FIC: The Connections Series, Part 15/?, "Unexpected moves" (Charlie/Colby, PG-13)
First, I wanted to thank everyone who has been sending me messages to talk when I was sad. Thank you! You made my day get so much better!
I also wanted to thank everyone who has friended me or friended me back during last week. It's really nice of you...
Chapter 15! It was pure hell to work with action scenes, especially in English. I tried to use Don's POV in the first part, but then I guess there's a little bit of everyone towards the end.
I hope you comment and point out any mistake I could have made. I love any kind of opinions, as long as they're not offensive.
Enjoy! I loved writing this chapter. It made me feel a lot like I was writing my original fiction works. :D
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Title: Unexpected moves
Series: The Connections Series, Part 15/?
Characters: Charlie/Colby, Don, Alan, Megan, Larry, David, Amita, OMC.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None.
Summary: Charlie and Colby make unexpected moves that make Amita's kidnapper take control of the situation.
Feedback: Can't wait!
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it. But I do own the ideas used for this fic in terms of the story and my OMC-Patrick Garner.
Beta: Thank you, nahzee ! You helped so much with this chapter. I know it must been hard to beta it because so much happens in it.
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Go to Part 14: The key to the secret, PG-13
Go to Part 16: 95%, PG-13
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The Connections Series
Part 15: “Unexpected moves”
It was one o’clock in the morning. As soon as the kidnapper appeared on scene, Don recapped the information he had about him in his head.
His name was Patrick Garner, and according to the FBI files that now had his name on them, the man had been Amita’s ex boyfriend years ago. Charlie had never got to know about him. It had been a relationship that Amita had regretted for a long time, especially given the fact that Patrick had overwhelmed her over the years by trying to get her back.
Don remembered well the moment he had feared that the man could do something to Charlie after he had escaped from jail. He had also feared that if Amita got hurt because of his craziness, Charlie’s heart would be broken, even if they weren’t a couple anymore.
This remembering only took him a few moments. Then Don motioned everybody to calm down and stand still. Megan, David, and Colby were professionals and they knew how to be careful. Alan and Larry obviously weren’t going to do anything to put Amita’s life in danger. But it was Charlie who looked especially worried and desperate, and he seemed the most likely to do something foolish and ruin the negotiations that should start at any second.
Holding his breath, Don tried to say something, but the criminal talked first.
“So someone didn’t take the incoming phone call that would let you know I was free,” the man muttered with his rasping teasing voice while he rolled the barrel of the gun up and down Amita’s cheek. “Isn’t that what you told Agent Granger a while ago, Dr. Eppes?”
Colby gulped and swallowed, and Charlie turned his head to look at him in horror.
“Where you here… the whole time?” Colby asked, not seeming to be able to breathe properly.
The criminal shook his head, his mouth curving in a wicked smile. “Oh, no… Not all the time, because I got here about an hour ago… but I’ve seen enough, trust me.”
Oh, no. There was no way that this could be happening… No way.
“What’s he talking about?” Don said, while looking at Charlie and Colby. Something had to be happening between them two, and considering the public fight plus the way Patrick talked, it didn’t seem to be good.
Both Charlie and Colby shook their heads and whispered a not very believable “nothing,” while Megan, Larry and David looked a little suspicious. The only one who looked as curious as Don was Alan, who was standing close to Amita beside the couch and tried not to move.
“Oh, I wouldn’t call it ‘nothing’,” Patrick continued, and he ran the barrel of the gun up and down Amita’s throat. Then he looked at Alan and smiled, very sure of himself.
“Hey, hey!” Don warned Patrick, lifting his hand a little.
“You make a move and she’s dead,” the other man warned him in return, squeezing Amita’s waist.
“You hurt anyone here and you’re the one who’s going to be dead.”
Patrick looked at Don mocking his confident attitude and smiled again. “I don’t think you’re in a position to be so cocky, Agent Eppes. Do you forget who I have here? I have your lovely brother's ex-girlfriend, and the truth about what's keeping Charlie and Amita apart…”
Don heard Charlie and Colby gasp behind him. They looked horrified and tense, and the others seemed not be sure of what to say.
“Your guess is right, Agent Eppes. Some of them know something you don’t...” Patrick said, and the way he pronounced those words was long and dark.
That made Don a little confused, but still he started the negotiation. “I don’t care about that, I care about what you want so Amita and all of us can be safe. Are you willing to work with me?”
“Sorry, but I don’t think so…”
Don shook his head in irritation. “Then you’re crazier than I imagined. You think you’re getting out of this one with four agents in the house?”
“But I’ve got the big secret…” Patrick pointed out, playing some kind of childish smile, and he glanced at Amita, Charlie and Colby.
No matter how weird the guy was, no matter how many suspicious things he said, it wasn’t a good moment to play the boss card. “Ok, ok... you’re right. You have control. Look man, just tell me what you want I’ll try to get it for you,” Don continued.
Suddenly, the criminal started to laugh, like he considered that Don’s promise was funny. “Please, do you really think I need to negotiate? I’ve gotten out of jail and lost the FBI myself. I guess I can handle maintaining my liberty pretty well, thank you,” he established, laughing a little more. Then he started mumbling what Don had said before, mocking him again.
“Then, what? What’s the purpose? Just vengeance because Amita left you?” Don asked, encouraging Patrick to tell him more. Maybe he was so crazy he would confess his evil plan.
“You’re not getting me to confess my goals, forget it. I risked a lot to come here with you all here, as you said. You’ll just have to wait and see. But I guess you could say that I’ve been really pissed off at her for the last years…”
While he ran the barrel of the gun over Amita’s chest, he said something into her ear. “Do you want to know? Do you really want to know what they did? Do you want to have the exclusive of why Charlie left you?” He immediately received a heavy look from Amita. He seemed to be able to read the truth on her eyes. “Oh… you already know the reason. Although… I guess you have no idea of what happened in this very house last night…”
She took a deep breath, and that seemed to be the sign Patrick was waiting for. Now watching Amita’s trembling lips, he muttered, “Ok, let’s see… who I should talk about first? Dr. Eppes or Agent Granger?” He slowly started to play with the trigger of the gun.
“No, please!” Alan suddenly said. He was obviously scared that something could happen to himself, but he feared more that Amita would get hurt. He had said several times before now that he considered her to be his daughter and his friend, even if she and Charlie weren’t together anymore.
Patrick rapidly took the knife that he had in his boots and pointed it to Alan, while he still pointed the gun to Amita. Even if Alan and Patrick were not very close, Don yelled “Don’t you dare!” No one was going to hurt his father. No one.
But someone had been moving all along. “You’re not talking about anyone,” Colby said. He had been approaching Patrick, who was focused on Amita and didn't notice. Colby even had his gun in his hands, but when he tried to use it, the man used his knife to cut Amita’s arm and made her whimper in pain.
Everybody jumped in their places, and Megan intervened. Don was sure she hadn’t talked until now because she was thinking about how many possibilities there were for Charlie and Colby to get discovered, and how many there were for Amita being killed that morning. But now it wasn’t time for thinking anymore, it was time to get into Patrick Garner’s mind and make him react.
“Wait!” she said, and went towards him. “This is not necessary, you’ve got all the power here!”
“How can you know that this is not necessary?!” Patrick yelled, and he pushed Amita against the couch, digging his fingers on her wounded skin and making her cry. Then, in seemingly a second, he grabbed Colby’s arm. The criminal had an overwhelming burst of energy, and he was able to take Colby’s gun and throw it to the floor, pulled him onto the couch too and held the barrel of his own gun against Colby’s chest. “Really, Agent Reeves. How can you know?” he repeated.
Megan’s intervention had made things worse. Colby’s idea of taking Patrick by surprise hadn’t succeed either, and now he was on the couch beside Amita, both of them forced to not to move by Patrick’s gun. “Interesting… Now I have two hostages,” he muttered, and then talked to Colby, “You’re so brave. So caring, so loving. You wanted to save the girl because Dr. Eppes still cares about her, right? Mmm… it was a nice gesture, but I guess it didn’t work.”
“Shut up,” Colby responded to him, and Patrick’s face showed amusement. “What did you just say?” Colby remained silent, and Patrick repeated, “What did you say?” The criminal took Colby’s face with one hand and squeezed it while he still held the barrel of the gun against his chest. “Do you want to really suffer? Is that what you’re looking for?”
Don was completely astonished, watching Colby take such risk in the middle of that situation. It was obvious that his mind was blocked and that he was making mistake after mistake. There was no reason for him to do that, what the hell was wrong with Colby?
And then David, Megan, Larry, and Alan yelled at unison.
“No!”
“No, don’t do that!”
“No, are you crazy?!”
“Please, Charlie, don’t!”
Those were the yells that came to Don’s head and that made him turn around. His brother was making the stupidest move ever. Charlie got to grab the gun Don had in his waist. Now he was holding it and his hands were shaking, but he was determined to save both Colby and Amita.
“Let them go… Now…” Charlie muttered, trying to get a firm grip on the gun.
“Oh, how sweet that you try to be the hero…” Patrick mocked him.
“Now! I said that you let them go right now!” Charlie yelled back, and he seemed so out of control and so nervous that Don started to go for him and take the gun from his hands.
But it was too late for him to do that, because Charlie was getting closer and closer to Patrick, step by step he was approaching him. Patrick didn’t do anything at all, he simply waited for the mathematician to rest the barrel of the gun on his forehead.
“Are you going to shoot, Dr. Eppes?” Patrick asked, and he twisted his head a little, “Even if this turns you into a killer and destroys your entire career?”
Charlie seemed to have doubts, but he didn’t retrieved. He and Patrick held each other’s looks for some seconds… and then the kidnapper made the gun fall to the floor with a fine movement and threw Charlie over Colby on the couch.
“I knew you wouldn’t. You’re not that brave,” Patrick said, and he managed to keep everybody quiet and frozen by pointing at Charlie’s face with his gun. The mathematician’s body curved against Colby’s, and Colby was pushed onto Amita’s hurt arm. She cried softly, probably remembering some of the torture sessions she had been through when she was kidnapped at the Saint Fate Motel.
Of course, Patrick was still looking at her, but now there was a much more interesting scene there. “Wow… just… wow,” he whispered, and his eyes were shining with excitement. “Amita there, Charlie here… Agent Granger in the middle. Isn’t this man the one that separated the beautiful couple? Isn’t this mathematician the one who took my place, Amita? Was it worth to leave me for this, after what he did to you?” he continued. Charlie and Colby’s eyes went wide open, and they looked at the rest of their friends and family who were in front of them, silently waiting for a change to finally take Patrick down.
Still, Patrick kept talking, but this time he approached Amita a little over Charlie and Colby and said ironically, “I’m going to tell you what I know. Last night, in this very house, these two men spent their first night together in the room ups-“
“Shut up!” Colby ordered him, and suddenly he used his face to punch Patrick’s and make him dizzy. Then it all seemed to change. There was a shot at the ceiling, and the kidnapper dropped his gun and knife and fell to the floor, grabbing his head. Don and Megan went towards him and the hostages. Megan took out her gun while David went towards Patrick’s gun and knife, because they were lying on the floor very close to him.
However, Patrick was not going to give up yet. He still had some energy to take his gun. In less than a second he pointed it to Amita, who was still close to Charlie and Colby on the couch.
Colby tried to grab his own gun from the floor, but it seemed that it was too late for that. Patrick was pulling the trigger, and the only thing that was left to do was looking for shelter. Desperate to protect the one he loved, Colby reached for Charlie and covered him with his body, both of them falling to the floor.
Amita was left alone in the corner of the couch, and she screamed when she thought she was about to die. The bullet left the gun and was about to get to her…
And then someone stood in the middle, taking the bullet by himself. It was Don the one to stand in front of her and take the risk. Luckily, the bullet entered his arm and didn’t pass through to Amita. Don gasped because of the pain, but he also saw that Patrick was cursing on the floor.
But Patrick wanted more, and he was about to shoot again when someone else shot at him first. It had been David. Amita’s kidnapper was dead, and he didn’t represent any menace that they knew of.
And just when the danger seemed to be over, something rolled out of Patrick’s waist. While he was trying to shoot, he had activated one of the grenades he had brought to the house with him.
Everyone saw the grenade roll until it reached the center of the living room. It was Patrick’s unexpected last move. The bastard was good because even dead as he was now, he kept causing trouble.
“Kick it, Larry! Take it out of the room!” Megan yelled from her place besides Amita. Almost everybody was around the couch, around Patrick’s body, too far to reach for the grenade.
“C’mon Larry, do it!” Don said too. He watched Larry’s face tense in confusion. It was obvious that the physicist wasn’t the type of character to get into violent situations. His entire body was shaking, but when he seemed to realize that the danger was real, he did what was needed.
He ran towards the grenade in a second and awkwardly kicked it into the next room. Hopefully, it would be far enough to not hurt anybody seriously.
Everybody covered their bodies and protected their loved ones when the grenade exploded, blowing up a significant part of the Eppes’ residence. Things flew to the air in pieces with a harsh sound.
After a few seconds, Don and the others opened their eyes. They checked that everybody was ok. Amita was wounded, but she wasn't in imminent danger.
Alan went to see the ones that had been at Patrick’s mercy, but of course, the one he was interested in the most was his youngest son. Charlie told him that he was ok, that nothing had happened to him, and then Don came on scene.
“What the hell were you trying to do, huh? Taking my gun like that…” he said to Charlie very angrily.
“I don’t know… I… I just went for it…” Charlie responded, and he seemed to be about to faint.
Don wasn’t done yet. He went towards Colby and said, “And what about you, Colby? Are you insane? You were defeating the guy when you were at his mercy!”
Colby simply shook his head and went to the corner of the room. Don kept his eyes on both him and Charlie, and saw that they looked completely devastated. He had to know what the hell was going on between them. Their problems were causing the team to become sloppy and inaccurate.
Still, there was a lot to do now, so Don tried to focus on the damage Patrick Garner had caused to his house. He went to his father, who was now sadly looking at the next room. It was almost completely destroyed.
They both stood there looking at their broken possessions, and Charlie joined them silently. The three of them stared at a part of their lives that was gone now. The place they used to hang out and gather together three times a week for dinner. And what was worse, the house had been a way to remember their mother, and some photographs of Margaret had been blown up. All because of Patrick Garner.
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Half an hour later, Don had already called an ambulance and the FBI. While other FBI agents were gathering evidence, the team was trying to recover from what had happened in the last hours.
Megan and Larry were beside Amita, who was being helped by one of the EMTs. They weren’t talking, though. They were in complete silence, looking at everybody who was around.
“Are you ok, man?” David asked Colby, because Colby’s expression wasn’t good at all. They were walking on the street, trying to get some fresh air.
“Yeah… I guess so. At least, physically speaking…”
“I see,” David muttered, and he put a hand on Colby’s shoulder. “What about the other stuff?” he continued, and he was obviously talking about Charlie.
“I’m crushed. But I’ll try to forget about everything. I’ll be fine, I guess.”
David was about to ask him if he was sure, when Charlie came on scene, so he excused himself and went to see how Amita was doing.
“Are you ok?” Charlie whispered, and he was very nervous to talk to Colby after everything that had happened. However, he was sure he needed to know if Colby had got hurt in some way.
Not surprisingly at all, Colby just nodded and left Charlie alone. The mathematician watched him walk towards other agents to talk a bit. Then, Charlie took a deep breath and went to see Don, who was sitting beside his father in one of the ambulances.
There was an awkward moment between them. However, Don said, “Do you understand what you did? Do you see how much danger you added to the situation?”
“Yeah.” That was the short response from the nervous mathematician.
“Oh, that’s very good. ‘Yeah’, that all you’re going to say. Charlie, can't you see that you could have died? That anyone of us could have been shot at because of you trying to get Patrick angrier?”
“I said I know, Don! I know that what I did was stupid, and that it put everybody in danger! I don’t need you or anyone to remind me that, I have enough with what’s in my head!” Charlie yelled, and he went to sit far away on the corner of the street.
Alan watched him with worry eyes, and spent a long time analyzing the potential causes for his son’s strange behavior. He had a pretty good idea of what could be happening, but he still needed to be sure.
He didn’t know that there, Charlie became sure that he had to make his final decision about this lover. And that he had to do it fast, before everything in his life lost meaning and crushed his soul until he couldn’t recognize himself anymore.
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The song I chose for this chapter
Evanescence - "Taking over me"
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Ok, so final thoughts about this chapter. First, I had so much fun writing it! :D
Secondly, I know I could made Amita die, but I think she's suffered enough. I mean, she was kidnapped, tortured, his boyfriend left her for another man, then her kidnapper is back to phychologically and physically hurt her again. I don't know about you, but I am satisfied with that. :)
I have to say that the image of Larry kicking the grenade came to my mind the second I got to write that part. I think it should be something that should happen in the actual series. It would be priceless!
So... thoughts? Recommendations? Ideas? I'm waiting for them while a study for my last huge mid-term, which will on Wednesday.