FIC: Holding on to a lie, Part 17 (Charlie/Colby, Amita, Don, David, Megan, Liz, PG-13)
Title: "Payback"
Series: Holding on to a lie, Part 17
Characters: Charlie/Colby, Amita, Don, David, Megan, Liz.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Don and David find out about the hostages.
Feedback: I love feedback. Every comment is a cup of coffee that keeps me posting. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it. But I do own any OCs.
Beta: The wonderful fredbassett.
Previous chapter: "Fighting against a stranger" (R)
Holding on to a lie
Part 17: “Payback”
The neighborhood was pretty quiet today. The house was very near now, only a couple of blocks away.
“You know, I don’t like that Berenson guy. I never did, actually,” Don admitted while he drove.
“I’ve never trusted him either, not even a bit. After all, he let Amita go back to her job only five minutes after he met her,” David muttered with worry, right beside Don. “But Megan recommended him, so I never complained.”
“Exactly. By the way, did you tell her about this?”
“I ran into her when I went to grab my things. She knows we’re going to your house. She said she wanted to join us, but an agent came in and brought news about our current case.”
“Ok, let her handle it while we’re not around.”
Don knew he had felt weird when David had said, “our case.” Considering he hadn’t participated much on it yet. Instead, he had spent his time fighting with his partner and dealing with whatever problem he had with Amita, he hadn’t worked much during the last two days.
His boss was worried about him; David was his agent, his friend, and in moments like this he felt like a protective leader guiding the troops back again onto the good path.
If he only knew what was going on with David. “Colby told me you guys had a fight this morning.”
He could hear David take a deep breath and see him shake his head, like he had been waiting for Don to ask him about that.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But, David…”
“We’re here.”
David was right. They had just arrived to the Eppes house. Don parked the car, got out of it and went towards the front door.
“You know, David, this conversation’s not over. We’re going to talk later, ok? No matter how much you don’t want to,” he said to his agent. “I’m worried about you, man.”
“I know you are. But this is my problem, Don, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” David explained, looking a little bit angry and nervous as they both reached for the door.
“Well, of course I can’t do anything if I don’t even know what’s going on with you.”
Slowly, Don opened the door.
He froze. There was Amita holding a gun against his brother’s throat.
“Charlie,” he managed to whisper.
A scared Charlie just breathed hard, as Amita said, “Don’t come closer… not if you don’t want anything… to happen to him.”
Don looked around, trying to figure out what the hell was going on in his house. He was expecting everything but this. Amita hurting Charlie? And where the hell had she got that gun? And what about the knife she had inside her jeans?
He had one of the answers in a second. A flushed, unarmed Colby was coming down the stairs, calling Charlie’s name. But the green-eyed agent stopped in his tracks when he noticed Don and David being there.
Everybody looked at each other, holding their breath.
“Don, your dad just had… a heart attack,” Colby dared to say.
“What?! How’s tha-”
“The cold pills… sleeping pil-”
“Shut up!” Amita interrupted Colby.
“He’s ok, Larry’s taking care of him now,” the agent continued, while Amita looked at him with angry eyes.
Don couldn’t believe what was happening. “How could you…?” He reached for his gun.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” the insane woman formerly known as sweet Amita Ramanujan stated, as she placed the barrel of the gun inside Charlie’s mouth. Don’s brother writhed and squeezed his eyes shut in desperation.
But Amita wasn’t looking at him. She was looking at David, who hadn’t said a word since the door had been opened.
Until now.
“Don… we should… we should go.”
“What? No, are you out of your mind?”
David whispered to his ear, “Doing this without backup could go very wrong. Trust me on this, Amita’s dangerous and she’s not easy to handle.”
In a way, Don was surprised by how sure David seemed to be. It was like he was the only one who knew some kind of dark secret about Amita. Maybe listening to him would be the best thing Don could do.
“Ok…” he turned to her. “We’re… we’re going out. We can negotiate...”
Furious, she yelled, “I don’t want to negotiate!” She was crying. “I just want my life back. The life I should have had before everybody ruined it.”
“Alright, alright… but this is my family, my agent and Charlie’s friend. Even if you don’t want to negotiate, you’ll have to do it, do you understand?”
More tears fell down her face. “Get out of here!” Amita yelled, and she pointed her gun at Don.
“Don!” David said, and they both went to the ground as Amita fired a few times to make her point.
Soon, they had both left the house and were holding their guns. The door was still open, but Amita slowly went towards it and closed it while using Charlie as a human shield again.
“Damn it!” Don cursed, knowing he couldn’t shoot her without hurting his brother. He could see Charlie’s scared eyes as the door got closed.
“Don, we need backup.”
“I know that already, David!” Desperate, Don took out his cell phone and chose one of the first numbers he had on his list.
More files landed on Megan’s desk as she revised hundreds of them. However, the workload was being shared; luckily, Liz had offered to help her out when she had found out that Don and David had to go to the Eppes residence.
Now both women were working on the latest case, trying to find a murderer who was related to a female sergeant, Mary Miller. Their desks were full of papers and while Megan analyzed the psychological background, Liz searched for her job history on the FBI database.
“Do we have anything on Fulkner, yet?” Megan asked, looking at another file.
“Nope. He’s clean when it comes to work,” Liz answered, then turned to the other female agent. “Do you have anything that fits the psychological profile?”
“No… Unfortunately, this guy seems to be pretty normal… Although maybe that’s exactly why we should consider him a suspect.”
“Alright. We’re bringing him here.” Liz grabbed the office phone and made the call.
In the meantime, Megan flipped more pages of the file she had in her hands, building theories inside her head. The case was starting to make sense when her cell phone rang.
“Reeves,” she answered. She could hear Don breathing hard.
“Megan, we need backup, ASAP. We’re at my house. Amita’s got Charlie as hostage.”
“What?” Megan forgot about everything she was doing and paid attention to Don’s voice.
“She’s out of control and she’s got my entire family in there!”
“Alan’s there, too?”
“And Colby, who told me my dad just had a heart-attack.”
“Oh my God, is he ok?”
“Apparently, he is, but I’m not taking any chances.”
“What about Colby?”
“He’s unarmed. Amita’s got his gun,” Don rapidly explained. “And Megan?”
“Yeah?”
“She’s got Larry, too.”
Megan’s cell phone slipped from her hand and landed on the floor.
Immediately, she could feel Liz putting a hand on her shoulder. “What is it? Did something happen?”
“Larry. She’s got Larry… and Charlie… and Colby… and Alan.”
“Who’s got them?” Liz asked, with a worried expression on her face.
“Amita,” Megan whispered.
“Oh, God…”
Megan could hear Liz asking something else, but her voice seemed to be very far away, so she didn’t answer.
The question finally reached her brain. “Megan, where are they?!” Liz was yelling.
It was time for reaction. In a second, Megan got up and ran towards the door. “They’re at Don’s house!”
She asked for a team, then gave people instructions. As she ran to grab her belongings, she couldn’t stop thinking about how things had gone so wrong and how guilty she was.
She had made a horrible mistake by recommending Bob Berenson, because he had certainly not helped Amita to recover. He had probably even made her condition get worse.
Determined but shaking, Megan loaded her gun. It seemed that she was paying for her mistake, as well as for everything she had seen and done while working at the DOJ.
Series: Holding on to a lie, Part 17
Characters: Charlie/Colby, Amita, Don, David, Megan, Liz.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Don and David find out about the hostages.
Feedback: I love feedback. Every comment is a cup of coffee that keeps me posting. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it. But I do own any OCs.
Beta: The wonderful fredbassett.
Previous chapter: "Fighting against a stranger" (R)
Holding on to a lie
Part 17: “Payback”
The neighborhood was pretty quiet today. The house was very near now, only a couple of blocks away.
“You know, I don’t like that Berenson guy. I never did, actually,” Don admitted while he drove.
“I’ve never trusted him either, not even a bit. After all, he let Amita go back to her job only five minutes after he met her,” David muttered with worry, right beside Don. “But Megan recommended him, so I never complained.”
“Exactly. By the way, did you tell her about this?”
“I ran into her when I went to grab my things. She knows we’re going to your house. She said she wanted to join us, but an agent came in and brought news about our current case.”
“Ok, let her handle it while we’re not around.”
Don knew he had felt weird when David had said, “our case.” Considering he hadn’t participated much on it yet. Instead, he had spent his time fighting with his partner and dealing with whatever problem he had with Amita, he hadn’t worked much during the last two days.
His boss was worried about him; David was his agent, his friend, and in moments like this he felt like a protective leader guiding the troops back again onto the good path.
If he only knew what was going on with David. “Colby told me you guys had a fight this morning.”
He could hear David take a deep breath and see him shake his head, like he had been waiting for Don to ask him about that.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But, David…”
“We’re here.”
David was right. They had just arrived to the Eppes house. Don parked the car, got out of it and went towards the front door.
“You know, David, this conversation’s not over. We’re going to talk later, ok? No matter how much you don’t want to,” he said to his agent. “I’m worried about you, man.”
“I know you are. But this is my problem, Don, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” David explained, looking a little bit angry and nervous as they both reached for the door.
“Well, of course I can’t do anything if I don’t even know what’s going on with you.”
Slowly, Don opened the door.
He froze. There was Amita holding a gun against his brother’s throat.
“Charlie,” he managed to whisper.
A scared Charlie just breathed hard, as Amita said, “Don’t come closer… not if you don’t want anything… to happen to him.”
Don looked around, trying to figure out what the hell was going on in his house. He was expecting everything but this. Amita hurting Charlie? And where the hell had she got that gun? And what about the knife she had inside her jeans?
He had one of the answers in a second. A flushed, unarmed Colby was coming down the stairs, calling Charlie’s name. But the green-eyed agent stopped in his tracks when he noticed Don and David being there.
Everybody looked at each other, holding their breath.
“Don, your dad just had… a heart attack,” Colby dared to say.
“What?! How’s tha-”
“The cold pills… sleeping pil-”
“Shut up!” Amita interrupted Colby.
“He’s ok, Larry’s taking care of him now,” the agent continued, while Amita looked at him with angry eyes.
Don couldn’t believe what was happening. “How could you…?” He reached for his gun.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” the insane woman formerly known as sweet Amita Ramanujan stated, as she placed the barrel of the gun inside Charlie’s mouth. Don’s brother writhed and squeezed his eyes shut in desperation.
But Amita wasn’t looking at him. She was looking at David, who hadn’t said a word since the door had been opened.
Until now.
“Don… we should… we should go.”
“What? No, are you out of your mind?”
David whispered to his ear, “Doing this without backup could go very wrong. Trust me on this, Amita’s dangerous and she’s not easy to handle.”
In a way, Don was surprised by how sure David seemed to be. It was like he was the only one who knew some kind of dark secret about Amita. Maybe listening to him would be the best thing Don could do.
“Ok…” he turned to her. “We’re… we’re going out. We can negotiate...”
Furious, she yelled, “I don’t want to negotiate!” She was crying. “I just want my life back. The life I should have had before everybody ruined it.”
“Alright, alright… but this is my family, my agent and Charlie’s friend. Even if you don’t want to negotiate, you’ll have to do it, do you understand?”
More tears fell down her face. “Get out of here!” Amita yelled, and she pointed her gun at Don.
“Don!” David said, and they both went to the ground as Amita fired a few times to make her point.
Soon, they had both left the house and were holding their guns. The door was still open, but Amita slowly went towards it and closed it while using Charlie as a human shield again.
“Damn it!” Don cursed, knowing he couldn’t shoot her without hurting his brother. He could see Charlie’s scared eyes as the door got closed.
“Don, we need backup.”
“I know that already, David!” Desperate, Don took out his cell phone and chose one of the first numbers he had on his list.
More files landed on Megan’s desk as she revised hundreds of them. However, the workload was being shared; luckily, Liz had offered to help her out when she had found out that Don and David had to go to the Eppes residence.
Now both women were working on the latest case, trying to find a murderer who was related to a female sergeant, Mary Miller. Their desks were full of papers and while Megan analyzed the psychological background, Liz searched for her job history on the FBI database.
“Do we have anything on Fulkner, yet?” Megan asked, looking at another file.
“Nope. He’s clean when it comes to work,” Liz answered, then turned to the other female agent. “Do you have anything that fits the psychological profile?”
“No… Unfortunately, this guy seems to be pretty normal… Although maybe that’s exactly why we should consider him a suspect.”
“Alright. We’re bringing him here.” Liz grabbed the office phone and made the call.
In the meantime, Megan flipped more pages of the file she had in her hands, building theories inside her head. The case was starting to make sense when her cell phone rang.
“Reeves,” she answered. She could hear Don breathing hard.
“Megan, we need backup, ASAP. We’re at my house. Amita’s got Charlie as hostage.”
“What?” Megan forgot about everything she was doing and paid attention to Don’s voice.
“She’s out of control and she’s got my entire family in there!”
“Alan’s there, too?”
“And Colby, who told me my dad just had a heart-attack.”
“Oh my God, is he ok?”
“Apparently, he is, but I’m not taking any chances.”
“What about Colby?”
“He’s unarmed. Amita’s got his gun,” Don rapidly explained. “And Megan?”
“Yeah?”
“She’s got Larry, too.”
Megan’s cell phone slipped from her hand and landed on the floor.
Immediately, she could feel Liz putting a hand on her shoulder. “What is it? Did something happen?”
“Larry. She’s got Larry… and Charlie… and Colby… and Alan.”
“Who’s got them?” Liz asked, with a worried expression on her face.
“Amita,” Megan whispered.
“Oh, God…”
Megan could hear Liz asking something else, but her voice seemed to be very far away, so she didn’t answer.
The question finally reached her brain. “Megan, where are they?!” Liz was yelling.
It was time for reaction. In a second, Megan got up and ran towards the door. “They’re at Don’s house!”
She asked for a team, then gave people instructions. As she ran to grab her belongings, she couldn’t stop thinking about how things had gone so wrong and how guilty she was.
She had made a horrible mistake by recommending Bob Berenson, because he had certainly not helped Amita to recover. He had probably even made her condition get worse.
Determined but shaking, Megan loaded her gun. It seemed that she was paying for her mistake, as well as for everything she had seen and done while working at the DOJ.