As Duncan got to the second floor, he could tell there was something the matter, he couldn't sense Richie or Amber, and when he saw Amber wasn't in her room, he knew there was only one other sensible place to look. When he opened Richie's door, he was in shock when he saw their bodies on the floor, with blood coming out of their ears and mouths, like they had been electrocuted. That was when Duncan realized that the marks on Amber's arms weren't from biting herself, they were cuts, she must've been drinking the blood, he figured. But Amber wouldn't cut herself, something else had to have done it, and he knew there was only one thing to think.

"Oh my God, Tessa..."

"Duncan."

Duncan turned around and saw a pale figure of Tessa standing behind him.

"Tessa, how could you do this?" Duncan asked.

"I?" Tessa asked, "I had very little to do with any of this, all of this you brought upon yourself."

"Me? Tessa, how did I bring this upon myself? I didn't ask for this to happen to them," Duncan told her.

"You were shutting them out of your lives, you only had one thing on your mind," Tessa told him.

"Yes...Tessa...I miss you, every day I can't help but think of you, always wondering, if there was something I could've done to save you and spare your life," Duncan said.

"Duncan, my time came, no one knew it was coming, no one saw it coming, but it was my time."

"Tessa, it was hard enough having to let you go, now you've come back like this and you're..."

Duncan couldn't say it, he wanted to tell Tesas what had gone on in the last few days made everyone's lives a living hell, but he couldn't.

"Tessa, there are a lot of things I would like to say, but I can't, I already lost you in life, I don't want your spirit to leave me entirely," Duncan said.

"Duncan, in the last few days, there has been a heavy burden on your mind, I know what it is," Tessa said.

"What?"

"You've been thinking about Amanda, and you've been wondering what to tell her when she arrives," Tessa said.

"Lately, I've had a lot on my mind, namely you 2, I just keep thinking, you're on my mind so much and I'm expecting her any day, maybe there would be a problem if I saw her again," Duncan said.

"Duncan, no one I know holds on to 1 lover their entire lifetime," Tessa told him, "you are no exception, so why are you holding onto me all of a sudden?"

"Tessa, there are times when the fact that you're gone drive me crazy, I just want to rip my hair out and start screaming. There are many a times, I just can't believe you'er gone," Duncan said.

"Duncan, what're you saving yourself for? I'm dead, I have no say in what you do, but I want you to realize it's time to say goodbye," Tessa said.

"But I can't Tess, I just can't," Duncan said.

"I'm not asking you to permanently block me from your mind, but you can't close out everyone who tries to help," Tessa told him.

"Amber, what happened to her? She tried to help and I almost killed her, but I can't remember," Duncan said.

"It wasn't you Duncan," Tessa said.

"Tessa, I almost killed her and Richie both, I can't remember it, but I must've, there's no other explanation," Duncan told her.

"There is, Duncan, not every spirit who passes by is as peaceful as I. A few have scurried up to Earth from Hell in making people miserable," Tessa said.

"What are you saying? That some red figure with horns and a pitchfork beat the daylights out of them?" Duncan asked.

"Although you're off on image details, somewhere along there, yes. It was your hands that did it, but not your being, which is why you don't remember," Tessa said.

"Tessa, look at them, what happened to them now?" Duncan asked.

"Meerly idle hands of the same creatures, they did this," Tessa said.

"Tessa, how am I going to explain that it wasn't me who tried to kill them?" Duncan asked.

"They'll know, Duncan...that's not important right now," Tessa told him.

"But why are they doing this?" Duncan asked.

"They're doing this for 2 reasons, one they can find no peace or rest in hell and seek torture on others, and to show you what you're losing by shutting them out of your life by mourning for me," Tesas said.

"Tessa, what's going on?" Duncan asked.

"It's all a sign, when you started mourning for me, you started closing everyone else out of your life, namely these two. You have to realize who is important to you in life as well as death," Tessa said.

"Tessa, you were and are important to me, you were my family," Duncan said.

"Don't you worry about me, I'm going to be fine, right now, you have another family to take care of, a new family, you take care of them, and they'll look after you," Tessa told him.

"I know."

"And I'm also very upset with you right now, Duncan, you never introduced me to Amber, just for that, I might have to come by another time and see if I can slap you for it," Tessa said.

Duncan knew that Tessa's joke was going to be followed by the end of her visit, so he knew he had to ask.

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Soon enough, I'll come back around before you know it, only that time, it'll be in the flesh, goodbye Duncan MacLeod," Tessa said.

Tessa left, a sudden cold air filled the room, Duncan turned around when he heard Richie and Amber trying to move, they were still pretty out of it, so he figured they might be shocked when they first looked around at their surroundings. Duncan got on the floor in between them and started checking for any life signs, he knew they wouldn't be dead for too long, but there was never an accurate estimation for it. Duncan took Richie's arm and checked for a pulse, he saw Richie's eyes slowly opening and started wondering what his first reaction was going to be.

"...M...Mac, what's going on?"

"Relax Richie, it's going to be okay, maybe now we'll be able to get things back to normal."

Just then, Duncan felt two ice cold hands on his stomach, he looked down and found that Amber had apparently pulled herself along the floor for a few spaces to get next to him. Although Duncan was pleased to see her alive as well, he pulled her hands off of his stomach, and her short nails out of his skin.

"Amber, are you allright?"

"Hardly, my vision's weird, my head's pounding, and I taste a lot of blood, what happened?" Amber asked.

"Amber, you were right about Tessa, she was upset and trying to tell us something, and I was eing a complete idiot," Duncan said.

Amber pushed her eyelid up with her fingertips so she could see with her left eye.

"What do you think I've been trying to tell you?" Amber asked.

Duncan was glad she was back to her annoying self, a little too glad though, he squeezed her a little too hard when he hugged her.

"Easy, EASY! It feels like someone busted my ribs," Amber told him.

"I'm sorry, but I'm glad you 2 are going to be allright, you wouldn't believe what I just went through," Duncan said.

"If it was with Tessa, you're right, I wouldn't believe it, if it was with Amanda in a hotel that charges by the hour, then I'll believe it," Amber said.

Duncan let out a rather relieved laugh at that comment, then he took Amber's face in his hands and planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek.

"Yeeeeeck! Oh well, it's good to have you back, the last time I got a kiss even halfway close to that was...I'll tell you when you're 500."

Richie crawled over to his bed and picked himself up.

"I'll believe that...Amber I love you but you're staying in your own room tonight," Richie said.

"Fine with me, my bed's closer to the window, a good way to get out, and we'll have to get out and early tomorrow, tomorrow Amanda's flight comes in," Amber said.

Duncan slightly tensed at that, he had received a phone call earlier from Amanda saying the exact thing.

"How did you know that?" Duncan asked.

"Like you wouldn't know, I'm the eavesdropper in the house, goodnight..."

"Well, it is getting pretty late, I think I'll turn in too," Duncan said.

"Yeah, but into what?" Richie asked himself.

Richie started to straighten out the mess on his bed when Amber came back in.

"Oh Rich."

"What?"

"I'm ticked off."

"Goodnight Amber," Richie snared.

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

"And then Tessa left?" Joe asked.

"Yep, and the next thing I knew, Richie and Amber were coming around and I was all over them like crazy. It IS crazy, I'm worried about those two even though they got electrocuted," Duncan said.

"Well, like Tessa said, you guys are a family now, that's what families do, they worry about each other, they look after one another," Joe replied.

"Yeah, they're obviously family, they've grown on me like warts," Duncan said, "that Amber, I don't understand her, she can pull off anything, why is it I can't ever stay mad at her?"

"Who's to say?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, look at who I'm asking, you hate her to death," Duncan said.

"No such luck on that last part," Joe said, "but seriously, I think you know what the problem is."

"The problem is all of a sudden, I can't lose my temper at a 16-year-old who can literally get away with murder, why is that?" Duncan asked.

"Because she reminds you of Tessa, she talks like her, she acts like her, hell MacLeod, she even looks like her, but despite all this, she is completely different, she uses words none of us would even dare touch, she pulls stunts that would get her killed, she shows no respect to anyone except for you and Richie, I've got nothing else to say," Joe said.

"And Methos," Duncan said under his breath.

"Huh?"

"She's come to tolerate Methos by some means as well," Duncan said.

"Well, it doesn't really bother me. Methos and I just hate each other, but if I stick around, she's going to be the end of me," Joe said.

Joe left for his room, and Duncan felt the presence of someone on the staircase behind him.

"What is it, Amber?"

"When Tessa came here, she was angry at someone, wasn't she?" Amber asked.

"Yes, she was mad at ME for not introducing her TO you," Duncan answered, "Amber, it's going on midnight, why don't you go to bed?"

"I tried, I'm too anxious about tomorrow, I'm anxious to see Amanda again, it's going to be nice to have another woman in this house again, living with your 4 men is a mess," Amber said.

"I'm anxious to see her too, I'm still trying to find out why she wanted us to come to Germany to see her," Duncan said.

"Who knows? Women are unpredictable, as which she is no exception, but, we'll find out when we find out...I'm going to bed!"

Duncan had to agree, it had been a long hectic day and he was exhausted, and come 9 hours, they were going to be getting some answers from Amanda about this ridiculous rendezvous.