Who Watches the Watchers?

A Highlander/Strange Luck/X-Files Crossover

by Kim Sefcik, (shannara@twave.net)

DISCLAIMER: Most characters have been borrowed, and do not belong to me. If you don't recognize a character, he/she is mine, if you do, chances are they belong to one of the following groups. "Highlander" is the property of Gaumont and Rysher Television, "Strange Luck" is the property of Unreaility, Inc. and Fox Television, and "The X-Files" is the property of 1013 Productions, Fox Television, and Chris Carter. I am not making any money from this (donations of white chocolate or Dr. Pepper will be accepted, however), and no copyright infringement is intended. (And besides, I'm a minor... they can't sue me anyway. :-) ) Please don't forward this to any WWW, FTP site, or newsgroup without my permission.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Okay, I don't expect everyone who reads this to know all the characters, so I'm going to offer a brief description of each show, etcetera.

Highlander (The Series)

The main character is *Duncan MacLeod* (Adrain Paul) a 400 year old Scotsman. Today he lives in a "generic-American-city" (which looks like Seattle, but is filmed in Vancouver = Seacouver). Duncan is an "Immortal"... a group of beings who are, as the name implies, immortal -- unless his head is severed from his neck. That loss results in the transfer of his "Quickening" in a massive "light show" to a nearby Immortal (usually the one who killed him). They can "sense" each other via a kind of buzzing sensation in their minds... not exactly psychic or mental, but not a physical sensation, either. Immortals live with the ultimatum that eventually "there can be only one" of them left. The only place they are forbidden to fight is "Holy Ground." (ie, churches, Indian burial grounds, etc)(I'm not going into too much detail, as I explain a lot of this in the body of the fanfic).
His protege is *Richie Ryan* (Stan Kirsch) a young street punk, turned "useful member of society." He is a young, and sometimes impetuous, new Immortal. (They become Immortal after their first "death.")
Also, the "Watchers" are a group of a individuals who, well, *watch* Immortals... keep records, that kind of thing. *Joe Dawson* (Jim Byrnes) is Duncan MacLeod's Watcher and his friend. Most Immortals don't know about the Watchers, and Watcher's aren't supposed to be friends with the Immortals they "Watch."

DATE STAMP: This takes place (in the HL universe) about the same time as "The Blitz"... Methos has left, and Mac's not in Paris yet.

Strange Luck

This show follows the life of *Chance Harper* (D.B. Sweeney) a man with, well, strange luck. He is a freelance photographer for a local newspaper, and his days consist of everything from saving a suicide jumper, to having 2 million dollars dumped in his back account, to being mistaken for a hitman. Chance was a sole survivor of a plane crash when he was a small child, and, until recently, had no idea who his real parents were. In recent episodes however, Chance has discovered his brother and his biological father, who was spy, and both also have equally "strange luck." Chance frequently hangs out at the Blue Plate Cafe, where his friend, Angie, works.

DATE STAMP: This takes place just after "Lightening Strikes", the season finale.

The X-Files

If you haven't seen at least one episode of this, you need to get out of hibernation! :-) This show follows FBI Special Agents *Fox Mulder* (David Duchovny) and *Dana Scully* (Gillian Anderson). They investigate your normal, run-of-the-mill paranormal phenomena. Their investigations into UFO phenomenon are frequently interrupted by a mysterious smoking man. There's a lot more plot undercurrents which have a part in this fanfic, but I don't have time to go into all of them... just follow along. :-) Also, Mulder and Scully don't appear until a little ways into the fanfic, so just hang in there. :-)

DATE STAMP: Nothing specific... but it probably takes place just before "XF."

NOTE TO HIGHLANDER FANS:I'm going to do some wild stuff regarding the Quickening in this one. :-) However, there is a method to my madness. I don't violate HL canon (as far as I know), and is this based on a meshing of the movie and TV universes. It's also based on the "Quickening: A Fan's Theory" essay in the Highlander FAQ, and some ideas bear a certain amount of resemblance to stuff in the novel "The Celestine Prophesy", as well. (However, I didn't read that until I had written more than 1/3 of the story). But more on that later... there will be additional author's notes at the end... please read them!

Also (and then I'm done, I promise) a big virtual hug to Jennifer L. Gorman, Kate Cook, Laurie Alexander, Lisa DaFoe, and Michele Martin who all alpha -read various parts of this. Lots of virtual hugs, chocolate, etcetera, to Sean A. Simpson and Kayla Clark who managed to alpha-read the *whole darn thing* and whose comments were/are invaluable! (If you guys want a really superior editor, try Kayla... unless you have a fragile ego. :-)

If you want to repost this somewhere or publish it in a 'zine, please email me first at shannara@twave.net. (it's not a big deal, but I'd like to know about it :-). Permission is granted to make hard copies, etcetera, so long as the disclaimer, authors notes, etc. are left intact. Comments, etc. welcomed at shannara@twave.net.

WARNING: There are a lot of "inside" jokes... :-) and I frequently disregard the laws of physics... :-) Rating is a mild PG-13 for non-graphic beheadings and a few mild four-letter words. (sorry, no sex)(if you want sex, go read the Highlander fanfic "Side Effects")

Now, without further ado....