Disclaimer: The Highlander franchise is owned by Davis/Panzer, in addition to Rysher Entertainment. So, that'll be part of the disclaimer from now on. For all other disclaimer, see chapter one.
Saving Grace
"It's funny what will drive men to their deaths," Duncan stated as he was opening a window nearby as Darius was sitting at a table, "You know, neither Pickett or Longstreet wanted to take that hill, but Lee had fifteen thousand men. He thought he was unbeatable."
"Hm," Darius studied the diorama, "Pride doth goest before the fall and victory to those who hold the high ground."
He placed a figure on the battlefield.
"Careful, you're going to knock that one over," Duncan advised.
Darius was looking at the figures, "Oh, that's already bent."
"You know, you may be a priest, but you still think like a warrior," Duncan told his friend, "Now, Napoleon on the other hand – where's that book on Napoleon you had?"
"Napoleon? That's over there," Darius pointed to the other side of the room before Duncan walked over to that area, "Well, war in the abstract is a great intellectual puzzle, but in reality, it's all blood and tears."
"Then why make it into a game?" Duncan asked.
"To deny what I was is to deny who I am," Darius answered.
They both sensed the buzz and then Grace entered the room.
"Darius?" Grace called out.
"Grace!" Darius exclaimed.
"I've been walking the streets all night long," Grace stated in distraught, "I didn't know where else to go."
"What is it, Paul?" Darius inquired.
"He's dead," Grace answered.
"What?"
Grace turned and saw Duncan behind her, "Duncan?"
She smiled through her tears, "Duncan, I'm glad you're here."
She then hugged Duncan.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
"By the time I got to him, it was too late," Grace finished her story as she was walking out St. Joseph's chapel with Darius and Duncan.
"So it was an accident?" Darius asked.
"I think I heard a gun shot before the fire," Grace answered.
"Any ideas who did it?" Darius asked.
"No."
"Perhaps it's someone wanting your research….." Darius started to say.
"Paul and I had just moved in," Grace chimed in, "There wasn't anything to steal but the equipment, which is completely destroyed."
"What about Carlo Sendaro?" Duncan asked.
"I haven't seen him in years," Grace answered.
"Alright," Duncan replied.
"And if he did kill Paul, why hasn't he come for me?" Grace asked.
"I don't suppose you've spoken to the police," Darius inquired.
"Too many questions I might not have answers for," Grace answered.
"Oh, I have to….I have to prepare for afternoon mass," Darius explained, "Grace, my rectory is a little bit Spartan, not to mention public, but if you like, I'll call the Mother Superior at the convent and arrange for you to stay there. If it's Sendaro, you'll be safe on holy ground."
"I feel better just talking to you….." Grace told her friends, "and to you."
Darius then left.
"Darius told me you were back in town," Grace told Duncan, "and that you were living on a barge…...with your mortal lover."
"Her name's Tessa," Duncan replied, "and you should have dropped by."
"Paul and I were having our problems. A handsome immortal friend wouldn't have helped," Grace stated before she sat down on the bench, "Duncan, what should I do? If it is Sendaro, he won't just go away. After I left him, he kept trailing me."
"You changed your identity….." Duncan started to say.
"Three times," Grace informed him.
"Yeah."
"He can't conceive that I've stopped loving him," Grace told the Highlander, "You were right about him."
"I think you should stay with us for awhile, until we can find out whether it's Sendaro or not," Duncan suggested.
"You think it would be all right with…" Grace started to ask.
"Tessa…" Duncan answered, "Yeah."
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Tori looked up as Tessa entered the barge.
"Duncan, I'm home!" Tessa called out as she entered the barge and held him in her arms as they landed onto the couch, "All day I've been thinking about that New Year's Eve we spent in Normandy. You know, maybe this weekend, you and I could go somewhere and have lots of fun and spend….."
Duncan extricated himself from her arms, "No."
"What's the matter?" Tessa asked.
"We have a situation," Tori told her, "Immortal situation."
"Duncan?" Grace called out from nearby, "Duncan, where do you keep the towels?"
Duncan sighed, "Under the sink in the bathroom."
"Found them! Thanks!" Grace replied.
"You were saying?" Tessa inquired.
"Bonjour, est quelqu'un a la?" Richie greeted, trying to speak in French as he was outside the barge.
"You want some coffee?" Duncan asked Tessa.
Richie entered the barge, "Ah, mes amis! Bonsoir! Ca va? Oui? Bien? Bon, alors qu'est – ce que fais ce soir? Je vous a diner, oui?"
Duncan, Tessa and Tori said nothing in response.
"Okay, so my accent sucks," Richie continued, "but I'm working on it."
"It's all good," Tori assured her friend.
"Do we have company?" Richie asked upon hearing the shower.
"Grace Chandel," Duncan answered before telling Tessa, "An old friend of mine."
"How old?" Tessa asked.
Duncan recalled meeting Grace as she helped a woman give birth to a child at the French countryside in 1660. She wondered what it would be like to have a baby, but Duncan told her they were who they were before he told her about his good friend.
"Is she still a doctor?" Tessa asked.
"Well, she's been doing research, mainly," Duncan answered, "She figured she could help more people that way. Right now she's been trying to develop an anti-viral vaccine."
"And she's been your friend for all these centuries?" Tori asked.
"Mm – hmm," Duncan answered.
"Centuries. Wow," Richie replied, "The expiration date on my relationships is usually a few, uh….."
"Weeks," Tori finished his sentence.
"Weeks," Richie countered, "Thank you – months."
"A hem," Grace got everyone's attention as she came out of the bathroom, wearing a robe.
"Oh, um…...Grace, I want you to meet Tessa….." Duncan proceeded to introduce his friends to her.
"Hi," Grace shook Tessa's hand.
"Hi," Tessa followed suit.
"Tori," Duncan glanced over at Tori.
"Nice to meet you," Tori replied, shaking Grace's hand.
"Pleasure," Grace replied, following suit.
"And, uh, Richie," Duncan finished.
"I'm sorry I'm not dressed….." Grace apologized as she shook Richie's hand.
"Hey, that's okay," Richie assured her, "I, uh, I think you look fantastic."
"Come on," Tessa told Grace, "I'll find something for you."
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Duncan noticed Grace as he was touching up a paint job, "Hi."
"Hi. Tessa's beautiful," Grace stated in awe, "She may not be one of us, but she has an old soul. You're a lucky man."
"Yeah," Duncan nodded.
"Tori is beautiful too," Grace continued, "She seems to be wise for someone her age as she is immortal."
"She is," Duncan acknowledged the statement, "Tori is the niece of the well known Flash Gordon."
"She's lucky too," Grace stated further, "Sometimes I wish I was mortal. It would simplify things, wouldn't it, to know there's a limit to life, so that time is precious. To be able to share things, like grey hair, parenthood….."
"No one can choose who they are," Duncan replied, "not you, not me, not Paul."
"I know. I remember. We are who we are," Grace slightly ranted, "Paul hated growing old without me. I could see it in his eyes before he exploded. He hated me for it, and now he's gone and I hurt again…...God, I get tired of it sometimes. We go on and everything around us dies. You've always been a good friend, Mac. Don't hunt for Sendaro. I don't want to lose you too."
She hugged him.
Tessa and Tori arrived as the former was carrying a tray.
"I've made some coffee….." Tessa informed them as they spotted the two immortals hugging.
"It's not what it looks like," Tori assured her.
Grace moved away quickly, "I'm sorry, I couldn't….."
"Tessa," Duncan called out.
"Do you still love her?" Tessa asked.
"No," Duncan answered.
"I am telling you, it wasn't what it looked like," Tori chimed in.
"That's all that needs to be said," Tessa replied, "She's your friend and she's been hurt. You'll help her. I'd expect you to do no less."
"Thanks," Duncan replied.
"I think she would feel more comfortable with some of her own things," Tessa suggested.
"Yeah, well, I'll stop by her apartment," Duncan told his lover, "I love you, Tess."
"I know," Tessa followed Duncan around the deck, with Tori.
"Have you any idea who did it?" Tori asked.
"Nah, it wasn't a random break in," Duncan answered, "nothing was stolen."
"Then why?" Tessa asked.
"There's an immortal called Carlo Sendaro," Duncan answered, "They were lovers for a century, then they fell apart and he couldn't handle that."
"You think he would kill for her?" Tori asked.
"Yes," Duncan answered.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Tori and Duncan noticed LeBrun as he exited Grace's apartment.
"Now look who's here," LeBrun stated before asking, "You wouldn't happen to know someone named Grace Chandel?"
"Yes, I would," Duncan answered, "Why's that?"
"Where is she?" LeBrun asked.
"Is there a problem, Inspector?" Tori inquired.
"Well, her boyfriend was murdered with a nine-millimeter automatic and…..." LeBrun explained as he pulled out an evidence bag containing a big gun, "guess what we found at her apartment?"
"Are you trying to say that Grace shot him?" Tori asked.
"I don't know," LeBrun answered, "That's what I'll find out."
"She wouldn't do that," Duncan insisted.
"Now, how did I know she was a friend of yours?" LeBrun asked, "The neighbors said they argued a lot. One hell of a coincidence, wouldn't you say and we had an anonymous caller. He swore that she was Paul Warren's murderer."
"Maybe your anonymous caller had a reason to lie," Tori suggested.
"Oh, maybe, but if ballistics matches the bullets in Paul Warren's chest to this," LeBrun replied, "your friend Grace Chandel is going to be charged with murder."
He turned to leave before he turned back, "And, uh…..there is such thing as an accessory, you know?"
-DCH-Side-Stories-
"They think I killed Paul?" Grace asked in disbelief.
"They found a gun in your apartment," Duncan answered.
"This is crazy. I loved Paul," Grace argued, "I would never…"
"Look, LeBrun is no fool; he knows we're friends," Duncan stated before telling Tessa, "She can't stay here."
"Where can she go?" Tori asked.
"I have to leave the country," Grace answered.
"Well, you'll need a new identity to start over," Duncan told his friend, "It's not going to be easy – everything's computerized these days. Not like the old days when you could just pick up and walk over the hills and be somebody else."
"MacLeod!" LeBrun's voice called out from outside the barge.
"Uh oh," Tori quipped.
"We got company, Mac," Richie announced as he looked out the window.
"LeBrun?" Duncan asked.
"That's right, boss," Richie answered.
"Get the speedboat and take her to Darius," Duncan instructed, "Tori, you go with them."
"Of course," Tori nodded, pouncing next to Tessa and Grace.
"Here," Duncan took off his jacket and handed it to Richie.
"MacLeod, you in there?" LeBrun called out.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Duncan came out of the deck and met up with LeBrun, "Inspector, twice in one day? I'm honored."
"Where is Grace Chandel?" LeBrun asked. He walked up the gangplank.
"Oh yeah…...well, if I see her," Duncan answered, "I'll tell her you stopped by."
He stood at the top of the gangplank, blocking it.
"Are you going to let me inside?" LeBrun asked.
"Do you have a warrant?" Duncan countered.
"If you have nothing to hide, you wouldn't be asking," LeBrun answered.
"Well, I guess that's perfect cop logic. Welcome aboard," Duncan finally relented before he stepped aside and allowed the detective inside, "Nah, it's this way."
He led LeBrun to the cabin door. Duncan paused for a moment to see the motorboat speeding away. Tessa and Tori were doing their jobs.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Tori and Grace both sensed the buzz as Grace paused.
"What is it?" Tessa asked.
"An immortal," Tori answered.
"Quick," Grace told the other girls before she hurried forward.
The three women hurried to St. Joseph's, looking around anxiously for the immortal following them.
"I gotta say," Tori stated, "this is quite intense."
The women jogged across the street until they arrived outside St. Joseph's. Grace looked behind her one last time before Tessa and Tori gasped as a handsome looking man suddenly appeared.
"Carlo…...you are here," Grace stated in shock. Tori glanced at the man. This was indeed Carlo Sendaro.
"For you," Sendaro replied before asking Tessa and Tori, "Why are you two running? A beautiful woman shouldn't be afraid of me."
"Maybe we have a good reason," Tori retorted.
"She doth teach the torches to burn bright….." Sendaro quoted.
"You must be Carlo Sendaro, yeah?" Tori inquired.
"Yes, at your service," Sendaro greeted her and Tessa. He gave a small bow, then sensed the buzz and turned to look behind him at St. Joseph's. Darius was standing in the doorway.
"Boy, it's good to see you, Darius," Tori told her friend.
Sendaro turned back to the three women, "You were on way to see Darius, or just trying to get to holy ground?"
"Both," Grace answered.
"And what's it to you, buddy?" Tori chimed in, crossing her arms.
"You have spunk, girl, I'll give you that," Sendaro told Tori before turning to Grace, "Shall we?"
He followed Grace up to the chapel entrance and paused next to Darius, "Oh, it's been so long since my last confession….."
Sendaro then turned and continued to follow Grace into the chapel.
"Get away from her!" Tori exclaimed as she and Tessa tried to go after them.
"Easy there," Darius grabbed their arms, "I think it is best we let them speak alone for awhile."
"Darius, Grace seemed uncomfortable with that guy," Tori argued.
"I know," Darius slowly nodded, "but there's nothing you can do right now."
-DCH-Side-Stories-
"Grace, you are my life," Sendaro told Grace, "You always have been."
"Is that why you make my life hell?" Grace asked.
"You loved me once," Sendaro answered, "I could make you love me again….."
"No, you couldn't!" Grace exclaimed, pacing the room.
Sendaro scoffed, "Oh yes, I could."
"You killed Paul," Grace spat out.
"Why would I do that?" Sendaro asked softly.
"You bastard!" Grace rushed towards him, "You did kill him."
"Calm down! Calm down," Sendaro grabbed her, "Who put those lies in your head?"
He sensed the buzz and turned to the doorway as Duncan entered, "I see."
The three recalled back in 1840 where Duncan saw the relationship Grace had with Sendaro.
"Have you forgotten where you are?" Grace asked as Sendaro began to draw out his machete.
"Yes," Sendaro answered before he put his weapon away, "I'm not here to deal with your mistakes, just our future."
"We have no future," Grace argued.
"Grace, you belong with me," Sendaro argued.
"Don't you mean to you?" Duncan asked.
"Stay out of this if you want to go on living," Sendaro told him.
"Some things are easier said than done," Duncan replied.
"You arrogant bastard," Grace said to Sendaro, "You killed the man I love and you expect me to come with you?"
"Well, what future do you have with the police searching for you?" Sendaro asked.
"You placed the gun in her apartment?" Duncan asked.
"I said stay out of this," Sendaro told the Highlander before talking to Grace, "I love you, Grace. I love you. I have an empire in the Amazon. You could continue your research. In twenty, thirty years, you could come back with new…"
"You're crazy!" Grace exclaimed, "Get out of here. Once and for all, get out of my life."
"I love you," Sendaro insisted before Duncan stepped in front of Grace as he reached for her again, "This does not end here."
"You're so right," Duncan replied.
With that, Sendaro left the room.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Duncan and Grace watched a woman sitting on a park bench with a baby. She placed the baby in a stroller and pushed it past them.
"Bonjour," Duncan stated before he watched the woman pushed the stroller down the path, "You know, I wonder whatever happened to that baby."
"What baby?" Grace asked.
"When we met," Duncan answered.
"Funny. I think about her too sometimes," Grace replied, "Maybe she had children of her own, grandchildren, great grandchildren. That child could be one of her offspring, and here we are….still. Actually, I was thinking about another time. There was a little inn not too far from this spot."
"Yeah, I remember it," Duncan said.
"Probably a fast food restaurant now. Things change. Even we do. It's time that keeps shifting things under our feet."
"That's not what happened."
"No. The truth is, you and I were too different."
"Maybe if I stayed….."
"You would have been unhappy," Grace finished, "So I let you go. My wandering knight, charging off to right all the wrongs of the world."
"Not so much, now…" Duncan started to say.
"Are you happy?" Grace asked.
"Yes, I am," Duncan answered.
"That's good," Grace inquired, "So…..what now?"
"Well, now….." Duncan replied, "we've got to find you a new identity."
"I want a nice name this time," Grace insisted.
Duncan laughed in response, "Well, we'll see what we can find."
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Richie walked among the graves, reading grave inscriptions. He crouched in front of "FAMILLE CAHOREAU" stone for a moment before he continued further. He walked towards the "ISABELLE PONTAND" stone and crouched to read the inscription:
ISABELLE PONTAND
12 AVRIL 1964
20 AVRIL 1964
"Isabelle Pontand," Richie read the inscription, "born April 12, 1964; died April 20, 1964. Eight days on planet Earth."
He then pulled out a small notebook and pen, "You missed a helluva party."
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Richie entered the barge as Duncan was inside, "What's up?"
"Is LeBrun's man still out there?" Duncan asked as he was trimming a photo, creating documents for Grace's new identity.
"Oh absolutely," Richie answered, "and doing a very unsuccessful job at trying not to be obvious. Here you go."
He handed Duncan a roll of paper, "The two forms you asked for."
"Oh good," Duncan placed the cap on the glue stick, "Tessa and Tori will keep Grace from the barge long enough for us to get the documents to her."
"You know, I keep telling you, Mac," Richie stated, "if we were in the States, I could have fixed you up with something absolutely, completely, 100%, totally hassle-free."
"Yeah, and all you would have to do is talk to your friends in the local prison," Duncan retorted.
"Hey, give me a break, Mac," Richie countered, "I am talking about one stop shopping."
Duncan smiled and shook his head.
"So how are we supposed to meet with Tess, Tor and Grace?" Richie asked.
"They'll call," Duncan answered as he filled out a form.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Grace placed flowers on Paul's grave and joined Tessa and Tori, "You think I'd learn how to handle this, wouldn't you and the strange thing is every time it happens, I tell myself I won't go through it again. I swear to myself I won't fall in love with a mortal…...as if love were something you had any control over. You and Mac have something good, Tessa. I envy you."
She then looked at Tori, "I hope you don't make the same mistakes I have made."
"I hardly doubt that," Tori muttered.
"Grace, about you and Mac….." Tessa started to say.
"We had a moment, that was all…" Grace insisted, "though I wanted it to be more. Please, don't hold it against me."
"You shouldn't have to worry," Tori reassured her.
"It's funny, but I don't," Tessa chimed in, "It would take me several lifetimes to find out everything in Duncan's past. I know there've been others, but I never thought I would meet one of them, and here you are."
The three women shared a look.
"What happened between you and Sendaro?" Tori asked.
"We went on a great adventure, but over the years, he changed – he went from being an explorer to being a conqueror," Grace explained, "He started terrorizing and dominating the people I was treating. He demanded whole villages to worship him like a god."
"So you ran," Tessa added in.
"I've been running ever since," Grace went further, "Every few decades, he finds me."
She and Tori sensed the buzz and then they saw Sendaro nearby.
"It's Mister Pompous ass again," Tori muttered.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," Sendaro stated before asking, "What are you two doing here?"
"That's a question one of us should be asking," Tori retorted.
"What do you want?" Tessa asked.
"May I talk to you?" Sendaro asked Grace before telling her, "Tell those girls to leave."
"It's all right," Grace assured them, "I'm safe. Just give us a moment."
"I'm not buying it," Tori muttered. Tessa grabbed her arm before she told Grace, "We'll be waiting at the gate."
"Your chaperones?" Sendaro asked as the two women left.
"Tessa and Tori are my friends," Grace answered.
"You always did have a weakness for mortals," Sendaro stated, "I know Tori is immortal, but my point stands."
"If you mean I prefer friends to slaves, you're right," Grace replied.
"No, I just mean mortals," Sendaro stressed. Grace started to walk away, "Grace…..stay. Face it, Grace – our love is immortal."
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Tori and Tessa rushed over to Duncan at the barge where he was standing.
"He's got her!" Tori announced.
"How?" Duncan asked.
"He must have been waiting for her at the cemetery," Tessa answered, "knowing she would come."
"Do you know where they went?" Duncan asked.
Tori shook her head, "I'm not sure."
Tessa shook her head as well, "We think she went with him to protect us."
"I'll find them," Duncan assured them.
"Want us to go with you?" Tori asked.
"No," Duncan answered.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Duncan arrived and found Sendaro at the hotel courtyard.
"I knew I could count on your memory, MacLeod," Sendaro stated.
"Where is she?" Duncan asked.
"She's picking up the passport you were so instrumental in obtaining," Sendaro answered, "You should have been a bureaucrat, not an immortal."
"And you should have stayed in Brazil," Duncan interjected.
"No one takes what is mine."
"She's not yours, and she never was."
"You still love her, don't you?" Sendaro asked.
"No!" Duncan exclaimed.
"I knew it from the first time I saw you," Sendaro replied.
"You know, you were blind then," Duncan declared, "and you still are."
"And you're dead," Sendaro drawn out his machete and the two men began to fight.
"Stop!" Grace exclaimed, running up to the men. They ignored her, "NO MORE KILLING!"
"Come on!" Duncan exclaimed.
"Do it! MacLeod, do it now! Come on," Sendaro urged his opponent. He hit him with his blade, egging him on, "Come on."
"There's plenty of time," Duncan assured him.
"Do it," Sendaro urged him again.
Duncan then told Grace, "Get behind me."
"You should have killed me when you had the chance," Sendaro told his opponent. Duncan put his sword away and took Grace's hand. Sendaro called out, "Grace…..there's no way you can escape me!"
"You all right?" Duncan asked Grace as Sendaro they walked away from Sendaro.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
"I keep looking over my shoulder for the police," Grace stated as she was at a cafe with Tessa, Duncan and Tori.
"It's not the police you should be afraid of," Tori assured her.
"I should have never returned to Paris," Grace stated.
"But you did," Duncan replied.
"I'll be more careful this time," Grace told the group.
"Where will you go?" Tessa asked.
"It's a big world," Grace answered, "I can go wherever I want. Oh God, sometimes I get so tired of this charade. One day I'm Grace, next I'm Helen….."
She opened passport with with her photo and the name "Isabelle Pontand" on it, "Okay, who am I today?"
"At least you have the choice," Tori told her.
Tessa nodded in agreement, "She right. Most people don't get that choice."
"I can change my name – I can't choose who I am, and we have to move on," Grace stated, "You have to move on, I have to move on. At least we'll have a little more choice than Isabelle Pontand. She was a baby. She was here for only a moment, and the only thing she ever had was her name and….and now I've taken that."
"You have a right. You're alive," Duncan stressed, "You and every other living thing has a basic instinct – it needs to survive."
"Don't you ever get tired of living with a guy who knows everything?" Grace asked the girls.
"Meh," Tori shrugged her shoulders.
"I thought you would know him better than that," Tessa replied teasingly.
"Well, if I know everything," Duncan replied, "I know he knows your new identity."
"I have to take that chance," Grace told the group.
"I'll get you out of the country," Duncan insisted.
"Duncan, you can't protect me forever," Grace insisted in turn, "I'm a big girl. I can get on the plane alone."
"At least let me…" Duncan started to say.
"Please, it's easier to say goodbye here," Grace replied.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Darius sensed the buzz and he saw Grace, happy to see her, "Grace! Grace."
"I had to say goodbye," Grace told her friend.
"Where are you going?" Darius asked.
"I don't know," Grace answered.
"Is there nothing I can do to help?" Darius asked.
Grace shook her head, "Pray to Saint Christopher for me."
"Pardon saint of travelers," Darius replied, "So…...drop me a postcard sometime, hm? I'm starting a collection."
Grace kissed him on the cheek and left.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
A detective approached Grace as she left the chapel, "Miss Chandel…...you're under arrest for the murder of Paul Warren."
"No….." Grace shook her head.
"Come with us," the detective told her. He reached for her, but he was grabbed from behind and was punched by Sendaro. The female detective pulled out her gun. Sendaro grabbed it and hit her also.
Grace started to run, but was intercepted by LeBrun, who told her, "Not so fast, Miss Chandel. You're not going anywhere."
He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and placed one loop around her wrist and the other around his own, "This is the police. You're under arrest for the murder of Paul Warren."
He noticed Sendaro, "Stay right there, sir."
Sendaro reached for his machete on his belt and LeBrun pulled out his gun, "Freeze or I'll shoot."
Sendaro walked towards him, and LeBrun exclaimed, "Stay where you are! I'm warning you!"
Sendaro continued towards him and LeBrun shot him in the chest. He fell to the ground, temporarily dead. LeBrun hauled Grace over to his car and reached inside for his radio.
"LeBrun here," LeBrun spoke through the radio, "Give me an ambulance in front of St. Joseph's chapel, over."
"Who was he?" LeBrun then asked Grace.
"An old boyfriend of mine," Grace answered, "He's the one who killed Paul Warren."
"You're fast, you know that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Pinning the murder on a dead man."
Sendaro suddenly rushed at him and hit him several times, knocking him unconscious, then he used the machete to sever the handcuff link.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Duncan hung up violently, "That was Darius. Sendaro just did a number on LeBrun and two of his detectives."
"And Grace?" Tessa asked.
"On her way out of the country with him probably," Duncan answered.
"What can we do?" Tori asked.
"Just one thing," Duncan answered before he left the barge.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Duncan found Grace at the passenger side of the car and put the key out of the ignition, "Get out of the car!"
"He'll only keep following me and more people will die," Grace argued.
"It ends tonight," Duncan declared before he threw the keys from the car. Then he turned just in time to block Sendaro's arm as he attacked. Sendaro knocked Duncan to the ground and raised his machete.
"No!" Grace grabbed Sendaro's arm.
The group paused as they heard police sirens. Sendaro kicked Duncan and grabbed Grace, pulling her away.
Sendaro dragged Grace up a narrow street and Duncan followed him.
"Stop!" Duncan shouted as he spotted Sendaro and Grace at the subway.
Sendaro was distracted and Grace managed to get away from him. She jumped down onto the tracks and ran into the metro tunnel, Sendaro chased her and Duncan chased him in turn. She tripped and fell and the two men caught up with her.
"It ends here," Duncan declared.
They began to fight while Grace watched anxiously. Sendaro noticed Duncan's foot resting between two tracks and pulled a nearby switch lever, moving the inside track over and crushing Duncan's foot, trapping it. They heard a train approaching down the tunnel.
"Get out now!" Duncan told Grace, who then hesitated, "Go!"
Grace ran off and Duncan blocked a few of Sendaro's parries, "Come here, come here!"
The train rumbled closer and Sendaro attacked again. Duncan fended him off, then scooped up his jacket and tossed it at him. Sendaro flinged the jacket aside, but in the process, the tip of his machete lowered and touched the electrified a third rail. Duncan watched as Sendaro and fell down – with his neck conveniently hanging over the train track.
Duncan used his katana to pry the movable track section away from his foot barely in time the oncoming train. Sendaro came to with only enough time to turn his head toward the oncoming train before it sped past and beheaded him.
Duncan took his quickening in turn.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
"Thank you again," Grace told Richie before she kissed his cheek.
"Any time," Richie replied.
"Thank you, Tessa and Tori," Grace told the girls, "for everything."
"Take care, Grace," Tori replied.
Grace hugged her and then hugged Tessa before Grace left the barge.
-DCH-Side-Stories-
Duncan prepared to say her goodbyes to Grace.
"Goodbye," Grace told her friend.
"The investigation's over," Duncan declared, "You could stick around for awhile."
"I couldn't," Grace replied, "I'm beginning to understand how Sendaro felt…...about loving someone he couldn't have. I just hope Tori doesn't have this feeling that I have."
"She won't," Duncan replied, "You sure you don't want to be a part of the IUA that Tori offered?"
"I appreciate the offer, but I have to decline," Grace declined.
"Grace, I…" Duncan started to say.
"I know," Grace replied, "Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Duncan opened the taxi door, "May the winds be with you."
Author's Note: This is Darius' last episode/chapter in the side stories and I written a "In Memory Of" bit for his actor in the main story when writing "The Hunters", but I'll do it again. I shall dedicate this chapter in loving memory of Warner Stocker, the German actor who portrayed Darius in the first season of Highlander, who sadly passed away on 27 May 1993 from a brain tumor. He will be remembered for his contributions to the Highlander franchise and he will be sadly missed.
This is also the last appearance of the detective LeBrun, as it will be revealed in a later chapter (either the chapter after "Nowhere to Run" and the last chapter of the Season 1 arc or the early bits of Season 2, give or take) that he have had enough of being around MacLeod and the "weirdness" that goes on around him and quit taking on assignments he knew MacLeod would be possibly involved.