NMORTAL Part 3

Amy and Justin arrived at the warehouse just before 7.  “OK,” said Justin.  “Now what?”

“We wait,” said Amy.  She took a Tai Chi stance and started going through her exercises.

He watched intently, studying her moves.  “You know,” he said, “I always wanted to learn that stuff.”

“Maybe I’ll teach you.  I’ve been wanting a regular sparring partner,” she said.  “I would teach Lance, but I’m afraid I’ll hurt him.”

“You two are getting pretty tight,” said Justin, starting the mimic her moves.  “It’s got me wondering if tabloids were right.”

Amy grabbed his wrist and threw him to the ground.  “It’s true, I am in love with him, but I’m not going to let my personal feelings stop me from doing my job.”

“And your job is to protect our asses and not play favorites.  How can I trust you with my life if I know your pining after Lance?”

“Because for the past 5 years, Duncan’s been cramming Scottish and Japanese tradition down my throat, showing me how and when to push my feelings aside.  What pains me most is I can’t give Lance one of his deepest desires if we do decide to hook up.  I can’t have children.”

“Really?  Why?” he asked.  “Is it another rule?”

She helped him up and said, “I don’t really know, but it breaks my heart.  I’ve always wanted to be a mother.”

“What about adoption?”

“I’ve tried that, but due to my lifestyle, I’m not eligible.  My apartment in Seacouver looks like a medieval armory.  We Immortals have a thing for blades.  Besides, I don’t want to try and explain why Mommy always looks so young.”

“I never thought of that,” said Justin.  Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.  “Come in.”

The door opened and Jackson walked in.  Seeing Amy, he said, “What are you doing here?”

“Sorry for the rouse, but I didn’t know if you’d come if I called,” she said as she took his left hand and turned it palm-up.  “I know who you are.”

Jackson took a step back.  “I know that you know about the Watchers.  I worked at Joe’s for 2 years as a barkeep while he was training me to watch you.  You’re my first assignment.”

“I’m honored.  Sorry for being such a pain in the ass with the teen magazines and tabloids.  I now know why Duncan was so dead-set against my taking this job.”

“It’s never good when an Immortal is in the spotlight,” said Jackson.  “Have you talked to Duncan lately?”

“When we got back to Orlando I called the dojo, but Charlie said he was back in Paris.  I got the number but I haven’t the courage to try again.  He was pretty upset when I left.”

“That’s an understatement,” sighed Jackson.  “For as depressed as he was, you’d swear somebody took your head.  You’re like the daughter he could never have.”

“Sounds like he misses you,” said Justin.

“I miss him too, but it was time to move on.  I never was one to stay anyplace for very long,” said Amy. “But according to the latest gossip, I have a reason now.”

“Right, Lance.  How did he take the news?” asked Jackson.

“Surprisingly well.  He seems to except what I am, but like everybody else, the tabloids threw him for a loop,” she said.

“Every magazine has the same picture.  Amy mentioned that Lou might have release it to make her quit,” said Justin.

Jackson shook his head.  “Not that it’s beneath him, but that would also draw attention to him.  Why would he destroy one of his creations to get to her?”

“Hey, we got together ourselves.  The group was our idea,” protested Justin,

Jackson ignored him.  “I guess the real question now is, are the rumors true?”

“They are on my end.  It’s been building up through the course of the tour.  I haven’t had a chance to talk him alone since my little ‘coming out’,” she said.

“Which kinda has me worried.  What if he feels the same and you either lose your head or decide to move on again?” said Jackson.

“What worries me more is Lou.  I’m arranging a meeting with him on Holy Ground through Chris.  I’m hoping we can come to a mutual agreement,” said Amy.

“Sounds like a plan.  Just do me a favor, call Duncan,” said Jackson.

“I’ll try,” she said and walked out with Justin close behind.

***

The next day, Amy followed through on her promise.  “Bonjour?” she heard on the other end.

“Bon matin. Duncan MacLeod est-il là-bas?” she said nervously.

“Un moment s'il vous plaît. J'irai le reçois,” said the voice.

After a few moments she heard in a thick Scottish accent, “Oui, ceci est Duncan MacLeod.”

“Duncan, it’s Amy,” she said.

“I have nothing to say to you,” said Duncan gruffly.

“Well, I have something I want to say to you.  I’m sorry I left so suddenly.  I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment to you.  I had to move on.”

“But did you have to take such a public position.  I’ve seen the tabloids.  I warned you this would happen.”

“Yet you had no problem with Richie going to Europe to start a racing career,” argued Amy.

“I couldn’t have stopped him if I tried.  He’s as stubborn as you are,” said Duncan.  “You do know that you’ll always have a place with me, no matter where we end up.”

“Thanks, that means a lot to me,” she said with a tear in her eye.  “I need to go.  The guys have an appearance in a few hours and I have to get ready.”

“Take care yourself, Amy.   Try to keep your head,” he said.

“I’ll call you when I can. Au revoir,” said Amy and hung up.

Lance walked out of the bedroom and asked, “Who was that?”

She sighed, ”It was Duncan.  I finally got through to him in Paris.”

“What did he say?” he asked.

“Not much, he’s still angry with me, and I don’t think I made things better by mentioning Richie,” she said.  “The good news is I have a place to stay next time I’m in France.”

He smiled.  “At least it’s a start.  Just give him time to think.”

“Maybe you’re right,” she said as she started styling her hair.  “From the way Jackson sounded, Duncan wanted to make amends.  He took my leaving pretty hard.  Sometimes it felt like I was a living reminder of our friend Darius.”

“Who’s Darius?” asked Lance.

“He was an Immortal monk we knew in Paris.  He first introduced me to Duncan back in 1863.  I didn’t trust a lot of people then, still don’t, but Darius earned it by helping me adjust to French lifestyle.  He lost his head a few years ago and I vowed to avenge him.  Duncan beat me to the punch.  Shortly after that, I moved to Seacouver to train with him.”

“Sounds like he was a good friend,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek.

“Lance, we have to get ready,” said Amy, protesting slightly but loving the attention.

“We have 3 hours,” he breathed in her ear.  “And it’s a 15 minute drive.”

Suddenly, there was a pounding at the front door. “I’ll get it,” she said.

She cracked open the door and saw a young girl, no more than 14.  “Can I help you?”

The girl pulled out a gun.  “Yeah, by dying.  Lance was mine first.”

“Put the gun down,” said Amy, backing away from the door.  “I didn’t steal Lance from anyone.”  She put her hand behind her back, gripping her sword.  “What’s your name?”

“Connie,” she said, stepping into the house.  She slowly unlocked the safety.  “Everything was great till you came in the picture.”

“Connie, I didn’t know you and him were an item.  He never mentioned a girlfriend,” said Amy.

“We’re not dating yet, but I was going to convince him when we met,” said Connie.

“Trust me, this isn’t the way to go about it,” said Amy.

***

Meanwhile in the bedroom, Lance called 911.  “911, what is your emergency?” said the operator.

“There’s somebody in my house, holding my girlfriend at gunpoint,” he whispered into the phone.

“What’s your name?” ask the operator, typing in the information.

“Lance Bass,” he said, “and hurry.”  He hung up the phone, and then cracked the door to watch what happened.

***

“I know you don’t want to hurt me,” said Amy in a calm voice, but not dropping her guard.

“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” Connie screamed, waving the gun in Amy’s face.  “You’re the hired help.  How could he fall in love with you?”  Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes.

“Things like that just happen.  There’s no controlling it,” said Amy

“I suppose this is where you say I’d understand when I’m older, but I’ll never understand, not even if I live to be 300,” said Connie.

“Sometimes it takes longer than that,” mumbled Amy.  She let go of her sword and brought her hand back into view.  “Why don’t you give me the gun so we can talk about it?  I’m more than willing to listen if you give me the chance; I understand it’s one of my better qualities.”

“Why would you want listen to me?” scoffed Connie.  “Nobody ever wants to listen to me.”

“Not even your parents or friends?  How sad, but I know how you feel.  My sensei advised me not to take this job, but I didn’t want to listen to him.  Now he won’t even talk to me.  My brother Richie is somewhere in Europe, starting a racing career.  Last email I got from him was 4 months ago.  See, I don’t really have a family to talk to.  Plus I don’t have a best friend to confide in like you probably do.  Be happy you have those people in your life.”

Connie lowered the gun and put the safety back on.  “Suddenly my life doesn’t seem so bad.”

“Gee, thanks,” smiled Amy.  “Uh, can I have the gun now?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry,” said Connie, giving it to her.

Shortly after, the cops showed up, sirens wailing.  One officer, using a bullhorn, said, “YOU WITH THE GUN, COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!”

“Everything’s OK, officer.  I resolved the situation,” said Amy, handing him the gun after they came out.

“How…” started the officer.

“It doesn’t matter how.  I got her to give up the gun,” she said

“But we still need a statement from you.”

“Fine, at least let me inform my boss that I’ll late for work,” said Amy.  She walked back into the house and found Lance.  “She gave up, but they still want a statement.  I’ll take the Jeep and meet you there.”

“What did she want?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair.

“She wanted me dead.  Apparently, you have a very loyal following,” she smiled.

***

At the police station, Amy was lead to the arresting officer’s desk.  She noticed his nametag said Connelly.  “I still don’t know why I’m here, Officer Connelly.  Nobody was hurt and she surrendered on her own accord,” she said as she sat down.

“We still need to know why she did it in the first place,” said Officer Connelly as he started typing up the report.

“She’s an obsessed fan who got a little too upset when the gossip magazines labeled Lance Bass and me a couple.  She threatened my life with the gun, but I was more concerned for my client than myself.  Connie seems like a good kid, she just needs to straiten out her priorities,” she said.

“If she threatened you, why were you concerned she’d hurt Mr. Bass?” asked Connelly.

“It’s the constant worry of a bodyguard.  Granted, most of the time people don’t intend to harm my clients, but there are the few that try to kill them.”

***

Lance pulled into the parking lot and found Joey.  “Where’s Amy?” asked Joey.

“We had a slight problem at the house,” said Lance, looking down.

“You two didn’t have a fight, did you?” said Joey, giving a half grin.

“No, some fan got in and threatened her life.  I never wanted anything like this to happen, even before I knew about her.”

“Lance, chill out.  Amy’s a big girl, and she knew the risks when she signed on.  None of this is your fault.”

“I know that, but part of me thinks she’d be better off if she never saved my life back in Seacouver.”

“Scoop, answer one question for me.  Are you freaked because you love her?  Cause I don’t think she’s the type that can love,” said Joey.

Lance let out a ragged sigh.  “Maybe you’re right, but I’m willing to take a chance.”

“Even if that chance gets you killed?  She lives a violent life and she can’t always protect you,” said a voice from behind Lance’s 4Runner.  It was Jackson.

End Part 3