The Choices we Make in Life

Part 1

Disclaimer : I don't own any of the Highlander characters or the
concept behind it all. Comments welcomed. This takes place somewhere
after the Four Horsemen thing, but before Archangel. Thankyou to the
beta readers I would not of gotten all these corrections done without
them. This was originally published to a Highlander mailing list July and August of 1997.

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Methos cursed as his foot caught on some rubble in the abandoned
building. Seconds later, the buzz of another immortal hit him. He
checked to make sure that he had his sword even though he knew he would not
need it. The immortal inside was no threat to him, but it made him feel
safe with his sword there.

"Methos, watch your language, even if no one understands what you
just said," Aries commented from his perch. Aries was one of the few
immortals that Methos still trusted and it didn't hurt that their teacher was
the same person.

"Good to see you, too," Methos said, pulling the younger immortal into
a joyful hug. "I have to say, I wish it had been under better
circumstances."

"I know!"

Methos remembered the phone call that had started all this madness.
Carlos was heading their way, was all that the person had said, but it
carried tremendous meaning. Carlos was a powerful immortal whose only
goal was to be the one. All that stood in his way were a few immortals
against his army.

It would not have brought such fear except the phone call had come
from his teacher and best friend. Methos wasn't as concerned for his safety
as he was concerned for his friends. His friend, mentor and the only
person that really understood why he rode with Four Horsemen. The White
Knight! 'God why now? Why not another hundred years from now? MacLeod does not
trust me enough.'

Both Methos and Aries' heads shot up as a very powerful immortal
approached. 'His age is unknown, but legends followed him through
time,' Methos thought to himself. 'The best of us all and the one who has the
most to fear.'

"Don't look so down, Methos," the White Knight, also known as
Richard Ryan, said. "What we did was for the best and MacLeod will understand.
Anyhow, Connor will be in town and can help."

The greatest secret of all time and they had kept it from a good
friend. Methos just hoped Richie was right and all would work out.

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Richie walked towards Mac's barge with so much on his mind that he
did not even notice when another immortal walked up behind him. He jumped
sky high though when a hand was laid on his shoulder. He spun around at
the same time as his right hand reached under his jacket to grab the hilt
of his sword. Connor stood right behind him with his normal 'I got you'
smile.

"If you ever do that again, I'm not going to wait for Carlos to show
up and try for your head, I'm going to take it myself." Richie spun
around on his heel and start back on his original course with Connor right
behind him.

"You know, Duncan is not going to like the fact that we lied to him
this entire time. Would it not just be easier to fake your death and
run? Carlos will come to town and find you gone. All's good that ends
right, or something like that."

"Right, it would be easier, but Carlos would come to town and find
I'm not here. So instead, he would decide that Mac would make a perfect
target for a quickening. We get away with a few more years of peace
and MacLeod loses his head. No thanks!" Richie stopped and turned to look
at Connor. "That's no longer an option. We do it this way."

Connor looked over to the older immortal and knew he'd do it
Richie's way. It was not just because of Connor's honor that he would stay and
fight an army for this immortal. He would stay and fight because
Richie could finally bring peace to immortals. A way to live without all the
killing. Together they walked towards the barge and an unknown
destiny.

Connor looked over to the older immortal that he had lied to
protect. He had lied to Duncan about Richie and set things up so Duncan would
take the immortal in as a student. Everything was coming back to the fact
that Richie was as old as the earth and the very first immortal ever. The
lies he gave Duncan were to protect Richie, his second mentor, his friend,
and part of his family.

*****************************************************************

Methos hadn't gotten any sleep the night before after his talk with
Aries and Richard. Duncan MacLeod was not going to like the fact that
he had been lied to, or as Richie put it, 'just not told the full truth.'

Duncan was important though. He would fill the gap left behind by
Darius, and Amanda would take Rebecca's place in their small group. A
group that had spent hundreds of years protecting the innocent and
destroying the evil. Evil like the Four Horsemen...



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The Bronze Age

Kronos had been pushing the Horsemen to their limits the past few
days, but for a reason. The White Knight and his group were following them,
intent on destroying their group. No one was more worried than Methos,
though. He knew the White Knight personally, and knew the danger he
was in. His teacher never said he was an angel, but some of the things
Methos had done would be cause enough to lose his head. He had learned enough
from his first mentor to know the White Knight had taken heads for
less. Methos knew that with each passing minute, he was coming closer to the
end. An end to the madness and pain that he had caused.

"Methos, we need to make our stand," Kronos said. "This meadow will
be the perfect place to surprise them."

"Yes, it will," Methos commented. He knew that he would never be able
to draw a sword and fight anyone in the group that approached, but
Kronos and the others did not need to know that.

It was not until dusk that the White Knight and his group entered
the meadow. As they slowed down, Methos knew that their trap would
never work. These people had lived too long to be caught up in such a
lousy trap.

The battle that followed was terrible, though. The White Knight lost
one of his men and the Horsemen left, but not together. With the magic
of the ages, the White Knight sent Kronos, Silas, and Caspian to three
different corners of the world. With that finished, his mentor's group
left, leaving Methos and the White Knight alone.

"I'm sorry," was all he could think up to say to apologize for his
crimes.

"Don't be," the White Knight said calmly, but anger flared though
him as he gripped his sword. Methos was kneeling down in front of him,
fully prepared for the strike that would come. "I dealt with
Cassandra, but she will come after your head someday." Those words
gave Methos hope that he was wrong and he would keep his head. "I've
done things that I'm not proud of and that only makes me unable to
judge you, so I won't. You will judge yourself when you've learned
enough about the world to understand the life behind it. As your
mentor, though, I can not just forgive you. For five hundred years I will have no contact with you, and if you come looking for me you'll lose your head, but no one else with take
it within this time. You are to use this time to learn. If you've
learned enough at the end of that period, come and search me out. At
that time, you will have the choice of joining us or going your own
way." With that, the White Knight was gone. No good-bye. No good luck. Just the injunction
to learn. Learn about the world and its people.

Methos had done just that. He had learned from some of the greatest
philosophers of all times and he had learned to cherish life.

Five hundred years after that day, he found his mentor and joined
him and his group of immortals in their fight for good.

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The Present

"Did I have the time of my life back then," Methos said under his
breath. He knew that he could have made the choice to keep going down
the path that he was going. The path of evil. He made the choice to
change his ways and in so doing, he had pledged himself to protect the
world and the life on it. 'If I had chosen the other way, I wonder if
Richie would have someday taken my head. I have asked him if he would,
but he never answers me. He always just turns around and walks away. Carlos won't
help things right now. He was Richie's student and that makes me wonder if
he can remove his head.'

Methos knew that it might come down to someone else removing
Carlos's head. It might come down to the point where Richie couldn't
fight a person that he had taught and cared for. It was one of those
choices that a person makes that helps decides their path in life.
Just another choice that chooses between evil and good. Which would
win, or could either really survive without the other? Only time would
tell.

He crawled into bed, hoping to catch up on his sleep, praying the
dreams would stay away for once. He knew that his trail of thought
would bring the dreams, though. The dreams of darkness, fear, pain,
and what might just be their future if they lost.

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Duncan stood on the deck of the barge with his sword drawn when
Connor and Richie arrived. The sour look on his face informed them
both that he was not in the mood to talk or hear that he had been lied
to. "Richie, are you crazy! You didn't die that long ago in France,
remember, and now you're back here again. Someone is going to see you
one of these days and that's going to be the end of things."

"Mac, come on and lighten up a little. No one is going to recognize
me. Anyhow, if they do, I'll say I'm a twin brother or something."

"Twin brother. So what's your excuse for being here, Connor, or did
you just come to torment me, too?" Duncan poured himself a glass of
scotch and drank it down in one gulp.

"Cool it, Duncan. I've come because we need to talk. An old enemy of
mine is heading this direction and might come after you. His name is
Carlos..."

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".....Lapin is heading towards Paris," the head of the Watchers
informed Joe Dawson. "I want you to be there if he challenges
MacLeod."

"Do you think that Lapin will? After the incident with the White
Knight back in '74, Lapin just dropped off the face of the planet."
Joe kept his voice down as he talked on the phone, but Mike caught the
anxious sound in his voice.

"We never confirmed that Lapin took the White Knight's head. The
Watchers could never keep track of the Knight and for all we know, he
might have just disappeared for 23 years. The quickening that was
registered was not big enough to account for the heads or age of the
Knight."

"All right. I'll take the first flight to Paris and watch MacLeod to
see if the White Knight makes an appearance."

"I want to know the moment this knight shows up. I'm going to put my
best Watchers on the job." The Director hung up without another word,
leaving Joe to think about what he just heard.

'Carlos going after MacLeod. There is no way MacLeod can beat Lapin
even if he did 'just get lucky' like he has so many other times. The
only way that MacLeod will survive is if the White Knight shows up,
but for that to happen, Richie will have to reveal who he really is,
not just to the world, but to MacLeod, too. All hell is about to break
lose this time,' Joe thought as he called in the reservation for plane
tickets.

[Onto Part 2]