Fic: Tattoo (Highlander/Mag7:ATF Crossover, PG-13)
Title: Tattoo
Series: Tire Tracks
Author: Sparrow
Fandom: Magnificent Seven: ATF and Highlander
Characters: Nathan Jackson and Richie Ryan (AKA Zack)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Magnificent Seven or Highlander. They belong to their respective owners.
Author Note: Many thanks to strangevisitor7 for the wonderful beta! And I wrote Nathan for the first time as a character! :D
Spoilers: Please read the first five stories for anything to make sense.
Summary: Nathan ends goes to Zack's Bike shop to buy JD a birthday gift, but ends up confronting a past he'd rather forget about.
Nathan wandered into the ‘All That’s Holy Bike Repair’ shop, bells chiming overhead as the door swung open.
Walking over to the rack that showed various different riding jackets, he started picking through the selection.
“Can I help you with something?”
Startled, Nathan spun around. Whatever words Nathan was going to say next, caught in his throat. He knew this man, not personally, but he read about him a lifetime ago.
Trying not to let anything show on his face, he gave a small smile. “Zack?”
“That’s me,” Richie said smiling.
“Hi, I’m Nathan, a co-worker and friend of JD’s.” he held out his hand which Zack grasped in a firm handshake. “JD’s birthday is in a couple of months and he needs a new riding jacket. He’s talked about this place and you a few dozen times. Figured I’d check see if there was anything here he might like.”
“Really?” Richie raised an eyebrow and turned the hand he still held so that Nathan's wrist was facing upwards.
The skin was scarred badly. What wasn't scarred showed the tiniest trace of faded ink. Richie could tell what had been burned off... a watcher's tattoo.
“I know of men who had tattoos here, they liked watching and dusty old books,” Richie casually mentioned, tightening his grip a little.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nathan pulled his hand away. “That’s just an old mistake that I got rid of.”
Richie grunted his disbelief.
Nathan felt his past come crashing down on him. Richie Ryan was part of Nathan’s Watcher past, even though the two had never met; a past Nathan was not interested in revisiting.
“Are you all right there, Nathan?” Richie asked the smirk on his face at odds with the mock concern in his voice. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine,” Nathan said. He'd hoped that part of his life was in the past and yet there is was staring at him in the face.
He then picked up a black jacket with blue lightning up the sleeves. “What do you think about this one?” And then paled when he realized what he picked up, he quickly put it back down. “Maybe not that one.”
“I’m not gonna bite here, Nathan,” Richie said cautiously.
“No, but you learned how to swing a mean sword,” Nathan whispered. There was no point in pretending.
“You know of me?” Richie asked not sure if he should be flattered that his reputation was well known among the Watchers.
Nathan nodded as he unconsciously rubbed the scarred skin on his wrist.
“C’mon Nathan, if we’re spilling life stories here, we need a couple of beers for this,” Richie sighed as he walked over to the front door and flipped the ‘OPEN’ to ‘CLOSE’ sign on the door and locked it.
Following the young Immortal to the back room, he watched as Richie got out a couple of micro brews from a small fridge and tossed one of the bottles to him. Nathan also watched as Richie took out his sword and laid it on top of the freezer that was next to the small fridge.
Nathan caught the beer, uncapped it and took a long drink, warily taking note of the sword.
Taking a breath, Nathan began his story:
My family came from a long line of Watchers and when I was young, my father, mother and I immigrated over to England with the prospect of a new job position within The Watchers.
One day we, found my mother dead; decapitated.
She hadn’t been Immortal, but she had been treated as such.
The brutal death of my Mom threw my dad into such grief and depression, that, he started to drink.
The day when it all changed was when one of my Dad’s colleagues from The Watchers offered my Dad information about my Mom’s death.
James Horton came to my home and promised my Dad revenge; revenge against the Immortal that killed his wife.
“Shit,” Richie muttered. “He was an evil man and I’m sorry about your Mom.”
“Yes, yes he was,” Nathan agreed as he took another long drink from his beer. “And thank you.”
“What happened next?”
“What usually does when someone falls in with the wrong crowd,” Nathan stated bitterly. “My Dad died during some sort of raid, I never got the full answer to it, but I was told it wasn’t an Immortal that killed him. I can only speculate it was either Horton or one of the others in the group. I was hauled in for questioning after Horton’s Hunters fell. The Head of the England chapter for The Watchers chose to believe me when I said I didn’t know anything. I had only been a Watcher for two years and had been a simple Researcher. I truthfully hadn't known what my Dad had been up to. I had joined with the watchers after my mom's death because I'd hoped that I might find a clue in the chronicles as to who had murdered her.. I found out she had been killed with a serrated blade, but I didn’t have much luck in tracking her killer down.”
“That’s how you recognized me, from Chronicles?”
“Pretty much. Duncan MacLeod is pretty famous in Watcher circles and you were his student.He was one of the first Immortals I read about.” Nathan let out a heavy exhale before diving back into his story. “The Watchers gave me two choices. Remain as a Watcher and under probation for two years or quit. I chose to quit. That world hadn't done anything but cause me grief, it was time to leave it behind.”
“They poured acid on your tattoo to get rid of it, didn’t they?” Richie asked.
“Yeah. Hurt like a bitch too.” Nathan chuckled; surprised that he could laugh about it after all this time. “How’d you know that?”
“Friend of mine told me that’s how they got rid of Watcher tattoos.”
Nathan’s thoughts turned to a legless man, a lover of blues guitar and the one who'd written those chronicles of Duncan Macleod's exploits he'd read so many years ago, in that other life: Joe Dawson. Joe had chosen to stay with the Watchers through the crazy times while Nathan had chosen to walk away.
“So, what happened after that?” Richie asked pulling Nathan out of his head.
“Left England; joined the army back in the states. After I got out, I bounced around a few police departments before finally ending up here in Denver with the ATF."
“Just like that?”
“Just like that,” Nathan chuckled. “There’s more to the story, but I’ve shared enough for today.” It felt good to talk about all of this, like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. They weren’t close, but they knew each other’s worlds and Nathan never could talk about it with the others in Team Seven. Nathan had secrets to protect and they weren’t his secrets to share with the others. Even after all of these years, he still had a bit of a mindset as a Watcher.
Finishing off the last of his beer, Nathan chucked it into the nearby Recycling Bin. Richie following suit.
“I guess I don’t need to remind you to call me Zack instead of Richie, right?”
“I remember. New identity and all that,” Nathan said. “I haven’t forgotten all my training. Your secret is safe with me, Zack.”
“Thank you.”
A troublesome thought had been nagging at him ever since he'd learned of Richie's interest in JD, that needed asking. “I was just wondering: how come JD came to you for training?”
“Because he felt more comfortable asking me than you or your friends,” Richie said.
“And not because he’s Immortal?”
Richie stared Nathan in the eye. “No, he isn’t Immortal.” At least, not yet. Richie thought.
Nathan searched Richie's face for the truth in the answer. “That's a relief,” He said, satisfied that he's fears were unfounded.
“Good.”
There were a few minutes of silence before Nathan spoke again. “I’ll come back in a couple of days to pick out JD’s birthday gift.After today I don’t think I’m in the right frame of mind for shopping.”
“I’ll see you in a couple of days then.” Richie smiled at Nathan and led him to the front door. Unlocking it, he ushered Nathan out.
“And Zack, if you ever need some help…” Nathan trailed off.
“We can talk again when you come back for JD’s gift,” Richie said. He lightly squeezed Nathan’s shoulder. “I know we’re not friends here Nathan, but I’m hoping that can change. I don’t have a lot of people to talk to about …" he waved at hand toward himself.
“Immortals lead a lonely life,” Nathan finished the thought for Richie.
“Yeah, I do,” he chuckled bitterly.
“I’ll see you in a couple of days then.” Nathan nodded goodbye and headed towards his car.
Getting in, Nathan noticed his hands were shaking slightly and he flexed his fingers a few times. Taking a deep breath, he started his car and drove away from the shop and away from Richie Ryan.
THE END.