Make Love, Not War

Part 13

“What’s wrong love?” Methos asked seriously as the pair walked back to his apartment ignoring the looks Justin and Richard were giving each other. He was used to the sappy lovesick behaviour of teenagers by now.

Nikias admitted, “Iolaus bumped into me on the way here, in a gas station. He gave me a scroll given to him by The Fates.”

Knowing how much trouble The Fates caused Methos asked somewhat afraid, “What did it say?”

“Two undying ones will work with Jox’s daughter, Aurora to bring back the Olympians. We have to take three couples to the place where I first died.” Nikias answered wondering what his granddaughter looked like. Did she have Joxer’s eyes and pale skin?

“How do you feel about that?”

Nikias admitted, “Confused. I want my family back but I don’t know how they will treat me. I’m not the same person I was millennia ago and I don’t want to go back to how I was then. I like the man I’ve become and Jox probably hates me anyway.”

“I love you and that’s not going to change. Joxer won’t hate you, I’m sure once you tell him everything he will understand why you reacted the way you did.”

“I hope so. Our students are one of our couples.” Nikias answered changing the subject pointedly.

“I guess that makes it somewhat easier. How did you manage to pick them up?” Methos said grinning at how Richard was gently kissing Justin’s neck as they walked, hands around each other’s waists as if they were trying to make the most of it before someone caught them together but given their ages Methos guessed it was normal. Few high school students were openly gay in their hometown.

Nikias shrugged, “It was easy.”

Flashback

Nikias worked quickly through his suitcase, picking out his favourite throwing knives and the standard thieves pack. Taking a deep breath, he worked through the exact details of the plan. He couldn’t afford to mess it up, not know when so much depended on getting it right.

He was in the boring town of Wilmont to pick up a couple of new Immortals. Richard Haywood and Justin Pendleton, two teenagers who had plotted and performed a murder to free themselves from the confines of society. It had been a rather interesting murder as the boys were unmistakably gifted when it came to planning.

Nikias knew they would have escaped punishment if Justin had not been overcome by nausea at what he had done and vomited next to the victim. That combined with their relationship had given the pair away, leading to Justin’s arrest and Richard’s murder. Well that and that fact that Cassie was annoyingly stubborn. Richard had fallen to his death during the attempt to capture the pair while Justin was arrested and charged with the murder of Olivia Lake.

Since he liked the pair and they posed a serious threat to the secret nature of Immortals Nikias had no choice but to breaking into the Wilmont morgue and pick up Richard Haywood’s body. Nikias expertly picked the locks gaining access to the room holding his new student. Luckily, he had timed it so that he could retrieve Richard’s body before the Immortal revived.

Walking in confidently Nikias opened walked over to the clipboard sitting on the desk. Finding the correct draw, Nikias opened it, surveying the body of Richard Haywood. From his appearance, it was obvious that Richard’s death had been quick and painless as the boy’s neck and broken, probably on impact with the rocks.

Picking up the body in a fireman’s hold, Nikias closed the draw with his foot. Adjusting his night vision goggles the Immortal walked out as silently as he arrived. Once they got to the car, Nikias placed Richard’s body in the backseat covering it with a blanket while taking care to place a dagger in Richard’s heart, not wanting Richard to revive too early.

An hour later Nikias was ready for duty at the prison Justin Pendleton was being held in until the trial. Anticipating their capture Nikias had arranged the necessary documents and clothes so he could pass for a prison guard covering for Mike Seaman who had phoned in sick thanks to a little drug a lady friend of his had placed in Seaman’s beer. It had been fortunate that no one bothered to check on how Mike was doing, Nikias mused as he concealed the razor in food he was delivering to Justin.

Justin was on suicide watch as the authorities were concerned that he would kill himself out of guilt over Richard’s death. According to the officers in charge of the investigation and the other guards Justin had been alternately hysterically crying or loudly chanting Richard for hours.

“Eat your sandwich Justin. Pendleton, man cannot live freely without embracing suicide and crime.” Nikias said seriously as he placed the tray through the small slot in the door. He noticed the way Justin stiffened at his words.

“I know.” Justin said as he took the plate his face devoid of emotion.

Justin returned to his curled up ball on the bed, taking the plate with him. Hidden from the camera Justin quickly uncovered the small blade. He smiled in satisfaction. Justin didn’t know the identity of the guard or why the man had given him the blade but he would use it. He was going to be free with Richard, Justin thought as he carefully handled the blade cutting diagonally across his wrists feeling the blood spill from his body.

One hour later Justin Pendleton was found dead in his cell, the victim of suicide. His body was carried down to the prison morgue where the death certificate was signed. Hours later Nikias coolly retrieved the body, placing it in his car next to Richard.

He drove calmly through the night knowing they had to be out of town before anyone discovered the bodies of his new students were missing. Thankfully, he had plenty of experience with getting in and out of places without being detected.

End Flashback.

“Not another die hard romantic!” Methos drawled in a mixture of disgust and amusement after listening to his lover’s description. He could feel Nikias fond exasperated look.

It wasn’t that Methos didn’t have a sense of romance, he did, but he had never seen the point of killing yourself just because someone you loved had died. He had always considered that the easy way out and held firm to his view that if you loved someone died then you should live for them so a part of them would live on.

“So why are you being nice to us?” Richard drawled as he walked inside the apartment noticing the number of foreign books adorning the bookshelves.

Sounds like this one has some sense at least Methos thought answering, “We are being nice to you because we have a thing for looking after lost immortals the do-gooders wouldn’t look after. We don’t care about your past, what you have done before does not matter to us. You will stay with us while we teach you. If you agree, we would like to take you in as one of our family. We have 25 other Immortal children some of whom are assassins and some of whom have adopted a quieter life. So we are not trying to control you or turn you into the model citizen.”

“What do you mean adopt us?” Justin asked suspiciously how did they know the pair weren’t going to abuse them?

Nikias said calmly, “We would accept you as family, that means we will always be there for you. No matter what happens, you can depend on us, and the family. You remind us a lot of two of our other children, Alex and Wesley. Alex is a very successful mercenary. He is one of the best assassins we have seen for the last fifty years or so. Wesley is a watcher who currently keeps tabs on a vampire called Angel.”

“Vampires don’t exist!” Justin said quickly.

Having expected the response Methos patiently explained, “It has always amazed me how stubborn Immortals are when it comes to believing in other supernatural beings. I am over 5000 years old and I know more about the world than you can image so, believe me when I say demons and vampires are very real. The Watchers fall into four branches, which don’t really have a lot of contact with each other. The first branch watch over Immortals, keeping track of their history and lives. The second specialise in vampire slayers and the supernatural. The third branch is focused on the wizarding world and the last branch focuses on mutants.”

“We’ll think about it and get back to you. Where is our room?” Justin said while giving his lover a small smile.

Methos said quickly, “Take the bedroom down the corridor on the left, the bedclothes are in the bottom draw. Leave your clothes in the hall and we will wash them for you. There are some black jeans and T-shirts hanging up that should fit you until we can go shopping.”

Watching as the pair left the room, Methos turned back to his lover drinking in the sight of him. Even after being together for millennia, he was amazed at the beauty of his mate; there was a light to him that shined from within. He had always considered it the goodness in Nikias’ soul.
*******
Richard placed their clothes in the hallway before walking back into the bedroom. Making sure to lock the door, he smiled widely at the sight of Justin lying on the bed naked waiting for him. He couldn’t believe only days ago he had thought Justin was lost to him forever. He had Justin that disc of him and Lisa having sex because it was the only way to make Justin see he was the only one who could truly love Justin the way the boy deserved. Richard loved Justin more than he had ever thought possible and when faced with the prospect of losing Justin he had gotten desperate.

“What are you thinking about?” Justin asked seriously taking in the mix of anger, fear, and anxiety on his lover’s face.

Richard shrugged, “How I almost lost you to that bitch Lisa.”

Justin figured this was the time to tell the truth about Lisa. He had never loved the girl or even liked her all that much, she was a tool for him, a way to make Richard realise that he was in love with him. Justin had always known Richard was in love with him but the blonde had refused to say the words out loud but Justin knew that if he made the man jealous Richard would realise that it was not just lust that existed between them but also love.

“You never would have lost me, Rich. I wasn’t in love with her, I don’t even like her that much but I knew pretending to be interested in her would make you see how much you cared about me. I used her to make you realise that you are in love with me.”

“It worked. I do love you, Justin I was just afraid you couldn’t feel the same about me.” Richard said pulling the other boy down on top of them.

“I’ll always love you, Richard and now we’ve got eternity together as long as someone doesn’t lop our heads off. What do you think of Methos and Nikias?”

Richard said thoughtfully, “They are interesting and they really love each other. I can see it in how they look at each other. Do you think we should accept their offer?”

Justin anxiously bit his lip, “I don’t know, from a purely logical point of view we should. They would give us an increased protection in the immortal world and provide us with support if we need it. However, I don’t know if they want something from us also it would mean that we have to help them if they ask us.”

Richard finished the thought, “So we should wait a couple of days before we give them our decision.” He laughed wryly continuing, “You know, Nikias and Methos didn’t seem at all disgusted when we mentioned killing Olivia but that Duncan guy got a weird look on his face as if he wants to kill us. I know this is a horrible thing to say but in some ways, I’m not sorry that we killed her. If we hadn’t killed her then we wouldn’t have spent so much time together and fallen in love with each other.”

“I know what you mean. I’m sorry that we got caught and yeah I think it was wrong to basically kill a woman for no reason other than we wanted tt I’t I’m also happy because I’ve got you. Do you think they all realised how we felt about each other back in Wilmont?”

“I don’t know but it doesn’t matter, we’re free and together.” Richard declared his tone making it clear that the discussion was finished.

“Yeah, I never imagined we would ever be together again.” Justin said softly before pulling Richard down to him doing his best to devour the boy that mere hours ago he had thought was lost to him forever.

End Part 13