Date: Sun, 19 Feb 1995 12:09:59 -0700 Reply-To: Tara O'Shea Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Tara O'Shea Subject: We'll Always Have Paris (2/4) We'll Always Have Paris By Tara O'Shea Part 2 "So who was Sister Coralie?" Duncan asked as he walked Niamh back to her hotel, turning his collar up against the chill of the evening. "I spent a few years in an abbey, a long time ago. It was Darius's idea. There was one of our kind who made a point of hunting women. I could have taken him, but Darius... he wouldn't hear of it. He wanted me to drop out of the Game, perhaps become a scholar, something. Just live, without the violence." "Yeah, that sounds like Darius." Duncan chuckled. "Did you?" "What, drop out? For a while." Niamh paused on the steps of the hotel, searching the lighted city for familiar shadows and buildings. "A short while." "And this immortal...?" "I faced him." "Did you...?" "No. He got away." Her eyes darted from the traffic speeding by to and her feet. There was an uncomfortable silence. "So you'll talk to Richie, then?" "First thing tomorrow, if you like." "I'll see you then." "Yes, and then I can finally meet this amazing woman of yours." "We're looking forward to seeing you." Duncan sighed, and held the door open for her, then watched her disappear into the lobby. * * * In her hotel room, Niamh restlessly flipped channels on the television. Finally she clicked it off with a sound of disgust. It was time she faced the fact that being here, again, and talking with MacLeod of that old time had brought back some memories that she had hoped could stay buried. Niamh awoke in a cold sweat, breathing hard. The grey light of dawn seeped in through the window hangings and she sighed, unable to sink back into sleep. * * * "Hello, poppet." Darius looked up to see Niamh in the doorway, as he knew she would be. Who else would come calling at eight in the morning? "You know I hate it when you call me that." "Well, I'm older than you. Allow me some idiosyncrasies." "Darius, you're older than *everyone*. I can't see you calling MacLeod 'poppet'. Or perhaps you call Fitz 'sweeting'?" "You were always a terror." "Oh, I've got a mouth on me, you've always known I'm not one to stay silent." "So what is on your mind?" "Thanks to MacLeod, nosing about dear Sister Coralie, I'm afraid Victor is on my mind." "Ah." "Have you heard anything of him all these years? Has someone else done my work for me, or should I be looking over my shoulder?" "No, from all I have heard, he is still alive." Darius frowned. "Why are you concerned with him now, after so long?" "You know what I did to him. He won't give up. He hates me, perhaps more than any of our kind I have ever faced." "And you're afraid." "Yes. I've been hunted before, you know that. But Victor--" "Victor came closer to killing you than anyone else." "It's more than that. He was mad." She swallowed painfully. "I remember." * * * Paris 1223 Niamh wrapped her cloak around her as she made her way through the torch-lit streets of the city, allowing her mind to wander just a little bit. She entered the gates of the churchyard without even noticing. Himiko had left the city with an old friend, an Egyptian with a sharp sense of humour and an eye for the ladies. The ancient Japanese immortal had said very little about where she was going save that Ramirez had been to her what she now was to Niamh, and that they had a great deal to catch up on. Niamh was somewhat jealous. And more than a bit nervous. She had only killed once in the more than one hundred years since her birth, and she had the uneasy sensation of being stalked, though she knew not by whom. She wished for her friend there beside her, to tell her if she was being foolish or righteously cautious. Which was why she had left her home this night to visit Darius. He was the only immortal she had met besides Himiko whom she trusted with her life. He would know what to say to allay her fears. He always did. She felt *him* even before she heard the jingle of a horses's harness in the darkened church yard. It wasn't Darius. It couldn't be Darius, not yet... She drew her sword as he appeared in the patch of moonlight. From the portry, Darius felt the rush of two souls and frowned as he pulled open the heavy wooden door in time to see Niamh being circled by another immortal who turned to grin at the priest, a feral smile like a wolf's in the night. "I am Niamh Ni' Bhriain, of the Brianaigh." Niamh took a defensive stance, eyes wide. "You can call me Victor, my dear." He was dressed all in black, trews and a padded shirt mean to be worn beneath mail, yet he wore none. His sword was still sheathed at his hip, and he made no move to draw, but Niamh was terrified all the same. He watched her with hungry eyes, sending a chill down her back, and he did not dismount, looking down at her from above. "This is holy ground." Darius's voice rang out from the doorway, and Niamh had never heard him in anger before. "*This has no place here*." "Oh, I mean no harm. Just introducing myself to the lady." "You've been following me, watching me," Niamh accused and was met with laughter. "You admit it?" "I'm flattered you noticed me." He positioned his horse between herself and Darius. "What is your game?" Niamh fought the desire the flee, though all her instincts urged her to. "Must a man play games with a beautiful woman he wants to get to know better?" His tone drew gooseflesh across her arms, made all the hairs stand up at the base of her neck. "Leave this place." Darius pointedly walked around the horse, standing at Niamh's shoulder. "As you wish," Victor reined in his horse, heading back towards the gate. "But I'll be back." * * * Niamh appeared at the barge at nine for coffee and croissant, looking a little tired, but bright eyed and smiling. From Duncan and Richie's description, Tessa had been expecting some sort of mix of Amanda and Grace, they only two female Immortals Tessa knew well. And, also according to their descriptions, she got someone completely different. "Darius has told me a lot about you." Niamh shook her hand warmly. "All good, I hope. He speaks the world of you." "He's always surprised I've kept my head, he still thinks of me as a child." Niamh, though still recovering from the death of her mentor and friend, Himiko, was charming and lively, as well as quite a storyteller. And she had quite a tale to tell, of vampires in Toronto. "It's all true, I swear it." Niamh sipped her coffee, meeting their amazed stares. "Well, I was just as surprised as you, but as they say, there are more things in heav'n and earth..." "Vampires?" Duncan laughed. "Immortals?" Niamh matched his tone, and Tessa smiled. "Why not? I, for one, am ready to believe anything after a decade with you." She tickled Duncan's ribs and he squirmed. "Tess!" "I find it fascinating and a bit frightening. But you'd like Nick. At least, I think you would. He does dwell in the past a bit, but then, we all do I suppose. He's doing his best coping, just as we are." "I'll believe it when I see it," Richie laughed, shaking his head. "I mean, c'mon. Dracula?" "No, not Dracula. Nick's French. He was born about 1205, I'd say. I'll have to ask him. And he's not a count, he was a knight." "And now he's a police detective?" Richie was unclear on the concept. "Yes. It makes him feel better. Like he's giving something back instead of taking." Niamh shrugged. "He hasn't killed for blood in over a century, I believe. But he has something of a guilt complex. Very medieval." Tessa giggled, punching Duncan in the shoulder. "Sound familiar?" "I'm very cosmopolitan." "Yeah, Nick thinks he is too." Niamh rolled her eyes, and Tessa didn't bother to hide her smile. "Anyway, he was very helpful with Himiko's case." "Yeah, but how do you prosecute an immortal?" Richie laughed. "I mean, life sentence takes on a whole new meaning..." "Yeah well, that wasn't an option." * * * Vassily stubbed out his cigarette and tapped out a number on a slim cellular phone he took from his pocket. "Vassily?" the voice on the other end asked, needlessly since the assassin was the only one with that private number. "She is on a barge. I followed her from her hotel this morning. She was met by the man and the boy." "You must not take her when she is with MacLeod." "And the boy?" "Kill him if you must. He is of no consequence." "You want her alive?" "Alive or dead, it makes little difference to me. But you must handcuff the body regardless." "I don't understand...." "I am not paying you to understand. I am paying you to do a job. And I am paying you well." *That you are, you deranged maniac*, Vassily did not dare say, instead refolded the phone and ordered another coffee. What did it matter to him if his employer was afraid of a dead body? The man was crazy. * * * "Richie, can I talk to you?" Niamh helped him carry the coffee cups out to the kitchen. "Yeah, sure. About what?" "Why don't we take a walk?" "Okay." He shrugged and told Duncan and Tessa they'd be back. "Don't be too long." Tessa called after them as they slipped out the door. * * * "So what do you want to talk about?" Richie stuck his hands deep in his pockets as they walked along the Seine towards the church. "It was hard for me, losing Himiko. I mean, it's the Gathering. I know what that means, but I thought she would live forever." "She was one of the good guys, huh?" "Yeah. She was." Niamh smiled. "So... did you get who killed her?" "Yes, I did. And that's what I wanted to talk to you about." She sat down on a low wall, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "Richie, it was Felice Martin." Richie was silent for a long moment, a frown creasing his forehead. He drew circles on the ground with the toe of his sneaker, blinking. "Felicia?" "She learned all she could from Himiko and then killed her. She pretended to be her friend, and then she went after me. I had no choice, she threatened my friends, challenged me--" "I know," he snapped. "I know what she was." "I'm sorry. But there was nothing I could have done." "She tried to kill me, y'know. And Tessa, all to get to Duncan. I knew she didn't love me. But it still hurt." He chewed on his bottom lip. "So that was the big secret, huh? What you and Mac were so antsy about yesterday." "Yeah, well, he cares about you. I can see why, you're a good kid." "Gee, thanks. I love being the youngest person in the room. Eternally." "It could be worse." Niamh laughed. "You know, people judge you by the company you keep. You're in the pink." "And you hang with vampires and cops." "And coroners, and antique dealers. Did I mention thieves, brigands and small children?" "Kids?" "Well, they're all grandparents now. Maybe that's great grandparents." Niamh frowned, trying to figure out how many generations she had misplaced. "You've lived a long time." Richie observed. "Relatively, yeah." She nodded. "What do you like most about this century?" Richie was finally going to get some of those niggling little questions Mac couldn't be bothered with answered. It was kinda cool. "The pictures." She replied, without hesitation. "I adored them, I still do. I used to go to every moving picture that came out, they fascinated me." "Which one do you like best?" "Oh my, a hundred years of films.... Anything with Danny Kaye." "You're kidding." "He was marvellous! I was terribly upset when he died. Have you ever seen *Knock on Wood*?" "Um... no." "What about *Inspector General*, have you seen that one? It's based on a book." "Nope." "*White Christmas*?" "I think, when I was little." "*The Court Jester*?" "The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle!" "The chalice with the palace holds the brew that is true." She laughed, delighted. "I used to say that until all the words got mixed up. It drove people *crazy*." * * * Vassily carefully screwed the silencer onto the rifle, laying flat against the roof. He lined up the girl in his crosshairs, deciding dead or alive always worked easier dead. He squeezed the trigger, swearing quietly as Niamh laughed, moving a few inches to her left, the bullet hitting the ground behind her head. * * * "Did you hear something?" Richie cocked his head, and Niamh blinked. "Like what?" "I don't know." He shook his head. "I don't know, it sounded likeD" Niamh shoved Richie behind the wall as three more bullets hit the sod and the wall, sending up a cloud of dust and fragments with each tiny puff of the silencer. "Is there any particular reason why anyone might be shooting at you?" Niamh leaned up against the wall, flinching as three more shots hit the top of the wall and the sod at her feet. "Oh, I don't know. The usual, I suppose." Richie covered his head with his arms. "What the hell kind of a question is that? Ever since I met you guys, people have been shooting at me." "It must be very disconcerting. Duck." "You know, they could be shooting at you." Richie gritted his teeth, refusing to admit he was absolutely terrified. "That bastard." Niamh moved to look and try to see, and Richie dragged her back down. "Are you nuts?" "Well, what can he do? Kill me?" "You wanna *find out*?" * * * Vassily cursed in several languages, reloading. He had to force her out into the open before he attracted undue attention. If he hadn't already, Vassily craned his neck as sirens blared through a square two blocks away. * * * "Come on," Niamh grabbed Richie as three seconds went by without another shot being fired. They crawled along the inside of the wall, jumping to the ground below as another shot cracked the pavement at their feet. "Shit." Niamh took off, trying to shield Richie in front of her. She ignored the stinging sensation as a bullet grazed her shoulder, and they headed in a zig-zag fashion for the safety of a crowded street. * * * "*Shit*." Vassily swore as the two of them disappeared into traffic, and the sirens grew closer. He shoved the gun into his valise and leaped across to the next roof, landing with a clatter. By the time the sirens disappeared, so had he. -- johanna@hydra.unm.edu * "Excuse me, my associate is applying * Lady Johanna Constantine * dairy foods to his body." * or just plain Tara * - Ray, Due South 13-10-94 * * * Ask me about DSOUTH-L@trearn.bitnet, the Due South Discussion List * * =========================================================================