I do not own any part of Highlander the series, the characters, or royalties. This is only a part of my imagination and I get nothing but joy from writing fiction to go with my favorite show. Any added characters are my own delusions J.
Dusk was falling but the cloudy sky and drizzling rain made it difficult to tell what time it was.
"God, I hate rain," mumbled the young man. He had only been standing there for a short while, but his hair was plastered to his head and his thin jacket was very damp.
A shiver caused him to tremble slightly as he ducked his neck further down into the collar of his windbreaker. He sighed, thinking to himself, "It's a good thing my pay checks are large. I'm gonna need to pay for my funeral after I catch pneumonia and die. It's been raining for three days and it's getting cold."
To pass the next five minutes, he thought about the day he had joined the 'Watchers'. His uncle had recruited him by saying that the salary was good and that he'd be able to travel to exotic places from time to time. The only criterion was to be as sneaky as a mouse and as invisible as a dust mite.
He'd only been out of the 'Watchers' training program for three months when Joe Dawson, currently the head of the 'Watchers', assigned him to follow and record all information on Kate MacLeod. It was an honor and he intended to make Dawson and his uncle proud of his in depth notes and records.
A crisp, metallic jingle from the copper bell above the door alerted the man standing in the shadows. He stood taller as he looked around the adjacent corner, toward the front door of the photography studio. He slowly walked along the crowded sidewalk, keeping the brunette in his sight. The pedestrians kept a steady cadence as the flow of traffic hurried through intersections.
He saw her turn into a health food store and slowly search the isles. He continued to pass the store and then waited inside a neighboring shop. Moments later she passed him and he dodged the sharp points of an umbrella. He kept his eyes on her bright blue scarf that was wrapped around her beautiful, flowing chestnut hair.
Drawing close to the last intersection, he could almost feel the day warmth seeping through his shoes and up his calves when he leaves Kate at her front door and slips into the nearest pub for beer. The day's watching would be over for him when Kate makes it home without incident. He wouldn't have to worry about following her around again until she leaves for work in the morning.
He watched the brightly lightened crosswalk signs as water droplets formed on his long, blond bangs. Cacophonous screams began to fill the air and brought that man to full attention. He frantically looked around, expecting to see someone brandishing a sword. He couldn't see Kate through the frantic crowd that was pushing and shoving.
At that moment everything seemed to pass in slow motion. Up ahead, cars seemed to be careening out of control. Sounds of steel meeting steel and glass shattering was ricocheting throughout the street. Fearful cries, from the busy New Yorkers, hovered in the air as chaos began to rise. Everyone seemed to be trying to look at a horrible scene and trying to get out of the way at the same time.
The watcher scanned the area, looking for Kate. "Oh God, I can't lose her now. If she's fighting someone, I need to be a witness." He elbowed his way through the crazy crowd and managed to keep from knocking anyone over. He made it to the road and saw two mangled cars off to his left. Feeling a little tense, he looked up and down the street before he noticed Kate. She was standing next to a still body that was laying half in a muddy puddle. He froze. "Did she kill someone in front of a whole street of people?"
He ducked back into the crowd, but slowly pushed his way closer so he could observe Kate examine the woman at her feet. Kate glanced around nervously and he saw something strange in her eyes.
The night sky started to get a little darker and the street lamps were beginning to glow. The mist turned once more into a heavy sprinkle. The woman lying on the wet asphalt began to shudder and violently inhaling for needed oxygen.
The watcher thought that he could hear whimpering coming from her open mouth, but he couldn't be sure because of all the noise.
A flash of bright lights reflected off Kat's shiny, black leather coat. The watcher turned and caught sight of a motorcycle being ripped apart from the force of two additional cars colliding. Before anything could register in his brain, he was memorizing Kate's headless body standing before him. He felt his blood turn as cold as the rain and his heart constrict painfully. Blinking his widened eyes, he stared open mouthed as Kate's body crumpled to the sidewalk.
A swirling mist began to flow around Kate's fallen body. The witnesses around the watcher gasped and started backing away from the street curb. The injured woman at Kate's feet let out a shrill cry and scooted backwards away from the headless body.
The watcher seemed to realize what was happening as electrical flashes began to emerge from Kate's shoulders. "No. Oh no…" was all that he could manage to say. He turned and shouted at the top of his voice, "Everybody run! There's an electrical cable hanging in the street!" He managed to spread enough panic to clear the immediate street. A man running past shouted, "It's an electrical storm. Get out of the way, lightening could strike any minute!"
He ran into the nearest building as he reached inside his jacket for his cell phone. He could see the full rage of Kate's quickening as it danced all around the now still automobile traffic and emptying streets. The woman, who had been near Kate, got to her feet and was running in the opposite direction when two silver charges from the quickening pierced through her. She stumbled and fell to her knees as the bolts continued to surge into her quaking body.
A voice crackled from the earpiece of the watchers phone, "Yes?"
"It's Connelly. This is serious, let me talk to Dawson," he said with forced authority.
Before Steve Connelly had the chance to take a deep breath, the raspy voice of Joe Dawson commanded, "Connelly, what'd you screw up?"
In a clear, but rushed voice, Connelly replied, "There's been a freak accident. Some cars collided with a motorcycle and Kate MacLeod was killed."
Silence greeted Connelly's ear. He watched as Kate's final life energy caressed the woman who was now on both of her hands and knees.
Dawson cleared his throat and asked, "Were there witnesses? They'll be leaving NY and she'll change her identity. Too many people know who she is. Okay, submit your report."
Connelly was watching the "new" immortal from the open doorway. Her form resembled that of a person in a Yoga class performing the "Downward Dog" pose.
"Dawson, a part of the motorcycle severed her head. Not only that, her quickening was absorbed by a woman that was killed minutes earlier."
Joe Dawson sighed and with a strangled tone he replied, "Follow the other woman. We need to know who she is."