Fitzcairn and Charley soon stopped with their battle to look at the Immortal now lying on the floor. Both were slightly surprised by this since Immortals do not normally collapse for any apparent reason: but both of them knew in the back of their minds that it was their fault that Methos was now in this position. Both knew that their quarrelling was slowly getting out of hand and he was feeling it in his mind.
"Now see what you've done? Now when his friends find him, they're going to know something's wrong with him now," Fitzcairn snarled at Charley.
"Now that's where you're wrong now. If they find him sounds more appropriate than when if you ask me," Charley replied with a laugh. "They won't find him! He's too far out of the way to be found! They won't come this far searching for him! I know they won't! She won't be able to help him."
Fitzcairn stood there in silence. He didn't want to admit that Charley might be right about that. Charley noticed the silence of the other dead Immortal and snickered before laughing out loud.
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" he laughed as he lunged for the English man. "One way or another, the cat won't have for much longer. I'll loosen his grip and deal with you myself."
Fitzcairn blocked the oncoming attack and he continued to block them as Charley continued the onslaught of thrusts and advances. Hugh Fitzcairn was finding that he was getting himself into a corner from the advancing Immortal. Literally as he felt the walls against his back as he faced the crazed Immortal. Fitzcairn absently dropped his sword on the floor as the two continued to stare at each other. Fitzcairn growled as his eyes grew cold.
"Look at this. The great hero of Elkaryene Shymel finds his end. You are the only other Immortal to actually keep her from my grasp. Again, here in the afterlife and by the one who was always after the one Immortal with all the knowlege I want. I wonder what will happen to you now that you have been killed as a spirit as well? That is an interesting thought. I never considered the possibilities of that until this very moment," Charley smiled at him. "It's such a pity you had to die, thus giving up your share of keeping her safe to Scott. All the responsibility fell on him and it proved to be too much for him, even after I died."
Fitzcairn gulped for he didn't think about the possibilities of supposedly 'dying' in the afterlife either. He didn't want to think about the idea at all. One way or another, he didn't like the sound of it.
"Do your worst," snarled Fitzcairn. "I can take whatever you throw at me."
"I really doubt it. Here you are, backed up in a corner and there's nothing you can do about it," Charley snickered as he raised his sword.
Fitzcairn closed his eyes but the slamming of a door soon caused both him and Charley to turn and look towards the place the sound came from. They saw a man hurrying up to the unconscious form of Methos and kneel beside him.
"He must be a priest and possibly of this church," muttered Fitzcairn, judging by the clothes on the man before turning to Charley. "We cannot continue this at this time. We will finish this later."
"I can't believe I'm doing this but you're right. We will meet again and I assure you, that time will be near and you will no longer be a threat to me," Charley told him. "Until then, I'll continue with what I've been doing to Scott Winters. Drive him into absolute madness! Besides, how did two Immortals begin to fight on Holy Ground anyway? I think it might still apply here in the afterlife. Who knows? It's just a thought."
Charley disappeared into thin air as Fitz looked over at the two men in the aisle. He walked up to them to have a better look into Methos' condition... and to consider what Charley said about fighting on Holy Ground, even if they were already dead.
"I hate to admit it but he just might be right but I'm not going to admit that to him," Fitzcairn quietly told himself.
He continued to watch the scene before him as Methos began to try and climb to his feet. His eyes were closed and his whole body was violently trembling.
"Sir, can you open your eyes for me?" the man was saying to the Immortal on the floor. "We should get you a hospital. That injury appears to be serious. You might have a concussion or worse."
The man began to stand up and head towards a phone but a hand on his ankle stopped him. He looked back down at the injured man, who was still slowly moving and trying to stand up.
"Please. No hospital," Methos quietly groaned in request.
The oldest man placed a hand over his closed eyes before climbing to a sitting position.
"You should not be moving! A doctor should look you at your injury. It looks like you have received a serious head wound. It could become worse. You might have a serious concussion. You could fall unconscious again or worse! You could die if it's left untreated!" the man told him.
"I'll be fine," replied Methos before standing up. "I'll be fine. It's not serious."
The man was standing beside him as Methos began to lean on the pews to walk. He couldn't believe he was actually seeing someone walking around after receiving a head wound and not being affected by it in a way that didn't appear to be very serious. The man was surprised that Methos was still not unconscious.
"You should not be walking around. You are severely injured!" the man told Methos with obvious shock in his face. "And I still cannot believe what I am seeing."
"Believe it and I'll be fine," replied Methos, walking past the man and heading towards the door.
He stumbled a bit towards the door before leaning on a pew near the door. He fell to his knees and wondered what was going in his head as he began to feel nausea. He knew Immortals didn't become sick, naturally. Methos wanted it to stop as much as Fitzcairn did. But there was a problem. Only one of the two Immortals knew what the cause of the hallucinations and voices in the eldest Immortal's head.
Charley Street and he wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
###
Charley looked on the scene before him from across the church. He was far enough away and in a position that Fitzcairn could not see him.
"You gave up your share of responsibility over her a long time ago Hugh Fitzcairn. She will die by his hand and I will make sure of it. I will also make sure that he will die of grief over what he's done. He won't be able to handle it. Especially since his feelings for the young Immortal are great," muttered Charley. "They will both die."
Charley began to walk over to Methos, who managed to climb into a pew and was hunched over, trying not to become sick. The man who recently came into the building who kneeling beside him, trying to persude the injured man to go to a hospital.
He walked right past Fitzcairn, who was surprised to see him do so. Fitzcairn wasn't expecting Charley's moves at all and tried to grab for the man. But Charley was soon just out of reach of the man's grasp.
"Scott," Charley taunted the eldest Immortal, knowing that Methos could not see him.
Methos reacted to the voice and stood up as quickly as he could. He stumbled into the aisle and looked around, wondering where the voice was coming from. The man who was with him was confused.
"What is wrong?" wondered the man.
"Not again," groaned Methos as he sank to his knees.
Charley walked up behind him and began to call into Methos' ear, saying the name that Charley knew him by before it turned into a maniacal laugh. Methos was scared by the sound of that laugh and made the futile attempt to block the sounds by covering his ears.
"This is serious. We have to get you some medical attention," the man told Methos before he headed towards the area where the phone was located.
"I said no doctors!" yelled Methos as he managed to stand up.
He grabbed his sword and advanced as best he could towards the man.
"There is something wrong with you! You're a madman!" the man yelled at him as he backed away.
Fitzcairn ran up next to Charley and looked at Methos and what he was doing.
"Scott! Calm down! We can talk through this!" Fitzcairn called to him.
Methos heard him and turned his head slightly. There was a wild look in his eyes and Fitzcairn could see that.
"He's in a more delicate state than I first thought," Fitzcairn muttered to himself.
"Of course he is. The more he is, the better. The more likely he will be to attack Ella," Charley snickered.
"You know, you're the madman," Fitzcairn told him.
"I know," Charley replied with a wide smile on his face. "Scott, don't tihnk that I'm not here. I'm still here."
Methos groaned and soon dropped the sword. He fell to his knees and the man who was there hurried over to him.
"Let me help you," the man whispered to him.
"Leave me alone!" Methos snapped at him. "I don't want anyone's help! I'll deal with this problem myself!"
The man appeared to be a bit hurt by this statement as he stood up. Methos stared at him as his body still uncontrolably trembled. Methos looked up at the man with pleading eyes. Eyes that questioned what he had recently done.
"I'm sorry," Methos whispered loud enough for the man to hear him.
"This is my cue to leave for now. Now only does he probably think he's gone mad, he doesn't want help from anyone. Not a stranger and not even his own friends," Charley snickered before disappearing again.
Fitzcairn sighed as he watched the scene before him.
"Why are you doing this to yourself Methos?" Fitzcairn wondered. "Why are you doing this to Elkaryene?"
Fitzcairn sighed as the mortal man walked up to Methos once again, trying to persuade him to go to a hospital and get some help. He placed a hand up to his chin as he continued to watch the scene as Methos began to hurry outside, obviously upset over what he recently done. Fitzcairn began to follow him. He was worried for the Immortal's safety.
"That won't work. There's only one thing that can help Methos now and the only person who can stop it is me," Fitzcairn whispered to himself. "Elkaryene's believing that I can help him and help him is what I'm going to do. She has always believed in me. You're going to be a dead man Charley Street. I'll make sure of it."
TBC...
Author's Note-Please excuse the pun!