THE WALLFLOWER

By Donna and Abby

(Rated NC17)

Methos was leaning against the bar, his back to the bartender, Rufus. Looking out at the milling crowd of half naked people, he noted Sarah Jo sitting at a table alone. "What's her bloody problem?" he asked himself. Pushing away from the bar, where he had somehow managed to *sprawl* on a barstool, Methos glided over to the freckle faced beauty.

She sat idly stirring her cherry coke, looking out at the dancing crowd with a half smile of amusement on her face as she watched the outrageous way some of the women were flirting with the pant-less men around them. She felt the buzz of an approaching Immortal and looked up, expecting it to be Duende or Connor coming to drag her out onto the dance floor again.

Methos strode forward, at ease and yet still maintaining a military bearing due his *costume*. LaCroix, from the stage, threw him a look of recognition and the two nodded to one another. Sarah Jo watched, curious, and then stared, open mouthed, when Methos turned to her and asked, "Is this seat taken?"

She was surprised that he would approach her, after all he had the pick of any woman in the city he wanted. But she gave him a shy smile and motioned for him to sit down.

He took his seat, still in that almost regal manner but also

carelessly. He crossed one leg over his knee and reached for the beer he'd brought with him. "You look down. I had hoped this little bit of mayhem would be uplifting." He grinned over the last word

meaningfully.

She blushed a little and glanced away from the intense look he was giving her. "I've never been to anything quite like this before. It’s fun but it's kinda overwhelming at the same time." As he watched her, Sarah Jo's eyes traveled over the crowd. She could see Duende dancing with Toni, Dani was hanging around the bar having a good time with his old friend Cole. Fitz was doing an outrageously sexy dance with Katherine. She sighed and said, "It's just hard for me as *outgoing* as everyone else seems to be. Especially after some of the things that have been going on in my life lately."

Methos noticed her gaze had stopped the longest at where Duncan was standing, his arms around two women, and he had a pretty good idea what those *things* were. "You seemed to enjoy the Fourth of July madness," he noted.

She blushed again, and a soft smile touched the corners of her mouth as she remembered the kissing circle and her walk on the beach later with Ben. "Yeah, it was fun. I was pretty nervous at first though. It was the first time I had ever seen naked men other than laying flat on their back in a hospital bed," she said with a grin.

"But," Methos said casually as he took a sip of beer, "that was when you were a real virgin. Wasn't it?"

She snorted with laughter, "Yes, it was. But Ben took care of that little problem a few days later. At least he thought he did."

"So I heard." His eyes found hers and the intensity of his gaze made her squirm. Then he looked away again, noting, "So, are you more uncomfortable now because you can play?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yes and no," she said honestly. "I love being with a man, especially with Duende and Dani, but sometimes I just can't help but think that if it wasn't for my little *peculiarity* none of you would bother with me at all."

"And how many of the women out on that dance floor have your *peculiarity*?"

"None that I know of for sure," she said with a smile.

"And they are, if I am correct, having a good time without it?"

Sarah Jo shrugged. "Looks that way," she said looking back across the room. She raised her eyebrow at the normally very lady like Katherine grinding her hips up against a CLim she didn't recognize from his backside. She was apparently having a very good time indeed out on the dance floor.

Methos mirrored her shrug as he poured some beer down his gullet. "Your *peculiarity* is just a part of yourself, like your freckles or the attractive color of your hair. It is not the only thing that draws

people to you."

"Yeah, everyone loves a clown," she said so quietly he could barely hear it. Then she immediately covered up what she said by making a joke out of what she just said. It was not the first time she had used humor to try to lighten up a slightly uncomfortable situation.

Methos put the beer down and stared at her firmly. "Am I humorous?"

"No...but most people think I am. They seem to like it when I make them laugh. And I like to make people happy."

"And I appear to be rather popular with this crowd." He shook his head. "Everyone likes to laugh, but we're not laughing right now, and yet I am enjoying myself."

Sarah Jo looked at Methos, trying to figure him out. Then she decided to take a chance despite her recent experiences and asked, "Do you want to dance or something?"

He shook his head and chuckled. "So many wasted years." Reaching out, he gently cupped her chin and then withdrew his hand again before explaining, "There is much more to life than jokes and dancing and sex. Interesting conversation with a pretty face, for example. I know there is a brain within that handsome head somewhere."

Sarah Jo closed her eyes, trying not to feel hurt. Every time she had made an offer to someone lately, it had been refused. "I guess I just quite don't understand all the rules of the game then," she said sadly.

He reached out to grab her hands. "Why do you think your only worth is in your sex? If I said I wanted to sleep with you would it make you happy? I do. But then you might think I am only interested in your 'special skills'."

Confused, she looked away, sorting out her feelings. Then she turned back and looked at him again. "Methos, I know I'm a dang fine nurse. I'm really good at my job. I'm also very good at creating things, if all the prizes I've won mean anything at all. And I'm a passably fine cook. No man ever goes away from my table hungry. I can really feel good about those things. But when it comes to all this boy-girl type stuff, I just don't know what I'm doing half the time. I would like to join in and have fun like everyone else seems to be, but frankly, lately every time I got up the nerve to suggest something I get turned down flat. Just like you did just now."

"Ah yes, well, rejection is a horrible thing; and if you've been

cloistered it is a surety that you've never come across it before." He

stood and bowed. "My mistake. I didn't think you wanted me to bowl you over simply because I might enjoy your eternal virginity. Will you believe me if I say I want you as a man wants a woman, but not merely because you're newly made?"

Her eyes met his and she nodded her head. It was in her nature to be very trusting of what people told her, and she didn't see any reason not to believe him. But the recent hurts she had experienced made her hesitate. "Why would you want me though?" she asked. "I know I'm all that pretty or anything."

Methos sighed. "You aren't? Isn't it, 'Beauty is in the eye of the

Beholder'?"

She just shrugged. "Guess so. I made a pot recently that was kind short and dumpy, not pretty at all. But I really like it because it has character. I have it on my dresser right now, in fact."

"So why do you assume you are not more beautiful than a pot?" he said

She looked at him and chuckled softly to herself. "OK, Methos - I get the picture. I guess my fingers have gotten a little burnt lately and I've just been feeling overly sorry for myself. Guess it's high time to put it all behind me and move on to better things."

He held his hand out to her. "Come, then. Let's take enjoyment from one another, because we deserve it, and because we're both what and who we are."

Instead of leading her to the backroom, which is what Sarah Jo expected, he brought her out onto the dance floor. It surprised her, but she liked dancing so she was happy about it. Duende saw her moving on to the floor and he grinned and gave her a thumbs up sign before turning his attention back to Carol.

Methos held her lightly around the waist, almost not touching her. They moved across the dance floor gracefully, in time to the music. Sarah Jo looked up at him, still curious. Now there was a mingling of respect and surprise that he was such a good dancer. "I am a man of many hidden talents," he explained.

He had heard she had spent a lot of time at the dance studio herself even before she moved in with Duende, so he was not surprised to fine that she was a pretty good dancer herself. It was obvious she had been practicing a lot. He did notice she tended to be a lot more reserved with her *hands* than the other women out on the dance floor. Moving closer, he put his hand on her bottom. "Consider it foreplay," he chuckled.

She grinned at him and moved just a little bit closer. Duende had taught her the classical dancing, but all the *dirty dancing* going on around her was another thing all together. Not to mention a wee bit distracting. So she turned her attention back to Methos and made eyecontact, adding a little extra sway to her hips as she did so.

"Good," he crooned in her ear. My brother Benjamin has told me that you were an eager little one," he went on, "and I see that he is, as always, right on the money. But remember," he pulled back to look in her eye like a teacher giving a lecture, "quality, not quantity."

She nodded, a shy grin on her face. As she got more into the music and the ambient mood, she tentatively added a few soft caress of her own as her body brushed up against his. She wasn't flirting really, just responding to the sensual nature of the dance.

Methos shook his head. She was totally into her sexuality. Which, he supposed, was understandable after holding it back for so many years. But she was riding for a fall - and in fact had already taken several major ones. But how could he help her mature past the pain if she only heard the rhythms of her own body? For a moment he thought perhaps he was the wrong one to do it; Doc had thought his experience might help. But perhaps they were both wrong? Perhaps BAMs brutal immaturity was needed to show her it all too plainly?

He caught her glancing over at the other dancers around her, and then she would sometimes try to incorporate a milder form of what they were doing into her own dance. He could sense she wanted to please him, but just didn't have the experience the others had to draw upon.

Looking down at her, he said, "Don't try so hard, Sarah Jo. By Quality over Quantity I did not mean you had to try harder to be good. But rather the opposite. Do what comes naturally and you'll be fine. Push it too hard . . ." He leaned close and said, "Take Duncan, over there." He felt her stiffen.

She pushed the flash of pain aside, and covered it with a quip. "I did," she said. "Several times, in fact. But I guess I'm wasn't good enough to hold his interest."

"Which is exactly my point, my dear," said Methos with a pleased sigh. "You seem in such a hurry to catch up with all that life has cheated you, that you inadvertently make yourself disposable." To the pain in her eyes he smiled understandingly, "It is a mistake of the very young, to think one must attack from the front with both barrels blasting. If you want to get and *keep* a man's interest, you need to combine some mystery into the equation."

She was listening to him with keen interest, drinking in his words. She wasn't sure at all about how to add *mystery* into the way she was. She was a very open person for the most part. As she considered his words, she chewed on her lower lip in contemplation, a little spontaneous motion that Methos found more attractive that any of her attempts to copy the other dancers.

Stroking her cheek, he said, "You are so completely without guile. Some have it naturally. See? Our hostess." He motioned to a very pregnant Crystal. Sitting at the bar, a soft drink in front of her, she was surrounded by an assortment of men, all waiting for her next tinkling laugh. "She hasn't had a one in her bed since she took up with DeBracy. And yet they are counting the days until she has that baby and decides it's time to move on. She was *born* with it. Her sister," he chuckled, remembering earlier in the evening, "has picked up quite a bit of it, but she has to work at it. I guess the main thing I can teach you right away, is not to ask for it, but to let them come to you."

She nodded her head as she took his words to heart. "But won't they think I'm a bit of a wallflower then?" she asked.

"Only if you sit in your seat and hide that lovely bum!"

That caused her to break out in giggles, and she seemed to relax another notch in his arms. She had stopped trying to copy the other's seductive movements, and now she was just dancing her own way.

He spun her loose so that she was dancing on her own. Then he smiled as he watched for several minutes before taking her back into his arms. "Yeah," he breathed, "like that." For the first time she could feel his excitement under the leather skirt.

Encouraged by his words, she continued dancing on in the same vein. She wasn't dancing so much for him anymore, but for her own enjoyment. Methos was beginning to see what his *brother* Ben saw in her. There was a fresh, innocent and very attractive quality to her when she was truly being herself. "That's it," he whispered in her ear when they were close. "You're a free spirit, Sarah Jo. BE that free spirit, and don't let them tie you down. Why should you care if they want you? Be yourself and when they come, for they will, you'll be waiting. But if you don't sweat the details, you won't be hurt when their lusts take them elsewhere for a time. You'll only know when they come to you." His arm around her waist tightened and he danced her toward the back rooms.

When they entered the room, Sarah Jo untangled herself from his arms and poked around the room like a kid in a candy story, giggling over some of the *toys* she found in some of the drawers. He found her laughter refreshing and sat down and watched her for awhile.

Sprawled on the bed, he looked so relaxed and easy with himself that she almost laughed when she turned from her games. But there was a tension in him that she missed. He was almost boneless as he lay there; almost. One part of him was very tense indeed, and growing tenser the more he watched. Her natural spark of vibrant energy aroused him painfully.

She chuckled as she saw his response, and plopped down on the bed beside him. "What's this?" she teased as her fingers lightly brushed him, "Another toy to play with?"

"Do as you will," he said, his voice low and full of promise. "I want to see you as yourself."

She chuckled again and bent down and bit his chin playfully. That resulting in a rough and rowdy wrestling match that ended up with them both sprawled on the floor and laughing at each other. Mehtos pressed her to the floor. More of her buttons had opened and he gently stuck his tongue under the material to tease her breast. Her laughter turned to a moan. He placed a hand under the small of her back, lifting her hips as only the very tip of his tongue caressed her.

Sarah Jo' s hand went to the back of his head, pressing it down to her as her breathing quickened with growing excitement. She ran her fingers through his hair for a moment before pulling him up so she could kiss him. He matched the hunger of her kiss as his large hands went under her dress to grab her bottom roughly. His skirt was parted by his manhood, the hardened shaft insistent against her.

The front of her dress had worked its way up to her waist as they had played, exposing her completely. As she felt his hardness push up against her she spread her legs further to give him better access while her hand reached under him and pulled the leather pieces of his skirt out of the way.

He chuckled. "You really are in a hurry, aren't you?"

That earned him a hard, playful swat on his shoulder, and she arched up under him and managed to flip him over on his back. She straddled him, her mouth continuing to devour his as her strong hands pinned his shoulders down. He chuckled again. "Go for it, Tiger," he crooned.

He soon found out that when Sarah Jo was completely relaxed and acting naturally, she was an extremely playful and physical girl, not afraid to play a little rough. All the rough play got his dander up - being a Methos he had that lurking darkness. As they rolled on the floor he pressed her down to the ground, using his teeth to bite off the remaining annoying buttons while his hands manipulated her below. He was a little rough, but she seemed to enjoy it.

He managed to get her pinned to the floor again, and she once again opened herself up to him. This time, he was more than ready.

Plunging in, he felt that slight hesitation and he smiled. "Yes," he groaned, "Ben was right. This could be addicting." Like his brother, he withdrew for a moment, waited for the healing, and returned his thrust.

Each time she arched up under him, crying out as he entered. But her cries were not so much of pain but of deep desire.

"Did Ben tell you what our brother would do with this? Careful, my free spirit. You like the pain, and it turns us on so . . . but be careful someone doesn't use it to hurt you." So saying, he plunged back in, filling her completely. He felt her grab and hold him, and his steady, almost furious rhythm began, her ass thudding painfully on the floor as he let his beast loose to ravage her. But it was a good pain, not like the one he knew BAM or, worse, one of the Kronoses might inflict on her.

She abandoned herself completely to him, her hips rising up to each thrust, gasping for breath as her pleasure escalated rapidly till the point where she screamed out in release.

He pressed in deeply, going all the way in as he shot into her. Then, groaning, he collapsed, momentarily dazed. Then his groans turned to a laugh as she stuck her tongue in his ear. Grinning broadly at him, she ran her hand down her now button less dress, "OK, wise guy, how are you gonna fix this so I can go back out and join the party?" Her eyes sparkled with mischief and happiness. She was definitely feeling a lot better about herself now.