Duncan watched her until she was out of sight, then resumed his walk around the lake. He needed time to think, and if he wasn't mistaken, Amanda needed time to pack her things before heading for the nearest airport and the first flight to anywhere. He knew he had to let her go. The more he tried to hold on, the harder she would fight to get away.

When had it become so important to him that she stick around, he wondered. He had loved her from the start. She had stolen his gold and then his heart in quick succession and he had only succeeded in getting one of them back. But he had been content to meet up every so often, have some fun, usually get entangled in whatever scheme Amanda was involve in, spend some time together and then go their separate ways. Now he found himself wanting something more, something more permanent. Well he wasn't going to get it by frightening Amanda away with out of the blue proposals. He would have to consider his plan of action and then wait for Amanda to get over her funk and come and see him again.

He headed back to the loft. Going in, however, proved much harder than he had anticipated. Amanda wasn't untidy but she had a way of making the loft her own when she came to stay, and somehow it felt really empty without her. He decided to head over to Joe's and try and forget, or at least ignore for a few hours the sudden feeling of emptiness in the loft and in his heart.

As he reached the bar, he felt the buzz of another Immortal pull at his consciousness, and against his better judgement, felt the hope rise in his heart, that maybe she had decided to stick around. Opening the dorr, he quickly scanned the room, and recognised Methos at the bar. Concealing his chagrin, he made his way over, nodding to a few of the regulars in greeting.

"Hi Adam, Joe."

"Hey Mac, what can I get you?"

"MacLeod, wasn't expecting you on this cold and windswept night!"

"Scotch, please Joe. Seemed like a good night to spend some time with friends, but I'm here so might as well stick around for a bit."

"Ah, biting sarcasm, more my line than yours."

"Leave the man to enjoy his drink in peace, Adam."

"But where is the fun in that?"

Duncan let his friends banter wash over him as he sipped his drink and allowed the ambience and the music soothe him. Blues was just right for his mood tonight. He answered any queries somewhat at random and hoped that they put it down to getting lost in the music. However he was drawn out of his reverie when Methos asked, "And will we have the pleasure of the lovely Amanda's company tonight?"

"She had to catch a flight this afternoon, some important meeting." He looked across at them briefly, then turned to face the band, missing the meeting of eyes, and quirked eyebrows that greeted his answer.

"Well, she never could seem to stop in one place for any length of time." Methos said languidly.

Duncan flinched inwardly (he hoped only inwardly) and said nothing. Methos nodded briefly to himself and turned back to Joe.

"Good band tonight! Thinking of making them regulars?"

"Well, see how they go, but so far they seem to be drawing the crowd in."

Joe glanced over at Mac, and raised his eyebrows in a question to Methos, who shook his head gently and continued their conversation, addressing remarks to Duncan from time to time, but not worried if they never received a reply.

At closing time, Methos turned to Duncan, "Any chance of a lift home, MacLeod?"