DISCLAIMER: Highlander and its familiar characters are the property of Davis/Panzer Productions; no copyright infringement is intended. Please archive at Seventh Dimension. Info for archiving: Rating: PG Characters: Methos and an OMC Summary: An AU in which a young man learns the truth about his mysterious "older brother"...and the author explores a "what-if" scenario every fan must have thought of at some point. ****************************************************** "Are we there yet?" Andrew Pierson asked the age-old question in a whiny falsetto, drawing the hoped-for chuckle from his brother. //My so-called brother//, he reminded himself. Adam seemed to take the question seriously. He paused and looked around. "Pretty close." Andrew grunted. "That's good," he said in his normal voice. "I'm sick of hearing whether landmarks do or don't look the same as when you were here last. Whenever that was." Adam didn't respond by telling him when it had been. But Andrew hadn't really thought he would. Adam set off again, striding purposefully along the dusty country road. Sighing, Andrew fell into step beside him. "Look, I'll admit this has been a scenic hike. But I know there are more impressive places, even here on Earth. The Grand Canyon--" "Stuff the Grand Canyon." "And you took me away from a major dig on Hathor. I'm willing to bet that's where we'll finally find traces of other sentients. Hell, my team may have uncovered something while I was traipsing back here with you!" "I know you're in love with the frontier," Adam said mildly. "Keen to find alien life. But believe me, we still don't fully understand *this* world and its life forms. Not by a long shot." Andrew pondered that in silence. //If you're really an Earth life form, bro, I guess that's true.// *** Older brother Adam was the only family Andrew had ever known. The younger Pierson had grown up in a succession of boarding schools, on a half-dozen planets. Adam had paid the bills, and dropped in frequently to chat with him and check on his progress. He'd been attentive, even loving. But he'd also been, and still was, an enigma. Andrew had a good memory. He knew that in twenty- odd standard years, Adam had never mentioned an illness or injury. More significantly, he hadn't aged a day. And Andrew was sure they weren't related. They were close to the same height, and both appeared to be of unmixed Caucasian ancestry--something of a rarity. But otherwise, there was no resemblance. He covertly studied the other man as they walked. //What in blazes are you? Alien? Android? *Angel?* And what's your interest in me? We look the same age now, for God's sake. Do you plan to keep up the "older brother" act till I look like your father?// He'd tried, many times, to ask what was going on. But Adam had stonewalled--insisted he did age, and Andrew simply didn't remember how different he'd looked when they were younger. Andrew had fantasized about being told some incredible secret on his eighteenth birthday. Or his twenty-first. Or his twenty-fifth. By now he'd just about given up. //If you're planning to spring some surprise on me here on Earth, I hope you won't keep me tramping over hill and dale till I turn thirty.//