Part 6

Kavik knocked once on Sam's door and walked in.

"What - ?" Sam's groggy voice cut through the silence in the room.

"Einstein here thinks we're having an affair," remarked Kavik sarcastically, gesturing to Tabitha. "Do you want to put her straight, or will I?"

Sam looked at the two women standing in his room through tired eyes. "Wha?"

Kavik rolled her eyes and pointed Tabitha to the bed. "Sit," she commanded. Meltdown thought about refusing, but one look at Kavik at she meekly sat down.

Kavik looked at the young woman sitting on the bed and sighed. Kavik pulled her sword out of her coat.

"Whatthehellareyougoingtodowiththat?" Tabitha's eyes widened.

Kavik laughed softly. "Watch," she said gently. Holding her hand out,

Kavik drew the sword across her palm. Although Kavik would have sworn that it was impossible, Tabitha's eyes grew even wider. Tabitha thought as she watched Kavik slice open her hand. Just as she was about to ask what she was supposed to be watching, blue sparks began jumping across the cut. Meltdown's jaw dropped as the cut Kavik had made to her palm healed before her eyes. She turned to Sam and then looked back at Kavik. "You're an External," she breathed. "Like Sam."

"No, I'm an Immortal, and so is Sam." Kavik corrected.

"I don't get it, what's the diff?"

Patiently, Kavik began an explanation of Immortals and the Gathering.

Tuesday, 7:58 AM

"Wow!" Tabitha exclaimed, when Kavik had finished.

"Damn," swore Kavik, noticing the time. "I'm due in the Danger Room in two minutes. Okay, stay here. I'll be back as soon as the training session's over. I'll answer any questions that Sam can't when I get back."

Tabitha nodded, but Kavik was already out of the door.

Tuesday, 9:08 AM

Kavik walked into Sam's room as he was going back over some of the things that Kavik had said before she left. Kavik thought with a grin.

"Cool!" Tabitha exclaimed. "Between the two of us, the rest of them don't have a chance."

"What do ya mean, Tab?" Sam asked softly.

"Well, I frizz them out with my time bombs and you chop off their heads."

"Ah don't think that's fair ta the othahs."

"One against one." Kavik stated, leaning against the door, looking at the young mutants.

"Say what?" Meltdown popped her gum loudly.

"It's one of the rules of the Game. One against one. You can't interfere." Kavik elucidated.

"Who says that I can't."

"The rules..." Kavik began before she was interrupted by Meltdown.

"Hey, Sam's immortal, he doesn't have to live his life by some dumb rules." Meltdown glared at Kavik.

"Wrong." Kavik looked at the younger woman with disdain. "Sam's an Immortal, and his life *is* those rules."

Tabitha sneered and tried to stare down Kavik, but the look blazing in Kavik's eyes made her turn away. "Who the hell are you to say that anyway?"

She muttered under her breath, not expecting Kavik to hear her.

"I am his teacher." Kavik's anger came through in her tone. "And if I ever hear that you have been taking out other Immortals for Sam, then I will hunt you both out and take him down myself!"

"Are the Rules that important?" Sam asked softly.

"They're the basis of the entire Game. No Immortal, no matter how old, or how obsessed will break them."

"So what did the others say when you told them about this?" Tabitha looked at Sam.

Kavik smiled at the guilty look on Sam's face. "The others don't know," she answered for him. "As far as they're concerned, Sam's an External. The only ones that know the truth are Remy, Logan and the three of us."

"Why?"

"Because I have no wish to live through another witch hunt," replied Kavik. "The last ones were quite enough."

"And this 'game', you'll teach him what he needs to know to survive."

"Yes," nodded Kavik.

"When will you start training him?" Tabitha asked.

"Tomorrow. There are some things I need to do today." Kavik opened the door. "This lifestyle may take some getting used to, but you'll be okay. See you later." Kavik had only taken a few steps down the corridor when she heard Tabitha calling her name. She stopped and let the young woman catch up to her. "What?"

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about before. Even if there had been something going on between you and Sam I still had no right to go through your things. I'm sorry."

Kavik smiled. "That's okay, I know how it must have looked, but you have to believe me, the only interest in Sam is helping him adjust to what he is."

"I don't want to lose him," admitted Tabitha quietly.

"Don't worry, if I have anything to say about it, then you won't."

Tabitha returned Kavik's smile. "Thank you. And your secret's safe with me."

"I know."

Kavik watched Tabitha head back to Sam's room before she walked to her own room. She kicked off her boots and threw her coat over the chair before she fell into bed thinking,

Tuesday, 2:50 PM

Kavik sat in Harry's Hideaway waiting for David to show. She was early and so she ordered a coffee and sat down to wait for him. She didn't wait long, and after only a couple of minutes, David slid into the booth she was sitting at.

"Get home okay last night?" He asked, with a smile that indicated he knew that she did.

"Aren't you meant to know stuff like that already?" Kavik teased softly.

To the outside, they just looked like two friends meeting for a chat. But circumstances surrounding these two were anything but normal. As they chatted, both of them remembered the day that the friendship, which should never have happened first began . . .

Kavik MacLeod was walking down the streets of Seacouver. She had just been to see her old friend, Duncan MacLeod. In the last couple of months there had been some Immortals killed on Holy Ground, , and Duncan was going to follow a lead on who might be behind it. All this was going around Kavik's head when a young man approached her. She didn't feel the 'Buzz' of another Immortal and so didn't think anything of it until he reached her.

"Excuse me?" He said. "Kavik MacLeod?"

"Yes." She answered warily.

"Nothing, just checking." The man brought a gun out of his pocket and fired it.

Kavik threw herself on the ground, but she wasn't quick enough and the bullet went into her side. She ignored the pain and triggered her mutant abilities. Surrounding the gun with air molecules, she pulled it out of her attacker's hands. The man threw himself on top of her and began to hit her.

As his fist came down to her face, Kavik was aware of a blue tattoo on his wrist. Forcing herself to stay conscious, Kavik tried to deflect the blows. Feeling around her with one arm, her hand hit something hard: the gun. Grabbing the weapon, she smashed it against the side of the man's head. He collapsed on top of her, unconscious. Pushing him off her, Kavik staggered to her feet. Looking down at her side, Kavik saw that her shirt was soaked in blood from the bullet wound. She felt as though she was about to collapse when another bullet whistled past her head.

She thought as she saw three more men running towards her, all brandishing guns.

She spun around and fell to her knees at the rendering pain in her side.

She was barely aware of a car pulling up along side her.

"Quick! Get in!" Yelled a voice.

Kavik looked up and saw a man holding open the passenger door of his car. She thought. How do I know... That thought was painfully interrupted as Kavik felt another bullet rip into her body. There was no way she could escape the rapidly approaching attackers. She had no choice but to scramble into the car. The driver leant across her and slammed the door shut before speeding away. Kavik's breath was ragged as she looked over to the driver of the car. She realised she may have made a terrible mistake when she noticed his wrist had the same blue tattoo that her attacker had had. However, she could do nothing as the darkness descended on her and her life slipped away.

David Mitchell pulled into the car park next to his apartment building. Glancing at the woman next to him, he stifled a sigh. He had a *dead body* in his car. Granted, she wouldn't be dead for much longer, but still, he couldn't exactly explain that if someone saw him. Getting out of the car he looked around. When he was sure there was nobody else there, David opened the passenger door and pulled Kavik into his arms. Slinging her over his shoulder, he carried her to his apartment.

Locking his door behind him, David went into the bathroom and deposited Kavik gently on the floor. He quickly removed her coat and shirt. They were both soaked in blood and had bullet holes in them. Grabbing a wash cloth, he began to wipe the blood off Kavik. When he was sure he had cleaned her as much as possible, David picked Kavik back up and took her through to his bedroom. He gently laid her on the bed and headed back into the bathroom, grabbing a plastic bag on the way. he thought as he stuffed it in the bag. He reached out for her coat, pausing to remove her sword, before he placed the garment in with the shirt. Leaving the bag in the bathroom, David took the sword through to the lounge, where he laid it on the coffee table.

Heading back into the bedroom, he walked to a wardrobe. Opening it, he removed a shirt which he hung on the door. "I know it's not your size, Kavik, but it'll have to do," he said apologetically to the woman on the bed, then laughed at himself for doing so.

It wasn't until he closed the bedroom door behind him that the implications of what he had done, what he had risked, hit him. He sat down on the couch and shakily reached out for the telephone. Punching a few numbers, he waited for an answer.

"Hi, it's David. I've got a problem," he stammered.

"David, calm down," the voice on the other end of the line said. "What happened?"

"Horton went after Kavik." David heard a sharp intake of breath.

"How is she?"

"I couldn't let them kill her. I just couldn't" David was almost hysterical.

"David!" The sharp tone brought David out of his funk. "Tell me exactly what happened."

"I was in the car when I saw them following her. They waited until there was no one else there and they shot her. I didn't realise what I was doing until I was holding the car door open for her to climb in."

"Where is she now?"

"In my bedroom. I'm waiting for her to revive."

"How long ago did this happen?" The other man asked.

"About half an hour. So she shouldn't revive until about another 30 minutes." It usually took about an hour for an Immortal to recover from serious or multiple gunshots.

"I'll be there in ten." The other man hung up, and David willed himself to relax as he waited for him to arrive.

Just under ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. David smiled as he admitted his friend.

"Do you want a drink?" David asked.

"A beer thanks," came the slightly English accented reply.

As David handed over the bottle, the man next to him looked at him softly.

"What?" David questioned.

"Why did you help her?"

"I couldn't let them kill her. I could handle losing her to the Game, it would be hard, but I knew when I started watching her that it was a risk. But to see her killed by one of us, people who've sworn not to interfere. If she's killed by another Immortal, then in some way part of her exists in that Immortal. But there was no Immortal there, her Quickening would have been lost forever. I couldn't let that happen. I just couldn't."

Adam Pierson smiled at his friend's admission, it made what he was about to do much easier. "David," he said, "there's something I think you should know."

David watched as Adam walked over to a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a knife. Slowly Adam drew the knife across his palm. Almost instantly, the wound began to heal. "Oh my God," David whispered, "you're an Immortal."

David stared at the man he had known for 5 years. They had met at Watcher Headquarters when they had become stuck in a lift. It had taken a few hours to get them and by the time they were rescued they were firm friends. Adam was a researcher on the Methos Chronicles, which meant he was based at the Headquarters, and David was a field agent who had just received Kavik as his assignment, which meant that he was based wherever Kavik was. Next to Don Salzer, another field agent, David was probably the only Watcher that Adam spent any time with outside of Watcher business. David thought that he knew his friend, but now? David watched in shock as Adam's hand healed until there was no trace of any wound. "So *that's* why you're trying to find Methos, you want his Quickening," David accused.

Adam smiled wryly. "Trust me, David, I'm not on the Methos Chronicles to find Methos."

"Then why - " David's voice trailed off as he came to the only conclusion he could "Jesus, *you're* Methos," he breathed.

Adam, David corrected himself, nodded.

David had every Watcher's dream. The oldest living Immortal was standing in his kitchen. There were a hundred things to ask him. Do you know why this is? What was it like when you first died? What's it like to transcend time? To see civilisations rise and fall? How do you stay sane when everything around you changes but you remain the same? But all he could think was, "You lied to me."

Onto Part Seven | Back to the Archive | Main