Acknowledgements:

Omi as always
The BTN8rs - with apologies
The Numb3rs dot org crew - since I did the whole alphabet inspired by their challenge

Disclaimers:

"A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend" - Willow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I do not own any Numb3rs characters nor do I have any rights to
anything related to the TV show Numb3rs. I plead fair use and claim
only my own writing and characters.

Don sat on his couch as the credits rolled and the movie he'd been watching ended, pensive and silent.

He eventually pushed the stop button and the mute button and left the TV on while he laid back on the couch for a moment.

He thought he'd be getting an interesting action crime drama.

What he saw though made him look at his job in law enforcement in a slightly different way.

A violent coughing fit made him sit up again and he took a swig out of the cough syrup bottle on the coffee table.

He got up, ejected the video tape and put it on top of the others he'd already spent his sick day watching: Seven Samurai and Ran.

He glanced at the clock and then at his cell phone, which hadn't rung all day.

He picked it up and speed dialed the office.

"Reeves."

"Hey, Megan."

"Don!"

Don heard her pull away from the phone briefly saying, "Hey Granger! Pay up! Don called before five o'clock."

"You had a pool going?" Don asked, incredulous.

"Nah, only Granger was stupid enough to think you'd go a whole day without checking in, or at least a whole workday. He thought you'd wait until after five to see who was left here."

Don grunted in amusement. "He's still the new guy. Go easy on him. How much did you take him for?"

"Just a five spot. He's not stupid. He just doesn't know you as well as I do."

"Megan, you only have a couple of months seniority over him on my team!"

"It's enough!" Megan protested. "Anyway, we're still waiting on warrants for the Clauson case. Robin thinks she can get them in front of a judge in the morning but that's the best we can hope for. Past that we're still going over canvas reports from LAPD. I've never seen a case with so many so called witnesses who didn't really see anything."

"Sounds exciting," Don intoned. "Hey, can you put Colby on?"

"Sure."

There was a brief pause then Colby got on the line.

"Dude, I'm out ten bucks because you can't just stay home sick like everybody else."

"Ten?" Don said with a laugh. "I thought Megan only took you for five?"

"She did, but I told Miller and he wanted in for five as well."

"Sorry, Colby. Now you know never to bet on the boss."

"I'll say. You need anything?"

"Yeah, actually. I just finished watching Rashomon. You were right. That's quite a movie."

"It is. I know you guys don't think of me as being into foreign flicks, but Kurosawa's awesome."

"So..." Don said, trying to choke back another coughing fit. 'You got any more Kurosawa movies you can loan me?"