Part 4
"Okay Methos...time to have another
chat." Amanda said sweetly, gently tugging the bottle out of Methos' hand.
"Amanda... now is definitely *not* the
time." Methos practically growled at her.
"And what are you going to do? Take me
head? I doubt you're even coordinated enough right now to stand."
"I don't have to talk to you..."
"I don't have to let you stay here. You
could find a very nice hotel somewhere in Paris." Amanda pointed out,
gathering up the collection of empties that surrounded the depressed Immortal.
"So you're kicking me out now
too..." Methos muttered coldly, trying to push himself off the floor with
out to much success. "Glad to see I have friends I can count on."
"Woah. Wait a minute Methos."
Amanda pushed him back down on to the floor, even though it was obvious he was
going to be able to get anywhere without serious help. Or a good nights sleep
for that matter. "I'm not kicking you out. I just want to talk."
"About what? What aspect of my life
would you care to dissect now?"
"Methos you're impossible."
"I try."
"Why don't you try to help yourself
then?"
"Why bother?"
"Because I refuse to deal with a
miserable brooding Scott for the next century or so."
"I should have known it wasn't for my
sake."
Amanda sighed heavily. 'Fine drink yourself
to death a time or two. But you will be sober when Duncan gets here."
"Fine but since he'll never come, I can
just keep drinking."
"Until someone takes your head?"
"Yeah...whatever. It's not like it'll matter
anyway."
"Hello?" Amanda smacked him hard,
as if to knock some sense into him. "Are you listening to me?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Methos
sighed, rubbing the back of his head where she hit him.
"For as long as I've known you, you've
either been determined to save your own head...or save Duncan's." Amanda
sat down on the ground in front of him, a sad smile on her face. "And now
you're telling me you don't care about either?"
"I care about Duncan, yes." Methos
admitted, glancing wistfully at the bottle she had placed behind her on the
counter. He was getting way to sober for his liking.
"Good. At least I know we're not wasting
our time. Here, have your drink back." Amanda dropped the bottle back in
front of him and turned to walk away. "When you want to help get him back
into your life, let me know."
"What would it matter if I died
anyway?"
"The fact that Duncan would lose his
head within a year means nothing to you?"
"What are you talking about
Amanda?"
"Methos, you're a bloody idiot, you know
that?" Amanda said, grabbing the bottle back from him and taking a large
swig. "Has it somehow escaped your notice that the man is head over heels,
completely, totally, more than life itself, in love with you?"
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
"I'm not going to Paris Richie."
Duncan shouted.
"Yes you are." The younger man said
as he packed a bag for Mac. "You and I are flying out in exactly 22
hours."
"No way."
"Yep, I'll get Joe's help if I have
to."
"There's no point. If he knows I'm
coming, he'll be long gone before we even get there."
"I'm almost positive he's too drunk to
go anywhere."
"What?"
"The old man hasn't been taking this
lightly Mac. He's been drinking pretty much sine he got to Amanda's...that was
what? Almost two days ago now? Well...maybe less with the time difference,
though he was probably drinking on the plane over too."
"Richie...just...why would he?"
"Oh...possibly because he loves
you?"
"Uh huh. He's the one who left
me...again." Duncan waved his hand around the loft. "He didn't even
pack anything up, didn't tell me to ship it all to another address. He was just
in too much of a hurry to get the hell away from here."
Richie sighed, glancing around the loft.
Well...shit. Yet another thing Amanda neglected to tell him. Methos' stuff was
still spread from one end of the loft to the other. "Maybe he was planning
on coming back then..."
"That's what I thought too. All of
yesterday. You don't know how long I sat at the window, watching for Methos to
come back so that I could just talk to him. And yet, even when I knew he wasn't
going to come back, I still sat here and waited."
"But you were going to talk to him
then?" A glimmer of hope that this could still all work out and that
Amanda wouldn't be forced to kill him.
"Yeah...I was going to try and tell him
to not leave...that we could still work things out." Duncan sighed,
glaring back down at the counter again "Except it looks like I was just a
little too late."
"No it's not Mac. He's in Paris...but he
won't be there forever."
"He doesn't want to see me, why should I
make a fool of myself, trailing after him?"
Richie stepped right in front of his one-time
teacher, grabbed his arms and shook him hard. "Because the two of you love
each other!" He shouted into Mac's stunned face, then continued in a
softer voice. "And if you don't, Amanda is going to kill me. Please
Mac...give it one more try?"
Duncan said nothing for a long moment.
"If I try and it still doesn't work out, will you two leave us the hell
alone?"
"Of course." Richie promised.
"Now you finish packing your stuff. I've got a few things to take care
of..."
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
"Hello, Amanda's personal servant, how
can I help you?"
"Methos?" Richie stared at the
phone in disbelief. "What the hell?"
"Will you give me the phone..." A
few muffled scrambles later and Amanda finally came on. "Hello?"
"Amanda, I take it Methos is feeling
better?"
"No...now he's just being frustratingly
annoying. But at least he's sober."
"Please tell me he's still willing to
try and get back together with Mac? Because if you put me through this hell and
Methos isn't..."
"Look we're working on that, alright? I
just got him out of the bottom of a bottle, it's not like I can work miracles
her."
"You're going to have to we're on the
next flight out."
"Thanks for the warning..."
"No problem. I'll call you when we get
there."
*** *** *** *** *** ***
So what did the rug rat have to say? Has the
o'mighty honorable Highlander kicked him out on his ass yet?"
"Actually they're booked on the next
flight over."
"WHAT?!?!"
"Duncan is coming to find you. And
Richard and I are going to lock you two in the Barge until you can work this
out. One way or another."
"Ooh yeah.... the fireworks from those
Quickenings are going to be truly awe-inspiring. Are you inviting Joe as well.
I'm sure this is the sort of thing he'd love to record."
"Depends, I thought you were actually
going to *try* to talk to him."
"Been there, done that. That's how I
ended up here, remember?" Methos paused, glaring up at the ceiling.
"He's actually coming?"
"Of course you silly old man he loves
you remember?"
"Right... loves me." Methos
muttered distantly.
"Hello??? Methos???" Amanda waved a
hand in front of the other Immortals distant gaze. Getting no response she
shrugged.
Part Five
"So what are you going to tell
him?" Richie asked, breaking the silence that had enveloped them ever
since Duncan had agreed to fly to Paris with him. It was almost eerie, Duncan
carefully packing away Methos' stuff in cardboard boxes, stacking them beside
the door to the loft. Almost like he was setting himself up for never having
the other man back in his life again.
"I don't know. I didn't know what to say
when he left, I didn't know what to say a week ago, I didn't know what to say a
year ago." Duncan muttered under his breath.
"And there lies your problem Mac. You
can't go in and *wing it* and expect him to listen to you." Richie sighed.
"This is *Methos* we're talking about."
"That's the problem."
"Well, first off, I would suggest
actually talking. The two of you haven't done a whole lot of that in the last
year."
"We've been busy."
"Mac...don't you pay attention to these
modern times at all? You are *never* supposed to be too busy for your chosen
partner in life. So stop using that as an excuse..."
"Well...just what am I supposed to say?
I wish you wouldn't disappear every time we have sex?"
"That might be a good subject to cover,
but I would start with I love you personally."
"I guess that would be a good
start." Duncan said sheepishly.
"Then you two can talk everything out.
Because I highly doubt Amanda is going to let you two go before everything is
worked out, one way or another."
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
"Hello?"
"Amanda, we're here."
"Good. We'll be over in..."
"Amanda, come on...can't this wait until
morning. We just got in, Duncan's tired and the last thing we need..."
"Is a cranky Highlander."
"Yeah."
"Tomorrow then? We'll bring lunch for
the four of us. Then we can lock them in for a day or two."
"Sounds good."
"Good night Richard."
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
"So...the day of reckoning has been set
then..."
"You know, I think I liked it better when
you were drunk. At least you weren't quite as sarcastic."
"Can't have it both ways my dear."
Methos muttered, pawing through the bags of stuff they both bought, on her
credit cards. Shopping sprees definitely were good for a bad mood.
"Oooooh, new sweater."
"You are planning to pay me back for all
this stuff eventually, right?"
"For all you know, I'm going to
disappear in the middle of the night tonight and you'll never see me
again." Methos shrugged. "I've done it before, I could easily do it
again."
"Methos, there's a reason you came here
instead of going to a hotel...or even to New Zealand. Whether you realized it
or not, you wanted *my* help. And I want you and Duncan to be happy, so I stuck
my neck out for you guys." Amanda paused, making sure Methos understood
just how serious she was. "And I swear it Methos, you screw this up, I'm
going to hunt you down and kill you myself."
"I'm not planning on running..."
"Good, cause I don't want to have to tie
you down to the bed tonight." Amanda smiled.
"Hmmm....kinky."
"Don't you even think about it Methos.
If I were you I'd start thinking of what I was going to say to him. You screw
this up..."
"I know, I know. I'm not going to screw
this up unless I do it on purpose."
"You do that and I'll kill you."
"I know that too..."
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
"Mac! Stop pacing and go to bed!"
Richie ordered.
"I..."
"Now...unless you wanna tell me what
you've finally figured out to tell the old man."
"No."
"Then go to bed so at least I can get
some sleep."
"Since when did you become the older and
wiser one here?"
"Since two of my *much* older friends
started acting like pre-schoolers." Richie said with a sigh, sitting up
and watching the other man pace once again. "So what's the problem
now?"
"What if he says no?"
"Richie flopped back down on the bed,
wondering why *he* was the one who had to deal with Duncan. Methos probably
wasn't analyzing every single possible outcome for failure. No...he was
probably sleeping like a baby right now. "Mac, for the fifty-trillionth
time, he *loves* you. He's not going to say no."
"He will if I don't know what to tell
him." Duncan muttered, beginning into pace again. "He already did...
this is my last chance Richie."
'Yes it is because if you two don't got back
together I think I'm going to take you heads just so I don't have to do this
again...' Richie thought to himself. "I know Mac. He knows that too. Just
tell him the truth."
"But I don't even know *why* he
left..."
"Yes you do..."
"No I... Well not really."
"Well that would be a good thing to
figure out before you talk to him. Everything started after that deal with the
Horseman right?"
"I suppose..."
"Why?" Richie asked patiently.
"What?"
"Why did things start to crumble?"
"I was angry for awhile... I mean he
betrayed me."
"Did you forgive him?"
"Of course..."
"Did you tell him that?"
"Ummmm...."
"You didn't?!? That would be a very good
this to cover tomorrow. Preferably right after the 'I love you' part."
"But I thought we understood each other
after the mess with Keane." Duncan protested, sounding almost like a young
child.
"Right... you ended up with Amanda that
night. And just what was it that he was supposed to have understood about
that?"
"We weren't back together yet
then...."
"Okay Mac... let me run through this so
far, from an impartial view of course. First you tell Methos that you two are
through, he's still willing to risk he head for you in the Keane deal, yet you
end up with Amanda that night leaving Methos out in the cold. Am I getting this
right so far?"
Duncan just looked at him miserably, nodding
his head slowly in response.
"And then you guys get back
together...but you don't attempt to talk about anything, just think that if you
ignore it long enough, the problems will go away on their own, right?"
Richie continued, watching as Duncan's face fell even more. "And so
finally, the old man picks up and walks out and you still don't understand
why?"
"Well, it's not exactly like that. I
just thought bringing it up would be a bad idea."
"Why?"
"Why would I want to bring up the thing
that almost split us up in the first place?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because it's
going to split you two up anyway if you don't deal with it?"
"I didn't *know* it was going to split
us up."
"Well, you do now. So my advice would be
to deal with all of that...the answers to the rest of you guys' problems
probably lie in there somewhere anyway." Richie sighed, turning over and
pulling the covers over his head. "And *don't* forget to tell him you love
him, numerous times..."
"I was planning on that."
"Good, now get some sleep. I really
don't think Methos would appreciate it if you fell asleep in the middle of your
talk."
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Methos swore when, for the second time in as
many days, he was woken up with a shove off the couch. "Now what?"
"We've got a lunch date to keep,
remember?"
"Amanda, lunch is a whole...what time is
it anyway?"
"A lot earlier than noon..."
"Wonderful. So not only am I being
forced to have this conversation sober, but now I get to be cranky as well? And
you want me to try and be nice?"
"Methos, you do not go to make up with
the love of your life with just any old lunch. We have to hit at least five
stores...possibly more."
"You are out of your mind, right? You
have realized this?"
"Probably, I am helping you after
all."
"Oooooh, that hurt." Methos sighed,
picking himself off the ground. "So what...have you picked out an outfit
for me to wear too?"
"Why do you think I bought that sweater
yesterday?"
"I assumed you were trying to cheer me
up."
"No, you looked cute in it. Duncan likes
cute."
"Oh...why didn't I think of that one? I should
have just worn cute sweaters for the rest of my life and then there wouldn't
have been a problem."
"Methos, listen to me. I've known Duncan
a heck of a lot longer than you did...and I know how to apologize to him."
"Alright, alright. I'll listen to you.
But I somehow doubt fancy French wines and a cute sweater is going to get us
far."
"No, that part is up to you. I'm just
setting the mood."
"The mood? Just promise me there won't
be handcuffs hidden under the pillows in the barge."
"Well I won't put them there. It was
Richards job to set the mood there."
"Oh gods."
"Oh don't worry Richard actually is
quite good at this sort of thing."
"I don't want to know how you know
that."
*** *** *** *** *** ***
"Mac will you sit down. Pacing will
*not* get them here any faster. You're just going to tire yourself out. And
wouldn't you rather save your energy for make up sex?"
Duncan whipped around to face the smiling
man. "I can't believe you just said that."
"Got your attention didn't it?"
Richie shrugged, enjoying the look of shock on the older Immortal's face.
"Hello Duncan you realize I do know about the birds and the bees
right?"
"I just..."
"Didn't expect young little me to say
that. But you and I both know that's how this is all going to end, right?"
"You're psychic now too? Because I
definitely do not see it happening."
"This time you're wrong Mac. You guys
love each other too much to mess this up. Now will you settle down, try to
relax...and change into that shirt I set out for you."
"Why this one looks fine."
"But that one will look better. You do
want to look your best for the old man right?"
Duncan moved over to the bed where the shirt
was laid out, shrugged out of the shirt he was wearing and exchanged it for the
one Richie had chosen.
"Are you sure it looks better?" He
asked uncertainly.
"You look great. He'll love it."