LIKE ANY OTHER DAY
Summary: Even though Colby's officially back, things around the office still aren't right. So what will it cost to fix them? Just one day... (Set after Episode 4.04, "Thirteen")
Major spoilers for the Janus List/Trust Metric storyline, minor spoilers for Velocity & Thirteen, but everything up through Thirteen is assumed, so fair warning.
Quotes are mainly from Trust Metric – a few tiny ones from Velocity, Thirteen, and Hollywood Homicide.
Nothing having to do with Numb3rs or the characters belongs to me.
Author's Note: This story is complete, but I'll be publishing it a chapter or two at a time. There are ten chapters total (although the last one is really an epilogue), and they do get longer (and then shorter again – it's a loosely chiastic structure if that means anything to you). Thank you to everyone who read "Make You a Deal" and asked for more writing – here it is. And thank you a million times over to anglojem, who was kind enough to read this first and give me her feedback. The only other thing you need to know is that this is my humble attempt to get the events surrounding Trust Metric out from under my skin, and I hope you enjoy it.
–H.
CHAPTER ONE: Trust
Special Agent Don Eppes spent the entire morning in the AD's office, engaging in what would've looked to a casual observer like an all-out verbal sparring match, broken up by phone calls and pacing. Never mind that he was supposed to be getting a handle on the massive amounts of paperwork that threatened to overwhelm his desk. Never mind that his team spent the whole morning shooting nervous glances at that same desk, too distracted to make any significant progress on their own paperwork. Never mind that by the time he emerged, at 1:15pm, they were about ready to send in a search and rescue team after him. The look on his face stuffed even the most urgent questions – Where the heck were you all morning, Don? – back in their throats before they even had a chance.
"All right, everybody, listen up. Hey, I said listen up!" Don's harsh voice brought the entire floor to a halt. "This is straight from the AD's office, so I don't wanna hear any flak, got it? You have ten minutes to clear this floor of all non-FBI personnel. You got people in interrogation, put 'em on a different floor or send 'em to lock-up. Everyone else, just get 'em outta here. If there's someone on your team who's on lunch, out of the building, whatever, call 'em and get 'em back here. I want the entire floor here in ten minutes. Your afternoon belongs to me, people – let's go!"
After a moment of slightly stunned silence, the floor erupted into chaos. Don turned to find David Sinclair frowning, Liz Warner staring at him – as if he'd suddenly gone insane – and Megan Reeves frozen in the act of exiting the nearest conference room. She was the first to recover.
"Don, what on earth?" Megan let the glass door swing closed behind her and slid towards him. "And where were you all morning? With the AD? What is this all about?"
"Don, is there something goin' on we should know about?" David was still frowning.
Liz rubbed her forehead. "Clearing the floor, Don? I mean, was there some sort of terrorist attack, or what?"
"No, no, nothing like that." Don was clearly frustrated. "It has to do with Colby."
"Colby?" The voice came from behind them, in the direction of the conference room. "What about Colby?"
"Ah, hey, Charlie," Don said, turning to face his younger brother. "Amita, Larry – I didn't know you guys were here."
"Is everything okay, Don?" Charlie looked worried – Amita Ramanujan and Larry Fleinhardt only slightly less so. All three were clutching piles of papers and electronics, clearly gathered in a hurry.
"Yeah, Charlie, everything's fine." Or it will be soon. "We're just..." He sighed and gestured with one hand. "Look, you guys are already involved in this, and you all know Colby, so if you want to stay..."
"We'll stay, Don." It was Amita who spoke.
"Of course we'll stay," Charlie echoed. "It's Colby."
"I second that," Larry added. "Shall we, ah, resettle our things?"
"Yeah, you do that," Don answered grimly. "We still got eight minutes to go."
The three professors disappeared back into the conference room.
"What about Colby, Don?" David's voice was wary. "I thought you said he was back on the team."
"He is." The finality in Don's tone didn't invite further questions.
Megan took another step towards him and lowered her voice. "Don..."
He shook his head. "You gotta let me do this, Reeves."
She sighed, softly, and closed her eyes. Is this ever going to end?
"I just want to get this behind us – behind all of us," he defended. "That's all I'm tryin' to do here."
What, are you a mind reader now? She looked at him.
"You gotta trust me, Megan. I need you to trust me. You too." His glance included David and Liz.
"We do trust you, Don." Megan gave him half a smile. "We're right there with you."
The other two nodded. "I'll, uh, go check that interrogation's clear," Liz said hesitantly.
"And I'll see who's still missing," David added.
"Good. Thanks." As Don watched them go, he felt a tiny bit of his frustration melt away. "We're right there with you." Good thing. Don't think I could do this alone.