marbleglove (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
marbleglove) wrote2009-10-20 11:51 pm
marbleglove) wrote2009-10-20 11:51 pm
Entry tags:
old plot bunny for Sentinel and Highlander
This is an old Sentinel/Highlander story that I thought up and plotted out and then stuck in a corner of my hard driver. It still holds a place in my heart even if uses way too many cliched plot devices for me ever consider actually spending the time to develop further. Anyway, I found it the other day and decided that rather than allow it to continue collecting dust, I'm going to put it out to pasture along with all of the younger and more rabid plot-bunnies. Enjoy.
The Watchers know Adam is immortal, but think he’s young, so they kicked him out and keep a watcher on him but that was about it. He’s happily teaching at Seacover University keeping Joe company while Duncan is off in Paris or somewhere. (He doesn’t appear in the story.)
Meanwhile, in Cascade, an eight-year-old girl is rescued from being kidnapped by Ellison and Blair, but the kidnapper escapes. (It will later turn out that the kidnapper was an immortal.)
It’s discovered that the girl is a Sentinel but can’t deal with it. Blair can’t guide her. She has night terrors and day terrors. She’s living with Ellison and Blair for protection. (Because it’s a common plot trope, even if it’s not at all realistic to cop procedures.)
Blairs disertation is done (yes, about Sentinels; no, not identifying Ellison) and his advisor tells him about the outside proffessor: Adam Pierson.
Ellison takes girl to check into hotel to give Blair a few nights of uninterrupted sleep before his defense.
Methos is already at hotel and sees shreiking young Sentinel and ineffectual Sentinel/Guide pair. Goes and calms girl and starts giving Blair and Ellison a lecture on incompitence. Ellison arrests Methos as “Scott Breunell.” (One of the weekly bad guys on Sentinel played by Peter Wingfield.)
In cop car Methos gets girls name.
At station it is ascertained that Scott Breunell is still in prison and Methos tells story about how he’s girls uncle. Ellison tries to contradict but Methos announces that no human could have heard what Ellison heard, daring him to press the point. Ellison backs down. Blair is upset at discovering that he’s just accidentally arrested a member of his disertation committee.
Evil Immortal kidnapper comes after girl and is temporarily chased off.
Methos goes to see Scott Breunell, both are interested in discovering a virtual twin and start to plot.
Dissertation defense goes fine. Methos brings neice with him.
Scott Breunell has escaped; Ellison warns Methos;
Methos goes shopping: gets hair dye, and sends letter to Joe.
Scott Breunell shows up at hotel intending to kill Methos and take his place in society. They scuffle. Methos feels immortal kidnapper, gets a closed door between himself and Scott. Kidnapper sees Scott and feels Methos so beheads Scott. Is confused... why is there no quickening? Then Methos comes out and fights kidnapper. Quickening. Methos takes all identifying things off of Scott. Sneaks out with girl, taking nothing but what he’s wearing.
Ellison and Blair arrive on scene. Conclude that kidnapper killed Adam, Scott killed kidnapper and took Adams ID before leaving. Put out all points bulliten for Scott, knowing its hopeless.
Epilog: Joe opens letter containg photograph of Methos and girl. Written on back: “It’s been a very exciting trip, I’ve adopted a girl. She has to be my first priority so Adam is vanishing. Don’t worry, be happy. - M” a postit note adds: “To keep me from worrying too much about you, Swiss bank, account number, password.” The letter was postmarked before the double murder. Joe is unsure whether to beleive that Methos survived or not. Watchers think him dead.
On a bus: Methos and girl with matching hair colors.
Meanwhile, in Cascade, an eight-year-old girl is rescued from being kidnapped by Ellison and Blair, but the kidnapper escapes. (It will later turn out that the kidnapper was an immortal.)
It’s discovered that the girl is a Sentinel but can’t deal with it. Blair can’t guide her. She has night terrors and day terrors. She’s living with Ellison and Blair for protection. (Because it’s a common plot trope, even if it’s not at all realistic to cop procedures.)
Blairs disertation is done (yes, about Sentinels; no, not identifying Ellison) and his advisor tells him about the outside proffessor: Adam Pierson.
Ellison takes girl to check into hotel to give Blair a few nights of uninterrupted sleep before his defense.
Methos is already at hotel and sees shreiking young Sentinel and ineffectual Sentinel/Guide pair. Goes and calms girl and starts giving Blair and Ellison a lecture on incompitence. Ellison arrests Methos as “Scott Breunell.” (One of the weekly bad guys on Sentinel played by Peter Wingfield.)
In cop car Methos gets girls name.
At station it is ascertained that Scott Breunell is still in prison and Methos tells story about how he’s girls uncle. Ellison tries to contradict but Methos announces that no human could have heard what Ellison heard, daring him to press the point. Ellison backs down. Blair is upset at discovering that he’s just accidentally arrested a member of his disertation committee.
Evil Immortal kidnapper comes after girl and is temporarily chased off.
Methos goes to see Scott Breunell, both are interested in discovering a virtual twin and start to plot.
Dissertation defense goes fine. Methos brings neice with him.
Scott Breunell has escaped; Ellison warns Methos;
Methos goes shopping: gets hair dye, and sends letter to Joe.
Scott Breunell shows up at hotel intending to kill Methos and take his place in society. They scuffle. Methos feels immortal kidnapper, gets a closed door between himself and Scott. Kidnapper sees Scott and feels Methos so beheads Scott. Is confused... why is there no quickening? Then Methos comes out and fights kidnapper. Quickening. Methos takes all identifying things off of Scott. Sneaks out with girl, taking nothing but what he’s wearing.
Ellison and Blair arrive on scene. Conclude that kidnapper killed Adam, Scott killed kidnapper and took Adams ID before leaving. Put out all points bulliten for Scott, knowing its hopeless.
Epilog: Joe opens letter containg photograph of Methos and girl. Written on back: “It’s been a very exciting trip, I’ve adopted a girl. She has to be my first priority so Adam is vanishing. Don’t worry, be happy. - M” a postit note adds: “To keep me from worrying too much about you, Swiss bank, account number, password.” The letter was postmarked before the double murder. Joe is unsure whether to beleive that Methos survived or not. Watchers think him dead.
On a bus: Methos and girl with matching hair colors.
A few scenes are:
Blair Sandburg freaking out about arresting a member of his defense committee:
"Oh my god, oh my god."
"Calm down, Chief. Now tell me what's the matter."
"I am so screwed, that's what's the matter. I'm dead. I'll have to work at Wonder Burger for the rest of my life."
"Stop being dramatic. What's wrong?
"I'll tell you what's wrong. Do you know who that guy in there is? Adam Pierson! Professor Pierson! I just arrested, mistakenly arrested, the outside member of my dissertation committee. He's going to kill me. I'll walk into that defense and be struck dead."
Jim winced as he listened to this. Hopefully, he said, "you said all of the members were going to be difficult anyway. This won't make that big a difference."
Blair stopped pacing for a moment. "My advisor was really happy to get Prof. Pierson for me. Apparently he already believes in Sentinels, as we've seen, and can be just withering when he wants, and doesn't suffer fools gladly. So he would have taken care of some of the other members for me. But now, not only have I demonstrated my incompetence for caring for one young Sentinel, but to top it off, I arrested him!"
"You didn't actually arrest him. I did that."
"And do you honestly think he'll notice that distinction?"
"Ah..."
"I am so dead."
And
Epilog with Joe Dawson
“What are you doing here?” Joe tried to rouse some anger at the men who had invaded his office, but the question came out merely sounding weary.
“Hello, Joseph. We were alerted by Mike that you had received a letter from Adam Pierson.”
“What? He’s alive?” It is a terrible thing to hope, Joe realized, as the men looked sad and shook their heads.
“No. I’m sorry. Joseph. I know you liked him, and he was your immortal’s student. But the letter was sent before his death. I think you will be comforted by reading it though.” The man held out the sheet of paper.
It read:
Dear Joe,
I suppose there’s a small chance that I’ll be sitting in your bar when you receive this and will give me greif about putting myself into danger. None the less, I write this with the expectation that I’ll be dead within a few days. Or rather, perhaps, that Adam Pierson will be dead, and I’ll live on within some other immortal.
The word “quickening” is archiac english meaning, more or less, life force. It was used to describe a woman who was pregnant, carrying another life within her. It is our life, and surely if another immortal takes our quickenings, they carry us as well, that which makes us who we are is not lost, but continues.
I think about Darius and what it means to have faith. MacLoed told me that Darius did not fight the hunters who killed him. Darius who stood in the house of God and had faith that all was well in the world. Would I doubt him? Perhaps he was right, and his was a reward for all his services. We are all killers, us immortals. Perhaps it is our purgatory to live within our killer, and it is only Darius, who spent a thousand years atoning for his sins, who was granted direct passage to heaven. The rest of us remain behind to play out the Game.
There are too many “perhaps” in that argument and it is growing late. I need to prepare for the coming days.
I have made myself guardian to a young girl who is the target of anther immortal. I will do everything I must to protect her. MacLoed has always told me to do the honorable thing and this girl has had too many troubles in her life already for me to abandon her. So I will stand and fight. Such a young immortal with so little training cannot survive such a conflict, but there is that within me which will remain, I beleive, either in this world or in the next. While you will not see me again, nor I you, know that I have treasured your friendship, and will always remain,
Me
There were a strip of pictures, the kind taken by a photo booth for a couple of bucks. There was a girl about nine, ten years old sitting on Adam’s lap. In three of the four pictures, she looked seriously at the camera with Adam smiling behind her. In the fourth picture, Adam was saying something and the little girl was looking back at him and smiling.
Joe looked at the pictures that showed just enough of Adam, behind the girls head that he could be recognized by those who knew him but not so much that anyone who didn’t know him would be able to track him from them.
The letter that assured Joe that “Adam Pierson” would not survive. Joe was one of the very few that knew “Adam Pierson” was an alias. And the letter was signed off with the first two letters of “Adam Pierson” ‘s real name. It was double speak. Joe had identified the decapitated body of “Adam Pierson” and seen the signs of a quickening, but if there was anyone who could so perfectly fake his own death, it was the ancient and elusive Methos.
It is a terrible thing to hope. There was no proof that the ancient immortal had survived, excellent proof that he had died, and the letter had said that even if Methos had survived he would not be seen by Joe again. Despite it all Joe reasured himself that somewhere out there in the world was an ancient wily man drinking beer and telling his new daughter improbably stories about the past.
“What are you doing here?” Joe tried to rouse some anger at the men who had invaded his office, but the question came out merely sounding weary.
“Hello, Joseph. We were alerted by Mike that you had received a letter from Adam Pierson.”
“What? He’s alive?” It is a terrible thing to hope, Joe realized, as the men looked sad and shook their heads.
“No. I’m sorry. Joseph. I know you liked him, and he was your immortal’s student. But the letter was sent before his death. I think you will be comforted by reading it though.” The man held out the sheet of paper.
It read:
Dear Joe,
I suppose there’s a small chance that I’ll be sitting in your bar when you receive this and will give me greif about putting myself into danger. None the less, I write this with the expectation that I’ll be dead within a few days. Or rather, perhaps, that Adam Pierson will be dead, and I’ll live on within some other immortal.
The word “quickening” is archiac english meaning, more or less, life force. It was used to describe a woman who was pregnant, carrying another life within her. It is our life, and surely if another immortal takes our quickenings, they carry us as well, that which makes us who we are is not lost, but continues.
I think about Darius and what it means to have faith. MacLoed told me that Darius did not fight the hunters who killed him. Darius who stood in the house of God and had faith that all was well in the world. Would I doubt him? Perhaps he was right, and his was a reward for all his services. We are all killers, us immortals. Perhaps it is our purgatory to live within our killer, and it is only Darius, who spent a thousand years atoning for his sins, who was granted direct passage to heaven. The rest of us remain behind to play out the Game.
There are too many “perhaps” in that argument and it is growing late. I need to prepare for the coming days.
I have made myself guardian to a young girl who is the target of anther immortal. I will do everything I must to protect her. MacLoed has always told me to do the honorable thing and this girl has had too many troubles in her life already for me to abandon her. So I will stand and fight. Such a young immortal with so little training cannot survive such a conflict, but there is that within me which will remain, I beleive, either in this world or in the next. While you will not see me again, nor I you, know that I have treasured your friendship, and will always remain,
Me
There were a strip of pictures, the kind taken by a photo booth for a couple of bucks. There was a girl about nine, ten years old sitting on Adam’s lap. In three of the four pictures, she looked seriously at the camera with Adam smiling behind her. In the fourth picture, Adam was saying something and the little girl was looking back at him and smiling.
Joe looked at the pictures that showed just enough of Adam, behind the girls head that he could be recognized by those who knew him but not so much that anyone who didn’t know him would be able to track him from them.
The letter that assured Joe that “Adam Pierson” would not survive. Joe was one of the very few that knew “Adam Pierson” was an alias. And the letter was signed off with the first two letters of “Adam Pierson” ‘s real name. It was double speak. Joe had identified the decapitated body of “Adam Pierson” and seen the signs of a quickening, but if there was anyone who could so perfectly fake his own death, it was the ancient and elusive Methos.
It is a terrible thing to hope. There was no proof that the ancient immortal had survived, excellent proof that he had died, and the letter had said that even if Methos had survived he would not be seen by Joe again. Despite it all Joe reasured himself that somewhere out there in the world was an ancient wily man drinking beer and telling his new daughter improbably stories about the past.