Disclaimers: Methos and Immortality are registered trademarks of Gaumont Television, Davis/Panzer Productions, and Rysher Entertainment. I have no idea where the Watcher Headquarters in Canada or North America really are on the show. As for the country lyrics, those belong to their respective country singers, not me. I don't think they're really immortal, and if they were, I doubt they would bring so much attention to themselves.

Summary: Methos starts thinking about certain things after listening to some Country songs on the radio.

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Methos exited the gas station feeling refreshed. Bathrooms, he thought. They're right below Queen on the list of good things modern civilization has made.

He slipped into his car, which he'd already pumped with gas. It was an ordinary day in Seacouver, which he appreciated very much. With MacLeod gone, Methos had a lot of ordinary days, which suited him just fine. He hadn't been in Seacouver since that morning, because he'd just left the Watcher Headquarters of Southwestern Canada in Vancouver. In his guise as Adam Peirson, Methos had told his superiors that he'd found a lead that made him believe Methos had been to Canada recently. Seeing that this was true, except Methos was there presently, he didn't see any harm in stretching the truth a little.

He turned the radio on as he started the car and got on one of the highways leading through the city. Flipping through the stations, searching for a Queen song, he stopped when three words came out of the car speakers.

…this ordinary life.

It was a country song, but Methos barely registered that in his brain. He listened to the rest of the song, his curiosity peaked.

…Phone rings, he's callin' from the airport,

It's midnight, he's all alone again.

"He says I can't believe how much I've missed

And what I wouldn't give

"To pay the bills, watch tv,

Day in, day out, the same routine

Mow the grass, fix the leak,

Just to fix it again

Go to church, go to work,

I can't tell you how this hurts

I miss my son, I miss my wife,

And this ordinary life."

Methos stopped at a red light. And ordinary life, he thought. What could that possibly be? A light came on in his head, A mortal one, of course. Something so near, yet so impossible to reach because of the barrier his immortality created. A life full of innocence and security.

At this moment, like so many times before, Methos wished he could remember how his life had been when it had been ordinary, when he was a pre-immortal. But, he couldn't. It was something else just out of his reach.

The words of the next song distracted him once again. He listened, his curiosity never loosing interest as the song continued.

…Who needs pictures

With a memory like mine

This song made Methos think of the photographic memory all Immortals seemed to possess, to be able to remember every moment in their lives in vivid detail. Except for his earliest memories, of course…

Methos was beginning to get suspicious. Fist ordinary lives, now eidetic memories? It was as if the country singers were immortals, or they were mortals who knew about them.

Eventually, the song ended, and commercials began. Methos waited impatiently for them to finish. The next song intrigued him even further.

You'll find better love

Strong as it ever was

Deep as the river runs

Warm as the morning sun

Please Remember Me

An Immortal, wishing to send a message to his mortal lover, who thought he was dead? Methos shook his head. He was getting paranoid in his old age. Either that, or all of those X-Files episodes he'd been watching lately were getting the better of him.

He continued listening to the rest of the song, then the next.

I remember walkin' 'round the court square sidewalks,

Lookin' in windows, At things I could want.

An Immortal, remembering the old days? Methos thought as he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment building. He listened to all four verses of the song. This is too much, he thought. I've got to know. He switched off the radio, took out the keys, got out of the car and headed up the stairs. Because of his Immortal eidetic memory, he could remember the names of the Country singers he'd just heard when they'd been announced by the deejay. When he reached his apartment, he unlocked it and went inside. Booting up his computer, he logged on to the Watcher Database and typed in Jackson, Alan…

THE END

Back to Danielle's Bookshelf

Author's Note: In case you don't know, Alan Jackson is a current day country singer.