Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 16:21:47 -0500 Reply-To: LGreeneyes@AOL.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Laura Schomberg Subject: New : First Time Out part 1 This is my first attempt at fan fic. Let me know what you think. All the usual disclaimers apply. LGreeneyes@aol.com ****************************************************************************** ******************** First Time Out by Laura Schomberg The dojo 6:00 am Richie thought as he pulled up in front of the dojo. He stepped off the bike and headed up the stairs. The buzz stopped him as he put the key in the door. He hesitated, Duncan's plane didn't get in until later this morning. Richie opened the door and pulled his sword out of his jacket. Quietly he entered the dojo, looking for the unknown immortal. From the feel of the buzz, Richie was pretty sure that the immortal was either in the gym or office. Using only the dim early morning light coming through the windows he searched the gym area. No one. That left the office. He raised his sword defensively as he crept toward the office door. "Who's in there!?!" Richie received no answer but he was rewarded with the sight of a form slowly rising out of the leather chair. Whoever it was wasn't very tall. "Who are you?" asked a quiet female voice. "I hate to be childish" Richie replied, "but I asked first." "I'm looking for Duncan MacLeod. And I know that you aren't him." "If you're hunting, you'll have to go through me." The most beautiful laughter Richie had ever heard filled the dojo. "Don't worry, baby. I'm not hunting him. By your stand you must be a friend. I'd guess that you're his student. Right?" "Yes, and his friend." The woman turned on the light in the office. What Richie saw didn't exactly fit the image of the shadowy figure that he had been creating in his mind. She looked.......like a filthy child. Her pitch black hair was in wild disarray. It looked like she had put something black one her face and then tried to clean it off. Richie could still see some of it on the right side of her nose and on her forehead. She was wearing a trench coat that had obviously originally been owned by a much taller man. Her hands were stuffed in the pockets and the excess sleeves were bunched around her wrists. Richie guessed that a good foot of the coat was bunched on the floor around her feet. "You still haven't told me your name, baby." "Why are you calling me baby? You don't know how old I am." The stranger shrugged and turned back into the office. She headed toward the chair and collapsed into it with a sigh. Richie didn't think he had ever seen anyone look as tired as she looked. "You became aware of what you were when you were, what, 19? 20?" "19." "Well last time I saw Duncan he didn't have a protege. As far as I know he never had one. That and from the feel of you I'd say that you are anywhere from, oh, 21 to 70 years of age. Tops." "From the feel of me? I've never been able to tell how old an immortal was from the feel of him." She shrugged again, "It's a gift. Let's narrow this down a bit. Umm, how many heads have you taken?" "I've had my share." "That's not an answer. Okay then. I'd say either one strong one or two to three mild to moderately strong Quickenings." Richie's jaw dropped. "Two or three?" "Three." "Well that narrows it down a bit. I'd say that you're less than 25. Which to me means you're a baby. My name is Ellianna, by the way. What's your's?" "Richie. Richie Ryan. If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?" "Let's just say that I was about 25 when I first died." "Okay, then why are you here, Ellianna?" "I'm going by Ellie this time around. I'm not really sure why I'm here. I found myself outside and thought I'd stop by and say hello to Duncan. When will he be back?" Richie wasn't sure if he should believe her or not. She seemed to be telling the truth, that is what she did tell him. He needed to check her out, he decided. Duncan was on a plane right now so he couldn't ask him. Joe! "I need to make a phone call." "Checking me out, huh." "Something like that." "I'm too tired to leave the room, or be a threat for that matter. Go ahead." Richie didn't really feel like talking to Joe in front of her but he picked up the phone anyway and dialed Joe's house. "Yeah," the voice mumbled. "Hey, Joe. Sorry to wake you up." "Something wrong, Richie?" "No. I just wanted to find out if you know about an immortal named Ellianna. Claims she's a friend of Duncan's." That seemed to wake up Joe. "Ellianna? Is she there?" "Yes to both." "Let me talk to her." "What? Isn't that against the rules?" "Just give her the phone!" "Here, Joe wants to talk to you," Richie said as he reached the phone out to Ellie. Ellie looked as confused as Richie as she reached out and took the phone. "Ellie here." "I spoke to Janek this morning. He's sending somethings for you. He said to call him." "Th..thanks. Joe as in Joe Dawson, right?" "Yes. I just want you to know that I don't approve of your relationship with Janek." "An immortal named Richie Ryan calls you at 6 in the morning and asks you to tell him about another immortal and YOU don't approve of my relationship with Janek. Sounds like double standards to me." "Point taken. But I haven't told him about other watchers. Let me talk to Richie." She handed the phone back to Richie. "I take it she's telling the truth." "Yes, at least I have good reason to believe that she is Ellianna. I can't tell you much about her, though. We don't have any real solid information about how old she is or where she is from. We do know that she is good at disappearing and that she has spent the last 20 years working for various groups interested in bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. By the way, I don't think that Ellie's watcher would have let me know that he and she were friends unless something big was up. When are you expecting Duncan?" "I was supposed to pick him up at the airport in about four hours." "Call someone else to do it." "Why can't you?" "I'm waiting for a package. It probably won't get here until about that time." "Okay. See you later." Richie hung up the phone and looked at Ellie. Her head was being supported by her hands with her elbows propped on the desk. Her head started to tilt forward and then jerked back and she looked towards Richie. For the first time he noticed her eyes. He had never seen eyes as green or quite so tired. "Let's get you upstairs and into Duncan's bed. He won't mind. After that I'll give Adam a call and see if he can pick up Duncan at the airport." Richie reached down to help her out of the chair but she jerked away from him. "Adam. As in Adam Pierson?" "Do you know him?" "Yes. He's an...old friend." Richie decided that if that was the tone of voice she used for old friends then he would hate to be an enemy. She let him help her out of the chair and followed him to the elevator. They went in and Ellie leaned against the back wall. Richie pressed the button to take the elevator to Duncan's quarters and turned back to Ellie. She had fallen asleep and was sliding down the wall. He reached out to grab her and then picked her up in his arms. The elevator reached the Duncan's floor with a small jolt. Richie tried to figure out a way to open the gate while holding her but couldn't. Finally he put her down and then opened the gate. He picked her back up again and carried her to Duncan's bed. Richie placed her on the bed and stepped back. He decided to take off the trench coat so she wouldn't get tangled up in it while she slept. He undid the buttons and pulled first the right and then left arm out of the sleeves. Gasping, he stepped back when he noticed the state of her clothes under the coat. She was wearing a dark, long-sleeved cotton shirt and black pants that had more holes in them then he had ever seen. Richie couldn't tell if the shirt was originally black or if it was the blood that covered it that made it black. Richie stepped back away from the bed. Turning around, he headed to the phone to call Adam. End of part one =========================================================================