Fic: Target, Chapter 1 (Numb3rs, Don / Martin, David / Ian / Bobby)
Title: Target, Chapter 1
Pair: Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger,
Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord,
David Sinclair / Ian Edgerton / Bobby
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
“Not that it wasn’t nice to see your mom, but it’s even better when we come home.” Don groaned. He dumped his bags to the floor and wandered into the kitchen. “Mouth like a sailor and face like a disgruntled Sunday school teacher…”
“You’re talking about my mom.” Martin reminded. “Not that I don’t agree, she’s a lot more tolerable in small doses. And when there’s a five year old around she can’t start her interrogations.”
“Are we gonna have any…” Don glanced down at his watch. “... really late midnight snack? After the airline food, I’m still hungry.”
“You’ve were here alone for a week, I doubt there’s anything edible left in the fridge that hasn’t gone bad.”
“I got some left-over take-out.”
“I should’ve guessed.” Martin’s cellphone shrieked somewhere in his bag and he crouched down to rummage through it’s content. After a lengthy search he finally found the phone at the bottom of the bag. He checked the caller ID and snapped the line open. “Fridegord. Yes.” His voice dropped down to a low groan. “When?”
Don gave up his search for a snack. He parked himself closer to the phone, but couldn’t hear the voice in the other end.
“How is he?” Martin held his breath, then let out a relived sigh. “Yeah, I’ll come and pick him up. Thanks for calling.” He snapped the phone shut.
“What was that about?”
“That was from the hospital, there was a fire in Bobby’s apartment building.”
“How bad is it?”
“He inhaled some smoke and they’re treating that, but he should be fine. I was listed as his emergency contact so they called me.”
“What about his apartment?”
“I don’t know.” Martin went to the foyer and grabbed his recently discarded coat from the rack. “You better drive, I have to make some calls.”
“Sure.” Don followed him out of the house, grabbing his keys on the way. “Did they call David?”
“How could they have known about him?” Martin countered. He sat down on the passenger seat and started searching for a number from his phone. “I’ll have to call his FBI handler too.”
----------------------------------------------------
After three errors, David finally located the right one of the small curtain encased cubicles. Bobby was sitting up on the bed, breathing oxygen through a mask. Martin greeted David with a small smile.
“Hey.”
“How is he?”
“He can speak for himself.” Bobby complained with a low, croaky voice. As soon as he got the words out he started couching. Martin pressed the mask back on his face.
“Sure you can, but not yet.”
“What about the scratches?” David observed the small marks and bruises that went all around the man’s body. He was wrapped up in a blanket and his bare feet were peaking from under it.
“There was so much smoke he tumbled on his way out.” Martin explained. “Don’s talking to the investigators.”
“Good.” David sat down on the other side of the bed and place his hand on Bobby’s back. “Ian had to stay home in case Caroline wakes up.”
Bobby nodded, leaning into the touch.
“The doctor said he could leave in couple hours.” Martin looked pass the curtain, but couldn’t see the tending doctor. “He’ll stay the night in our guest room, and we’ll see in the morning what we’ll do next with the apartment and his things, and contact the insurance company.” He gave David a slightly awkward look. “Unless you want him to stay at your place. We just though we have more space and-”
“No, it’s okay.”
“I didn’t meant to step on any toes-”
“Yeah, it’s okay.” David assured. “You got more space and I really don’t wanna explain to Caroline in the morning why someone she knows suddenly looks like minced meat.”
“Thanks a lot.” Bobby wheezed through his mask.
“I just mean that she’s been though a lot. I don’t wanna scare her. She gets freaked out when I get a paper cut on my finger.” David chuckled. “I already scared three people in the last ten minutes. Two old ladies and one teenage boy, who screamed like a little girl.”
“They’re low on space, there was some kind of a chain crash on the freeway.” Martin said. “That’s why they had to put these curtain things here.”
“They could have put some directions on the wall.” David continued rubbing Bobby’s back, his hand making soothing circles through the thin T-shirt. “Some grandpa could get a kick out of it, but seeing an dame in her eighties in a backless hospital gown does absolutely nothing for me.”
Bobby’s laughter turned into another coughing fit and he send David a venomous glare.
“Don’t make me laugh…”
“Okay. But they could have some kinda warning signs: People getting naked here, stay away.”
“Thanks for reminding me, I need to go check the lobby shop.” Martin sighed and turned to talk to Bobby. “I think they had some hoodies and sweatpants. You can’t walk out of here in your boxers.”
“I promise.” He groaned and lifted the oxygen mask. “Next time I wake up in the middle of the night with the alarm screaming and the whole place full of smoke, I’ll remember to get dressed first.”
----------------------------------------------------
“Try these, I think they should fit-.” Martin walked into the guest room carrying a stack of clothes. He paused when he realised Bobby was fast asleep. He was laying on the bed, drawing deep raspy breaths. Martin left the clothes on the nightstand and slipped out of the room.
“Is he asleep?” Don waited for him on the second story landing. His serious expression was half hidden in the shadows.
“Yeah, and I think we should go to bed too. You still got couple hours before you have to go to work.”
“I called the investigators again.”
“And?”
“The investigation will take time, but they got some things clear. The fire department got there soon, so they managed to isolate the fire to a small area. Five apartments were ruined and rest of the building is evacuated just in case.” Don closed the guest room door before he continued. “The fire started from the next apartment.”
“Do they know how it got started?”
“Looks like some sort of accelerant was splattered on the wall between the apartments and then it was set on fire.”
“Just one wall?” Martin frowned.
“Yeah, and they found the owner in the apartment. Homicide.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong…” Martin started and rubbed his temples. “… but that sounds like there’s just two alternatives.”
“That’s what I thought too.” Don agreed. “Either someone killed the owner and set up the fire to cover it up…”
“Or killed the owner so he could set up the fire.”
Chapter 2