Methos heard the clanking of sword against sword just before his reached the man. Methos had to shake his head and his vision cleared to see Duncan standing next to him, the Scot's sword against his own, blocking it from taking Elkaryene's head. She was shaking all over before she had enough courage to move away from the two older Immortals and walk over to Joe. The Watcher placed a hand on her shoulder as she placed her head in her hands.

"Macleod," was all Methos managed to say.

"What happened? This has to be serious. You almost took Elkaryene's head!" Duncan demanded to know.

"I...I don't know," Methos replied as he lowered his sword.

He walked to the nearest table and dropped his sword on the floor next to it before leaning on the table.

"Scott?" Duncan cautiously said.

"Macleod, take Kari as far as you can away from here as you possibly can," Methos asked him.

"What will she do then? She'll be lost without you," Duncan wondered as he lowered his sword.

"I care for her Macleod. She's one of the few Immortal friends I have left from before I met you. Out of all the Immortals I had met over the years since Kronos, if I had to choose one to keep alive, it'd be her," Methos whispered to him. "She means more to me than what you'll ever know."

Duncan sighed as he stared at the man standing in front of him. Methos looked at Duncan with sad eyes.

"I really don't want to hurt her," Methos quietly told him.

Before Duncan could say anything else, Methos hurried out of the building. Duncan was a bit upset as he walked to Elkaryene and Joe.

"Are you alright?" Duncan asked her.

"I'll be fine once I get over the shock of having my head nearly taken off," Elkaryene replied, her body still shaking from the incident. "The situation had never really come up before since I don't face off against too many Immortals."

"In all the time since I met him, I've never known him to do something like that before. It's weird," Joe said to them.

"Yeah, it is. What I want to know it what's causing it?" Duncan replied.

"In all my knowledge, I've never heard of an Immortal ever flipping out like that. It's as if he's hearing voices or something and they're taunting him," Joe suggested.

"Do you really think that's even possible Joe? Immortals don't get sick and they don't tend to hallucinate either," Duncan told him, sounding a bit angry. "Unless there's a reason to it and he won't tell us what's wrong."

"I can't see why he won't tell us. We're his friends," Joe said, with Elkaryene nodding in agreement.

"I've known him longer than the two of you and nothing like this has ever happened before. It's unlike him," she said to them. "He's always been good to me and he would never think of taking my head. Ever."

Duncan nodded as he stared in the direction Methos headed in. He was both worried about his friend and a bit suspicious of what was going on.

'What could it possibly be that's wrong with him?' he silently asked himself.

###

Methos stumbled in disbelief as he walked down the street. He couldn't believe that he almost took Elkaryene's head. He was glad that Duncan was there to stop him frrom doing so.

"I still can't believe I almost did that," he mumbled as he walked into an alleyway.

He stared at the walls now surrounding him.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" he demanded, yelling out the questions.

'I am one of your darkest fears, that's what I am,' the man replied with a snicker evident in his voice. 'And there's nothing you can do to stop me.'

Methos groaned the statement and placed a hand over his eyes.

'Please, I want this to stop,' he thought to himself.

'I won't stop,' the voice said, causing Methos to run out of the alley and down the street.

He kept running, trying to find refuge from whatever this thing was.

"Where could I go?" he muttered to himself.

'You can go nowhere for I can follow you everywhere,' the voice replied.

Methos hurried down the street before coming to a church. He stared at it for what seemed forever before deciding to head inside.

'I think I can be safe here for now,' he thought to himself.

###

Duncan, Joe and Elkaryene pondered about the situation. They were trying to figure out possible solutions to the problem they faced.

"I can't think of anything to do. This is something we're totally unfamiliar with," Joe sighed as he placed a hand on his neck.

"I have something in mind that I want to try out. Elkaryene, you've known him the longest, do you think he'd listen to you if you tried to talk to him?" wondered Duncan.

"I'm unsure about that. Yes, I've known him for almost a century but still; there are aspects about his life that I don't know about. Remember what I said about his age?" Elkaryene replied.

Duncan nodded. Joe was certain at that moment that the female Immortal was unaware of her friend's true identity as the world's oldest man.

"Then all we have to do is find him and see, won't we?" replied Duncan as he gave a small smile.

He stood up and headed out the door. Elkaryene began to follow him but stopped at the door to give a glance back to Joe.

"I'll see what I can find out here," he told her, making her smile.

###

Elkaryene walked down the street, waiting for that feeling that another Immortal was nearby. She was worried and she was inwardly regretting telling Duncan that she would be fine alone.

'I just he doesn't try and take my head again,' she thought to herself. 'It was scary enough that one time.'

She headed down the street, past the church and that's when she felt the presence of another Immortal around. She stared at the building she was standing in front of before heading inside.

There, she saw Methos sitting in a pew near the front. She began to walk towards him as he turned around.

"Scott, I'm so glad I found you," she sighed.

"Kari, you shouldn't have come. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to kill you," Methos quietly told her.

"But I want to help you after all that you've done for me," Elkaryene told him, sounding like she was complaining.

"I'm not myself and I'm not safe to be around. Just please leave Kari," he growled at her.

He pointed at the door and Elkaryene appeared to be hurt by this action.

"Alright, if you want me to leave, I will," she sadly replied before heading towards the door.

Once at the door, she stopped and looked back at him as he turned around. She glanced up at the ceiling and sighed.

"Please Fitz, help him. I've never seen him like this and I feel as if you can help him deal with whatever he's going through," she quietly said before heading out the door.

As the door closed, a figure invisible to everyone appeared in the aisle behind the stricken Immortal. The figure stared at the door for a few moments before looking at the world's oldest man sitting in the pew.

TBC...