Lost

[Gaston Marceau]

When you're almost high enough up to be considered a spacecraft, halfway past mach three appears almost infuriatingly slow. Coupled with concern for Methos and the incessant drone of the SR-71's engines, Gaston was darn near going insane for lack of mental stimulation.

After another half hour of maddening silence, Gaston's mind drifted back to the first day he and Methos had met...

***
1804
New Orleans, Louisiana
On the banks of the Mississippi

The frightened young woman ran frantically down the ally towards the open road and levee beyond. Close behind her was a flurry of steel, silk, and verbal taunts.

Young Marceau slashed the leg of one of the woman's assailants, hamstringing him and thus taking him out of the fight. A kick to the groin followed up by a hilt smash to the top of the head rendered the other lummox painfully unconscious.

"Look ahead, cherie." Gaston admonished as the woman turned to look back with concern. "We're almost out of the woods, neh?"

A sharp click got Gaston's attention. The hamstrung man had drawn a pistol. Gaston whirled, throwing his cape out around him as a shot rang out. Finishing the circle, Gaston tossed his dagger unerringly through the pistolman's eye, dealing with him for good. He quickly adjusted his cape to cover the bloodstain widening quite quickly across his tunic.

"That's it, girl." He told the young lady as they reached the open street and relative safety. "You'll be all right if you avoid dis street for de time being." In gratitude, the woman planted such a kiss on Gaston that quickened his heartbeat a bit more than was healthy for someone losing so much blood. With a laugh, he playfully pushed her away a short time later. "Timing is everything, ma petite. Much as I'd like to revel in your gratitude, I'd best check to see no one else follows, neh?" He carressed the lady's cheek and tweaked her nose, drawing a giggle. "I'll catch up in a minute."

He waited until the lady could no longer see him before sagging back into the alley, and putting a hand to the wound. Seeing the hand come back covered in blood, he sighed. "Heh...might be a bit late. More's the pity." Moments later, Gaston slid down the alley wall and died.

***

Gaston shook his head, a rueful grin on his face. "Those were the days..."  

[Immortal Ghost]

Phoenix paused, then shrugged, no idea basically, but she wasn't caring at the moment, either way it was better then nothing at all.

 

[Immortal Methos]

Joe rubbed his beard. "So, you went to Luana to tell her what had happened to Phoenix," he said, ignoring for the moment that the act was highly against the rules. "Did you witness her murder her Watcher?"

Booth stopped tapping on the computer's keyboard to stare wide-eyed at them.  

[Immortal Methos]

Duncan sped as fast as he legally could over the surface streets of Seacouver, calming his anxiety until his soul felt like ice. Several possibilities passed through his mind: Phoenix and Methos were already dead, whoever had called Luana was luring them to a trap, Phoenix and Luana had betrayed Methos and were trying to kill him as well...

Various combinations twisted through his brain. He would have to be ready for anything.  

[Immortal Ghost]

Kali tilted her head, almost looking annoyed, but at the moment was back to masking her emotions so it was impossible to tell how she felt on the matter, "Yeah, I showed up at the last part, so if there were any words exchanged I missed them."


Luana had no troubles in keeping up, her problem was not riding up his tail pipe, that wasn't going to be helpful in the lest bit. She had long ago figured it a trap, but none the less she at lest knew Methos was alive at the time she spoke to him on the phone, she supposed she could have told Duncan that, but she had been in a rush.

 

[Vesta Shade]

The elevator gave a ding as it reached the lobby floor with no one else getting on and Mat filed out, car keys already in hand, he was in the mood to go, get this done, and he really was hungry, no lie about that. "Come on kiddies, less, whatever you're doing, more walking, we gotta book it."  

[Immortal Methos]

Joe tried not to look as frustrated as he felt as he limped back toward Booth. Leaning over the young man's shoulder he said, "Less gawking at us, more scanning. Have you found anything?"

"Well," Booth said, tearing his eyes back to the screen, "there's a Watcher calling his or herself Papillion who's been doing a lot of posting in the last five days. Only a lot of it doesn't make sense, except to about five others. It's like some private joke only they're in on."

Joe read a few lines of the log as he felt the hair on his head start to stand on end. Here we go again...  

[Immortal Methos]

Adam's stomache rumbled as he followed Matthew off the elevator. He wondered how long it had been since he'd eaten anything, but of course he had no idea when or even what that had been. Food. I don't even have a last name, and I'm worried about when I last ate. Funny world.

His stomache gurgled again, and he decided waffles couldn't come too soon. He picked up the pace as he crossed the lobby, barely glancing at the two men lounging on one of the plush sofas. One was reading a newspaper while the other watched them with a bored expression.  

[Gaston Marceau]

Remember that old song "It's A Small World After All?" Well, it lies. The world is fracking HUGE. Gaston's mood wasn't helped by the fact that when you're flying over the world's largest ocean, all you see is blue, which is hard to track for speed as it passes under you.

The Blackbird continued to fly along straight and true towards Seacouver...it was the pilot who was having trouble. With luck, Methos would never hear about the state his student put himself into over the older man's disappearance, or Gaston was sure to be teased mercilessly when this was over.

Maybe music would do the trick. Since Balance phones had their own satellite lick, they could be easily patched into the comm system of any Balance owned craft. This came in handy quite often, though it had the nifty side effect of being able to pump the MP3's on Gaston's Chocolate phone through the speakers in his helmet.

First up on the playlist happened to be a bluesy song by Jim Byrnes, called 'That River.' Gaston's brow furrowed as the voice rang a familiar bell. "Joe Dawson?" He had only met Joe briefly, but was it possible the man had recorded under an alias? His bar did seem like an excellent venue for that type of music. "Heh...maybe it IS a small world after all..."  

[Immortal Ghost]

Phoenix ran a little to catch up, she had been in her own little world only to realize she was still in the elevator, which scared her enough to go attach herself to Adam's arm. Too many people, far to many people around, she was paranoid, very paranoid, it showed big time.


There was confusion from Kali, "What? What's going on?" It wasn't so much that she cared if she was out of the loop of what the ******** was going on with the five weirdo's as much as there was a hint of worry in her eyes.

 

[Immortal Methos]

Adam patted Phoenix's hand reassuringly where it clutched his arm as they joined Mat outside, and watched him clearing off space in his back seat. Not for the first time he wondered how badly the tall girl had been hurt. She seemed physically okay, but if she had been sexually assaulted by whoever attacked her she really should be going to a hospital. Maybe her friend could persuade her...

*****************

Joe looked up at Kali. "I suspect..." He paused, not wanting to misspeak. "This is a guess, you understand, but it looks like we have some Watchers who have decided to affect The Game."

Booth glanced at the laptop, then back at Joe. "They're making bets... I thought it was dogs or horses."

"Immortals," Joe said grimly. "They're betting on Immortals. And it looks like they're willing to cheat to win."  

[Immortal Ghost]

Phoenix gave a weak smile at him on that, so without a memory he was still nice, that was good at lest. She didn't watch Matthew, instead was glancing around, trying to not step closer to Adam in her fright.



There was a state of shock that went over Kali's features before it was hidden, "That is total and complete bullshit, what the ******** is wrong with people?"

 

[Geno Roads]

((Sorry, I came in a little late and tried my best to post. Hope ya like it.))

The powerful Billionaire, Geno Roads, got up from his desk at his office and began to pace in a straight line. His arms were folded across his chest and his brows bent in deep concentration. His mind was racing with thoughts and possibilities.

I cannot believe Methos is missing. Who the hell knew that Adam Pierson was actually Methos, the myth. He thought sternly to himself as he continued to paced his office. After a few more moments of pacing, he grabbed his trench and throw it on. Walking out of his office and heading to his Mercedes parked below his Tower.

He got into the car and started the ignition, pulling out and speeding away from Roads tower. He reached into his trench breast pocket and removed his cell, re-dialing Duncan's number, which had appeared on his call id. The phone began to ring and he waited him to pick-up.  

[Immortal Methos]

Joe nodded, in full agreement with Kali's outrage, as he continued to try to make sense of the coded posts. The Immortals were refered to by code names as well, such as "Great Scot" -- who was obviously MacLeod, since Conner hadn't been seen or heard from in several years.

Other names that came out at him were Silver Queen, Princess Red and the Black Knight. But the one that really caught his attention was someone called Shadow Fox. Was this Methos?  

[Immortal Methos]

Duncan's cell phone rang shrilly as he was pulling up into the Waffle House parking lot. Parking in the back where the shadows hid him, he put the phone to his ear. "MacLeod," he said hurriedly, knowing from the ID that it was Geno. His eyes swept the area to watch for Luana and anything that might look out of the ordinary.