A/N: I would like to apologize for the severely long wait in this final chapter. I have gone through several ideas for how I think this story should end and have found what I believe to be the best choice. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, only the reviews will tell. I also realize that staying away from this project for so long will most likely result in having the characters in this story written well out of character, so I am prepared for any and every flame reviews that you readers may send. All the same I do hope you enjoy.

Duncan watched Richie as he slept, it must've brought him some comfort when he slept, then he didn't have to worry about not being able to see. Duncan could only imagine how bad Richie felt having to go through every day relying on their help, no matter how much progress he was making. Duncan still hadn't let himself forget that he was the cause for the accident in the first place, and Richie knew that as well as he did, even if he didn't admit it.

That in mind, Duncan was shocked when Richie called for him instead of Connor or Tessa when he woke up. He couldn't imagine how scared Richie must have been, he must have been scared for his life, to call for him. There was nothing Duncan knew from personal experience when it came to being blind, but he'd heard an old friend tell him that one of the worst things about blindness was that never-ending feeling of being alone. He'd told him, 'you only can understand how bad it is, when you're the one with the problem, and you can't explain how great the pain is, it's a pain that doesn't end until death comes.'

Duncan knew Richie had been on his own pretty much for most of his life, his foster parents didn't care about him, the social workers didn't care about him, and now it seemed his own patience with the lad was fading. At least that must have been the way Richie saw it. But Duncan wasn't going to let Richie slip away from him, he couldn't, not while he was blind, and not when he recovered.

Duncan's thoughts were interrupted when Richie quietly said, "Mac…Mac?"

"What is it, Richie?"

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Four in the morning."

Richie hadn't opened his eyes, so when Duncan answered him, he just lowered his head onto the pillow and turned on his side.

"Richie," Duncan said suddenly.

"Yeah?" Richie asked as he opened his eyes.

"Are you angry with me?"

"What?" Richie asked as he sat up.

"Are you angry with me?" he repeated.

"Meanhow could I be angry with you? Na, Mac, I'm not angry with you," Richie said as he laid back down again.

Of course he's not angry with you, Duncan thought to himself, he's just afeared of you.

Duncan noticed Richie wasn't saying anything, but his eyes were wide open as he laid on the bed.

"Is something wrong?" Duncan asked after a few minutes, "You're awfully quiet since you're awake."

"Not really," Richie sighed, "it's just that it's times like these, I realize it doesn't matter how many people I'm surrounded by, I'm…on my own."

"But you're not alone, Richie, I'm here, and so is Tessa and Connor."

"I don't mean that, I mean being blind, you've never gone through it, so you wouldn't know what it's like," Richie told him, "being trapped in the dark, with no way to get out, and I don't even know if I'm going to come out of it."

"Don't say that," Duncan said, "you're going to get better, you have to believe that."

"I've been believing it and it's gotten me nowhere, Mac…what if this is the way it's going to be from now on? What if I never recover?"

"You will, but you have to rest and you have to have patience with yourself…go back to sleep…I'll be here when you wake up."

Richie shook his head in agreement and closed his eyes.

Richie felt miserable, it was more than just miserable, he felt cold. Cold and alone, he would've sworn he was dead, but he knew that was too easy. That however offered little comfort to the fact that he felt he was having an outer-body experience. He was seeing again everything from his life that his memory held. Everything that he'd ever said, done, or felt, he was reliving the pain and the anger and the guilt and the sorrow. In the same instant, he knew he was dreaming, but nevertheless it all seemed too real.

He knew he was dreaming, he was still blind so the only way he could see this would be if he was dreaming. That didn't change anything for him though, he couldn't wake up, it was all too real, the pain seemed to cut right through him. Everything that had happened in his life so far, everyone who had let him down, everyone he'd let down, and there was nothing that could be done to put an end to it. He felt completely helpless, unable to do anything that could change what he was going through.

Richie felt a cold rain wash over him, each drop felt like he was being hit with ice. Richie watched helplessly as he relived a lifetime of betrayal, heartbreak, fear, vulnerability, and complete helplessness. As horrible as he felt now, he knew it was only going to be worse when he woke up, because then he truly was helpless.

He didn't know how much time had passed from then, but the next thing he realized was he'd curled into a fetal ball and was crying. All the while he could've sworn he heard something…someone…speaking in a calm, soothing voice.

"Richie…"

Richie felt shivers go down his spine, he recognized that voice, he remembered.

"Richie…"

He felt his face go pale as he felt a gentle hand smooth his bangs back on his forehead.

"Richie…what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Richie felt every part of his body shake, he choked on a sob as he tried to speak, he could barely get his voice to surface, "M—Mom?"

"That's right dear…I'm here now…tell me what's the matter?"

Richie swallowed and tried to find something to say, "Mom, I don't want to go through with this, I don't want to be alone."

Tears rolled down Richie's face as he felt her take his hand in hers and gently squeeze it, "You're not alone, Richie, I know, I saw the family you moved in with, they seem like nice people."

"I sure thought so."

"Richie…too many years already I haven't been able to see you, and that hurts me."

Richie felt a wave of guilt wash over him. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"I can only see you when good things are happening, and I was finally able to get a long good look at you when you moved in with Duncan MacLeod and Tessa Noel. They care about you now, Richie, they love you, and in a way that I can't right now. Do me a favor and give them another chance, I do believe they love you as their own, and I want to see you from here on out."

Richie flattened out on his back as tears continued to run down his cheeks, "What's it like where you are, Mom?"

"It's beautiful, lots of nice people, I never have to worry about arthritis or cancer or a bad heart, and I never have to worry about being caught in a downpour."

Richie laughed briefly, but it did little to stop his pain.

"The one thing that I don't like is I've gone so long, not able to see you, when you grew up into a fine young man, when you learned everything that you needed to know. Now I have that chance."

"I see," Richie said, "but Mom, I don't think I can do it."

"Do what?"

"I just don't see the point in continuing with my life if all I see is pain."

"It hurts because you're alive, Richie. Everybody sees pain in their time. But you hang in there, and don't worry, one day you'll come see me, but for the time being you have to make the most of the time you have. You'd be surprised how quickly it goes."

"That's going to be pretty hard for me, Mom," Richie said, "I'm blind."

"That's impossible."

"No it's not, I was in an accident a few days ago and I'm blind."

"What happened?"

"The doctor says when I fell and hit my head, it bruised the vision section of my brain."

"You mean back here?"

Richie felt her hand stroke the back of his head in a comforting rhythm.

"Richie…"

"Mom?"

"I love you…I want you to remember that."

"Mom."

"Don't worry, Richie…you're not going to be alone."

"What?"

"I'll always be with you…my baby."

Richie woke up and expected to see Emily beside him, but he sadly realized it had in fact, just been a dream. At least he thought so, before lowering his head onto the pillow and realizing it was damp. Damp with his tears. He'd been crying evidently for some time, his eyes hurt, he could almost feel them where they would be red. The realization of being alone made the pain surface and he felt like crying again. Then Richie remembered that Duncan had stayed in the room with him all night. But he knew that Duncan was gone because there was no one to wake him up from his nightmare. Richie threw back his covers and stood up beside the bed and called, "Mac! Mac!"

Duncan came rushing in the room and before he could stop he ran into Richie and they both fell down on the bed. Duncan rolled off of Richie and took the lad in his arms. "Richie, I'm sorry, are you allright?"

"Yeah Mac, don't worry…you didn't hurt me," Richie assured him. "I'm allright."

"Thank God…wait…what's wrong? Are you okay?" Duncan held Richie's face in his hands, dreading what the lad would say next.

"Mac, I gotta talk to you," Richie said.

"Did you hear us?" Duncan asked.

"What?" Richie asked.

"You mean you didn't?"

"No…what's going on?" Richie asked.

Richie felt a wave of panic rush through him when Duncan's hands let go of his face and Duncan pulled away. Duncan stood up over by his dresser.

"Well Connor and Tessa and I have been having a little…'conversation' for lack of a better word."

"About what?" Richie asked, half-regretting the response.

"About who you should live with," Duncan's answer was short and to the point.

Oh God, Richie thought to himself, Not again…

"Connor thinks you should move to New York with him, Tessa and I believe you'd be better off with us," Duncan said.

"What?" Richie asked.

"What?"

"That's what you're arguing about?" Richie asked, "Which of you I'm going to live with?"

"Well of course, we…oh Richie," Duncan's voice suddenly became concerned and soothing at the same time. "Did ye' think we'd be getting rid of ye, laddie?"

"It crossed my mind a few times," Richie admitted, feeling ashamed of himself for even saying it.

Richie felt one of Duncan's hands slip behind his head as the other found its way to his back and pulled him close to the Highlander. "Richie, we'd never do that to you…we had an agreement when you moved in, you're going to stay with us until you're ready to leave…and we wouldn't change our minds about that, not now, not ever."

Richie felt an unfamiliar sense of security when Duncan said that. He grabbed onto Duncan's upper arms and said, "Thanks Mac…I'm glad to hear that."

"But Richie." Richie felt Duncan loosen his grip on him and worried this was taking a turn for the worse, "We're not going to force you to stay here if you don't want to. The choice is yours if you want to live with us, or move with Connor to New York."

"But…M-Mac," Richie said worriedly, as a tear rolled down his face.

"I'm not talking about right now, Richie," Duncan said as he brushed the tear away with his thumb, "…I mean once you get your vision back and you are able to take care of yourself…we're not going to force you either way, it's whatever you want to do."

"Mac, please don't make me do this," Richie begged, "I can't do it."

"Do what?"

"You're telling me I have to pick whether I want to live with you or Connor…I can't do that, no matter who I pick, no matter what you'd say, the person I don't pick would get upset and be mad at me."

"No we wouldn't," Duncan assured him, "yes we're fighting about it now, but that's just because we all love you and want you with us…It doesn't matter what you're going to tell us because we just want what's best for you, and only you can decide that."

"Mac…" Richie said as tears started rolling down his cheeks, "I have to tell you something."

"I don't care what you say, Connor," Tessa said as she and Connor continued their 'debate' for the second hour, "Richie is going to stay with us. He's safer with us."

"He was staying here with you and look what happened," Connor said, "now he's blind as a bat."

"Damn you Connor MacLeod!" Tessa exclaimed, "Don't you even think about going there! I don't like what's happened to Richie but it could've happened just as easily if he were with you."

"Oh yeah?" Connor asked, "Well at least I wouldn't have driven him out of the house in a blind rage!"

"Duncan didn't drive him out!" Tessa protested.

"The hell he didn't," Connor replied, "I know you love Duncan and you've known him for 12 years so you think you know all about him that you think you need to, but…"

"I know, I know, you've known him for three hundred years," Tessa snapped.

"Give or take a few decades," Connor replied.

There was a brief silence between them, it was broken off when there was a knock at the door, Duncan and Richie stood in the doorway to the bedroom. "Do you two mind if we come in?" Duncan asked.

"No," they answered.

"Come on in," Connor added.

Richie seemed a bit resistant to go in, but Duncan kept a hand on Richie's shoulder as if assuring him. Richie still seemed a bit scared to move, so Duncan nudged him to let him know it was allright, and Richie slowly entered the bedroom.

"Good morning, petit, how are you doing today?" Tessa asked.

"Actually Tess," Richie said as he stopped in the middle of the room, "I have something to say…"

"What is it, laddie?" Connor asked.

"Well…" Richie started, nervously, "first of all I'd like to apologize for all the trouble I've caused everybody."

Everyone started their protests of how he'd been no trouble at all, when he cut them off.

"I know this hasn't been easy for anyone to get through, especially me, but I'm sorry for putting the rest of you through this as well."

"Richie, it's not your fault this happened," Connor said.

"I know, Connor," Richie said, "and it's not Mac's fault either."

The look that formed on Connor's face indicated that he didn't know what to make of what Richie just said.

"Also…I know that everybody's been disagreeing about who I should live with, Connor, you want me to go New York and live with you because you think I'd be safer there than here with Mac and Tess…who I've been living with for over a month, and…this is the first real bad thing that's happened to me since I moved in…and you all know what I'm capable of getting into, so it's a miracle that something hasn't happened before now."

"So what are you saying, Richie?" Connor asked.

"I…I…" Richie bit his lower lip a couple of times before he answered, "I'm sorry Connor…but I can't go with you."

For a minute, there was silence between them all, Duncan and Tessa weren't sure what would happen next. Finally Connor replied, "It's allright, laddie…I understand."

"I mean…don't get me wrong, it'd probably be great living with you but…" Richie said, "it's hard to explain, but…since I moved in, you guys have become my family, but…Mac and Tess, they're my immediate family…I mean Tess…I don't even remember what my foster mother was alike a whole lot, but next to her you're the most wonderful woman I've ever known…"

"Oh Richie," Tessa blushed.

"And Mac…I…I…I never really had it good with any of my foster fathers…so living with you has really been a change of events…so…thanks for everything," Richie said.

"Well Richie, I'm glad to have you here," Duncan told him.

"I know…I just…hope everybody understands what I'm trying to say…it's not that I like either one of you guys here more or less than the other, it's just that you're both different, you both live on opposite sides of the country, you'd both have a lot for me to adapt to if I were living with the other and suddenly had to live with the next."

"It's allright, Richie," Duncan said, "we understand."

"Richie, are you allright?" Tessa asked as she walked up to him.

"Yeah Tess, I think so."

"That's good," Tessa said as she hugged Richie and murmured something in French to herself.

Richie put his arms around Tessa to return the embrace when he got poked in the chest by the sharp body of a charm on Tessa's necklace. Richie held the charm between two fingers and whistled, "Tess, that's a nice necklace, where'd you get that?"

"Well Richie, Duncan gave it to me for…Richie! You can see?"

"Yeah," Richie admitted, "Connor, I know you told me you'd be staying until I could see again, so I guess this means you're packing."

"It'll be good going back knowing you're allright, laddie," Connor said. "Although if you'd prefer it, I could stay here a bit longer."

"That would be great."

"Richie, this is great!" Tessa exclaimed, "Were you just now able to see?"

"No, actually it happened when I woke up…I wanted to surprise you…"

"Well we certainly are," Tessa said as she took Richie in another embrace, "Richie, this is wonderful! You can see again!"

"Yep, and I have to say I missed it," Richie said, "ugly as some things are."

Connor extended his stay for another two weeks and he and Duncan and Richie had a good time. They went to ballgames and to the fights and to some violent movies that Tessa preferred to stay home during. When they stayed at home, Connor told Richie many embarrassing stories from when he and Duncan first became teacher and student, and when he wasn't doing that, he was teaching Richie how to play a few card games Duncan wasn't and hadn't been familiar with for a few decades (and more importantly teaching Richie how to cheat in them). Finally it came to the final day when Connor was packed up and had to leave for the airport. Duncan and Connor said their goodbyes and drew each other in a final embrace while Richie watched them from the corner of the room.

"Keep an eye on him," Connor told Duncan, "you've got a good kid, don't lose him."

"I won't."

Both the men kept their voices down so Richie wouldn't hear them.

"How about you, laddie?" Connor asked when he and Duncan separated.

Richie looked down at the floor and turned a bit red in the face.

"Oh come on," Connor said, "don't be getting embarrassed to give an ancient man a hug goodbye."

Richie finally gave in and went over to Connor as he held the lad close for a minute, Richie felt a bit awkward by it, knowing that Duncan was watching him.

"Now you behave while I'm in New York, and don't give Duncan a hard time," Connor told him.

"I know."

Connor drew him closer and murmured in Richie's ear, "And remember what I told you about cutting the cards."

Richie smiled as he remembered what Connor had taught him when it came to playing crooked. As they pulled away from one another, Richie said, "Connor…in a couple of weeks, do you think I could…come visit you?"

Connor looked at Richie for a brief while not saying a word, Richie was worried he'd put his foot in his mouth. Duncan looked at Connor, awaiting his decision. Connor reached over to Richie and ruffled his hair, "I'd like that, laddie."

Connor picked up his bags and headed for the door. "Richie, would you like to come with us to the airport?" Duncan asked.

"No."

"Okay," Duncan said, "Tell Tessa we said goodbye."

"I will."

Duncan followed Connor out the door and closed the door behind him.

Connor had left for New York hours ago, it was dark now, in fact it was after midnight. Duncan was in bed beside Tessa, but he wasn't having as good a luck as she was with sleeping. So he turned on his side, that didn't help, so he rolled onto his stomach, that still didn't work. Finally he decided to get up and do something until he was tired. He got out of bed and slipped on his robe and quietly made his way out of the bedroom so not to disturb Tessa, and across to the kitchen where he saw Richie at the table fixing himself a sandwich.

"Couldn't sleep?" Duncan asked.

"Not really," Richie replied.

Richie finished adding layer upon layer of God-knew-what and put another piece of bread on top of his sandwich, but it was too tall to eat, so he flattened it down with his fist a few times. Duncan smiled to himself as he headed over to the fridge, it was good to have Richie back to his regular old self.

"Mac…" Richie said after a minute of hesitation.

"Yes?"

"Can I…tell you something?"

Duncan knew by his uneasiness that Richie wouldn't even be bringing up whatever it was unless he felt sure that Duncan wouldn't give him a hard time about it.

"Sure," he replied as he sat down at the table, "what's up?"

"Well…I…I want you to know that I'm glad that you're still letting me stay with you, after everything that's happened," Richie said.

"That's what family's for," Duncan said.

"Anyway…" Richie said, looking down and then back at Duncan, "Mac…it was horrible after Emily died. I stayed in so many foster homes and orphanages that I didn't think I'd ever get out…I don't know what I did, but nobody really ever wanted me…unless they were just looking for some random kid to get a foster check off of them…All my life I'd been rejected by all sorts of people, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. One day I just figured that no matter what, nobody would want me. When you took me in, I didn't think I'd be staying here too long…I felt like I was walking on eggshells, just waiting for it to happen. Just counting the days until I did whatever I did…that would make you want to get rid of me…and I thought last month when you…"

"Oh God…that's what you thought?" Duncan asked, "That I wanted to send you back?"

"It sure seemed that way to me," Richie said, "I knew I had to get out, but I couldn't just pick up my things and leave, not then anyway. I figured if I stuck around, we'd get into it, so I figured I'd take off for a while, until I was calmed down enough to stand coming back here and getting my things. But I didn't get that chance."

"This all could have been avoided if I didn't lose my temper at you," Duncan said, "Richie, I'm so sorry…I'll never forgive myself for letting this happen to you in the first place."

"It's not your fault, Mac," Richie said, "I was just careless."

"But you wouldn't have left if I hadn't said what I had," Duncan said.

"Maybe not," Richie admitted, "but who's to say it couldn't have happened if I'd just gotten distracted for a second anyway?"

"Oh God, what I said," Duncan said, "I can't imagine how you must've felt."

"Mac…when you said I was unappreciative and irresponsible, it hurt me, but at the same time it was a relief because I knew that the time had finally come that I knew I had to leave," Richie said.

"I'm sorry…why did I even say that?" Duncan asked himself.

"Because you didn't think it'd have any effect on me," Richie said, "I know it's not your fault and you're not used to having someone young around…you couldn't have known what would happen."

"But I should have…"

"But you didn't, what's happened is over, it's allright," Richie said.

"No it's not…" Duncan said, "you've been scared of me since the day we met, and still you were when you first moved in, that's not allright…and it's my fault that you were in that accident, because I was being an ass the entire time."

"Well what was I?" Richie asked.

"You were just being yourself," Duncan said, "you knew that it was getting close the breaking point when you'd decide you had to leave…maybe you knew that day was the day it was going to happen."

"So what're you saying?" Richie asked, "You really don't want me?"

"No, Richie, that's not it, we do want you," Duncan assured him, "but I think it could be that you knew that something was going to happen that day."

"It's possible," Richie said.

"But Richie…I truly am sorry for everything that's happened," Duncan told him.

"I know, Mac."

"And I want you to know that no matter what you do…I love you and I'd never try to get rid of you…and I'm never going to lose my temper at you like that again."

"I know," Richie said calmly.

"Richie, I was worried after we found out that you were blind. I wasn't sure you were going to be allright, I wasn't sure you were ever going to recover…the fact that I knew you wouldn't talk to me was one of the furthest things on my mind, but that still worried me too…I wanted you to get better, and I'm glad that now you are…I don't want you to have to go through that again."

"I know," Richie said. "And Mac…I really do want to stay here, because living with you is the best thing that's happened to me in a long time, and…I believe that my motherEmily…can see me from where she is…but only when something good's happening."

"Maybe she does," Duncan said.

There was a brief silence between them, neither said anything for a while, finally Duncan decided to break the silence.

"So…are you allright?"

"I think so…I'm still not tired…but I haven't been lately."

"So you won't be heading back to bed anytime soon," Duncan said.

"No."

"Me either," Duncan said, "…what do you want to do?"

"Do you want to play cards?" Richie asked, looking a bit eager.

A/N: Like it or hate it, this is not THE end of "Leading the Blind". I am doing another version, a bit more humorous version at the request of a friend. To anyone who will be reading that version when it is published on here, I hope you enjoy.