DISCLAIMER: I don't own Numb3rs nor to I have the rights, never have and never will.
It had been a rough few days at the FBI and everyone was feeling the tension as lead after lead of a group of serial bombers that had been causing havoc in Los Angeles ended at a dead end. It was three o'clock in the morning and everyone was exhausted and getting increasingly frustrated as one by one all the leads dried up.
"Ok let's go over it again" said Don, hoping that a new lead would turn up or they would discover something new that would help them solve the case. "What do we know?" he asked as he turned to his team.
A team of bombers had hit two schools, a large shopping mall and an apartment building. Nothing had been stolen, nobody had died but there were a few casualties. No fingerprints or DNA found at any of the scene, eye witnesses describe four people dressed all in black with Scream masks on, no luck identifying them from the video surveillance. Late last night a federal bank had been blown up, robbed and three people were killed making it a Federal case.
"So are the bombers robbers now?" stated Colby.
"And killers" added David who was gazing at the victims photos on the board.
"Don't you think the targets are a bit weird though? I mean first schools, then a mall then this" said Granger as he flicked though the crime scene photos and then threw them on to the table. "It's like these guys are randomly choosing there targets" he said as he read through the crime files once more.
"You know what Chuck would say about you using the word random" said Don. "He would say that there's …"
"That there is random and then there's random" finished Charlie as he entered the war room. "And then I would tell you for the umpteenth time not to call me Chuck."
"Sounds the same to me buddy" replied Don on seeing his brother suddenly appear.
"Hey Charlie" said Megan, her smile dropping as she took in his ragged appearance. "Are you ok?"
Charlie returned it with a small smile and put his laptop on the table. "Just haven't been sleeping well lately, actually I have not had any time to sleep. What with the additional cases I'm working on for the police, the mountain of exam papers that I have to mark by the end of this week and not to mention working on my own research projects … and the one night that I am able to get to sleep I get a phone call from Don" he said mock glared at his brother, that's what Don hoped he was doing but squirmed slightly never the less in his chair.
"I won't have called you if we didn't need you pal" replied Don feeling slightly guilty about waking his brother up but it couldn't be helped, they needed him. "Have you got anything for us?" He had brought Charlie in on the case to try to find out if there was a pattern to the locations the bombers had chosen and if so to predict when and where the next bomb would be.
Charlie was about to answer when his eye caught hold of the crime scene photos that Colby was looking at and he couldn't help but gulp and quickly look away as one photo showed the charred remains of what was obviously a human being. No matter how many cases he worked on he still couldn't handle the graphic images.
"Yes I have" Charlie quickly replied as he began typing, trying to get the image out of his head and focus on the numbers. "Well I got all the data that you gave me, the locations that were targeted and the victims, what type of bomb it was and so on. And by putting it into this selected anagram this is what I found" Charlie pressed a final key on the laptop and displayed a map of Los Angles on the screen that was also filled and surrounded with numbers and symbols.
"These bombers are very smart but as you can see there is a very obvious pattern to their targets."
"Charlie what exactly are we supposed to be seeing here?" Don asked, rubbing his tired eyes in hope that if he stared at the numbers long enough he would know what they mean. They had no clue of the bombers identities, what their plans were and all their leads had dried up and they had no idea where he would strike next, Charlie's work was their last hope of catching them, possibly in the act.
"Well it's easy to notice, as you can see here …" Charlie began sprouting numbers and equations, the excitement of math suddenly giving him a burst of energy.
"I hope that you have one of your cute analogies up your sleeve Charlie" said Megan after a minute as her and the agents didn't have a clue what was going on.
He stopped waving his arms and turned away from the screen and could clearly see the confusion and bewilderment he had caused. Sometimes it was so hard being a genius he thought, but instead of being angry he smiled as he loved teaching others what he thought was so amazing, that was one of the main reasons he became a teacher.
"Oh, I'm sorry guys I still sometimes forget that your not my math students."
"That's fine whiz kid just tell us what this bunch of numbers mean cause we got nothing" assured Colby.
"Ok. How should I explain this …" Charlie ran his hand though his hair trying to think of an analogy that would work perfectly to explain his formula. "Ok, I think I got it. So imagine a …"
He tried to think how to explain it.
"Think of a …"
He shook his head and muttered "No that wouldn't work either." The lack of sleep was really getting to him and was making him irritable as the initial love of number that had given him energy had faded away.
Don stared at his brother, his elder brother instincts kicking in, fearing that Charlie was having a mental break down or something. "Charlie?"
"Give me a minute." Charlie looked back at the numbers on the board that was so clear to him and it amazed him once again that the people in front of him didn't have a clue what they meant.
He tried once again. "You know how a … well picture a …"
Groaning as he shook his head, it was no use, he needed sleep and he wanted it now.
"Screw the analogy! Your bomber's next target is most likely target is here" circling a point on the map.
"Are you sure about this Charlie?" asked Megan, who never doubted Charlie's math but just wanted to make sure that this was a lead that they could pursue.
"About 79%. Yes I'm sure known if you excuse me I'm going home and I'm turning off my mobile and pulling out the cable that connects the phone so don't even try to reach me."
The agents looked at each other as Charlie gathered his stuff and stormed out of the room.
"Well that was weird" remarked David. "Your brother sure is irritable when he doesn't get any sleep."
"Yeah and you are such a great morning person yourself David" teased Colby as he gestured to the mound of discarded coffee cups that were in front of David.
David held his hands up in mock surrender "Hey man, half of theses are yours."
"What if something comes up and we need him, Don?" said Megan, who was still staring at the spot Charlie was standing a few moments ago, a worried look on her face. "I don't think he would like it if Colby here broke down his door -
"Hey!"
and you heard him, we can't phone him" continued Megan ignoring Colby's interruption.
"I have a key remember" said Don. "I could always chuck him out of bed." He then abruptly stood up, threw on his jacket and put on his sunglasses, his expression growing ever more serious as he looked on the map that Charlie had drew on. "Funs over, we have some murderers to catch."
"Aye Aye boss" Megan and David said at the same time as they too got up and put on their jackets. When they were all ready the agents made their way out off the room, down the corridor into the elevator. A spring in all their steps as they now had a lead they could chase and that would allow them to catch these criminals.
"You know" remarked Colby suddenly as they waited for the elevator to open which would take them to the ground level. "We could always steal all of Charlie's chalk, boards, pencils and paper from his house and not give them back until he consults for us."
"That's not a bad idea, I wonder why I never thought of it" said Don.
"Maybe because it would take you a while" Megan said as she holstered her gun. "Like a few …"
"Weeks?" said David.
"Months?" followed by Colby.
"Centuries?" finally remarked Don as he pulled out a stick of chewing gum and began to unwrap it.
"I was going to say a few days but who am I kidding" she said as she walked into the lift as the doors finally opened. "But you can't deny one thing."
"What's that?" asked David.
"Charlie is a key part of this team and without him …" she broke off, not able to but it in words. "I wouldn't change him."
"Yeah" said Colby. "We might not understand what he's talking about sometimes –
"Sometimes?" interrupted David as he raised his eyebrow in question.
Colby sighed in defeat. "Ok a lot of the time what he says passes over all our heads but he always come though for us."
"That he does" said Don. And not for the first time he felt proud that Charlie was his brother. "That he does."
A/N Please Please Review!!!!!