Just as a reminder this takes place before the Numb3rs season 3 finale so before the Janus List episode but after we meet Dwayne Carter.
December 7th at 5:25pm
"Don," Colby Granger said hesitantly. He knew this was not going to go well.
Don's face screwed up in confusion. He didn't place the name at first. Two seconds later and Don wished that he never did recognize the voice. "Colby?" He was still hoping beyond hope that he was wrong.
"Don, listen…" Colby said before his boss cut him off.
"So help me Colby if you have anything to do with Charlie's disappearance I'll kill you!" Don yelled. 'Damn Colby, how could he do this?' Don thought to himself.
"Don listen," Colby said, struggling to remain calm. Don had a right to be upset but he didn't deserve this.
"I told you Colby. I gave you another chance. You better hope I don't get out of this," Don threatened. He had failed to identify a dangerous FBI agent, maybe even a traitor. Hell, he had failed to protect his own brother.
"Don listen!" Colby finally yelled. He waited a few moments to make sure Don was indeed going to listen. Just as he was about to talk he was cut off again.
"Hey, Colby hang on just a bit," Don said as he brought the phone back to his ear. Don gave him a dirty look. "Give me your hands," Dean said as he laid the cell phone down on his lap.
"What?" Don asked, extremely upset that Dean had just interrupted his conversation.
"I'm tired of holding the phone. Let me undo the cuffs," Dean said impatiently.
It took a moment for Don's brain to register what Dean was trying to do but when his gray matter finally got around to it he turned around so Dean could uncuff him.
Dean did so and took the cuffs and keys and stashed them in the driver's side door before handing the cell phone back to Don.
For his part Don rubbed his wrists, thankful to finally have them free. He took the cell phone when Dean offered it and didn't waste time being polite. "What?"
"Don, please just listen," Colby said, just glad that they hadn't been disconnected. He hated working with the Winchesters.
"Talk," Don said shortly, not trusting himself to say much more.
Dean could hear what Colby was saying, owning to the fact that he loved keeping his cell phone volume as high as it could go. So while still paying attention to the conversation and without Don realizing it Dean pulled the car back onto the road and started driving to Bobby's.
"Don I promise that I had nothing to do with Charlie's disappearance," Colby said first, getting that out of the way. The fact that Don could even suggest that he had would harm Charlie hurt him, it showed just how little trust his boss really had in him.
"You really haven't given me any indication that I should believe you," Don said coldly.
Choosing to ignore the comment Colby went on, "Nick Colbert is the one behind this, I'm sure Dean has already told you. I've worked with Dean before; he's not what the files say he is." This was going to be tricky. Although Colby had never lied to Don about him knowing Dean, it wasn't exactly something that he ever counted on sharing.
Don shot Dean an angry glare. Who the hell was this man? How did Colby know him?
Dean noticed Don's look after Colby mentioned that the two of them knew each other. 'I guess that puts a damper on our relationship,' Dean said, judging by the look on Don's face.
When Don didn't say anything Colby continued, "I won't go into detail about how I know him, Dean can tell you. But you can trust Dean…"
"You know that word is being thrown around a lot and it seems like the people who keep repeating it are the ones that can't be trusted," Don said.
"Don please. He'll be able to help you find Charlie, I promise. I know that you don't want to trust me but if you do you'll find that I'm right. I just called to let you know that the FBI knows you're missing. David and I find your car and gun. Dean's prints showed up on the SUV. Tell him to be more careful. It's believed that Dean, Sam, and Colbert are all working together with about eight other men. Do you have a pen and paper you can write on, I can give you the names."
Don didn't say or do anything for a second. He couldn't believe what was happening. Charlie had been kidnapped, he had been kidnapped by a man he was supposed to be searching for, and Colby was working with a known felon. How had all this happened?
"Do you have anything to write on?"
Colby's voice cut through Don's thoughts and he looked over at Dean, knowing full well that he could hear their conversation. The volume of the cell phone was unreal and based on how loud Dean played his music Don guessed that Dean regularly kept it this loud so he could hear.
With a guilty look on his face Dean handed Don an crumpled old receipt with a pen.
"Alright I got it," Don said, looking back over at Dean when he saw the signature on the receipt, Dean just looked straight ahead.
"Here they are, Seeth Colbert, Pete Williks, Greg Bontaro, Kyle Ilsur, Henry Tompkins, Jerry Brick, Ben Voltur, and Mike Renfield," Colby rattled off the names slowly. "Got them all?"
"Yeah, Nick has a son?" Don asked, noticing Seeth's last name.
"Yes, not much is known about the kid but I think he's only nineteen or twenty, somewhere around there. He's suspected to help his dad but with what we don't know. This is only the second crime scene we've ever found his fingerprints at," Colby said, trying to remember what he had read about the kid. There really wasn't much to read or remember. "Alright I have to go but Don, please just help Dean. He'll be able to help you find Charlie more so than anyone here at the FBI. I'll keep you two posted on what's going on and let you know if we get any leads." With that Colby hung up, he really did have to get back, he had told Megan and David he was going to the restroom.
Don flipped Dean's cell phone shut and handed it back. He looked closer at the names, seeing if he recognized any of them. The first four he had already known about but he didn't know any of the others. Turning the receipt back over he looked once again at the signature on it. "So I can trust you Abu Laden?" Sarcasm and anger laced Don's voice.
"I never said I wasn't guilty of everything," Dean said quickly, knowing it wouldn't help. "Those are the guys that are with Nick," Dean said more as a statement than a question.
"Yeah," Don said, looking at the names again. He looked back up at Dean and decided it was time for some answers, "How do you and Colby know each other?"
Dean sighed; he wished that Colby hadn't mentioned that they knew each other. Although Dean hadn't pretty much blown that by how he had spoken with Colby. There would have been no way that Don would have not picked up on the fact that Dean and Colby knew each other. Trying to keep his answer as vague as possible Dean said, "I helped him out with a problem a while back."
"What kind of problem?" Don asked, looking out the window, still not believing the situation he was in.
"The kind of problem that my brothers and I deal with," Dean said. Knowing that is was futile but trying anyway Dean prayed that Don would stop this line of questioning.
"Who'd kill for him?" That was the only thing that Don could think of. However, even as he said it he didn't believe it. Yes Colby may have lied to him, twice, may be a traitor to the United States of America, but cold blood murder, Don didn't think Colby had it in him. Don knew it would get a rouse out of Dean though so the comment helped, even if it wasn't true.
It took all of Dean's will power not to stop the car and engage in round 2 of Dean vs. Don. So, realizing that this wasn't going to stop until Don got his answer Dean decided to give it to him. "A ghost, actually a spirit and I didn't kill it for him, the person was already dead. Sam and I just salted and burned the bones."
Don wasn't sure he had heard Dean at first or if he had suddenly fallen asleep and was dreaming. 'What the hell did he just say?! A spirit?' Don thought to himself. He knew that Dean Winchester's sarcasm and smugness was his signature but this was going too far. His brother's life was on the line here and if Dean was dragging him all over God's green earth because he forgot to take his pills Don was going to kill the man right here and now. "You expect me to believe that?"
"No," Dean answered frankly. "But it is the truth; my job is hunting the things that most people only see in their nightmares. The murders and tortures you guys accused me of, that was a shapeshifter. The grave discretions, that's a bad side effect of having to get to the remains of spirits, poltergeists, and the like. The credit card fraud, that's real but hunting isn't exactly a six figure job. The breaking and entering, that's also a side effect of the job but you'll notice that nothing has ever been taken, at least nothing of real value. So all that stuff that you have on me, most of it is bad evidence."
During his years at the FBI Don thought he had heard every excuse in the book but this one; it was almost too crazy not to be real. What kind of person could make this up? Dean Winchester apparently. "If I don't believe you?" 'Because nobody with the intelligence above a four year old,' Don added to himself.
Dean yanked the steering wheel hard to the right and parked the car on the side of the road. Without saying a word he got out and went around to the back of the Impala. Predictably Don followed. Once Don had come up Dean popped the trunk. He stood back and let Don inspect the contents of the trunk. Whether Don believed him or not really didn't matter but there was another reason why Dean had chosen to stop.
Don had to brace against the door when Dean jerked hard to the right to keep from slamming into it. He watched in amazement and disbelief when Dean calmly got out of the car and walked towards the rear. Don slowly got out and followed, not sure what the man was up. They were, after all, in the middle of the desert. Just as he was about to ask what was going on Dean popped the trunk. Instinctively Don took a step back before he walked forward cautiously. The entire trunk of the car was filled with weapons, shot guns, crossbows, pistols, knives. Then, upon closer inspection, Don found some not so threatening things. Water, journals, a few books that had titles Don couldn't pronounce, looked some of them were even in Latin, and some that Don didn't want to read. Other than the weapons and miscellaneous objects there were three army green duffel bags that probably would have fared better if they had been used during WW2. "Why are you showing me this?" This wasn't helping Dean prove his point.
"This is what we use to fight the baddies. Have you ever found a dead body with a arrow sticking out of it, or one that was killed with a shot gun and was attributed to us. No, because we don't use these on people. Look, I don't care whether you believe me or not but right now my main priority is finding my brothers. So you can either get back in the car or start walking," Dean said bluntly. To drive his point home Dean slammed the trunk closed and walked back to the driver side. He got in and started the car. Sure enough Don was getting in just three seconds later.
Just because Don got into the car didn't mean he believed Dean. In fact he still thought the guy was off his meds and should be admitted. However, Charlie's life was at stake and Don would do anything to get his brother back. If that meant helping a fugitive then so be it. Don knew that there was a great possibility he would be going to jail after this, or at least lose his job but as long as Charlie was safe that was all that mattered. He sensed Dean felt the same way about his two younger brothers, that was why this was going to work, this "partnership." That was, until the younger brothers were safe, then the chase was back on.
There was about twenty minutes of silence between the two men before Don finally broke it. "One more thing, why are you even bothering to bring me along?"
Without looking over at Don Dean replied, "Because Colby asked me too. He knew that I would be able to find Nick before the FBI and thought that you would want to help, be there to get Charlie." Dean didn't mention the part about Colby saying he would need Don's help when they finally caught up to Nick. Dean didn't need any fed's help.
Don shook his head. He had no idea what to think about Colby but what Dean had said was true. Don would do what it took to get Charlie back. He looked back over at Dean and could see the worry etched on his face. Just like he had seen it in his apartment when he had first met Dean, it was something only another big brother would notice. He knew that Dean had to be desperate, he wouldn't have brought along an FBI agent unless he was. "What makes you think that I won't just turn you in?"
Dean smiled at this question. He had been waiting for this one. "Because you want to find your brother as well. Because for the past thirty minutes your hands have been free and you have been able to reach my gun before me. Because you had the opportunity to escape just twenty minutes ago but choose instead to get back in the car." Pretending to ignore Don's frustrated look and act humble Dean picked up his cell phone to call Bobby, time to start using his resources. The older man would be about four hours out from L.A. Dean knew of a motel about three miles down the road, he would tell Bobby to meet them there.
December 8th at 7:00am
Sam shifted slightly from his position once again. They had been stuck in the back of this truck for at least sixteen hours now. Charlie had fallen asleep and Seeth was still unconscious. Sam was starting to get worried about his younger brother. Seeth's breathing had slowed almost to the point of stopping and while it picked back up every time, it also got slower and took longer to return to normal each time. A few minutes after they had started driving Seeth had begun shivering. Sam had taken off a couple of his layers and laid them on top of his brother but nothing changed, except now Sam was also shivering. In contrast, Seeth's forehead was burning, Sam was guessing a fever of around 100, maybe even more. In just the past couple of minutes it seemed to be getting better but without a thermometer there was no way Sam could be sure.
As the truck bounced violently up and down Sam heard Charlie moan. The math professor seemed to have smacked his head against the walls of the van. "Hello sunshine," Sam said trying to keep the mood as light as possible; he suspected he was failing miserably.
Charlie let out a small groan and rubbed the back of his head, it would be sore for a while. He felt the truck start to go over a bump again and quickly sat up straight. "How long was I asleep?" Charlie waited a couple more seconds before leaning back against the wall, just to make sure they weren't going to go over anymore bumps.
"About five or six hours, maybe seven. You slept through most of the night. It started getting light in here again about thirty minutes ago. I'm guessing it's between 7:00 and 8:30," Sam responded. They had been loaded into the van in the early evening and the light had steadily faded as time wore on. It was finally getting brighter again. He had done his best to sleep but he was too worried about Seeth. Every few minutes he had checked his brother's vitals. Over the past months Sam had come to appreciate Dean more and more as he finally knew what it felt like to be a big brother. But he had never realized how much of burden it could be until this moment.
Charlie's eyes scanned over Seeth's prone form. It looked like he hadn't moved much. Sam was sitting right beside him and Charlie noticed that his jacket was now on Seeth. He couldn't help but notice that Sam was also shivering now. "How's he doing?"
"I think he's starting to become stable. His fever is starting to go down and all the bleeding has stopped. His breathing is irregular though, he seems to be having a hard time with it," Sam said, looking over at Seeth, as if too make sure he wasn't lying.
Charlie didn't know what to say. He had never been in Sam's position. He was the little brother, Don was the big brother. Charlie knew that being a big brother was harder; there was a responsibility there that just didn't exist when you were the baby. Charlie remembered when he was six and he had broken his arm, Don hadn't left his side for days. The only comparison Charlie had was how he felt when he knew Don was going into dangerous situations. Thinking back to when Don had been grazed by that bullet during the fire fight at the bank Charlie multiplied that feeling by ten times. He figured that was the closest he was going to come to knowing how Sam felt right now.
"The truck stopped once, probably for a bathroom break. That was a hour or two ago so I don't think we'll be stopping anytime soon. It's also getting slightly warmer. That could be the sun coming up or we could be traveling south. We should be able to tell in a couple hours, after the sun has come up all the way." Sam was just trying to make small talk; he needed to get his mind off Seeth. This was too much, being an older brother.
"Do you have any idea where we might be headed?" Charlie asked.
"No. Nick wants revenge but I have no idea how he plans on doing it. His first priority is probably getting as far away from California as possible. With you in tow everyone is going to be looking for us," Sam said. They had gone over and this a million times but each time the conversation was always the same. Charlie would ask where they were going; Sam would say he didn't know. Not that Sam blamed Charlie; it was hell not knowing what was going to happen.
"What about your other brother, Dean? Wouldn't Nick want him as well?" Charlie asked. He hadn't thought much about Dean, a little grateful that he wasn't stuck with him but other than that Charlie's thoughts had been centered on the immediate situation.
Sam was a little surprised, that was a new question. Charlie hadn't brought up Dean since he had first woken up from the drug. He figured Charlie was just thankful he wasn't stuck with the oldest Winchester. Despite what Sam had told him and even though they now experienced that "I was kidnapped with you" bond Sam had a feeling that Charlie still didn't quite believe him. Sam shouldn't expect too much out of Charlie. After all, he was a math professor. "Nick might leave an obvious trail for Dean to follow; he knows Dean won't stop until he finds us. Hopefully it will obvious for the FBI as well," Sam said.
Charlie nodded his head slowly in agreement with Sam. Sounded like Dean and Don might have something in common. Charlie trusted that if anyone could find the trail it would be his brother.
It was five minutes before anyone made another sound and when the small groan spread throughout the truck it wasn't Sam or Charlie. Sam looked down and his heart skipped a beat when Seeth's head moved slightly. "Seeth," Sam said hesitantly and quietly, like he might scare Seeth back into unconsciousness.
His head felt like it had been beat for a week with a sledge hammer, swung by Muhammad Ali. His ribs were on fire and he could feel a broken one scraping something inside. Point is, it hurt like hell. He thought he heard Sam say something but he wasn't sure what, or if it was even his brother. It was a struggle to open his eyes but he finally managed to do it. The first thing he noticed when his body became aware of more than pain was the sensation of moving and the whirl of an engine. He was in some kind of vehicle, a truck, or van judging by how far high up the top was.
"Seeth."
There was that voice again, and this time a face came with it. Sam's head appeared at the side of his vision. Ugh, that was not something he wanted to see right when he woke up. "Get your fugly head away from me," he managed to groan out.
Sam let out something along the lines of a laugh with a relieved sigh mixed in. Respecting Seeth's wishes Sam sat back down and gave his brother a little space.
Charlie suddenly felt awkward, out of place. How was he supposed to react? Was he supposed to say anything? When Sam laughed slightly at Seeth's comment Charlie became confused. The guy had been unconscious for half a day and the first thing he does when he wakes up is throw insults at his brother. However, when he thought about it Don and his relationship wasn't much different. And besides, judging from Sam's reaction the insult hadn't really meant any harm. Trying to relax Charlie decided he would just sit here in his corner until they addressed him.
"How are you feeling?" Sam asked, although he could already guess Seeth's answer from the pain on the boy's face.
"Peachy," Seeth replied weakly. The pain in his ribs was steadily increasing, probably from the faster breathing now that he was awake. The headache, thankfully, was lessening to a more manageable level.
"Can you sit up?" Sam doubted it but he needed to know what Seeth was able to do if he ever wanted to escape. Most importantly, was he going to be able to walk out of here or would Sam have to carry him.
Seeth thought about that one for a moment, he didn't think he could. His body felt weak. Testing his strength carefully Seeth raised an arm slightly off the ground, the effort that took astonished him. With the same amount of exertion that a marathon would take Seeth slowly got up on his elbows and started to push up. His body got to maybe a thirty degree angle before a sharp, fiery pain shot down his side and he hissed though his clenched teeth.
Seeing the difficulty his brother was having Sam reached over and placed one of his hands on his brother's back to keep him from slamming back into the ground. After about three minutes Sam was able to successfully help Seeth into a sitting position against the wall of the van.
It had taken him forever to sit up and now it was taking twice as long for him to catch his breath. The pain had increased ten fold and his headache was back just as strong as ever from the exertion and concentration he had put into moving. Black spots were dancing in front of his eyes, and he came close to blacking out. It was another five minutes before he could see anything clearly let alone talk. When his senses finally came back to him Seeth looked around, yep, definitely in a van. His eyes fell on Charlie, who was staring right back at him. "Who are you?"
"Charlie," Charlie answered back. He had been watching the whole thing. If he understood everything then it meant the person who did this to Seeth was Nick. How could a father do that to his son? Never in his life could Charlie remember his dad even raising his voice.
Seeth glanced over at Sam for conformation. His line of work didn't exactly encourage trust in strangers, even more so, the first nineteen years of his life he had never had someone who was worthy of his trust.
"Nick got him at the cabin. Wrong time, wrong place," Sam said, looking over at Charlie for the first time since Seeth woke up. The man had remained where he was but Sam could see he was slightly tenser than he had been. The files that the FBI had on them must be pretty bad.
Charlie nodded his head in agreement.
"Seeth," Sam said gently but hesitantly. He knew that his brother had just woken up and was most likely in a lot of pain but there wasn't much he could do for him at the moment. However, if Seeth knew where they were going they could start to formulate a plan.
"Yeah, I know where he's taking us," Seeth responded, reading his brother's mind. Nick had mentioned Tom before he had knocked Seeth out and that was all Seeth needed to know.
Charlie scooted forward when he heard this. Finally, he could get some answers.
"A guy named Tom, he's an old friend of Nick's," Seeth said, pausing. This was going to take a lot of explaining to do and neither Sam nor Charlie were going to be happy. Hell, he got chills just thinking about the place. For some reason his back started to burn, old memories perhaps.
"Who is he?" Sam asked, impatient and wanting to get on with it.
"He lives down in Georgia, in a town called Brent. The town is huge, it covers a lot of land but the official population is relatively small. About seven hundred maybe, probably less. It's a big farming area, that's all they do."
"What do you mean by the official population?" Charlie was pretty sure that the answer wasn't going to be good.
"With a population that small they need some help running the farms and for a long time the town was too poor to hire help. So they started using criminals to do the labor, if someone broke the law they usually went to work for the family that they hurt. So say Joe 1 stole some food from Joe 2's shop, Joe 1 would have to work for Joe 2. Well, Brent, Georgia doesn't have a lot of criminals so they started getting some from other towns. A few years went by and the criminals they were sending down there never came back. The other towns and cities around them got suspicious so they stopped that. To replace the lost labor they started picking up homeless people, hookers, people that no one would miss. Those unmissed people were forced to work in the fields. That lasted for a while but the town grew, the farming industry took off and they needed more labor. The people were so use to not paying for labor that they didn't want to, so they started kidnapping people. Pretty soon they were hiring others to go out and find labor for them. Brent, Georgia is a throw back to the slave days. Tom is the slave auctioneer," Seeth stopped, letting that sink in. Sam and Charlie's faces were full of disbelief.
"That…That's impossible," Charlie finally managed to stutter out. "Somebody would notice."
"Don't believe me if you want but its true. Nick is running low on funds, he's taking you and Dean there to make money," Seeth said, nodding at Sam. "My guess is that's what he plans on doing with you as well." This time Seeth looked over at Charlie.
"You're sure?" Sam asked. His brain not being able to function at the moment so he was just trying to buy time for him to think.
"Yeah," Seeth said a little upset. Why would Sam question him? Why would Sam think that he was lying about something like this?
'Well this isn't good,' Sam thought to himself. He briefly thought about the time when he was caught by those redneck hillbillies that liked to hunt humans. Sam had hunted all sorts of creatures and now he was, in one of the most dangerous spots in his life and it was due to humans. At least the supernatural followed rules.
Alright everyone, you know the drill, please review. Let me know what you guys think of this Tom situation.
