========================================================================= Date: Wed, 6 Mar 1996 11:32:42 -0500 Reply-To: JJSWBT@AOL.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Wendy Tillis Subject: Hidden Potential 7/22 Hidden Potential by: Wendy Tillis March, 1996 Standard disclaimers apply Chapter 7 " So, you've both talked to her and you agree she isn't an Immortal?" It was Wednesday night and the bar was mostly empty. Duncan and Richie sat at the bar while Joe stood behind it polishing already spotless glassware. Duncan scowled. " She isn't our kind of Immortal , that doesn't tell us what she *is*. Do we even know she *is* immortal?" " "What do you mean, she got shot and healed" Richie looked confused. " I mean - we know she healed *once*. Will it happen again? Has she stopped aging? Can she have children? Did she have 'real' parents? Maybe this was a once-in-a-lifetime freak occurrence." Duncan had been in a surly mood, Richie thought, ever since Margaret's visit to the dojo last week. "There must be some way to find out." Richie said. " Sure, we can go shoot her and see what happens. Or maybe you'd like to take her head - just to see if you get a Quickening?" Joe cut in: "Relax MacLeod. It doesn't look like she's going anywhere - we can keep and eye on her. See what develops." Richie hopped down off his stool and headed for the men's room. When he was out of earshot, Joe spoke up. " What's with you MacLeod. This has really gotten you up-tight. Or is it the lady herself?" " I don't know what you are talking about." " Come on , MacLeod. It's been over a year since Anne took the baby and left town. I don't think you've had three dates in the past six months." "And you would know, you old Watcher." Duncan didn't like to admit how much he missed Anne - and Mary. Anne had stayed in town for less than a year after Mary's birth. Duncan had spent a lot of time at the house, playing with Mary on the lawn or having a quiet lunch with Anne. He and Anne had managed to transform their relationship into a real friendship. But as the months had gone on, Anne had started to see Mary's father more and more. He was an administrator at the hospital who had been quietly in love with Anne for years. Mary drew them together and when he had been offered a job at a hospital in Chicago, he had asked Anne to go with him. Anne had gone. It was her last chance, probably, to have a normal life. To give Mary a normal life. Duncan couldn't blame her. But he did miss them. "So? Well, it isn't good for you. You need to get out MacLeod. Have some fun? You're snapping at everyone around you. Richie isn't going to take that attitude from you forever." " Gee -thanks for the advice, Dear Abby. Now - what do you really think about this girl's case?" " I don't know, Mac. I ran her description through our records. Nothing really comes close. I even mentioned it to Methos last week on the phone. He didn't seem to know anything about it either. Didn't ring any bells." "Damn. I was hoping he would have run across something like it in his time. We need to spend more time with her." Joe looked passed Duncan's shoulder and said: "I think you are about to get your wish." Duncan spun around in time to see Maggie walking down the metal stairs into the bar. Casually dress in jeans and a baggy University of Washington sweatshirt, her hair braided down her back, she looked about sixteen. She came directly over to Duncan and Joe and sat down next to Duncan at the bar. " Maggie! I didn't expect to see you here. Joe Dawson, this is Margaret Grant. Margaret, Joe." "*The* Joe of Joe's Place?" " The same." Joe smiled. "I'm honored" she said half jokingly. Just then Richie reappeared. His face lit up when he saw who was seated at the bar. He hurried over and took the seat on her other side. " Hello. Richie. Nice to see you again." "What are you doing here? I didn't mean that. I mean. I'm surprised to see you. Do you want a drink." Richie finished in a breathless rush. " Yes, I'd love a drink." She looked at Joe. "Tequila, straight up. No salt. No lime." "I'll need to see some ID." Joe looked a little embarrassed. As she fumbled in her purse, Richie spoke up. "Come on, Joe. You don't need to do that. Give her a drink." " Never mind, Richie. Women don't mind being accused of looking *younger* than they are. That is a strictly male problem. Here you are, Joe." And she held out a Washington State Drivers License. Joe looked at it closely. Duncan could see it also. It listed her age as 21 - almost 22. Born on June 21, 1975. Her birthday was in a few weeks, in fact. She was just a year younger than Richie. " Born on the summer solstice? That's funny. I was born on the winter solstice - -but a few years earlier." Duncan smiled at his inside joke. A few years? Try 383 years earlier. "Yes. My father seemed to think that was quite propitious. That I was born for greatness. I guess we'll have to wait and see." Joe had returned with her drink. As he set her glass on the bar in front of her, his sleeve moved up his arm, revealing the Watcher tattoo on his wrist. She put out a hand, catching his arm and holding it. Joe looked a little startled - she had moved very fast. She turned his arm so that the tattoo was up. " That's an interesting tattoo, Joe. Where did you get it?" " Oh I got it a long time ago, right after I left the army. It seemed like a good idea at the time." He tried to laugh it off. He didn't like the close scrutiny she was giving it. Like she had seen one before. "It's very nice. Much better than a naked woman or an anchor or such. Actually, I have a tattoo myself." "Where?" Richie jumped in. She laughed. " Maybe I'll let you see it some time. But we'd have to know each other a whole lot better." With that, she let go of Joe's wrist and he self-consciously pulled his sleeve down to cover the tattoo. Margaret picked up her drink and downed half of it and sat it back down. they were all silent for a moment. Duncan spoke up: " You mentioned your father. I thought you said you were raised by your uncle?" Since no Immortal knew their real parents, Duncan was interested in her story. It might offer clues as to what she really was. "Hmmmm. I was raised by my uncle from the age of seven. Before that I lived with my family." She finished her drink and looked expectantly at Joe. He brought the bottle of tequila over and poured her another. " What happened to your parents" That was Richie - tactful in the utmost. "They died." She said it very abruptly - but with little emotion. The three men thought she was not going to go on, but after a pause she did. " I was born in France. It was . . . in a sheltered valley that runs down from the Swiss Alps. There wasn't . . isn't. . even a village. Just a few houses spread out on the hillsides. My father raised a few animals, a few crops. My mother collected wild flowers and herbs. I had a little brother, Raff. Father was something of a spiritual advisor to the area - people were always coming by to ask his advise on some matter. It was a good place to grow up." Maggie took another drink of the tequila and then went on - this time staring at the bottles behind the bar as if recalling some far distant and unwelcome memory. "The summer I turned seven . . . one day Raff and I were out playing behind the house, in a grove of trees. We saw three men approach the house - they were strangers but that was not totally unheard of. We were isolated but occasionally people wandered into our valley on their way to or from someplace else. The men went into the house. We kept playing. Then we heard my mother scream. We hid in the trees and waited. When we heard her scream again, Raff broke loose from me and ran toward the house. I had to make a choice - stay hidden or try to save a much loved baby brother. He was only five. I went after him." She was staring straight ahead - oblivious to the bar, the music playing, the three men, the drink in her hand. "Two days later, my uncle - my mother's brother - came by to see why no one had seen us. He found me naked, bloody, but alive in the house with the bodies of my dead family. He took me home with him. We left the valley and traveled the world. I forget how many countries we lived in, how many languages I learned . It was a good life - better, I suppose, than the one I would have had if my family hadn't been killed. . . I suppose that sounds terrible." She shook her head as if clearing away the memories. She finished her drink and poured another. No one said anything. The men were all stunned to hear what she had gone through. Richie knew what it was like to lose a mother - even if she was only a foster mother. Emily Ryan had died in front of him when he was less than four. Duncan had had his parents with him until he was a grown man- but even then, the pain of his father's death had almost driven him mad. He could guess what it had been like for Maggie. Joe, who's parents, though aged and ill were still alive, was suddenly very glad he wasn't an Immortal. As she downed another shot of tequila, Joe spoke up: " Hey. I think you've had enough of that. You're going to feel it in the morning. And I don't want you splattered all over the road because I let you drink too much" She looked at the glass and then at the now half empty bottle sitting on the bar. " That's all right, Joe. I never get drunk and I don't get hang-overs. But- I'll stop if it makes you happy." Duncan, too, thought she shouldn't be out driving with half a bottle of Jose Quervo in her. He was just about to offer her a ride home when Richie spoke up. "I have to be going. Why don't I drive you home. I have my bike here, but I can drive your car - I'll get home on the bus." She hesitated and then said: " If you like. I'm in your debt, kind sir." And she smiled. "In my debt, huh. Well. Then . . why don't you agree to go out with me Friday night and we'll call it even. I've got Springsteen tickets. " He knew he sounded over-anxious but he couldn't help it. This might be his only chance to ask her out. The girl he had originally intended to take to the concert had dumped him the week before. " Friday night? I think I can make that. " She had glanced at Duncan before agreeing but he had kept his face carefully neutral. " Great. Great. Friday night. OK. Come on. Let's go. See ya later guys." Richie was wired now. Maggie got down off her stool and laid some money on the bar. She pulled her keys out of her pocket and handed them ceremoniously to Richie. Then she and Richie headed out of the bar. " Quite a story she told, hey Mac?" " Yeah, quite a story. " " You don't think it's true? " " Oh - I think it was the truth - but I can't help feeling she was editing it as she went - leaving things out" "Maybe. It sounds like a horrible experience, I wouldn't be surprised if there were parts she didn't want to remember." "Hmmm. You might be right. I wonder. . . ." Duncan shook his head. "Richie was in rare form tonight. . he's quite taken with her I think." Joe remarked. "He's taken with anything in a dress - or tight jeans." Duncan laughed and got up. "See you later, Joe." " Good night, MacLeod."