XOVER: Shattered (05/07)

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"Shattered" ~ Part One in the Old Holly Ridge Farm Cycle
by Denise Underwood
c. 2006

Part Five

The sound of sleet once again could be heard on the stable roof, and Triona 
shivered. Not from the cold so much as the onslaught of emotion that 
Methos' revelations had brought. Added to the newly reopened psychic wounds 
that her memories of what Divia had done to her had left, she found she 
couldn't stop shaking.

"You're cold." Methos pulled off his own coat, putting it around her 
shoulders and drawing her closer. She didn't correct him, just leaned 
tiredly into the soothing warmth of his body.

"And now I know where your aversion to vampires comes from," she said quietly.

He didn't deny it. It had been a frequent bone of contention between him 
and Lucien over Triona's eventual fate. Methos had tried in the beginning 
to free her from what he saw as an existence of darkness. When that had 
failed, he'd had to choose whether or not he walked away or accepted her as 
she was. "As far as I knew, you had no memories of Divia, and therefore, I 
couldn't explain it to you, not really."

It all made so much sense now, in retrospect.  Methos had come to an 
acceptance of her choice to be brought across, and what had happened 
afterwards. But it was that night two years later, when she had manifested 
as a true vampire after taking her first Quickening, that had irrevocably 
changed their relationship, and had led to the implosion that had almost 
destroyed that relationship permanently. "And after everything, I made you 
the victim of my first feeding. No wonder you ended up hating me!"

"No," he said firmly, taking her face between his hands and forcing her to 
look at him. "I was not a victim, and I never hated you."

"How can you say that?" she demanded.

"I had a choice, Triona. I did," he insisted, seeing the look of disbelief 
in here eyes. "I loved you. How could I let you suffer when I had the means 
to help you? I know you don't remember, but I had no fear in my heart when 
you fed from me -- only love. And it left us with a bond, a link, which 
bound us even closer together. Now, all these years later, it's a bond I 
cherish, though I know that, at the time, it was one that neither of us 
expected, or was really ready to deal with."

That was true enough. After they had been left with a psychic link, a blood 
bond, very much like what she and LaCroix had had when she was mortal, 
before LaCroix's ill-fated attempt to bring her across resulted in she and 
her Master sharing a full fledgling's bond. It was how she and Methos 
recognized each other's Immortal 'buzz'. But that bond had been too much to 
deal with in the beginning -- especially for Methos. The day he'd walked 
out on her, their link had caused more pain than either of them had thought 
possible.

"I love you, Methos," she said, not only with her voice, but also mentally, 
wanting him to 'feel' that love. Then Triona began to cry, and once she 
started, she couldn't stop. So much grief, so much loss, the pain they'd 
inflicted on each other -- most of it unintentional, but far too much 
intentional. Yet the grief was mingled with amazement, that after 
everything they'd done and said to each other, that they were here, 
together. And that he loved her. That was the true miracle, and one she 
thanked God for every day.

He didn't tell her not to cry, just drew her into his embrace and held her 
till she stopped. She tilted her head to look up at him. "Will you take me 
back to the house? To our bed?" she asked, her voice faltering. "I can't 
deal with anything more. I promise, I'll tell you whatever you want to know 
in the morning. But not tonight, not in the dark."

Methos kissed her gently. "Of course, love. The morning is soon enough."

@________@


Morning came too soon as far as Triona was concerned as she forced herself 
to eat the oatmeal that Methos had made for her. She had no appetite, but 
she didn't want to hurt his feelings. He'd been so pleased with himself, 
especially when she'd told him it was as good as Duncan's. And it was, 
surprisingly enough. "I suppose I can expect a lot of oatmeal for dinner 
from now on, huh?" she asked, trying to keep her tone light.

"Well, it is something edible to add to my somewhat limited repertoire," 
Methos admitted. "But you don't need to eat anymore. I think you've proven 
your point."

She looked up at him guiltily. "It really is wonderful," she protested. 
"I'm just not very hungry."

Smiling, he took the tray from her. "I know, but at least you ate 
something." He handed Triona her teacup. "Just don't get used to breakfast 
in bed. I wouldn't want to spoil you," Methos said, gently teasing.

"Hah!" She waggled a finger at him. "You should have thought of that the 
first morning we spent together, if that's what you're worried about! The 
precedent has been set, and by you," she reminded him.

Methos took her finger, turning her hand so he could kiss the palm. "How 
could I forget?" They both smiled, sharing the memory of their first 
morning together. 'Adam' had insisted on breakfast in bed, and during that 
breakfast, he'd sliced his hand open with a knife while cutting an orange. 
"Bewitching little minx that you were, you soon had all my secrets."

"And you had my heart," Triona replied softly. She squared her shoulders 
and took a deep breath. She knew it would just be harder the longer she put 
it off, but talking about what had happened that night filled her with 
dread.  She looked into Methos' eyes and drew courage from what she saw 
there: love, faith, and acceptance. "I guess it's time, isn't it?"

He nodded silently, smiling encouragingly.

She returned his smile, then taking one more deep breath she began. "My 
life had just started to seem more normal. I'd been at the estate for 
several months, and I didn't feel as lost and desperate as I had before; 
after Janette left." Triona closed her eyes and Methos took her hand, 
squeezing it reassuringly.  She leaned against him, remembering. "After she 
left, I'd finally realized what the cost of the choices I'd made were going 
to be. There was no escape - except in death, and I didn't want to die."

"Where there's life, there's hope?" he asked quietly.

Laughing softly, she looked up at him. "A sentiment we both share." Once 
more serious, she continued, "After Janette left, Lucien was so angry. Not 
at her, but at how she felt she had no choice - because of Nicholas."

"And you were a convenient target of that anger," he said neutrally, but 
Triona knew he was trying hard to remain calm.  They did a delicate 
balancing act, the three of them. It was a sometimes-strained triangle. 
Both Methos and LaCroix were very old and powerful personalities, with 
Triona often the eye of the storm between them.

"It's okay," she said softly, rubbing his arm soothingly. "I forgave him 
long ago. He was different then, and so was I. We both changed to be where 
and what we are now. And a great deal of that was due to you. You saved 
both of us." It was true; Triona knew that now. When Methos had entered her 
life, her relationship with the ancient vampire had changed her both 
mentally and physically, to the point where she'd been incapable of saving 
herself. Only Methos' intervention had done that. "You're right, I was a 
convenient target. It was months before Nicholas even noticed Janette was 
gone, and that night he finally showed up at the Raven, he and LaCroix 
fought. Nothing new, of course, but that night something was different. 
Everything was somehow more intense, more emotionally wrought. And that 
night, LaCroix almost killed me. I was very surprised when I woke up at the 
estate, that I woke up at all." She said it matter-of-factly - it was 
nothing more than the truth.  "After, he told me that the Raven was an 
unhealthy place for me, for us, that there were too many undercurrents and 
memories."

Methos drew her closer. "There are times when I wonder at fate. I visited 
Lucien only been a few months before the two of you met. You were with 
Janette already, but you weren't at the Raven when we went to see her," he 
said, the melancholy tone matching her mood.

"It was Christmas and I'd gone to visit Stephanie at college."

"If only I'd met you then. Sometimes I wonder..." he broke off, shaking his 
head in irritation. "I should know better. The past is done and finished 
and no amount of wishing can change that."

"If wishes were horses, huh?"

He smiled down at her. "Something like that."

"So, I was now at the estate, and life wasn't exactly normal, but I was 
content after a fashion. I was even working. I'd always taken care of 
Janette's financial interests, and had kept managing the club, but after 
that night, LaCroix put all of his own varied business interests into my 
care. It was his way of apologizing," she said with fond exasperation. "You 
know what he's like."

Methos just smiled.

"And it was an acknowledgement that he trusted me." Triona had been a very 
successful investment banker before she'd accepted Janette's offer to 
manage the Raven and to take care of her business interests.  Over the 
years, she'd taken on several Immortal clients, mostly friends of Methos 
and Duncan's. Teaching wasn't something she needed to do for the money, but 
something she did because she enjoyed it. There would be no drifting 
through the ages for Triona. She intended to experience everything she 
could, to take advantage of the life fate had given her. That outlook was 
something else she and her husband, the oldest Immortal, shared.

Triona looked down at the teacup she still held in one hand, realizing it 
was empty. Levering herself up off the bed, she went over to the teapot 
that Methos had left on the dresser, removing the cozy from the pot. As she 
poured a small amount of milk into her cup, she said, "The months passed. I 
worked, I walked the grounds, went riding, worked my way through the books 
in the library."

"Lady of the Manor," Methos said, smiling, coming to stand next to her. 
Picking up the pot, he poured the tea, filling her cup.

Nodding, she said, "And then, one night, I got a phone call." She turned 
away, tea forgotten. "It was from one of the staff at the Raven, and they 
told me that Lucien had been taken away by the police in relation to a 
murdered man discovered at the club...."


@_________@


Triona slammed the car door shut, pulling her heavy dark green wool coat 
closer around her body. It was freezing, and her breath hung around her 
like mist. Feeling a presence, she looked around, realizing it was Nick as 
he strode towards her in the Toronto PD parking lot.

"Why are you here, Triona?" Nick demanded.

Shaking her head in disbelief, she replied angrily, "Why am I here? Why do 
you think? You are holding our Master in police custody on some ridiculous 
pretext, and without benefit of legal representation, I'm sure!"

"There was a decapitated body found in the Raven. Hardly what I'd call a 
ridiculous pretext!" he said heatedly.

"I know all this, Detective. It doesn't change anything!"

"And how exactly do you know?" the blonde vampire demanded.

"Urs called me."

"She shouldn't have."

"No, you're right - you should have!" she spat out, attempting to walk past 
him.

He grabbed her upper arm, stopping her. "You don't belong here, Triona. Go 
home, leave it alone. It doesn't concern you!"

She pulled away violently "The hell I'm going home! I want to see him," she 
demanded, more furious at Nick than she'd ever been,

"Out of the question," Nick snapped.

"You think so? Since you're incapable of influencing me mentally," she 
said, her voice dripping with condescension, "how exactly were you planning 
on stopping me?" Before Nick could form a reply, she continued in a low 
voice laced with fury, "It's time you faced facts, Nicholas. I'm his, and 
nothing you do or try to do is ever going to change that. I won't allow it, 
and neither will LaCroix." With that she pushed past him, and this time, he 
didn't try to stop her.






            Ith *Ithildin@OnDragonsWing.com* Denise
             * Make Tea, Not Love ~Monty Python *
        * A & C  http://bittersweet.ondragonswing.com/ *
* HOUSE M.D. http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/DrHouse/ *
        * The Darkwood http://ondragonswing.com/tales/ *
             

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