Numb3rs fic
Sorry it's been a while. If you didn't see, I'm doing a warped version of NaNoWriMo, so cleaning up and posting hasn't been a priority. But here goes.
Chapter 8
Charlie and Colby were relaxing together at the house on a lazy Sunday afternoon the weekend before Halloween, when Colby’s phone rang. He saw it was Charlotte, his oldest sister.
“Hey, Lottie. What’s up?” he answered.
“Col, stop that. I know you have caller ID, so enough already.”
“You’re the one calling a cell phone, you know if I have your number in the contacts the phone recognizes it. Anyway, you didn’t answer the question: what’s up?”
“Come to my house for Thanksgiving this year. You’ve been gone so long Kate thinks you are imaginary, even though Dani says you’re real. Its Ryan’s family’s turn to come, Mom’s having dinner at Ron’s this year, so bring your boy toy!”
“Lottie, we talked about this, he’s not a boy toy!”
Charlie made a questioning face. Colby mouthed, “She calls you my boy toy, even though I say not to,” as she continued chattering about all the in-laws coming to visit.
“…so will you come?”
“I’ll have to ask my boss, and see if Charlie wants to come. I’ll let you know by Tuesday. You do know that this is subject to case load, right? That’s why I didn’t get there last year.”
“OK. And yes, I’m aware. I don’t know how many years I’ve gotten a call at 7am Christmas day for Ryan to come down to the police station to sign off on a warrant.”
“Fine. Talk to you Tuesday evening. Bye,” he said, hanging up. “So, wanna go with me to see my sister at Thanksgiving? That is, if Don lets me.”
“Sure, and he should. It’s his fault you didn’t get to go last year. He had a choice of taking that case or not, but he didn’t want to deal with dinner with Aunt Irene.”
“That’s all? I went through two weeks of 18 hour days, sleeping in the locker room, seeing you only when you dropped off food or information, sneaking off for a snog and hand jobs in the bathroom, because he didn’t want to see your aunt?”
“Yep. Therefore, give him the full guilt-trip, and I’ll remind him about last Thanksgiving.”
Needless to say, Don did not stand firm in the face of the double-whammy guilt-trip, and Colby got Wednesday at noon until Sunday morning without even being on-call.
Yet Charlie, with his actual school break, was not proof from consulting requests. He got a call on Monday that he’d be needed in DC Wednesday for at least two days. There was a national emergency, a threat against an unknown target in the US for Saturday morning picked up on the chatter scanner. He needed to do a probability assessment to pinpoint the most likely 3-5 places, given the parameters. They’d ask an in-house guy, but they were too slow. It was important enough that he’d get an escort from BWI to Fort Meade. After talking it over with Colby, they agreed he couldn’t refuse, but to make sure to get to Boise as soon as possible, to spend some of the holiday together.
The crisis averted, Charlie had just been dropped off at BWI with a receipt for a rush ticket in hand, provided for by the US government. As he walked up to the check-in desk to pick up the actual ticket, his regular cell phone rang. It was an unknown number, but he recognized the area code encompassing most of Idaho.
“Hello?” he answered as he handed the paper to the clerk.
“Charlie, thank God. I had hoped you were done and could actually answer.”
“I was just about to call you. But what’s wrong? Are you calling from your sister’s house?”
“Yes, and get this, my 5-year-old niece, Katie, just finished her sister’s long division homework. Help?”
“You’re in luck. I’m checking in right now. I’ll be in Boise in 3 hours. See you then?”
“Yes. Thank you!” And they both hung up as Charlie received his ticket.
When he got to the exit to the secure portion of the Boise airport, Colby was waiting for him with a huge hug and a kiss to the hair, unwilling to show his full appreciation for his partner in a public area in Idaho. When they got to the car, though…”
As they pulled up in front of Charlotte and Ryan’s house, Charlie let out a sigh, “OK. Remind me of your family again.”
“There’s Charlotte and Ryan, their two kids, Katie, who’s 5, and Danielle, Dani, who is turning 10 in two weeks. Ryan’s family, don’t worry about, most are leaving tomorrow morning.”
“UnCol, UnCol! Hi!” a gangly blond bullet greeted them, “Who’s that?”
“Hello again, Katie. This is my friend, Charlie. He likes math too. Once I introduce him to the others, would you like to talk with him?”
Taking her increased bouncing as a positive answer, they continued inside.
After the most sparse of pleasantries, Charlie went into the dining room with a big pad of paper, a marker, and Katie. Twenty minutes later, he came out, a sad smile on his face, Katie still bouncing. Colby, seeing the look on Charlie’s face, tapped Charlotte and Ryan on the shoulder, nodding toward Charlie. They followed Colby and Charlie back into the dining room.
Once they had all sat down, Charlie started talking.
“No doubt Colby’s told you about my background. Well, Katie definitely is a math prodigy, but I doubt she’ll need much intervention. Maybe accelerated math while staying with her classmates. It would have been nice if I could have done that, but they just weren’t set up to deal with me at the time. She’ll probably want to take math classes at a university once she does calculus, but for now, I’ll write a letter to give to the principal and school counselor with better details so they can discuss the available appropriate options. Just keep her away from her sister’s homework and everything will be fine.”
Chapter 8
Charlie and Colby were relaxing together at the house on a lazy Sunday afternoon the weekend before Halloween, when Colby’s phone rang. He saw it was Charlotte, his oldest sister.
“Hey, Lottie. What’s up?” he answered.
“Col, stop that. I know you have caller ID, so enough already.”
“You’re the one calling a cell phone, you know if I have your number in the contacts the phone recognizes it. Anyway, you didn’t answer the question: what’s up?”
“Come to my house for Thanksgiving this year. You’ve been gone so long Kate thinks you are imaginary, even though Dani says you’re real. Its Ryan’s family’s turn to come, Mom’s having dinner at Ron’s this year, so bring your boy toy!”
“Lottie, we talked about this, he’s not a boy toy!”
Charlie made a questioning face. Colby mouthed, “She calls you my boy toy, even though I say not to,” as she continued chattering about all the in-laws coming to visit.
“…so will you come?”
“I’ll have to ask my boss, and see if Charlie wants to come. I’ll let you know by Tuesday. You do know that this is subject to case load, right? That’s why I didn’t get there last year.”
“OK. And yes, I’m aware. I don’t know how many years I’ve gotten a call at 7am Christmas day for Ryan to come down to the police station to sign off on a warrant.”
“Fine. Talk to you Tuesday evening. Bye,” he said, hanging up. “So, wanna go with me to see my sister at Thanksgiving? That is, if Don lets me.”
“Sure, and he should. It’s his fault you didn’t get to go last year. He had a choice of taking that case or not, but he didn’t want to deal with dinner with Aunt Irene.”
“That’s all? I went through two weeks of 18 hour days, sleeping in the locker room, seeing you only when you dropped off food or information, sneaking off for a snog and hand jobs in the bathroom, because he didn’t want to see your aunt?”
“Yep. Therefore, give him the full guilt-trip, and I’ll remind him about last Thanksgiving.”
Needless to say, Don did not stand firm in the face of the double-whammy guilt-trip, and Colby got Wednesday at noon until Sunday morning without even being on-call.
Yet Charlie, with his actual school break, was not proof from consulting requests. He got a call on Monday that he’d be needed in DC Wednesday for at least two days. There was a national emergency, a threat against an unknown target in the US for Saturday morning picked up on the chatter scanner. He needed to do a probability assessment to pinpoint the most likely 3-5 places, given the parameters. They’d ask an in-house guy, but they were too slow. It was important enough that he’d get an escort from BWI to Fort Meade. After talking it over with Colby, they agreed he couldn’t refuse, but to make sure to get to Boise as soon as possible, to spend some of the holiday together.
The crisis averted, Charlie had just been dropped off at BWI with a receipt for a rush ticket in hand, provided for by the US government. As he walked up to the check-in desk to pick up the actual ticket, his regular cell phone rang. It was an unknown number, but he recognized the area code encompassing most of Idaho.
“Hello?” he answered as he handed the paper to the clerk.
“Charlie, thank God. I had hoped you were done and could actually answer.”
“I was just about to call you. But what’s wrong? Are you calling from your sister’s house?”
“Yes, and get this, my 5-year-old niece, Katie, just finished her sister’s long division homework. Help?”
“You’re in luck. I’m checking in right now. I’ll be in Boise in 3 hours. See you then?”
“Yes. Thank you!” And they both hung up as Charlie received his ticket.
When he got to the exit to the secure portion of the Boise airport, Colby was waiting for him with a huge hug and a kiss to the hair, unwilling to show his full appreciation for his partner in a public area in Idaho. When they got to the car, though…”
As they pulled up in front of Charlotte and Ryan’s house, Charlie let out a sigh, “OK. Remind me of your family again.”
“There’s Charlotte and Ryan, their two kids, Katie, who’s 5, and Danielle, Dani, who is turning 10 in two weeks. Ryan’s family, don’t worry about, most are leaving tomorrow morning.”
“UnCol, UnCol! Hi!” a gangly blond bullet greeted them, “Who’s that?”
“Hello again, Katie. This is my friend, Charlie. He likes math too. Once I introduce him to the others, would you like to talk with him?”
Taking her increased bouncing as a positive answer, they continued inside.
After the most sparse of pleasantries, Charlie went into the dining room with a big pad of paper, a marker, and Katie. Twenty minutes later, he came out, a sad smile on his face, Katie still bouncing. Colby, seeing the look on Charlie’s face, tapped Charlotte and Ryan on the shoulder, nodding toward Charlie. They followed Colby and Charlie back into the dining room.
Once they had all sat down, Charlie started talking.
“No doubt Colby’s told you about my background. Well, Katie definitely is a math prodigy, but I doubt she’ll need much intervention. Maybe accelerated math while staying with her classmates. It would have been nice if I could have done that, but they just weren’t set up to deal with me at the time. She’ll probably want to take math classes at a university once she does calculus, but for now, I’ll write a letter to give to the principal and school counselor with better details so they can discuss the available appropriate options. Just keep her away from her sister’s homework and everything will be fine.”