Child Of My Heart (8/12) - Mag7/Highlander
Title: Child Of My Heart (8/12)
Author: strangevisitor7
Fandom: Magnificent 7 and Highlander
Beta: Much thanks to ithildyn
Prompt: #69 - Thunder for Crossovers100. My table is here
Rating: PG, Gen
Characters: HL: OFC Charlotte Sparrow (AKA Pearl Black); Mag7: Ezra Standish, Maude Standish
Chapter Summary: Maude has done a terrible thing and to say that Charlotte was furious would be an understatement.
A/N: Charlotte is an Immortal and an original character created by ithildyn. In Charlotte’s bio, Ith mentioned that she’d lived in New Mexico in the 1860’s, so it was obvious to me she knew the Mag7 boys. I have added the idea that she was Maude Standish’s teacher, longtime friend and one of those people Maude would occasionally ‘dump’ Ezra with. The rest of Charlotte’s stories can be found Here
Chapter List
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11; Epilogue
Child Of My Heart, Chapter 8
Charlotte closed the barn door behind her, walked over to Ezra’s horse and greeted the animal. Using Chaucer would take less time and she knew Ezra wouldn’t mind as she’d ridden him before.
Leaning against the horse, she struggled to get her emotions under control for the ride to the house. He had every right to be angry with her. Even though she knew instinctively she’d done all she could to balance the careless way Maude had treated him, it didn’t help assuage the guilt she felt about all those times she’d let the woman take him away.
At first it seemed that Ezra understood why she’d never confronted Maude about his upbringing, but then she’d lied about having additional secrets. She’d seen him react to the lie and knew that she would have to work hard to win back his trust. But she was unsure how to do that without sharing her biggest secret: Immortality.
These past months had been so wonderful. Ezra had embraced his role as peacekeeper and patriarch of the Black clan. He was happier than she’d ever seen him. Charlotte took pride in the fact that she’d helped nurture that good and decent side of him. She’d hate to see all that fall apart if he couldn’t bring himself to really trust her again.
God, she needed a drink too. It was a mess. Swiping at her eyes, Charlotte mounted the horse and was guiding him across the field when she heard the shot.
Charlotte stopped Chaucer in his tracks as she tried to process what she’d just heard. Her worst fears were confirmed as the sound of a second shot assaulted her ears. She turned the horse around and headed back to the barn trying to keep her growing fears under control.
How could she have been so stupid as to leave Maude alone with Ezra? She’d been preoccupied with her own feelings of guilt and the need to make things right with him. Still, even in her most morbid dreams about this day she truly never believed Maude was capable of killing her own son.
She was furious at Maude for being so damn selfish. She’d had enough. Charlotte dismounted and headed to the wagon. Pulling her sword from its hiding place under the seat, she thanked God that she’d thought to put it there when Maude had insisted they go off for a private talk. Something about the way the woman had shown up on her doorstep with JD in tow instead of Ezra had put her on her guard.
Charlotte pushed open the barn door to see Maude standing over Ezra’s prone body, the Derringer still in her hand. Charlotte hesitated, looking at Ezra’s hand; he hadn’t had time to pull his own Derringer, so she was relatively certain that Maude had fired both of the shots she’d heard.
Emboldened, she strode forward. “You bitch!” she shouted. “I can’t believe you actually did it!”
Maude swung the gun towards her and fired, but the chamber clicked; a hollow empty sound. She tossed the gun aside and held up her hands.
“I am unarmed, dear cousin,” she cried.
“But you would have shot me if you could.” Charlotte continued her advance. Maude took a step back for every step she took forward. “Where’s your sword, dear cousin?” she sneered. “Didn’t think you had anything to fear from sweet, little Charlotte? Did you forget who I am?” She was enraged in a way she hadn’t been for years and it felt good to finally let it loose on Maude.
“Please, Charlotte. Let’s talk about this. You know I only had - “
Don’t say it!” she shouted. “Don’t even try to insist you only had Ezra’s best interests at heart. I am sick of that generic proclamation you spout as if it justifies everything. I have had enough of you and your plans!”
Maude pleaded with her as she continued her backwards retreat. “Search your heart and you will realize that I did the right thing.” The placating tone only further enraged Charlotte.
“You truly believe that?” Charlotte asked, incredulous. “I should take your head right now!”
Maude was trapped as she reached the far wall of the barn. Her hands came up in an attempt to protect her neck. “That wouldn’t be very honorable.”
“I really don’t care at this point,” Charlotte snarled as she smacked Maude’s hands down and brought her sword up against the other woman’s throat. “I should have done this a long time ago.”
There was real fear in Maude’s eyes. “You don’t mean that,” she stammered. “We’re family.”
“Family!” Charlotte spat out. “You don’t know the meaning of the word.”
“Please don’t do this,” Maude begged, trying to push Charlotte away. But the sword stayed pressed against her throat.
“I. Will.Never.Forgive.You!” She growled each word.
“How can I convince you that I love and care for Ezra?” The words came out in gasps as Maude’s fear caused her to hyperventilate.
“Don’t make me laugh! You have always been a selfish woman, but I never thought you’d stoop so low as to kill him just to prove a point!”
“Can you put the sword down please? Let’s talk about this rationally. I understand you’re angry, but killing me won’t change the fact that Ezra needs us,” Maude entreated her. “Please! Don’t do this! What would Ezra think?”
Charlotte stared into the other woman’s eyes. She was surprised to see concern mixed in with the fear. Charlotte hated to acknowledge it, but Maude did care for Ezra in her own twisted way. As much as she wanted the woman to pay for what she’d done, a valid concern had been raised.
“I’ll stay my hand but only for Ezra’s sake.” Her anger was like a tightly coiled spring and she had to fight her urge to hurt the woman. “The transition to Immortality will be harrowing enough for him. I won’t add to that by having him wake to find the decapitated body of his mother on the ground.” She pulled the sword away and stepped back.
“Thank you,” Maude said, relief flooding her eyes.
“I loved you like a sister, Maude. I thought somehow I might reach that distrustful mind of yours. Put up with all of your baggage because I wanted to remain in Ezra’s life. I see now that I was wrong, and Ezra has paid the price for my stupidity.”
Maude rubbed her neck, sidestepped away from Charlotte and moved out of reach of the sword. “You have always believed in the innate goodness of everyone.” She smirked. “I’m not you; I know better.”
“I have to believe in the good,” Charlotte said. “Or what’s the point?”
“The world is a hard, cruel place. We are players in a Game that forces us to trust no one and kill to survive. You are naïve.” Maude’s composure was restored and she went on the attack as if she hadn’t just been moments away from decapitation.
Charlotte wondered if she really could take the head of her own student. Based on how she felt right now, it might have happened if Maude had had her sword. Charlotte was many things, but she was an honorable woman and ultimately she wouldn’t stoop to Maude’s level by giving into her anger.
“Maybe I am, but you just ushered Ezra into that Game. How will he react to being killed by his own mother? Do you honestly believe he’ll be grateful?”
Maude waved a hand dismissively at Charlotte. “He will understand when he realizes I have preserved him at the height of his youthful charm and good looks,” Maude said. “Or would you have preferred he be old, with strangers and unprepared for what happens next?”
“That’s not the point,” she countered. “You have stolen his normal life from him. He had a right to live unencumbered by the Game and the burden of Immortality.”
“Ezra is my son!” she snapped, smacking a hand against her chest. “My son, not yours, as much as you’ve tried to change that fact. Everything I taught him will help him survive this new life.”
Maude had spent her whole life preparing Ezra for this day. Ezra was already trained in sword play, though he’d need additional instruction. He would be twenty-eight, the same physical age Charlotte was, forever. He would wake and be told instantly what had happened. It was true, Maude had really thought about this, but it was still a selfish act. She’d sacrificed Ezra’s childhood for Immortality; giving him the life she would have chosen for herself and not the best life for him.
“You don’t know him or understand him,” Charlotte replied. “I won’t support you in this.”
“I don’t need you to,” Maude said. “And you’re wrong. This little vacation in New Mexico is over. Once he sees the gift I’ve given him, he will return to the life he was meant for.
Charlotte shook her head. “You have no idea how wrong you are, but I’ll let Ezra tell you himself. I’ll support whatever decision he makes in regards to his relationship to you, but either way, after today, you are no longer welcome in my home.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, darling. You will forgive me when you see I’ve done the right thing.”
Charlotte’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the woman she’d once thought of as family. “I already told you, I will never forgive you.” Her voice was cold. She felt such disgust for Maude as she gripped her sword. Once again, she had to fight down the desire to take the woman’s head. Methos would have done it.
She was saved from having to make that decision by the tingling at the edge of her awareness. She saw that Maude was smiling. They both felt it. Ezra was waking up.
Author: strangevisitor7
Fandom: Magnificent 7 and Highlander
Beta: Much thanks to ithildyn
Prompt: #69 - Thunder for Crossovers100. My table is here
Rating: PG, Gen
Characters: HL: OFC Charlotte Sparrow (AKA Pearl Black); Mag7: Ezra Standish, Maude Standish
Chapter Summary: Maude has done a terrible thing and to say that Charlotte was furious would be an understatement.
A/N: Charlotte is an Immortal and an original character created by ithildyn. In Charlotte’s bio, Ith mentioned that she’d lived in New Mexico in the 1860’s, so it was obvious to me she knew the Mag7 boys. I have added the idea that she was Maude Standish’s teacher, longtime friend and one of those people Maude would occasionally ‘dump’ Ezra with. The rest of Charlotte’s stories can be found Here
Chapter List
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11; Epilogue
Child Of My Heart, Chapter 8
Charlotte closed the barn door behind her, walked over to Ezra’s horse and greeted the animal. Using Chaucer would take less time and she knew Ezra wouldn’t mind as she’d ridden him before.
Leaning against the horse, she struggled to get her emotions under control for the ride to the house. He had every right to be angry with her. Even though she knew instinctively she’d done all she could to balance the careless way Maude had treated him, it didn’t help assuage the guilt she felt about all those times she’d let the woman take him away.
At first it seemed that Ezra understood why she’d never confronted Maude about his upbringing, but then she’d lied about having additional secrets. She’d seen him react to the lie and knew that she would have to work hard to win back his trust. But she was unsure how to do that without sharing her biggest secret: Immortality.
These past months had been so wonderful. Ezra had embraced his role as peacekeeper and patriarch of the Black clan. He was happier than she’d ever seen him. Charlotte took pride in the fact that she’d helped nurture that good and decent side of him. She’d hate to see all that fall apart if he couldn’t bring himself to really trust her again.
God, she needed a drink too. It was a mess. Swiping at her eyes, Charlotte mounted the horse and was guiding him across the field when she heard the shot.
Charlotte stopped Chaucer in his tracks as she tried to process what she’d just heard. Her worst fears were confirmed as the sound of a second shot assaulted her ears. She turned the horse around and headed back to the barn trying to keep her growing fears under control.
How could she have been so stupid as to leave Maude alone with Ezra? She’d been preoccupied with her own feelings of guilt and the need to make things right with him. Still, even in her most morbid dreams about this day she truly never believed Maude was capable of killing her own son.
She was furious at Maude for being so damn selfish. She’d had enough. Charlotte dismounted and headed to the wagon. Pulling her sword from its hiding place under the seat, she thanked God that she’d thought to put it there when Maude had insisted they go off for a private talk. Something about the way the woman had shown up on her doorstep with JD in tow instead of Ezra had put her on her guard.
Charlotte pushed open the barn door to see Maude standing over Ezra’s prone body, the Derringer still in her hand. Charlotte hesitated, looking at Ezra’s hand; he hadn’t had time to pull his own Derringer, so she was relatively certain that Maude had fired both of the shots she’d heard.
Emboldened, she strode forward. “You bitch!” she shouted. “I can’t believe you actually did it!”
Maude swung the gun towards her and fired, but the chamber clicked; a hollow empty sound. She tossed the gun aside and held up her hands.
“I am unarmed, dear cousin,” she cried.
“But you would have shot me if you could.” Charlotte continued her advance. Maude took a step back for every step she took forward. “Where’s your sword, dear cousin?” she sneered. “Didn’t think you had anything to fear from sweet, little Charlotte? Did you forget who I am?” She was enraged in a way she hadn’t been for years and it felt good to finally let it loose on Maude.
“Please, Charlotte. Let’s talk about this. You know I only had - “
Don’t say it!” she shouted. “Don’t even try to insist you only had Ezra’s best interests at heart. I am sick of that generic proclamation you spout as if it justifies everything. I have had enough of you and your plans!”
Maude pleaded with her as she continued her backwards retreat. “Search your heart and you will realize that I did the right thing.” The placating tone only further enraged Charlotte.
“You truly believe that?” Charlotte asked, incredulous. “I should take your head right now!”
Maude was trapped as she reached the far wall of the barn. Her hands came up in an attempt to protect her neck. “That wouldn’t be very honorable.”
“I really don’t care at this point,” Charlotte snarled as she smacked Maude’s hands down and brought her sword up against the other woman’s throat. “I should have done this a long time ago.”
There was real fear in Maude’s eyes. “You don’t mean that,” she stammered. “We’re family.”
“Family!” Charlotte spat out. “You don’t know the meaning of the word.”
“Please don’t do this,” Maude begged, trying to push Charlotte away. But the sword stayed pressed against her throat.
“I. Will.Never.Forgive.You!” She growled each word.
“How can I convince you that I love and care for Ezra?” The words came out in gasps as Maude’s fear caused her to hyperventilate.
“Don’t make me laugh! You have always been a selfish woman, but I never thought you’d stoop so low as to kill him just to prove a point!”
“Can you put the sword down please? Let’s talk about this rationally. I understand you’re angry, but killing me won’t change the fact that Ezra needs us,” Maude entreated her. “Please! Don’t do this! What would Ezra think?”
Charlotte stared into the other woman’s eyes. She was surprised to see concern mixed in with the fear. Charlotte hated to acknowledge it, but Maude did care for Ezra in her own twisted way. As much as she wanted the woman to pay for what she’d done, a valid concern had been raised.
“I’ll stay my hand but only for Ezra’s sake.” Her anger was like a tightly coiled spring and she had to fight her urge to hurt the woman. “The transition to Immortality will be harrowing enough for him. I won’t add to that by having him wake to find the decapitated body of his mother on the ground.” She pulled the sword away and stepped back.
“Thank you,” Maude said, relief flooding her eyes.
“I loved you like a sister, Maude. I thought somehow I might reach that distrustful mind of yours. Put up with all of your baggage because I wanted to remain in Ezra’s life. I see now that I was wrong, and Ezra has paid the price for my stupidity.”
Maude rubbed her neck, sidestepped away from Charlotte and moved out of reach of the sword. “You have always believed in the innate goodness of everyone.” She smirked. “I’m not you; I know better.”
“I have to believe in the good,” Charlotte said. “Or what’s the point?”
“The world is a hard, cruel place. We are players in a Game that forces us to trust no one and kill to survive. You are naïve.” Maude’s composure was restored and she went on the attack as if she hadn’t just been moments away from decapitation.
Charlotte wondered if she really could take the head of her own student. Based on how she felt right now, it might have happened if Maude had had her sword. Charlotte was many things, but she was an honorable woman and ultimately she wouldn’t stoop to Maude’s level by giving into her anger.
“Maybe I am, but you just ushered Ezra into that Game. How will he react to being killed by his own mother? Do you honestly believe he’ll be grateful?”
Maude waved a hand dismissively at Charlotte. “He will understand when he realizes I have preserved him at the height of his youthful charm and good looks,” Maude said. “Or would you have preferred he be old, with strangers and unprepared for what happens next?”
“That’s not the point,” she countered. “You have stolen his normal life from him. He had a right to live unencumbered by the Game and the burden of Immortality.”
“Ezra is my son!” she snapped, smacking a hand against her chest. “My son, not yours, as much as you’ve tried to change that fact. Everything I taught him will help him survive this new life.”
Maude had spent her whole life preparing Ezra for this day. Ezra was already trained in sword play, though he’d need additional instruction. He would be twenty-eight, the same physical age Charlotte was, forever. He would wake and be told instantly what had happened. It was true, Maude had really thought about this, but it was still a selfish act. She’d sacrificed Ezra’s childhood for Immortality; giving him the life she would have chosen for herself and not the best life for him.
“You don’t know him or understand him,” Charlotte replied. “I won’t support you in this.”
“I don’t need you to,” Maude said. “And you’re wrong. This little vacation in New Mexico is over. Once he sees the gift I’ve given him, he will return to the life he was meant for.
Charlotte shook her head. “You have no idea how wrong you are, but I’ll let Ezra tell you himself. I’ll support whatever decision he makes in regards to his relationship to you, but either way, after today, you are no longer welcome in my home.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, darling. You will forgive me when you see I’ve done the right thing.”
Charlotte’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the woman she’d once thought of as family. “I already told you, I will never forgive you.” Her voice was cold. She felt such disgust for Maude as she gripped her sword. Once again, she had to fight down the desire to take the woman’s head. Methos would have done it.
She was saved from having to make that decision by the tingling at the edge of her awareness. She saw that Maude was smiling. They both felt it. Ezra was waking up.