Chapter 38

Rome

Ian nodded solemnly at Duncan's directions, pausing on his way out to kiss Alisaunne. He had a suspicion that whatever was strained between the two of them… they wanted to deal with it without his presence. All he knew for certain was that Alisaunne was a basket-case… weeping one moment and tossing things angrily the next… and Duncan? Well, the Highlander sat glaring at either his computer or the television. When he'd suggested that Ian make a covert sweep of the area… see who was about… friend or foe… Ian had been more than happy to oblige. He was also to see about renting a vehicle.

The young immortal changed into casual clothes… jeans, boots, a T-shirt, a light coat containing his sword, and headed out… his face partially obscured by a ball-cap and his reflective sunglasses. In his pocket was a cell-phone.

"Be careful." Duncan re-iterated even as Ian stood at the door. "No matter what… don't lead anyone back here."

Ian nodded as he closed the door behind him and sauntered down the hallway to the elevator. He hoped for all their sakes that whatever was bothering his friends, was settled by the time he returned.

-----

Within the suite… Duncan continued to glare without comprehension at his computer screen… while across the room… he was aware of Alisaunne's nervous pacing back and forth.

"Sit down!" he barked, a little more forcefully than he meant.

She stared at him… then she sat… on the far side of the room.

"Damn it all Alisaunne… I'm not going to attack you. I didn't even mean for all that to come out… but maybe we need to clear the air."

"Clearing the air… is that what you call this?" She practically spat at him. "I thought you were my friend?"

Duncan stood suddenly and nearly roared at her in reply. "I AM your friend!" He took a deep breath and then continued more softly, "I only have your best interests at heart. I know all too well what you went through… what you lost… and what you've gained. You are an immortal, Alisaunne… an immortal whom I would see survive more than a handful of years. You have to start taking all of this seriously. Our lives are not a game… no matter what we call it."

"I know that Duncan… I have been paying attention to everything these last three years… but I never meant to tease you into feeling anything more for me… I just…" she folded her arms across her chest and closed her eyes. "Before I met you… when you were only a name in that silly book… I admit I had a crush on you… but that's all it was…" she looked up and into his brown eyes, "a silly school-girl's crush. After everything that happened… you were simply my uncle's friend… and mine."

Duncan turned away. "I know that. But after you became immortal… after we left Paris… after I began working with you… things began to change. Maybe it was just being with you so much of the time."

"Then it is as Ian told me. It is time for us to go. I have entered the game… and all of our relationships have changed."

Duncan nodded, "That was the plan…except now… with this odd Watcher business… We need to stay together for a time. But I swear to you… nothing will happen… ever." He returned to his seat and stared once more at the computer game… looking at these images as if by staring at them long enough… somehow they'd begin to make sense. He was aware when she crossed to stand behind him… and stare over his shoulder… Duncan could smell her scent… feel her presence… He closed his eyes.

"Tell me about him… about the Darius you knew… the one I never did… the one who did that," she gestured at the screen. "Tell me how to reconcile the memories I have of a beloved uncle with that of an immortal general and… priest."

"I don't know that I can. I thought I knew him… as well as anyone… but now I wonder." Duncan reached and turned off the display screen. Closing the old laptop he thought of the priest he'd known for almost two hundred years… and the one that Ellie and Methos had evidently known… a man who kept secrets and who had left them puzzles to solve. He took a short breath, thoughtfully rubbing the fingers of his left hand across his lips. "Perhaps if you tell me what you knew of him… what you can recall… perhaps then we can find common ground."

"I was a child when he died. All my memories are so old… so fleeting."

Duncan looked up at her. "But you likely spent as much time with him in his final years as anyone. He wanted us to find you… help you… but he gave us no reasons. Perhaps the reasons are in your memories.

"But they're just flashes of things, Duncan… nothing is clear… I don't even clearly recall his face." Alisaunne wandered to the curtained window thoughtfully. "My clearest impression of him are his hands… as he showed me rune-stones… guided my hand in learning to reproduce the marks on them. I used to sit on his lap when I was very small… and I remember smelling…" Alisaunne closed her eyes as she tried to make the memory clearer.

"Incense?" asked Duncan.

Alisaunne's eyes snapped open. "That's it… That's it exactly… incense. I didn't know what it was at the time… But I smelled it later in services at Sacre Coeur. I just never put it together. Maybe that's why I was always happy at Sacre Coeur… it smelled like home."

Duncan rose and gingerly laid a soft hand on her shoulder… feeling her flinch slightly at his touch. "What do you remember… no matter how small or how insignificant it seems… what do you remember? Did he teach you anything he wanted you to remember? Did he show you anything? Did he give you anything?" He dropped his hand and stepped back… giving her some space. He'd asked her these things before… over the years… but she either had not recalled anything… or hadn't wanted to remember. This time… maybe she would.

Alisaunne shook her head. "Nothing that makes sense… other than… that last time I saw him. He came to see me at Sacre Coeur shortly before my eighth birthday… said he was going away… on a trip of some sorts… He gave me his Candide. He'd read it to me when I was younger… he thought I'd like to read it for myself one day…" Alisaunne chuckled. "I was ecstatic. I loved the book. He'd once told me it had belonged to my mother…" She sighed. "Guess that was a lie like everything else. Inside the book was an envelope… and in the envelope was an old photo… You know… black and white… crinkled edges… a photo of a woman and two children."

"Who were they? Did he say?"

"I asked if it was my grandmother, my mother and him… He laughed. He told me no it was an old friend of his and her children." Alisaunne laughed. "He said her name was Eleanor… and that if I ever met her to tell her to face her greatest fears and find the answers." She glanced at Duncan. "And I did… She was there with your friend Dr. Pierson and their son… only… I suppose they were immortals so the boy wasn't their son." She shook her head. "All of you immortals… and risking your lives for me… why?"

"Because you were special to Darius for some reason." Duncan had never explained the legend of the born immortal child… nor did he understand why Darius had hoped Eleanor would one day meet Alisaunne. He wondered if Derrick knew… he hadn't seemed to… beyond just wanting Duncan to look after Alisaunne. "What happened to the book?" he suddenly asked.

Alisaunne glanced up at him with a smile. "Oh it was in my rooms in Paris when I died. You and Ian ushered me out of there so fast I didn't get a chance to go get it."

Duncan grinned. "I had a moving company gather all your things and store them. The book would still be in storage."

Alisaunne regarded him with curiosity. "Is it important?"

"Maybe… It could be nothing… but it might have a clue hidden in it." He turned and grabbed his PPC… making some inquiries. "When Ian gets back with the car… I think we may head to Paris."

-----

Paris

Avril Mischkov carefully looked over the dossier on Amy Meyers. She was an excellent researcher… In the years since Rawlins had come to power within the Watchers… the man had been carefully ushering the old timers out… and watching the younger ones… hoping to gather them all into the fold once his plans were made clear to everyone.

Meyers was a problem, though. She was close to former Watcher Joseph Dawson… unusually close. They spent time together… even now. There was some scuttlebutt that Dawson had been a close friend of Meyers' parents and, with her father's death… and mother's withdrawal from the young woman's life… that Dawson had stepped up and guided the initial stages of Amy Brennan-Thomas Meyers' early years within the organization. Recently, she'd been doing excellent research in the Paris library. And… as a friend of Dawson's… she might be in a position to find out if the old man knew anything about the whereabouts of Duncan MacLeod.

Flipping the pages back, Mischkov gave Meyers a cold smile. "You references are impeccable. You seem to know when to work… and when to show initiative."

"Thank you sir." Amy knew better than to say anything else. Saying more than was necessary was a good way to lose one's head… literally. Had she learned that from her years on the Methos project? She folded her hands in her lap and waited.

"You are still close to Joseph Dawson."

It was a statement… not a question.

"Yes sir." Again… Amy managed to keep from explaining why. Most people did not know of her biological tie to Joe… only those close to her… and no one currently in Watchers.

"Friend of your parents."

Amy nodded.

"We believe he may know where a vanished immortal is now hiding. Would you be willing to find out for us?"

Amy feared that Mischkov would hear her heart pounding… or note her increased tension. She forced herself to smile. "I might be able to find out."

Mischkov smiled coldly. "Excellent. Report to medical. Once that's taken care of… I'll give you your assignment."

Amy nodded and rose. To ask more might be seen as being suspicious. But medical? Calmly she opened the door and left. On her way to the medical floor… she wondered if the years of low profile might finally be paying off. But to watch Joe? To spy on her own father? Evidently Mischkov did not know what Joe meant to her.

In medical… an electronic tracking capsule was inserted subcutaneously in her left thigh. She winced at the momentary pain and then was handed an adhesive bandage.

"If it gets red or swollen… come back in… But you should be fine."

"So wherever I am… you can find me?"

The doctor looked at her sharply over her glasses. "I believe that it is a backup if we lose contact with operatives for any reason."

Amy nodded. "I'll just bet it is," she thought and quietly returned to the director's office, where she was scanned to be certain that it was operating correctly. Her "frequency" was entered into a file Mischkov kept in his office

She was handed a large manila envelope. Inside was basic information regarding Joe… and Duncan MacLeod. As she flipped through the papers… she realized she knew more than what was here… but there was no reason to mention that fact. Finally she sighed and looked evenly at Mischkov. "So… you want me to find Duncan MacLeod… and you think Dawson might have been in contact with him."

"Precisely." Mischkov was twirling back and forth slightly in his executive chair… while spinning an ink stylus in one of his hands. "We know you have dinner with Dawson about once a week… that you even named one of your children for him… Dawson Thomas I believe." When Amy nodded, he continued. "If MacLeod or any other immortal he was friends with over the years… like Amanda… or even Methos," Mischkov paused… with a slight accent and a smile on the name… "have been in touch… find out. Don't be obvious about it… or he might clam up. Just find out… and report back. Nothing further will be needed on your part at this time. Just a little surveillance. Nothing dangerous. Nothing… that could be considered betrayal of a friend. We've just lost track of a few immortals… and we'd like to find them again. For the sake of the Chronicles."

Amy nodded her agreement. Was this how they pulled people in? Just one step at a time. Spy on a friend one day… report on their activities… set them up… kill them. How far would she have to go? Rising… she shook Mischkov's hand, assuring him of her complete assistance in this matter and then left.

Back in the library she sat quietly at her research station for some time… calming her mind… thinking of what to say. Finally she called Burt.

"Honey… I'm thinking of going to Joe's tonight for a bit before coming home. Is there any way you could meet me there? Maybe we could share a drink… make an early night of it." When he agreed… Amy heaved a sigh of relief. She'd once told him if she needed to talk to him she'd invite him to join her at Joe's place… He was still upset that she'd insisted he take the kids to Liverpool to "visit" her mother… She'd only told him she'd explain… but not yet. Tonight she might have to.

Amy scratched absently at her "transponder" and worried just how she was going to get out of this when the time came… and she wondered just who she might have to offer up to the Watchers in place of Joe… or Duncan MacLeod.

-----

Moscow

"Drop your pants."

Warren Green nodded and dropped them. Reagan Cole pulled out a wicked looking switch-blade and grinned with a smirk. "Let's see if I can't deal with that." She leaned in and touched his thigh as she prepared to cut the electronic surveillance "bug" from his leg. As she touched him… he responded… most inappropriately under the circumstances.

"Sorry," he said and grabbed a pillow.

"Not to worry," Reagan laughed and cut swiftly and efficiently removing the unit. She turned while he grabbed some gauze to stem the bleeding, and then picked up the small cat they'd gotten. She made a small cut and inserted the transponder in the cat's thigh… then bandaged it. "There, there Kitty… all will be fine."

The cat hissed and headed under the bed when she let it go. Warren had explained that they couldn't just cut it out… it had to be in something alive and moving. "If it's not… they'll come looking."

Reagan helped bandage Warren's leg. "Once you feel like moving… we leave."

"I'm fine… As I said… they'll only start looking if I don't report in, or if they check the frequency and discover it's not on the move."

"Still… I'd prefer not to stay here. I haven't stayed alive this long without learning a few things. So explain to me exactly why you're on my side and not your friends' side."

"The ones in charge are not my friends… and I think they may have killed some friends of mine… friends who were recruited with me."

"Why?"

"Because they found out something. Because they saw something they shouldn't have… or were no longer needed."

"It is inefficient to kill one's operatives."

"I don't think they felt like they needed them after they collected the immortals my friends were watching."

Reagan stretched out in the chair to regard the young mortal who was finishing doing up his pants. She smiled. "So… you think they are collecting us… for what reason?"

Warren shook his head. "I don't know… but Mallory… a friend of mine who was watching immortal Kyra a few years ago… said she'd heard rumors about some plan to either end the game or broaden it… she wasn't certain. Then Kyra vanished… Mallory made some waves about it… and Mallory turned up dead… senseless street violence was the official story."

Reagan nodded thoughtfully. "Well then… we need to find out what's going on. And we may need help… Any ideas?"

Warren shook his head. "I initially just wanted you to know… but now… I'm afraid to even go back. I have only one life… I don't want it to end prematurely."

The immortal laughed brightly. "Well then… I suppose I shall be Watching you for a change. First off… we need to leave Moscow." She reached under the bed, "Now where's that cat… we'll have to turn him loose to wander the streets here to give the illusion you are still on the job… at least for a while."