Conner and David sat in silence after Samantha and Romona had left not knowing where to start the conversation that they both knew, they had to have. The silence grew until it felt like every sound came leaping out at them echoing through the quiet room pleading for them to break the void.
"So" Conner finally spoke when the silence finally got too much for him.
"What is it you would like me to say?" David's voice crocked as he tried to hide as much anger from his voice as possible. "Do you want me to say that I forgive you and that everything will go back to how it was before you killed Duncan? Forgiveness has never been an issue for me. I understand that you couldn't help doing what Hestia made you do. There's no need for forgiveness as there was nothing you did that you could have prevented."
"But I should have been able to resist!"
"No you couldn't have, Conner. I've been through the same thing, remember. When I killed Richie. I know that it is extremely hard, if not impossible to resist. All I really have to say is that I understand why you did what you did and I don't hold it against you."
"Well you should! After all, what I did to you was unforgivable."
"What just because you killed me?" David had to hold back the flat laugh that tried to escape his throat. "No Conner, I have felt how you feel now and it's no good. Wallowing in self-pity will only manage to get you killed. Just think about that for a second and remember what affect that had on Saxton when Duncan was killed. She killed herself for god sake just to get revenge. The regret she carried around thinking that I didn't know that she had forgiven me when I always knew she did deep down. Do you want that to happen to me?" David paused for a second, taking deep breaths trying to calm the raging anger that was building within him.
"Do you want me to live with the regret of not telling you how I feel? To carry around that regret until it eats away at me until there's nothing left but an empty shell looking for revenge?"
"You know that's not what I want."
"Then why won't you accept that there's nothing to forgive?"
"BECAUSE WHAT I DID WAS UNFORGIVABLE." Conner shouted then quickly regretted it. Calming down he quietly continued. "I killed my student. My Brother. My Friend."
"So did I! God I'm starting to think Dad's right. That it is just the stubbiness of Scots that prevent them from understanding something what's right in front of their faces."
"How can you say that?" Conner asked in disbelief.
"Because it's true, Conner. I'm telling you that there's nothing to forgive and you are too stubborn to accept that fact."
"I'm sorry, David."
"Don't be sorry. Accept the facts so we can concentrate on surviving this little game of Hestia's. If we can get through this then maybe there will be plenty of time for us to talk and work this out properly."
"I'll try."
"Well at least that's a start. Come on lets go see if we can find the others."
"They've gone out."
"How do you know that?" David asked as he scrunched up his forehead in confusion.
"I can't fell their presences." Conner replied in a matter of fact tone of voice.
"Oh the buzz. God I miss that early warning system."
Conner burst out laughing just then coursing David to once again look at him in confusion.
"What?" David asked innocently.
"You. It's. It's just that after the way you've been talking I almost forgot that you were still just a sixteen-year-old lad. Then you come out and say something like that."
"Is that it? Just the fact that I started to act my age and not the age of my soul?"
"Yes!"
"Well I've got to get some advantages from been stuck like this."
"I can see your point."
With that the friendship that they thought to be lost after Duncan's death seemed to take its first step at been restored. With joking and laughter the pair left the room a little bit more comfortable with each other's presence.
Ben sat once again in front of the computer screen as he put the finishing touches to the worm that was crucial in enabling them to get the money together so plan would work. The plan was almost a week in front thanks to Ben's possession of a worm and if all went as planed once again within the next few hours he, Samantha and Romona would start hacking their way into the computers of some of the most powerful companies throughout the world and implanting the worm and setting it off to do it's job.
The temper of the group of friends was stretched almost to breaking already as Ben had decided it would be best for the group to remain isolated inside the same three bedroom house that he, Saxton and David called home.
Out of all the people he would have expected to start biting at one another he would not have chosen Samantha, Saxton and Romona. Having been friends for the longest amount of time if you did not count Conner and David/Duncan's friendship he was surprised at how they seemed to pick arguments over the slightest of things.
One minute they were all having a pleasant conversation and the next there was a blazing row taking place for what seemed like the most innocent thing.
David and Conner had tried playing peacemaker but having three angry women glare at you was enough to make Death run for the hills as Ben found out as he tried to interfere when he had taken a fifteen minute break from the computer to grab a bite to eat.
Rubbing his eyes as he saved the modifications to the worm he had just made Ben leaned back into his chair and sighed in relief. It was finally finished.
The door to the office squeaked open and Saxton slowly walked in not wanting to distract him if he was still busy working.
"How's it going?"
"I've finished. Where are Samantha and Romona?"
"I've got them starting dinner. You want to start straight away because I could always get Conner to give me a hand with dinner while you three get to work."
"No, there's no hurry. Why don't we go relax for a bit before I have to spend god knows how long in front of the computer, again?"
"Ok!" Saxton smiled at Ben; a glint in her eye that he knew all to well.
"What's going on?" Ben asked slightly unsure whether he really wanted to know the answer to that question.
"You'll see. Come on." Saxton quickly turned around and exited the room. Ben shook his head and left the room following Saxton down the hall and into the sitting room where he found Conner and David deeply focused on a game of chess.
"How many games have they played?" Ben asked Saxton as he slipped his arms around her waist.
The warmth of his body pressed against her back was almost too much of a distraction but when she felt his breath on her neck she couldn't help but shiver. "Just this one. I've never seen David take this long to beat someone at chess before."
"It's not surprising he seemed so natural at chess now that I think about it. He's got the memories of Duncan and then I'm been teaching him more things about chess since he was five."
"Yeah I never saw it like that before, but still shouldn't he be able to beat Conner pretty easily with all you've taught him?"
"He can but he's toying with him!" Ben whispered smirking as he noticed some of the moves that could have been made but David was obviously playing a sneaky game.
"Why would he do that?"
"I think he's trying to teach Conner a lesson in not underestimating him. Think about it Duncan had lived for over four hundred years and had to earn Conner's respect, while David is a sixteen year old who just happens to have Duncan's memories. David wants to show Conner that there is more to him then just the memories of Duncan. He's showing that to Conner now. Duncan once told me that the one thing that he could never best his teacher at was chess. David is showing him that he can."
"Oh!" Saxton turned back towards the game in front of her and continued to watch as David moved his queen into a position ready to claim Conner's bishop. "Why isn't Conner noticing what he's doing?" Saxton whispered as she continued to watch.
"My guess is because he's not expecting the honourable Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod to play this dirty. He seems to keep forgetting that I've been David's father since he was two. I've convinced him that there's no honour if you're dead and finally got round that stupid chivalrous streak Duncan always had."
"In other words you've warped his mind to how you want him to think."
"Hey it's all for the best." Ben shot back at her in false hurt.
"I know and he knows too. From what he told me this morning about his and Conner's conversation last night it's done some good as well. Can you believe that he called Conner a stubborn Scot?"
Ben couldn't help it; he burst out laughing so loud that even Samantha and Romona came in from the kitchen to find out what was so funny. Conner's face showed his annoyance at their game of chess been interpreted while David just looked puzzled at his parents.
"What's so funny?" Samantha asked as she noticed that Ben was the only one laughing while the Conner and David looked confused or angry, while Saxton was clear having a hard time keeping a smirk off her face as she tried to put on a look of pure innocence on her face without much success.
"It was nothing." Saxton tried to get everyone's mind off Ben's sudden burst of laughter. "How's dinner coming?"
"Dinner's fine and it wasn't nothing. Ben what was so funny?" Samantha asked looking between the still laughing Ben and the guilty looking Saxton.
Finally calming himself down slightly he managed to respond to Samantha's question. "It… It was just something Saxton said."
"Oh, really and what was it that Saxton said that had you almost rolling around the floor with tears of laughter dripping down your face?"
"She was just telling me about the finer points of how stubborn a certain immortal could be and how someone pointed that out to said immortal."
Conner looked over at David to find that his face had suddenly grown a brilliant shade of crimson. "You? You told Saxton about what we talked about?"
"Well she can understand what I'm going through plus she is my mum!"
"No. Don't worry David I'm not annoyed that you discussed it with her, it's just taken me slightly by surprise. Duncan would never have discussed something like that with anyone else. He would have kept everything to himself."
"Yeah, well I'm not Duncan!" David said slight anger dripping from his voice.
"David I'm not saying it's a bad thing, in fact I'd say it was a good thing."
"Oh, ok!" David was still slightly annoyed that Conner still refused to acknowledge that Duncan and David are two separate people.
"Come on, let's finish this game or we'll be here all night. I believe it was your turn to move."
"Yes I believe it was." David smirked and made his move the looked up smirking at Conner.
"Checkmate!"