Chapter Twenty-Seven
Niebos:

The little girl was back again.

Kenny snorted in derision as he turned away, determined to ignore her. She'd appeared several times recently… a dark-haired little girl with an odd feel of pre-immortality to her. She seemed stronger than any pre-immortal that Kenny had ever seen. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought she was immortal. But she grinned at him shyly and waved at him… as if trying to get him to join her. But if she said anything… her words were lost in the silence of this place.

He was alone. Time held no meaning. He pulled his legs to him and closed his eyes.

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"Nothing," said Greg as he looked over the EEG readouts. "She doesn't make one bit of difference."

"So it would seem," Eleanor agreed sadly. "I guess that's it. We can keep trying… but I don't think we're getting anywhere with this." She rubbed her eyes. She'd been taking Grace's shifts at the hospital as well as her own this last week and was she tired.

"Listen… go home. I can stay and watch tonight." Greg gave her a supportive smile.

"You've been on duty even longer than I have."

"I don't have two children to parent."

"Give it time," Eleanor laughed. "Your day is coming."

Greg nodded. Grace was nearing term. The baby would likely be born within the next month or so. He found he was as eagerly anticipating the birth of this child as Grace and John were. She was his as well… some part of him made up this child's being. "Nevertheless… go home… get some sleep." He playfully pulled her to her feet and aimed her in the direction of the exit. "Now scat!"

Eleanor gave in. She was tired… and the long hours at the clinic were taking her away from her children. She hated that… almost as much as she hated the fact that Methos had not yet returned. With a light step, she slipped along the well-worn path between the clinic and the villa. Already she could feel the lighter air of the immortals there… not the almost dead weight of the ones in comas. High-pitched voices were carried toward her on the night air. The boys she thought. Seeing Phillip on the terrace, she climbed toward him, noting a sleeping Marianna in his arms.

"Here," she said quietly, "I'll take."

"Oh… she's fine," Phillip teased but gave the sleeping child over to her mother. Marianna whimpered slightly… but then settled comfortably against Eleanor.

"Where's J. D.?" Eleanor asked as she rocked back and forth slightly.

Phillip gestured with his chin. "Out there. Chou, Denis and he are star-gazing."

Eleanor glanced heavenward to stare at the bright panoply of stars in the otherwise dark sky. Although blessed with electricity, the island was usually dark at night, as though the inhabitants of this island treasured the darkness that came at night. The stars above were slightly different from the stars she could recall from her long-ago childhood. But even then… she'd stared up at them and drawn pictures in her mind's eye as she'd connected the dots. She chuckled to herself, recalling how excited Derrick had been when Methos had given him a telescope during their years in Scotland while the boy grew to manhood. Even then the stars were different… the pictures slightly changed from those she recalled. But in this southern sky… even' Arthur's wain… called by some the Big Dipper… or Ursa Major… was much lower in the sky. She smiled thinly. "Keep an eye on them. I'm taking Marianna to bed."

Phillip laughed and leaned over to kiss them both. "I shall. Those boys are up to something… I know it. I just haven't figured it out yet."

"Is there any trouble they can get into?" Eleanor asked with worry. "They wouldn't put J. D. in any danger would they? They know better than that!"

"Oh… I think they understand that. They're not children… after all. They know how hard it would be for J. D. They've been there and done that themselves. Now go on to bed. I'll keep watch." He winked at her.

Eleanor turned away and carried Marianna up the stairs to the bed in her room. Laying the child on the bed, she undressed her and pulled a thin nightgown over her. Marianna whimpered slightly… but didn't awaken. As Eleanor removed her own clothes and grabbed a seldom-used cotton gown for herself, while she gazed on Marianna's sleeping form. The barely four-year-old girl slept on her back… one fist knotted up and near her mouth. Her dark hair lay in a tangle about her and her short legs were splayed and bent at the knees. To Eleanor's eye… she was still a miracle.

Wearily she crawled in beside the girl and settled down to sleep… still painfully aware that the presence she most wanted here… wasn't.

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Eleanor was at first uncertain where she was. Then out of the mist she could see the scaffolded structure of Notre Dames des Paris as she had first seen it. It seemed oddly alone without the workers she had once seen there.

Fog swirled about her and she turned curiously, aware that she wore her heavy cape and sword, and that her long braided hair hung heavily behind her.

"It's a dream," she whispered. It had to be a dream. Perhaps something dredged up from her worries of the day.

Is it?" teased the familiar voice at her back. She could feel him suddenly… his strong presence behind her. Eleanor closed her eyes within the dream and let it take her to that long-ago day.

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Paris, 1165:

"You look tired," Darius remarked when Eleanor rose from the latest patient and rubbed one hand wearily over her brow, tucking a few stray strands of her long black hair that had escaped the braid, behind her ear. She'd mid-wifed often, but seldom had she attended so many mortals with such a wide array of injuries. She felt her small knowledge was being tested and found wanting. In the distance she could hear the cries of the workers as instructions were called out, as well as prayers and hymns.

She was still a bit uncertain about this strange immortal, although she sensed she was in no danger from him. She still wondered that one of them… and by them she meant an immortal… could seem to exist calmly and without a sword. Despite working with the injured… Eleanor's short-sword was hidden amongst her voluminous skirts. She'd removed her cape to make it easier to work… but she'd refused to be without the blade. "Aye," Eleanor agreed with a nod. "Too many scrapes and breaks to my liking." she regarded the rising walls of the cathedral and spat. "That thing will be the death of many."

"But it will also be the salvation of many," Darius chided her gently. "Come!" He pulled one hand free of his monk's robes and gestured for to follow him.

Eleanor folded her arms before her and stepped warily to his side. "Why? What do you wish to show me?"

Darius laughed. "Such a suspicious nature. We shall have to work on that."

"We must be always on our guard," Eleanor said meaningfully lifting an eyebrow. "Or else we die."

"So we were all taught," he laughed and re-tucked his hands into his sleeves. "But it's only lunch." He walked off, and… after a moment's pause… she followed.

He'd strewn a great cape on the ground beneath a small and twisted tree. On it was a basket. He sat easily and began to rummage in the basket. "Let's see what we have."

Eleanor glanced around. Mortals were all about them, although all were a short distance away… most standing about boards laid on trestles. Uneasily she knelt down and watched the priest immortal. He was a puzzle… and one she thought she'd never understand. "You think of me as some sort of project?"

Darius lifted some bread from the basket and tore of a hunk before handing it to her. He chewed thoughtfully and then shrugged. "I think of you as someone who has a lot to learn."

"I'm older than I look," she insisted.

"Aren't we all. Guess how old I am."

She looked at him oddly, and then shrugged. "Older than me."

Darius laughed lustily as if she'd said something truly humorous. He wiped at his eyes and then sobered. "I am over a thousand."

Eleanor's eyes widened in surprise. "Years? Is such a thing possible?"

Darius shrugged. He rummaged for the wine jug and lifted it out to pour some into two wooden cups. "I suppose I am proof of that. I also know of some much older than I."

Eleanor accepted the cup from him and considered his words carefully. "Older. That would mean that they are very… very good."

He shrugged and sipped from his own cup. "Either that or very lucky."

"And have you been a priest all that time?"

He sobered a moment, evidently reflecting on some memory… she'd seen Phillip do that occasionally, as well as Edward in the brief time she'd known him as an immortal. He set the cup down. "No," he said. "I was not always a priest."

"Then why be one now? What I mean is… this seems so at odds with the lives we lead as immortals. How do you reconcile the two? I was raised Christian… but I've let that go in the centuries I've lived."

Darius nodded. "Most of us do. Whatever the beliefs we carried in our mortal lives become merely trappings to our immortal lives. But my being a priest is not so much about the religion… as about the need to preach the message."

Eleanor spurted out the wine in her mouth in laughter. "The message?"

"That peace is possible," he replied. "I was here before the church rose to power in this place. It joined me rather than the other way around."

Eleanor regarded him curiously. "You've been in this place a thousand years? Don't people notice that you don't change? I was told to keep moving… to remain no more than a few years in a single place."

"Well I haven't been here all that time. But I have been here many lifetimes… as was the one before me."

"I don't understand."

"He was the last immortal I killed… the last one I will ever kill. I am complete now. I came to understand in his quickening that peace was possible. Peace… and love. I took up his mission… to remain in this place and teach what he knew."

"Who was he?"

"A very old immortal… likely the eldest of us all at the time. Some residual magic… or the love of his people kept him safe in their midst until I killed him. I've always believed that he chose me for some reason. That he was weary of existence and chose me to carry his message to the future."

"He let you kill him?"

"He dropped his guard and smiled at me in invitation. He'd beaten me… and then he stepped back and smiled. The power of who he was swept over me like being inside fire and ice at the same time. I had the fleeting images of millennia to deal with."

Eleanor let out a long breath. "Millennia… many thousands."

"Yes," Darius replied soberly. "Many thousands… likely more than either of us can imagine possible."

Eleanor stubbornly shook her head. "I'm not giving up my sword."

"Did I ask you to?"

"That, I think was the purpose of your story. Know this priest, I will never be without it. I will never again be the victim of those bigger and more powerful than myself. My weapon protects me from all men… not just immortals. You who are a man may not understand that." She tossed the empty cup to the cape they sat on and hugged her knees while glaring at the men in the distance.

"I begin to understand," Darius remarked soberly. "You are young and still filled with rage. But live long enough… and you will understand."

She looked at the priest without comprehension and shook her head. "That day will never come. Even if I live to be a thousand."

In the distance… bells began to toll the hour.

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Niebos:

Eleanor woke in a cold sweat and sat up swiftly in the darkness. She gasped for breath as she tried to think where she was and when. Something was ringing. Wiping the sweat from her face, she reached for her phonecard. "Hello?"

"I needed to hear your voice," Methos said. "Are you all right?"

Eleanor bit her lip. She glanced at the still-sleeping Marianna, then rose and opened the French doors and stepped out onto the balcony. She leaned against the railing where she could still see her. "I hoped it was you. I'm fine. Just a nightmare."

"About what?"

"Nothing important… just an old memory of an argument I once had with Darius."

"It woke me up. What brought it on?"

Eleanor ran her fingers through her damp hair. "I guess I was tired… and I was thinking of Derrick earlier… and worrying about him."

"Derrick's not a child, Eleanor. You've seen the photo. He's one of us and he'll have to face what we all face."

"My mind knows that… but my heart doesn't. I don't want that for him. If something of Darius is a part of him… I fear what will happen… how he'll react to a challenge… that I'll never see him again."

"I'm truly sorry I couldn't find him," Methos said ruefully. "But he knows how to contact us… or at least MacLeod."

"Any word from Duncan yet?" Eleanor asked hopefully.

"No… and I'm really put out about this situation. He knows I don't like having to open myself to others. He's left me with quite the mess here."

"Do you think he's with Derrick?"

"Honestly… I don't know. Amanda is still being reticent about whatever their disagreement was. But… I have decided one thing."

"What's that?"

"I'm sending Amanda home to Florence and I'm sending Gina with her. I've tried everything else… maybe being separated for a time will help these two finally make peace with one another and what they've let themselves in for. They love one another… it's just that they weren't ready for the unity bond despite that love."

"Why not send them here?"

"I thought of that, but once I see how well they do separated… I thought I'd bring Robert with me to Niebos. I want to be there when Grace's baby is born and I don't want to leave him somewhere without one of us to help him deal with his and Gina's thoughts and emotions."

"Then you could be here within a few days." Eleanor's spirits were instantly lifted. She had dealt easily with his absence while he was looking for Derrick… but this second one coming so soon upon the first… had bothered her.

"I hope so," Methos continued. "I miss you and the children."

Eleanor smiled. "I… " She bit her lip. "I love you… and the children miss you terribly." For a moment he was with her… she could almost feel his lips brush against hers… and then she was alone again… with the wind blowing coldly on her damp hair and uncovered skin. She felt goose-bumps on her arms and shivered.

He laughed. "What an effect I have on you."

"Come home soon."

"I will. Kiss the kids for me."

She promised and tapped the phonecard off after he rang off. She did miss him… and it pained her that she couldn't say it… that it was still Darius she thought of when the words came to mind… or Derrick. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and shivered as she re-entered her bedroom and closed the door.

At least Marianna hadn't awakened. Eleanor stretched out next to her and curled her fingers about the child's smaller ones. "You were right, Darius. I did learn to walk without fear of men in general. I just wish you'd been here to see it." She closed her eyes and let sleep take her once more.

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Chateau de Valicourt:

As he shut off the phonecard, Methos sighed. Damn MacLeod for leaving me this mess! What he wanted most of all was to be elsewhere and not having to be the frontman for what they wanted. Dammit! He wasn't the one with delusions of being a clan leader and a peacemaker! He had no illusions about remaking the game. He just wanted to be left in peace! But that peace came with a price. If MacLeod weren't able to change the game… to finish solving the puzzle… what sort of future would the children have? Alisaunne was already lost to the game. What would happen when J. D. came of age… or Marianna… or Grace's unborn daughter? Were they being born only to fall victim to a slaughter first begun long before even he had lived? He turned out the lamp and stretched back in the armchair to catch forty winks. He'd make arrangements in the morning for Amanda and Gina to leave. And he still had to arrange for that pesky Watcher to go with them and not remain behind here. As long as Madeline LeSeur was anywhere near Robert… Methos had a feeling that Gina would remain focused on her jealousy… but having the LeSeur woman with her was likely also going to be problematic. Damn it MacLeod… where are you?

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