As the elevator rose to the loft, Gwen and Adam moved to retrieve their things to go. Adam watched Gwen put on her outer garments and place her sword in her coat. She reached down to pick up her bag and felt his eyes on her. Looking up at him, she smiled. "What?" she asked.
A little startled to be caught staring, he cleared his throat and replied, "Oh, I was … just wondering if you'd like to go get dinner. I mean, since Duncan and Amanda have decided to ditch us. Unless of course you really have a lot of work to do…"
Gwen regarded him briefly before shrugging, "I could eat. I'll even let you pick this time."
Grinning broadly, he grabbed her hand and led her out of the dojo, "I'm in the mood for pizza and beer, I think."
"Sounds good," she replied. "I need to go home and shower first, though. I'm sweaty and… well, all icky."
Adam raised an eyebrow. "Icky?" he chuckled. "Okay, I'll follow you to your place and wait for you to get ready."
"Let's go, then," she said. "Now that you've mentioned pizza, I'm hungry."
As he got into his car, Adam spotted the now familiar Honda idling down the street. "Let him follow us,' he thought. 'I don't plan on letting her out of my sight, so I doubt he make any kind of move.' However, he kept watching the car follow as he pulled out behind Gwen.
Meanwhile, in the loft, as Amanda dug through her suitcases for the perfect outfit to wear, she kept up a steady stream of chatter about her whereabouts the past several months.
"…and I told Gabrielle that the painting was a forgery, but she insisted that her brother wouldn't lie to her. So, I was forced to bring in an expert, which he was not too happy about, of course." She paused for a breath and noticed Duncan peering out the window, a glass of scotch in his hand. "MacLeod, have you heard anything that I have said?"
When he heard his name, the Scot jumped slightly and turned around, "I'm sorry. What did you say?"
Amanda sighed heavily, "Honestly, MacLeod! You ask me to come all this way, and then you completely ignore me. I'm starting to think that you aren't happy to see me at all!"
Duncan wiped his free hand over his face and took another sip of his scotch before answering her, "It's not that I'm not happy to see you… It's just… When I asked you to come, I thought Gwen… Well…"
Padding over to him and taking the drink from him, she said, "You thought, what? That Gwen would agree to go the convent? Or that by the time I got here, the two of you would be an 'item'? Or that I'd help you get between Gwen and Methos?"
MacLeod stared at her. He couldn't believe that she had picked up on all of that in the afternoon that she had been here. He sat down heavily on the sofa. Amanda joined him there.
"Duncan," she said softly, "I could tell from the way that you talked about her on the phone that you had feelings for her. I was prepared to back off if I thought that there was something going on with the two of you. But, I've seen her with Methos and so have you."
"Yeah," he said, "and that's what bothers me. Methos doesn't do anything without an ulterior motive. What is his interest in her?"
"Has it occurred to you that he really likes her?" Amanda wanted to know. "He is just as concerned with her safety as you are."
Duncan looked at her doubtfully, "I know that he bought her the sword, but…"
"Mac, he told me how much he wants to protect her," she said patiently. "And you saw him working with her today. He wants her to be able to protect herself."
"I still wish we could convince her to go somewhere with you to train," he told her. "I think she'd be safer."
"Are you kidding? She'd end up teaching me!" exclaimed Amanda. "Gwen already has great skills. I mean, I was almost disarmed by a kid who's been immortal less than a week!"
"Okay, fine," Duncan finally conceded. "She's going to get better training here. That doesn't explain Methos spending all this time with her. He wants us to believe he's helping with her research?"
Amanda paused for several moments, choosing her words carefully, "Um… Duncan? I'm pretty sure he's told her things… like his real name."
MacLeod's eyes widened in surprise, "What? Are you serious?"
"Well, when I got to his apartment, I yelled out 'Methos' and when he let me in he told me not to do that in public," she explained. "Gwen didn't seem confused by that and he didn't explain it to her. So it appears that she already knew the name."
"Why would he tell her…" he mused.
"I think he told her because he trusts her," she replied. "Maybe she asked him if he had used other names. Whatever the reason, her told her the truth."
Amanda moved off to finish getting dressed. Duncan rose and refilled his scotch glass. At the window he got lost in his thoughts as he watched the rainfall heavily on the city.
As Gwen and Adam pulled up to the duplex, the rain began to come down in sheets. They emerged from their cars and ran for the shelter of the porch. The man in the blue Honda watched, eyes narrowed, as they entered the apartment together. He seethed at the thought of her laughing, having fun, being happy. For several minutes he sat and stared at her front door, his breathing shallow, fists clenched. Slowly, he relaxed, started his car and drove off.
Inside, Adam took their wet coats and hung them on the coat rack near the door while Gwen got a towel for his wet hair.
"Why don't we order a pizza instead of going back out in this mess?" Adam asked. "Unless, of course, you don't have any beer…"
"Yes, I have beer!" she said with a laugh. "Help yourself. And why don't you go ahead and call in the order while I shower. The menu is on the fridge."
From the kitchen, Adam called out, "What do you want on the pizza?"
"Anything but anchovies and black olives," came the reply from directly behind him.
Adam spun around to find Gwen standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "I thought you were going to take a shower."
Smiling, she answered, "I am. I just wanted to make sure you found everything that you needed. Why don't you put on some music or something, too? I'll be out in a few minutes."
Taking a long drink from the beer and a deep breath, Adam finally moved from the kitchen to the living room. He placed the order for their dinner, set the beer down on the coffee table and turned on the stereo. He flipped through Gwen's CDs until something caught his eye. Placing the disk in the player, he pushed the play button and settled himself onto the sofa.
Ten minutes later, Gwen opened her bedroom door to see a five thousand year old immortal lounging on her sofa, eyes closed, clutching a beer. The jazzy blues of Joan Armatrading came softly from the speakers. So as not to disturb Adam, she padded quietly across the room, but he opened his eyes just as she reached him.
She stopped as he looked up at her. Her still damp hair hung loose to the shoulders of the green vee necked t-shirt she wore over black knit pants. Gwen smiled down at him. "What kind of pizza did you order?" she asked as she went into the kitchen for drinks.
Smirking, Adam replied, "Anchovy and black olive."
She appeared at the kitchen door and stuck her tongue out at him, "Liar."
He grinned at her and said, "You'll just have to wait and see." Noticing the extra beer in her hand he asked, "Is that for me?"
"It was," the young woman answered as she crossed to the other end of the sofa. "Now we'll just have to wait and see."
"Ha ha! Very funny," he said reaching for the beer. Gwen laughed and backed up out of his reach. Adam advanced towards her on the sofa as she continued to pull away from him holding the beer bottle over her head. Finally, when he was leaning over her to reach up to grab the bottle from her hand, his face was inches from hers. Their eyes locked and neither of them moved.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Gwen cleared her throat and said, "The pizza's here." Not breaking eye contact, Adam pushed himself back to a seat position. Gwen continued to gaze back at him until the bell rang second time. Blinking, she got up and went to her purse for her wallet.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Gwen turned around, confused and replied, "I'm going to pay the guy for the pizza?"
Getting up, he reached for his own wallet, "Let me get this…"
"No," she interrupted. "You paid for lunch, I'll get dinner. Sit back down."
She paid for the food and retrieved plates and napkins from the kitchen. Adam had opened the box to reveal the pepperoni, mushroom and green pepper pizza. Gwen handed him his beer and they ate their dinner.
Duncan ordered a second bottle of wine, while Amanda told him stories of the art collectors she had worked with recently. The anecdotes were amusing and the wine had lightened his mood quite a bit. The food had been excellent, the wine better. An hour had gone by without the Scot thinking about Gwen and Adam. Amanda had indeed worked her charms on him.
The rain had eased up considerably as they left the restaurant. Amanda clung to Duncan's arm on the way to the car. She pressed up against him while he unlocked her door. "I've really missed you, Duncan," she whispered in his ear. "I'm so glad that you called me to come out here."
Still under the influence of the food and wine, MacLeod found himself responding to her advances by embracing her and nuzzling her neck. He helped her into the car and strode around to the driver's side, looking forward to getting home with Amanda when he remembered why he had called Amanda in the first place. By the time he started the car he was brooding again.