"Duncan, would you *please* stop that infernal pacing?!?" lahoffy said, as Duncan passed through the library yet again. It was the 6th time in the last half-hour and she was getting dizzy.

"What exactly are you doing, Duncan?" Denise asked curiously.

"Looking. Keeping watch. Somebody has to," he muttered, casting an angry glare towards the other three immortals that were engaged in a rousing game of "catch the whisky from the super-soaker."

"Watch for what? Look for what?" asked sheeza from her position out of the line of fire near the fireplace.

"We had an intruder the other night, remember? What happens if she comes back? The damned perimeter alarm didn't even go off! We have no idea who she is; she could be a thief or worse! We don't even know what she-"

Lahoffy snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, some threat. She left prezzies, for heaven's sake!! What kind of thief leaves prezzies?"

"That's not the point! She was leering over Connor--"

At this statement, the group in the library collapsed into hysterical fits of laughter. Duncan stood impatiently waiting for them to get themselves under some form of control again.

It took a while.

MacNair, still wheezing with laughter, peered at the younger Highlander with a glint in her eye. "Duncan, my dear, she's not the first or only one to leer over Connor!"

"While he was sleeping??" he asked outraged.

Connor smirked and glanced around at the girls. "Raise your hands if any of you have done that before."

A slew of hands shot into the air.

"See, Mac, not a big deal." Richie said, slightly slurring his words. He'd been cheating and firing his super soaker his way more than at the others.

"That is beside the point. We don't know her, she could be in league with-"

Impatiently, lahoffy interrupted the Scot again. "Did she have a sword?"

"No, but-"

"Did she have a gun?"

"Not that I saw, still--"

"Did she have any kind of weapon at all?" lahoffy demanded.

"That's NOT the point!" Duncan exclaimed, losing his temper slightly that no one else seemed the slightest bit worried about this intruder.

Methos swallowed his latest mouthful and leveled his gaze upon Duncan. "Mac, quit being such a Boy Scout. What happened? Nothing. An unarmed woman bearing gifts arrives and this sends you into a tailspin? Relax, no one else is worried and no harm came to your kinsman."

MacNair held up her present. "Besides, look what she left me, anyone who would go to this much trouble and leave such thoughtful gifts can only be someone we want to know better."

Duncan sighed heavily. No one was listening and furthermore no one seemed to care.

"I'm just saying--"

"Wow. Does anyone else see that?" Richie asked, pointing out the window.

Everyone scrambled to see what Richie was pointing at. Outside on the vast front lawn, a faint blue light appeared, shimmering softly in the night.

"She's back." Duncan stated flatly as he turned and ran out the door.

"Duncan, wait!!" shouted Connor after his kinsman. It was too late, Duncan was gone. Connor swore under his breath at the impulsiveness of his cousin. "We'd better get out there before he scares the living daylights out of the lass."

Methos shook his head. "Not a good idea for all of us to go racing out there, one angry Highlander is enough to set anyone's nerves on edge, throw in a gaggle of shrieking women and..."

"Shrieking women?" the CDC'ers questioned threateningly.

Methos merely tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow.

The girls subsided. It was true.

Connor pointed at lahoffy and MacNair. "You two, follow him and try to keep him from frightening the girl to death. The rest of us will follow shortly."

"Does this mean I can use my halo if he gets out of hand?" lahoffy asked hopefully.

Vidalia stood on the lawn, gazing up at the compound. She'd taken a chance that perhaps the occupants of the house would be sleeping, but the lights shining from several windows told her some were still awake. She took a few cautious steps forward, figuring she could find a place somewhere in this vast expanse to hide and wait for a while.

The sound of a slamming door and running footsteps brought her attention back towards the house. She could just make out the dim silhouette of a tall man heading rapidly in her direction. The door slammed again and two more figures emerged from the house also running.

She squeaked in alarm, turning back to her portal only to watch it disappear.

Panicked and with her heart racing, Vidalia wavered, wondering what she was going to do now. She was out in the open, the nearest cover a thick forest of trees a fair distance away. Even if she could make it there before the man bearing down on her got any closer, the frightful sounds of several orcs told her that wouldn't be a good place to hide.

Orcs? she thought distractedly, why are there orcs here? Who would deliberately plant orcs... She shook her herself mentally. This was sooo not the time to wonder about THOSE creatures, not with that angry sounding Highlander now only a few yards away. She planted her feet, preparing to attempt a running escape.

"Hey you! Stop right there! Who are you and-"

He never finished his sentence, there was a sudden z-i-n-g-ing noise accompanied by a shouted warning to duck.

Vidalia's mother hadn't raised a fool, instinct kicked in and she dropped like a rock to lay flat on the ground, hands covering her head.

Duncan, however, wasn't so lucky. With a muffled thud, the flat edge of the halo caught him in the middle of the back, sending him tumbling to the ground with a mighty thud.

"Ooo! Good shot, lahoffy!" crowed MacNair.

The two clansibs stood on either side of the prostrate stranger, ignoring the muffled Gaelic cursing behind them.

"It's ok, it's safe now, you can get up."

Vidalia peeked through her fingers, surprised and pleased at the friendly tone of the voices above her. "Hi." she managed to squeak out.

"Hi yourself. What are you doing sneaking around out here? Why didn't you come on in?" asked lahoffy as she frowned at the dent in her halo.

"I didn't want to intrude, I was hoping I could sneak in and out without you knowing I was here. I wanted a chance to get to know everyone before-"

"That's just plain silly!" exclaimed MacNair, "How are you going to get to know anyone if you don't introduce yourself? I'm MacNair, by the way, the one with the dangerous halo is lahoffy and that irritated Highlander over there is Duncan."

"I'm Vidalia. Umm...shouldn't you see if Duncan's ok?"

"Nah, he's fine, can't you tell by that cursing?" lahoffy giggled. "Sides, I'll make it up to him later, when he's had time to cool off."

More footsteps sounded and Vidalia looked around to find herself surrounded by a gaggle of women and three very handsome men. She hoped she wouldn't embarrass herself by drooling uncontrollably.

Connor bent down eye level with the newcomer. "Sorry for the reception my cousin gave you. I hope he didn't frighten you too much." he said in a warm, raspy voice that left Vidalia's toes curled. "Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod and you would be...?"

Somewhere in the dim recesses of her mind, Vidalia wondered when she'd lost the power of speech. Those EYES! she shrieked inwardly.

A sigh of impatience sounded from somewhere. "Connor! Turn the eyes off or she'll become just another puddle of goo."

Connor chuckled and held out his hand to help the stranger up. Hesitantly, she placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her to her feet. At least I remember how to stand!

The girls surrounded the newcomer, introducing themselves and doing their best to put her at her ease. They were eager to find out the secrets of this new visitor and chattered on like magpies, barely letting her get a word in edgewise. Someone finally remembered that the other two immortals hadn't been introduced and set about to correct that oversight.

"That's Methos, watch out for him, he likes to tell stories about the old days-"

"Yeah, the REALLY old days, like before the wheel was invented!" chimed in Denise.

"Hey! I'm not THAT old!" groused the old guy in question.

"And don't leave food unattended around Richie, it'll be gone in a blink of an eye!"

"Geesh! Eat one plate of chocolate chip cookies and they never let you live it down." muttered the boy wonder.

"It wasn't a plate, it was a PLATTER!"

The joking continued as the group made their way back to the house, towing the newcomer with them in their wake. All except for two. The disgruntled Scot and Methos.

"Still out of sorts?" queried Methos.

Duncan grumbled a bit, as he rolled his shoulders to try and relieve the slight ache left from that damnable halo. "Overreacted again, didn't I?" he said bemusedly.

"Not the first time, won't be the last."

Duncan cut his eyes at the ancient immortal, glaring for a second. "Hmph. She seems harmless enough."

Methos laughed. "As did all the rest of them in the beginning."

Duncan chuckled, his good mood slowly being restored. He sobered again for a moment. "I was just trying to protect the clan."

Methos hauled the Scot to his feet, gazing thoughtfully at the man. "It's what you do best."

Silence fell for a moment, before Methos rubbed his hands together for warmth from the chill of the night.

"Shall we get back inside? I hear a warm fire and more whisky calling my name."

Laughing, the two strolled toward the house, looking forward to getting to know this new visitor to the compound

lahoffyCDC
March 7, 2003

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