Author: Jeanine Stice
Title: The Betrayal
E-mail: M Contains content suitable for mature teens and older.
Sequel: Second in, All the Mohr, series
Keywords: All the Mohr Story 2
Character listing: J, M, (Original Character) Rachel Mohr
Summary: Rachel and Methos' friend ship is growing when disaster strikes. Rachel's father discovers the secret of immortals and wants to expose them to the world. When the Watchers have him killed will Methos be able to save her when she seeks her revenge?
Authors notes: (Hey you, reader, yeah you. You do know this is just and excuse for the writer to…write?) Okay so, this is a work in progress so far so that means I reserve the right to change anything so read at you own risk! It's slow going so far and I haven't gotten to any of the juicy bits yet!
Disclaimers: I don't own Joe, Methos or the Highlander concept, DDP does. Truthfully the gang just followed me home one day, I fed them and now they won't leave. I make no money from this, just the enjoyment of sharing.
Thanks: To the readers, you make it worth my tight neck and sore shoulders from sitting at the computer for so long. To my parents, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here! Thanks to my Freshman yr English Teacher Mr. Miller and all my muses.
Feedback: It is my sustenance as a writer, how else will I GROW.
All the Mohr 2
The Betrayal
Rachel smiled as she drove away from the Watchers Head Quarters. Sighing she blew her bangs out of her hair, and wiped her forehead that was coated in sweat. She was sure they had those burning hot lights there to intimidate people, and it had worked…a little. It dose take a bit to scare someone after they've faced an insane Three Thousand year old Immortal. She'd faced the smoking guns, a request in one hand and a bribe in the other.
After the night Methos had agreed to work with her, she had gone home to think more on what she would do about the Watchers. She'd come up with an idea that could or more to the point should give her some pull with the Watchers. So she'd called the Old Man the next morning and asked for his permission to tell the Watchers that Cassandra had been the one killing Watcher's and the one who drove Mark Farson over the edge. He'd agreed as long as she glossed over the facts of their history together. So the Watchers only new that Cassandra's first experience with Immortal's was Methos, she'd told them that was all that she knew other than the fact that the two didn't part on good terms.
It had taken more deliberation than she'd liked, whispering and veiled threats being made. After four days of sleep in cramped quarters with an uncomfortable bed that had seen batter days the Tribunal had come to a decision. She'd been standing before them, no one at her side and had suddenly realized that they could order her death. She'd started to sweat then, the heat of the underground room becoming unbearable. There had been a long drawn out pause before she was to hear their decision, and in that time she was positive she was about to die. Then the pause broke and they agreed to her proposal, even stating that they would like him to help her with some of the Methos files that weren't case sensitive.
She'd had to fight to keep from jumping for joy at that moment, but a broad smile did break out on her face. She finally got an older Immortal in the research section, no matter that the Watchers didn't know he was The Oldest, it was enough for her that they knew he was an Immortal. They had a few rules to set, like she wasn't to have an intimate relationship with him or share any Watcher information with him that they didn't okay first. Every rule they'd set she'd agreed to, never intending to do any of them in the first place. They threatened her with either dismissal or death, should she break their rules.
Directing her car towards Joe's Rachel picked up her cell phone and dialed Adam's apartment. She counted the rings with increasing agitation, wanting to share her good news. Methos picked up the phone on the fourth ring and she barley heard the muffled ancient Egyptian curse.
"Hello?" He said gruffly.
"Adam, hey it's Rachel."
"Hey Rachel, nice to finally hear from you Joe and I were getting worried."
"Yeah, I finally got to see daylight. I about twenty minutes from Joe's, think you could meet me up there for some celebrating?" Rachel asked with a grin.
"You buying?" He asked her, and she had a sneaking suspicion that he was smirking.
"You know it." Rachel replied with a laugh. "At this rate, you're going to drink me out of house and home." She said in a mock angry tone.
"Awe now if you can't afford it you shouldn't offer." Methos advised her.
"Offer? Offer!" Rachel exclaimed while Methos laughed on the other end.
"Calm child calm." Methos said sagely. "I'll meet you there."
"Alright, bye Adam." Rachel replied.
"Bye Rach." Methos said before disconnecting. Flipping the phone closed Rachel threw it on the passenger side's seat with a sigh. Reaching forward she turned on her CD player and blasted her music, singing along to Fiona Apple. She was half way threw the CD by the time she pulled into Joe's Le Blues Bar, Methos leaning against the front of the building waiting for her.
Surprised by the gesture Rachel pulled into a parking spot, before she stepped out of the car and looked over at him. He smiled at her and straightened from the casual sprawl he'd affected to the side of the building. She smiled back and walked to meet him as he started her way.
"So," he said shoving his hands into his front pockets. "They said yes?" He asked.
"Yep, and that's not all." She informed him. He raised his eyebrows at her in question, and she smiled at him.
"You still have any interest in the Methos Chronicle's?" She asked moving beside him, as they started on there way inside.
"Yeah sure why?" He asked her.
"Well they decided if I got to use you they wanted to as well. Part of the agreement is that you translate this or that from the chronicles that they give me to send your way. And of course they had to get a few words in, don't do this or that and for god's sake don't let him use the watcher date-a-base to help with the Game." Rachel said in a mocking voice. She smirked at Methos as she ducked under his arm as he held the door open for her before he followed her inside the bar.
The crowd was in full swing the only empty table the one Joe kept cleared for friends. They waved at him at the bar before taking their seats at the table. Rachel sighed and sunk down in her chair resting her head back on the top of the back of the chair. Her whole body was aching from the nights she'd spent at HQ in the uncomfortable bed. She hadn't slept much, if at all most of the time and she was starting to feel the drain now that she was somewhere she felt comfortable.
"You look beat." Methos said softly from where he was sitting.
Rachel opened her eyes and shifted back up in her chair, reminding herself that he had once been a doctor.
"Yeah, they seem to have the patent for the worlds most uncomfortable bed and smallest room. I'd be surprised if I was told I got an hour of sleep every night. That is when they didn't work straight threw the night." Rachel said shaking her head. "They depend too much on their actions intimidating people." Rachel said with a snort. A shadow fell over the table and Rachel looked up to meet with the concerned blue eyes of Joe Dawson.
"Kiddo, you had me worrying a blue streak!" He exclaimed. Smiling Rachel stood up and gave him a hug, patting him lightly on the back.
"I'm okay Joe, they even agreed with me."
"Really?" Joe asked looking at her with narrowed eyes.
"Well they had a few terms and conditions." Rachel said sitting back down and smirking at him.
"Well you can tell me all about it in an hour." Joe said looking down at his watch. "I have a set coming up and I won't be free until I have a cover behind the bar." He said motioning behind him. "So you guys need anything?"
"Beer." Methos said nodding his head.
"Beer, and a sandwich would be grand Joe. You never told me how they massacred food up there." Rachel said giving Joe and accusing glare. He smiled at her and patted her on the back.
"Yeah but if I did then you wouldn't have gone." He said before walking off to the bar.
"So when's my first day at work Boss?" Methos asked her with a raised eyebrow. Rachel's face broke out with a grin that grew when she looked up at him a chuckle building it's way up threw her chest.
"You do know I'm going to milk that for all that it's worth." Rachel said tipping her head towards him.
"Oh yeah." Methos said smirking at her.
"You can come by tomorrow and get a look at the place, you wouldn't actually be working just getting a run threw." Rachel offered.
"Tomorrow?" Methos asked her with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah tomorrow, is there something wrong with tomorrow?" Rachel asked confused.
"Yeah, you're not going to be in tomorrow." Methos told her firmly.
"I'm not?" Rachel said looking up at him in confusion.
"No you're not. You're going home tonight and going straight to bed and getting some rest. Tomorrow you're going to take it easy, Doctors orders."
"Jesus some how I knew that was going to become a thorn in my side." Rachel said shaking her head.
"What?" Methos asked with a small grin, sure he knew.
"The Doctors license of yours that expired oh a few hundred years ago." Rachel said glaring at him and leaning forward over her crossed arms on the table. "I need to go take a look at the store, make sure everything is in order. It has already been closed for four days because I didn't have any competent people to manage it while I was at HQ."
"You're going to take it easy at home tomorrow if I have to come over and tie you down to the bed." Methos said leaning forward over his crossed arms on the table.
Rachel stuck her lip out in a pout and narrowed her eyes at him as she shifted back to slouching in her chair, her arms crossed over her chest. A waitress came with their beers and her sandwich, which Joe had added a sliced apple to with a note written on a blank card.
To placate Doc. J
Laughing Rachel grabbed her beer and turned to Joe saluting him with it. Turning back to the table she found Methos leaning forward on his arm again an open hand held out for her to put the note in. Stifling a giggle Rachel put down her beer and handed it to him, before picking up a piece of the apple and eating. Methos threw Joe a glare after reading the note, before dropping it on the table near her plate.
"You better eat all of it." He said sternly. Rachel forced herself to swallow hand over her mouth, once she forced the food down her throat she started to giggle hysterically bouncing in her seat.
Picking up her beer she washed down the apple, before starting in on her sandwich. It took Joe and hour and a half before he had cover behind the bar and he could join them at the table. She told him about the Tribunal and their terms, touching their beers together in a toast.
"So when is your father due back?" Joe asked her.
"Two weeks, he's in India right now tracing his footsteps from years ago when he and my mother were there on their anniversary." Rachel said shrugging. "Last time I talked to him he was complaining about the spicy food." She said with a laugh before sighing and slipping down further into her chair. She'd had five beers since she'd been there, and they were starting to take their toll on her. With her lack of sleep and her lack of food, the beer was hitting her harder and faster then it had ever in the past.
Her eyes strayed to the people on the dance floor, the slow blues song picking at her mind. Then memory suddenly slammed forward, her mother and father dancing during a party they'd had in their home. Dressed in eveningwear her parents dancing together were a picture of all the love in her world. Her mom's red evening dress matching her beautiful hair, making her look like a flame as she danced. And the blues song, it was the same one the band was playing at Joe's.
She shook her head trying to clear her mind of the memory as other thoughts clamored their way into her head. Thoughts like the one about how her mother had let her hair fall to ruins, never letting anyone else touch it and never doing anything with it her self. Rachel sighed and let her head fall back onto the chair top closing her eyes. She was drunk, and while she was normally a happy drunk this time she seemed to be a depressed one. Her attention was turned back to the table when she heard the scratching of a chair getting pushed back.
Her eyes snapped open and she looked up at the table to find Methos standing up Joe already gone.
"What happened to Joe?"
"While you were zoning out he had to go back to the bar." Methos said smirking at her. "Come on," He said moving to her side and offering a hand. "Let's get you home."
"Yeah I have to be bad off if these chairs are starting to feel comfortable." Rachel said taking his offered hand and trying for her feet. She tried too hard while Methos pulled a little too much the result was her getting to her feet way too fast for her head not to spin. Methos grabbed her by her upper arms as she swayed Rachel grabbed Methos by his upper arms as she closed her eyes and tried to stop the room's spinning. "Oh man, I've never been hit this hard by four beers." Rachel said leaning back and opening her eyes. Methos was smirking at her from where he stood before he moved and arm over her shoulder.
"Just lean on me." He said before they waved good-bye to Joe and he led them out the door. Rachel concentrated on keeping her footing and didn't notice they weren't at her car until they stopped.
"Hey." She said glaring over at Methos as he opened the passenger side door of his car.
"Don't give me that look. You said yourself that you'd had too much to drink. This way I can also make sure that you're at home tomorrow where you belong." He said motioning to help her in the car.
"Hey I'm not THAT drunk." Rachel said pushing him off and getting into the car on her own. Methos closed the door after her and she had the sneaking suspicion that she heard laughter as he walked to the other side of the car.
She leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes as Methos got in and started the car, pulling them out of the parking lot. The ride to her place was silent, and she didn't realize they were there till Methos came around and opened her door. She accepted his helping hand as she got out, the world deciding to spin again. He supported her to the door, unlocking it for her when she handed him the keys. She sighed contentedly as he closed the door behind them, slipping off her coat and hanging it up on the coat rack.
"Want a beer?" She offered as she made her way to the kitchen, swaying slightly as she walked. She jumped when strong hands grasped her shoulders from behind, spinning to face him. "Are you trying to give me a bloody heart attack!" She exclaimed.
Methos just stood there with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on his face. "What?" Rachel asked.
"You are going to bed, right now." Methos said sternly.
"Fuck, you sound like my father." Rachel complained. She sighed when she realized that she was really tiered, it was just a fight to keep her eyes open. There was a sudden whooshing noise in her ears as her vision blurred and it felt like the world slipped away around her. When she opened her eyes next she was laying down on her bed with a worried looking Methos leaning over her. "What happened?" She asked fighting to keep her eyes open.
"You passed out on me." Methos said looking in her eyes. A side of his mouth turned up and he smoothed her hair away from her forehead. "Just go to sleep."
"Hell no, I'm not going to sleep until I get out of these filthy cloths." Rachel said her eyes started to slide close even as she argued with him.
"Well I can…if you're not uncomfortable with it." Methos said stumbling over his words. Rachel opened her eyes and smirked at him before letting her eyes fall closed again.
"It's not like it's anything you haven't seen before." She said before she slipped back into sleep.
When Rachel next woke the room was dark and her mouth was dry. She moaned aloud when she realized what her stomach was telling her and sat up. The world spun and her stomach flipped, and she was moving faster to the bathroom then ever before. She just made it to the toilet when the beers and sandwich came up, her knees giving out under her. Once that round stopped Rachel leaned back against the wall, pulling her legs up against her as she shivered. Looking down she realized she was in a tank top with her bra still on and a pair of pajama bottoms that were shorts.
The night before was a blur she couldn't recall getting home or changing and getting into bed. All thought process stopped when she surged forward over the toilet for round two. Rachel waited until she was sure that everything in her stomach came up before she got up off the floor. She brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth out before she went into the kitchen and grabbed some bottled water from the fridge. She sat down on the couch with her legs curled under her nursing her water and trying to remember what happened the night before. She never forgot things in the past when she was drunk so she knew it was hiding in her head somewhere.
It took a few minutes of digging before things started to slowly come back to her. First she remembered Methos insisting on driving her home, and that she go to bed.
"Ah fuck." Rachel said letting her head fall into her hands. "It's not like anything you haven't seen before! Come on Rachel, oh my god he undressed me, saw me naked!" A voice in her mind reminded her that she still had her five-day-old underwear on so he hadn't seen ALL of her. The thought got her moving into the bedroom, changing and contemplating burning the cloths. Standing in her bedroom in just her clean underwear nausea hit her again and she was running to the bathroom.
Methos kneeled at the door of Rachel's house with Joe standing behind him impatiently. He picked the lock with ease, letting the door fall open as he slipped his picks back into their case and pocketed them. He grabbed the six-pack of beer from Joe and carried it inside Joe following behind him. Walking into the kitchen he put the beers in the fridge and turned to see Joe looking over her bookcases in the living room. Opening the beer he'd snagged before he'd put them in the fridge he walked over into the living room to watch Joe.
He'd driven over to Joe's around eleven and had a cup of coffee with him before they decided to go over to Rachel's. Joe drove over in his car while Methos drove Rachel's over for her. They'd stood at the door knocking for a few minutes until he decided to pick the lock. He knew she was there, he could fell the tingle of her presence. Joe chuckled and shook his head before turning away from her shelves.
"It's just like your collection at home. Half of the stuff is in twenty different languages." Joe said chuckling.
"I'm going to go back and check if she is still sleeping." Methos said putting his beer on the coffee table before moving up the stairs.
He knocked gently on the door, calling out to Rachel softly when there was no answer. After a moment he opened the door and stuck his head in, spotting her on the bed. He narrowed his eyes, as he looked her over with a doctor's knowledge. She was covered in sweat, her blankets thrown off but she was also shivering. Cursing quietly he slipped inside, kneeling beside the bed and pulling the blankets up over her, noting that she'd gotten up at some time to change into different sleepwear. He placed his wrist on her forehead his anger rising when he felt a fever the bloody Watchers had driven her so hard they'd made her sick.
"Methos?" Rachel crocked softly surprising him.
He looked up to meet her sleep filled green eyes, smiling softly.
"Hey there, how you feeling?"
"Like I've been bled dry." Rachel said coughing some. "I can't count the times I threw up the nothing that inhabited my stomach." She said smirking at him before sitting up. "Uh god." Rachel said moaning. "Bad idea." She said lying back down on the bed.
"You just lay there, I'll get you some OJ and make you something to eat." Methos said standing up. He smiled as she mumbled an affirmative, and stepped out of the room closing the door behind him. He found Joe sitting in the living room with one of the beers in his hand.
"She sleeping?" Joe asked looking up at him as he walked into the kitchen.
"Those bloody Watchers drove her so hard she got sick." Methos said sneering as he went threw her cabinets, looking for some crackers and light broth.
"She's sick?" Joe asked standing up and walking over to the kitchen.
"Yeah she said she was throwing up earlier, she's got a fever and the chills. Damn!" Methos exclaimed when he went threw the last cabinet. "Joe could you do me a favor, I saw a store a few blocks away-" Methos started to ask, but Joe cut him off.
"No problem old man, what do you need?"
"Some chicken soup and crackers, and a couple of containers of OJ she's almost out here." Methos said shaking the container of orange juice. "Oh and get something over the counter for fevers." Methos said pouring the rest of the OJ into a glass.
"All right, be back as soon as I can." Joe said waving as he walked out the door. Methos threw the empty container of OJ in the trash, and grabbed a bowl from the cabinet. He filled her O.J. and the bowl with a few ice cubes before he grabbed them and walked into her room. He set the glass down on the headboard, before going into the bathroom.
He grabbed a clean wash cloth and filled the bowl with cool water, before going back into the bedroom. He sat down on the side of the bed, and started to wipe down her fore head and face. After a few moments her eyes flickered open and focused on him, he smiled at her and reached over for the OJ. He held her head up as he helped her drink the juice before setting the glass back on the headboard. Then he soaked the washcloth again and started to wet her face hopping to cool the fever.
"What made you become a doctor." Rachel asked as she lay there with her eyes closed.
The question surprised him, and he had to stop and think for a moment to remember the truth.
"I wanted to help people, maybe make up a little for what I had done so many years ago."
"You don't think you did that by changing and continuing with your life?" Rachel asked opening her eyes to slits and looking at him. "Don't get me wrong I have no problem with taking care of people when they're at there worst." Rachel said smirking at him before she let her eyes close again. Sighing heavily she kicked her blankets off and looked up at him again. "One of the worst things about being sick is the hot and cold flashes." She complained. Methos smiled and nodded at her, he looked up at the sound of the front door opening.
"Joe's here with some food." Methos said looking down at her.
"Ok." Rachel mumbled as she started drifting back to sleep. Reaching down he pulled the sheet up over her then grabbed the bowl, wash cloth, and glass walking into the living room. Joe was in the kitchen unloading two bags Methos walked in putting the glass and bowl in the sink.
"What'd you get?" He asked looking over.
Joe was putting two bottles of OJ into the fridge and there were two cans of Tomato soup and a can of Chicken Soup on the counter.
"I got the chicken like you asked." Joe said motioning to the Chicken Soup on the counter. "But since I know from experience that she doesn't like it that much I got her two can's of Tomato soup too." Joe said shrugging. "I got the crackers and the fever medicine you asked for. And a little something you didn't ask for." Joe said pulling out a six-pack and looking over at Methos with sparkling eyes.
"Oh you saint of a man." Methos said taking the Beers and putting them in the fridge.
"I also got a few other odds and inns for food, since I get the feeling your going to be here a lot." Joe said looking over at him.
"It's my fault Joe." Methos said sighing and grabbing a Beer. "It was because of me that the Watchers even doubted her, it was because of me she got taken by Cassandra."
"Come on Old Man." Joe said shaking his head. "If you want to go around laying down guilt you can throw it at Cassandra too, and Rachel, and me. We all got involved because we're friends with you, true she didn't have much of a choice when it came to Cassandra but it was her idea to go, key word here being 'go', to the Tribunal and ask for this."
"Thanks Joe, I can't remember the last time I had real friends." Methos said shaking his head and taking a drink of his beer. He set it down and started to go about making her soup.
"I hate to leave you two, but I have to go back to the bar." Joe said shaking his head. "I got a nine, one, one page, apparently something happened they need me for."
"It's alright Joe, we'll be fine." Methos said smiling at him.
"Just give me a call if you need anything alright?" Joe asked as he made his way to the door.
"Sure thing." Methos nodded before Joe slipped out the door. He stood in the kitchen nursing his Beer while Rachel's soup heated. He found a tray in one of her cabinets and set her food up on it, before slipping back into the bedroom. Setting the tray down on her nightstand he opened up the blinds of her window letting in some daylight.
Rachel coughed lightly and turned on the bed away from the light. He sat down facing her on the side of the bed, reaching out he lightly touched her arm, assuming since his touch woke her before it would again. She jumped like a live wire had been touched to her and opened panicked eyes to look at him.
"Hey, it's okay, it's me." Methos assured her, touching her forehead lightly to find the fever had risen. "I made some soup."
"Ugh, I don't want to eat I'll just throw up again." Rachel complained turning away from him to curl in on herself. Methos sighed and grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to turn towards him.
"It has been a while since I had to force feed anybody." He commented. Rachel opened her eyes to slits and glared at him.
"You're bluffing." She said studying him.
"Am I?" Methos asked raising an eyebrow.
"Fine, but if I throw up I'm aiming for you." Rachel complained shifting up marginally. Sighing she rested back against her pillows and let her eyes fall closed. "Can't I just sleep?" She complained.
"Yes, once we get some food in you." Methos ordered, shifting her to a more up right position to feed her.
"Oh god that makes the room spin." Rachel said closing her eyes more tightly.
"Take some deep breath's threw your nose." Methos ordered.
Rachel complied and opened her eyes slowly, focusing on him. "Feel any better?" He asked.
"A little." Rachel replied. Reaching over he grabbed the tray and positioned it on the bed over her lap. He put a towel over her shirt and grabbed up a spoon, but stopped to look up when he heard the snort.
"What?" He asked raising an eyebrow to her snickering face.
"It's just been a while since someone feed me. And is that Chicken soup, are you trying to kill my taste buds? Yuck!" Rachel complained sticking her tongue out. Methos smiled at her and lifted a spoon full of soup towards her mouth.
"Open up." He said playfully.
"Ugh gods." Rachel mumbled before complying. The two of them sat in silence while he fed her, Rachel stopping his shoving hand when she had eaten about half the soup. "No more please." She moaned letting her head fall back. Chuckling Methos put the spoon back in the bowl and picked the tray up off her lap.
"Alright, that's good for now."
"Nurse Ratchet." Rachel mumbled curling down under her covers in the bed.
Shaking his head and chuckling Methos left the room, taking the tray into the kitchen and rinsing it out. Opening one of the new containers of O.J. he poured her another glass and grabbed some of the fever medication for her and some vitamin C he found in her cabinets. He walked quietly into the bedroom and sat down on the bed the shift in the weight woke Rachel and she opened her eyes to glance over at him.
"Here," he said handing her the pills "These should help bring down your fever." Sitting up Rachel took the glass from him, tossing the pills in her mouth and swallowed them down with the OJ. After drinking most of the glass she handed it back to him and curled back down in her bed with a sigh.
Standing Methos walked towards the door to go back in the living room.
"Methos." Rachel said softly, stopping him halfway out the door. "Thanks, but you don't have to stay here and play Doctor. You have to have something better to do then take care of me."
"You know it might surprise you to find out, but I don't have anything better to do." Methos said smirking over at her his hands on his hips.
"If you insist, there is a guest room down the hall that you can use." Rachel said yawning into her hand.
"Alright, thanks, now go back to sleep." Methos told her in a scolding tone before turning and going out of the room. Leaving the door open a crack behind him before he went down the stairs to the living room. Grabbing another beer he made himself a sandwich and sat down to eat it with a book he picked up from her shelf. He read for a few hours until dusk checking on her now and again waking her once more to feed her dinner, before putting the book back and going up stairs for the night. He checked on Rachel one more time before going into the guestroom Rachel had mentioned for the night.
He was out like a light when his head hit the pillow sleep sliding solidly into unconsciousness. He woke up a few hours later, his eyes snapping open unsure of what had woken him. He held completely still studying his surroundings quietly while trying to work out what woke him. The noise came again, a small cry barley loud enough to carry down the hall towards him. Sitting up he threw his legs over the side of the bed, slipping into his jeans and padding barefoot down the hall towards Rachel's room.
She was tossing in her bed, the blankets kicked off onto the floor. Her whole body was covered in sweat as she moaned and whimpered in her sleep. Sitting down on the side of the bed facing her, Methos grabbed her hand trying to sooth her.
"Sh Rachel it's just a dream, come on girl it's okay." It soothed debating trying to wake her up.
"Mamma." Rachel whispered on a moan before tossing on her bed again. "Don't want to go, please no. It's not me, not my fault." She mumbled. His eyebrows creased in concern and he put his wrist to her forehead finding that the fever had risen. Debating inside himself for a minute he looked her over, before deciding it would be safe for him to stay in there tonight to keep an eye on her fever. "She's sick, sick." She mumbled. Her body trembled violently for a moment before she shot up screaming out in Latin. "She's my mother!" Bringing her hands up she covered her face as sobs shook her shoulders.
Scooting forward Methos wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up against his chest. She buried her head in his shoulder her tears falling on to his bare skin, the fever making her hot against him. He rocked her back and forth as he soothed her, he ran a soothing hand down her hair while he hushed her.
"She's my mother, my mother." She said again in Latin. "I want her back, would do anything." She said in Gaelic. "I wish Daddy were here, she scares me." She said in Ancient Egyptian. "It's my mother, but she's not there anymore. It's some stranger sitting in front of me, why did she have to get sick." She said switching to an old style German "No Aunt Carl please it's not my fault, I love her!" The last was said in English her voice pleading as she started to fight against his hold.
"It's alright Rachel, sh everything is all right. Your Aunt Carl isn't here, it's just you and me, you're safe here." After a few moments her cry's lessened and she fell back asleep against him. He sat there for a while watching her, making sure she'd fallen into a deep sleep. Getting up he made about getting a cold compress for her forehead, to help try and keep her fever down.
Dragging a reading chair next to her bed Methos began to apply the compress, continuing steadily on into the early morning hours when the fever finally started to go down. He fell asleep in the chair an hour after dawn, waking to the sound of someone being sick. Sitting up he looked to see Rachel kneeling in the open bathroom, sick to her stomach. Getting up he wet a wash cloth leaning down and wiping her face off.
"I thought you were going to aim for me?" He asked with a smile before handing her a glass of water to rinse her mouth out with.
"Don't tempt me." Rachel mumbled. Taking her hand he helped her to the bed, pulling the covers up over her after she lay down. "I thought you were spending the night in the guest room, not sneaking in here." Rachel asked him with a playful smirk.
"Your fever got high last night, I wanted to be close so I could keep an eye on it." Methos told her as he moved the chair back to it original position. "I'll go get you something to eat." He told her moving towards the door.
"I just threw up and you want to put food in my stomach again!" Rachel complained exasperated.
"Okay, how about some OJ instead?" He asked her with a smirk.
"Okay." She said sighing and getting comfortable in bed. For the rest of the day Rachel slept only awake when Methos forced some food or pills on her.
She agreed to crackers and OJ for breakfast, the half a can of soup for lunch with a half a ham sandwich. Joe dropped by while Methos was looking at what to have him self for dinner, rescued by his friend with Chines take out. After they ate and had a beer Joe left giving Methos some flowers for Rachel and his well wishes. That night Methos slept in the guestroom, waking randomly to check on Rachel. It wasn't until his third night there that she moved from her bedroom. He'd been woken by something, and unable to distinguish what it was decided to get up and check on Rachel.
Slipping into his jeans he'd walked into her room to find her gone. When he went downstairs he saw the outline of her in the dark sitting on the couch her back facing him.
"Rachel?" Methos said softly when he came to the ground floor. She turned to look at him in surprise, resting her hands on the back of the couch.
"Methos, I'm sorry did I wake you?" Rachel asked him.
"I woke and wanted to check on you but you weren't in your room." Methos replied moving around to sit next to her on the couch. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah I just had a bad dream." Rachel said sighing and leaning her head back against the back of the couch.
"Was it about your mother?" Methos asked her softly, he recalled the fever-induced nightmare he'd woken her from before. Rachel looked over at him and in the dim lighting coming from the street he could see the shock on her face. "You had a fever induced dream the first night I stayed, remember it was when I slept in the chair. You said a few things in your sleep about your mom and your Aunt Carl."
"Humph...her name is Carletta, supreme bitch. Any woman that would tell a child it was their fault their mother went mentally ill is a bitch."
"She told you that!" Methos asked disgusted.
"Oh that wasn't all she did, that woman is cruel hearted. She always went on about how much she loved my mother, her sister a woman she never even visited for the twelve years she spent dying in that mental hospital. She would always rub it in my face that I was not actually a Mohr by blood. My father sent me down to visit my Aunt once a year because she lived within an hour's drive to the hospital, I stayed for two weeks, she never even went in the room with me.
"I never told my father the things she said, because after everything she and he had gotten close. When I was fourteen though I talked my dad out of the trips, only going to visit with him. I still have weird dreams about it though, images mixed together. I remember things like getting dragged down the hall by my arm my Aunt walking so fast I almost have to run. I remember all the other sick people there, it scared the hell out of me the first time I went.
"My Aunt of course did everything she could to make that experience as traumatic as possible. And then there was my mom, I remember watching her wither away into nothing. She used to have the most beautiful curly red hair, but when she got sick she wouldn't let anyone near it. She wouldn't wash it or comb it, which bothered me the most, because she always used to take perfect care of her hair. In a weird way I was happy I wasn't related by blood, it meant I wouldn't be trapped by my genes to go mad like her or pass it on to my children if I had any." Rachel said shaking her head and running her hand over her face and threw her hair. "I always felt like I betrayed her by thinking that."