Fic: Christmas Eve, Chapter 2 (Numb3rs, Charlie / Colby, Don / Martin, David)
Title: Christmas Eve, Chapter 2
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
Chapter 1
“Thanks.” Charlie grinned and took a pile of dirty plates from Caroline and handed them over to Colby, who was piling up dishes to the sink.
“Can we play now?” The little girl turned to Megan. “Pleaaaaase?”
“Charlie?”
“Sure. The games are next to the DVDs and controllers are in that little cupboard.”
“We’ll find them.” Megan assured and guided the girl back into the living room.
“What do you think?” Charlie asked and leaned against the counter. “Clock ticking?”
“What do you mean?” Colby grabbed a towel to dry his hands.
“Biological clock. Woman of certain age, going gaga over kids….”
“You think her clock is winding down?”
“I think she’s acting just like you did before we decided to have kids. Remember that pram incident?”
“I just went to see that everything was okay.”
“And the mom-”
“Hit me with her umbrella and started screaming. You’ve told that story about two hundred times.”
“Two hundred and thirty-six. And it never get’s old.”
“How much eggnog do I need to pour down your throat to stop the reminiscing?”
“Not much, that stuff you mixed is halfway illegal.”
“Don liked it!”
“And he was the only one. Most of us like to get drunk during a longer period of time than just ten minutes.” Charlie picked up a piece of turkey from the serving plate and shoved it into his mouth. “Speaking of drunk…. Where’s the drunk?”
“Don? I think Martin took him upstairs for a little nap.”
“He took Don upstairs for a nap?” Charlie chewed his turkey. “Christmas really is the time of wonders….. When mom tried to do that, he put up one hell of a fight.”
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“Shhhh….” Don shushed and giggled drunkenly. “I wanna show you my old room.”
“Your old room doesn’t exist anymore, it’s a nursery now.” Martin reminded. “And no matter how eggnogged you are, I’m not fooling around with you in a nursery. That’s just too weird.”
“Okay….” Don let out another set of uncontrollable chuckles. “How bout Chuck and Granger’s bed….?”
“That’s your parents old bedroom.”
“Right…. I forgot that…. But they got a new bed! Chick ordered an extra soft mattress and all….”
“Chuck.”
“What?”
“You call him Chuck.”
“What did I say now?”
“Chick.”
“Well…. Chuck`s kinda Chicky isn’t he…?”
“Not really.” Martin opened the bedroom door and helped Don to lay down on the bed. “Take a little nap, I’m not dragging you home in that shape.”
“You too......” Don demanded. His voice was becoming slurred and foggy.
“I’m still sober.” Martin smirked. “I don’t need to sleep it off.”
“You had just as much as eggnog as I did......”
“No, I had the kiddie version of it, just like everyone else. You were the only one who actually drank that crap.”
“It was fun…..”
“So it the hang-over you’ll have tomorrow. I’ll go check if I can find some aspiring. It helps if you have some with water before you fall asleep.”
“You’re gonna leave me here?”
“Just for a while. When you can stand on you own two feet again, we’ll go home.”
“You’ll leave me alone in Chickie`s bed….. He’ll come here and sic Granger on me…. I don’t even have my gun….”
“Don’t worry, I’ll defend you. Get some sleep, I’ll wake you up when it’s time to leave.”
“You too.”
“Me too what?”
“Napping. You too.” Don mumbled against a pillow. “Come here….”
“Just for a while.” Martin kicked off his shoes and shimmied next to him on the bed.
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David almost didn’t notice the man sitting on one of the lawn chairs. He grabbed a chair and sat down. The Christmas light glowed in pale green, but the backyard was mostly covered by darkness.
“Bobby, right?”
“Yeah.” The man turned to look at him. “Sorry, I can’t remember….”
“David. I work with Don and Colby.”
“Sorry. Too many new people in one night.”
“That’s okay.”
“I needed a little break.” Bobby glanced up at the sky. “It’s weird not to have snow at Christmas.”
“You’ll get used to it. How do you like L.A. so far?”
“Confusing.” The statement was followed by faint chuckle. “Different.”
“Yeah. Charlie said your family’s in Wyoming. Why didn’t you just go home for Christmas?”
“Too busy. I need to finish some course work during the holidays. It was easier to stay here.” He took a sip from his steaming mug. “What about you? Or is it just you and Karen?”
“Caroline. And no, we have a third wheel but he didn’t wanna come here.”
“Is he a fed too?”
“Not anymore.” Ian paused, but decided to continue. “He was, but now he’s…. he does some consulting gigs.”
“Like Charlie?”
“Not exactly like that….. Ian’s more of a…. hands-on problem eliminator.”
“What does that mean?”
“You don’t wanna know.”
“I’ll take your word for it-” Bobby paused. He gave David a unreadable glance. “Ian?”
“What about him?”
“The same Ian?”
“The same....?” Suddenly David realised what he was talking about. He was grateful for the dimness of the backyard, where it was almost impossible to see each others faces. “You mean…. Yeah, the same.”
“Is that how he solves problems on the job too?”
“Sometimes. Listen…. Martin forgave him for that… episode. Let’s just move on.”
“He shoots people for living? Sounds like a real gem.”
“It’s just a job.”
“And what he did to Martin was what? Target practising?” Bobby took a deep breath. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s okay.” David stated. “Keep going like that and you and Don will be the best of buddies.”
“Maybe not, he’s pretty scary. I’m sorry, but…. I don’t have that many friends here yet and Martin’s been my safety net.”
“That’s understandable. Haven’t you been chumming it up at the CalSci?”
“It’s chaotic balancing job and course work. I’m always coming and going.”
“You could come for one of our bar nights with the team. Meet new faces and so on.”
“Maybe. I’m kinda seeing somebody but it’s still too early to talk about it.”
“How early?”
“Just couple weeks, but he’s really nice.” Bobby emptied his mug. “I can’t believe I said that….”
“What?”
“He. I still got this block against it. Small town upbringing and all that.”
“Trust me, in L.A. that wont last long. Just look at Colby.”
“We’ll see.” Bobby tilted his head back to look at the stars. “Are you going to stay for long?”
“Caroline’s playing with Megan so I don’t think we’ll be leaving for a while.”
“It’s nice to have kids around at Christmas. It makes the whole thing feel different.”
“I guess. Homesickness?”
“Yeah.” He emptied his mug and got up from his chair. “It’s getting little chilly.”
David followed him to the backdoor and gave him a little tap on the shoulder.
“What?”
“Look up.”
Bobby looked up and spotted what David had already noticed. A mistletoe was hanging from the doorframe. He gave David a small smile.
“Do you mind if we just skip that part?”
“I don’t mind.” David agreed and followed him inside.
Chapter 3