========================================================================= Date: Wed, 13 Mar 1996 06:16:00 PST Reply-To: Mike Goldman Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Mike Goldman Subject: "Scavenger Hunt" (8/11)--HL Story NOTES: One profanity and one "make-up-what-you-want-it-to-be" profanity ... Praise, comments, flames to Lori at: mgoldman@cts.com Rory got directions from Mac as to where Seacouver's last remaining McDonald's was and drove over there in record time, drowning out Mac's complaints about her driving too fast with the assertion that he hadn't *really* experienced fast driving until he'd driven with her friend, Kristina, and had experienced true g-forces. They pulled into the McDonald's and sat in the car, gazing glumly at the sign posted in the window: "Closed permanently as of September 16th." "That was yesterday." Rory groaned, "What now?" "Let's get out and see if maybe someone dropped a box." Duncan suggested. She nodded and shut off the engine, leaving the car parked in the drive-thru. "You think you might want to use a parking spot?" he asked. "And who's gonna ask me to move it?" she retorted, pocketing the keys and jumping out. Mac followed and, not for the first time, questioned Joe's taste in women. Using flashlights from the trunk and the dim light of the still-active "M" sign, they prowled the parking lot and drive-thru lane searching for a lone Big Mac box. "Anything?" Duncan called from one end of the parking lot. "Nope." Rory called back. "Time?" He stuck his wrist underneath the flashlight beam. "An hour." She made an "OK" sign to signal she'd heard him and began aimlessly shining her flashlight beam here and there. "Hey, Macleod!" she yelled. "What?" "Think anyone's emptied the trash yet?" Duncan shone his light where hers was and discovered a large industrial trash bin. The looked at each other and jogged up towards it. "Can you see anything?" Rory asked, standing on her tiptoes. Mac shook his head. "Uh-uh. Guess there's only one way to find out." He looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I don't *think* so," she responded, shaking her head vociferously, "You're already smelly." "Yeah," he shot back, "and I got this way because of the dog. Fair's fair." She sighed and shrugged off her coat. Fair was fair. Handing Mac her flashlight, she gingerly put her hands on the lip of the bin, wrinkling her nose at the slimy feel now coating her palms. . Exhaling once, she pushed off the ground and hauled herself up into the trash bin. Mac kept a flashlight on her as she carefully stepped on bagged up hamburger remains. "See anything?" Rory's reply was cut off as she disappeared. Mac heard a thump, then a string of curses. "You OK?" he asked, standing on his tiptoes and trying to locate her with the aid of his flashlight. A hand shot up and grasped the rim of the trash bin. "*!$%##(!~* spiffy!" Rory snarled. "Here," she tossed a Big Mac box at his head, then grabbed the rim with her other hand. Duncan heard a squelching sound as she pulled herself up and...halfway out, getting caught as she attempted to bend at the waist and "flip" herself out. "Shit!" she breathed, not looking up as she bloody well *knew* Mac would be smiling that infuriating little grin of his. "Would you just pull me out, Macleod?" Ever the helpful Immortal, he placed his flashlight on the ground and pulled her arms as her feet kicked the side of the bin. There was another squelching sound and she landed on the asphalt in a pool of an unidentifiable substance. Grimacing, she straightend up and leaned against the bin as she tried to brush herself off. "Shut up." she said more out of force of habit than any real irritation with the giggling she heard. "Damn!" she cursed again, as she straighted up and fingered a large flap of fabrice that had been torn away from the front left thigh of her Levi's. "My favorite pair." "What do you mean?" Duncan asked, "They're ripped all over." She eyed him. "Those were *strategic* ." "Of course. How silly of me." Rory opened her mouth and then decided it really wasn't worth it. Grabbing the flashlight off the ground and mentally consigning the other one to a horrible death in the trash bin, she grabbed her coat and marched towards the car. "Grab the box and let's go." "Um, Rory?" he ventured, training the flashlight on her. She whipped around so fast he didn't have a chance to lower the beam. "What?" she said, dangerously polite as she shielded her eyes. "You may want to take that piece of cheese off your butt before we go any farther." Duncan suggested helpfully. Rory twisted the upper half of her body around and verified the orange square that was stuck to her anatomy. She pulled it off with her fingers, leaving a dark oily patch that could clearly be seen on her nearly white faded jeans. "Lovely." she said to no one in particular. Duncan, feeling he was showing admirable restraint, merely picked up the box and walked with Rory to the car.