THE YOU'RE IN MY HEART SERIES CALIFORNIA DREAMING PART FOUR by JoLayne and Susan Continued from Part Three ~~~~~ Methos hung his head with frustration as the three immortals spilled out of the van and walked straight to them. He could no longer pretend he needed to stay the night because he was too scared to make it back to civilization alone, only to take Luther's head when he slept himself. His charade was all shot to hell now with friends and a vehicle making their arrival. Sure it was a weak plan, but Methos wasn't used to planning the taking of immortals, and it was all he could come up with in such short notice. He believed that he could think on his feet. If all else failed, Methos knew he could outrun anyone. Fitz had been fit to be tied over Gia's death and had it in his mind that Luther was involved. Fitz could find the proverbial needle in a haystack if he put his mind to it, and he would only end up losing his head. Seeing Rebecca and Amanda present, Methos swallowed the failure he had in the past as his heart swelled to the size and weight of an albatross. Fitz charged up to Methos with his sword drawn. Methos put up his hands to explain to him the fruitlessness of his quest, and would wait to ask how they found out where they were. Regardless of Methos' actions, Fitz raged past him with his sword slowly raised as he got closer to Luther, still in the doorway with his knife. Luther's low, loud, rocketing laughter didn't make Fitz miss a step. Methos tackled him from behind. He and Fitz laid in a pile on the ground, Fitz's sword having fallen out of his grip. "You can't even hold onto your sword? What the hell are you thinking coming here half cocked?" Methos yelled at him. "You killed her!" Fitz accused, raising his fist to Luther. "You're a cold-blooded murderer! You killed her," Fitz cried out with total rage. "No," Luther calmly said. "I did not kill her, Liam did." "Liam," Fitz inquired incredulously as Methos tightened. "Who the hell is that?" Fitz asked, struggling to get out of Methos' grip as he was held to the ground where he couldn't do any damage. "Isn't that right, Liam?" Luther continued.  Rebecca stepped forward and stated, "Luther, you are as deplorable as ever." "Sainted teacher." Luther looked upon her with a different expression than he had with Methos and Fitz. It wasn't one of reverence either. "I take that as a compliment." Fitz got to his feet and demanded, "Who the hell is Liam? Are you saying Gia had another lover?" Luther skipped a beat in the conversation, and grinned to Methos. "He could have been." "I'm Liam," Methos said.  "Oh?" Fitz looked at him as Methos brushed dry grass and dirt from his clothes. "Pleased to meet you, Liam. Now get the hell out of here while I take this head." "Now why would you want to do that? Peace and love, brother," Luther's low voice grumbled with a note of irony to it. "I've been interrupted long enough. Leave or I will draw my sword." "Interrupted? What?" Fitz asked. "Are you busy skinning babies in there or something?" Amanda appeared at Methos' side, and her wide, soggy eyes made Methos lose all fire to have any kind of fight this evening. He put his arm around her and pulled her in close. Of course she would find his secret hiding place. Of course she would figure out that he had always kept tabs on enemy immortals. Of course she was a pain in the ass when he had things planned, but also, of course, she usually brought him back to sanity. Just as she had 180 years before, Methos needed Amanda to show him the more important things in life. As Amanda kissed Methos' neck, Methos looked back at Luther and really saw him, read his mannerisms, for the first time since his arrival at the cabin. Luther wasn't in fighting mode. Actually, Luther hadn't ever indicated that he had been expecting their arrival. If he was on a mission to destroy and play with Fitz' head as he had done to Methos in the past, there would have been some satisfied grin if anything. As Methos stared at him now, Methos actually could see a bit of being overpowered. There were, after all, four immortals against one, and Luther knew it. Luther had to know that Methos was packing, and one shot, Luther would go down, and they could take his head, forgoing the annoying rules of the Game that Methos had no taste to be a part of any longer. A shadow formed behind Luther, and soon there was a young, nimble woman at Luther's side. Her Afro was a bit off kilter as if she had been lying down, and she was obviously tired. Rebecca had been talking to Luther, but Methos' thoughts were more about reading the opponent, not listening to what they were saying. Amanda's hands flowing down his back also had made his ears suddenly not work as well. In order to get back to what in life Methos most enjoyed, namely, slipping between the sheets with the tiger, he called out, "Luther? Just once and for all, where were you last night?" "What is it your business, Guthrie?" "Guthrie," Fitz called out fractiously. "Who the hell is Guthrie?" "It really doesn't matter," Methos yelled at him to shut up.  The black woman was tipsy and hung on Luther's arm, probably for stability more than anything else, and scrutinized Fitz' sword. "You got some weird friends, honey bunny." As if the world has shifted on its axis, the four immortals took in the thought of anyone calling Luther anything of the sort, and Methos actually felt dizzy. "You," he called to the woman. "What's your name?" "Sharronah," she replied in a heavily-drugged out voice. "What's your name?" "Seems the man has many," Fitz groused and raised his sword. Methos pulled Fitz' blade down and asked, "Where were you last night, Luther? No harm, no foul, just tell us the truth." "I was right here," Luther said as he rubbed the bloody blade in his hand across Sharronah's cheek. When she got into it, Methos about wanted to vomit. He needed to get away from there as soon as possible, and thought that Amanda would be quite willing to follow, seeing how she was slowing pulling on his ear lobe between her teeth. "Well," Methos said. "I'm satisfied. Let's go." "It always works," Amanda said brightly as she walked to the driver's door of the van. Methos looked to Rebecca, who made tracks to the van herself. Fitz, on the other hand, was not willing to leave, but a bit concerned that his back up was backing out. "Come on, you guys. We can take him." Luther's eyes flared in their direction as Rebecca put her hand on Fitz' sword arm and said, "That very well may be. But, what is the point? I know when he's telling the truth. He was not involved." "He has to be," Fitz whined. "You killed her!" he confronted Luther, who pushed Sharronah back, her landing on her rump on the wood planked floor of the cabin and shouted, "Hey!" Luther held up his blood drenched machete, and Methos knew that Fitz didn't mean for his shriek of shock to be audible, but it was. Fitz recovered his bravado nicely, but looked at them in fear as Methos and Rebecca neared the van. Fitz yelled, "What happened to the determination? He's still a bastard!" "And I always will be, Fitzcairn," Luther stated as he walked down from the cabin door and edged closer to him. "Would you like to join the gang in my soul? Join the quickenings I've amassed?" "Well," Fitz lowered his sword. His eyes flitted back to those by the van. "You didn't have anything to do with Gia's death?" "Who's Gia?" Luther brought his machete up, and Methos could tell from the distance between them that Luther had fire in his eyes, and was ready to strike. "Right, then; we'll be going now," Fitz stammered and backed away from him, putting his sword behind him. "Since you didn't kill Gia. I'll let it go, but mark my words, I will find the wrecked villain who killed her." As Fitz ran to the back of the van, Luther started laughing. "Anyone else?" Since Methos was the only one outside of the van, he assumed Luther was talking to him. Methos shook his head as he pierced his lips, not wanting to let anger build anymore for fear of doing something stupid. He opened the driver's door of the van and asked Amanda to move over. "I'll drive," she said as she started the van. "You'll be the death of me one day, Amanda," Methos muttered as he slammed the door and crawled into the back with Fitz. As Amanda drove them back to town, Methos watched Fitz. He was staring at his hands as he was sitting yoga style in the back with Methos. He was drenched with confusion and embarrassment, but also carried that strict resolution to solve Gia's murder. When Amanda made a hasty turn, the men in the back shifted and Fitz locked eyes on Methos. "I can't believe I just walked away." "You had to." Methos shrugged. "There was no point to fight. He didn't have anything to do with it. Why bring on problems you don't need to?" "He toyed with me, and I shivered like a little boy." "Been there, done that." "What is all this about you and Luther in the past?" Methos tightened, never intending on relating his failure to anyone. "I never liked him," Methos chose to answer. "I never did either. How can such a bastard keep on living? Maybe we should have taken him. He is still out there. That thought doesn't make for restful nights." "It has so far." Fitz dug into his pocket and brought out his pipe. "Do you think he'll win the Game?" "He has a good shot at it." "Ah, but he's stupid." Fitz got his pipe going and added pompously, "We have smarts, matie. At least I know where he lives if I come across any adventurous immortals who aren't afraid of a fight. One like Duncan MacLeod. Have you met him?" Methos' eyes flashed to Amanda behind the wheel. She had mentioned the Scotsman at Woodstock, that she had been having an on and off relationship with him. Maybe it was time to look the chap up when two of his friends knew him. Fitz continued, "And, I now know where Luther lives, but he doesn't know where I live." "Where are you living, Fitz?" "Wherever I am at the moment." "You're not living in here," Methos indicated the van. "And, I'll be moving in the morning." "Why?" "Have to." "Why?" "There might be a chance Luther could find out." "Paranoid chap, aren't you?" "I'm still living." Fitz puffed on his pipe, then offered it to Methos. From the sweet aroma, there was weed in there. Methos was tempted, but it always made him sleepy. "How many years will this be for you, Noah? Or is it Liam?" "Noah." After a pause, Fitz chuckled. "You didn't answer the question." Amanda pulled to a stop at the curb in a street Methos didn't know. "What the hell are you doing?" He muttered to Fitz. "Women drivers..." Rebecca turned around and said, "I wanted to see John." "Ah," Methos reacted audibly. "I have a few words for him as well." He opened the back of the van. As he was exiting, he heard Fitz call out, "You didn't answer the question." Rebecca rushed to the door of John's apartment building in her flowing dress and her red hair billowing behind her. Methos tried to remember when Rebecca had ever moved so fast, and was chagrined to realize her haste was because of a no-talent nark. He was going to follow her, thinking he'd give John Bower a piece of his mind for bringing the police into the matter, and giving his address to them at the same time. Did discretion mean nothing to that hack? Amanda honked the horn and stretched in order to stick her head out the passenger side window as the bottom half of her body was still planted firmly behind the wheel. "Come on, Noah. I have plans for you." Methos didn't take long to decide plans with Amanda would be much more interesting than having a one-on-one with John with Rebecca's swoons. Just the thought of witnessing such a display made Methos nauseous. He hated seeing Rebecca lose all concept of reality when it came to men. It had only happened twice since he had met her. Too bad he wasn't one of them. Sure, he could make her dance the life fantastic, but she never swooned. Or did she? As he slid into the van pondering it, Amanda draped her hand over his thigh and leaned in to nip his ear lobe. When she squeezed his tender flesh on the inside of his leg, he was hers. All hers. He caressed her cheek, drank in her smile, and was about to kiss her when Fitz' head popped up. "Since when did I become the third wheel? I don't like it. I don't like it at all. I usually have to fight paramours off with a stick, if I had ever fancied the thought. You and Rebecca have been the proverbial cold fish to me. No, I don't like it at all." "Maybe that's because you left Becca for a babe with big tits," Amanda said with a scowl in his general direction, then went back to smiling at Methos. "Well, who wouldn't?" Fitz asked. "Rebecca's not that easy. You have to be... charming and... intelligent... and follow directions." Methos pecked Amanda on the lips, and indicated the steering wheel for her to get a move on. If there was one thing he wanted more than ever right now, it was to be back at home in bed with her. "How do you have all the luck, matie?" "Luck has nothing to do with it, Fitz," Amanda said, making Methos feel full of himself.  "You heard the lady." "I just don't get it." Fitz stuffed the pipe back in his mouth, then tumbled backwards as Amanda stepped on the gas. He fought g-forces back to the front seat and hung on for dear life, his pipe having flipped out of his hand. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" "Noah's." Amanda's eyes were straight on the road, hands tight on the wheel, no distractions, as she was like a woman on a mission. Methos mentioned, "We don't need a bystander, Amanda." Amanda looked at him. "You're quite right, luv." She took a sharp turn to the right. Fitz, having just got to his knees behind the front seat, went flying to the left. Methos hung onto the dashboard and laughed as Fitz fought an uphill battle to get back on his knees. "I say," he said before Amanda took another sharp right, which made him fly to the left again. "You could slow down, luv," Methos suggested. "Like hell when you're in my kind of mood. I can just feel it. This is going to a night to remember." Fitz jumped up in the back and said, "Enough now! Let me drive for God's sake!" Methos said, "We've had many nights to remember," as he courageously took one hand off the dashboard and slipped it behind her the small of her back. Amanda took another sharp right, making Fitz fly to the right again, then a sharp left. All Methos saw when he slammed against the passenger side door and looked back to Fitz was his curls flying, much like Roger Daltrey had done a few days before at Woodstock. From the sound of the slam Fitz took against the van wall, it couldn't have felt good. Fitz clawed his way back to the seat just when Amanda hit the brakes. The van settled sharply to a stop, dust from the gravel parking lot swirled around them, and Fitz's waist rested on the seat back as his face was mashed to the seat between Amanda's and Methos' legs. He moaned, "I can't feel my legs." Amanda tapped him on his curly head. "Time to go, Fitz. You can get a ride to wherever it is you want to go from John." Fitz lifted his head and then his upper body, making him teeter back. He stared out the windshield as he moaned. "That's the last time you drive, Amanda." Methos motioned to the back door. "Out." "Fine. Some friends you are." Fitz tumbled out the back, and the van was in motion before he could even close the door. "I know when I'm not wanted! Fine! I'll find my own way!" Off to Fitz's left, he heard a squeal, "Oh, MY GOD!" He turned to see a silver GTO convertible with three young lovelies inside gaping and pointing at him. "You're...! I can't believe it! You're him!" they all cried out. One was more lovelier than the other, all clad in halter tops or bikinis. Each one tan, fit, and blond. Fitz knew they had mistaken him for that young, mortal chap who sings to auditoriums full of teenagers, and he shouldn't continue reaping the benefit of the Who member looking like him, but he couldn't help himself. Someone had to take the pain of losing Gia so horribly out of his mind. All he was looking for was a little comfort. And he had nowhere else to go. He looked up at John's apartment building, and shouted, "I'm never a third wheel!" He turned and smiled to the girls and asked, "Care to give me a lift?" ~~~~~ Rebecca walked up the stairs to John's apartment and wondered what he would think of her. The argument they had the night before was silly, and they had both fought verbally with such passion. She knew that if she hadn't left, they might have just collapsed in laughter, it was so silly. To argue about Noah of all people. John thought him a snob, while Methos thought John to be lacking in poetics. If they would only realize that they were very much alike, though John had more manners when it came to meeting a man who he's jealous of, not like a certain immortal she could think of. Even though she hadn't known John more than a couple of days, she knew that she could very well have found the man she would protect to his dying day. If only he were immortal, she thought as she knocked on his door. Inside, she heard a shuffling inside and then a moan. Rebecca's first thought was that John had already moved on from her and was having sex with someone! A stupid little argument made him forget their blissful night together? "How dare he!" She knocked again, not going to take any rivalry lying down, and she heard a loud crash and another moan. After taking a second to prepare herself for busting in to John naked with someone, she turned the doorknob. To her surprise, the door flew open and she tumbled inside to the floor. Someone lifted her up and kept hold of her from behind so tight that she couldn't move her arms and her feet weren't touching the floor. She immediately saw John on the couch, his ankles bound, his hands tied behind his back, and his face bruised and bloody, and duct tape over his mouth. A large--make that huge--man was standing over him looking like he was going to deliver another punch. "Stop! What's happening?" she cried out as she couldn't get free from the brute holding her from behind. She turned to look at him, and all she saw was a large, jagged scar across his left cheek. The man punched John, who struggled and fell off the couch, then the man turned to her as she hollered for him to stop. The man formed his wide mouth into a toothless grin and said, "Ah, he wouldn't tell us where you were, but here you are." "Who the hell are you?" Rebecca demanded, just before she lost her fight for a moment when he pulled a large knife out of his coat. The blade was so long, it could be classified a sword, and she wondered if her immortal radar was lacking and she had walked into an immortal fight that was not at all by the rules. Both men laughed this time. The scarred man behind her sneered, and she could feel his breath play across her hair by her neck, "You play with the big boys, you gotta have the balls, Bianca." The man with the knife walked closer to her and laid the blade of the knife across her neck. A stabbing she could handle, but he went right for her throat. Rebecca had no idea where John was, but had to act now. She couldn't get leverage as her feet were still hovering above the floor, but she lifted her foot with all her might, and connected with the man's groin. It never ceased to amaze Rebecca how fast a large man with a weapon could go down when their privates were compromised. When he fell, she could see John rolling towards them, shouting. The act of delivering the blow to his friend made the scarred man holding her growl with anger, and he threw her to the floor. She saw where the knife was dropped when the man went down clutching his crotch, but she couldn't move fast enough to get to it. The scarred man picked it up, and without ceremony, stabbed it into Rebecca's chest. The last thing she was conscious of was John's howl and the man's satisfied grin. ~~~~~ Amanda beat Methos to the door, and the last thing she wanted to do this time was play at locking the door behind her again. She left it wide open as she quickly relieved herself of her clothes as she made her way to Methos' bed. Having never lost his immortal sensation, she knew he was right behind her, and also could hear him breathe hard. She just hoped he was all hard and free of ridiculous clothing as well. She jumped on the bed and spun around in time to see Methos make a leap from the door to the bed on top of her, penis pointing the way. She squealed with laughter as Methos covered her with his warm body, hands, and kisses. She loved how he was acting after an encounter with Luther. It was definitely better than the last time. "Damn!" she shouted, without intending to. Methos lifted his head from her breast. "What? I'm biting too hard, luv?" She didn't want to remember how Methos acted after Luther had played him in Giza. She didn't want to remember that at all. She lifted up and placed both hands on his cheeks and said, "Make me forget, Methos. Make me even forget my name." "That was my plan," he said as he laid her back down and crawled slowly up her body.  Just forget, she told herself. That was the dark quickening. That wasn't him then. This is him now. "OH!" she cried out as he massaged her breast and nibbled at her neck, the other hand slipping between her legs, as another appendage which Amanda thought was his toe ran up the length of her inner leg. The man's an octopus... God love him.... Just then, the phone rang. Amanda grabbed tufts of Methos' hair and declared, "If you answer that phone, I'll take your head!" "It was the furthest thing from my mind," he purred as he rolled them over. They happened to fall off the bed, and Amanda was on top. The phone fell off the night stand, but she pushed the receiver away as she lowered herself to have a taste of the man below her. Her tongue traced his neck and settled in the crevice below his Adam's apple. "Noah? Amanda?" They could hear Fitz's frantic voice. "Go away!" they both shouted at once. Fitz could be heard hollering over the phone, but they ignored it, continued savoring each other, releasing their pent up passion, until Amanda heard him say, "... and Rebecca!" Amanda lifted her head to meet Methos' eyes, who grimaced and laid his head back and groaned. Methos reached over his head to grab the receiver from the floor. "What about Rebecca?" Amanda sat up, and traced her finger across his chest as he said, "We'll be right there. Don't move or do anything stupid." "It's too late for that," she heard Fitz shout over the phone just before Methos flung the receiver against the wall. "We have to go." Amanda groaned and hung her head as she panted. He told her, "Rebecca was killed. In front of John." "What? Why? He killed her?" "No. I don't know. If he did," Methos said already dressing. "I'll kill him, tear him apart limb from limb." ~~~~~ Fitz had taken a seat next to the blond in the back of the convertible, and was quite pleased when the one in the passenger seat climbed over to sit on the other side of him. "It's so nice to have two sides," he commented as he put his arms around each. The blond driver scowled at her friends. "I recognized him," she pouted. "You could come sit up here with me." "There's plenty of me to go around, ladies." "I have all your records," the one on his left said. "Good, good." Fitz wished he knew the Who's songs better in case they wanted an impromptu concert or something. He came up with one line, and softly sang to her, "Who-o-o-o-o are you..." "No fair!" The driver moaned and slapped her hand against the steering wheel. She stood up and started to step her long legs over the seat when an amazing thing happened. It was so amazing, the driver fell down and spun around to look and Fitz about shit thinking he couldn't have seen what he saw. He had to, because both girls in the back with him started screaming and pointing. Fitz stood up in the back of the convertible to have a look. Yes. He had seen it. A large man in a black suit had jumped, or had been pushed, out of the fourth floor window and landed not too far from the convertible. "Sh!" he ordered the girls. "I can't hear myself think!" He looked up and saw Rebecca at the window, blood on her chest, holding a huge knife. Fitz jumped out of the car and looked back at the screaming girls. Not knowing what to do about their trauma, he just high-tailed it into the building. ~~~~~ Rebecca came to with a jolt of fresh air hitting her lungs, and held herself in a ball as the wound in her chest closed up. She heard a rrrriiiipppp from across the room, and realized that the tape from John's mouth was torn off. "Tell me where he is!" the man who had held her demanded as the other one she kicked in the groin was sitting on the chair with his legs wide apart, a bag of ice at his crotch. John was held against the wall and spit in his inquisitor's face. Rebecca tried to be as quiet as she could, and the loud music to drown out their interrogation was good cover. "Drop dead!" John spouted to the man, and Rebecca hoped he wouldn't himself. She saw the knife on the floor and slowly moved toward it as to not reveal her revival. John was slammed back against the wall. "You will follow the Romero sluts to hell if you don't tell me where Luigi is in one minute!" The man tending to his pain on the chair said, "We know you're a ringer for the Romeros. Boss said your going to the cops last night was a ruse to finger the Titalias, and we can't have that." The other man shoved John to the wall again, and Rebecca noticed that he had a gun in his hand, pointed at John's gut. She had to work fast. She scrambled across the floor and picked up the knife. The pained man noticed her, and the shock of her being alive made him still long enough for her to jump up and embed the knife into the scarred man's back. She saw John's eyes for the first time up close as the man fell between them. She kept hold of the knife and was holding it up. She quickly lowered it, but did not drop it. John's cheeks were stained red, and his mouth had fallen open. The pained man let out a "what the fuck?" and charged her. Explanations for John would have to wait, and Rebecca bent over just as the man reached her. She steadied herself on her feet as he fell on her. She lifted up to throw him off her, making sure she had hold of the knife so she could kill him when he was down. What she didn't expect is that he would fly out the window. She walked to it and looked down. She heard screams in the parking lot and stepped back into the cover of John's unlit living room. "How? My God. Rebecca," she heard John say and turned to him. His eyes were scanning her from head to toe, lingering at the bloody remnant of her chest wound. "How...?" "I just am, John. I'll tell you later. For now, we have to figure out who these sorry excuses for human beings are." "I take it they work for whoever hates Gia's family," John said, then stood still and shook his head violently. "How the hell...?" Rebecca knelt down to go through the scarred man's pockets and brought out his wallet. "We have to get out of here." "We should call the police," John suggested. Rebecca pulled his hand and moved him out the door. "No more coppers." Fitz met them on the second floor landing as they were going down and he was running up. "What the hell happened? Who was that guy? What happened to you?" Fitz asked. Rebecca pulled his arm and kept moving down the stairs. All three rushed out of the building to the parking lot. The car of women was thankfully gone. They probably made tracks as soon as the body hit the lot. She hurried to pull the man's wallet out of his pocket as John and Fitz sized up each other. "So," Fitz said. "You saw it." "No time for small talk," Rebecca announced. "We have to get the hell out of here." "I'm right behind you," Fitz said. "But first," he took off his vest and handed it to her, indicating the blood stain on the front of her dress. She smiled gratefully and put it on then buttoned it. John looked lost as he watched her do so, and put out his finger to touch her. "Yes, I'm real. Let's go!" As they ran from the lot to the trees, they could hear sirens in the distance as someone had already called the police. Rebecca didn't want to give anymore explanations she couldn't provide, and just kept on running, hoping the men were behind her. ~~~~~ Fitz slammed the receiver back on its cradle and announced, "He didn't even hang up on me. I think they left. I don't know if he heard the directions here." Rebecca closed her arms around herself as the day was turning into night and the hot breeze from the day was now a chilly wind. They had to be a mile from John's apartment, at a phone booth on Franklin, and the only thing she and Fitz could think to do was for Methos and Amanda to get them to the airport and away from all this mess. Fitz said, "We should head back to your flat, mate, and head off Noah before he gets into the ring of fire." "If you don't explain how you came back to life, at least explain your aversion to cops." Rebecca ignored the question and asked instead, "You're ready to leave town without your belongings?" John answered, "A man's born naked." "O-kay," Fitz said. "Chap's not playing with a full deck, Becca. Let's go." He touched Rebecca's arm. "You're cold as ice." "Are you still dead?" John asked. "No, it's cold out here." John unbuttoned his shirt, and Rebecca thought it was a nice gesture, but said, "You don't have to give me your shirt to wear. I'm fine." She smiled. "If I can come back from the dead, I can take a little chill." "Explain that to me. What happened?" John demanded. Fitz said, "At least explain it while we walk," and started out into the trees to go off the beaten track. ~~~~~ Methos brought the van to a stop a couple of blocks from John's apartment, and he and Amanda stared at the blinking red lights on the patrol cars, ambulance, and fire truck. A spotlight illuminated the back parking lot, and Methos looked over to Amanda. "What kind of trouble did they get into now?" "If you'd have just listened to Fitz, we'd know." "You're the one who didn't want me to answer the phone in the first place." "I noticed how you had to answer right away when you heard Rebecca." "You don't care about Rebecca?" "Of course, I do. Don't be silly." She was crouched into the seat with her arms folded in front of her and a perfect pout on her lips. He leaned over and kissed her. "As soon as I know Rebecca's all right, we'll go back and continue what you were doing to me." "Yeah, right." Methos was stunned. "You don't want to?" "Of course, I do." She flashed him a smile. "Only this time, you'll do to me, in the bathtub." "All right then." He chuckled and then jumped when the back of the van opened. They both jerked around to look back. Methos fully expected to see police badges and bully sticks, but all they saw was Fitz, Rebecca, and John pile into the back and slam the door shut. Rebecca crawled forward and said, "To the airport." Methos didn't have to be told twice, and he did a quick U-turn in the street and headed in the other direction from John's apartment. Amanda turned around and looked at the three in the back. "So, what happened?" John said, "Rebecca died, and then came back to life." Methos took his foot off the accelerator and gawked back at them in the rear view mirror. Rebecca could be seen shrugging, and then she opened the leather vest she wore. The blood stain right in the chest wasn't what Methos wanted to see. Amanda gasped in horror. "Becca! What happened?" Rebecca filled them in as Methos continued to the airport, as that's where Rebecca was adamant about going. She wanted to go back to the solitude of her abbey and nothing was going to stand in her way. She finished her story and took the men's wallets from the vest's pockets. "Do you have a flashlight?" Methos said, "In the side compartment." As Rebecca searched for it, Fitz shook his head in wonder. "It was a mob hit. I've been many things, but I've never been hit by the mob before." "Been many things... You all are immortal?" John asked. "Yes, they are," Rebecca said, much to Methos' chagrin. The less that man knew the better. Just their luck, they'd be featured in a bad poem. "I've only been one thing, and never hit by the mob." "You have now, John," Rebecca said, then clicked on the flashlight to look at the men's identification, then she gasped. "I thought I recognized him." "What? Who?" Amanda asked. Rebecca handed her one of the wallets, and she looked at the driver's license in the passing street lights, then handed it to Methos when he held out his hand. "That's the one who killed me. See the scar?" she reached over the seat to point it out. Methos exclaimed, "Vinni "Little Al" Fugasi?" Fitz asked, "‘Little Al'?" "Like Al Capone," Amanda said. "Haven't you heard of him? It was in all the papers, Fitz. His scar was like Al Capone's?" Methos added, "He's a hit man for the Titalia family. Big trial a few years ago." "He got off on a technicality," Amanda said. Methos asked wondrously, "Gia is from THE Romero family?" "Her name was Romero," Amanda stated. "Well, chances are there's more than one Romero family from Italy." "Hey, I said her grandfather was Alfredo," Fitz said. "Castrated." Fitz shivered and protected his jewels involuntarily. "He kept calling me Bianca," Rebecca said. "I noticed that too," John said. "I just thought that was your real name." "No, I'm Rebecca. Oh! Gia mentioned to me that night she was killed that I remind her of her cousin, Bianca." "Bianca Romero?" Amanda gasped. "Of course, how silly of me." "Who's Bianca Romero?" Methos asked, knowing that Amanda spent a lot of time in Italy. Her favorite place in the world was her villa in Tuscany. "She's going to take over the family. It was split into... like... parts," Amanda said. "After the big guy... what was his name again?" "Alfredo?" Fitz offered. "The castrated guy, yeah. His sons and a nephew all took parts of the operation, and I heard through the grapevine that Bianca was going to make a play to take it all over, and since she's an ambitious sort, gals often are, she married into the Giovanni family to get their power behind her as well." "Luigi?" John asked timidly from the back. "Luigi Giovanni, yeah. How did you know?" "I gathered that those men work for someone named Titalia, and they kept asking me where Luigi was, thinking they had killed Bianca," he said, indicating Rebecca. Amanda fidgeted in her seat to stare at Rebecca as if for the first time. "You know, you do look like her." "You know all these people?" Methos asked, somewhat afraid of who she'd been hanging out with as of late. After all, it had been years since he saw her before she offered him a ticket to Woodstock. "Not personally. I've been reading the paper. Doesn't hurt to know what's going on in the world. And it's big news in my village." "Which village is that?" Fitz asked. "Right, smack, dab in the center of Bagni di Lucca, a beautiful hamlet in the mountains of Tuscany, overlooking the river. Rich in history, architecture, food, sun, wine... Oh! Let's all go there. I have five bedrooms, plenty of room. I haven't been able to show it off to my friends." "No, thank you." Methos took the road at the airport that went straight to the terminal. Amanda, looking let down, whined, "Why not?" "Hello? There's a power struggle for... power over there. Not a place to be." "Party pooper." "Oh, please." "We're going to need a few bucks, Noah," Rebecca said. "I don't have that kind of cash laying around to fly you three back to London." "Three?" Fitz proclaimed. "I'm not going back to London. America is where it's happening." "Or two." "Not for the flight. I can wire money for that," Rebecca said. "For clothes. I can't very well get on a plane with a big blood stain on my dress." "No, that wouldn't be good," Amanda commented. Methos pulled to a park at the curb and sighed. He looked to Amanda and stated, "You know, this little ‘free' weekend in upstate New York has cost me a lot of money." "Oh, poo. You still have the first silver coin you ever stole." Methos reached into his back pocket to get his wallet and handed Rebecca a $100 bill. Rebecca kissed his cheek and said, "I'll, of course, pay you back." "I know where you live," Methos kissed her back. "Take care." Fitz climbed out of the back of the van first and walked around the side. Amanda said, "You're not coming with us?" He leaned against the open window and asked, "Where are you going?" "Where you're not invited," Methos said.  "I can take a hint." Fitz looked to Amanda. "Brighten his mood, will you? Cheerio," he announced, and then walked away, his hands in his pockets. John went to Methos' window and stuck his hand in. Methos instinctively jerked back, which made John laugh. "I just wanted to shake your hand. Thanks for your help." Methos shook his hand. "You're welcome." He watched Rebecca and Amanda hug at her side of the van, and he wondered when he would see Rebecca again. He hoped it wouldn't be too long. She seemed so fragile most of the time, but the blood stain on her dress indicated that she had been in a very tight spot earlier and had gotten herself and a pea-brained mortal out of it. Rebecca blew Methos a kiss and said, "I love you both," then stepped back from the van. John told Methos, "Keep on Truckin'," then joined Rebecca and put his arm around her as they waved goodbye. Methos cringed and stepped on the gas. "What the hell else am I going to do? Everything that man says or does burns my arse." "It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that Rebecca digs him, would it?" "No. Why?" "There's nothing wrong with John Bowers, Methos. He's cute, he's happening, and he's clearly in love with Becca." "He's a terrible poet." "He is not." "Amanda! I've enjoyed the company of the likes of Marlow, Shakespeare, Byron, Rumi, Dickinson. Bowers is not now, and will never be, in their company. I know bad poetry when I hear it." "There are worse sins, luv." "Not many." Methos kept driving to the exit, not really knowing fully where he was going. They couldn't go back to his apartment for fear that cops would put two and two together and wonder if the deaths at Bowers' apartment had anything to do with them and would pay him another visit. "Damn," he moaned as he slowed down and drove into the lane of the parking lot. "I like it here, and now I have to leave." "Where will you go?" "I don't know. I'll have to call the university to tell them I can't teach that class." "Poor dear," Amanda said, scooting over to him and brushing the hair from his face. "I know how you wanted to." "Well, I can't if I can't use Noah Michaels anymore, and that's what the university knows me as." She kissed his neck as she repeated, "Poor Methos." "Yeah. Poor me. I didn't ask to be dragged into three murders. All I wanted was to teach a bunch of kids the beauty of the written word." "What can I do to make it better?" she purred. Methos took off to a secluded area of the parking lot and shut off the van. "Keep doing what you're doing." "We're not going anywhere?" "Sure, we are." "Where?" "The back." Amanda's face jerked up and then lit up. She playfully pinched his stomach and said, "You're it," then climbed over the seat to the back laughing, Methos scrambling after her. THE END