Date: Sat, 25 Mar 1995 23:55:00 +0200 Reply-To: Marina Bailey Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Marina Bailey Organization: CDS OnLine BBS, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA Subject: Loving a Watcher, 3 of 4 Lily had to get the number from Joe because it was still lost with a few other stray memories... But when she heard her father answer the phone, most of them came back right away. He wanted her to come home immediately, of course. She needed to be reassigned. "No, Dad, I can't come home now. There's unfinished business here." As she said it, she kept her eyes on Richie. *He* was her unfinished business. And then there was Crawford... "We miss you, honey. You aren't thinking of staying up there, are you?" "I might; I haven't decided yet." As she spoke, Richie took the hand that was not holding the phone and kissed the palm. Lily pulled her hand away, laughing silently, and mouthing, "No!" at Richie. "Look, Lily, I know Joe can reassign you if you like, but... Who would you watch?" "Who would I watch?" she repeated, watching Richie, and smiling. Then she realised what she had just said. And what she was doing... had done. Do not get near your Immortal. But Richie wasn't her Immortal, Richie was just... hers. At least for right now. Her father was continuing, "...Not to mention that everything you need is here." Lily was too distracted to continue the conversation. "Look, Dad, I've gotta go. Tell Mom I said hi when she gets back." When Lily had put down the phone, she grabbed Richie and kissed him passionately, holding him so tight he thought she'd squeeze all the air out of his lungs. "Whoa! What did I do to deserve that?" The girl didn't answer; instead she began undoing the buttons on his shirt. Something inside her made her want to be with him, close to him now, in case they didn't get a chance later. Deep inside, in a part of her mind that she did not want to acknowledge, something told her that Watchers and Immortals could not work, not in a relationship like this. "Wait!" Richie grabbed her hands. "What brought this on? Talking to your father?" "He wants me to come home, Richie. I don't think I can do that. I want to be with you." Richie just looked fondly at the girl. "I..." He had never spoken about this before, about making love with someone and how that affected you. He'd never needed to; words had not seemed necessary. But now... "Lily... you can't use sex to blot it out. It's..." She shut him up again by kissing him, then tried again. "I don't care if that's what I'm doing. I need you now, that's all I care about." "No, wait." He held her at arms length for a minute. "Why don't you go home? For a short while, anyway. I'll come with you. I could use a holiday, and I don't think Mac will object." That was a lie, of course: MacLeod would object *very* strongly. But Richie, despite his relationship with MacLeod, was his own person, and had his own life. "You'll come with me?" "Of course I will." Lily looked away. "I don't... What if my parents find out what you are?" "How could they? I won't tell them." "Richie..." "Look, if you need me you'll have to trust me. I think we should go to Florida so that you can sort out your feelings and priorities. That's all." Lily nodded silently. "Does that mean making love with you is out?" She did want him so. Richie grinned. "Well... no." Duncan wasn't too happy with Richie's decision to go off with Lily. "She must have a circle of friends who are Watchers, Richie. If they know about you..." "Mac, how could they know about me? I don't think I'm that famous, that they'd have a huge file on me that every Watcher knows." "They do probably have a file on Mako, though." Duncan brought up the one name Richie did not want to hear. It still hurt to think about it. "Mac, we were both there that day. No one knew about me yet, and unless you told Joe, how do we know what their files say?" MacLeod did not want the credit for killing Mako, but he hadn't said anything to anyone about it. "You know I didn't tell Joe." "Then...?" smiled Richie. "I don't like it, Rich." But Richie had known Duncan wouldn't like it. So he tried a different approach. "Mac, I like this girl. She knows about Immortals. She knows what goes down with us, but she still wants me!" Richie hadn't ever had that before, where someone knew about him and didn't care. "She's a Watcher, Rich. Sooner or later your priorities and hers will come into conflict." Richie was starting to raise his voice a little now. Sometimes one could only get through to Duncan MacLeod by shouting. "I don't care, Mac! We'll have time together before that!" "Richie, Immortals shouldn't live one day at a time. It's dangerous, stupid and irresponsible!" "That's your opinion." "No, that's fact. You have to think of consequences." "Mac, I have. When they find out I can always move on. Or she could leave." Duncan sighed. Trying to talk sense to Richie was like banging one's head against a wall: the only thing it accomplished was to feel so good when one gave up. He knew that nothing he could say would change his friend's mind, but he still had to try. "Some of her Watcher pals might be renegades. You could lose your head. And you know what it's against the rules for Watchers to fraternise with Immortals." That, at least, was true. "With *their* Immortals, Mac. We found that out, didn't we?" Despite knowing that being friends - or more - with one's Watcher wasn't the best idea, both Duncan and Richie had held to their friendship with Joe. This, however, was very different. "She might also get kicked out of the Watchers on your account. And what'll happen if you two decide you're not made for each other after all?" "Mac..." Richie was tired of arguing. "I'm going with her. If things work out we'll be back in two weeks." "Well, just be careful," Duncan said finally. Richie always did whatever he damn well wanted to; trying to stop him was like trying to hold back an avalanche. Duncan often felt like strangling him, but in some ways he admired the youngster too. "Wow, cool apartment," said Richie when they walked into Lily's. "Thanks. I decorated it myself." Richie stepped up and kissed her lightly. "So, you remember everything now?" "The important things." She smiled, putting her arms around him. Then she let go. "I have to call my parents." "Yeah. Okay. Where do I unpack?" "Bedroom's that way," she pointed, already pushing buttons on the phone. "Hi, Mom. I'm back." As Richie put out his few things, he could hear her side of the conversation: telling her mother that she was fine, saying she'd drop by later, and... "What?! How'd you find out about that?" Her mother, on the other end of the line, replied, "You live three blocks away, Lily. Your uncle saw him when you got out of the taxi. So, is he a new boyfriend?" Silence. Then, "Yeah. He's someone very special. He's the one who helped me when I lost my memory." "Are you going to bring him over? We'd love to meet him and thank him." Richie had come out of the bedroom, and was watching her. She wasn't certain about whatever her mother had said, that much he could tell. He guessed that her parents wanted to know who it was who had helped their daughter. He nodded, whispered: "Say yes." "Yeah, Mom. I guess that'd be okay. I think he wants to meet you, too." The usual plans were made and goodbyes were said, but all the while Lily's worried expression remained. When she put the phone down she turned to Richie. "My mother wants us there tomorrow afternoon for lunch." "So? Let's go." "Richie... this is my home town. My parents are both Watchers. So's my aunt's husband. They might notice..." "All they're gonna notice is whether they like me or not. I'm betting they won't. It always happens - if a girl really digs me, her parents always hate me. But that's usually a sign that the girl and I are set." He smiled. "They'll love you." She hesitated. "Just like I do." When Richie heard that, his heart leapt. He wasn't sure if it was because he loved her, too, or because saying you loved someone usually meant a commitment of some sort. But why was he hesitating now? He'd come thousands of miles to be with her, for crying out loud. Richie forced the frown off his face, grinned at her. "I hope so. Just like... like I love you." But she heard his hesitation too. "Maybe we're not ready to say that, Richie. Everything happened so quickly. I was scared, and you were there, I liked you... making love with you made me feel... I dunno. Safe. Like I belonged." Richie nodded. "Yeah. I guess you're right. I do have feelings for you, though. Strong ones." "And I'm guessing not all of them are on purely an emotional level," she said, putting her arms around his waist. Richie swallowed. Hard. "Well... no." "I have an answer to that," she said, taking his hand and pulling him along. "Yeah? You do?" "Oh, yeah." They were in the bedroom now. She closed the door. They arrived for lunch a few minutes early, and Lily introduced him. And, for once, a girl's parents liked Richie. "So, Richie, what do you do?" "I manage a dojo back home," he replied, slightly cautious. Lily's parents exchanged a glance. "A dojo? And what kind of money do you make?" Richie was about to say, "Enough to get by," but by the way Lily's parents were looking at him, the appraisal wouldn't go too far if he behaved in too nonchalant a fashion. "Um, a decent amount," he finally tried. "Lunch is on," came the call from the dining room. They went in, and were about to sit down when the phone rang. Lily's father answered it, and there was a huge surprise in his voice when he spoke to the person. Then he turned and offered the phone to Richie. "It's for you." He went back into the dining room. Richie was puzzled. He looked at Lily. "Who would know we were here?" "Joe?" "Oh. Yeah." Both remembered that Joe had phoned the girl's father, after all, and explained the situation - well, most of the situation - to him. Richie took the phone. "This is Richie." "Rich?" It was Duncan. "Mac? How..." He stopped. Joe had given MacLeod the number, obviously. "There's no time for small talk. I'm sorry to bother you while you're there, but I had an encounter with Nicholas Crawford last night. I tried to get hold of you, but..." Richie knew why Duncan hadn't been able to get hold of him: he had taken Lily's phone off the hook. But there was no time for chit-chat now. "And?" "We were interrupted. I don't think he was here for me, Rich. He didn't seem too interested in fighting me. I think he was here for Beth Pierce." "But, Mac..." "Exactly. She's dead. Why did he stick around?" Duncan didn't wait for an answer. "He was after Lily. I think he'll head back now. You be careful." Richie noted that Duncan didn't try to talk him into coming back. He appreciated it. Besides, it seemed that it was now up to him to make sure the man didn't kill Lily. "What?" asked Lily. Richie, extremely aware of the girl's parents, said cautiously, "That was... a friend of mine. He just wanted to ask me something about the dojo. That's all." When he said that, Lily immediately knew he was lying. Luckily, her parents didn't seem aware of that fact. Actually, her father looked a little peeved at total strangers phoning his house. Richie caught that look. "Sorry. Business emergency." "Hm. Shall we eat now?" was all Lily's father said. - Marina. \\ "I don't care about their different thoughts; ||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> // // different thoughts are good for me." || R I C H I E >> \\ \\ - Tanita Tikaram; Twist in my Sobriety ||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> // //======tmar@cds.Alt.ZA=======Marina Bailey======|| \\ \\=============Chief Flag Waver and Defender of Richie==============// ... Beam me up, there's no intelligent life here! --- Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR] =========================================================================