The Mysterious Man by: Iray

Author's Note: For those who didn't read the message on the first page, my english is not really good so, please, don't criticize.

Spoilers: In Dawsons's Creek, this takes place after Jen broke up with Dawson, and in Highlander: The Series, this take place after Duncan kills Richie.

*For those who never have seen Hihglander and want full info about this series, go to Yahoo, and search in there, but, to make a long story short, Duncan McCloud is an Immortal, born in Scotland 400 years ago, and no one can kill him, unless another immortal takes his head. Anyway, he accidentally kills Richie, another immortal. Richie was Duncan's best friend. Duncan kills him in a moment of confusion and takes his head, believing that he is an evil immortal. When Duncan finds out that he killed Richie, he totally freaks out and decides to go away for a while. That's when our favorite gang comes in.*

The Mysterious Man

S.S. Icehouse
Friday 8:45 p.m.

Joey cleaned table number six. She seemed to be concentrating very hard on what she was doing, but she was really thinking about Dawson and how stupid he was acting lately. Since Jen broke up with him, all he's been doing is talking about 'Jen this, Jen that' she thought to herself. Suddenly, the shadow of someone walking woke her up from her thoughts. She looked up to see a tall man with short hair and long black leather jacket. She didn't know how to expain it ,but there was something about that man that caught her attention, maybe because he looked so mysterious and interesting. Good looking stranger. I wonder who he is? Joey thought. Then she saw Bessie walking towards the table were the mysterious man was sitting. Oh,no, Bessie, you're not gonna take the good one Joey thought again. She went to stop Bessie. "Where do you think you're going?" Joey asked Bessie.

"I'm going to attend to a customer," Bessie said with a big grin.

"Don't even think about it. I saw him first. Besides, I am the waitress here,so is my duty to serve him," Joey said.

"Ha! Since when you are taking your duties so seriously? Don't tell me that you changed your preference from young-blonde-boy to a old-dark hair-man," Bessie said with a mischievious look and a grin at the same time. Joey blushed a little.

"Shut up, Bessie. And how old could he be? Twenty-six? Twenty-seven?"

"Twice your age," Bessie said.

"Well, I don't care. It's not like I'm going to marry him or something. Now I'm outta here, I'm going to serve him," Joey said. The mysterious man was sitting in a table just looking around. He soon noticed someone walking towards him. He saw that someone was a pretty young lady. She was tall and had dark hair and gray eyes. Joey felt herself blush when the mysterious man was looking at her with insisting eyes. She started to feel nervous nervous. She finally made her way over to the table. "Hi, may I take your order?" Joey asked with a smile. She realized just how nervous she was because he was still looking at her with his insisting look. He suddenly woke up from his thoughts.

"Oh, hi. What did you say?" he asked.

"I asked if you are ready to order."

"Well, I don't know. What can you recommend to me?" he asked with a sexy smile.

"Well, our chicken sandwich is the best, and the vanilla milk shake is pretty good too," she said, returning his look with a sexy smile of her own.

"Good. Let it be a chicken sandwich and a vanilla milk shake, then." Joey smiled at him and he smiled back. Then she realized that she was still there and she was looking at him, and that he was looking at her, too. She blushed and felt nervous and both of them let out a laugh.

"I'll be right back with your order," Joey said and with that she walked away. He watched her while she left, but he then shook his head abruptly and thought to himself, Come on man, she could be your daughter...Hell no! She could be my great-great granddaughter. Besides, I have to make a new life here so I can go back and face Jack, Methos, Amanda. Not now, I can't forgive myself for killing Richie, I can't think about women right now.

Joey was in the kitchen, thinking about this man. Who is he? My God, no one ever looked at me the way he did, I hope he comes here more often. Damn!I hope he's staying here in Capeside... I have to know his name.

Then Bodie called, "Chicken sandwich and a vanilla milkshake."

"Thanks, Bodie," Joey said, and she went directly to the mysterious man's table. "Here's your chicken sandwich and the milkshake," Joey said.

"Thanks, uhm ..." he said looking at her like he wanted to know her name. She rapidly got the message.

"Oh, my name is Joey. If there is anything else that you want, just call me."

"Okay, thanks, Joey."

After 25 minutes she goes to him with the check. "Was everything okay?" Joey asked with a smile .

"Yeah, very good," he said, smiling back.

This is the moment to ask, she thought. "So, what do you think of Capeside?" she asked.

"How do you know am not from here, am I that obviously a tourist?" he asked with a smile while getting some money out of his wallet.

"Well, this is a very small town, and I know everybody."

"Oh, well, it's a nice place, very quiet, seems like a good place to live," he said.

Yes!! she thought, and then she asked, "You're planning to live here?"

"Maybe, I don't know. I really have to think about it. Tell me, what do you think of this place?"

Joey laughed. "Boring as hell, but if you want a quiet place, let me tell you that this is definetly that place. If you want a more exciting place, however, better get your stuff and get out of here, because you could die of boredom."

He laughed at the sound of the last words. "Die, that is something very difficult for me." She looked at him with a strange expression. He started to speak again. "Don't pay any attention to me, it's just that I been traveling so much that I'm starting to say things that don't make any sense."

"Or maybe it's the Capeside mood starting to affect you," Joey said. Both of them laughed. Duncan stood up.

"Look, thank you very much for everything but I have to go," but then he added, "Hey, do you know where I can get a hotel or something?"

"Yeah, there's one three streets ahead. It's good, but never ask for room service since it is very expensive and the food tastes like dog food."

He laughed. "Thanks, I'll take your advice. Well, I guess I'll see you around." He was about to leave but she stopped him.

"Hey, I've been talking with you but I don't even know your name and where you're from," Joey said.

He smiled. "Yeah, that's true. I am from Chicago and my name is Duncan McCloud."

"It's been a pleasure, Duncan."

"The pleasure is all mine, Joey ... Sorry, but I've gotta go. I hope to see you soon."

"Me too. Bye!" she said with a huge smile while biting her lower lip. Duncan smiled back and walked away slowly before turning his head to see Joey one more time.

****************************************************************

Dawson was in his room, lying on his side of the bed and holding a video tape. "Where are you, Joey?" he asked himself. Joey was a half hour late. "She's never late, what's taking her so long?" He stood up and looked out of the window. He saw Joey walking towards the ladder. "Finally," he said out loud. Joey was now in the window, one foot inside the room and the other outside.

"Sorry, Dawson, I know am late, but Bessie told that I had to close the Icehouse because she has to take care of the demon child," she said while walking to Dawson's bed and sitting on her side of the bed.

"Well... It's okay," he said.

"So...what we are watching tonight?" she asked in a enthusiastic tone.

"The Faculty," he said simply.

"What!? No over analyzing pictures tonight?" Joey asked.

"Nah," he said sadly, "I've been doing a lot of thinking and over analyzing today, and if I continue to do that my head will explode," he said while walking towards the VCR and and putting the cassette inside.

"About Jen, right?" Joey asked, frustrated.

"Is that obvious?" Dawson said.

"Yeah, because all that you been doing lately is thinking and talking about Jen. Dawson, get over it. She made it very clear to you that she doesn't want to be with you anymore. She said Arrivederci, Finito, Au Revoir, Adios, Hasta Nunca, stop torturing yourself," she said, really pissed.

"Gee, Joey, thanks a lot for your support," Dawson said sarcastically and continued, "Anyway, she said that she didn't want to be with me because she is confused."

"So confused that she is going out with Cliff," Joey responded sarcastically.

He looked at her seriously. "I don't care. All I know is that I want her back, and I'll get her back. Like told you before, she IS confused, and I am going to help her to clear her mind," he said, annoyed.

"AHHHHH!!" Joey screamed. "You know, I am sick of this. I am sick of everything. I am sick of you talking and thinking about Jen all the time, I am sick of hearing you try to plan something to win her back, I am sick of your stupidity and obliviouness and all the synonyms that goes with those words, and most of all, it makes me sick that you just don't see the things that are just in front of you! Dawson, you are so BLIND!!" With that she stormed out of the room. Dawson stayed in shock for a few seconds, but when he called her back she was already gone.

Joey was about to cry, but she bit her lip hard and fought the tears. She wanted to go away to think, but she didn't wanted to go to the Ruins because Dawson would go there to try to find her. Instead, she just walked around town. She was still mad and she started talking to herself.

"Stupid Dawson, always the same jerk. Stupid Jen, stupid Capeside, damn my life." Then she saw a tall man that was going in the opposite direction on the same sidewalk that she was walking on, but she didn't pay attention to him. Suddenly, she tripped on a rock and fell to the ground, bruising her knee.

"Thank you, God, for giving me what I deserve," she said sarcastically and then continued. "Damn ground, damn sidewalk, damn ROCK!" The man that she had seen previously approached her.

"Hey, are you okay?" the man asked. The voice of the man sounded familiar to her. She then remembered why.

"Duncan, is that you?" she asked, confused.

He looked at her and realized it was Joey. "Joey??!! God! Are you okay?" he asked, concerned, while helping her to stand up.

"Yeah, I guess," she responded.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"Well, my knee is starting to hurt."

"Let me see," he said while he bent down to see Joey's knee. "Well, you've got a scratch, and it is starting to bleed a little bit."

"Damn scratch!!"

"What?!"

"Nevermind."

"You need some alcohol before that gets infected."

"Damn! Bessie must think that I am at Dawson's. It's probably why she locked the doors."

"Well, go to Dawson's place."

"Oh no, I can't, I just had a little fight with him."

Duncan looked down at her knee and said, "Uh oh, it's starting to bleed badly."

"Oh damn!"

"Look," he said, "let's go to my hotel room. I think I saw rubbing alcohol in the bathroom, and if you don't put some alcohol on that scratch it might get infected."

She thought about his offer for a grand total of 3 seconds before accepting.

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Duncan was opened the door of his room, and they both walked in. Joey was amazed with the size of the room, it was the biggest room in the hotel. "Joey, sit there, I am going to get the alcohol. I'll be right back." Joey sat down on the couch and started to look around the room. As her eyes wandered, something caught her attention. It looked like a sword with the cover on it. She stood up and took it in her hands. She unsheethed it, thinking it was a beautiful, silver sword. She didn't notice that Duncan had already come out of the bathroom until he smiled and said, "I thought I told you to sit there." She jumped at the sound of his voice.

"I was just looking at the sword, I'm sorry. It's beautiful."

He smiled again and said, "it's okay, just be careful not to get cut again."

"Do you know how to use it?" Joey asked.

"Of course."

"It has to be very fun and exciting to know how to use a sword. I always liked stories of those times when men defended themselves and protected their honor with a sword. I wish I lived in those time, I am sure life was less complicated. Don't you think it was exciting?"

He smiled at irony of her words. If only she knew! he thought.

"Yeah, I am sure those times were very exciting, that's why I was a history teacher," he said.

"Really!!?" she asked, amazed.

"Yeah, that's why I have the sword and other relics, to show them in my classes."

"And how do you get them?" Joey asked.

He thought for a second before starting to speak. "Well, um, through connections. I had to travel a lot to get them. The only thing that always belonged to me is the sword. My father gave it to me when I turned 18." he said before he thought, Uh oh, what did I just say?!

She looked at him and then she said, "strange gifts, huh?"

He laughed a little. "Yeah." Then he thought Ufff, that was close. She held the sword with one hand and started to move it playfully. "Oh no, you are not supposed to hold that kind of sword with one hand," Duncan said while approaching her, "you are supposed to hold it with two. If you only held it with one hand, your enemy would have the opportunity to make your sword fall on the ground because you don't have total control. With two hands, there is less of an opportunity that you will lose your sword and your head," he took both of Joey's hands. He looked deep into her eyes. She stared back at him, as if she was hypnotized, but he suddenly broke the gaze. "Let's put some alcohol on that scratch," he said, kind of nervous.

"Yeah," she agreed, frustrated.

She sat on the couch and Duncan kneeled on the floor to put some alcohol on Joey's knee.

"OUCH!!" she screamed.

"Oops, sorry," he said. He put some more alcohol on Joey's scratch.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch," she said in a low, pained tone.

"It's okay, it's okay," he said sweetly. He started to blow on Joey's scratch lessen the pain. He got very close and she got closer. He looked into her eyes as she move her head towards him. Slowly, their lips met in a very short and sweet kiss. Duncan looked into her eyes and she moved towards him for another kiss, but he stood up abruptly.

"Joey, I can't do this to you, I am so sorry," he said, avoiding eye contact.

"And what is that you can't do to me?"

"Joey how old are you? Uh, tell me."

Joey stayed in silence for a couple of seconds. "How old do you think I am?" she asked seriously.

"I swear to God that I don't know, Joey, because you act like an adult that is 45 years old, but you look like a teenager." She stayed in silent again before starting to speak.

"Well, you just said it, I am a teenager. I am 15," she said, pissed off.

His mouth dropped open. "I imagined you were young, but not that young! I could get in trouble only because I have you here in my room."

She looked at him bitterly, "Well, I don't want you to have problems because of me, so I am out here," she said, hurt.

Well done, Duncan, you just blew it, he thought to himself. Joey was walking towards the door when a warm hand grabbed her elbow and made her stop.

"Joey ... It's ... It's ... It's not only your age, Joey, it's me. You don't know me, you don't know life, my past. I have done lots of things, and I have made lots of mistakes in my life. I have hurt people that I love, and everyone that is around me always gets hurt. That's so hard, Joey... my life is so complicated, and I don't want you to get in trouble or get hurt only because you are around me... It's only that I couldn't bear to see another person hurt only because of me," he said, the worry apparent in his voice, with his hands on his head. Joey looked at him, full of concern.

"Duncan, I know how you feel. My life is not a fairy tale, either, but I am sure that of those mistakes you have commited that you have also learned a lot. It may seem that you hurt people, but I am sure you didn't do it on purpose. You don't seem to me like the kind of man that hurts people for pleasure. Call me an idiot, but you gave me that feeling since I first saw you in the Ice House. All I know is that I like being around you, and I don't care about the coming problems or how risky it could that be," she said firmly.

He looked at her, amazed. She walked towards him, and he touched her face gently. She moved her lips towards to his face and both of them begin to kiss. The rest of the night they talked about each other's life. Joey talked about her family and friends. She told him about Dawson and the fight that they had, which made Duncan realize that she loved Dawson and hated some girl named Jen. He heard about Pacey and their sessions full of sarcastic comments, and realized about how miserable they both were. Duncan didn't say too much, only that he was born in Scotland and his parents came to the U.S. when he was a little kid, and that they died years ago. He told her a lot of other things, but he never told her his biggest secrets.

I hope everyone liked my story. Please send feedback with your most sincere opinion. If you don't like it, tell me, just be kind because this is my first story.


Email Iray

iray1@hotmail.com


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