Immortal's Holocaust: Part 6:
Next day, Joe's Safe Haven

"Meg! MEGAN?!" Mary ran across the field to where her best friend and fellow Watcher was riding one of Joe's horses. Meg stopped and looked down at her friend.

"This better be good, you're scaring Thunder." She said as she patted the horses neck. She dismounted and tied the reins to a nearby fence. Meg and Mary had been best friends for as long as they could remember, and the only time Mary called her Megan was when it was important.

"Joe talked to Cat!" Mary said trying to get her breath. "She's ok and doesn't want us to worry. She says she's safe."

"Where is she? After that wild goose chase in California where she lost me, she could be anywhere."

"She didn't say, but from what Joe said, I have a pretty good idea."

"Where? Don't keep me in suspense any longer. Tell me."

"If you lost someone that meant as much to you as Duncan did to Cat, where would you go?"

"Paris!" Meg said as she slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead. "Why didn't we think of it sooner?"

"Because you never think. Unless it's about a certain guy you like!" Mary teased.

Meg gave her a look like *you're gonna get it now*, and Mary took off running.

Joe watched the two girls from the kitchen window and smiled. He had watch the two grow up together, and they were always like this. He knew that as soon as he told Mary about Cat, she would run and tell Meg and they would figure out where she was. "Rookies!" he said to himself laughing. "Don't you two go and get any ideas, Cat wants to be left alone. And until further notice, that's how she'll remain. Understood?"

"Yes uncle Joe." The two girls said stopping long enough to catch their breaths before chasing each other again.

The Barge

Cat woke up the next morning experiencing deja vu. It had been a long time since she woke up in the barge, and the way she felt, she felt as she did the first time she woke after dying. She had been having nightmares most of the night, and a few times, Methos would be there comforting her like Duncan and Anne use to. But now that she was wide awake, Methos was gone.

She was about to panic, but as she searched the barge, she found a letter on the fridge. "Cat, gone to get breakfast, be back soon. Meaty."

She couldn't believe he still let her call him Meaty. It was a nickname she called him one night after they had gone out drinking together with Chris, Duncan, Joe, Amanda, and Richie on her 21st birthday. She had gotten so drunk, that he had to carry her to her room at the apartment she and Chris were living in. It had been the first time since she had gone to live with Chris that she had gotten drunk. It reminded her of her wild days after she came to America and would drink all the time. No one minded too much, because she was legal and Chris told her as long as she drank responsibly, she had no problems with it. As a matter of fact, after she returned from Mexico with Chris, Cat had completely changed her ways, and had not taken drugs or been with another man since.

The barge seemed so quiet, so Cat turned on the radio and looked through the massive CD collection. When she couldn't find one she liked, she headed for the shower. She had been traveling a few days without taking a shower, and she was feeling the grungeiness. When she got to the barge last night, she was to tired to do anything but sleep, even though she stayed up half the night talking.

When the temperature was right, Cat stepped into the shower and just let the warm water carry her into another world. It felt so good, that she didn't even feel the buzz when Methos got close enough.

Methos walked into the barge knowing Cat was somewhere close. When he walked in and didn't see her, he figured she was still asleep, if she was able to sleep. She had been tossing, turning, and screaming most of the night, so much that he went in their and stayed with her. He remembered when Alexa was dealing with the fact she was dying, she would have bad dreams and he would stay with her. She had felt comforted by having him there watching over her almost like he was protecting her. He felt compelled to do that with Cat. In the past few years, she had become like a younger sister to him. A much younger sister.

"Cat?" he said looking around for her. She was not in the bed and he couldn't find her. He was just about to walk outside when she walked out of the bathroom wearing only a small towel. "Good morning."

Cat jumped and then struggled to regain control of the towel wrapped around her. "God Meaty, don't sneak up on me like that. I didn't feel you come home."

Methos stood there staring. For a woman in her 40's with a 15 year olds body, Cat was beautiful. He had known many women in his 5000 years, and most of them would have killed to be like Cat. "Sorry." He said as he started to walk away towards the kitchen. "I didn't mean to scare you, I uhm... I mean I... There's doughnuts, bagels, and beer for breakfast. When your ready, help yourself."

Cat watched him walked away and wondered what was with him. She threw on an oversized tank top and a pair of boxer shorts, and headed into the kitchen brushing her hair. "I feel a lot better now."

"You look better. So what do you want for breakfast? I can make you eggs or something."

"Just cereal and a Coke will be find. Is there any Fruit Loops?" she said searching through the cabinets for a bowl and the box of cereal. She found the Fruit Loops and poured some into the bowl then headed for the fridge for a Coke.

"Are you planning on putting the Coke on the Fruit Loops instead of milk*?" he asked eyeing her as she opened the coke.

"Maybe." She grinned. She took a sip of the coke and then started on the cereal.

"Want to talk about the dreams? I'm pretty good at interpreting them after all I was friends with Freud."

"It wasn't that kind of nightmares." She said remembering Freud was obsessed with finding something sexual about everything. "Did I ever tell you I'm sort of like a dream psychic?" he shook his head. "For as long as I can remember, I have these dreams that eventually come true in some way. Well I was dreaming that I was sent to a concentration camp like they had in World War 2, only everyone there was Immortal."

Methos bit into a bagel and looked at her. "People use to think Hitler was Immortal. I would have loved to take his head if he was! I don't think this war has gotten that bad, but I think what it's trying to tell you is that something is going to happen and you need to prepare yourself for it."

"It just sacred me, that's all. I haven't had a dream like that in a long time, and since this war broke out, my dreams have been getting worse and more frequent. The night before Chris died, I dreamed that it came down between me and her for the Prize, and I won."

"Well, now I know why you're blaming yourself. There was nothing you could do about Chris, it wasn't your fault no matter what you think. I blamed myself when Alexa died."

"Why? You knew it was going to happen."

"But I had the chance to stop it. I could have gone after those damn crystals and saved her."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I knew if I loved her as much as I did, I'd have to let her go sooner or later. Even if she had lived, who knows what the power of those crystals would've done to her. She could have been fine, or she could have been spending the rest of her life miserable living with her illness. She would never be a true Immortal like us. I blamed myself for a long time after she died, even though I knew there was nothing I could do, but what I did."

Cat thought about it for a second and then nodded. She remembered how upset he was when Alexa had died. He had spent the past six months traveling with her and when he knew her time was short, he tried to save her by finding all the pieces to the Methusala's stone. With not much luck at retrieving it after he found it, he gave up the hope and went to spend the last few days with her, making her happy by doing the one last thing she wanted to do.

"Do you ever regret getting involved with mortals? Don't you wish you could find someone like us and spend the rest of your lives together?"

"Honestly?" he said. "I'm scared of long term commitments." He laughed.

Just then, Methos jumped on to the counter and turned pale. Cat looked around to see what could have scared him, and saw a spider crawling on the floor. "Want me to get it?" she said as she walked over towards it. He nodded and then she picked it up and took it outside. "Is there anything your not scared of?" she said as she laughed at his reaction.

"I'm only scared of long term commitments and spiders. I hate spiders."

"You can relax, he's gone now."

"So what should we do today?"

"How about a spar match? We haven't sparred together in years."

"Ok, finish up you're breakfast and I'll meet you outside." He said as he got down off the counter and headed for his sword and walked out the door.