Fic: Packing, Chapter 1 (Numb3rs, Don / Martin)
Title: Packing, Chapter 1
Pair: Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger,
Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord,
David Sinclair / Ian Edgerton
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
“Maybe we could throw some stuff while we’re going through everything.” Don suggested and picked up a small figurine. “Like this….”
He waited to hear a No, but it didn’t come. He turned to look at Martin, but the man seemed to be in deep thoughts.
“Hello? Anybody there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” Martin snapped back to reality. “I was just thinking.”
“So can I throw this out?” Don wiggled the figurine in front of him.
“I got that from my aunt when I passed the bar.”
“Is that a no?”
“It’s ugly and I’ve kept it in the closet ever since I got it, you can you use it as a door stopper if you want.”
“Is she going to come visiting anytime soon?”
“She’s eighty-nine and lives in a retirement home, she’s not flying across the Atlantic ocean anytime soon.”
“Good. I mean it’s not good that she can’t travel but-”
“I got the point.” Martin grabbed an empty box and started shoving in stacks of books. “And I can’t believe I’ve gathered this much stuff…. We need to get a new bookshelf when we get settled.”
“Or you could just throw away some of those.”
“A book is like an old friend, you just don’t throw it away.”
“Have you actually read all that stuff?”
“Yeah.”
“And you wanna keep them?”
“Yep.”
“Come on, you really think you’re gonna need….” Don grabbed one pile and checked the covers of the one the top. “…. what the hell is this?”
“War and Peace.”
“It’s printed in Cyrillic letters.”
“It’s interesting to read it in the original language.” Martin shrugged.
“You can read Russian?”
“Little bit. I need to check some words sometimes, but I understand most of it.”
“I’ve know you over two years and I didn’t know that. Exactly how many languages do you speak?”
“Well…..” Martin paused his stacking. “English and Swedish. I can understand Norwegian and Danish because they are so close to Swedish, and I can speak fluent French and German.”
“Seriously?”
“Did you know that in Sweden most kids learn two foreign languages? I had four younger siblings keeping the house looking like a circus, so I took all the extracurricular courses I could shove into my schedule.”
“Have you ever actually needed those?”
“Sure. French people will spit on you if you try to ask directions in English.”
“Really?”
“No, I was just kidding. I went to France when I first started in my current job, and it was a total shock. People speak a lot faster in real life than the teacher in class. But it was a great trip, and I even had time to do some sightseeing.”
“Did you go to the Eiffel tower?”
“Yeah. The sights from the landing are incredible.”
“What about these?” Don pointed at another moving box.
“What is that?”
“Your old work stuff, note books and stuff like that.”
“We’re keeping them, someone always comes asking for them years later.”
“Sounds familiar…..” Don put the box back onto the floor. “Are you gonna tell me what you were thinking?”
“What do you mean?”
“You looked like you were miles away.”
“I just…. You know that feeling when your gut says something wrong, but you don’t know what you should do about it?”
“Yeah. What’s your gut saying?”
“Okay, I’ll tell you. Imagine someone you see at work every day. First he mentions he’s seeing someone new. Couple weeks later he’s wearing a white shirt and there’s a big bruise on his back and on his arm. The next week he’s lifting filing boxes, his shirt moves up and there’s bruises on his stomach. Same thing again the week after. What’s the first thing that comes to mind?”
“Domestic violence.”
“That’s what I was thinking. I tried to ask him about it, but he just said everything was fine and asked me not to ask about it. And he hasn’t mentioned the boyfriend after the time it happened.”
“You’re talking about Bobby, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t very vague about it. The first time was when the day after the Christmas day, when he came to return those law books he borrowed.”
“I kinda see your point, but still…. You can get bruises if you’re into rough stuff in bed. And Bobby’s not exactly small, don’t you think he would defend himself?”
“I guess, but that doesn’t mean much. From what he told me, the boyfriend is a bouncer, you can’t be too tiny for that job. And he’s some sort of martial art enthusiast.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“What can I do? I can’t do anything.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “That’s the most annoying part.”
“I could do a background check on him.”
“I already did. I called in some favours and I got a copy of his criminal record. Minor drug offences, two charges of assault, served five months in jail.”
“Did you show it to Bobby?”
“Yeah, and I don’t think he even listened.”
“So…. You cant do anything about it. At least not now.” Don placed his hand on Martin’s shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. “Leave it on the backburner for while, he’ll come around.”
“Backburner? You think that’s possible?”
“I guess not.”
“And you know just as well as I do that if I’m right about what’s going on, it can escalade quickly.”
“Personal experiences?” Don asked carefully. “You just sound like…”
“No, nothing like that. When I was law school I worked part-time in this small firm, doing research and so on. They had some…. really gruesome cases.”
“You think this thing could go that far?”
“They can always go that far.” Martin grabbed the next box and handed it over to Don.
Chapter 2