The headaches began after he came out of the ice...

[justakidfrombrklyn]

To say that a lot of things had changed once he'd come out of the ice wasn't just an understatement; it was practically cruel. The worst part in a lot of ways, though, was the way people treated him: as if the ice had preserved him, kept him exactly as he'd been when he'd sent the plane crash landing into the Atlantic.

It couldn't be further from the truth, though.

He'd died. The water had rushed in, the cold had soaked into his bones, the ice had taken over and he'd died and he'd felt it as he'd died. He'd felt the cold, woken up a dozen times stuck in the ice, unable to move and let it consume him, again and again. He still had nightmares about it, nightmares he didn't share because they were so ridiculous in some ways, debilitating in others.

And then there were the headaches.

He only got them occasionally, a strange buzz beginning behind his eyes and around, his eyes shifting unbidden as if he could find the cause for something that was going on inside his own head. And yet, sometimes it really felt like he could. He'd look around, the feeling exploding inside his skull, and he'd suddenly meet eyes with someone and the feeling would suddenly vanish. Usually, the person in question would blink at him and rush off, which was fair since one of the cardinal rules of walking around a large city was to avoid eye contact unless necessary. He didn't think too much about it until he went back to Europe, back at war again in his search for his lost... friend...

Which was when the buzzing headaches started to get far more frequent.

Sam, the finest companion a man could ask for, had decided to follow a lead in Madrid that Natasha had sent their way (one that would have been set off badly had Captain America's well-known mug shown up) which had left Steve enjoying the sights and snooping around Paris for the time being. Thankfully, there was a lot to see, a lot to investigate, but also... a lot to draw.

Beautiful things to draw.

He was halfway through sketching out a panel of the Arc De Triomph when he felt it there, head lifting from the paper to try and find the 'cause'. This was getting mildly ridiculous...

Comments

[im_just_a_guy]

"Most of us consider using anything but a bladed weapon and one-on-one combat to be foul play," Methos replied, shrugging. "There have to be some rules, otherwise none of us would do anything but hideout in monasteries on mountaintops. So here's how it breaks down: Fights are one-on-one, generally with bladed weapons, like swords, axes, and so on. Someplace private; few or no witnesses is the usual. And absolutely no fighting on holy ground - anybody's holy ground. Churches, mosques, sacred groves, old standing stones, graveyards... The works."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He nodded along to the words and he couldn't help a slight smile curling at the corner of his lips.

"What about a shield?"

The man knew his name, he almost certainly knew his reputation... and his own signature weapon.

[im_just_a_guy]

Methos just laughed.

"That shouldn't be a problem - except for everyone else. Just remember that even though you have to be ready if someone challenges you, you don't have to play the game."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He shook his head.

"I have no intention of going around and killing people just because they happen to be like me," Steve admitted with a shrug.

"I'm no stranger to taking a life, but there should be a purpose to it. A reason. Whatever this Prize is, that'... no reason at all to me."

[im_just_a_guy]

"Good. You know, I thought so, but I'm glad to hear it," Methos replied. "So, that's the basics; you already know how to fight, which is usually a worry, so on that note... Any questions?"

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He looked over at Adam for a moment before leaning back.

"Would you be willing to grab a meal with me? It'd be off holy ground but... as you can see, I'm not exactly up for a duel."

[im_just_a_guy]

"If you're buying, sure," Methos replied cheerfully.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I'd never ask anyone to cover my food bill. The uninitiated don't deserve that kind of surprise," he said as he stood up, slinging the backpack over his shoulder. Then he offered his hand.

"Incidentally, the name's Steve. A pleasure to meet you, Adam, even if it's... a little weird."

[im_just_a_guy]

Methos reached out, and shook the hand of Captain America - Steve - and could help but grin.

"The pleasure's all mine, Steve. Did you have some place in mind?" It was too early for Joe's, no matter how much he wanted to show up, Steve in tow, and make his old friend do a spittake.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve grinned back."I'm no local, but I've been waiting up for my friend a couple days, so I know a place that serves pretty good food. Follow me this time?"

[im_just_a_guy]

Methos gestured for Steve to lead the way.

"Certainly."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He put his hands to the straps and looked back at Adam.

"So. What has you in Paris? The accent says you're not exactly a local."

[im_just_a_guy]

"No, I'm not," he agreed. "I'm just visiting, though I did live here for a while in the nineties, so I still know a few people around. And Paris is a great city; good food, interesting people, nice art, and plenty of holy ground."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I have a feeling that last one's going to become more helpful than I ever thought it could be. Then again--"

He looked sideways at Adam.

"Holy ground counts for any religion, I hope. Not just churches, right?"

[im_just_a_guy]

"I said so, didn't I? Anybody's holy ground means everybody's. It's pretty handy, really," Methos replied. "India, for instance, is practically crawling with it. Greece, too. The whole Middle East... Well. But that's always been the case."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"It's just... I happen to know a Norse god personally is all, and he may be willing to make sure that my apartment is a bit safer, now that I know," he said with a little smile.

[im_just_a_guy]

Methos just. Blinked.

"Wait a minute, are you saying that blond fellow zipping around during that mess in New York-" and he was never so glad to be in Europe "-was actually--? I mean, I heard rumours..."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve couldn't help laughing just a little, as wild as this whole thing was. He believed five impossible things before breakfast, it seemed like, and he was currently chasing around after his best friend who he'd thought had died in 1944.

He'd learned to accept, from this all the way up to Thor. Especially when he didn't see how it really conflicted with what he believed in.

"His name is Thor," Steve informed Adam, "and his brother, Loki, was the one behind the chitauri invasion in the first place. I'm... closer to Thor than Loki, as you might understand."

[im_just_a_guy]

"Well... Damn. Consider me converted," Methos muttered. "

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I'm not, but I think being his friend works well enough," Steve admitted with a little smile as they walked.

"How... how far away does a person have to be to set off the, uh... headache? If you don't mind me asking."

He ran a hand through his hair, swiping his growing bangs to one side.

"Sorry, questions are finally bubbling up now."

[im_just_a_guy]

"It's all right, I told you to ask. The answer is, it varies. Some people are better at it than others. And then there are some who have a bigger 'presence' than others; older Immortals, those with unusual abilities, or who've taken a lot of heads, usually."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve nodded and kept walking for a moment or two before turning to look over at Adam.

"So you're old. Pretty old, anyway."

He gestured around the street, his finger pointing around the general bustle of the pedestrians.

"Judging by the direction you came from, the likelihood was that you were clear across the monument from me. You were already on the way to me before I noticed you, which means there's a significant gap between your presence and mine."

He grinned over at Adam.

"Which makes you the only person I know who probably won't call me 'grandpa'."

[im_just_a_guy]

Methos raised an eyebrow, and rapidly debated the pros and cons of lying; on the one hand, he always lied. On the other... Odds were good that Steve would meet MacLeod and Amanda sooner rather than later, and the cat burglar was really no better at keeping her mouth shut about certain things than the bloody Highlander.

He shook his head a little, and decided to go with something like the truth.

"No, you're right; I'm older than you are, sonny boy, but please don't think that that makes me wise, or anything. Age is really only a number."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Trust me, I understand that," he said with a little smile. "I mean... the Avengers... Every single one of them is older than me" even if for Natasha, it was just a year, "but that doesn't make them any more reasonable."

He sighed and shook his head just a little before turning down into a niche little sandwich shop, trotting down the steps, and opening the door for Adam.

"I'm just trying to figure things out on my own. The better I understand the pieces, the easier I can figure out, well, how to work this into my life. Especially since I'll be planning for that to last longer than I thought it would."

[im_just_a_guy]

Methos grinned again, this time approvingly.

"Good! That's the best way to go about it, if you ask me."

And oh there was his Watcher, sitting with a laptop in one corner, fairly unobtrusively; he must have deduced where they were going once he caught sight of 'Adam' again, and moved to intercept. Methos made a mental note to send the boy a nice e-mail later.