FIC: "Holding on to a lie," Part 9/? (Charlie/Colby, Don, Amita, Alan, PG-13)
Title: "Supporting the family"
Series: Holding on to a lie, Part 9/?
Characters: Charlie/Colby, Don, Amita, Alan.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Charlie mistrusts Amita while his family is having a bad time.
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 the original aspects and any OCs.
Beta: The always amazing
irena_adler .
Previous chapter: Part 8 - "A strange illness" (Colby/Charlie, Alan, Amita, Don, PG-13)
Holding on to a lie
Part 9: “Supporting the family”
Charlie and Don spent the entire night taking care of their father. Alan’s doctor came and checked him, but he didn’t find any reason that could cause the patient’s cold to get worse; he couldn’t say anything about the pills because, apparently, they were made of legal substances.
Even if there were no explanations yet, Alan didn’t have any more problems for the rest of the night, but he didn’t seem to get better, either.
At three in the morning, Amita was in the kitchen making coffee for Don and Charlie, while the Eppes brothers talked at the table.
“How didn’t I see this coming?” Don asked, with his arms crossed on the table.
Charlie ran his palms through his hair. “I don’t know. I guess… work drained all our attention…”
“Yeah, that could be it. But still, this is so weird. I mean, I knew about his cold and everything, but fainting? That’s unexpected.”
“Mmm. Maybe he got too worried because of his thirty-year-old son, who doesn’t know how to handle a relationship,” Charlie muttered. He didn’t want to look at Don. He felt ashamed of how he had acted that night.
But Don didn’t seem to want to judge him. He reached for his brother’s arm and patted him across the table. “Hey, buddy, don’t look for excuses there. If that was true, he would have fainted hundreds of times before because of his still-non-married, forty-year-old son.”
Even if Don smiled sadly at his own joke, Charlie didn’t think it was funny. “We had just had an argument…”
“Charlie, don’t blame yourself anymore,” Amita said as she came in from the kitchen, carrying a tray with three cups full of steaming coffee. “I’m telling you, those pills are going to work. My Mum’s a very wise woman.”
“We’re sure of it,” Charlie muttered, while sipping his coffee. Now Amita had joined him and his brother at the table.
“Oh, I forgot about the sugar, excuse me,” Amita said, and she left the room again.
Once she was in the kitchen, Don asked, “Hey, Charlie, isn’t it weird for you to have her around like this all the time?”
“It is… a little,” Don had to admit. Amita and his own stupidity were making him make mistake after mistake. “But I don’t want it to be. I told Colby that I wasn’t going to let anyone make us feel that what we have is weird.”
“Well, that’s good. I take it that you’re happy with him.”
Charlie smiled at Don, drinking some more coffee. “I am happy. But I’m sure you don’t want to hear about it.”
“Are you kidding me? Of course I want to know how that relationship is going. Of course, I don’t need to know the details, but…”
“I knew it.”
“But I’m always going to be interested in what’s going on with you, ok?”
They looked at each other for a few seconds. Charlie could definitely feel the good vibes Don was sending to him.
“We have to get those results on the pills,” Don muttered, playing with his mug. “Did Colby call yet to say when they will be available?”
“No, he hasn’t.” At that moment, Charlie’s cell phone rang. He took a look at his caller ID and said, “It’s him. I’ll be right back.”
With that, he went to the living room, leaving Don behind. “I’m here, Colby.”
The green-eyed agent’s voice made him pleasantly nervous. “Hey. Look, I went to the lab, but they have like twelve cases of a higher priority that need to gets their tests done, so it’s going to take them a couple of days to get their hands on ours.”
“But we need to know what’s going on with my Dad as soon as possible.”
“I know, that’s why I was thinking we could maybe use CalSci’s resources.”
The idea was so good, especially when Charlie was blocked from how worried he felt, that he unconsciously blushed.
“Charlie, do you want me to-?” Colby continued.
“We could ask Larry to do it tomorrow, since he must be at the monastery tonight. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to help.”
“Ok. Bye.”
But the mathematician didn’t want him to go yet. “Wait, Colby…”
“Do you need something else? Tell me and I’ll get it for you.”
“No, it’s not that. I just… Why don’t you come over and sleep here tonight?”
When there was silence from the other side of the line, Charlie thought that he might have scared his lover with that proposal. “Look, it was only a suggestion, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, I was jus-”
“Charlie, I’d love to.” Colby was talking sweet to his lover; Charlie could feel every emotion through his voice.
“Really?” he asked, smiling widely.
“Yeah. I really want to be there for you.”
Charlie swallowed hard, suddenly becoming more aware that he was blushing. “Ok, then. I’ll see you soon.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
When the conversation was over, Charlie took a moment to make himself come down from his happiness. He felt that he had no right to feel happy when his father was ill. Dad’s not ok. Dad’s not ok.
“What did Colby say?” Amita asked, making him jump in his place. She was by the door, and she had probably been watching Charlie while he talked to Colby.
“He said that there are too many cases, so we can’t use the FBI lab. But we have CalSci’s, so…”
Now she smiled sweetly; she went towards him and suddenly hugged him. “Everything will be all right, Charlie…”
He wasn’t so sure of that. There was something about the way Amita had put her arms around him, the way she had spoken those words into his ear, that made him feel completely uncomfortable. So he said it. “Amita, please…”
“What?”
“Just… don’t do this, ok?” Charlie begged her, taking her arms away from him.
“Do what?” She didn’t seem to understand, but what she was doing was wrong.
“Hugging me… like we’re still together, or something.”
“I’m being friendly, that’s all,” she explained, and her face turned into a sad, angry expression.
“Well, it doesn’t seem like it.” Because of your equations, I hurt Colby. There was no reason to do that! If you hadn’t come here…
“There are no underlying intentions, you know me!”
Breathing hard, they stared at each other. Maybe Charlie was taking this over the edge. He was probably making assumptions that were only going to damage what was left of his relationship with Amita. But when he tried to speak his mind about this, she turned around and walked away from him. He immediately followed her, and when he found her, she was grabbing her stuff. “Amita, I...”
He looked around. Don wasn’t at the table anymore.
“Thank you, Charlie. Thank you very much,” Amita said with an angry tone of voice. And with that, she left the house.
Soon, the door was closed and Charlie was starting to hate everything he had said to her. I’m being a total asshole today. I’m doing it all wrong…
Shaking his head and talking to himself, he went upstairs, to his father’s bedroom. The little lamp on the nightstand was turned on, and the soft light barely illuminated Alan’s sleeping face. He was still breathing normally.
But there was someone else there. Charlie couldn’t help but smile when he saw that Don had fallen asleep on the floor. He had his back against the closet, and his head was against his chest.
So coffee didn’t work for you, huh? You work too much, and now you have to take care of your family, too. Slowly, Charlie took one of the blankets Don had started to take out from the closet before falling asleep, and he tossed it over his brother’s body. Then he sat on the floor, by his side, and watched him and Alan sleep for a while.
It was a quiet relaxing experience. He felt like he was taking care of the two of them, even if his father was the only one who actually needed help at the moment. Minutes passed by very quickly, and they were strangely wonderful.
When it was almost four o’clock in the morning, someone rang the door bell. It was Colby. Charlie received him with a smile. He could feel his own heart being quiet, calm, because of having spent some time in silence with his family at Alan’s bedroom.
“How’s your Dad?” Colby asked once he stepped into the house and the door had been closed behind him.
“He’s ok for now. The doctor came and said that he would probably need to run some blood tests or something on him, but he doesn’t know what to say about the pills, everything about them seems to be good.”
“Oh. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken them with me. Maybe I should have left them here for him to see them…”
As Colby seemed to be apologizing for something that didn’t make any sense, Charlie approached him and kissed him tenderly. “You did the right thing. You’re being… amazing, Colby.”
There was no response from the other man. Colby looked at Charlie in the eyes, not saying a word. Sometimes he seemed to be about to say something, but then he always became quiet again.
“Do you want some coffee? Or do you prefer to get some sleep?” Charlie continued.
“I… I don’t know. Should we sleep? Will Don take care of your father whil-?”
“Don’s asleep in my Dad’s bedroom. It was funny finding him there.” Now the mathematician got into the kitchen and served two cups of coffee. He handed one to Colby, who had just entered the room, and said, “Hey, come with me.”
“Where?”
“Just follow me, ok?”
Charlie heard Colby’s footsteps behind him as he guided him to the garage. Once they were both there, he put his mug on a table and turned around.
He went towards Colby and kissed him deeply. There was this need to really show him how much he appreciated his efforts to help him, how much he loved to have him there when he was so scared that something bad could happen to his father.
When he broke the kiss, Colby stared at him, smiling. “I guess that’s a way to say ‘thank you.’”
“Well, I’ve got other ways to show you how thankful I am, you know.” Charlie smiled, too, cupped Colby’s face and plunged his tongue into his mouth.
Series: Holding on to a lie, Part 9/?
Characters: Charlie/Colby, Don, Amita, Alan.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Charlie mistrusts Amita while his family is having a bad time.
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 the original aspects and any OCs.
Beta: The always amazing
irena_adler .
Previous chapter: Part 8 - "A strange illness" (Colby/Charlie, Alan, Amita, Don, PG-13)
Holding on to a lie
Part 9: “Supporting the family”
Charlie and Don spent the entire night taking care of their father. Alan’s doctor came and checked him, but he didn’t find any reason that could cause the patient’s cold to get worse; he couldn’t say anything about the pills because, apparently, they were made of legal substances.
Even if there were no explanations yet, Alan didn’t have any more problems for the rest of the night, but he didn’t seem to get better, either.
At three in the morning, Amita was in the kitchen making coffee for Don and Charlie, while the Eppes brothers talked at the table.
“How didn’t I see this coming?” Don asked, with his arms crossed on the table.
Charlie ran his palms through his hair. “I don’t know. I guess… work drained all our attention…”
“Yeah, that could be it. But still, this is so weird. I mean, I knew about his cold and everything, but fainting? That’s unexpected.”
“Mmm. Maybe he got too worried because of his thirty-year-old son, who doesn’t know how to handle a relationship,” Charlie muttered. He didn’t want to look at Don. He felt ashamed of how he had acted that night.
But Don didn’t seem to want to judge him. He reached for his brother’s arm and patted him across the table. “Hey, buddy, don’t look for excuses there. If that was true, he would have fainted hundreds of times before because of his still-non-married, forty-year-old son.”
Even if Don smiled sadly at his own joke, Charlie didn’t think it was funny. “We had just had an argument…”
“Charlie, don’t blame yourself anymore,” Amita said as she came in from the kitchen, carrying a tray with three cups full of steaming coffee. “I’m telling you, those pills are going to work. My Mum’s a very wise woman.”
“We’re sure of it,” Charlie muttered, while sipping his coffee. Now Amita had joined him and his brother at the table.
“Oh, I forgot about the sugar, excuse me,” Amita said, and she left the room again.
Once she was in the kitchen, Don asked, “Hey, Charlie, isn’t it weird for you to have her around like this all the time?”
“It is… a little,” Don had to admit. Amita and his own stupidity were making him make mistake after mistake. “But I don’t want it to be. I told Colby that I wasn’t going to let anyone make us feel that what we have is weird.”
“Well, that’s good. I take it that you’re happy with him.”
Charlie smiled at Don, drinking some more coffee. “I am happy. But I’m sure you don’t want to hear about it.”
“Are you kidding me? Of course I want to know how that relationship is going. Of course, I don’t need to know the details, but…”
“I knew it.”
“But I’m always going to be interested in what’s going on with you, ok?”
They looked at each other for a few seconds. Charlie could definitely feel the good vibes Don was sending to him.
“We have to get those results on the pills,” Don muttered, playing with his mug. “Did Colby call yet to say when they will be available?”
“No, he hasn’t.” At that moment, Charlie’s cell phone rang. He took a look at his caller ID and said, “It’s him. I’ll be right back.”
With that, he went to the living room, leaving Don behind. “I’m here, Colby.”
The green-eyed agent’s voice made him pleasantly nervous. “Hey. Look, I went to the lab, but they have like twelve cases of a higher priority that need to gets their tests done, so it’s going to take them a couple of days to get their hands on ours.”
“But we need to know what’s going on with my Dad as soon as possible.”
“I know, that’s why I was thinking we could maybe use CalSci’s resources.”
The idea was so good, especially when Charlie was blocked from how worried he felt, that he unconsciously blushed.
“Charlie, do you want me to-?” Colby continued.
“We could ask Larry to do it tomorrow, since he must be at the monastery tonight. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to help.”
“Ok. Bye.”
But the mathematician didn’t want him to go yet. “Wait, Colby…”
“Do you need something else? Tell me and I’ll get it for you.”
“No, it’s not that. I just… Why don’t you come over and sleep here tonight?”
When there was silence from the other side of the line, Charlie thought that he might have scared his lover with that proposal. “Look, it was only a suggestion, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, I was jus-”
“Charlie, I’d love to.” Colby was talking sweet to his lover; Charlie could feel every emotion through his voice.
“Really?” he asked, smiling widely.
“Yeah. I really want to be there for you.”
Charlie swallowed hard, suddenly becoming more aware that he was blushing. “Ok, then. I’ll see you soon.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
When the conversation was over, Charlie took a moment to make himself come down from his happiness. He felt that he had no right to feel happy when his father was ill. Dad’s not ok. Dad’s not ok.
“What did Colby say?” Amita asked, making him jump in his place. She was by the door, and she had probably been watching Charlie while he talked to Colby.
“He said that there are too many cases, so we can’t use the FBI lab. But we have CalSci’s, so…”
Now she smiled sweetly; she went towards him and suddenly hugged him. “Everything will be all right, Charlie…”
He wasn’t so sure of that. There was something about the way Amita had put her arms around him, the way she had spoken those words into his ear, that made him feel completely uncomfortable. So he said it. “Amita, please…”
“What?”
“Just… don’t do this, ok?” Charlie begged her, taking her arms away from him.
“Do what?” She didn’t seem to understand, but what she was doing was wrong.
“Hugging me… like we’re still together, or something.”
“I’m being friendly, that’s all,” she explained, and her face turned into a sad, angry expression.
“Well, it doesn’t seem like it.” Because of your equations, I hurt Colby. There was no reason to do that! If you hadn’t come here…
“There are no underlying intentions, you know me!”
Breathing hard, they stared at each other. Maybe Charlie was taking this over the edge. He was probably making assumptions that were only going to damage what was left of his relationship with Amita. But when he tried to speak his mind about this, she turned around and walked away from him. He immediately followed her, and when he found her, she was grabbing her stuff. “Amita, I...”
He looked around. Don wasn’t at the table anymore.
“Thank you, Charlie. Thank you very much,” Amita said with an angry tone of voice. And with that, she left the house.
Soon, the door was closed and Charlie was starting to hate everything he had said to her. I’m being a total asshole today. I’m doing it all wrong…
Shaking his head and talking to himself, he went upstairs, to his father’s bedroom. The little lamp on the nightstand was turned on, and the soft light barely illuminated Alan’s sleeping face. He was still breathing normally.
But there was someone else there. Charlie couldn’t help but smile when he saw that Don had fallen asleep on the floor. He had his back against the closet, and his head was against his chest.
So coffee didn’t work for you, huh? You work too much, and now you have to take care of your family, too. Slowly, Charlie took one of the blankets Don had started to take out from the closet before falling asleep, and he tossed it over his brother’s body. Then he sat on the floor, by his side, and watched him and Alan sleep for a while.
It was a quiet relaxing experience. He felt like he was taking care of the two of them, even if his father was the only one who actually needed help at the moment. Minutes passed by very quickly, and they were strangely wonderful.
When it was almost four o’clock in the morning, someone rang the door bell. It was Colby. Charlie received him with a smile. He could feel his own heart being quiet, calm, because of having spent some time in silence with his family at Alan’s bedroom.
“How’s your Dad?” Colby asked once he stepped into the house and the door had been closed behind him.
“He’s ok for now. The doctor came and said that he would probably need to run some blood tests or something on him, but he doesn’t know what to say about the pills, everything about them seems to be good.”
“Oh. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken them with me. Maybe I should have left them here for him to see them…”
As Colby seemed to be apologizing for something that didn’t make any sense, Charlie approached him and kissed him tenderly. “You did the right thing. You’re being… amazing, Colby.”
There was no response from the other man. Colby looked at Charlie in the eyes, not saying a word. Sometimes he seemed to be about to say something, but then he always became quiet again.
“Do you want some coffee? Or do you prefer to get some sleep?” Charlie continued.
“I… I don’t know. Should we sleep? Will Don take care of your father whil-?”
“Don’s asleep in my Dad’s bedroom. It was funny finding him there.” Now the mathematician got into the kitchen and served two cups of coffee. He handed one to Colby, who had just entered the room, and said, “Hey, come with me.”
“Where?”
“Just follow me, ok?”
Charlie heard Colby’s footsteps behind him as he guided him to the garage. Once they were both there, he put his mug on a table and turned around.
He went towards Colby and kissed him deeply. There was this need to really show him how much he appreciated his efforts to help him, how much he loved to have him there when he was so scared that something bad could happen to his father.
When he broke the kiss, Colby stared at him, smiling. “I guess that’s a way to say ‘thank you.’”
“Well, I’ve got other ways to show you how thankful I am, you know.” Charlie smiled, too, cupped Colby’s face and plunged his tongue into his mouth.