Please note the sex scene in part seven...it's merely
R-rated, but watch it...
-RhiLangly

-----
Title: The Darkness Within (6/8)
Author: Rhiannon Langly
Rating: PG for language (at the moment...)
Classification: Langly/other. Angst.
Spoilers: LGM series 1x04: "Like Water For Octane"
Archive: Countermeasures, my own site, anywhere it's
wanted. Just let me know first.
Feedback: For the love o' god, send it.
Summary: Langly confronts his own fears about never
finding love, as the Gunmen try to help a young
woman and Yves revenge their past.
- - - - -

The back door to the van creaked open slowly. As I
rocked back and forth on my knees,
babbling incoherent obscenities, sobbing, a singed
smell filled the VW.

"Ringo Langly, that's really unattractive," Melinda's
hoarse voice said.

"Mel..." I gasped. "How did you get out?"

"It's called taking off the vest and setting it on a
timer."

"You do realize," I said, "that you just killed..."

"About twenty people," she finished, matter-of-factly,
then looked at my face.

I'm ugly when I cry. My face turns red like when I
blush, then reacts funny with my tears
when they dry. It hurts like hell.

Melinda saw this, the dried salt on my cheek, and
started to cry herself.

"Oh my god. Twenty people." She groaned and curled
up into a little ball, much like she
had that morning.

I didn't know what to do. Hell, I've never had to
deal with a crying woman before. It was
rather uncomfortable, to say the least.

"Melinda," I whispered. "It's OK."

THAT was a blatant lie. It wasn't OK at all. Yeah,
it was the only thing to do, but that
didn't make it *right.*

I moved towards her slowly and reached out my hand to
touch her shoulder. She flinched.

"There was a girl there, that I knew from Georgetown. 
I saw her there in the hallway, with all the alarms
going off...and she was so scared. I took her arm, I
figured, hell, I’ll try to get out of here, if I can,
and I’ll take her with me. But she wouldn’t go. She
froze, like an animal in the headlights of a car. She
didn’t say anything to me, even when I spoke to her,
asked her if she was alright, and I dragged her
halfway to the door, when I saw my timer. There was
five seconds to get the hell out, and there was no way
to get both of us out of there. So I let go, and I
ran."

She paused.

"Am I human, Ree, or am I just a monster? Tell me,
'cause I don't know what to think of myself anymore."

"Aww, god, Mel...There was nothing else to do. You
wanted to save people. That's human, that's not a monster."

She snorted.

I took that as a good sign, so I moved closer to her,
behind her, and slowly wrapped my arms around her. 
She sighed and closed her eyes. I had never been this 
close before...I could hear her breathing, feel 
each muscle move, It was strange, this connection of
holding someone for the first time.

"I've wanted to do this for a while," I said in her
ear. "Sorry the situation wasn't better."

She laughed, and it felt like I was laughing too, like
she was me. "It's ok. Whenever is fine with me." 
She turned her head so I could see her face. Her eyes 
had some joy in them, ahead of an intense sorrow.

"Melinda," I said, brushing the hair out of my face.

"Yeah?"

"You're tough."

There was a long pause.

"Tough...tough enough for Richard Langly?" she asked,
seriously.

I said nothing, just sighed. Bending over, I kissed
her slowly. I could feel her surprise,
then her reaction...

"Ree," she said, as she pulled away. "Why do you give
a damn about me? I'm from the
middle of nowhere, a murderer, a liar...What happened
before--"

"I don't think you're a bad person, Mel. You went
through tough times. There are a lot of
people who do things that they don't want to do."

"Try office workers having lunch with their boss, as
compared to bombing a government
project," she snapped back.

"Mel, a killer doesn't have regret. You have that. 
And I never thought I'd love anyone. 
I'm not that kind of guy who cares about things. I
just code and hack and sit in the
goddamn van. I'm not 'normal.' So the question is:
Why do you care about *me?*"

She laughed. "We'll talk that later. So what are we
going to do now?"

"Deal with the repercussions."

"How?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "Somehow."

- - - - -

We returned to the warehouse. Frohike's
ultra-sensitive eyes picked up on the difference
between the two of us. It *was* pretty thick.

"Hey, you two, I was wondering when you'd figure
things out." He smirked.

"You lewd bastard," Byers said, teasing him *and* us. 

"You can smell sex a mile away."

Yves ignored all of it, cutting to the point. "What
about our little problem?"

I motioned towards the TV.

"Take a look," I said, hitting the remote. A scene of
destruction filled the screen. The
building was gone, completely wiped out by Mel's
little bomb. A commentator discussed
the "mysterious arson" until Frohike hit the mute
button.

"Someone set up them the bomb," I quipped
sarcastically.

"What?" Byers was blank.

"Never mind. That was Mel's little toy."

To my surprise, Yves looked stunned. Her face
darkened as she spoke to Melinda.

"Why?"

"There was nothing else TO do. Shit, do I have to
explain this again? It was either that
or the end of humanity. Take your pick."

Frohike, Byers and Yves stared, mouths agape.

"Do you think I ENJOYED it, that I'm fucking pleased
with what I've done? Hardly. I
did..." She broke down. "...what I had to do."
I put an arm around her shoulder, leading her to my
bathroom.

"You smell like smoke. Let's get you a warm shower."
As she entered the room, Byers pulled me aside.

"Why, Ringo? Why did she do it?"

I pulled away. Damn narcs, didn't understand.

"Because we would have died. She would have
sacrificed herself. She did what she had
to do, and that's all *I'm* asking of her."
I turned aside and walked away, following
Mel...myself.

- - - - -


end part six


- - - - -


- - - - -
Title: The Darkness Within (7/8)
Author: Rhiannon Langly (fmacgirl@yahoo.com)
Rating: R for language, sexual situations
Classification: Langly/other. Angst.
Spoilers: LGM series 1x04: "Like Water For Octane"
Archive: Countermeasures, my own site, anywhere it's
wanted. Just let me know first.
Feedback: For the love o' god, send it.
Summary: Langly confronts his own fears about never
finding love, as the Gunmen try to help a young
woman and Yves revenge their past.
Note: the bug check was stolen from Erynn’s "Things
Undone" series. Sorry, but it was too damn cute not
to use.
- - - - -


I entered the bathroom next to my bedroom, the one
Melinda had gone into. She was already in the shower,
lost in some reverie.

I opened the door to my room, leaving it wide open. I
grabbed a small box off the dresser, searching for
audio/video bugs. When I was satisfied there were
none (that would be just LIKE Frohike), I could
finally relax on my bed.

Sadly, with that came memories, recollections of all
the day’s events, rushing back to me at the speed of
light. It wasn’t only the bombing, but what had
happened between Mel and I in the van. She was
fuckin’ tough, that was for sure. If I’d been her, I
would have gone crazy under the stress. Being tough,
though, means being unreachable.

[Hell, that little incident in the van was probably
just a result of her emotions under fire. She doesn’t
need you for real,] I thought.

[Who WOULD need you, Ringo? It’s not as if you’re a
counselor, you couldn’t comfort people if you *tried.*
She just needed a warm body to listen to her. 
Frohike would have been the same to her.]

"No," I said aloud, standing up, and pacing the length
of my small room. 

"I can’t lose her, not like this, not because of my
own *issues.* Not even if I am a smartass bastard." 
Warming up, I continued my ranting.

"Not even if she doesn’t deserve me. NOT by you
fucking things up again, *Richard!*"

With that, I picked up some random piece of circuit
board and threw it against the wall, then sank to the
floor, crying again. 

[I must be losing it. Thank god the room’s
soundproof.]

"Ringo?"

I turned to see Melinda standing in the doorway that
I’d thoughtlessly left open.

[She’s dripping water all over my carpet] was my first
thought.

[She’s...oh, *damn,*] was the second.

Melinda had apparently heard my little breakdown, and
out of concern, rushed out of the shower.

- - - - -

We Gunmen don’t invest much in towels. Byers was the
last one who replaced them about two years ago, and
then there was the time when I shrank them in the
dryer...Needless to say, Mel’s didn’t cover much.
Not noticing my sudden distraction, she knelt next to
me.

"You OK?" she asked, leaving a wet handprint on my
shoulder.

"Uh, yeah," I said, slowly.

She sighed. "I heard what you said. Why don’t you
think you’re good enough for me?"

[Because I’m just some guy, and you...shit, you’re
a...goddess,] I thought, then froze. Dumbass me,
forgetting that she was...

"I heard that," she said, grinning.

My face went red. "You listen to *my* thoughts, eh? 
What, uh, else have you heard?"

She toyed with a bit of my hair that was hanging in my
face. "Enough to know some things that I was curious
about. I can tell you that no, I’m not perfect, and
neither are you."

I lifted an eyebrow.

"Trust me," she said, "The letter was the truth. I
want you with me. I think that I love you. If I
didn’t, I wouldn’t still be here. And I wouldn’t do
this."

She slid her hands under my shirt, lifting it over my
head.

"Mel...what are you doing?" I stammered.

"Something that should be done. We’ve both got things
that we need to get over, to heal, to become whole
again."

I wasn’t going to argue with that.

I stood up, locking and bolting my doors, staring
every chance I got at Mel, my heart pounding. Fuck
yeah, I was scared shitless. I don’t know about you,
but in MY world women don’t just offer to make love to
you every day.

"Mel," I whispered as I turned around, then stopped. 
My breath caught in my throat. She’d dropped the
towel, smiling at me, but looked uncharacteristically
shy.

"Ree," she responded, walking towards me.

"Mel, did I ever tell you that you were beautiful?"

- - - - -

I only remember the rest in fragments.
Pants on the floor, followed by the damned pineapple
print boxers, and one pair of glasses.
A kiss, no more of a melting together, no matter how
cliched, at the lips and mouth...My hands all over her
back and her rear and her chest, she’s still wet from
the shower, her hands in places I’d never dreamed
she’d be touching for real, not like this.

Moving to the bed with Mel, hands through her body, me
saying "I don’t know much about this," her saying
"I’ll show you, don’t be afraid," but hell, I’m scared
anyway.

Of the sheets smooth against our legs. Tasting her as
she tastes me. Of holding back.

Wanting, needing, loving her more than anyone ever
before, the feeling that I never want this to end, but
our bodies betray us.

Her legs around me, the feeling inside her, like no
one else. And the little sounds of her breathing and
moaning and whispering, like I am to her, calling out.
Shattering into a million pieces, when I feel her in
my mind so I can hear hers. Wondering if it’s always
like this for everyone.

Wondering if I’ll ever be together again.

Closing my eyes and openign them again to see her by
me, looking back with those eyes, brown mysteries to
me.

Breathing new air.

- - - - -

I lay there, dazed, with my arms around Mel...my
lover. Damn. Our fingers were twisted in each
other’s hair, facing each other.

I wondered if it was good enough for her.

"Yes," she said, "And better. Please believe me."

"I do," I said. "I was there with you, love."

As I fell asleep, I thought I heard her say she loved
me. As it turned out, maybe I was only dreaming.

- - - - -


end part seven