And What Did You Do During the Apocalypse, Methos? (2/3) - Immortal!Dean Universe
Title: And What Did You Do During the Apocalypse, Methos? (2/3)
Author: strangevisitor7
Beta: Pen37
Rated: PG
Fandom: Firefly, Highlander, Supernatural, Smallville and Magnificent 7: The rest of the Immortal!Dean Universe can be found here.
Characters: Methos, Amanda Darieux, Buck Wilmington and OMC - Joseph Winchester
Disclaimer: The characters you know and love all belong to their respective creators.
Summary: Methos has been investigating Alliance medical looking for the source of the Reaver virus. This story switches to his POV.
A/N: This story is a 'soft of' sequel to By Any Other Name
Chapter list:
Chapter 1: Chapter 2: Chapter 3
Chapter 2
Joseph Winchester was having the worst day of his life. He stared at the hard copy of the Alliance communiqué his operatives had intercepted, willing the information in it to change.
He'd pinned his hopes on the expertise of Duncan, Dean, Richie and Chloe. They were his alpha team with two thousand plus years of hunting experience between them. Joseph had been trying to reach them all morning to confirm the details of the Alliance transmission, to no avail.
He refused to believe that they were gone but there'd been no contact from the crew of the Impala, since he'd received word that they were being boarded by Alliance troops. It was starting to look as if the note he held was true; the Impala had been destroyed and there were no survivors.
The com chimed. He reached over to press the button. "Yes, Lina?"
The voice of his assistant came through. "Dr. Adams is here. Shall I send him in?"
"Yes and Lina?"
"Sir?"
"Any word?"
He could hear her sigh through the intercom. "No, sir. No one's been able to reach them."
"If anyone calls- "
"As soon as I hear something, I buzz them through."
"Thank you, Lina." He disconnected the link, resisting the urge to toss the device against the wall. He hoped Methos had some good news because he really couldn't take any more set backs. Joseph knew the old man was not going to take the information he had well.
Methos entered the office flanked by Amanda Darieux and Buck Wilmington. Just great, the old man had invited the thief and the cowboy to their meeting. There was no way to keep things quiet if those two knew.
Standing, he circled his large oak desk. "Methos, I hope you have good news," he said reaching to clasp the Immortal's hand. "Buck, Amanda, I wasn't expecting you two at this meeting." He tried to sound cheerful but he really didn't need to be outnumbered right now. He gestured for them to take a seat.
"More the merrier," Buck quipped as he settled on the couch next to Amanda in the office's small meeting area.
"I hope you don't mind Joseph," Methos said as he sat on the chair opposite his friends, "but I assumed that my information would be common knowledge soon enough."
"Of course not," he sighed as he sat in the remaining chair. "What's happening concerns everyone." He felt Methos' scrutiny and knew that he couldn't hide his despair from someone so good a reading people.
"What's happened?" Methos asked.
"It can wait," Joseph said trying to wave him off but Methos would not be swayed.
"Joseph?" Methos stared at him.
The Watcher slumped back into his chair. "We intercepted a message that supposedly originated from an Alliance ship out of Persephone. It claims they destroyed the Impala. No survivors." Of all the reactions he'd anticipated, Methos bark of laughter was not what he expected.
"Dean ain't gonna like that someone destroyed his baby," Buck chuckled.
"Have you sent someone to pick up the Immortals?" Methos asked. "Chloe’s been spaced once before, and it usually takes a while for her body to reverse the brain damage."
Joseph shook his head. "You don't understand. There was nothing there. Some debris but no Immortals."
Methos sat up straighter. "You're right I don't understand."
"Have they been captured?" Amanda asked.
"No," Joseph said. "They're gone." He walked back to his desk to retrieve the paper and handed it to Methos.
Methos read the note and passed it on to Buck. "Incinerated?"
"I don't think even an Immortal can come back from ash," Joseph said.
"Duncan…" Amanda was trying to hold back her grief and she absorbed the information. She thrust the paper back at Joseph. "They are lying. They've captured them and don't want us to know it."
"I wish that was the case," Joseph said settling once again into the chair. "But all the chatter, even on the lines we shouldn't know about, confirms it." Joseph hadn't allowed himself to think about the loss of the Winchester patriarch. He would do that later.
Buck pulled Amanda against him as she gave into her grief. The three Immortals sat stunned and silent, save for the sound of Amanda struggling to control her tears. Joseph stared at Methos. He'd never seen the man look less than confidant but the news of his four oldest friends' demise had visibly shaken him.
*******************************************
Methos was stunned. He'd lost many people he cared about over the years, but since the Game had fallen away it had been more than five hundred years since he's lost an Immortal friend. Chloe! No this wasn't possible. He refused to accept what Joseph was telling him until he had more proof.
He stood, took two steps and stared down at the Watcher. "How the hell did this happen?" he growled.
"Methos, please." Joseph stood up and placed a hand on Methos' shoulder to ease him out of his personal space. "I have given you all the information I have."
"It was a simple meet and greet with a couple of Immortals!" Methos shouted. "And capturing a Reaver should have been child's play."
"It was!" Joseph yelled back.
"Then what happened?"
Methos felt a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, pard," Buck said. "We’re all upset but this ain't Joseph's fault. We need to focus on what happens now."
That was Buck, always the peacemaker. Methos wanted to stay angry at Joseph even though logic told him the man wasn't at fault.
Methos sighed. "You're right, Buck. We'll mourn later." He glanced at Joseph whose defeatist demeanor mirrored his own. They lock eyes and in that moment Methos knew they probably couldn't win even with the information he'd uncovered. They'd lost their alpha team. Dean may not claim a leadership position within the community and Methos may dislike the guy sometimes but Dean knew how to win especially when partnered with Duncan, Richie and Chloe.
Clearing his throat Joseph broke the silence. "You had news?"
Methos nodded as they returned to their seats. They had to keep fighting and for the first time in a long time, Methos finally found a reason to: Vengeance. So biblical and always in fashion. "I know who's behind it all. It's Azazel."
"That's impossible!" Joseph exclaimed. "Dean killed him five hundred years ago on Earth. With the demon killing colt, I might add."
Even though Azazel's death had occurred more than a year before Methos met the Winchesters, everyone in the community knew of the attempt to open the Hell gate and the events leading up to it. The legacy of Azazel's efforts had been Immortality for Dean, the end of the Game and the new mandate that Immortals to join forces with hunters to fight the supernatural.
"Could be another demon. Just using his name," Buck offered.
"That’s what I think, too actually," Methos said. "The name carries a certain terror with it."
"It would make sense for an up and coming demon to lay claim to Azazel's legacy." Joseph said. "And it might make us doubt the power of the colt."
"About that colt," Methos leaned forward. "Has the council ever been able to recreate its power?"
Joseph shook his head. "The details of how Sam Colt made that gun were lost long before the Watcher's Council ever took over the archiving of hunter's histories."
"Surely in all this time, someone would have figured it out," Methos said. "What about all those gadgets you've got stored in the basement?"
"None of those things are demon killing weaponry. Not like the colt."
"Azazel protégé or not; it's still just a demon. We should be able to exorcise it, same as always," Buck said.
Methos chuckled ruefully. "One would hope, but I doubt it will be that easy to take down such a powerful demon."
"Why?" Joseph asked. "What else did you find out?"
"I remember Dean mentioning once that he'd run into some of Azazel's children. I suppose this demon might be one of them using daddy's name. Either way, I believe that the demon behind all of this must have known Azazel because the activities I've uncovered carry his fingerprint," Methos said.
"How so?" Amanda asked. She had collected herself enough to rejoin the conversation. Methos smiled at the transformation. This was a woman with revenge on her mind.
"Azazel experimented with demon bred viruses. He never got the chance to use the one he'd created back on earth because the Winchesters stopped him," Methos explained. "But this latest virus, PAX II, looks like it might be his masterpiece."
"PAX II?" Amanda asked. "You said before that PAX just turned people into crazy demon spawn."
"Yes, the first version of the PAX virus did," Methos confirmed. "PAX II infects people in a similar way but without the messy Reaver self mutilation. The victims look and act Human."
"Chloe mentioned that they'd run into some human looking Reavers before they left Persephone," Joseph offered.
"Did she explain how they defeated them?" Methos asked.
Joseph shook his head. "Chloe didn't want to send everything over the vid even on a secure channel. She said she would explain…" But she wouldn't. Joseph hesitated to give voice to her passing.
Methos suspected that these new Reavers were the reason the Impala was a debris field in space.
"Do you think that this fake Azazel is creating an army to open a Hell gate?" Joseph asked.
"That's just it. He doesn't need to." Methos went on to explain. "The virus opens a conduit which turns a person into a willing vessel. Infect someone and you have instant demon doorway."
"That's - I mean - " Joseph sputtered his eyes wide with fear. "Is that really even possible?"
Amanda rolled her eyes at him. "Do you really even have to ask that question?"
"I assure you, I've double checked my facts. I am convinced that this demon's goal is to infect every mortal in the 'verse." Methos had been appalled by the information he'd uncovered and had hoped that Dean would know how to stop it.
"So what's the plan?" Buck asked.
As the three looked to him for answers, Methos realized that as the oldest Immortal, he was squarely in the position of leadership. A place he did not want to be.
"I did identify the location of the main virus manufacturing facility."
"So we blow it up and exorcise the head honcho back to hell," Buck said. "Like I said, it seems pretty straightforward."
Buck was a simple guy and he was always the first to line up for a fight, but Methos didn’t think that the solution was as easy as he'd like to believe.
"While I agree we need to take out the manufacturing facility, that won't stop the spread of the virus from those already infected,” Methos reminded him.
"We need an antidote," Joseph said. "Was there one made?"
Methos stared at Joseph who realized his stupidity. "No of course not," the Watcher said answering his own question. "Why in the world would demons need one?"
"So how the hell do we stop the virus from spreading?" Buck asked.
"I have no idea," Methos admitted.
Author: strangevisitor7
Beta: Pen37
Rated: PG
Fandom: Firefly, Highlander, Supernatural, Smallville and Magnificent 7: The rest of the Immortal!Dean Universe can be found here.
Characters: Methos, Amanda Darieux, Buck Wilmington and OMC - Joseph Winchester
Disclaimer: The characters you know and love all belong to their respective creators.
Summary: Methos has been investigating Alliance medical looking for the source of the Reaver virus. This story switches to his POV.
A/N: This story is a 'soft of' sequel to By Any Other Name
Chapter list:
Chapter 1: Chapter 2: Chapter 3
Chapter 2
Joseph Winchester was having the worst day of his life. He stared at the hard copy of the Alliance communiqué his operatives had intercepted, willing the information in it to change.
He'd pinned his hopes on the expertise of Duncan, Dean, Richie and Chloe. They were his alpha team with two thousand plus years of hunting experience between them. Joseph had been trying to reach them all morning to confirm the details of the Alliance transmission, to no avail.
He refused to believe that they were gone but there'd been no contact from the crew of the Impala, since he'd received word that they were being boarded by Alliance troops. It was starting to look as if the note he held was true; the Impala had been destroyed and there were no survivors.
The com chimed. He reached over to press the button. "Yes, Lina?"
The voice of his assistant came through. "Dr. Adams is here. Shall I send him in?"
"Yes and Lina?"
"Sir?"
"Any word?"
He could hear her sigh through the intercom. "No, sir. No one's been able to reach them."
"If anyone calls- "
"As soon as I hear something, I buzz them through."
"Thank you, Lina." He disconnected the link, resisting the urge to toss the device against the wall. He hoped Methos had some good news because he really couldn't take any more set backs. Joseph knew the old man was not going to take the information he had well.
Methos entered the office flanked by Amanda Darieux and Buck Wilmington. Just great, the old man had invited the thief and the cowboy to their meeting. There was no way to keep things quiet if those two knew.
Standing, he circled his large oak desk. "Methos, I hope you have good news," he said reaching to clasp the Immortal's hand. "Buck, Amanda, I wasn't expecting you two at this meeting." He tried to sound cheerful but he really didn't need to be outnumbered right now. He gestured for them to take a seat.
"More the merrier," Buck quipped as he settled on the couch next to Amanda in the office's small meeting area.
"I hope you don't mind Joseph," Methos said as he sat on the chair opposite his friends, "but I assumed that my information would be common knowledge soon enough."
"Of course not," he sighed as he sat in the remaining chair. "What's happening concerns everyone." He felt Methos' scrutiny and knew that he couldn't hide his despair from someone so good a reading people.
"What's happened?" Methos asked.
"It can wait," Joseph said trying to wave him off but Methos would not be swayed.
"Joseph?" Methos stared at him.
The Watcher slumped back into his chair. "We intercepted a message that supposedly originated from an Alliance ship out of Persephone. It claims they destroyed the Impala. No survivors." Of all the reactions he'd anticipated, Methos bark of laughter was not what he expected.
"Dean ain't gonna like that someone destroyed his baby," Buck chuckled.
"Have you sent someone to pick up the Immortals?" Methos asked. "Chloe’s been spaced once before, and it usually takes a while for her body to reverse the brain damage."
Joseph shook his head. "You don't understand. There was nothing there. Some debris but no Immortals."
Methos sat up straighter. "You're right I don't understand."
"Have they been captured?" Amanda asked.
"No," Joseph said. "They're gone." He walked back to his desk to retrieve the paper and handed it to Methos.
Methos read the note and passed it on to Buck. "Incinerated?"
"I don't think even an Immortal can come back from ash," Joseph said.
"Duncan…" Amanda was trying to hold back her grief and she absorbed the information. She thrust the paper back at Joseph. "They are lying. They've captured them and don't want us to know it."
"I wish that was the case," Joseph said settling once again into the chair. "But all the chatter, even on the lines we shouldn't know about, confirms it." Joseph hadn't allowed himself to think about the loss of the Winchester patriarch. He would do that later.
Buck pulled Amanda against him as she gave into her grief. The three Immortals sat stunned and silent, save for the sound of Amanda struggling to control her tears. Joseph stared at Methos. He'd never seen the man look less than confidant but the news of his four oldest friends' demise had visibly shaken him.
*******************************************
Methos was stunned. He'd lost many people he cared about over the years, but since the Game had fallen away it had been more than five hundred years since he's lost an Immortal friend. Chloe! No this wasn't possible. He refused to accept what Joseph was telling him until he had more proof.
He stood, took two steps and stared down at the Watcher. "How the hell did this happen?" he growled.
"Methos, please." Joseph stood up and placed a hand on Methos' shoulder to ease him out of his personal space. "I have given you all the information I have."
"It was a simple meet and greet with a couple of Immortals!" Methos shouted. "And capturing a Reaver should have been child's play."
"It was!" Joseph yelled back.
"Then what happened?"
Methos felt a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, pard," Buck said. "We’re all upset but this ain't Joseph's fault. We need to focus on what happens now."
That was Buck, always the peacemaker. Methos wanted to stay angry at Joseph even though logic told him the man wasn't at fault.
Methos sighed. "You're right, Buck. We'll mourn later." He glanced at Joseph whose defeatist demeanor mirrored his own. They lock eyes and in that moment Methos knew they probably couldn't win even with the information he'd uncovered. They'd lost their alpha team. Dean may not claim a leadership position within the community and Methos may dislike the guy sometimes but Dean knew how to win especially when partnered with Duncan, Richie and Chloe.
Clearing his throat Joseph broke the silence. "You had news?"
Methos nodded as they returned to their seats. They had to keep fighting and for the first time in a long time, Methos finally found a reason to: Vengeance. So biblical and always in fashion. "I know who's behind it all. It's Azazel."
"That's impossible!" Joseph exclaimed. "Dean killed him five hundred years ago on Earth. With the demon killing colt, I might add."
Even though Azazel's death had occurred more than a year before Methos met the Winchesters, everyone in the community knew of the attempt to open the Hell gate and the events leading up to it. The legacy of Azazel's efforts had been Immortality for Dean, the end of the Game and the new mandate that Immortals to join forces with hunters to fight the supernatural.
"Could be another demon. Just using his name," Buck offered.
"That’s what I think, too actually," Methos said. "The name carries a certain terror with it."
"It would make sense for an up and coming demon to lay claim to Azazel's legacy." Joseph said. "And it might make us doubt the power of the colt."
"About that colt," Methos leaned forward. "Has the council ever been able to recreate its power?"
Joseph shook his head. "The details of how Sam Colt made that gun were lost long before the Watcher's Council ever took over the archiving of hunter's histories."
"Surely in all this time, someone would have figured it out," Methos said. "What about all those gadgets you've got stored in the basement?"
"None of those things are demon killing weaponry. Not like the colt."
"Azazel protégé or not; it's still just a demon. We should be able to exorcise it, same as always," Buck said.
Methos chuckled ruefully. "One would hope, but I doubt it will be that easy to take down such a powerful demon."
"Why?" Joseph asked. "What else did you find out?"
"I remember Dean mentioning once that he'd run into some of Azazel's children. I suppose this demon might be one of them using daddy's name. Either way, I believe that the demon behind all of this must have known Azazel because the activities I've uncovered carry his fingerprint," Methos said.
"How so?" Amanda asked. She had collected herself enough to rejoin the conversation. Methos smiled at the transformation. This was a woman with revenge on her mind.
"Azazel experimented with demon bred viruses. He never got the chance to use the one he'd created back on earth because the Winchesters stopped him," Methos explained. "But this latest virus, PAX II, looks like it might be his masterpiece."
"PAX II?" Amanda asked. "You said before that PAX just turned people into crazy demon spawn."
"Yes, the first version of the PAX virus did," Methos confirmed. "PAX II infects people in a similar way but without the messy Reaver self mutilation. The victims look and act Human."
"Chloe mentioned that they'd run into some human looking Reavers before they left Persephone," Joseph offered.
"Did she explain how they defeated them?" Methos asked.
Joseph shook his head. "Chloe didn't want to send everything over the vid even on a secure channel. She said she would explain…" But she wouldn't. Joseph hesitated to give voice to her passing.
Methos suspected that these new Reavers were the reason the Impala was a debris field in space.
"Do you think that this fake Azazel is creating an army to open a Hell gate?" Joseph asked.
"That's just it. He doesn't need to." Methos went on to explain. "The virus opens a conduit which turns a person into a willing vessel. Infect someone and you have instant demon doorway."
"That's - I mean - " Joseph sputtered his eyes wide with fear. "Is that really even possible?"
Amanda rolled her eyes at him. "Do you really even have to ask that question?"
"I assure you, I've double checked my facts. I am convinced that this demon's goal is to infect every mortal in the 'verse." Methos had been appalled by the information he'd uncovered and had hoped that Dean would know how to stop it.
"So what's the plan?" Buck asked.
As the three looked to him for answers, Methos realized that as the oldest Immortal, he was squarely in the position of leadership. A place he did not want to be.
"I did identify the location of the main virus manufacturing facility."
"So we blow it up and exorcise the head honcho back to hell," Buck said. "Like I said, it seems pretty straightforward."
Buck was a simple guy and he was always the first to line up for a fight, but Methos didn’t think that the solution was as easy as he'd like to believe.
"While I agree we need to take out the manufacturing facility, that won't stop the spread of the virus from those already infected,” Methos reminded him.
"We need an antidote," Joseph said. "Was there one made?"
Methos stared at Joseph who realized his stupidity. "No of course not," the Watcher said answering his own question. "Why in the world would demons need one?"
"So how the hell do we stop the virus from spreading?" Buck asked.
"I have no idea," Methos admitted.