Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 04:47:42 -0500 Reply-To: "Candice G. Cardasis" Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: "Candice G. Cardasis" Subject: Learning to Fly (2 of 4-that's a tentative number) ..prelude to Take to the Sky X-To: Macleod@vm.temple.edu X-cc: GIELSKCL@BIGVAX.ALFRED.EDU Right then, sorry about the delay, those few that have been waiting to read the next installment. This time you can blame it all on Brian *toothy grin*....This should answer most of the old questions and hopefully raise some new ones. Enjoy! ---------------------------------- Learning to Fly part 2 by Candice G. Cardasis ---------------------------------- About a half hour outside of Crested Butte, with Colleen asleep, Candi changed the disc again, from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack to James Taylor's greatest hits. The soft guitar strum of "Something in the Way she Moves," echoed out into the night as she drove up the long winding road. Her thoughts zeroed in on the past four months. Gods -it seemed like an eternity. Had someone told her that by December she would have the most monumental fight of her life with her roommate, wind up living in a single room, fall in and out of lust, and find love in the most unexpected of places, she would have laughed hysterically for at LEAST an hour. Surely no one could separate her from her roommate...ha, what a joke...she thought cynically. Had that same person told her she'd become computer literate and still keep her grades up, she'd most definitely think that person was a bit "off the deep end." But here it was, four months later and all of those things had happened, for better or for worse, and so far life wasn't treating her half badly at all. She smiled to herself, deciding that yes, Life, for the moment was Good. Candice turned into the town of Crested Butte, where he only stoplight to be found was in a hotel room, and Colleen stirred in her sleep. She drove up the mountain and passed the cemetary where the only headstones showing were the taller monuments and "Country Road" just ended. Candice sighed and JT started singing "You've got a Friend." She thought back to her own private war with her roommate and those who were around in her time of need. Colleen, one of those people, had remained a friend through the events leading up to it's climax -the threats from her roomie's boyfriend, and the general sense of betrayal. Candice was instantly glad she had persuaded Colleen to come with her. Her "Uncle" Scott, one of her father's closer clients, had offered the use of his condo in Crested Butte while she was on break. A lush place right on the mountain, complete with outdoor jacuzzi -how could she possibly resist? The condo areas were just coming into sight and Colleen woke up from her nap. "Sleep well kiddo?" Colleen yawned and smiled mischievously . "Mhmm, and I had the most WONderful dream about Uncle." Candice grinned and retorted just as impishly "I'll just bet you did," and wondered if this dream would ever find it's way into a bit of fanfic -'Probably' she thought "Dare I ask?" she asked in mock ignorance. Her friend snickered - "Heh, heh -just you wait till I post this one to FKFIC." Candice smacked her head against the steering wheel as she stopped at the only stop sign in the condo area. "Crap, -not another one," she mumbled aloud and made another mental check on the ever-increasing list, "You know, that'll be the 5th one I've made a "cameo appearance" in since um,..oh, October." Her friend was a prolific writer, as were the other people she knew on the "net." Nice people all of them, but there were times she'd wished she'd never heard the words 'modem', 'vax', or 'internet'. They pulled into the parking lot, opened the garage via remote control, unloaded the car of their clothing, and ran up the four and a half flights to their condo. It was well past mid-day, infact, the sun was just touching the western horizon. Thanks to Uncle Scott, the heat had already been turned on, so the girls were thouroughly warmed by the time they had unpacked and settled in. Colleen chose one of the bottles of wine from the rack in the kitchen, and poured just enough in two glasses for a toast. The girls stepped out onto the balcony and watched the sunset on the mountain in silence. The colors -purple, gold, orange, and reddish hues painted themselves on the lower slopes of the mountain, leaving the "crested butte" a cold grey silhouette against the ever-darkening, cloudy blue sky. "Here's to R, R, and M." Colleen offered genially as a toast and raised her glass. "R, R, and M?" "Yeah," Colleen replied with a grin playing on her lips "Recklessness, Ruthlessness, and Men." "I'll drink to that."Candi grinned and clinked her glass with Colleen's. ___________________________________________________ Denver, Colorado 6:50 that same evening Mackenzie rose from out of his quickening-induced stupor and tried to re-evaluate his current situation. He found a nice quiet spot in between the dumpster he had just thrown the headless corpse and the side of a building. He was staying in a cheap motel -they wouldn't miss him since he'd payed in advance for two nights. If he left tonight he would be alright. He had only been here for a day when an old rival had come looking for his head. Mackenzie hadn't been prepared for a fight. He'd only just picked up a blade from one of "Russel Nash's" ..connections out in a suburb of Chicago before going out to Colorado. The police probably wouldn't find the body for a few days, it had been raining when their battle had begun, and by the time each immortal's Quickening had fully manifested, a full blown storm had whipped around them. What he needed right now was to drop out of sight -"lay low" if you will. "Think, *think* damnit. Where on earth can you go?" he posed to himself aloud, feeling slightly ridiculous in his present state of being. Mackenzie crouched and looked around the corner for any passer-by that might see him. When he felt it was safe, Mackenzie left the alley and started walking towards the closest "busy" street, hailed a cab, and told the driver to take him to the airport. He didn't know where he was going, all that was important was to get to a remote place to rest and heal. _______________________________________________________ Crested Butte 7:30... They stepped out into the night dressed to kill -well maybe just injure slightly- after all, the drizzle they had driven through on the way up the mountain had caught up with them and had turned into snow flurries. "So where are we headed? You've been here before, so what's the best place to hang out?" "We," Candi answered as she tied her straight brown hair back, "are off to The Wooden Nickel, and no, I'm not driving. Tonight my dear, we are taking the Magic Bus." They bounced down the stairs and walk-ran to the bus station. Candi's bangs kept blowing into her face on their way to the bus stop and she silently cursed her hairdresser for the fifth time tonight. Unlike her friend, Colleen was perfectly happy with her wavy brown hair tucked up in her Steff-knitted at. The taller of the two peered down the road and asked "So what exactly *is* this mag...." Colleen's words trailed off as the brightly colored bus rolled into the stop. The bus did indeed have a vitality all it's own what with the different scenes of skiiers painted on the sides of the bus and the music piped in through the speakers all over the bus. But the real source of vitality, "magic" -at least to Candi- was Jerry the bus driver. He was stuck in the `60's but it didn't matter for the simple reason that his carefree, happy spirit made everyone smile. The half hour ride into town seemed to speed right along with Creedance Clearwater Revival playing at full volume, and everyone was reluctant to leave at their respective stops along the way. It was early by New York standards for there to be a crowd at The Wooden Nickel Pub. It was only 8 o'clock and already people were fighting for elbow room. Standing at a whole 5'2", Candice was successful in getting pushed around by the taller people that surrounded her. She caught up to Colleen, who had a 6 inch height advantage over her and they made there way up to the bar. Half shocked that no one asked for i.d., Candice and Colleen ordered their drinks -Red Lady Ales (specialty brew of the Town of Crested Butte), and found a table in the corner of the bar to squeeze in at. "So what do you think?" Candi turned to her not-so-wide-eyed companion. "It's- ...quaint" Col surveyed the room, looking utterly bored. Candi kicked her under the table and said quite agitated "I *like* this place. Could you please try to at least have a good time? Even if you're pretending? For my sake?" she pleaded with her friend. "Well,..okay, but only if you're buying." Col Lit a cigarette and took a drag. Candice rolled her eyes and grumbled something incoherent about being a sucker for a good time. "Fine, but you and I are going to see who can drink who under the table." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>*<<<<<<<<<<<<< A Few Hours Later >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>*<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mackenzie sat staring absently at the two girls in the corner of the bar while nursing his single-malt scotch and his all too real wounds from his last encounter with another of his kind. When he woke up in Ohio, in a state of shock in a coal car, the last thing he's wanted to do was pick up old fights from decades past. He'd arrived in Crested Butte at around 10:45, a quirky, but thanks gods quiet little town after placing a discreet collect phonecall to Dawson. He had been hoping for that proverbial black hole to swallow him up just for a few moment's respite from the Game. But it seemed fate had other plans for him. It seemed that wherever he went, old friends and enemies kept turning up around each and every corner. "Damn immortals popping out of the woodwork!" he thought to himself. "Bloody ludicrous.." he muttered into his drink, feeling sorry for himself, wishing he'd been more cautious in his "youth" when he'd picked fights. Mackenzie groaned inwardly and heard a little voice in his head mockingly say "*Duncan* would never let that happen, DUNCAN doesn't let things go unfinished for *two* decades,..." Before his conscience could go any further, one of the girls, the one with the wavy brown hair, stood up and exclaimed, "I am *NOT* drunk!" The other who remained seated retorted "Uh huh, *sure* you're not drunk Col,...and Nick Knight just -might- come flying through the door and turn me into a vampire." The girl with the straight brown hair smirked and said "Now sit down before you fall down." Mackenzie smiled and tried to remember the last time he'd gotten together with his fiends for a night out on the town -gods it had been too long. Mackenzie gave himself over to the happy memory despite the odd looks he was getting unknowingly from other patrons at the bar. After her friend had taken her chair again, Candice glanced up and saw the dark haired man at the corner of the bar looking their way. It wasn't like she wasn't used to being oggled -she'd been to more than enough frat parties to get used to that. But the way he was staring made her feel a little uncomfortable, and then all at once he seemed to just drift off into outerspace. "Don't look now, but there was a really cute guy looking at us at the other end of the bar." "Oh puhlease!" Colleen said with a haughty snort "..the only thing the local yokels are interested in are their states of intoxication and how much money they can make off the tourists this season. Now if you'll excuse me, i hafta go use the ladies room." she slurred as she attempted to get up. "But Col I don't think he's from..." Candi bit off the end of her sentence as she ran around to catch Colleen before she tripped over her chair, too late to catch the empty bottles that crashed to the floor. Mackenzie was shaken out of his reverie by the commotion in the back of the bar. It seemed the two girls had abruptly ended their little contest and were on their way out the door. As Candi passed the dark haired blue-eyed man, they made eye contact, and she felt like she'd been hit by a random case of vertigo. "Must be drunker than I thought," she thought to herself, "but my goodness if he doesn't have the nicest eyes." Mackenzie looked just as puzzled as the shorter brunette passed by him. Colleen whispered in her friends ear "Didn't your mother ever tell you it's not polite to stare... Hello? Earth to Candi? He's not *that* cute.." Candice shook herself out of her wonderment, feeling more than a bit embarrassed and the two girls hurried out of the bar into the cool night air. .*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.*+ Okay I promise to try and finish this before the weekend. Really. Yours, Candice -who just lost her sig file *AGAIN* at 4:41 in the morning... As always: Comments welcome at: cardascg@bigvax.alfred.edu winter@jbx.com Tokens of affection, marriage proposals, flowers, sleeping pills, and other assorted and sundry gifties welcome at: 159 P.C.C Alfred, New York 14802 =========================================================================