Title: The Sexy Geek Contest
Author: Nubiangeek
Summary: Langly falls in love with a girl on the run.
Category: Romance
Rating: G, PG at its worst


The Lone Gunmen were infiltrating the D.C. Technological Fair in order
to get information on one of their nemeses. 

"We need a good cover." Jimmy said as he tried to fit in with the
rest of the group.

"We have a cover. We work for a newspaper. That's our cover."

"Well, I think that we need something else. Something less
obvious...." Frohike looked over at a sign that they were hanging.

"I believe I have found it." He said. The sign said 'Sexiest
Geek' contest. 

"How is that going to help us. I don't think any of us qualify as
a sexy geek. Wait. What if they need a judge?" Byers was thinking as
he was saying this. Everyone slowly turned and looked at Langly who
was mysteriously quiet throughout this conversation.

"What?"

And that was how Langly found himself as a judge for the sexiest
geek contest.

Karen Smith worked at the Brinkley Consultant Agency. Her main
job was as a consultant to different groups, such as schools, with
their computer systems. They also worked on research and development.
It was this side of the job that Karen did not like. Not because she
didn't like research and development, but because it was so
competitive. She had been considering leaving, which would make her
male colleagues very happy, until she mistakenly intercepted an e-mail
that was meant for one of her co-workers. She didn't understand its
cryptic message, but it intrigued her enough to make her want to dig
deeper. She got hold of a disk that would tamper with the U.S. defense
system. Once 'they' had figured out what she had done, they wiped her
identity clean and she went on the run. All that she had going for her
was her computer knowledge that kept her one step ahead of her
pursuers.

Karen had come to the Dallas Technology Fair to make contact with
someone who could possibly help her. She was aware upon entering the
facility that she was being watched. She had to make sure that she
stayed near lots of people. She had just been given the name "Ringo".
How am I going to find the Beatles here. It was then that she saw the
sign advertising the Sexiest Geek Contest. She stifled a smirk and
headed for the line. 

Langly, being one of the judges was at the booth to hand out
applications and answer questions.

"Hi, can I have an application, please?" Langly almost didn't
look up, but when he did, he almost couldn't take his eyes off of
her. She had beautiful, curly, auburn hair, and green eyes that were
very exotic. But, it was her skin that was what blew him away. the
best way to describe it was to say it looked liked buttercream.
Suddenly, Langly couldn't speak. He tried, but no words came out.

"May I have an application?" Karen repeated. This time she
pointed at the application in case he couldn't hear or he couldn't
speak English. Langly just handed her the application.

She wasn't surprised by his reaction. People were often affected
by her unique coloring . Her father had been Irish with red hair and
freckles. Her mother had been half Hispanic and half African-American
which made for a very unique look. She was beautiful. She hadn't
always been. When she was kid they used to call her Umpa Lumpa like
from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. If those kids could see
her now, they would be shocked.

"Thank you." She said in her sultriest voice. She took the
application over to a table to fill out. There were lots of people at
the tables. She kept looking up to see if someone were looking at her.
The only person that was looking at her was the guy at the counter.
She couldn't tell if he'd even blinked since she left. 

In the meantime, Frohike came up to see how things were going. 

"Huh?" was all he got form Langly. Frohike followed Langly's
line of sight and saw what Langly had been looking at.

"Wow! Where'd she come from?" Langly still had not uttered more
than two words.

She hadn't really planned on going through with the contest. She
was just wasting time until she could figure out how to find "Ringo".
The questions on the application were mostly about computers and
science fiction.

"Oh my goodness. I am a geek!" She hadn't realized it until now.
She giggled as she looked up at the guy behind the counter. At that
moment another guy came up and called the guy behind the counter
"Ringo".

"Oh no. Here I was flirting with that guy and now I have to go
back up and talk to him. Oh well, here goes." She took the application back up to the counter.

"Hi again. All done." She handed Langly the application. "Uh - I heard that guy call you Ringo.
I'm supposed to meet someone here named Ringo." As she thought about what she said, the
more it sounded like a 'pick up line.

"SpaceCase sent me." Langly knew who SpaceCase was and he knew
that if SpaceCase sent her, she must be in trouble.

"Do you need help?"

She suddenly wanted to cry as she thought about what her life had
become over the past few months.

"Is their some place we can talk?" He could tell that she was
about to cry as he led her to an empty conference room. Between the
sobs, she explained to him what she had gone through. He listened and
then let her cry on his shoulder. Afterwards, he held her until she
stopped crying.

"We can help you."

**********************************************************************

"So, you intercepted an e-mail. that's how this whole thing got
started?" Frohike didn't seem to believe her.

"Yes, my e-mail address is close to the one for the person it was
intended. When I received it, of course I didn't know what it was
about. But, I'm always receiving strange e-mails. It's nothing new.
This one made me want to find out what was going on. You see, this
group that I work with is supposed to share all information. So, this was
information that I didn't know." Byers jumped in at this point. "So,
you were mad that you were out of the loop?" She nodded and they could
see the anger on her face.

"It's happened before. You see, my colleagues are all men. So
when a minority woman joined the team, things got a little chilly."
They all knew that this was probably true.

"I stayed after work one day and started downloading some files.
The problem is that I didn't know Jacobson was coming back that
evening. I didn't get everything before I had to leave." Her eyes
began to fill with tars again. She was not usually so weepy, but she
felt the situation was hopeless. Langly handed her some tissue.

"They wiped my identity clean. The next morning no one knew who I
was at work. I'm pretty much a loner and I don't have any family..."

"No um- boyfriend or husband?" They all looked at Langly knowing
his motivation for the question.

"No." She was amused.

Langly didn't realize it, but he was already fantasizing about this
girl. His love life wasn't really anything to talk about. He was also
a loner. Alright let's face it, he thought, he was a computer geek.
Everybody knew girls didn't dig computer geeks. Unless, they were a
computer geek. He would keep his options open.

"So, what your saying is that we need to break into the Caldwell
building with its sophisticated security system and download the rest
of the information?" Karen nodded in agreement. Everybody looked at
Langly. His expertise would be needed for this job.

"Alright, alright you don't have to tell me twice."

They set the operation for that night. Karen would disable the
alarm system while Langly went in. Langly watched as Karen's fingers
flew over the keyboard almost as fast as his. He was impressed.

"All alarms are shut down." she announced. She caught his look
of approval and smiled back. Everyone except Karen and Byers left the
van to do their various jobs. Karen was also monitoring the cameras
that were set throughout the building. Her eyes went to one particular
camera.

"Oh, no,." she whispered. Byers began to look interested.

"What's wrong?" She ignored his question as she quickly contacted
Langly on his earpiece.

"Ringo, you've got to get out. They've hired a security guard. A
real, live person. Probably after I broke in. He's doing his rounds.
Langly could tell that she was frantic.

"I'm almost finished. How close is he?" She flicked through the
cameras. "He's on your floor headed straight for you."

Peter Sanders, the new security guard at the Caldwell building
knew that they had an intruder. They had also put in a silent alarm
that was on a separate system. The big boss wanted the intruder
without police involvement. He knew that she would be back. She
didn't get everything the first time.

"Hurry, Ringo. He's almost there." Langly made a few last minute
plucks and then shut down the system.

"I've got it!"

"But you can't get out. He's right outside...."

There was no word from Langly as the security guard opened the door.
She expected to hear a gunshot or something, but the guard just backed
out and closed the door. Karen began to frantically search for Langly.
She was almost at the point of tears now. Suddenly, the side door of
the van opened and there was Langly. She sprang out of the door and
hugged him. 

"I thought you had been captured."

Langly was shocked when she sprang on him, but then he took the
opportunity and hugged her back. She didn't resist. The others
noticed and were surprised.

"Uh, 'scuse me, but don't you think we oughta get outta here?"
Frohike was right. It seems an alarm was pulled and cars were
beginning to pull up to the building. They all jumped into the van and
took off.

"We're going to put you up in a motel while we sort thorough
things." Byers was saying. Karen didn't let go of Langly's hand during
the whole trip. She didn't even realize it. Langly didn't know what
to think.

"OH, she's just scared. She would have latched onto anyone. It
just happened to be me." He thought to himself.

When they arrived at the motel, Karen began to panic. "You
aren't going to leave me here alone are you?" She was terrified. Her
eyes locked onto Langly's. He didn't know what it was, but she needed
him. 

"I'll stay with you." He heard himself say. the others didn't
know what to make of it. There was something strange going on between
the two of them, but no one thought that it had anything to do with
love.

"Okay. Well, we'll pick you up tomorrow morning." Frohike was
saying.

Langly and Karen went into the motel office to register.

"Mr. and Mrs. Jones." The clerk read and then had a little smirk
on his face like he didn't believe them. Karen felt as if she were
about to drop. When they got inside, she went directly to the bed and
laid down. 

"Tired?" Langly asked as he covered her up. 

"I haven't had a good night's sleep in two months." She was
drifting . Langly turned off the light and went over to the sofa. He
took off his shoes and glasses and tried to fit his six foot frame on
the four foot couch.

Her shriek split the night. Langly was up and off the couch in a
flash. He was by her side. She was screaming, crying and fighting.
All he could do was pin her arms to her side to keep her from fighting.
When she finally go to the point where she was too tired to fight
anymore, she just hung there onto him. Langly was holding her and a
million thoughts were going through his head. He wanted to hold her
not just for her, but for him. Suddenly Karen pulled away and looked
into Langly's eyes. She was trying to figure out why she cared so much
for him. One thing for sure, she knew she felt safe with him. He
wasn't a big, brawny guy, but she knew that he would do whatever it
took to protect her. He was also honest and sincere. She had met so
many guys that were jerks. Guys that would say anything to get her
into bed. She didn't feel the same around Langly as she did with the
jerks. She touched his cheek as if she was memorizing the planes of
his face. Langly felt as if he would explode at any moment. She
kissed him lightly at first and then she stopped to look at him once
again. You could have heard a pin drop. There was no sound as they
stared at each other. Karen saw his very prominent Adam's apple move
as he swallowed hard. He was having trouble controlling himself. This
time he touched her face and her hair as if in disbelief. Then he
kissed her harder than she had kissed him. Up until now, he had only
dreamt of this. He never actually expected those dreams to come true.
Who was this woman, and why did she like him? He was asking himself
these questions as the kiss deepened.

As the sun rose the next morning, Langly was holding Karen. It
seemed so natural although he had never really been in this situation
before. She trusted him; he could feel it. She relied on him for
strength which was also something new. It was quite a turn on having
someone feel that way about you. He held her closer as he thought of
this. He hadn't really slept at all. He was content to watch her
sleep. She had been very tired.

There was a knock at the door. Langly silently laid her down and
went over to get his glasses before answering the door. Of course, he
bumped into a few things before getting his glasses. When he reached
the door, he made sure that he looked out the peep-hole before opening
it.

"Shhh - Karen's still sleeping" 

Frohike eyed Langly closely. He wondered if anything had CHANGED
since they last saw him. Oh well, he'd save that for later. They
kept their voices low as they talked.

"Your friend SpaceCase is dead. They found him in a dumpster this
morning. I'd say her friends know who we are now."

Langly looked pissed. SpaceCase had not been a real good friend,
but he didn't want him to be dead.

"SpaceCase is dead?"

Karen had woken up and heard the whole thing. She was wearing one
of Langly's shirts which reached to just above her knees, but it still
looked suspicious. A few eyebrows went up and eyes looked at Langly.

"Don't even say it, Frohike." Langly warned.

"That means that they know who you guys are and in just a little
while they'll figure out where I am." She had ignored what Langly said
and was starting to panic again. Langly immediately flew to her side
and put his arms around her. The others looked at each other again
wondering what had happened the night before.

"I'm okay." she was saying as Langly continued to hold her. 

Byers, trying to bring the focus back to the situation,
continued.

"We think that you and the discs will be safer here. Are you
going to stay here with her Langly?" This was, obviously a silly
question, so Langly made a sarcastic face.

"We brought your computer. We thought you might try to figure out
what's on the discs." The part that was unspoken was, "instead of
messing around with the girl". Langly hadn't even thought about his
computer in the last day or so. Before Frohike, Byers and Jimmy went
back to the office, they brought Langly and Karen something to eat.

After showering and changing and while Karen finished eating
(forced to do so by Langly), Langly was busy at the computer.

"Oh, wow..." Langly said as his fingers flew over the keyboard.
Karen came over and casually placed her hand on his shoulder.

"What is it?" Langly noticed her hand on his shoulder, but only
smiled and kept going.

"It's a missile defense system." Karen didn't understand.

"What would our company be doing with a missile defense system?
We deal mostly with schools and small businesses." Langly kept
punching buttons.

"I think that they were planning to sell this to the highest
bidder."

************************************************************************

Meanwhile, back at the Lone Gunmen headquarters, the rest of the
gang was busy getting this week's paper out. All was going well until
the buzzer sounded. 

"I wonder who that could be?" Byers said as went to answer the
door. Whoever it was had stepped out of the sight of the cameras which
should have been their first clue. Two angry-looking goons kicked in
the door and began to bust up the place and the gunmen. Finally, the
man who looked to be in charge signaled the others to stop.

"Now, we are looking for the girl and the disc and I know that
you know where they both are." The three guys looked at each other,
but none of them was willing to give up Karen or the disc. Just then
the telephone rang. The lead guy motions Frohike to answer the phone
and to put it on intercom.

"Hey Frohike, I figured out what's on the disc. Its some kind of
missile defense system." When Frohike didn't answer, Langly said,
"Hey, what's going on over there? Did you hear me?" the lead guy
motioned for Frohike to talk.

"Uh, we're just having a little party. Yeah, I heard you .
Great work, look, uh, we'll hook up with ya later. Bye." The boys
didn't know it, but they had a van outside that monitored phone calls.
they had traced the call. N a connection from the van, the lead guy
heard, "We have an address."

"What's wrong?" Karen asked as she absently brushed the hair from
his face.

"I don't know. Something's not right, but I don't know what it
is." Again, as if they had known each other for years, Karen sat on
Langly's lap.

"Frohike said something about having a party. Do you think he was
trying to give me a message?" Karen stiffened; he could feel it.

"Maybe someone was there. Maybe they know where we are." She
jumped up and started running for the door. Langly caught her arm and
drew her back into his arms.

"It's okay, Karen. I'll protect you. No one's going to hurt
you. I promise." He lifted her chin and had her look at him. "I
promise." She relaxed somewhat and then he kissed her - lightly at
first, and then more deeply. He had to let her go.

"If you think that we should leave, we'll go together, okay?"
She nodded as she gathered her purse and other things. Langly grabbed
the computer. 

They quickly left the room, looking all around as they returned
the key to the office. Just as they were rounding the corner, they
saw the car pull up.

"Hold it, hold it!" They plastered themselves against the wall
as the car pulled up to their former hotel room.

"Come on , quick, it'll be only a minute before they realize we're
gone." They headed back the other way as they saw a bus approach the
stop.

"Come on." They ran and boarded the bus just as the men came
plowing out of the room.

"That was too close." Karen said as she snuggled close to Langly.
They took the bus a few more miles until Langly was sure that they
weren't being followed.

"We'll find another motel and then we'll need to contact the
guys."

"Wait, we can't contact the guys. What if they trace the call
again?" She was becoming hysterical again, so he held her.

"Oh the wonders of modern technology." was all he said.

They went to a motel a few blocks away and Langly set up his
computer and e-mailed a friend who would, in turn e-mail the guys.
She smiled as she realized what he was doing. Langly smiled back.

"They say that the baddies are gone. They'll meet us here as soon
as they can."

"Make sure they're not followed." Langly laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just that you're really getting into this
intrigue stuff. I thought that was my job." She pretended to hit him
in the arm and winced like any good geek should.

As they drove to the sight of the new motel, Frohike and Jimmy
checked to see that they weren't followed.

"So, what do you guys think about Langly and Karen?" Everyone
had been avoiding the subject, but leave it to Jimmy to bring it up.

"Has he ever had a girlfriend?" Frohike was asking. There was
silence as everyone tried to even picture it.

"Not since I've known him." was Byers' response.

"And, do you think she really likes him?" Frohike asked.

"Well, if she doesn't, he's going to be a mess to live with when
its over." They thought about this possibility.

"Well, maybe somebody should talk to him." Frohike and Byers
stared at Jimmy as if he were from another planet (which was the usual
look.) 

"Can I ask you a question?" Langly was still fiddling with the
computer and closed it down to look at Karen.

"Sure. Anything." Langly said as he was clearly focusing on her
now.

"I just wanted to know what was going to happen after all of this
is over." Karen reached out and touched his face - a movement that he
was becoming used to.

"What do you mean?" Langly was struggling to say.

"I just meant....are 'we' over when this is over? Is there a
'we'?" Langly stroked her hair and then kissed her on the lips. She
put her arms around him and deepened the kiss.

"Was that an answer?" Karen asked when she could breathe.

"Yeah. It means I'm not going anywhere."

Then there was a knock on the door and the guys were there.

"Hey, what were you guys up to?" Frohike said as he wiped the
lipstick from Langly's lips.

"So, what happened?" Langly said trying to change the subject.

"We had some unexpected visitors. They traced your call." Byers
said, calmly.

"So what did you find on the disc?"

After sharing the information with the rest of the gang, they
began discussing the wiping of Karen's background.

"It was easy for them because both of my parents are dead and I
don't have many friends. Nobody would miss me." Langly gave her a
look as if to say, "I would."

"Well, let's just see what we can do." Langly said as he cracked
his knuckles. He pushed some buttons, typing in Karen social security
number, first.

"Uh-oh. There's a warrant out for your arrest. It seems that
they've pinned the break-in at the Caldwell building on you. They've
also said that you've embezzled money." Frohike looked at her
suspiciously. Byers and Jimmy tried to hide their suspicious looks.

"Hey wait a minute. You don't think she did it do ya?" Langly
was caught between his friends and love. There were a few more
dramatic moments before Karen spoke up.

"Ringo, you have to admit that I do look guilty. And how do you
know I'm not. I have no way to prove to you that I'm not. Don't you
see what they've done. They are trying to make it so that my only
allies will doubt me. Well, that's okay, 'cause I'm outta here."
She didn't want to make Langly choose between her and his friends, so
she thought that she would make it easy on him. As she grabbed her
beat up backpack and headed for the door, tears falling from her eyes,
it was Frohike's hand that shot out to stop her.

"Wait a minute." He looked at her with the tears falling. She
wasn't crying about her predicament; it went much deeper than that.
She was in love.

"We just had to be sure. You know, we didn't want Langly here
getting into something that he couldn't get out of." And, as if
Frohike were a father that had finally accepted his son's choice in
girlfriends, she hugged him. And then she ran to Langly and kissed
him solidly on the lips. Jimmy had a goofy grin on his face and was
that a tear in Byers' eye? 

"Okay you two. Break it up. we have to figure out how to get her
out of this hot water."

Langly, reluctantly let go of her, and went back to the computer.
He tried everything he knew to get rid of the warrant, but everything
originated from the Caldwell building.

"We're going to have to go back to the Caldwell building." He
finally said.

"But, it'll be a trap." Karen said frantically. She was
beginning to think like a spy.

"I think they're trying to lure Karen out in the open. I'll have to
go." Langly looked at Karen and then he looked at Byers.

"Someone's going to have to stay with Karen." Jimmy looked as if
he might speak up. Langly ignored it.

"Byers, I want you to do it." Byers looked as if he didn't want
the job.

"Come on Byers. You're the only one I trust. You won't let
anything happen to her, will you?" Langly looked desperate.

"Okay." Byers agreed.

Langly went over and hugged and kissed Karen no longer caring who was
watching.

So Frohike, Jimmy and Langly left to go to the Caldwell building
while Byers and Karen stayed at the motel.

"So, you and Langly, is it serious?" Karen smiled. Byers felt
an obligation to find this information out, but he was extremely
nervous.

"I love him, but I don't think that he knows it." She just
realized this. She also began thinking, again, what would happen when
it was over.

"Be careful with that information, because Ringo doesn't know,
yet." Then she smiled. Byers could see why Langly liked her.

"Your secret's safe with me, but I think that you should tell
him."

At that moment, all hell broke lose. The door was kicked in and
Byers, instinctively, went over to protect Karen. However, the men
that came in were too much for Byers. They beat him up and took Karen
away.

In the mean time, the rest of the gang were breaking into the
Caldwell building once again. This time it was extremely easy - no
guard. Langly was able to quickly get in and change the files.

"You know guys, this was way too easy." They all agreed and
hurried back to the hotel.

Langly opened the door and found Byers sitting on the bed with his
head in his hands.

"Where is she Byers?" Langly quickly crossed the room and pulled
Byers up by the lapels.

"I'm sorry....." Langly lost it. He started hitting Byers until
the other guys pulled him off.

"It couldn't be helped. they must have seen you guys leave and
just waited. I tried to fight them, but there were too many." Langly
knew that he was telling the truth. they had been stupid and it may
cost Karen her life.

"We've gotta find her. We've got to get her back." they talked
about the guys that worked with Karen.

"It must be one of them. Do you think they took her back to the
Caldwell building?" It was all they had to go on, so they all went
back to the Caldwell building. There still seemed to be no signs of
life there, but it was their only lead.

Adam Schwartz used to be Karen's colleague, but not he was her
captor. She was being held prisoner. She also knew what they planned
to do with her. They had retrieved the disk and there was no need to
keep her around. The hard thing was that Adam had always been nice to
her.

"Why did you have to go snooping anyway? And bringing those Lone
Gunmen fools in....Why couldn't you have left well enough alone." She
was asking herself these questions, too. She had always been too
curious for her own good.

"Well, come on. We're not going to do it here. They'd make the
connection too easily."

They were going to take her out and kill her. All she could think
about besides dying, was Langly. She had dreams of spending the rest
of her life with him, but with her luck, she knew better than to
dream.

The guys saw them leaving and heading for a black L.T.D. Langly,
who was driving, sped off in their direction. There were four men and
Karen and the men were taken off guard. As they scrambled for cover,
Langly stopped the van while Byers reached out and grabbed Karen. It
was pure luck because the guys carried no weapons. Karen was so happy.
She started crying and hugging Byers.

"Hey, what're you hugging him for?" Langly was only slightly
jealous, but he wasn't mad at Byers anymore. After Karen hugged Byers
she went up front and gave Langly a great big kiss on the cheek.
They were to be happy only briefly. They knew the hard truth. Karen
would have to leave. She was no longer safe there or with Langly.
They had e-mailed Eve. They felt that she had contacts that could send
Karen somewhere safe; where no one would find her. When Eve entered
the headquarters, she stopped and looked at Karen.

"That's funny, she doesn't look insane." They had also told Eve
that Karen was Langly's girlfriend. Eve had laughed when she first
heard it, but now she was just in shock.

"Can you do it?" They were wanting to know if Eve could put her
somewhere safe.

"Of course I can do it. And, am I to understand that you don't
want to know where she is?" This was the main reason they had chosen
Eve. They had to be sure that the person who hid Karen wouldn't break
down and tell Langly where she was.

"No, we don't want to know where she is." Langly had a hard time
speaking. He was not handling this very well at all, but he knew that
it had to be done. He took her hand and led her into the next room so
that they could be alone before she left. There was silence. Neither
of them wanted to speak - their eyes were full of tears. Finally,
Karen said, "I'm really going to miss you." It seemed so cliché',
but she didn't know what else to say. The tears were flowing and
Langly took her into his arms.

"I don't know if I can do this." He struggled.

"What if I come with you?" The offer was very tempting, but she
knew how hard it was for even one person to be on the run. She
couldn't imagine what it would be like for two. Karen touched Langly's
face and he realized that it would be the last time she would do this.

"Oh, God....." He kissed her slowly and deliberately. The
others were spying on them mainly because they had a hard time
believing that Karen felt the way that she did.

"I love you, Ringo. I don't want to go, but I have to."

Langly was shaking and she could feel it.

"Maybe someday...." she had started to say, but they both knew
that it would never happen.

"You could have Eve's people keep an eye on me and report to you."
Ringo nodded.

"I love you." was all he could manage.

They continued looking at one another until Eve came in and said,
"It's time."

Karen gave him one last kiss as she went with Eve. It was the
last time he ever saw her.

The guys had copied the information on the disk and printed the
story in the newspaper. By throwing light on their operation they
caused a halt in the operation and thus causing any potential buyers to
run in another direction.

A couple of weeks later Byers approached Langly who was still
moping in his bed.

"How are you doing, Langly?" Byers knew the answer before he
asked.

"How do you think I'm doing...I miss her." Langly's voice broke
on the last part. Byers threw an envelope to Langly and quietly walked
out. Langly knew without looking who it was from. Immediately, tears
sprang into his eyes, but he opened the envelope anyway.

Dearest Ringo,
You will never know how much I love you . I hope that I showed it adequately enough when I was there. I am in
the safehouse and, of course, I can't tell you where. I
just wanted you to know that I'm safe. Please think of me often
as I will you. And remember that I love you always. 

Love,
Karen

Now, he could cry. It was a release that he couldn't do until
now. the others heard him, but knew that Langly needed to get this
out. He would hurt for a little while longer, but he would soon get
over it and they would be there for him when he was ready. That's the
way it was with them.