========================================================================= Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 20:36:00 PDT Reply-To: Mike Goldman Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Mike Goldman Subject: "A Dangerous Game" (19/22) HL Story "Look at me and tell me who I am..." Upstairs, Joe wrote quickly on a piece of paper. Tearing it in half, he gave part to Anne and kept the other part. "OK," Mac said, "Joe and I will check out the places on our list; Anne, you and Richie check out the ones on yours. Anne, do you have your cel phone?" She nodded and they left to begin the hunt. As Joe drove, Duncan kept stealing sidelong looks at him, watching as the mortal man swore under his breath. "Joe, it's not your fault." he said. "What's not my fault?" "What happened to Rory. You couldn't have known." "I *should* have known--I should have realized something was up when she became so evasive about Stefan!" "How?" Macleod challenged. "You didn't even know that part of her life existed. Listen to me--you can't help her until you stop dragging yourself over the coals." Joe could admit to himself that this was good advice, but didn't feel ready to admit it to Macleod. "That all you learned in 400 years?" he said gruffly. "No. My book comes out next week." Joe looked over at Mac in shock, saw his smile, then realized he was kidding. Shaking his head, he smiled and felt himself relax just a little bit. Several hours later, they had gone through all the locales on their list except one. The sky had turned dark by this point and it was threatening to rain. Joe had just started up the engine on the Forerunner for what seemed the millionth time when the car phone rang. Duncan picked it up as Joe pulled out into traffic. "What? Where? OK." he said, giving Joe the thumbs up that they'd found her. "She's *what*?" Joe looked over at Mac sharply, nearly hit another car, and was forced to turn his attention back to the road. "No--just stay there until we get there." Hanging up, he told Joe that Richie and Anne had found Rory at the scenic vista overlook on the Coast Highway. Joe pulled a screeching U-turn at the next opportunity and headed towards the ocean. They flew up the highway and their headlights picked up Anne's car along with Anne and Richie leaning against it as they anxiously scanned the road. Seeing the Forerunner pull up behind them, they quickly walked towards it. "Where is she?" Joe asked, climbing down. Anne pointed and he looked over the hood of the car to see Rory gazing peacefully at the ocean lit by moonlight and shimmering off the waves as they rolled in and crashed against the rocks below. The only problem with this idyllic little scene, he noted, was that she had climbed over the guardrail and was standing near the edge of the cliff. The group made their way over, the only sound the pounding of the surf and the gravel under their feet. They were within only a few feet of Rory when she turned her head and pleasantly informed them that they probably shouldn't come any closer. "Why not?" Anne asked. "Because I'd really hate to take any of you with me." was the response, the moon glinting off a silver claddagh ring on her hand as she ran a hand through her hair. "Take any of us with you?" Duncan repeated. Rory pitched her voice to be heard over the surf crashing on the rocks below. "When I left, I went looking for another Immortal and couldn't seem to find one. Isn't that strange? They're always around when you *don't* want to fight, but when you do...Anyway, I couldn't find anyone, so I'm hoping that some of those rocks down there will be sharp enough to do the trick." From their viewpoints, they craned their necks to look over the cliff and see the white foam spraying over the dark, jagged shapes below. "And if it doesn't work?" Duncan asked. "Then I find another way. Soon." "Just like that you're giving up." She looked over at him. "670 years is not *giving up*, Macleod. I don't *want* to do this, but it's the only avenue left to me." "I thought you loved Joe." "What is this? 20 questions? Yes, I love him." she bit off. "You've got a funny way of showing it." was his response. "Shut up, Macleod." Rory turned her face back towards the ocean. But he continued. "If you're going to do this, don't do it by halves. Let me help you so we don't have to pick up the pieces when this attempt doesn't work." He pulled the katana out of his coat and placed the blade under her chin. She turned to look at him again, ignoring the blade as it bit into her neck and a small red line appeared on her skin. "Are you that eager for a Quickening?" "No, in fact I'd rather not have yours at all. I just figured that you might want some help." "Fine." she said. "But you'd probably have a better shot if you try it from the other angle." and she indicated the back of her neck. Duncan nodded and changed the position of his sword, then drew it back, looking at Rory. She didn't move. Anne grabbed Richie's arm in fright. "Mac?" Richie ventured. The dark-haired Immortal looked at his friends for a moment and then swung his sword. Just before he would have connected with Rory's neck, she dropped to the ground, a hand covering the back of her neck. "So," he said, "you *don't* want to die quite yet. Good." He put his katana back inside his coat. He reached out a hand to her and she violently slapped it away, looking up at him with an icy glare that clearly bespoke her hatred of him at that moment for proving his point in such an effective manner. "Mac..." Joe said, "back off, OK? I know what you're trying to do, but this is between me and Rory." Duncan nodded and then joined Anne and Ritchie a short distance away. Joe walked up to the guard rail and awkwardly pulled himself over it, sitting down on one of the posts as Rory pulled herself up and sat on a post near him, looking steadily out at the ocean and wiping from her face the rain that had begun to fall. The others could hear Joe's sigh as the sound carried back to them. Joe gazed out at the ocean for a moment as well. "Y'know," he finally said, "you've got some pretty big secrets you're carrying around." "What do you mean?." she said, twisting her hands together in her lap. "Well, there was the thing with the IRA." he mentioned. "Oh...yeah." "And now this..." "What *this*?" she asked sharply. "There is no *this*. I just don't want to live being a shell for someone else's Quickening." "Come on, Rory!" Joe ran a hand through his hair and turned to look at her. "It's been over a hundred years and you're *still* making excuses for the bastard beating you!" She whipped her head around to look at him. "How did you find out?" she gasped. "We found your journals from the time you and Amanda were in Paris. Why didn't you tell me?" he sighed. "Tell you what?" she said roughly. "Tell you that I was stupid enough to stay with a man who abused me? Do you know what it feels like to admit something like that--especially today when everyone thinks they're smart enough to avoid getting caught in a relationship like that." She paused, swallowing, "I was always so independent and then I just let him take over my life--I wasn't even smart enough to see it happening. Then, when it did, I couldn't even make myself leave. I just kept thinking that if *I* changed enough, if I figured out what I did that upset him so, he would stop." "You were in love with him and you wanted to see the best in him." Joe forced himself to say, the words thick on his tongue. "You can't take the blame for someone else's actions--especially actions like those. You didn't deserve to be abused like that." She looked away from him. "I *let* someone take over my whole life, tell me what to do, what to wear, where to go. In the name of "love", I let him rule over me--and I 'didn't deserve it'?" she asked, almost rhetorically, her voice indicating she'd already decided the answer. Suddenly her fists clenched and she bowed her head, shutting her eyes tightly. After a moment, she looked over at Joe again. "I can hear him." she said, the moonlight lighting both their faces. "I can almost *see* him out of the corner of my eye. He's laughing at me, telling me he's won, that there's no way I can ever get away from him." Joe sat silently for a moment, the crashing of the waves on the rocks serving as a reminder of what he stood to lose if he could not convince Rory. "You *did* get away from him once. You can do it again and forever." he said emphatically. "No," she disagreed, shaking her head. "I haven't gotten away from him. I just managed to bury him way down deep" In response to his look, she hurriedly amended her statement. "I haven't been living like *this* for the past 100 years. But, he was "there" every time I did something I knew he wouldn't approve of and he still pops up every now and again." "So he wins anyway, then." Joe stated, shrugging and staring back out at the ocean. "What do you mean?" Rory asked warily. "You won when you killed him, but if you kill yourself now, he's the ultimate winner--you may silence him, but you've destroyed yourself in the process." he said, not looking at her. "You don't understand!" she wailed. "I don't know who I am anymore!" "You are O'Riordan Deidre Brigid Malone, daughter of Meg Malone and Immortal." said Joe firmly. "You are *not* Stefan Kijewski nor are you his puppet. You are an intelligent, beautiful woman with friends--" he motioned back at the small group with his cane, "and you have someone who loves you very much and wants to help you." The rain began to fall harder, seeming to dim the brightness of the moon. Duncan, Anne and Richie continued to watch the scene in front of them unfold. "You have to trust someone with the good *and* the bad someday." he said quietly. She nodded. "Besides, he doesn't even like the blues." Joe finished. Rory's mouth quirked in a small smile, then she was somber again. "I don't know if I can do this." she whispered. "I'll help you." offered Joe, standing up and holding out his hand. She reached out toward it, but then looked back over the cliff. Joe grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, enfolding her against his chest as her arms went around him. Stepping back over the guardrail, her foot caught and they fell. He pulled himself into a sitting position, keeping Rory against him as the others came running up. Mac helped Joe pick himself up and Anne helped Rory up and into the Forerunner. Joe tossed the key to Mac. "You drive." he said and got into the back seat with Rory, who curled up next to him. Duncan waited until Anne and Richie got back on the highway and then followed them back to Joe's. >>> >>> >> >> >> > > > 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