========================================================================= Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 21:24:56 -0700 Reply-To: Mike Goldman Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Mike Goldman Subject: "Feels Like Rain" (03/03) Joe left the bar about midnight, instructing Mike to go ahead and do the closing for him. He had tried to conduct business as usual but his mind had kept replaying the earlier scene with Mac and Rory in the bar and, after he'd screwed up his umpteenth drink order, he'd decided it was time to call it quits for the night. Driving aimlessly around Seacouver's rain-soaked streets, he was sitting blankly at a stop light when an ambulance roared by him with lights and siren blaring. The ambulance made him think of Anne and, almost automatically, he turned left instead of right and drove over to where Anne lived. Arriving, he turned off the lights and engine and just sat there. He could see the porch light flickering, but no other lights were on in the house. Belatedly glancing down at his watch he was surprised to see it was after one-thirty in the morning. , he realized in surprise. His hand moved towards the ignition several times as one part of his mind tried to convince him that this was a stupid idea and he should come back at a more reasonable hour; the other part of his mind told him it was now or never. Deciding, he told the other part of his mind to shut up, opened the car door, got out, walked to the front and rang the bell. he wondered sheepishly as the chime seemed to resound through the house like Big Ben. In the middle of debating whether to try again, he saw a light come on and then heard steps. Seconds later, the door opened and Anne stood there in a robe and slippers, clutching the top of the robe against her neck. "Joe? What are you doing here?" she asked. "Is something wrong with Duncan?" "No, no, everything's fine." he said. "I shouldn't have bothered you--sorry to wake you." "Wait," she came out onto the porch, rubbing her arms against the cool of the early morning. "Did you want to see Rory?" He opened his mouth, then finally just nodded. "Come in." she said. He followed her into the entryway. "Wait here--she just went to sleep, but I'll see if she wants to talk to you." and she disappeared down the hall. A few minutes later, a sleepy-looking Rory came out in a long T-shirt and a pair of socks, rubbing her eyes. "What do you want, Joe?" "Can we, um, can we talk?" "At 1:30 in the morning?!" Then she saw the look on his face. "Alright, but let's go into the living room so we don't disturb Anne." He followed her in and sat down on one of the stuffed chairs. She took the matching ottoman and sat across from him, pulling her T-shirt over her knees. "So...talk." she said quietly. "I'm sorry about what I said on the phone to you when you called." She nodded and waited for a few minutes, then raised an eyebrow. "And that's all you wanted to say?" Her tone indicated that *she* didn't think so. "And I'm sorry about the bar this afternoon." Rory nodded again, her arms hugging her knees. "Apology accepted, but I can't believe you came all the way across town just to tell me that." "No, I didn't." Grabbing his cane, he placed it between his legs and propped his hands on the curved top. "Oh, damn! Let me just start at the beginning." "Good a place as any." she agreed. "Shortly after you left, the cops came around looking for the escaped mental patient--Anne had had to use her ID to get us in there and Nurse Kwok gave good descriptions of all of us. Anyway, I used some of my Watcher contacts to help forge some papers that showed we'd placed you in some hospital in England." She twisted her hands together. "Keep talking." "After all that died down and everything was quiet, I started thinking about all that had happened since I'd met you...and I started getting angry. Everything that I've found out about you has come about only because the situation demanded it--you've volunteered next to *nothing*--and..." "And what?" Rory prompted. "We're already in a...unique situation and I can't keep going if things remain the same. I can't be in a relationship where one person has all the cards and makes up the rules as she goes." "I didn't--" she started to protest. "You did and I let you." he broke in. "We agreed you wouldn't ask about Watcher business if I didn't ask you about your past. That has to change. If we continue together, I need to know that you'll be honest with me--the bad along with the good." Rory exhaled. "My turn." Looking down, she realized that she had stopped twisting her hands together and was now twisting her claddagh ring around and around her finger. Giving Joe a sheepish smile, she placed her hands flat in her lap. "After I killed Stefan back in Paris, I promised myself that I wasn't going to ever 'need' anyone or anyone's help again. I was going to maintain my independence. I mean, hell," she laughed shakily, "look what happened then." "It worked for a long time," she went on, "then I met you and it was like I woke up one morning and realized how much I wanted to be with you--how much you meant to me--and it scared me. I didn't feel like I was independent anymore and the only way I felt I could keep my independence was to shut you out so you couldn't know everything about me." "And it almost killed you." Joe answered. "No plan is perfect." she answered back, smiling and shrugging. "I think you've got love mixed up with possessiveness." said Joe. "I don't want to 'own' you and I *certainly* don't want to be in charge of every aspect of your life. Between you and Watching Macleod," he snorted, "I'd never get anything else done!" "We *are* rather time-consuming." Rory said dryly. Joe continued. "I also don't want to know everything about you--believe it or not, I like surprises--but, like I said, I need someone who's not keeping secrets simply because she thinks it's best. Tell me and we'll decide together." She moved off the ottoman and knelt in front of him, putting the cane to the side and taking his hands in hers. "No more secrets," she promised, "what do you want to know?" He smiled and pulled her into his lap and kissed her, the months apart seeming to fall away as they rediscovered their feelings for each other. Then they sat in the chair, Rory's head on Joe's shoulder, and talked of inconsequential things until they both fell asleep. The next morning they were awakened by a loud cough. Looking up through bleary eyes, they saw Duncan and Anne smiling down at them. "Isn't it a Federal offense to be so cheerful in the morning?" Rory grumbled from her seat on Joe's lap. "If it's not, it should be." agreed Joe as a dormant crick in his neck suddenly sprang to life. Rory climbed off Joe's lap and handed him his cane as he stood up. "Would I be correct in thinking you won't be needing the guest room any longer?" Anne asked. Joe looked at Rory, who nodded. "That would be correct." he replied to Anne. "You need any help packing?" he asked Rory. She shook her head "no" and began to walk out of the room, but Duncan's comment caused her to pause. "Aren't they cute when they're first woken up?" he asked Anne. Rory turned around and padded back across the floor in her stocking feet. She crooked her finger at Joe and whispered something in his ear, who began to chuckle as she talked. When she finished, he looked over at Duncan. "Really?" he asked. She nodded and Joe immediately burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Duncan asked suspiciously. "Oh no, Mac," Joe said, pulling Rory to him. "That's *our* secret." 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 "Necessity is the mother of invention...and sometimes she can be a pretty mean mother." --Frank McPike "Living and Dying in 4/4 Time"