Duncan made his way cautiously into the temple structure. He didn't really believe there was anything immediately threatening about the situation, but it was so alien, so strange, he couldn't help but be edgy. The fact that he had very little control over the situation didn't help matters, either. But there was nothing he could do about it.

Soldier on, be there for Amanda. That's all he could do.

Well, he could do that. No problem.

Duncan entered the chamber. It seemed bigger on the inside than it did outside, so Duncan reasoned that some of it must be underground. Cold gray stone dominated, and furnishings were few. Discreet facilities for bathing and cleaning up were located around a corner. A stone slab in the middle, right under the crystal extending downward from the ceiling. Fluctuations of energy seemed to be coruscating in the crystal, lighting up the room in waves of electric blue. Otherwise, a soft yellow-white glow, source unknown, filled the room.

And so did Amanda's indignant objections. Her reverie since arriving here had apparently been broken.

"NAKED?!? ON THAT?!? ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!?"

Duncan started when he heard Amanda shriek, "What's this, da ye not know better than to upset a woman in her delicate condition?"

Costanza fairly laughed, "Woman? Delicate? McLeod, you are a Boy Scout... I thought the Watcher files had to be exaggerating... but really... She's about as delicate as an ax."

Amanda glared at him and said, "I'm as lethal as one, too... so watch it, Bub. I am not lying naked for the entire world to see on a stone slab.... Hello... cold!!!"

Duncan's lower jaw jutted out, his brown eyes blazed. He stepped forward,
only to find Anne stranding between himself and Costanza. "Just what do you
think your doing. Hummmm?"

"I was helping," he said with a softening of his body language and face.

"We'll that's nice but let me handle some of this. You know, the Doctor?" Ann
smiled at Duncan.

Costanza looked at her and shrugged. "We don't really need you, Dr. Lindsay, we've
everything needed for the birth. Even if she dies in labor she'll be back, so there's no real danger."

The women glared at him, Anne's mouth dropped open. She could not believe her ears!

"You jerk, have you no compassion, Listen here, I've given birth. Its s not fun, it hurts like hell. And I've seen women die in labor. It's not just an inconvenience. It's excruciating. And what of the babes? They could die too. Then what of your grand mystical plan? So get this and get it straight. I'm in charge. Amanda needs medical attention and she's getting it. You don't think it's necessary. We'll see what happens when Duncan, Methos and Ritchie get through cutting you into shark bait. Now get out there get me some blankets, some soap and some hot water. A few pillows
would help too.

Costanza stood in one spot and stared at the dark eyed woman.

She stepped toe-to-toe with him and yelled, "MOVE, NOW!!!!"

He moved.

Under her breath Amanda hissed, "Jerk".

Costanza turned to Duncan and said, "Go get what she asks for."

Duncan suddenly vanished.

Amanda gasped and Anne started.

"Madam, I'll admit I have no experience in this. But I do know what's coming. And I can tell you, all this will be useless."

He paused and then said, "But I'm allowing it anyway. Yes, allowing it. Just as I can do this..."

He gestured and Duncan reappeared with the items Anne had demanded.

"...I can do this," and Amanda's pain vanished.

"No, it's not gone. It's there. And as the Quickening builds, I'll no longer be able to protect you. I know what's coming. You will survive, and so will your children. But all this..."

He gestured to Amanda's garments and the supplies Duncan had brought.
"...Is pointless. But to show I'm not completely lacking in compassion, do what you feel you must. You have an hour, maybe less. I'll return when the time comes."

He vanished.

Duncan looked somewhat sheepish. "Well, here's the stuff you wanted, Doctor," he said, attempting a warm smile.

Ann propped the pillows in place on the stone slab and covered them with a blanket. She had Amanda get undressed and had her sit on the slab with the pillows supporting her back. "How's that?"
Amanda nodded, "Fine".

Anne covered her with another blanket.

While washing her hands she asked Amanda... "Any more pains?"

Amanda said, "Well sort of, it's kind of like a vague shadow of the pains. I know they are there but they don't really hurt. It's a strange feeling.

Anne returned to the slab and examined Amanda," Yes that's how it feels after an epidural. You know it's happening but you really can't feel it."

Duncan tried to look anywhere but under the blanket. Silly, he thought, how many times have I bedded with Amanda... I know her body intimately... but somehow this is different ... more private."

Anne... all business now, told Amanda, "Costanza was right you're about an hour from delivery.... You're at 10 and fully effaced. You're ready to rock and roll!!"

Amanda looked at Anne..." I guess I should have read some books.. But I really don't know what to expect."

Anne took a deep breath, "Well I can tell you as a Doctor and as a Woman what to expect. But as an immortal in this situation I have no ideal what will happen."

Amanda reclined against the pillows," Ok, tell me what you can. Duncan can you come hold my hand?"

Duncan rushed to her side and took her hand. He kissed it and brushed dark strands from her eyes. "Your lovely, did you know that?"

Amanda and Anne both looked at him. He blushed.

Amanda squeezed his hand, "Thank you... a woman never gets tired of hearing that.... But right now I have a hard time believing it."

Ann smiled and said" No, he's right ... you're radiant.... All new Mothers are."

"What to expect... Your pains will get longer and deeper. It may feel like you are tearing apart inside or even like you are on fire. Both are normal. Not fun but normal. You may get lower back pain... That's the worst. You'll fief like your back is being crushed at the same time that someone is trying to rip your spine out. If that happens the best we can do for you is to massage the area and give you some demurral. I don't know how long it will be effective on you?"

Amanda swallowed," Sounds like fun! Duncan can I get some water please... all of a sudden my mouth is dry.

Duncan looked questioningly at Anne.

Ann shook her hear and said," No, you can have some ice chips to suck on but no liquids".

Amanda whined "But I'm thirsty... why not?"

Doctor Anne took over and said, "Because when the pain hits full force you may vomit. You can aspirate it if you have a contraction at the same time. This can cause you to choke to death. You can also crack ribs between the contraction and the expelling of vomit. Besides I like these shoes and don't want them splattered."

Duncan looked like he was weak in the knees, "I think I need to sit down".

Anne looked at him, "You've helped in the past with births. I know you have. Why are you squeamish now".

Duncan hung his head and as he looked up at Anne his voice was barely above a whisper, "It was never someone I loved before."

Amanda smiled and then screamed..........It was the high-pitched soprano scream of pure pain.

Anne looked under the blanket and then up to the ceiling. She noted absently that the crystal overhead had started to glow. "Get ready, here we go!!!"

The contraction ended.

Amanda collapsed back on the pillows sobbing. "Oh, my god... that's like being on the rack with hot pokers... How do women do this?"

Anne... Took Amanda's face in her hands... "Ok, Amanda this is it. You will have to start pushing now. The work is starting. You can't scream like that. If you are screaming you can't push. The babies need you to push. Ok?"

Amanda brushed Anne's hands away... "Yes, yes... I understand. Then her stomach tightened and the pains hit again. She took a deep breath to scream. Instead she clapped both hands over her own mouth. Scrunched her eyes closed and tears of pain rolled down her cheeks. But she didn't scream again."

Contractions rolled in one after the other in ever increasing waves, each more intense and longer than the last. The crystal above Amanda pulsed with light in unison with the timing and intensity of each contraction.

Amanda, cried, she prayed, she cursed, she ranted ... she called for her mother, she begged for Rebecca...........

Outside, the lightning grew more intense. The men outside, mortal and Immortal, looked at the elemental display. It was growing more intense.

"Fellas..." Ritchie said, "Is it me, or does the lighting seem to be...reaching out of the clouds?"

"Astounding," Fitz muttered.

Indeed, it was. Tendrils of energy gathered, entwining about each other. Becoming one. And from the circle of clouds, the reached out like fingers to touch the crystal at the center of the Temple...

"Joe, GET DOWN!" Methos shouted, leaping to shield his friend, pushed him away from the energy leaping toward them.

The lines of force stabled out and struck the crystal. It exploded in light and energy.

Inside the temple, Anne dabbed at the sweat on Amanda's brow. Duncan stood, looking worried and helpless. He then noticed the light in the room getting brighter and more intense. He looked up. The Crystal...

Constanza was next to them. He looked at Anne, "You must go. I'll bring you back when this is over. You may stay, Duncan MacLeod."

Anne opened her mouth to protest, but vanished before a sound escaped.

Amanda turned to bark objections at Constanza over her agony, but he was gone. As was the room she was in.

She was in a tavern in an English village, sipping an ale. And sitting across from her, looking at her expectantly, was Rebecca Horn.

"Rebecca..." she breathed. Then she lunged around the table to hug her tightly.

She couldn't stop crying. Rebecca hugged Amanda back, but she was clearly startled at the state of her friend and student. Amanda was clearly in distress, so Rebecca just returned the hug and let Amanda carry on. When Amanda's sobbing began to quiet down, Rebecca gently sat her back in her chair, after turning away some curious stares with an angry glare.

She then turned a pleasant smile and concerned gaze upon Amanda and said, "Amanda, I've never seen you like this before. You...devil may care Amanda...crying. No man, no thing has ever put you in such a state. What could it be?"

Her curiosity warred with her concern, but both got knocked aside by shock at Amanda's utterance.

"I'm having a baby, Rebecca."

Stare.

Rebecca Horne was not known for being reticent. But here, she found herself with no comeback. None. She just took stock. Amanda. With child. Having said child. In present tense, no less.

She looked over Amanda. Good shape, lovely. And decidedly, not pregnant. Ah, she knew what was up.

"Oh, Amanda, I AM the one who told you the truth about us and children. It is one of the blessings, or curses, our kind carries. Don't be silly. And I'm looking at you, no child.

I know what this is. You and that handsome Scot we ran into some time back, you and he are planning on eloping?"

Amanda's dark brown eyes, filled with tears, stared at Rebecca. They threatened to overflow again. Her lower jaw trembled.

"I don't know how any of this is possible, Rebecca. But I AM pregnant. And...damn...I don't know how to say this, but you're dead..."

Stare.

"Dead."

"YES. I don't know how I'm talking to you now, but you died. An Immortal named Luther took your Quickening."

Rebecca's face darkened at the name. She looked at Amanda's face squarely again. The eyes still glistened, and the lovely face was filled with sadness. But it held one thing that was rarely seen in Amanda's face. The utter conviction of truth.

She then sighed.

"I'm dead and talking to you. You're in front of me, doing something impossible for our kind...and you are absolutely convince you are telling me the truth."

"Because I AM, Rebecca! You think I WANT to be pregnant? YOU THINK I WANTED TO LOSE YOU?"

More stares from the other patrons. The glares from both women deflected them.

"What is happening, Amanda?"

"Oh, I don't know Rebecca. Something about the Gods of the Game, lost Quickening, some crap like that. I don't understand it. I am having kids. Twins. And I'm
here with you."

Rebecca thought for a moment.

"Let's go for a walk."

The two walked along a gentle woods path outside the town. Amanda had gotten hold of herself, but was quiet. Rebecca had tried probing Amada for details
about her assertions, but she insisted she had no details. Rebecca Horne was dead. Luther had killed her. Amanda was now being used as a conduit to return
lost Quickening to the world. And somehow...they were together...here...wherever here was.

And as she thought about it, she got glimpses. A handsome, hard black man, a flashing sword...

Yet somehow...she had some more time with Amanda, the closest she had ever had to a daughter. And most assuredly, a beloved friend.

"Amanda..."

The two stopped and faced each other.

"I don't know what's happening here. But...you're alive. And...all maudlin now...you still remember me..."

"How could I forget you?"

"True. Who can? But we have time now. So how about
this Scot? Is he the father?"

"Duncan? No. This is kinda New Testament. But Duncan
was right there, ready to step up into the role."

"Ah, a good man, then."

Pause.

"He's an insufferable boy scout, stubborn,
moralistic...yeah, he's the best."

"Is he there now? Where the babies are coming?"

"Yes, he is."

Rebecca walked along in silence for some time. She turned to Amanda and said, "I don't understand what you've just told me, Amanda."

"I don't either, Rebecca," Amanda said meaningfully.

"I don't understand what's going on here, either," Rebecca added, "But if I'm dead, apparently we've been given some more time together, before you actually
join me...here. Don't question it. Remember, too many questions are bad; slow you down, and inhibit your ability to enjoy the moment. And usually, the moment
is all we know we have. If you remember nothing else from me, remember that. And remember this...when this ends, he'll be there. And I'll be there, too. You are loved, Amanda. Don't forget that."

Amanda hugged Rebecca, weeping openly again...

...and she was back on the stone slab, at the center of a storm.

Amanda had no conscious thought, no awareness. Every ounce of her being was now overwhelmed by the incoming storm. She was now the center and knew nothing else.

Duncan saw Amada go rigid, her pale, lithe body taught with the energy flooding into her...into the children...

He glanced over at Constanza, who stood untouched. The fury seemed to steer around him. But the rest of the room was bathed in it. And he was right. All the items Duncan had brought, Amanda's clothes, shredded by the fury.

And then, a tendril reached out for him. Duncan went stiff...and Darius stood before him. He smiled and said, "Duncan, in your pursuit to make life in the world better, don't forget your own life, too. Ultimately, it's one of the few things we get to keep when this life is over. You are a warrior, but you are so much more. Don't neglect the more, Duncan."

Outside, the other Immortals saw things too, as the fury overwhelmed them.

Methos shielded Joe against the storm, and was transfixed. He saw the Old Man rigid above him. Methos' jaw worked stiffly, "Kronos..."

And before him, his old riding comrade from a savage world, said, "In the end, you still proved the ultimate survivor. It was good to see you acknowledge your true self in the end...brother."

Fitz smiled lazily in the Quickening haze, as the succession of Immortal ladies he has seen in his time parade before him, "Fitz...Fitz..."

Then an anguished voice wailed in the background, "I'm sorry, Fitz. I didn't listen...I didn't..."

Fitz whispered, "Danny..?"

"Mikey?", Ritchie breathed, "Is that you?"

"Hey Ritchie," said Mikey, sounding and looking much more complete, more so than he ever was in this life. "Thanks for being a pal. I never got a chance to tell
you before."

Joe and Anne suddenly SAW the Quickening. SAW their Immortal friends. Methos, an ancient, mysterious figure, cloaked in shadow. Darkness, with a light at the center. Duncan, an armored knight with self inflicted chains. Ritchie, a young stag, his horns
just reaching lethal prominence, Fitz, a satyr in a jester's cap, and Amanda, a Raven with a gold ring around one leg. These visions flared before Joe and Anne, and from them, they saw tendrils of the Quickening extending beyond the horizon, to the world beyond.

And it ended.

Amanda fell to the slab, still.

Duncan rushed up to her, and suddenly Anne was right beside him.

Amanda's eyes popped open. And she screamed.

And Anne saw, they were coming...

Anne assessed the situation in an instant, "Duncan get up on the slab behind her and act as a brace. She needs to be able to push back against something. Put your arms around her and hold her."

Duncan jumped to do as he was told.

Amanda glanced around her and was overwhelmed by another contraction.

Duncan grabbed her hands and held on tight. When the contraction ended he whispered in her ear, "I'll nay leave your side Lass." He kissed her softly on the back of her head.

She hugged his arms closer around him and wailed, "Here comes another one!"

Ann was in front of Amanda, "Good, push hard, I see a head!"

Amanda gritted her teeth and strained with all her might.... She broke two of Duncan's fingers while squeezing his hand.

He didn't say a word.

Anne got in Amanda's face, "Ok, this is it... this next time push as hard as you can."

Amanda took a deep breath and did as she was instructed... Anne lifted a baby girl and grinned at Duncan, who simply shook his head and grinned.

Amanda, glanced at her Daughter and shouted, "Again!"

Anne made sure the dark haired, blue-eyed baby was breathing; She quickly severed and tied the umbilical cord. She pulled her sweater off over her head, wrapped the baby and laid it on the slab next to Amanda.

The second child was already crowning.... Anne had Amanda push hard again and the second child entered the world. Anne checked the baby, cut the cord and wrapped the blond haired, brown-eyed baby boy in the blanket that Costanza handed to her. She laid both infants in Amanda's arms. Wiped her hands and said, "Congratulations MOM!"

The two babies did not cry. They both silently stared at Amanda with wide eyes. Duncan put his hands on Amanda's shoulders, the healing bones popping into place on the one, and looked at the wee ones.

"They're beautiful, Amanda," he kissed her on top of her head. "You did it."