Fic: Another Regular Customer, Chapter 2/3 (Numb3rs, Colby Granger/ Charlie Eppes)
Title: Another Regular Customer (Chapter 2/3)
Author: FinnishSphinx
Rating: PG
Fandom: Numb3rs
Pairings: Colby Granger/ Charlie Eppes
Spoilers: None really
Disclaimer: They are not mine, just using them for
amusement...
Colby`s first day turned out to be quite eventful. The team was assigned to work on
a murder case, and the morning had been hectic, to say the least. After midday the
team was gathered in the break room for a quick lunch. Colby picked a dumpling from
the take away carton and popped it into his mouth, taking a good look at his new team.
Eppes seemed like a good guy, bit high strung, but competent. Reeves had joined the
team just few months ago, so she had made an effort to make the newcomer feel
welcome. Then there was Sinclair.... Colby wasn`t sure what it was, but the guy just
got on his nerves, and after only half a day that is a real accomplishment.
"Okay, let`s recap what we know." Don swallowed the last piece of his meal and
twirled his fork in his hand. "Hagen was killed in his house this morning, between one
and three AM. Stabbed six times. He was currently under investigation, due to his
connections to organized crime."
Megan snapped her cell phone shut. "We got something new. This morning Hagen
transferred nearly six million dollars from his account to several other accounts in
different countries and banks. But here`s the real treat..."
The rest of the team waited, and Megan seemed pleased. "The transactions were
done between 02:56 and 03:07." She paused and waited till everyone had digested
the point. "So, the killer shifted the money after killing him."
"Can we trace the money?" Don was now on full alert.
"I had some of the guys from financial crimes go through them, but they are not very
hopeful. The amount was divided to smaller ones, and shifted through several
accounts and dummy companies. There`s a huge amount of money going to all
directions all the time, so those transactions get lost among the masses."
Don rubbed his neck and Megan gave him a mischievious look. "And yes, I already
called Charlie and he said he would take a look at it. I know how your mind works.
The only glitch is that he can`t come here, he has classes till four. I said we would
bring our stuff to him, so that he can start as soon as possible."
Colby had listened to Megan`s monologues and was currently lost. Don nodded and
looked satisfied. "Good job, take him what we got and we`ll continue on Hagen`s
known associates." Megan started collecting the files.
"Actually, you could take Granger with you." Don continued. "He`s gonna meet Charlie
sooner or later anyway. When it comes to Charlie, it`s best to start getting use to him
as early as possible. I`m still working on it myself."
Megan shoved a tall stack of files to Colby`s lap and slapped him on the shoulder.
"Let`s go,Charlie said he has two hours between classes."
Colby followed her obediently out of the building and into her car. Driving out of the
parking garage Megan gave him a sympathetic smile. "You are wondering what we
are doing, aren`t you?"
"I`am. Who`s Charlie?" Mentioning the name made Colby blush. Two Charlies in one
day could be bit too much, especially if this one was anything like the first one.
"Professor Charles Eppes, he`s a mathematician. He`s worked with us for quite a few
cases. You remember the train sabotage case last year? He worked on that one. But
that was before I started here. Anyway, he`s also Don`s brother."
"I see...."
"Don`t even think that. Charlie`s damn good at what he does. Usually I have no idea
how he does it, but he work`s wonders. Honestly speaking, he`s partly the reason why
the team has had such a high percentage of solved cases, so you better behave when
we get there."
"I`ll behave." Colby`s thoughts had deserted the case and moved back to consultant`s
namesake. He dug the piece of paper from his pocket and smiled. He definitely had to
call the guy later.
-------------------------------------------------------
The CalSci area was larger than Colby could have imagined, and whoever had
designed it had obviously wanted to make sure all outsiders would get lost. Megan
guided them to the math building
Megan knocked on the door and stepped in, with Colby in tow.
"Charlie?"
"Yeah, just a minute..." The professor was standing in front of a black chalk board and
was scribbling something that Colby didn`t even try to understand. Something about
the man`s backside seemed familiar, and his voice too...suddenly all the pieces
clicked.
At the same time professor had finished his scribbling and turned around to face
them. His face confirmed what Colby had already realized. There was just one Charlie,
not two. Curly haired man seemed surprised, but flashed both of them a genuine
smile. "Hey.."
Megan had noticed the looks on their faces. "Have you two already met?"
Charlie`s smile grew even wider. "We met at a cafe during the weekend. You got the
files you talked about?"
"Yes, these are all we have on it so far. We hoped you-" Megan was interrupted by her
cell phone. She checked the caller ID and frowned. "I need to take this. Colby, will you
go over the case with Charlie?" She stepped into the hallway.
Both men were silent for a moment.
"I never remembered to ask you your last name." Colby had to grin, the situation was
just so ridiculous.
"Well, I didn`t ask your either. You wanna do it now?" Charlie offered his hand.
"Charlie Eppes, nice to meet you."
Colby grabbed his hand and laughed. "Colby Granger, nice to meet you too."
Charlie and Colby sat down on the edge of the desk and looked at each other.
"You know, when you talked about CalSci and going to lectures, I thought you were
a student."
"You never asked that either, and I was a student here not so long ago."
"How long ago?"
"About nine years."
"Well then, that doesn`t count."
Charlie looked down and sounded unsure. "Were you really going to call me?"
Colby looked at him and thought about it. Fooling around with boss`s baby brother
could blow up on his face. This would be the time to minimize the damage and call
it quits. But he really didn`t want to.
"Yeah, I was."
Charlie`s entire face lit up, and Colby had to chuckle.
"But it`s probably better if we don`t tell your brother about last night. This is my
first day here, remember?"
"So, you don`t want to tell Don about the positions-"
"No, I don`t!"
"Or how many times-"
"No!"
"Or that little thing you did-"
"Especially not about that!" Both of them were now laughing out loud.
Megan appeared at the door. "We need to go. Charlie, do you think you can get
something out of those?"
"I think so, I`ll call when I got something."
"Good, see you later." Megan headed out and Colby followed.
"Agent Granger..." Colby turned back at the door. Charlie gave him a wicked smile
and Colby felt his cheeks turn red again.
"I`ll be waiting."
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