Date: Fri, 16 Feb 1996 19:52:00 PST Reply-To: Mike Goldman Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Mike Goldman Subject: Counterfeit Friends (2/22) "Beggin' your pardon, " said Rory, "I feel...fine." She smiled pleasantly at Joe, but her tone of voice, although cloaked in a light Irish accent, indicated she was now on her guard against this person. "Joe is a Watcher." Richie said. "A what?" Rory asked, dropping Joe's hand and giving her full attention to the young Immortal. "Richie..." Joe said warningly. "You haven't heard of them?" Duncan said, "Most of us became aware of them after Darius was killed in Paris." "I've been...out of circulation for a while. I did hear that Darius was dead, though. I'm sorry, Duncan." Duncan nodded his thanks for her sympathies. Joe cleared his throat, "Well, since Richie's let the cat out of the bag, I should probably explain about Watchers." "That would probably be a good thing." Rory agreed, still eyeing Joe warily. "I'd like to know how you know about us." "Watchers have been around for centuries. We learned about Immortals and set about recording their lives--solely for historical purposes. Each of us is assigned a particular Immortal and we only observe and record. We take a vow not to interfere with your lives or the Gathering in any way." "But yet, you know Macleod and...Richie, is it?" Joe winced inwardly. This was heading into territory he'd much rather not have to explain. He looked over at Duncan and Richie and saw them silently waiting to see how he'd answer the question. he thought. "You mentioned Darius. Do you know how he died?" he asked. Rory shook her head. "There were some Watchers who didn't believe as we did. They felt that the final Immortal would use the power contained in the Gathering to subjugate the human race. They decided the only way to insure this didn't happen was to kill the Immortals first. They formed a group called the Hunters...and one of the Immortals they killed was Darius." He chanced a look over at Duncan who gave him a small nod of approval for not skirting what the Immortal knew was an emotional issue for Joe. Joe went on, "Mac found one of our Chronicles when he was searching for the men who killed Darius. It led him to a bookstore I was running at the time and things progressed from there." Rory nodded slowly. "While I don't know Duncan all that well, I do know that he chooses his friends carefully. If Duncan trusts you, I think I can too." "Good," Joe said, smiling, "I'd hate to think I'd have to audition any more bands." "I do have a question, though." Rory asked. "If you're each assigned to one Immortal, how come you thought I was dead?" "Yeah, Joe, " Richie echoed, wearing that little smirk of his. "How come?" Right then, Joe made a private vow to someday wipe that smirk off his face. "The last report we had was from a Watcher named Casey Donahue. He used to frequent a pub you worked in. He was killed when the pub was bombed in 1975 by the IRA. Some of your personal effects were found in the rubble and it was assumed you'd been killed as well." he explained. Rory nodded, but offered no further information. There was silence for a few minutes. "Well," said Duncan, "I'm sure you two have some business to conclude so Richie and I will be getting on our way." He took a card out of his jacket and handed it to Rory. "Rory, why don't you come over for dinner tonight and we can catch up. The address is on the card. Around 7:00?" "Sure. Thanks." She pocketed the card. "Joe, you want to come too?" "Sure Mac. Thanks for the invite. I get tired of my own cooking." Duncan grinned. "See you later." He grabbed Richie by the arm and they turned and walked out of Joe's. Once outside, they again had to pause to let their eyes adjust to the difference in light. As his vision cleared, Duncan thwapped Richie on the side of the head. "Ow! What was that for?" Richie whined. "You might want *not* to volunteer everything you know right off the bat next time." Duncan said. Rubbing his head, Richie thought about the wiseness of this statement. "Sorry Mac, I just figured all of us kinda know about the Watchers now." "Just remember for next time." He set off down the street. "Where you going?" Richie yelled after him. "Shopping! We gotta have something to eat for dinner!" by Lori Goldman mgoldman@cts.com =========================================================================