"Richelle," Duncan said to the girl as the dust storm left in Connor's tracks gradually started to die down, "Did Connor tell you where he was going?"

Richelle heard him but didn't hear what he said, she looked at him but she didn't see him. Her whole world as she knew it had just disappeared, Connor was gone, she didn't know where, the odds were he wasn't coming back, and the fact that he hadn't even told her where he was going only seemed to confirm that thought. He knew she knew how to keep her mouth shut, it wasn't that he didn't inform her for fear she'd tell Duncan, it was something else, but what?

"He barely told me we were even coming here," Richelle answered, "He didn't say anything about where he was going."

"Did he say who he was going after?"

"No," she shook her head, "I don't know anything. And I don't know why I've been dropped off here of all places. Like I told Richie, Connor dragged me out of bed at 5 this morning and just told me we were going on a drive, it was only half an hour ago he told me we were coming here, but he neglected to mention that the 'we' was only going to be me. We just tore out of there, I didn't even have time to pack anything."

Tessa took notice for the first time since Richelle arrived that she was still dressed for bed, in a long green nightshirt, a rag tied around her short red curly hair, bare feet, and little else. She told the girl, "We can get some of Richie's clothes for you to wear."

"Don't bother," Richelle picked up one of her bags and said, "Fortunately I hadn't gotten around to unpacking my stuff since I got back to New York three days ago. Now it's just a matter of finding something that's actually been washed."

Duncan's mind was spinning. He couldn't make heads or tails of anything that was going on, it took him a couple minutes to actually say, "Well come on in, we'll get a place set up for you."

After the incidents that had taken place prior to last Christmas, the relationship that existed between Duncan and Richelle had improved immensely. Richelle was still Richelle and therefore there couldn't be a single visit of hers passed by in which she didn't in some way try to rile the highlander up, but they were hardly at each other's throats like they used to be in the last year. That was something they were all grateful for…well, on the Seacouver side anyway, there was never any way to tell what was going through Richelle's head.

Connor had warned her not to make too much trouble, all the same she couldn't resist tossing one of her bags at him unexpectedly and dryly commenting, "How kind of you."

There were only two bedrooms in the cabin, so naturally once again Richie and his sister were going to be bunking together, fortunately each room came with a full sized double bed. The twins had retreated to Richie's room so they could talk amongst themselves while Richelle got changed; she took one of her bags and stepped behind the open door to the closet to get dressed.

"You really think Connor's going to get himself killed?" Richie asked.

"The thought has crossed my mind," came the response behind the door.

"Come on, he's almost 500 years old, he's not going to let himself get whacked by some bastard now."

"I hope not," Richelle told him, "But I'm worried that's exactly what's going to happen. But one thing's for certain, no matter what we think or know, we can't let Tessa or Duncan know about it. You know how Mac is, he's a stubborn jackass, he'd still try taking off to find Connor if he suspected we knew the situation was worse than we're supposed to know."

Richie sat on the edge of the bed and kicked his feet against the bedstead and responded, "Maybe he ought to, maybe he could help Connor."

"When has a student ever helped his teacher?" Richelle asked, "Besides, you know Mac's too self righteous to impose on the 'one on one only' rule in a fight, he wouldn't break it even if it meant saving Connor's life, so what the hell good could he do?"

There was a knock at the door, a second later it opened and Tessa stepped into the room. She looked around and asked Richie, "Where's your sister?"

"Here she is," Richelle kicked the door open and stepped out, surprising both of them as they saw her in a strapless orange dress that looked similar to what Lisa Simpson wore.

Richie felt his eyes bug out and his mouth drop open but other than that, he couldn't get his brain to function enough to make any kind of response. Fortunately Tessa came through on that one.

"Richelle…that's a very…" it was the first dress they'd ever seen her in, "Interesting dress…where did you get it from?"

"Oh," Richelle seemed a bit embarrassed as she answered, "Connor had it made for me back in New York, he knows someone who does custom designs." She looked to Richie and said with a small smirk, "I bet that's one thing Duncan doesn't know about Connor, his cousin's a big Tracy Ullman fan."

Richie was sure he'd get smacked for it, but he couldn't resist giving her a brief look up and down, just unbelievable. "I never thought I'd live to see the day."

"Yeah well, you haven't quite yet either," Richelle hiked up her skirt and showed she was wearing a pair of jean shorts underneath it. Then she picked up a pair of white sneakers from her bag and sat down on the bed to put them on.

Tessa knew that Richelle was just as confused about what was going on as the rest of them were, maybe even more, just because she'd actually been with Connor and knew better than the rest of them what was happening, didn't seem to be doing her any favors either. For now she wouldn't press the issue, she just hoped Duncan didn't bring it up either.

"If you're going to be staying with us for a while," Tessa said, "We're going to need to pick up some more groceries."

Richelle nodded tiredly and replied, "I know, back to bananas."

"I was going to go into town and do some shopping anyway," Tessa said, "And I was going to take Richie with me, to make sure we only have to make one trip, would you like to come too?"

Richelle nodded glumly, "Sure…why not?" It was almost too much of an effort not to add what she was really thinking, which was 'might have to get used to these living arrangements permanently after this'.

"I'm going to take Richie and Richelle with me to the store," Tessa told Duncan as she put on her jacket, "Are you going to come with us?"

"Ah…no, I don't think so," Duncan replied.

"Still trying to figure out where Connor's going?" Tessa asked.

Duncan gave a small smirk, "I'm that easy to read, eh?"

"Pretty much."

Whatever calm and cool demeanor Duncan had for a front quickly fell away as he confessed, "I've tried figuring out who might know what's going on, unfortunately Connor doesn't have a lot of friends he keeps in touch with, especially ones who know he's Immortal."

"You're worried about him," Tessa noted, then thought to ask, "How is this different from any other challenge he takes?"

Duncan felt a need to point out the obvious, "From the time he met with Richelle, he's never dropped her off here while he goes to find the other Immortal. That's what tells me that something's wrong."

"You don't think he's going to win," Tessa said, not asked, said.

"I don't know, that's the problem," Duncan answered, "If I even knew who it was…it'd be something to go on…maybe if I were to head up to Connor's place…"

"It's a three hour drive, at least," Tessa reminded him, "Do you really mean to tell me you're going to leave me at the mercy of those two for all that time? Besides, incase you forgot, we only have the one car with us, and the nearest rental agency's at least a mile into town."

"I know, I thought about that already," Duncan admitted.

"Oh…you've been giving it a lot of thought I see," Tessa said.

"Connor's in trouble, I have to find out what's going on," he told her.

"Alright, Mac," Tessa nodded in understanding, and added, "Just…try to do it quietly, Richelle seems worried enough about him also. I can't imagine what must be going through her mind."

"Yeah well…I just wish I knew what was going through Connor's right now," Duncan said.

Connor took in and let out a few quick, sharp breaths as he composed himself on the steps outside the church. It was a small Baptist church, not really his thing but holy ground was holy ground and in addition to being the only neutral territory for Immortals, not a bad place to clear his head either, or at least try to. After he'd dropped Richelle off with Duncan and the others, he'd driven for about an hour before finally realizing he wasn't heading anywhere, so he pulled over at the first church he saw. He needed to clear his head and think.

Had he made the right decision? What choice did he have? He couldn't take Richelle with him, it was too dangerous, and he couldn't leave her at the house, that would've been issuing her death sentence. They'd gotten out of New York by the skin of their teeth, by now Connor was sure the entire house had been ransacked and torn apart, if anything was there to find besides them, then no doubt it had been found by now, and they would know.

But had they truly gotten out in time? They made it across state lines without any trouble, but did that mean that they hadn't been followed? And if they had been followed, would their pursuers tail after him, or would they stay back by the cabin for Richelle as a bargaining chip? No, he couldn't allow himself to think like that, even if there was a possibility of that, she wasn't there alone, Duncan was there, he would make sure nothing happened to the girl. But then the question remained, what if something happened to Duncan? Connor couldn't help thinking about it, he was almost 75 years older than Duncan, and he himself was having doubts about if he was going to be able to walk away from this fight with his head intact. And though he'd debated with himself about it, he doubted that any good would've come if he'd stayed behind to help Duncan; Connor was the one with the neon target on his head now, he couldn't risk putting the others in jeopardy because of it. But then that also left the question just what was he going to do now?

Sure, the answer seemed so simple, face the challenge and take the other Immortal's head. At any given time it was easier said than done, especially if you insisted on actually following the rules. But this time it was especially questionable.

24 hours, hell, even 10 hours ago, 8, 6, life had been perfect, it had been as normal as it could get for someone almost 500 years old. And now he'd found himself turning tail and running like a coward. No, not like a coward he reminded himself, he was merely buying time. What was it his good friend had told him? 'Live, grow stronger, fight another day.' Yeah, all good and well in the moment when it was originally said, but there wasn't time for that now; he had to figure out what he was going to do and he had to do it soon, and also he had to find a way to track down exactly where his opponent was so they could get this whole mess over with.

Realistically speaking with every challenge you faced as an Immortal there should've been that deep contemplation of would this be the time you lost? Would today be the day you lost your head? But that wasn't reality for Connor, some fights you could just tell going into them that you would come back out as the victor. Others were more of a puzzle and a whole lot of luck. But this time he found himself seriously contemplating that possibility that he might not walk away from this one. An Immortal, as any good fighter, as any good soldier, had to be ready to accept death at a moment's notice, which made for a very complicated way of life. For many years he'd convinced himself, he was prepared to die but just not ready, and now he wondered. Somewhere along the way he'd already started to go through the questions what if he never saw Duncan or Richelle or any of them again? Usually that ought to be the question the people on the other side asked, because even as an Immortal there was the belief that once you were dead, your worries were over and you didn't know anything. But it had never been proven. Some Quickenings were worse than others, almost as if the battle's loser refused to die, or refused to stay dead. And Dark Quickenings were especially a nightmare way to deal with a sore loser. Ah, and what about Heather? Would he ever be reunited with her in death? Or would his soul stay with his lost Quickening and linger in the body of his killer?

And then there was something else Connor had wondered plenty of times. Every Immortal knew when you took another's head you also took his power with you. Sometimes you could channel that Immortal's memories. But could the same be said when you took one Immortal's head, could you channel through to the ones he had killed? He'd tried several times after taking the Kurgan's head to find Ramirez's Quickening somewhere inside himself, and so far as best as he could tell, he'd had no luck in finding it. Digging both sets of fingernails against his scalp as he scratched his head in a frustrated manner, he said half to himself, "I wish you were here now you overdressed Spanish peacock, maybe you'd have the answer."

Connor heard somebody else's voice in the back of his mind. Richelle's, a memory from not so long ago.

"Connor, why did Brenda leave you?"

It hadn't been an easy question to answer at the time it was asked. And it wasn't an easy one to try answering now either. But all the same, Connor was for the first time actually relieved that Brenda had left him. The last thing he needed right now was yet another mortal's safety to worry about on account of him. It had been bad enough, it had been nightmare enough when the Kurgan kidnapped her. But it was like comparing Hiroshima to a modern nuclear missile, horrible as it had been at the time it happened, it was peanuts in comparison to what they were facing now.

Richelle's head was in the clouds the entire time that they were at the grocery store. She tried passing it off as just being tired after being awoken early and being on the road for so long, it wasn't Richie she needed to convince, but she was sure that Tessa knew there was more to it than that. She'd tried several times and several ways to focus on something else but her mind kept going back to Connor, and what he'd told her during their ride out to the cabin. He'd made her swear not to tell the others what he told her, and ordinarily that wasn't any problem; this time though, she wished more than anything that she could tell somebody what she knew, maybe someone else could make sense of it. But at a choice between Duncan or Tessa or even Richie, she knew none of them would. And in all actuality, Connor had never said she couldn't tell Richie, it was just the more 'mature' of the grownups among them who were to be left in the darkness, for their own well being as much as anything.

She'd tried at the time to make some comment, a joke almost, he didn't want Duncan to know what was going on, he didn't trust Duncan, he had no faith in his own clansman. Not that she could blame him, she didn't have any in Mac either, not really, since she knew that a good number of the Immortals that Connor faced up against, did not bother themselves with playing by the 'rules'. And if Connor was worried about this one now, it was very obvious that they'd never even learned what the rules were, and it left her wondering if holy ground would even still be a refuge if the two should meet.

"You alright, sis?"

She realized Richie was talking to her and it was also then that she realized the reason he was asking was because she was chewing on the choker bead necklace that she'd put on with her dress to give it a more authentic Lisa Simpson look. She took the large white beads out of her mouth and let the necklace drop back into its intended position and resumed walking with him from one aisle to the next.

"Just fine," she replied, "Never better, how about you?"

Richie was worried, he couldn't remember ever seeing his sister like this. He put a hand on her back and tried to sound reassuring as he said to her, "Don't worry, Richelle, Connor knows what he's doing."

"I know," she replied, not sounding convinced.

"He's going to come back," Richie told her, "Whatever it is, you know he'll be back."

"I hope so," she responded.

"Hey, he taught Mac everything he knows, and Mac's gone up against some real psychos, so if he can do it, Connor's got to be twice as good as Mac is," Richie said.

Richelle weakly nodded, "I know…"

"So what's got you so upset?" Richie asked.

She looked to her brother and said confidentially, "I'm not sure which bothers me more, the idea that Connor's gone off and could get himself killed…or the possibility that whoever he's gone after, is really coming after us to make him suffer."

Now she had Richie's attention. His eyes were wide and his mouth was closed tight, though his jaw looked like it could drop at any minute.

"We don't even know if it's one Immortal or a whole rogue pack of them," Richelle started letting out some of the concerns that had been weighing heavily on her mind since her drop-off earlier that morning, "And if it's the latter, whether or not Mac's there, we could all be sitting ducks. That's the problem, Richie, we don't know what we're dealing with and we also don't know who's going to be the one dealing with it."

A few seconds passed with a silence so Richie could take in what she'd just pointed out, and then he said to her, "Well I hope you're happy, now you got me worried."

"Well," Richelle shrugged, "Misery loves company."

"Even if that is the case, we all have experience with Immortals," Richie reminded her, "Hey, you remember those four goons we were stuck with last fall?"

"Methos and Kronos and their brothers, sure," Richelle nodded, "Weird friends of Connor's."

"If we could survive that then we ought to be able to survive anybody that comes after us," Richie pointed out.

"I hope you're right, Richie," his sister replied and shook her head, "But I just can't shake the feeling that we could be looking at something even worse."

Richie gave her an odd look and asked, "Who could possibly be worse than those four knuckleheads?'