Troll Princess was lying in her bed, fast asleep. She was having a dream that Richie was calling to her, but she couldn't find him. She ran down endless corridors, seeming to hear him just ahead of her. But no matter how fast she ran, he always eluded her...
She awoke with a start, hearing a loud pounding noise at her window. The thunderstorm outside punctuated the noise with a loud thunderclap. Her heart pounding, she slowly approached her window, fearful of who it could be. Just as she reached it and pulled aside the curtain, the lightening illuminated the face of Richie, as he was raising his arm to hit her window again.
"Troll Princess, please let me in!" he pleaded over the fury of the storm.
She hurriedly opened the window and let the sodden man climb into her room. "Richie, what on earth are you doing here?" she asked, still shaking from her previous fright.
"It's a long story...I need a place to stay for a while. I was hoping I could hide out in your room." he said, shivering from cold.
Then TP saw the look in his eyes. Richie was scared, really scared. She reached out and touched his face gently. "What has happened?"
Richie closed his eyes and leaned into her hand. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." he murmered, reluctant to give voice to the horrors he'd seen.
"Try me. Whatever it is, I want to know." she said gently.
Richie sighed and opened his eyes to look into hers. The pain she saw there made her feel like crying. "Mac just tried to kill me." he said with a catch in his voice.
"No!" she said before she could stop herself.
Richie's eyes filled with tears and he simply nodded.
"No wonder you're so upset. Come sit and we'll talk about it." she said, leading him to sit on the bed. She gently took off his soaking coat and shirt, handed him a towel, and sat down beside him. He absently dried himself, eyes haunted.
"As I said, it's a long story. There's this...this thing that's after Mac. It's some sort of ancient evil, and it plays with his mind. It led me to the race track by pretending to be Horton holding Joe hostage. When I got there, I looked everywhere trying to find Joe. I heard a gunshot and ran towards the sound. When I got near, I heard the sound of my own voice, saying all this horrible stuff to Mac. Then I heard..." he broke off, his throat constricting.
"What did you hear?" TP prompted softly, putting her arm around him.
"I heard him take a head, and I heard a quickening. I hid until it was over, still trying to figure out what was going on. Then I heard Joe and Methos, so I peeked around the corner. Mac was sitting there over what looked like my beheaded body..."
"Oh my God." TP whispered, hugging him.
The word were pouring out of him, now. It seemed the horror he'd felt wouldn't let him stop. "Mac grabbed the glove off of my body and walked away chanting something. Joe was crying...Methos was comforting him...it was so awful."
"Did you tell them you were all right?"
"I didn't dare. I figured the evil thing might try to get one of them to kill me, too. I ran out the back way. I didn't stop running until hours later. It was like I'd been in some kind of trance. When I came to myself again, I headed here, the only safe place I know right now."
"It's still hard to believe Duncan would try to kill you, for whatever reason."
"Tell me about it." he said, a tear slowly falling down his cheek. "But it's not like this is the first time. Damn it, I was just trying to help!" he said, a sob shaking his frame.
Troll Princess just held him while he cried, silently crying with him. When he calmed, she brushed a tear from his cheek. "Of course you can stay here. As long as you need to."
"Thanks, you don't know what that means to me. But you can't tell anyone I'm here. I'm not going to let that thing use me again."
TP gasped. "No one? Not even Methos? Come on, Richie, you know how worried he'll be."
"Especially not him." Richie said firmly.
"That won't be easy." TP said, thinking quickly.
"Yeah, I'm sure he's used to having free access to your room!" he said bitterly.
"Richie!" TP protested.
His expression crumbled and he quickly kissed away the stinging remark. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." he said with a sigh. "I'm just really upset about this whole thing. I didn't mean it."
TP managed a small laugh. "Oh yes, you did. But I forgive you."
Richie gave her a weak smile and said dryly, "Thanks." Then he began running his hands slowly over her, his eyes hungry. "Make love to me, Troll Princess." he said with a sense of urgency.
She knew how desperately he needed to feel loved right now and gladly satisfied his request...
Several days later...
Methos paused as he stood before the door of the chateau. He didn't look forward to sharing the news he brought. He still couldn't believe it himself, and he had seen many thing with his sad, old eyes. The ladies would be heartbroken to hear about Richie's death.
His resolve almost crumbled as he thought of his beloved Troll Princess. This was going to break her heart.
He quickly abandoned that train of thought as he felt his eyes starting to water. No matter what, he needed to remain strong for his lovely ladies. With a deep breath, he squared his shoulders and entered the chateau.
Methos smiled as he heard the squeals of delight and patter of feet that normally heralded his arrival. He was quickly up to his ears in women.
He waved them into silence. "I'm glad to see you, too, but right now we need to have a harem meeting. I want everyone in the library in five minutes." he said, trying to keep his voice light.
Ladies scattered in various directions. Some went upstairs to tell those who weren't here and Tree headed to the basement to let 'tilla out. Soon only patches remained, looking at Methos closely. "What's wrong, Master?" she asked, seeing through his act.
Methos sighed. "I'll tell you in the library, I promise."
Patches remained a moment, deciding whether to press the issue. Finally, she turned and went to make sure everyone made it to the meeting.
As soon as her back was turned, Methos's face fell. He hadn't realized it would be quite this hard.
Minutes later, everyone was assembled in the library. Patches' whistle quickly ended the chatter.
Methos took a deep breath. "I'm afraid I bring very bad news." he said, pausing to gather strength. "Richie Ryan has been killed." he said mournfully.
There was a moment of utter silence as his words sunk in. Then chaos erupted as the harem collectively burst into tears. "NO!" "Please, tell us you're joking!" "He wouldn't joke about that!" "I'll kill the bastard responsible for this!"
Maia, shaken but trying to stay rational, stood up. "Now, calm down ladies and be serious. I'm sure Duncan has already killed the one responsible. Right, Master?" she said, turning to him.
Methos nearly broke. Once he'd had such faith in his highland friend. "No, Maia, he has not. Duncan has gone insane. He is the one who killed Richie." he said, his voice cracking.
This time the silence was palpable. The ladies looked at each other in horror. Slowly, as one, they looked at TP.
Troll Princess, meanwhile, was profoundly grateful for her previous acting experience. Her eyes welled with tears and she slowly stood up. "I need to be alone. I'm going to my room. Please don't follow me, I just want to be alone." she said and quickly left the room.
The ladies looked sadly after her, with one exception. DL's eyes narrowed with a suspicion she couldn't define.
Methos could no longer stop the tears. Patches, seeing the mask fall away, quickly went to him and held him as he wept. Harem Hostess quickly went to her room and made arrangements to go to comfort Joe. The other ladies stayed and cried together, mourning the loss of a friend.
Dragon Lady waited a few minutes, then slipped out of the room. She went up to her room and retrieved her skeleton keys, then went to TP's room.
With a quiet 'snick', TP's door lock gave in to DL's manipulation. She slowly and silently opened the door and peeked in.
TP and Richie were hugging each other, comforting each other.
"Ah HA!" DL said triumphantly. "I knew it!"
TP and Richie quickly jumped apart, looking for all the world like guily teenagers caught by their parents.
DL came in the room and shut the door behind her. "And I suppose there is a reason for allowing everyone to think you're dead?" she demanded sharply. She didn't like the thought of her sisters and her Master being hurt needlessly.
"DL, you can't tell anyone he's here." TP begged. "If they know, Duncan might find out and come after him again."
Richie came to stand directly in front of DL, his eyes pleading. "Please, Dragon Lady. I don't like upsetting anyone, either, but it's just until the danger is past."
DL resisted, but those blue eyes were too much for her. "Oh, fine, have it your way. But you've got to promise me you will eventually tell them the truth!"
"I swear it." Richie promised.
DL sighed, and then her eyes began to twinkle wickedly. "You do realize that this means I get your time slots with the Master, don't you?"
TP relaxed and laughed. "It's a deal."
*fade to credits*
Take that, Davis/Panzer!
And take me back to Joe's
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