Take My Hand
By
Numb3rsfan
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Angst, H/C
Author's Notes: Ok, I know my last one was a little weird, so this one will hopefully be a little more IC. Also, some of the story may sound like season 2's "Rampage" shootout, but hey, after just watching that episode I feel I should write something based on it…slightly.
Take My Hand is a song by Toto, and it is from the Dune soundtrack.
Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs. This fic is just for everyone out there who loves Numb3rs.
Summary: A gunman enters the FBI offices and opens fire, and only one person is hit.
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Chapter One: Don't Play Innocent
Charlie sighed before he pushed open the door to the bullpen and entered the empty room.
Well, it was empty of people anyway…certainly not his math stuff!
He had been at CalSci, in the middle of a class no less, when he had gotten an urgent call from Don, asking him to come down to the office pronto, so naturally, his brother came first.
Dismissing his class forty minutes early, Charlie got in to his car and high-tailed it to Don's office, only to find the whole entire team gone.
After enquiring with the supervisor as to Don's whereabouts, Charlie was pointed in the direction of the bullpen, where a thick folder, crammed with papers, lay on the table next to his pad of paper, pens and blackboard markers.
'Why does this not surprise me?' Charlie wondered as he took a seat.
Hands going to the file, Charlie opened it and took out the first page, scanning its contents.
'Ok…this is very interesting, but what does it have to do with my math?' Charlie questioned himself as he scanned the paper again, hoping that it would yield some results.
When it didn't, Charlie put it back on top of the pile and shut the folder just as Don's team filed in to the office.
Looking out the clear, glass window of the bullpen, Charlie saw Don say something to David and Megan, before heading for the bullpen.
"Hey Charlie, sorry about that, but I had an urgent matter that I had to attend to." Don said as he entered the bullpen and went over to his brother.
"Sure you did." Charlie muttered softly, glancing at the file with raised eyebrows.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Don asked, slightly annoyed as he pulled up a chair and sat down within reaching distance of his brother.
"Nothing, nothing!" Charlie began, before he asked, "Why'd you call me in?"
He neglected to say, 'In the middle of a class.' Because he doubted that Don would care.
"Remember that story about the sprinkler, four years ago?" Don asked.
Charlie looked away for a second before he looked back at his brother.
"Yeah. Not being able to predict where or who the guy was going to hit, but using his patterns I was able to distinguish his two points of origin…what about it?" Charlie asked.
"I need you to do something like that again. These people started out robbing banks, ATM's…anything they could find…" Don began.
"Reminds me of the…what were they?...Charm School Boys?" Charlie interrupted.
"Yeah." Don said.
Charlie nodded his head at Don's acknowledgment.
"Well, I'd love to help you Don, but I don't see how my math can be of use." Charlie said, rising up from his chair.
"Oh come on Charlie. On almost every case your math has been beneficial to us." Don said.
"Yeah… almost every case Don. You listen to my math when you don't have a choice!" Charlie accused.
Don scrunched up his eyes, not understanding why Charlie was getting so upset.
Rising to stand in front of his brother, Don asked, "What's wrong Charlie? Where's this attitude coming from?"
"Don't play innocent Don! You know perfectly well why I'm angry!" Charlie said, raising his voice a little, but not so much where the people on the outside could hear him.
Shaking his head, Don replied, "No…honestly I don't have a clue."
Sighing, Charlie glanced down at the table, shaking his head before he glanced back up at Don.
"Remember last week?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah…why?" Don replied, still not following Charlie's train of thought.
"You called me in to work on that kidnapping case. Then when I get there I find out that there's another mathematician there…working the same case…at your request!" Charlie said.
"Wha…I brought him there to help! You told me numerous times that consulting was sometimes tiring." Don said.
"I'm not…all that angry with the mathematician being there…well I was and still am a bit…but what hurt me more was the remark that you made." Charlie said.
"Alright," Don said, folding his arms, "What did I say that offended you?"
"Colby asked you why you had brought in the other mathematician, and you said so there would be someone better than me coming up with all of the answers!" Charlie said.
Hearing that, Don did indeed remember saying that, but it had been meant as a joke, and if he had known that Charlie had been right behind him, he wouldn't even have said it!
"Charlie…I'm sorry. It was meant as a joke…I certainly didn't mean it! You are the best!" Don said, putting an arm on his brother's shoulder, but Charlie shrugged it off.
"Sure." He replied sullenly.
It was at that point that Don knew that he had some serious sucking up to do.
He knew his younger brother…he knew him well enough to know that Charlie didn't like to be at the center of a joke…especially an insulting joke such as the one that Don had made.
But Don didn't have time to dwell on it anymore, because not two seconds later the sound of breaking glass was heard, followed by screams.
Whipping his head around, Don saw the shooter, so he immediately grabbed on to Charlie, throwing him down to the ground as he himself bent low and grabbed his gun from his holster.
With a quick, "Stay down!" to Charlie, Don carefully made his way out of the bullpen, keeping his gun at the ready.
Hearing the gun going off again, Charlie was getting even more scared as Don's command echoed in his mind, but all he could think of was his knapsack that he had brought with him, which contained his laptop, among other things.
Quickly Charlie got up on to his knees and looked at the table, seeing that his knapsack was on the other side.
Biting his bottom lip, Charlie got up, using the table as support as he made his way to his knapsack.
Reaching over, Charlie's hands locked around the small handle at the top of it.
As he began to pull it towards him, he heard the gun go off and the sound of more breaking glass.
It didn't even occur to him that he had been hit until he felt the heat in his back, followed by the pain and the lightheadedness.
Charlie breathed once before he pitched forward, hitting the table before falling to the floor, right on top of his knapsack.
As the seconds ticked by, Charlie closed his eyes as his ears closed up, so that all he could hear was his own heartbeat.
He didn't hear his brother order the shooter to stop, nor did he hear Colby shoot the shooter when he tried to run.
All he could hear was himself as his eyes slid shut.
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"Stay down!"
Don glanced back at Charlie as he lay huddled on the ground, before he quickly left the bullpen and hid against the wall of a cubical.
Coming to an intersection, Don risked a glance and saw Megan with her gun drawn.
"Where is he?" Don shouted to her.
"I don't know!" Megan shouted back, before she grew quiet as the sound of feet got closer.
Settling back against the wall, Don held his gun tightly as he counted down a few seconds before he, remembering to stay crouched, moved a little ways down the corridor before he stopped at another intersection, right behind Colby.
"Don, he's right at the elevator." Colby said.
"Alright, just make sure that he doesn't get on!" Don said, clapping Colby's shoulder.
Just as Colby nodded his head, Don heard the gunman fire again, followed by the sound of breaking glass.
Using that as a distraction, Don moved past Colby until he got to the final piece of wall.
Beyond that there was no cover.
Looking around the corner, Don saw the shooter.
He was 5 foot 2 or 3, blond hair, a tattoo on his arm, and a serious look on his face.
"Stop!" Don ordered, "Drop your weapon and put your hands up!"
The gunman pointed his weapon and fired, but Don dived back under cover just in the nick of time.
However, as the gunman fired at Don, Colby stood up, took aim and fired, dropping the shooter as he turned to run.
When the shooting stopped, Don rose up and headed over to the guy as more units entered the room, quickly moving over to the guy, not only to watch him but to provide medical care.
Holstering his weapon, Don looked at Megan as she came up to him, also holstering her own weapon.
"Who's hurt?" Don asked.
"Thankfully no one's seriously hurt. We have a few bumps and bruises, and a few cuts from the glass but that's about it." Megan replied.
Nodding his head, Don headed for the bullpen to check on Charlie.
As he got closer he saw something on the glass wall of the bullpen.
Finally being no more than 6 steps away from the door, Don saw that it was a single bullet hole.
Eyebrows rising in fear, Don looked through the glass and saw his brother still on the ground, apparently unmoving.
Don's walk increased to a run as he pushed open the bullpen door and dropped down on to the ground next to his brother.
Seeing the hole in Charlie's back not to mention all of the crimson blood that stained the floor and Charlie's clothes made Don's worry increase exponentially.
"Charlie!" Don said worriedly as he carefully touched his brother.
When no response was forthcoming, Don fearfully touched his brother's neck, praying to God that he would find a pulse.
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A/N: A cliffhanger! Well what do you all think so far? Is it worth continuing?
