Rating: R for some quick and dirty sex.

Summary: Maybe a chance to laugh again.

Spoilers: Nah.
 

"It's under my skin but out of my hands
I'll tear it apart but I won't understand..."

"Woman in Chains" by Roland Orzabal, Copyright 1989 Virgin Music and used without permission.
 

Chadai
 

February 9, 2000

We were awakened by a ringing phone, which nearly gave me both of us a heart attack, since it preceded the alarm by at least 30 minutes.

"Yeah?" Langly's sleepy voice whined into the receiver.

"Just thought you'd like to know, he regained consciousness." I could hear Gizzie booming over the line.

"Oh, wow. That's awesome."

"He's still in bad shape. But he's conscious at least."

"Talk to Ally." He handed me the phone.

"H'lo?" I was still barely awake, having not slept terribly well all night.

"Your boy's still in rough shape. He's conscious, but fever is up, vitals are all kind of shaky."

"Isn't consciousness good?" My brain was not processing.

"Yeah, that was the big one. He's not out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot. But at least it's progress. By the way, Erilynn's on today. I'm off, and Martha's picking up the nighttime shift. I like to have a life every once in a while."

"So then you'll be on days?"

"Woo-hoo, she guesses good. Yeah, you'll be seeing more of Martha for the next week or so. My husband actually likes to see me occasionally, believe it or not."

"I believe it. Besides, you'll see less of Mulder if you're on days."

That made her laugh. "Long as he's a guest, he's actually sort of amusing. However, if he ever turns up in my ICU again as a patient, for whatever stupid reason, I'm going to have to kill him. And the wife will thank me."

I laughed. There was more than a small amount of truth to that.
 

It was a long day, and taking Jo's place in the staff meeting was even worse than boring-there was considerable antagonism among the various service coordinators, and I was treated to an hour of sniping, backbiting and general pettiness. I was extremely grateful I had a class to caption.

I decided to check my voice mail messages on my way to class, just in case there'd been any change in Byers's condition. No messages from the hospital, but there was a rather urgent one from Juliet.

"Ally, I'm here at Jo's, my parents are here, this is worse than the hospital! I'm calling you from the bathroom so nobody hears me-God, I haven't done this since junior high. Do me a favor. I need to see John, and I've got to get to one of your computers in your office. You've got keys, right? Okay. Ask Jo to watch the kiddies tonight. You pick me up-my parents are getting ready to go back to Illinois, anyway, thank God. We'll shoot over to the hospital, then we'll go back to your place, and then you can distract Jo until I'm done in the office. Then you can get me back to Jo's before she gets back from your place." Oh Jesus. This was not going to work. The girl was still obviously feverish.

I worked my afternoon seminar, then called Jo's house promptly. Juliet picked up.

"Shit, she went with Frohike! Now what are we going to do? Shit!" She sounded very tired, but I could tell she was not about to be deterred.

"Look, I'll come get you. Jo's okay. She comes on like she's a real pain, but she's a softie." So I had learned as of late. She was probably going to be really pissed off at me, but she'd have to deal with it. Unfortunately, so would I. "First I need to see my kids, something I haven't done enough of lately." I didn't plan to stay long tonight. Miranda and Shelby had needs, too, and I'd been pretty negligent in recent days.

"Can you get me first? I'll come see your kids." She was whining a la Langly. Unbelievable. She didn't strike me as a whiner. Then again, she was still ill.
 

I hadn't been to Jo's house before, and I had a hard time finding her complex, which was tucked inside a small side street and buried in a thatch of greenery. It was woodsy and quiet, but not readily accessible to the outside world.

I rang the gate buzzer, and Juliet verified it was me and let me through.

She looked better; as annoyed as she was about being forced to rest all day, it had done her good. There was a little more color in the cheeks and less red around the eyes. She was painfully thin, but that was going to take more than a day to remedy.

"While you hang with your kids, I'll go raid John's computer."

"I don't know any of his passwords."

"I don't recall that being much of a stumbling block." I had forgotten; Juliet was a systems security expert. Langly had-against my wishes-hacked into some of her code, and he expressed admiration for how well she'd guarded herself. He must have had a hell of a time breaking in.

We pulled up, when I remembered that Michael had my keys. I hoped he was there; I was going to need another set. If I ever remembered to get them made, it would be a minor miracle.

Fortunately, he was there, and he wasn't overly surly when we banged on the door.

"Julie needs to get into Byers's computer," I told him.

"Prof's not gonna like that."

"Excuse me, but I plan to make that man my husband, and he'll be sharing with me, anyway," Juliet announced tersely to him.

"Oh, I remember you. You're the lady hacker."

"This won't take long, Ally. I need to do more later, but this'll do for now."

"What're you doing?"

"Getting a list of everyone who attended Black Hat."
 

I dined on grilled cheese sandwiches with the girls, and laughed while they acted out various scenes from the movie "Clerks." When they'd exhausted "Clerks," I heard a replay of "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion," which was even better than the original. Miranda played Romy, Shelby took Michele's part, and I found myself unwinding a bit.

At least they'd ventured beyond "Scream."

While the girls were acting out the scene where Romy is trying to get Ramon to lend her his Jaguar XJS, Juliet banged on the kitchen door, and Michael followed her in.

"I'm not staying long tonight," I promised him.

"Don't worry about it," he mumbled. "Notice you got Sam Adams. Better than that Mexican shit you drink."

"We're becoming more diversified." I'd made enough sandwiches for everyone; Michael accepted, Juliet declined.
 

Jo was in the waiting room with Kat when we arrived. Kat was actually asleep on one of the sofas.

"She's beyond exhausted," Jo said unnecessarily. Then she noticed my traveling companion. "What are you doing out of bed, Juliet?"

"I need to see John." Her tone indicated that arguing with her could be unwise. Jo looked somewhat unhappy, but she rapidly resigned herself to the situation at hand.

"Why don't you send Langly and Melvin out for a while? Not too long, though, young lady. You and your young man are both still under the weather."

"Don't remind me," Juliet remarked tartly. She and I quietly stepped down the corridor to Byers's room, a route we were walking a lot these days. I prayed for the day when my feet would forget that route.

"Excuse me, visiting hours are now over, at least for you guys," I announced as we walked in. I hugged Frohike quickly, then settled for a long, long kiss with Langly.

"You two are disgusting," Frohike commented as he walked out.

"I'd say gross, but only because I'd be jealous." Juliet leaned over John and kissed him several times, first on the forehead, then the cheeks, then on the lips. And she let it linger. "God, he's still burning, Ally."

Martha walked in. I hadn't seen much of her lately, and it was a delight to be in her presence again. Her calmness was pervasive.

"Martha, this is Juliet, you remember from quarantine?"

"Oh, yes. You were released?"

"You could say that." Juliet didn't elaborate. "He's so hot still."

"We're having a hard time with the fever right now. I'm going to give him another dose of anti-inflammatories." Martha deftly inserted a syringe into one of the IV ports. "His vitals are improving a little. Not as much as we'd like, but at least he's moving in the right direction. I'll be back later." She slipped quietly from the room.

Juliet pulled herself up on the bed, trying not to disturb any of the lines, and trying to snuggle down with him. God, how many times had Langly and I done this? Too many in our short time together, I concluded.

"John," she said, whispering. "John, it's Julie. Can you hear me?"

"I think he's asleep, Julie."

Juliet ignored me. "John, just nod or something if you know it's me." No answer yet, but Byers's eyelids were fluttering.

Juliet just held on to him, as though she could will him to live. She was half way off the bed, there was so little room, but I don't think she could be pryed away with a crowbar at that point.

Byers's eyes opened slowly. He wasn't processing too quickly, but it soon became apparent what had crawled in bed with him.

"Julie." I heard a hoarse whisper I barely recognized as his, but it must have been sweet music to her ears. She gripped him tightly, murmuring to him.

He turned his head into hers, let her kiss him long and hard, and fell asleep in her arms.
 

"I'm starting to feel like a voyeur in there."

"Oh, please, tell me they're doing the deed," Frohike begged. Jo glared at him, but he smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Nope, nothing like that. But if you want to get her away from him right now, try the jaws of life. Anything else'll be useless." I turned to Langly. "I'm calling it a night. You staying?"

"Nah, I think our studio audience is full tonight. See ya at home? I'll follow ya in a few." We kissed again, not quite as long as in the room, but we actually threw in a little tongue, just to shock our audience.

"If you two must carry on so, please do it in the privacy of your own bedroom," Frohike admonished.
 

Which we did. We threw Michael out, spent some time going over the girls's homework with them-which, surprisingly, Michael had helped Shelby on her math with-heard another scene from "Romy and Michele," and called it a night. It was early, but we were exhausted. And starved for one another. As soon as the door was locked, clothes went flying like leaves in a windstorm. Mouths, hands, arms, legs-we couldn't devour each other fast enough. I tasted every inch of skin on him, drank up every scent, touched every sensitive place he had. He shivered and moaned, and I did the same for him.

"Hasn't been that long, has it?" he gasped as I ran my fingers over his chest.

"Not since we went to Genie's. At least a week." I was breathing hard, having a hard time forming words.

"Feels like forever." His eyes were huge, dark, lit hard with passion, and I felt myself swell into him, needing him closer...it was like I could get lost in him and never hope to be found.

"No, we're forever," I moaned into his mouth, and felt my senses burst as he spilled into me.
 

February 13, 2000

Another long week. Another Friday. I was praying for something resembling a real weekend, and Langly echoed my sentiments.

There were a few victories that week. The February issue, although late, finally hit the cyberstands. And probably not a moment too soon; the readership was irate, and they were not subtle about their irritation. Conspiracy buffs are not a patient lot. And I am convinced that they are all grandsons (and daughters) of Adam Smith. (You do remember Econ 101, don't you?)

Byers hit a milestone on Thursday-his fever dropped below 101 for the first time. He was still very sick, but at least he was working in a positive direction. The biggest problem he seemed to have was with speech. He'd take a long time to respond to a query-and when he did, he used a minimal number of words to answer it. The neurologist was not convinced it was a permanent condition, but wasn't certain it wasn't, either. More waiting.

Juliet improved. Jo forced her to rest, but recognized that contact between her and Byers might be beneficial for both of their recoveries, so she didn't hold her captive. Juliet was going to be very tired for a while, but she'd lost the fever finally.

She did, however, arrange to take the balance of the semester off from her work.

Michael had been less surly as of late-or maybe since he'd stopped living in our house, I just didn't notice it, but I did believe it was the former. Michael was not without his complaints-his father's cooking was bland, he made him take the bus, he forced him to go to class-but on the whole, he seemed a bit calmer. When he stayed with the girls, they didn't argue. And he'd actually surprised me by bringing me a set of keys-he'd gone and duplicated what had been my set, so that I wouldn't be  without mine. I was touched by that gesture. Whether his father had made him do it or not wasn't relevant; he'd done it, and that was enough for me.

Since Frohike had been making Michael use public transportation to get around everywhere, I was a bit taken aback by his request that night to use my car the following evening.

"It's Valentine's Day, you know-"

"Shit." I'd totally forgotten. No, I didn't forget. I didn't think about it in the first place.

"And...I've got a date." He blushed.

I could have made a number of choice comments here, but he looked so happy, I could only bring myself to hand him the keys and smile.

"Just don't get sick in it."

"Hey, I'm taking a lady out in it. I'm not gonna do something stupid like that!"

I grinned, and he smiled widely in return.
 

"Langly, it's Valentine's Day tomorrow, as I've been reminded in no uncertain terms by the under 25 set hanging around here." The girls were appalled that I'd forgotten it was Valentine's Day. Well, excuse me for being busy, kids.

"Yeah?" He looked at me as though he wasn't sure what this implied.

"So, we should celebrate."

"Hmm. Whaddya wanna do?" We were both in the office, going through more of the e-mails, and also preparing to send out some to all the names on the list that Juliet had culled.

"Something fun."

"Fun. What a concept. Haven't had enough of that lately." He was still typing, as was I.

"The girls want to see some comedy."

"Lot of the clubs are 18 and over. Couldn't get 'em in."

"Have to be some we could get into with 'em."

"Hold on, let's see what's playing." He deftly switched screens and jumped into one of the browsers. "Hmm...18 and over, 21 and over, 21 and over...hey, here's one. Vancouver TheatreSports on Tour. All ages. 12 and up recommended. They're supposed to be pretty bizarre."

"Can you get tickets?"

"I'll be ashamed of myself if I can't." He typed away. "Hmm...11:00 show has tickets...8:30 doesn't, but we can just move somebody's reservations to 11:00."

"Langly, you are terrible!"

"Yeah, but we've got tickets."
 

We spent a good portion of the day visiting Byers, who was slowly becoming more lucid and staying awake for longer periods of time. He was still a bit slow in the speech department, but even that was beginning to show improvement.

Juliet basically had planted herself in his room and had no intentions of removing herself until he was removed along with her. I think this made Kat feel significantly better, for some reason; she decided she needed to get home, at least for a while. She missed her husband and kids, and she was utterly spent. I promised I'd take her to the airport the next day.

"You can't, Mom," Miranda informed me.

"Why not?"

"We have to go dress shopping."

"For what?" I had plenty of dresses, and so did she.

"Mom, for your wedding dress!" I was treated to an are-you-stupid-or-just-insane look from her. "You're getting married three months from tomorrow! Hello! Were you just planning to come as you are?!"

"Actually, I hadn't thought about it." Which I hadn't. I think I figured when the time came, I'd hit Macys or Abercrombie & Fitch or Bloomingdales and find something nice, no problem.

Obviously my daughter and maid of honor had other ideas.

"And you gotta choose your bridal party. You got Shelby and me and Dana. Who else? You need two more."

"Oh, God, I have to choose?"

"Yeah, and do it snappy, okay? Time's wasting, and I gotta get the bridal party out to buy dresses, too!"

"Well...Ellen. I want to ask her.

"Okay. Who else?"

"Well...I need a couple days to contact this person." I hoped I could do it in a couple days.

"Who is it?" Miranda demanded.

"Langly's sister."

Miranda looked a bit surprised, but just shrugged. "Just try to do it in this century, okay?"
 

February 14, 2000

"Where's your car?" Langly demanded as we got ready to leave to see VTS on tour.

"I lent it to Michael," I said simply.

"Frohike said he's supposed to travel at taxpayer expense."

"He's got a date, babe."

"Oh. Well, so long as he doesn't puke in it."

"That's what I told him." We both laughed, and it felt wonderful. "You ready to go laugh some more?"

"Oh, God, yes."
 

Vancouver TheatreSports was utterly bizarre...and hilarious. We were all laughing so hard that I kept passing beer through my nose, which Langly thought at least as amusing as the stage show. During intermission, he kept trying to make me laugh so that I'd completely ruin my clothes.

"God, that was great!" Shelby raved as we drove home. "Especially that blonde dude."

"You mean the one that looks like Wicked Stepfather?" Miranda asked her. "He's dope."

"He's nowhere near as cute as you," I assured Langly, who had the grace to blush slightly.

"And I'll bet he doesn't have a ravishing redhead in his life," he grinned back.
 

I did promise Kat a trip to the airport, and I wasn't going to back down, wedding dress or not. She looked as if she'd been through hell, mainly because she had, and I thought it a good idea that she was going home to her own family.

"At least he knows now I was there, although he was a little surprised when I told him I've been here for two weeks," Kat laughed weakly.

"So you got to talk to him, at least."

"For about two minutes. Then he fell asleep again." She gave me a beseeching expression. "I really feel horrible about leaving him, but I need to get back to my own kids-my mother-in-law can't stay any longer, and my younger one has the chicken pox. God, does that sound lame? I'm leaving my critically ill brother to see my child with a mild, transient illness."

"He'd probably want you to, knowing your big bro," I assured her.

"He would, wouldn't he?" I stopped at the curb. "Thanks for all your help, Ally. All of you. I feel a lot better knowing you're all with him. What's on your agenda today?"

"My daughter is taking me shopping for a wedding dress."

"Oh, that sounds like fun!"

"I'd hold off on that. You've never been shopping with Miranda before."

"She's really into this, isn't she?"

Into it? She's planning it. She and Frohike. Which is probably good, because she got my mother to finance it, which I probably wouldn't have been able to do."

"Well, I can't wait. May 15, right?"

"So they tell me."

She laughed. "Call me."

"Hey, you know we will. You'll soon be sick of hearing from us."

She leaned over and hugged me, and I returned her embrace. "Here's to happier times next time when we're together."

"I told you, my mother's paying. That means unlimited liquor. No excuse not to be happy."

I think we both were praying mightily that there'd be no sadness to taint that day.

END OF PART 67