Fic: Reasons & Consequences, Chapter 6 (Numb3rs, Charlie / Colby, Don / Martin, Ian / David)
Title: Reasons & Consequences, Chapter 6
Fandom: Numb3rs
Pair: Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger,
Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord,
David Sinclair / Ian Edgerton
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
Reasons & Consequences, Chapter 1
Reasons & Consequences, Chapter 2
Reasons & Consequences, Chapter 3
Reasons & Consequences, Chapter 4
Reasons & Consequences, Chapter 5
“Knock knock.” Colby peeked his head in to Martin’s hospital room. “Are you decent?”
“Did you hope you’d see something juicy?” Martin grinned.
“Nothing personal, but no. Where’s Don?”
“He went to the cafeteria, he should be back soon.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Better than I should, probably. They’re going to keep me here for few days.”
“Will they transfer you to L.A.?”
“No, the only big thing is the busted arm, so I can fly back home after that.”
“Fly?”
“Yeah. I think it’s better to just get back into saddle. Like after bad sex.”
“I wouldn’t know about that.” Charlie commented from the door and walked in.
“I remember.” Martin agreed.
“Would you two like some time alone?” Colby interrupted. “Did you finish your calls?”
“Yeah. I promised I would check some figures for…. a certain other agency. I can’t tell you about it.”
“What’s the first letter?”
“Stop that.” Charlie sat down on the edge of the bed. “Are you sure you don’t want us to stay over the weekend. We could fly back Monday.”
“No, just go back, you probably have a lot of things to do. And I’ll join when they let me fly back.”
“If you’re sure.”
“And Charlie?”
“I heard you identified me. I hope I didn`t traumatise you too badly.”
“Nope. I’ve seen you in worse shape than that. Remember the Ping-Pong incident….”
“How could I forget?”
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David stepped out of the elevator and started digging his keys from his pocket when he noticed the man pacing back and fort in front of the door of their apartment. David recognised the man instantly. He was the same man who’s pictures were currently stored into Ian’s cell phone. Early twenties, with a black spiky hair and brown eyes.
“Can I help you?”
The guy turned to look at him. “You live here?”
“Yes.”
“I…. I’m looking for Ian Edgerton, I’m not sure if I got the right address.”
“You got the right address, but he’s not here. He took the kids out for ice cream.”
“Kids?”
“We got just one, the other one is just here for a while.” David stopped when he realised he was about to start babbling. “You wanna wait for him?”
“I’m in a hurry. Can give him this?” He handed David a small package.
“Sure, what name do I tell him?”
“Just…. Just give it to him, he’ll know. Thanks.” The guy left before David had a chance to ask more question.
David waited until the guy had stepped into the elevator. He weighted the small packet in his hand and then tore the wrapping paper off.
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“You know what’s the first thing I wanna do?” Charlie asked when he walked into the house. Colby followed and closed the door.
“Sleep?”
“That too, but I wanna take a long shower. No matter how long or short the flight is, the airplane smell always stays. And Ian said they can keep Helen a little while longer. We could take a shower, take a nap and then go pick her up.”
“Sounds good.” Colby agreed. Or we could finetune the plan.”
“What do you mean?”
“We could go to bed, really exhaust yourself, take a little nap, take a shower and then pick her up.”
“Good plan.” Charlie smirked. His happy face didn’t last long. It disappeared as soon as his cell phone started ringing. “Should have known it was too good to be true…..” He checked the caller ID and groaned.
“What is it? Don?”
“No, it’s my contact person from….. Well, you know. That agency that should not be mentioned.”
“Oh that….”
“They been calling me three times today to get me back to L.A. and back to working on their figures.” He snapped his phone off. “Can you explain to me how it’s possible that all my work stuff keeps piling up, even thought I’m only working part time at CalSci?”
“Yeah, I can. You cut down your classes at CalSci, but every time someone asks you to help with something you say Yes. Same thing when you’re asked to handle some consultation gig. You can’t say no.”
“Yeah, but I’ve always been busy, I can’t operate unless I have something to work on.”
“You’ve done it before, but that was different. I work regular hours. Well….. most of the time, so you’re usually handling Helen.”
“So?”
“It’s hard work to look after a kid, and you have a mountain of work on top of that. And….” Colby hesitated, but decided to go on. “And you’ve been worked up about all that stuff with Don and Cooper.”
Charlie looked like he couldn’t make up his mind between getting angry or agreeing.
Finally he simply headed to the stairs.
“My phone’s off and Helen is taken care of. Let’s make the most of it.”
Colby grinned and followed him upstairs.
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“Next.” Martin handed Don the newspaper and took the next one. The plane crash was on the front page.
“Why are you reading these?” Don asked, folding the paper to the -already-read pile.
“Because they don’t tell me anything. People don’t say a word about the investigation or why it happened.”
“It was an accident. The storm front covered a wide area, pilot lost the control. That’s all.”
“I know.” Martin crushed the paper to a ball. “It just feels so ridiculous. Pilot makes a little error, or the storm doesn’t move the way they anticipated and people die. It can’t be that simple.”
“But it is.”
“I guess.” Martin took the newspaper ball and tossed it to the wastebasket.
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Colby moved down Charlie’s chest, placing little kisses here and there. The man under him kept moaning and arching his body against Colby’s. He grabbed the waistband of Charlie’s boxers, but something made the warning bells ring inside his mind. Something was wrong. As soon as that thought had came he realised what it was. Charlie’s moans were gone. He lifted his head to see his partners face.
Charlie’s eyes were wide open and glazed. He was staring at the ceiling, not making a sound. Colby climbed up his body, trying to shake him carefully. Suddenly Charlie started to convulse, his body moving uncontrollably. His eyes rolled back.
Colby grabbed the phone from the nightstand and dialled 911.
Chapter 7