"Mac?" Richie entered the living room area of Duncan's apartment and frowned in puzzlement. The Scot was nowhere to be seen, and he hadn't felt his presence at all on the way up. Shrugging, he went over to the fridge and helped himself to a beer, deciding to wait for Duncan to return from wherever it is he had gone to talk to him. There was a noticeable amount of beer missing from Duncan's fridge that Richie suspected had to do with Methos and Buffy's training session from the other day.
"Mooch." Richie muttered slightly. Then, looking down at the beer he held in his own hand, felt himself slightly chagrined.
Plopping himself down onto Duncan's couch, he noticed a notebook laying open on the table with some writing and crudely drawn diagrams. Curiously, he picked it up, realizing as soon as he glanced at it that it was a list of notes that Duncan had made on Buffy's skills and what needed to be worked on. Richie read through them, finding it interesting that Duncan had been able to decipher all of what he had simply from one training session.
The slayer had been amazing. Richie had been told she could fight, but he had honestly never expected her to be so amazing. He had always looked up to Duncan as being the best, but after seeing the girl in action, he knew that soon she would surpass Duncan, perhaps even the old man eventually.
When he had first met her, he had been attracted to her. What male his age wouldn't have been? However, after seeing this part of her, Richie knew that any attraction he may have had, could not ever be realized. She was above him in a way that he couldn't really explain. And the knowledge wasn't painful. Richie knew she was meant for something or someone far better than him. She just needed to realize this.
Methos on the other hand, was the wild card in the situation. Other than that waitress Joe had told him about, he had never thought of Methos as someone capable of caring about others, and yet there was clearly something between the slayer and the old man. He wasn't sure if it was just friendship, or something else occurring there, but if nothing else he found it interesting.
The intensity of the immortal buzz startled him from his thoughts and despite the fact that he knew it was likely MacLeod coming up the elevator, he found himself tensing out of sheer habit. That feeling would never be comfortable, and a good thing too.
"Richie!" Duncan sounded slightly surprised to see him. "What's up?" He headed over to the fridge, opened it, then looked back at the beer in Richie's hand and glared.
"Hey don't look at me man, I only had one." Richie said defensively. "Blame it on the old man."
"Mooch." Duncan muttered as he grabbed the last remaining bottle of beer in the fridge. As he made his way over to the couch, he noticed Richie holding his notebook.
"Catching up on some reading?"
"I found it interesting." Richie replied with an apologetic shrug. He set it back down on the table. "I didn't realize that you put that much preparation into training someone."
"Normally I don't." Duncan admitted. "But she's different. I've never trained someone so strong physically, so I was finding it hard at first to work around that and teach her to rely on technique. It won't be easy, especially since she's still reluctant with the weapon."
"What do you mean reluctant?" Richie wondered. "She's using it isn't she?"
Duncan shook his head, wondering if it were possible to be as naïve as Richie and survive as an immortal. Sometimes he forgot that centuries of life had taught him better how to read people, especially when they fought.
"She's not trusting it Richie." Duncan explained. "She still fears it. I wish I knew what it was that she's so afraid of. I could help her better if I knew."
"I guess it's too personal for her to tell you." Richie said with a shrug.
"She doesn't trust me," Duncan continued frustration evident as if Richie hadn't spoken.
"Is it necessary that she confide all her problems to you in order to train her?" Richie asked, wondering how much this had to do with his ability to train her to fight. "Or is the green eyed monster rearing its head here?"
"Huh?" Duncan looked at his friend, clearly confused as to what he was referring to. Richie wondered for a moment if he were wrong in his assumption, but decided to press on with it nonetheless.
"I just mean that it's obvious she told Methos what she's been through. The two of them are close, you know? And I was wondering if maybe that's the part that's bugging you. You feel you can't help her because someone else understands her better." Richie shrugged. "Maybe you're a bit jealous."
"I'm not interested in her Richie." Duncan stated flatly. "She's only a child."
"She's more than that and we both know it." Richie argued. "And so does Methos. Not only does he know that, he understands that. I wasn't saying you were interested in her Mac, only that you resented her ability to tell him her problems and not you. You can't fix everyone. Sometimes a person needs to be saved by someone other than you."
"I'm not trying to save, or fix her." Duncan said stubbornly. Even as he spoke however, he could feel the truth of Richie's words and he didn't like them one little bit. Part of him did resent the idea that she could tell Methos what she had been through but not him. He wondered what it was about him t hat put her off, since not only was she incredibly close to the old man, but she also felt a certain reassurance in Richie and Joe's presence that she lacked in his. What was it about him that put her off? He had gotten so used to being the guy that people talked to or came to for help that it was difficult to reconcile the idea that he might not be capable of it.
"Yea, right Mac." Richie was scoffing. "Face it, you've got a hero complex and Methos is about the least hero-like that you can get. You're afraid he's not the right guy to help her."
"He's not exactly the picture of nobility Richie," Duncan pointed out, still refusing to admit outright the truth of the kid's words.
"Maybe that's the point." Richie suggested. "Maybe she isn't either. You don't know and it's likely you never will. So you have to work with what you've got and somehow you have to get her to be able to beat this Klossen dude."
"I can only do so much Richie," Duncan warned his friend. He hated to think that the kid might be disappointed in him if he failed to properly prepare the slayer. "If she can't fully commit herself to the blade, then I can only do so much. If Methos is the one she confides in, maybe he can help."
"I always knew the old man would prove useful someday." Richie joked. "Cause he's not helping your beer stash any."
"At least I got some this time." Duncan said with a sigh. "Better restock before our next training session. If Methos ever takes my head over anything it will be because I ran out of beer."
"Speaking of taking heads, what will happen if she wins?" Richie wondered. He remembered Joe mentioning something about an overload of power, and wondered if that also extended to the slayer if she were to take a quickening. Had the others even thought of this? From the look on Duncan's face, Richie guessed that he at least had, but didn't like to do so.
"I'm honestly not sure Rich," Duncan admitted. "I planned to mention that to Methos or Joe the next time I saw them, but I don't want to alarm her unless I have to."
"You don't want to tell her." Richie supplied, filling in the blanks.
"It's not that," Duncan protested, though they both knew that it was pretty much that. "I just don't want to scare her off her commitment to fight him if I don't have to. Until we know what will happen there's no sense in alarming her."
"What if she decides to fight this guy before you do?" Richie asked. "She deserves to know there's a risk Mac."
"And she will. But until I know more, I'm not willing to scare her away."
"Whatever you say Mac," Richie said, doubt etched in his voice. "I just hope you know what you're doing."
