Fic: Target, Chapter 5 (Numb3rs, Charlie / Colby, Don)
Title: Target, Chapter 5
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
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
“-but I was thinking I could take that course next spring, and instead-”
Charlie was doing his best to keep his eyes open, but the non-stop monologue his student had started ten minutes ago was beginning to wear him down.
“Beverly-”
“Brittany.”
“Sorry, Brittany. This is really something you should talk with your guidance counsellor. If you want to take the course next semester, that’s fine with me. The class was pretty full, so it’s okay.”
“That’s great, I got my whole schedule just upside down and-”
A cellphone started ringing "I’m a lonesome cowboy" and she frowned with distaste.
“I think that’s mine.” Charlie pulled out his phone. “And Marie is probably in her office right now, if you want to talk with her about this.”
She nodded and gathered her things. As soon as she had closed the door behind her, Charlie clicked the line open.
“Colby? You have no idea, but right now you’re my knight in shining armour. Or shining badge, preferably with just the badge and nothing else.”
“Charlie, have you been watching the news?”
“No. Why?”
“Are you in your office? Turn on the news channel.”
“Okay, wait a minute.” Charlie snapped on the small travelling television he had stashed on one of the rare free spaces of the room. He picked a channel and a picture of a hotel exterior appeared on the small screen. “What am I looking at?”
“Car bomb went off in the same hotel Don and Martin were in. And David and Bobby.”
“Are they still there?”
“I’ve been trying to call all of them, but they’re not answering. They haven’t released any official information even within the FBI yet, but some sources say it was a bureau vehicle.”
“Any casualties?”
“Nothing about that, but it went off in a parking lot. Car bombs don’t go usually off on their own, something triggers them, timing device or…”
“Or someone in the car.” Charlie finished. “Someone in a bureau car. Someone in a bureau car, in the same hotel where my brother was handling bureau business, probably with a bureau car.” His voice was going smaller and smaller with every word. “This gotta be it.”
“This got to be what?”
“This gotta be what dad talked about.” Charlie took a shaky breath. “He said that when Don was away… every time the phone rang, his first thought was that something happened and…”
“Babe, we don’t even know if he was there when it happened. We don’t really know anything yet.”
“Car bombs… they… do they… they don’t leave much, do they? I mean Mrs. Farleigh’s son died in a car bomb, but that was in Iraq. They couldn’t identify him, he was burned so badly and we’re in L.A! There’s no car bombs in LA.” Charlie’s hysteria was taking over and his hands shook so badly he could hardly hold on to the phone. “No car bombs. Sure, we got drive-by-shootings, but that’s-”
“Charlie!”
“It can’t be Don.”
“Babe, listen to me. We haven’t been able to contact him yet, but that happens all the time when he can’t keep his phone on or something like that.”
“Don’s… Dad’s gone, Don’s gotta be okay.”
“Charlie-”
“Mom and dad are gone, but Don’s okay, right?” Charlie’s voice was so thick Colby could hardly understand him. “He’s okay?”
“He’s probably okay, but you have to calm down. Think about it like… a math puzzle, try to calculate how unlike it is that it would be Don.”
“I can’t.” Charlie sniffed. “Is that weird? I always think about everything through math, but I can’t think about it like that.”
“Try to think about it like a scientist you are. It’s a big hotel, the chance that Don was there when it happened is small.”
“I don’t know why I can’t… I don’t even know why I can’t think about it like that. Don’s… Don’s the only one I got left. The house is still there, but mom and dad aren`t in there. He’s the only one left who’s been around my whole life, he’s gotta be alright.”
“I know.”
“I don’t even know why I got so worked up.” Charlie grabbed a tissue and blew his nose with a sound that would make elephants jealous. “I honestly don’t know.”
“It’s okay.”
“I’m not that… and I don’t start crying that easily.” He tossed the used tissue into the wastebasket. “Are you in the office?”
“Yeah, I can send someone to pick you up if you want-”
“I’m on my way.”
“You’re not driving in that state of mind, I can come and-”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” Charlie hung up. He grabbed his keys and rushed out of the office.
His phone started ringing on the desk, but no one heard it.
---------------------------
Don tried to cover his ears with his hands, but it didn’t help. His ears kept ringing, blocking out all the noises around him. A paramedic pulled the blanket tighter around Don’s shoulders and handed him a bottle of water. Her lips moved, but Don couldn’t focus enough to even try to understand what she might be saying.
The hall full parking hall had turned into a scene of investigation. Half the hall was isolated, and a growing group of hotel customers was waiting behind tape to get a glimpse of the scene. Don had seen it countless times before, but this time it brought a bitter taste of bile up to his mouth. The paramedics had placed him on portable stretchers and some considerate soul had brought him a blanket to wrap up in. Don wasn’t sure which one was the blankets main function: Warming him up after a shock or covering him from the eyes of the curious crowd.
The ringing in his ears seemed to emphasise other senses, and the paramedic, who was cleaning his cuts took extra care to keep her hands where Don could see them. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had considered him to be so jumpy or fragile, but he was too wiped out to care. The woman finished and pulled a small mirror from her pocket so Don could see his own injuries. She had obviously figured out he couldn’t hear him, so she simple placed the mirror in front of him. Don had a small cut below his cheekbone and few more under his hairline. He nodded and she put the mirror away.
Don noticed a sudden change in her expression when the paramedic turned to look at her colleagues, who had been waiting for the fire department and FBI`s bomb squad to secure the area. One of the paramedics was talking to her, clearly yelling over the noises Don couldn`t hear. The paramedic nodded and got up from the stretcher. Aided by the policeman guarding the yellow line, she disappeared into the crowd. Don took the opportunity and slowly forced himself up to his unsteady feet. The floor was filled with rubble, and investigators were photographing the scene. Don tried not to look at the remains of the car, but he couldn’t help it. It seemed to pull his eyes to itself, inviting him to see every inch of the scorned metal.
The crowd parted and the paramedic came back escorting a serious looking man, who carried two neatly folded body bags on his arms. Two others followed him, rolling two stretchers closer to the wreck. The stretchers were placed as close as possible and several members of the fire department unfolded large blankets. They held them in front of the medical examiners, covering their gruesome work from the audience.
Chapter 6