Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 23:14:50 -0500 Reply-To: echelbar@MAILBAG.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: D Echelbarger Subject: Revelations (1/2) This story needs a little explanation. It was written in response to a challenge on the Forever Knight list, to write your own "ending" to the series, assuming it was cancelled. It's sort of a crossover, in a mild way, and a couple of fans of both FK and Highlander thought I should post it to both lists. So here it is. Comments, complaints and "isn't this awfully derivative"s to: echelbar@binc.net *italics* ~music lyrics~ Revelations, Part 1 by Diane Echelbarger "Uh, Nick," Schanke asked, "you got any plans for tomorrow night?" "We've got tomorrow night off," Nick reminded him absently, most of his attention on looking for the street sign. They were a little early for their contact with the informant, but that was better than being late. "Well, yeah," Schanke said, "that's why I asked if you had plans. Myra and I wanted you to come over for the evening." Nick sighed. His partner never gave up. "Look, Schank, I'm sure Myra's a great cook, but with my condition---" "Not for dinner," Schanke interrupted him. "I know you can't eat anything on that crazy macrobiotic diet of yours. Just come over, sit around, talk. Maybe play a couple of games of Sorry before Jennie's bedtime." He frowned at Nick, and added, "Most cops spend time with their partners outside of work, in case you didn't know." Nick spotted the street sign and turned. "Well, I guess I could," he said reluctantly. "But why now? You've never asked me over before, except for dinner." "Yeah, well." Schanke stared out the side window uneasily. "Tomorrow's kind of a special occasion. Myra's niece is coming over. The one who just got out of med school." "Myra's niece?" Nick slowed the Caddy and eased it through a pothole. "This isn't another one of Myra's matchmaking schemes, is it?" "No way," Schanke snorted. "The kid's all of 24. Way too young for you, and she's only going to be in town for one night, anyway. Some sort of convention." "Then why invite me in on a family party?" his partner asked. "Well," Schanke looked out of the side window. "We-- uh-- kind of want to *avoid* a family party. It's an awkward situation. See, she's-- uh---" "She's what?" Nick asked absently. The alley should be right up ahead. "She's Jennie's real mom," Schanke muttered, so low that most mortals wouldn't have heard. Nick slammed on the brakes, and turned to stare at his partner. "Jennie's mom?" he repeated, shocked. "You mean you..." "Hey, what do you take me for?" Schanke cut him off angrily. "She was only 14, for God's sake. The father's some kid she met at a dance club. The family's strict Catholic, so abortion was out, and Myra and I'd always wanted kids. It seemed like the perfect solution; we'd have had to spend years on adoption waiting lists otherwise." "Waiting lists?" Nick said. His partner hesitated, then said, warily, "Yeah, well, I don't exactly want the fact advertised, Knight, but well---" "You can't have kids," Nick said, flatly, and started the Caddy moving again. "Well-- no," Schanke admitted. He glanced at his partner. Seeing the sympathy there, he relaxed a little. An awkward silence descended. Trying for a normal tone, he said, "So, will you come over tomorrow? Myra and I'd really appreciate it, Nick. I mean-- I don't *think* Sandra will let the cat out of the bag---" Nick turned the car carefully into the alley. With all those dumpsters and trash bins, it would be a tight fit. "Sure, Schank," he said. "Glad to help. Maybe I could bring Nat, too?" Schanke's sigh of relief would have been clearly audible, even to mortal ears. "Yeah, sure, great idea!" he agreed, as Nick stopped the car. "This the place?" "Close enough. The informant said he wanted to meet me on that loading dock," Nick replied, gesturing to a space farther down the alley, where a smaller building formed its own cul-de-sac. "I figured you could find cover behind the dumpsters at the other end, in case I need backup." "This one of your regulars?" Schanke asked. Nick shook his head. "New guy, got in contact with me through a girl I helped out a while ago. If it was a regular, I wouldn't need backup." the vampire thought. "Okeydokey, partner," Schanke agreed. They both climbed out of the Cadillac and walked down the alley. Nick turned into the dead-end and climbed to the loading dock at the back of the building, while Schanke worked his way past trash bins, discarded boxes, and dumpsters to the other entrance to the alley. He was starting to appraise the surrounding clutter for the best hiding place when a figure suddenly stepped out from between two stacks of boxes. And shot him through the heart. The muffled of the silenced pistol took a second to register with Nick, who was searching the narrow spaces between pallet-loads of equipment for his informant. No sooner had he identified the sound than he twisted free of the confining stacks and rushed to where the stranger stood over Schanke. His vampiric senses at full, he saw the man pull Schanke's gun from its holster, and scented the blood that spread in a dark stain across his partner's chest. With a wordless snarl of pure rage, he knocked the man back against the wall. A small part of his mind noted the as the murderer's neck broke. He knelt at Schanke's side. The quick gush of heart's-blood had slowed to a trickle, then stopped. Desperate, he listened for Schanke's heart. The beat was faint, erratic. It stuttered. Stopped. Nick stood, slowly easing Schanke to the ground, and walked toward the Caddy. If his partner's murderer wasn't already dead, he soon would be. He had to call dispatch, get the coroner's van. Then, somehow, he'd have to tell Myra... Nick was past the loading dock when the body crumpled against the wall shifted and stood up. The man reached into one of the boxes stacked near him. He pulled out two long, thin shapes, and walked over to stand at Schanke's feet. Schanke moaned, softly, and opened his eyes. Someone was standing over him, a short, stocky man in a long trenchcoat. The man dropped something with a metallic clatter at his feet. Then he stepped back, and spoke. "I am Gunter Reichmann of Bavaria. Defend yourself," he said, and raised a sword with both hands. Schanke thought, still dazed. He fumbled for his gun, but the holster was empty. Another sword lay at his feet. "Look, buster, I'm a cop," he bluffed, desperately. "Doesn't matter," the lunatic replied, flatly. "There can be only one. Pick up the sword, or I kill you now." the detective wondered, as he reached for the blade at his feet. As Schanke's voice reached him, Nick froze, one hand on the Caddy's door. Nick thought in confusion. Then he was flying back up the alley. Nick "ran" the last few yards in a blur of speed, then took the sword from Schanke's hand. His partner collapsed back onto the ground as Nick took up a guard position at his side. "If you want to fight," Nick told the man with the claymore, "you can fight me." He held the broadsword easily, old reflexes flooding back at the feel of the hilt in his palm. The crazy pulled out his gun, and shot Nick at point-blank range. Nick didn't even flinch. The man stared in shock for a moment, then said, "You can't interfere. The rules, remember? I have challenged *him*." Schanke wondered, staring at the bullet hole in the back of Nick's coat. Nick's voice took on that growl that meant he was 'going weird'. "I'm not one of you," he told the crazy. "I don't have to follow your 'rules'." Nick attacked the man before he could recover from the shock. The battle was less unequal that he'd feared. His opponent wasn't as out of practice in swordwork as Nick, but Nick's superhuman speed and strength compensated for that. The two, Immortal and vampire, fought over and around Nick's fallen partner for a few moments, swords ringing. Then, Nick caught the Immortal's blade in a binding maneuver that had saved his life more than once in the Crusades, and disarmed him. Then he took his head. (continuous with part 2) # D Echelbarger echelbar@binc.net # # # # "Practice random acts of kindness and # # senseless beauty" Anon (bumper sticker) # =========================================================================