Stardust: Time

[valeriev84]

Title: Stardust: Time
Author: Valerie Vancollie (valeriev84 [at] hotmail.com)
Characters: Alan, Megan, David, Colby, Charlie, Amita, Larry, Don
Rating: PG
Notes: Please see the Master List for the complete story notes!
Summary: An ordinary barbeque leads to a discussion about Don's career which causes his family, team and friends to realize

Comments

Author's Comments

[valeriev84]

Well, there's the first part. I hope you enjoyed it and are intrigued enough to continue reading the rest of the fic as I post it. There will be lots of Don-angst ahead, both of the emotional & whumping varieties.

:)

[thewhiteowl]

Niice. I understand Charlie's frustration, having spen time trying to straighten out Don's career myself. Although Charlie's timeline isn't exactly clear either--do we even know where he went to grad school? Or when Marshall stole his keg, cos I hardly think it was at Princeton aged <16 under the watchful eye of Mommy Eppes.

Really, for a show centred on maths, they're incredibly bad at addition :D

[valeriev84]

Thanks!

While it is true that we don't know as much about Charlie's timeline, that is more because they haven't given us as much information about Charlie, not because they've given us contradicting information like with Don.

[thewhiteowl]

Yeah, I was just teasing Charlie a little :)

[thewhiteowl]

Actually, at the weekend I dug out a Numb3rs timeline I made in the winter. One line reads:

c 2002 Don has affair with Witness Protection Leah woman (cheats on Kim?), teaches Liz at Quantico, and transfers to LA. Boy has a busy year.

The only way to make it work on the the show is to ignore all of Don's women :)

[anonymous]

According to Cheryl Heuton, Charlie does NOT have higher security clearance than Don - that is one of those fanfic myths. He only has very high clearance for a civilian. And he absolutely can NOT know anything he wants about what Don is working on, clearance or no - his clearance means he can participate in high level security projects, but he is still a civilian and a consultant, not FBI or NSA, so he only gets to know exactly what they want him to know - no more. Remember the episode with the NSA where he had to ask for clearance to use their computer? He can only participate when and where they say, and as much or as little as they decide. Period.

[jelsemium]

Actually, in the episode "In Security" it was made pretty clear that Charlie could have gotten into Don's sealed record if he wanted.

I don't recall an episode where Charlie had to ask the NSA to use their computer. Are you thinking of "Pandora's Box" when he had to ask the FAA for access to their computers?

And if a fan fic can't use fan fic mythology, what good is the stuff? ;-)

[valeriev84]

Whew. I fine it very amusing that, despite your strong convictions, that you aren't able to put your name with your little rant.

As regards your second issue, I entirely agree (notice Colby's comment in the fic?). That will become abundantly clear in the second part of this fic, Temper. In the show, however, Charlie acts like he can know what he wants.

As for the first part, that is not at all clear in the show. Therefore it is a logical conclusion for fan fiction authors to come to. If Cheryl wanted it to be otherwise, then she should have made it clear. As it is, I will stick with what I have written. Also, as the issue will come up a few more times, either deal with it or don't read the fic. It's as simple as that.

[thewhiteowl]

Charlie would have a problem with 'need to know'; he thinks he needs to know EVERYTHING :D

[jelsemium]

Well, this is an interesting beginning. Looks like Don had some secret assignment at some point.

Alan's wrong. I mean, given his background as a protester, I can see where he's coming from, but not all secret government missions involve breaking the law.

And the best way to keep a secret is to not let on that there is one. Oh, Charlie? How is it that nobody knew you had top secret clearance until the CDC accidentally called you in to work on Don's case? Hm?

Poor Don. I think the best thing to do now is to run away. (That goes for Colby, David, Megan and Larry, too!)

Thanks for posting the story here! (At Numb3rs_Gen_Het, I mean.)

[valeriev84]

Yep, Donny has been involved in something he never even hinted at and which he had to keep under wraps. It's the only way you can get his timeline to make any sense!

Alan... well, Alan is Alan. I find that there is a LOT of unresolved tension between him and Don in the show. I wish that they would address it more merely what was done in Protest, as the issue clearly has not been resolved.

As for Charlie, well, it wouldn't be the first time he is a little hypocritical.

Running away sounds like a good idea, but only if you want the situation to get worse than it already is. I'll let you decide what you think Don will do given that the next part is to the word prompt Temper. :)

No problem!

[dreambrother89]

Oooh, sounds like a lot of fun. Poor Don. He's probably going to wish he'd had to cancel.

Looking forward to the next bits :-)

[valeriev84]

Lol, yes! Some days it just doesn't pay to do your best to get everything done.

Thanks.