Spirals of the Mind

Title: Spirals of the Mind: Chapter 2
Author: JadeHeart
Archived: If anyone would like it, please ask me first!
Fandom: Highlander
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: angst
Timeline: Not sure exactly when but Darius and Tessa are dead at this point.
Characters: Duncan/Ritchie/Kaiya (OC)
Feedback: Feedback is always welcome!
Summary: The crossing of lives and loves; they come and go.
Author’s Notes: As you will be able to tell, this story will jump in the timeline a little to get to the next point of interaction of the characters. This chapter is set after the deaths of both Darius and Tessa.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, they belong to the creators of ‘Highlander’ , nor am I making any profits from this.


Chapter 2

Duncan groaned as he was dragged unceremoniously across the ground by his feet, his head ringing on the cobblestone path, his blood leaving a smeared trail behind. He made an attempt to move, but the moment he did, his legs were dropped and a hard brutal kick was delivered to his ribs. He heard a couple break at the impact. A hand delved into his pocket to withdraw his wallet and then his head was yanked up by his hair. He couldn’t focus his eyes but he felt the coldness of the machete rest against his throat. At the back of his mind was the thought that he could recover from a slit throat, but then through his blurred vision he saw the arm draw back to swing, and realised that the force of that strike was likely to completely decapitate him.

What a waste, he thought, unable to do anything but wait for the blow to fall. Even his accelerated healing abilities as an immortal would not beat his doom. Instead the blow seemed to falter, and then he was suddenly falling unimpeded backwards, to lie bleeding on the stones, and he blacked out for a time.

He came to with the jolt of returning life. He had, after all, died from the two mortal blows stabbed into his kidneys. He looked at the figure squatting next to him, coat pulled around her, with scarf and hat elegantly framing her features.

“Welcome back. I think you might want this.” and she tossed his wallet onto his chest. He sat up, taking it and flicked through, then looked around. There was no sign of his assailant.

“Where is ..?”

“Your ‘friend’?” she interrupted. “Gone – permanently.”

He got to his feet, pocketing his wallet and checking nothing else had been left behind. “How?”

“I broke his neck.” she replied off-handedly. “It’s less messy. I then dumped his body in the river, after taking your wallet back. Just so there’s nothing to link you to him.”

“I owe you one.” Duncan said.

She shrugged it away, “Let’s just say we’re even. You did me a favour once.” Kaiya then smiled at him. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too.” and he returned the smile.

He poured some wine and handed her a glass. “So what brings you to Paris again?”

“Just passing – thought I would stop in and maybe see if you’re still around. How’s Tessa?” and she looked around, suddenly noticing the absence of the feminine touch.

Duncan turned to look out the porthole. “Tessa’s dead.”

“Sorry.” she said quietly.

Duncan turned to her. “It was a while ago.”

“What happened?”

“She was shot by a mugger.”

She shook her head, “Pointless.”

“Yes.”

“‘So, what else has happened?” she asked, taking a sip of wine, when she suddenly turned to the barge entry just as Duncan, too, felt the buzz.

Ritchie clattered down the stairs. “Hey, Mac…! Oh?” and stopped to stare unabashedly at Kaiya.

“Hi, Ritchie.”

“Hi!” said Ritchie abstractedly, not looking at him, “And ‘Hi’!” directed at Kaiya.

She couldn’t help but smile in return. “He’s one of us?” although she knew the answer.

Duncan nodded confirmation, “The same night as Tessa.” he said.

“Ah!” she said in a soft sad voice. “I’m Kaiya.” she said, putting her hand out to Ritchie.

“Achante!” he said gallantly, taking it and raising it to his lips. Her eyebrows quirked upwards in response.

“Okay, that’s enough, Casanova!” Duncan said, good-humouredly, breaking Ritchie’s grip and stepping between them.

“Mac!” Ritchie griped.

“She’s too old for you.”

“But....” Ritchie began.

“What have I told you about you never know how old an immortal is?”

“I know, but...”

“Take my word on this; she’s too old for you.”

“You take all the fun out of things.” Ritchie groused.

“Wait another few hundred or actually thousand years. Then try again!”

“Thousand?” Ritchie said with a gulp, as he looked at the girl before him. “Okay.” he conceded defeat, and poured himself a wine instead.

“So what else?” she asked again, taking another sip and turning back to Duncan.

Before he could answer, Ritchie spoke up, “Well, the Hunters tried to kill Duncan. They wanted him real bad.”

“Hunters?” she queried.

“Renegade Watchers.”

“Why?”

“They considered Immortals a threat.”

“They thought that the only good Immortal, was a dead Immortal!” Ritchie put in.

“They were afraid of us, scared of what they didn’t understand.” Duncan tried to put things in perspective.

“Scared, smared!” Ritchie snorted. “Houghton was certifiably insane! He was pure evil, Mac! Only someone with no soul could have whacked Darius.”

The sound of shattering glass made both Ritchie and Duncan turn. Kaiya stood there, the remains of the broken wine glass at her feet, eyes wide with shock and her face pale. “Darius?” she whispered in anguish.

“You didn’t know.” Duncan said quietly, feeling uncomfortable.

She didn’t answer him but said, “Dead?”

“I’m sorry, Kaiya.”

The stillness and shattered look on her face made him step forward to offer comfort, even Ritchie looked subdued and compassionate. But it was as though his movement broke the spell holding her motionless, for without a word she fled the barge.

Her sudden flight took them both by surprise, but Duncan quickly raced on deck, only to see her fleeing figure disappear into the night. “Damn it!” he cursed, and went back below.

Ritchie stood there, hands on hips. He shook his head. “I’m real sorry, Mac. I didn’t realise she didn’t know what had happened.”

“It’s okay, Ritchie, you couldn’t have known. I also assumed she knew. It’s been a while ago. I forgot she said she stays away from everything.”

“Will she be okay?”

“I don’t know, Ritchie.” he looked out at the night. “I don’t know.”

Kaiya fled through the night, the rain soaking her to the skin, the drops mingling with her tears. As she ran, her mind kept saying it was a lie, it wasn’t true, Darius was alive. But as she arrived at the church, there was no sense of his familiar presence, it no longer hung over the church that had been his home. She reached the ornate doors and threw herself against them, locked tight to the outside world.

“Nooooo!” she wailed despairingly, fingers scrabbling against the wood work, desperately trying to grip something that no longer existed. She sobbed heart brokenly, as she slid to her knees there on the stone steps, soaked to the skin, and cried a thousand years of loss to the elements.

Ritchie had waited for a while with Duncan, but eventually left to go home at his urging that there was nothing more he could do. Duncan knelt in front of the fire, stoking it up to maintain the warmth inside the barge. The rain had eased up again, but the air was still very damp. He stared at the flames for a moment, then sat up straighter as he sensed a slight buzz, nothing more than a fleeting tingle.

He stepped out on deck, coat and scarf wrapped tight against the chill air. A dark shape stood at the bow, hunched over. He made his way closer and stood there in silence for a moment with her.

“He’s really gone.” she said brokenly, and he could still hear the tears in her voice. “There’s nothing left of him at the church. Nothing.” She turned her back on the dark waters, wrapping arms around herself. “I can’t believe he’s gone. I thought he would last forever. He’s always been here.”

“I know.” Duncan said, voice thick with emotion.

“It shouldn’t have happened!” she said, tears starting to flow again. “I didn’t have the chance to tell him how much he meant to me. I didn’t get to tell him I love him!”

Duncan was taken aback. This was the last thing he had expected. “Darius?” he asked stupidly.

“I loved him from the first time I met him. That was why I stayed so long with him. But I knew he would never leave the church, so I finally accepted that and left. I’ve always remembered that day.” She looked up at the sky. “It was a beautiful day. At the back of the monastery was an avenue of apple trees, ending with a mediation grove. The sun was shining, there were sparrows calling. I almost asked him then to come with me, to leave the church so we could be together. But in all that time, I had seen how much good he had done, the depth of his belief, compassion, and love for his fellow man. I knew I was being so selfish to want to keep him for myself.” She paused a moment. “The apple blossoms were beautiful then.”

That last statement struck Duncan, flashing back to a memory of his discussion with Darius, of Darius’s one love, and one regret. He spoke up then. “He would have gone with you.”

She turned to him, tears glistening on her cheeks. Duncan continued. “He told me once there was one regret he had in his life. That there was a woman he loved, enough to consider leaving the church for. He said she left him – on a day when the apple blossoms were falling.” He heard her catch her breath painfully. “He loved you, Kaiya, and only you. He didn’t tell you because he thought you didn’t feel that way about him, and he couldn’t see how you would want someone so staid as he was. He didn’t want to tie you down.”

She closed her eyes in pain. “All that time wasted.” she whispered. “All that time we could have been together.”

“He still loved you. He never stopped.”

“And I, he.”

“You both had that – even if you didn’t know it.”

“But it wasn’t enough! I love him!” she cried, and it broke Duncan’s heart.

“‘I know.” and now he stepped closer and held her in his arms as she cried.

He finally coaxed her downstairs into the warmth of the barge. Although she wouldn’t die from pneumonia, it didn’t mean that she couldn’t get ill and suffer. So he encouraged her to go to the bathroom and remove her wet clothes, and have a hot shower. She came out wrapped in one of his bathrobes. He drew her closer to the warmth of the fire, wrapping her hands around a brandy glass and urging her to drink, which she did.

He continued to ply her with alcohol, rubbing warmth back into her arms as she sat on the floor before the fire, as he sat behind her. He had another towel and began to dry her hair gently. Tears continue to roll silently down her face, and her silent grief was more heart breaking than wails and weeping.

He began to quietly reminisce about Darius, his memories of him, their conversations. Gradually she returned in kind, and Duncan found out more details of his old friend’s life that he had never known. She then asked him of Tessa, and he found himself talking of her, of his memories of her, his love, and so together they reminisced and cried for their lost loves.

With the warmth, brandy, firelight, and grief, it was not surprising that they turned to each other for comfort. Duncan sank into the warmth of her body, relishing in the touch of her skin as his hands roamed across it. He tasted the salt as he kissed away her tears, and listened to her cries of ecstasy, as he felt his own release in the pillow of closeness they shared.

Duncan rolled over as he half awoke, feeling the sunlight warming the inside of the barge. As he fully turned over, he felt the touch of another body next to him. His eyes opened in surprise and then he remembered as he looked upon Kaiya’s face, eyes still closed and exhaustion clearly evident. He stilled his movements, unwilling to wake her. He hadn’t had to deal with the awkwardness of the morning after for many centuries. But what could he say? That he had taken advantage of her grief at learning of the loss of her one love? He decided to try and leave the bed without waking her, but as he tried to move, she rolled closer to him and snuggled into his shoulder. He stilled his movement, uncertainness making him stiff.

“What is wrong?” he heard her ask.

“Umm…” he hesitated.

Suddenly her warm body left his side, and she slid fluidly from the bed to wrap a towel from the floor around her body. “I’ll go.” she said, her back to him still. She leant down to gather her clothes.

“No!” he said, throwing the sheets back, regardless of his nakedness, thinking only of the frightening thought of her leaving him again. He was surprised at the depth of his feeling. A moment ago he had thought the situation awkward and untenable. Now, the thought of her absence was almost an ache in his heart.

He reached out to grasp her hand and turned her to face him. “Don’t go.” he said, taking her hands “I don’t want you to leave.”

She searched his face, looking for truth. “Truly?” she asked.

He gripped her tightly. “Yes. You know I’ve loved you since we first met that night. You were right back then – neither of us were free, nor did we wish to be, but that doesn’t mean that what we felt wasn’t true or real. Tessa is gone, and so is Darius. I don’t forget them, or the feelings that I had for them. But if you want me, I don’t want you to leave me. I don’t think I could bear it if you walked away from me again.” He waited breathlessly for her answer.

She closed her eyes briefly. “I’ve loved Darius for so long,” she began and his heart sank. “But he is gone and will not be back, no matter how much I may wish it.” She opened her eyes to look at him. She leant forward and placed a sweet kiss on his lips. “And I love you also.”

“Then you’ll stay.”

“For now.” was all she would concede.

He accepted that. He could not ask her to commit to anything more. He was just relieved that she had agreed to stay and so returned the kiss. As her arms wound around him, her towel fell to the floor. As her bare skin touched his naked body, he felt his passion rise. Gently he pulled her back down to the bed, and she did not argue.

Much later, they rose from the bed, and without any further words needing to be said, began their life together. Ritchie had returned to the barge later that morning to allay his worry about Kaiya’s disappearance the night before. He had clattered down the steps, and gave nothing more than a perfunctionary knock before entering. He was greeted with the sight of Duncan sprawled on the couch, bare-chested, with Kaiya curled up against him reading a book. Duncan had greeted him cheerfully enough, and seemed perfectly at ease with the whole scenario.

Ritchie was a little taken aback at first with seeing Duncan and Kaiya together and at the obvious attraction between the two of them. It concerned him a little due to the suddenness of it under the current circumstances, knowing that both were obviously feeling the loss of their loved ones, but he kept his worries to himself. Mac was an adult, as was Kaiya, and both could take care of themselves. Besides, it wasn’t his place to pry.

And since they both seemed happy with the situation, he was happy enough to accept them as a couple, just as they accepted him into their lives also. In some ways, it reminded him of his time with Duncan and Tessa, even though Kaiya was very different from Tessa, but it was the same sense of belonging, of being family. Ritchie liked having that feeling again. No matter how old he got, it was still something he cherished.

There was one thing though about his feelings between Kaiya and Tessa, that was very different. Something he was honest enough to admit, at least to himself. He realised that he was strongly attracted to Kaiya in a way he hadn’t been with Tessa. It made him feel extremely uncomfortable at times, as though he was betraying Duncan’s trust and friendship, and also Kaiya’s. He knew he would never say anything to either of them. After all, how could he? And he wouldn’t dream of trying to act upon his feelings either, but it still didn’t make him feel good about himself. So he buried those feelings deep inside himself, and just enjoyed the fact that he could accept their companionship and love.