Disclaimer: I do not own Highlander Davis/Panzer does, this story is only written for fun and enjoyment not for profit. Rated M for language and mature situations.

I want to thank my Beta reader R.J. Bingham. Please go and read R.J. Bingham's Fan-fictions, they are all well written and very enjoyable.

Chapter 17

Methos the Control Freak

Methos was fully dressed sharpening and cleaning his sword when Mac walked into the hotel room around 4 AM.

"Hello Duncan I thought I was going to miss seeing you, I am leaving New Zealand, have a cab coming to take me to the airport and my private plane at 4:30. Mac do be careful you're treading on dangerous ground romancing Joe's only child."

"Well your calling the kettle black aren't you trying to steal Gwen back?"

"No, actually I wasn't, I had no intention of stopping this marriage, if anything I wanted to make Gwennie's marriage stronger. It was my intention for Gwennie to review her past in order for Joe to accept her completely for whom she really is and tell her he loves her anyway, so if anything all of this has only served to accomplish my goals more effectively." Methos confidently said as he continued to sharpen and clean the sword.

"So as usual you set this whole thing up, you conniving bastard." Mac chuckled back at Methos.

"Yes and no, I was honestly surprised over her revelation about Kronos, and few things surprise me anymore, and I did get angry but I realized I could use the situation to accomplish my original goals better than the plans I already had. So Voila, Gwennie and Joe are an inseparable couple, she will bend to his wishes and curb her constant headhunting, settle down and spend the next 10 or 30 years just being in love and enjoying the time they have left to them." Methos started to dry off the 13th century broad sword and held it in the air then swooshed it around a few times feeling its weight. Then carefully he placed it in a sword case alongside its mate a matching eighteen inch knife.

"Expecting trouble?" Mac asked.

"Well, I hear from the grapevine that Connor and Cassandra are both making plans to take my head so one can't be to prepared, but I do not plan to be in a place they'll be able to find me either. Enjoy the wedding Mac and kiss the bride for me, don't forget to give them my gift." Methos said as he pointed to a large box wrapped up in gold paper sitting on the bed."

"Methos just tell me why you went through this whole charade; you can't fool me I know you still love Gwen, why all the cloak-and-dagger stuff?"

"MacLeod if there is one lesson I have learned from living so long it is that I have all the time in the world, Joe on the other hand has an expiration date. Beside, this relationship is just what the doctor order for Gwennie, unconditional love. She hasn't had that in her life since she was a child and that was over 4500 years ago. It should heal a lot of wounds that she still carries around and help her to stop living in the past."

"That's really very noble of you Methos."

"No Mac you're wrong, it was just the opposite, it's underhanded, dishonest, cowardly, deceitful, devious, malicious, secretive, shifty, and everything else that you ever said about me." Methos closed his eyes took a deep breath and then looked MacLeod directly in the eyes. "Gwennie gets the time she needs to heal and stop living so dangerously, plus she will take a break from the game, in time Joe and I will go back to being friend again and he will be happy, and I'll be there to pick up the pieces when Joe dies. One thing I leaned over the years is I have time on my side. So there is nothing noble here, it's just another one of my plans, and in the end I will get her back. You know me I hadn't had a noble intention since I offered you my head under that bridge in Paris so you could defeat Kalas."

"You only offered me your head because you knew I wouldn't take it." MacLeod gave Methos an annoyed stare.

"It was a calculated risk guess based on reading your chronicles, many of which were written by Joe who I had known for years, but I also knew he had a tendency to embellish you as the quintessential hero. Things can change drastically when that moment comes and even the finest immortal can have a change of heart when he has his sword at the neck of a 5,000 year old man with me asking him twice to take my head. It was still a gamble MacLeod one I wasn't sure I would survive. But it worked as most of my plans always do and here we both stand today."

Mac just shook head he disliked knowing Methos had put him in that situation, with the plan hoping that he wouldn't take Methos head. Plans and schemes seemed part of Methos standard operating procedures, so Mac changed the subject. "So Methos where are you going next?"

"Medical School, I thought after I patched up Joe, after that incident with Galati that my skills were badly out of date, and since I have been a Doctor many times before it might be good to take a refresher course, get up to date on all the new advances in Medicine."

"Yea you said you studied medicine in Heidelberg during the 1400's."

"Well actually I've been studying medicine since the time of Hypocrites."

"I bet your going to tell me you helped him write the Hippocratic Oath." Mac shot back at him.

"No I just help him refine it a bit; I suggested he add the section keeping patient confidentiality. I only remember the original version which says and I quote "whatever in connection with my professional practice or not, in connection with it, I see or hear, in the life of men, which ought not to be spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret." That way when he saw me come back to life he couldn't tell anyone." Methos looked up at Mac and gave him one of those half smiles looking at him with his large brown eyes that were also smiling at Mac.

"Methos some day's your stories are just so wild I really do not know if to believe you or not."

"Its part of my charm MacLeod anyway why would I lie to you, after everything we have been through there is no point to it. So tell me before I have to go are you really opening up a tavern here with Joe and what are you planning to do with the lovely Amy. You're not the marring type and I doubt that the reality of no grandchildren and his only child living in sin with an immortal will make Joe very happy." Methos asked as he started to gather his luggage together.

"So I see you're taking Joe's side on this. To tell the truth I'm not sure it's all so new, this thing just sort of hit both of us like a bolt of lightning; I guess a lot of it will be up to Amy. Methos I haven't felt anything like this since I met Tessa." Then Mac shook his head. "No this is different, it bigger, I do not think I have felt this way about any women before. I can't explain it but it feels like I've known her all my life, but it's only been 24 hours. Did you ever feel that way about a woman?" Mac asked the 5,000 year old man.

"Yea a couple of times, but it was a long time ago." Methos paused his mind drifting back to another time, but he caught himself and looked back at Mac. "So work it out with Joe, take the plunge and marry this women Duncan, don't make the mistake I did in the past and let her go. Think of Alexa, I told Joe I was lucky to meet a women like her every 10 life times and she was part of my life for such a short time. I still cherish every memory I have of our time together."

"Methos, what about Gwen, did you ever feel about here like you did about Alexa, like I think I do about Amy?" Mac pressed the old man for an answer hoping he would just give him some flip response.

Methos sat down on the bed in the hotel room and lowered his head; he paused searching for something to say to his friend that would not reveal the truth, then finally he looked Mac in the eyes and said. "Duncan, I once told your kinsman Connor something and I guess I am going to tell you the same thing, when it comes to me and Gwennie it's very complicated. There is no way you can be involved with the same women for over 2000 years and not have a lot of issues in the relationship. To tell you the truth, I do not even dare admit to myself how I really feel about her. I can't because then I would have to face too many things about myself I don't want to deal with. How long have you lived Highlander, over four hundred years? Maybe after you lived a few more thousand years you will begin to get a grasp of what I am really talking about."

"Cut the bullshit Methos that line may have worked on Connor but he doesn't know you like I do." Mac shot back at him.

Methos closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Well it's almost time for my cab, and it should be here in a few minuets"

"Just once in your life be straight with me and answer the question Methos!"

Methos turned away from the Highlander so he couldn't see his face; his voice was filled with emotion as he talked to the Highlander. "It was so much easier when I believed she was dead, I came to accept that cold harsh reality, but now all I can do is let life's dramas play themselves out. I have spent years hiding from life, avoiding the game, and now for some crazy reason I have found people I care about again. Then who barges in to one of those same people's lives but Gwennie back from the dead. I find out that one of the only mortals I have found that I have true respect for and brotherly love for is in love with the only immortal women I have every truly loved. I love them both, but Joe is mortal and lives with death always staring him in the face. So who wins Duncan, the man who time has stood still for or the man who is a good and honest but still only mortal man?

Mac walked over and put his hand on Methos's shoulder, "Then stop calling yourself such an underhanded, dishonest cowardly, you're not. Why do you continue to play the part of the bad guy in all this?"

Methos wiped his hands across his face and looked up at his friend, "So now you're forgiving me for being Death on a horse? Honestly MacLeod life is full of contradictions, and its true what I said to Connor, if Gwennie and I were really together like back in the old days I would have to face a lot about myself I don't want to deal with right now. She knows me better than anyone, I can't hide from her or make jokes to lead her off the track, she sees through any façade." Methos stood up and finished gathering his luggage. Then he looked at Mac and finished his thoughts. "So this is how it's going down, I am leaving town, maybe I can come back after I finish medical school, maybe I can be a friend to Joe again, and help him out in his declining years. Maybe Gwennie will forgive me for what I put her through, maybe not. OK I lied to you Mac when I said I be there to pick up the pieces when Joe dies, as you know the years have not left me a wise old sage with all the answers. Right now all I know is I am not welcome in her house or life. One thing I learned in 5000 years is you can't make anyone love you, or recapture something that was gone over 2000 years ago. So we have to leave it up to fate, and I hate leaving anything up to fate. MacLeod you must have realized by now that I am a bit of a control freak." Methos said with an uncomfortable laugh.

"Yeh I caught that about you back when Kristen came to town." Mac laughed with his friend. Then a horn honked outside and they knew that Methos Cab had arrived. Mac walked over to his friend and gave him a hug good-bye and a pat on the back and helped carry his bags to the waiting cab. "And just because you asked you're still on the hook for being Death on a horse, but I hope to be seeing you around sometime soon." Mac said as Methos loaded his luggage into the cab.

Methos smiled. "Sure Mac I hope to see you around too. Duncan, try to grab all the love you can find, it disappears so quickly, so don't forget what I said about Amy. Take it from me, try to live your life with as few regrets as possible, it will make the years pass by faster." Then Methos touched Mac's arm and looked straight into his eyes and said. "Remember Highlander live, grow stronger, and fight another day." And without another word Methos got into the cab and was gone.

End chapter 17

Chapter 18

The Wedding and a Gift from Methos