Adam felt her newly immortal buzz seconds before Gwen took a gasping breath. She arched off the sofa then clutched her chest as the wound healed. Her eyes flew open as her brain tried to make sense of what had happened to her.

In a panic, she sat up and looked around the unfamiliar room. Sensing the scream that what about to come, Adam called her name softly. Gwen's head whipped around to face him. "Wha…?" was all she managed to say.

Before he could answer, Adam felt the buzz that signaled the arrival of the highlander. Gwen felt it too and grabbed her head in pain. He wanted to comfort her, but he knew that MacLeod would shortly be banging on his door and would break it down if necessary to get to Gwen. He quickly went to the door and unlocked it and returned to the frightened woman on the sofa. He sat beside her and she fell shakily into his arms.

As soon as he heard the knock, Adam called out, "Come on in, it's open."

Duncan burst into the room and knelt in front of Gwen. She turned in Adam's arms to look at him. As he grabbed her hands, he asked, "Are you alright? What happened?"

Another immortal buzz hit the three of them. Adam looked up in alarm and Gwen closed her eyes tightly, trying to block it out.

"Now what?" Adam asked. He noticed that the Scot had barely reacted. "MacLeod, there's another one of us here!"

"I called Richie in the way over," Duncan replied. "I thought he should be here to help explain things."

A moment later the young immortal ran into the apartment, "So, it's true! God, I was hoping it was a joke or something. Why didn't one of you tell me she was immortal?"

Finally, something in Gwen snapped.  "What the HELL is going on here?" she yelled. She looked from one man to the other waiting for an explanation.

The three of them looked at each other before Duncan spoke, "Gwen, what happened in the alley tonight?"

"We loaded up the van and the guys left. I was heading to my car when someone grabbed my bag. I tried to hang on to it," she frowned, trying to remember. "Then there was another person there… They backed me up to the wall… I was trying to fight back, but there was a knife… Oh, god!!"

Gwen covered her face with her hands and leaned back into Adam. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. Duncan looked up at Adam as if to ask if he should go on. He nodded and the Scot continued.

"Gwen, look at me," he said softly. She lowered her hands and raised her eyes to meet his. "The men you fought with… They stabbed you and you died… But you came back to life."

"I… I don't…" Gwen stammered. "This doesn't make any sense! I was dead?" The three men nodded. "And I came back to life? Why? How?"

Duncan took a deep breath before continuing, "You are immortal. You can die, but you won't stay dead. You won't age anymore and you won't get sick. If you are injured, you'll heal very quickly."

"Immortal…" she said, her eyes narrowing, "as in 'live forever' kind of immortal?"

"Yep, that would be the kind," Richie piped up. "Some of us longer than others."

"Some of US?" Gwen's eyes were now very wide in surprise. "Did you say US? As in US?" she gestured to all in the room.

"Yes, he said us," Duncan went on. "We are all immortal, too. I was born in the highlands of Scotland in 1592. I died my first death in battle."

She looked up at Richie expectantly. He shrugged and said, "I'm just a baby. I was shot about ten years ago when I was nineteen."  

Methos held his breath for her question to him. She turned a bit but did not face him or look him in the eye. "Since they call you 'old man' I'm assuming that you are considerably older than they are?"

He answered softly, "Yes."

She swallowed, took a deep breath and slowly let it out before she asked, "What you teach… Sumeria… You were there, weren't you?"

"Yes," came the soft reply.

There was silence for several minutes while Gwen processed all that she had been told. Eventually, her attention came back to the present. She looked down at her ripped, blood stained shirt.

"Um… Could I possibly… uh… clean up some?" she asked. "This is kind of gross."

Behind her Adam chuckled, "Why don't you take a shower? I'll see if I can find you something to wear."

"There's more that we need to tell you," Duncan started to say, but Adam stopped him.

"MacLeod, I think that we can wait just a few minutes," he said as he propelled Gwen toward the bedroom. "Why don't you get us something to drink and maybe fix Gwen some soup?"

Several minutes later, Adam emerged from the bedroom as the water started in the shower. Richie had set three beers on the coffee table and Duncan stirred the vegetable soup he had found in the cabinet.

"She's taking this a whole lot better than I would have expected," Richie was saying. "I mean she didn't start screaming or anything."

"Well, she doesn't know all of it yet," Duncan replied. "I'm not sure how the concept of the game is going to go over with her."

"Probably better than the reality," Adam replied grabbing a one of the beers and collapsing on the sofa. "It's a good thing she's been training already."

Duncan placed a tray with soup, crackers and juice on the table and sat down on the chair. He picked up a beer and idly picked at the label. He had hoped that if this day came that it would be further into the future.

Richie broke the silence, "So, Mac, I guess you'll continue to teach her. I mean I'll help like I have been, but she is already sort of your student."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," he said. "I was thinking of calling Amanda… Maybe have them go to a convent or something."

Adam laughed, "You must be kidding! Gwen won't go for that… besides no one but those thugs saw her die… and they're not really sure she's dead. It's not like she needs to leave town."

Duncan sat up and said, "Look, she needs a full time teacher and she needs to be safe. I think it's the best solution."

"Are you guys talking about me?" said a voice from the doorway. The three men turned to see Gwen in a pair of sweat pants and a long t-shirt her hair still wet from her shower.

"Do you feel better now?" Adam asked as he rose from his seat and went to her.  Smiling he added, "The clothes are a little big."

"Well, you're quite a bit taller than I am," she conceded. Crossing the room she asked, "So have you all decided my future or were you planning to ask my opinion?"

Duncan stood up and hugged her, "We just want you to be safe until you can be properly trained… and of course we won't make you do anything you don't want to do."

Pushing him back, she asked, "Trained? Exactly what am I training for?" she looked at the three of them, waiting for an answer.

"There's more that we have to tell you about being immortal," Adam said gently. "Come on and sit down. You really need to eat something. Blood loss and all that."

Once they were all seated again and Gwen had eaten some of the soup, Duncan began again, "Before I got here and then again before Richie arrived, you felt a buzzing sensation, right? That's kind of an early warning system to let you know that there is another immortal close by."

"Okay, so we have a secret handshake, too?" she asked.

"Not really," the Scot went on. "All immortals are involved in something we call 'The Game.' We face each other in one on one combat to the death…"

"But you just told me that we don't die permanently," Gwen interrupted.

"Actually, there is only one way for us to stay dead – if our heads are removed from our bodies. The fight is with swords. To win, you have to take you opponent's head." He paused to let her digest this.

She looked to Adam and Richie for verification. Both of them were nodding solemnly. "Whoa!" was all she could say. 

Duncan continued, "There are rules. We never fight on holy ground. All combat is one on one. Once a challenge has been issued, no one may interfere. And we don't fight in public. Very few mortals know about us and we'd like to keep it that way."

Gwen leaned back on the sofa her eyes moving from Duncan to Richie to Adam. "Well, I'm… I just really am… Wow."

"Do you want to ask us any questions?" Richie wanted to know. "I mean these guys are the experts, but…"

She took a deep breath before she answered, "I probably will, I just can't process anything else right now. I think I need some sleep."

"Right," Duncan said, standing up. "I'll take you home."

With the word 'home,' realization hit her, "I can't go home. They took my bag with my keys and everything. Oh damn, they know where I live and they have my keys!!"

Richie suddenly remembered something else, "Gwen, where's your guitar?"

"I sent it with Peter," she said with relief. "I broke a couple of strings…Thank God!"   

"You can stay here tonight and we'll go check out your apartment tomorrow," Adam offered. "And we'll see about changing the locks, too."  

Duncan frowned at the thought of Gwen spending the night in Adam's apartment, but she had been through enough for one night, so he didn't comment on it. Instead, he told Adam and Gwen, "Call me when you get up and we'll meet at the loft for breakfast. Then we'll see if anyone has been at your place. Okay?"

"Okay," she stood up and hugged him. "Thanks… for, well, for everything."

"Hey! What about me?" Richie said with a chuckle. "Don't I rate a hug, too?"

Turning to the young man, she laughed, "Absolutely!"

While she and Richie were teasing each other, Duncan pulled Adam aside, "She hasn't really dealt with her death yet. It's probably going to hit her later. Keep an eye on her."

The older immortal shook his head, "I've done this a few times myself, MacLeod. I know what to look for."

"Yeah, well, I just want to make sure that she's alright," he replied. "Call me if you need me for anything."

Adam clapped him on the shoulder, "We'll be fine, Mac. Go home and get some sleep."

Richie joined them near the door, "Yeah, Mac, I'm beat. We'll see them in the morning. Good night, guys."

After they had gone, Adam locked the door and turned back to the living area. Gwen had gone back to the sofa and had leaned her head back and closed her eyes. He picked up the dishes and beer bottles and took them into the kitchen.

Coming back into the living room, he called softly, "Gwen. Come on, you can sleep in my bed, I'll take the sofa."

Gwen lifted her head to look at him, "You must be kidding. I'll sleep out here. I'm not going to kick you out of your bed."

"Look – you are the guest and you've had a bad night. You take the bed. I'll be okay on the sofa. I've crashed on MacLeod's enough times."

"I'm a lot smaller than you and this sofa is much more MY size than yours," she argued. "You won't be comfortable. I insist that you let me sleep on it. I just need a pillow and a blanket and I'll be fine."

Adam looked at her for a moment and decided that she wasn't going to budge on this and if they were ever to get any sleep, he'd better give in. "Okay, you win. I'm too tired to argue any more."

"There is one other thing, though," Gwen said, "Do you have an extra toothbrush?"