Beware the Air

Summary: When a threat to national security is made, the Eppes' brothers are enlisted to help find the culprits before it is too late.

Disclaimer: NUMB3RS is the creation of Cheryl Heuton and Nicolas Falacci and I have no legal rights to the characters and their backgrounds.

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Charlie stood beside Larry at the faculty dinner Monday evening, listening to the conversation around him. He watched his fellow academics milling around the room and noticed how they were all in semi-formal attire. Looking down at his own jeans and well-worn corduroy jacket, he chided himself a bit on still dressing like a student rather than one of the faculty.

Bits and pieces of conversation drifted to his ears, mainly to do with current research pursuits and grants people were writing. The sedate and dignified atmosphere was a far cry from the happy-go-lucky dinner at his place a few days ago. He chanced a look at his watch and noted that it was well passed 7, over an hour since the party had commenced. Worriedly, he searched the room again for Emily.

"You know, it's just not like her to be this late. Or to be late at all. She teases me constantly about never being on time."

"Well, you are consistently late for everything, Charles."

"That's not the point, Larry. When I dropped her off Saturday night she specifically mentioned that she would be attending tonight."

"Perhaps she called you to let you know that she wouldn't make it. You are notorious for not checking your voice mail."

Shooting his friend an exasperated looked, he replied, "I checked it when I first started wondering where she was. I'm going to try calling her at the hotel again. I'm telling you, it's just not like her."

Charlie maneuvered his way around the mass of bodies to the front door. Stepping out, he opened his cell phone and hit redial. When the receptionist picked up, he asked for her room, and waited impatiently while the telephone started to ring. After six rings, the receptionist came back on again and asked if he would like to leave a message at the front desk for her. Declining, Charlie bid her a good night and hung up.

He was just about to go back in when he was way laid by a fellow professor in the math department who wanted to ask him questions about a paper they were collaborating on. He spoke with him for a few minutes, but the other man, noticing his distraction, asked to set up a time to meet next week. Hastily agreeing, he retreated back into the house to find Larry.

"Larry, you know, I really am concerned. Do you think we can duck out for a bit and go by her hotel?"

"Sure, Charles. I'm finding some of the company rather mundane. No one wants to talk to me about my string theory debate."

Making their way back outside, Charlie had to smile. "It might have something to do with the lack of physicists here, tonight. I'm not sure Dr. Flannigan asked all of the departments to attend. You only knew about it because I was going."

"Yes, Russell is not known for his diplomacy, I have to agree. He likes to keep his little corner of the academic world all to himself. I'm surprised that the math department was invited at all."

"He invited a number of well-known biostatisticians who are acquainted with people from our department. Russell may be a bit elitist, but he knows whose toes not to tread on."

They drove over to the hotel, Charlie trying to keep his anxiety in check. He figured he was probably over-reacting, but he had a bad feeling about Emily's absence. He knew he had a reputation for being stuck in his head a lot of the time and had trouble picking up on certain social cues, but something about the situation shot up warning signals inside of him.

Aside from the fact that it was completely out of character for her, he had begun to have this sneaking suspicion of late that he was being watched. The feeling had begun the day after his lunch with Larry and Emily. He had never actually seen anyone in particular, but he couldn't seem to completely ignore the prickling feeling at the back of his neck at odd times during the day. He wanted to ask Larry if he had been having the same feeling, but felt that perhaps he was being a tad paranoid and was also not in the mood to listen to Larry's '1984' speech, again.

Arriving at the hotel, Larry found a parking spot and followed Charlie in. The young professor had found out the room number when he had called earlier looking for her. As they approached her room, he noticed that the door was slightly ajar.

His steps faltered as he neared and he looked hesitantly back at his friend who shrugged his shoulders in confusion. Reaching up, Charlie knocked on the door and called Emily's name. When silence greeted them, he cautiously pushed open the door and peered inside. Chaos met his eyes as he took in the overturned chair, the half-packed suitcase on the bed, and strewn papers everywhere.

Larry looked over his shoulder and gave a cry of surprised. Charlie began to step into the room, only to have his arm grabbed by Larry. Turning to his friend, he saw the look of dawning horror clearly on his face.

"What's wrong, Larry?"

"Charles, look over there." Pointing a finger, he directed Charlie to look at the wall on the left and that's when he noticed the dark stain that dripped down onto the floor, and the handprint smudges along the baseboard. Charlie stood frozen as he realized that he was most likely looking at Emily's blood.

Gasping, he finally broke free from his frozen position and, yelling Emily's name loudly, rushed inside. Larry made a futile attempt to grab him to prevent him from barging into the room. "Charles, you can't go in there. You have to call the police. You'll contaminate the scene!"

"She might be in here and can't answer us. I have to see." Dreading the possibility of what he might find, he searched the room, being careful not to disturb anything. Shoulders slumping in relief when he didn't find her body lying unconscious or worse, Larry's last words finally penetrated his brain.

The words police and scene echoing in his head had him slapping his hands against his coat, looking for his cell phone. Clumsily ripping it out of his pocket, he went to stand outside of the door and immediately called 911. When he hung up, he rubbed his hands on his face, trying to calm his nerves. Making a decision, he hit speed dial 2 on his phone and listened as it rang.

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David, Colby and Don were sitting around a small table splitting a tray of nachos at a sports pub two blocks from FBI headquarters when the phone on the table began to vibrate. Don, recognizing Charlie's number grinned and picked it up, his mind still on the game playing on the big screen.

"Eppes."

Static filled his ear and then the stilted voice of his brother could be heard over the airwaves. "Don… Don, it's Charlie. Something's happened, I don't know what. I… Can you come?"

Don, recognizing the panic dripping from his brother's voice quickly got up. "Is it Dad, Charlie? What's going on? Are you alright?" The other two men heard the urgency in their boss's voice and signaled the waitress to come over with their bill.

"No, no, it's not Dad. I'm at Emily's hotel. She didn't come to the faculty dinner and Larry and I went to see what was keeping her. She's never late. She wasn't picking up her phone so I got worried."

His brother was rambling. Charlie never rambled unless he was talking math. Don grabbed his jacket and started to walk towards the front door, David and Colby following behind, exchanging worried glances.

"When we got here, her door was opened. There's stuff everywhere, and, Don… I think there's blood. It's on the wall and the floor. I called the police and they're on their way. But, I would feel better if you could come here, too. I mean, it might not be a big deal, but I kinda think it is."

"I'll be there soon. What hotel is it?" After getting the details from his brother, Don hung up the phone and turned to his co-workers. "It's Charlie's friend, Emily. He thinks someone broke into her room and there's evidence of a struggle."

"Evidence…?"

"Charlie says there's blood. He's already called the police but I'm going to go check it out. Make sure he's alright. And I'll have a better chance of finding out anything from the officers on the scene then he will."

"Do you want us to come with you?"

Smiling slightly at the offer, he thanked them. "No, it's okay. It might not be anything. I'll see you guys at the office tomorrow." Don got into his car and followed the directions Charlie gave him with the phrase, "I kinda think it is" ringing in his head.

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A/N: Finally, some drama. Sorry that the chapter is a big shorter than the others and to leave it on semi-cliff hanger, but I will hopefully have another chapter to post by the end of the day. As always, comments, suggestions and reviews are always welcome. Thanks!