Title: Blood Fire (1/1) Author: Rhiannon Langly (fmacgirl@yahoo.com) Rating: PG (language) Type: The "Darkness Within" universe. Spoilers: After the events in DW 8/8, Unusual Suspects, LGM Archive: Countermeasures, my own site. As usual, let me know if you want it. Subject: The aftermath of "Darkness Within," from Byers' POV. - - - - - That fool. He's been sitting there at that computer for hours, playing his little "role-playing games." More like "escape from reality," I think. Every few hours, he checks his e-mail to see if *she* sent him anything. He doesn't get it. There was something about her from the beginning, but I thought it was nothing. She just seemed...familiar. It wasn't until Langly brushed me off after their little adventure over on the Hill that I really knew what Melinda reminded me of...rather, *who* she reminded me of. It was shades of Susanne all over again. I think about it, and I feel like I'm on fire with anger and...I don't know what. Hell, I'm probably wrong about Mel. She really did seem to like us all a lot, and it's true that the Project did leave us alone after she left, just like she said. But yet...she used us. I can't just let it go, I can't. Frohike thinks that Melinda needed our help, and that we did the right thing in *letting* her do what she did. "She's not the same as Susanne, John," he says. "She'll repay us, I know it." Maybe. But don't hold your breath. Women like her, they like to take you in just long enough for you to suffer for the rest of your lives. Just like Suzanne did to me. I've spent ten years trying to get over her, and maybe I'll be able to, someday soon. I'm getting there. But then again, I didn't sleep with her. If Mel is so damn telepathic, why doesn't she feel the pain Ringo's been emanating with every breath? Why doesn't she come back, to save him from this angst trip he's on? I wish I could tell him she's not coming back. Maybe she'll *return,* but she won't be the same, and neither will he. Why didn't Susanne come back? This isn't about me, got to remember that this isn't about me, like it's not about Ringo. It's about staying alive. Around here, it's all we can do. Maybe someday we'll all be happy again... Again, I'm not holding my breath. - - - - - FIN - - - - - Thanks much to the Indigo Girls for "Strange Fire" and "Blood and Fire," the major themes for this vignette. -Rhi http://www.envy.nu/langlified