Immortal's Holocaust: Part 7:
The Barge- A few days late

The next few days, Cat spent her time free time, which was most of the time, with Methos. They sparred many times, and he was amazed how good she really was. When they weren't sparring, they talked and drank beer. He was a good listener, and he helped her out a lot. He could tell even though she had been in the game for a long time, she was still as frightened as the day she died her first death. He had also convinced her to get a job teaching martial arts at the dojo near the barge.

Cat had just come home from work, when she walked in the barge to find Mary and Meg sitting in the couch talking and laughing. "How did I know the two of you would eventually find me?" she said as she put her duffel bag down and headed for the fridge for a bottle of water. "Does Joe know you're here?"

"Probably," Mary said. "He was concerned about you after you called. We're not here as Watcher's just as your friends. Are you ok?"

"I'd be better if you left." She said wishing almost instantly she hadn't said it. "I didn't mean that. After all Mary, this is your barge now, and I'm intruding."

"You have every right to be here, I don't mind." Mary said.

"Who was you're male friend? "Meg asked. "He's cute."

"Adam? When was he here?"

"He just left. Meg, that was Adam Pierson. You know Adam..." she said. When the two went through training together, they wrote a joint paper together on him. Mary had an advantage, since she had known him since she was a kid.

"You mean that was THE Adam Pierson? AKA Methos the oldest living Immortal? Oh my God, I can't believe I was in the same room as him!"

"Do you know where he went, he was suppose to teach me a new move."

"He said he'd be back in about an hour." Mary said. "So answer my question. How are you doing?"

"We were worried about you. After I lost you in California, I went to Joe and Mary to see if he knew where you might've gone."

"I'm feeling better. I just needed to get away for awhile. I'm still not ready to be involved in the Game, but I'm dealing with it. So what's up with you two." Cat asked as she sat down between the two. Even though they were a lot younger than she was, she had watched the two grow up. She never thought though when they announced they wanted to be Watcher's that Mary would be assigned to Chris and Meg to her. Even though Cat and Mary were closer, she felt a special connection to Meg.

"I'm waiting to be re-assigned." Mary answered. "I really don't want anyone other than Chris, but well..."

"I know." Cat said. Chris's death had hit Mary pretty hard to. There was a moment of silence, and then Cat looked up towards the door. Both girls realized instantly what that look meant. "Stay here, I don't want you two getting into trouble." She said as she took her sword out of it's sheath and headed for the door.

Outside, stood a man in about his late 30's with his sword drawn. "I'm looking for Duncan MacLeod. Do you know where I can find him?"

"He's dead. It happened a few days ago."

"And you are?" he asked, flashing Cat a smile. He was a fairly good looking man, and she could tell by the way he was standing that he was a newbie going for the impossible.

"Cat Renwyck at your service." The man placed his sword under his trenchcoat and walked towards her. Cat started to back up, aiming her sword towards his throat.

"Cat? My God, it is you. It's me, Tommy."

Cat stood there for a minute trying to remember this guy. Then it hit her. "Little Tommy? Tommy from next door?"

He nodded. Cat dropped her sword and ran to him and hugged him. "My God, it's been so long!" Tommy had been her next door neighbor when she was growing up in Wales. If her parents had still been alive when she reached the right age, they would've been married by now. "Come on in." She said opening the door to the barge. Mary and Meg had been watching through the window, hoping to see a fight. When Cat walked in, they ran back to the couch. "Meg. Mary, I want you to meet an old friend of mine Tommy Presar. We grew up together."

"Nice to meet you girls." He said flashing them a grin. Meg seemed to melt.

"Well, we'll leave you two alone to catch up on things." Mary said getting up and trying to pull Meg off the couch. "Come on Megs."

Meg got up reluctantly. "Ok, where are we going?"

"Anywhere, let's go." Cat watched Mary drag Meg out the door and looked at her friend.

"Sorry about that, Meg is a little boy crazy. Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm fine. My God, Cat look at you. You're beautiful."

"Yeah well, I'm 40 years old and I'll always look 15." She said.

"Is that why you left? I was sorry to hear about your dad. By the time I came home from Eton, you had already gone off I never got a chance to tell you had bad I felt."

"It was a long time ago. How did it happen to you if you don't mind me asking?"

Tommy looked around for a moment and then at the floor. "I got caught up in the war. I was dating this girl, who I later found out she was like us. Well, one night we were kidnapped and taken to this place. They shoved me into a room and did all these things to me and then left me to die. I woke up a few hours later out in the middle of nowhere. That was two years ago. My teacher lost his head a few weeks ago to the same people who killed me. They didn't even know I was there. I'd hate to think what would've happen to me if they had."

Cat turned pale. Her dream was true. There were places where mortals were killing everyone. "And so you came looking for Duncan? Why?"

"I thought if I had his Quickening, I'd be all right without a teacher. Were the two of you close?"

Cat nodded. "He was my teacher and one of my best friends."

The two of them sat in silence. "It's good seeing you again. I often thought of you after I left."

"Do you think if you hadn't left, we'd be married by now? I always loved you."

"I don't know." Cat said looking at the floor. It had been more than 25 years since she had last seen Tommy, and now he all of a sudden popped back into her life. She wondered if this was how Duncan felt when Amanda popped back into his life after being away for months at a time.

Cat felt Tommy's hands on her face, and then lifted it. He kissed her softly on the lips. "I've waited a long time to do that." He said as he pulled back and closed his eyes.

Cat stood up and looked out the window. She had liked the way Tommy had kissed her, but there was something else bothering her. She knew this was the guy she was suppose to be married to, but she hadn't had feelings for him in over 20 years. Not only that, he was still a fairly new Immortal and she couldn't tell whether or not he was serious or just setting her up for a down fall. Plus, somewhere in her heart, she had begun to have feelings for Methos. Those feelings had begun so long ago on her 21st birthday, when she first gave him the nickname Meaty, but only recently had her feelings became more clear.

"I can't do this." She said turning to look at Tommy. He had a hurt look on his face. "I just got out of the Game, and I'm not ready to get back involved."

"I don't want you as a teacher, only as my friend. I'm sorry. I should leave." He said getting up and heading towards the door. "I didn't mean to bother you."

"Wait." She said walking towards him. "You'll always be my first best friend, but right now, I don't want to get involved. I'm sorry."

"It's my fault." He said as he looked at her. "I'm staying here in Paris, if you want to talk, call me." He said as he kissed her again. He could feel her start to pull away, but something held her to him.

"Don't do this to me." She said as she looked at him. "You knew I was never able to resist you."

He led her towards the couch and sat down. He pulled her into his lap and kissed her again. "I love you." He said into her ear as he started to blow into it.

Cat threw her head back, knowing this shouldn't be happening. Part of her wanted to run away, but another part wanted to stay and feel what it was like to be loved in that way again. She stayed.

An hour later, they had both just hit their climax when the buzz hit. "Shit!" Cat said. She tried to break free of Tommy's grasp, but it was too late. Methos had walked in through the door.

He walked in and saw Cat just as she had hit her climax. He wasn't sure what was happening, and out of instinct, reached for his sword. When he realized what was happening, he turned around and walked back out the door. He heard him follow her as he leaned over the railing of the barge looking out into the river.

"Hi." She said as she walked up next to him. "Everything all right?"

"I should be asking you the same question. Who is that?"

"Have you ever heard me talk about Tommy? The guy I was betroved to?" He nodded. "He showed up today looking for Duncan's head."

"And you felt compelled to hop into bed with him?" He said sharply. He had no idea where that came from. A part of him felt jealous for some reason.

"It just happened, I didn't mean for it too." She looked away from him. "It wasn't like that. I didn't want to, it just..."

"You didn't want to? You mean he..." Methos said drawing his sword and heading into the barge. As long as he could help it, no one would harm Cat.

Cat ran after him. "Meaty, no it wasn't like that either. Please stop!" But by then he was already in the barge and she could hear the clang of the swords. He had locked the door behind him, causing Cat to have problems opening the door. When she finally got it open, she walked in to see Tommy on the floor with Methos about to take the final blow.

"Methos stop! I swear to God, if you take his head, I'll never look at you the same way. I'll never speak to you again, and I will take your head."

"Cat, you can't interfere, you know that." Tommy said with a tremble in his voice.

Methos looked at Cat and then Tommy and then back at Cat and threw his sword against the wall. "You're Quickening isn't worth the life you live. No get out of here, and next time I see you, you won't be so lucky."

Tommy stood up and looked at Cat in disbelief and then ran out the door.

Cat plopped down on the couch and pulled her legs in Indian style. She placed her elbows on her knees and placed her head in her hands. "I can't believe you did that." She said as he sat down next to her.

Methos moved closer to her and put his arm around her. "I'm sorry. I thought he had hurt you."

Cat stood up and walked towards the fridge and took out a coke. She went back towards the couch and was about to sit down when she changed her mind.

"Please don't do this. I said I'm sorry, what more do you want me to do?" she stared at him for a moment and then sat back down cross legged. "Cat?" he looked at her sitting next to him and realized for the first time that somewhere along the line, he had fallen in love with her. He took his finger and placed it on her chin, pulling her head to look at him. "Say something."

"You hurt me. You didn't let me explain, you just went off."

"Do you love him?"

"I did, but that was what seems a lifetime ago. We grew up together in Wales, and we were suppose to be married now. I guess I just wanted to feel loved again by someone."

Methos looked at her and wanted to tell her how he felt. That the thought of her with another man was tearing him up inside. Instead, he leaned his face towards hers and kissed her softly on the lips. When she didn't pull back, he kissed her more passionately forcing his tongue into her mouth.

Cat tried to pull away, but Methos grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her back down. "Don't walk away from me, please?" he said as he kissed her again.

Cat pulled back and slapped him. "You can't tell me what to do. And if you ever lay another finger on me again, I swear either you're head will be mine or I'll have died trying. Is that understood?" she didn't wait for an answer. She got up, grabbed her sword and walked out the door letting it slam behind her.

"Damn!" Methos said as he buried his head in his head. "Damn!"