Thank you three for reviewing again – you make me a very happy author!

Without another word, the other then immediately attacked with incredible speed. Adam barley managed to jump out of reach as the other tried to land a blow against his sword arm. Thanking Duncan silently for the last weeks of sword training, he then himself tried an attack but was instantly parried by the other Immortal.

"Not bad," he heard the other's amused voice. Then da Pierro feigned a blow from the left side but instead attacked from the right, bypassing his defence and making a long, deep cut into Adam's arm. The other grinned as Adam cried in pain, "but not good enough I'm afraid."

A few minutes later, Adam's whole body was burning in pain. He didn't need to be an Einstein to come to the conclusion that he was loosing. The knowledge that he was going to die here without even knowing who he really was suddenly made him very angry: this was not fair. Fury at the other man, at his fate and at the world in general began to rise in him... increased and finally overwhelmed him in an all consuming hate. He screamed in rage...

... and suddenly found himself staring in the totally surprised face of his enemy. As in slow motion, he saw blood bubbles appear on the other's lips and blue eyes stare at him in total disbelief. A sword shattered to the floor; then his enemy sacked slowly to the ground, wide eyes still fixed in total bewilderment at him. Embedded in the Blonde's chest, Adam discerned the knife he had hidden in his jeans before.

"You," the other then whispered weakly, spitting blood, "... you cheated."He took one last croaking breath, then he lay still – obviously dead.

Adam starred in shock at the dead body in front of him. He really couldn't remember how his knife had come to stick out of the other's chest. His hands trembled as he backed away until he felt the cold wall in his back. What should he do now?

You now what to do, a voice answered calmly in his mind, take his head before he comes back to life and takes yours.

He stared at the man; cold sweet covered his body while he could hear his own blood roar in his ears, no I can't do that, I'm not a killer... But what when the other wakes up again? Mac had told him that it would sometime come to that, that he would have to take another person's head.

This is about survival, the voice again whispered in his mind.

He continued to stare at the dead body... seconds stretched to minutes; he felt nothing, thought nothing - his whole universe only consisted of him and the dead body before him.

You or him, the voice once again drew attention to it.

"Yes," he finally whispered in agreement, raising the Ivanhoe above his head, "about survival."With one single powerful stroke, he then brought the sword down, serving the other's head from the rest of the body.

For a few seconds, the room was totally silent; then white dust rose from the dead body and the quickening hit him with full force. Screaming in pain, he sank to the floor where he remained on his knees.

Suddenly he saw the big man, Silas, standing in front of him. The other was clothed in a very strange outfit and had his hands behind his back. As Adam took a closer look, he saw that they were standing together in a tent, which was decorated with animal furs. Silas smiled at him and showed him what he had hidden behind: it was a dagger.

"This is for you, brother," the big man smiled as he offered the dagger to him.

He watched himself take the dagger into his hands and examine it a bit closer. It was really a very beautiful weapon: the hilt had a small skull at its end and the dagger lay very well in his hand. "This is beautiful, Silas. Where did you get it?" he heard himself ask.

The face of the other man began to gleam of pride as he answered, "I carved it in wood. Then I asked one of the servants to make it... You like it?"

"Yes, Silas, I like it... this is really beautiful." He watched himself take the other man into a big hug.

With that, the memory suddenly ended. He blinked in confusion as he then felt the quickening change; instead of pain, he now felt energy race through his veins – it felt like the pure essence of power. His screams were no longer full of pain but ecstasy instead... oh God, he thought, this is incredible... so damn good.

From one moment to the other it then suddenly was over, and he found himself once again weakly on his knees in the dojo, next to him the headless body of da Pierro.

Wow, he thought as he tried to get up, his body still trembling in excitement. This was so... incredible, fantastic, overwhelming... no, he shook his head, these words not nearly were able to describe it. He wanted more of it, wanted to feel the ecstasy again when the energy raced through his body. It was strange: a part of him felt weak now and wanted to remain sitting on the floor; but on the other side, he still could feel the power burn in his body, making him feel full of energy and life.

Smiling, he grabbed his sword and went back to the loft where he helped himself to another beer. Then he started the CD player and turned the music up. While he listened to Byron's voice, he began to dance through the room, in his left hand the beer and in his right the still bloodied sword.

"All that matters is the moment, Doc," he suddenly heard Byron's voice again in his head, together with some really erotic pictures of him, Byron and a dark-haired woman. When he suddenly found himself back in reality again, he was totally hot. Wow, he thought, I have to do something about that. After switching on the TV, he zapped through the canals in search of something erotically that would help him ease the tension in him.

He landed in an advertisement for chocolate candies that made his desires change from one moment to the other. Suddenly he no longer desired sex, instead he felt the burning hunger for something sweet rise in him. Subconsciously licking with his tongue over his lips, he considered if Mac had something sweet in his refrigerator. Hadn't he seen a chocolate gateau in there? He decided to check it.

Smiling like a small kid, he then took it a minute later out of the refrigerator and placed it in front of him on the table. His smile deepened as he reached for the spoon.

About 20 minutes later, nothing was left of the gateau; he had eaten it completely - and he still was hungry for more. Once again searching Duncan's refrigerator for something sweet but not finding anything else, he finally decided to try the yoghurt. After he also had finished with it, he continued with the olives and several other things until he finally reached the gherkins. Then he felt ill, really ill.

He almost wouldn't have made it to Duncan's toilet where he vomited in the lavatory, kneeling on the hard ground. That was then the wonderful moment Duncan chose to make his appearance.

Duncan, some minutes before

Duncan stopped his car next to his dojo and got out, happy to be finally at home. The incident with the cooling system had cost him more than one hour, an hour he had preferred to spend with Adam instead.

While he went towards the dojo, he could feel the typical 'buzz' of Methos. A slight smile appeared on his face as he thought about the anti-alcoholic beer Joe had extra ordered from Europe. He really doubted – no, he was sure that Adam had not toughed it yet. The thought made him grin; some things were so typical for the Ancient that not even amnesia could change it.

He opened the door to his dojo... and the grin froze on his face as he discovered a headless body of a big man lying there. Oh Good, he thought as he felt his stomach knot, no! In panic he raced to the elevator, in his mind pictures of Adam hiding in the loft, vulnerable and alone, not knowing what was going on... and it was his fault: he shouldn't have let him alone, should have taken a taxi.

A few moments later, he tore the elevator open. There was noise coming from his bad room; he felt his heart-rate speed up as he made his way there. He pushed the door open... and stared at the kneeling form of Adam, head bowed over the toilet. Duncan needed some seconds before his mind recognized the smell that was filling the room and the retching sounds Adam made. He immediately closed the door again.

Hesitating in front of the door, he then considered what to do now. Finally he knocked, "Adam?" he asked, "Adam, is everything fine?... You received a quickening and you are suffering the after effects of it now. This is a total normal reaction. If you feel alright to come out again, I can explain all about it."

The only answer he got was another retching. "Adam?" he asked a bit concerned. In his heart he really felt guilty; the Ancient had never assimilated quickening well, and now he also had had to deal with one alone.

"I'm alright Mac," he then heard the slight trembling young voice answer. A second later, he heard water being turned on; and a few moments after that, Adam finally opened the door. His face was very pale, but to Mac's great relief he made not a frightened impression. "Really, Mac, I'm fine... although I can't say the same of the gherkins from your refrigerator... could it be that their eat-by date was a bit expired? You really should control the food in your refrigerator more frequently... By the way, it also really wouldn't hurt to fill it with more sweet and good-tasting things instead the ugly-tasting wealthy products you have in there."

Duncan blinked, then his look felt on his table that was full of kitchenware and packaging. He looked back at Adam. Relief overwhelmed him as he suddenly understood: Adam had not vomited because of the fact that he was not able to bear the killing of another person, but because he had eaten too much food instead.

Both then sat together on Duncan's leather sofa and Duncan explained the after-effects of a quickening to Adam. One part of Duncan felt relieved that Adam seemed to have borne his first killing so well, although another part was a bit concerned about Adam's reaction: should he not show some guilt, or at least some uneasiness? No, he thought, this had not been Methos's first killing... but it had been Adam's first, a concerned voice in his mind whispered to him. And didn't Adam seem to be a bit different now? A little bit darker maybe? He shook his head and quickly forced the unwelcome thought far away. No, everything was totally normal.

Night, Dream

He found himself staying in the centre of a small village, his hand clenched tightly around the hilt of his sword. From all sites came loud screams of fear and pain; there were also several burning houses and fleeing people, their faces masks of terror.

Grinning, he raised his sword that was shining of blood, and began to run into the direction of one of the fleeing women. As he passed a water paddle, he saw for a second the reflection of his own face: cold golden eyes and a blue painted face grinned back at him.

Only five steps, then he grabbed the woman by her long black hair and dragged her back. Because she screamed in panic and tried to fight him, he backhanded her with his right hand and then pushed her to the ground. Pointing his sword to her throat, he then ordered with a very cold voice, "shut up!"

As he looked into her brown eyes that were full of fear and saw tears running down her face, he felt a rush of power race through his veins. Yes, this is absolute power! he thought in ecstasy as he grinned evilly at the woman.

"She's beautiful, brother," suddenly a cold and somehow amused sounding voice came from the right. As he looked up, he saw Kronos walk towards him. "It would be a waste to kill her now." Kronos stepped to the crying woman and grabbed her face with one hand, turning it brutally there and back to examine it a bit closer. Finally, Kronos let go of her again and looked back at him. "But it's your choice, brother. Do as you like; I think there're enough other beautiful woman left for our enjoyment, and who cares if there's one more or less?"

"Please," he then heard the woman beg while her body trembled in fear. Her panic stimulated his excitement even more; his grin deepened as he raised his weapon and...

... sat upright in his bed, his heart beating rapidly and his body covered in hot sweat. While he tried to slow down his breath, he let himself sack back on his bed. What a dream! he thought, still feeling the echo of power vibrate in his body.

Considering his dream, he then frowned: why had he dreamt of Kronos again? And why had he seen Silas during his quickening? Since his first meeting with Duncan, the appearances of Kronos in his dreams had become less, and during the last week, there had even been no single one. He almost had concluded that those were indeed snippets of memories received with the two quickening... and he almost had been ready to accept Adam Pierson's life as his own - but now he had doubts again.

And there was another question: why had his dream been so realistic this time? His other dreams, for example speaking bodiless heads or laughing skulls, had barley deserved the term realistic; but not this time. He had enjoyed the killing, and a part of him was still enjoying the memory of the violence.

Grabbing his pillow a little tighter, he curled under the blanket. Maybe it's time to get some information about the Horsemen. I can try the Internet first... and then maybe Joe, he surly knows something or has access to the information I need.

Satisfied with his plan, he drifted to sleep, slightly aware that he had forgotten to ask Duncan about Byron and tell him about Gina's invitations.

Next day, almost evening, Joe's Bar

At the next day, both Adam and Joe sat in Joe's bar and prepared some filled roles for the evening song-contest that was planned to happen in two and a half hours. It should give young musicians the chance to prove their talent in front of a small audience.

"... and then she tried to seduce Mac to tell her Fitzcairn's last will," Joe continued to tell the story about Duncan's friend Fitzcairn.

"She obviously was a very clever and underhand woman," Adam threw in.

"Yeah, but she was not the only one in that little charade: there was also another woman, I think Mac called her Marie, who claimed to be pregnant from Fitz," Joe smiled as he looked at Adam.

"No!"

"Oh yes, and that without getting red at all."

"Wow!"

"You say it, buddy, you say it."

"And did she do it? I mean, did she kill Fitzcairn?"

"Well... no, it was the other one; but better let me tell the whole story or you won't get all the fun."

Another twenty minutes later, both men were laughing together. "That must really have been fun, I mean playing his own father," Adam shook his head while he grinned at Joe.

"Yeah, think so, too. But Fitzcairn laughed at the other side of his face at the end; he lost all his money in a Wall Street Crash and was bankrupt – no woman and no money!"

"Oh!"

"Yep, exactly!"

The talked about one hour, Adam the whole time considering the best way of approaching Joe on the Horsemen topic. He had been able to look it up via the hospital's Internet access: as result he had gotten over 486 000 sides that concerned the Horsemen somehow. Most of them had been trash, but he knew now that the Horsemen were bad guys and that they were mentioned in the Bible: their names were Famine, War, Pestilence and Death; and they were four – what meant that one Horsemen was not hanging in the watcher hall. And that leaded now to two big questions: had the fourth ever been identified by the watchers, and second, was he still alive?

"Joe?" he finally took heart and faced the old watcher, a harmless smile on his face.

"Yeah, buddy?" Joe looked up from his work, "something not right?"

"... no, everything is fine... I only wondered..."

Joe examined the young looking Immortal a bit closer. Somehow he had the feeling that Adam behaved a bit different today. Mac had told him about the quickening Adam had received yesterday... it should have settled completely during the night – but apparently it had not. The kid – no, the Old Man as Joe had to remember himself – had been acting a little strange the whole daylong.

Putting a gentle smile on his face, he said encouragingly, "what's up, Adam? Ask whatever you want to know... if you get an answer is another matter."

Adam inhaled deeply. "I wondered if you maybe...," hesitation, "I mean, have you ever...," green eyes looked directly into his, "have you ever heard of the..."

Adam didn't finish the sentence because he suddenly froze in typical Immortal manner and turned his head to the door. "We have a visitor, Joe," he then continued with a strange sounding voice.

Joe felt his own heart-rate speed up as a watched a big man of about 45 enter his bar. The man had red hairs and an almost white face with a grey-red beard. He remained for a second staying on the door while he examined Joe and Adam with light water-blue eyes. Then after a few seconds, he began to walk in Adam's direction.

Joe didn't need to see the black coat to be sure that this was an Immortal. Not good, he thought in slight panic while his hand tightened around the knife he had used for the rolls, the last thing Adam needs now is another quickening.

Forcing a friendly smile on his face, he then placed himself between Adam and the other Immortal. "I'm very sorry but we haven't open yet. You must have overseen our closed-sign. We open in one hour... so if you don't mind..."Still smiling he pointed at the exit.

The Immortal assessed him for some seconds, the expression on his face not a friendly one. "I'm not here because of the beer," the other then finally said with a dark voice, "I've business to discuss with him."He pointed at Adam. Obviously believing that everything had been said to this topic, he then by-passed Joe and went to Adam, who had watched the whole scene with wide eyes.

No, Joe thought as he went behind the bar where he had hidden his gun, this is definitely not good. Although Joe wasn't able to understand what the other man said to Adam, the meaning became clear when the other finally left the bar with the greeting, "see you then in a minute."

Almost not believing his eyes, he then watched Adam get up and take his coat, apparently making himself ready to leave the bar through the front door. "Adam," he shouted, "where to hell you think you're going?"

Adam turned back to him, the expression on his face made Joe frown: wasn't there a slight trace of excitement? No, Joe shook his head, can't be; I must be wrong.

"He challenged me, Joe, where do you think I'm going?"

"Damn, Adam, you never – and I mean never – accepted a fight the way you do now, you always run instead... and if you ask me, that's a damn clever thing to do... Look, buddy, you already received a quickening yesterday, let that settle before you gonna take another one, right?... I call Mac, he'll take care of the bastard."

For a moment Adam seemed to consider his proposition, but then he finally shook his head. "No, Joe, this is my fight. He challenged me, not MacLeod; I don't want MacLeod fight my fights for me... I'll be back in some minutes."

Totally stunned by this reaction from Methos that was so totally out of character, Joe could only watch Adam nod goodbye to him and then leave the bar. Damn!... stupid fool... Damn, damn, damn! Joe starred at his gun...

Notes: so, once again an original sentence by Byron. And a word to the after-effect of the quickening: I wanted something else than the typical sex-thing. I asked several people about possible after-effects and finally chose the eating part (I found it funny)

Joe and Methos are talking about the episode 'Unusual Suspects' because I wanted Joe to tell Methos a funny story about Duncan's past - and that episode really was funny in my opinion!

And to the 486 000 www-sides concerning the Horsemen: I typed it into google (I have to say I was surprised myself because it was so much); but add Death to the search and you will get much less results.