Next day, Methos's flat

Methos sighed and looked at the sleeping form of the child in his bed. He had tried to talk to the child, but still hadn't gotten one word out of it. Apparently, the child had been hurt very badly, both physically and mentally. Having been a doctor once, Methos knew how to deal with injuries but not with that kind of damage. Now, he missed the gentle priest even more; Darius would have known how to deal with this kind of situation – but Darius was dead. Methos sighed again while his thoughts drifted back to the past.

Flashback-----------------------------------------------------------------

1000 C.E., France

First, there was only darkness, no pain, only the cold. Then, he became aware of the fact that he was alive. Taking the first painful breaths into his lungs, he opened his eyes – and almost screamed as it hurt badly. He closed them again and tried to remember where he was and more important who he was.

Some terrible seconds, his mind was totally blank. Then, he remembered a name, his name: Methos. After that, the other memories came back. He remembered how he had ridden with a group of men and women to St. Valinto, a small French village, where he had planned to visit an old friend.

But they had never made it there. He remembered being drawn into an ambush by a band of robbers. Two men had attacked him at the same time while a third had stabbed him in his back with a dagger. He had fallen to the ground, and had watched how one of his attackers pulled a knife out of his clothes and embedded it right into his heart. He knew that he had died; remembered the blackness that had claimed him.

Suddenly, he felt an Immortal presence. He tried to open his eyes again while he searched for his sword. But he wasn't able to move his hand it refused to obey him. Confused he then became aware of his surroundings. He no longer lay on the ground he had fallen to, but found himself lying in a bed instead. Next to him were a wooden chair and a table on which he noticed a book. When he focused his eyes on it he recognized it as a bible. Letting his eyes then wander through the room, he also saw a small wooden closet and a crucifix that was hanging over the bed.

Feeling the Immortal presence coming nearer, he tried to sit up, but found himself too weak to. When he turned his head to the door, he got a look at his arm: it looked much smaller than he remembered it to be, as if he had lost lots of weight. " Weird," he thought.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the door opened and a man, clothed in a brown robe, stepped in. "Hello," he heard the monk's gentle voice greet him. Methos smiled and…

…and found himself starring into a very familiar face – a face he would never forget, the face of his teacher's killer: Darius's face.

Suddenly, there was a mix of panic, fear, confusion and anger in him. He wanted at the same time to back away and rush upon the other. But he was not able to, his muscles refused to obey him. He could only continue to lay weakly in his bed and stare at the other.

"No," he finally croaked, "no, not you, no."

"Please," he then heard the other's voice, it was very gentle with a noticeable trace of sorrow and pain. "Please, I will not hurt you…I'm here to help you. Please let me explain."

Methos was completely captured by panic now: he found himself weak and vulnerable lying in this bed, without any weapons to defend himself, and eye-to-eye with his teacher's killer – although the other didn't seem to be a danger to him. "No," he whispered.

"Please," Darius tried to reason with him. "Calm down. Let me explain."

"No, go away…you killed my teacher, go away." Methos closed his eyes and refused to listen any longer.

He heard the sound of a deep sigh, then the gentle voice again, "all right. I will leave… I will tell another monk to look after you." When Methos refused to open his eyes, he once again heard a deep sigh before the door finally was closed.

A few minutes later, another monk entered. He looked at Methos and smiled. "Brother Darius told me to explain to you why you are here…I don't know how much you remember, but you are very lucky that you are still alive. My brothers and I were on our way to the abbey when brother Darius suddenly stopped us. He said that he had heard some noise. He told us to wait while he wanted to go and look. We watched him disappear into a small wood. Some minutes later, he came back and told us about some dead bodies and broken things that he had found there. He also said that he had found a man who still appeared to be alive. We hurried in the shown direction and helped to take care of you…I am very sorry, but the others are dead, we have buried them there. You were the only one alive."

"I remember," Methos confirmed, "we had been attacked by a band of robbers… I was stabbed…" Methos felt his thoughts race when he tried to make sense of the man's words and the facts the man didn't say or know. Apparently, he had been stabbed and died. The robbers must have left the knife stuck in his heart; otherwise he would have revived long ago. He also must have laid there a long time, maybe one or two weeks, or he wouldn't feel so weak.

He shuddered as he became aware that he had really been very lucky. Had not the monk but another Immortal crossed his path, he would most likely have lost his head; or maybe an animal would have eaten him - not a death he had planned for himself. Methos didn't like the thought, but it seemed that he had to thank Darius for saving his life.

A week later, he felt completely restored again. The monks had fed him and given him new clothes. Because he had not met Darius the whole time, he asked one of the other monks his whereabouts. He was told that Darius was staying in one of the nearby small villages, where he helped to nurse the sick.

Methos did not know why he went there, or what he expected to find, but an hour later he stood in a big room that contained a lot of beds. Several monks were walking around, taking care of the sick people who were lying in the beds. Suddenly Methos noticed Darius with a small boy. The monk held the boy in his arms, while he whispered something into his ear. Although the boy seemed very ill he smiled at the monk.

A second later, Darius looked up right in Methos's direction. Both man stared into each other's eyes and Methos recognized Emrys' love there. No, he finally had to admit to himself, this man was not the Goth general any longer - that man would never have cared for the boy the way Darius did now. No, he had changed he was a completely different man now. He was a man with whom Methos had no quarrel. Methos nodded to the monk and then left the building.

He stood outside and watched some children playing as he heard a noise behind him. It was Darius who stepped closer until he stood next to him. Both man watched in silence the children in front of them. "I have to thank you," Methos finally whispered, "for saving my life." He looked into Darius's gentle eyes. "You changed, you are no longer the man you used to be…I recognize my teacher in you…He is not lost, and for that I forgive you."

He saw the flicker of hope in the other man's eyes when he extended one hand and offered it to Darius. "I forgive you," he repeated as the monk took his hand. Then, Methos turned and walked away.

"Maybe another time?" he heard the gentle voice ask behind him.

Methos turned back and smiled. "Yes, maybe." With that, he turned again and continued on his way.

Flashback End-------------------------------------------------------