Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 23:05:43 EST Reply-To: Vi Moreau Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Vi Moreau Subject: Elena Part VII Here is Elena Part VII. Elena came 'back to life' for the second time that day, her body arching in convulsions. She sobbed. The pain was unending--a small part of her wished they had just taken her head and be done with it, but instead she found herself shackled hand and foot to two wooden pillars about four meters apart. The chains were holding her upright. She pulled herself to her feet to take some of the dead weight off her arms and shoulders. She was naked, blood still caked on her torso. She knew this was a psychological ploy designed to make her feel exposed and vulnerable, and it was working very well. She had considered using this same technique against her 'victims,' but in the end decided it was too demeaning to them and to herself. At least they weren't obviously going to rape her; otherwise she figured she'd be spread eagled on the floor or chained to a bed or something. She heard a male voice say, "Amazing how they do it! It's revolting!" and looked directly in front of her. Five men were sitting on folding chairs, watching her. 'Talk about feeling exposed and vulnerable!' she thought. They seemed to be drinking wine (boy, she would love some wine or anything else to drink right about now), and the speaker now raised his glass. "A toast, gentlemen. To victory! And the death of another unnatural monster. A particular murderous one." 'Monster!!??' It was obviously for her benefit, but she was still alive, so they wanted something. He came up to her. "Where are the disks?" He had an accent, maybe eastern European? but other things were more important at the moment. "Disks?" "Wrong answer." He nodded to one of the other men, who came to stand in front of her. She could feel his hatred. Damn it, they were going to really hurt her! He hit her once in the solar plexus, paralyzing it. For almost a full minute Elena couldn't breathe. During that minute she realized her death was going to be hard, and she prayed for the inevitable swordstroke to come soon. But maybe it was what she deserved. 'He who lives by the sword...' She finally took a long gasping breath, gagging and coughing. He waited until he had her full attention. "You will answer my questions precisely, or you will be hurt. Understand?" Elena nodded. "Good. Now, let's start again. Where are the disks?" He seemed a man of infinite patience, which was bad for her. Also bad was the fact that he didn't consider her a human being. No chance to 'bond with your captors' in this situation. "Did Dawson put you up to this?" She wanted to verify this. "Well, he certainly warned all his Watcher friends about you. You've created quite a stir. You've killed quite a few of my friends!" Even saying this he seemed remote, uncaring. The fact that even on bare feet she could look down on him was the only small satisfaction she had. "You've killed quite a few of my friends, too. Even Mortal ones!" "Ah, yes, the pregnant girl. She paid the price of being with you. You were the cause of her death." Elena closed her eyes. Don't let him get to you! "You were there?" she whispered. The bastard was actually smiling. "No, that would be too...ironic. It was done by one of my friends. One you didn't kill. But enough! Where are the disks? And let me warn you about my colleague here," pointing back at the man who had punched her. "One of the Watchers you tortured to death was his brother. He would love for you to lie and resist us." "I won't lie or resist you. I gave the disks to Duncan MacLeod." "When?" "I hid them in the dojo the night I...spoke to Dawson." "You're lying." He motioned to the other man. "Why would I? Duncan MacLeod is my lover. He's the perfect person to trust." She spoke quickly, wishing that she had trusted him, now. The other man punched her in the stomach. She doubled over, feeling nauseous, but he pulled her up by the hair to face her questioner again. "If he is your lover, why would you betray him?" Elena spoke through clenched teeth. "To get your colleague to stop punching me! Call MacLeod. If he denies it, you can hit me again and I'll make up something you want to hear." "Very well. We will call him. But, if you're lying..." The other Hunter produced a knife from somewhere and cut a thin line across her neck. Elena held her breath. Finally, he released her hair, and she sagged again. This time she had more trouble standing back up. When she did she saw him approach with a sledge hammer. Another one of the men held her leg from behind while the leader dialed a number. '!Dios mio!' she thought, remembering Antonio's shattered knees. There was an answer from the other end of the line, and the Hunter only said, "Listen to this, MacLeod," and held the phone toward her. The sledge came down on her right foot. Elena knew they expected her to scream for MacLeod's benefit. She didn't disappoint. Duncan, Dawson and Richie had had a relatively unhappy conversation which left everyone unsatisfied, but at least he'd gotten this much--Richie wouldn't attack her on sight. Dawson had decided to wait for Elena to return. He was obviously very worried about his disks, and probably doubted whether she'd come back. But Duncan was sure. "She'll be back," he stated with such finality that the others were halfway convinced. When the phone rang, it had been almost two hours. Duncan hoped it would be Elena with some very good explanation. The voice said, "Listen to this, MacLeod," and the scream that followed was loud enough to make Dawson and Richie both start. "What the hell was that???!!!" he heard Richie say, but Duncan knew what it was. "Elena!" he cried out. He broke out in a sweat. "Right the first time, Highlander. Now, do you have the disks?" "Whoever you are...." he began, furiously. "Please, no threats, no theatrics. Unless you want this bitch to do a lot more screaming, you will do exactly as I say....understood?" Duncan could feel the blood pounding in his head, but he forced himself to be calm. "I understand. Now let me talk to her." "No. Now you listen to me..." "How do I know that wasn't a tape and she's already dead? Put her on the phone." The Hunter put the phone up to Elena's ear. When she tried to talk, a sob came out instead. She heard him say her name. "'Escoses'..." She closed her eyes, wishing she didn't sound so much like a lady in distress, which she was. "I'm going to get you out of there. Elena? Can you hear me?" "Convinced?" said the Hunter. "You want the disks in exchange for the girl." "Right again." "The deal is she lives, or you can forget the disks, and I'll take over where she left off. If you think she was relentless, you have no idea what I'm like. I promise you'll learn a new meaning for the word hunter. And I'll never stop, never." Duncan MacLeod had been making threats for almost four hundred years, and he was very good at it, especially since he always meant what he said. There was a pause, and some whispering in the background. "We will call back with instructions in one hour." When Duncan hung up the telephone he wanted to cry. Instead, he took a deep breath. "They've got Elena, and they want the disks. Tell me you don't know anything about this, Dawson." "Absolutely not! What do you think I am, MacLeod?" "How did they find her?" "Look, I spread the word about the lady, sure. She was killing us, remember? But the Watchers wouldn't have gone after her! We'd just avoid her, that's all!" "Like your whole organization didn't go after Kalas? I was there when you were hunting him, remember?" Duncan was breathing in Dawson's face. "Kalas was different. He had that disk..." "So does she!" "But the information she's got is protected. She can't access it. As a matter of fact, only a few people even know that material exists, and I only told..." "WHO??!!!" Duncan grabbed Dawson by his lapels. "There were only two people who knew it was stolen. And I trust them with my life!" "I swear I'll kill you right now, Dawson." Duncan spoke very quietly. "MacLeod...Look, you gotta promise me you won't just go barging in swinging your sword. Even if one of these guys is a Hunter, the other one probably isn't." "I'll make sure to ask first. Names. Now." The Hunters held a conference, the short version being that as soon as they spotted MacLeod, they would send the word down to behead her, then shoot him, take the disks, and take his head as well. After they left (without hurting her again, '!gracias a Dios!'), Elena quickly considered her options while her shattered foot repaired itself. There were handcuffs at the ends of the chains. That was better than ropes or plastic, which could only be cut. Although they had taken all her clothes, they hadn't taken apart her hairstyle, which contained bobbypins and one or two carefully concealed tiny picks. But in order to pick the lock, she first had to get one hand free, and the only way to do that was to pull it out of the handcuff. She had done this once before--it was similar to trapped animals chewing off their own feet, except instead it involved breaking enough bones in her hand to make it small enough to pull free. She steeled herself. Her foot was still hurting terribly, but she didn't have the luxury of waiting. What was that American movie she'd seen where the hero dislocated his own shoulder to escape from a straight jacket? I bet that didn't hurt as much as what she was going to do. It didn't take long before her hand was free, but she had to wait for those bones to knit before she could use it. Pain, pain. Just couldn't get away from it. Working feverishly with the pick--if they came in now they'd kill her for sure-- Elena got her right hand free, then, agonizingly slowly, her feet. She was incredibly stiff, so she shook her muscles loose and tried the only door, which was of course locked. It was a warehouse size room, empty except for the chairs, which made bad weapons but good stepstools. And there was a set of windows near the ceiling. The ground wasn't very far down, but she sure was cold once she was outside. She intended to come back to get her sword, and to find out about the Hunter who killed Maria. But first, how to get back to the dojo in the middle of the day with no clothes and no money? She could smell the ocean air. All she had to do was find some friendly dock workers with a phone! The first worker who saw her literally dropped the box he was carrying, then called to his friends. She appealed to their good samaritanship. "Please help me. I've been kidnapped." They couldn't resist some comments and whistles, but finally one kind man gave her his sweaty t-shirt, and she used their office phone. The cellular rung in Duncan's car as he was headed with Richie toward the docks. He'd been surprised when Richie volunteered to come, but, as the younger man put it, "Just because I want her head doesn't mean I'm going to let those bastards take her down." "Yes," Duncan answered the telephone. "I am in the office of Pietro and Sons, on the South Wharf. Can you come pick me up?" "Are you alright?" He felt a weight lift off his chest. "Of course; but," she turned and whispered into the receiver, "everyone I meet insists on killing me and destroying my clothes." "I'll be there in five minutes." He hung up. "She got away from them," he said to Richie. "Far out! So much for our great rescue, huh?" Duncan couldn't remember being so happy in a long time. When he drove up, Elena was waiting outside with a rather large and idle crowd of dock workers. She was wearing a too-large t-shirt and a bikers' jacket hanging down past her knees. She turned to give a shirtless man a chaste kiss on the cheek and called out, "!'Adios, amigos'! I'll return your jacket, Mark, thanks!" and waved. In return, she got some catcalls, whistles, and loud goodbyes. Duncan ran out of the Thunderbird, hugged her and kissed her passionately. There were more cries, whistles, and applause; thumbs up and high fives; then Mark tapped Duncan on the shoulder, and he turned. Mark was a head taller and was built like a refrigerator. "Hey, Mister, we all love a happy ending, but you and your lady was lucky, you know what I mean?" Duncan nodded, his eyes going back to Elena. He still couldn't quite believe she was alive and well. "Yeah, I know, thanks." His voice was hoarse. "I was you, I'd take much better care of this lady, otherwise someone might just take her away from you, you get my drift?" "You're right," Duncan nodded, smiling at him. " I will. Thanks, guys." "Hey, you know, we offered to go back with Elena and kick some butt, you know what I mean? She said no, but, hey, the offer still stands." There was general agreement among the crowd. Duncan looked around. Some men brandished crowbars or lead pipes. He couldn't help smiling. "Thanks, but, I think I better get her back home." "Right, well, you know where we are, OK? "Thanks again." Mark thumped him on the back, nearly knocking him over. "Anytime!" There were more calls and goodbyes. Elena waved. Richie was frankly staring, but finally he slipped into the back seat and she sat in front. "The seat is cold," she shuddered. "Hello, Richie," she smiled at him. "Did you come to rescue me too? How nice!" "I...I guess so." "Tell me what happened," said Duncan, intently. "First, some clothes. Then, some black, strong coffee. And do you have an extra sword? I seem to have misplaced mine, and I need to kill someone." As Elena described her experience, Duncan was filled with a mixture of admiration and rage. It was all he could do to keep from turning back toward the docks, but first he had to figure out a way to keep her out of it. It wouldn't be easy. And before that, he had to figure out a way--again--to keep her from killing Dawson. When they got back to the dojo, Elena spotted Dawson's car. She ran out of the T-bird before Duncan had fully stopped. "Elena, wait!" He and Richie just barely caught up to her in the elevator. Fortunately she didn't have the key. "Just wait a minute," Duncan panted. "I know what you're thinking." "That Dawson is a dead man? Then you do know." "Look, he didn't set you up." "Is that what he told you?" "Yes, and I believe him. He gave us the name of the man he thought had done it, and we were already headed towards the warehouse when you called." She shook her head. "Look, it goes like this. I try to kill Dawson and fail. He tries to kill me and fails. Now it's my turn again." Richie opened the elevator doors. Elena tried to rush out, but Duncan pinned her by the shoulders against the back wall. "Are we going to go through this again? I'm telling you he didn't have you kidnapped. It was the Hunters, and we know who they are now, and we're going to go kill them now." "Yes, by all means, let's go kill them now. Starting with Dawson." She pushed against him; Duncan held her back with an effort. "No, Elena." It was all or nothing with this woman. Either they were making sweet love or talking quietly together or they were trying to kill each other. There was no middle ground...He was used to people around him who trusted his judgement, relied on him, or feared him. She trusted only her own judgement, relied on herself, and feared no one. "Elena, you didn't trust me with the disks. Please trust me on this." Her conscience was pricked. It had been so long since she had trusted anyone. "You are asking for a lot, 'escoses'." "I'm giving a lot in return." "You are sure about Dawson." "Look, he will face you and shoot you straight out. But this, kidnapping, beatings...it's just not his style. Talk to him. I still have your word, remember?" Elena wanted to believe him, wanted to trust him so badly her head ached with the effort. She relaxed. "I will talk to him," she agreed. Duncan sighed too, visibly relieved. They walked into the apartment just in time to hear Richie saying to Dawson, "...so, she gets out of the handcuffs by jerking against the metal and breaking the bones in her hand. Ouch! We're talking major balls, here, oops, sorry, Duran." His tone was so frankly admiring that Elena couldn't help smiling at him. It looked like she might be able to keep from fighting him. "In Spanish we call them 'cojones', and yes, in the past I have been accused of having them. But I don't--ask him," she added, pointing at Duncan. Duncan had the grace to blush, but tensed again when Dawson came up to Elena. "I'm sorry about what happened." "Are you really?" Her voice was cold. "Yes. I am not your enemy and the Watchers are not your enemies. We've been around for centuries, as long as the Immortals have been around. Except for some rare instances, very rare, we don't interfere in your affairs. And we don't go around murdering Immortals or their friends. I wish I could make you believe that." "And the Hunters? Aren't they Watchers, too?" "They're renegades, fanatics. We want them stopped just as badly as you do. Maybe more so. Anything I can do to help, just name it." "How generous." Sarcasm. Dawson sighed and shook his head. At least she wasn't trying to kill him outright anymore. And although the timing may be bad, he had to ask. "About those disks...I gotta have them back." Without answering, Elena got yet another set of Duncan's sweats to put on in the bathroom. Would she ever wear her clothes again? When she came out, Duncan had some coffee and rolls. She ate and drank greedily, then drank some orange juice while Duncan made her a sandwich and gave her some fruit, which she also consumed. Finally she sat back, satisfied. "'Barriga llena, corazon contento'," she sighed. Duncan laughed. "'Corazon' is heart, isn't it?" "It translates something like, 'the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach'." Duncan and Richie both laughed, and even Dawson smiled briefly. He had been waiting all this time, nervous but patient, giving her all the time she needed. Finally she turned to him. "We need to talk about those disks. Leave us. We'll call you." The tone of dismissal was unmistakable. Dawson looked at Duncan, who shrugged and repeated, "We'll call you." Dawson had no choice but to leave. End of Part VI copyright by Vivian Moreau, 1995 Translations: 'gracias a Dios' - thank God 'escoses' - Scotsman 'barriga llena, corazon contento' - a full belly means a happy heart =========================================================================