It had been some hours since Adam's meeting with his twin and he was getting restless. So many ideas had crept into his thoughts, and so many more thrown out in disgust. He had to get out of the room.
Planning on getting himself another drink, he made his way to Helen's office, only to find Henry just entering, so he followed.
Inside he found himself facing doctors Magnus, Zimmerman and Watson, along with Helen's daughter Ashley whom he'd had the pleasure of meeting the day before.
"Okay, so I did a full cavity search on the internet for this Anna Griffin. She went by a different name so that slowed me down but then I tracked her to Batten Rouge." Henry paused for a second to let the information sink in. Who was this Anna Griffin? "Three years ago she disappeared off the face of the Earth."
"Could she simply have died?" Helen asked.
"Well if you believe the old bit she did but it didn't pass the sniff test. See the certificate of the death was an outright forgery. Somebody wanted the world to think she kick like a…witness protection or something, so I was lucky to find a few fragments that they missed, found an address. So, somebody better wake up Druitt cause we ain't got no time to take no fast train."
Adam shivered at the recollection of the first time they met. He had been on his way home from Mac's house when he'd run into him for the first time, and when he'd taken a short cut through an alley he had just appeared in a flash of red and whacked him over the head with… something. The next thing he knew he was on a bed in one of the spare rooms of the Sanctuary with an ape-man standing over him. Oh the joys of being a twin…
Helen looked at her technician, confused, "We?"
"Well you can't send Druitt in alone, the guy's all hearts and flowers one day the next he's turning a working girl into a canoe!" You should have seen some of the things I did!
"Yes. Despite his good will as of late there are definitely warring sides to his personality." Helen exchanged a knowing look from James, "Will, keep Druitt company."
"What? Why me? I'm supposed to tell Jack the ripper to fetch?"
"Just remember," Watson turned to his favourite, "his sharpest implement is his mind."
With that, Adam left, shaking his head. He needed some air.
The courtyard was a little bigger than he'd first anticipated, but he didn't complain, drawing out a dagger from within the depths of his trench coat, looking around for a suitable target. As soon as he'd spotted one, he spun the weapon so that he was holding the blade and threw it.
It landed in the tree with a satisfying 'thud', a few leaves falling due to how young it was. Perfect.
"Impressive."
He didn't even need to turn around to know who it was, the tingling sensation enough to give it away. "Are you following me?"
James walked up to stand beside him. "No. I just appear to keep running into you." He examined the small knife buried in the trunk of the tree almost twenty meters away. "You've had a lot of practice at that I see."
"Yes." He drew out a second and found another area. Thud.
The detective frowned at him. "You don't seem to want to give away much."
"No." Thud.
They stood in silence for a moment before Watson turned his body to face him. "Could I ask your permission of something?"
Adam looked at him out of the corner of his eye, "What for?" Crack. One of the branches fell to the ground.
"I read people, and I'm finding you a bit of a puzzle. Would you mind if I…?"
Adam shrugged. "Go ahead." He was going to find out sooner or later. "But only if I go first."
The detective sighed, "I you must."
He turned to face him.
He examined the man for a moment, examining how he stood, his hair style, the way he wore his clothes… before making his judgement. "From the way you speak you must be British, but that was obvious. The way you dress suggests that you don't belong in this time, though from what you've said during your conversations I could have figured that out fairly easily as well." He squinted, "From the design of your exoskeleton it must have been designed by yourself, which means that you must be smart, no… a genius, but you weren't always…
"Considering how old you appear to be tells me that you discovered how to make this machine later than you had hoped. You have a studious look about you, and considering how old you must be you would know… Latin." He nodded to himself, "One of the few languages people learned in… Oxford? Cambridge?… while also studying a science, as it helped with the translation of the biological names." He smiled. "How'd I do?"
He smiled at the stunned look he was receiving. I didn't even touch on the world wars.
"Oxford. And you did exceedingly well."
Adam nodded. Made sense if you thought about it. "Your turn."
The scientist smiled and began to look at him. "When we first met you were throwing knives at the door, but only in boredom. You've trained to use them at a late stage in life and you practice regularly, but enjoy the sound they make when they hit their target. Perhaps an assassin…" he frowned, "… no… your eyes are too kind, they don't have the coldness of a killer… and yet you have seen death. Perhaps caused a few to lose their lives yourself and you regret it… but not all of them. Black ops maybe, not a self-defence teacher, but that would mean that you'd still be part of them because of your age unless…
"Unless you're older than you look… You have the face of a man who's not passed his thirtieth birthday, and yet from the way you act, the way you speak and assess situations, you remember far more years than your features show," He stopped, squinting slightly as he tried to read more into his puzzle, "You act so childishly because you have secrets so dark that if you don't joke you'd lose your mind, and you stopped half way through your study… You are a kind hearted man, but fearful, and would act for your survival, but only when your loved ones are safe."
Adam smiled. "You're not too bad yourself." He could feel a laugh welling up inside him, but he forced it down.
"It's been a long time since I've met anyone like myself," the scientist grinned, "and now I've got two at once!" he laughed. "So what are you exactly? What do you do?"
Adam tapped his nose, "That would be telling."
The other man smiled at him, "What's your name?"
He froze. "What?"
"When someone calls your name you hesitate, though I must admit it's only for the tiniest of moments. I doubt even Will would have noticed."
He considered lying, but he knew it would be too obvious for him. "Methos. The first name I remember having is Methos."
Watson patted him on the arm. "Well then Methos, your secret's safe with me." He began to walk towards the building, "Oh, and uh… you'd best be coming with us when we leave for Bhalasaar."
