After a very awkward bath in a mixture of hot water and the tomato sauce, Richie raised himself out of the small metal tub MacLeod had pulled from a closet the moment they stepped out of the elevator. The young Immortal tried to shake globs of red sauce off his body as he walked towards one of the shower spigots. "Mac, I really gotta tell you, this is beyond gross. I have tomato bits where the sun don't shine."

MacLeod turned to leave, but remembered the impending threat of Richie being kidnapped by Nadia, or Sophia-Augusta, or Catherine, or whoever the lonely Immortal might be. "I'm going to get you some towels," MacLeod said over his shoulder, "and once you're dry, maybe you can tell me how you managed to scare a skunk into spraying you."

Duncan walked around the brick wall that separated the shower area from the changing area. He gathered two towels, and then sat on one of the benches to wait for the sound of water to stop. As he sat there, he heard Joe walk up behind him. "Hey Joe. Welcome back. Have a seat." MacLeod gestured for the Watcher to sit on a near-by bench.

"Is it safe?" Joe asked, nodding in the direction of the showers.

Duncan nodded. "Or at least as safe as things can be right about now. Tell me about this Immortal who's after Richie, Joe." Unspoken thoughts and worries shone in Duncan's eyes, but Joe knew how to read them. Richie was more than just a student. He was the closest things to a family Duncan had. Almost like a .... almost like a son.

Joe turned away from the private emotions on his friend's face. "Sophia-Augusta... no one really knows how old she is. It's actually only her word that she is Catherine the Great. And that's through less than second hand information. But we Watchers do what we can..."

"So what about this lover that Richie looks so much like?" Duncan asked, a touch of impatience in his voice. Joe raised an eyebrow, but answered anyway.

"Sophia apparently met him just after his first death, in 1797. The young man, Eduardo Asai, was a Spanish nobleman. No one knows exactly how they met. But once those two were together... well, both their chronicles read about how inseparable they were. For the next 60 years, Sophia and Eduardo lived together. Until Eduardo lost to another Immortal, that is. Sophia swore revenge for his death in one breath, and in the next promised she would find her lover again if it killed her. That last part had been considered just to be the word of a grieving woman, until she started following Richie around. A considerable amount of digging produced a portrait of Eduardo Asai..." Joe pulled a brown envelope from an inside pocket in the jacket he held in his lap.

MacLeod reached for the envelope, and opened it. It contained a photograph of a painting. The young man in the painting wore the familiar clothes of an 18th century Spanish courtier, but the man himself had fair skin and curly blond hair. But it was his eyes that clinched it. Those blue eyes...

Duncan replaced the photograph into the old brown envelope and handed it back to Joe just as the showers turned off. Richie's hand appeared from behind the wall and waved, "Anybody got a towel?" Duncan threw the a towel into the waiting hand and it disappeared back behind the wall. Moments later
Richie poked his head around the corner of the wall, "Thanks, my modesty gets the better of me sometimes." Richie received the second towel directly in the face.

"Time to break the news to Stinky..." Duncan said to Joe with a sidelong glance.

"Break what news?" Richie asked from behind the wall. "Does it have anything to do with that bejeweled-little souvenir you received?"

"Why don't you get changed first," Duncan suggested, "there are some clean clothes for you on the chair."

After a few moments, Richie emerged dressed in jeans and a blue t-shirt, casually toweling off his wet hair. "So...", Richie asked looking a bit confused, "are you gonna fill me in or what?" Duncan sighed and then faced Richie. At first, he was unsure how reveal this newly-acquired information to his young protege (and friend). Duncan spoke calmly, but with an undeniable sternness in his voice, conveying a certain seriousness to the situation. "Richie, it appears that you 'resemble' another immortal, a Spanish nobleman named Eduardo Asai, who was killed about 140 year ago..."

"Hey Mac, can you get to the point, I'm starving!" Richie exclaimed allowing his growing impatience to escape. Instead of a direct response to Richie's complaints, Duncan merely gestured to Joe. With a nod of acknowledgement, Joe gently pulled out the photo from the manila envelope and handed it to Richie. "My God, he really looks like me!", Richie shouted in disbelief. "Yes, we know that..", Duncan said some sarcasm, "and the point is that his lover, another immortal named Sophia-Augusta, thinks you're him". Briefly, he paused to see Richie's expression change from wonder to complete surprise. "And according to the Watchers, she's here, in-town.. and well, she's found you."

Still in shock after witnessing what appeared to be his identical twin, Richie was completely transfixed by the photograph of Asai. "Now, let me get this straight, she thinks I'm him?" Richie questioned skeptically. "Doesn't she know the he was whacked over a century ago?"

"Oh... she knows all right and has vowed to spend the rest of her life in search of her lost love and the immortal who killed him", Joe commented as he took the photo away from Richie's clutched hands.

"So what does this mean for me? Huh? Does she think I'm her lover reincarnated... What should I do about this Mac?.. She could be some delusional psycho!", Richie frantically asked, finally beginning to realize the gravity of his situation.

"Richie, listen, were still not sure what her intentions are... so let's take this just one step at a time", Duncan stated with a calmness that comes with 300+ years of experience. "Besides..", Duncan added with slight grin, "I'm still not sure its just Sophia we have to worry about". Before Richie could voice his comment, both he and Duncan had felt that familiar immortal buzz. Richie's entire body seemed to tense as he glanced at Duncan with a look of nervousness and uncertainty. However, the elder immortal merely stood up and began moving towards the elevator. Joe, still looking perplexed, reached out and caught Duncan's arm as he walked by. Duncan glanced down at Joe and simply said, "We have company". Joe nodded, "It could just be Methos..." However, before Joe could finish his sentence, Duncan quickly added, "You're right..., but then again it could be our 'other' uninvited guest here to deliver another package". With a swift turn in the direction of the elevator, Duncan escaped Joe's grasp. He strode towards the elevator with his katana in one hand. As he entered, he quickly added to his companions, "Stay put both of you, let me check this out first... okay?"