Fic: Target, Chapter 10/10 (Numb3rs, Charlie / Colby, David / Ian / Bobby, Megan)
Title: Target, Chapter 10/10
Pair: Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger,
Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord,
David Sinclair / Ian Edgerton / Bobby
Rating: PG
Fandom: Numb3rs / The 4400 (Crossover)
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
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“Stay close to me, don’t talk to strangers and don’t ask dumb questions.”
“I’m not a five year old.” Bobby complained and followed Garrity to the airport terminal. “And I know how this works.”
“Good, because I got better things to do than to play a babysitter.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I didn’t have a choice. Men upstairs tell us to go and we’ll go.”
“Are you flying with me or is someone waiting in the other end?”
“I’m going with you.” Garrity glared at his with a frustrated expression. “I’m in charge of your protection, until the trial is over.”
“Don’t look so thrilled. How long will that take?”
“They’re trying to pump up the court dates. First the arson, hit and run, and bombing in L.A, then they’ll be shipped back to Chicago for other charges. We’ll come back here for the first trial, then to Chicago.”
“You didn’t answer my question. How long will it take?”
“At least three or four months.”
“And then I’m free?”
“You’re making it sound like you’re in prison-”
“You people just announced that I’m leaving and give me half an hour to get ready! That’s worse than prison.”
“You got more than half an hour, and just so you know: This isn’t exactly my dream assignment either.”
“Then why were you assigned to this? Did you screw up?”
“I didn’t screw up anything, the men upstairs don’t know what to do with me.”
“Then why did you join the FBI?”
“NTAC got too paranoid even for me.”
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Megan drive into the driveway just when Charlie was unlocking the door. He left it open and marched inside. Colby waited for Megan at the door and guided her to the living room couch.
“I’ll go check on Helen.” Charlie’s voice announced from the stairs. A moment later he bounced back downstairs and came to Colby with hand stretched. “I need your wallet, I didn’t have time to go to the ATM.”
“What do you need it for?” Colby asked, but pulled out his wallet.
“I gotta pay Liza for babysitting.”
“Liza’s not here, you left Helen with Mrs. Greenstone.”
“I did?” Charlie paused to think about it. “Right, she said her grandkids were there too. I’ll be right back.”
“Charlie?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I have my wallet back?”
“I’ll hang on to this, she may demand ransom.” Charlie suggested with a forced smile, but it didn’t seem to convince anyone. “I know, bad timing for a joke.” He tossed the wallet back to Colby and headed out.
“I know I said he would have a unique approach for childrearing, back when you were expecting Helen, and it looks like I was right.” Megan stated. “I assume he’s not like that all the time.”
“No, normally he’s on top of things. I still mark stuff on his day planer, so he remembers what time he was supposed to be somewhere, but he’s a lot better at that kind of things than he was before.”
“What if he forgets his day planner?”
“It’s in his cellphone and his laptop and I`ve made a deal with his teacher’s assistant, department secretary and the receptionists at the FBI to keep an eye on him and send him to the right direction, so he doesn`t get lost on the way.”
“Impressive, but why didn’t you include Larry? They see each other several times a day.”
“I thought about it, but it would be too much like blind leading the blind.” Colby grunted and leaned back against the backrest. “This was one long day…”
“Yes, but it ended well.”
“I don’t know about that. Shouldn’t people be happy that everyone’s alive and they caught the bad guys?”
“Not necessarily. A loss is a loss, and when someone has to leave it is always a loss. Especially to David and Ian and their girl. Maybe more to Caroline. Adults can understand why he had to leave, but a small girl, whose family ties were only temporary before she came to live with them… it has to be a heavy blow. And Martin knew him longer than any of us.”
“Yeah, but… I gotta say I never figured out that whole thing between him and David and Ian.”
“Does it matter? They had their arrangement and it worked for them.”
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Don and Martin shared a brief look and waited for David to finish reading the letter. The man hadn’t said a word since he had opened the envelope, but his closed eyes were a clear sign he had read it and was now trying to digest its content. The door to Caroline’s room was opened and Ian walked into the living room. A loud bang told them the girl was not in the mood for adults.
“Did she read it?” Don asked carefully, but David didn’t even seem to hear him.
“Yeah, but she didn’t let me see it.” Ian stepped behind David and placed his hand on the man’s waist. “What’s in ours?”
“Read it yourself.” David frowned. He turned around and handed over the crumbled letter. “I need some air.” He gave Ian a little kiss in the lips and walked out of the living room. Few minutes later a sound of traffic wafted through the apartment.
“Balcony.” Ian explained without looking up from the letter in his hand. “When he needs to think about stuff and he doesn’t want company, he goes to the balcony. He did that three times before you got here.”
“What about you?” Martin asked. “How are you coping?”
“I’m coping.” Ian scoffed, but his expression softened a bit. “It wasn’t like it is with David, but…”
“You cared about him.” Martin offered. “We all did. We do. He didn’t leave because he wanted to.”
“I know that.” Ian started reading the letter again, scanning through the twirling handwriting. “This is why guys shouldn`t talk about feelings. It gets awkward.”
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“Are you finally going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Here.” Garrity pulled the plane tickets from his pocket. “And bureau doesn’t pay for drinks on the flight.”
“You’re the one who’s working, I could use a drink after this kinda day.” Bobby took the small folder and peeked in. “And now that I know where we’re going, I I’ll need more than one.” He shoved the folder back to Garrity and walked past him to the large windows.
“Let’s get going.”
“In a minute.” Bobby pressed his palm against the window, trying to imprint the reddening horizon to his memory.
“They’re calling our flight.”
“Yeah…” He frowned and took a step back from the window. “When this all over, I’ll come back and I won’t go anywhere for the next decade even for a vacation.”