Title: Jimmy's Point of View
Author: Jackie (pixie7@gte.net)
Rating: PG
Spoilers:  Not much, but if you haven't read my first two (Songbird 
and Colbi), you'll need to, or nothing will make sense.
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, would like to.  Danny Cunningham is my 
character.  Please don't use her unless you ask me first, then I'll 
consider it.
Author's Note: Delving into Jimmy's mind was . . . interesting.  
That's all I'll say.

8:30 AM

Life is funny.  People say they're content with their lives as they 
are, but are they really?  I mean they were given the choice would 
they keep the same job they had, the same home, or the same friends?  
Or would they chuck all of it out the window and go after something 
else?  Well, I don't know about them, but as for me, I wouldn't give 
up anything in my life right now.  I am truly content with where I am. 
Well, actually, at the moment, I'm not, but that's because I'm 
sitting on a bench in a jail cell with Byers, Frohike, and Langly.  

Man, I love those guys. 

By the way, my name's Bond.  Jimmy Bond.  Actually, it's James Bond.  
A lot of people wonder why my parents would call me that, but I find 
the name cool.  I mean, how many people are named after one of the 
greatest television spies in the world?  And to top if off, I am 
actually following in his footsteps.  Well, sort of.  Actually, the 
four of us are following in his footsteps.  You see, I work with the 
guys, otherwise known as The Lone Gunmen.  We all live in Takoma Park, 
Maryland.  Now, before I tell you what it is we do exactly and how we 
wound up in jail, I better tell you a little about the guys, otherwise 
things may get a little confusing.

Byers' real name is Jonathan Fitzgerald Byers.  He was born on the 
same day John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  Byers told me one time 
that his name was going to be Bertram if the President had lived, like 
his father's had been.  Man, that would have sucked.  I mean, don't 
get me wrong or anything, and I'm not disrespecting his father, but 
Bertram Byers?  Yuck.  Byers used to work for the FCC until he met up 
with Frohike and Langly in 1989, and it shows, because he's always 
wearing suits.  Oh, and don't tell this to anyone, but I think Byers 
is a perfectionist at times.  I mean, I can understand his reasoning 
behind getting things perfect, but I still can't see why he was so 
upset about me tearing up that check from Senator Jefferson's campaign 
people.  I mean, they were trying to bribe me.  I, Jimmy Bond, don't 
take bribes from anyone, and I let them know that.  Fortunately, we 
were able to get the entire mess cleared up without damaging the 
Senator's campaign (although he didn't win the election, but that's 
another story).  

Frohike's first name is Melvin, which I can see why he would just want 
to be called Frohike.  I don't know too much on Frohike, and he's not 
one to open up, but he is one hell of a surveillance expert.  He 
appears to be a mean person, but he's really a softie once you get to 
know him.  Frohike's style on clothes is . . . well, anything goes.  
He wears everything from combat boots to fingerless gloves.  Oh, well.

Then there's Ringo Langly.  He's really good with computers and loves 
to hack into things, plus he likes rock and roll, since he constantly 
wears Ramones and other similar T-shirts.  He has a bit of a temper, 
which he often directs towards me for one reason or another, but he's 
basically a good guy.  He doesn't have a very strong stomach, and has 
an aversion to cows.  I think because he was raised around them, 
though I don't see how that would cause someone to hate cows.  I think 
it was after that one time where he had to stick his hand up J.T.'s 
butt, and, well, I don't blame him.

Now, the four of us work together to uncover plots we feel the public 
should be aware about.  Governmental plots, political scandals, 
corporation stuff, you name it.  Afterwards, we publish our stories in 
a newspaper called 'The Lone Gunman', then we ship them out to our 
subscribers.  In fact, it was working on a story that wound us up in 
jail.  We had been working to expose the truth behind some software a 
local computer company was planning on using to tap into people's 
computers, basically invade their privacy.  Everything was running 
smoothly until the equipment Frohike was using to bypass the security 
went on the fritz.  We were spotted and arrested, and that's how we 
ended up here.  In fact, we were working on ten hours, and it was 
starting to get to the guys. 

"Langly, I swear if you don't move over, I'll wring you up by those 
blonde locks of your," Frohike said.  He and Langly were scrunched 
onto another bench.  Byers was seated by himself on the third bench, 
looking rather upset. 

"Get bent, Doo-hike," Langly muttered.  

"I have some room over here," I offered, scooting over on the bench.

"I'll stay here, thanks," Frohike replied.  We all looked up as the 
catwalk door leading to the holding area was opened by one of the 
officers and Danny walked in.

Oh, yeah.  I forgot about her.  Yeah, Danny's a girl.  Her real name 
is Danielle Cunningham.  She came to us for help a few months ago when 
her father was killed.  As it turned out, her father was a contact the 
guys use in some of their stories.  He was killed and Danny knew that 
it wasn't accidental.  Turned out that her father's best friend had 
him killed over some kind of virus.  That's gotta suck, but Danny 
seems to have coped well.  She was going to leave after finding out 
what had happened, but we all wanted her to stay, because she was a 
big help, so she did.  She used to work at High-Tech, a computer 
business in Mount Savage, making her computer skills nearly as good as 
Langly's (she found out where we lived by hacking into Langly's 
system).  There is a rivalry between those two about who's better, but 
it's a friendly rivalry.

Also . . . well, the guys know this already; Danny doesn't (so don't 
tell her, okay?), but I kind of like her.  I mean she's really fun to 
be around.  She's very dedicated to our cause, she knows a lot about 
computers, can speak three languages, and she's very tough.  I can 
tell you that last part from first-hand experience, because she jumped 
me, tied me up, and held me hostage when we first met because she 
thought I was a bad guy.  Most guys would still carry a grudge about 
that, but I understand why she did it.  Also, she's not bad looking, 
either.  She has short red-hair (it used to be long and dark brown, 
but she changed it shortly before joining the team), green eyes, and 
dresses normally.  Today, however, she was wearing a pair of black 
slacks, a black blouse, and carrying a purse. 

"Are you guys okay?" she asked as she came over.  Everyone stood up 
and walked over.

"Yeah, we're peachy," Langly replied.  "You want to get us out of here 
already?"

"Well, it's nice to know that your attitude hasn't been affected," 
Danny replied wryly.  "I've already posted your bail, so let's get out 
of here."  The officer opened our cell door, and we followed Danny 
down the hall.  As we passed the sergeant's desk in the front, one of 
the officers looked over. 

"Hey, Doc, next time you might want to keep your patients under lock 
and key," he said.

"Doc?" Byers asked in a hushed voice as we walked out and over to the 
VW van that was parked alongside the curb.

"Yeah, Doc," Danny replied as we got in.  Danny took the driver's 
seat.  "You want to know what was waiting for me when I got home at 
eight o'clock?"  Danny had been out doing some personal errands when 
we left to do our little mission.  "A message on the answering machine 
from you, Byers, saying you had all been arrested for breaking and 
entering the research facility at Peterson Technology Corporation."

"So, why didn't you bail us out then?" Frohike asked.

"Because Peterson Technology was going to press charges," Danny 
replied.  "I spent all of last night and early this morning forging 
documents, passing you guys off as mental patients - which wasn't that 
hard - and me as your psychologist.  Thankfully, I was able to get 
everything worked out without charges being filed, and get the van out 
of impound.  Also, I have an official statement from Mr. Mark 
Peterson, the CEO.  He says, 'if I ever see any of those four near my 
company ever again, I'll take my shotgun and give them a butt full of 
buckshot.  And I'll also get your license to practice psychological 
medicine revoked.'"  She drove off.  "So, do we have anything to show 
for it?" 

"Nothing," Byers replied.  "Anything we were able to get from the 
research facility was given right back to Peterson Technology."

"So, we don't have a story," Frohike said. 

"Prefect," Danny said.

I decided a change of subject was in order.  "So, Danny, what did you 
do last night?"

"Nothing much," Danny replied quickly.  "Just took care of some stuff 
that needed to be take care of."

"Like what" I asked.

"Nothing that concerns you, okay?" Danny said.  "It's just some 
business that I needed to attend to."

I was confused, but before I could ask anything else, Frohike, who was 
sitting in the front between Danny and Langly, reached around the 
backseat and smacked me in the head.  "Ow!" I said, rubbing my head.  

"What was that for?"

"She just said it was none of your concern," Frohike replied.  "Now, 
back off."

"Thank you, Frohike," Danny replied.  She turned to van onto our 
street.  After pulling up to the warehouse, we all got out and went 
down the stairs to the front door.  Danny let us in and shut the door 
behind us.

"Man, I'm starving," Langly said as he walked toward the kitchen.

"I can make omelets," Frohike replied.

"I can help," I offered, following him.

"No," everyone said loudly.

"Aw, why not?" I asked.

"You're still banned from cooking, remember?" Frohike asked.

"You're not still mad about that, are you?" I asked.  About two weeks 
ago, I was making Danny an omelet to cheer her up (we were looking 
after a dog named Colbi, who turned out to be a bionic dog, but he was 
shot and killed), but I tripped and spilled the raw eggs all over her. 
I spent almost an hour cleaning up everything.  And it was an 
accident 

"Jimmy," Byers said.  He sighed, rubbing his head.

"Do you have a headache, Byers?" I asked.  

"I'm getting there," Byers replied.  He seemed to be getting headaches 
a lot lately.

"Jimmy, why don't you, I don't know, take a shower or something, 
okay?" Danny suggested.  "In fact, why don't all of you get cleaned 
up?  You all stink."

"And you smell like a bed of roses?" Langly asked.

"Actually, I do," Danny smiled.  "I showered before I went to see 
Peterson a few hours ago."  She did smell nice, like fruit or 
something.  "So, go get cleaned up, and by that time, I'll have some 
freshly-made omelets waiting for you guys, okay?"

Oh, yeah, another thing about Danny is that she likes to cook.  So 
does Frohike.  I don't know where Frohike learned to cook, but Danny 
spent a few years over in France and Italy and learned there.  Frohike 
says it's nice having another cook around the place to help out, but I 
have to say that I don't think Danny went to a good French cooking 
school.  I mean, I asked her if they taught her how to make French 
Fries, you know being in France and all, but she just rolled her eyes 
and said no, they didn't.  I mean, what kind of French cooking school 
doesn't teach you how to make French Fries?

Anyway, I went upstairs to my room, quickly got a change of clothes, 
and hurried to the bathroom. Sharing a bathroom with the guys kind of 
reminds me of my college days.  The faster you are, the more likely 
you are to get hot water.  So far, I've managed to get a few showers 
that have actually been comfortable, but I don't complain.  It's 
enough just to be here.

By the time I got downstairs everyone else was already eating.  Danny 
was finishing up the last omelet and she handed it to me on a plate, 
along with a glass of orange juice.  I sat down and started eating 
then noticed that Danny was cleaning up.  "Hey, you going to eat?" I 
asked.

"I already ate this morning," Danny replied as she wiped down counters 
and put dishes in the washing machine.

"When?" Byers asked.

"Well, I grabbed some doughnuts from the Shipley's on my way to get 
you guys, and I ate them outside the jail."

"You ate while we were rotting inside?" Langly asked. 

Danny turned around, frowning.  "Hey, I had to make some cancellations 
because I was trying to get your butts out of jail, so don't even 
start with me, okay, Langly?"

"What cancellations?" I asked.

"Just some stuff I planned on doing this morning," Danny said.  
"Thankfully, now that you guys are free, I can get on with those 
plans, unless I'm needed here."

Byers shook his head.  "No.  There's some research that we need to do, 
but we can handle that."

"Thanks," Danny smiled as she left the kitchen.  She returned a few 
minutes later, having changed into jeans and a T-shirt.  Her hair was 
pulled back with a headband and she carried a pair of sunglasses and 
the van keys.  "Anybody needs me, I'll have my cell.  And I'm taking 
the van."

"So, what are you going to be doing?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it," Danny said as she put on her sunglasses.  
"I'll be back tonight."  She left again.  A few moments later we heard 
the front door opened and closed.

"Well, I'm going to play some D&D," Langly said as he stood up.

"Langly, we have some information that needs to be researched first," 
Byers said.

"And then we have to figure out what the hell went wrong with the 
equipment." Frohike added.

"But the equipment's in the van," I replied.  "And Danny has the van."

"So, we'll wait until she gets back," Frohike said.  He stood up.  
Langly and Byers followed.

"So, what can I do?" I asked.

"Well, if you want to clean up in here, that would be appreciated," 
Byers said.  "Then we have some documents that need to be shredded."

"Okay," I nodded.

"And what's the rule about the shredder?" Frohike asked.

I sighed.  Every time I used the shredder Frohike made me recite the 
rules.  "Papers, si.  Coffee filters, no. All documents are to be read 
carefully before shredding, I know, I know."  Okay, okay, so I made a 
few mistakes with the shredder.  But I've gotten better.  

Frohike nodded.  "Good.  I'll be watching."  He left the kitchen.

"And then there are some things that need to be tidied up," Byers 
continued.

"And what's the rule about anything electric or digital?" Langly 
asked.

"Dust rags, si.  Water, no," I replied.

Langly nodded.  "Good.  And stay away from my desk.  I'll get to it 
later."  He left.

"And if you wanted to do the filing," Byers said.  "Just remember that 
-"

"When filing things," I interrupted, "ignore the `The' in the title if 
it's the first word."

"Alright," Byers replied.  "If you need anything, don't hesitate to 
ask."  He turned and left also, leaving me alone in the kitchen.  I 
sighed as I gathered up plates and glasses and took them to the sink. 
I washed them in silence, putting them in the dishwasher when I was 
done.

END OF PART 1