Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 01:03:35 -0500 Reply-To: mikester@BIX.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Mike Breen Subject: THE CHANGELING - PART VIII X-cc: 1-9904@terranet.bluethun.quake.com Ok, so it was a little longer between installments than I thought. Anyway, here's the rest... Oh, and language in a few passages is a bit strong... and there's violence... and there's also... Aw, let's just give the thing an "R" rating and get it over with! 8) BOSTON, MASS, UNITED STATES, LATE JANUARY - EARLY FEBRUARY 1995 The next two weeks saw Patrick excelerate Nancy's training. Events had happened and Patrick couldn't be with Nancy 24 hours a day. If Nancy ran into James Thomas Riley somewhere, she had to be ready to at least defend herself until Patrick got to her. Aside from one day in late January, neither Patrick nor Nancy had seen or heard from him. The sun was high in the sky and it was unseasonably warm. Still, Patrick had his long wool overcoat on, concealing his sword. He was planning on meeting a friend he hadn't seen in several years, and Nancy said she'd be fine in the apartment. She wouldn't let anyone else in, and she'd keep her sword by her side. "Are you _sure_ about this, Nancy?" he said. "Sure, I'm sure. I don't wanna be in the way." Patrick looked at Nancy sideways and said, "I'm sure my friend wouldn't mind meeting you. Besides, Connor's back in Scotland recuperating from his fight with Kane. It took a lot out of him. There's _really_ no one else." "No, go. I insist." So Patrick was here, in Copley Square, in the middle of the warmest January that he could remember for decades, waiting for an _old_ friend. When he felt the telltale Buzz he smiled and turned around. "Sloppy, Patrick. I may not have been me." Patrick embraced the tall raven-haired female Immortal. Then he stepped back and studied her. Her hair spilled down her back, her eyes were the brightest green he had ever seen, and her skin was pale yet healthy. The two Immortals embraced again, and then kissed eachother lightly on the lips. "Been a long time, Pattie," she said. "Too long. And you _know_ you're the only person, mortal or Immortal, I'd let call me _that_! How are you Rebecca? Last we talked you were in London, supposedly for a long time." Patrick took her hand and they began strolling along towards the church and sat on the stairs. "I've been good," she said. "Someone found me out in London, so I've uprooted myself. I was hoping to stay here for a while." "You know you're welcome at my place," he said. She smiled and said, "I was hoping you'd say that. Unless you're married again. You're not, are you?" "Almost. She had a problem with the Quickening." Rebecca sighed and said, "I always seem to be the one you turn to after a wife dies or a girlfriend leaves you. Why is that?" "'Cause you're always here. But... it's not _entirely_ me that turns to _you_." Rebecca sighed again and said, "You're calling me on it, I see. Ok. My husband recently died. We were in a car accident. The car went over a ditch. I walked away, and he didn't. Only I didn't walk away from the car. I walked away from the operating table." "I'm sorry," he said. They stared at eachother for a long while and then tentatively kissed again once, then more confidently a second time. As they kissed, they felt the Buzz again. They parted but still held eachother close. Patrick said, "That'll be my protege. She _said_ she was staying home." Patrick let her go and said, "I thought you were staying..." he turned and faced Riley. "Odd thing, you out here with a beautiful Immortal while another beautiful Immortal is sitting at home," he said. "Remember what I said about her visiting me. Or maybe she'll be forced to change Teachers." Patrick clenched his hand into a fist and said, "You bastard." He was about to swing... "Holy Ground, Irelander." "Thanks Riley. I know the Rules." "_Riley_?" Rebecca said. "James Thomas _Riley_?!" "The same, dear lady." Riley said. "You ghods damn son of a BITCH!!" Patrick had to hold Rebecca back, or else he was sure she would have drawn her sword, Rules be damned. But if Riley was startled by her outburst, he did not show it. He nonchalantly said, "And you are..?" "Rebecca DeJeniere of Nice," she said, still angry. "You may not remember _me_, but you do remember Amy Donnovan. Search the Quickening you STOLE from her!" Riley looked far-off for a moment, then he returned to the present. He looked at Rebecca. Then recognition set in and his eyes widened. "You had best stay away from us, Riley," Rebecca said coldly, "or I will kill you." He watched the exchange between the three Immortals with interest. He and his colleague who had recently arrived from London, and his other colleague who had been here for a few weeks would have to exchange notes over the next few days. His superiors had been informed about the awakening of Nancy Peters, and would have to be brought up-to-date on the arrival of Rebecca DeJeniere. "What was that all _about_?" Patrick said later as they were eating a light lunch. "I never saw him," Rebecca said, "But I knew of him. It was almost a century ago, while you were bouncing between here, New York, London, and Hong Kong. I had taken in Amy. She was a new Immortal, and was her Teacher. I trained her for five years before he showed up in 1898." "I was in Hong Kong between 1896 and 1900." "I know," she said. "Anyway, he shows up and begins taking an interest in her, but she wouldn't tell me about him. All I knew was that she was seeing an Immortal named Riley and that he had a lousy reputation as a cub-killer. But I thought she had trained with me long enough to be able to take care of herself. Well..." and tears began to well in her eyes, "I found her... in an alley a mile away from our house... dead." Her voice broke and she said, "He had taken her _head_!" Patrick took her hand. She said, "Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever been that helpless?" "No," he said. "It hasn't. I have felt that helpless, though. But you never told me..." "I know. I didn't want to. I tried to forget, but seeing him, hearing his name, brought it all back." "So," Rebecca said as they approached Patrick's townhouse, "just what kind of living arrangements should I expect here? Do I _finally_ have some competition from someone who'll live as long as me, Pattie? Will you now alternate between the two of us and a mortal?" Patrick grinned and said, "No chance of that, Beckie. You know you're the only woman I'd spend eternity with... more or less." "You're so full of shit," she said and laughed. "And you know how much I hate that name." "About as much as I hate 'Pattie.'" "Touche. But seriously, Patrick, _is_ there anything between you two?" "It's purely platonic. She looks on me like a father. Besides, you know what kind of relationship develops between Teacher and Student." They entered the townhouse. "Wow!" Rebecca said. "I like what you've done with the place. Last time I was here was..." "1927," Patrick said. Nancy was sitting in the living room, her Katana within reach. "Nancy," Patrick said as he ushered Rebecca into the living room, "I'd like you to meet Rebecca DeJeniere. Rebecca, Nancy Peters." Rebecca smiled and said, "I'm glad we've met." "Me too," Nancy said. Patrick took their coats to the closet and hung them. Then he called into the living room, "You want some coffee or anything?" "Sure," Rebecca said. "Nancy?" "I'll come and help," she said as she got up from the couch. "Uh huh," he said once the kitchen door was closed. "I know what you're about to ask." He began making the coffee. "Who is she? She's _georgous_!" "She is Rebecca. She and I always seem to be together when one or both of us loose someone. Her last husband recently died, and Michelle left me. So here we are." "She could be a model," Nancy said. "That hair... those eyes... You're lucky." "You sound jealous." "I am... kinda. Of her. Now what'll happen when I meet a guy, take him home and he sees _that_ sitting in our living room?" "Tell him the truth. Tell him she's far too old for him. Besides," Patrick added, "what makes you think she's staying here in the first place?" Nancy walked over to the refrigerator to get the half and half and said, "We haven't known eachother for long, but we have been together pretty much twenty-four hours a day for the past three weeks. I think I can safely say I know you. The way you both look at eachother..." Patrick blushed slightly and said, "Is it that obvious?" "Yes. Very. And I'm happy for you. But why do you bother with mortal women like Michelle when Rebecca is here, century after century?" "Simply because if we pledged our lives to eachother in marriage, we'd probably get bored with eachother after a century or so. We'll be together for a while, between a few months or a few decades, while we lick our wounds. Then we'll move on, until we need eachother again. Maybe it's love. I don't know, and I don't question it. All I do know is that we need eachother right now." "Right now I'm a painter," Rebecca said, drinking her coffee. "I've also been a sculptor and a pottery worker. I was born near Nice, France in 1175, and I became Immortal in 1186, coincidentally the same year Patrick took his first Quickening. Ramirez found me two years later and trained me. I took my first Quickening in 1192, and was on my own for a few years after that. Ramirez found me again in 1197." "How did you two meet?" Nancy said. "I'm getting to that..." FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE, NOVEMBER 1197 "Do you understand _now_ why I insisted you learn French last autumn?" Ramirez said. "Somewhat. We're in France, aye. But I don't understand why," Patrick said. They were riding towards a small farm house, the crisp November air whipping around them. "There's someone I want you to meet," Ramirez said. "Another Immortal?" "Yes. You've so far met four Immortals, myself, Aoife, Marcus Visillius, and Samuel Desmond, all of whom have had much more experience than you. I want you to see that it's not the case with all Immortals. I found this one two years after you took Desmond's Quickening." "And you want the two of us to see that not every Immortal is that much more experienced than us. I see. When do I meet him?" "Now. There she is," Ramirez pointed to the young woman standing in front of the farmhouse, waving. Patrick felt the Buzz from her and was surprised that the young Immortal was a woman, but he didn't know why. After all, Aoife was a woman, and she was only the second Immortal he had met. He was, perhaps, struck by her beauty. While Aoife looked like how one would _expect_ a female Immortal to look, long bright curly red hair, ice-blue eyes, tall, slender, dressed in a priestess' robes, this girl was just as beautiful, but nonetheless not how one would picture an Immortal. She was almost as tall as Aoife, she had raven hair that was cut short, green eyes that laughed, and was dressed in a simple farm girl's garb. Ramirez and Patrick dismounted and the girl ran over to her former Mentor and embraced him. She pulled away and said, "What brings you here?" "Rebecca, this is the Immortal I spoke of. Remember when I left how I said that I would introduce you to an Immortal close to your own age? This is Patrick O'Brien from County Cork, Ireland. Patrick, this is Rebecca DeJeniere of France." Patrick nodded and said, "'Tis a pleasure..." and then their eyes locked. "Brother, I just have to know... are you and she..?" Ramirez laughed and said, "No, not at all. You know how it is between Teacher and Student. 'Twould be like incest." "But you and Aoife had a relationship." "That was different, because I knew from the start what her destiny was. She was never _really_ my Student. All I had to do was teach her the Rules and bring her to the shrine. No, Brother, if you want her and if she wants you, I won't stand in your way." That evening the three sat down to a delicious dinner that Rebecca had cooked of roast beef, potatoes, bread, and ale. Ramirez couldn't help but smile at the glances each of his former Students were giving the other. "I came here as a worker after my husband died," she said. "That was five years ago. The man who owns the farm gave me this house in exchange for caring for some of the livestock. He has been kind, but I can't help thinking it's time to move on. He and his wife have been commenting on how little I've aged in five years." "You could come with us," Patrick said. She looked at Ramirez and said, "Could I?" "Of course, Rebecca," Ramirez said. "Well, when you left... 'twasn't on the best of terms." "Don't be ridiculous, Sister. I left because all Students must leave their Teachers when they take their first Quickening. I hadn't seen Patrick for ten years before we met up last summer." Rebecca smiled and glanced at Patrick again, who smiled back at her. "Thank you, Brother," she said to Ramirez. "You're quite a cook," Patrick said once Ramirez announced that he was retiring for the evening. "Thank you. But what I really want to do is create beautiful _permanent_ things." She took an elaborate piece of pottery, a bowl that they had used for the juices, and said, "I made this." Patrick was stunned. He had wondered how a simple farm girl, Immortal or not, had been able to afford such work. "'Tis beautiful," he said. "You have a real gift." "I made it for my husband... he..." Patrick tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "I lost someone too. My wife. She stood by me when I discovered my Immortality, and died last summer." Tears streamed down Rebecca's face. She said, "We two are kindred spirits! I had not known..." Patrick embraced Rebecca then, holding her close. He lifted her chin and kissed her cheek, then her lips, tentatively at first. Then Rebecca pulled his lips down to hers, and kissed him, eagerly. Then, pulling away, she led him to a corner of the room, sat on some hay and pulled him down to her. "Who wants to live forever?" she said. "I don't." "Nor I," Patrick said. "But we'll help eachother through it." Ramirez first found the tangle of clothes the next morning. He then spied the two sleeping forms off in the corner, clinging to eachother. He smiled and said, "That didn't take long," and left to tend his horse. BOSTON, MASS, UNITED STATES, FEBRUARY 1995 James Thomas Riley sat in his hotel room contemplating the last two weeks. He was rather frightened that Rebecca DeJeniere was in Boston, and was in an intimate relationship with O'Brien. He had not counted on having to face _two_ seasoned Immortals, as it was obvious that DeJeneire would seek revenge for the killing of Donnovan. He holed up in his hotel for the remainder of January and early February. He hated being afraid, he had been called "coward" by more than one Immortal, but there wasn't anything he could _do_. Getting one Immortal after him by killing their Student was easy. He had been doing it for centuries. But having two after him... Then it dawned on him. Here was a perfect triangle. DeJeniere and O'Brien were lovers, that much was obvious. Perhaps they even loved eachother after a fashion. Whatever the emotions between them, they were close. Peters and O'Brien were also close, and Peters was O'Brien's Student. DeJeniere wanted to kill him for _precisely_ the same reason that O'Brien eventually would. So, if he killed one, the other two would fall _easilly_. Kill Peters, and O'Brien would anger himself so much that he would be easy prey. With O'Brien dead, DeJeniere, already somewhat blinded by thoughts of revenge, would fall that much easier. Or, kill DeJeniere first, _then_ Peters, and O'Brien would be an extremely easy target. And if he killed O'Brien first, DeJeniere would loose her head easily, and Peters would naturally come to him with thoughts of ending her own life not far below the surface. _What_ a fortunate situation! "Well," the first man said, "we're all here, now what have we got?" "I'll be glad when this is over," the second said. "She's got to put this behind her." "Put what behind her?" the one woman in the room said. "The death of her student. Oh Rebecca _says_ it doesn't bother her, but it does. It's eaten away at her." The first man turned to the woman and said, "What do you think? Does Riley have a chance?" "Against _O'Brien_?" she said. "Don't make me laugh." The second man said, "Against Rebecca, maybe, but I'd hate to loose her. She's quite fascinating." The first man nodded in agreement and said, "I've studied O'Brien for almost thirty five years now. He takes family seriously. _Very_ seriously. This new Immortal, Nancy, she's become almost like a daughter to him, and Rebecca, for all intents and purposes, is his spouse, and has been on and off for centuries. If Riley takes either or both of Nancy's and Rebecca's heads, he'll kill him. And quickly. Anger doesn't often cause him to make mistakes, and never when his life is in danger. He's always had a cool head. Riley simply doesn't stand a chance." "I certainly hope not," the woman said. "Riley isn't exactly what I would call interesting. In fact, with his strategy, he disgusts me." "Then request reassignment," the first man said. "Perhaps, if by some miracle Riley wins, I will." <<>> (c) 1995 Mabnesswords Mike Breen =========================================================================