After the Fire: Part 2:
Five Days Later
Paris, France

Bray parked the car on the bank next to the barge. "Brings back memories, doesn't it." she said gazing out the window as if she was lost in time.

"Sure does." Richie said with a smile. "I'll go tell them we're here while you get Lane ready." he kissed her on the cheek and got out of the car. She watched him walk up to the door like he had done a thousand times before. Lane started laughing and Megan turned to her and smiled. She took Lane out of the carseat and rested her on one hip as she shut the door. She saw the group through the window; Joe, Mary, Cat, Methos, and Richie. She took a deep breath and walked in. There was a collective Ahh, and within seconds Mary and Cat were talking baby talk. Lanes' wide eyes surveyed the new people and smiled.

Methos popped up between Cat and Mary, "I think we should allow them to at least sit down before we attack." he said with a grin. They agreed and Bray took a seat on the couch between Mary and Cat. Methos sat on the arm of the couch next to Cat. Joe took the armchair and Richie sat on the steps, after raiding the fridge for a beer.

The excitement of the baby wore off Cat first, "Where on earth did the two of you get a baby and why? I know you go at it like rabbit's, but you aren't mortal." Richie nearly choked on his beer and Joe got quiet. Cat knew she had run head on into a touchy subject.

The smile on Brays' face was forced at the thought, "Her name is TuLane Marie Adler. Her parents were our Watchers, Daniel and Hailey Adler. We lived with them in Eastern North Carolina to get away from the war. Everything was fine until about two weeks ago."

Methos had an idea about what she was going to say, "So what exactly happened?"

Bray continued, "Richie and I had taken Lane to the park to give Dan and Lee sometime alone. When we came back Richie went in while I got Lane out of the Jeep. When I got to the door Richie wouldn't let me in. He took Lane from me and I pushed by him." She took a deep breath and finished, "I found out why he didn't want me in there. Hailey and Daniel were in the living room, dead. They'd been shot several times."

Cats' eyes went from Lanes' smiling face to Brays' somber one, "Why? Was it because of you and Richie? Because of the war?"

The war... The war had been going on for awhile and had basically come down to mortals against Immortals. Mainly the Hunters were doing the killing now, but it didn't matter. Immortals and anyone involved with them were being killed. Not even Holy Ground was safe anymore, and for the first time, Immortals had become allies with each other in hopes of brining an end to the war once and for all.

Richie answered her as he walked behind Megan and knelt down, putting his arms around her, "That's what I figured and that's why we left as soon as we could." As he spoke Bray looked at Lane remembering the scene. She'd tell Lane about them someday, but she'd be damned if she would have let that child see her parents that way.

Cats' next question seemed to float into Brays' consciousness, "But how did you end up with their daughter?"

Bray explained, "They didn't trust their families to be the best for her. They didn't want her to be a pawn. Their families hated each other."

Richie added, "Yeah, a real Romeo and Juliet thing."

"They wrote it out in their wills that we were to take care of her and here we are." Bray said lifting Lane up in the air.

Mary smiled, "Welcome to parenting."

Bray turned her head towards Richie, "That reminds me, we need to find a hotel."

Cat slapped her knees and stood up, "That's it. You're staying with us. We can move the bookcases around and pull out the sofa. It'll be like a big slumber party, and I don't want any arguments." she said kicking Methos' foot. Bray laughed out loud for the first time in weeks. Richie let his head rest on her shoulder and listened to the laughter dance through her body. His eyes started to close. He was so tired. Physically tired, mentally tired and tired of running from the war. He felt safe at Duncan's barge. He always had. It was home, but the war had changed everything. Home wasn't safe anymore and neither was holy ground.

The sun was setting when they began moving the furniture to create another bedroom. Mary was playing with Lane, Richie and Methos moved the bookcase, Bray and Cat moved the sofa, and Joe gave the orders. There was a low rumble and Methos grabbed his stomach. "Guilty." he said with a grin.

Richie was leaning against the end of the bookcase, "Now that you mention it, I'm hungry too." he said rubbing his stomach.

Cat put her hands on her hips, "I know a great little place on the Left Bank that delivers."

Bray wrinkled her nose, "What do they serve?" she asked.

"Italian." Cat laughed.

"Sounds good to me." Joe answered. "Decide what everyone wants and I'll call them."

They all settled on what they wanted and sat down to talk about the old times. The grouped laughed and joked and then Bray realized something felt odd. "So where is Meg? It's odd not seeing you guys together."

Suddenly the mood went sour, "Bray, that's part of what we had to tell you guys. She was killed almost three months ago." Joe answered.

"I think I'll go wait outside for the delivery man." Mary said as she stood up. "Sometimes they have trouble finding us."

Richie leaned forward resting his elbows on the table knowing the answer by Marys' reaction. "How did it happen?"

A tear rolled down Cats' face as she remembered. "It wasn't too long after we lost Chris...."

6 months before
Lyon France

Meg laid on the egg crate waiting for something to happen. She had no idea how long she had been held prisoner, and she was beginning to wonder if anyone would ever come to rescue her. *They have to!* she thought to herself. *They know where I am, and Cat and Methos are looking for me right now.*

"Hey you!" one of the security guards yelled to Meg. She looked around hoping it was someone else he was talking too. "Yeah you, come with me." Meg started to slowly get up, but the guard walked over to her and pulled her up by her hair. "You're too damn slow you bitch!"

"And you're too damn ugly!" Meg retorted. He slapped her across the face and she remained silent. She was taken down a long corridor and then turned towards another dark one. They seemed to walk forever when the guard pushed her through a cloth door and outside into a breezeway. She took in a deep breath. She had been in that prison so long that she had forgotten what fresh air smelled like.

"Ahh Meg. How nice to see you." Came a man's voice. "I hope they are treating you well, after all you are currently the guest of honor."

Meg spat at the man's feet, and he gave her an upper cut to the lower jaw. "What do you want with me, I never did anything to you."

"You'll find out soon enough," he said. "Once I have Cats' power, I will have the power to take your Methos's friends head, then I can be the only one!"

"Bastard! Cat and Methos will never allow it."

"Ahh, so young yet so naive. It's too bad I have to kill you." He said as he pulled out his sword. Meg turned pale. "Oh don't worry, it won't hurt for too long, just a quick jab through the heart!" he said as he stuck his broadsword through her chest. Meg fell to the ground screaming in pain as he twisted the sword deeper.

An hour later, Cat and Methos arrived at the place where the kidnappers had instructed them to go. "I have an eerie feeling about this." Cat said as she looked at Methos.

"I don't like it either." He responded. "There's no buzz, no sign off life, no..." he stopped. He looked at Cat who had gotten the feeling too.

"No they didn't? Tommy would never, would he? Oh my God I bet he did!" Cat ran towards the gates of the abandoned prison camp and used her saber to break it open. Inside the door, she saw her worst fear. "Meg!"

Meg was lying on the ground covered in blood crying. "What happened? I should be dead, but I'm not. I can't be one of you, it's not suppose to be this way."

Cat tried to help her up, but Meg was to hysterical. "Meaty help. We got to get her out of here and now." Methos ran to the other side of Meg, and he and Cat picked her up in the fireman's carry. They had reached the door, when Mary walked in followed by Joe limping his way. "Joe, get Mary out of here!" Cat yelled. Joe pulled Mary back and headed her outside. "We can't let Mary see her like this. Quick, let's find another way out of here. Meg, just relax, the pain will pass, just give it time."

"Ahh yes, time is something she has that the two of you no longer do." Cat turned and faced Tommy.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" she yelled dropping Meg and drawing her sword. "I'm going to take your head if it's the last thing I do. Meaty get Meg out of here. I don't care if Mary sees her, I don't want either of them hurt."

"Cat no!" he yelled out. "I won't let you do this." He said walking towards her, but she twisted and aimed the sword at his neck.

"Now!" she yelled, the anger and fear of what could happen, showed in her face. Methos was struck by fear. Even those few days ago she was never that upset, it was almost like it wasn't her. He let Meg down, who insisted she could walk, and he helped her out the door they had come in.

"You started this whole war didn't you? Why?"

"I figured I'd get the mortals to do all of the dirty work, that way I'd get the Prize."

"But why?"

"I lost my mentor to mortals. By Hunters actually. You know the renegade Watchers. Well, this is my revenge on the world, mortals and Immortals alike. Now let's fight." He drew his sword and lunged towards her.

Cat had seriously underestimated his ability. He was better than she was by far, and she knew that the last image of Meaty that she would ever see, was the look on his face when from somewhere inside her, one of the past Quickenings yelled "Now!" She had done it to protect him, and now she would never see him again. The last thing Cat remembered was this sharp feeling in her chest and then Tommy's blade swing towards her neck, before she passed out.

"Megs saved Cats life." Methos finished as he watched the expressions on Cats face shift. Everyone could tell that Cat still blamed herself for Megs loosing her life.

"I'm going to see what's taking Mary so long. I don't think I'm so hungry anymore." Cat said as she stood up and put her jacket on.

Bray stood up and hugged her. "I'm sorry Cat, we didn't know. It must be hard for you." Cat nodded and walked away. "Is she going to be ok?"

"She keeps blaming herself." Methos said. "No matter what we do or say, whenever Megs or Chris' name is brought up, she withdraws from everyone."

"How's Mary handling it?" Bray asked. "She lost her first assignment and best friend within a few months of each other."

Methos looked at his beer and frowned. "She took it better than Cat." He said as Mary walked in with several bags of food. "Speaking of which, where did Cat go?"

Mary put the food down on the table and sighed. "She decided to go for a walk."

"Maybe I should go talk to her." Richie said as his brotherly instincts kicked in. It was a feeling he hadn't felt for Cat in ages.

"Maybe we all better go." Bray said. "She doesn't need to be alone right now."

Methos put a hand on Richies' shoulder. "It's what she wants right now. She gets like this sometimes. When she's ready, she'll come back."

"Well, let's eat before all this food gets cold." Joe said as he started to unpack the bags. "We'll worry about Cat later. She's a big girl and can take care of herself."

Later That Night
The Barge

Bray put Lane in her crib and went up on deck. She was standing with her arms crossed over her chest and staring into the river. She didn't even flinch when Richie came out. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body against his. "What are you doing?" he asked. Bray closed her eyes and listened to his voice. Life had been tough on her, but she still had feelings. No matter how well she hid them, Richie always knew, "I know you aren't taking in the sites. What's wrong?"

His voice was so soft, she almost got lost in it, but the pain wouldn't let her, "I'm thinking."

"About what?"

"Everything. The war. Life and death. Being a mother to Lane. Losing Meg and how it's affecting Cat. It's like being in suspended animation, and all I can do is watch the world go by without me." She let her head fall back against his chest and closed her eyes. Slowly, months of frustration were converted to tears. In the close to 35 years he'd known her, she had only cried a few times. Her main reflex was to explode, to become enraged. Richie was the only person that knew how vulnerable she really was. He turned her around and held her tight against him. She rested her head against his chest listening to his heartbeat, until hers fell into rhythm with his. Richie listened as Brays' breathing slowed to match his own. Their bodies were in unison and it felt as though the world had stopped turning.

The spell they were under was broken by the buzz. Bray instinctively went for her sword, but Richie placed his hand over hers. "It's Cat." He said as she came into view and started to walk up the ramp.

"Hey guys." She said as she saw them. "Didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"It's ok, how are you doing?" Bray asked as she hugged her.

Cat shrugged. "I've been worse. I'm glad you guys are here."

"I just wish we'd known sooner, we would have been here for you."

"You're here now and that's all that matters. That all of us are here and safe, to ride out the rest of this war."

"But how are you really doing?" Richie asked. He knew Cat better than most of their friends. She had stayed with him when she first came to the states, and he had always been there as her big brother even when she no longer needed it.

"It's strange. I ran from the memories of Paris for 25 years, and now that I'm back..."

"Just don't go back to the states and turn into that Hellion child again." Richie laughed. "I don't think Methos would ever forgive me."

"What is the deal between you two anyway?" Bray asked as Cat hopped up onto the railing. Bray hopped up next to her and put an arm around her.

"He's been there for me through all of this. He's been a shoulder for me to cry on, a pair of arms to hold me when I wake up crying from a bad dream, someone to share my bed with when I need love. He's been everything I've needed but never had."

"I hope that's not the only reason you love me." Methos said as he emerged from below. He crossed to the railing and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Feeling better?"

"A little bit. I'm sorry guys, I know I haven't been much company since you guys got here."

"We understand." Bray said. "Well, it's getting late, and I think I'm about ready to turn in." She said as she hopped off the railing. "Richie?"

"Right behind you." He said as he followed her down to the barge.

Cat looked out over the Seine and sighed. Methos wrapped his arms around her and placed his head on her shoulder. "Cold?" he asked as she shook her head. "You're shivering. Here, take my coat." He said as he took it off and started to put it on her.

"Methos, do you ever wonder what would happen if one day you went off to a fight and didn't come back."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you wonder, who will miss you? Did you do enough? What could you have changed?"

"Caitynn, I'm over 5,000 years old. I stopped thinking of things like that a long time ago. You can't keep thinking things like that, or else you'll become so distracted that one day you won't come back from a fight."

"I guess your right, but Megs never had the chance to live like we do."

"You can't keep blaming yourself. Megs was the one who chose to die for you. If you could have stopped her I'm sure you would have."

"Why didn't you stop her?"

"Because it happened all so fast. She had the instincts to survive, and those instincts are what allowed you to be here now in my arms. With a barge full of people who love you."

"I just feel bad for Richie and Bray. They've been together for so long, and now they could be separated at any time because of this war. And think of Lane. She'll never know her parents, and it's because of what we are."

"You're tired. Let's go to sleep and things will look better in the morning." He said as he helped her off the railing.

She stood there content in his arms. Ever since they defined their relationship, she felt that no matter what was going on around them, as long as she was in his arms, she could feel safe. "I love you."

"Me too, my little kitty." He said as he kissed her, as she purred.