Hello all. This is my first Numb3rs fic, though I have some stuff on "The Outsiders" page. I've revised this chapter a little and am re-writing the rest. The plot wasn't working and it wasn't going in the direction I wanted … not enough brotherly interaction. This concept popped into my head and won't let go, especially after last night, seeing Don with Liz. I'm not a fan of Don/Liz. In my world, there's no Liz. But I do think Don deserves love, so …
I don't own Numb3rs, just my original characters. I'd love feedback.
Chapter One
She was in her driveway, pulling groceries out of the back of her SUV. Her messy red hair was shoved under a Dodgers cap and she was wearing an old FBI t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts, her feet shoved into dirty white sneakers. It was hot, and there were subtle stains under her arms, and Don found himself thinking, quite unprofessionally, how plainly pretty she was.
He stepped out of his car, adjusting his sunglasses, and prepared to announce himself, but she spoke first.
"Hello, Agent Eppes."
He was surprised, but only hesitated a moment before returning, "Good morning, Mrs. O'Hanlon." He smiled. "You have a good memory."
"Oh, you don't forget the man who came to tell you your husband's been killed," Kerry O'Hanlon said, her voice measured, but without malice.
Don flushed. Brendan O'Hanlon had been a temporary part of Don's team, on loan from the child endangerment division. He had taken part in an investigation intent on breaking up a black-market adoption ring. Brendan had gone undercover with Terry Lake, posing as a couple desperate for a child. He had been instrumental in setting up the sting that ultimately shut the ring down, but at the last minute, Nathan Adare, the brains behind the baby stealing, had realized he was being set up. He showed up to meet Brendan and Terry with an infant carrier that held not a newborn boy but with an automatic weapon.
That had been nearly three years ago. The case had remained open and Adare had gone on the Most Wanted list, and was apprehended two days before.
"I was kind of expecting you," Kerry said now.
"Expecting me?" Don echoed. "How?"
She shrugged. "I run Bren's name through Google every now and again. Sometimes I use the wire archives. Yesterday I found a tiny Associated Press piece about your arresting Adare." She shook her head. "Funny, how the death of an FBI agent makes national headlines, and his funeral is on CNN, and yet the news his killer has been caught is on page 4 of the Cleveland Plain Dealer."
"I'd forgotten you were a reporter," Don said.
"Yeah, there's that, and the fact that you were sitting in your car in front of my house," she said. "My kids called me twenty minutes ago to tell me some fed was waiting for me. I told them to put on a pot of coffee and ask for your ID if you rang the bell."
"If we'd had you under surveillance, you'd have made me," he said lightly.
"Nah. If you'd had me under surveillance, you'd have been in a Roto Rooter truck or something." Kerry thrust a bag in his direction and he took it. "Give me a hand with these and you can let me know what I can do for you."
"Deal." Don took the paper sack and followed Kerry into the house. It had been rearranged since the last – and only – time he was there, and as he trailed her into the kitchen, he found himself wondering why she hadn't moved her family back East. Kerry was from Massachusetts – he remembered Brendan saying she complained about the warm LA Christmases.
"Coffee?"
"Please." Don put the bag on the counter and glanced at a bulletin board by the phone. There were various receipts, messages, and photographs, and in the middle was a school picture of a beautiful young lady with Kerry's red hair and Brendan's green eyes.
Don pointed. "Is that your daughter?" he asked. "I thought she was a little thing."
"Yes, Bridget. She's fourteen now." Kerry laughed, a pleasant musical sound. "The picture Brendan had of her was from first grade – he didn't like the idea of someday-boyfriends."
"Cave is a nice guy, Mom," came an exasperated voice behind her.
"Cave is not a name," Kerry replied. "Cave is a dark damp scary place, and I don't want you going there alone." To Don, she said, "She's mad because I won't let her go to the Bloody Myth concert with him."
Bridget rolled her eyes and crossed to the fridge.
"Bridge, this is Agent Don Eppes," Kerry said.
As Don was registering the fact that Kerry not only remembered him, she remembered his first name, Bridget smiled at him and extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Agent Eppes," she said. Her tone was polite and cordial, mature for a girl her age and completely different from the exasperation she'd shown her mother. "Are you here because Nathan Adare finally got arrested?"
"I am," Don answered, smiling at her. "I understand you have a sharp eye."
Bridget looked at him, confused, then realized he was talking about his car, parked at the curb. "Oh, that," she said. "That was my brother Shawn."
"That's right, I remember Brendan saying he had a son and a daughter. How old is your brother?"
"Eleven." Bridget made a face. "He's a pain in the neck."
"Yeah, I have a little brother, that doesn't much change when you grow up, sorry to tell you."
She turned back to her mother. "Cave's dad is going to the show," she said. "He has tickets four rows behind us. He'll be with Cave's cousin and his brother – like, his brother, Cave's uncle. Now can I go?"
"I'll call Cave's dad, you know," Kerry said. "To check."
"I have his cell phone number for you," Bridget answered.
Kerry sighed, then nodded. Bridget shrieked and hugged her mother tightly. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"I'm telling you, it's a good thing Daddy didn't live to see this," Kerry said, disentangling herself from her daughter. "Boys with bad names and bloody concerts and all that."
Bridget grinned at her. "Oh, Daddy's watching over me, why do you think Cave's been such a gentleman?"
Don glanced from mother to daughter, stunned at their casual reference to Brendan's absence. He couldn't help but think of his own family. His father, Alan, referred to their mother Margaret fairly often, but Don and his brother Charlie didn't really mention her unless it was absolutely necessary. It wasn't that they wanted to forget her; it was that it hurt too much to think about it. Bridget and Kerry talked as if Brendan was somehow still with them, in some way.
Bridget flew up the stairs, already dialing her cell phone to announce the good news, and Kerry handed Don a cup of coffee, motioning for him to sit at the table. "Sorry about that. What brings you here, Agent Eppes?"
"Don," he said. "Please, call me Don."
"Don," she agreed. "And I'm Kerry. I still think of Mrs. O'Hanlon as my mother-in-law."
Don took a breath. "You know we arrested Adare. We have very strong evidence against him and the DA is hopeful he'll get a conviction."
"I should hope so," she said, sitting next to him with her own cup.
"It's a two-part process, he's being tried for the murder and the kidnappings separately," Don said. "He's talking about making a deal for the whole adoption thing, and the DA may go for that, since if he's convicted for murder it's a moot point." His voice grew gentle. "Mrs. O'Hanlon, would you be willing to come to court? It would help – it would help for the jury to see Brendan's family."
Kerry was silent for so long that Don had to fight the urge to repeat himself. He knew she'd heard him, though – the way her fingers tightened on her cup, the pulse that fluttered in her temple, the sudden set of her jaw. She took a long swallow and then said, "My children and I will do whatever you need to put this man behind bars. He kidnapped babies and sold them and then he murdered my husband." She met his eyes, and Don was surprised to see not grief, not anguish, but steely determination there. "You let us know when it starts and we'll be there."
