The door closed sharply behind Adam. He was glad for that fact and started walking as he found he couldn't control his emotions anymore. He knew he was in no condition to drive so he walked as fast as he could into the tree line; hoping to disappear before Louise and Richie realised what had happened and decided to come looking for him.
Richie opened the front door to the cabin just in time to see Adam disappear into the tree line. Louise came up behind Richie and pushed him out of the door, urging him to go after his old friend, "Go Richie! Please!"
Richie looked at her reassuring face and wondered what she thought was happening. Realizing that he was wasting time, Richie turned and headed for the point in the trees that Adam had moments ago disappeared into.
Louise watched him go. A feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that she knew what Richie was about to find out. She'd seen the same look that was now on Adam's face before, it was remarkable similar to the look which was on Jack and Sam's faces that morning, moments before she'd found out they were her biological parents.
After hearing Adam's explanation of Thor's findings and seeing the look on his face, she put two and two together.
What Adam was having a hard time saying seemed pretty obvious to her. He was Richie's biological father.
She couldn't help but believe this whole situation was just a big joke been pulled by whatever true God or Gods there were out there.
How could all this happen within the space of twenty-four hours?
She knew exactly what Richie would be feeling when Adam told him the truth. It was likely to be exactly what she'd been feeling since finding out about Jack and Sam.
Richie came up to the clearing where they'd first met Kenver. He found Adam sitting on the shore of the lake with his head in hands. Richie stayed just outside of the range of the buzz watching the defeated looking man sit in silence.
What could Adam have possibly found out that would make him act like he was? Normally Adam was a confident, funny person to be around. No matter what was happening around him he generally always had a mischievous streak, but at the moment there was something missing. There was something that had him so worried he didn't know how to cope with it and that fact worried Richie.
"Are you just going to stand there all day or are you actually going to come over here and at least pretend to find out what's wrong?" Adam's voice cut in to the young Immortal's thoughts, causing him to look over again at Adam. He noticed Adam had turned around to face him.
"Sorry. Was trying to decide if you wanted company or not." Richie said sheepishly.
"Yes and no." Adam admitted.
Richie moved into the clearing, taking a seat on a fallen tree about a meter away from where Adam was still seated on the grassy ground.
"Adam, I may not be an old and wise immortal like yourself but I still count myself as your friend. If you don't feel I should know which immortal the Asgard guy used as part of my cocktail then don't tell me. Mac trusts you and so do I!"
"Thank you Richie, but it's not right for me to keep it from you. It's just, well… Richie you've got to understand things have been weird for the past few months. Each time something happens it adds another unwieldy object on an already unsteady pile and now this has been added." He pursed his lips, trying to think of the right words. "It just feels like the pile is going to topple at any moment and when it does we're going to be left with one big mess, one that we're going to have to struggle to clean up."
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, old man." Richie admitted trying to knock off the blank look that had taken over his features.
"Neither do I!" Adam let out a small laugh.
"Adam, is it someone we know? Is it someone that's tried to kill us at one time or another? Someone Mac has killed? Or someone I've killed? Is that why you don't want me to know?" Richie looked pleadingly at him.
"Yes, it's someone we know and no it's not someone who's tried to kill us at one time or another and this person is very much still alive. Ok, let me tell you the reason why Loki tried using an Immortal's DNA, then maybe you'll understand a bit more."
"Ok, Shoot."
"Well, you see the Asgard have been using cloning technology as a form of reproduction for countless millennia. During the cloning process their DNA degraded so much that they no longer look like they used to when they first started. They've been looking for an advanced human to help them solve their cloning problem. Loki was a rogue researcher, the reason why he chose your selection of biological parents was because he believed they had superior genes."
"Did it work?"
"Huh, did what work?" Adam had been watching for Richie's reaction so intently, that he hadn't been taking much noticed of what the young man was saying.
"The gene thing? Did they manage to create what they were looking for?"
"They got very close with you. According to Thor you're almost there. You're apparently one of the most advanced human's they've seen in a very long time."
"Wow! Well, that has to be the first time someone's ever told me I was more advanced than anyone. Let alone the most advanced human in a long time." Richie clearly didn't know what to say so he had started babbling.
"Well, you can now tell them that you're the most advanced human with the oldest living Immortal for a father." Adam watched Richie and could swear that he saw the exact second that the truth sunk into Richie.
"What? You mean?" Richie felt his throat go dry. Could it be true? Was it possible for Methos to be his father, not some immortal he had killed in the past? The thought lifted the guilt that had settled over him and a small part of him couldn't help but be relieved that it was Methos.
"Richie I'm sorry that wasn't the way it was meant to come out. I…" Adam didn't know what to say. He couldn't make out the emotion on Richie's face and that scared him.
Had he just blown it, the one chance he had to tell him the truth and he just blurts it out in the form of a joke. How stupid could he get?
Adam got to his feet; ready to bolt again. He couldn't register everything that was happening, yet time seemed to have slowed down. His heart was beating a hundred miles an hour; his mouth had lost all its moisture. God, what had he done?
Richie could tell Adam was about to run. He could tell from the way Adam had risen to his feet and had started to face away from him. He was readying himself to run and if he did; Richie knew he wouldn't get a chance to catch up to him this time. He had to do something. He had to get Adam's attention back on him some how.
"Methos!" Richie all but shouted trying to stop Adam as he lurched forward mere milliseconds from running. "Don't you dare think about going anywhere! You can't expect to tell me you're my father then just turn tail and run! That's not the way it works!"
Adam turned and stared in shock at Richie. He'd seen him mad. He'd seen him happy. He'd seen him with a thousand other emotions but he'd never seen him like this before. Confident, but not his usual faux confidence, this was the real deal. He knew exactly what he wanted and he wasn't going to back down until he got it, no matter how long it took.
"Richie…I'm sorry."
"Will you stop saying that! What are you sorry for? For telling me the truth, well, don't be. I'd have been royally pissed if I hadn't have found out from you but there's no way in hell that you can just dump this news on me then leave!"
"But, it's obvious you don't like the idea of having an immortal for a father." Adam started then lowered his head almost mumbling. "Let alone me…"
"Methos, I have never had any real family. You should know that Mac's the closest thing to a family I've had since Emily died and I got put back in the foster care system. How do you expect me to act?" Richie paused and got up and started pacing. "Now I find out that you're my father and not only that but as you put it 'the oldest living immortal' as my father. I've never known how to really act around you because of that fact. Now I've also got to look at you like a father as well."
"I…"
"I was shocked! How did you expect me to react?" Richie asked him again still not expecting an answer. "Did you expect me to be all happy go lucky and let's celebrate, well, it doesn't work like that, either. I'm not going to push you away but I need time to think things through. Methos, can you let me have that time? Let me think things through before you jump to any more conclusions."
"I…" Adam started but stopped when he looked up and saw a determined and worried Richie. "Yes."
"Good, now I think I should go do that, go think."
Richie turned to leave but was stopped by the crackling voice of Adam. "Richie. Thank you!"
"I should be thanking you. I never thought I'd find any of my real family. You've given me that chance, but, like I said, I really need to think things through."
"Then I'll give you all the time you need."
Richie nodded in appreciation then turned and walked back towards the cottage. Adam followed him at a distance giving him as much space as he needed.
Louise watched as a thoughtful looking Richie exited the tree line. A slightly relieved looking Adam exited some distance away from Richie. With out saying a word Adam quickly walked towards his car, climbed in and pulled away.
Richie continued onto the cottage but stopped at the front door and wordlessly pulled Louise into his arms for comfort.
"You knew didn't you?" Richie's muffled voice asked.
"I guessed."
"How did you manage? When you found out about Jack and Sam, that is?"
"I only found out today too, you know. I've coped with it about as much as you have."
"Guess at least we'll have each other to help work things through." He gave her a small smile as he pulled back.
"Yeah, I guess there is that." She smiled back.
Louise looked deep into his eyes and saw his need for comfort that matched her own. They both leaned in at the same time and gave each other a gentle kiss, letting each other know that they were there.
"Come on let's go in. It's starting to get cold out." Richie said as he pulled out of Louise's arms and turned to enter the cottage.
"What, you call this cold? Hell, you obviously haven't been to England during the wintertime. If you had you wouldn't be complaining about it being slightly chilly." She grinned as she tried to lighten the mood slightly.
"No, never been in England during in the winter, but I've been in Paris during the winter, now that's damn cold too, you know."
A/N: - Once again thanks for the review and keep them coming and once again we've caught up with the beta so I'll only post the next chapter once I get it back off him.
Hope you enjoy.
P.S. Looking for one beta who would be interested in been a beta for 2 stories or two betas, one for each story. I'm going to post the first chapters of each one (both finished by the way, just need checking) if your interested you can e-mail me or check the first chapters out then e-mail me. Both stories are Highlander stories only though.
Let me know what you think.