Date: Tue, 8 Nov 1994 17:45:54 -0500 Reply-To: Highlander TV show stories Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Rene Gibson Organization: ALPHATECH, INC. Subject: Long Lifelines (A HL/FK story) (05/06) * * * "Lightning? On a clear night like this? Somebody's had a few too many," Schanke complained. "How is it WE end up with these weirdos?" Nick smiled tolerantly. "I don't know, Schank. Just lucky, I guess." "I wonder if they're going to keep giving these decapitations to us." Shrugging, Nick said, "Probably, since we investigated the first one." Schanke nodded back grimly. When they arrived at the crime scene, there were quite a few spectators, several of whom claimed to have seen lightning. None of the spectators had been brave enough to go into the alley until it was all over, however, so no one would be able to identify any suspects. Nick and Schanke stepped into the alley to examine the body. "No more bad jokes, Schank?" Nick kidded. "Naw. Nat and I used them up the other night." Crouching down near the body, Nick noted how clean the cut was--just like the first decapitation. "That murder the other night was just like this: a decapitation, no witnesses, no weapon." "Yeah, except no one mentioned any lightning then. You think we have a serial killer on our hands?" Schanke asked. Standing and walking back to his car, Nick shook his head. "I hope not, Schank." When Nick got to his car, he picked up his phone and dialed his home phone number. When the answering machine turned on, he said, "Nat? It's Nick. Pick up the phone." After what seemed like a few very long seconds, someone answered. "Nick?" Natalie's voice asked. "Nat. Is Connor still there?" After a brief pause, she answered, "Yes." Relieved, Nick said, "Good. I may be a bit later than I planned. Will you be okay till morning?" "Sure, Nick. Is anything wrong?" "No. I'll explain everything when I get home. Bye, Nat." "Bye." The conversation had made Nick feel much better. Although he had no idea who was committing these murders, at least he was certain it was not Connor. * * * "That was Nick," Natalie explained to Connor. "He wanted to know if you were here. I'm glad we got in just before he called." Natalie sat on the sofa. Taking Richter's sword out of his coat, Connor put it on the table behind the sofa and joined Natalie. "You want to explain what went on in that alley?" she asked. She had phrased it as a question, but the tone of her voice was meant to suggest he had better answer the question. "Not really," he answered. But when she gave him a threatening look, he quickly said, "But I will. What did Nick tell you about me?" "He mentioned that you're immortal, but not like him. And that you have this thing for fighting each other with swords." Connor nodded. "When one of us kills another, the power of the dead Immortal transfers to the living one. That was the lightning you saw." "That looked like it hurt," Natalie mentioned. Grimacing, he said, "It did. It always does, but there's no way to avoid it." "You could always avoid killing each other," she suggested. "Like tonight?" Connor questioned sarcastically. "True," said Natalie. "Why did you defend me?" "I know you vampires can be killed by decapitation, too." he said. "Then again, so can everybody. I didn't want you to die because of me." She noticed he was pensive for a moment before he continued. "Thank you for hitting Richter. He would have killed me." The look on his face was genuinely grateful, Natalie thought. Maybe he was one of the good guys after all. "You're welcome. Besides, I owed you one for defending me." When Connor smiled in return, she suggested, "How about a movie? Nick has a whole collection here." "Sure. Pick one of your favorites." "Okay," said she as she sifted through Nick's tapes. It had certainly been an interesting night, she thought. And it was far from over. * * * It was very late when Nick finally arrived home. The first thing he noticed was Natalie and Connor eating popcorn while watching a movie. The second thing he noticed made him freeze; a sword he had never seen before rested on the table behind the sofa. Looking up and seeing his reaction, Natalie picked up the remote and turned the VCR and TV off. "Nick..." With vampire speed, Nick moved quickly to pick up the sword angrily. "You DID kill him," he said, circling the sofa and advancing on Connor, pointing the sword at him. "How?" Standing, Connor backed away from Nick. Natalie intervened. "Nick, wait. It wasn't his fault." Ignoring her, Nick continued to threaten Connor with the sword. "How?" Connor stopped moving. "I didn't have a choice," he said defiantly. "Nick! Stop! He saved my life!" Grabbing Nick's arm to pull him back, Natalie put herself between Nick and Connor. "It wasn't his fault. I was the one who suggested we go out to dinner." "What?" Nick said angrily. "After I told you to be careful of him? You took a chance like that?" Natalie hurriedly explained. "It was all right. Connor didn't try to get away at all," she said, trying to calm Nick. "I was well behaved," Connor added sarcastically. "And what about the dead man?" Nick asked. "Richter. I didn't find him, he found us," Connor said. "Connor killed him in self-defense, Nick." "Self-defense?" Nick held the sword to Connor's throat. "When we found him, there weren't any other swords around." Glaring back at Nick defiantly, Connor said, "That's his sword. I didn't have one, but he would have killed us both and thought nothing of it. His death was no great loss to the world." Backing up Connor, Natalie added, "He almost succeeded in killing Connor. If Connor hadn't killed him, he would have kept trying." Seeing Nick was still unconvinced, Connor explained further. "Richter was ruthless. He was one of the Gestapo during World War II. He killed a lot of innocent people. He was one of a group of men who captured and killed a Jewish family trying to escape the country. He killed one of the children himself. She was only four! He deserved to die." The last was almost a snarl. Nick was beginning to understand--if he believed Connor's part of the story. "What he did in the past--" Connor interrupted. "No. What he had just done. The man at the bar? Richter did kill him. The man was mortal. His wife had been cheating on him with Richter. When the man wanted to fight for her, Richter killed him because it amused him." Thoughtfully, Connor added, "If nothing else, I prevented more innocent deaths." "Like mine," Natalie noted. "Richter threatened me just because I was with Connor. I obviously had nothing to do with their fight." Still undecided, Nick nodded silently. Moving away from Connor and lowering the sword he said, "Nat, you'd better go home and get some sleep now." As he walked her to the elevator, he said, "Thanks for staying with Connor, Nat." Smiling, Natalie said, "Sorry to cause even more trouble. But I got the feeling the fight between them was inevitable. Richter would have caught up with Connor and fought him someday anyway." Nick was thoughtful. "I don't know, Nat. But I'll try to keep that in mind when I talk to him." As Natalie decended in the elevator, Nick walked back to where Connor still stood. It had been a long night and Nick needed some sleep. The conversation would have to continue afterwards. Indicating the pillow and blanket to Connor, Nick said, "Same deal as yesterday morning. We'll discuss this more later." Connor glared back at him, but did not argue. A short time later, glancing over at Connor's sleeping form, Nick thought about the man he had known over 260 years ago. Had Jeremie changed so much over the years? It's certainly possible, Nick thought. Look at how much I've changed. Jeremie Gallien had been a good person, by Nick's standards. Russell Nash killed people for what HE claimed were good reasons. Who WAS Connor MacLeod and how did he fit in? How much of him was Nick's friend Jeremie and how much was the person who had killed Richter? He wished he knew more about Richter to know if Connor was telling the truth. Arresting Connor was out of the question. Connor could retaliate by telling everyone Nick was a vampire. People might not believe Connor, but what if they did? It would certainly cause enough problems that Nick would have to move on again-- something he desperately wanted to avoid. How else could he deal with Connor? Abruptly, the answer occurred to him: decapitation. It was the only way to kill an Immortal apparently. It would definitely keep Connor from killing more people. He looked at Richter's sword thoughtfully, then shook his head. There had to be another option. He had to find out more about Connor, give him a chance to prove that Jeremie Gallien was still alive. Later that afternoon, both were awake again. For a while, they talked about the past and the time they had spent as friends. Nick called the police station and took the night off sick so he would have more time to decide what to do about Connor. Just after sunset, they decided to drive to a restaurant to get some take-out for Connor; Nick kept little food at home. After they had driven in silence for a few minutes, Connor tried to start a conversation. "Have you decided whether or not to turn me in?" he asked calmly. "No," Nick lied, keeping the truth to himself. He HAD decided he would not turn Connor in; he had NOT decided whether or not he would kill him. "I thought we'd talk more about it after getting you something to eat." Connor nodded as they continued the ride in silence. Parking was little crowded this time of night, so they had to park a block from the restaurant and walk the remaining distance. Glancing at Connor, Nick saw him looking around as if he were entertaining thoughts of escape. Apparently, however, Connor remembered Nick's vampire self from two nights ago, because the look on his face was resigned as he continued on calmly. Nick had just glanced away from Connor and looked into an alley they were passing, when suddenly he felt himself being pushed out of the way, into the alley. Then he heard a gunshot, followed by a cry of pain. Turning, he saw Connor leaning against the wall behind him, holding his shoulder in agony. As Connor slid slowly to the ground, Nick rushed over to him. A quick inspection told Nick that Connor had taken a bullet probably meant for him. "I'll be all right," Connor insisted. "Go after him." Seeing how serious the wound was, Nick hesitated. Would Connor be all right until he returned? "It doesn't look very good." Laughing slightly, Connor said, "I won't die from this. I'm Immortal." Still Nick hesitated. Should he go after the gunman, hoping Connor would be here when he returned or should he remain here to make sure Connor did not get away? Who posed the greater threat? Impulsively, Nick decided to trust Connor. "Stay here. I'll be back as soon as I can." Without waiting for a reply, Nick ran off after the gunman. In the street, a small crowd had gathered to investigate the gunshot. Flashing his badge, Nick quickly discovered the shot had been fired by an armed man who had just run out of the nearby convenience store. After asking where the man had headed, Nick drew his gun and ran toward the indicated alley a little ways down on the far side of the street. When he got to the alley, he initially saw nothing. Using his vampire enhanced vision and hearing, he discovered someone was in the trash bin halfway down the alley. The person's heart was racing like someone who had been recently running, like someone who was afraid. Nick walked silently to the bin, threw open the lid, and pointed his gun at the man. Thankfully, it was the gunman who, this time, was too surprised and frightened to shoot at Nick--especially with a gun already pointed at him. "Throw your gun out," Nick said. When the man cooperated, Nick said, "Come out of there." The man climbed out and went back to the street with Nick. In the meantime, a silent alarm had been sounded and police had arrived. Nick turned the man over to them with a promise to fill out his part of the paperwork later. Finally, Nick was able to go back to the alley where he had left Connor. It was empty. Nick was furious with himself for trusting Connor, until he spotted the trail of blood leading further into the alley. Following the trail, he spotted one of Connor's sneakers sticking out from behind a box. He found Connor sitting against the wall with his eyes closed, patiently waiting. Nick was alarmed to see how much the wound was bleeding. Hearing Nick's approach, Connor opened his eyes. "I thought it might be better to move back from the street," he explained. "I didn't want to be found." Nodding, Nick said, "You almost weren't." Trying to stop the flow of blood, he asked, "Why is this bleeding so badly?" Connor winced. "The bullet's still in there. It has to come out." Thinking quickly, Nick said, "I can't take you to a hospital. There'd be too many questions." "I know." The look on Connor's face told Nick there were not many options. "It doesn't look like I have much choice." Reaching out to help Connor up, he said, "Come on. We'll go back to my place." Arriving at the car, Nick helped Connor in, then went around and climbed into the driver's seat. Nick picked up his car phone and started dialing. "I'm going to call Nat." Connor looked at him a bit nervously. "Nat?" Nick smiled. "Don't worry. She's not really a vampire. We just let you think that. But she'll be able to take that bullet out." After asking Natalie to meet them at Nick's place, Nick and Connor drove in silence. Why had Connor pushed him out of the way, Nick wondered? He glanced over at Connor, who held his arm tight to keep his shoulder from being jarred by the ride. The bullet wouldn't have hurt me that much, he reflected. And a vampire certainly wouldn't bleed like that. By the time they arrived at Nick's place, Connor was weak from blood loss and leaned heavily on Nick for support. Nick helped Connor sit on the sofa and take his coat off. Natalie arrived as Nick was helping Connor pull off his blood-soaked shirt. "Trouble just seems to follow you around, doesn't it?" Natalie noted sarcastically. "Sometimes," Connor conceded. As Natalie cleaned and investigated the wound, Connor watched her curiously. "Do you know what you're doing?" "Sure. I'm a coroner. I'm used to dead bodies, of course, but I've dealt with a few live ones," she said, smiling at him. Connor laughed a bit. "Great." "You know, this looks just like a wound any mortal might have. Are you sure you're immortal?" Connor answered wearily, "I'm sure. I've lived too long, believe me." Natalie nodded. "Actually, it's started to heal a bit already. Fascinating, but definitely not normal." Seeing Connor's bemused look, she added, "For a mortal, anyway." Then Natalie was prepared to take the bullet out. "Nick? Come hold onto his other shoulder to keep him still." When Nick was in place, Natalie asked Connor, "Ready?" He laughed. "No," he said, then closed his eyes and waited. Connor's cry of pain unnerved both Natalie and Nick, but she got the bullet out, hopefully without doing anymore damage. Connor smiled at her tiredly. "Thanks." "Did you know beforehand it would hurt like that?" Nick asked curiously. "Getting shot?" Connor asked. At Nick's nod he said, "Sure, but I wasn't really planning on getting shot. Doesn't it always hurt?" he asked, half amused, half curious. "It depends," Nick said evasively. "How long will that take to heal?" Natalie asked curiously. Connor shrugged--and winced. "A few hours. At least it'll heal now that the bullet's out." "You still haven't eaten." Nick noted. "How about pizza delivery?" Natalie suggested. Nick nodded; it sounded like a good idea. Natalie said, "I know a good place. I'll call them." Addressing Connor she asked, "What do you want on the pizza?" "Anything is fine." Connor said. While Natalie ordered the pizza, Nick went upstairs. A few minutes later, he returned with a clean shirt for Connor. Nick had a seat as Natalie finished the phone call. "Why did you push me out of the way of the bullet?" Nick asked. Connor shrugged. "Reflex. Why? Should I have let him shoot you instead?" A thought suddenly occurred to him. "Are vampires bulletproof?" he asked with a laugh. The door buzzer sounded then, telling them the pizza had arrived. Smiling, Nick rose and headed for the door. "Hang on a minute," he said to Connor. Returning with the pizza, he put it in front of Connor and Natalie and sat down opposite them. "Go ahead and eat. I'll do the talking." Leaning back, Nick made himself comfortable. "I lied to you earlier. I had already decided this morning that I wasn't going to turn you in." He paused before continuing. "I was deciding whether or not to kill you." Natalie looked at Nick, shocked. "Why, Nick?" Connor had stopped eating and was giving Nick a surprised look. After a few seconds, however, the look changed to one of comprehension. "I understand. You weren't sure I was telling the truth about Richter. You wanted to keep me from killing anyone else." Nick nodded. "Have you changed your mind?" Connor asked hopefully. He obviously remembered Nick knew how to kill Immortals. Nodding again, Nick said, "Yes. You proved Jeremie Gallien still exists." Relieved, Connor laughed. "Jeremie is a part of me, just like everyone else I've been over the years." He paused thoughtfully. "There's a lot you don't know, a lot I haven't explained about Immortals. And apparently a lot I don't know about vampires. Can we try again and start at the beginning this time?" "Definitely." Nick said, smiling. "I'll even go first." * * * =========================================================================