Confronting Duncan

Duncan stopped mid-sentence, tensed, and turned to the door of the bar, alerting Joe to the presence of another Immortal. Who would it be this time? Amanda? Methos? Another of Duncan's Immortal acquaintances? Somebody who would inevitably try to kill him? Maybe the years of being so close to Immortals had jaded Joe, but it seemed like it was never good news when an Immortal Duncan didn't already know came to town, and usually when one he did know came to town, too. At least they didn't tend to see Joe as a worthwhile target. He was just Duncan's bartender, after all, not somebody who could make Duncan fight a Challenge by being threatened, not like it had been with Tessa Noel.

The Immortal who walked in through the door wasn't anybody Joe had expected. For all their faults, the Watchers actually were fairly good at keeping track of the Immortals, and as the Regional Supervisor, Joe was supposed to be notified of any Immortals coming into the area. The number of Immortals moving in and out of the region lately was not inconsiderable; Immortals always had been more mobile than mortals, and modern transportation had only increased that movement. But still, Joe was certain that this Immortal had not been one of the Immortals he had been notified about. Even if the eye patch was false--and he didn't think it was likely that an Immortal would give himself an identifying mark like that, but then again there were Immortals who made themselves more identifiable, and at least an eye patch was easily discarded--none of the Immortals who should be in the region matched his stats. Either some Watcher had forgotten to send in his report, or this Immortal didn't have a Watcher.

"Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod," Duncan introduced himself. "Why don't you sit down and have a drink?" Ah, the subtle method of ascertaining if the Immortal's intentions were peaceful.

"Duncan MacLeod?" The other Immortal asked, his voice cheerful. "Just who I'm looking for!"

"Oh?" Duncan asked, relaxing at the Immortal's tone. "Why's that?"

"You killed three of my students," the other Immortal said flatly. "Now, I know the Watchers will cover the bar if I take your Quickening in here, but it's only common courtesy to go outside for a Challenge, so if you don't mind..."

"What...?" Duncan couldn't make a full sentence, he was so stunned. Joe took over.

"You know about the Watchers?" he asked, seeing another reason the Immortal might not have one.

"It's kind of hard to miss when you're being stalked," the Immortal said. "Or, well, when other Immortals are being stalked, when you're hanging out with them, since I only picked up a Watcher a couple of times. But it's cool. A bit creepy, but since most Immortals try not to leave much of a legacy I guess it's the only way they're going to be remembered. And it's not like I can't lose a tail when I get one, just like every other Immortal with sense."

Joe had to snort at that. Even the most conservative estimates said that most of the Immortals still alive had Watchers, and hadn't even noticed them, much less lost them.

"Well, it's not like most Immortals have any sense," the Immortal said with an eye-roll. "It's all The Game this, and 'oh, my insulted honor' that, and that's not even counting all the stupid debate about what being Immortal means, and how we should act towards mortals. It's all so stupid." He looked back over at Duncan. "Is he going to stay like this all night? I mean, not that I have anything else to do, but shouldn't we get this done before your customers start to arrive?"

"I think he's still trying to figure out who he killed that would make you want to kill him."

"He kills that many people?"

"Mostly he only kills bad guys."

"Bad guys? What the hell does that mean? Just cause a guy's done some bad things in his life, doesn't mean he should be killed!"

"Mostly, they try to kill him or somebody else first."

"Whatever happened to trapping people in a well until they've learned their lesson, huh? Why isn't that good enough for the kids these days?"

Joe gave him a strange look. "That's how it's been as long as the Watchers have been keeping records. And what about you? Didn't you just Challenge him?"

"That's different. You don't mess around when it's family, you send a very clear lesson to anybody else who might be thinking along the same lines. But you didn't say anything about *his* student getting killed, so he's got no excuse for killing *mine*."

"Look, I don't know who your students were, but they probably attacked him first."

He opened his mouth to reply, but at that instant Duncan stiffened again at another Immortal's presence. The other Immortal was smooth about it, though; if Joe hadn't had Duncan to watch, he never would have realized that another Immortal was approaching until the door swung open to reveal Methos.

Methos froze as soon as he saw the other immortal, and Joe groaned mentally. If those two had a history...he didn't want to have to write the termination report for Methos. But although Methos looked dismayed, he didn't look alarmed. "Beer," he said to Joe.

"He's mine, Adam," the other Immortal said. "They might have been your brothers, but they were my students."

"I killed Silas," Methos said quietly. Joe had to hold himself back from interfering. If the Immortal was so willing to kill Duncan, he wouldn't be any less willing to kill Methos. But it wasn't his place to interfere. And besides, Methos was still...not relaxed, exactly, his shoulders were tight with tension, but unafraid. It made no sense; Joe had to be missing something, and not just the fact that this Immortal had apparently trained the other three Horsemen.

"Oh, Adam," the Immortal said, sympathy in his voice, completely different from his reaction to Duncan. "Why?"

"Kronos and Caspian...they were rabid dogs, unwilling and unable to change their ways even after so long, and you know Silas always went along with them..."

"They hadn't changed?"

"Upgraded their methods, but they had the same goals in mind, and I don't think even you could have changed their minds."

The Immortal smiled sadly. "You did good." He turned to Duncan. "I release you from my Challenge. If Adam says it was necessary, it was necessary."

"Stick around?" Methos asked. "I'm sure Joe's full of questions, and you can always ignore MacLeod when he gets preachy."

"Sure, I've got some time on my hands now that I don't have to spend it recovering from a Quickening."