After Krycek had finished whipping him, he left him stretched out on the bed on his belly, still unable to move a muscle, while he went back to the laptop and checked the Internet again. Jimmy was able to watch him, since his face was turned that way. He could tell Krycek didn't like what he saw on the laptop. After swearing under his breath, he paused to think -- causing Jimmy to steel himself for the worst -- and then began typing. When he approached Jimmy again, it was with a camera instead of a knife. He arranged him face up, with his arms and legs spread, and took another series of humiliating pictures to show to who knows who. Maybe just to the other guys, like he'd claimed, but that would be bad enough.

While Frohike was testing the repaired router, Byers went looking for Langly. He hadn't expected his break to last an hour. He wasn't in the kitchen or the bathroom. He found him in the living room area. Not listening to music or watching TV, just silently sitting and staring at something in his lap.

"What have you got there?" Byers asked him.

"One of Jimmy's comic books he left on the couch," Langly said. "Can you believe the guy still subscribes to comic books at his age?" As Byers took it to flip through it, Langly said quickly, "Don't lose his place." Byers smiled sadly at his friend's optimism.

Laying it down with a sigh, Byers said, "Great. So one of the last things he read before he was kidnapped was a comic book with Jimmy Olsen being rescued yet again by Superman."

"You think he might identify with Jimmy Olsen?"

"Well, given that he's in the same profession and has the same first name, I don't think that would be too much of a stretch."

"I guess he does kinda think of us as his heroes. Too bad he didn't pick a hero with super hearing and X-ray vision, and who can fly."

"Still, we should do our best. Let's check the satellites again." As Langly sat down at a keyboard and started typing purposefully, Byers added, "They may not see in the X-ray band, but they're the best we've got." He sighed. "It's bad enough that we haven't been able to find him, but knowing how much he must be counting on us makes it even worse. I think Jimmy has an exaggerated faith in our abilities."

"I know," Langly said, not missing a beat in his typing. "The guy totally idolizes us."

"But not in quite the way I would like."

Langly's rapid-fire keystrokes suddenly fell silent. Byers looked up and realized Langly was staring at him, rather than at anything on his screen. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," Byers said.

"Wait a minute. Does this have anything to do with what you told us a few years ago, that you think you might be bi? I almost forgot about that."

"Forgot? I wouldn't have thought that was something you could forget so easily. Do you know how hard it was for me to work up the courage to tell you guys?"

"Well, sorry, it's not like you talk about sexual feelings often enough to remind me. And it really isn't a big deal."

"It was to Frohike."

"Oh, that bit about how 'gay sex' when he was in college meant the girl was wearing a party hat? That's just Frohike being Frohike. He got over it, and you're still friends."

"He still seems a little uncomfortable with it to this day, whenever I even hint at it. I think that's why I avoid mentioning it."

"Well, it doesn't make any difference to me at all. Who you have your repressed sexual feelings about is none of my business."

"That's a very tolerant attitude for you to take, given that you risked your life to save the last person I had major repressed sexual feelings about."

"Susanne? Sure, I'll be glad to shoot your lovers anytime. Who's next? Jimmy?" When Byers didn't deign to answer, he teased, "So you really do have the hots for him! Are you only turned on by people who've been kidnapped, or have you always felt this way about him?"

Byers answered seriously. "Maybe it's because I've never in my life had anyone look at me the way he does. I didn't know how to deal with it at first, especially coming from just the type of guy that everybody used to idolize in high school as much as they looked down on good students like me. And he's got to be the nicest guy I've ever met."

"Yeah, you two are the softest-hearted guys I know. I'm just a little surprised. I always figured you'd go for someone with brains."

"Well, you can't have everything."

"Tell me about it. I don't have anything. And it's not like I'm holding out for much in the brain department, either, just a couple of decent sized--"

"Langly, sometimes I wonder if you developed a fixation with mammary glands by being forced to milk too many cows."

"And I suppose you developed an early fixation on football players?"

That hit a little too close to the mark. He said stiffly, "I'd rather not discuss it." He'd never told anyone about that crush on the quarterback in high school, the one who'd almost treated him like a human being until his teammates started ribbing him about spending too much time with the faggy nerd.

"Oh. So did you ever tell him?"

"Jimmy? Of course not."

"I'll bet you haven't even told him you're bi."

"I was working up to it. I'm afraid of how he'd react. I think it might shatter his illusions about me."

"You really think it'll bother him just to know you swing both ways?"

"I don't know. Homophobia is certainly something I associate with football players."

"He wasn't bothered at all by Carol."

"That's completely different! A man who loves men is not the same as a person born as a man who should have been a woman."

"I know that. But were any of those homophobic football players cool about your roommate wanting to change sex?"

"You have a point. There's some correlation there. I don't know too many people who are uncomfortable with gay and bi men but comfortable with transgendered people."

"You know what? I was bothered by Carol, a lot. But it's not that I have anything against transgendered people. I was just freaked by the thought that this woman I had the hots for was genetically male and surgically altered. Especially since I know they can't give them a real--"

"We've already talked about that, remember?"

"But here's the thing. Jimmy didn't care at all. I think that's because he wasn't the least bit attracted to her. Unlike me and Frohike."

"I assumed he was turned off because he saw right away that she used to be a man."

"What I think is that Frohike and I saw a beautiful woman in need of our help, because that's what we wanted to see. Jimmy doesn't seem to think the same way. You think about that."