Chapter 5

Scotland, October, 2007

Fourteen-year old Derrick pulled off his leather gloves, slapping them against his jeaned leg to shake off the dust. He grinned as he watched the horses prance and pace about the corral. Their high spirits often mirrored his feelings.

The late afternoon sun was casting long shadows across the valley. It was still warm here this time of year… not as warm as a desert climate… but it didn't matter. In the distance he could hear the voices and laughter of the laborers Methos had hired to help with the harvest. The ancient immortal was out in the fields working with them.

Derrick grinned. There were times he wondered what life in the outside world was like. He'd often find himself hanging around the day laborers… listening to their comments and talk of politics and life in general… But mostly… the boy had felt this was a special time… one he owed the immortal couple… one that must not be interrupted by his desire to be once more a part of the world. Ellie had once told him he would leave her… and Derrick knew the day was coming. But not today!

He backed away from the corral fence and taking long paces with his lanky and still growing long legs… crossed the courtyard and entered the small farmhouse.

He'd heard music from outside and knew Ellie was playing the guitar again. That was the latest of her new skills. "I always wanted to learn," she'd murmured when Methos had given it to her last Christmas. He'd rolled his eyes teasingly. "Do tell!" he'd smirked. But then he'd kissed her… or she'd kissed him as if whatever memory they shared was for them alone.

Derrick had never tried to interfere in the couple's relationship… being certain to always pull back and go into another room if necessary. They needed time together even more than they needed to raise him… Derrick instinctively knew this… knew that those, whose memories he carried, insisted on it. As yet… neither Methos nor Ellie knew of Derrick's awareness of those memories… nor of his understanding of his own latent immortality.

He stuffed the gloves into a back pocket and poured himself some lemonade from a crockery pitcher sitting on the table. With one large hand he stuffed some cookies into his mouth… making certain he didn't grimace at their tastelessness. Ellie was so proud she hadn't burned this batch. Derrick leaned back against the table and watched his "sister" struggle with the chords. His inner memories recognized the music as some seventeenth century piece of Baroque church music. Outwardly he watched her mouth the old words as she strummed and haltingly changed chords.

"Not your usual choice of music," he teased.

Ellie glanced up with a sad smile. "Oh… just something that came to mind earlier… I can hear it in my head as fresh as the first time I ever heard it… but I can't quite get the hang of it… Give me time Derrick… I'll figure it out." She sighed and then set the guitar down. Stretching slightly, she rose… so tiny she seemed to him now. Had she always been so small? Or had he just grown so tall in the last two years that his "big" sister seemed anything but. Her dark hair now flowed in ripples down her back… as if being in this place where she could just be herself… as she had once been… she no longer worried about changing her hair and her appearance to keep from being spotted. She really did seem so very happy here. Happier than any of Derrick's old memories had ever seen her.

He finished his lemonade, carefully setting the glass into the soapy water in the sink and wiping the cookie crumbs from his mouth. With a teasing grin the boy swept the tiny immortal into his arms and began to dance about the kitchen. Soon both were laughing as they turned and twisted… hopped and slid in the old dance steps that he had always known… even before that first time she'd ever danced with him so long ago. He laughed… her green eyes met his blue ones in laughter and then… Ellie's face seemed to freeze in a question and she pulled back… still staring into his eyes.

Swiftly Derrick reached behind her and grabbed some additional cookies… breaking the spell of the moment as he mumbled something about heading back to the barn. As he walked out the door, he mentally kicked himself for allowing some reality of who he had been to show through so that Ellie had seen it. He was usually more careful than that.

Derrick was in the barn mucking out the stalls when he noticed Methos enter. The old one looked at the boy solemnly… as if trying to assess what was going on in Derrick's mind. He'd evidently felt something of Ellie's sadness and come to check it out.

"What happened?"

Derrick continued with his chores and simply said with a shrug, "What do you mean?"

"Eleanor is crying."

Derrick paused only a moment in his shoveling before continuing on. "I don't know, Adam. We were dancing and she just seemed to suddenly be sad."

Methos came closer, reaching out to grasp the shovel. He pulled it from Derrick's hands, forcing the boy to look at him. "What did you say to her?"

Derrick shrugged. "Nothing." He grabbed the shovel back to resume.

Methos pushed the boy against the stall slightly… his grey eyes looking for all the world like storm clouds ready to erupt in thunder and lightning. "You can talk to me Derrick. You would tell me if you were having any more strange dreams or thoughts… wouldn't you?" Unlike his eyes, Methos' voice was gentle with an understanding tone.

Derrick swallowed. "Yes sir."

"If you know anything… if you think you know anything… you need to tell me. I won't let her be hurt! But I need to know! Now… do you have something to tell me?"

Derrick shook his head. "No, sir!"

Methos' face seemed to drop. He closed his eyes as if struggling with what to say.

Derrick waited… thinking. "Tell me your name… and then I can start to tell you what I know… but you have to trust me old friend… before I can trust you." He blinked at the voice he heard so clearly inside his mind. They were only an old memory… something the Old One had once said to Methos… long ago. Derrick said nothing aloud.

Methos took a deep breath and smiled at Derrick… nodding slightly. "Good lad! Together… you and I… we'll keep her safe." The immortal dropped his hands from Derrick's arms and left the barn… heading for the house.

Derrick watched him go… then turned back to his shoveling. He still had straw to spread and the horses to bring in and bed down for the night… and their feed. He'd take it slow… that would give the couple time alone.

"You have to be careful," he thought. "It's not time, yet! It's not time."

The interior voice seemed to agree. With that agreement… Derrick focused on the task at hand.

Methos closed the front door behind him as he watched Eleanor staring into the flames of the fire. As she thoughtfully rubbed her arms with her hands… Methos felt her sadness. In the past few years the two of them had learned to be aware of one another… but not always in one another's thoughts. It gave them each a sense of privacy… a sense of self.

The immortal crossed the main room to touch her shoulder lightly with one gentle caress of his hand and bent to kiss her black hair. "What happened… exactly?" He'd felt her despair and tears while in the field and had seen the boy exit the house hurriedly.

"We were just dancing… as we've always danced… and then… I looked in his eyes… For one moment… it was Darius who looked at me… and I think Derrick knew that I knew… that I saw. I just stumbled." There was a sadness in her voice that betrayed how much she had cared for the priest. Methos had come to accept that part of her life long ago… accept that he was not the only man she had ever truly loved.

"He said much the same. I still think he knows more than what he's telling us." Methos was torn between wanting to protect the boy… and wanting to confront the elusive memories that with each passing day seemed more and more a part of Derrick.

"You didn't tell him anything?" Eleanor turned to regard him fearfully. "If he should suspect… if he were to know… we might lose him… he might not…" Her voice broke.

"No… but I think he suspects anyway." Methos held her close… feeling the wall dissolve as he attempted to fill her with his reassurance and love. How was it he had been so afraid of this for so long… fearful of caring for anyone so much that he'd truly opened himself and all he was to another. Oh… true… it was to the doomed Alexa Bond he'd first been able to finally open his heart… and her death had devastated him as none of the deaths of his other wives ever had. His love for Alexa had helped make this union with Eleanor possible. "All we can do is watch out for Derrick and keep him safe, until… well until whatever happens… happens."

"You don't need to worry… you know."

Methos heard the tease in her voice. "Worry about what?"

"About my leaving you. I won't… not this time… not as long as you want me here." Eleanor's green eyes glittered a bit greener as Methos cupped her face between his hands with a smile.

He laughed and bent to kiss her murmuring, "And if I always want you in my life?"

"Well… then here I am."

Her earlier sadness had evaporated… and Methos felt only her joy in his presence.

Hong Kong, December 2007

Kiem Sun watched the glow of fireworks in the night sky for several moments before returning to his meditation. Once more he moved… utilizing all the skill he had once had in the flowing beauty of the movements. The Gathering was here, his old friend MacLeod had told him years ago. Yet nothing seemed to have changed. Perhaps MacLeod was wrong… perhaps he, Kiem Sun, might still have the chance to perfect the herbal potion from the kwanlo root, but he somehow doubted it. No… he continued to dwell on holy ground for the time being. He needed to regain all his skills so that he could once more face the immortal battles that surely awaited him.

The perfect dance of the ancient means of battle flowed through Kiem Sun like water and helped him move ever more quickly. "Soon," he thought, "Soon I shall be ready. Soon I shall challenge someone… someone still young and not so learned… Soon it will be time to re-join the game."

He froze and looked up at the young disciple who entered the monastery gardens. Quietly, once more adjusting his monk's robes about him, Kiem Sun bowed to the disciple as the other likewise bowed to him.

"Master, one has come to the gates asking admission."

"What sort of man?" Kiem asked.

"A westerner by his look… perhaps English. He seeks sanctuary."

Kiem nodded and turned away. In his guise as one of the monks here, it was his job to grant sanctuary to weary mortals. And if this person were immortal? Well they were on holy ground… and perhaps, this immortal might be the challenge he sought to make his presence known once more in the game.

As the disciple padded softly away, Kiem concentrated once more on his disciplines and tuned out the sound of firecrackers and fireworks. Let the mortals celebrate… he had other things to occupy himself. Crossing to a stone bench and table when he finished, he poured a small cup of tea and held it reverently in his hands. He still had a long way to go to recapture his true abilities… and even further to be able to take on MacLeod if it came to it… but he rather hoped it would not… At least not any time soon.

At the sound of footsteps on the gravel path he glanced up… and the world exploded in a red haze.