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

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

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...

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"I don't see why that's any of your business."

So that's what this was about? Great. Just great. He should have stayed away, like all the other, smarter idiots who'd encountered the man.

"Steve Rogers is always my business," he said gruffly.

"I will ask you again: what is your business with Steve Rogers? Failing to answer my questions will result in the removal of your head."

"Removal of my head will result in an end to any possibility of getting your questions answered," Methos countered. "But fine, have it your way: I'm teaching him all about cynicism, and where to find a good beer in Paris."

The man listened to him and seemed to consider Methos for a moment. Then he took off the glove on his flesh hand and slid the knife along the palm. The crackle of energy that closed it might look familiar.

"Harm him and you won't wake up the next time."

Which was when he walked over, undid the ropes, and picked up Methos from his personal bindings. The he walked to the edge of the building and sawed the rope a little and stuck the knife Methos had used in his back pocket.

Then he dropped him.

Oh fuck me, Methos thought, right before he hit the ground.

A short while later, he woke up, and cursing under his breath in a dozen different languages, stomped back to Joe's bar without bothering to stop for cords.

"Adam! We were just starting to wonder--"

Ignoring Joe, Methos carried right on to Steve.

"Your friends. Are bloody insane."

Steve blinked for a moment before taking in the giant bloodstain on Methos's shirt, the bullet holes, the healed head wound, and then blinked again.

"I'm sorry," he started, slow and careful, "but... what happened? Who did that?"

He couldn't imagine any of his friends--

All right, maybe Natasha but she was in DC.

"'Bout yea tall-" he held up his hand "-built like a wall, sniper rifle, metal arm, badly in need of a haircut, walks around in body armour thick enough to take a knife-- Any of this ring a bell?"

Steve went white and his eyes went wide.

"Bucky! You saw--he's here?! That's--"

The joy that had started coming through the shock instantly dropped away.

"Oh god, I am so sorry. And I'm... Glad he didn't do anything permanent. I didn't know he was here. We've been looking for him, like I said. But he's... Not entirely Bucky. They--" he swallowed, "they did things to him. Made him a weapon. The arm--"

"So he's justifiably insane, wonderful. He still shot me, tied me up, and threatened to kill me."

"I am... so sorry. I had no idea he was here. Or that he would do something like that. And yes, he's-"

He breathed out slowly.

"The last time I saw him, his mission was to kill me. Then he saved my life. He's coming out of his programming," he glanced at Adam, "but I'm assuming he's not quite out of it yet."

Methos growled, and grumbled, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, great. Oh, and your guess was right: he's as Immortal as you and I, so I recommend killing him a couple of times. Clears the head like you wouldn't believe. Still got a change in the back for me, Joe?"

"Yeah, go on," Joe said with a nod. "And don't worry about the cords; I texted Mac to pick some up while he's out with Amanda."

"Great. Wonderful. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"We doing the equipment that was used on him," Steve said quietly, "and it involved high voltage run through his brain. I don't know what they put him through."

"HYDRA?" Joe asked, as Methos headed for the back room, and his change of clothes.

He nodded.

"They recovered him from the mountain and tortured him until he was what they wanted: a perfect killer."

And the guilt of allowing it to happen, as far as he was concerned, haunted his eyes.

"Well... I don't know if it'll help, but people can come back from that kind of thing," Joe said. "Especially Immortals; partially because of the Quickening, and partially because you just have so damned long."

Steve just nodded, because he was actually thinking something along those lines himself, before glancing towards where Methos had disappeared to.

"...on a scale of one to ten, how much trouble am I in with him?"

Joe looked toward the back, where Methos could be heard faintly grumbling.

"Fourish," he decided after a moment. "He's already decided he likes you, so if you get him a beer or a coffee, he's likely to forgive you pretty quickly. Your friend's probably going to get a knife in the kidney, or a bullet in the head next time they meet though."

He winced, hoping he can keep that last part from happening. But he nodded, because he was happy to pay for drinks for the night, for a few nights, to make up for it. While he was all right diving into whatever trouble he could find, getting other people hurt for it was not something he was all right with.

He breathed out, then, thinking a little further, looked over at Joe.

"How do you know so much about it, if you don't mind me asking?"

Joe looked consideringly at Steve for a moment, but only a moment, because if any Immortal needed to know about Watchers, well, fuck, it was Captain America.

"C'mere," he said, waving him over. "Wait-- Actually, put on a pot of coffee, then come over here."

He looked over at the coffee maker, breathed out in relief that it was a regular old coffee maker, and walked over to put some coffee on. He actually made a decent cup of coffee.

When he was done, he walked over and sat down next to Joe.

"So, I'm guessing Adam gave you the rundown on Immortals, but did he mention the Watchers?" Joe asked. Though he suspected he already knew the answer.

That got a bit of an eyebrow raise, but also a shake of his head.

"No."

He considered Joe for a moment, then--

"But there was a young man with a laptop who seemed very interested in what we were doing. Watching, in fact."

That got a laugh from Joe.

"Yeah, they tend to set the new kids on Adam, since he used to be a Watcher himself, and he's generally considered an interesting, if easy assignment," he said. "So, the Watchers. As long as there have been Immortals, there have been Watchers, sworn to observe, record, and never interfere. Though the last part has kind of gone by the wayside, lately."

"So they're... non-Immortals who keep records of Immortals. And I'm assuming..." he glanced at Joe, "you're one of them?"

He leaned back in his seat.

"Is there a purpose to it?"

"To keep a more accurate history of the world," Joe replied. "There are things that happen, truths that would be lost, if we weren't there. And if we didn't do it, nobody would, and doesn't everyone deserve to have their history written?" He shrugged a little.

"Everyone has different reasons, really."

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