Fic: Permission to Launch, Chapter 2/3 (Numb3rs, Charlie / Colby, Don / Martin, David, Megan)
Title: Permission To Launch, Chapter 2/3
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 1/3
“Maybe I should try one more time.” David fidgeted nervously. The lady at the reception desk was sending them dirty looks for the third time.
“You tried and it didn’t help.” Colby scoffed. “He’s had time to simmer, now we’ll send in the special unit.”
“Couple days ago he and Charlie were at each others throats.”
“That’s how it is with brothers, and Don’s not going to make a scene at the office.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Pretty sure.” Colby noticed the men walking through the lobby and waved at them. “They’re here.”
Charlie was leading the way through the crowd of people, most of them on their way out, and Martin followed him, obviously using the mop of curs as his lighthouse to navigate to the reception desk. Both men were easily separated from the FBI personnel, and they gathered few curious looks. Both of them had spent the day at work, but the half tired state seemed to bring out their differences even more than usually.
Charlie was dressed in his normal uniform of jeans, wrinkled jacked and several layers of shirts. His hair was even wilder than usually and his jaw was covered with a fresh layer of dark stubble, perfecting what the CalSci cafeteria ladies called his “adorably rumpled” look, and made him look more like a student than a teacher. Next to him Martin shuffled through the wave of people in an immaculate tailored suit, hair slicked back, looking perfectly groomed in a way that sometimes made Colby suspect the man kept an identical suit in his office so he would never be seen in a wrinkled one at the end of the day. The only sign of the long day were the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, a telltale sign of hours spent working in front of a computer screen. His strict posture emphasised the height difference between him and Charlie as he followed the genius to the reception desk.
“Okay, we’re here.” Charlie greeted. “Suit us up.”
“What?”
“Don’t we get bullet-proof vests?” He grinned at Colby. “You’re sending us in harms way, the least you can do is take some precautions.”
“He wouldn’t start shooting in the middle of the bullpen, too many security cameras.” Colby assured and handed them their passes. Charlie his usual consultants pass and Martin a regular visitor pass. “Folks are heading home, so it should be pretty empty up there.” He pressed the elevator button, and the doors opened. “Megan?”
“In your dreams, Granger. I’m going home before he finds more paperwork for me.”
“David?”
“Yeah?” David was about to step into the elevator, but Colby blocked his path with his arm.
“You’re staying here.”
“Come on, this is about me-”
“And we had to spend the day trying to keep our heads up in the paperwork avalanche, thanks to you.”
David didn’t look convinced, but took a step back. Charlie and Martin followed Colby into the elevator and the doors closed.
“How bad is it?” Charlie asked. “On the Don-scale?”
“On the Don-scale?” Colby couldn’t keep a little grin off his face. “One step away from demanding us to kneel in front of him and kiss his ring.”
“Not that kinda don.”
“I know. He doesn’t want to talk to any of us, and since we don’t have a case right now we’ve been doing paperwork all day. I swear, he’s dug up all the available piece of forms and reports to torture us. Anything to keep us from talking to him. I think he was hoping we would get a case, so we could focus on that.”
“What did he do all day?”
“Took his laptop to the conference room and sulked. Then he went to get some coffee and sulked again. Went out to get a hot-dog for lunch and then sulked some more.”
“Did Megan try talking to him?”
“Right after he talked to David.”
“And?”
“And he didn’t want to talk.”
The elevator dinged and the door opened. Colby waited for the other men to step out and then gave him a quick wave.
“In the conference room. I’ll wait in the lobby.”
“Chicken.” Charlie grimaced.
“I’ve spent the day doing bullshit paperwork that nobody will ever actually read.”
“I spent the day in explaining to parents, why their little angel didn’t pass the course, even though she slept on all the classes.”
“Did they bring their lawyer?”
“Yeah.”
“You win.” Colby admitted and pressed the button. “See you downstairs.”
The door closed and Charlie took a good look around the empty bullpen. Few remaining workers were sitting in their workstations and their desk lamps sent ghoulish glares around them in the dim space.
“I have to say, you two are a great match.” Martin stated and followed Charlie through the bullpen. “You sounded just like my grandparents.”
“We did?” Charlie chuckled.
“Yes. They used to fight, then make up and they had just as much fun doing both of those two things.” Martin knocked on the glass door and pushed it open. “Can we come in?”
Don looked up from his computer screen, glaring at both of them.
“I’m working.”
“Right.” Charlie marched in and glanced over Don’s shoulder. “Playing Solitaire that badly is hard work.”
“Get lost, Chuck. No new cases for you.”
“Then you have time for us. Donna Dearest.” Charlie added with his sweetest smile. “You’re acting like a little kid, whose friend is moving away.”
“I’m not.”
“You want David to stay in your team, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I was right.”
“No, you weren’t. This isn’t about David leaving, it’s about him lying to all of us.”
“Like you haven’t left out some things…”
“I’m their boss, I don’t need to tell them everything. He went behind my back and did it and now I’m supposed to do what? Recommend him for the job? How am I supposed to recommend him for it, if I can’t even trust him to tell me what’s going on?” Don’s head twirled to look at Martin, who was observing them quietly. “They roped you into this too?”
“They’re worried that you’re not handling this well.” He responded and came closer. “If you don’t have work to do, you can just as well play solitaire at home.” He pulled a seat and sat down. “Is that the biggest issue? David didn’t tell you he applied for it?”
“That’s… one part of it.”
“Or that you think he wants out of your team?”
“That`s another.”
“How bout you try to think about it from another angle?”
“I like my own angle.”
“Or we could ask Charlie to define the situation on mathematical terms, and estimate the odds for all the different scenarios-”
“You really know how to pull out the big guns…” Don groaned, but couldn’t help smirking. “Okay, what angle?”
“Excuse me.” Charlie complained. “When did I become something to intimitate people with?”
“Around the time you learned to speak.” Don stated and his smirk grew into a full-on smile. “So what`s the angle?”
“Have you tried to understand why David wants to go?”
“He already told me why.”
“But did you really think about it?” Martin lowered his voice. “Have you thought what it would be like for him and especially Caroline to spend a whole year apart from Ian?”
“He can come for a visit-”
“Would it be enough for you, if you were David?”
“No.” Don admitted.
“And Caroline has had more than enough changes in her life, she needs all the stability she can get.”
“Yeah.”
“People don’t always leave because they want to leave.” Martin reached over the table and pressed down the lid of the laptop. “Sometimes people leave because they have to, even if they don’t want to.”
Don looked down at the hand resting on top of the laptop. Martin hadn’t taken his ring to be restored after his accident, and part of the surface was charred, covering the ornamental engravement. He noticed Don’s look and pulled his hand back.
“I mean that… David doesn’t want to leave because of you, or because he doesn’t want to be in your team. He wants to move, because other things are more important than that, and I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision for him to make.”
“I… I need to do some stuff.” Don straightened his back and cleared his throat. “Can you wait downstairs?”
“Sure.” Martin got up and picked up his briefcase from where he had left it on the side table. “We’ll go get a cup of coffee. Come to that coffee shop across the street when you’re done.”
Don shoved his computer away from him and took a torn envelope from it’s hideout under a stack of paperwork. The door was closed and he flipped his cell phone open. He tapped in the number.
After three rings the switchboard picked up.
“FBI, Washington field office. How can I help you?”
“This is special agent Eppes, L.A. office. I know it’s late, but I`m trying to reach agent Lake. I’m not sure if she’s still working there, it’s been a while.”
“Just a minute.” A faint sound of fingers tapping on a keyboard came through the phone line. “She hasn’t checked out yet, so she should be in the building. I’ll put you through to her office.”
Chapter 3/3