Date: between Chivalry and Timeless.

"MacLeod! I have something I think you might want to see." Methos strolled into the loft above the dojo, waving a videotape in one hand, and placing two plastic sacks he carried in the other on the counter top.

Duncan MacLeod placed a bookmark in the thick volume he was reading, and rose from his chair, and wandered into the kitchen area. "You brought me beer?"

"I am NOT a professional mooch, I just play one on TV." Methos grinned, and proceeded to restock the refrigerator, removing two cold ones in the process. "I was watching the Hysterical Channel again last night," he tossed one of the beers to MacLeod, "and you wouldn't believe what they said about the Celts..."

"This isn't going to be another one of your rants, is it?"

"No, forget about the Celts, this is pure entertainment!" He picked up the video and walked to the entertainment center. "Where's your remote?"

MacLeod followed the old immortal, and took the videotape from him. "Sit," he said. "What is this? Your home movies from the History channel."

"Very funny. Just put it in, and sit down. I think I found the remote," he pulled it out from its hiding place between two cushions of the sofa. When the Highlander was settled back into his chair, Methos pointed the remote. "Comfy?"

"Just play the tape, Methos."

"First things first," he opened the beer, and waited for MacLeod to do the same. "Cheers!" he said, waving the beer and pushing the play button on the remote. MacLeod raised the beer briefly in acknowledgement and put it to his lips.

SPEW! The beer the Scot had sipped went everywhere except down the inside of his throat. His eyes were fixed on the screen before him. "Fitz? What the hell was he thinking?" MacLeod looked at Methos, who was grinning wider than MacLeod could ever remember before. The place would smell like a distillery for a week!

"What a waste of perfectly good beer! But pure entertainment, like I said."

MacLeod returned his attention to the screen. Fitz was sitting in a leather wing chair, surrounded by bookshelves filled with books, just waiting. He was staring away from the camera, but then he looked directly into the lens.

"Hello, boy and girls. I am here, surrounded by thousands of my friends. Yes, these books are my friends because they take me on great adventures. Reading isn't just school work, reading is fun, reading is history, reading is romance, and reading is adventure." He said the last word with a flourish. "The best thing is that the stories are free. You can check them out at your local library."

MacLeod leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling. "Just wait, it gets better," Methos warned.

"If you are having a hard time learning to read, please find someone to help you. Being able to read opens up whole new worlds for you, children. I have a friend who didn't learn to read until he was over fifty years old, and now he speaks at least a dozen languages fluently, and is very handy with computers. I don't know how I would get by without him."

MacLeod groaned. If Fitz wasn't already dead. . . "Even I learned to read later in life, and I am very happy to say I have my very own library card, and I use it often. You can get one too. The library: where books are free. Unless you forget to take them back then the fees pile up..."

"Cut! Cut! What the hell was that?" a voice said off camera.

"Truth in advertising?" Fitzcairn said innocently. "Is that a problem?" Methos raised the remote and stopped the tape.

"You call that entertaining?"

"Well, I was hoping for beer out the nose, but yeah, it was entertaining. I'll have to work on the timing when I show this to Dawson and the Boy Wonder. Do you want to be there?"

"This is serious! We have to worry about damage control! Someone might recognize him."

"No, we don't. It was never aired. Fitzcairn's Watcher stole the tape and all copies. I found this in the archives in Paris last year, right after we met. Smuggling it out of the archives was another matter."

The Highlander's relief was plain on his face. Then he grew thoughtful. "Damn, but I miss him."

"We all do, Laddie, we all do."

Thanks for reading
lynnann
1 August 2000

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