A/N: This was my favourite chapter to write so far. Thank you for all the lovely reviews and I'm hoping and praying that you like this chapter... As always, reviews are loved, worshiped, and adored... Especially for this one... *bites fingernails nervously*

Note, dates have been modified from the start:

Photos: 2108

Current Date: 2854 / 198AC

Glenfinnan swallowed: 2302

AC Era started: 2656

Methos last met in: 2134

Thanks to Holly & Jude for beta-ing this chapter. Jude especially for helping with the flow!

Chapter 13

The man stopped suddenly, then, almost as if he knew he was being watched, turned to scan the crowded street. Duo held back a curse, maintaining his polite curiosity in the shop window as he kept an eye on his target out the corner of his eye. If his target even suspected that he was being followed, it could blow the whole operation - not to mention it'd mean he was slipping. Suddenly, Keturi's gaze stopped searching, the single eye visible beneath the fall of hair and glasses meeting his own violet reflected in the window with a look of almost recognition, then surprise and anger. Before Duo could react, the man spun and with a surprising turn of speed took off down the road. Dammit, now he'd have to give chase and wouldn't that just ruin the whole sneaky surveillance thing he was meant to be doing. This guy was the only lead they had, and now he knew he was being followed... The only option was to catch him and hope Une and Duncan didn't kill him for it later.

He flung himself into action, following the man as he wound through the heaving crowds, both of them ignoring the other pedestrians in their way as they flew along. Shit, but the guy was fast. He heard a few shouts of indignation as he pushed past people, bouncing off one particularly vocal gaggle of females into a buggy, spilling the contents onto the floor to a loud wail from the child and an equally piercing shriek from the mother. "Sorry!" he yelled behind him, staggering a little while he dodged around a shopping trolley, his braid streaming along behind him as it slipped out of his cap Sorry, kid, but I really need to catch this man, or you might not live to see adulthood, he thought in apology, eyes fixed on the man ahead of him.

His prey turned left down a small alleyway and, consulting his mental map, seemed to be heading for one of the older suburbs of Paris. From the short cuts he was taking the man knew the rundown area intimately, easily navigating the close warren of dark alleyways and narrow streets. He couldn't help but admire the ease and grace that the man took passageways that didn't even look like they'd have an exit, only for them both to emerge into the light a short time later.

Finally admitting that Keturi knew Paris far better than he did, and reluctantly deciding that he should probably inform Duncan before he got too much further, he reached for the communicator in his ear, fumbling for the controls as both he and his prey ran over a bridge, before they both swung under it into the sewers that criss-crossed under the old city. "Cloud, this is Night. Target acquired. Have given chase. Following." He stumbled for a moment as he landed on a stone and cursed as the man in front of him landed softly, his target's coat and hair flaring as he rose and sprinted away with ease, widening the gap that he'd only just managed to narrow.

"You couldn't just follow him quietly could you?" his partner replied with a resigned sigh.

"Hey, not my fault the guy somehow realised I was there!" Duo muttered quietly as he dug a tracer from his pocket. "He's getting away, I'm gonna try and tag him."

"Acknowledged, Night. Will await further contact."

Quickly, Duo pulled the two parts of the tracer apart before tossing the adhesive part towards the retreating figure, stifling a sigh of relief as it stuck to the hem of the brown coat. Slowing to a stop as the running footsteps of his target died off into the distance, he pulled out the matching tracing device from his pocket, plugging in the receiving half of the tracer into the machine and pulling up the correct map.

And there we go. He grinned, tossing his braid over his shoulder as the glowing red blip of his quarry appeared on the screen, moving away from him through the streets of Paris. It shouldn't be hard to track the man now, and less hard work on his legs. Turning, he headed back to where he'd parked his car. There was an easier way to catch this man.

Climbing into the driving seat, he slotted the tracer into its holder before connecting the charger. Luckily the device's map had provided a much more straightforward route back to the busy shopping centre than the one he'd been led round in his headlong chase. For a moment he sat there, watching the blip and recalling the man half turning, scanning the crowds. The guy had known that he was there. But there was simply no way that he'd given himself away, he'd done nothing to betray his position. He'd given no reason for anyone to even suspect that he was there for anything other than shopping. How the hell had Keturi known? And then there was the nagging feeling he knew him from somewhere. Damn. But he'd only seen the man on CCTV, and even then only for a few moments, he'd never seen the man before that tape. Something about that eye under the fall of brown hair though...

Shaking his head, he dismissed the thoughts, if he knew him, he'd find out when he caught up with him, and wasn't going to do that just sitting here. So, best to just get going. "Cloud, this is Night. Target tagged. On my way. Will transmit target location when confirmed."

"Acknowledged, Night. Will meet you there. Be careful."

"Always am!" Watching as the dot continued to move through the city he put the car into gear and set off at a leisurely pace towards the downtown area of the city.

Gradually the shops turned into empty boarded up stores, and the once prosperous neighbourhood faded into ramshackle houses, the grass in front of them dying or dead, replaced by stones and weeds. Even the high rises had paint peeling from the walls and cracks in the windows. Noticing the fresh flowers and children's toys on those windowsills, Duo managed to summon a smile, even in these desolate, dying shells, life and laughter still blossomed.

Pulling into an abandoned driveway, he unplugged the tracking device, trying to be patient as the dot on the screen continued to zig-zag around the area until it came to rest on a street a few blocks away. Checking that his regulation gun was in place before digging a pair of knives out from the glove compartment and slotting them into his belt. While they weren't regulation by any stretch of the imagination, he didn't feel comfortable relying on just bullets. Checking the also non-standard lockpicks he kept in his hair out of habit,

he sighed. He supposed he really should let his partner know where he was, "Night to Cloud. Target at rest at... 035N084W. Heading to target."

"Acknowledged, Night. Cloud out."

With that little formality out the way, he climbed out and locked the car before carefully making his way towards the street marked on the tracer, determined that whatever had set his prey off the first time would not occur again.

The small house looked abandoned, but Duo's keen eyes picked up a few signs of occupation. The gravel was uneven, a few scuffs around the door suggesting that had been opened recently, and the a small amount of dust wiped away from one window hinted at a spyhole. Giving the property a wide berth, he circled around the side of the row, and made quick work of picking the lock of the gate on the alleyway between the two parallel rows of houses. Carefully counting along the fences, he slowly made his way to the back of the target property, pleased to see a narrow wooden gate at one side.

Double checking his weapons, he took a deep breath, before opening that quiet place inside of him where the dark side of his soul lurked, feeling his eyes cool as the world snapped into sharp cold focus. Carefully working his lockpicks through the gate's lock, he held his breath until he heard the quiet click of the tumblers. With a sigh of relief, he pushed the gate open, ducking down low as he squeezed around the small gap, slowly closing it again with a small tap of his heel.

Scanning the narrow garden, he smiled dangerously at the overgrown mess. Perfect. Staying down low, he used the bushes and weeds as cover as he made his way carefully to the back door. Pulling out his lockpicks again, he coaxed the lock to open with barely a sound.

The loud creak as the door slowly opened echoed into the room beyond and Duo cringed silently. Fuck, well didn't that just tear it. If the guy was in the house it would be pretty obvious he was there. Damn it. He'd just have to do this the hard way. Abandoning stealth, he darted into the empty kitchen, moving through the empty hallway.

A quick glance into the dining room and lounge as he passed proved they too were empty. At the base of the stairs he paused, listening intently for any sounds within the house. Silence. Carefully he made his way up the stairs, testing for any squeaky steps out of habit as he went.

"So, it was you I saw." The voice stopped Duo in his tracks as his foot touched the top step. Moving out of the shadowed doorway, the man smiled coldly as he raised the sword that had been hidden behind the door frame. "I thought it was, but I couldn't be sure. You're good at hiding, you know. But I will challenge you. And this time I will win."

With his hair tied back into a stark ponytail and the glasses gone, Keturi's green-brown eyes and sculptured face finally triggered the memory that had been haunting him. "But... You're dead..." Slowly he stepped backwards down a step and pulled one of his knives out with one hand. Reaching up to activate his communicator with the other he found himself unable to draw his eyes away from the man who he'd left in a pool of his own blood what seemed like a lifetime ago. "Cloud. This is Night. Requesting immediate backup. I'm in the house, enter via back. There's something screwy going on here." He felt Shinigami rising up inside him and he let the darkness overwhelm him for a moment, the shadow crossing his eyes as he became an observer to his own actions. "I killed you!"

He saw, rather than felt, the knife leave his hand, only to be casually batted out the way by the man's longsword. The hazel eyes looked at him with amusement, "You really are new, aren't you? No matter."

"Night, this is Cloud. I'm almost there."

He ignored the Scot's response as the man stepped forward, backing him down the stairs and into the lounge, recognising the skilled manipulation even as he stepped over the threshold. The other man was still smiling coldly, occasionally twisting the blade in an intricate pattern that reminded him of their previous meeting. "And backup? Hasn't anyone told you the rules yet? No one can interfere."

"I haven't got a fucking clue what you're talking about, pal. All I came here for was some fricking information." His mind skittered away from the impossible fact in front of him, spitting out the words in the desperate hope that reality would reassert itself. "No one needs to get hurt, I just want to know about the organisation you're part of." He had to hope that this guy was part of the organisation they were after - it wasn't like their searches had pulled up anything else after all.

"I assure you, you have more things to worry about than that. Like your head!" Then Keturi... Pierson was a blur of motion, and only leaping over the abandoned sofa kept the blade from touching his skin.

The man paused, his eyes darting to the doorway, and moments later Duo heard the creak of the back door, a sudden sense of relief coursing through him. And that'd be Mac. Thank god.

As he rose from behind the sofa, he allowed his lips to curl up in a smile as Pierson stepped back, wary eyes flitting between him and the doorway. "Two on one is against the rules," the man murmured, tipping his head slightly in some form of acknowledgement, "but I don't blame you."

Then Duncan appeared, stepping into the room with his body language alert, his eyes scanning the room for danger. Duo nodded in acknowledgement as the brown eyes registered his presence, noting with relief the taller man already had his gun in one hand and... a sword in the other? He had a moment to wonder what was going on before his partner's eyes locked on the hazel of his assailant, both pairs widening in surprise, recognition and shock. They know each other?

"Me... Adam..." Duncan's accent was as deep as the pilot had ever heard it, even in the barely heard stuttered whisper. "I thought... Duo... I..."

"Mac... What are you..." The man blinked, taking in the uniformed figure in front of him, the coldness fading into a wary warmth even as he adjusted his sword into a guard position, his mouth giving a wry twist as he watched the Scot drop the gun to the ground and lift his own sword carefully in response.

"Are you challenging me?" Mac's voice steadied, and he broke the green-gold gaze to meet Duo's confused violet. "Duo, get out of here. This doesn't involve you."

"No, MacLeod. I challenged the boy. This is his fight, you can't get involved." The warmth cooled again at the reminder and he turned his body towards the sofa as Duo began to edge out from behind it, keeping one eye fixed on the Scot. "Don't move, pilot 02."

"Adam, he's not one of us," his partner said quietly, stepping further in to the room.

Duo blinked at Duncan's words, catching the Scot mouthing a silent word at the end of the sentence. "Mac, what the fuck do you mean 'yet'? You're one of these guys? In this bloody organisation we're after? You've been pretending all this time? You're not getting me joining, pal! And what's with the fucking swords?"

"Oh, this is great, MacLeod," Adam muttered, "You're working with this kid in Preventer?"

"He's my partner, Adam. And I don't want to make this a challenge. Not after all this time. I thought you were dead!"

"Oh, partner? The great Duncan MacLeod has finally realised there's more to life than women? What does he have that I don't?"

"We work together," Duo growled, his gun wavering between his partner and the other man, his head aching in confusion. "Possibly worked, past tense, if Duncan's working with you "

Duncan sighed, still holding the sword steady, "Duo, I am not working with Adam, or the bloody organisation. This has nothing to do with work. Now will you please get out of here?"

"Not until someone tells me what the fuck is going on? Adam Pierson is dead, I killed him in that mission I told you about, and now his twin's standing in front of me. What the hell?"

"I've had enough of this." The third man's voice was low and dangerous, the green-gold eyes glittering with barely leashed anger. "I have no idea what game you're playing, Highlander. Is he your latest student? Are you're protecting him? It's all part of the Game, MacLeod. You know this as well as I."

"Adam... He's not one of us." Duncan repeated warily. "I don't know why you can sense him, I barely can, and then only rarely. He ages. He heals slowly - I've seen him injured, Adam. He is not one of us. Don't make this mistake. Duo, just, put the gun down."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Duo muttered, as he started to slowly moving around the sofa again, his gun still moving between Mac and Adam. At some point he'd lost track of the conversation, they could have been speaking Chinese for all the sense it made. Student? Challenge? Game? What the fuck?

Suddenly Adam was holding a dagger of his own in his free hand, the other still holding the sword steady. "I told you to stay where you were, whelp."

The next thing he knew, he found himself on the floor behind the sofa, Duncan half lying on top of him. Quickly analysing himself for any injuries, it took a moment for the dagger sticking out of the older man's chest to register. Swearing, he moved his friend carefully so as to not cause any further damage, and started to reach for his comms unit. So, not only did he have a psychotic sword-wielding dead guy in the room, but his partner had been, from the position of the dagger and the pale skin, critically injured. Could this day possibly get any worse?

Then Mac's hand was on his arm, pulling it away from the unit. "No... No units... Adam will explain... You'll need to know eventually... Adam, I know you're... Probably angry with me still... Don't blame you... " Mac's rasping voice brought him back to reality, his eyes starting to glaze over.

"Mac, stay still!" Duo frowned, trying to shush the Scot desperately, "I need to get you some help!"

He glared up to see Adam leaning over the back of the sofa, almost clinically scanning the scene. "I wasn't even aiming to kill him, MacLeod. And given you never let a student out without a sword, and his sheer ignorance, I'm even half inclined to believe you."

"He's... Not my student... Duo... Just explain it to him... Please... And if you cause him to die... Permanently or otherwise... I will have your head... Past friendships be... damned." The effort of speaking took the last of his strength, and Duo watched helplessly as the life left his partner, running out with the blood staining the floor.

Adam sighed, his voice almost long suffering above them. "Thanks so much, MacLeod. Just what I wanted to do today. Typical Highlander. He waltzes into my life, turns it upside down, and expects me to deal with the fallout."

Duo barely registered the man leaning forward to pluck the comms unit from his ear, still trying to process the fact that his partner, his friend was dead. The sound of the unit hitting the ground jerked him out of his shock and he could feel Shinigami surfacing behind his eyes. "He's dead!" Confusion added to the rage starting to boil within him as he raised his gun and trained it on Duncan's killer.

The man just stood up with a relaxed expression on his face as the gun stayed steadily pointing at his forehead. "It didn't work last time, why would it work this time?" he asked calmly. Ignoring the weapon as he moved round to bend down and remove the dagger from Duncan's chest, Pierson wiped it clean on the body's black trousers before re-sheathing it at his waist. Studying the wound he added almost clinically, "I hit the heart so I'd estimate we've got about fifteen minutes before the ever noble Scot rejoins us." He sighed. "I really should leave him on the the floor for that little stunt, but..." Taking hold of the body's shoulders, he looked up at Duo, "Take his legs - he'll complain if we don't at least move him to the sofa."

"He's dead." the pilot repeated coldly. Even as he did so he lowered his pistol, it was blatantly obvious that guns didn't seem to work on Mr. Adam Pierson and Duncan had all but admitted that the man was the same person he thought... no, knew, he'd assassinated.. "He won't care where he is. And he isn't coming back." Looked like he wasn't going to get out of here without indulging the madman, and, to be honest, he was curious as to what possible explanation said madman could give for still being alive.

"Oh, just indulge me for a minute," Adam snapped, "I'll explain it once we've moved him." At Duo's growl of frustration, he rolled his eyes, "Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to attack you - MacLeod's made it quite clear you're under his protection, and I don't particularly want to fight him."

Duo shot him an angry look but holstered his pistol and grabbed his partners legs. Settling the Scot's corpse on the ruined sofa, he crossed his arms as he stood by the side, watching as the other man retrieved the katana that his partner had been wielding and laid it next to its owner. "Given that he's dead, isn't that kind of a moot point anyway?" he muttered to himself, before turning to his enemy with a glare, "Care to give me that explanation now, pal?"

Gesturing to one of the dusty armchairs, Adam took a seat on the opposite chair, propping the longsword against the side with a long suffering sigh. "Why do I let you talk me in to these things, MacLeod? You probably want to be sitting down for this."

"Uh huh. Just spit it out." Duo eyed the battered chair distrustfully, deciding to just lean against the wall as he glared at his companion. "You can start with how you know," he paused, grimacing, "knew Mac if you're not working together?"

"He's an old friend. I've not seen him for years though." He glanced over at the body on the sofa thoughtfully, "Out of interest, have there been any freak lightning storms in Brussels recently?"

Caught off guard at the abrupt change of topic, Duo blinked, answering without thinking. "Uh, yeah. There was something on the news a couple of days ago. And what the hell does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"

"In which case, MacLeod may be with us sooner than I thought. Honestly, he might as well paint a big target on his head," Pierson said with an amused shake of his own head as he settled back in the chair.

"Just get on with whatever you've got to say, pal. What's your obsession with heads, anyway?" He knew he was growling, but it wasn't like he had much chance of surviving this encounter after all. With Mac dead and Pierson seemingly impossible to kill, he figured he had pretty much zero chance of leaving the house alive. If he ran, he'd get shot - or a dagger in the heart - if he attacked, well, he'd already seen the man's skill with a sword. Dammit. He'd survived war, megalomaniacs and Heero Yuy and now he was going to die to a madman in a rundown house on the outskirts of Paris. Great.

Adam sighed, running a hand through his hair, almost lounging in the chair with a relaxed casualness that easily hid the deadly grace held within. "Look, this isn't exactly easy for me. It's not as if you're my latest partner who I'm telling this to out of love. If it wasn't MacLeod..." Gazing at the ceiling for inspiration, the hazel eyed man abruptly threw his hands up in the air, falling back in the chair and crossing his arms in frustration. "Fine. have it your way. I'm Immortal. MacLeod's Immortal. I'm guessing you'll become Immortal the first time you die given how you register to my senses. There. Happy?"

"Immortal." The sheer ridiculousness of the situation welled up within him and he found himself bent over as the laughter ripped its way out of his throat, the giggles hiccuping out of him as he gave into hysterics at the man's words even as a small part of him hoped the impossible explanation was the one he'd been searching for. "You're... saying you're... immortal? That... you... can't die?"

"I last saw Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod at 7.28pm on the 12th December in, let me see, 2134. That would be 720 years ago, I believe." The man smiled almost warmly, the hazel eyes calm but focused on the pilot, watching the man's reaction.

"You're telling me that you're 720 fricking years old? Oh, that's a good one."

Adam waved a hand dismissively. "Round about..."

Suddenly the hazel eyes shot to the sofa, and moments later the groan from that direction caused Duo's own eyes to follow, to watch as Mac swung his legs round onto the floor, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Gods above, Me...Adam, did ye havta get me heart?"

The hysteria fading as though cold water had been tossed over him, Duo found his knees giving out as he slipped down the wall to the floor, "Duncan?"

"I wasn't exactly aiming for you, MacLeod." Pierson lent over to pick up his sword, resting it on his knees as he watched the man on the sofa sofa warily. "Are you still going to try and take my head, or can we talk about this without the sharp pointy implements?"

"Duo?"

"Gibbering on the floor in shock. I have to say, he's taking this remarkably well."

"Well, it's not every day you get a practical demonstration that Immortality exists." Duncan glanced over at his partner, the young pilot slumped against the wall and the floor, his eyes wide and confused. "Duo? Are you all right?"

Mac was alive. But he'd been dead. He knew he'd been dead. He'd seen him die, felt the weight as he'd carried him. He'd been dead. You didn't recover from dead. If you recovered from dead, then Sister Helen and Father Maxwell and the other orphans at the Church would be alive. If you recovered from dead then the war would have been pointless, Khushrenada would still be around and Dekim Barton would still want to control the Earth Sphere. And yet, Duncan was looking at him with those chocolate brown eyes with life dancing in the depths, his body moving as fluidly as ever as he stood, all indications showing that the Scot was alive and had never been injured, except for a blood red hole in his shirt with no wound beneath. Then there was Adam. Who'd been dead. He'd checked three times that not a trace of a beat existed in the man's chest, that he'd not been breathing, that his eyes were lifeless. And now he stood here, gold-green eyes watching him carefully, his chest rising and falling with his breathing and heartbeat.

"You're not zombies, right?" he forced a laugh, eyes flicking between the hole in Duncan's shirt, and the two pairs of eyes looking at him with a mixture of amusement, concern and a hint of worry. "Or vampires? I don't like vampires, they bite your neck and, no offense, guys, but I like my blood where it is, thank you."

Adam shrugged, "Where do you think the vampire legend comes from? Take an Immortal who drinks the blood after he's taken a head and warp it through a few centuries. Pretty much most myths and legends that involve eternal life are down to our kind. And zombies smell and rot. I do not smell or rot."

"You're really telling me that you can't die? This isn't some kind of big elaborate joke?" He knew his eyes were begging Duncan to come up with something, anything, to explain the impossibility in front of him, and he couldn't keep the matching tone from his voice.

Mac shook his head, "I was born in the highlands of Scotland, in Glenfinnan, in 1592. I am 1262 years old and I cannot die."

"Correction, MacLeod." Adam chimed in with a lecturing tone, one finger raised in the air, "As you just demonstrated to your young friend, Immortals can die, although it tends to be highly painful and I really don't recommend it, but in most cases we'll come back quickly."

"Except if you..."

Adam's glare stopped Mac in mid-speech. "How much do you trust Mr. Maxwell, MacLeod?"

"Adam, we've mentioned heads to him enough times by now that he'll probably figure it out before too long, if he hasn't already." Duncan reminded the other man, watching his partner calmly.

Heads. What the hell was this obsession with heads these two had? Pushing away Mac's ridiculous claim of being over a thousand years old, that certainly couldn't be true, he recalled a snippet of conversation from that fateful mission involving Pierson. Are you going to tell me your name before I take your head? Now combine that with a way to kill someone. Oh. Now that really was a disgusting idea. He grimaced, "So if I cut your head off, you stay dead?"

"Pretty much. Separate an Immortal's head from his body and he'll die permanently." Mac nodded, shooting an obvious I told you so look at the other man, who had stood up at his words, grabbing his sword and tucking it into his coat.

"I'm going now. It was interesting to meet you, Maxwell. I hope I never do again." The dark-haired man started to leave the room, only to find Mac had also stood, reaching out to grab his arm. "Highlander, your partner has already killed me twice, three times if you count being stuck dead in a wardrobe for a month after his Gundam destroyed the base, I am not staying around to give him another chance."

As Adam started to twist away, Duncan sighed, pulling his friend round to look into his eyes. "Adam, that was the war. You and I both know that people die in war, to people that wouldn't dream of carrying out those action in peace time."

"Do you know what pilot 02 called himself?" the smaller man hissed, his voice cool and eyes cold, "Shinigami. The god of death. That is not the name of a peacemaker. The pilot of Gundam Deathscythe was a master assassin in the war and I am an incomplete mission. I am not hanging around so he can complete it."

"And you of all people should understand him then!" Duncan's voice was passionate, throwing the words at the other man.

Adam's hazel eyes froze, his body stilling. "And that, Highlander, was below the belt."

"I'm not Heero," Duo muttered, pushing himself to his feet, causing both men to look over at him, "The war is over, incomplete mission or not, I'm not gonna attack you. You're too damn good with that sword anyway. And the whole head thing is just, eugh. As I said originally, all I came here was some bloody information on the fricking organisation you're part of."

"And, why, pray tell me, should I tell you anything about that?" Adam growled, "The colonies really don't deserve to have a say over Earth, they left it after all."

"And if you remember, they left because of overcrowding and to protect the Earth from having too many people on it." Duncan replied calmly, "Earth couldn't have coped with the population if the vast majority hasn't moved off to the colonies."

"And by doing so, they gave up their right to any say over it." the other man insisted, twisting away from Mac's grip, but remaining in the doorway. "You're not going to get me to agree with your ideals, Highlander."

"Damn it, Adam. Killing ESUN members is not the way to do it."

The other man frowned, "You should know me better than that. Mortals have been safe from me for centuries."

Duo blinked, well, that was interesting. Along with Duncan's earlier comment, it implied that at some point mortals hadn't been safe from the man in front of him. Centuries ago. And there was the age thing again. There was no fricking way Mac could be over a thousand bloody years old.

"Woah, woah, guys, can we backtrack a moment," the violet eyed pilot butted in, "Centuries. You're really not kidding me about the age thing? You're really over a thousand years old, Mac? And he's over 700?" He didn't miss Duncan's raised eyebrow towards the other man.

"Don't you know it's rude to ask someone their age? But yes, I am over a thousand years old. Adam is, well, that's Adam's business." Mac replied, his eyes still fixed on the other man.

"Good to know you're out of that little habit, MacLeod," Adam muttered, before sighing and looking over at the other agent. "I'm actually a little older than the Highlander, and that's the most you're getting from me."

"And that's another thing," Duo continued, determined to learn more before something else inevitably happened, trying to ignore the fact that the men in front of him had apparently been alive longer than the anno domini era had existed. "Mac, you started to call Keturi... Pierson something else when you first came in, and when you, er, woke up. And he keeps calling you the Highlander - what's with all the names?"

Surprisingly it was Adam who answered. "MacLeod here has gone by the same name since his first death. Utterly ridiculous and sentimental of course, most Immortals have gone by many names throughout the years. The Highlander is a nickname that he's acquired among us, based on his location of birth. With regards to me, MacLeod knows me by a few names and the one he started using is one that you wouldn't recognise, hence the switch to Adam. And, please, just call me Adam - I've been Adam far more than I have Pierson over the years."

"You call Duncan, MacLeod." Duo shot back.

Adam scowled, "That's different. Everyone calls MacLeod, MacLeod."

And then the only question that remained was the one he'd been trying to avoid thinking about the most. Taking a deep breath, he tried to form the words. "Pierson, Adam, you said that I would, that I will..." he faltered, unable to say the words.

"Become Immortal the first time you die, yes." the man nodded, "Although I don't recommend dying until you're a bit older though. Being an Immortal teenager is not my idea of fun." He glanced over at Duncan and Duo noticed a flash of sadness in his partner's eyes, quickly dismissed.

Mac took up the reply then. "People generally aren't told if they will become Immortal, it shades their lives, changes them, that's if they even believe it. I thought you might become one of us, but couldn't tell you until all this happened, then there wasn't a choice."

"Look, Highlander, it's not my fault that he registers as a full Immortal to me," Adam muttered, "A weak and new Immortal, but an Immortal none the less. What was I meant to do? Lose my head?"

"You mean you knew?" Duo rounded on his partner accusingly, "You knew that when I die, I'd become, whatever you are, Immortal?" He could barely believe the words coming out his mouth, the whole idea was impossible, except, except Duncan was alive. Impossibly, absurdly alive.

"I only suspected. Immortals can, sense would be the best word, each other. That's why I had my sword out when I entered, I knew another Immortal was in here. And Adam obviously sensed me. A mortal with the potential to become one of us has a much fainter Quickening, and yours is fainter than most." Duncan shrugged, "I've an idea why Adam could sense you, but it's up to him as to whether he tells you. If it helps, he's probably the only Immortal who can if I'm right."

"Nope, sorry, not doing that." Adam shook his head firmly even as Duo turned to him. "Not going there, Highlander."

"Quickening?" Duo asked, picking up on the unusual term

Ignoring the pilot, Adam carried on, obviously changing the subject as he brushed a piece of dirt from his trousers. "Look, MacLeod, while you might not mind staying here all day, can I suggest we move this discussion to somewhere a bit more comfortable?"

Duncan nodded, "I have a hotel room we can go to, it'll do for now."

"Er, Earth to Duncan? He's still part of the terrorist organisation, you know, that one we're meant to be stopping?" He couldn't believe this. First Pierson turned up alive, then tried to kill him and killed Mac instead. Then the guy told him Immortals existed, oh and by the way, he could become one of them. Then Mac returned from the dead and confirmed it all. And now the Scot was treating him like a long lost friend and inviting him round for tea and biscuits!

His partner raked his hand through his hair as he frowned, and Duo could almost see the internal battle, "Adam, how much of the murdering of ESUN members are you involved in? You're right, I do know you and saying mortals are safe from you only means you haven't killed any directly."

"MacLeod, I'm a tactician, I've been involved in planning many things. What do you want me to say? That I haven't planned anything for the group? Well, I'm sorry, Highlander, but I can't say that. I can't always be on the same side as you."

"The people in ESUN today are not the same people who headed to space two hundred years ago. And they didn't abandon the Earth, Adam. You know the history as well as I do. People moved to space to escape from conflict and war. And don't say you've never done the same."

"Did you miss the memo where Heero saved the Earth from White Fang dropping Libra onto it? Or from where we stopped Earth being controlled by Dekim's little puppet?" Duo added, sarcasm dripping into his voice. "You're as bad as they were. I was born on L2, pal, and I helped protect Earth. Not all colonials are bad, and not everyone from Earth is an angel. ESUN has people from Earth making decisions that affect the colonies as well you know, it's not just the colonies trying to control Earth."

Duncan sighed, "Adam, you know I can't arrest you, and I'm not taking your head..."

"Not being judge, jury and executioner this time then?" Adam interrupted coolly.

"Damn it, Adam. These wars for independence have to stop somewhere. We're at peace now, it's working, The colonies and the Earth have finally reached a balance they can live with. Don't go jeopardising it just because the colonies get to have a say about Earth."

"They don't deserve a say." The hazel-eyed Immortal replied, "And you might not take my head, but that doesn't mean your partner won't have the same feelings."

Duo nodded, allowing a small smile to flick over his lips. "Damn right. Now I know how to kill you permanently..."

"No!" The Scot's voice was loud in the small room, his eyes almost haunted. "No Duo. You can't kill him. Not over this. Adam, will you not consider what I say?"

"I've heard all the arguments, MacLeod. I've walked this land for over a millenia, explain to me why people who don't even live on it should control it?"

"And why should people on the colonies be controlled by Earth?" Duncan shot back, "Why not support independence for both factions?"

"That would be the ideal solution. Let the colonies fend for themselves. There are factions on the colonies who support that idea, as I'm sure you're aware."

Duo's eyes narrowed, "Look, pal, I almost died, repeatedly, for this peace. We fought to protect people on Earth and in space and some of those people on the colonies love Earth more than some people who live here. You don't get to screw everything up just because you're an old git who's never even seen the colonies. Now I don't know what Mac plans on doing with you, but it seems to me you could do with trying to change your point of view, 'cause otherwise this ain't going to end well."

Adam raised an eyebrow, "I've been out to the colonies a few times. Most of the people there will never see Earth other than in the sky."

"Then we'll just have to agree to disagree." Duncan's voice was firm, "I won't ask you to change your views, Adam, but it'd make both our lives easier if you could stop your part in the group. I can't protect you from Preventer if you don't."

"Who says I want your protection, Highlander? You're well aware I can look after myself, I did it for centuries before I met you and centuries afterwards. On that note, why don't you stop being part of Preventer? How do you know you're on the right side this time?"

"Because Preventer doesn't kill people to get its point across. Because Preventer stops wars - it doesn't start them. Because Preventer just wants peace on Earth and in space." Mac's face was intense as he caught and held Adam's gaze, "Adam, please. Don't start the killing again."

There was a quiet hidden meaning that Duo couldn't understand in Duncan's words, and he watched as the wiry man's hazel eyes looked away from Duncan's piercing brown, avoiding the plea in the depths. There was history between the two of them, that much was obvious, and words they were dancing around, secrets that they kept without even consciously doing so. He couldn't imagine having lived for a millenia, or longer if he believed Adam. How much must they have seen? Done?

"We need to talk, MacLeod." Adam said softly, still looking away from the other man's eyes. "Before this gets more complicated."

The Scot nodded slowly, obviously reading all the meanings within the words. "Perhaps we should move this to the hotel." Looking up his his partner, his lips twisted in an attempt at a smile, "Duo, I'll see you at the base tomorrow." He shook his head as the pilot started to interrupt, "I won't let him cause any more trouble. Please just trust me. And I'll fill you in on the rest of stuff you need to know about Immortality tomorrow too."

Duo gave his partner a searching look, unable to read the man's intentions. "Fine. But you'd better not let him escape. Just 'cause he can't die doesn't mean he shouldn't face justice." Standing he turned to leave, watching as the other men slid their swords into coats as they also stood. "Don't make me have to track you down as well, Mac."

Serious now, Duncan nodded again, "I'll be there tomorrow, Duo. I just need to talk to Adam. We'll sort this out somehow."

"Typical MacLeod," Adam muttered, "Thinks he can solve everything with a chat." Catching his friend's glare he gave a twisted smile, "Well, that and a beer."

"If you're sure," He couldn't help the wary glance he gave Pierson, the man seemed to wear masks as well as Trowa and regardless of Mac's familiarity with the guy, he couldn't bring himself to trust him. Scooping the earpiece off the floor where the other man had dropped it, he added, "I'll have my communicator on if you need me."

"I'm sure."

With a final look at the two men, Duo left the room, scooping his dagger up from the hall floor where Pierson had knocked it earlier. Making his way through the overgrown garden and back to his car, he quietly hoped that the two men behind him would resolve their differences and sort out the little problem of the terrorist group. Given Duncan's reaction to Adam being alive, he had serious doubts as to whether his partner's loyalty would be to Preventer or the friend that he had apparently known for over 700 years.

As he made his way back to his own hotel, he reluctantly decided to wait and see what the morning brought. He had enough to process without worrying about work.