Frantically looking around for any sign of the missing teenager, Duncan's eyes lit upon the distant water. Despite the fact that there was no indication that Richie had headed towards the dock, the Immortal made a beeline towards it with Tessa close at his heals.

Looking at the dark, still water the Immortal prayed that he was wrong. Richie wouldn't have gotten in. Would he?

Suddenly, it dawned on him that the air didn't sound quite right. Listening carefully, he quickly realized that there was a very faint sound of panting coming from beneath him. Immediately dropping to his stomach, Duncan eased himself to the end of the dock and peered underneath. To his great relief, two very bright eyes were staring back at him.

"Richie?" He asked as calmly as he possibly could.

The teen, neck deep in water and clinging to the post that held up the dock, slid partway behind the post and peered up at Duncan with terror in his eyes.

His very confused and cloudy eyes, the Immortal noted with increasing trepidation. Continuing to hold Richie's gaze, Duncan slowly and calmly addressed the woman clinging to his back. "Would you go get Richie's coat please, Tessa?"

When he felt the woman depart, the Immortal once again focused his attention on getting the confused and terrified boy to safety. More than anything, he wanted to dive into the water and pull the shivering child out. But the rational part of him knew that the teen might think he was being attacked. If it was possible, the Scotsman knew coaxing the boy out would be much safer in the long run.

"Richie? Partner?" Duncan said softly, being sure to remain still, despite the feeling of blood rushing to his head as he hung over the edge of the pier.

Blinking up at the man, the teenager hesitantly responded. "Mac?"

"That's right, it's Mac." Duncan said quietly, trying to sound as reassuring as possible, considering how frightened and confused the teen was. "It's okay now. I'm here. Can you give me your hand?"

"Yeah." Richie replied dully after a long pause, still not releasing his grip on the pier.

Cautiously, Duncan stretched his hand out under the pier and placed it within inches of Richie's, patiently waiting for the teen to grip it. After what seemed like hours, the boy finally released one hand from the pier and placed it in Duncan's.

Carefully securing his grip around the limp appendage, Duncan slowly drew the boy out from under the pier as Richie numbly released his hold on the pier and allowed himself to be guided out by the Immortal.

Tessa, who had returned from her sprint to the car, was shocked when Richie appeared from underneath the dock. As Duncan pulled the boy from the water with a deep grunt, the Frenchwoman was more than a little relieved. After quickly wrapping the teen's coat around him, Tessa stood helplessly by and watched as the Scotsman further cocooned the drenched child in his own coat and lifted him into his arms. Turning quickly, Tessa lead the way back to the car.

***

Walking into the loft behind Tessa, Duncan stopped momentarily to adjust his grip on the teen. The Frenchwoman was immediately wary. "Is he all right?"

"I just needed to get a better grip, Tess." The Immortal soothed, continuing to follow the woman into the house.

The woman looked back over her shoulder worriedly. "Richie?"

"Huh?' The teen replied blankly, looking in the general direction of Tessa's voice.

Duncan sighed at the teen's lack of recognition of what was happening. "Nothing, Rich. Everything's all right."

"Would you make him something to eat?" Duncan now questioned the woman. "I'm going to get him cleaned up."

"Sure." Tessa replied, walking into the kitchen with purpose.

***

Within 30 minutes, Richie was clean, warm and full. Much more coherent, the teen was befuddled to find himself tucked up in multiple blankets on the couch. Looking around in confusion, Richie found himself listening intently to the conversation going on in the kitchen in an attempt to gain some perspective into what was going on.

"Is he in bed?" Tessa questioned quietly, not wanting to disturb the teen if he were sleeping.

Duncan, however, was not concerned about that in the slightest. "No, he's on the couch. He probably has a concussion, I want to keep him up for a few hours to be on the safe side."

"He seems all right though?" The Frenchwoman pressed worriedly.

"He's got a goose egg on his head." Duncan answered honestly, knowing better than to lie to Tessa. "And it looks like he got knocked around a bit. I'm sure he'll be pretty sore for awhile."

As Tessa's bright eyes filled with tears, the Immortal immediately reassured her. "Don't worry, Tess. He'll be all right. We'll take good care of him."

"Of course we will." The Frenchwoman replied dismissively, not ever having doubted that for a second. "I just hate to see him in pain. He hasn't even fully recovered from getting attacked last month."

"I know, sweetheart. I know." The couple silently held onto each other for a moment, taking comfort from the other's strength and commitment to the teenager in their care. Finally, Duncan broke the embrace. "I'm going to go check on him. Make sure he hasn't fallen asleep."

"I'll finish cleaning up." Tessa quickly replied. "I'll be along in a few minutes."

"All right." Duncan replied, already on his way to the living room.

Looking at the much more alert teen, the Immortal provided his most reassuring smile. "Hey, you. How're you feeling?"

"Confused." Richie replied honestly, moving over slightly to allow Duncan to perch next to him on the couch. The teen allowed the Immortal to check feel his forehead and carefully begin probing his head for bumps before protesting. "Mac. Don't fuss."

"Does your head hurt?" The Immortal questioned, pausing to smile slightly at the relief that Richie's protestations provided.

Richie, however, was far from amused. Or relieved for that matter. "You can only imagine. What happened to me, Mac?"

"You don't remember?" The Immortal probed gently, not wanting to taint any information the boy might be able to provide him.

Richie, however, had absolutely nothing to offer. "I was sleeping in my room. Then the next thing I remember is an alley. And then you. Where you hanging off a dock?"

"Yep." Duncan replied, glad at least that Richie was remembering parts of the day.

Richie gave him an odd look. "Why?"

"Because you were underneath it." The Immortal replied mildly.

The teen groaned in realization. "I was hiding under the dock."

"'Fraid so. Are you starting to remember?" The Scotsman pressed.

Richie squeezed his eyes shut. "Yeah, sort of. My head is killing me, though."

"Don't push too hard. You've plenty of time to remember." The Immortal soothed.

Richie's expression relaxed and he mumbled his next comment. "Thanks, Mac."

"No, no." Duncan replied firmly. "Eyes open, partner."

Richie glared at him through now partially open eyes. His voice was noticeably whiny as he drew out the three-letter word. "Mac."

"You've got a nasty bump on the head. You're going to have to humor me on this one." Duncan told him patiently.

Richie sighed in exasperation. "Whatever."

After a few seconds of silence, the teen began to question the Immortal. "Any idea why this happened?"

"Well," Reluctantly, Duncan answered the question. "There was a note."

"For you?" Richie replied, fully opening his eyes to regard the man.

Duncan's feelings of guilt were evident on his face. "I'm so sorry, Rich."

"No worries." Richie replied easily, shrugging. "After all you've done for me, I owe you at least one kidnapping."

"Don't ever say that, Richie." The Scotsman told him firmly. "You don't owe me anything. And you certainly didn't deserve this."

The teen nodded briefly in acknowledgement, then quickly thought better of the action when his head began to spin. After a brief pause to compose himself, the teen once again questioned Duncan. "You have any idea who it was?"

"Not yet." The Immortal admitted reluctantly.

Richie wasn't exactly surprised. After all, if Duncan had taken care of the situation that would have been the first thing the Immortal had told him when he had woken up. "An Immortal?"

"It looks like." Duncan answered.

Richie looked over at him for a moment. "Bummer."

"I'm going to do everything I can to keep you safe, Richie." Duncan vowed.

Richie gave him a slight smile before once again shutting his eyes. "I know."

"Uh-uh." Duncan said firmly, and then deliberately raised his voice. "Stay awake, Richie."

"Mac." Richie once again whined, looking tiredly at the man.

Duncan gave him a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, partner."

"So how'd you know I was under the dock?" Richie questioned after a minute.

Duncan looked down at him. "I don't know." He answered honestly. "I just did."

"Well, I'm glad you did." Richie replied sincerely.

"Me too, Richie. More than you'll ever realize." Duncan smiled broadly at that, and then leaned over to arrange the blankets more securely around the teen and brush some stray hairs out of his eyes.