Disclaimer:
Highlander the Series, Highlander the Raven, and their respective characters belong to Rysher Entertainment and whoever else owns the series. I own nothing, save any original characters you may see, my car, and my cats. Please don't sue me; my cats aren't worth that much.
Author's notes:
This story takes place maybe a few months after the end of Highlander the Raven. I would appreciate any helpful and constructive reviews of this piece of writing. Any and all mistakes, pertaining to the characters, timeline, historical accuracy, etc. are mine. Any that you may find I chalk up to artistic license and/or creating an AU.
Thanks to Honeybear for your encouragement and positive comments. It was truly a wonderful thing to get your comments yesterday, especially when I was feeling slightly low. You made my day and got me to finish what was left of my story. Thanks!
A Lesson in Living
Chapter Five
(several weeks later)
Nick and Adam had gone out for the night and ended up hanging out at a local bar. They had just gone to see a movie and neither was willing to call it a night. While they were sitting at a table, drinking the beer that Nick ended up buying, Burt showed up. He had tracked Nick down and needed to talk to him. How he managed to find him exactly, Nick was partially curious and partially worried. It made him grateful for Adam's lessons on how to create a new identity and how to cover his tracks when the time came. He would have to make sure that the new life he established would not be uncovered as a fraud by someone like Burt Myers.
"Nick! Why in the hell did you leave Paris? You and Amanda get into a fight?" Burt asked as he sat down, uninvited.
"Something like that," Nick muttered, glaring at this old friend and boss. "What do you want Burt?" he asked.
"Would you please come back? I need you in Paris. Josiah isn't able to run it; his wife just had twins and Dominic is too junior to take over," Burt made his case.
"Don't know Burt. Maybe I am happy here in Toragor," he hedged. In reality, he did miss Paris. Also, he missed the excitement of the job. It kept him challenged and busy. He hated to be bored and working for Burt was never boring.
As Burt was promoting the idea of Nick returning to Paris, Nick and Methos felt the arrival of another Immortal – Jon Colbert.
Colbert, having decided that two months were long enough to wait, tracked Nick down.
Nick, obviously worried, looked over at Adam.
Adam looked back at Nick, with a calm expression on his face. "Normally, I believe in not being around when the fighting starts, but this is a different situation. This is your first test. If you don't deal with it, he will continue to come for you. You are ready," Methos said encouragingly.
Nick nods gravely. He got up to leave, nodding at Colbert, acknowledging the unspoken challenge.
Burt was bewildered. Nick was totally ignoring what he was saying and was now leaving. "Where in the hell are you going?" Burt yelled after his friend. Burt started to get up and Nick, but Methos held him back.
"Stay out of it Burt," Methos warned the mortal man. His eyes held a dead, flat look.
Burt Meyers was not an easily intimidated man. He had seen and done things all over the world that would break a regular person's spirit easily. What he saw in Nick's friend's eyes and expression scared him deeply.
Nick follows Colbert to a near-by, but deserted alley. Although Adam had told him it was not good to let an enemy pick the ground for a fight, the alley appeared to be the kind of place he would have picked anyway.
The alley was light with yellow sodium lights, casting wavering shadows up on the brick walls. There was a battered dumpster at the far end and the ground was pockmarked by potholes. It was a lovely spot for a beheading.
Colbert and Nick pull out their swords from the folds of their jackets and face each other. Colbert had at least three inches and fifty pounds over Nick, but Nick has a quickness that he hoped would be an advantage.
They battled back and forth, their swords clashing in the night air. Nick found himself being pushed back by Colbert. He pivoted and whipped around, trying to dodge out of Colbert's onslaught. Instead of clearing out, he stumbled on a loose bit of asphalt and lost his balance.
He landed on his back, having the wind knocked out of him. He saw Colbert raise his sword high, going for the killing blow. Nick fought down a moment of panic. He rolled to the side as the sword clanged on to the ground, missing him by a mere breadth.
Taking advantage of Colbert's error. Nick kicked out, connecting with his knee. He did not kick it; he kicked through the joint, hyper-extending it into a grotesque angle. Colbert, no longer able to stand erect, collapsed onto the ground in a kneeling position, screaming in rage and pain. His hand was weaponless; Colbert's quickening was his for the taking
Nick jumped back up, pushed on by adrenaline. Before he knew it, Nick had his sword resting at the side of Colbert's neck, just above his collar. "We can both walk away from here. We don't have to fight," Nick said, breathing heavily.
"Fuck you!" Colbert spit. "Do it or I'll come back and kill everyone you've ever known!" he snarled. There was a bizarre part of his mind that sincerely believed that Wolfe did not have the balls to actually go through with it and kill him – hence the shitty attitude. Plus, he never begged. Begging was for the weak and he, Jon Ezekiel Colbert was not weak.
Nick took a deep breath and let it out shortly. He sung his blade through the air and through Colbert's neck, separating his head from his body.
The head stayed in place for a fraction of a second before tumbling down to the ground, letting Nick catch a glimpse of a surprised look frozen on Colbert's face.
All was silent just before all hell broke loose. Blue lightening erupted from the headless body, reaching out with its wicked tendrils, lashing out in all directions. It hit the sides of the brick buildings, causing the bricks to crumble from the electrical charge. The sodium lamp, with its sickly light exploded, causing shards of glass and metal to rain down on the ground. The lightning even reached out and hit the car parked in front of the alley, blasting out the window of the vehicle.
Finally, the defeated Immortal's quickening found Nick, piercing his body, causing an involuntary scream to erupt from his mouth. The lightning storm, grabbed him, enveloping his in its brutal grasp. It caused a pain he had never thought was possible. It felt as if every cell in his body was on fire and nothing on the planet could put it out. From his hair to his toenails, there was agony.
Along with the physical pain, came images that Nick knew were not his own. There was death and destruction in every vision. Fights, blood, people begging for mercy; several of the people that appeared before his eyes Nick could somehow tell were helpless mortals. Jon Colbert, while not overly old, had been responsible for so many senseless deaths. A part of his mind what was separate from the physical and mental abuse he was currently absorbing understood that the world was at least a fraction better off with Colbert's death.
Soon, but not soon enough, the light show was over, leaving Nick huddled on the ground, alive.
He shook his head, trying to clear it and stop his ears from ringing. Nick stood up on shaky feet, surveying the damage the quickening had caused. He tried not to dwell on the severed head and body that lay twisted on the asphalt. He brushed himself off, stooped briefly to retrieve his sword. He wiped it clean and quickly his it in the folds of his coat. He then glanced at Colbert's sword and shrugged. Surely it would not hurt to have a back up weapon. He picked it up and also hid it from view in his coat.
He returned to the bar, feeling Adam's presence before he saw him. Adam, also feeling another Immortal's presence, looked to the door, hoping and praying to long forgotten gods that it was Nick. Identical half smiles brushed across both individuals' faces.
Nick crossed the bar and sat down at the table, joining Adam and Burt. Burt was demanding an explanation of where he had gone. Nick just shook his head and refused to answer his mortal friend's questions. He did promise to consider Burt's request to return to Paris and to give him a call in a couple of days.
Once Burt had left them, Adam sat back with a half smile-half smirk on his face. "So, since you are here and with the flickering of the lights, I assume you won. How are you?"
Nick frowned. "I feel, I don't know. Keyed up maybe. Just really nervous I guess," he said, bouncing his right leg up and down.
"That's to be expected after a quickening. Give it a day and it'll settle down, along with the visions and memories," he nodded sagely.
"Great," Nick growled, looking around, unsure what Adam had said was true, but willing to accept his teacher's word for now.