========================================================================= Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1996 19:02:00 PDT Reply-To: Mike Goldman Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Mike Goldman Subject: "A Dangerous Game" (13/22) HL Story "The transformations are beyond imagining..." Duncan and Anne flipped on the lights and went back down the stairs to see Rory leaning up against the cage. Anne started forward but Duncan held her back. "Rory?" he asked. She shook her head. "It was a nice try, Doctor." came out in Stefan's clipped accent. It even actually worked for a little while, but I made my way around it." Anne's face must have showed her distress because Stefan's next comment was directed towards her as well. "Don't worry, Doctor. I don't plan to do anything...rash, shall we say? I rather like this body and I plan to occupy it for a *long* time." "Not if I can help it," she said, grabbing her bag off a nearby pile of boxes. "I need to try a bigger dose," she informed Duncan, who obliged by pulling out his katana and unlocking the gate. As he entered, he levelled the sword at Stefan's throat. Both Stefan's and Anne's eyes grew bigger. "You won't kill me." said Stefan, backing into a corner. "No, not right now," Duncan admitted, "but you *are* going to allow the good doctor to do what she needs to do." "Why should I do that?" "Because otherwise I'll put this sword thru your heart and let Anne work while you're dead." Duncan responded icily. "Also, I don't like you." "You don't really like Rory, either." Duncan stopped for a moment. How did he know that he and Rory still kept their distance from each other? Belatedly, he realized Stefan was watching him for a response, a small smile playing around his lips. "I like her better than you." he said. Stefan shrugged and Duncan lowered his katana, thinking it was a motion of compliance. "Duncan!" Anne yelled as a short, sharp piece of metal appeard in Stefan's hand and he lunged at Mac, who sidestepped and grabbed Stefan's arm in order to pull his back to Mac's chest. He then applied a chokehold and yelled for Anne to hurry up as the body jerked and then sagged to the ground. Anne ran in and dropped on her knees beside the body. With shaking hands, she grabbed the syringe and emptied a vial and a half into it, then pulled up a shirt sleeve and injected the medication into the upper arm while Duncan picked up the metal shard and made a quick visual sweep of the area to guarantee there were no other weapons available. Satisfied it was empty, he turned back to Anne who was checking to see that her patient was still alive. "I thought this stuff was supposed to have an effect." he said. "You guys don't even have to take aspirin." Anne retorted. "How am I supposed to know what dosage is correct? Her body's probably absorbing it faster than a mortal would." "How much did you give her this time?" "7 1/2 mg--that's more than the standard dosage." Her attention was diverted as she heard a coughing sound. "Rory? Can you hear me?" The eyes opened. Blue. She carefully drew in a breath, wincing. "Dammit, Macleod, what was that for?" "He held up the piece of metal. "You tried to kill me." Something between a laugh and a sob caught in her throat. "Geez, catch me a couple of years ago, that would have been OK with me." She shut her eyes and rolled over on her side away from Duncan and Anne. "Rory, it wasn't your fault." he tried. No response came from the huddled body on the floor except a tear that escaped and slowly slid down her cheek. She made no effort to brush it away and, after a moment, Anne took Duncan by the arm and pulled him out of the cage and put the lock back in place. Then they quietly went back upstairs. Lori mgoldman@cts.com Bass Player/Musical Director for the SJD Kick-Ass House Band CFW/WAR Chief for Smokin' Joe Dawson in the first HL WAR