Title: Lightning Never Strikes Twice

Author: Heather

E-mail: PG

Crossover: CJ & Misty Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar Series, along with a bit of Highlander

Spoilers: none for any eps of CJ or HL that I know of; if you spot any, feel free to let me know!

Disclaimer: None of the CJ or HL canon chars or Misty's Heralds are mine. Just borrowing them for a while.

PART ONE

I was just barely awake when my cousin, Jordan, poked me. "Hey, why don't you come with me to the office? I've got tons of paperwork to catch up on and they still haven't cleaned Elaine's stuff out of my office yet. I could really use your help," she said pleadingly.

"Oh, all right," I grumbled. "Let's just stop at Starbucks on the way, okay?"

I rushed through a shower and quickly dressed, joining Jordan in her car downstairs. As promised, she stopped so we could get coffee and we were on our way to her office minutes later.

Jordan is Jordan Cavanaugh, one of the medical examiners for the city of Boston. We arrived at her office building at about twenty after six in the morning and made our way upstairs.

She led the way onto the floor where the morgue was located, explaining as we got off the elevator, "We'll use Garret's office." Garret was Garret Macy, her boss and the Chief M.E. She let us into his office and we proceeded to demolish the mounds of paperwork awaiting her.

Jordan shuffled papers around, obviously looking for something. "Damn," she muttered crossly just as the lights went out.

"What?" I asked when she got up to hunt down flashlights and emergency lanterns.

"I left some paperwork on my last case down in the Crypt. Could you go and get it for me?"

"OK," I said, taking the flashlight and two-way radio she extended towards me.

In the Crypt, I began swearing. The place was dark and somewhat creepy, although being a doctor myself, the creepiness factor didn't bother me at all. What did bother me was the size of the room and the fact that Jordan's paperwork could be anywhere and I didn't have a clue where to start looking.

As soon as I made a move to check out a stack of papers on a nearby countertop, I heard a noise behind me. The double doors leading into the Crypt swung open and I heard a male voice asking who the hell I was and what was I doing there? I could have asked the same thing of him, being as it was about six-thirty a.m. and Jordan, myself and the security guys were supposed to be the only people in the building.

My self-defense training immediately kicked in. I had been training for nearly twenty years with an expert in martial arts named Duncan MacLeod. My take on things was to basically kick first and ask questions later. That's exactly what I did, firing a kick straight into the tall, dark man's chest, sending him flying backwards, his feet going out from under him. As he fell, the back of his head fell against one of the metal gurneys.

I called Jordan over the two-way radio. "Jordy, a man just surprised me down here and I've clobbered him. It looks like he's out cold. Could you come down here?"

"OK, I'll be right there," she replied and shortly I heard her footsteps in the hallway. As soon as she came through the swinging double doors, the power came back on and the Crypt was as bright as day. Jordan glanced down at the intruder and gasped. "Oh my god!"