(12/20/06) Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything associated with it. If I did I wouldn't be writing this fanfiction for it.
The name of this is from the Goo Goo Doll song, "Naked".
A/N: Well, this story is based on what happened to me yesterday (It's a lot more dramatic than what I went through).
And I'm thinking about turning this into a short story.
Warning: Language
The shots in the dark from empty guns
Are never heard by anyone
Charlie leaned back in his chair. Today's class was going to be real easy - and real boring. Test day. No lectures, just work on other things. Work on other things. That sounds simple, right? Wrong. Charlie was bored out of his mind. He had nothing to do. He had already graded everything he could and Don wasn't needing his help on a case. So, in result - Charlie was bored out of his mind.
Charlie watched his first class of the day as they started to finish their tests. A student stood up and walked up to his desk and quietly put their test down. Charlie nodded and they left the room.
It continued like this for about five minutes - a few students getting done with their test early and leaving.
Soon the class was almost empty - just a few students left.
He smiled up at a student who was putting the booklet on his desk.
Just then the door's of the lecture hall flew open, "LAPD! Everyone Freeze!" Five officers came in with their gun's drawn.
Charlie could feel someone moving next to him, he turned and saw a young student - Dalton Jay pull something out of his backpack. He pointed it at Charlie's head. "Don't any of you come any fucking closer or I swear I will kill the Professor!"
Charlie watched as everyone around him and Dalton moved away, screaming. Charlie, himself, couldn't move. He was frozen, staring at the barrel of a gun pointed at his forehead. He could feel the sweat dot his head.
"Drop the gun, Jay! Or we will shoot!"
"I'll fucking kill him! I'm not playing around!"
"We know you're not, Jay! But you need to put the gun down!"
"I said I'll kill him! Put down you're guns and let me walk away!"
Charlie could feel himself start to tremble at having the gun pointed at him for so long. His rational mind told him that it hadn't been pointed at him for but a few seconds, but it seemed like hours.
The lead officer nodded to the other four, "Alright, Jay. I'm putting my gun down." He put his gun on the floor and held his hands up, "I am going to come up to you and help you out."
Dalton shook his gun in front of Charlie's face, "I said not to come any fucking closer!"
The officer stopped moving, his hands still in the air, "Jay, let the Professor go. You don't need to hurt anyone today."
"If you guy's hadn't have fucking barged in, the Professor wouldn't have been put in this predicament!"
"You wouldn't have done it, Jay?"
"Different class, asswipe! I like Professor Eppes! He understands more than any of the other idiots here at CalSci!"
"So, let him go. You don't want to hurt him. Just let him go."
Dalton seemed to think about this. His gun lowered to the area in front of Charlie's nose. Then he shook his head, "No! I can't let him go! You'll just fucking shoot me!"
"No, I promise we won't shoot you, Jay. Just let the Professor go."
Dalton turned to Charlie, tears going down his face, "I am so sorry, Professor Eppes." He spoke quietly.
Charlie's heart pounded in his ears. This was it. Dalton was going to kill him. Charlie awaited the sound and when he heard it - he was traumatized.
He had watched Dalton as he quickly put the handgun next to his temple and pull the trigger. His body fell lifeless to the floor.
Charlie's legs gave out from underneath him. He couldn't hear anything - only see the blood that was making it's way towards him from Dalton's head. It was soaking into the carpet as it crawled out in all directions.
"He's going into shock."
"Professor? Professor Eppes? Can you hear me?"
Charlie nodded mutely.
"Good, I want you to take deep, slow breathes. Alright?"
He did as he was told, staring at the body of his former student.
"Would someone cover that up?!" The offiver yelled.
Charlie's heart rate started to go down when the body got covered with a sheet.
"Professor. We need to get you out of here." The man lifted Charlie up and pretty much carried him outside and sat him down on the bench. "I think you need to go home. Is there anyone who can be there with you?"
Charlie licked his lips, "M-My dad. He lives with m-me."
"And is he home right now?"
"Should b-be." Charlie voice was quiet - Like Dalton's was when he apologized.
"I'll drive you home." The officer took Charlie to his car and drove him home after he asked where it was.
The man then walked Charlie to the front door while Charlie was in a daze. He knocked politely on the door.
"Ch-Charlie?" Alan asked when he opened the door. He eyed his son and noted how pale he looked, how his movements were erratic, how he seemed to be defeated. He then looked at the man standing next to his son, "May I help you?"
The man nodded, stepping into the house, pulling Charlie along, "I am Officer Farmer. Are you Professor Eppes' father?"
"Alan. Alan Eppes." He stared at his son who just stood there. He then turned to Farmer, "What happened?"
"Professor Eppes has been through a traumatic experience today. I need you to watch him."
"May I ask what this experience is?"
"Of course." The officer took a breath before he told the story.
By the end of it, Alan and the officer were both sitting down while Charlie still hadn't moved from his spot.
"Dear Lord." Alan said under his breath, then he looked at Farmer, "Thank you for brining my son home."
"It's not a problem. Just watch him, be there for him." Farmer shot a glance at Charlie, "He will need someone around when it all finially hits him."
"Yes, Of course." Alan stood up and walked Farmer to the door, "Thank you again."
"It's not a problem, Mr. Eppes." Farmer nodded and went back to his car.
By the time Alan turned around, ready to find his son staring off into space, Charlie was gone. Alan heard the back door close quietly. He knew where his son was going, so he followed. "Charlie?"
Charlie didn't look up from his chalkboards.
"Son, if you need to talk, I'm here for you."
Still no answer.
"Just, please don't get lost, Charlie. I need you." Alan gave his son a sad smile and left the garage.
Don drummed his fingers on his steering wheel along with the music of the radio.
"We interrupt you with this special news bulletin.
At 9:54 this morning at the CalSci school an armed student who at this time remains unnamed held an unnamed Professor hostage.
The police stopped the student before he hurt the Professor, but he had ended his own life.
CalSci will not be having any school for the rest of the day or tomorrow - but classes will resume on Monday."
Don's stomach suddenly dropped, a bad feeling came over him. He quickly turned around and headed for his brother's house.
Don ran into the house, "Charlie?! Charlie?!"
Alan walked into the room, "Don. He's in the garage."
"So, he's okay then?" Don watched as Alan's eyes fell to the floor, "I heard on the radio that a student held a Professor hostage. Is he that Professor?"
Alan licked his lips, "Yes."
Don sat down on a chair, "Oh God. Poor Charlie." He looked at his dad, "And you said he was in the garage?"
Alan nodded slowly. "After the officer brought him home he went into the garage and he hasn't left or said a word since." He paused, "Actually I haven't heard him say anything since he came home."
"That's not good." Don said, stating the obvious. "And you've been checking on him?"
"Every half-hour."
Don nodded, "I'll go and check."
"That's a good idea, Donnie."
He just wanted to forget it, but he couldn't forget it when people kept interrupting him. Though he hadn't expected Don, he had expected his dad again.
"Buddy?" Don asked.
Charlie was busy. He was working on a math problem, he didn't want to talk.
"Buddy, please say something. Let me know that you are still there and that dad and I haven't lost you."
Charlie sighed and turned, facing Don. "What do you want me to say, Don?"
"I want you to talk about it."
"I don't want to. I want to forget it." Charlie said, turning back to the board.
Don quickly moved between Charlie and the board. "You need to talk about it."
"Move Don." Charlie growled, "I need to work on this problem."
"Charlie, you should talk about it. Nothing will hurt you. You're safe now."
Charlie sighed and closed his eyes. "I am not safe now. Not until I finish this problem."
"You are safe now, Buddy." Don forced, not moving, "That student can't hurt you anymore."
"That student has a name."
"I don't know his name, Charlie. Why don't you tell me his name."
"Dalton Jay. No move." Charlie voice was quiet.
"Charlie. Dalton Jay can't hurt you anymore."
Charlie sighed, "He never wanted to hurt me, Don." he paused, "He said so."
"Charlie, he had a gun to your head. I think that what he told you was a lie." Don said smoothly.
"No, he didn't want to hurt me. The police made him hold the gun up to my head."
Don blinked at Charlie, baffled.
Charlie sighed, "He said I understood him."
"You understood him?"
"Dalton Jay was a fantastic student. During high school he had skipped a grade or two so he got picked on a lot. I understand what that is like Don."
"But you never wanted to shoot people." Don protested.
"There were times ..."
"But you never did." Don said simply, "You are not like him."
"No. I'm not like him. But I understood him more than any of the other professors did." Charlie sighed and looked Don in the eyes, "No move. I need to work."
Don reluctantly moved. He looked over the equation and noted a few words. Anomoly, Statistics, Dead. Those three words stood out. He walked up and grabbed a piece of chalk.
Which only caused Charlie to stop writing and stare at his brother.
Don erased something and then wrote an a in it's place. Anomaly. "How many times do I have to tell you that's how you spell that word?"
"I guess I just wrote it that way out of habit." Charlie sighed and went back to working.
"Charlie, you need to stop this."
Charlie tried to block out Don's words.
"Dad's really worried about you. And so am I. I know you don't want to talk about it-"
"I just did."
"Charlie. You need to take some time away from the math. You don't need to put math to this experience." Don sighed, "Because you are not dead. And anomalies happen." He paused, "You need to sit down and rest. Be glad that nothing happened today."
"Nothing happened?" Charlie voice rose. "Nothing happened?!" He put the chalk down and faced his brother, "Don, I know that it could have ended up a lot worse. I could have died. He could have shot the people he wanted to in the first place. But Don, something did happen today. I watched a brilliant student of mine shoot himself right in front of me. I was right there with him, Don. I got sprayed with his blood. His blood is on my carpet now, it soaked in. It soaked into my clothes, I can't ever wear those again. I've got to get a new backpack to carry around, blood got on that too. I need to take a shower still because I can spell the blood and smoke in my hair. Something did happened today, and I had to be there and see it. I had the front row seat." Charlie voice cracked as he said the last line.
(12/21/06) A/N: I'd like to thank stealthy290 and Taura Callisto for pointing out my mistakes which have been fixed.