FIC: In the Arms of the Wicked, 11 (Ian/OMC, Larry, Charlie/Colby, PG-13)
Title: "Inside the briefcase"
Series: In the Arms of the Wicked, Part 11/?
Characters: Ian/OMC, Larry, Charlie/Colby.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Dr. Farrow keeps something inside his briefcase no one knows about.
Feedback: Yes, please. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything (characters, situations, etcetera) except my OCs.
Beta: The amazing nyctophobia76.
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Next chapter
Part 11: Inside the briefcase
Sometimes working at CalSci was complicated. The heat was getting worse, and the air conditioner wasn’t working properly; the center of the desk was covered by pictures, and several monitors that had been connected to laptops were also displaying enhanced photos of Egyptian statues and symbols. Three men worked intensely seated at the desk - Larry, Charlie and Dr. Farrow, keeping their eyes on the screens and typing but never without sharing their thoughts.
The work was exciting and challenging, finding the secret of the Eye of Horus-fractions seemed to be a good case to analyze. However, for Charlie, it was a good time to try to figure out Dr. Farrow, too. Since he had expressed himself on matters that only were Charlie and Colby’s business, the mathematician had started to wonder if maybe Ian was right about him.
“Could this have a deeper meaning than the one we’re looking for?” Larry asked.
While typing, Charlie shook his head. “Mmm… I don’t think so. All these items could lead us to them, and I don’t believe that’s what the thieves want.” He took a breath and then remembered he was supposed to share some news. “Ian called an hour ago. He and Colby are on their way here to see what we have so far.”
“Ian… That’s Agent Edgerton’s first name, isn’t it?” Dr. Farrow asked, and when Charlie looked up, he noticed that the other man was very focused on his research.
“Yeah…”
“I assume he’s coming to check on me, among other things.”
“I guess so.”
“It is true that he’s developed an intense feeling of doubt towards your person, Christopher,” Larry added.
Again Charlie shook his head. “Apparently, the Eye of Horus was usually used as an amulet.”
“That’s correct,” the archeologist muttered, as he took two pictures from the center of the desk. “It was painted in coffins, to guide the Deceased’s way to the Beyond, allowing them to see the path to a better place. Is Edgerton always so serious?”
“Yes,” both Charlie and Larry said in unison, never taking their eyes off their screens.
“Hmmm…”
“I can see what seems to be abnormality here,” Larry pointed out.
Dr. Farrow frowned. “What is it?”
“Hieroglyphics omit the pupil of the Eye.”
“That’s common. The pupil is the piece that completes the symbol, as it is the part of it that actually allows seeing.” He stopped for a moment and then continued, “He’ll track me down no matter where I am, won’t he?”
Charlie typed in the name of the Egyptian god Horus. “If by ‘he’ you mean Ian, then you can be sure he will.”
Thoughtful, Larry said with a raspy tone of voice, “He’s in constant pursuit of the truth, just like us scientists. He wants to be positive on whether you are an individual he can trust or not.”
Dr. Farrow took a deep breath, the sound of it making Charlie wonder how many mysteries he was holding. “I can’t find a connection between these fractions and the thieves. I’ve always had this problem when following the leads in my personal investigations.”
“Have you worked on similar cases before?” Charlie wanted to know. If Dr. Farrow answered, he’d get the key to one of the main questions about him - why, according to Don and Ian, Noah Cameron and the Egyptian Consul wanted him on the case?
“Well, I tried,” the archeologist responded. “I usually start my own research projects and work by myself, getting data from the staff of the Museum in Cairo and the Egyptian government… Then I give feedback and help with the disappearances of new pieces.”
“Oh, so you’re not new to this, really.”
“No, that’s why I know this group we’re chasing. But as you can see, even with all my knowledge and experience in the area, I haven’t been very successful at catching these guys.”
So that was the reason why everyone was pleased to know that Dr. Farrow was working on the case; he had experience on it, and he had probably made more progress on the investigations than anyone else, with his money and his apparently endless resources. But still, that didn’t seem a completely satisfying response. Trying to tie other facts about the man, Charlie reached for one of the several cups of coffee that were on a chair beside him and sipped it slowly.
Now, the archeologist left the pictures he had been looking at in the center of the table and then ran his fingers over the keyboard again. “Have you talked to Granger, Professor Eppes?”
The question startled Charlie, who choked on his coffee, almost dribbling it over his chin. “I believe that’s a personal matter…”
“And I don’t have the right to give my opinion or advice, do I?”
Now Dr. Farrow stared at Charlie, and the mathematician got the feeling that he was going to be insulted for defending his private life. However, he realized that he was wrong when the archeologist leaned slightly on the table and fixed his eyes on him.
“Let me tell you something. I do understand that you don’t want me to say a word about it. But you have to know this - sometimes, a silly advice from a stranger like me can save a relationship from falling apart.”
Charlie stared back at him, tired of his suggestions about what to do about Colby; he liked discussing the issue with Larry, but he didn’t like strangers getting in the way. He was about to reply when the physicist jumped into the conversation again, probably in an attempt to make the other two men calm down.
“Maybe this could be a fanatic group? Some kind of peculiar cult?”
Dr. Farrow took his eyes off Charlie and looked at his watch as he said, “Yeah, I’ve always thought that was very probable.” He then immediately announced, “Excuse me, gentlemen, but I have to go. I’m supposed to take care of one of Larry’s classes in less than five minutes.”
“Ok…” Charlie ended up saying. There was no point in starting a discussion now.
“What’s the classroom again?”
“I could guide you,” Larry offered himself, getting up and walking awkwardly towards the door.
“All right, let’s go. I’ll be back soon, Professor.” As if he was trying to put another meaning into his words, Dr. Farrow looked back at Charlie, took his briefcase and only after smiling briefly, he followed Larry on the way out of the office.
As he watched him leave the room, Charlie started feeling that Dr. Farrow was a suspicious character. What if the innocent verdict to the public scandal had been part of an arrangement between the judge and the archeologist? In a world where money wasn’t a problem, that could have been possible.
Charlie shivered; in moments like these, he really hated being part of that wealthy elite, too.
XxX
“Can you walk, Larry?” Dr. Farrow asked as he and the physicist walked down the corridors of CalSci towards a particular classroom, which was in the next building.
Larry was having trouble following the other man’s pace, but his mind was focused on stars, supernovas and Einstein’s work. “I am perfectly capable of moving by using my own energy, don’t worry. Besides, I think I’m close to a very interesting theory thanks to my limping…”
“Ah, I remember you telling me it helped you think…” Smiling, the archeologist and Larry left Charles’ building and got out to the campus. The sun was starting to fall down in a beautiful sunset but activities seemed to be going to last longer; a university like CalSci was an extremely busy, and it was a very pleasant to be around such an atmosphere. That day, silence was covered by the laughs and voices of the students that were getting ready for their classes. Nature had its part in the conjunction of sounds of the end of the day, and the darkening surroundings strangely made all problems seem to be fixed… until Dr. Farrow looked at his briefcase and, without a warning, stopped walking.
Of course, Larry stopped in his tracks, too. “Is there something wrong?” he asked, glancing to see what kind of abnormality had caught his friend’s attention.
“No, I just…” The other man’s eyes were fixed on the letters that were engraved in the briefcase.
It was hard for Larry to remember the terrible story of Louis Terrence, the man who used to live in Dr. Farrow’s Arizona house. “Oh… Those are Louis Terrence’s initials,” he muttered, a little afraid to bring up the subject. He truly believed that some memories should be left behind, even if they were some of the many factors that shaped an individual’s character.
But Dr. Farrow looked around him and after a moment of silence he said, “It’s okay, Larry. It doesn’t hurt as much as it used to. Two years is a lot of time.”
Still limping, the physicist managed to approach his friend and put a hand on his shoulder. “Sometimes, not even a century is enough to heal a wound of the heart.” He looked into Dr. Farrow’s eyes, catching traces of the pain he had been through after Louis Terrence had been murdered. That man would be certainly missed.
He jumped in his place when Dr. Farrow patted his shoulder in a sign of friendship, and he accepted the help the archeologist offered him so he could walk properly towards the classroom.
But Dr. Farrow unexpectedly froze and looked ahead. “Oh, no,” he muttered, and he pushed Larry away and started running into the opposite direction. For a second, the physicist didn’t understand the rationality behind Farrow’s decision, but when a bullet came out of nowhere, he realized that his friend was only trying to protect him.
And he wasn’t the only one. Ian and Colby’s voices suddenly starting to shout, “Get down on the floor, get down on the floor!” but not even the presence of the FBI at CalSci seemed to stop the bullets. More of them flew through the air, and students ran away, screaming, dropping their stuff, trying to cover themselves.
“Larry, get down on the floor, do you hear me?” Dr. Farrow’s voice yelled as he hid behind a statue. Larry crawled until he could stand behind the next one, and he felt himself trembling immensely as bullets hit his protective shield.
Everything happened so fast. In seconds, Colby ran to stand him, asked him if he was all right and tried to cover him with his body. As he covered his ears in desperation and curled up behind the base of the statue and Colby’s body, Larry got the courage to look around and glance at Dr. Farrow and Ian.
Both men were covering themselves by using the next statue. The sniper was cursing for not being able to shoot back, given the presence of hundreds of innocent people. However, Dr. Farrow was anything but scared; he kept exposing his head to the shootings, as if he was trying to figure out who the shooter was.
Then, incredibly, he positioned himself behind Ian and took a gun out of his briefcase. He had obviously been carrying it all along, even at the office, while talking about the Eye of Horus… He loaded it so fast that no one saw him, not even Ian, who was probably wondering how many injured people he’d find when the attack was over. But when Ian noticed that Farrow had starting shooting back, his face turned into a furious, shocked expression Larry had never seen. Larry himself couldn’t believe what he was seeing; he was learning so many things about his friend, things that he didn’t like.
Screams were still all around, but the dangerous sound of bullets suddenly stopped. Colby took out his gun and held it tightly, staying alert, and Ian did the same thing. They looked at each other, and when the sniper nodded, Colby went to check the perimeter.
“Give me that!” Ian suddenly snapped. When Larry turned to look at him, he found the sniper trying to get Dr. Farrow to give him his gun.
“I’ve got a license, and I know how to shoot” the archeologist yelled back.
“Yeah, right!”
“I do, and if you don’t want to believe me, then fine!”
Ian stared back at Dr. Farrow and then, without a warning, roughly pushed him onto the floor. The archeologist fell, dropping his gun, which Ian quickly grabbed. Neither said anything, because Colby was back.
“Nothing. It’s clear. I don’t know where the bullets came from. We should check on the students, it has to be one of some of them. So far, I haven’t seen anyone wounded,” Colby muttered. “Oh damn it, Charlie!” he said, and he ran towards his lover’s building. Larry was sure that he wanted to be sure that a missing bullet hadn’t reached the mathematician by any chance; just the thought of Charles being hurt or dead made the physicist almost lose his breath.
“Are you okay, Professor?” Ian asked Larry.
“Yeah… I think I am,” the physicist responded. He saw Ian look back at Dr. Farrow, who remained on the floor.
“What the hell were you thinking, huh?” the sniper yelled at him. “Opening fire here, in a public place?”
“No, I was trying to…!”
“Don’t you dare saying a word to me right now. I swear that if I hear you one more time, I…” Thankfully, Ian’s cell phone rang, and he had to pick up the call. “It’s Colby,” he announced. “Professor Eppes is okay, don’t worry.”
Larry felt his heart starting to beat normally. At least some good news. But the fight between Ian and Dr. Farrow wasn’t over yet.
“You’re going to come with me to the FBI. Now!” the sniper shouted, but the archeologist didn’t move, so he grabbed him by his clothes and made him get on his feet. “Get up!”
This time, Dr. Farrow did nothing but what he had been asked to do.
Series: In the Arms of the Wicked, Part 11/?
Characters: Ian/OMC, Larry, Charlie/Colby.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Dr. Farrow keeps something inside his briefcase no one knows about.
Feedback: Yes, please. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything (characters, situations, etcetera) except my OCs.
Beta: The amazing nyctophobia76.
Previous chapter
Next chapter
Part 11: Inside the briefcase
Sometimes working at CalSci was complicated. The heat was getting worse, and the air conditioner wasn’t working properly; the center of the desk was covered by pictures, and several monitors that had been connected to laptops were also displaying enhanced photos of Egyptian statues and symbols. Three men worked intensely seated at the desk - Larry, Charlie and Dr. Farrow, keeping their eyes on the screens and typing but never without sharing their thoughts.
The work was exciting and challenging, finding the secret of the Eye of Horus-fractions seemed to be a good case to analyze. However, for Charlie, it was a good time to try to figure out Dr. Farrow, too. Since he had expressed himself on matters that only were Charlie and Colby’s business, the mathematician had started to wonder if maybe Ian was right about him.
“Could this have a deeper meaning than the one we’re looking for?” Larry asked.
While typing, Charlie shook his head. “Mmm… I don’t think so. All these items could lead us to them, and I don’t believe that’s what the thieves want.” He took a breath and then remembered he was supposed to share some news. “Ian called an hour ago. He and Colby are on their way here to see what we have so far.”
“Ian… That’s Agent Edgerton’s first name, isn’t it?” Dr. Farrow asked, and when Charlie looked up, he noticed that the other man was very focused on his research.
“Yeah…”
“I assume he’s coming to check on me, among other things.”
“I guess so.”
“It is true that he’s developed an intense feeling of doubt towards your person, Christopher,” Larry added.
Again Charlie shook his head. “Apparently, the Eye of Horus was usually used as an amulet.”
“That’s correct,” the archeologist muttered, as he took two pictures from the center of the desk. “It was painted in coffins, to guide the Deceased’s way to the Beyond, allowing them to see the path to a better place. Is Edgerton always so serious?”
“Yes,” both Charlie and Larry said in unison, never taking their eyes off their screens.
“Hmmm…”
“I can see what seems to be abnormality here,” Larry pointed out.
Dr. Farrow frowned. “What is it?”
“Hieroglyphics omit the pupil of the Eye.”
“That’s common. The pupil is the piece that completes the symbol, as it is the part of it that actually allows seeing.” He stopped for a moment and then continued, “He’ll track me down no matter where I am, won’t he?”
Charlie typed in the name of the Egyptian god Horus. “If by ‘he’ you mean Ian, then you can be sure he will.”
Thoughtful, Larry said with a raspy tone of voice, “He’s in constant pursuit of the truth, just like us scientists. He wants to be positive on whether you are an individual he can trust or not.”
Dr. Farrow took a deep breath, the sound of it making Charlie wonder how many mysteries he was holding. “I can’t find a connection between these fractions and the thieves. I’ve always had this problem when following the leads in my personal investigations.”
“Have you worked on similar cases before?” Charlie wanted to know. If Dr. Farrow answered, he’d get the key to one of the main questions about him - why, according to Don and Ian, Noah Cameron and the Egyptian Consul wanted him on the case?
“Well, I tried,” the archeologist responded. “I usually start my own research projects and work by myself, getting data from the staff of the Museum in Cairo and the Egyptian government… Then I give feedback and help with the disappearances of new pieces.”
“Oh, so you’re not new to this, really.”
“No, that’s why I know this group we’re chasing. But as you can see, even with all my knowledge and experience in the area, I haven’t been very successful at catching these guys.”
So that was the reason why everyone was pleased to know that Dr. Farrow was working on the case; he had experience on it, and he had probably made more progress on the investigations than anyone else, with his money and his apparently endless resources. But still, that didn’t seem a completely satisfying response. Trying to tie other facts about the man, Charlie reached for one of the several cups of coffee that were on a chair beside him and sipped it slowly.
Now, the archeologist left the pictures he had been looking at in the center of the table and then ran his fingers over the keyboard again. “Have you talked to Granger, Professor Eppes?”
The question startled Charlie, who choked on his coffee, almost dribbling it over his chin. “I believe that’s a personal matter…”
“And I don’t have the right to give my opinion or advice, do I?”
Now Dr. Farrow stared at Charlie, and the mathematician got the feeling that he was going to be insulted for defending his private life. However, he realized that he was wrong when the archeologist leaned slightly on the table and fixed his eyes on him.
“Let me tell you something. I do understand that you don’t want me to say a word about it. But you have to know this - sometimes, a silly advice from a stranger like me can save a relationship from falling apart.”
Charlie stared back at him, tired of his suggestions about what to do about Colby; he liked discussing the issue with Larry, but he didn’t like strangers getting in the way. He was about to reply when the physicist jumped into the conversation again, probably in an attempt to make the other two men calm down.
“Maybe this could be a fanatic group? Some kind of peculiar cult?”
Dr. Farrow took his eyes off Charlie and looked at his watch as he said, “Yeah, I’ve always thought that was very probable.” He then immediately announced, “Excuse me, gentlemen, but I have to go. I’m supposed to take care of one of Larry’s classes in less than five minutes.”
“Ok…” Charlie ended up saying. There was no point in starting a discussion now.
“What’s the classroom again?”
“I could guide you,” Larry offered himself, getting up and walking awkwardly towards the door.
“All right, let’s go. I’ll be back soon, Professor.” As if he was trying to put another meaning into his words, Dr. Farrow looked back at Charlie, took his briefcase and only after smiling briefly, he followed Larry on the way out of the office.
As he watched him leave the room, Charlie started feeling that Dr. Farrow was a suspicious character. What if the innocent verdict to the public scandal had been part of an arrangement between the judge and the archeologist? In a world where money wasn’t a problem, that could have been possible.
Charlie shivered; in moments like these, he really hated being part of that wealthy elite, too.
XxX
“Can you walk, Larry?” Dr. Farrow asked as he and the physicist walked down the corridors of CalSci towards a particular classroom, which was in the next building.
Larry was having trouble following the other man’s pace, but his mind was focused on stars, supernovas and Einstein’s work. “I am perfectly capable of moving by using my own energy, don’t worry. Besides, I think I’m close to a very interesting theory thanks to my limping…”
“Ah, I remember you telling me it helped you think…” Smiling, the archeologist and Larry left Charles’ building and got out to the campus. The sun was starting to fall down in a beautiful sunset but activities seemed to be going to last longer; a university like CalSci was an extremely busy, and it was a very pleasant to be around such an atmosphere. That day, silence was covered by the laughs and voices of the students that were getting ready for their classes. Nature had its part in the conjunction of sounds of the end of the day, and the darkening surroundings strangely made all problems seem to be fixed… until Dr. Farrow looked at his briefcase and, without a warning, stopped walking.
Of course, Larry stopped in his tracks, too. “Is there something wrong?” he asked, glancing to see what kind of abnormality had caught his friend’s attention.
“No, I just…” The other man’s eyes were fixed on the letters that were engraved in the briefcase.
It was hard for Larry to remember the terrible story of Louis Terrence, the man who used to live in Dr. Farrow’s Arizona house. “Oh… Those are Louis Terrence’s initials,” he muttered, a little afraid to bring up the subject. He truly believed that some memories should be left behind, even if they were some of the many factors that shaped an individual’s character.
But Dr. Farrow looked around him and after a moment of silence he said, “It’s okay, Larry. It doesn’t hurt as much as it used to. Two years is a lot of time.”
Still limping, the physicist managed to approach his friend and put a hand on his shoulder. “Sometimes, not even a century is enough to heal a wound of the heart.” He looked into Dr. Farrow’s eyes, catching traces of the pain he had been through after Louis Terrence had been murdered. That man would be certainly missed.
He jumped in his place when Dr. Farrow patted his shoulder in a sign of friendship, and he accepted the help the archeologist offered him so he could walk properly towards the classroom.
But Dr. Farrow unexpectedly froze and looked ahead. “Oh, no,” he muttered, and he pushed Larry away and started running into the opposite direction. For a second, the physicist didn’t understand the rationality behind Farrow’s decision, but when a bullet came out of nowhere, he realized that his friend was only trying to protect him.
And he wasn’t the only one. Ian and Colby’s voices suddenly starting to shout, “Get down on the floor, get down on the floor!” but not even the presence of the FBI at CalSci seemed to stop the bullets. More of them flew through the air, and students ran away, screaming, dropping their stuff, trying to cover themselves.
“Larry, get down on the floor, do you hear me?” Dr. Farrow’s voice yelled as he hid behind a statue. Larry crawled until he could stand behind the next one, and he felt himself trembling immensely as bullets hit his protective shield.
Everything happened so fast. In seconds, Colby ran to stand him, asked him if he was all right and tried to cover him with his body. As he covered his ears in desperation and curled up behind the base of the statue and Colby’s body, Larry got the courage to look around and glance at Dr. Farrow and Ian.
Both men were covering themselves by using the next statue. The sniper was cursing for not being able to shoot back, given the presence of hundreds of innocent people. However, Dr. Farrow was anything but scared; he kept exposing his head to the shootings, as if he was trying to figure out who the shooter was.
Then, incredibly, he positioned himself behind Ian and took a gun out of his briefcase. He had obviously been carrying it all along, even at the office, while talking about the Eye of Horus… He loaded it so fast that no one saw him, not even Ian, who was probably wondering how many injured people he’d find when the attack was over. But when Ian noticed that Farrow had starting shooting back, his face turned into a furious, shocked expression Larry had never seen. Larry himself couldn’t believe what he was seeing; he was learning so many things about his friend, things that he didn’t like.
Screams were still all around, but the dangerous sound of bullets suddenly stopped. Colby took out his gun and held it tightly, staying alert, and Ian did the same thing. They looked at each other, and when the sniper nodded, Colby went to check the perimeter.
“Give me that!” Ian suddenly snapped. When Larry turned to look at him, he found the sniper trying to get Dr. Farrow to give him his gun.
“I’ve got a license, and I know how to shoot” the archeologist yelled back.
“Yeah, right!”
“I do, and if you don’t want to believe me, then fine!”
Ian stared back at Dr. Farrow and then, without a warning, roughly pushed him onto the floor. The archeologist fell, dropping his gun, which Ian quickly grabbed. Neither said anything, because Colby was back.
“Nothing. It’s clear. I don’t know where the bullets came from. We should check on the students, it has to be one of some of them. So far, I haven’t seen anyone wounded,” Colby muttered. “Oh damn it, Charlie!” he said, and he ran towards his lover’s building. Larry was sure that he wanted to be sure that a missing bullet hadn’t reached the mathematician by any chance; just the thought of Charles being hurt or dead made the physicist almost lose his breath.
“Are you okay, Professor?” Ian asked Larry.
“Yeah… I think I am,” the physicist responded. He saw Ian look back at Dr. Farrow, who remained on the floor.
“What the hell were you thinking, huh?” the sniper yelled at him. “Opening fire here, in a public place?”
“No, I was trying to…!”
“Don’t you dare saying a word to me right now. I swear that if I hear you one more time, I…” Thankfully, Ian’s cell phone rang, and he had to pick up the call. “It’s Colby,” he announced. “Professor Eppes is okay, don’t worry.”
Larry felt his heart starting to beat normally. At least some good news. But the fight between Ian and Dr. Farrow wasn’t over yet.
“You’re going to come with me to the FBI. Now!” the sniper shouted, but the archeologist didn’t move, so he grabbed him by his clothes and made him get on his feet. “Get up!”
This time, Dr. Farrow did nothing but what he had been asked to do.