Date: Mon, 27 Mar 1995 09:54:41 EST Reply-To: Teleute Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Teleute Subject: It can't rain all the time I know this isn't my responsibility and all, but since so many people requested it on and off the mailing list, I figured I'd repost it anyway... especially since the first two parts (which came out in November and December) are no longer available in the listserver log (I checked.) The story is _not_ finished and the last posting was in February. Hopefully this will be finished, it's very good so far. :) Here goes :) Teleute A Crow/Highlander crossover By Matt Blair November 1994. Some liberties taken with both stories. The most obvious being the location. Obviously, the Crow didn't take place in Seacouver, so I'm gonna have Duncan go on 'holiday' in an attempt to get over Tessa, or at least, just get away from the memories. I'm trying to stick to canon, but as no-one knows exactly how or when pre-immies are sensed I just fitted it into my story. As for The Crow side of things, I may end up mixing between the comic book and the film. I'm not sure how it's gonna go yet, as I'm just making it up as I go along. I don't even know if I will manage to finish it. This is my first attempt at fanfic, so please be kind. Any flames, comments, or whatever to Matthew.Blair@bbsrc.ac.uk Special thanks to Baj for the encouragement. See ya soon !! It Can't Rain All The Time -------------------------- Devil's Night. The rain fell in steady sheets, thumping the ground and turning the grass into a muddy pulp. Lightning flashed across the night sky, illuminating the headstones for a second, before the rain obscured them again. It seemed as if it had rained forever. Lightning flashed again, revealing a strange new event. A hand, clawing it's way out of a grave, helped by the muddy nature of the ground. A crow squawked and fluttered down onto the grave stone, as a figure began to emerge from the mud. Slowly the black clad shape rose to it's feet, beside the headstone of it's former grave. Lightining flashed again, revealing the name carved on the stone... 'Eric Draven' .............. 1 Year Earlier "The guy's dead, but the girl's still alive, though God knows how" a medic replied in response to a policeman's questions. "By all rights she should be dead. She's in the operating theatre now, but it doesn't look good. The doctors've been in there for 2 hours". Shaking his head, the medic turned and walked down the corridor, past a man wearing a long trench coat with his hair pulled back in a pony-tail. It was just a matter of time, Duncan knew, before the surgeons gave up, and let the girl die. Sure, they'd try their best, but Duncan had been there when they lifted her into the ambulance. No-one could have survived those wounds. No *mortal* anyway. He'd been out for a walk, in the rain, to clear his head. After Tessa's death, it seemed sometimes so hard to continue on. Maybe that's why he'd come out, tonight of all nights, without his sword. Maybe he wanted it all to end. He always knew Tessa would die, but so soon dammit ? He felt he was to blame. If only he'd been more carefull. If only he'd gone out to the car with Tess and Richie. If only, if only.... He'd turned down a side road, not caring where he was going, and came across an ambulance and several police cars. A blanketed figure was being gently placed on a stretcher, and as far as Macleod could see, the girl, was still alive, if only just. Duncan stepped forward towards the ambulance, and began to feel that familiar buzz just as a policeman interepted him. "What happened here officer ?" asked Duncan. "Some guy and his girlfriend were attacked tonight. It's this Devil's Night thing, brings the wackos and crazies out. Poor suckers. They wuz gonna get married tomorrow." Then as if realising he'd said too much already, the policeman's tone became slightly more official "D'ya live here or sumthin ?" "No, just passing by" replied Duncan, slowly stepping back from the scene as the policeman muttered something about being crazy walking in this rain. Getting married tomorrow. Tessa !! He'd asked Tessa to marry him, shortly before she was killed. Why was it love always ended in tears ? Duncan decided he would help this new immortal, this poor child who had everything taken from her on the eve of her wedding. Fate may have taken Tessa from him, leaving him helpless, but here was something he *could* do, someone he *could* help. Duncan pulled up the collar of his trenchcoat and walked off through the rain towards the hospital. End of Part 1 Here's part two of my Crow/HL crossover. Thanks to everyone who commented on the first part. Hope this answers any questions you may have had from part 1. As usual, flames, comments etc to Matthew.Blair@bbbsrc.ac.uk It Can't Rain All The Time part 2 ---------------------------------- ............. Devil's Night Slowly at first, but gaining in confidence with every step, Eric Draven made his way through the headstones towards the graveyard exit. It was raining heavier than ever, and Eric shivered with cold. His mind was a confused jumble of thoughts and memories. He'd dug himself up from a grave with his name on the stone, so he must be dead. Yet here he was, alive. As he'd pulled himself to his feet, the lightning had revealed yet another shock. Shelly's grave. Shelly... He remembered what they'd done to her, how he'd tried to stop them, and then pain, and falling. Nothing, then darkness for a long time. Enclosed. Trapped. Imprisoned in some cold, black nightmare of a place. He'd struggled for a long time, feeling his prison slowly, oh so slowly, give way. Then at last, at long last, freedom. But what bitter freedom. What was life, without Shelly ? Why live, when his only reason for being was gone ? He thought of Shelly again, so beautiful as she laughed and smiled, and kissed him, when he'd solemnly handed her the small box with the ring inside. Asked her to marry him. Be his wife, forever and ever. Love like that could surely survive for eternity. Now she was gone, and he was dead yet alive. What else was there left, but retribution? .............. 1 Year Earlier Duncan hung around the hospital, trying to be as inconspicous as possible. What he was about to do was a risky venture, and though he'd done it countless time before, practise had not made it any easier. He walked casually down the hospital corridor towards the morgue, checking all the time to make sure no-one saw him. Slipping inside, he waited a few moments, as the familiar buzz came to him. Quickly he stepped up to one of the shroud covered bodies, and with imaculate timing, just as the girl sat up, covered his hand over her mouth. "Be quiet. My name is Duncan Macleod, and I'm here to help you" Duncan whispered gently. "Don't be afraid, I'll explain later." The girl's eyes were wide with terror, and her body was shaking, but she nodded her head showing she understood. Duncan released his hand from her mouth, and stood up, shrugging off his trench-coat in one fluid move. Gently he slipped the coat over the girl's naked body, and helped her up. He could see her terror was rising, so he quickly hurried her along, out of the morgue and towards the nearest exit. "Don't worry, it's ok" Duncan murmured in her ear "I'm a friend, I won't hurt you. You're safe now" Once they were out the building, Duncan knew, the next problem would be in getting her back to the apartment. She was just a girl, and a very frightened one at that. Who wouldn't be, waking up in a morgue, with a strange man whispering in her ear, and a buzzing headache. They finally reached the apartment, after a nightmare journey which seemed to last forever, during which Duncan ended up carrying the girl. She shivered constantly, and though it was raining, Duncan could see tears on her face. She seemed to be whispering softly to herself, like some kind of litany that could ease the pain "Eric.....Eric....". Duncan guessed Eric must have been the girl's fiance. He set about getting the girl warm, fetching dry towels for her, and briskly rubbing her bare hands and legs, working the chill out of them, all the time murmuring to her the way one would to calm a frightened animal. "Ssshh, it's ok, you're safe now. No-one's going to hurt you now. It's ok" Slowly, the girl calmed down, and Duncan left her for a moment, to change out of his own wet clothes, and bring her one of his bath-robes. He handed the robe to the girl, and went off to make some coffee. When he returned, the girl seemed to have reached some semblence of calm, and for the first time be aware of her surroundings, and her saviour. "Hi. I'm Duncan Macleod" He sat down, smiling at her gently, and handed her a mug of sweet, white coffee. "Drink, it'll help heat you up a bit." Holding the mug in both hands, the girl took a sip, and looked at Duncan. "Where am I ? What am I doing here ? What happened ? Where's Eric ? Oh my god, Eric !! Where's Eric, what's happened to Eric ? Where is he ?" The girl started to shake again, and Duncan could see she was on the verge of losing it again, so he moved across to her and put his arms around her. Gradually the girl started to calm down, and Duncan let her go. "Tell me your name first, then we'll talk." "My name's Shelly, now tell me, where's Eric ?" Duncan looked down for a moment, unsure how to tell her. Somethings never got any easier, no matter how old you were. "Shelly," Duncan said looking up, " Eric's dead." The moment Macleod said it, he knew he could have put it better, broken it to her easier, somehow eased the pain, but deep inside he knew she would hurt, just as he had hurt, and continued to do so, when he'd cradled Tessa's head in his arms. There was no easy way of dealing with the death of a loved one. Shelly looked as if she would crumble for a moment, but the sight of this man before her, this stranger, helped her steady herself. She looked into Macleod's eyes, and saw that he knew how she was feeling. "I'm sorry Shelly, truly, I am. I know how difficult it is to lose someone you love." Duncan's eyes seemed to lose their focus for a moment, and Shelly could see he was hurting too. Closing her eyes, Shelly felt herself drift off to sleep. End of Part 2 Apologies for the delay, but I've been away for the hols, and what with the UK Gathering we had late last year, I've been pretty busy. Still not finished, but here's some more to whet your appetites. Coming soon, Baj is gonna be collaborating on a bit with me. As usual comments/flames/complaints etc to Matthew.Blair@bbsrc.ac.uk Later, MAtt. It Can't Rain All The Time part 3 ----------------------------------- The next day, the sun came up, though it was still raining as heavy as ever, and the dark clouds did their best to block out what little sunlight there was. Duncan had risen early, and was sitting tapping away at his little laptop when Shelly came through, wearing the robe Duncan had given her the night before. "Hi," Shelly greeted Duncan, "What time is it ?" "9:30", replied Duncan without looking up. "Help yourself to some cofee, it's fresh" Duncan motioned towards the kitchen area. "Be with you in a minute." So saying, Duncan tapped a few more keys, then shut down the laptop, with a satisfied look on his face. "There, that's that taken care of." "What's what ?" asked Shelly. Duncan paused for a moment. "Shelly....how much do you remember about last night ?" Shelly looked baffled for a moment, before Duncan continued. "Shelly, what I have to say may be hard for you to understand, but please believe me it's true. Last night....last night, Shelly, you died." Shelly was so shocked, she almost dropped her mug of coffee. "I was outside your apartment the night before last, Devil's Night they call it. There was an ambulance, and a lot of police. They lifted you into the ambulance and took you to the hospital. I knew I had to find you, so I went to the hospital and waited. You were in the operating theatre for almost 3 hours, and clung on for another 30. When you died, you were taken to the morgue, and that's when you woke up and met me." Shelly sat, too stunned to speak, as she listened to Duncan's story. He must be mad, she thought. I *died* ? How can I be *dead* ? What about Eric ? This last thought prompted her to speak. "What about Eric ? Where is he ? What happened to him ? Tell me. Where is he ? Where's Eric ? Oh my God, what's happened to Eric !!!" She was pratically screaming at Duncan. The coffee mug, having temporarily been forgotten, slipped from her hand and smashed on the floor. At this, Shelly burst into tears. Duncan moved closer to her and cradled her in his arms, rocking her gently until her tears subsided. "Shelly", Duncan whispered, rocking her gently all the while, "Shelly, Eric's dead. I checked the hospital records using my laptop. Eric died of a gunshot wound to the head the night you were brought in to the hospital. I'm sorry Shelly, I wish there were an easier way to tell you, but....." he trailed off, not knowing what else to say. Death was never any easy subject, even for an immortal. To his surprise, Shelly pulled herself back from his and wiped her eyes. "And what about me ? You said I died too. Why am I here ? Why should I be alive if Eric is dead ?" Something in the tone of her voice told Duncan that she was stronger than she looked. In fact, she reminded him so much of Tessa. Both women were beautiful, both seemed so fragile, and both had an inner strength that was surprising. Except, Tessa was dead, and Macleod could do nothing about that. "Duncan ?" Shelly asked, snapping him from his reverie. "Are you alright ?" The notion was so absurd, Duncan smiled, but the tears in his eyes showed otherwise. Here was a new Immortal girl, having been told her fiance is dead, asking *him* if *he* was ok. "It's ok Shelly, I was just remembering someone I knew once. Don't worry about me, I'm ok. It's *you* we should be looking after. I know everything must be confusing for you right now, but I'm here to help you." Macleod smiled reasurringly at Shelly, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. How could he help anyone else when he couldn't even help himself ? End of Part 3 A Crow/Highlander crossover By Matthew Blair Matthew.Blair@bbsrc.ac.uk It Can't Rain All The Time Part 4 --------------------------------- ............. Devil's Night Shivering, Eric made his way slowly and painfully through the rain to the apartment he and Shelly had lived in before.... before. The pain he felt was not physical, but an emotional pain which cut deeper than any kife could. He was dead, he knew, and therefore could not feel real pain, but the memories haunted him, driving him on, giving life to a body that should be dead. He was Retribution. He was Death's Angel come back, to make Shelly's killers suffer. Suffer as they never had before. Once back in the apartment, Eric pulled out a black top from a wardrobe that had somehow survived the ravages of time and vandals. The apartment was a mess, not that Eric cared much. Searching among the trash lying around, Eric found a mirror and some of Shelly's make-up. With an almost demented surge of bitterness, he began to rub white pancake make-up onto his face. Using a black lipstick, he attacked his eyes and his mouth, creating an obscene parody of a clown. If he *was* Death's Angel then he would look the part. Eric grinned at his reflection, and in his eyes there was a focused madness. He *knew* what he was back for. Moving as gracefully as a cat, Eric headed out into the night. ................ 6 Months Earlier Shelly had come on well in the months following her 'death'. She and Duncan had moved back to Seacouver, to the dojo, where Duncan began her training. Before leaving for Seacover, Duncan had explained to her what she was, and how she could never go back to her old life. Shelly was not too bothered by that fact. Eric was her old life, and since he was dead, she felt no compunction about leaving. Duncan had used his laptop to hook into the hospital's computers, and had covered up Shelly's disappearance from the morgue. He'd also arranged for a grave for Eric, and at Shelly's request, had also arranged a headstone for her. Before they'd left for Seacouver, Duncan had asked Shelly if she wanted to go to the cemetery, but she'd declined. Obviously the memories were too painful. Duncan was just teaching Shelly a new throw when they both felt the familiar tingle, and Richie came in. "Hi Mac, Shelly" Richie nodded in their direction. In the past few months since Shelly had been staying with Duncan, Richie had 'hit' on her a total of two times. Both times he'd been knocked back, but he'd taken it in his stride, another sign of his growing maturity, and he and Shelly had become firm friends. "Hey, Richie, how are ya ?" asked Shelly while simultaneously throwing Duncan over her left hip. He landed with a thud, obviously having been caught off guard by Richie's entrance. Richie smiled as Duncan picked himself up, making a show of dusting himself down and looking disgruntled. "No fair, I wasn't ready for that one." Richie could see Duncan was grinning from ear to ear, but Shelly had turned away for a moment to catch her breath. In a single fluid movement Macleod tossed her on her back, and stood grinning over her. "Lesson number 2. Never turn your back on your opponent." Duncan stretched out his hand to pull Shelly up, knowing full well what her next move would be, and was laughing as soon as he hit the floor. At that, Shelly started laughing too, and Richie, being Richie, joined in too. It was good, thought Richie, to see Duncan laughing again. Since Tessa's death, Duncan had seemed to withdraw into himself, rarely laughing or smiling. He suspected Shelly had something to do with Duncan's re-emergance into the land of the living, though he knew she and Duncan were more like daughter/father than lovers. Certainly Richie had never seen them so much as kiss, something he was always catching Duncan and Tessa doing. Having Shelly around was also helping him, he knew. He too still greived for Tessa, and having someone nearer his own age around was great, especially when that someone was also a 'new-born' Immortal. And a very pretty one at that, Richie couldn't help thinking to himself. "So Mac, what's the plans for today ?" Richie asked, rubbing his hands. "Actually, Richie, I gotta go out today. I guess you and Shelly will have to spar." Duncan grinned at Richie's pained expression. If there was one thing Richie hated, it was being thrown about, by either Mac or Shelly. Duncan picked up a towel and wiped his face, heading off towards the elevator, leaving Richie to prepare for his sparring session. Macleod knew Shelly was learning fast, faster than Richie, though that wasn't hard he thought with a wry smile. Shelly was more focused, more motivated than Richie, though Mac worried about the exact nature of Shelly's motivation. She seemed bright and happy most of the time, but Duncan knew she still mourned Eric. She'd spoken of him only once to Duncan, telling him of her life with Eric, and the plans they'd made, and how she was so proud of Eric being a musician. When she'd come to speak of Eric's death, there was a slight tremor in her voice, but she held herself in control. Macleod knew he couldn't continue as Shelly's mentor for much longer. He still had his hands full with Richie, who took up a great deal of his time, and with Shelly around too, he couldn't balance out their training. That was why he'd called Aleanna Noel. He'd only just met her, at Tessa's graveside in fact. She claimed to be Tessa's great-aunt, and Duncan believed her. He also felt he could trust her to look after Shelly for a while. Shelly was a fast learner, and had learned all she could, but Duncan felt it better to have someone keep an eye on her, at least until she got her first Quickening. *If* she lived that long he thought, sourly. The Gathering was starting, and though Macleod didn't know how far off the end was, Immortals *were* drifiting closer together. There *had* been safer times to be an Immortal. End of Part 4 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Teleute One day we'll all look back on this day... jglow@eden.rutgers.edu ... and plow right into a parked car. :*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* =========================================================================