Date: Fri, 7 Apr 1995 15:15:00 +0200 Reply-To: Marina Bailey Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Marina Bailey Organization: CDS OnLine BBS, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA Subject: Out of the Dark (1 of 1) ********************************************************************* These are the 'missing scenes' from "The Darkness"; what happens when Richie wakes up after being shot. I have no doubt that it has been done before, but this is my take on what happened. It is written in the third person, but is from Richie's point of view. ********************************************************************* OUT OF THE DARK By Marina Bailey. Richie Ryan opened his eyes, trying to remember what had just happened. All he could remember was some sort of pain, hitting the road, and... awakening. Then it hit - 'I was shot!' Then, "Tessa!" Richie struggled to sit up, wondering why the pain had gone away. As he sat up, he saw: Duncan MacLeod, cradling Tessa in his arms, crying and rocking her back and forth. "Mac?" Richie asked, in a very uncertain voice. Please don't let her be dead, he thought. The two of them loved her too much. Duncan stopped rocking Tessa and just looked at him. With a very odd expression on his face. "Mac?" asked Richie again. Duncan tried to find his voice. "She..." It trailed away, breaking. "She's gone." Richie didn't know what to do, or what to say. He'd always had some answer, something, but now there was nothing. He just stared at Duncan, Duncan holding Tessa, looking at him with the oddest expression on his face. Finally, Richie couldn't take it anymore. "Mac, we..." Duncan seemed to rouse himself and nodded, swallowing. "Yeah. I know. We have to call the cops." "I'll go." His injuries forgotten, Richie got up and headed towards the house. "Richie. Wait." Richie stopped in his tracks. "What?" Duncan seemed to think twice, and replied, "Nothing." As Richie walked back into the Tudor house, he felt... weird. But his grief and confusion clouded all his other emotions. He dialled 911 and reported the shooting. And the kidnapping. On his way out, he caught sight of himself in the mirror. His shirt had two gaping holes in it, and he was covered in blood. "Oh, my G-d!" Richie lifted his shirt, to check how badly he was bleeding. But all he could see was smooth flesh. "What the hell is going on?" he said aloud, rushing through the door and back into the street. "Mac, what's going on?" Duncan didn't look at him. "Before the cops arrive, go in there, wash the blood off and find something else to put on." "What?" Duncan's voice never rose above that quiet, determined tone he sometimes used when he was very, very angry... or very, very upset. "Just do as I say." "Okay." Richie's mind was still reeling. He waited to feel tears coming to his eyes over Tessa's death, but nothing came. All the grief remained *inside* him, and would not be let free. Richie found a spare shirt in one of the upstairs closets and put it on after washing all the blood off of himself. He didn't have time to check for bullet holes, but he knew he wouldn't find any. He didn't know why he was so certain, but he was. When he returned to Duncan, he heard the sirens in the distance. And then MacLeod turned to him, and all in a rush said, "The guy didn't shoot you, do you understand? He missed you and he panicked and ran." When Richie didn't reply Duncan looked him in the eye and yelled, "Do you understand, Richie?!" "Yes!" A cop car and ambulance skidded to a halt next to where Duncan sat holding Tessa. Two policemen got out; one rushing into the Tudor house, the other waiting patiently. The paramedics rushed up to him, but they couldn't get Duncan to let go. "Please, sir, there might still be something we can do." "She's dead. There isn't anything anybody can do." "Sir, we need to verify that for ourselves." At that, Richie stepped in. "Mac, they have to do this." Duncan swallowed, nodded. He relinquished his hold on the woman he loved, watching as the paramedics checked her over, and shook their heads. Duncan got up, just in time to be accosted by a police officer. "You'll have to come to the station and give your statement," he said. Duncan just nodded, as the man's partner came out of the house. "There's a dead guy in there," he said. "Looks like he was stabbed, or killed with a sword." "Sword," said Duncan. "You killed him?" Richie chipped in, "It was self-defense! The guy was trying to kill him!" "You'll have to come downtown and explain," said the cop. Duncan nodded. "Can I take my car?" The cop shook his head. "I think you'd better come with us." Duncan nodded again, but his eyes were on Tessa as the ambulance doors closed and the ambulance took her away. "What about me?" asked Richie. "I was a witness." "You can use your own car," said the cop. The questioning had not gone well. Duncan just sat, staring vacantly at the wall, answering yes or no to most questions. Richie had to fill in the details. "This guy kidnapped Miss. Noel, and you didn't call us?" "Look, detective, the guy promised to kill her if we called you!" The Watcher hadn't said any such thing, but neither of the two men wanted to explain why they hadn't called. "I still don't understand the need for the sword." "The guy said to bring it, no guns," said Richie. "He tried to kill Mac in the dark, by using night-vision goggles!" The detective nodded. "Yeah. But I still don't like this." He addressed Duncan. "Your name is on a dozen police reports, but nothing to implicate you in any murders. And your story of Miss. Noel being kidnapped is borne out by the evidence. We found evidence of at least two other people having been kidnapped and held in that room. And there's blood from at least two other people besides our kidnapper on the floor of that darkened room. I think we were dealing with a very sick, twisted individual, possibly a serial killer. You're lucky to have escaped." "We know," said Richie. "Can I leave now?" asked Duncan. "Yeah. We'll still need Mr. Ryan's help in doing a sketch of the guy who shot Tessa Noel." Duncan got up, exited the room as Richie watched after him. He wanted to rush after Mac, to be with him at this time... But he also knew that Duncan would not accept his support. Duncan wanted to be alone in this. When he was finished at the station, Richie couldn't bring himself to go back to the antique store. Instead he wandered around in the city centre, thinking. He'd been shot. He'd felt the pain. His shirt had been a bloody, shredded mess. But he had no bullet wounds, no pain. He could understand being shot and surviving. But... he'd been shot and *healed*. Completely. "It can't be," he muttered to himself. "It can't be." But he knew it was. He remembered his first encounter with Immortals all those months ago. He remembered Duncan and Tessa returning after a few days, finding him and offering him a way out. "So, you two are like saying I can come and live with you and learn the antique trade?" "Yeah." "Aren't you scared I'll rip you off or something?" Duncan had grabbed him by the collar and looked into his eyes. "I think we both know you wouldn't do that." "You're right, I wouldn't. But I just have one question: why me? This can't be to keep me quiet, you already did me a favour by dropping the charges." Duncan had shrugged. "Connor thinks you've got potential. So do I. I think we all know you can be something more than a petty thief. Now, are you going to take us up on this offer or not?" "Why not," Richie had responded. But now, Richie remembered Duncan's tone when he'd said, "Connor thinks you've got potential. So do I." "They knew!" Richie said, startling people walking past him. "I'll be damned! They knew!" He went back to the antique store when it started getting light. If nothing else, he had to change clothes. But he didn't know how he was going to face Duncan. He didn't know how he was going to remain calm and not yell at MacLeod for not telling him the truth. He found Duncan standing alone in the shop, a broken look on his face. "Mac?" He thought he felt... something... but this was all new to him, and he wondered if he truly sensed Duncan, or if it was just all these feelings inside wanting to get out. Duncan must have been preoccupied, because he only looked up when Richie spoke. "I made all the arrangements," he said quietly. "I'll fly to Paris this afternoon." "You mean we'll fly to Paris." "No. You have to stay here." "Why, Mac?" "This is something I have to do alone, Richie. I can't handle you and Tessa at the same time." "Okay." Richie didn't push. He knew that Duncan always tried to do everything alone. Duncan hesitated then, which was unusual for him. "Richie... can I have some time alone? In here? I need... I need to let go, or..." "I understand, Mac. I have to change clothes, but after that I'll leave you alone." Duncan didn't notice when Richie went out of the building, he was lost in memories of the woman he had loved... the one true love of his life. He'd always known she'd die, but not like this. Not so soon. He remembered what she'd asked him, "Do you learn how to cope?" "No matter how many years go by, when they leave - " "Die." "Yes, when they die, you're naked and alone." That was how he felt. Naked and alone. Some part of him said, "You have Richie," but Duncan couldn't do it. He couldn't share this, not with Richie, not with anybody. And he didn't want to deal with Richie right now. Not with Richie's questions, or the explanations that would go with them. Not right now. Duncan left the store, locked the door. As he did so, he felt the buzz of another Immortal. It brought home to him again that it had actually *happened*: Richie had become Immortal. When he got back from Paris, he'd have to start training Richie. At least he'd be able to focus on something. As he walked towards the young Immortal, Duncan saw questions in Richie's eyes. Questions he couldn't bring himself to answer now. But he had to say something. "You're one of us now." Richie had a million questions, but he saw the pain in MacLeod's eyes, so he said nothing as Duncan handed him the keys to the antique store. "Sell it." Richie took the keys and headed for the store, but Duncan's voice stopped him. "Richie... watch your head." Duncan walked to the car, Richie went into the store. Lots to pack up, much to do before selling. Everything went by in a blur as over the next two days Richie did as he was asked. When he was finished, he rented a van to come and move his and Duncan's boxes. The van would take them to a little place he'd found while he waited for Duncan to get back from Paris. Finally finished in the store, Richie headed for his bike. But something made him turn in the doorway and look back. "Goodbye, Tessa," he said. And then the tears came, and the feelings came spilling out. Richie leaned against the door frame, mourning a beautiful, fantastic woman whom he had loved. Who had been his friend, despite some rough patches. He knew that things would never be the same without her. Richie got on his bike and rode away, leaving the antique store behind forever. THE END Copyright Marina Bailey, April 1995. All rights reserved. - 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==============// ... Some things we are not ready for. --- Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR] =========================================================================