FIC: The Ash Chronicles Book Two: The Methos Story 1/?

["Julie Burnham" <kerothyn@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

(thanks to all who encouraged this... and thanks to my Ash <G>)

I'm trying not to make the parts too long, so... the next part will be sent 
out soon.

The Methos Story: Book Two of the Ash Chronicles (Book One is The Angel 
Story, Book Three is The Duncan Story)
by Kathleen Carrigan

Spoilers: "Methuselah?s Gift" and "New Moon Rising." Alternate universe.

Disclaimers at end. //text// indicates italics. This has been only 
semi-betaed.

//Excepted from The Methos Chronicles

For three days and three nights I stayed by her side. For three days and 
three nights I watched her only movement be a slight rise and fall of her 
chest as she breathed through a tube. And there was nothing I could do 
about it. I?ve lived over five thousand years. I?ve got all the money and 
power I could want, and I was still powerless to save the woman I loved. In 
the end, I?m always powerless to save those I love. I?ve watched my 
parents, my siblings, everyone I?ve ever loved, die. And now Carolyn is 
taken from me. I?ve killed savagely; I?ve done terrible things. I should 
be the one to die. Carolyn never hurt anyone. Everyone expects me to have 
all the answers. Of course. I?m five thousand years old. What shouldn?t I 
know? But I don?t know much of anything. I have no words of wisdom. I 
don?t know why some die while others live. Carolyn shouldn?t have died. 
She?d barely begun to live. I will find the bastards that did this to her. 
I know it was no accident. Someone or some ones wanted her dead. The trail 
chills, but it is not frozen yet. I will find those responsible for the 
murder of a completely innocent woman, a woman I loved. Or immortality will 
be my punishment for failure.//

Methos sat up in his chair by the completely empty hospital bed. Carolyn 
was gone. Forever. He had sat by, powerless, as his love?s heart stopped, 
as the monitors wailed, as the doctors took her away from him. Age doesn?t 
equal wisdom, he thought. If it did, I should have been able to save her. 
"I should have been able to save her," he echoed. His fist slammed down, 
startling the nurse who was changing the bed sheets.

"Are you Adam Pierson?" the nurse asked. At his nod, she continued. 
"Carolyn left something for you." She walked over to the nurses? station 
across from Carolyn?s room and took a manila envelope from behind the desk. 
She turned it over in her hands so that the man could see the name written 
on the front in Carolyn?s beautiful handwriting. Adam Pierson.

A tear made its way down Methos?s cheek as he gingerly accepted this last 
gift from his love, Carolyn. "Thank you," he whispered, then started 
walking. His Range Rover was parked close. He got in and began leafing 
through the pages from the envelope. They were letters mostly, and a few 
legal documents, including her will. "Oh Carolyn," he murmured. "I was so 
close. I could have saved you. I could have made you immortal. But it 
fell out of my grasp. It slipped between my fingers like a grain of sand. 
Some damn fool Watcher would have traded your life for his own immortality." 
Tears blurred his vision as his head fell onto the steering wheel.

A knock came to the passenger side window. Methos looked up at the intruder 
before opening the door. "What do you want to do to me? Lecture me for 
stealing from the Watchers? Tell me that after all this time I should be 
used to loss? That I should just get over loving someone? I?m sorry, 
Dawson, but there?s nothing you or your Watcher buddies can tell me right 
now to put me in my place. Now if you?ll excuse me, I have to go find the 
bastards that killed the woman I loved."

Methos started to shut the door, but the Watcher stopped him. "You mean 
your girlfriend was murdered?"

He looked at Joe for a minute. "Gee, Dawson, you catch on quick. Yes, 
Carolyn was murdered. Like everyone else in my life. Are we done here, or 
would you like to gloat about how I?m not as strong as I look?"

"I get the hint. I?m gone," Dawson said. "Don?t do anything stupid. 
Duncan would have my head if I let you get hurt." He started to shut the 
door. "You?ve got me pegged all wrong. I wouldn?t do that to you Old Man."

"If you?re so worried about me, why don?t you come with me? Or did you come 
all this way to see how I was doing?"

Joe looked down. "I didn?t know if you wanted my help. Mac thought your 
could use a friend."

"Looks like he was right." Methos cleared off the seat next to him. "Hop 
in."

"So where are we going?" Joe asked as he settled in. He leaned his cane 
against his unsteady leg.

"Back to my hotel, for now. I want to review these letters, try to find out 
who killed Carolyn. After that, who knows? We?ll see how the search goes."

*

Nothing. Methos found nothing in Carolyn?s letters that could give any clue 
as to how she died. It wasn?t just the cancer, that Methos knew. It was 
pretty hard on her, but it wouldn?t have killed her yet. No, there had to 
be something else, but her letters didn?t show anything.

Exhausted, he flopped down on the couch in his unused suite that he only 
held in case the worst were to happen - the worst that had happened.

A knock came to his door. "Who is it?" he called out.

A gruff voice answered. "It?s me, Old Man."

The door opened and Joe Dawson saw exactly how badly Methos was hurting over 
Carolyn?s death. He could see the distinct stubble on the man?s chin, the 
scruffy hair that was usually so pristine, the dirty shirt.... His haggard 
appearance quite frankly scared Joe. "Do you have something?" the weary man 
asked, acting every one of his over five thousand years.

"Only a question," he replied honestly. "Why don?t we bring the cops into 
this? You know it was murder -."

"But I can?t prove it at this point. There are other reasons as well. No 
cops. If we do this, we do this ourselves," Methos explained.

"What other reasons?"

"What if it was to get to me? I don?t need that exposure. I?m sure you can 
appreciate that. And... we got involved in some rather covert dealings. If 
the police were to find out, it would shed bad lighting on Carolyn. So no 
cops. All right, Dawson?"

"Okay, no cops. I take it you didn?t find anything?"

"Nothing."

Dawson put a hand on Methos?s shoulder. "I know how much you loved her, Old 
Man."

"Do you?" he asked. "Do you know that she was the first person I let myself 
love in a thousand years? Do you realize how long that is to be alone? And 
I avoided it because I knew it would end like this - she?d die and I?d be 
stuck with picking up the pieces. I loved her with all of my heart." He 
glanced down, ashamed of his admission. "I know she was your friend too. 
I?m sorry for being so selfish about all of this. With Carolyn, I let my 
guard down. She didn?t see what I show everyone else. She saw me." He 
sobered. "I guess we have to start planning her funeral now. I don?t want 
to do this."

"Did she tell you what she wanted?"

"She said, ?You?re older and wiser than I am. Choose how you would want me 
taken care of.? We didn?t really talk about it much." A small smile graced 
his lips. "A funeral pyre?s probably out, huh?" Dawson nodded. "Thought 
so."

"We could have her cremated if you want."

"It?s not the same. Someone has to chant her off." Suddenly, an idea 
dawned on him. "I know where we can have a proper funeral pyre for her. I 
have a friend with a rather large estate. She even knows the right chants."

"So who is this mystery friend of yours?"

"Her name?s Ash."

"She?s named Ash? What kind of a name is Ash, anyway?"

"Appropriate. When you meet her, you?ll see. Now if you?ll excuse me, I 
have a few calls to make."

"Of course, Old Man. G?night." Dawson turned around and walked out the 
door.

Methos picked up the phone and began dialing. "You have reached Ash 
Devlan?s phone. She?s not available right now. If you would like to leave 
a voice mail message, press one. If you...." Beep.

"Ash? It?s me. Carolyn?s gone. We want to do a full ceremony. Can you 
get a few people together to chant her off? Call me when you get this 
message. I?m in Switzerland. You should still have my number here. Good 
luck with whatever you?re after. Bye." He hung up, then waited for the 
phone to ring. If Ash wasn?t knee deep in some really bad stuff, she?d be 
checking her voice mail soon.

Four hours later, Methos awoke to the sound of a ringing phone. "Hello?"

"Hey little boy, it?s me," Ash said. "I?m sorry about Carolyn. I had some 
business to take care of in California. Swing by my place - I?ll have it 
set up by the time you get here."

"Thanks." He paused. "We?ve done this too much, haven?t we?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Never again, huh Old Lady?"

"No," she said. "We?ll keep doing this until somebody kills us. If we 
don?t, who is to say if we?re truly alive?" Methos grunted. "You know I?m 
right."

"I know. You?re always right. That?s why you?re the basis for every 
goddess figure...."

"Flattery will get you everywhere. Unless you?re Tony Flattery from the 
original ?Whose Line Is It Anyway?? That Flattery will only get you to a 
comedy club."

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a strange sense of humor?"

"All the time, but yours is the same, so I wouldn?t complain if I were you."

"True again. Maybe I should quit before I lose any more dignity."

"Too late for that," Ash remarked. "Get some sleep. I?ll see you later, 
honey." She hung up.

Once again, Methos laid down upon his bed and tried once more to fall into 
slumbers uninterrupted by Morpheus, but it wasn?t to be, for the old man 
could see only Carolyn, crying out, "Help me Methos! Save me! Avenge me! 
Love me!"

Methos rolled onto his stomach and tried to block out the screams of his 
beloved Carolyn, the screams he should have heard as she died. "No. No! 
NO!" he screamed into the blackened night. "Carolyn!" he called out. 
"Carolyn! I loved you! I love you!"

No one pounded on his walls, reminding him further of just how alone he 
truly was. "I will find your killers, Carolyn, and I will make them pay." 
He knew he?d have to wait for the autopsy and toxicology reports to come 
back before he could begin to figure out the how, why and by whom of 
Carolyn?s murder. "Ash," he whispered silently into the night. "If you can 
hear me, I could really us some help. Yes, I?m admitting it. Hell must 
have frozen over." Methos?s eyes closed of their own accord.

A soft voice was heard to whisper into the dark room, "Sleep now. Worry no 
more. I?ll handle everything."

While Methos was sleeping, Ash was on the phone. "Willow? It?s me. Can 
you take a few days off of classes to do me a favor?"

"What do you need?" Willow asked.

"I need you to come with me back to my place so we can chant someone off."

"Anybody I knew?"

"You remember Methos from the past, right? His girlfriend was killed."

"Oh no! Does he know who?"

"Not yet. He?s going to be on the prowl for her killers right after the 
pyre."

"No," Willow corrected. "We?ll be going after ?em after the pyre."

"Oh no I?m not...." Ash waited for Willow to interrupt her. "Okay, fine. 
But don?t tell the blonde where you?re going, or really why. I don?t want a 
leak."

"She wouldn?t betray you. You know that."

"But something could happen to her. Call it plausible deniability."

"What am I supposed to tell her then?"

"How well did your little talk go after she got back from LA? She left so 
quickly...."

"You didn?t have to do pushups in front of the poor girl. Naked. But we?re 
cool. More than cool, actually."

"How much more? I need vicarious romance since tall, dark and brooding was 
a one-night." Ash didn?t add, "like all the others."

"If I turn over in bed, she?ll feel it."

"Wow. Congrats!"

"I told her about the plan."

"And she still ended up in your bed? I?m proud of you honey. I know I 
wouldn?t have done it. But you had to. Meet me at LAX at eleven tomorrow 
morning."

"But I don?t have a ticket," Willow protested.

"You don?t need one," Ash assured her. "I have my own plane."

"Lemme guess, lemme guess. Hmm, is it... a stealth bomber?" Willow asked.

"You?ll see in the morning, now won?t you?"

Willow sighed. "I guess so. Buffy?s gonna be mad at me for taking off on 
her like this. Especially since I was just talking to her about taking off 
on me for little things."

"Don?t tell her this involves me or any sort of immortal business. I?m 
probably not her favorite person right not."

"True. Did Angel really say, ?We broke up. Move on. Next please,? to 
her?" Willow asked disbelieving.

"Yeah, he did," Ash confessed.

"Tell me, do all men act like that after you?ve slept with them?"

"Most of ?em. I think it?s just a worship thing. I provide a cross between 
Fantasy Island and Sex in the City."

"So basically you?re a cheap whore."

"I was never cheap!" Ash protested.

"Fine, if you say so. My memories of angry wives with pitchforks coming 
after you must be for someone else named Ash."

"Why can?t they ever pause to hear the monster?s side of the story?" Ash 
snapped.

"Don?t go quoting yourself, dearie."

Ash turned over in her bubble bath. "Fine. Ruin my day. I?ll see you at 
eleven?"

"Of course. Bye babe. Love you."

"Goodbye for the present, love." Ash waited a moment before pressing the 
talk button off on her cordless phone. She sighed, then stood up to drip 
for a few moments before grabbing a plush terry cloth towel from the rack 
and wrapping it around her hair. She stalked over to the bed where her 
stuffed toy dog had been placed. It was a Dalmatian named Spot that had 
seen better years, but it was obviously a comfort to the old woman. She 
clutched it to her perfect breasts and tried to catch a little more sleep 
before her next meeting.
----

Disclaimers: Willow, Buffy, Giles, Xander, et al., belong to Joss Whedon, 
Mutant Enemy, Kuzui/Sanddollar, and the WB. Methos, Dawson, Duncan, 
Carolyn, et al., belong to Peter Davis and some other people. Ash is a 
character unto her self, patent pending, as are the previous Willows. 
Quotes used herein belong to their respective sources. Some references are 
made that aren't completely apparent, and they belong to their respective 
sources. I'm not making any money from this yet. If I could, I'd most 
likely change it so that I'm not infringing on any copyrights. 'K?

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