Chapter Four

Xander woke to the screeching of the alarm. Slapping the snooze button, he glared at the clock and wondered why it was that he was getting up at 5 am.

Oh, yeah. Overtime. One must pay one's rent. If one wishes to have a place to live in.

He rolled out of bed, and blearily made his way to the bathroom. He quickly showered and brushed his teeth, then got dressed.

Grabbing an apple from the refrigerator, he glanced down at it as a thought occurred to him.

If I heal that fast, I wonder if my metabolism has sped up to match it? Do I have Slayer-like metabolism now?

Shuffling that to the back of his brain as something that he needed to ask Giles, he headed out the door, and to work.

Ritchie was bored. And a bored Immortal, especially one of his age, was a dangerous thing. There were no classes at the dojo today, so it was empty.

Leaving a note for Duncan, Ritchie decided to take the rest of the day off. He grabbed his leather jacket, and locked the door behind him. Duncan told him that he didn't think that there was anything in the dojo that was worth stealing, but in Ritchie's experience, everyone had something that someone else wanted. Besides, once a thief, twice as cautious.

Duncan may be over 400 years old, but in some instances he was as naive as a new born.

Grabbing his helmet off the back of the bike, he put it on. Despite the fact that he would probably survive almost any crash, he still wore one. It helped to keep the police off his back.

Ritchie started the bike, and pulled out into the slow traffic. He cruised along, headed nowhere in particular. He was just enjoying the rare sunny day. You didn't get many of them in Washington.

Hearing his stomach growl, he pulled out of traffic, and parked in front of a local diner. They had pretty good burgers, and wonderful apple pie.

He parked the bike, and took off the helmet. He left it dangling from the handlebars. He entered the restaurant, and was quickly seated by the hostess. Ordering the famous burger and apple pie, he settled down to plot some mischief, and to find a way to relieve the boredom.

Maybe I should take a trip. Tell Duncan that I've finally decided to go to collage, and go check some out. Maybe down to California. It's a legitimate reason. Who knows, I just might find one that interests me...

He absently ate the burger when it arrived, and before he knew it, the burger was gone, and he was halfway through the apple pie.

Wow. Did I even taste that?

He felt the familiar tingle in the back of his mind that signaled another Immortal nearby, and glanced up at the door.

He smiled ruefully when he saw Duncan walking towards him.

"Guess you caught me. How'd ya find me?" he asked.

"Come on, Ritchie. Everyone knows that this is your favorite restaurant. You love the burgers and apple pie. After all, you do get the same thing, every time." Duncan sat down, and glanced at the proof left on the plates in front of Ritchie as an example.

"So, what's on your mind? You seem a little lost." Duncan waved the waitress over, and ordered a cup of coffee.

"Not much, really. I was just thinking. About collage. And maybe it's time that I should start looking at one. After all, I'm hoping that I'll be around for a while, and I'd rather not be considered an idiot for the next few hundred years. It seems that anyone who doesn't have a PHD or some other alphabet soup after their name is considered a moron. Besides, I guess, I could use a change of pace. Ya know?" He glanced at Duncan to gauge the look on his face.

"Well, Ritchie, if that's what you want to do, then I'd say it's a good idea. But, however, I don't consider you a moron or an idiot. Well, maybe an idiot." Duncan teased.

Ritchie rolled his eyes at him. "Where's the Old Man today? I'm sure he'll have some good ideas about where I should go to school. Being that he's probably either taught at or been a student at most of the ones in the country."

Duncan laughed again. "You're probably right. He's coming over for dinner tonight. Going to drink all my beer, lay on the couch, and criticize my cooking skills. Why don't you join us, you can ask him about schools then. Say, six-ish?"

Ritchie nodded. "Six-ish it is then. Want me to bring anything?"

"Extra beer? I'm sure we could use it." Ritchie laughed, and nodded. "Sure. See ya then."

Later that night, Ritchie stopped in at the liquor store, and bought some of both domestic and imported beer. He knew that the Old Man liked imported beer better than anything that was made on American soil.

Personally, Ritchie agreed with him. He didn't much care for beer, most of the time. Sometimes, though, you just needed a beer.

He rang the buzzer for the elevator, letting Duncan know that he was there.

Not that he didn't notice me when I got within range.

The elevator clanked down, and he pulled the grate up, stepped inside, and shut the cage. He hit the up button with his elbow, since both hands were full of beer.

The elevator clanked to a stop. Ritchie inhaled appreciatively. "Smells good. What are we having? Hey, Adam, catch." He pulled a warm beer out of the case of imported beer, and tossed it to him.

Adam set down the beer that he was already drinking, a domestic one that he thought of as pisswater. "Ah, youngling. You have learned something from me! I'm so proud."

Duncan rolled his eyes, and said, "Well, I wanted stir fry, but he wanted Mexican, so we compromised, and we're getting chicken stir fry with Mexican seasonings. You can either put it over rice, or in a taco shell. It's up to you."

"Good compromise. Smells good, whichever it is." Ritchie put the domestic beer in the fridge, and left the imported ones on the counter. He'd quickly learned that Adam had a fit if you chilled his imported beers.

"They're not supposed to be cold! Something you barbarous Americans perverted, chilling your beer like that."

To witch Duncan usually replied that he wasn't an American. And Adam's reply usually was that it didn't matter, because he still drank his beer cold.

Ritchie was used to this argument, but it still amused him each time that he heard it.

"So, Brat, Duncan tells me that you're thinking of going to collage. Somewhere warm, I take it, so that you can watch mostly naked girls while pretending to study, right?"

Ritchie shrugged. "Sounds like a good plan to me, don't you think?"

Adam snorted, and shook his head. "Of course it does, why do you think that I only brought you information on the ones in the warm states?"

"Because you're a very smart man, who knows what goes on in the small mind of a man my age?" Ritchie popped a piece of mushroom into his mouth. He was pretending to help Duncan cup up vegetables for the stir fry.

Adam snorted again. "Which mind is that, Brat? The one on your shoulders, or the one –"

"I think we get the point, Adam. Thanks." Duncan interrupted.

Adam winked at Ritchie, who smirked. They both sighed at the same time, and said, "Victorian sensibilities."

"Very funny." Duncan threw a broccoli spear at Ritchie, who caught it and ate it.

"Thanks. I was feeling a bit peckish."

Exasperated, Duncan threw him out of the kitchen. "Go do something else, you're not helping me here. You're just eating everything in sight, as usual."

Ritchie wandered over to the window, and stared down at the streets below. Familiar streets, ones that he'd seen day after day for the last few years. He sighed. Strange how some things can be so comforting, and yet so confining at the same time. Make you glad to be home, but yearning to be somewhere else. Wanting things to stay the same, but hoping for change.

He turned away from the window, not seeing the concerned look that the two other Immortals exchanged.

He wandered over to the sound system. He riffled through Duncan's cd's, and picked out a new cd. He put it in, and pushed play. The smooth sound of Bonnie Raitt's voice floated out of the speakers.

"Nice choice, Brat."

"Thanks, Old Man."

Adam handed him a pile of brochures. "Here. I picked out the one's that were close enough to the beach for you to get your eyeful of glistening bodies, while still making an effort to study."

Ritchie flipped through them. "UCLA, Berkley. Heard of them. USD, USF?"

"Universities of San Diego, and San Fran, respectively."

"Ah, big city universities."

"Yep. I'm sure that you've noticed something, hanging out with him all these years." He jerked a thumb at Duncan. "The larger the city, the more Immortals there are around."

Ritchie nodded. "Yeah, got that one early on."

He held up another glossy brochure. "What about this one? SDU?"

"Ah. Sunnydale University. Good school. Nice people. High crime rate, but after living in Seacouver, I'm sure you're used to that."

Ritchie nodded, and studied the brochure. "Rather eclectic classes they've got here. History, archeology, music, sports, ballet? Computer corses, they've got everything for everyone, don't they." He glanced up at Adam. "Nice people? Been there, have we?"

"Yep. Only for a little while. Just stopped in for a quarter to teach a short class on mythology. Interesting students." Interesting nightlife, too.

Duncan watched Adam curiously. What aren't you saying, Methos? I hope you know what you're doing. He glanced at Ritchie, who was reading over the class catalog again. I also hope you're not getting him into something over his head.

"Dinner's ready." Was all he said.