comment_fic 691-695: SN/myth, Inception/WC/Chuck, WC/Percy Jackson, SN, HL
.
.
Title: take the sky, and everything else
Fandom: Supernatural/Norse mythology
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Rebecca Wolff
Warnings: AU for SN; spoilers for season 6; inaccurate Norse mythology
Pairings: Loki/John Winchester, implied Dean/Castiel
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 285
Point of view: third
Prompt: Supernatural/Norse Myth, Gabriel/John, the fate of Gabriel/Loki's children
They can only help one of them - the wolf, bound in magical chains. Hel doesn't need them; Jörmungandr is happy ruling the seas; the twins gleefully work for Hel; Sleipnir is still Odin's chief mount and Loki is just too weak right now to take on Odin and win. (Just a few more years, he whispers into John's neck, wings around them both. Just a few more years.)
But the wolf. The wolf they can save, if they go about it quietly.
.
Dean's angel, juiced up from his latest upgrade (John has quit asking) turns out to be the linchpin. Only he can touch the chain without being zapped, so he grips it lightly, tells the wolf to be calmed, and pulls it away.
Sam chants the spell to shield them; John watches for any guards (especially that Heimdallr guy); and Dean touches his angel's shoulder when the angel sways, holding the chain that bound Loki's son.
"It is done," the angel says, dropping the chain at Fenrir's feet.
Fenrir surges up and Loki sweeps them all away, to one of Cas' safehouses.
.
It's a month before Fenrir has regained enough strength to learn how to change his shape. He hides as a wolf-dog hybrid, part of their team now, and he's fiercely protective of them all.
When the Æsir notice that the wolf is gone, they nearly tear the worlds apart looking for him, but they don't find him, or Loki.
(Just a few more years, Loki murmurs, fingers massaging Fenrir's ears. Just a few more years, and your brother will be free, too.
Fenrir rests his head on Gabriel's knee, and John looks at Castiel, who nods before going to Dean.)
Title: These children of the sun
Fandom: Chuck/Inception/White Collar
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from John Clare
Warnings: AU for White Collar; mentions of character death
Pairings: Arthur/Eames, past Bryce/Chuck, implied Neal/Peter
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 450
Point of view: third
Prompt: Chuck/Inception/White Collar, Chuck + Arthur, (Arthur and Bryce!Neal are brothers) Arthur doesn't know anything about Chuck except that Bryce/Neal fell in love with him in college, he's a spy like Arthur's brother, and he was there when Bryce/Neal died. Arthur tracks him down but their meeting doesn't go like Arthur expected.
Arthur gives out his notice responsibly before disappearing: he lets everyone know he'll be out of contact for at least a month, and won't even be accepting calls for emergencies. He's taking personal time, and will not be bothered, and that includes Eames.
(Eames doesn't care about that. He shadows Arthur, and Arthur knows it.)
Arthur used to be named Aidan, and his brother is missing-presumed-dead. Brendan-became-Bryce-became-Neal-went-back-to-being-Bryce and fucking died, and Arthur wants to know why. He needs to know why.
And Chuck, that silly little boy Bryce fell in love with and Neal couldn't forget, was there. He was there when Brendan died, and Arthur will learn everything he knows, no matter what it takes.
Brendan wouldn't want Chuck to come to harm, but Brendan's fucking dead, so he gets no say at all.
.
Chuck's a spy, like Bryce. He's also a geek, and a dork, and so nice it burns. Arthur's not used to nice. (Also, he can hear Eames laughing.)
Chuck's earnest, and after he stares at Arthur for a long, awkward moment (and the gun Arthur's holding), he slumps down, and he says, "I am so sorry," and the damnedest thing is, Arthur believes him.
.
So, Chuck is actually a spy with a computer in his head (Bryce's fault) and he knows far too many things about Arthur for Arthur to be comfortable with. But he won't use the information against Arthur, because (for some insane reason) he thinks Arthur's a good guy. (Eames is laughing again.)
"He talked about you, sometimes," Chuck tells him. "He missed you."
Arthur says nothing, but his hand is not on his gun.
.
When Chuck's keepers come to his rescue (Arthur is not impressed, and Eames makes half a dozen snarky remarks before they've even cleared LA), Arthur is long gone.
He doesn't have his brother's body, but he knows exactly how and why Brendan died.
Chuck is still alive, because it would've have made Brendan's death worthless if he wasn't.
.
Arthur finishes out his month of vacation in New York. Burke is completely different from Chuck, but Arthur likes him a bit more, and Eames has fun finding and replacing his favorite pieces at the Met.
Finally, as the month draws to a close, Eames pulls Arthur into his arms and asks softly, "Will you tell me about him?"
Aidan and Brendan are both dead. But Arthur almost sees them, young and fierce and strong, as he tells Eames things no one has ever heard before.
.
(Casey is annoyed, and Sarah furious, but Chuck never does explain what happened in those four hours he was off-grid.
He's alive. Because he knew Bryce so well, he knows what that means.)
Title: each dewdrop mirrored a star, his riding star, his universe while on the moonlit flowers at his side Pegasus grazed
Fandom: White Collar/Percy Jackson movieverse
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from C. Day-Lewis.
Warnings: AU for both
Pairings: Neal!Percy/Luke
Rating: PG13
Wordcount: 560
Point of view: third
Prompt: White Collar/Percy Jackson, Neal(Percy)+All, If you didn't already know who Percy's father was, you'd swear he was actually the son of Hermes, instead he's just a criminal.
Luke laughs about it every time he visits. He just pops in, takes over Neal's space, and makes snarky comments about fathers, fates, and food.
Neal just rolls his eyes, tells Luke he knows where the fridge is, and pushes Luke's feet off the couch.
He never tells Luke to go, though. They talk about the old days, if Neal has the time, and usually, Neal will pull Luke towards the bed, because he realized in hindsight why he felt so completely disappointed when he learned Luke was the lightning thief.
Also in hindsight, he realized that if he'd had a little while longer to think everything over, he'd have been right there beside Luke, staring down Olympus.
If Dad knows what Neal is doing, he hasn't let on to Neal.
"You know," Luke says, shifting Neal around on the bed, making himself comfortable and ignoring Neal's half-hearted glare, "Annabeth asked me the other day what you were doing."
"What did you tell her?" Neal asks, shoving Luke over and stretching out against him, resting his ear on Luke's heartbeat.
"I told her you were makin' a name for yourself, and one day, you'd outshine us all," Luke murmurs, pressing a kiss to Neal's forehead.
Neal's almost asleep, listening to the lullaby of Luke's heart (it sounds like the tide, in and out, in and out), when he hears Luke whisper, "Sometimes I miss that earnest kid. You were so bright." He squeezes Neal just a little tighter, when he adds, even softer, "Now you're blindin', Percy. Sometimes it hurts my eyes just to look at you."
When Neal wakes up, Luke's gone and his phone is ringing: Peter, calling about The Cattle of Apollon, a painting that vanished overnight. "Seriously, Son of Hermes?" he asks, dropping his phone after hanging up.
He's still chuckling when he meets Peter at the art gallery, and he nearly breaks something trying not to howl with laughter when he sees the painting next to the empty space: The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy, with a post-it stuck to it, the words ride the lightning scrawled on it.
"What the hell?" Peter demands. When he turns to look at Neal, Neal shrugs.
They never do find that painting, or figure out who the message was for, much less what it meant.
But three nights later, when lightning is flashing across the sky, Neal stands on his balcony and imagines he can hear voices in the storm, if he just listens hard enough.
He was a hero, once. Now he's nearly a hero again, a thief caught and bound, helping to catch other thieves, lesser thieves.
And I if asked you for help, Son of Poseidon? he can hear Luke ask, like he did the first time he found Neal, a mere month after Percy ceased to be.
If you asked and meant it? Neal asked in reply that night, pushing Luke back onto the bed and straddling him. I'd help you.
Neal closes his eyes as the thunder growls, wind howling. He flew in a storm like this, once. When he was young and confused and held stolen lightning in his trembling hand.
But he's grown up now. He's learned. And he won't steal lightning again, but he knows that Luke has something planned, and eventually they'll steal the world.
Title: rend me and redeem
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: AU during season 5; character death
Pairings: Dean/Castiel
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 215
Point of view: third
Prompt: Supernatural, Dean/Castiel,
You know the way Jesus
rips open his shirt
to show us his heart, all flaming and thorny,
the way he points to it.
He wants to save me
but we disagree from what.
My version of hell
is someone ripping open his shirt
and saying, Look what I did for you.
(Nick Flynn, "Emptying Town")
When Castiel falls, it is an eternity before he hits the ground. His wings are tattered and frayed, his grace torn from his body, and he cannot move. He cannot hear his brothers or sisters, cannot feel Father, cannot see or think or protect himself.
The scavengers come. He has not the strength to even cry.
.
Gabriel finds him. He says it's an ex-angel thing, and he puts a gentle hand on Castiel's skull.
Dean hits his knees, gun slipping out of his grip. The cannon-fodder demons scatter, sticking to the receding shadows, and Sam sketches a protection sigil onto the air.
Too late, Dean thinks, and he wants to believe it's not his fault. But he knows it is. He looks up, meets Gabriel's eyes.
Gabriel fell, too, and he survived. But Gabriel is a trickster, and Castiel was so good. Was.
"He did it for you," Gabriel whispers, and the roaring wind steals the words, as Gabriel's presence whirls around them.
He did it for you. Dean closes his eyes as Gabriel throws back his head and screams.
.
Choose, the great voice thunders, filling Castiel until there is room for nothing else. Your life or his.
Give to him all of me, Castiel gasps.
And he screams, and he falls, and he lets go.
Title: The blossoms we wear in our hats are the growth of two thousand years
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Whitman
Warnings: AU; mentions of violence and character death
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 655
Point of view: third
Prompt: Highlander, Adam Pierson/Methos + MacLeod, Adam is a young immortal who just couldn't resist nodding when Mac asked if he was Methos
Adam Pierson is not his name. Of course it's not. He was nameless when Dad found him, and Dad told him to go with whatever name he felt like that day.
Ten years after that, when he was maybe twenty-five, he died in a fortuitous accident. A few months after that, he enrolled at Oxford and then joined the Watchers as a researcher, assigned to Methos.
Oh, but that was a laugh.
.
Adam Pierson is friendly but quiet, affable and determined. He has no enemies and many acquaintances who would call themselves his friends. He's an only child and an orphan.
Every week, he writes a letter addressed to Mattie Pater. He never receives a letter in return, but that doesn't matter.
The week he meets Duncan MacLeod, though, there is no letter sent out.
.
"Methos?" Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod whispers in shock.
Adam Pierson nods his head and offers a beer.
.
Adam Pierson is not much of a fighter, really. And while the boy he used to be learned quite the bag of dirty tricks, it's not enough to survive Kalas. He runs straight to MacLeod, pretending to have forgotten how to fight, since it'd been so long since his last head.
MacLeod is honorable, and Adam Pierson plays him like a fiddle. MacLeod kills Kalas for him, and becomes the closest thing to a friend he has, and soon enough more people know that Adam Pierson is not only an immortal - he's Methos, the oldest immortal.
A year after meeting MacLeod, Adam Pierson sends out his next letter to Mattie Pater.
I may have done something stupid, he confesses. I may or may not have claimed to be you. And… well, I may be in over my head.
He chews on the end of the pen for a moment before sighing.
I may lose my head, he writes.
There is no return letter.
.
Another immortal claiming to be Methos shows up, preaching peace and understanding and pacifism. What a crock of shit.
The other false Methos dies, of course. And after Adam Pierson leaves MacLeod and Joe and Richie, all at the bar and regretful, he walks for a long time.
There is no presence to announce him, but Adam knows he's there, and he turns, soaked from the rain, to say, "Hi, Dad."
"Kid," Dad says, releasing his quickening like a quick, warm embrace. Adam sighs, slumping against him. "You did a stupid thing, you know."
"Yeah," he mutters, resting his head on Dad's shoulder. "I know."
.
Methos is much older than anyone believes. He can pass as a human because he suppresses his quickening completely. No immortal can feel a buzz, even if they're standing next to him. Even when he loses his temper, or in the throes of ecstasy - he maintains complete control.
Methos has had only a dozen students in all the millennia he's lived. One of them went by Kronos for a time. Another was Rebecca. He has had no student in modern times, and none of his students ever knew to call him Methos.
Well. Until he found that snotty brat starving on the street.
.
Kronos had been Pestilence, Silas War, Caspian Famine, and Methos Death.
Adam Pierson was not Methos, so he never rode a pale horse.
Kronos follows rumors of Methos to Duncan MacLeod, and when he attempts to strike at the fool daring to use his brother's name, he is executed so neatly and quickly he never even notices his killer.
Methos has no brothers. And even though Kronos had once been his student, Kronos was never his son.
.
Adam Pierson kept up his pretense for almost a decade, channeling his dad whenever he needed to sound old and wise. But finally, MacLeod's preaching became too bothersome, and Joe began vocally doubting his story, and he could tell that MacLeod saw Richie whenever he looked Adam's way.
So Adam Pierson arranged a messy accident and died.
.
"Next time someone asks you if you're Methos, what will you say?" Dad inquires with a raised eyebrow.
Bobby Malton pouts at him. "I'll say no," he mutters.
Dad grins. "Good boy."
.
Title: take the sky, and everything else
Fandom: Supernatural/Norse mythology
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Rebecca Wolff
Warnings: AU for SN; spoilers for season 6; inaccurate Norse mythology
Pairings: Loki/John Winchester, implied Dean/Castiel
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 285
Point of view: third
Prompt: Supernatural/Norse Myth, Gabriel/John, the fate of Gabriel/Loki's children
They can only help one of them - the wolf, bound in magical chains. Hel doesn't need them; Jörmungandr is happy ruling the seas; the twins gleefully work for Hel; Sleipnir is still Odin's chief mount and Loki is just too weak right now to take on Odin and win. (Just a few more years, he whispers into John's neck, wings around them both. Just a few more years.)
But the wolf. The wolf they can save, if they go about it quietly.
.
Dean's angel, juiced up from his latest upgrade (John has quit asking) turns out to be the linchpin. Only he can touch the chain without being zapped, so he grips it lightly, tells the wolf to be calmed, and pulls it away.
Sam chants the spell to shield them; John watches for any guards (especially that Heimdallr guy); and Dean touches his angel's shoulder when the angel sways, holding the chain that bound Loki's son.
"It is done," the angel says, dropping the chain at Fenrir's feet.
Fenrir surges up and Loki sweeps them all away, to one of Cas' safehouses.
.
It's a month before Fenrir has regained enough strength to learn how to change his shape. He hides as a wolf-dog hybrid, part of their team now, and he's fiercely protective of them all.
When the Æsir notice that the wolf is gone, they nearly tear the worlds apart looking for him, but they don't find him, or Loki.
(Just a few more years, Loki murmurs, fingers massaging Fenrir's ears. Just a few more years, and your brother will be free, too.
Fenrir rests his head on Gabriel's knee, and John looks at Castiel, who nods before going to Dean.)
Title: These children of the sun
Fandom: Chuck/Inception/White Collar
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from John Clare
Warnings: AU for White Collar; mentions of character death
Pairings: Arthur/Eames, past Bryce/Chuck, implied Neal/Peter
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 450
Point of view: third
Prompt: Chuck/Inception/White Collar, Chuck + Arthur, (Arthur and Bryce!Neal are brothers) Arthur doesn't know anything about Chuck except that Bryce/Neal fell in love with him in college, he's a spy like Arthur's brother, and he was there when Bryce/Neal died. Arthur tracks him down but their meeting doesn't go like Arthur expected.
Arthur gives out his notice responsibly before disappearing: he lets everyone know he'll be out of contact for at least a month, and won't even be accepting calls for emergencies. He's taking personal time, and will not be bothered, and that includes Eames.
(Eames doesn't care about that. He shadows Arthur, and Arthur knows it.)
Arthur used to be named Aidan, and his brother is missing-presumed-dead. Brendan-became-Bryce-became-Neal-went-back-to-being-Bryce and fucking died, and Arthur wants to know why. He needs to know why.
And Chuck, that silly little boy Bryce fell in love with and Neal couldn't forget, was there. He was there when Brendan died, and Arthur will learn everything he knows, no matter what it takes.
Brendan wouldn't want Chuck to come to harm, but Brendan's fucking dead, so he gets no say at all.
.
Chuck's a spy, like Bryce. He's also a geek, and a dork, and so nice it burns. Arthur's not used to nice. (Also, he can hear Eames laughing.)
Chuck's earnest, and after he stares at Arthur for a long, awkward moment (and the gun Arthur's holding), he slumps down, and he says, "I am so sorry," and the damnedest thing is, Arthur believes him.
.
So, Chuck is actually a spy with a computer in his head (Bryce's fault) and he knows far too many things about Arthur for Arthur to be comfortable with. But he won't use the information against Arthur, because (for some insane reason) he thinks Arthur's a good guy. (Eames is laughing again.)
"He talked about you, sometimes," Chuck tells him. "He missed you."
Arthur says nothing, but his hand is not on his gun.
.
When Chuck's keepers come to his rescue (Arthur is not impressed, and Eames makes half a dozen snarky remarks before they've even cleared LA), Arthur is long gone.
He doesn't have his brother's body, but he knows exactly how and why Brendan died.
Chuck is still alive, because it would've have made Brendan's death worthless if he wasn't.
.
Arthur finishes out his month of vacation in New York. Burke is completely different from Chuck, but Arthur likes him a bit more, and Eames has fun finding and replacing his favorite pieces at the Met.
Finally, as the month draws to a close, Eames pulls Arthur into his arms and asks softly, "Will you tell me about him?"
Aidan and Brendan are both dead. But Arthur almost sees them, young and fierce and strong, as he tells Eames things no one has ever heard before.
.
(Casey is annoyed, and Sarah furious, but Chuck never does explain what happened in those four hours he was off-grid.
He's alive. Because he knew Bryce so well, he knows what that means.)
Title: each dewdrop mirrored a star, his riding star, his universe while on the moonlit flowers at his side Pegasus grazed
Fandom: White Collar/Percy Jackson movieverse
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from C. Day-Lewis.
Warnings: AU for both
Pairings: Neal!Percy/Luke
Rating: PG13
Wordcount: 560
Point of view: third
Prompt: White Collar/Percy Jackson, Neal(Percy)+All, If you didn't already know who Percy's father was, you'd swear he was actually the son of Hermes, instead he's just a criminal.
Luke laughs about it every time he visits. He just pops in, takes over Neal's space, and makes snarky comments about fathers, fates, and food.
Neal just rolls his eyes, tells Luke he knows where the fridge is, and pushes Luke's feet off the couch.
He never tells Luke to go, though. They talk about the old days, if Neal has the time, and usually, Neal will pull Luke towards the bed, because he realized in hindsight why he felt so completely disappointed when he learned Luke was the lightning thief.
Also in hindsight, he realized that if he'd had a little while longer to think everything over, he'd have been right there beside Luke, staring down Olympus.
If Dad knows what Neal is doing, he hasn't let on to Neal.
"You know," Luke says, shifting Neal around on the bed, making himself comfortable and ignoring Neal's half-hearted glare, "Annabeth asked me the other day what you were doing."
"What did you tell her?" Neal asks, shoving Luke over and stretching out against him, resting his ear on Luke's heartbeat.
"I told her you were makin' a name for yourself, and one day, you'd outshine us all," Luke murmurs, pressing a kiss to Neal's forehead.
Neal's almost asleep, listening to the lullaby of Luke's heart (it sounds like the tide, in and out, in and out), when he hears Luke whisper, "Sometimes I miss that earnest kid. You were so bright." He squeezes Neal just a little tighter, when he adds, even softer, "Now you're blindin', Percy. Sometimes it hurts my eyes just to look at you."
When Neal wakes up, Luke's gone and his phone is ringing: Peter, calling about The Cattle of Apollon, a painting that vanished overnight. "Seriously, Son of Hermes?" he asks, dropping his phone after hanging up.
He's still chuckling when he meets Peter at the art gallery, and he nearly breaks something trying not to howl with laughter when he sees the painting next to the empty space: The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy, with a post-it stuck to it, the words ride the lightning scrawled on it.
"What the hell?" Peter demands. When he turns to look at Neal, Neal shrugs.
They never do find that painting, or figure out who the message was for, much less what it meant.
But three nights later, when lightning is flashing across the sky, Neal stands on his balcony and imagines he can hear voices in the storm, if he just listens hard enough.
He was a hero, once. Now he's nearly a hero again, a thief caught and bound, helping to catch other thieves, lesser thieves.
And I if asked you for help, Son of Poseidon? he can hear Luke ask, like he did the first time he found Neal, a mere month after Percy ceased to be.
If you asked and meant it? Neal asked in reply that night, pushing Luke back onto the bed and straddling him. I'd help you.
Neal closes his eyes as the thunder growls, wind howling. He flew in a storm like this, once. When he was young and confused and held stolen lightning in his trembling hand.
But he's grown up now. He's learned. And he won't steal lightning again, but he knows that Luke has something planned, and eventually they'll steal the world.
Title: rend me and redeem
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: AU during season 5; character death
Pairings: Dean/Castiel
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 215
Point of view: third
Prompt: Supernatural, Dean/Castiel,
You know the way Jesus
rips open his shirt
to show us his heart, all flaming and thorny,
the way he points to it.
He wants to save me
but we disagree from what.
My version of hell
is someone ripping open his shirt
and saying, Look what I did for you.
(Nick Flynn, "Emptying Town")
When Castiel falls, it is an eternity before he hits the ground. His wings are tattered and frayed, his grace torn from his body, and he cannot move. He cannot hear his brothers or sisters, cannot feel Father, cannot see or think or protect himself.
The scavengers come. He has not the strength to even cry.
.
Gabriel finds him. He says it's an ex-angel thing, and he puts a gentle hand on Castiel's skull.
Dean hits his knees, gun slipping out of his grip. The cannon-fodder demons scatter, sticking to the receding shadows, and Sam sketches a protection sigil onto the air.
Too late, Dean thinks, and he wants to believe it's not his fault. But he knows it is. He looks up, meets Gabriel's eyes.
Gabriel fell, too, and he survived. But Gabriel is a trickster, and Castiel was so good. Was.
"He did it for you," Gabriel whispers, and the roaring wind steals the words, as Gabriel's presence whirls around them.
He did it for you. Dean closes his eyes as Gabriel throws back his head and screams.
.
Choose, the great voice thunders, filling Castiel until there is room for nothing else. Your life or his.
Give to him all of me, Castiel gasps.
And he screams, and he falls, and he lets go.
Title: The blossoms we wear in our hats are the growth of two thousand years
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Whitman
Warnings: AU; mentions of violence and character death
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 655
Point of view: third
Prompt: Highlander, Adam Pierson/Methos + MacLeod, Adam is a young immortal who just couldn't resist nodding when Mac asked if he was Methos
Adam Pierson is not his name. Of course it's not. He was nameless when Dad found him, and Dad told him to go with whatever name he felt like that day.
Ten years after that, when he was maybe twenty-five, he died in a fortuitous accident. A few months after that, he enrolled at Oxford and then joined the Watchers as a researcher, assigned to Methos.
Oh, but that was a laugh.
.
Adam Pierson is friendly but quiet, affable and determined. He has no enemies and many acquaintances who would call themselves his friends. He's an only child and an orphan.
Every week, he writes a letter addressed to Mattie Pater. He never receives a letter in return, but that doesn't matter.
The week he meets Duncan MacLeod, though, there is no letter sent out.
.
"Methos?" Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod whispers in shock.
Adam Pierson nods his head and offers a beer.
.
Adam Pierson is not much of a fighter, really. And while the boy he used to be learned quite the bag of dirty tricks, it's not enough to survive Kalas. He runs straight to MacLeod, pretending to have forgotten how to fight, since it'd been so long since his last head.
MacLeod is honorable, and Adam Pierson plays him like a fiddle. MacLeod kills Kalas for him, and becomes the closest thing to a friend he has, and soon enough more people know that Adam Pierson is not only an immortal - he's Methos, the oldest immortal.
A year after meeting MacLeod, Adam Pierson sends out his next letter to Mattie Pater.
I may have done something stupid, he confesses. I may or may not have claimed to be you. And… well, I may be in over my head.
He chews on the end of the pen for a moment before sighing.
I may lose my head, he writes.
There is no return letter.
.
Another immortal claiming to be Methos shows up, preaching peace and understanding and pacifism. What a crock of shit.
The other false Methos dies, of course. And after Adam Pierson leaves MacLeod and Joe and Richie, all at the bar and regretful, he walks for a long time.
There is no presence to announce him, but Adam knows he's there, and he turns, soaked from the rain, to say, "Hi, Dad."
"Kid," Dad says, releasing his quickening like a quick, warm embrace. Adam sighs, slumping against him. "You did a stupid thing, you know."
"Yeah," he mutters, resting his head on Dad's shoulder. "I know."
.
Methos is much older than anyone believes. He can pass as a human because he suppresses his quickening completely. No immortal can feel a buzz, even if they're standing next to him. Even when he loses his temper, or in the throes of ecstasy - he maintains complete control.
Methos has had only a dozen students in all the millennia he's lived. One of them went by Kronos for a time. Another was Rebecca. He has had no student in modern times, and none of his students ever knew to call him Methos.
Well. Until he found that snotty brat starving on the street.
.
Kronos had been Pestilence, Silas War, Caspian Famine, and Methos Death.
Adam Pierson was not Methos, so he never rode a pale horse.
Kronos follows rumors of Methos to Duncan MacLeod, and when he attempts to strike at the fool daring to use his brother's name, he is executed so neatly and quickly he never even notices his killer.
Methos has no brothers. And even though Kronos had once been his student, Kronos was never his son.
.
Adam Pierson kept up his pretense for almost a decade, channeling his dad whenever he needed to sound old and wise. But finally, MacLeod's preaching became too bothersome, and Joe began vocally doubting his story, and he could tell that MacLeod saw Richie whenever he looked Adam's way.
So Adam Pierson arranged a messy accident and died.
.
"Next time someone asks you if you're Methos, what will you say?" Dad inquires with a raised eyebrow.
Bobby Malton pouts at him. "I'll say no," he mutters.
Dad grins. "Good boy."