Title: Untitled [TBA](~~~~ any suggestions??)
Author: §arah
Summary: After meeting and falling in love on assignment, Byers takes his three friends Langly, Frohike, and Jimmy on a trip of romance, humor, action, and a lot of computer hacking.
Synopsis: An unlikely guest comes to visit the Gunmen, sending them in farther then they expected. There's not much more to say about this chapter.
Rating: PG for language
Date: 7-12-2001
Chapter two: The arrival
A silver, 2001 two seater, Harley Davidson darted into town off of Constitutional Ave. It smoothly weaved back and fourth in between the daily traffic of Washington D.C. Suddenly a 1964 VW van pulled out into the street, barley missing the motorcycle. Full of rage, the driver speed up ahead and dashed in front of the van, causing an immediate stop for the other driver. They young cyclist smiled slyly and sped away.
Washington D.C. 1:18 p.m.: The Grassy Knoll
"Isn't your sister coming today Melissa?" Langly stuffed a handful of Captain Crunch cereal into his mouth and continued to type. Melissa nodded.
"Yep. The little rugrat should be here any minute…" she looked up. "Stop eating! Frohike should be back with Chinese any second now!" she hit him and grabbed the cereal away. He moved back.
"Gee, shoot a guy for being hungry…" he mumbled readjusting in his seat.
"If you did the grocery shopping around here, you'd understand that value of food." She responded. He rolled his eyes.
Jimmy dashed into the room, barley tripping over a few wires. He held up a VHS videocassette and smiled broadly.
"I found it!" he declared. "Proof that aliens ARE trying to land their spaceships on planet earth!" He set the tape down on the table next to Langly's computer.
"Let me see this…" he picked it up and slipped it into a near by television. After a few moments the screen fuzzed up and then the tape began.
"And now we return…To 'Alien Sightings of the USA'…" The show began. Langly sighed.
"Jimmy!…" He wined. "Don't you know how fake this stuff is?…" he watched for a moment, shaking his head. "People make these up all the time!" Jimmy's face fell.
"Huh?…"
"Look. See those lights in the sky that are supposedly 'alien spacecraft'?" He nodded. "It's an airplane." Jimmy's brows furrowed.
"But… why would someone make something like that up? It's undeniable! Look at that hovercraft!" he pointed at the screen as another shot came up.
"This is just a cheep ploy to get people to watch their show so they can make money." Jimmy looked back and forth between Langly and the television.
"You mean these people actually make up alien sightings and tell people they're for real?" he asked.
"Yeah. Unfortunately, it does happen, and people believe it too. " Jimmy sighed.
"God! Those people must be stupid then! They thought an airplane was a UFO? Gee, that's dumb!" He laughed. Langly opened his mouth to explain but let it pass.
"Yes Jimmy… They're all idiots." He held back the urge to take the opportunity for ridicule.
"Well, I'm gonna go find some REAL proof of aliens. I'll be back soon!" he rose to his feet and grabbed his tape. "I still can't believe how stupid those guys are…" he mumbled with a smile as he left the room.
"Well at least you let him down easily…" Melissa said sarcastically. Langly ignored the comment and went back to work.
Suddenly, the front door swung open. A lanky yet curvy cyclist dressed predominately in black stepped in the door and paused. She looked both ways before continuing in. She swiftly took her helmet off and swung her hair back from her face. There was another moment of silence before any words were spoken.
"Are you guys the Lone Gunmen?" A surprisingly young voice asked.
"Um….yeah. Come on in." Langly cleared his throat, slightly intimidated. She continued in slamming the door behind her. He boots clunked against the concrete floor as she walked.
"Ya know, old people need to get off the streets. None of them know how to drive anymore." She set her helmet down by a computer and sighed.
From the back door and muffled voice came.
"Food's here guys!" Frohike came into the room with two plastic bags of Chinese cuisine. "God you guys shoulda seen the traffic today. People are driving like maniacs!" He began unloading the styrofoam containers from the bags. "I mean, there was this crazy motorcycle who cut me off just a second ago. That guy was acting like he owned the street for goodness sake!" Just then he looked up as his eyes met with the young new comer. Her eyes lowered to slits.
"You!…." They both whispered harshly.
"That's the old dude that cut me off!" The girl accused.
"You're that hoodlum who cut ME off!" Frohike shot back. Melissa's eye grew wide as she saw this problem unfold in front of her own eyes. The moment calmed a bit until Frohike spoke again. "So tell me. What's a young girl like you doing here instead of school?"
"Well if you must know I don't go to school. I've graduated already thank you very much." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Wait. Am I missing something here?" Langly couldn't help but ask.
"He cut me off!"
"She cut me off!"
They both said simultaneously. Langly laughed sitting back in his chair. He crossed his arms across his chest and slowly shook his head.
"Oh this is GOOD." He said with a smile.
"So what are you doing here? Don't you have some home to stay at or something?"
"Excuse me young lady, but I'm not as old as you think!"
"Well I'm not as young as you think!" she responded.
"Well… I live here." Frohike told her. She froze.
"You're one of the Lone Gunmen?" He nodded. "Oh god…" she sighed. "Well can you please just tell me if you know anything about a Melissa Jones-?"
"Right here…" Melissa stepped forward and looked her in the eye. The girl looked down.
"It's been a while..." There eyes met again.
"It has…" Melissa smiled and approached her. She gently wrapped her into a quick hug. "I've missed you." They let go. "Guys! I have someone to introduce to you all… This is my younger sister."
"Laney Skylar…" She held out her hand for a sturdy shake. "Call me Skye." Frohike stared at her blankly for a moment.
"Uh-Hello!…My names….I'm Frohike."
"And I'm Langly!" he leaned back and waved to her. She returned the gesture.
"Gee… Blondie's friendly." Melissa laughed aloud.
"No no, he's just being himself… No one really knows exactly how to describe the mind frame of our good friend Langly but I do know friendly just… isn't the right word for his intentions Skye. Believe me." She patted her shoulder.
"Don't worry 'bout me 'Lissa… I can whip his scrawny a-."
"Anyways! This is Byers…. You know, the guy I was telling you about?…" she interrupted her sister.
"Your significant other do you mean?" Skye questioned, quiet curious. Melissa nodded. Skye faced Byers with a smile and shook his hand. "I've heard much about you. Don't worry… It was all good stuff." Byers nodded, slightly flustered nodded blinking his eyes.
"Oh sure. Be nice to nerd boy… God I swear, wear a suit and the whole world thinks you're a do gooder…" Langly mumbled under his breath.
"So tell me about this main frame deal you got me comin' up here for?" Skye got right to the point.
"That'd be all Langly's department…" Melissa pointed across the room.
"Great. Just my luck." she whispered shaking her head. "Well this is really quiet a treasure of a place you got here boys, but if you don't mind I've been riding for almost three days so a little rest and a lot of peace and quiet will do me good. Where's my room?…"
"Your room?… Uh… what room?"
~
"Skye, I'm really sorry about that mishap out there about the beds…It really was unnecessary…" Melissa flatted out a sheet over the bed in front of her. Skye nodded.
"It's okay, really…. I just feel kinda bad about taking Langly's room…" she replied looked around cautiously.
"Oh, don't worry. He'll be alright. He spends most of the night out there on the computers anyways, so he doesn't mind moving out on that thing they call a couch. His bed's just CLOSER to his chair than usual, that's all." They laughed.
"I have to admit, I'm a bit scared about what I might find in here…."
"I don't think there should be anything too bad stashed away…" she sat up and sighed. "Just don't look and maybe you'll never find."
"I'm just afraid it might pop out in the night and I won't have a choice." Skye joked.
"Well if you have any problems don't be afraid to holler….Trust me. These guys are used to it." She told her. Skye nodded.
"Will do…"
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow….Sleep tight."
"Nite."
"You guys!! Can't you just SLEEP for once? Geez!" Later that night Melissa exited from the back room dressed in her nightwear. The trio were all crowded around the laptop computer in the darkened room. "What time is it anyways?…" she picked up the clock and looked at it with a yawn. Dragging her feet she stood next to them and looked down at the screen. "So!…Saving the world again boys?"
"Not quite…" Langly said looked up at her. "But almost." She rolled her eyes.
"So what do we have going now? Is there some sort of chemicals in a kid cereal that is potentially killing off our next generation or something?…" Frohike looked at her and furrowed his brows. "It was just a guess…"
"No actually, we've found a follow up to that one story that we were writing back in California…" Byers told her. "Apparently those guys we caught were let out on parole and now the police suspect that they may be out on the job again."
"You mean those smugglers or whatever?" He nodded.
"We just wanted to make sure that things are okay. It seems like they've got a careful eye on them so chance's are the world will be safe this time but you never know with today's governmental systems."
"Well just remember to get some rest. Don't forget we've got a big day tomorrow."
"Why? What's tomorrow?" Langly asked.
"I already told you guys that we're gonna haft show Skye around town! I can't believe you forgot…"
"I heard you…" Langly said. "I just didn't want to believe you."
"Don't you boys want to be nice hosts?" Langly groaned.
"I think what my friend means is that… We're a bit busy around here these days and….we were a bit short on time, so I'd be nicer if maybe you took her out tomorrow…"
"No, what I mean is, I could care less-." Byers reached down and covered his mouth before he could finish.
"Why can't you two go out together alone instead…and do your….girl thing." Frohike said slowly trailing off. Melissa sighed.
"You guys are coming weather you want to or not."
~
"Oh! And this place? Awesome mochas…" Melissa smiled to her sister as she showed her about the town. The group of five had just stopped by a near by ice cream parlor.
"Can we go home now? I think we've covered the entire town… twice." Frohike commented subtly. Langly took a bite from his ice cream.
"Yeah….besides…" he spoke between licks. "We've got this tiny thing called a job…with real work…" Melissa playfully hit his in the arm accidentally knocking the one scoop of ice cream off of his cone. He immediately stopped in his tracks and looked down at the sidewalk were the scoop lay splattered about. "Great!… Just great! NOW look what you did…" he sighed. The grouped laughed. "Shut up guys! That was my favorite too! Mint Chocolate Chip…"
"Don't worry Langly. I've got a whole pint back home." Skye patted his back. His eyes lit up.
"Can we share?"
"Not in your dreams." She frowned and walked off.
"Wait, how did you get ice cream all the way from Florida to DC without it melting?" Byers asked.
"It's called an ice chest…" she swung around licking her cone and beginning to walk backwards.
"You've got an ice chest on your Harley?" Frohike asked in amazement. She nodded. "I gotta get me one of those…"
"Frohike?… Guaranteed, you could find something much resourceful to spend your money on…" Byers commented.
Melissa interrupted the conversation and urge them to continue on their way. "Anyways! Onward… Shall we?"
~
Washington D.C. - 2:43: The Grassy Knoll
"Will you JUST let me get in there for a moment?" Skye asked, almost in a plead. "I know exactly what I'm doing here Langly. I've done this half a dozen times."
"I just don't GET IT!! After this, I'm completely lost. Look at all this crap! It's a hole load of nothing…." He leaned back and exhaled. Skye leaned in, squinting to read the screen.
"Langly… You've found it…" she said quietly.
"What? The dump heap of America?" he questioned sarcastically.
"No….This is a governmental code page. It's just in all it code itself." She told him. "This should give us a hint on how to get into that college database that you wanted."
"A code page that's in code….How creative." Langly rolled his eyes.
"Smart too. Who the hell is gonna be able to read the codes if the codes are in codes?"
"Okay, you just made NO sense."
"Wait, I think I know a bit of this stuff…Hell, I think I've been here before…" she read further down the website. "Here we go…C49247….education…colleges….Got it!" She immediately minimized the screen and brought up and information about the school. Her fingers frantically flew across the keyboard as more and more access codes were requested and then granted. "Goodness Langly…I can't believe YOU couldn't do this…" Langly looked at her funny.
"What does THAT mean?"
"Just watch…" she instructed as she continued deeper into the college mainframes. "All formats for these places are basically the same. What's the guys name again?"
"Michael Halen." She typed in the name and leaned in closer. Moments passed slowly as the files were searched for matching names. The processing progress was slowly moving across the screen, bit by bit, second by second.
"Almost there…" Windows flew open in a long array once the files were detected. A smiled slowly spread across her face. She pulled up a miscellaneous file, including a picture of a dark haired man with green eyes. His expression was dull and a five o'clock shadow could been seen across his face, muffling his facial features even more. In his low and deceiving glare, nothing could been seen but pure evil. "Is this the guy you're looking for?"