After the Fire: Part 7:
The next morning
The barge

Richie had fallen asleep on deck after an exhausting display of emotion. He awoke to the sound of footsteps on the gangway. He forced his eyes open, "Bray?"

"No, I need to talk to all of you. It's important." Chance said as he headed for the door.

Richie got to his feet and grabbed Chances' shoulder. "What do you know? Where's Bray? Where's Lane?" Richie yelled.

Methos heard the commotion and ran to the door followed by Mary. Richie was still badgering Chance when Methos opened the door. "You know where Cat is! Tell me!" he screamed grabbing Chance by the edge of his jacket.

Richie yelled again, "Who are you? How do you know?"

Mary pushed Methos aside angrily, "Stop it!" she screamed. "This is Chance Portmore. He's Brays' watcher." she said holding the two Immortals off with her outstretched arms. "Let's all go inside and talk this out." with that said, she took Chance by the hand and lead him inside. They sat on the couch beside Joe, who knew better than to get between angry Immortals, had to admit, Mary had balls. Methos took the chair and Richie leaned against the wall directly across from Chance. "What do you know Chance?" Mary said calmly.

The phone rang and Richie nearly broke his neck trying to answer it, but Methos got there first. "Hello?" he said hoping to hear Cats' voice on the other end. Instead, there was a man.

"If you want your loved ones safe, come to the bridge by Notre Dame tonight." The voice was deep and Methos thought he recognized it. "Just you and the boy. Alone! No cops or we kill them." the man finished and hung up.

"So? What was that about?" Richie demanded.

"That was the kidnappers. They want me and Richie at the bridge by Notre Dame tonight, without the police, or Cat, Lane and Bray die." Methos said calmly, "Now, Chance is it? What do you know about all this?"

Chance looked down at the floor, "Bray and Cat went to Le Jardin de fleur last night." Chance paused, "They went to meet the kidnappers and Mary thought something might happen."

Richie turned to Mary, his temper flaring. "You knew they went to meet the kidnappers instead of Elysse, and you didn't tell us?"

Mary became defensive, "I didn't know anything was wrong. I thought they'd be back by now."

Chance looked up, "They're in trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Joe asked.

Methos leaned forward in the chair, "What happened?"

"About five minutes after they arrived at the fountain there was a rustle in some nearby bushes. When they turned to see what it was they were shot."

Richie, who had turned toward the wall, shouted, "Damn!" as he slammed his fist against it. Mary jumped, startled. Richie turned back to the group and spoke, "I knew something was wrong last night. I should have been there."

Methos yelled at him, "And what? Get yourself shot? You'd be no good to her dead." He turned to Chance, "Did you see what happened next?"

"Four men put their bodies in a van and drove off." Chance answered.

"Did you see where they went?" Mary asked.

"No. But I heard one of the men say they had to get them somewhere before they came around." Chance added.

"I don't think the war is quite over yet. Sounds like Hunters." Methos said.

Marys' eyes widened, "Not again."

"What do we do now?" Richie asked.

Methos answered, "I think we better make plans to be at that bridge tonight."

The Barge later that night

Mary paced around the barge in a panic. Methos and Richie had left over 20 minutes before, and Joe had gone behind them as a backup promising to stay out of sight. "Mary, it's going to be ok. Richie and Adam will find them and bring them back safely." Chance said as he watched her pace.

"I should have never let Cat and Bray go by themselves."

"You didn't. You had me go and I let you down. I let everyone down!"

Mary crossed over to the couch where Chance was sitting and sat in front of him on the table. She took both hands in hers and placed them on her lap. "No you didn't. You tried to follow them but you lost them. It happens. And you could never let me down."

The bridge at Notre Dame

The lights along the river bank didn't quite reach under the bridge. Joe waited in his car on the street above carefully watching Methos and Richie as they walked towards the bridge. As the two Immortals neared the darkness, a tall man stepped forward into the edge of the light.

"So nice to see you two. I bet you'd like to see what I've got at home." The man said as he raised his arm and tipped his hat. Richie and Methos fell to the ground with mortal chest wounds.

Joe got ready to follow the Hunters, "Here we go."

The tall man walked over to the bodies followed by three men with guns. They loaded the bodies in a van, just as they had done to Cat and Bray, and were off. Joe followed them through the streets of Paris. "We're being followed sir." one of the men called from the back of the van.

"Loose them!" came the order from the front seat, "Down this next street." After two more sharp turns Joe lost them.

"Damn!" he said hitting the steering wheel, "Good thing Methos had that Global Positioning System transmitter on him."

An hour later, Joe limped his way up the ramp and to the door of the barge. He took the key out of his pocket and opened the door. There on the couch was Mary and Chance. "Ughm." Joe coughed slightly embarrassed.

Mary stood up and looked at him. "Well? Where are they? Are they coming?"

"Let's just say it's a good thing I had a few tricks up my sleeve." he said as he took the portable GPS transmitter out of his pocket.

Mary collapsed back onto the couch. "Damn all of them! Someone remind me to retire when this is over."

"We have to go get them, now that we know where they are. That is if they're still alive. We can't just leave them there!" Chance said as he put his arm around Mary.

"You two aren't going anywhere!" Joe said. "I'm calling in some friends on this one. I don't want to loose you guys too." He said as he crossed over to the phone.

While Joe made the call, Chance looked at Mary with a devilish grin. "Let's go." he said as he picked up the device. "I can't wait till the reserves get here, it could be too late by then.

Mary nodded and they sneaked out the door. When Joe was done with the call, he turned around. "It's all set, the... Oh shit!"