Part 2/5 Disclaimers in part 1 -------------------------- September 11th 8:34am The sound of Angie giggling from down the hall wakes me up. I open my eyes, the vague memory of last night coming back to me. I turn my head and see Kate still curled up next to me, sleeping. It takes me a moment to realize that she had stayed the night in my bed, leaving Angie alone in the guest room. I jump out of bed, hastily pulling on my t-shirt and boxers that were still on the floor, and also a pair of sweatpants from under the bed. Putting my glasses on, I rush out to see what Angie has gotten herself into. I find her sitting in the kitchen with Byers, who is trying to get her to eat some oatmeal without getting it everywhere. Good luck on that, John. Byers sees me grinding to a halt, his glance telling me that he knows very well what went on last night. "Morning, Langly," he says cheerfully, which confuses me even more. Why isn't he mad at me? "Byers...what...?" He smiles at me again, absently wiping the table as Angie loses her grip on the spoon and splatters oatmeal everywhere. "Guess she got lonely; she found her way into my room and crawled into bed with me around 5 this morning." "Oh, man...Byers, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to..." I trail off, too embarrassed to finish the thought. Byers shakes his head, waving me off. "It's okay, really. She fell asleep pretty fast." "Kate said she's been sleeping all right in her own bed; guess waking up alone in a strange room got to her," I say absently, pulling a chair up next to Angie to help her out with her breakfast. "It won't happen again; they can move into their new apartment day after tomorrow, so they'll be outta here soon." Byers stands up to head to the office, but stops when he glances past me. I turn around; Kate is standing in the door frame, smiling at the three of us. She must have woken up right after me, because I see she went back to her room and got dressed. "Morning, boys," she greets us. Byers moves aside and offers her the chair he had just vacated. She thanks him, and he leaves us to go check his e-mail. She glances across the table at me. "The guys are ready to be rid of us already, huh?" I grin at her, shaking my head. "No, it's not that. Angie went exploring this morning and ended up in Byers' bed. I was just saying that it won't happen again." "Ah, I see," she replies, giving Angie a wary look. "Well, at least she has some sense. She could have ended up with Frohike." "Not *my* daughter," I laugh, horrified at the thought. She smiles at me. It occurs to me just how...well, *normal* this scene is. I mean, I'm sitting here with the woman I love and our daughter, talking about being protective parents. I never would have thought that would be possible, but I'm glad it is. "Speaking of moving out," she says, sobering. "Most of my stuff is still in storage anyway, so I think it will be an easy enough job. I mean, the stuff we had in the old place is in my van, since there really wasn't a lot to begin with. We can just pick up and go, and I'll worry about the stuff in storage some other time since we don't really need it right away." "Sounds like a plan," I reply as I start to clean up Angie's breakfast mess. "Why don't you take Angie and get yourselves a bath." She nods agreeably, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek, then takes our daughter's hand, leading her down the hall. When I hear water start running in the bathroom, I go to the office where Byers is working on his e-mail. I hadn't noticed earlier, but Frohike had joined him at some point. "Hey, guys," I say, getting their attention. "Hey, yourself, family man," Frohike quips with just enough pride to make me blush. "So?" Byers asks, looking at me pointedly. "So...yeah, we're back together," I answer quietly. I don't know what to say, really. Frohike moves to stand next to me, his hand resting on my shoulder. "Langly, you know we're both happy for you," he says, and Byers nods in agreement. I smile at them gratefully. "I know this whole thing has been hard on you guys, too, all these years. But don't go renting my room out just yet," I tell them jokingly. They laugh, understanding. They know I'm still unsure about my relationship with Kate, how she was the one who broke it off the first time. I still remember her saying that she thought I was too immature, too paranoid to have a serious thing with her. How she said I spent too much time worrying about the CIA or the FBI or whatever to come and take me away and how she didn't need that kind of insanity in her life. She never believed all the stuff that we write, all of our conspiracy theories and our research. I don't know if she still thinks those things, but she *did* come back to me. It occurs to me that if I'm going to make this thing work, I might have to make a few changes of my own. I look at my friends, thinking about how we've spent eleven years together working for a common goal. I see their stubborn dedication, the refusal to give up on what they believe is important. I see Byers, who still wears that wedding ring Susanne gave him in Vegas...his entire reason for being here is a hope that someday, he might be able to make a life with her safely. It makes me realize what is really important. I *do* have a family, and I need to make sure they know I'm here to protect them. I don't want to give up my best friends or my place in their lives, or my work on the newsletter. But am I willing to for my family? Frohike squeezes my shoulder, reassuring me as if he were reading my mind. "Just take it slow, Langly. Take your time with this." I nod distractedly, not sure what to say or think. September 19th 6:12pm "Hey, guys! Seriously, let me in!!!" Yeah, they think it's really funny, making me stand out here while they 'confirm my identity'. So, I've been spending most of my time with Kate and Angie in their new place. And yeah, I sleep over there every night. That doesn't mean the boys need to give me a hard time about it *every* time I come back to the lair. "All right, 'Langly', if that is your real name," Frohike jokes as he opens the door for me. "Getting funnier every time, *Melvin*." "Punk." We grin at each other for a moment before he turns and heads back to his darkroom. "How are the girls, Langly?" Byers asks as I sit down at my own computer to work on an article I'd been working on for a few days. "They're good," I respond, enjoying our new found small talk habits. The phone rings before we can fall into a comfortable pattern, and I jump to answer it. "Lone Gunmen," I announce into the receiver as I flip on the recorder. "Ree?" "Kate? Yeah, it's me, honey. What's wrong?" "Um, there's a man here, he says you know him..." Her voice is shaking badly. Oh man..."Kate, who is it? Did you let him in?" "No, he broke the door in...sweetie, he has a gun--" "Kate?!" I yell into the phone as her voice is cut off. A new voice on the phone responds. "You've got a beautiful little girl here, *Ringo*. I'd hate to see her get hurt because of you. Why don't you come over here so we can talk?" Before I can say anything else there is a click, and then nothing. "Langly? What's going on?" Byers is next to me now, his hand on my arm. I look up at him. "I--it's...fuck." I can't say anything coherent. Shaking his hand off my arm I bolt across the office to the back rooms. Looking around frantically, I spot the locked cabinet where we keep a small collection of weapons. I dig the key out of the drawer and open it, taking out two pistols and a box of bullets. "Langly! What the hell is going on? What are you doing?" Byers yells at me from the door. I turn to face him, and I know he sees my fear. "It's Kate...Jesus, he's gonna kill them..." I'm shaking now, trying to load one of the guns in my hand. Byers puts his hand on mine to stop me, to get my attention. "Who? Who's over there?" "The man...I know that voice. It's Krycek; he's at Kate's place and he has a gun...." ---------------------------- End part 2/5 To be continued....