Author's Note - Yeah, I know it took me a while to update this. I've been slightly busy with work. Well, here's the next chapter!

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Methos found himself coughing yet again that day. He climbed to a sitting position to find Joe standing nearby and Duncan kneeling beside him.

"What happened?" he asked in a hoarse voice, blinking his eyes a few times.

"That was Bobby and Anna. Looks like they had come after the two of you again," Duncan replied with a sigh.

"Well, at least they didn't get us," Methos said in a quiet voice.

Duncan looked down at the floor. Methos noticed this gesture and put on a worried look.

"Macleod, what's wrong?" Methos demanded to know as he turned in Duncan's direction.

"Methos, they took her. Bobby and Anna have her now. I couldn't get to her in time," Duncan told him, still facing the ground.

The oldest Immortal groaned at the thought of these two strange Immortals having her. And particularly ones who wanted her head.

"Not again," he groaned, placing a hand over his eyes.

"Not again?" repeated Joe.

"Elkaryene. She was chased by Charley for nearly a century and now someone else wants her head? I've been trying to save her from this type of thing for decades," Methos replied with a sigh. "Besides, Charley was the only one I was aware of. If there were any others, I wouldn't have been able to protect her from them. And that is precisely what happened. There was someone I didn't know about who was after her head and I couldn't stop them."

Duncan began to pace back and forth as Joe watched him.

"Now how do we find her?" wondered the mortal.

"We start the old fashioned way. Look!" Methos replied as he climbed to his feet.

He started to head towards the door but Duncan stopped him by standing in front of him. Methos angrily looked at him.

"What are you doing in my way?" Methos had to ask him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Duncan had to ask, giving a disbelieving look at him.

"I'm going after them! I have to find Elkaryene!" Methos replied, the anger obvious in his voice.

"Not like this you aren't. Besides, you don't even know where to start," Duncan told him.

"I don't have to know. I just have to scour this city until I find them," Methos replied as he tried to walk past Duncan.

Yet Duncan stopped him again. It was obvious to the Highlander that the oldest Immortal was becoming more and more angry with the situation... and with him.

"Get out of my way Macleod," Methos snarled at him.

"I'm not going to let you get yourself killed. We'll think of places we can start looking," Duncan told him.

"Right now, I could care less if I die. If I die while saving Elkaryene, then it's all worth it," Methos replied.

Duncan narrowed his eyes as he looked at the world's oldest man.

"I've never seen you act like this. Not since Alexis," Duncan told him.

"I would do anything for those I greatly care about. You know how much I cared about Alexis. I also care about Elkaryene. I know they're centuries younger than I am Macleod but that doesn't matter. I knew Alexis would eventually die. I know that Elkaryene will as well but just like everyone else, when is the question," Methos replied. "And she won't exactly die of old age or disease either. Now I know she will die. I don't know these people but I am certain that they will kill her but not until they have me witness it or at least find me and then kill me before her."

Duncan sighed, lowering his head. Methos walked by him and out the door. The 400-year-old Immortal turned to watch him leave.

"Let him go Mac. He needs to blow off some steam," Joe called after him.

"He's also going to get himself killed if he confronts them like that" Duncan argued as he headed back to the mortal.

"You think I didn't realize that already? Yeah, I know. I also know that whoever gets his Quickening is going to get a bit of a surprise," Joe replied. "And Elkaryene might have to witness it unless she gets killed first."

"I know. That's what scares me," Duncan told him.

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Methos walked down the street from the bar, determined to find Elkaryene. He knew he had no idea where to start looking for her.

'I'll search the entire town if I have to,' he thought to himself as he hurried down the street.

The hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end as he felt the presence of another Immortal around. He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword as he kept an eye out all around him.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the conquering hero," came a familiar voice.

Methos turned around to see Bobby standing down the street, sword in hand and a smirk on his face.

"Let her go. We have no quarrel with you. Just let Elkaryene go and we'll be on our way," Methos told him.

"Oh but you do and you never even realized it," Bobby replied, the smirk still on his face.

"If you would only tell us! Then maybe we can work something out," Methos told him.

"We can tell you why we hate you so much but we won't be able to work it out. Too much damage has been done already," came the reply. "Do you remember Pearl Harbor?"

"Of course. I remember it like it was yesterday," Methos replied, continuing to watch the man.

"Well, we knew someone there. The same man who took your young friend to the nurses' station. Everyone thought he was crazy about someone coming back from the dead! After he died, we swore that the one who made a fool of him who pay," Bobby explained.

"Alright, I can see how Elkaryene is involved but how am I?" wondered Methos, narrowing his eyes.

"Not only did you help her escape the island but you angered us in another incident a few hundred years before that," Bobby replied, the anger showing in his face. "Of which I'll never tell you. Now let's fight."

He rushed towards the oldest Immortal, his sword prepared. Methos parryed the attack and the two faced each other.

"We don't have to do this," Methos told him. "I'll kill you if I have to."

"We do. Trust me, we do," replied Bobby. "And you won't kill me. I know you won't."

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Elkaryene looked over at Anna, who was sitting a few feet away from her. Anna's back was away from her. The young Immortal moved around in her binds, hoping to free her arms and escape.

"And don't even think about trying to escape young one for we'll always be after you. You can never escape us, no matter where you go. We'll find you, hunt you down and kill you" Anna suddenly told her, as if she knew what was going on.

"Then why keep me anyway? I have done nothing wrong? Neither has Scott! And he will find me," she protested as she tried to move against the chair.

"Your friend Scott has taunted us in more ways than one. Even more than you and he never even realized it," Anna told her before standing up and turning around to face her. "You will never realize how much he put us through."

"I can try and understand if you just tell me," she protested.

Anna looked at her for a moment before snickering.

"Alright. I'll tell you. I heard about your friend Scott many centuries ago from two friends of ours. Apparently, he had gotten involved in their relationship, which ended with disasterous results. He was going by another name then but we managed to figure his more current name out from a friend of yours. If I remember right, his name was Charley," Anna explained to her.

"You're after us because we got involved in other people's lives, people you just happened to be friends with? Unbelievable! You're fighting a battle that doesn't make any sense, really. At least it doesn't to me," Elkaryene snickered.

Anger flared in Anna's eyes as she stormed over to the younger Immortal.

"He made fools of our friends. We swore to them that the one who did so would pay for that for we knew we could," Anna replied. "If someone did something to your frind Scott, wouldn't you want to see something done to the person who wronged him?"

"Alright. I see how Scott fits into this but I don't see how I do just yet" Elkaryene told her, slightly narrowing her eyes.

Anna gave a small growl at that and balled her hand up into a fist.

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Methos blocked another attack from Bobby. The oldest Immortal gave a sigh, knowing what had to be done. He began to attack Bobby and soon had him on his back on the ground, his sword lying a few feet away. Methos had the edge of his sword sitting next to Bobby's neck. He was slightly confused when Bobby began to laugh slightly.

"You kill me now, you will never know where your young friend is. If I don't return, Anna will kill her" Bobby snarled at him.

Methos stiffened at that comment. He hadn't really thought about that scenario, he was so angry. He took his sword away from Bobby's neck and the Immortal subsequently stood up.

"Now there's the good boy," Bobby said with smile on his face as he placed his hand inside his trenchcoat.

Methos knew that smile wasn't of happiness and he barely knew what hit him as he heard a gun go off. His body was now lying in the ground, dead and Bobby placed the gun back where he had it in the inside coat pocket.

"Now we have the two of you right where we want you," Bobby snickered as he towered over the lifeless form of Methos. "Too bad I just can't kill you yet."

TBC...