PHILADELPHIA



Archive:  Unusual Suspects, Ephemeral, Gossamer:  anyone else 
just ask
Category:  Langly/Byers slash
Rating:  NC-17
Disclaimer:  Not mine etc
Spoilers:  Nope
Summary:  Misunderstandings and making up



Highway, Philadelphia-Washington
5 pm



The highway back to Washington was packed with Friday evening 
homegoing traffic, and the rain made driving difficult.  
Frohike, who was driving, needed his full concentration on the 
road. Byers sat beside him, Langly in the back.  

None of the Lone Gunmen were in the best of tempers.  They had 
driven up to Philadelphia the day before, to a convention which 
had promised the chance to meet up with some hackers with 
valuable information.  It had been a long day at the con, and a 
largely fruitless one. Some of their most valuable contacts had 
just not showed up.  The only promising new lead had come from 
an ex-FAA employee, a subscriber to the newsletter, who claimed 
to have information about the bringing down of an airliner some 
months previously. 
 
They had met him in the hotel cafeteria during the afternoon, a 
tall distinguished looking, prematurely gray haired guy in his 
mid 40s, whose sexual preferences soon became abundantly clear. 
 His eyebrows had shot up at the sight of Byers, and during 
their meeting he had made it clear that he was much more 
interested in Byers than in talking about conspiracies;  he 
couldn't take his eyes off him, directing his conversation 
solely to John as if the other two were not there, suggesting 
that they meet "someplace private, where we can talk without 
distractions ...".    

Byers had strung along with him for a while, although 
uncomfortably aware of Frohike's barely concealed amusement and 
Langly's simmering resentment.  However it became quickly 
apparent that the information was nothing new to them, and they 
disengaged themselves fairly politely and left the cafeteria, 
not before the man had warmly shaken Byers' hand and insisted on 
giving him his phone number, suggesting that John should call 
"if he needed anything more ...."

Langly just waited till they got clear of the cafeteria before  
starting in.  "Well, John, you certainly made an impression 
there.  Going to take him up on his offer? Didya bring condoms?"

Byers blushed and tried to make light of it.  "Dont be 
ridiculous, Ringo.  That was a complete waste of time."

Langly grunted and muttered something under his breath, 
something that sounded suspiciously like "whoring . . ."

They decided to call it a day not long after, and made an early 
start back to Washington.  Langly was quiet in the car on the 
way back.  "Too quiet", Byers thought to himself.  He could see 
Ringo in the rearview mirror;  usually there was a warm glow to 
be had from catching each others eyes and exchanging looks and 
smiles in the mirror at times like this, but Langly's head was 
resolutely turned away as he stared out at the traffic.

He stayed quiet during the evening.  Not sulking;  not quiet 
enough to make Byers confront him.  But there was a barrier 
there, and it stayed up all evening.  He didn't meet Byers' eyes 
once during dinner, and went back to his computer straight 
afterwards.  Frohike retired to bed soon after, claiming 
tiredness from the long drive.

Around eleven Byers realised that he had had enough for one day 
too.  He looked over at Langly.  "Do you want a cup of coffee 
before we turn in?"  

For a moment it looked as if he wasn't going to get an answer.  
Then Langly muttered "No thanks . . . I'm going to stay with 
this for a while".

Byers sighed exasperatedly.  Sometimes Langly could be just too 
much.  He went out to the kitchen for his coffee and cleared up, 
then headed for his bedroom.

He had undressed down to his undershirt and boxers when a slight 
noise made him turn his head to see Langly standing at the door. 
 He looked hesitantly at Byers and smiled sheepishly.  "John . . 
 I'm sorry."

John turned to face him.  "Okay . . . but what was it *this* 
time? What'd I do?"

Langly shrugged.  "It's not you, John, it's me  . . the way you 
reacted to that guy at the con.  When he was coming on to you . 
. I know it didn't mean anything.  But I didn't like it."

John sighed.  "We needed to find out what he knew, Ree . . .if 
all it took was for me to be civil to him, what's the problem 
with that?"

Langly nodded.  "I know that, really.  In fact - I surprised 
myself.  I didn't expect to react that way.  I was scared."

Byers let out a long breath of relief and smiled at the blond 
man standing in the doorway and making his heart beat faster 
just by the way he was standing there.  He reached out, resting 
his hands on Langly's shoulders, gently brushing back the long 
hair.  "Jesus, Ringo, was that all?  Don't you know ... there 
could never be anyone else, not now.  Only you.  I'm crazy about 
you, don't you know that?"

Langly pulled him tight with a sound that sounded incredibly 
like a sob, and rested his head against John's shoulder for a 
long moment.  "Yeah . . . I guess I do.  I'm sorry Johnny, I 
behave like a complete jerk sometimes.  I guess I can't believe 
I'm so lucky to have you."

John pulled his head back a little and kissed him gently, trying 
to put all his love into it.  "Better come and let me show you."

Langly tightened his embrace even closer until Byers could 
hardly breathe.  "Oh god ... I need you so much..."

Byers pulled Langly over to the bed and let him take control, 
knowing instinctively that the younger man needed the 
reassurance of Byers letting him do whatever he wanted.  Langly 
was all over him, hardly giving them time to pull their clothes 
off, kissing frantically, muttering his name interspersed with 
muffled words and phrases that John could not make out but 
seemed to be pleas for reassurance mixed with apologies.  Langly 
was on top of him, rock hard cock grinding against his thigh, 
hands in John's hair, biting hard down on his neck, along his 
collarbone, down his chest.  Byers stroked his hands down 
Langly's back, trying to slow him, calm him, reassure him, but 
all too soon Langly let out a loud cry that was almost like a 
cry of pain, jerked once more convulsively and came all over 
John's chest and stomach with spurts of semen.  

Almost instantly the tension seemed to go out of him and he took 
a deep shuddering breath, subsiding down beside John with a sob 
of relief, his head against Byers' side.  Byers slid an arm 
round him, his hand behind Langly's head, fingers lacing through 
the blonde hair and feeling what could only be tears on Langly's 
cheek.

Langly slept in his arms, the deep sleep of release.  Byers held 
him, trying to ignore the unresolved ache in his own body and 
more or less succeeding after a time.  After a while Langly 
shifted a little and tightened his arm round Byers, raising his 
head, memory drifting back.  "John - god, I'm sorry - I didn't -
"

Byers stroked his hair.  "Shhh . . .it's okay, Ree.  You needed 
me.  Don't worry about it."

Langly let his head fall back drowsily, rubbing his cheek on 
Byers' arm.  "Yeah - but you ..."

Byers smiled in the dark and kissed his shoulder.  "Go to sleep, 
Ree.  It's been a long day."

Langly snuggled closer, still more than half asleep. "Okay . . . 
but you just wait for the morning . . ."


END