========================================================================= Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 18:28:14 -0800 Reply-To: Selma McCrory Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Selma McCrory Subject: With Human Blood, 6/6 Here we are at the last part. Apologies for the length, I had to revise before I posted and the last part came out a little long. If you have managed to get this far, thank you for reading, and I do appreciate it. If you have not commented thus far, please take a moment to drop me a note about what you think of it. There are only five people from this list that have commented, and I'd like to think that there are more. Missing parts can be found both through the TPFICT page or my archive page. Please email me if you need the URLs for these, or don't have web access. Now, on with the show. ------ With Human Blood and Human Tears by Selma McCrory a Tomorrow People (new series)/Highlander crossover copyright 1996 part 6 Pierson's face was a study of innocence, mingled somewhat with curiosity. _I wonder. Is he really interested in me? Is he really a good guy? Can I trust him?_ "'Keeping tabs'?" she asked. "As I said, you're the first one that I know of, and I like the Watchers. I was planning to hook up with you when I left." "Riiiight," she said, deliberately drawing the word out. Pierson studied her calmly, although a flicker of sadness showed through. "You don't believe me." "You apparently know my record, do you expect me to believe you? " Greer snapped angrily. "You're over five thousand, and you didn't get to live that long by staying your entire life on holy ground." "No. But I also didn't die because I feel that I have enough to live for. Maybe not the end of the Game, but close. There was too much to see, too much to do. Too much to live for. You're young, you can't understand what it is to live millennia." Greer tapped her foot. _I'm not a fool, you stupid idiot._ "You have a lot of convincing to do, Mr. Pierson." "Adam," he said, holding his hands out in a conciliatory gesture. "Or Methos, if you prefer." "Mr. Pierson," she said tightly. _Don't expect me to regard you as a friend._ She almost wished he were telepathic so he could pick her comment up. Pierson sighed. "What do you want me to say? I know everything that's been recorded about you, both as a Watcher and an Immortal, from your reports." "I'm not interested. Just leave me alone," Greer said, turning away. A hand gently touched her shoulder. She jumped, turning around to glare at Pierson. "You don't even know why I'm in London, do you?" Pierson asked gently. "I don't particularly care, really," Greer said, taking a step back. "Because of you. I'm leaving the Watchers, and I wanted to meet you before I changed identities. I figured you'd be curious enough to seek me out. I do admit, I didn't expect you to be so alarmed. When I read your records, I was sure that they had exaggerated, that you weren't hurt so badly." "'Alarmed' is an understatement," Greer said. _And that's all you need to know._ Pierson paced around, and then looked up at her. "It's your friend's problem, isn't it? That's why you're so tense, so ready to fight. I wondered why an Immortal one foot off of holy ground would want to do so." "That's none of your beeswax." "Obviously, the Watchers don't think so. They're very interested in his problem and why you're involved." "It's really none of their beeswax either." "You've reached the point where you're finally divorcing yourself from the Watchers?" Pierson asked quietly. Greer jerked her sleeve up in frustration. "I can't even get rid of the tattoo, why should I be able to get away from my affiliation?" she muttered, mostly to herself, but loudly enough so that he could hear it. "You could try cutting up that area until the ink is gone," Pierson said dryly. "You'll heal with no tattoo. I've done it before." Greer growled. "I'll get rid of it when I want to." "You're as lost as your friend Adam." _Stop being so patronizing!_ she straightened up and said, "I am not that lost." "You're living in the past." Greer glared at him. _Fine comment for you to make!_ He leaned even harder against the tree, looking suddenly afraid of her. "I am not." "Do I have to chase you around with a sword to make you see the truth?" "It wouldn't be as effective in case. I'd have to chase you right back." He nodded. "I thought that would be the case." "You keep up with me much?" "I wanted to stay prepared," he said. "I didn't live this long by being caught unprepared." "I noticed," Greer said. "And you didn't live this long by being friendly to young, inexperienced Immortals, either." "Contrary to popular belief, I am not all that awe-inspiring. Don't you think that I could be doing this because I like you? Besides, you're interesting, and your friends are interesting, and I also wanted to talk to you about them." He looked to her for a response, but she remained silent. The older Immortal nodded to himself, and then spoke. "You're responsible for a young woman named Lisa Davis going into the Watchers?" _There's no use in denying that._ "Yes." He quit leaning against the tree and stepped over to her, continuing in a low voice, "Would you care to explain to me how a young woman in Virginia checks in, makes sure her assignment's covered, and is then placed at your residence two hours later, using the front door?" Greer raised an eyebrow, making a mental note to warn Lisa about that. "I'd say that the Watchers are becoming sloppy." "I would, too, because they're continually going insane trying to get stable times on when your friends enter and leave. Your reputation being well known, they assume that you've taught your young friends how to get past observation, slip the loop like I assume you've done today." "I did. I wanted privacy. But how come so sure that that's not happening? That my friends are not sneaking in the back door and the Watchers misplaced Lisa Davis?" "Because I think I know what they are." "Oh? And what, pray tell, are they?" He shrugged. "I don't know what they're called. But I think I've encountered their kind before." "Oh, really? And what is 'their kind'?" "To hazard a guess? Telepathic, precogniscient, teleporters." Greer was stunned, although she tried not to show it. "I guess five thousand years of experience and you do meet everyone," she said quietly. "Yes," Pierson said. "Being a student of history, are you also acquainted with myth and folklore?" "Of course. I'm also familiar with what Immortals have been considered over the years. Faeries. Elves. That such." He nodded. "Do you believe in extraterrestrials?" "I do now. Why?" He leaned into the tree again. "A thousand or so years ago, I was living in what is now southern England, over towards Bath. It was a small village, like many I have lived in over the years. What was so amazing is that we had a woman in this village, unmarried and old, who could see into the future, and could read people's minds as well. I've also heard that she could travel around, but I wasn't too sure of this. But one night, we had visitors to the place." "Extraterrestrials?" Greer asked, wary but absorbed in the tale. "Yes. Anyway, the whole village was thinking that they were being visited by unearthly spirits. The aliens must have been quite amused. But they talked a lot to this woman, mostly not using their voices. And she was able to answer. Anyway, she was told she was a 'tomorrow's child' and that there would be more like her. And she foretold later that there would be a 'long-lived one' who would take care of her kind. I would have been happier if she had indicated that you would be in the Watchers, it would have made my life so much easier." Greer ignored his last comment. "So, what's the importance?" "Well, the legend was later corrupted. When you hear folktales of elves taking care of human children, at least some of them were inspired by that visit. No one remembers that visit taking place. It was just that one woman, and the tales told to her that she remembered. But I knew she was special." "That could easily be faked," Greer said casually. "Several thousand years before that, I met a young Egyptian pharaoh with the same abilities. And I know that he wasn't faking them, and neither was she." "So, now I'm the 'long-lived one' who will take care of 'tomorrow's children'," she said, sarcastically. "It seems that you are. I know what they are, I guessed about Lisa Davis. I remember the coverage a few years ago when she disappeared." "Now you're running circles around the topic, pretending to be interested in me, when you're really interested in them," Greer said defensively. He raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I'm interested in both. You, for the background and the responsibility you've taken on, and them for what they are." "Maybe I should disassociate with them, for their safety." "It's too late, especially with your Chronicle. The Watchers been keeping track of them ever since you befriended them. As I mentioned, your friends drive the Watchers nuts." "Obviously." "In fact, they're under suspicion as possible Immortals." Greer cracked up hysterically. She couldn't help it. "Did they tell you about an incident at the London Forum last week?" Pierson asked. Greer paused, considering whether or not to tell. "Yes, I believe that they did." "The green mist happening above the roof of the Forum?" "Green mist?" "You missed it?" Pierson asked. Greer looked at him. "Yes." "Well, there was a green mist above the London Forum last week, just before the Byron Lucifer concert. Somebody had the sense to dash over there and take pictures." "And got three of them." Pierson smiled. "Yes, they did. I'll leave it to you to deal with that." "Lovely. So, what happens next?" "It's up to you. I'd like to meet them some time, but I get the sense that now is not a good time." "It's not." Pierson nodded. "I understand." * * * "...So, all we have to do is find her somehow," Michael said, worried. "Or wait for her to come home." He looked around at the worried faces and sighed. "If she does." "How are we going to span all of London?" Megabyte wanted to know. Adam shook his head. "I have no idea. But we have to talk to her, tell her that she's wrong." All heads turned as the door was opened. "My, what a meeting," Greer said. "Well, we were worried." "I didn't mean to make you worry so much. There was just something I had to take care of." "Well, aside from a few white hairs, I'm fine," Michael said. "But we've got to have that suicidal streak of yours looked at." "What suicidal streak?" "Going after Immortals centuries older than you are just because you think you wronged a friend. Come on, this isn't the first time you've done this." "That's not a suicidal streak." "Right," he said skeptically. "But we're fine." "Good," Greer said. She turned to face Adam, her words coming out in a rush. "Adam, I'm sorry for what I did. I made a stupid plan, and I didn't mean to hurt you, and I hope you'll forgive me." "I already did," Adam said. "I knew you weren't trying to hurt me permanently." "But I scared you!" Greer replied, amazed. "Yes, but it helped," Adam replied. He wondered why Greer was apologizing so much. "Oh, and I have some possible news." "What?" Megabyte wanted to know, echoed by Michael, Lisa, and Jade. "Well, I was trying to solve a problem of my own. I met up with another Immortal that I was having problems with and pretty much negotiated a peace deal." "That's good news!" Adam said happily. "I knew you could do it." "Thank you," Greer said, smiling back. "Although I was happy to get away with this news. There was this light show or mist above the London Forum last week and we can probably all guess what the Watchers thought it was." Jade, apparently puzzled, asked, "What? What did they think it was?" Michael grinned at Jade, then turned to Greer. "Let me guess - a beheading." Greer grinned back. "They thought it was a beheading, right enough." Adam was growing more excited. "You mean, they escaped?" "They might've done. If not, that's an awfully big coincidence." "Wait a moment," Megabyte said. "Why is that a good thing?" "Because that means probably that we didn't kill them," Adam said patiently. "That we are not responsible for the deaths of thousands of intelligent beings." "Probably," Greer said. Michael smiled. "I have no problems getting on the horn and checking the date and time on that, if you'll hold on," he said. Greer smiled in reply. "Well, looks like we have a few less worries." Michael nodded and left. * * * A few days later, Greer said, "I'm sure this is in some kind of 'News of the Weird' somewhere." Adam looked up at her from his sunbathing. They were both sitting on the sands of the island. He sipped at a glass of lemon iced tea, while she drank an iced mocha. "I'm glad he checked." "Well, he's one smart, wise fellow, my husband is." Adam chuckled. "So, what are you going to do?" "Well, Adam Pierson is not in London anymore. He sent me a note from Paris. Apparently, that's where he lives. I don't know what to make of him, but he seems an honourable man, and I'm not interested in taking a head when I don't need to. And I've made enough dumb mistakes to last me a while. But you live, you learn, and life goes on." "I wish I'd learned that earlier," Adam said. "Well, I'm glad it turned out not to be as bad a mistake as you feared. I mean, you goofed. You made a tough choice, we all do. Myself included exponentially." "Yes, well, forgiving yourself is not an easy thing." "Not an easy thing to learn, is it? But take it from me, you don't want to spend the rest of your life depressed. You don't have time." "No." "And , next time you almost kill, don't guilt yourself out of your powers." "You think that's what happened? That I didn't want my powers, so I suppressed them? But why hasn't Lisa done that already then?" "Lisa doesn't her powers, but there's something in her that overrode her and prevented her from trying to burn her powers out. On the other hand, you wanted to burn them out subconsciously, and because of your instincts supporting that, you nearly did, permanently." "If that's your guess, it's as good as anything." "So, you're going to go on?" "Well, I have to. Jade's got most of it down, but there's still a little she has to learn, and we're all encouraging Lisa to stay in touch this time." Greer smiled. "Things are back to normal." "And you? Are you going to follow his advice, remove your tattoo?" Greer rolled her eyes. "I don't know. It's like removing part of what I am. A part that I still am. I can't get away from it, it's like my nickname. But I am half inclined to get rid of both, because it's something that I should be part of my past. But somehow, I am loath to become just Georgina Lewis, Immortal." "Become normal, you mean." "'Normal' hasn't described my life since 1980. Normal for a supernatural being, I guess that's so. Not fun, but normal." "Well, as normal as it's going to be." "As long as we're all human, who needs normal?" Greer smiled. End. ------ And for the moment, I'm done. For those of you who are Greer fans (I assume there are people out there who like her), she might be popping up in a collaboration with Wendy Kelley, if Wendy survives the War. Selma Selma McCrory "Maybe what this world needs smccrory@calweb.com are more Selmas." selmamc@aol.com -Darien Lambert, Time Trax