Date: Mon, 2 May 1994 17:21:59 CDT Reply-To: Highlander TV show stories Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Heather Hirshorn Subject: For the Love of Devon (Part 9) ********************** For the Love of Devon Part 9 ********************* Devon sat bolt upright in bed. The clock had just struck four a.m. and something seemed very wrong. Her eyes widened as she realized what it was. He was gone. Tears gathered and slipped down her cheeks, but Devon did not notice. She had driven him away, like so many other people in her life. Many events she remembered from her past were sad farewells, caused by something she had done or said. She climbed out of bed and padded across the stone floor to the small window that overlooked the stables. If Devon closed her eyes, she could see faces before her- Angus, Connor, Eileen- but they all faded into his visage, frozen in an expression of contempt. When Connor knocked on her door a few hours later, Devon did not answer. Alarmed, he entered the room and was stricken by the cold temperature. He found the source almost immediately; her window was wide open, the curtains fluttering lazily in the gentle early morning breeze. Devon was curled into a ball beneath the window, her head on her knees, her flaming hair a blanket around her body. Connor knelt beside her and tried to shake her awake, but to no avail. He lifted her into his arms and she shifted slightly, her nose pressed into his neck. After covering her with the blanket, he closed the window and left her alone. Connor was eating a small breakfast of porridge and coffee when Brenda came home. She had been away on business in New York for two weeks and was ecstatic to finally get home. Part of her always worried that Connor would be gone when she returned, it was a feeling that she feared she would never get over. But she pushed the morbid thoughts out of her mind as she snuck up on her husband. Being mortal, Brenda gave no telepathic clue of her presence, but her perfume did. Connor inhaled deeply, inordinately pleased to have his wife home, he so desperately needed the comfort her arms brought him. He turned in his chair just as Brenda tiptoed behind him and grasped her tightly around the waist, resting his head against her breast. Brenda's playful mood vanished as she embraced Connor. "What's the matter, love? Devon's alright isn't she?" Connor merely nodded. Brenda stroked his hair and waited for his reply. Patience was one of the greatest lessons she had learned from living with Connor. After a time, he lifted his head and looked up at her. "I thought you'd never get home. I've made such a mess of everything, and now Devon is paying for my mistakes." Brenda took the chair beside Connor still holding his hand. "What do you mean? Everything was going so well when I left." "Duncan is gone. He and Devon got into a fight yesterday and she almost took his head." "What?!" Brenda recoiled as if she had been slapped. "I never should have let him train her- I saw the friction between them from the beginning. I didn't think it would lead to this. She is more powerful than I realized, I thought what happened in New Orleans was just a fluke, but there was a reason." "I don't understand." "Devon is special, Brenda. I've known it since I started training her and I assume it has something to do with her birth. But I still don't know how to control it. She has an abnormal inner strength and if we don't learn how to harnass it- I'm afraid it will kill her." Brenda was silent as she contimplated the implications of Connor's words. She too had seen the tension between Duncan and Devon, but she had not really given it much thought. "What are you going to do?" "I don't know. I don't think she'll stay here, not after what happened between her and Duncan. But until she gains her full memory back, I don't see how I can leave her." "You're right, Connor, I won't stay here. But you really don't need to follow me. I'll be okay. I was thinking of back to Texas. Now that I know who and what I am, I want to resume my old life as Devon Rothschild, not Joanna MacLeod. And I think it would be best if we stayed apart for a while. I will miss you, both of you, but I just really need to stay alone." "Devon..." Connor began, but Devon stopped him with an upraised hand. "I'll be fine, Connor. I have to do this. I know how to fight, I think I've proven that. Let me go." Connor released his wife's hand and moved to Devon's side. "I can't promise that I'll never try to see you; there are still so many things you don't know. But I will respect your wishes. At least for a while." Devon smiled and for the first time, hugged her father. She then turned to Brenda, who was now standing as well, and pressed her hand tightly. "Thank you for being a friend to me, Brenda. I hope that when Connor does contact me again, you will come with him." "Of course I will." Devon let go of her hand and walked up the stairs to gather her things. Brenda placed her hand on Connor's shoulder and he kissed it softly. "Do you think she'll contact Duncan?" Brenda murmurred. Connor grinned. "Oh yes. I don't think she'll be able to stay away. They're connected in some way." He pulled Brenda into his arms and held her close. "And we'll see her again too. She's of my flesh- that kind of bond doesn't break easily." Devon thought the same thing as she boarded the plane that would take her way from Connor, but not forever. She would meet with him again, of that she had no doubt. Duncan was another story altogether. Stephen Youngblood stood at the front of the plane and watched Devon drop wearily into a seat near the window. He smiled humorlessly as she sat forward abruptly and searched for the source of the immortal buzz that she must have felt. As he took his own seat, he closed his eyes, almost licking his lips in anticipation of taking the lovely girl's head. "There can be only one, Highlander's daughter- and I'm afraid that it won't be you." Relaxing deeper into his seat, Stephen slept, confident of victory. The Real End of Part 9 =========================================================================