Passover: Act 2, Scene 2
Present Day: Seacouver- Joe's
Eavesdropping was a habit at which Joe was very practiced, but he never had been comfortable with it. Yet, at the moment the temptation was too great, and he was straining to hear the very quiet conversation Richie was having with an unknown person on the other end of a telephone line. The youth had moved to the end of the deserted bar when he'd been handed the phone, and was now faced away from his companion. What had started as a lively discourse, had suddenly dropped to a much lower tone, and had grabbed Joe's interest.
"...Yeah -- well he just robbed a bank," Richie was disclosing sheepishly, "but I really don't know what to do with him. If I'm not careful, it's going to turn out exactly like last time."
Joe put down the highly polished glass before he broke it.
"He has a total mind of his own," Richie seemed to be complaining, "I don't seem to be able to control him anymore. For God's sake, I started all this," that wasn't good news for Joe, but there was worse to come, "and now he just keeps doing things. Things are getting out of control, I just can't stop."
The Watcher decided to take a swig of beer just to stop himself grinding his teeth together quite so loudly.
"...Yeah, I think I may even have to kill him," Joe's heart missed a beat, Richie continued oblivious, "maybe I should shoot him or push him under a train."
{A mortal?!} Joe's mind screamed.
"...Yeah, I know, maybe that is too drastic," Richie shrugged at the phone.
Joe silently thanked God for small mercies.
"You'll help? -- Great!" Richie sounded relieved. "See you in twenty."
Richie slammed down the phone with renewed energy, turned to his friend and smiled.
"See ya later, Joe," he waved, "I gotta run."
Joe strode down the counter as fast as he could, and called his companion back with, "Richie."
The young Immortal turned, Joe tried to think of what he was going to say next, the phone rang. Riche gazed at him in all innocence, and the words just wouldn't form.
"I'll see you later," he eventually said, and reached for the phone.
The youth waved and was gone.
"Joe's Bar," the man greeted with unusual hostility. "Mac?.....Slow down.....Mary what?......I'll make the call now."
***************
"Don't worry Joe's looking for Corinth right now. In a few minutes we'll know where Mary is, and I'll go get her."
"Duncan don't tell me not to worry. Mary is my daughter and I'm supposed to protect her. I can't allow her to be used against you every time one of your enemies show up. It's not fair to me and it's not fair to Mary."
"Anne, I'm not asking you to put yourself or Mary in that position. I'm just trying to..."
He was cutoff by Joe walking in from the back office. "Well I have bad news and worse news. The bad news is we don't have a Watcher assigned to Corinth, so therefore we don't know where he or Mary are right now."
"There's news worse than that?" Anne asked even more alarmed than before.
Joe nodded. "What files we could find on him were very descriptive. Apparently Mac, whatever happened between the two of you, he hasn't let go. He's been hunting for hundreds of years for any descendants of your clan and killing them whether or not they were Immortal. Frankly, he's pissed and he won't rest until justice is done."
"And the bad part of that is?" Mac said nonchalantly.
"Imagine when one day he befriends another MacLeod. One that's the same clan, different vintage."
"Connor?"
Joe nodded. "Apparently when they met, they had no idea who each other were. And Connor led him directly to you."
"So how did Mary get caught up in all this?" Anne asked slightly confused.
"Duncan killed Corinth's son before he became Immortal. It seemed Corinth knew he was getting on in years and wasn't as strong as he used to be. Theory is, he was going into the fight as a suicide battle, and then Jamie would take over as the clan Chieftain."
"Robert killed Corinth and I killed Jamie." Duncan said starting to understand. "But instead of Jamie rising to lead the clan, Corinth rises from the dead- an Immortal, and swears his revenge."
"And since Immortals can't have children, he sees you with Mary, her father figure..." Anne supplied, half trying to convince herself.
Joe nodded. "Now for the worst part. Corinth doesn't fight fair. He's done everything short of killing on Holy Ground. There's even a possibility we can link him to the Hunters."
"So even if Duncan beats him, there's no guarantee Mary's safe?" Anne asked as both men nodded. "So now what? Do we just sit here twiddling our thumbs?" Anne's anger was returning, and both men knew she had every right to be upset.
"I've got every Watcher in the area on the lookout. It's only a matter of time before they report back."
"Joe, time is something we don't have much of." Duncan said, standing up and reaching for his katana. "I'm going to find Mary and bring her back myself." He said, as he headed towards the door.
"Mac."
"Yes, Joe?"
"Be careful.