Numb3rs: Crash

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real places and organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

CHAPTER TWO

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Backing away slightly Mitch shook his head. "No way, man."

"Give me the gun then."

For the first time since they'd been together Mitch denied Troy something. "No."

"Then you do it." It didn't really matter too much to Troy who did it; it was normally Mitch's job to control their targets anyway. If the fed ended up dead he could make do with that.

"Why? He's out cold and we've got his gun. No way he's able to stop us."

"They find his body here they'll be too busy to come after us, at least not until we've had a chance to get away."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Mitch demanded, relieved that he was the one with the gun, not Troy or it would be all over already. He swallowed before he continued, not used to this role reversal as Troy was normally the one in charge. "We kill him and they will stop at nothing to find us and when they do it's the death penalty for sure."

"They're not gonna catch us." Troy insisted but his thoughts were already starting to cool, the desire to shoot the fed fading as his partner's words started to sink in. The threat of the death penalty could do that. They'd never killed before and he struggled to separate the tempting fantasy from reality. Staring at the unconscious body made that difficult so he looked back as Mitch continued his strong objection.

"Yeah? Well, they just caught us. It was only dumb luck we even got away that time. We kill him and they catch us, what then? Death penalty, that's what." Mitch insisted trying to hammer the point home. Knocking over gas stations and convenience stores was one thing, even getting physical with the law when some idiot back at the station failed to lock a door properly was something he could handle but actually killing a cop? That he hadn't signed up for. He knew how Troy felt about cops but never thought he'd want to go this far.

Mitch was totally right. Troy had to let the fantasy go, it had been stupid and they'd been fortunate that Mitch had been the one to find the gun. He was about to tell his partner to dump the fed in the trees like he'd originally planned when there was the unwelcome sound of a siren in the distance. They both froze for a moment and heard the siren get louder. They were out of time.

Automatically Mitch fell back into his usual, comfortable role. "What'll we do?"

Another moment of indecision passed before Troy came up with a plan. Things had just changed again, glancing back down at the unconscious man he realised that the fed could be useful. The cops weren't going to catch them again tonight. He may even get a little of his own back in the process. "Grab him. We'll take him with us."

The sudden about face surprised the other man. "But-"

"Grab his feet, quick. Let's go!"

With no time to argue Mitch shoved the gun away and grabbed both of the fed's ankles, lifting just as Troy started to drag the man towards his SUV. Grunting with effort they got him over to the black truck and slung him onto the back seat just as the flashing lights of the approaching emergency vehicle swung into view.

Slamming the door shut against the man's feet they scrambled into the front seats. Troy floored the gas just as the approaching headlights turned into an ambulance, not the cops as they'd feared. Leaving the SUV's lights on high beam to blind the EMT, Troy drove head-on towards the ambulance forcing it to swerve out of the way. He watched in satisfaction via the side mirror as the ambulance shot off the road and into the brush. With any luck the EMT would have been too busy trying to save his own skin to get a good look at the vehicle that had just run him off the road. Keeping his foot flat down he allowed the surprisingly powerful SUV to continue to accelerate, they needed to put some distance between themselves and the wreck as quickly as they could.

After a couple of minutes he reluctantly backed off easing them back to the speed limit to avoid drawing attention to themselves. The cops would be everywhere after their escape an hour or so ago, and would now also be looking for a speeding car as soon as the EMT called in what had just happened. They'd slowed just in time, taking the next turn they came face to face with a deputy's cruiser. Obeying the law for the first time in like forever he pulled off to give way as the approaching car's emergency lights were on. Slowing almost to a stop they watched as it continued past them, before taking the turn they'd just made to head towards the crash site.

"That was close." Mitch finally commented as they pulled back onto the road and accelerated away.

"Yeah. But they're gonna figure it out soon enough. He must have called the EMTs when he found us." Troy's voice had regained its usual confident composure after having some more time to think things through. "That's why we brought him along. They stop us we got him to get us away." Glancing up in the rear view mirror he was reassured that the man in question was still out cold, lying limp on the back seat just as they'd left him. They would keep the fed until they didn't need him any more before getting rid of him, alive now that he'd rejected the insanity of his earlier fantasy. They had enough trouble hanging over them, all of which didn't really bother him but the thought of death row was another story.

"Hey, yeah." Mitch said liking the idea. Threatening the fed was a whole world away from killing him. They'd had a hostage once before, some kid clerk and they'd gotten away clean. That had ended with them dumping the terrified kid at the side of the road somewhere. They could do the same with the fed once they were a few miles away.

Spotting a sign that pointed towards what passed for a highway in these parts, Troy took the next turn and headed up the ramp realising that in their earlier escape they'd been going the wrong way. Towards LA was somewhere they didn't want to go, far too many cops, so heading towards the next of a chain of smaller towns was a far better option in his book. Coming across the fed was staring to look like a fortunate event. This late at night there was no traffic so even without speeding they were going to make good time.

A sudden shrill noise caused both men to jump.

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It was always the way, his cell would rouse him every time.

That was his first thought, the next was to wonder why he had such a pounding headache and why he was so stiff and unable to move at first. Finally his arms responded and he couldn't help the groan that escaped his lips at the sudden pain the movement seemed to cause. Everything hurt. Another groan as he shifted more carefully this time reaching for the phone but it was already too late, the ringing had stopped.

Abruptly he froze as perfect memory returned. He'd been on the phone to David when he'd come across an accident. What happened after that was only too clear, he'd been jumped and attacked by the two men from the wrecked car. Familiar sound and motion asserted itself upon his senses and he recognised that he was in a vehicle moving at a steady pace down a smooth road surface.

It took some doing but he managed to get his eyes open although his left wouldn't open as far and felt puffy. In the first second he confirmed he was in a vehicle, his own, and that the two men that attacked him were with him. The vehicle was dark but the wash of light from the dashboard along with some backwash from the headlights enabled him to see clearly enough to make that identification. He could certainly see well enough to identify the man peering at him over the top of a Glock pistol as the driver he'd tried to help earlier. The agent didn't need to reach for his hip to understand that the weapon was his own. The two men regarded each other for a long moment, Don holding still and silent under the threat of the gun as he lay across the back seats.

"He's awake." The gunman finally announced.

"Keep the gun on him so he doesn't try nothin'." The other man responded.

"I got it!" The one with the gun responded somewhat angrily. The gun lifted slightly to add emphasis to his next order. "Give me the cell."

"Give me back my gun."

Don had expected that his demand would be ignored but he didn't expect the man's quick movement, lunging back between the seats to shove the gun into his face. Flinching away automatically he hardly dared to breathe as he wondered how volatile the two men really were. The answer to that was directly proportional to his chances of surviving the night.

"Cell." The man repeated firmly.

The agent considered his options for a moment trying not to stare at the muzzle so close to his face. The gunman was way off balance but his finger was on the trigger making any move that Don might try a sure chance of suicide. He was also stiff and sore and unsure just how capable he was of trying anything in the first place. There was nothing for it but to back down for now.

"Okay, okay." Don carefully raised one hand in surrender.

The gun withdrew slightly giving him room to slowly roll onto his back. The movement freed up his other hand so he could brush aside his already open jacket and gain access to the cell phone still in its holder on his belt. Ignoring for the moment the unexpected aching pain in his hip he continued with his task, pulling the cell out and holding it up within the man's reach. The device was snatched from his fingers and the man finally lowered the gun a little before moving back into his seat.

Don shifted again, stretching and trying to assess his injuries. Everything still hurt and he just managed to bite back a new groan that threatened. Adjusting his position again he determined that despite the pain nothing seemed to be broken, he was just going to be black and blue from the bruises he could feel developing on his torso. He wasn't sure what had happened to make his hip so sore but again nothing seemed to be broken. Gentle prodding with his hand confirmed that his face was swollen around his left eye and he got a flash of memory of the fist that had struck him there. Reminded of how he'd actually been knocked out he felt across his forehead and found a large dusty lump from where his head had been pounded into the ground. It wasn't just his torso that was going to be black and blue. Feeling up to the task he started to sit up only to find himself facing his gun again.

"Get back down."

Easing back slowly he held the man's gaze.

"He's gonna be a problem?" The one driving asked, glancing back quickly before returning his attention to the road.

"Maybe."

"Let me go and there won't be any problem." Don interjected.

"Shut up, Fed."

"So you know who I am." The agent wasn't too surprised by that. They'd found his gun so he would have expected them to investigate further, especially once they'd had a good look at his dash and found the extra radios and controller for the lights and siren. "Assaulting me is one thing when you didn't know who I was. Holding me now that you do is something else."

"We've already had a dust-up with the cops tonight, so don't think yourself so special." The driver explained, his voice hard.

The new titbit of information didn't make his position any better. He put together what little he knew, clearly the men had been on the run when they'd crashed which made him think that the car was also probably stolen. They'd had an encounter with police earlier in the evening but no police were in evidence at the crash scene, meaning that they'd successfully escaped and by the sounds of it violently. That finally provided a reason why he was along for the ride. He needed to know what had happened to the police during that encounter but knew he couldn't ask.

"So what's the plan then? You're away free, you don't need me." The lack of sirens following them suggested that.

"The plan is you shut up and do as you're told, or else." The driver threatened, clearly becoming angered.

"Troy." The gunman said, an odd tone in his voice.

"I think you're right, Mitch." The man now identified as Troy said, emphasizing the gunman's name in a clear sign of displeasure that names had been used. "I think he's gonna be a problem."

Not liking the sound of that at all, especially as he now had both their names, Don could do nothing as the SUV slowed and pulled off the side of the road. It seemed very much like Troy's anger was going to be taken out on him. They continued on the shoulder for a bit before turning slightly towards some trees that he could see through windows, concealing them from the road. The SUV pulled up with a jerk as Troy slammed on the brakes, forcing Don to fling an arm out so he didn't end up in the foot well in front of him.

"Give me that." Troy demanded harshly as he snatched the gun out of Mitch's hands.

"Troy-" Mitch started but was ignored as his partner opened his door and jumped out.

There was no time for Don to take advantage of the fact that a gun wasn't pointed directly at him. Before he could even try for the door handle the back door was opened and Troy was aiming the gun back at him.

"Out!"

Don had a sudden suspicion where this could be headed. "Don't do this. Whatever you've done is not worth this."

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A/N: Did anyone happen to notice I like the odd cliffhanger? :)