Fic: In Love & War, Chapter 2 (Numb3rs, Don / Martin, David / Ian)
Title: In Love & War, 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
“So what’s the gag here?” Don asked as soon as Martin returned from the study.
“That’s a nice expression for it.” Martin dumped his phone to coffee table and sat down. “In two words: Lara Alden. I remembered the name.”
“Explanation, please.” David growled. “In normal, understandable language.”
“She’s working for the Caroline’s biological mother, she`s a lawyer.”
“So?”
“I called someone who knows people. She left a big law firm couple years ago to work exclusively for an organisation called Principled Parenting. It’s a sort of a neo-conservative group, focusing on supporting problem parents.”
“Is there’s a big but coming up?”
“There is. They offer legal help in custody battles and if their protégés win, they’ll get a monetary lump sum to help them get started.” Martin looked up from underneath his lashes. “Now comes the but. They get large donations from conservative circles to keep the operations running.”
“Well, it’s gotta take a lot money to run something like that.”
“No. They got a very strict screening process. They’ll only handle few high profile cases, so that they get publicity and publicity brings more donations.”
“Is that legal?”
“Depends on what happens to the money they don`t put forward or use for operational costs. There was a rumour going around some time ago, that officials were doing an investigation on their operations.”
“What does that have to do with us?” David questioned. “I’ve never even heard about them.”
“Like I said, they need to please their benefactors to keep the cash flowing. For them it doesn’t matter if that woman will win or loose, they want controversy. A reformed mother versus a gay couple, that can cause a lot of interest in the press and that’s their goal.”
“So the woman herself is… what? A pawn?”
“Who knows. Maybe she doesn’t know what she’s dealing with, maybe she goes along with it for money.”
“Well, she’s not doing this for warm, fuzzy maternal feelings.”
“Yeah, I think we all agree on that one. The point is that when Alden and those people are involved, this will get ugly and very public, they will milk this for all it’s worth.”
“How ugly?”
“They’ll dig up every little thing they can use, and…” Martin paused. “… and they’ll definitely bring up your job, not to mention Ian’s.”
“We’re in law enforcement, that’s gotta be a plus!”
“You’d think so, but the hours are irregular, sometime’s it’s dangerous and so on. And Ian’s old job is a lot more detrimental.”
“How would they know about it? Personal records are confidential, all they can know is that he used to work for the bureau.”
“Doesn’t matter. They don’t need to have anything they could present in court, if they have something like that, they can leak it to the press and cause a lot more damage.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“They want to divide opinions. They’ll please their benefactors and get more money to defend "traditional family values". This is not about the kid, she is just a mean to an end.”
“What else?” David slumped down onto the couch. “Tell me.”
“I checked the schedules. They’re trying to get the hearing set up so they’d get judge Alston.”
“Someone really conservative?”
“That’s probably their purpose. A woman close to sixty, three kids and several grandkids.” A small grin appeared on Martin’s face.
“And?”
“And I think they made a tactical error. Don, you remember that art gallery opening I dragged you to last year?”
“The one with those giant vaginas?”
“She does paint other stuff too, and no one forced you to spend ten minutes staring at it.”
“It was like a car wreck, it was impossible to tear your eyes away from it…” Don groaned and shivered. “Like a nightmarish vision of my high school sweetheart.”
Both Martin and David shot him an identical glare.
“Sorry, I got carried away.”
“Are you over high school now? Can we get back to the point?”
“Continue.”
“Anyway, the artist happens to be the Alston’s daughter.” Martin’s informed, accompanied by a crooked grin. “She and her girlfriend are currently expecting their second child, and based on what my buddy told me Alston’s more than happy to play the doting grandma, so she’s probably not as conservative as they think she is.”
“That’s good for us.”
“Yeah, and we’re in L.A. not some back of beyond, where having a used womb means you’re a great mother.” Martin picked the stack of papers from the table and handed them back to David. “Speaking of that, do you know anything about the biological father?”
“Not much. There was a name in the birth certificate, but nothing else. I think he was out of the picture before Caroline was even born.”
“Get me copy of that, I’ll call that investigator I talked about.”
“Why?”
“The mother gave a few months old girl, she has a history of drug abuse, arrests for possession and several misdemeanours. It will all come up, there’s no way they can hide that, but if we can get the other biological parent on our side, we’re on dry ground.”
“You think he’ll find him?”
“No question about it, but you have to keep in mind the whole picture. People at work don’t care about your personal life as long as you keep a low profile, but I’m not sure how they’ll react if this becomes the kind of circus those people are trying to create. I’m not trying to scare you, but you have to be prepared.”
“I get it.” David nodded.
“And I’ll get you the best lawyer I know to handle this.”
“You’re not gonna do it?”
“It’s really not my speciality, but I can handle the second chair. And…”
“What?”
“Well…” Martin sighed and gave David an apologetic look. “You have to reel Ian in.”
“What do you mean?”
“Loosing temper is the worst thing you can in a situation like this, and quite frankly… It would probably be better if you’d keep him away from the hearing.”
“He’s not gonna stay away, and he’s not some hothead! He stayed half buried in a bunker in the middle of a golf course for two days to snipe a guy.”
“I didn’t mean work. When things get personal he gets angry, and when he’s angry there’s no telling what he might do.”
“He’s not that bad.”
“Last time I tried to reason with him, he shot me.” Martin reminded. “All and all you’re in a good position here. You can’t let him do anything stupid to jeopardise it.”
“Like what?” David asked carefully.
“When it comes to Edgerton it’s hard to even predict what he may cook up. He has to keep his temper under control and mouth shut or he can cause some serious damage.”
Chapter 3