DISCLAIMER: Yeah, yeah, yeah, here we go. Nick Knight and Nat Lambert and any other Forever Knight character belong to the Forever Knight people. Now there's a doy. And likewise, Duncan MacLeod and Annie Devlin and any other Highlander character belong to the Highlander people. Also a doy. However, Richie has defected to the Clan Denial and no longer belongs to the Highlander people. Doy, doy, doy. All other people, including Elaine, Aria and the sekret guest villain belong to us. Ask before you use them.

Lyrics to Ba, ba, lammie noo provided by Bairbrei. Ain't she sweet?

The Visit

A hand very gently shook Aria awake. The warrior was about to tell Richie to go back to sleep, when she realized it wasn't Richie.

Opening an eye confirmed it. Elaine smiled down at her, eyes glowing. The blonde put a finger up to her lips, telling Aria to be quiet.

"'Laine," Aria whispered. "Tell me you're not a dream, please."

Elaine bent down and gently kissed her. "Does that feel like a dream?"

Grabbing the blonde, Aria pulled her in for a tight embrace. "I don't know whether to kiss you or smack ya around a bit," she answered, almost laughing. "Since that fight, I ... I didn't know if you were comin' back or not and I've been worrin' m'self sick."

"Ah almos' didn'," Elaine said. "But Ah got yah message an' thought Ah might as well. 'Sides, Ah lef' some of mah clothin' heah an' Ah had tah pick them up anyway."

Aria was hurt, but decided to let it go. She didn't want to risk scaring the blonde off. "Whatever the reason, I'm just glad you're back." Then she kissed Elaine passionately.

"Meh, too," Elaine agreed when Aria released her. "Ah missed y'all."

"We missed you too, Raltra," Aria replied. "More than we can ever tell ya."

Elaine looked past Aria to the other figure in the bed and smiled. "Ah think Richay's alreaday tellin' meh."

"Nice to know some things never change, huh?" Aria grinned.

"Verrah nice," the blonde agreed. "Think weh should do somethin' abou' it?"

Only for medicinal purposes, of course," Aria replied, winking.

"Well, it reallay wouldn' do fah it tah get stuck that way pahmanen'lay, now would it?" Elaine said with an absolutely straight face. "'Sides, Ah'm Hungray."

"Then we definitely better do something about that," Aria agreed.

"Tell yah what, Ah'll get in on the othah side of the bed an' weh'll meet in the middle," Elaine suggested. Kissing Aria, she left.

Not for long. True to her word, she walked around the bed and crawled under the sheets.

Richie mumbled in his sleep and rolled over again.

Elaine took it as a challenge. She licked and kissed Richie's body until the Immortal woke.

"'Bou' time yah woke up," she told him. "Ah was beginnin' tah think yah didn' love meh no moah."

"ELAINE!" Richie exclaimed as he grabbed her in a bear hug.

"Much be'ah!" Elaine allowed herself to be pulled into the center of the bed, where the two Immortals proceeded to show her how much she was missed.

Until one of them brushed her neck.

"NO!" she shrieked, shoving them away and moving to the end of the bed. "Ah don' wan' yah tah see."

"See what?" Richie asked, confused.

"Raltra, what's wrong?" Aria added.

The blonde shook her head, refusing to answer. "Don' wan' yah tah see," she repeated.

"'Laine, please, tell us what's wrong," Richie pleaded.

"Nuthin' wron'. Jus' don' wan' yah tah see," she answered, slowly raising her eyes to look at them. "Would ... would yah mind jus' holdin' meh an' not doin' anythin' else?"

"Of course not, Raltra," Aria replied. "All that matters is you're here, the rest is immaterial."

"Yah shoah?" the blonde asked. "Ah mean, Ah got yah message, but Ah could have been readin' what Ah wan'ed intah it."

The two of them gently grabbed Elaine and folded her into their arms.

"We meant every word of it, Elaine," Richie answered.

"We wouldn't have sent for ya if we hadn't wanted ya back so desperately," Aria agreed. "Things just ain't the same without ya here, 'Laine. Its like we're not...."

"Complete," Richie finished for her.

"Exactly." Aria gently kissed Elaine's cheek.

"Yah shoah?" Elaine asked, shaking.

"As sure as I am that I'm holdin' ya right now," Aria answered, gently tightening her grip around the blonde.

"No moah fights?"

"No more, promise," Richie answered.

"No moah yellin'?"

"No more yellin'," Aria agreed.

"No moah ahguin' when Lucien wan's meh?"

Aria and Richie exchanged a glance over the blonde's head before answering. "No more," they both agreed finally.

"Good. Then Ah'll stay." Gradually the shaking subsided, allowing her to snuggle in their arms and fall asleep.

When Richie and Aria went down to breakfast that morning, there was a note on the counter.

"What do you think?" Aria asked her lover.

"I think we're going to need to get more groceries," Richie answered. "And 'Laine's going to want to clean the guest room."

"After what happened last time?" Aria replied. "We wait until 'Laine gets up, then we go grocery shopping."

"Of course," Richie said. "Wouldn't do it without her."

"Then I guess we better at least wash the guest linens," Aria replied. "After breakfast, of course."

"My stomach that loud?" he teased.

"Was that you?" Aria replied. "Here I thought it was BART goin' by."

"Ha ha. The BART train doesn't come anywhere near here," he shot back.

"Still," Aria replied, "ya can't deny the similarity."

"To quote Elaine --" Richie stuck his tongue out at her.

"After breakfast, love, I'm not in the mood right now," Aria replied.

"I'm going to hurt you," Richie sighed.

"I thought that was my line," she teased.

"Why me?" Richie sighed again.

Elaine woke as the sun set and bounded down the stairs.

"Good ev'nin', good ev'nin', good ev'nin'," she said, kissing her Immortals on the cheek. "Yah find mah note?"

"Somebody's in a better mood this evenin'," Aria teased. "And yep, we saw it."

"Ah'm home," Elaine answered. "An'?"

"And what?" Richie innocently asked.

"Can Nat stay heah?" she asked. "Ah know Ah should've asked befoah Ah invi'ed hah, but Ah didn' know if y'all wah still speakin' tah meh an' it was a las' minute kind of thin'."

"I don't know, Ari, what do you think?" Richie asked.

Aria thought about it for a moment. "I think, it's a good thing we washed the guest linens earlier," she answered, grinning.

"It's all right?" Elaine asked, not quite believing it.

"Of course it is, silly," Richie answered. "We just couldn't resist the chance to hold something over you for awhile."

Elaine stuck her tongue out at him and turned to Aria. "It's reallay all right?"

"It really alright, Elaine," Aria assured her. "Besides, I've been dying to meet her."

"Oh, yah'll jus' love hah," Elaine said. "She's bright, 'n' beautiful, 'n' smaht, 'n' wi'ay, an'...."

"Here she goes!" Richie laughed.

"What?" Elaine said defensibly.

"You're goin' into super-grandma mode," Aria explained. "It's just so out of the ordinary for you that it's kind of funny."

Elaine stuck her tongue out at Aria. "Yah haven' met hah yet. Believe meh, she desahves it."

"'Laine, she's your family, I'm sure I'll love her," Aria replied.

"A'cahse yah will," the blonde said. "Yah love meh, don' yah?"

"That we do," Richie agreed.

Satisfied with Richie's answer, Elaine turned to Aria.

"Of course I love you too," Aria said. "Like you have to ask, silly."

"Much be'ah," Elaine smiled. "Sah, what's on the agendah fah tonight?"

"Well, if Nat is going to come for a visit, we need to go shopping," Richie answered.

"Now? Ah was hopin' tah stay home tonight," Elaine said, going over to Richie and straddling his lap.

"Are you sure?" Richie asked. "I mean, we were going to head for Mickey D's on the way home."

The blonde perked up. The one thing she loved more than sex was fast food. "Well, why didn' yah say sah? Meet yah in the Cadday. " She got off Richie's lap and headed back upstairs to change clothes.

"Why do we put up with her again?" Richie asked Aria, rolling his eyes.

"'Cause we love her," Aria answered.

Richie smiled. "Yeah, I knew there was a reason." Then he kissed her and headed for the garage.

As it turned out, Natalie wasn't going to arrive for another week. So while Aria and Richie had time to get the rest of the house ready, it also gave Elaine time to obsess over every single detail and get more and more nervous as each day passed. Then finally the day of Natalie's visit arrived.

Elaine was on edge the whole day. Way too tense to even sleep.

Instead, she spent the morning baking in the kitchen until she accidentally started a grease-fire.

So she moved onto the rest of the house, dusting everything in sight, fluffing pillows, rearranging things until they were just so. Then she'd find something wrong and start all over again.

It was really beginning to get on the others' nerves.

Finally, Richie grabbed her and forced her to sit on the couch beside him.

"Elaine, love, calm down," he told her. "Tying yourself in knots isn't going to get Nat here any sooner."

"Ah know," the blonde admitted. "But Ah wan' this tah beh pahfec' an' Ah keep feelin' Ah've fahgo'en somethin'. Maybeh Ah should --"

Aria got behind the couch and pushed Elaine back down. "What you should do is relax. If she's anything like ya, we're bound to love her. Now do what Richie says and take a break. Have ya eaten anything today?"

Elaine opened her mouth, then closed it. "Ah ... guess Ah've been too busay tah reallay think abou' it," she answered.

Aria humphed, went into the kitchen and returned carrying a bottle and a glass. "Drink."

"Ah'm fine, reallay," Elaine protested.

"Drink," Aria ordered. "Or I'll sit on you and pour it down your throat."

Elaine turned to Richie. "Ah yah goin' tah let hah bullay meh?"

"If she doesn't, I will," he answered. "Ari's right. You're too pale."

"Yes, Mothahs," Elaine ungraciously gave in, swallowing the glass' contents. A second glass went down much quicker. "Happay now?" she asked.

Aria was about to pour a third time when Elaine stood up.

"Too late," she said. "They'ah heah."

"They?" Richie asked.

"Nat brough' Neeki with hah," the blonde explained. "Cow blood! Wheah the hell am Ah supposed tah find cow blood at this time of night?"

This started a new panic, as the blonde thumbed through the phone book, frantically looking for an all-night butcher shop.

The doorbell rang.

Elaine dropped the book and went to the door. Opening it, she hugged the brunette standing there.

"Natalay, why didn' yah tell meh Neeki was with yah?" she asked, a lot calmer than she felt. "Oh, nevah mind. Come in, Ah wan' yah tah meet some people."

Elaine grabbed Nat's hands and pulled her over to Richie and Aria.

"Nat, this is Richahd Ryan an' Aria Andraven," she said introducing them. "Richay, Ari, this is Natalay Lambah', mah gran'daugh'ah."

Aria and Richie shared a glance, which Elaine caught. "What's up?" she whispered into Aria's ear as Richie helped Natalie with her bags.

"Elaine, is Natalie adopted?" Aria asked.

"No, why?"

Aria shrugged. "No reason."

Richie grinned as he took Natalie's bags. "It's nice to finally meet you, Natalie," he said. "Elaine's told us all about you."

"And she's been in a bloody bother all day about your visit too," Aria added. "I was beginnin' to think the Queen Mum was comin' for a visit or something."

"Aria!" Elaine pseudo-blushed.

Natalie returned the smiles. "It's nice to finally meet both of you too," she said. "If you think Elaine's bad with me, you should hear the way she carries on about you."

"Mah reputation is jus' goin' all tah hell, isn' it?" Elaine sighed.

"Pretty much, yeah," Aria nodded.

"Figuahs," the blonde snorted.

Just then, a blond man carrying a couple of suitcases appeared in the door.

"Nicholah!" Elaine exclaimed, running to him and throwing her arms around him. "My darling brother, you should have told me you were coming!"

"Nicholah" dropped the baggage and returned the embrace. "My little sister, it's good to see you again."

That much had been in English. The two then switched to French. At least, they thought it was French. Whatever it was, it was a lot more archaic than either Richie or Aria were familiar with. Positively Medieval.

The two Immortals stared at the vampires. Given the way Elaine usually talked about Nick, they had expected her to treat him the way she did Duncan. This was so totally opposite, it was almost like looking at another person. Even her speech patterns and accent had changed.

Nat came to the rescue. "I found it helps to think of Elaine and Fleur as two different people," she told them.

That helped a lot. Fleur?

"Elaine never told you about Fleur, did she?" Wonderful. How much could Nat tell them? "Fleur was Nick's little sister when they were growing up," she started.

"Growing up as in eight hundred years ago growing up?" Richie asked.

Nat relaxed. If they knew that, she was safe. "You sure she never told you any of this?"

"She doesn't talk to us much about Toronto," Aria explained. "I kinda get the feelin' she likes to keep it separate. All we ever get to do is put her back together when she comes home."

"Ah. Well, the short answer is Elaine turned out to be the reincarnation of Fleur," Nat answered.

"And the long answer?" Richie asked.

"I'll let them tell you," she said.

Elaine, er, Fleur brought Nicholah to them.

"Dearest ones, allow me the honor of presenting my brother Sir Nicholah de Brabant, Knight of the Holy Crusades of Rome. Nicholah, this Fair Maiden is Aria, daughter of Indala, Andraven sworddancer and shieldmaiden, Last of the Daughters, Fulfiller of Prophecy, Blessed Warrior Who Cannot Die. And this Unsung Warrior is Richard Ryan, Swordsman Extraordinaire, Defender of the Downtrodden and Saviour of Damsels in Distress."

"An' Ah hate when she does that." Elaine's voice returned to normal.

Richie and Aria were still staring.

"Elaine?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, it's meh again," the blonde said. "Ah would've wahned y'all this was gonnah happen if Ah'd known Neeki was comin'. Havin' an eigh' hundred yeah ol' dead gahl runnin' aroun' in yah head can beh a real pain in the ass sometimes."

Aria shook her head like she was trying to clear it. "That was the strangest blasted thing I have ever seen," she said.

"What the hell just happened, 'Laine?" Richie asked.

"Yah know how Ah always call Neeki mah brothah, even though theah's a six hundred 'n' fiftay-some yeah age gap between us? Yah jus' met Neeki's sistah. The real one, Ah mean. Ah'm jus' a copay of hah," Elaine tried explaining.

It wasn't working. The Immortals were more confused than ever.

"Right, this is goin' tah take a bit," she sighed. "Why don' Ah get ev'ryone a drink fahst. Nat, would yah like anythin'? Weh have beah, wine, beah, coke, beah, tea, beah, beah, coffay, an' beah. A friend of ahs wen' ovahboahd at the impaht shop the las' time he as heah."

"A coke's fine," Nat said.

"Good," Elaine nodded. "Um, since Ah didn' know yah wah comin', Ah didn' have time tah get yah anythin'. Unless yah wan' some of mine?"

"I'll be fine," Nick answered.

"Yah shoah?" she asked. "It's bad enough yah drink the crap yah do. Yah shouldn' stahve yahself on top of it."

"Truly, Nicholah," Fleur added. "It does me worry when you do not take care of yourself."

"Later," he promised her.

"Yah be'ah." Elaine started for the kitchen to fetch the drinks. Richie and Aria immediately jumped up to stop her.

"Elaine, why don't you sit with Nick and Nat while Ari and I get the drinks?" Richie said.

The two Immortals left the room before she had a chance to object.

The blonde turned back to her guests. "See how they treat meh?" she pseudo-complained. "One li'le fiah an' now they won' le' meh in the kitchen." Her voice grew louder. "Unfahtunatelay, that means Ari's goin' tah beh doin' the cookin' fah a while."

An oven mitt shot across the room, narrowly missing Elaine's head.

"I heard that!" Aria shouted.

"Yah wah supposed tah, Shall!" Elaine threw the mitt back. "An' Ah'm goin' squal hun'in' la'ah!"

"Good!" Aria snapped. "And it's not m'bloody fault! I'm just not used to these blasted modern stoves. The last time I had to cook for m'self was over an open camp fire. Most of the time I either eat in restaurants or one of the Sullivans does the cookin' for me."

"Maybeh weh need tah buy yah a bahbecue," Elaine teased.

Aria and Richie came back then, carrying the drinks. Richie filled Elaine's glass from a fresh bottle while Aria gave Nat her Coke. Then Richie sat down in the arm chair and Aria sat down on the arm next to him.

"Just start explainin' what in the bloody hell happened at the front door before I fix vampire flambe for dinner," Aria said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Y'all jus' ain' gonnah fahget this, ah yah?" Elaine pouted.

"Nope," Richie said.

Elaine looked at Nick and Nat. "Weh migh' as well get it ovah with," she sighed.

The three moved to the couch, Fleur still holding Nick's hand.

"Le's see, wheah should Ah staht," Elaine said. "Both of yah know the stahrah of how Ah was brough' across, what Ah nevah tol' yah was _why_. Basic'lay, it was because Ah look like someone. Ah'm shoah yah cn imagine how pissed Ah was when Ah found out. Onlay by then, it was too late tah tahn back. An' since Ah reallay was in love, not tah mention this was right aftah Ah thought Ah had killed Reese, sah anythin' would have seemed like pahradise then, Ah tried tah make the best of it. Onlay...."

Elaine paused to empty her glass. Admitting anything was still hard for her. Admitting to being a failure was even worse. But Richie and Aria deserved to hear this.

"Evah try tah become anothah pahson?" she asked. "It doesn' wahk. No ma'ah how hahd yah wan' it, oh how hah yah try, it doesn' wahk. An' no ma'ah what Ah'd do, Ah would end up bein' compaahed tah hah. An' losin', a'cahse. Now yah know why Ah'm such a basketcase when Ah come back from Tahrontah, an' why Ah don' like talkin' abou' it."

"But ya still haven't gotten ta what just happened," Aria noted.

"And you're the one always complaining about us not having any patience," Fleur said, rolling her eyes.

The two Immortals looked at each other. Who exactly had they been living with for the past week?

"Can you not guess, Shalla?" Fleur asked. "I've always been here. I just hadn't made my presence known before."

"EIF Ah may continue," Elaine interrupted. "A couple of yeahs ago, Ah ran intah Nicholah, fah the fahs' time in ovah a centuahray. An' Ah fin'lay got tah know a li'le bit abou' Flah, since all Ah had until then was a name."

"Didn't LaCroix tell you?" Richie asked.

Elaine hesitated. Aria, especially, was not going to like her answer. "Ah asked abou' hah once, not lon' aftah Ah was brough' across."

"And?" he prompted.

Here goes. "Mah head made a five inch den' in the wall when Ah landed. Ah got the ideah."

"WHAT?!" Aria yelled.

"It was mah fault," the blonde shrugged. "Ah knew how he fel' abou' hah. Ah should have known how he was gon' tah react an' not asked him in the fahs' place. Besides, it's not like he reallay haht meh."

"Bloody hell." Aria launched into a series of expletives in every language she knew, all of which made every one in the room turn beet red. No small feat since two of them didn't have good enough circulation to normally do it.

"Maybeh Ah shouldn' have mentioned it," Elaine said, wincing.

"She's right you know," Nat told her. "You let LaCroix get away with too much."

"An' Ah though' Ah tol yah, ev'rythin' Ah am, Ah owe tah Lucien," Elaine replied, glaring at her granddaughter. "If he wan's tah throw meh aroun' a li'le, that's fine with meh. Now can weh please drop the subject?"

The look on Aria's face proved that the last thing on earth she wanted to do was drop the subject, but, for Elaine's sake, she did.

"Anyway," Elaine continued her tale, "sah theah weh wah. Ah hadn' seen Neeki fah ovah a hundred yeahs an' Neeki didn' even know Ah was alive until Ah suddenlay showed up on his doahstep."

"Nick didn't know?" Richie repeated. "Why not?"

"Ah had ... saht of beeh ahdahed tah stay away from him," the blonde shrugged. "Somethin' abou' meh threa'enin' tah scratch Neeki's eyes out when Ah lahned Lucien was alive."

"You know why I did that, Elaine," Nick reminded her.

"Yeah, Ah know," she agreed. "It still doesn' mean Ah fahgive yah. Besides, if Ah did fahgive yah, theah'd beh one less thin' fah yah tah feel guiltay abou'. An' weh both know how much yah love feelin' guiltay."

"So you only torment me out of love and affection?" Nick asked, half hurt, half teasingly.

"Of course," Fleur teased back. "What kind of sister would we be if we didn't do everything we could to make you happy?"

"You're stallin', Raltra," Aria grumbled.

"Ah know," the blonde admitted. "Ah'm not shoah how tah explain what happened nex'. Nicholah tol' meh abou' Flah an' a lot of it was familiah, like Ah had alreaday known it, onlay Ah hadn' known Ah knew it, if that makes anay sense. Ah even filled in some of the details. At the time, weh put it down tah the bloodlink. The one time Flah an' Lucien met, we had pricked our finger on a rose thorn, which drew blood, and Lucien had kissed the blood away, so it could've happened that way.

"But then Ah stah'ed remembahrin' thin's that happened aftah that visit," she continued. "Like my marriage to Etienne. Andre. Catching the bloody flux and dying. That las' one was weahd, le' meh tell yah."

Richie shook his head. "Hold it. Who was talking just now?"

"We both were. Why? Does it distahb yah? We can stop if you want," the blonde answered.

"I wouldn't call it disturbin'," Aria answered. "More like the most confusin' bloody thing I've ever heard in all m'life. When y'all keep switchin' back and forth like that, it makes it bloody impossible to keep it all straight."

"Sahrah, Ah think Flah's abou' as nahvous abou' y'all mee'in' each othah as Ah am," Elaine explained.

The blonde's eyes went blank as the two beings in her head discussed which of them would answer. They eventually decided on Fleur being in charge.

"Elaine doesn't really know what happened, so I'll tell you," she said. "In the time between my death and Elaine's birth, our spirit, our soul, if you will, was reincarnated many times. Several of these lives were in bodies similar to ours and a few of these Lucien killed. Elaine was the first one to actually make it to becoming a vampire. Throughout all these lives, I mostly slept, but once Elaine became a vampire, the barrier between us began to break down. At first it was just memories, so Elaine was able to ignore it, but when we saw Nicholah again, the breakdown increased until I became fully awake. And now there are two of us in the one body. Whatever Elaine believes."

"So you're sort of a cross between a possession and a split personality?" Aria asked, trying to put it all into something she could understand.

"Essentially," Fleur agreed. "There's some question of whether I'm a ghost or a recovered previous life, but the truth is, it really doesn't matter. I'm here and I intend to stay."

O-kay. "So how come you've never said anything about Fleur before, Elaine?" Richie asked.

"An' jus' how was Ah supposed tah do that, Kaltock?" Elaine took control back, arching an eyebrow. "Wai' until weh'ah all nice 'n' cozay in bed, then say, 'oh, by the way, theah's this othah bein' inside mah head an' she'd like tah say hi?' Bad enough she's heah at all, Ah don' have tah make a public issuah of it. Although, Ah will admit, she has come in handay at times. She's the one who taught yah all those Medieval figh'in' techniques, fah instance."

That earned her a surprised look from Nick. "Fleur, when did you learn about fighting?"

"Oh, well, you remember how the Solar overlooked the practice field when we were growing up?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"And you remember Philippe? The one with those devastating eyelashes that usually ended up your sparring partner?

"Yeah."

"Between the two of you, we used to argue over who got the seat next to the window. I usually won," Fleur said smugly.

Nick shook his head. This was not a side of his little sister he was used to seeing.

"You're the one who taught him all those moves?" Aria asked, impressed. "You may not be so bad after all, Fleur. I'd planned on gettin' around to 'em m'self, but, um, things ... got a little complicated."

"Well somebody had to," Fleur said. "Somehow, I doubt Master MacLeod is the type to endorse knees to a man's anatomy or elbows to the eyes."

Aria bit back a laugh. Duncan was her blood sworn brother, she wasn't supposed to find it funny when someone insulted him, no matter how fitting. "No, Duncan believes too much in an honorable fight," she replied. "However, since the second rule of Andraven battle strategy is 'there's no such thing as honor on the battlefield', I don't have as much of a problem with it."

"It was standard practice when we grew up," Nick said. "Honor was what you did off the field. And there wasn't much of it then, either."

"I know the feelin'," Aria agreed.

"Careful, or you'll accidently send him into a flashback about Gwenneth," Fleur teased.

"Gwenneth?" Richie asked.

"A ... woman I knew in Wales," Nick answered. "She was killed and I was blamed and sent on Crusade in the Holy Land as punishment."

"It was more than that," his little sister corrected. "They were in love, but Lord De La Barre didn't approve of Nicholah seeing a heathen, especially one who led the locals against them, so he killed her and framed Nicholah. It was all terribly romantic."

Aria, being the token pagan of the group, decided not to comment on that one. "If'n ya say so, ducks," she replied instead.

"But it was," Fleur insisted. "She had a harp that was tossed into the lake, but was later recovered and just a few years ago, the harp used Nicholah to return to Wales."

"Wait a minute," Nat interrupted. "That was why Nick wanted the harp? Because of an old girlfriend?"

"Oopsie," Richie laughed.

"Did you have to tell them that?" Nick asked Fleur.

"Well, it is part of the story and it would be a shame to not tell the entire tale," Fleur pointed out.

"What's the ma'ah? Don' wan' Nat tah know how manay othah women yah've da'ed?" Elaine added. "This was back in twelve twen'ay, sah she shouldn' even ma'ah. Not like Mahrian Blackwin'."

"Remind me again why I came along?" Nick sighed.

"You wanted to see your sister," Nat reminded him.

"And I wanted to do that exactly why?" Nick asked.

"Don't ask me, you're the one who insisted on inviting himself," she replied.

Aria grinned. "Yep, I knew I was gonna love Nat," she laughed.

"Hey, y'all, what's up with Nat?" Elaine later asked in bed. "Ah mean, yah been stahrin' at hah all ev'nin' an' yah asked if she's adopted. Sah what gives? An' don' tell meh it's nothin' this time. Ah know yah both be'ah then that."

"Well," Aria began, "it's just that Natalie gives off a pre-Immortal buzz."

"Impossible," the blonde objected.

"It's not impossible. We both felt it," Richie said.

"Yah don' undahstand," Elaine said, shaking her head. "When Ah fahs' met Nat, weh spen' a month runnin' as manay tes's as weh could think of. Tahns out theah's a genetic sequence that onlay shows up in the Braban' line. Ah have it. Neeki has it. Amay has it. Sahrah doesn'.... Nat has it. Theah's no way she couldn' beh rela'ed tah meh.

"Yah reallay shoah abou' this?" she added a few minutes later.

A dumb question. They wouldn't have said anything unless they were sure.

"Le' meh think a bit." Elaine sat up and propped her head on her knees.

So what was different about Nat? She ran over the tests in her head. Everything had been as expected except --

"Excep' fah that one section," she finished out loud. "Theah was one section of Nat's DNA that Ah couldn' figah out. Ah though' it migh' have somethin' tah do with meh ge'in' bit right befoah Ah got pregnan', but Ah didn' have the time then tah look intah it, sah Ah put it aside, meanin' tah go back tah it la'ah. Then Ah plum fahgot abou' it."

"Problem solved then," Aria stated. "She's Immortal."

"Problem increased," Elaine corrected. "Yah fahgot all the samples Ah took from yah. Ah'm faahlay shoah Ah've isola'ed the genes that cause yah Immahtalitay. It's not the same."

"So?" Richie asked.

"Ah'm not shoah," she answered. "Ah'll probablay need tah talk it ovah with Simon. He's be'ah at figahrin' all this out then Ah am anyway. Ah'll tell yah one thin', though." She broke into a wide grin. "If she is Immah'al, it makes it a whole lot easayah seein' Nat with Neeki. The onlay reason Ah wan' hah tah find someone else was because Ah'm afraid he'll acciden'lay kill hah. Well, that an' Ah'm hopin' fah great gran'kids. But now Ah don' have tah worrah abou' him killin' hah, an' theah's still Amay fah the gran'kids."

"Glad we could be of service," Richie said sarcastically.

Aria smacked him in the chest. "Men," she sighed.

"But Ah like the way yah sahvice us," Elaine said, rolling on top of Richie and rubbing against him. She stayed just long enough to cause a reaction, then got out of bed. "Now if yah'll excuse meh, Ah have tah go."

"Where are you headed," Richie asked.

"Have y'all fahgo'en? Ah promised Aria Ah'd go squahl hun'in'." She got dressed and jumped out the window.

Sure enough, there was a pile of dead squirrels in the kitchen when Richie and Aria got up the next morning. They actually didn't taste half bad.

Over the next couple of days, Nick and Nat noticed several things different about Elaine. She smiled a lot more. She laughed. They would catch her singing under her breath. Finally, they asked her about it.

"It's verrah simple," she told them. Richay 'n' Ari le' meh beh who Ah reallay am."

"All mah life, Ah've had tah pretend tah beh othah people," she went on to explain. "Papa wan'ed meh tah beh like Mama. Reese, well, the less said abou' what he wan'ed, the be'ah. Neeki 'n' Lucien keep expec'in' meh tah beh moah like Flah. Even yah, Nat, tend tah tahn meh intah some kind of gran'mothah figah, which Ah'm not.

"But with Richay 'n' Ari, Ah don' have tah beh anyone else. They accep' meh as Ah am. Hell, Ah don' even have tah pretend tah beh mahtah aroun' them. Ah nevah knew how much Ah needed that befoah."

"And being hopelessly in love with both of them doesn't hurt either," Fleur chimed in.

"But what about LaCroix?" Nick asked. It seemed to Nick that every time he had gotten close to happiness, LaCroix had always ruined it, one way or the other. So how was Elaine able to get away with it?

"He can' do anythin' abou' it. Not without us ge'in' sick, anyway." Elaine turned to her lovers. "Richay, Ah nevah tol' yah this, but aftah Ah lef' yah the fahs' time, Ah got real sick. Not sick sick, like with that AIDS vaccine, moah of a depression Ah couldn' get out of. Real angstay. Come tah think of it, Ah stah'ed ac'in' like yah, Neeki. Anyway, weh did a li'le investiga'in' an' as it tahns out, Ah'm a --" She mumbled something.

Nick, who had just taken a drink, choked on it. "Elaine, did you just say...."

"Ah said a cahrouche." The blonde stomped over to the couch and plopped down on it. "Believe meh, Ah'm not anay happayah then yah abou' it."

"What's a carouche?" Aria asked.

"That's a vampire who prefers animal blood, isn't it?" Nat supplied. "Like Screed."

"Close, but not quite. A moah accahrate description would beh a vampiah whose fahs' meal, an' prefahed meah theahaftah, was somethin' othah then human," Elaine corrected. "Mah fahs' meal was mah deahlay dead husband, Reese."

"But Reese was human," Nick said, slightly confused.

"Yah nevah met him, did yah? An' Ah'm not jus' sayin' that 'cause Ah was marrahed tah the bastahd," she said. "Richay did, not lon' aftah weh met. Tahns out, he'd been alive -- an' breathin' -- an' walkin' abou' in the sun -- the whole time an' Ah nevah knew it."

Nick and Nat looked at each other. Could this be a way for them to be together without killing Nat?

"How?" Nat wanted to know.

"Reese was Immahtal," Elaine answered. "Jus' like Richay 'n' Ari."

"Immortal?" Nick repeated.

"Hmmm. Ah think it'll beh easayah tah show yah then try tah explain it." Elaine turned to Richie and Aria. "Which of yah wan's tah get it?"

"I'll do it," Richie volunteered, taking off his shirt.

Elaine walked over to him, caressed his chest -- and then shoved a knife into it.

"Elaine!" Nick and Nat exclaimed. They knew she didn't share the same moral code Nick did, but killing one's live-in lover was going just a bit too far.

Not to mention it was bad manners.

Richie fell over, dead. Aria and Elaine caught him before he hit the floor and dragged him over to the couch.

"Neeki, Nat? Ah wan' yah tah come ovah heah an' make shoah he's dead," Elaine instructed.

They did, Nat checking his wrist, Nick his neck.

"Well, I don't have any instruments with me, but off hand, I'd say he was definitely dead," Nat offered as her diagnosis.

"Neeki, yah agree?" Elaine asked.

Nick nodded.

"Good. Then watch this." Elaine pulled the knife out of Richie and waited, licking the blood off the blade like it was a lollipop.

Richie jerked awake, startling the two Canadians.

"Oh God," Richie moaned. "I really hate that."

"That's what ya get for volunteerin'," Aria teased.

"Well we couldn't have you falling asleep on us for the rest of the day," Richie shot back.

Aria shrugged. "Can I help it if'n I don't die well?"

Nat was about as pale as the two vampires. "He ... he's alive!" she stammered.

"How is that possible?" Nick asked.

Aria shrugged again. "I ain't got a clue," she answered.

"Ah have a few theahrays," Elaine offered. "But Ah'd rathah not say anythin' until Ah'm shoah abou' them. What it boils down tah, though, is that Richay 'n' Ari ah Immahtal. They'll stay the same age they ah now until someone chops theah heads off."

"Chops their heads off?" Nick echoed.

"Same age?" Nat asked at the same time.

Elaine chose to go with Nat this time -- she really wasn't sure how Nick would take to the Game. "Yes, the same age. Yah may not believe this, but Aria's oldah then meh by two hundred 'n' some yeahs. Even if she doesn' ac' like it mos' of the time."

Aria stuck her tongue out at her.

"See?" Elaine said before turning to her lover. "Do that again an' Ah'll catch it."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Aria did it again. Elaine pounced, knocking the other woman on her back before catching her tongue with her teeth. The tongue slipped out of Elaine's grasp, or maybe the blonde let it go, causing her to go after it with her own tongue.

It soon became apparent that the two women were _not_ stopping.

Nat was becoming very uncomfortable watching them. It wasn't that Elaine and Aria were women. She had gay and lesbian friends, so it didn't bother her. It was just, well, Elaine was her grandmother, for Christ's sake. Aren't grandmothers supposed to have some dignity?

Nick wasn't doing much better. He'd grown up in an era when sodomy got you sent to Hell and what women did together wasn't really known. And that was his sister in Elaine's body, whether or not she was objecting.

Fortunately, Richie realized they were having problems. Grabbing a pillow, he hit his lovers with it until they broke apart.

"Hey, you two. Save it for the bedroom," he told them. "We have guests."

"Spoilspaht," Elaine pouted.

"Ah, he's just jealous 'cause we didn't let him join in," Aria replied, winking at him.

Elaine turned to her guests. "Sahrah abou' that. Ah should've wahned yah. Ah have a hahd time keepin' mah hands off these two." Her voice took on a seductive quality. "Think abou' it, Neeki. Two people Ah cn kill ovah an' ovah an' they keep comin' back fah moah. It's a vampiah's pahradise. Ah could feed off these two fahevah an' Ah intend tah try." She leaned back until she was sitting in Richie's lap and kissed him.

From the look on Nick's face, he was definitely thinking about it. So much so, Nat decided she'd better step in.

"So what does Richie and Aria being Immortal have to do with you being a carouche?" She asked, trying to get back on subject.

"Not Richie 'n' Ari. Reese," Elaine corrected. "Reese was Immahtal, even though it wasn' activa'ed until Ah killed him. He was alsah mah Fahs' Blood."

"First Blood?" Aria inquired.

"When you first wake up as a vampire, you're so Hungry you'll attack anything with a heartbeat," Nick explained. "Whatever it is, that's what you crave for as long as you exist."

"Which makes meh an Immah'al cahrouche instead of a true vampiah," Elaine concluded.

One point still confused Natalie. "Wait a minute. You're saying that Immortals aren't human."

"Technic'lay? An' from a stric'lay gene'ic viewpoin'? They'ah not," the blonde told her.

"Well, thank you, Miss Fang Face," Richie said, feeling slightly hurt.

"Now yah know how Ah feel abou' bein' a cahrouche," Elaine said. "It's a dam embahrassmen', it is. Besides, considahrin' how Ah feel abou' mos' mahtals, what makes yah think not bein' one is such a bad thin'?" She reached up and ruffled his hair.

"I'm surprised ya haven't told Duncan, knowin' how you two feel about each other," Aria noted.

Elaine's eyes gleamed evilly. "Oh, Ah'm savin' it fah a reallay _big_ fight."

"Remind me to be outta the country when that happens," Aria sighed.

"Country, hell," Richie said. "I want off the planet."

"I take it Duncan's another one of these Immortals?" Nick asked.

Aria nodded. "Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod," she answered, making it sound about as pretentious as he usually did. Only he didn't mean it as a joke. "Duncan's the one what made me Immortal in the first place. He was also m'teacher, as well as Richie's, and, for all intents and purposes, he's also m'brother. He's also a rather large bug up 'Laine's backside."

"Of course it's only fair since she's an even bigger bug up Mac's," Richie added. "So you can see why we'd rather be away during that fight."

"Impossible," Elaine objected. "Ah can' beh a bug up Duncan's butt. Theah's no room. Yah'd have tah remove the stick he's got fahmlay lodged up his ass fahst."

"True," Aria agreed.

"What stick?" Richie asked. "I thought it was his head that he had lodged up there."

"And this Duncan is your friend?" Nat replied, confused.

"Usually," Aria answered. "Duncan's sorta," she paused, trying to think of a diplomatic way of putting this, "complicated. I don't know if it's from bein' a chieftain's son or what, but he's always had this tendency to climb up on his high horse and start judgin' people. Usually I can knock him back off it and put him in his place, but he's gotten worse over the past couple of years from some odd reason."

"Don' look at meh, he was like this when weh met," Elaine offered. "Five minutes an' he was alreaday raggin' at meh. Although Ah will admit, he was a lot moah chahmin' when Ah almos' had him fah dinnah in Paris in the Twen'ays."

"Excuse me?" Aria asked. "When exactly did this happen and why the bloody hell didn't ya all tell me this before?"

"Nineteen twen'ay five, the las' night Ah was in Paris. Ah was sin'in' in a night club, Duncan was in the audience an' lookin' migh'ilay appreciative. Sah dahrin' the break, Ah wen' down 'n' talked tah him." Elaine smiled. "It was almos' funnay the way weh wah dancin' aroun' each othah tryin' tah figah out wheah weh'd seen each othah befoah. Anyway, Ah had jus' invi'ed him up tah mah place tah, shall weh say, discuss the ma'ah fahthah, when someone handed meh the white rose an' Ah had tah leave.

"As fah why Ah nevah mentioned it befoah, Ah prefah tah pretend that night nevah happened. The ideah of meh moonin' aftah Duncan fah all etahnitay is enough tah make mah stomach chahn," she shuddered.

"I may have to hurt you," Aria sighed.

"Why?" the blonde asked. "If Ah was livin' with Duncan, he would nevah have met Tessa 'n' taken Richay in, an' Ah wouldn' have fallen fah yah 'n' Richay."

"I just get tired of listenin' to you and Duncan puttin' each other down all the time is all," Aria answered.

"Well, if he would treat Richay 'n' Joe be'ah, Ah wouldn' put him down sah much," Elaine said.

"Do we have to get into this right now?" Richie pleaded.

"No, weh don'," Elaine agreed. "Got a be'ah subjec' in mind?"

"Just anything but this," Richie said.

"Why don't we try to figure out where I've met Aria," Nick suggested. "I thought she just looked like someone I ran across, but now I'm not so sure."

"Ya know, now that ya mention it, ya do look awfully dang familiar," Aria agreed.

"There's eight hundred years for me to go over; any way to narrow it down a bit?" Nick asked.

"Well, I am only three hundred and seventy-three, so that narrows it down to at least half," Aria reminded him.

"Good point. Let's see. Three hundred and seventy-three makes it ... the sixteen twenties, which makes it England, I think," Nick reasoned. "Then the Colonies and back a few times until the seventeen fifties."

"Well, I was born in sixteen twenty-five and I never left m'village until I was fifteen," Aria replied. "So I doubt it was then. Then I traveled around a lot, but I didn't really get into goin' out anywhere where we would have met until the seventeen nineties."

"Seventeen nineties, I was in Paris," Nick said. "You?"

"England," Aria answered. "Eighteen hundreds?"

"Traveled a lot," Nick answered. "Germany, France, Britain...." He paused and looked at Aria. "Switzerland."

"Nicholas Chevalier," Aria replied, finally placing his face with an old name from her memory. "Bloody hell! I can't believe it's really you!"

"The great Lady Aria," Nick laughed. "Will wonders never cease?"

"Oh, Ah believe it," Elaine interrupted. "Neeki's screwed aroun' in mah life enough, why should it beh anay diff'ren' befoah Ah was bahn?"

"'Laine, I wouldn't exactly call it screwin' around in your life," Aria said. "All we did was have some interesting discussions while the good Doctor Adams was off playin' Frankenstein with Nick's doctor friend."

"Adams?" Richie recognized the name. "Doctor 'Where's the Beer?' Adams? Our Adam?"

"One and the same," Aria replied. "Doctor Benjamin Adams was one of a multitude of aliases he was goin' by back then."

"Adams was another Immortal?" Nick asked.

"Is," Aria corrected. "Got an e-mail from the ol' geezer this mornin' as a matter of fact. Only he's Adam Pierson now."

"Reallay?" Elaine brightened. "Why didn' yah tell meh?"

"That he's Adam Pierson now or that I got an e-mail from him this mornin'?" Aria teased. Then she shrugged. "There wasn't that much worth tellin'. He and Diana are in Paris, he's still tryin' to figure out what to do with himself now that he's no longer a Watcher but playin' with Di is definitely keepin' his mind off it for now and they both say hello and send kisses. That's about it."

"If they need a place tah stay, why don' they use mah apah'men?" Elaine offered. "Bahnahd alreaday knows abou' vampiahs an' it probablay could use some upda'in' while they'ah at it."

"No, they've got a place," Aria answered. "Di's got this townhouse in a nice section of town where nobody sticks their nose in your business and the bedroom's already vamp-proofed, so he's moved in with her there. It's just that he's out of a job right now and can't decide what to do now that he's quit playin' pissant grad-student."

"Maybeh they should move tah Tahrontah an' he cn join the police fahse," Elaine jokingly suggested. "Neeki cn hlp him get a job in his depah'men'."

Nick glared at her. "When did you get an apartment in Paris and who's Bernard?" he asked, ignoring her suggestion.

"Mid-teens," she answered. "An' Bahnahd's a descendan' of that creatuah y'all adop'ed aftah yah dropped the doah on Francesca."

"'Sides, 'Laine, the only person I see less likely to become a cop than the old man is me," Richie pointed out.

"I guess I'll have to return that uniform to Marcus then," Aria said. "Too bad, I was really lookin' forward to seeing you in it. And out of it."

Richie sighed. "You do know I was talking about becoming the real thing, right?" he asked, half teasing.

"Prove it," Elaine dared him.

"Not in front of company," Richie shot back.

Nat yawned. "Excuse me. I think all the over time I did before I left is finally catching up with me."

"Yeah, it is gettin' kinda late," Aria agreed.

"Maybe we should be getting to bed," Nick suggested.

"Ah like that ideah," Elaine agreed, winking at her lovers.

"Not if you don't let me get up," Richie teased.

"I thought she already took care of that," Aria replied, winking.

"That's it, everyone to bed," Nat announced, getting up.

She was followed by Nick and Aria, then, more reluctantly, Elaine and Richie.

Aria stopped and waited for them at the top of the stairs. "You know, we did finally get that sound proofin' up in our bedroom," she pointed out.

"Good. Cuz I think we're about to need it," Richie said, smiling.

Since Richie had classes, and Elaine and Nick were sleeping, Aria volunteered to show Nat around the Bay Area the next day. She was just showing her Fisherman's Wharf when something strange happened.

They were walking down the sidewalk when Aria suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing Nat to crash into her.

Aria ignored her, instead looking around like she was trying to find someone.

Nat spotted someone on the other side of the street doing the same thing.

"Um, is that who you're looking for?" she asked, pointing to the guy.

Aria nodded. "He's an Immortal," she explained. "C'mon, let's...." She was about to suggest they leave when the guy spotted her and started heading over to her. "Damn. Nat, remember that church I pointed out to you on our way here?"

Natalie nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"Good," Aria replied. "If I tell ya to, I want you to go there and stay there until I either come for you or a couple of hours have passed. And then I just want you to go straight home."

Natalie started to protest, but the man reached them first.

Aria came forward, putting herself between Nat and the other Immortal. "Name's Aria Andraven," she said.

"Relax, I'm not here for you," the man replied. "I'm looking for someone. Maybe you've heard of him. Name's Ryan, looks in his twenties, redhead, rides a motorcycle. Last I heard, he had a blonde girl with him."

Aria thought about it for a few seconds and then proceeded to lie straight through her teeth. "No, the name doesn't ring a bell. Why ya lookin' for him?"

"If you don't know him, why do you want to know why I want him?"

Aria glared at him. "Because I'm paranoid, not stupid," she answered. "I like to keep abreast of all the headhunters in the area."

The man seemed to buy that. "I'm looking for him because that son of a bitch and his slut killed my mother," he explained.

"Your mother?" Aria asked. This was getting too weird.

"Annie Devlin," he answered.

"Oh, her," Aria replied. "Oh, okay, that makes sense. Well, look, I've never heard of this Ryan kid. But, uh, I'll be sure to let ya know if'n I do."

The guy handed Aria a business card. "You be sure and do that," he said before storming off.

"What was that all about?" Nat asked once they were alone again.

"Big trouble," Aria answered. "C'mon, we gotta go home and talk to Richie and Elaine." She stuffed the card in her pocket and started back towards her Jeep.

Nat could tell something was up from the way Richie reacted when Aria mentioned Devlin's name.

"Annie Devlin? Oh shit," he squirmed. "Um, why don't we wait til 'Laine's up and talk about it then."

And that was all he would say. Fortunately, they didn't have long to wait.

"Ev'nin', y'all," Elaine greeted them. "What's up?"

"There's a headhunter after you an' Richie," Aria told her.

"Not again!" the blonde sighed. "Richay, hon, if Ah'd known they'd beh this much trouble, Ah've nevah have made yah go on that damn spree. Who is it this time?"

"YOU WHAT?!" Aria bellowed.

Richie winced. "'Laine, I never told Ari that my little headhunting spree was your idea," he said.

"Of all the stupid, asinine.... What in the bloody hell were you thinkin', 'Laine?!" Aria snapped, turning on the blonde. "Ya could have gotten him killed!"

Elaine took a step back from Aria's fury, her eyes squeezing shut. She seemed to shrink in on herself and for a moment Richie thought she was reverting back to being a doormat. Then she opened her eyes and he realized she was about to fight back.

"Yah mean like Duncan tried tah?" Elaine answered. "Richay'd alreaday had one close call by the time Ah found him. He was in no condition tah be out on his own. Duncan had done too good a job coddlin' him. Oh maybeh that was the idea. Befriend the newlay Immahtal an' then whack him when he ain' expec'in' it."

"I'm not talkin' about coddlin' him or protectin' him, 'Laine," Aria shot back. "Ya know full damn well the problem I have with the way Duncan handled Richie's teachin'. But there's a difference between teachin' him to protect himself and turnin' him into a Goddessdamned murderer!"

"Like meh?" Elaine asked.

"Don't even," Aria growled. "You kill to eat, end of story. And when you go after somebody, there ain't much of a chance of them turnin' around and nailin' you. I don't know about you but I happen to be rather fond of the current position of Richie's head and what you tried to do is one way to make sure it doesn't stay there!"

"Richay was in no dangah," Elaine shot back. "Ah was theah the whole time, remembah? Which is a hell of a lot moah then Ah cn say fah some people!"

"Oh don't you throw that in m'face!" Aria snapped. "I was tryin' to help m'bloodsworn brother, like I'm supposed to. Richie's takin' off was not m'fault. I told him I'd be back after I helped Duncan with the Dark Quickenin' and at least I had the decency to say good-bye. Even if I did take the easy way out with the blasted video."

"Dahk Quickenin'?" Elaine jumped on the phrase. "Dahk Quickenin' mah ass. That's a bunch of bullshit an' yah know it. Duncan's dahk side decided tah take a li'le walk. Big. Fat. Fuckin'. Deal. Some of us lahn tah live with ah Beasts."

Richie sighed. He had been fearing this fight ever since Aria had taken him back after MacLeod's Dark Quickening, ever since Aria and Elaine had discovered each other and turned them into a threesome. One good sign at least was the fact that Aria was yelling. The other's didn't know it yet, but when Aria was really angry about something, she got deadly calm. When that happened, the only thing to do was to assume the position and kiss your butt good-bye.

But when she yelled, there was still hope. Once she'd had time to calm down, she could forgive whatever had gotten her angry in the first place. So even though Aria was currently pissed as hell, she would forgive Elaine eventually.

However, it wasn't Aria's attitude that was amazing Richie -- he'd half been expecting it all along. It was Elaine's.

The first time Richie had ever gotten angry at Elaine, she'd squeezed her eyes shut and would have run from the room if they hadn't been in public. Once he'd realized what was happening, he'd stopped yelling and apologized, but the damage had already been done. Elaine had spent the next week waiting on Richie hand and foot, anxious to do anything rather than get him upset with her again. Another time, Duncan had said the wrong thing and Elaine had almost killed herself because of it.

Eventually, he had discovered, purely by accident -- Elaine was having a nightmare and blurted it out -- that Reese's beatings were usually preceded by yelling.

They'd had a long talk, but he wasn't sure how much had gotten through, Elaine could be awfully hard headed at times. At least she didn't expect him to hit her anymore.

And here she was, practically screaming at Aria. However, while he was very proud of it, he still didn't want it going any further.

Richie stood up, took a deep breath, and shouted. "HOLD IT!"

Aria whirled at him, her eyes blazing. "What do you want?" she hissed.

"Not you," Richie said. He turned and pointed to Elaine. "You."

"Now what?" Elaine growled.

"'Laine," Richie said, "you're fighting."

She didn't get it. "Sah what?!"

"You," he repeated, "are fighting."

It took her a minute, but it finally sunk in. Elaine squealed in delight, threw her arms around Richie, and started plating kisses all over his face.

Aria, unfortunately, was still seething and still didn't get it. "What the bloody hell are you two carryin' on about it?" she grumbled. "And I would like a quick answer 'cause right now I feel like killin' someone and I ain't real particular about who."

"Simple," Richie answered after stopping Elaine's onslaught. "This is only the second time I've ever seen 'Laine argue. The first time was after she suggested that whole headhunting spree and that's the only reason I went along with it."

"Ain' that jus' great, Shalla?" Elaine asked, grinning.

"Just bloody wonderful," Aria grumbled. "But if anybody needs me, I'll be in the basement discovering how well our cement walls stand up to a beatin'." Then she stormed out of the room.

Elaine tried to follow her but Richie stopped her. "Give her a second, she'll be okay," he said. "It's a good sign when Ari yells too. It means she may feel like killing you, but she won't do it permanently. She'll forgive you after she's had some time to cool off."

"Promise?" Elaine asked, slightly worried.

Richie nodded. "Promise," he answered. "You should've seen the way she tore into me after the whole headhunting thing. But I'm still here aren't I?"

"Ah yah, Kaltock? Ah think yah'll have tah prove that la'ah," she said as she gave him a quick kiss. "In the meantime, how abou' Ah make dinnah? Ah'm shoah Ah have all the fixin's fah leg of lamb with gelatin sauce, ahtichokes, viole' salad an' quince pie."

The whole time she was in the kitchen, Elaine could hear the punches, kicks, and curses Aria was tossing around from the basement. Every little noise made her jump and it was only Richie's promise and all the control she could muster that kept her from going down the stairs.

Elaine had finished cooking and was serving the meal when Aria finally came back upstairs. She slammed the basement door behind her, brushed past them all without saying a word, and headed straight upstairs. After that, the meal was very tense. No one felt like talking, they mostly just sat around the table. Even Richie's appetite was subdued and he just picked at his food.

Aria came back downstairs half an hour later, her hair still damp from the shower and dressed in a fresh pair of jeans and a polo shirt. "Well, I'm calm, but the walls are gonna need a good spacklin'," she said.

As soon as Aria had said that, Elaine got up and went over to her. "May Ah say somethin'?" she asked.

"I think you've about said it all, 'Laine," Aria replied.

"Aria, please. Ah need tah say this," the blonde interrupted her. "Whatevah yah may think of what Ah did, it was not a choice Ah made ligh'lay. Ah like mah Innocen' Killah an' Ah didn' wan' tah destroy him. But Ah alsah knew that if Richay was tah sahvive on his own, he had tah know what he's capable of. That's why Ah did what Ah did, not because Ah wan'ed tah. Event'allay, Ah would've brough' him back from the edge, onlay Ah didn' have the time. Divia saw tah that. Which is why Ah'm glad yah wah theah fah him when Ah couldn' beh. Because yah finished what Ah stah'ed. Like Ah said when weh fahs' met, weh make a pahday good team. Even when weh don' realize it."

Aria sighed. "Look, Raltra, we're never gonna see eye to eye on this, so I highly suggest we let it drop before we end up doin' or sayin' somethin' we'll regret," she replied. "However, if you ever talk Richie into doin' somethin' like that again, your ass is mine. Got it?"

"If Ah evah do, it'll beh ovah MacLeod's dead boday because he tried tah kill Richay again," Elaine retorted. "Cn weh get on with the makin' up now?"

"We better 'cause I don't feel like breakin' m'hand on the wall again," Aria replied, only half kidding.

"Wan' meh tah keiss an' make it be'ah?" the blonde offered.

Aria held out her hand. "Well, only if'n ya insist," she answered.

Elaine took the hand, gently kissing each knuckle in its turn. Then she started on the fingers, sucking on them, one by one. "How's that?"

"Much better," Aria replied, smiling.

"Feel like ea'in' suppah, then?" the blonde asked.

"I'm starved actually," Aria answered.

"Good." Elaine led her over to the table and filled her plate.

"'Laine, did you do this?" Aria asked.

"Yah know anyone else aroun' heah who cooks?" Elaine teased.

Aria shook her head. "What am I gonna do with you?" she replied.

"Fahgive meh?" Elaine suggested, in a somewhat small voice.

Aria kissed her gently. "I already forgave ya, love," she said. "I wouldn't be here if'n I didn't."

"Ah know. Ah jus' had tah beh shoah," Elaine answered.

"Now that that's all settled, why don't you explain what happened this afternoon?" Nat suggested.

"Didn't you say something about Annie Devlin?" Richie reminded Aria.

"Oh it's quite simple," Aria replied. "It seems that Annie's son is after you two."

"Annie had a son?" Richie asked.

"Yeah, she did. Trevah," Elaine answered. "Han' on, how did Ah know that? Ah thought yah said all yah get out of them thin's was theah powah. Nothin' else," she said, turning to Richie.

"That's all I get out of them," Richie said.

"Get out of what?" Aria asked, confused.

"Richay didn' get Annay," Elaine answered. "Ah did. Got the Quickenin', too."

"You should've seen 'Laine's face when she realized what was happening." Richie smiled and made little brushing motions with his hands. "'Shoo. Go that way. He's the Immahtal, not meh.'"

Elaine threw a scrunched up napkin at him. "Yah didn' have tah tell them that."

"Yes I did," Richie laughed, nodding.

"He's right, he did," Aria agreed, snickering.

"No respect," Elaine sighed.

Nat shook her head, confused. "What exactly are you three talking about?" she asked. "Quickenings, headhunting. I don't know about Nick but I'm confused as hell."

The three lovers looked at one another.

"Ari's the eldes'," Elaine suggested.

"'Laine's the scientist," Aria countered.

"What about me?" Richie asked.

"You're the cute one," Aria answered.

"Yah the sex objec'," Elaine said at the same time.

Naturally, that started a round of horseplay.

"Would one of you just answer?" Nick interrupted.

"Ah'll do it," Elaine decided. "The othah nigh', Ah tol' yah Richay 'n' Ari can' die. Well, theah is one way. If an Immahtal's head is sevahed from theah boday, then it's pahmanen'. Needless tah say, Ah don' evah intend fah that tah happen tah Richay oh Ari. Oh Methos, fah that ma'ah."

"Methos?" Nat asked.

"Yeah," Elaine nodded. "He's anothah Immahtal weh happen tah beh rathah fond of."

"Okay, so that takes care of the head hunting," Nick said. He wasn't sure if he liked it, since it was murder, but they could discuss that later. "What about the, what did you call it, a Quickening?"

There was another round of shared looks.

"Why don' yah take this one, Ari?" Elaine suggested. "That's some of what Ah haven' figahed out yet."

"What? Like I actually know what the bloody thing is?" Aria replied. "Just 'cause I'm three hundred and seventy-three doesn't mean I know everythin'. Shoot, Methos isn't even sure what it is."

"Sah jus' tell 'em what yah do know," Elaine said.

Aria sighed. "From what little I've been able to piece together, the Quickenin' is some sort of bio-electric field all Immortals generate. When it comes within range of another field, it generates a kind of buzzin' sensation that allows us to identify each other. That's what I felt when I stopped and started lookin' around for Trevor. It also heals us faster than mortals and could quite possibly be what makes us Immortal in the first place.

"When an Immortal is beheaded, the Quickenin' is released and is usually transferred to the Immortal who did the choppin' in the first place. The more heads ya take, the more powerful your Quickenin' gets. And, uh, the feelin' can be quite a rush. I've never handled it well m'self for some odd reason, but the closest comparison I've ever heard is that it's like gettin' hit by lightnin' while goin' through the greatest orgasm of your life. And some Immortals get addicted to that rush and turn into headhunters. And some are just flat out evil to begin with. And accordin' to the rules, the last of us left will get all the Quickenin's of all the Immortals who ever lived and will supposedly end up with enough power to rule the entire mortal realm if'n they see fit."

"An' Lahd help us all if it should happen tah beh Duncan MacLeod," Elaine added. "The wahld's screwed up enough as it is, without him stickin' his nose in wheah it doesn' belon'. If Richay 'n' Ari don' make it, which as much as Ah hate tah say it, they probablay won', then Ah'd like Methos tah get the Prize. At leas' he knows be'ah than tah go messin' aroun' in thin's that don' concahn him."

"Personally m'money's on Connor," Aria replied. "I mean, Methos may be a survivor, but he doesn't have Connor's killer instinct. Plus he doesn't quite have the head up his bum problem Duncan does. I've always found it hard to believe they're from the same clan, ya know? I mean, okay, yeah, they both got the same problem with doin' every woman who even smiles at them, but at least Connor has the good sense to off 'em when they challenge him."

"Just how many Immortals are there?" Nick asked. "It seems like there's quite a lot."

Aria shrugged. "We're not really sure," she answered. "Even the Watchers don't have an accurate count."

"Richay's one of the younges'," Elaine offered. "Mos' youn' ones don' sahvive verrah lon 'since they haven' had the trainin'."

"Luckily, I've had some of the best teachers around," Richie replied. "And Mac helped out a little too. "

"Well, I'll help you, if you want," Nick offered. "It's been a while since I held a sword, but I used to be pretty good."

"Pretty good?" Fleur interrupted. "You were good enough to survive going on Crusade. Even if Mama and I did think you were dead. Richie, you should take him up on his offer, it'd be good for you."

Richie shrugged. "Like Ari always says, even the best can be better," he replied. "And no offense to Ari, Elaine, or Fleur, but I've been sparring with women a little too much lately. Might be nice to have a male opponent for awhile."

"Just because you end up on your backside half the time...," Fleur teased. "But in this case, Nicholah's perfect for you to train with, since he's the same size as Trevor. And I'll help since Annie trained him."

"And you know I'll help in any way I can," Aria added. "Even if it's nothin' more than teachin' ya a few extra places to hide weapons."

"All settled then," Richie said, stealing one of Elaine's favorite

lines. "But why don't we wait until after dinner before everyone tries to kill me. For one thing, I doubt Nick brought his sword with him."

"Well, I'm sure he could find somethin' around here he could borrow," Aria teased. "But you're right, I'd rather wait until after dinner, too." Then she dug into her plate.

As if on cue, the others also started eating. And for once, Elaine didn't say anything when Nick tried a few bites of his own.

Richie circled, keeping an eye on his opponent. For the past three days, every time they sparred, Nick had beaten him. But not this time. This time he was going to win. He picked his moment and struck.

Nick faltered, caught off guard, then parried. And the fight was on.

"What do yah think?" Elaine asked Aria on the sidelines.

"I think Richie's favoring his left too much again," Aria answered. "I also think I love the way his ass moves, but that's beside the point."

"Ah think yah right, on both pahts," Elaine agreed. Switching to Medieval French, she then said a few things to Nick, who immediately adjusted his attack.

"Dammit, Elaine!" Richie snapped as he narrowly avoided Nick's swing. "That's not fair!"

"What?" Aria replied. "You think Trevor's gonna be any fairer? I've told you a million times you favor your left and you can all but guarantee Trevor's gonna notice it too."

"Aria's right," Elaine agreed. "Trevah's a be'ah figh'ah then Annay evah was. He'd nevah miss that."

Nick sped up his attack, finally forcing Richie to his knees. Barely holding his sword up with one hand, the young Immortal grabbed a knife out of his boot and shoved it up into the vampire's stomach. Nick jumped back in shock, giving Richie the time he needed to get back to his feet.

"Bet Trevor won't see that one coming," he gloated.

"Not if you learn to do it faster," Aria shot back.

The two men continued fighting, finally ending with Nick speeding up and knocking Richie's sword out of his hand.

"AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Richie screamed in frustration.

Aria kissed him gently on the cheek. "Richie, love, you did notice he was cheating there with vampire speed, right?"

"He was?" Richie asked.

Aria nodded. "He was."

"Which means?" Richie asked.

"Which means yah as readay as yah evah gonnah beh," Elaine answered. "Wan' meh tah go call Trevah?"

Richie nodded. "Let's get this over with."

All four headed upstairs into the living room.

"What's up?" Nat asked.

"Ah'm makin' a phone call," Elaine said. She found the card Trevor had given Aria and dialed the number on it. "Ba, ba, lammie noo,/Cuddle doon tae mammie,/Trowies canna tak thoo,/Hushie ba, lammie;/He bonnie, peerie bird/Sleepin in me bosie," she sang into the receiver to get his attention. "Annay was on hah knees when she died. Ah yah goin' tah beh as much fun?"

She held the phone away from her, letting everyone hear Trevor's very impolite answer. When she got tired of his swearing, she cut him off with an ear-piercing whistle. "Meet us on the steps in fron' of the Consahvatahrah of Flowahs in Golden Gate Pahk at midnight. An' do beh shoah tah tell meh if yah wan' tah beh bahrayed somewheah oh dropped in the ocean like Annay was." She hung up, to another chorus of curses, and looked at the others. "Right. Sah who all's comin' with us tonight?"

"Count me in," Aria answered immediately. "Not to sound like I don't have in any faith in ya, Halvan, but if something goes wrong tonight, I want first crack at the bashta."

Richie smiled. "Weird as it sounds, but that actually does make me feel better," he replied.

"Well, I'd like to go," Nick volunteered. "I have to admit, you've got me curious about this Quickening thing."

Which left Nat. "Oh, all right," she said. "There's nothing good on tv tonight anyway."

"Gee, thanks," Richie replied sarcastically.

"She doesn't mean it," Nick told him. "She just worried about what might happen tonight."

"She's not the only one," Richie sighed.

At eleven, they all piled into Elaine's Caddie and set off. Aria was driving, since Richie was too nervous and Elaine wasn't about to let Nick drive for fear he'd have a flashback and they'd be late.

Aria visibly relaxed as they pulled into the parking lot and got out. "Great, he ain't here yet," she said. "We've got a couple of minutes to scout out the terrain."

"Ah'll go fah an ovahhead scan," Elaine offered. "Caah tah come with us, Neeki?"

"Sure," he agreed, and the two took off.

"Come on, Richie," Aria said. "Let's go find ya good spot."

Along with Nat, they looked around and eventually settled on the flat area of the steps in front of the Conservatory. Just in time, too, as the vampires landed next to them a few minutes later.

"Trevah's comin'," Elaine said, landing next to them. "He'll beh heah in a few minutes."

Richie swallowed hard. "Remind me again why I'm going through with this?" he sighed.

"Because Trevah's a stubbahn cuss an' won' le' up until one of yah's dead," she answered, putting her arms around his neck. "On the whole, Ah'd rathah it was him."

"Me too," Richie agreed, kissing her gently. Then he untangled himself from Elaine and turned to Aria.

Aria smiled at him proudly and then put her right hand over his heart. "Vaatan," she said simply. Then she removed her hand and drew her sword.

Richie drew his sword and crossed the blade over hers. "Vaatan," he agreed.

Then in unison they cried, "Vaatan!", and replaced their swords.

Elaine, not to mention Nick and Nat, stared. "What the hell waz that?" she asked.

"Andraven battle cry," Aria explained. "Loosely translated, it means victory is ours."

"And you do that every time you fight?" Nat asked.

"Not every time," Aria answered. "Usually only when I know I'm gonna be gettin' into a fight and have the time to go for the extra blessin'."

"And believe me, this is definitely one time I want Andraven on my side," Richie added.

"You're gonna need it," a man, whom Aria, Nat and Elaine recognized as Trevor, said, coming up the steps. "Nice of you to find him for me," he then told Aria.

"Oh believe me, the pleasure was all mine," Aria replied. "I rather enjoyed having the extra time to warn him there was a moron on his trail."

"Stick around, I'll be glad to take you on after I'm done with this puppy," Trevor said before turning to his opponent. "You must be Richie. I didn't know this was a spectators' sport."

"Well, my friends were sort of curious," Richie replied snidely. "It's not every day they get to see an idiot's death wish come true."

"Saves me the trouble of hunting you all down later," Trevor shrugged and drew his sword. "Let's get this over with, shall we? My name is Trevor Devlin, you killed my mother, prepare to die."

Elaine winced.

Richie raised his sword in a mock salute. "My name is Richard Ryan and you really need a better writer, jack ass."

"Sorry," Elaine said in an Irish accent. "Princess Bride was his favorite book growin' up. You wouldn't believe how sick I became of it."

A very odd look crossed Aria's face. "Great Mother, but how many people you got runnin' around in there, Raltra?" she asked, concerned.

"Occupational hazahd of what Ah am," the blonde shrugged. "Yah probablay in heah, too, somewheah. Why don' weh get out of the way an' le' Richay 'n' Trevah fight." She herded Nick and Nat to the side.

Trevor moved into a battle stance. "Ready whenever you are, Ryan," he spat.

Richie shrugged. "Your funeral, man," he replied.

Nat watched in amazement as the two fought. True, she had seen Richie and Nick practicing, but there was a deadly earnestness about this that hadn't been there before. How could Elaine and Aria stand it?

Aria bit her bottom lip, watching Richie parry and thrust. This is what she hated the most about loving another Immortal, the waiting and not being able to do anything about it. She never wanted to break the rules so much in her life as she did when Richie was challenged. But she stood her ground and waited.

Elaine, meanwhile, had wandered off in search of something. She finally found him hiding in a tree, watching the fight.

"Yah mus' beh Trevah's Watchah," she said, briefly pulling out a medallion from beneath her shirt.

"Brilliant deduction," he replied. "And do you mind, you're blocking my view. Go find your own hiding spot."

Instead of doing what he said, she floated up next to him. "Theah's been a change of plan," she said, looking him directly in the eyes. "Yah los' Trevah on the way heah, sah yah decided tah go back tah his apah'men' an' wai' fah him. Right?"

"Lost Trevor, went back to apartment," he repeated slowly.

"That's right," Elaine said, helping him out of the tree. "Now get in yah cah, an' go."

"Car, go home," he repeated again. Then he turned and left.

Elaine watched him go and returned to the fight.

"Take care of things?" Aria asked when the blonde returned.

"Yah know how Ah feel abou' them damn busaybodays," Elaine answered. "How's the fight."

"He's holdin' his own," Aria replied.

Trevor stepped up his attacks, forcing Richie backwards. More concerned with the blade coming at his neck than anything else, Richie forgot to watch his feet. He hit a loose rock and lost his balance. Trevor took his opening and forced the younger man to his knees.

"Say your prayers, Ryan," Trevor spat as he moved for the kill.

"Pray this," Richie answered, grabbing Ari's knife out of his boot and thrusting it upward, driving it hilt deep into Trevor's stomach.

Stunned, Trevor dropped his sword as he fell to his knees. Richie jumped to his feet and raised his sword for the death blow.

At the last minute, Trevor raised his hand. "Wait."

"Gee, Trevor, I didn't think you were the begging for your life type," Richie replied sarcastically.

"Up yours, kid," Trevor answered. Then he looked at Elaine. "I heard Mama's voice. You have her Quickening?"

"I'm right here, Trevor," Elaine answered, again in the Irish accent.

"And you love him?"

Elaine nodded. "A'cahse."

"Then it's okay." Trevor accepted his fate, turning to Richie. "Make it quick."

Richie nodded. "You got it." And then he swung.

While everyone waited for the Quickening to start, Elaine went over to Nick. "Neeki? Get Nat out of heah. Ah have a feelin' glass is goin' tah staht flyin' an' Ah don' wan' hah haht."

Nick started to argue, but Aria literally pushed him into Nat. "GET OUT NOW!" she yelled at them.

After looking at the mist coming out of Trevor's body, then at the glass building behind Richie, Nick nodded. Then he grabbed Nat and ran behind a tree.

The mist gathered itself up, and attacked Richie. At the same time, the wind kicked up and he leaned his head back and let out a yelp that was half war cry, half scream of pain.

And then the lightening began.

Lightning shot out of his body, hitting everything in sight. Trees, rocks, buildings....

One by one the windows of the Conservatory smashed, releasing hundreds of shards in the air. The shards danced around Richie, as he fell to his knees, the wind carrying away his screams.

Nick and Nat poked their head around their tree, amazed at the mess the Quickening had created.

Aria sighed. "You realize they're gonna make us pay for this," she pointed out. "I don't know how they're gonna figure out it's us, but they will."

"They have tah catch us fahst," Elaine said, licking her lips. She slowly walked towards Richie until they were almost touching then --

Richie grabbed her, pulling her down to his level. At the same time, their mouths met in a hungry kiss. Elaine pressed her body tight against him, oblivious to anyone besides her lover.

"Oh for the love of...." Aria stormed over to them and pulled them both apart. "Can't you two wait until we get home for once in your damn lives?!"

"Hm?" Elaine asked, then remembered the others present. "Oh, right. Neeki, caah tah help meh with the boday?"

"What the hell was that?" Nat gasped. "What the hell was that? WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

"That's a Quickenin'," Elaine answered, standing up and grabbing Trevor's head.

"But he killed him!" Nat shot back. "I mean he killed him, he really, really killed him!"

"And Trevor would have killed Richie if Richie hadn't gotten him first," Aria said. "That's what Immortals do."

Nat shook her head, still not believing what she had just seen. "You people are nuts, you know that?"

"Trust me, we know," Richie answered.

Aria helped him to his feet. "You get used to it after awhile," she added.

"An' some of us find it a tahn-on," Elaine added. "Yah wan' a trophay, Richay?"

"Uh, no, that's okay," Richie answered turning a little green. "The Quickening will be more than enough, thanks."

"Yah choice," she shrugged. "Neeki, Ah reallay could use yah help heah."

Nick shook himself awake. "Sure. What do you want me to do?"

"Take the boday," she told him. "Weh'll dump it out in the Pacific."

He did as she said, picking up Trevor's headless corpse.

As the vampires took off, Nat turned back to Richie and Aria. "You guys do this all the time?" she asked.

"Not if we can help it," Richie answered. "But sometimes we don't have a choice."

"It's just the price we pay for a long life," Aria explained. "Elaine and Nick drink blood, we occasionally have to fight another of our own kind. Most of us don't like to do it, me and Richie included, but if we want to survive, sometimes we have to."

"But Nick doesn't drink human blood any more," Nat objected. "And he's trying to give up the cow."

"Because Nick has control," Aria pointed. "Or at least he does up to a point. His survival doesn't depend on the actions of an outside person. Ours does."

"Guys like Trevor, they don't stop coming until they get what they want," Richie added. "And we were lucky with him, he only wanted me. I've met all kinds of Immortals who would think nothing of hurting Ari, Elaine, Nick, even you to get to me."

Nat still wasn't convinced, but she let them lead her back to the car and got inside when the door was opened.

It turned out they left just in time, as on the way home they passed three police cars.

"We cut that one way too damn close," Aria sighed as she pulled into the garage.

"It's wahse then yah think," Elaine said, from the inside door. "Neeki 'n' Ah flew ovah a couple of news vans on the way heah. Weh'ah luckay they didn' have theah cam'rahs out."

"Oh lord," Richie sighed. "'Laine, do me a favor and pick a more secluded spot next time. Please?"

"Sahrah. But it was the fahst place Ah though' of," she apologized. Putting her arms around his neck, she then kissed him. "Now, yah still hahnay?"

"What do you think?" Richie asked as he grabbed her and kissed her passionately.

Elaine didn't answer, she just wrapped her legs around his waist as they headed for the bedroom.

Aria handed Nick the car keys. "Ya might wanna go take Nat out for awhile," she suggested. Then she thought for a second and handed him her wallet. "A long while."

She patted him on the shoulder and headed inside.

Nat was about to ask why, when Nick smiled.

"C'mon," he said. "We'll take my car."

No one was surprised when a few days later Nat decided to head home. She'd become increasingly anxious, both over Richie's killing of Trevor and the fact that none of the others, Nick included, seemed the least bit disturbed by it.

"She goin' tah beh all right?" Elaine asked Nick.

"She'll be fine," he assured her. "She just needs a few days to work things out."

Elaine wasn't totally convinced, but she let it go. Nick had known Nat longer than she had, after all. So instead, she asked them which route they were going to take.

"I hadn't really thought about it," Nat answered. "I-80 to Chicago, then on to Toronto, I suppose. Why? It sounds like you have an idea."

"Ah was jus' thinkin', theah's still time befoah yah have tah go back tah wahk, why don' yah do some sigh'seein' while yah at it," Elaine suggested. "Up the Pacific coast, then cut across Canada that way."

"You got somethin' planned, 'Laine," Aria said, catching her lover's comment.

"Jus' ... that ... maybeh Ah'd tag alon' as fah as Seacouvah," the blonde said, doing her fake blush. "Show Nat some of wheah Jimmay 'n' Ah used tah live, stop 'n' say hi tah Joe. Then Ah'd come straigh' home while they wen' on tah Tahrontah."

"Well, if'n you're just goin' up to see Joe, I guess I could live with it," Aria teased her.

"Elaine told you, we're addicted to you," Fleur answered. "We just never said why. But it's up to Nicholah and Natalie."

"I don't mind," Nat said. "Nick?"

"I think it'd be fun," he answered.

"All se'led then," Elaine announced. "Ah'll go pack."

She went into the bedroom and returned in a few minutes carrying a small suitcase.

Aria and Richie took Elaine aside and each gave her a kiss good-bye.

"Promise you'll be back soon?" Aria asked.

"Weh'll beh back befoah yah know it," Elaine assured her. "Once Neeki an' Nat leave, the only thin' Ah'll beh stoppin' fah on the way home is dinnah."

Nick put her bag in the car, then they all piled inside and headed off.

THE END

Double Background courtesy of THE Background Boutique.