Cross of Swords: Part 7:
The Loft above the dojo
November 1995

Duncan refused to go near Joe's place, so Cat went to the dojo. When she got there, she found Duncan returning from teaching at the University and Amanda trying to cook. Duncan handed her a cup of tea and they sat down on the couch.

"Where is your sword?" Duncan asked. He use to always had to remind her about it, but lately, she had been pretty good about remembering to carry it with her.

"That's what I needed to talk to you about. It was stolen."

Duncan looked at her. "This is a problem." He said as he sighed in disbelief. "Do you know by who?" Cat nodded and handed him the note from Kenny. "When did this happen? When did you see Kenny?"

"Kenny!" Amanda said startled. "When in the hell did you see him?"

"Last night. Why? What do you know that I need to?"

Duncan and Amanda started to explain their recent episode with Kenny who was another one of Amanda's students, and how he was known to trap Immortals for their heads. "I'm surprised that little piece of shit had the balls to stick around after trying to take our heads." Duncan said as he went to look out the window.

"I should've taken that son-of-a-bitches head when I had the chance." Amanda said slamming her fists on the table. "How could I have been to naive and trust him. How?"

"It wasn't your fault Amanda." Cat said trying to comfort her. She began to see against popular belief, Amanda could be sensitive. "I want to deal with this, I just don't know how."

"We just have to sit back and wait. Do you still have that other sword I gave you?" Cat nodded. When Cat came to America, Duncan had given her one of his swords to use as a backup in case something like this were to happen.

"Can't we talk to Joe? Can't we ask him to help us?" Cat begged. She hated to see Duncan loose one of his dearest friends.

"No, and don't bring it up again. If you want my help, then leave Joe out of this!"

Joe's Place: The next day

The next day, Cat went to Joe's. Amanda knew and promised not to tell Duncan, but the plan was to have Joe locate Chris and then Chris would take it from there. She walked into the bar and got the buzz. She started to run, but she couldn't. She felt like her feet had been nailed to the floor. She began to panic.

"Joe!?" she yelled trying to walk towards his office. "Joe where are you?"

"He's not here." Came a voice from the back. Suddenly a good looking guy walked out of Joe's office. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Cat started to back away. "Who are you? Where's Joe?" she was almost out the door when he started to answer.

"Joe's running some errands. He'll be back in a hour or two. I'm Adam. Adam Pierson." He said as he extended his right hand.

Cat saw the tattoo and began to relax. That name sounded familiar, and she tried to think where she had heard it before. "Methos! Thank God. I'm Cat."

"Oh yes, the juvenile delinquent Richie is taking care of." He said with a smile on his face. "You're hear for info on Cat right?"

"How did you know?"

"Duncan called me last night and asked me for help. That's why I'm here, I'm searching the Watcher file's for clues."

"Do you know where we could find her?"

"If I know Christine, I think so. I've sent word to a Watcher in the area where she may be, and I'm waiting to hear from her now. Can I get you something while we wait?"

"Any chance I could get a beer?" Methos shook his head. "Didn't think so. Coke's fine."

Methos got her a coke and they talked while they waited. They talked about their lives, how he became a Watcher, how he and Chris met, and about Joe and Duncan's fight.

"Do you think they'll patch things up?"

"They need time to cool down. Joe broke a serious rule, and it cost him more than his friends. It cost him the respect of himself, which should happen to no one."

Just then his cellular phone rang. He answered it before the first ring ended. "Adam here... yes... uh huh... and no one has seen her?... Damn!... no, no, keep trying and keep me posted." He said as he flipped the mouthpiece up. "No one has seen her in a few days."

"So now what do we do?" Cat asked.

"We wait." He responded. "All we can do is wait."