This is the first of two chapters going up today.--elle

Chapter 57

Paris, just after midnight

As she watched the enticing lights of the city from their bedroom window at the hotel, Alisaunne sighed. She wanted to go out… more than anything… she wanted to go out. Out there was life with all its intricacies and surprises. Out there was death and all its glory. Out there… she could be on her own and revel in all her power.

Ian stood behind her and wrapped his arms about her, as he kissed her shoulder. "I know lass. But here we are and here we stay."

"It's silly!" She leaned against him. "We are not children. We are immortals and we know to be careful. Why else has Duncan been teaching us all this in the past few years, if not to prepare us for living in the real world. We can't stay here forever."

His lips brushed her dark hair and found her neck. "I know. But he fears my face would be on police blotters at present. These Watchers are everywhere. It was one thing when they just watched… but now they are collecting us. Ya don't want your life to be over before it's begun do ya lass?"

Alisaunne sighed. How best to explain to him about her recent dreams… about her wanting to prowl the streets and kill those who threatened them all. She could do it. They wouldn't know she was immortal… there would be no files on her. Duncan had made certain of that. Alisaunne could move through the shadows… and kill the Watchers one by one… and they would not return. It would be so very easy.

Ian hugged her… but her thoughts were on the darkness outside. Then she smiled. Turning within his arms she grinned and raised her hands to his neck, then practically bit him as she hungrily kissed him. If she couldn't kill mortals tonight… she could do other things.

Eagerly she propelled him toward the bed; pleased she could feel his response and his groan as if he knew what was coming. She'd play tonight… but Duncan would not always be here to stop her… and soon… very soon… Alisaunne would have her way in all things.

Within her the darkly silky voice chuckled, "Ahhh pretty one… what a pair we make."

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In the main room Duncan, flipped through the stations on the television… watching for news… watching for anything suspicious. He was restless and he knew why.

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Seacouver 1997

"Did you ever wonder what it might be like if we married?" Amanda had stretched beside him, naked on the bed, her hands teasing up and down his chest.

Duncan laughed, "We'd likely end up killing one another."

She hit him playfully. "I'm serious. I don't mean forever… but it might be fun to play house for a few decades."

He'd sighed and closed his eyes. "I'd be what… a kept man while you wander the world as a cat burglar."

She'd hmphed and turned and away. "I am trying dear. I want to change… you just won't let me."

"Say that again," he teased rolling towards her with a wide grin.

"Say what?"

"Dear… I liked it"

She grinned playfully and teased onto her back with a laugh. "Did I say that? What I meant was stag… or maybe satyr… or…"

He'd kissed her then… running his tongue into her mouth and his hands over her bare breasts.

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Duncan was thinking too much about Amanda and how much he needed her. He glanced at the closed door to Alisuanne's and Ian's room… all too aware of what they were likely doing. "Damn it I dealt with that!" he moaned. "I don't want her… I've never wanted her." But there was the way she stood and the way she tossed her hair… and the way she nodded her head…

Duncan shuddered. This was not helping. This infatuation he'd developed for the girl was not right. He needed to get out of here before he said or did something they would all regret.

Shutting off the television, Duncan rose, packing his laptop and PPC into a small overnight bag and left quietly. He'd call them later… let them know he was fine… but he had to get out of this hotel room now.

Once in the parking garage, he tossed his things into the trunk and drove swiftly off up and down the night streets of Paris… still active even now. Tourists ranged up and down the streets… but it wasn't tourists he wanted… it was peace.

Turning at last onto the Boulevard St. Germain… Duncan realized where he was going. He wanted to be at the one place in Paris where he always found peace… and comfort… Darius' church. He parked several blocks away and slipped through the shadows into the church. Only a few candles lit the interior. The church was empty. Duncan sat in one of the chairs, leaning his arms on the back of the chair in front of him, and just stared about him… letting the past come back.

"Welcome young Duncan MacLeod, I see you've found me!" Darius standing among peasants seeking food and shelter in the aftermath of Napoleon's final defeat.

"Aye… I would learn more about what you have to teach Darius." He'd come there… and he wasn't truly certain why.

And again…

"Chess is like war in the abstract my friend. It sharpens the mind, and prepares us for all eventualities." Darius laughing over an early game of chess.

"And this is the way you'd teach me peace."

"There are always alternatives my young friend… always. Never forget that."

Duncan shook his head at the memories. "But you died Darius… what alternative was there to that. If you had the answers… if you knew there were alternatives… why did you die?"

Again the memories flowed over him.

"How do you manage after so many centuries?" Duncan had nodded toward the pair of young women who had grinned and giggled at both of them from the street as the two immortals wandered the church gardens.

Darius chuckled. "One day at a time. Understand, Duncan, I have known love, and I have lost love… and one day if the fates allow… I will find it again."

"Is that you or that old one talking?"

"Ah, my friend, perhaps it is a bit of both of us." Darius had laughed then.

Duncan shook his head, "Was it Ellie you were thinking of that day… or was it someone else, Darius?"

He straightened, feeling the tingle of an immortal nearby. Swiftly his eyes surveyed the gloomy church interior until he saw her, ghost-like, a pale face in dark clothes among the shadows. Duncan wasn't even certain if she was real.

"Ellie?"

"I told Joe if you needed me… to come here… I didn't expect you tonight." She crossed silently through the shadows to sit in a nearby chair.

"I haven't spoken with Joe since this morning… he didn't tell me… I just felt the need to come."

She glanced around the church, her shoulders shaking slightly. "I always hated holy ground. I always felt so helpless here. Darius helped me over the years to see it differently. But in the end… I was right. We are helpless here." She gestured toward the aisle. "I saw him dead there once… during World War II. A German officer shot him. I killed that German and his men."

Duncan nodded. "Some French thieves killed him in 1816. He bid me let them go when he revived."

"He chastised me for killing the Germans. I warned him that one day someone would come who would know how to kill him."

"And you were right." Duncan said sadly.

"And I was right."

Are you really here or just a vision? Are you part of the dream?" Duncan sat back and looked at her. So pale she was that she seemed like a ghost.

Laughter like tinkling bells sounded. "I'm here."

"And Derrick?"

"Nearby… and safe. He loses more and more of the old memories everyday. Soon… there will be nothing left… except perhaps his understanding of them."

"He's not immortal."

"Not yet. Not for years I hope." She laughed again. "He hates it here. He wants to see the world."

"The life Darius never had?"

"Perhaps, but not with me." She looked at Duncan evenly and met his gaze. "I have to find Methos. Before it's too late… I have to find him!"

"Joe says he's working on it… So am I."

Ellie nodded. "How is Alisaunne?" she asked suddenly.

"Fine… she's immortal now."

Ellie nodded and he could see tears in her eyes. "I feared as much when you weren't here and Methos went on to Geneva. You've been training her?"

He nodded. "Geneva? Is that where they got him?"

She nodded. "So it seems." She rose. "I need to get back… if there is nothing else… I'll leave you to your thoughts."

Duncan shook his head and watched her fade back into the shadows near the area of Darius' old cell, where she vanished. He sat for a few moments, then rose thoughtfully and followed her in there. He was met by stacks of storage and no feel of her at all… as if she'd been only a dream… or a figment of his thoughts.

Returning to the church itself… Duncan stared at the altar for several moments… then crossed to where he'd found Darius' body so many years ago. He'd noticed that day on the floor… a small blackened area… as though there had been a fire there… or a small quickening released. Crouching down, he thoughtfully ran his hand over the still dark patch on the stone floor. But there had been no immortal there that day… and he'd believed all that had been Darius had been lost. In meeting Derrick eight years ago… he'd dared to hope something of his friend remained in the world. But if what Ellie said was true… that Derrick was forgetting whatever memories he'd somehow inherited, even that hope was fading. Without those memories… they might never solve the puzzles Darius had left behind.

Thoughtfully, Duncan exited the church, and headed back to his parked car. Oddly… he did feel comforted… but he wasn't certain why.

From a shadowed doorway of a building near the church… a Watcher smiled. Punching a number on his cell phone, he whispered, "Got him!"