Well Kept short: Making Bail
Author: Mice
Email: just_us_mice@yahoo.com
Category: LGM, Doggett/Byers 
Rating: PG13
Summary: Byers gets his ass arrested. Who the hell else is 
gonna bail him out?
Archive: Basement, Lone Slasher, Countermeasures, XFMU, LGM 
Fanfic Bunker, Glass Onion, FHSA, all others ask.
Feedback: Feed me, Seymour!
Website: Mice's Hole in the Wall -- http://mice.inkpress.org/
Mirror: https://www.squidge.org/mice
Spoilers: Do they even have those anymore? JTS does NOT 
exist.
Disclaimer: We deserve 'em more than CC does. They still 
belong to him, though.
Author's Notes: GAAAAAH! Another Peja challenge. Peja, you 
are evil. Evil, I tell you. I hate you. 

CORONA-TECH OFFICES
GROVER'S MILL, NEW JERSEY
3:14 AM

The unsettling click of the cuffs at his wrists turned Byers' 
stomach. He knew he shouldn't have tried to follow this up 
alone. The guys were out of town, nowhere near a working 
phone. He wasn't sure where to turn for help, and he'd need 
to be bailed out.

Getting arrested sucked. He should know. It happened to him 
often enough.

The irony of being arrested in Grover's Mill while following 
up a lead on an alien abduction wasn't enough to amuse him. 
He sighed, shoulders slumped.

He half-listened as he was read his rights and shoved into 
the back of the police car. Naturally, his contact had 
escaped unseen. There would be no evidence on video, as he'd 
disabled the cameras before they infiltrated. Unfortunately, 
the clumsy idiot had tripped one of the silent alarms before 
Byers had been able to finish his security protocol breach. 

He wished Frohike and Langly had been there. At least Langly 
would be able to make the records disappear easily enough 
when the guys got home. He shuddered to think what his arrest 
record would look like otherwise.

Who could he call? He pondered it during the drive to the 
station. Mulder wasn't a good candidate. If he got distracted 
between the phone and the door, Byers could be stuck in the 
cell for a week. 

Scully? Probably still pissed at him for Las Vegas. She might 
leave him for a day or so just to make him suffer before she 
came for him.

Walter Skinner was right out. Skinner would make sure 
everyone knew why he'd been dragged out of bed before 4 a.m., 
and Byers would never hear the end of it.

Now, Doggett -- he might do it. Byers still wasn't sure how 
far Doggett would go for him, even after the mess they'd been 
in so recently. Pull his ass out of the crossfire, sure, but 
get up at Oh God Thirty and drive to New Jersey to bail him 
out? He sighed again and shook his head. There wasn't anyone 
else. He'd have to take his chances. If Doggett wouldn't come 
for him, maybe he'd at least call him a lawyer.

DOGGETT RESIDENCE
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
3:42 AM

Doggett startled awake when the phone rang. He peered at the 
clock, groggy. 3:42 a.m. God, whoever was calling, it had 
better be an emergency.

"Doggett," he growled. "What."

"I, uh, I really hate to wake you, Agent Doggett, but --" 
There was uneasiness in the voice, a little fear.

Oh, God. It was Byers.

His eyes snapped open, heart pounding. "What happened? Where 
are you? You hurt? What about the guys?" If Rohrer had gotten 
to them -- no, he couldn't think that. If it was Rohrer, 
Byers wouldn't be in any condition to make a phone call.

"I'm fine, but I've been arrested. I'm in Grover's Mill, New 
Jersey. Would, um, would you come bail me out?" He sounded 
embarrassed.

"Arrested? What for?" Doggett stretched, suppressing a yawn, 
and sat up.

"B and E," Byers said. "I'd really rather not go into it 
right now. If you can't come, would you at least call me a 
lawyer? I'm at the county jail in Grover's Mill."

Doggett groaned. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be there. Don't say shit 
to anybody if you haven't already. It'll be three or four 
hours, though."

"Okay," Byers said. "I... Thanks.  I really appreciate it. 
I'll pay you back somehow."

Doggett snorted. Byers was broke as a church mouse and they 
both knew it. He'd figure some way to get Byers out without 
it costing an arm and a leg. "Yeah, whatevuh. Lemme get on 
the road. I'll see you when I get there."

He staggered to his feet and went to wash his face. It 
wouldn't do to fall asleep while he was driving. Suit. He 
should probably wear a suit and look official. Maybe he could 
snow the county guys, tell 'em  that Byers was one of his 
informants. They might buy it, and it was true, sorta.

What the hell was Byers doing in New Jersey anyway? Grab the 
keys. Coffee. He thought about installing an IV drip of the 
stuff, but his hospital stay was a little too fresh in his 
mind for that to be a comfortable joke. He'd stop at Denny's 
on the way out of town.

Once he was on the road, windows open, radio blasting, he was 
awake enough to focus. Sometime during the drive, he was 
going to have to call Skinner and explain why he wasn't gonna 
be in to work today. Thankfully, he was between cases. It was 
supposed to be a paperwork day. He could catch up when he 
finally got home. Reyes would cover some of it for him. Shit. 
He'd have to call her, too.

Even if everything went well and nobody asked any questions, 
he wouldn't be back until at least noon. If there were 
serious snags and they had to wait for a bail bond, it could 
be late afternoon before he even got Byers out of the cell, 
much less got them both home.

The idea of Byers in county lockup with a cell full of drunks 
and assholes didn't make Doggett very happy. Byers had become 
his friend -- his lover. Hell, Byers had risked his life for 
him, and he wasn't gonna let him rot in some cell if he could 
help it. He wasn't sure how safe Byers would be there, 
though. A quiet guy like that, he could get the crap beat out 
of him, or worse.

Yeah, he'd tell the county guys that Byers was one of his 
informants. Breaking and entering -- it was a lot of what 
Byers and his weird-assed friends did with their time.  That, 
and chasing after shit that even Mulder thought was strange. 
Byers always insisted that he only followed up the stuff that 
seemed likely, but the Gunmen's definition of 'likely' didn't 
match too many other people's.

COUNTY SHERIFF'S LOCKUP
GROVER'S MILL, NEW JERSEY
7:37 A.M.

Byers had refused to answer any questions when they brought 
him in. After calling Doggett, he told them he wasn't going 
to speak until he had an attorney. They'd put him in the 
drunk tank. It was punishment for his obstinacy, he supposed. 
They wanted to know what he'd been doing, and he wasn't about 
to tell them.

He shifted himself closer into the corner of the cell. One of 
the guys there was so drunk he kept trying to grope him. He 
didn't think the guy was gay, just so soused he couldn't tell 
Byers was a man. Several of the other inmates found the 
situation amusing. One had tried to hold him down and let the 
drunk paw him, until a guard had come along and broken it up. 
He'd tucked himself into a corner immediately afterward and 
stayed there.

The drunk was still eyeing him when the guard came back.

"John Byers," he snapped.

Byers stood up. "Yes?"

"Somebody here for ya. Come on."

Doggett must have arrived. Byers let out a relieved sigh and 
dashed for the door. The cop cuffed him again and led him 
away. 

They walked down a long hallway, then went down two floors 
and the cop took him into the duty sergeant's office. 

"This yer informant?" the cop asked.

Doggett nodded and waved toward a chair across the room. The 
cop shoved Byers into it. "Keep yer ass there, pal. You 
twitch, we toss ya back in with the horny drunk."

"Stupid shit," Doggett said, glaring at Byers. "You're gonna 
compromise the operation."

"Sorry," Byers muttered. He lowered his eyes. He wasn't sure 
what was going on, but figured he needed to play along.

"Shut up. I got a desk fulla paperwork to fill out 'cuz of 
you." Doggett turned back to the sergeant. "Okay, now where 
did you say you picked him up?"

"My guys found him in the Corona-Tech offices. Pockets of his 
clothes were full of a bunch of electronics gear. We figured 
industrial espionage or something. What are you Feds up to 
there, anyway? Anything you shoulda notified us about?"

Byers sat, silent, and waited. Doggett and the sergeant went 
back and forth about jurisdiction, disclosure, warrants, and 
at least two hours worth of other legal trivia before he was 
addressed again.

"Okay, Agent Doggett, you can have your snitch back. Keep his 
stupid ass out of my county."

"You got it," Doggett said. "Come on, Byers."

Byers stood as the sergeant uncuffed him and released him to 
Doggett's custody. Neither of them spoke until they got into 
Doggett's truck.

"Thanks," Byers said. "What do I owe you for bail?"

Doggett shook his head. "You're not hurt, are you?" He put a 
hand on Byers' shoulder. Byers fought an urge to hug him. He 
knew there was surveillance here.

"The only thing damaged in this mess was my dignity."

"What the hell were you doin' breaking into that place?" 
Doggett started the truck and pulled out of the lot.

"Trying to get a story," Byers said, with a sigh. "I should 
have waited until the guys got home, but the informant was 
insistent that we had to move tonight. It would have been 
fine, but the guy tripped over his own damned feet and set 
off one of the silent alarms. By the time I realized what 
happened, the cops were coming in the door."

"And that informant of yours?"

"Gone. I have no idea where he disappeared to."

Doggett gave him a look. "You sure you weren't bein' set up?"

"If it were a setup, someone else would have gotten to me 
before you did."

Byers could see concern flash through Doggett's eyes as he 
glanced back at the road. "I suppose that's true."

"I'm sorry," Byers said. "I didn't mean to get you into this. 
The guys, they're gone for a few more days, and I didn't have 
anyone else to call."

"It's okay. I called Skinner and told him I might not be in 
today." He laid a hand on Byers' knee and squeezed. "I'm just 
glad you didn't get your ass hurt or anythin'. That shit in 
New York..."

"I'm sorry, Jack. Really. I'll pay you back."

"Didn't cost me anything. I bullshitted the duty sergeant. 
They released you without bail."

"Are they charging me with anything?"

"No. Got 'em convinced you're part of a federal 
investigation. The records of your arrest are gonna be 
expunged."

Byers slumped back into the seat. "Thanks. That's a relief."

"Am I gonna end up doin' a lot of this?"

"I hope not."

"How often do you guys get your asses arrested, anyway?"

"I try not to think about it," Byers said. He gazed out the 
side window at the traffic.

"You need to be more careful. I can't be doing this much. I 
can only use the informant excuse so often before it starts 
gettin' around."

Byers looked back at Doggett. "Why did you do it in the first 
place?"

"I owe you."

Byers shook his head. "No. What happened -- I couldn't just 
run."

"It was a brave thing you did, Johnny. Stupid, but brave."

"What else could I have done?"

"You could have run, like I told you."

"What's done is done, Jack."

"Just -- Jesus, Johnny, try to be more careful. Try to stay 
out of this kind of shit. I really don't want to see you get 
hurt."

Byers put a hand over Doggett's where it rested on his knee. 
He squeezed gently. Doggett's concern moved him.

"Really, I'm okay. I didn't get roughed up, though one of the 
drunks in the tank did try to grope me." Byers chuckled. It 
wasn't quite so alarming now that he wasn't actually in the 
cell with the man.

"Grope you?"

"He was very, very drunk."

"Well, I mean, I can understand somebody wanting to grope 
you, but I think a little privacy would be in order."

"Jack!"

Doggett grinned. "Well, I gotta have some amusement. You did 
haul me out of bed at 3:30 in the morning here."

"What time do you think we'll be back home?"

"Probably sometime between one and two this afternoon. I'm 
not gonna get any work done today."

Byers nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Nah. Don't be. If you get in trouble, don't be afraid to 
call me. I'll do what I can to help you out."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Byers sighed. It was strange, the idea that he might actually 
have someone to rely on other than the guys. He liked it, 
though. "I really appreciate it, Jack. That means a lot."

"It's what friends are for, yeah? Watch each other's backs?"

Friends. That felt right, felt good. "Yeah, I guess it is." 
He smiled, then bit back hard on a yawn. Fighting it did no 
good though.

"God damn, Johnny."

"Sorry. I've been up for... I'm not sure. Maybe 36 hours 
now."

"I'm pretty tired too. Maybe we should stop and catch some 
sleep."

Byers rubbed his eyes. "I'm okay sleeping in the car, unless 
you want to stop. I've already messed your day up pretty 
badly. I don't want to make things worse."

Doggett shook his head and squeezed Byers' knee again. "Nah. 
Some sleep would actually help. Food, too."

"Okay," Byers said. "Next exit?"

"Yeah. Sounds like a plan."

MOTEL FIVE MOTOR INN
ROOM 15
10:30 A.M.

Doggett looked around at the small two-bed room. "Food first, 
or sleep?"

Byers seemed exhausted. Doggett hadn't really gotten a good 
look at him before. Checking him over too closely in front of 
the duty sergeant and the other cops would have looked odd, 
and after that he'd been too busy driving.

"Sleep," Byers said. He sank down onto the nearest bed. 

Doggett sat next to him. "Can't say as I blame you. You look 
fried."

Byers nodded. "Yeah." He started unzipping the front of the 
black jumpsuit he was wearing. The pockets were heavy with 
all the equipment the police had returned to him.

"Here, let me help." Doggett took it by the collar and let 
Byers slip his arms out of it.

Byers pulled his t-shirt up over his head and tossed it 
aside. Doggett started rubbing his shoulders.

"Mmmm." Byers let his hands fall to his lap and leaned into 
Doggett. Doggett slipped his arms around Byers. "Feels nice," 
Byers mumbled.

"Yeah," Doggett said. He pulled Byers closer. "You think 
we'll be okay here?"

"I don't know," Byers said. His eyes were half closed. "I'm 
too tired to move. I had no idea I was so exhausted."

Doggett set his gun on the stand next to the bed. "Anybody 
tries any shit, I'll deal with it."

"You did put out the 'do not disturb' sign, didn't you?" 
Byers asked. "I really don't think it's a good idea to shoot 
the maid."

Doggett chuckled. "Yeah, I did. Nobody's gonna be botherin' 
us. We'll get to rest."

Byers stood to slip his legs out of the jumpsuit. Doggett 
wanted to hold him, but figured it could wait another couple 
minutes until they got in bed. He tossed his clothes onto the 
other bed and took Byers' from him.

"Lie down," Doggett said. "I'll be right with you."

Byers pulled back the covers and slid underneath, still 
wearing his boxers. Doggett pulled off his socks and climbed 
in next to him. He tucked himself up against Byers and 
wrapped an arm around him.

"Mmm." Byers shifted his weight so the length of his body met 
Doggett's.

"You feel good," Doggett said, kissing the angle of Byers' 
jaw. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too." It was barely a whisper. "Thanks for coming to get 
me."

"Always," Doggett said, tightening his arm around Byers and 
snuggling close. With a sigh, he tucked his nose into Byers' 
hair. He wished could sleep like this every night. "Always."

~~End~~