Disclaimer: Highlander belongs to Davis/Panzer. They are being borrowed and returned hopefully in about the same shape they were taken in. Jeff, Emmy, and just about everyone else, belong to me. You can use them if you like, just return them please.

Chapter 8

Rick was pacing a little outside the restaurant. He had dressed up for the evening. It was not often that he got a chance to wear even a pair of Dockers. He could tell that Jeff was starting to get a little annoyed with him.

"Would you chill, man? Seriously, she still has ten minutes, and she's not going to lie to me."

"What if something happened to her?" Rick asked, "What if she changed her mind last minute because I've been such a jerk."

"Dude, seriously, if you don't chill and start acting like the normal Rick Cloud I know and love, I'm going to change my mind and leave you."

"Sorry, it's just... I haven't done this for a while."

"Obviously." Jeff moved his head around and played with his tie. "Whoever invented ties should be shot."

"Did you know that originally the purpose of a tie was to be a bib for food, so it wouldn't get on your cloths at dinner?"

"I thought you were too young to know stuff like that," Jeff replied, still struggling to make his tie feel comfortable.

"My teacher wasn't. I learned a lot of useless information about history during my first few years being an Immortal. And then I went to college and learned even more useless information, and do you know the sucky thing about being an Immortal?"

"Enlighten me," Jeff said.

"You actually remember things better. Your mind is like a sponge and it just sucks things in. Sometimes I hate it."

"Sounds awful," Jeff said, rolling his eyes. "At least with that ability I might be able to get my Masters sometime in the near future."

"I thought you weren't planning on getting your Masters. You told me you hate school and you're done with it." Rick was giving a Jeff an intense look now.

"I thought I was done with it too, but... she's here isn't she?" Jeff did not finish his sentence, and Rick knew it was because he had seen his face change as if searching for something.

"Yup."

A taxi rolled up to where they were standing and stopped. Emmy opened the door, and Rick moved forward and helped her out of the vehicle. "Why thank you, sir." Emmy said, a careful smile on her face. She looked stunning. Instead of wearing black like both men had assumed she would be, she was wearing a deep red dress with matching lipstick. It made her eyes truly stand out like, as her name implied, emeralds in her face. Her hair was pulled up and back in some sort of a ponytail thing. The whole look really made her stand out in the Florida sun. Even in such a racial melting pot, Emmy looked exotic.

"You look stunning," Rick said. He could not help staring at the woman in front of him. Rick had always thought she was beautiful, from the moment she stepped into his shop, but tonight, in that slinky red dress, he realized she had down-played her beauty. The way she looked tonight, she really could be on the cover of a magazine.

Emmy smiled as she reached with her free left hand to take Jeff's right arm. "Thank you again. Now boys, let's not make a scene in the middle of the street. Someone promised I'd be getting dinner tonight." With that, Emmy led both of the men inside.

Dinner was a fun-filled affair of stories told by Rick and Jeff as they recounted some of their adventures in being private investigators. Some of their stories were full of danger, as their adventure of the evening before, and some were just silly: about how they saved missing cats and dogs as well as other strange animal pets of the area.

Near the end of dinner, when things were calming down a bit, Jeff decided it was time to get down to business. He really wanted things to work out between Emmy and Rick, but more than anything he wanted her to officially be part of this whole arrangement. After he had made reservations for dinner, he had called Jamie. It had been their second conversation in two days, and this had gone just as well as the first one. Yesterday, Jeff had asked permission to be on special assignment with Emmy until a new Watcher was assigned. Today, he had asked for permission to let her know about the Watchers. Jamie's response had sounded both optimistic and cautious.

"You realize if you do this, I'm going to be leaving you on double-duty for quite some time, don't you? I'm alright with you telling Emerald about the Watchers, but you will have to watch both her and Rick. The fewer Watchers they actually know, the better; whether or not they are aware of the organization itself."

"I understand that, sir, and I'm more than willing to take on the challenge. Emerald is too interesting of an Immortal to give up watching, anyway. Besides, if a relationship does begin between these two, and I have a feeling that it will, they will be in each other's company for a long time." Jeff's excitement was apparent.

"Very well then, Jeffery, I've always said you have a good head on your shoulders, and you've been one of our best Watchers since you started with us eight years ago, even though you were very young. I think if anyone can pull this off, it's you. Good luck, my young friend."

"Thanks, Jamie."

The whole conversation was still running through his mind as Jeff changed the course of the conversation at the dinner table. "Alright, you two, I have something to say now."

Both Immortals looked at Jeff, curious as to what he had to say. He knew they had both guessed that something was on his mind. He was a lot younger than both of them, and still wore most of his emotions on his sleeve. It was not surprising that he would be the same way now. "Look, it came to my attention last night that, although Rick and I make a very good team, the three of us together make a better team, and well, if Rick's okay with it I'd like to invite you to join our little family, Emmy. Become part of our investigating team."

Rick smiled. "Actually Emmy, he's right. I really don't know how we would have pulled off last night without you. I have to admit when I'm wrong, and I've been wrong about you. You've been nothing but wonderful to Jeff since the beginning, and I've been an outright jerk. So, first of all I'm sorry, and second, we'd love to have you join Cloud investigations."

Emmy sat in stunned silence for a while, "I... wow, I don't know what to say."

"Say yes, Em. Just say yes. Then I can have you as eye candy every day." Jeff lifted his eyebrows and gave her a quirky smile.

Emmy laughed softly. "You sure do know how to lighten the mood, don't you?"

"I am the king of silliness," Jeff said, making a funny face to prove it. His expression changed from silly to solemn again. "There is something serious I would like to talk about, though, but not here. If you don't mind, I'd kind of like to finish this conversation somewhere more private."

Rick looked surprised by this but said, "Sure Jeff, we can talk at my place if you want. I mean, I am the one with the car tonight." He flashed a teasing smile at Jeff.

"Ha ha, okay, works for me. You okay with that, Emmy?"

Emmy shrugged. "This whole night has been a surprising adventure, what's another hour's enjoyment?"