Disclaimers: Highlander: The Series belongs to Davis/Panzer Productions, Gaumont Television, and Rysher Entertainment. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television Productions, UPN, Sandollar Television, and Kuzui Enterprises. Any copyright infringements were not intended. This story was written for entertainment and not for profit.

This is based on an incident mentioned briefly in An Immortal Life #5: Merging.

Summary: Troubles never run out for Xander when he moves to Seacouver, Washington, and they come in the form of serial killers, priceless objects, and the lovely Amanda.

I stood on the docks and stared out at Seacouver Bay. It had been a long time since I’d last seen the Pacific. Maybe a hundred years since the last time, when I decided to pass through my hometown, Sunnydale, although many of its Spanish residents called it Boca del Inferno, and rightly so. It was, after all, the Hellmouth. Sunnydale was as charming and dangerous as ever two hundred years before I was born in it, but so was every other place on the planet. Regardless of that fact, I’d gotten out of the town as soon as possible.

I’d headed inward and hadn’t even come as close as this to the Pacific coast until that moment. It wasn’t exactly the best choice. While it had very little demon activity, meaning it had no Slayers or their Watchers anywhere in the city limits, it did have a lot of Immortals, and probably a large amount of their own Watchers. If I wanted to stay there, I needed to watch my back everywhere.

Speaking of which…I felt a Buzz. After a moment’s concentration, I determined that it was coming from the left. I turned and searched through the crowd bustling about around me, looking for the owner. Part of me debated running, but I ultimately decided not to do so. I knew that the old-timer, Methos, would have hid from any Buzz, even if it turned out to be me. I tended to hide a lot of the time, but that was only when I was passing through a place. I intended to stay in Seacouver for awhile, so I was determined to take care of any threats as quickly as possible.

This time, however, I wouldn’t need to take out my sword quite so quickly. My gaze met another’s and the Buzz faded somewhat. The other Immortal smiled at me. I smiled back, then walked over to her.

"Amanda," I said, taking her offered hand and kissing the back of it. "How nice to see you."

"Alex!" She exclaimed happily. "What are you doing here? I figured you’d stay away from any Immortal hot spot."

I shrugged and glanced back out at the water. "There’s something about Seacouver that I like. And it’s Aaron Markson now."

She took my elbow and we walked down the dock together. "Well, Aaron, I happen to like Seacouver as well. There’s just something about it that makes it unique."

"Like the new Hapsbury Jewel display at Seacouver’s Finest Jewelers?"

"Why, Mr. Markson, you’re a man after my own heart," Amanda said innocently.

I rolled my eyes. "Let me guess. You need my help stealing them."

"No, silly. We won’t be stealing them. They were mine to begin with, after all."

"Oh?" I asked her, an eyebrow raised. Did she really expect me to believe that?

"Yes. The Countess Hapsbury gave them to me three hundred years ago, and they were stolen from me a hundred years later. When I found out that they were here, I had to get them back."

"Well, good luck on that," I said, releasing her arm.

"Oh come on, Alex!" she said. "It’ll be safe. I promise."

"That’s what you said the last time, Amanda. Hell, you say it every time."

"But this one will, I promise!" she said, running after me. That must have been hard thing to do in that skirt.

"Sorry, Amanda, no can do."

*****

That night, I’d just entered my apartment when I felt the Buzz a second time. Sighing, I grabbed my sword and went to the door. If it turned out to be Amanda, I wasn’t sure if I’d put my sword away.

It opened before I arrived. Hadn’t I locked that door? Oh, he had a lock-picking kit. Yippee.

Before I could even raise my sword, the other Immortal raised some sort of peashooter. He blew into it and a dart soured out of it, hitting me in the arm.

I dropped the ground. I realized that the dart was soaked in poison right before I lost consciousness.

*****

"Haven’t you ever wondered what was out there?" asked Mary, one of my wives. She snuggled up next to me for warmth. It was cold that early morning on the beach, but neither of us wanted to leave. We were determined to watch the sunrise, and it was a beautiful sight.

"Sure. Lots of times." I’ve even known what was out there, but I couldn’t tell her that. Most of the Western world didn’t know what was out there, in the New World, and the last thing I needed was unwanted attention.

I felt a pre-Immortal Buzz and glanced around. Sure enough, Marie de Champagne and her friends were walking along the beach. They were several yards away. We waved at each other, then they continued on down the beach while we watched them leave from our spot on a rock.

"You certainly seem to take a special interest in her, Alex," Mary said teasingly.

I blushed. Mary always knew exactly how to embarrass me. "You know I would never care for any woman except you, Marguerite. Not in that way."

"Good," she said. I smiled at her. Mary had always had personality and I loved her for it.

She wrapped a hand around my head and pulled my ear toward her lips. "Be careful, Alex. I know you want to teach her how to live in your world, but she may not be ready for everything."

I pulled back and stared at her. She was serious. "What do you mean?"

"My dear Xander," she said. I think I almost fell off the rock in shock. Why did she just call me Xander? How did she know?

"I had a dream last night. I have never told you this before, although now I realize I should have, but my dreams have come true before, and I think the one I had last night will also come true."

"You’re a seer," I said.

She shrugged. "I suppose so. So you believe me, then?" she asked, frightened. She looked more fragile than I'd ever seen her.

"Of course I believe you, Mary," I told her, enclosing her in a hug.

*****

I gasped as my body jerked. After another second, I glanced around, taking in a nondescript room. Where was Mary? Where was the beach? Where was I?

My memory was the next thing to return, and I realized I’d just seen Mary in a dream. I frowned. What had it been about? I could remember sitting with her on a beach, but the rest of the dream’s details were already beginning to fade. I knew that the dream’s contents had been extremely important, so forgetting them so quickly made me feel frustrated. I could have had a prophetic dream ten times over and not even know it. Why? Because I always forgot them the moment I woke up.

I felt a Buzz, and the rest of my memory returned. I was just drugged, probably fatally drugged, by an unknown Immortal, and then presumably brought here. My wrists were tied to the back of the chair I was sitting on, and my ankles were also tied together. My upper arms were also tied to the chair. "Oh, this is not good," I muttered.

The only door in the room opened. The Immortal from earlier entered the room. "Mr. LaVelle," he greeted me. How the hell did all the bad Immortals know my name before I ever said a word? I got it all the time around the bad demons, too. "I am Horatio Edinburg, known more popularly as the Treasurer. Perhaps you have heard of me."

"I have," I said coolly. On the inside I was beginning to sweat. The Treasurer was the name the newspapers had been giving a serial killer in the Seacouver area. Over the past nine weeks he'd killed fifteen people. The first thing he did was kidnap and mark the back of their necks with a large 'X'. Early on in the case, a member of the police force had said that it reminded him of old treasure maps from books like Treasure Island, with an x to mark the spot of the treasure's location. Hence the serial killer's nickname.

"Good. Then we may begin." He reached inside his vest and pulled out an ornately carved dagger. Then he stepped behind me and pressed my chin down into my chest, giving him full access to the back of my neck. I tensed. I hated blades coming in contact with any part of my anatomy. Being Immortal, I was especially sensitive towards my neck.

Sharp pain made me hiss through my clenched teeth. I felt Edinburg carve a long, diagonal line into my neck, and I could feel and smell the blood swelling there. A moment's relief passed before the cold blade descended again and quickly drew another line perpendicular to the first.

He released my head. I could already feel the cuts healing, but I knew it would leave a scar. The pain remained. That would take a few days to fade away. "Why an 'X'?" I asked him.

"Why not?" He asked. "It's given the papers something to print. I cannot say I like the name, though. The 'Collector' would suit me better. After all, I collect Quickenings. So far, in this city I've taken nine of them."

Nine out of fifteen. "What about the other six? Why kill them?"

"Mortals are fun to mess with," he said, shrugging. "And killing them helps me practice for Immortals' heads such as your own."

He headed for the door. "Fight me, then," I said. "I challenge you." Anything to give me a fair chance.

"Challenge not accepted." The door closed behind him.

*****

The days passed by too quickly. I managed to undo my bonds twice on the first day, but couldn't unlock the door. Both times, Edinburg managed to shoot a dart into me before I could strike. The third time, I woke up in chains.

During what I decided had to be nighttime, I heard voices on the other side of the door. It sounded like a huge crowd of people. A band played soft and loud violin music. Either Horatio Edinburg liked to host parties or I was trapped somewhere in an upper-class nightclub.

The third day finally came. I don't know why he waited three days. He wouldn’t say why, but when I felt his Buzz I wished he waited longer than that.