Fic: Last Chance, Chapter 8/9 (Numb3rs, Charlie / Colby, David / Ian, Don / Martin)
Title: Last Chance, Chapter 8/9
Pair: Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger,
Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
“Come in. We thought you were coming half an hour ago.” Colby opened the door to let Don and Martin in. “Traffic that bad?”
“No, the docs wanted to talk about the physical therapy.” Martin headed straight to the couch. “When are we eating?”
“In about an hour.”
“Good, I can take a nap.” He leaned against the cushions and closed his eyes.
“Heavy meds?” Colby asked.
“That too.” Don lowered his voice. Judging be the noises, Martin was already asleep. “He got out of hospital an hour ago, better let him sleep.”
“Let’s go to the kitchen.” Colby tiptoed to the kitchen with Don in tow. “Beer?”
“I’m driving, and he can’t drink because of his meds.”
“I’ll take that as a no.” He poured them both a cop of lukewarm coffee. “How’s he doing?”
“Pretty good.” Don took a long sip. “Except that… I don’t get it.”
“You don’t get what?”
“The whole thin. The IA interviewed him. And some of the guys from penalty board. They wanted to know if he’s going to press charges.”
“That’s normal part of investigation.”
“I know, but if he does that, Edgerton’s career is over for good. The whole thing was too high profile for their taste, and if one of their snipers is being charged for shooting an unarmed civilian…. You know what it will be like. Publicity Bonanza.”
“Yeah. I got to admit I would love to see him crucified on the front-page, but that wouldn’t help Charlie.”
“I thought he was doing good.”
“He is. Most of the time. Yesterday when I came home, he was hiding in the garage with Helen. He was totally sure he had heard some weird noises, like somebody was trying to break-in.”
“I was right about the noises.” Charlie walked into the kitchen, looking like he had spend most of his day twisting his fingers in his hair. The mop of dark curls looked savage even on his scale. “It was Ms. Hensley’s cat. When that thing tries to climb up our drainpipes the noise is just awful.”
“How’s Helen?”
“Still asleep.”
“Beer?”
“Sure. Need help?”
“Nope.” Colby took a quick peek into the oven. “I’m just waiting for the timer to ring.”
“So….” Don looked awkward. “Chuck….”
“Don’t ask me how I’m doing, when you already know I’m not doing that well.”
“I was just-”
“I got an appointment with a therapist for tomorrow.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah.” Charlie took a long swig from his beer. “This is my home. I’m not gonna give it up just because some creep decides to kick the bucket in my living room.”
“That’s a good way to look at it.” Don commented. “And when Edgerton comes back, I’m gonna have a little talk with him, no matter what Martin says.”
“Is he still in Boston?”
“Yeah. According to David he’ll be there until after the funeral.”
“And David didn’t wanna go there with him?” Charlie raised his brows, looking puzzled. “What do you think about that?”
“Don’t read too much into it.” Colby interrupted. “Edgerton went to escort the coffin to Boston and to attend the funeral. And their kid is in school, they can’t just take off.”
“I’m serious.” Charlie insisted. “I saw David yesterday when he came to my office and when I asked about Ian he looked really uncomfortable. That whole relationship is on thin ice, mark my words.”
“Chuck, reading people is not your strong side, so don’t speculate too much.” Don placed his empty beer bottle to the counter. “Killing people can kill the romance, but David’s probably used to that with Edgerton.”
“Remember when Carson first came here, when he was filling in for Megan? I was the one who saw that something was wrong about him, not you.”
“Fine, you have your moments. Can we move on now?”
“Okay.”
Long silence followed.
“Somebody please come up with a new topic.” Charlie groaned.
As if to answer his plea, the doorbell rang.
“Thank you.” He smirked and went to open the door. The sound hadn’t even browsed Martin, he was sleeping peacefully on the couch. Charlie opened the door.
“Hey.” David greeted. Caroline was hiding behind him. “We were driving past, and I saw the lights on.”
“Come on in, we were just gonna eat.”
“Bad timing?”
“No, there’s enough for all.” He peeked behind the man’s back. “Wanna play videogames for a while before we eat?”
The little girl nodded and Charlie started to set up the game for her.
“There`s pre-meal beer in the kitchen. Did you watch the news?”
“Yeah, why?”
“We need some more conversation topics.”
“Okay….” David glanced at the man sleeping on the couch and went to the kitchen. When he stepped in he froze. So did Don.
For few minutes they just stared at each other.
“Snap out of it.” Colby shoved a beer on his hands and another one to Don’s. “Both of you.”
“Charlie’s setting up some videogames for the kid.” David started. “So…. What `s going on with you?”
“We saw each other in the office three hours ago.” Colby stated. “David, Don’s not gonna kill you for something Edgerton did. Don, act like an adult and quit sulking.”
“You’re gonna pay for that when we go back to work.” Don frowned, but he couldn’t keep a small grin off his face. “How much longer do we have to wait for food, Granger?”
TBC