Fic: Larger and Smaller Decisions, Chapter 5 (Numb3rs, Colby / Charlie, Don, David)
Title: Larger and Smaller Decisions, Chapter 5
Pair: Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger,
Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord,
Davd Sinclair / Ian Edgerton
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
Follows: Lost Cause
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
“Wanna guess what I’m thinking right now?”
“Deja vu?” David stated dryly. “Except that this time there might be actual casualties.”
“Yeah.” Colby agreed. He eyed the closed garage door for a minute, then quickly checked the houses on the other side of the street. Most houses were completely dark, meaning there wasn’t too many neighbours wondering why they were standing in front of the garage. “Should we go in?”
“Do what you want, but I’m not going there. My boss having a fit and his baby brother throwing chalk… no way. I get enough injuries on the job, I don’t take any unnecessary risks when I’m off.”
“You’d just send me alone into the lion’s den?”
“In a heartbeat.”
“You’re a great buddy.”
“I try, but sometimes personal safety goes before everything else.”
“Yeah, but Don’s not gonna do anything he would have to explain away at the office. And if two of his team members suddenly have black eyes, there will be questions or at least gossip.”
“It’s not really Don I’m worried about.” The screaming coming from the garage grew louder and something hit the floor with a loud crash. “What do you think that was?”
“Sounded kinda glassy… Probably that mug he has pencils in.”
“Maybe we should call Megan and ask her to intervene.”
“I would, but she has a date with Matthew. They just back from off to on, so I don’t want to interrupt.” Colby pressed his ear against the door. “It’s going from bad to worse.”
“What are they saying?”
“Something about high school and baseball. Not a good sign.”
“Why not?”
“Just trust me. When those two start talking about their school days, it’s like treading on a minefield. You never know what might set up the big boom.”
“So when they start screaming like that about old stuff…”
“… they’re digging up old graves. That’s what they do when they have a really bad fight. Reach back and hit with whatever hurts most.” Colby paused and listened at the muffled noises coming from the garage. “Did he say nose?”
“That’s what it sounded like.” David agreed. “I think it was Don.”
“Poor bastard.”
“That bastard is our boss.”
“Yeah, I was trying to be sympathetic. I know how scary Charlie can be when he gets really angry. When that geezer from Frisco wrote a bad review about his book, Charlie fumed for weeks.”
“But he got over it, right?”
“Yeah. In his next paper he ripped one of that guy’s theories to shreds.”
“I’m not gonna ask what that theory was about. I wouldn’t understand it anyway.”
“That`s exactly what I said when he sent the guy a copy of his paper.”
A loud scream echoed out of the garage.
“Was that nostril?”
“I think so. Did they have some kinda thing about noses when they were in school?”
“Not as far as I know.”
“I can definitely imagine teenage Don making fun of Charlie’s nose.” David chuckled.
“And last time they had a screaming-match in there, Charlie almost broke Don’s.”
“I remember. Are we gonna do something? Maybe we could throw cold water on them.”
“You do that with dogs, not people.”
“It could work here too. Or those tranquiliser darts.”
“You’d have to go in there to shoot them or get Ian to do it sniper-style from the neighbour’s roof.”
“That could be fun to see.” Another crash boomed from the garage, followed by a thump of something heavy hitting the wall. “If you’re gonna do something, make up your mind, I gotta go soon. I’m picking up Caroline from the girl scouts.”
“Girl scouts?” Colby repeated with a thick layer of disbelief.
“Yeah, it was Ian’s idea. He thinks it could be useful if she wants to follow in his footsteps. Tracking and that kinda things.”
“Then why can’t Ian drive her?”
“He dropped her off on his way to the airport, he’s got a gig in Georgia.”
Suddenly Don burst out of the garage, screaming several expletives over his shoulder. He noticed Colby and David and marched in front of them, not even noticing he stepped under the light. His clothes were rumpled and his nose looked oddly swollen.
“Get me tweezers.”
“What?” Colby tried to tear his eyes away from the misshapen nose. These was white smudges under the nostrils, as if a sloppy addict had just finished sniffing up his fix. “And what happened to your nose?”
“What does it look like?”
“And take the rest of them too!” Charlie appeared to the garage door and threw something at Don. He was practically shivering with rage. “See where else you can shove them!” He marched back to the garage without even noticing Colby’s or David’s presence.
“If this is the rest of them…” David picked up the item from the ground. It was a half full packet of chalk.
“Don’t ask if you value your job.” Don tilted his head back so the men could see the two pieces of chalk deep inside each nostril.
“Charlie did that? How the hell did he-”
“Sneaky bastard tackled me.” Don waved an accusing finger at Colby. “You taught him that!”
“Yeah, I did.” Colby admitted. “But it was just for self-defence.”
“Are you saying I had it coming?” Don was breathing thought his mouth and sounded like a bull about to attack the red flag. “How the hell did I deserve chalk in my orifices?”
“It just your nose-”
“Desk duty Granger!” Don’s voice grew higher and stalked across the yard to his car. “And you too, Sinclair! And that know-it-all shrink! And the whole frigging office!”
He got into his car and backed out of the driveway.
“We’re all gonna pay tomorrow.” David anticipated. “The whole office.”
“He can’t put us all in desk duty.”
“I meant that he’ll be a nightmare to work with.”
“How’s that new?” Colby shrugged and glared at the vehicle speeding away from the house. “Hell hath no fury like an Eppes with his nose full of chalk.”
Chapter 6