farm animals. dead of the plague.
they think i've brought this upon them. it's a warning. a deeper fear now grips heather.
someone to blame. cut to: connor swinging astride his horse.
i have no choice.
they can't hurt me. and they know it. but they can still hurt the ones i care about. heather looks off. shivers.
i love you, heather. more than anything in this world. she grips his hands. desperately. connor do you believe me?
then you needn't be afraid. nothing can ever keep us apart. dissolve to: ext - scottish highlands, various - dawn connor travels a primeval landscape of jagged peaks and fog-shrouded valleys.
maybe i am, mother.
not before we put some meat on those bones. he rummages through her shelves looking for food. finds painfully little. connor no one comes to look after you?
i'm sorry. i'm so sorry.
then it's settled. you're coming with me. there's somebody i want you to meet. she's nearly as beautiful as you. caiolin blinks back her disbelief.
jacob--
surely as a friend you can look the other way just this once.  for old times' sake.
what? what have you done?
no.  . no! ! jacob kase makes the sign of the cross as he reads from a writ of execution. he stands atop a primeval celtic monolith worn down to the form of a pedestal. father rainey wobbles behind him, sniffing ammonia to spell his chronic angina.
who are you?
i'm connor macleod of the clan macleod. and like you, i have a hard time dying. transition back to:
you've improved greatly.
no. i'm just being gracious. duncan recovers, sets his feet. puffer skitters over, brushes the dust off duncan's coat, dabs his sweat and puffs the back of his hair. duncan swats him away. they take en-garde position. connor points his blade. connor remember, you're only immortal as long as your head remains attached to those shoulders. duncan lunges again. misses and hits the deck. connor which in your case might not be long at all. he puts his blade to duncan's neck. humor evaporates. connor what we give up to our adversary in defeat, duncan.  is evervthinq. duncan stares up at him, uncomprehending. connor we call it "the quickening"-- our strength, our knowledge, our life essence-- it all flows into the victor, feeds him, makes him stronger, in ways you can't possibly comprehend. it's what drives other immortals to kill us. and what forces us to be better-- smarter-- than the rest. he takes duncan by the arm, jerks him to his feet. connor survival. learn it. duncan goes on the attack. what he lacks in technique, he makes up for in determination. almost. connor sidesteps duncan's next lunge, swats his blade flat across duncan's ass and sends him plowing face-first into the floor. duncan re-engages connor in fighting stance. puffer races up behind duncan again, meticulously dusts his backside. reaches around and plucks an unsightly piece of lint off his crotch with thumb and forefinger.
all told, it was a bit underwhelming.
why are you here?
you need to know something.  he steps up to duncan, locks eyes. connor every life i touch ends. brutally. and for no reason. it's a curse that's followed me for centuries. i can't outrun it and i can't outlive it. you're my last friend in this world, duncan. i left for your own good. it was better that you didn't know where.
yes. the sanctuary.
no, i didn't escape.  flash back to the sanctuary as the stranger moves toward a shackled connor macleod.
i was freed. as before, the immobilized connor stirs in a drug-addled haze.
who are you?
i couldn't see the slaughter. i only heard it. back to cemetery: we can still see the agony playing out in connor's eyes. he turns away, sees
who's he?
what's he doing now?
you were followed. one by one, a half-dozen motorcyclists crest the surrounding hills and come to a menacing stop.
jacob kase.  connor edges back his coat. hand seeks out the grip of his sword. duncan grabs his arm.
walk away, duncan. kase and faith continue toward them. connor's rage seems to ratchet up with every step.
the rules be damned. kase stops, inches from connor's face. cooly regards the sword.
just tell me where, kase.
nobody can help me. he walks off alone, a ghost against a sea of gravestones,
what's going on?
toll for what?
i see no bridge.
the man has a point. despite her sweeping auburn hair and natural beauty, we now recognize the young woman as faith from an earlier era. her original name is catherine mary devaney.
this true?
exactly what, may i ask, have you accomplished so far?
lead on.
i can't believe you gave those bastards your money.
shall we? duncan flicks his own sword, lets the hilt auto-rotate around his open palm and snaps it vertical. he nods back at connor.
recovers his own sword, which is enough to send the last of their attackers into a full-on, stumbling retreat. they both stand watching as
you know that stirring in your gut? it's not just simple lust, my friend.
ah, but do you really? match cut to:
keep back.
i was on a junk in the south china sea when i got your notice. 12 hours ago.
don't ask. kate spins by on the arm of a new partner.
that better be no idle threat. duncan watches kate with a rapturous smile.
so it would appear.
you know that's not an easy answer. the edge in his voice is not lost on duncan. connor outside.
you know she's like us.
so you know that, like us, her immortality can only be triggered by the shock of a violent death. duncan looks off, as if purging the thought from his head. connor it's what makes warriors of us all, duncan. good or bad, there seems a purpose to it.
many years after i was married, i came home to find heather sitting on a stool in the kitchen, with a knife in one hand.  and her hair in the other. flash to: heather, early-forties, her hair shorn to the scalp. she looks up at connor with red-rimmed eyes and a bitter smile. connor at first i was scared. scared that she'd gone mad. and then angry, as if she'd somehow meant to hurt me by it. back to connor and duncan: connor when i asked her why she'd done such a thing to herself, her answer cut me to the quick. she said it was the one part of her that would not age. it would forever remain the same as when i first fell in love with her. flash to: connor burying heather in a simple grave overlooking their home. tears streak his face. he sinks to his knees in unspeakable anguish. connor and that's how she wanted me to remember her. back to connor and duncan: connor closes his fingers around the braid. squeezes. connor it's all i have now.
if that's your intent, so be it. duncan swings over the rail and hops off the porch. takes to the ground in long angry strides.
because i once loved a woman more than life itself. and i watched her die. unlike you, i had no other choice.
i'd tell her nothing. she wouldn't believe you. they never do when it involves themselves.
she's in the flower of her youth. enjoy the moment and let it pass. if you think you can. duncan suddenly grabs connor's shoulder, spins him around.
i'd have you do what your heart-- and our conscience-- demand. duncan settles. searches his eyes.
i thank god i never had the choice. he listens to the faint strains of music and laughter carried on the rising wind. connor tell catherine i'm sorry i couldn't stay longer. he clasps duncan by the forearm. then turns and continues n down the cobbled lane leading from the wedding party. transition back to:
looks on impassively. even as--
soon. he blinks. the specters are gone. time lapse on connor: day becomes night becomes day. and still he sits there, unmoved, as if ready to embrace the rest of eternity from this one desolate spot. transition to:
i already know the answer. the "prize"-- the real prize-- is just to close your eyes and see nothing.
you think the game is still about good against evil? a better world? look around. who among us really deserves to win?
and who's going to stop him? you? me?
oh, there's a way, kinsman. there's a way. but i don't believe you have the guts to take it.
alright then.
don't you know? the better of us will take the other's gift. pray it'll be enough. duncan lowers his blade.
then you'll die. again, connor strikes. again, duncan barely escapes with his head. and settles into a fighting stance.
it already has. goodbye, brother. he swings for duncan's neck. steel rings against steel. clansman against clansman. cut to:
enough.  and that's as much as either can say as they suck back great gulping lungfulls of air. a little color finally returns to duncan's cheeks. he mops his face with his sleeve.
nor i. dragging his sword like a half-ton barbell, duncan turns and makes his way back toward the "resting tree.
closes his eyes and hoists his sword.  connor remember well, old friend.