was doing and a grin slowly spread across his face. "I just have something I want to show him..."
"What are you up to?" Duncan asked knowingly.
"Nothin'."
"I know that look...you're plotting."
"So what if I am? Are you going to stop me?"
"I may not be able to stop you...but I can still make your life hell."
"Bring it on."
. . . . . .
"Okay, everyone out." Richie pulled the light blue wood paneled station wagon to a stop in front of Carson's Gym and Martial Arts Dojo. Heather and David had taken the jeep to look around town and do a bit of sight seeing while Duncan and Richie started Brandon's training.
"This is it?" Duncan asked looking at the large gym. "Isn't it a little...in the open?"
"I suppose. But this is Hawaii, people using swords and staffs and knifes in a work out is completely normal. You saw the show last night. It's what we do here." They got the practice gear Duncan and Anthony had brought along with what Richie had out of the trunk of the car. "Don't think we're going to go easy on you," he warned Brandon. "The first workout is one of the hardest."
"Yeah," Anthony agreed. "Mac can be a real drill sergeant while he pushes you to your limits." "My first workout as an immortal he nearly killed me," Richie said. "But you'll be okay. I won't let him kill you. Your sister would kill me."
As they made their way across the parking lot, all four immortals stopped as another approached. Duncan and Richie shared a look.
"C'mon you two." Richie led Anthony and Brandon to the side walk. "Go inside and tell whoever's behind the desk you're with Rick Noel and he was wondering if we could have a class room."
"Who's Rick?" Brandon asked.
"Me. No move it...and take this." He handed them the two bamboo swords he was holding.
Richie made it back to Duncan as the other immortal was approaching him.
"Richie..."
"What?" he snapped.
Duncan didn't answer; instead he turned his attention to the stranger.
"I'm Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod."
"Whitney Baker of the Mississippi Bakers."
"Never heard of 'em," Richie commented snidely. "I'm Richie Ryan."
"Never heard of you. What do you want?"
"Nothing. What about you?"
"I'm on vacation with my family. I don't want trouble."
"Good. Then we have no further business."
"I suppose not."
"And if we see you around, I assume you'll still want no trouble?"
"That's right."
"Fine with us." Richie's hard tone softened back to his usual easy self. "Enjoy your stay in paradise."
Whitney Baker paused awkwardly, thrown off by the sudden change of mood. "Um, thank you..."
"Aloha." Richie turned and headed back for the gym. Duncan gave Baker a nod and turned to follow.
When he got to the door, Richie was holding it open for him. They shared a glance as Duncan walked past. Nothing else of the incident was said.