Disclaimer: See Acknowledgements page
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A couple of hours later, Duncan and Richie returned to the loft with Joe in tow finding Anna engrossed in a book. Duncan excused himself to take a shower as he had been working out. A short time later, Methos arrived. "Hello, everyone," he said as he headed for the frig to pilfer a beer. "Where's MacLeod?"
"Shower," Joe replied. As if by cue, Duncan emerged from the bathroom, toweling his hair dry.
"MacLeod. Hope you don't mind?" the oldest immortal said, referring to the beer he was holding.
"Does it matter?" was the dry reply. Methos just smiled. "So Anna, are you ready to finish your story?" Duncan asked.
Anna shut the book she was reading and put it aside. "Well, there's really not much more to tell. After Katie's death, I was pretty much a basket case, which suited my employers and Corrigan just fine. They were able to convince me that my friends and family were in danger from this psychopath. In my state of mind, I believed them, and did so for a long time. So, in order to protect those dear to me, I cut myself off from all of them and threw myself into my work. And whenever I started to re- establish contact with anyone, Corrigan would send me a "memento" to remind me of what happen to my kids, so I would go back to burying myself in my work. Then about 18 months ago, there was an accident and I was told Michael was dead, which was true." Everyone looked at her curiously. She smiled. "Guess I should explain, huh?"
"As I told you before, Corrigan went to work for my father, stumbled upon his research, then switched places with Michael. My father discovered what Corrigan had done, but because of his accident, it was sometime before he could correct it. He was forced to watch the misery that Corrigan was inflicting on me, which only strengthened his resolve to recover and save me. But he also knew that once he brought Corrigan back, he would just try to return to my dimension. So when Malachi was well enough, he moved here to Seacouver, then made improvements on the portal which would make it possible for him to transport Corrigan to a location of his choice. It was eighteen months ago that my father made the switch and, within a few hours, Michael was killed in a car accident which made it impossible for Corrigan to return to my dimension. She stopped and looked at the others. "Well, you can guess what happened next. Since Corrigan couldn't get back to my world, he brought me to his. He wants to keep making me pay for rejecting him. That's about it."
The group sat in silence for a few moments before Richie finally spoke. "That is some tale, Anna. Almost like one of Thaddeus Blake's novels."
"Well, it's not," she replied defensively.
"Whoa. I believe you." Richie said, then chuckling, added, "You should have been there when Mac explained being immortal to me." Anna grinned.
"So what's our next move?" Joe asked. They all looked at Anna.
"I think that's going to be up to Corrigan," she told them. "He's playing some kind of game here, planning everything very carefully. He'll contact me soon. Until then, we'll just have to wait. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll head up to the roof for some 'me' time."
"I was going to make lunch for us," Duncan said.
"I'll be back down in a little bit. I wouldn't dare miss your cooking," she said with a grin, then headed for the roof.
A couple of hours later, Anna was once again heading for the rooftop. Having finished the meal Duncan had prepared, the group decided they would continue to just bide their time until Corrigan contacted Anna. Duncan and Richie headed back downstairs to the dojo, while Joe left to tend to his bar. Methos departed for parts unknown. Just as she was about half way up the staircase, the phone rang. After a few rings, the answering machine pick it up and she heard a familiar voice. "Hello, Anna. I know you're there. Just wanted to let you know I have a friend of yours with me. He's an old acquaintance of mine as well." A feeling of dread washed over Anna. Duncan. She quickly moved towards the phone. "If you want to see him alive again, I suggest you meet me at the warehouse in an hour. And come alone."
Anna picked up the phone, "Corrigan," she shouted into the receiver.
"See. I knew you were there."
"You bastard, how do I know he's still alive, or that you'll even keep him alive until I get there?" she asked with pure contempt in her voice.
"You have my word on it," was his response.
Anna knew he was telling the truth and said she would be there in an hour. She hung up the phone and headed downstairs to the dojo. Richie was in the office working. "Richie, I need a set of wheels."
"I don't think that's such a good idea. Duncan had to go out for awhile, but he should be back soon. Why don't you just wait for him?"
"Can't. Corrigan just called to let me know he's taken Duncan hostage. He wants me to meet him at the warehouse in an hour."
"I'll go with you."
"No! He said for me to come alone and he means it. If he senses you, he'll take Duncan's head, then take off for who knows where. Don't worry Richie. I can more than handle him. He will lose. All I need is some wheels."
"Take my bike," he told her, tossing her the keys.
"Thanks. See you soon." Anna turned and headed out the door for the warehouse.
Against Corrigan's instructions, Anna arrived at the warehouse earlier than requested to scope out the scene in order to get an edge on her enemy. Moving with the stealth of a cat, she crept around the building discovering that Corrigan had left a door ajar for her on the side. She wasn't that stupid. Using the rope she had procured on the way over, she scaled the building. Once on the roof, she pulled the rope up and headed for the skylight. From this vantage point, she could see Duncan towards the rear of the building. Corrigan had him trussed up with chains to some heavy metal pipes. There was blood on the front of his shirt indicating that Corrigan must have shot and "killed" him, which explained how he had gotten himself into that situation. Corrigan, himself, was seated with his back towards her, apparently carrying on a one-sided conversation with the Scot, as Duncan was gagged. She left the window and headed for the rooftop door. She descended a flight of metal stairs to the catwalk, silently crossing it until she was over her prey. Tying the rope off, she lowered herself to the ground behind Corrigan. "Hello, Kevin is it?"
Corrigan rose from his chair and turned to meet her. "Hello Anna. It's been a while. My, you're looking good. I take it you've been going well?"
"I was until I discovered you were still alive, but I plan to rectify that now."
"Really? I don't think so." An evil smile crept across his face. "You really thought I didn't know you would come in this way?" He pulled a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. From underneath the catwalk, a bucket of blood was released to rain down upon the auburn beauty. Covered in this sanguine fluid, Anna screamed, "Oh God. NO!" then twisting around, sank to the floor. Duncan watched in horror the scene that was playing out before him, wanting to run to her side and comfort her, but alas, was unable to do so. Corrigan, meanwhile, walked around to face her, laughing as he did so. He pulled out his sword and knelt before her. "And now my dear girl, I want you to watch as I take your dear Highlander's head." He reached over and cupped Anna's chin with his hand, raising her face to meet his, grinning all the while. What he saw startled him. It was not the face of someone defeated, but instead, one of anger, hatred and resolve.
"I don't think so," she said vehemently and stabbed him in the heart. A look of total bewilderment washed over his face. "You really didn't think I was the same person you knew 18 months ago, now did you?" She stood up and grabbed his sword from him, as he knelt there gasping for life. "See you in hell, you son of a bitch." With that, she raised his sword and lopped off his head. Letting the sword fall to the floor, she staggered back and watched as a blue light began to emanate from his body in search of another immortal, which it found in the form of Duncan MacLeod. Swirling, it encircled the Scot. Then, out of nowhere, lightening appeared, first striking the chains which bound him, freeing him. Next, it began to repeatedly strike Duncan's body as he yelled, arms raised towards the heavens. After a few minutes, it all ceased and Duncan dropped to his knees. Anna rushed to his side. "Duncan, are you alright?" she asked tenderly.
"Oh, just peachy," was his sarcastic response. "Sorry. Oh god that hurts." Anna helped him to his feet, letting him lean on her as they bound for the door. "You shouldn't have done it, Anna."
"Done what?" she asked, trying to sound innocent.
Duncan stopped and gave her his disapproving look. "You know what I'm talking about. You shouldn't have taken his head. That's part of our game. It's what we do." he scolded.
Anna, crossing her arms, stood her ground and responded angrily. "If you remember correctly, you were in no position to do that. I did what I had to do. It's not like I haven't taken a life before. I have." This revelation surprised him. "I've made other enemies besides Corrigan, people who want me dead. They even hired some of best hit men in the world to do the job. They were dumb enough to think that they could take me out. They were wrong." She turned and walked away from him.
"Oh." was all he could say.
The next morning, Anna stood in front of the console, making the proper adjustments for her journey home. She paused as she remembered the events of the night before. After they had returned to the loft and cleaned up, Duncan called Joe, letting him know what had happened. He told him they would be over later. They sat on the sofa talking for awhile, then went to dinner. They stopped at Joe's as promised and he played a number just for her. Upon leaving the bar, they returned to the loft, where one thing lead to another, and they made love. Beautiful, passionate love. It was one of the most memorable nights she had ever had. She hated for it to end, but end it did. And now it was time for her to return to her dimension.
"Anna, is everything alright?" Duncan asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Just kinda of wishing I didn't have to go."
"I wish you didn't have to go either."
"No chance of that. I don't belong here any more than Margaret belongs in my world. As much as I would love to stay, she has a husband who misses her and she must miss him. I can't do that to them."
"I know," Duncan brushed the hair back from Anna's face, then kissed her and held her tight. "But I don't have to like it." Anna smiled, then pulled away from him.
"Well, I better finish making these adjustments. I've made some modifications to the portal which will enable us to switch us back to a time before this all happened. Margaret will have no memory of the last couple of days."
"And you?"
"Don't worry, Duncan. I won't forget you. I could never forget you." She kissed him, then turned back to her work. "There. Done." She looked at Duncan again. "I guess it's time for me to go," she said as she stroked his face with the back of her hand. "I am going to miss you, you know that don't you?"
"As much as I'm going to miss you." He held her tight again for several minutes before letting her go.
"Okay, this is what you need to do. First press this button, then this one. Count ten and flip this switch. And remember, after the transfer is made, destroy the machine. We can't risk it falling into the wrong hands again."
"Right. Goodbye, Anna."
"Bye, Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod." They kissed one last time, then Anna stepped into the portal. Duncan followed her instructions and, a few moments later, she was gone.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A couple of hours later, Duncan and Richie returned to the loft with Joe in tow finding Anna engrossed in a book. Duncan excused himself to take a shower as he had been working out. A short time later, Methos arrived. "Hello, everyone," he said as he headed for the frig to pilfer a beer. "Where's MacLeod?"
"Shower," Joe replied. As if by cue, Duncan emerged from the bathroom, toweling his hair dry.
"MacLeod. Hope you don't mind?" the oldest immortal said, referring to the beer he was holding.
"Does it matter?" was the dry reply. Methos just smiled. "So Anna, are you ready to finish your story?" Duncan asked.
Anna shut the book she was reading and put it aside. "Well, there's really not much more to tell. After Katie's death, I was pretty much a basket case, which suited my employers and Corrigan just fine. They were able to convince me that my friends and family were in danger from this psychopath. In my state of mind, I believed them, and did so for a long time. So, in order to protect those dear to me, I cut myself off from all of them and threw myself into my work. And whenever I started to re- establish contact with anyone, Corrigan would send me a "memento" to remind me of what happen to my kids, so I would go back to burying myself in my work. Then about 18 months ago, there was an accident and I was told Michael was dead, which was true." Everyone looked at her curiously. She smiled. "Guess I should explain, huh?"
"As I told you before, Corrigan went to work for my father, stumbled upon his research, then switched places with Michael. My father discovered what Corrigan had done, but because of his accident, it was sometime before he could correct it. He was forced to watch the misery that Corrigan was inflicting on me, which only strengthened his resolve to recover and save me. But he also knew that once he brought Corrigan back, he would just try to return to my dimension. So when Malachi was well enough, he moved here to Seacouver, then made improvements on the portal which would make it possible for him to transport Corrigan to a location of his choice. It was eighteen months ago that my father made the switch and, within a few hours, Michael was killed in a car accident which made it impossible for Corrigan to return to my dimension. She stopped and looked at the others. "Well, you can guess what happened next. Since Corrigan couldn't get back to my world, he brought me to his. He wants to keep making me pay for rejecting him. That's about it."
The group sat in silence for a few moments before Richie finally spoke. "That is some tale, Anna. Almost like one of Thaddeus Blake's novels."
"Well, it's not," she replied defensively.
"Whoa. I believe you." Richie said, then chuckling, added, "You should have been there when Mac explained being immortal to me." Anna grinned.
"So what's our next move?" Joe asked. They all looked at Anna.
"I think that's going to be up to Corrigan," she told them. "He's playing some kind of game here, planning everything very carefully. He'll contact me soon. Until then, we'll just have to wait. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll head up to the roof for some 'me' time."
"I was going to make lunch for us," Duncan said.
"I'll be back down in a little bit. I wouldn't dare miss your cooking," she said with a grin, then headed for the roof.
A couple of hours later, Anna was once again heading for the rooftop. Having finished the meal Duncan had prepared, the group decided they would continue to just bide their time until Corrigan contacted Anna. Duncan and Richie headed back downstairs to the dojo, while Joe left to tend to his bar. Methos departed for parts unknown. Just as she was about half way up the staircase, the phone rang. After a few rings, the answering machine pick it up and she heard a familiar voice. "Hello, Anna. I know you're there. Just wanted to let you know I have a friend of yours with me. He's an old acquaintance of mine as well." A feeling of dread washed over Anna. Duncan. She quickly moved towards the phone. "If you want to see him alive again, I suggest you meet me at the warehouse in an hour. And come alone."
Anna picked up the phone, "Corrigan," she shouted into the receiver.
"See. I knew you were there."
"You bastard, how do I know he's still alive, or that you'll even keep him alive until I get there?" she asked with pure contempt in her voice.
"You have my word on it," was his response.
Anna knew he was telling the truth and said she would be there in an hour. She hung up the phone and headed downstairs to the dojo. Richie was in the office working. "Richie, I need a set of wheels."
"I don't think that's such a good idea. Duncan had to go out for awhile, but he should be back soon. Why don't you just wait for him?"
"Can't. Corrigan just called to let me know he's taken Duncan hostage. He wants me to meet him at the warehouse in an hour."
"I'll go with you."
"No! He said for me to come alone and he means it. If he senses you, he'll take Duncan's head, then take off for who knows where. Don't worry Richie. I can more than handle him. He will lose. All I need is some wheels."
"Take my bike," he told her, tossing her the keys.
"Thanks. See you soon." Anna turned and headed out the door for the warehouse.
Against Corrigan's instructions, Anna arrived at the warehouse earlier than requested to scope out the scene in order to get an edge on her enemy. Moving with the stealth of a cat, she crept around the building discovering that Corrigan had left a door ajar for her on the side. She wasn't that stupid. Using the rope she had procured on the way over, she scaled the building. Once on the roof, she pulled the rope up and headed for the skylight. From this vantage point, she could see Duncan towards the rear of the building. Corrigan had him trussed up with chains to some heavy metal pipes. There was blood on the front of his shirt indicating that Corrigan must have shot and "killed" him, which explained how he had gotten himself into that situation. Corrigan, himself, was seated with his back towards her, apparently carrying on a one-sided conversation with the Scot, as Duncan was gagged. She left the window and headed for the rooftop door. She descended a flight of metal stairs to the catwalk, silently crossing it until she was over her prey. Tying the rope off, she lowered herself to the ground behind Corrigan. "Hello, Kevin is it?"
Corrigan rose from his chair and turned to meet her. "Hello Anna. It's been a while. My, you're looking good. I take it you've been going well?"
"I was until I discovered you were still alive, but I plan to rectify that now."
"Really? I don't think so." An evil smile crept across his face. "You really thought I didn't know you would come in this way?" He pulled a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. From underneath the catwalk, a bucket of blood was released to rain down upon the auburn beauty. Covered in this sanguine fluid, Anna screamed, "Oh God. NO!" then twisting around, sank to the floor. Duncan watched in horror the scene that was playing out before him, wanting to run to her side and comfort her, but alas, was unable to do so. Corrigan, meanwhile, walked around to face her, laughing as he did so. He pulled out his sword and knelt before her. "And now my dear girl, I want you to watch as I take your dear Highlander's head." He reached over and cupped Anna's chin with his hand, raising her face to meet his, grinning all the while. What he saw startled him. It was not the face of someone defeated, but instead, one of anger, hatred and resolve.
"I don't think so," she said vehemently and stabbed him in the heart. A look of total bewilderment washed over his face. "You really didn't think I was the same person you knew 18 months ago, now did you?" She stood up and grabbed his sword from him, as he knelt there gasping for life. "See you in hell, you son of a bitch." With that, she raised his sword and lopped off his head. Letting the sword fall to the floor, she staggered back and watched as a blue light began to emanate from his body in search of another immortal, which it found in the form of Duncan MacLeod. Swirling, it encircled the Scot. Then, out of nowhere, lightening appeared, first striking the chains which bound him, freeing him. Next, it began to repeatedly strike Duncan's body as he yelled, arms raised towards the heavens. After a few minutes, it all ceased and Duncan dropped to his knees. Anna rushed to his side. "Duncan, are you alright?" she asked tenderly.
"Oh, just peachy," was his sarcastic response. "Sorry. Oh god that hurts." Anna helped him to his feet, letting him lean on her as they bound for the door. "You shouldn't have done it, Anna."
"Done what?" she asked, trying to sound innocent.
Duncan stopped and gave her his disapproving look. "You know what I'm talking about. You shouldn't have taken his head. That's part of our game. It's what we do." he scolded.
Anna, crossing her arms, stood her ground and responded angrily. "If you remember correctly, you were in no position to do that. I did what I had to do. It's not like I haven't taken a life before. I have." This revelation surprised him. "I've made other enemies besides Corrigan, people who want me dead. They even hired some of best hit men in the world to do the job. They were dumb enough to think that they could take me out. They were wrong." She turned and walked away from him.
"Oh." was all he could say.
The next morning, Anna stood in front of the console, making the proper adjustments for her journey home. She paused as she remembered the events of the night before. After they had returned to the loft and cleaned up, Duncan called Joe, letting him know what had happened. He told him they would be over later. They sat on the sofa talking for awhile, then went to dinner. They stopped at Joe's as promised and he played a number just for her. Upon leaving the bar, they returned to the loft, where one thing lead to another, and they made love. Beautiful, passionate love. It was one of the most memorable nights she had ever had. She hated for it to end, but end it did. And now it was time for her to return to her dimension.
"Anna, is everything alright?" Duncan asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Just kinda of wishing I didn't have to go."
"I wish you didn't have to go either."
"No chance of that. I don't belong here any more than Margaret belongs in my world. As much as I would love to stay, she has a husband who misses her and she must miss him. I can't do that to them."
"I know," Duncan brushed the hair back from Anna's face, then kissed her and held her tight. "But I don't have to like it." Anna smiled, then pulled away from him.
"Well, I better finish making these adjustments. I've made some modifications to the portal which will enable us to switch us back to a time before this all happened. Margaret will have no memory of the last couple of days."
"And you?"
"Don't worry, Duncan. I won't forget you. I could never forget you." She kissed him, then turned back to her work. "There. Done." She looked at Duncan again. "I guess it's time for me to go," she said as she stroked his face with the back of her hand. "I am going to miss you, you know that don't you?"
"As much as I'm going to miss you." He held her tight again for several minutes before letting her go.
"Okay, this is what you need to do. First press this button, then this one. Count ten and flip this switch. And remember, after the transfer is made, destroy the machine. We can't risk it falling into the wrong hands again."
"Right. Goodbye, Anna."
"Bye, Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod." They kissed one last time, then Anna stepped into the portal. Duncan followed her instructions and, a few moments later, she was gone.