Fic: North of the Border, Prologue (Numb3rs, Charlie / Colby, Don / Martin, David)
Title: North of the Border, Prologue
Fandom: Numb3rs
Pair: Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger,
Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
“Don’t even ask, I’m not going to the store again.” Charlie practically slammed a packet of pork ribs to the small table next to the grill. “If you forgot something else, you can go and get it yourself.”
“I had a busy morning.” Colby sounded quite sheepish. He unwrapped the packet and dumped it’s content into the bowl of marinade. “But everything else is almost done. By the time we’re done with those, these are ready to eat.”
“Ready to eat…” Charlie groaned and observed the rows of food cooking in the grill. The smell of food and the warm sunshine were dangerously close to destroying his sour mood, but he decided to hang on to it for a minute longer. “You don’t even have time to let them really soak up the marinade.”
“Cool down, Chuck.” Don opened a beer and shoved it to Charlie’s hand, then slumped back to the stuffed sunlounger. “We’ll get fed, and we got nowhere to go. Sit down.”
“Only because I’m dehydrated. Ninety minutes on one store run.”
“Did you get lost? Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“I didn’t get lost.” Charlie gritted thought his teeth, but couldn’t keep down a little chuckle.
“You forgot what you were supposed to buy?”
“No.”
“You forgot where you parked and you just run around the parking lot?”
“No. And when was the last time you went shopping on a day like this? Sunny Saturday, everyone was hoarding snacks so they could spend the day on the beach or getting stuff for a barbeque. Hence…” He gestured at Colby, who was handling the grill, wearing his "Kiss the cook, or he’ll kick your ass" apron. “… I was one of dozens of people in the queue. Any idea how hot it was in there?” He took a long swig from his beer. “Anyway, where is everyone?”
“I had to put Helen to bed for a little nap.” Colby said and started flipping the corncobs around. “She twirled around till she got cranky, and then I put her to bed.”
“She gets like that when we got company.”
“And those two…” Colby gestured at the two kids sitting on the opposite sides of the koi pond, both clutching their sodas and carefully avoiding looking at each other. “Either we got a little kiddie crush in our hands or they are both just too shy to say anything.”
“It would never work.” Charlie chuckled. “Couple years age gap is too much in that age.”
“Yeah, and it would be too much like cousins dating each other…” Don grimaced. He and Charlie turned, in perfect sync to look at Colby.
“Hey, we’re country folks in Idaho, but we don’t do that!” Colby groaned. “Why do people always assume everyone in a small place is humping a cow or a close relative?”
“Small place, inbred people…” Charlie suggested innocently. “Just kidding. And I’m pretty sure David wouldn’t let his girl out for a date until she hits forty.” He looked around, but the man in question was nowhere in sight. “Speaking of David, where did he go?”
“I made him work for food.” Colby pointed at the backdoor with a pork rib before placing it on the grill. “He’s cutting stuff for the salad. And Megan couldn’t come, but you already knew that, and Martin had to take a phonecall.”
“Okay…” Charlie took another sip. “Dad would be happy. Three kids and a Saturday lunch in the backyard.”
“Yeah, but the last one wasn’t planned.” Don commented, and then corrected himself. “I mean we didn’t plan to have one and it’s not really ours anyway, but-”
“Don, you’re ruining my nostalgia moment. I can almost hear dad nagging about how he wants to have some grandkids before we ship him to some retirement home.” He looked down and pressed his mouth shut. Don and Colby waited for him to continue, but the mathematician focused on his beer.
Martin stepped outside to the yard from the backdoor, still fiddling with his cellphone, and sat down on the edge of Don’s sunlounger.
“Sorry, but that was urgent.”
“That’s okay, we’re still waiting for the food.”
“Good.” Martin was quiet for a while, but then went on. “What do you think about a weekend trip? You, me and Tommy?”
“Now?”
“No, next weekend.”
“Should be okay. Where are we going?”
“To Canada. Robinson had an accident and broke his legs.”
“Legs as in plural?”
“Yeah, both of them. He was supposed to give a speech at a symposium next Saturday, but he’s not exactly in a condition to fly.”
“Guess not… How did he break his legs?”
“Car accident. His wife was driving and he was on the passenger seat. He opened his seatbelt to get something from the backseat, and suddenly another car slid to their lane and crashed into their car. That symposium was scheduled months ago, and there isn’t that many of us at the office, besides him who knows the material…” Martin looked sincerely embarrassed. “I know I said I wouldn’t travel that much anymore, but I can’t really say no.”
“You didn’t say anything when I got called to Quantico at a few days notice, so I’ll let it slide.” Don smirked. “But I need to know something.”
“What?”
“Where are we staying and do they have room service?”
“That’s where I’m going to call next. I’ve always stayed in the same place when I’ve been there.”
“Yeah, but what about room service?”
“Around the clock. And I’m not even scheduled for the other functions at the symposium, so it’s basically just couple hours and the rest of the weekend is free for sightseeing and all that.” He glanced across the yard. Tommy and Caroline were still ignoring each other. “Maybe I should go alone or try to get someone else to do it. Doesn’t feel right to drag a kid out of the country right after everything.”
“How many kids his age get to travel as much as he has?” Don reminded, trying to switch the tone into a lighter one. It sounded just as forced as it was. “He’s travelled a lot of the States with his mom, and now you’re taking him abroad. Isn’t travelling supposed to broaden horizons or something like that?”
“Yeah.” Martin toyed with his cellphone. He got up and flipped his phone open again.
“Nicely handled.” Charlie commented and grinned at Don. “And if I remember correctly, his favourite hotel is really nice.”
“You’ve been there?”
“If he was talking about he same place. I was working for the… that other agency, that shall remain unmentioned. I worked with some scientists from the Toronto university, and the agency set me up there. Great place, you’ll love it.”
“Are we talking about that other agency, or that other one?”
“That third one.”
“There’s a third one now?” Don mused. “They must have a looser policy on travel expenses than the bureau. When I’ve been sent somewhere, they booked me to the cheapest hole they can find.”
“It can’t have been that bad.”
“The guy in the next room almost got mugged when some down and out druggie smelled his bag of Chinese take-away.”
“You mean outside the hotel?”
“In the hallway!” Don lowered his voice and shushed. He turned his head to listen to Martin, whose voice was becoming icy and he kept switching back and forth between English and French. “Any idea what that’s about?”
“I think…” Charlie listened for a minute. “… he’s booking your hotel room.”
“Yes, I do realise you’re booked, but you should realise that I know exactly how many suites are always kept free just in case.” Martin put on a colder tone and repeated the same in French, then switched back to English. “Or if you prefer it, I can just call Diane and settle this with her. Would you like that?” Apparently the answer was to his liking, since it made him grin widely. “Nice to know you understood that without translation. Next Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That’s right. Goodbye.”
He flipped phone off and sat on Don’s sunlounder once again. Don made room for him as much as the seat allowed and tried to keep his beer from falling.
“Why do some people get into customer service and then basically refuse to service a customer?”
“Ego tripping?” Charlie offered.
“Doesn’t work with people, who know the hotel manager.”
“I was just telling Don how nice that place is. You could park Don to the spa while you do your thing, and order him the full treatment.”
“They got a spa?” Don asked.
“Yeah." Martin nodded. "I’ll go give my speech and you and Tommy can soak in a mud bath.”
“Okay, first ones are done.” Colby announced and started flipping well-done steaks off the grill. “The ribs will take a while. Grab a plate.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for David?” Charlie wondered, but started to spoon coleslaw onto his plate. “It can’t take that long to make a salad.”
“Thanks for remembering I’m here.” David walked out to the backyard holding a large serving bowl in front of him. He was holding it very gingerly, and three of his fingers were wrapped with bandages. “That cutter thing is dangerous.”
“The white one?” Charlie asked. “With old bloodstains on the handle?”
“Yeah.”
“I forgot to warn you, I was gonna send it back. It looked great on the TV, but I think it was a trick shot or something.”
“When did you start buying stuff from the home shopping network?”
“Last week, when I had that cold. It was the only watch-able thing on TV.” Charlie was blushing and seemed ready to bury the topic. “Can we just eat now?”
“Just one more question.” David demanded. “I wanna know what else you bought.”
“Nothing.”
“Right…”
“Save interrogations for dessert.” Colby interrupted. “Fill your plates and start eating.”
“Should we call those two?” David pointed at the two children. The ignoring contest was still going on strong. “Well, they’ll let us know when they get hungry.”
Chapter 1 (NC-17)