The house was quiet as Richie entered, letting him know that nobody was home. He hadn't gotten up that morning when the others left for an unplanned shopping trip and was surprised that Xander had actually agreed to go with them. He didn't think Xander had spoken more than four sentences to any of them in longer than he could remember. Richie wasn't any psychological expert, but he figured that was progress. Either way, he was glad of the quiet.

He should have felt guilty for being grateful that Dawn wasn't home, but ever since the phone call from Duncan weeks back, things between them had been tense and awkward. Richie knew that it was only a matter of time before the immortal hunting him found him, and he wasn't sure just what would happen between him and Dawn (provided he survived) once he did.

Dawn had appeared to enter into their relationship with open eyes. Richie hadn't figured she would have too much trouble adjusting to his lifestyle, given what she was used to. She had even told him she understood what the Game meant in terms of immortals. He thought he had finally found someone who he could share it all with – the good and the bad.

But the moment he received that phone call, her entire demeanor had changed. He couldn't really blame her. It was one thing to understand the Game on an academic level. It was another entirely to watch somebody you care for go up against something that could very well kill him for what seemed like no good reason. He understood Dawn's fear, he did. She watched her sister go up against death like that night after night. The only consolation she had in that was that Buffy's fights were for the good of the world. They were not only right, they were necessary.

There was nothing right or necessary about the Game. Richie had detested it from the moment he discovered his immorality. The only time he had ever taken comfort in the Game was when it seemed as if everything he knew and trusted had all been a lie. When his teacher, friend and mentor had tried to kill him. It had taught him that the Game was nothing more than a contest and you could only win it by looking out for yourself and nobody else.

He had made a lot of mistakes during that time in his life, to say nothing for the string of enemies that seemed to still pop out of the woodwork as a result of the things he had done. He regretted those actions every single second of every day because they were the actions of a rash, angry child, desperate for something to cling to when his world had fallen apart. And now they were coming back to haunt him, and Dawn as well.

He knew he should put an end to their relationship. She had enough to deal with, without worrying about where his next challenge might come from. He knew it would be best for all concerned if he just told her it was over and went back to Paris to fight his own battles and live his own life. He was only endangering her and himself by staying with her.

But he so desperately didn't want to leave. He cared about her more than he ever could have imagined he would. He was pretty sure that he loved her, though he hadn't said the words out loud. And if you loved someone you should do what was best for them. The best thing he could do was leave.

But he was a coward. He knew that if he stayed the same thing that happened to Tessa could happen to Dawn. Hell, Tessa hadn't even been killed by an immortal. She'd died a random, pointless death. The situation he was in with Dawn was ten times more dangerous. Add an immortal hunting him to the mix and the choice should have been obvious.

But it was much more complicated than that, and Richie desperately wanted to stay.

He knew Dawn wanted him too as well, despite the awkwardness of their relationship lately. He wanted to apologise, to tell her that if this guy did find them that he wouldn't fight. He'd just walk away, but he couldn't. It just wasn't possible for an immortal to do so. Not unless he lived perpetually on Holy Ground and Richie didn't fancy joining a monastery.

Dawn was unsure and afraid. She knew any day now that he would face a challenge from an unknown assailant. It was no wonder she'd been cool towards him. Richie just wished he could assure her that he would come out on top, that she wouldn't have to lose him. That it would all turn out OK. But those kind of assurances were for children and they were both adults. Neither of them could afford to wear a blindfold of ignorance. Not now.

But he'd stay here because he wasn't strong enough to leave. He just hoped that Dawn didn't end up hating him after all was said and done. He wasn't sure he could handle it if she did.

Either way, he needed to talk to her. They needed to sort this out, to come to some kind of understanding. He was about to call Dawn's cell phone and see if their shopping trip was over, when Methos' phone rang, startling him.

"Adam Pierson's residence," he answered absently.

"I'm looking to speak to Richard Ryan." The voice on the other end of the receiver was chillingly familiar. It was Karkose and he had found him. He cursed his luck. It looked like he wouldn't get the chance to sort things out with Dawn before he did have to answer a formal challenge. And if he died, well…

"I'm sorry, there's nobody here by that name," he hoped he sounded confident, but the cold chuckle on the other end told him it was not the case.

"You're lying Richard," he said. "Surely you haven't forgotten your old friend…remember? From the bar in San Francisco? We were so rudely interrupted."

"What the hell do you want Karkose?" Richie's composure slipped and anger laced his tone. It had been years since that had happened. Why couldn't the bastard just forget?

"What do you think I want?" The voice was all business now. "I want to finish what we started. I want your head."

"Look, I was going through a lot at the time." He didn't think explaining the circumstances would help, but it was worth a shot. "I wasn't thinking when I made those challenges. There's no reason we have to do this. I haven't hurt anybody you care about. We can walk away here…no hard feelings. What do you say?"

"I say you're a coward," Karkose replied, his voice a silky growl. "You promised me a fight. I want to collect."

"Like I said, I wasn't in my right mind," he continued. "I don't want to fight you. I don't want your quickening. Do you really want to risk both our lives over something this stupid?"

"But it isn't stupid," Karkose told him. "It's what we're here for. There can be only one, remember? I intend to be that one. And you and I have unfinished business. I know where you live, so don't even try to run. Meet me tomorrow night, at the Café Roma. We'll find a place then. If you don't show, I come to your house. And I will kill whoever gets in my way, do you understand?"

"I understand," Richie said heavily. He knew now there was no avoiding this man. "I'll be there."

As he hung up the phone, the key turned in the door, and Buffy, Xander, Methos and Dawn all walked in, setting down their purchases in the midst of their conversation.

When Dawn's gaze finally met Richie's she knew that something was very wrong.

"Richie…what is it?"

"I…" he swallowed heavily. "We need to talk. Want to go for a walk or something?"
Dawn nodded and waited for him to get his coat.

Dawn's heart was heavy as they walked down the darkened street. Things hadn't been particularly easy between her and Richie lately, and by the look on his face, she had a feeling they weren't about to get any easier.

She knew that this immortal that Duncan had called him about would find them sooner or later. She knew, and so she'd been distancing herself from Richie and the relationship as a defense mechanism. She was already so close to him, already cared about him so much. What would happen if he lost? Could she cope with losing him after they had grown so close? After she had started to love someone for the very first time?

Buffy had lost Angel when she was her age. Dawn couldn't imagine how she had coped with it. The very idea of something happening to Richie caused her entire being to grow cold with fear. She suddenly had a lot more respect for her older sister and the way she had coped with the various losses in her life. Certainly Dawn wasn't handling things as well as she had.

Like now. Instead of opening the lines of communication between her and Richie, she walked beside him in strained silence, waiting for him to make the first move…desperate to hear that things would be OK between them, yet knowing that the first real test of their feelings was about to begin.

It was the first test Dawn wasn't entirely sure she could pass.

"It's quiet out here," Richie's voice was low and unsure. Dawn knew he was working his way into the conversation, but didn't want to make it that easy for him. She simply nodded her agreement and kept walking. "No demons, monsters…"

"You that eager for a fight?" She hadn't meant to blurt those words out loud, but it seemed that her inner voice had a mind of its own. She instantly regretted it, but it was too late to take it back now.

"That's not fair," he said turning to look at her. "I'm trying to talk to you, Dawn. Without attacks or fighting."

"I'm sorry," she told him honestly, "but I know you're going to tell me that you've decided to fight this immortal that's coming for you. I don't really know how not to be defensive about that."

"You knew what I was when we got involved." He hated the idea of giving her the 'you knew this would happen' speech, but he had to make her understand. If she had never really thought it would come to this, then maybe they hadn't been as open with each other from the start.

"That supposed to make it easier?" She replied softly. "Besides, I might have known it, but I've never seen it you know? I guess that's no excuse, but it's the only way I can think to describe it."

"Out of sight, out of mind?" He smiled wryly. "I guess we were both playing that game. I thought if I could ignore it, it would go away. I should have known it wasn't possible. Mac has been trying to stay out of the game forever. Hell, not even the old…Adam can avoid it completely. I didn't want a possibility to come between us, so I didn't really press the seriousness so of it. But it's more than a possibility now. He…Karkose called me just before you got home. The challenge is set, Dawn. I can't back out. I have to fight him."

Her throat went dry and she fought to keep her hands from trembling. She would not let him see how much this bothered her. If this relationship was going to work, she had to make him think she was OK with it. If he thought she couldn't handle it…somehow the thought of him leaving her of his own volition was worse than the idea that something might happen to him in a fight.

"When?" she finally managed to ask him.

"Tomorrow night." Richie's voice was laced with noticeable regret. He sounded more concerned for her feelings on it than the fact that he could very well die tomorrow. She wondered if it was overconfidence on his part or if he was good enough that he really didn't have to worry. She wasn't sure which idea was worse. Overconfidence could get him killed, but if he really was that good…it would mean he was a killer in a larger sense than she had originally thought.

She shook those thoughts away for the moment and concentrated on what Richie had just told her. Tomorrow night he was fighting this guy. Tomorrow night he was going up against another immortal in a fight to the death. Tomorrow night, Richie could die.

She wasn't ready for this.

"Dawn?" His voice was questioning and gentle. His eyes were worried and Dawn suddenly hated herself for causing him uncertainty about her feelings when he was the one who might die tomorrow. She swallowed hard and turned to face him.

"Are you…" she drew a breath. "Are you afraid?"

"No," he said with a shake of his head. Then, realizing that this was the least important time to be macho, let his shoulders slump slightly and nodded. "Yeah, I am. I'm always scared Dawn. Every time I fight, I think I'm going to die."

"But you're…" she wasn't sure how to ask him this. "You've faced immortals before and won. I mean…a lot I assume. Wouldn't that make you more confident?"

"Are you asking me how many people I've killed?" He spoke evenly, but there was a steadiness in his eyes that Dawn felt unnerving.

"I guess…" she trailed off, unsure of whether she should continue this. "I just…I need to know, Richie. I need to know that this isn't something…"

"Something I like?" He spat angrily. "Something I get my jollies from? You want to know how many immortals I've killed, Dawn? Well I'd love to tell you but I don't know. I lost count. Does it make you happy to know that? Do you think it makes me happy? I went through a time in my life when I thought the Game was the only thing I had left. I went looking for fight after fight and obviously I won them all. I'm not proud of it, but there it is. Karkose was one of the people I challenged at the time. At the time, I wanted his head more than anything."

"And now?" Her voice was still, but her hands ached to reach out to him. She could see the pain in his eyes as he spoke about his past, could hear the regret in his voice. There was no doubt whatsoever now that Richie Ryan was a good man. A man who had made mistakes perhaps, but a good man nonetheless.

He sighed heavily.

"Now, I'd give anything to just make it all go away." He reached up and touched her face gently. "I don't want to do this. You know that, right?"

"I do," she whispered, trying to keep the tremble from her voice. "But that doesn't mean I'm not scared. I'm afraid I might lose you. I'm afraid you might die."

"Yeah," he said, his voice hoarse with emotion. "Me too."

With that, he leaned down and kissed her deeply, thoroughly, needing her to understand on a deeper level just how much he cared for her, how much he would rather stay with her than fight for his life.

She parted her lips almost immediately and deepened the kiss with a soft sigh. If it all might end tomorrow she would remember this kiss for the rest of her life. She would remember the way his tongue gently explored her mouth, how his arms felt around her waste, how he smelled, the feel of his body pressed against hers. She had never felt so alive.

She wanted to drink in every part of him, to take him all into her and never let him go. She wanted to know that he was hers, body and soul before he went out to face Karkose. She needed that connection.

Running her hands up his chest, she heard him suck in a breath and deepen the kiss with an inarticulate growl. She accepted him hungrily and continued to explore him, reveling in the sounds he made as she did so.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity and only a mere second, he pulled away, his breathing ragged and uneven.

"Richie…" she reached out to him, wanting him back and close, hating that he had let her go.

"We should stop," he said breathlessly. "This shouldn't happen right now."

"What? No!" She shook her head, wanting desperately to change his mind. "This is exactly when this should happen. Tomorrow you could be…"

"Tomorrow I could die," he acknowledged, trying to ignore the physical wince and pain in her eyes. "But that's no reason to…I don't think you're ready, Dawn. And to be perfectly honest with you, I'm not either. Not just yet."

"But tomorrow…"

"Tomorrow I could die," he was gentler now when he said it, but it didn't lessen the blow. "But I could also live. And if I do, I don't want to lose you to regrets. If you're not ready that's what would happen. I will do my best to defeat him, I promise you. And when the time is right, this will go further. But you don't need to prove anything to me."

"Richie, I…" she couldn't fight the tears that came this time. She didn't want to lose him, but he was right about their physical relationship. The idea that he could die before they were ready to take that step broke her heart though and she couldn't hide it from him.

He pulled her close once more, cradling her head against his chest and kissing her hair gently.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered softly. "I never wanted to hurt you like this."

"It's not your fault," she said finally stepping back and wiping the tears away from her face. She squared her shoulders and resolved to stay strong. This would never work if she fell apart every time the game got in their way.

"Can we do this?" He sounded lost and alone now, terrified of her answer. "This relationship, I mean. Is it going to work? This isn't the only challenge I'll have to face, you know. Are we going to be able to handle this?"

"I…" she wanted to tell him 'yes' so badly it hurt. She wanted to take him in her arms and kiss the fear off his face. She wanted to promise him that she would never leave him, no matter what. But she couldn't. She couldn't say any of that, because she wasn't sure she wouldn't be lying if she did. She wasn't sure she could handle it all. Only time would tell. If they could make it through this challenge…if she could see him kill a man and still want to be with him….if she could handle the fear and uncertainty, then it might work. But this was the test. "I don't know. I want to say yes, but…"

"I get it," he told her and his tone suggested he did. She felt herself relax slightly. "When I come back tomorrow we'll talk. If I don't…"

"Richie, don't…"

"If I don't, I want you to know this…" he took a deep breath and stared deep into her eyes to the very depths of her. "I love you."