Here's a bonus chapter... just for you guys... just for today. --elle

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 84

Taranto, just after dawn

Before dawn, Phillip had finalized their plans for the attack on the compound. He had never been a planner of campaigns… but this was no major campaign… only a skirmish… at least he hoped it would be only be a skirmish.

"Always a soldier," he'd chuckled to Reagan, "never a general."

Reagan had given him a bit of a smirk. "So tell me… we're following your lead… why?"

Phillip had shrugged. "I'm open to any better ideas."

Reagan had laughed at that point. Keith had looked askance at both of them. "I don't get it," he finally said.

Denis had elbowed him. "You haven't hung around the elders too much have, you boy."

Keith grumbled. "How many times do I have to tell you… I'm not a boy."

"No, lad," Phillip had said at that point gently. "None of us are. We might be facing the end of our lives by attacking this place. We might even precipitate a war, which might destroy all of us… but we have to find out what's going on in there. Levity before battle helps."

So here they were… positioned in the growing light of the dawn of another cloudless day… awaiting Phillip's signal to begin.

Phillip stared heavenward a moment. "My Lady… if you've any power left… if you still watch us… your children… guide our steps in this enterprise." As always… Danae… Aja… never answered… but Phillip felt some sense of comfort in just asking.

He raised his right arm and whistled… rather like a thrush… and the operation began.

-----

Hearing the signal… and seeing the swordmaster's raised arm… Denis grinned. He and Chou were up first. Grabbing their ball… they headed out into the road… passing it back and forth as they laughed and jeered at one another, appearing… they hoped… like any two small boys… out for a day of fun.

"Bambinos!" one of the men at the gate called out. "Sfuggire di strade! Get on down the road!" So far so good. The boys were evidently not known on sight.

They nodded, waved… a signal to the others that they could move to the next phase… and continued tossing the ball and laughing as they moved on down the road. Now came the hard part. Chou paused… grinned… and tossed the ball over Denis' head so that it rolled into the brush at the roadside. Denis gave a wave and trotted off to ostensibly retrieve the lost ball. He climbed down into the gully… swept brush back and forth… and then held the ball up in triumph.

Chou licked his lips.

Denis climbed out… tripped on something and fell. Clasping his leg and ankle… the boy immortal began wailing in pain.

One of the guards left the gate and approached. He knelt by Denis while Chou crouched at his friend's side. "Signore…" Chou said. "He's broken it."

The man nodded. "Stop wailing boy… How far is your casa?"

Just down the strade!" whimpered Denis.

The man grunted. "Can you go for his genitori … his parents?" he said to Chou.

Denis screamed louder.

Chou mumbled something about only the old nonna… the grandmother… was at home.

The man spoke into his communicator that he was taking the bambino home," and lifted Denis into his arms as he followed Chou down the strade.

Twenty minutes later… he called in over static that he was on his way back. His companion at the gate stood easy as he saw his friend coming up the road. His companion was whistling as he walked… his hands thrust into his pockets. He removed one hand and waved.

The man at the gate heard something… possibly a branch… snap off to the left and turned… his rifle unslung… and his eyes on whatever it was. "Bah," he finally said. "Must be another volpe … a fox." He turned to stare into an unfamiliar face wearing his friend's clothes.

"Do tell," the stranger said, as his fist connected soundly with the guard's nose. He sank into darkness… barely aware that he was caught by the stranger and was being dragged off.

By the time he was fully awake once more… he was stripped, hog-tied and gagged in the ditch… and no one was in sight.

-----

"Good work Keith," Phillip said as they left the second of the unconscious guards. "Now to get inside."

Reagan adjusted the guard's jacket and hat. "Do I pass muster?" she teased.

Phillip nodded and placed her sword inside his coat along with Keith's. "Let's go." Rising… he placed his hands behind his head and marched toward the gate.

"Aprir," Keith said in Italian, " Open up, we have a prisoner." The gates swung open. The three immortals entered cautiously. "Tell me again why we are bearding the lion in his own den," Keith mumbled as three men came running across the courtyard to meet them.

"To find the answers," Phillip admonished. "Now… one… two… three!" He whipped out the tranquilizer gun and swiftly fired off three darts.

Keith and Reagan reached forward to catch and disarm two of the men… while Phillip grabbed the third.

"How long will they be out?" Keith asked as they dragged the men to the wall and secured them. Micah and the other children slipped through the gate at that point… piled the weapons in Chou's and Denis' arms and motioned them out.

"About half an hour," Reagan said. "Let's hope the grounds aren't under close surveillance." Retrieving her sword from Phillip, she, Micah and Madrigal headed to the left while Keith followed Phillip to the right, his sword also reclaimed. So far so good… but they still needed to get into the villa before too many were up and about.

-----

Phillip had chosen the early dawn as the best time to attack. His observations had determined that the guards were tired and ready to get off-duty… the lights on the courtyard would have faded in the early light… and what few were up… were still getting ready for the day ahead.

The only problem… was that he had no idea what they'd find inside the villa.

Leading the way… he and Keith, while hugging the wall, climbed onto the wide veranda and slipped through some glassed double doors on that side of the building. He pointed toward some sensors as they made their way from an apparent empty office into the main hall. Surprising a woman carrying a tray of breakfast, Phillip fired off another tranquilizer dart and reloaded while Keith hastened forward to catch the tray and set it on a credenza. Grabbing the woman's arms Keith dragged her into a hall closet and gagged her… making certain she could breathe. Phillip didn't want any mortals killed if it could be helped.

Keith glanced at Phillip as he shut the closet door. The Greek was slowly making his way down the hall searching each room. Keith followed wondering how Reagan and the others were doing.

-----

Reagan's destination was lower levels. Phillip would check the rooms above while she and the two children checked out what lay beneath the surface. Phillip had noted the presence of small windows along the base of the villa.

"Normally," the Greek had said, "A villa has no lower levels… unless it's wine storage. I have a feeling… there's no wine down there. Most of the defense will come from the main floor… or from the side buildings where many of them sleep."

Reagan had wanted to accompany him but he'd shaken his head.

"You have a great deal of experience Reagan. And I want someone with experience leading that group."

Crouching at one of the small windows, Reagan peered at the black painted glass. Cursing she realized she had no way of knowing what lay on the other side.

Madrigal felt along the edges of the pane. Digging out her knife… she began to dig at the loose caulking.

"We have to go in," she whispered as she loosened the pane.

"That's not wise," Reagan told her. "The glass might fall and break."

Micah pulled out two small suction cups and attached them to the glass. "Amanda taught us a few breaking and entering tricks," he grinned sheepishly.

Reagan's mouth dropped open and she nearly laughed aloud. MacLeod had talked on and on about Amanda the last time she'd had dinner with him about eight years ago. It had been then that Reagan had decided that whether or not MacLeod knew it… he was deeply in love with the immortal thief. Reagan had cut the evening short that night and never looked back. She didn't want another woman's man… she wanted her own. And MacLeod was most definitely Amanda's. She wondered idly if the two of them had ever worked things out.

Micah pulled the glass loose.

Reagan leaned down and peered into the darkness. She heaved a sigh of relief. "No one there… she slipped feet first through the small window and dropped onto a concrete floor. Cautiously she crossed the darkened area… suddenly aware there was at least one and maybe more immortals nearby. Either Phillip and Keith had changed their minds and found their way down here… or there was someone else.

Behind her Micah dropped to the floor. He turned and caught Madrigal… giving her a light kiss. Reagan motioned silence and crept toward the small strip of light at the base of what appeared to be a door. The immortal buzz became louder in her mind as she leaned her ear against the door and listened.

She could hear voices laughing. Whoever was there had no idea their security had been compromised. Quietly she turned the handle and grimaced. The door was locked. Gesturing at Madrigal… Reagan stood back and watched the girl pull out a burglar's kit. Selecting the right lock-pick… the girl inserted it into the old lock and probed. Reagan heard a click and Madrigal pulled back out of the way with a wide grin.

Reagan softly turned the doorknob… counting to three so that the young people would be ready… and then opened the door… her Luger held before her… her feet spread wide apart.

There were two figures in white shirts. One was seated at a desk… leaning back in his chair, his fingers laced behind his head, and apparently in the midst of some joke. The other was leaning against the desk, sipping coffee and chuckling. They both looked up fearfully.

"Hello boys," Reagan said and motioned at them with her gun to get their hands up. "Let's not make this difficult… shall we?"

Madrigal and Micah slipped from behind her and swiftly tied the two men up while Reagan kept her gun pointed at the men's heads. Once the men were bound… Reagan crossed to an inner door and listened. The buzz practically throbbed inside her! This door was unlocked.

She nodded to the children to get weapons ready… silently counted to three and then flung the door open. Reagan thought she was ready for anything… but she wasn't.

-----

Watcher compound, last night

Henry Rawlins did not enjoy being awakened from sleep. He was only dozing occasionally… so eager was he to be present whenever Wilderman's latest experiments took place. With the last breakthrough… they had gone through several subjects already… They'd even managed to link three of them and push them to perform as they wished in a scenario. Rawlins felt they'd be ready to move on to number 47 sometime tomorrow. Once they had him completely under their control… then not even the dreamer he was linked to would matter.

Eagerly Rawlins anticipated the event. Soon he'd have the answers to the origin of immortals. Soon he'd know what made them so. Autopsies and tests had shown absolutely no physical difference in the two species. Whatever made them immortal… it wasn't physical. And if it wasn't physical… Rawlins grinned… then there was no reason that he and chosen others couldn't become immortal.

But this call had upset him to no end. A holding facility in Northern California had been attacked late yesterday by a pair of immortals, who had killed a dozen men and rescued three specimens. Rawlins had angrily thrown his cell phone against the wall, taking satisfaction in its shattering. Seething he counted to ten… and then to twenty. Finally he got his breathing and his temper under control.

Not since the days when he'd taken over watching Duncan MacLeod and had lost sight of him in Cannes… had he been so angry. Since that day… most of his machinations had gone as planned. He'd counted on the inherent longing in many of the Watchers to be immortal to bring them under his control… that and the notoriety of his enforcer Avril Mischkov who dispatched anyone in Rawlins' way without a second thought. Sometimes Henry Rawlins wondered if Mischkov was even human.

Reduced to using Wilderman's office phone, Rawlins could recall only the main switchboard number in Paris… but he only got a recording. Rawlins tapped the receiver against his head as he thought… desperately trying to recall another number. He snarled at the remains of his cell phone with all the numbers he needed. Finally he called his secretary at her home. Debra James was pretty much in the dark about most of her boss' activities… but she listened as he called for a Code Red condition to be put in effect at all locations. "We have been attacked Miss James. The immortals are coming for us again. Contact everyone." Thankfully she did not argue and had assured him that she would put the Code Red in effect immediately.

Rawlins had ended the call and then strode angrily over the catwalk to stare down at the specimens from his favorite perch. Fifty immortals were arrayed beneath him. Fifty beings whose sole purpose was now to give up the secrets of their origins and the secrets of immortality to those daring enough to grasp it. Off to one side he watched the sleeping form of number 47. "Soon," he murmured, "soon all you are and all you know will be mine… and no one… not a paltry few immortals attacking a facility halfway around the world will make one iota of difference. You belong to me Methos… You and all your secrets are mine."

Satisfied once more that all that could be done… was being done… Henry Rawlins sauntered off to Wilderman's office… now his… and poured a cup of coffee. Despite his inability to contact Mischkov, he'd handled the situation. He was calmly in control once more.

-----

In Paris, Debra James shook her head after her boss rang off. His calls to her in the past few weeks had been increasingly strange. Evidently he was a little paranoid. She'd pass the word tomorrow… first thing in the morning… as soon as she reported to work. She'd tell Avril Mischkov. Flinging herself back under the covers… she drifted off to sleep.