Title: Sacred Trust 
Fandom: Highlander
Pairing: Duncan/Methos
Categories: AU(ish), angst, humor
Length: Epic
Warnings: flashback to past rape (moderately graphic, but very short)

Author on LJ: lanning
Author Website: http://lanning.slashdom.net/

Review:
First thing you should know: I find flashbacks to be unbearably boring. I thought so while watching the series, and I still think so while reading fanfic. With that in mind, you should know that while I read every single flashback the first time I read this story, I only skimmed over them before this rec. And there are a *lot* of them, especially in the beginning. Still, if you don't mind (or, *gasp*, even *like*) flashbacks, I think you'll enjoy them. They're well written and are integral to the plot of the story. 

Now then, on to the good stuff. After MacLeod killed Byron (gee, I feel like I've been writing that sentence a lot lately), Methos retreated to The Only Bar In Paris to get very, very drunk. For several weeks. Who knows how long it might have gone on if a panicked Watcher hadn't shown up to announce that an infamous immortal ex-Watcher with a major axe to grind was in town (and, oh yeah, chopping every Watcher he came across into itty bitty bits). And, thanks to (EEEEEEEEEvil) Shapiro, this bad guy has now set his sights on Joe. And Methos. *And* Duncan, Ryan, and Amanda. Yep, it's the Highlander version of team fic.

What I like best about this story is the way that Methos *isn't* abandoned by all of his friends (well, except by Mac) after the Horseman debacle. Yes, what Methos did was unspeakably awful, but that was three *thousand* years ago, and he spent his entire run on the show proving again and again that he was a changed man, usually by pulling Mac's ass out of the fire. Lanning shows us that, just because Duncan MacLeod is judgemental as all hell (which you have to admit that he is, even if you really like the character), that doesn't mean that the rest of the show's characters can't be more understanding, and I really enjoyed her interpretation.

Plus, you know, first time goodness and a happy ending. I know, I'm predictable. But that's why you love me.

Sacred Trust (story index)