FIC Dinner Party Little Sisters Quartet
Title: Dinner Party (Part 1/?)
Fandom: Numb3rs
Disclaimer I don't own Numb3rs...wish I did, but I do own Jo and love to let her torment Colby
Characters: Colby Granger, Tim King OFC-Jo Granger
Spoilers: First Meeting, The Worst Thing, and He's the Father?!
Summary: Jo on the warpath; Tim and Colby hurt...how much worse can it get?
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Some swearing...slight Colby-whumping off-screen (continued from He's the Father?!)
Author's Note: So I'm still blaming this on quirky_circe but since she's been helping me...I can no longer yell too loudly at her. So by popular request...the dinner! Unfortunately its not finished yet...but I pretty much know where it's going for the most part. Since this has gotten way longer than I thought it would, I decided to begin posting it in parts. So here's part one. Part Four of the “Little Sisters Quartet”, but shall be posted in (I believe) two chunks.
Tim looked at Colby as things began to slam in the kitchen. "So, uh, you think I should, um, go in there?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure," Colby answered. "You do that."
Tim glanced back as he headed for the door as if unsure of why Colby was sending him into the kitchen. Colby followed when he was sure Tim wasn't going to stop because he had to see Jo's reaction. "Jo Jo, its not like we..." Tim started, then ducked as a knife came winging at him. It embedded itself in the wall near him.
"Damn, girl. Watch it!" he yelped.
"I missed on purpose, King. Go back into the other room and take my lurking brother with you," Jo replied without turning around. She was stirring something on the stove. Tim backed into the living room, bumping into Colby as he moved. The agent wasn't quite able to repress a pained noise as the collision jostled his injured arm. "Go sit, Burn!" she yelled at him.
Colby eased himself into the chair he had bought after being injured once too often. Jo kept threatening to throw it out until she saw how comfortable he was. Even though it didn't match the rest of his apartment, she had stopped trying to redecorate without it. "Sitting, Jo," he called when he was settled. "Sorry about the knife," he told King when the other man dropped onto the couch.
"What was that all about?" Tim asked, looking back at the kitchen as if afraid to see something else come flying at him.
Colby rubbed his hair with his uninjured hand, considering and then grimaced as he realized how dirty he was. "She's upset and worried. She probably learned that we were shot over the scanner--didn't know exactly who had been injured--and she got hyped up with adrenaline and now..."
"She's got no where for it to go." Tim regarded the situation for a few minutes, then heaved himself to his feet, wincing as the motion pulled at his sore muscles. "How many knives do you have in there?"
"It's a kitchen, King."
"Right.” He paused, thinking it through. “She's got plenty of ammunition."
Hugging the wall, he crept towards the kitchen, wishing he had a way to peer inside without sticking his head out. He'd faced down more dangerous perps, but the thought of walking unarmed into the other room was enough to make him turn around and bolt. Pressed against the wall, he slowly turned his body to give himself a view of the room, keeping himself out of sight so he didn't present a target. Jo was still at the stove, obviously finishing up with the preparations. He slid his foot along the wall, easing his weight back to pivot when she said, "Stop acting like I'm a perp, Tim."
Some of the tension eased out of his body at her calmer tone. "Little hard when you're treating me like the enemy, Jo Jo," he answered.
"Then don't try to make my baby fatherless before it's born." She slammed the pot down on the counter to punctuate her statement.
Tim winced at the noise as well as her words. "Could we not have this conversation now?"
"When do you intend to have it?" she replied. "Lately every time I try to talk, you get a call."
"I meant let's not have it where your brother can hear every word."
"It's not like he can kick your ass at the moment," she tossed back at him.
Tim pointed a finger at her, just now realizing he had moved into the kitchen as they argued. "I am not afraid of your brother!"
"Sure you aren't."
Tim banged his head against the wall behind him. "Jo, what do you want me to do? I'm sorry, okay? Neither one of us goes into these situations trying to get shot. But Granger's your brother and he's been in this business for years. And you knew what you were getting into when I asked you out. What happened this time?"
Jo turned around and faced him finally. "I almost lost you both!"
At those words, Tim realized the crux of her problem. It wasn't that they had been doing their jobs, but that this was the first time she had known they were both in danger at the same time. Jo had probably flipped the scanner on as soon as Colby went to serve the warrant; heard the S.W.A.T. call and known Tim was working. She had probably been frantic when the 'officer down' calls had gone out.
Hesitantly, Tim reached out to her and she snuggled into his arms. "We're okay, Jo Jo. We're safe," he soothed her.
She pounded her fist against his chest and he winced as she hit one of his bruises unintentionally. "This time. You're safe this time." Gripping his shirt tightly, she started shuddering. It was only when he felt his shirt getting wet, that he realized Jo was crying. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her tightly as she sobbed herself out.
A noise at the door brought his head up and around, reaching for the gun that would normally be on his hip. He relaxed when he realized he was unarmed and that he knew the person in the entry.
"You okay, Jo Bethy?" Colby asked.
Jo pulled away from Tim, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. "Yeah, I'm fine. Damn hormones." She reached up into a near-by cupboard and pulled out three plates, shoving them at Tim. Opening a drawer, she added silverware to them, before pushing him in the direction of the dining room. "Go set the table. Dinner'll be ready in a minute."
Colby waited until Tim was gone before asking, "Using some other guy's shirt for a tissue now, Jo? I dunno if I'm ready for that."
She picked up one of the dinner rolls she had just pulled out of the oven and juggled it from hand to hand until it was cool enough, then threw it at him. "Bite me, Burn."
He caught the roll, laughing, then crossed the room to her. Taking the spoon from where she was dishing potatoes out of the pot, he turned her to face him. The laughter faded from his eyes as he questioned, "Are you all right?"
"Am I all right? Jesus, Burn. You were the one who was shot!"
He shrugged it off. "That comes with the territory. You're not used to hearing about it as it happens." Jerking a thumb towards the other room, he pointed out, "Or when it's more than just me involved."
She took a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm 'all right'. Just taught me not to listen to the scanner when I know you're both working. I'll wait for someone to call me or come get me."
"Sure that would be any better?" he asked.
"No, but I don't think I can go through something like this again." She shuddered and Colby reached out tentatively, not sure what sort of reception he would get.
Jo allowed him to enfold her in his arms and hold her for a few minutes, although she didn't break down again. When she pulled back, he tipped her head up. "Five by five?"
The smile was watery, but it was a smile. "Five by five."
He pushed her towards the stove. "Come on. Before dinner's too cold to eat."
"Think you can handle carrying glasses into the other room?" she asked.
"Yes, Ma Jo, I can carry glasses," he responded, accepting them from her. Jo picked up the bowl of potatoes and as he followed her out of the kitchen, he said, "Please tell me that's Mama's recipe?"
"Would I make anything else?" As she turned to go back to get more food, she spied his gun on the coffee table. "Colburn James Granger! That had better not be a loaded gun!"
Colby had the grace to look sheepish. "Yes, because I couldn't stretch to reach the safe and I didn't think King would be able to either."
Glaring at him, she stomped over to the closet and opened the door. "So you didn't call me?"
"Hey, you threw a knife at King when he tried to talk to you," Colby pointed out.
"And what is the rule about loaded guns in the house with me?" she demanded as she set the small safe down on the table, flipped open the top lid, and keyed in a six digit code.
"Tell you they're live or lock them up," Colby repeated in a sing-song voice, then winced at the glare she threw him. "Okay. I'm sorry, Jo. I wasn't thinking."
"Where's your gun, Tim?" she asked, as she ejected the clip and then expertly cleared the chamber. Catching the bullet, she laid all three parts into the box in front of her.
"Uh, under my jacket, in my holster," Tim answered, gesturing towards the door.
Jo looked at Colby questioningly and when he nodded, she said, "Combination's our birthday." Getting up, she went to get the second gun.
"Okay. That's an odd reaction for a cop's sister to have to guns," Tim commented.
"Has nothing to do with her being my sister," Colby explained. "And everything to do with her best friend being killed in a gun accident when they were thirteen. Ever since then she's needed to know where the guns were in the house. For about three weeks after-wards, she'd get up in the middle of the night and go down to make sure they were all unloaded and locked up." He ran a hand through his hair. "I ended up taking some leave, coming home, and taking her camping. She wouldn't talk to Mama about it." He turned, afraid Jo would be upset about him saying something, but she had disappeared back into the kitchen. "And she doesn't really talk about it."
"She never freaked about the guns at my place," Tim commented.
"She's gotten...better. Today was a set-back. Obviously." He stepped forward as Jo came out with a large bowl, but she glared at him. "What?" he asked.
"You're hurt," she answered. "Sit. I've got this. Tell Tim more stories if you want."
"What am I telling him?" Colby called as she went back into the kitchen.
"Deer hunting!" she yelled.
Colby chuckled. "Oh, you want me to tell him how you sucked at it the first year?"
"Bite me, Burn!"
"She hunts?" Tim questioned.
"Since she was eleven." He motioned to the end table as he eased back into his chair. "There's a picture there."
Tim picked through the pictures on the table, not taking the time to study them, although he was surprised at how many he recognized from Jo's apartment. There was even a copy of the picture he knew was one of her favorites; her and Colby at his Ranger graduation. Finally he pulled out the one he thought Colby wanted. A much younger, but still recognizable, Jo stood beside a deer. A rifle was cradled in her arms and a proud, if tired, grin wreathed her features. "This one?"
Colby glanced over and nodded. "That's the one. She was twelve. First deer she ever shot. I took her when she was eleven but she made so much damn noise she scared all the game into the next county."
Fandom: Numb3rs
Disclaimer I don't own Numb3rs...wish I did, but I do own Jo and love to let her torment Colby
Characters: Colby Granger, Tim King OFC-Jo Granger
Spoilers: First Meeting, The Worst Thing, and He's the Father?!
Summary: Jo on the warpath; Tim and Colby hurt...how much worse can it get?
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Some swearing...slight Colby-whumping off-screen (continued from He's the Father?!)
Author's Note: So I'm still blaming this on quirky_circe but since she's been helping me...I can no longer yell too loudly at her. So by popular request...the dinner! Unfortunately its not finished yet...but I pretty much know where it's going for the most part. Since this has gotten way longer than I thought it would, I decided to begin posting it in parts. So here's part one. Part Four of the “Little Sisters Quartet”, but shall be posted in (I believe) two chunks.
Tim looked at Colby as things began to slam in the kitchen. "So, uh, you think I should, um, go in there?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure," Colby answered. "You do that."
Tim glanced back as he headed for the door as if unsure of why Colby was sending him into the kitchen. Colby followed when he was sure Tim wasn't going to stop because he had to see Jo's reaction. "Jo Jo, its not like we..." Tim started, then ducked as a knife came winging at him. It embedded itself in the wall near him.
"Damn, girl. Watch it!" he yelped.
"I missed on purpose, King. Go back into the other room and take my lurking brother with you," Jo replied without turning around. She was stirring something on the stove. Tim backed into the living room, bumping into Colby as he moved. The agent wasn't quite able to repress a pained noise as the collision jostled his injured arm. "Go sit, Burn!" she yelled at him.
Colby eased himself into the chair he had bought after being injured once too often. Jo kept threatening to throw it out until she saw how comfortable he was. Even though it didn't match the rest of his apartment, she had stopped trying to redecorate without it. "Sitting, Jo," he called when he was settled. "Sorry about the knife," he told King when the other man dropped onto the couch.
"What was that all about?" Tim asked, looking back at the kitchen as if afraid to see something else come flying at him.
Colby rubbed his hair with his uninjured hand, considering and then grimaced as he realized how dirty he was. "She's upset and worried. She probably learned that we were shot over the scanner--didn't know exactly who had been injured--and she got hyped up with adrenaline and now..."
"She's got no where for it to go." Tim regarded the situation for a few minutes, then heaved himself to his feet, wincing as the motion pulled at his sore muscles. "How many knives do you have in there?"
"It's a kitchen, King."
"Right.” He paused, thinking it through. “She's got plenty of ammunition."
Hugging the wall, he crept towards the kitchen, wishing he had a way to peer inside without sticking his head out. He'd faced down more dangerous perps, but the thought of walking unarmed into the other room was enough to make him turn around and bolt. Pressed against the wall, he slowly turned his body to give himself a view of the room, keeping himself out of sight so he didn't present a target. Jo was still at the stove, obviously finishing up with the preparations. He slid his foot along the wall, easing his weight back to pivot when she said, "Stop acting like I'm a perp, Tim."
Some of the tension eased out of his body at her calmer tone. "Little hard when you're treating me like the enemy, Jo Jo," he answered.
"Then don't try to make my baby fatherless before it's born." She slammed the pot down on the counter to punctuate her statement.
Tim winced at the noise as well as her words. "Could we not have this conversation now?"
"When do you intend to have it?" she replied. "Lately every time I try to talk, you get a call."
"I meant let's not have it where your brother can hear every word."
"It's not like he can kick your ass at the moment," she tossed back at him.
Tim pointed a finger at her, just now realizing he had moved into the kitchen as they argued. "I am not afraid of your brother!"
"Sure you aren't."
Tim banged his head against the wall behind him. "Jo, what do you want me to do? I'm sorry, okay? Neither one of us goes into these situations trying to get shot. But Granger's your brother and he's been in this business for years. And you knew what you were getting into when I asked you out. What happened this time?"
Jo turned around and faced him finally. "I almost lost you both!"
At those words, Tim realized the crux of her problem. It wasn't that they had been doing their jobs, but that this was the first time she had known they were both in danger at the same time. Jo had probably flipped the scanner on as soon as Colby went to serve the warrant; heard the S.W.A.T. call and known Tim was working. She had probably been frantic when the 'officer down' calls had gone out.
Hesitantly, Tim reached out to her and she snuggled into his arms. "We're okay, Jo Jo. We're safe," he soothed her.
She pounded her fist against his chest and he winced as she hit one of his bruises unintentionally. "This time. You're safe this time." Gripping his shirt tightly, she started shuddering. It was only when he felt his shirt getting wet, that he realized Jo was crying. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her tightly as she sobbed herself out.
A noise at the door brought his head up and around, reaching for the gun that would normally be on his hip. He relaxed when he realized he was unarmed and that he knew the person in the entry.
"You okay, Jo Bethy?" Colby asked.
Jo pulled away from Tim, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. "Yeah, I'm fine. Damn hormones." She reached up into a near-by cupboard and pulled out three plates, shoving them at Tim. Opening a drawer, she added silverware to them, before pushing him in the direction of the dining room. "Go set the table. Dinner'll be ready in a minute."
Colby waited until Tim was gone before asking, "Using some other guy's shirt for a tissue now, Jo? I dunno if I'm ready for that."
She picked up one of the dinner rolls she had just pulled out of the oven and juggled it from hand to hand until it was cool enough, then threw it at him. "Bite me, Burn."
He caught the roll, laughing, then crossed the room to her. Taking the spoon from where she was dishing potatoes out of the pot, he turned her to face him. The laughter faded from his eyes as he questioned, "Are you all right?"
"Am I all right? Jesus, Burn. You were the one who was shot!"
He shrugged it off. "That comes with the territory. You're not used to hearing about it as it happens." Jerking a thumb towards the other room, he pointed out, "Or when it's more than just me involved."
She took a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm 'all right'. Just taught me not to listen to the scanner when I know you're both working. I'll wait for someone to call me or come get me."
"Sure that would be any better?" he asked.
"No, but I don't think I can go through something like this again." She shuddered and Colby reached out tentatively, not sure what sort of reception he would get.
Jo allowed him to enfold her in his arms and hold her for a few minutes, although she didn't break down again. When she pulled back, he tipped her head up. "Five by five?"
The smile was watery, but it was a smile. "Five by five."
He pushed her towards the stove. "Come on. Before dinner's too cold to eat."
"Think you can handle carrying glasses into the other room?" she asked.
"Yes, Ma Jo, I can carry glasses," he responded, accepting them from her. Jo picked up the bowl of potatoes and as he followed her out of the kitchen, he said, "Please tell me that's Mama's recipe?"
"Would I make anything else?" As she turned to go back to get more food, she spied his gun on the coffee table. "Colburn James Granger! That had better not be a loaded gun!"
Colby had the grace to look sheepish. "Yes, because I couldn't stretch to reach the safe and I didn't think King would be able to either."
Glaring at him, she stomped over to the closet and opened the door. "So you didn't call me?"
"Hey, you threw a knife at King when he tried to talk to you," Colby pointed out.
"And what is the rule about loaded guns in the house with me?" she demanded as she set the small safe down on the table, flipped open the top lid, and keyed in a six digit code.
"Tell you they're live or lock them up," Colby repeated in a sing-song voice, then winced at the glare she threw him. "Okay. I'm sorry, Jo. I wasn't thinking."
"Where's your gun, Tim?" she asked, as she ejected the clip and then expertly cleared the chamber. Catching the bullet, she laid all three parts into the box in front of her.
"Uh, under my jacket, in my holster," Tim answered, gesturing towards the door.
Jo looked at Colby questioningly and when he nodded, she said, "Combination's our birthday." Getting up, she went to get the second gun.
"Okay. That's an odd reaction for a cop's sister to have to guns," Tim commented.
"Has nothing to do with her being my sister," Colby explained. "And everything to do with her best friend being killed in a gun accident when they were thirteen. Ever since then she's needed to know where the guns were in the house. For about three weeks after-wards, she'd get up in the middle of the night and go down to make sure they were all unloaded and locked up." He ran a hand through his hair. "I ended up taking some leave, coming home, and taking her camping. She wouldn't talk to Mama about it." He turned, afraid Jo would be upset about him saying something, but she had disappeared back into the kitchen. "And she doesn't really talk about it."
"She never freaked about the guns at my place," Tim commented.
"She's gotten...better. Today was a set-back. Obviously." He stepped forward as Jo came out with a large bowl, but she glared at him. "What?" he asked.
"You're hurt," she answered. "Sit. I've got this. Tell Tim more stories if you want."
"What am I telling him?" Colby called as she went back into the kitchen.
"Deer hunting!" she yelled.
Colby chuckled. "Oh, you want me to tell him how you sucked at it the first year?"
"Bite me, Burn!"
"She hunts?" Tim questioned.
"Since she was eleven." He motioned to the end table as he eased back into his chair. "There's a picture there."
Tim picked through the pictures on the table, not taking the time to study them, although he was surprised at how many he recognized from Jo's apartment. There was even a copy of the picture he knew was one of her favorites; her and Colby at his Ranger graduation. Finally he pulled out the one he thought Colby wanted. A much younger, but still recognizable, Jo stood beside a deer. A rifle was cradled in her arms and a proud, if tired, grin wreathed her features. "This one?"
Colby glanced over and nodded. "That's the one. She was twelve. First deer she ever shot. I took her when she was eleven but she made so much damn noise she scared all the game into the next county."