The sound of a large crash from the next room startled the two men. Running frantically for the room, Richie opened the door, to see…

Rebec sitting on her bed, a book in her hand, munching on a chocolate bar, and the nightstand knocked into the closet door.

"Ummmm, everything okay in here, Rebec?"

"Yep."

"Can I ask what happened?"

"What happened... what, Richie?"

"To the nightstand."

"It got knocked over." Rebec looked up at him. Jumping up off the bed, she walked past him. "Tell Adam or Alex or whatever that I'm gonna go down to the restaurant, okay?"

"Yeah. Could you bring us something back up, when you come? I think Adam wants us all to go out later."

"Yeah, sure. Three good for you?" Rebec asked as she walked out the door. Being a luxury suite it didn't slam, but the thud of its closing sounded a lot like a coffin to Richie. Richie turned and walked back into the bedroom he shared with his beloved.

"We have a problem."

"What?" Methos asked, as he lazed, half-naked, on the large bed.

"Rebec. She's having some trouble... adjusting."

"She'll get over it. But, I have something you need to adjust," Methos said as he caressed Richie's back.

"Get sex off the brain, Old Man. Rebec needs to get shrunk. She... needs to see a shrink, or something. That noise we heard was her tossing a piece of furniture around. Granted, it's only one, but she *is* trained with a sword. Can you honestly tell me that if she comes after you with a sword you won't try to kill her? You don't want to, but when you fight... well, we both know it's partly instinct. Your body moves on autopilot. You'd kill her, even though you wouldn't *mean* to. We need to get her some help before she does something stupid, Methos."

"Fine. Sean Burns may have been killed by Duncan, the bane of immortals," Methos said, with a smirk, "But he had an apprentice... Gabriel ‘s only about a hundred and sixty. Methos paused and thought about the events of the past few days. "You may be overreacting, Richie. She appeared to deal with it well yesterday, and the day before," he pointed out.

"She was in shock. I used to do the same thing every time they put me in a new foster home," Richie explained. "It happens so fast that you react all nice, at first. Later, the resentment and angers sets in. She'll hate us, or rather think she hates us, because we, you and I, are the reason behind Kris leaving."

"I see. Well if it wasn't for the Boy Scout, I would have called Sean Burns. He was always the preferred shrink. Only treated Immortals and few mortals, most of whom were pre-Immortals. Perhaps Gabriel will help us."

"Would he? I mean, Mac was my teacher."

"True, but he wouldn't be doing it for you. He would do it for me. He likes me." Methos smiled as he reached up and dragged his red-headed lover down to him.

"Ummm... Meth..." Richie tried to speak, but a mouthful of five thousand year-old immortal blocked him.

* * *

A few hours later.

Rebec sat in the hotel's restaurant, stirring the strawberry and chocolate ice cream around to form a very interesting color. In her ears the latest CD from 'the slayers' was blasting. She rocked her head in time to their third track, 'Death to the Angels'. So intent was she in her new favorite song that she didn't hear the man coming up behind her. He smiled down at Rebec's rocking head. He wrapped his arm around her, turning her quickly.

"Hey, Rebec."

"Kris! What are you doing here? Where have you been? Why did you leave?" Rebec exclaimed as she hugged her foster father.

"Yeah... well... that's why I came back. I have to go away again, but I came to tell you a bit of why I had to leave, and to ask you to do a favor for me. Give Adam and Richie a chance. I wouldn't leave you with them unless I had to."

He waited to make sure she understood and would give him a chance to explain. "All right. The *short* version, for now... A little under a thousand years ago I was traveling. I came upon a tournament meant to preserve some nobleman's honor. The defender was a young man. He was small, very slight, what they called fey. His hair was the darkest black I have ever seen and his eyes... Oh Rebec, they were the color of that Chinese dragon you like so much. He was beautiful, and I fell in love with him right there. Well, maybe lust. Anyway, I wanted him. I had to find out more about him. Ask Adam -- he can tell you what a fool I made of myself. Anyway, I asked him if he would let me be his champion -- let me fight for him.

"Rebec, he was grace itself. He *was* a quickening. He... Rebec there aren't words to describe him, he was so beautiful. I pursued him for years until Adam finally 'killed' Stephen, faking his death. I helped. I wanted them to see I could help them. Eventually, I asked Adam if I could court Stephen. After a couple of decades, he said yes. We got married. And that, my little flute, was perfection, heaven itself. I loved him so.

"A little over a century and a half ago we had a fight. I hurt him. Adam told me if I ever hurt him, he'd hunt me down and kill me. At the time, I'd replied that if I ever hurt Stephen he had my permission and I expected him to kill me. Now..." A prickle in the back of his head caused Kristian to look up. Across the room a young man with short brown hair looked over to him. Waving, the man walked to the table.

"Kris! Well, hello." Turning, he smiled at Rebec, "You must be Rebec. Pleasure to meet you. Kris, Adam called me in to shrink some heads. Where is your husband? It's been too long. He's late for his appointment," Gabriel said, sitting down at the table.

"Hello, who are you?" Rebec asked.

"Gabriel Lazar. I'm sorta like the shrink to the stars except it's shrink to the immortal, pre-Immortals, and very few... extremely few mortals. things: one, get inside your head, Rebec, so the cranky old man doesn't feel the need to take it; and two, keep him calm, so he won't go headhunting out of sheer aggravation. Though with Stephen around how can Adam be anything but aggravated." Gabriel smirked at Kris.

"Don't mock my beloved, Gabe." Playfully dismissing Gabriel, Kris turned to face Rebec. "Well anyway, Rebec, I had to come and tell you that I need you to trust Adam. He'll take care of you, all right?" Kris pleaded, taking Rebec's hand and massaging it.

"Okay, but I want to know more about Stephen," Rebec said.

"I know. I can't stay to tell you all I know because he, Stephen, already left here. He left two hours ago. I must go hunt my husband before my 'father-in-law' kills me. I love you, Rebec. Remember.

"Damn! I can feel another immortal coming, it may be Richie, but it may be Adam." Kris leaned across the table to kiss Rebec's cheek, then moved to leave.

"Wait, Kris, take this." Gabriel handed Kris one of his cards. "Call me from anywhere, got it?"

"Yeah, bye." Kris headed out the door as a vision of fire and ice chips walked in.

Gabriel turned to the young man who was emitting the buzz. Smiling he got up to greet the young man. "You must be Richie. Adam told me about you, but he failed to mention exactly how handsome you are."

"Thanks," Richie replied distractedly. He turned to Rebec, "Hey Rebec, how about coming up now? Adam's taking a shower and we thought you would like to hit the Louvre today."

"Sure."

"Well then," Richie turned to the young man, "Why don't you come up? You have to be Gabriel. Adam's been talking about you all day."

The two men chatted amiably as they headed up. Richie's eyes never strayed from Rebec's back and Gabriel never turned from Richie.

* * *

Adam could hear voices in the front room- one was Richie's. The other he remembered from his last trip to see Sean, so it had to be Gabriel. Snapping his black jeans, he pulled on his cream sweater and walked out. Richie and Gabriel were sitting on the couch, with Richie explaining why he wanted Gabriel there. Adam stood and watched his lover talking animatedly with the psychologist. Richie's hands flew wildly in the air, but something was wrong. Something was vaguely off. *It's Gabriel, he's sitting a tad too close. Perhaps he needs a demonstration of ownership.* Adam walked over to where the two sat. Kissing the top of Richie's head, he slid in beside his lover and pulled him back. Richie didn't even stop talking, just leaned back against his beloved.

"So, you follow motorcycle racing? Have a fav?" Richie asked, as he

"Well, not a real fav, but he looks like he's gonna be good. He just needs time. R.R. MacLeod. I love the way he moves that bike."

"Gee, thanks." Richie said, as he blushed.

"Actually, Gabe, I prefer how R. R. moves in."

"Wha- oh," Gabriel stammered. Recovering in a blush, he added, "R.R. MacLeod, I presume? Wow. So, Adam, can you tell me more about Kris and Stephen? They never quite told me how they got together."

"Yeah, Adam, will you tell us? Pretty much all I got from Kris was 'ask Adam'," Rebec said from the doorway to her room.

"Very well, come over here and sit and I'll tell you."

* * *

January, 1032

"And you wish to apply for the tutor position, yes?"

"Yes. I am well read in all the great Greek Masters. I am well able to read, write, figure, and fight."

"We don't need a fighter."

"Very well, I'll tutor him in everything else."

"Good, pay Good. Pay will be 4 silver a month. Now it's time to meet Stephen."

Adam followed the young man down the hall, the pair stopping before two large oak doors. The carvings on the door were elaborate. They showed scenes from an open-air theater in ancient Greece.

*Hmmm, 'The Philosopher Speaks'* Methos was surprised to see himself carved into the door. The young man pushed open the door. Across the room a young boy about six or seven sat in a large chair. He was maybe ten or eleven.

"Stephen, your new tutor would like to meet you."

"Oh, hello," Stephen called out.

Right then, Methos felt the tingle that meant pre-immortal.

* * *

"That was when I first met Stephen. He was much like you see now. Even though his family was well off, they really didn't eat a healthy, balanced diet. So, you see, he never grew very large. Apparently, a witch told them that Stephen would live and die by the sword, so a priest forbade him from ever getting training. Without his parents' knowledge, I trained him. He was forever asking me about anyone else I had trained, so I arranged to have Kristian found, then asked him if he could come in about 5 or 6 years.

"Now understand that I found Kris when he was a baby. I stayed long enough to raise him and train him, and now less than fifty years later I had another one. Stephen was a delight, he wanted to know everything. I spent more time with him than his parents did. But even I did not prepare myself for this.

"Stephen was about 21 when I killed him. He was at the perfect age, and wasn't likely to grow anymore. When he was 24, Kris arrived. I wanted Stephen to have some experience feeling a presence than mine. Of all the days Kris had to come, it was on the one day that Stephen had been challenged by another young man. This young man, William, I think, challenged him. Well, as far as anyone knew, Stephen couldn't fight, didn't even know which end to hit someone with. Well apparently Kris heard this, as well. Finding it hard to believe, he came and was going to be Stephen's champion. Stephen entered the dueling circle. Right then, Kris stepped up to him and offered to take the fight. Stephen turned to him and said, 'No, Kris. I can do this.'

"It took him less than ten minutes to finish the fight. I turned to look at Kris, but he was gone. Not physically, mentally. He fell in love then. For the next 35 years wherever we moved, Kris followed. In the spring of 1081 he asked Stephen to marry him. Stephen said yes and they were married. Before I would permit it, I demanded that Kris give me a promise. No matter how wrong it may have been, I had protected Stephen, sheltered him from so much of the cruelty of the times. I tried not to, but there was something in him.

"They lived in peace all over the world until about a century and half ago. Kris killed one of Stephen's students. I understand why he did it, that student was... horrid. He was planning on killing his teacher. " Methos looked up at her, " Rebec? Most of us do not kill our teachers. Stephen didn't know that his student was planning to kill him, and I wouldn't have objected to Kris killing the child, except that he did it in front of Stephen, and thus Stephen knew it was Kris. If he had chosen to hire out the kill, if had convinced Stephen to let him go, then Kris could have told a headhunter where to find him, if Kris had done it after Stephen left the countryAny of these would have been acceptable, but what he did was inexcusable.. He did it in their country house, the home he shared with Stephen. Stephen's naïve, in a way. I don't think in almost a thousand years that he has taken more than a hundred heads, if that many.

"Kris promised me that he would never take the innocence out of Stephen's eyes, that he would never be the cause of Stephen becoming cynical. I'm cynical enough for both of us. Kris broke that promise, you see.. He has to find Stephen and make it all right, or I myself will take Kris's head.

"Kris agreed with me about Stephen's handling. We made a pact of sorts. I made Kris promise me that he would do nothing to jeopardize unnecessarily that... naivete of Stephen's. What I saw in Stephen's eyes yesterday was enough for me to enact my penalty. We agreed on what I would do. He would have one year to run and hide. If Stephen has not forgiven him in that year, I will hunt him down and kill him very slowly."

Rebec stared at Adam. "So that's why he left. 'Cause you were gonna kill him."

"Not exactly. He left because he did wrong to Stephen and we agreed the only just punishment for that is death. If I had done this to Stephen, Kris would have come after me."

"So what will you do if Stephen doesn't forgive him?"

Methos laughed. The thought of Stephen the Innocent not forgiving anyone was so wrong. *This child is a gem. I haven't had anything make me laugh like this in centuries.* Methos stared at Rebec's wide-eyed frown. "Child... Rebec, Stephen forgives everyone and anything. Saints, during the Dark Ages he was called 'The Innocent.' A brave and valiant warrior, he was still considered the most innocent one alive. The fool lord we served once tried to get him to search for the Holy Grail. 'If the brave and noble knight Sir Alan the Innocent can not find the Holy Grail, then there is not one person alive in this time or any future who can find it'.

"If Kris admits what he did wrong, then Stephen will forgive. If he doesn't, Stephen's heart will break."

"So you don't plan on killing Kris? Good!"

"Kill Kris? He's my student, and I make it a habit to never kill my students... unless they are trying to kill me. Besides, Stephen would have a fit."

Gabriel smiled at Richie and caressed the leg nearest him, "This is great. Communication is the way to make sure that no one goes for their swords. So, does this help, Rebec?"

"Yeah. So now what?"

Adam stared at Gabriel's wandering hand. *Now I kill this pissant that thinks he can touch my Richie.*

Gabriel, unaware of the stare the 5,000 year old man directed at him, kept talking to Rebec. "Now, why don't we order up some late lunch and you three can hit the Louvre tomorrow."

"Yeah. What do you think, Adam?" Richie asked, smiling impishly/

"Perfect, Brat. Now get up before..." Right then an immortal hum cut through the banter and made all three immortals stand up. "Brat, get the swords from our bedroom and take Rebec with you. Gabriel, you are armed?"

Gabriel nodded and turned to face the door as the Immortal outside knocked.

Richie walked Rebec into his and Adam's bedroom and grabbed the swords. Quietly he slipped up behind his lover and put Methos' sword into his hand.

The knock repeated.

Adam walked to the door, peered through the peephole, and relaxed. He opened the door and hugged the man waiting outside.

"STEPHEN!"