Numb3rs: Defence

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 TEN

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Don's path took him back through the Fraud section. He wasn't going to approach the Cyber Crime Supervisor's office by the most direct route, this was about as sideways an approach as he could manage. He'd worked his way across in a pattern that to an outsider may have seemed almost random but was in fact designed to cover as much of the floor as he could as he worked towards his goal. He'd had far too many surprises already this night, he had to be sure there were no more intruders lurking behind him before he made his move. He was as sure as he could be that Theft and Corporate Crime were clear.

He advanced again, now entering Cyber Crime. He went even slower now, needing to get the drop on the intruder holding the tech or all would be lost.

"Hey, Fed!"

Don froze at the sound of the taunting voice. He searched anxiously around but there was no sign of the man. Had he been spotted? He started off, changing his course, backtracking and angling to come around a different way. His element of surprise was seemingly gone. Now he would just have to try for a visual on his opponent and come up with another plan.

There was the loud sound of a door opening from back in the direction of one of the stairwells. At least one intruder was coming back and now making no effort to conceal himself. That was bad. With one intruder seemingly knowing where the agent was and the other moving about openly something had obviously happened to greatly increase their confidence. The senior tech as their hostage could explain that but the one that had called out to him minutes before had not made any threats or demands on that basis.

Don backed off, heading off at an angle that took him away from both intruders; he needed to go to ground again. Reluctantly another thought struck him and he had to give it serious consideration. The tech was taken and there had been nothing but danger for him on this floor. It was time to give it up and move on, he should go up and secure the other three techs and come back here once the intruders had given up hunting him. It was the best option. With silent apologies to the tech he turned and made for the stairwell opposite the one the intruder had just used.

"Control, 3695." He called, his voice barely above a whisper. He wanted to give them a heads up so they could be ready on the door to stairwell two in case that camera was now down. He'd moved past two cubicles before the silence had stretched on too long. They were busy but all his previous calls had been answered quickly. "Control, 3695."

"Hey, Fed!" The intruder called again.

Don started, the voice was too close. He'd been followed across the floor. He moved again, ensuring that he made no sound. Returning to a zig-zag route he maintained his track towards the far stairwell. There was a sound and he looked towards it to see one of the intruders walking openly past a cubicle the next row over. Don ducked, the temptation to shoot was strong but it would only give away his position, shooting through the glass top of the partition nearest him would not guarantee an accurate shot. He gave it a moment before heading away.

A minute later and there was another sound that seemed deliberate. He turned to see an intruder staring directly at him. In reflex Don snapped off a shot and ran off on an angle to be blocked by a second man. This time a shot was aimed back at him, shattering the glass beside him. He ducked and scuttled off sideways only to see a shadow on the floor ahead of him, he'd been headed off. Another bullet struck the partition beside him and he dashed off the opposite direction. He was being herded and there was not a damned thing he could do about it. Looking wildly around he got his bearings and saw that he was close to his original goal. He just needed to cross over two rows to get to the hall leading to the door, the layout here a little different from the other exit. Trying to throw in a red herring he headed away from the stairs, testing the intention of the intruders. One popped up behind him, the other appeared to one side blocking the route to the stairs while leaving access to the floor open. Their strategy was now apparent, but back out onto the floor was not the way he wanted to go. He let off a shot causing both to duck then dropped down himself to double back. He made it back to the row before the hall he needed.

"Time to give this up." A voice calmly said from nearby.

Don spun and saw one of the intruders duck back down behind a partition, it was as if they knew exactly where he was. Don aimed carefully at where the man's body should be and fired. The partition was concealment, not effective cover, the round would penetrate and hopefully strike the intruder. He was desperate enough now to try such a shot. A second head appeared as he scrambled to his feet and started off. He was fired at, the round whistling past him and striking the wall to his left. He stumbled as he ducked in reflex, bouncing painfully off the wall. A second round struck the wall beside the first as he tried to turn left to escape the true path he now realised that they'd chosen for him. A third shot forced him to go right for cover and he skidded around the corner only to come to a sudden stop.

The lock on the door to stairwell two glowed a continuous red, he tried the handle anyway but it refused to budge. It was the only exit from the short hallway. He spun and started back, intending to try and go the other way but had to stop as a head appeared around the corner. It was too late, he'd been too slow. Don raised his weapon and snapped off a shot causing the other man to duck back unharmed. It had been the man he'd fired at through the partition, his shot had obviously not found its target. The agent quickly took an appreciation of his surroundings. No cover. No exit. Not good.

"Control, 3695!" He tried his radio urgently, not trying to keep his voice down in his desperation. He hoped the sinking feeling in his stomach was wrong. "Stairwell two door, now!"

There was no reply and the door lock maintained a steady red.

"What's your name, Agent?"

"What's yours?" Don fired back hotly, the need for silence well and truly gone. They had cover, he didn't. He was trapped and exposed, all they had to do was fire blindly around the corner and he was sure to go down.

Desperately he cast about for a way out of the short hallway. The stairwell door behind him was a security door, not one that he could shoulder charge or kick open, another departure from fire ordinances. He glanced up at the suspended ceiling but quickly discounted that, the hangers were too lightweight to hold a man, deliberately designed to prevent anyone from hiding up there. He was trapped. If he had been able to go left instead of right after bouncing off the wall he might have escaped his pursuer. The last shot had been carefully placed to drive him the wrong way and he'd reacted the way they'd wanted.

"Come now, that's not very polite. I'm Kurt." The man answered. "Your turn."

"Hmpf." Don snorted. There was no way he was going to reveal his identity. The intruders had to have some access to the FBI system and that meant possible access to the databases. With his name they could look up his next-of-kin details and if they had someone on the outside they would be able to use Charlie or their father against him.

"That's alright, Agent Eppes." The speaker's left hand appeared and touched the wall below a smear of blood, Don's blood. "I see I winged you earlier. How bad is it?"

"Come down here and see." Don challenged, putting up a confident front as he wondered how the man had already learned of his identity.

"I'd rather you put down your weapons and came to me."

"Not gonna happen." He was prepared to go down fighting as that gave him the slightest chance of taking at least one of them with him.

"I'm afraid that it is." Kurt continued confidently. "Some interesting phone numbers in your cell, Agent." The man taunted. He then rattled off a string of numbers.

Don's blood ran cold as he heard Charlie's home number being read out followed by his father's cell. There were other numbers in the phone but the man had chosen those of his family which meant he knew who exactly who they were, they were stored in the phone memory by first name only. That also explained how they knew who he was and confirmed that they did have access to the databases. They'd run his cell and had gone from there. With that much information this Kurt character had to also know where they were and how to get to them. Don looked to the weapon in his hand still aimed at the corner as if it could help. But he had no choice, Kurt's message was received clearly. They'd been trying to take him down since discovering him. The direct approach had failed so now they moved to threaten others to force his surrender. With their past attempts to kill him he figured there was only one likely outcome of his surrender especially after taking one of their men down.

The agent took a deep breath, if his life had to be forfeit to prevent these goons going after Charlie or his father then so be it. Opening his mouth he was about to give the man what he wanted before sheer stubbornness forced it shut. Knowing where his family was didn't mean they had the means to make good on their threat. He would need more. The weapon that had started to droop firmed. A hand suddenly appeared around the corner and tossed an object down the hall at him. His mind screamed grenade! as he ducked in what he knew would be a futile effort to escape the blast.

"I think you need to make a phone call." Kurt's voice announced at the same time. There was a plastic clatter as the object hit the floor and slid towards him.

Don hesitated, looking at the device that had stopped a few feet from his position recognising it as his cell phone. He swallowed and asked the question, struggling to keep his voice calm. "Who am I supposed to call?"

"Dial the number on the screen, it will put you through to Control."

He felt a moment of relief, his family was safe. But his relief was short lived, there were others in danger and his family could still easily be threatened. The man's suggestion was verification of what the agent had suspected since his radio calls had gone unanswered and his movements had suddenly been so easily tracked. Somehow Control had been taken. He couldn't help but glance upwards at the camera above the door, wondering now who was looking back.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to surrender, Agent. You will be unharmed if you cooperate."

He doubted that but Don carefully reached out and retrieved his cell phone, eying the unknown cell number waiting on the screen. He wondered why he was to use that and not the number he knew but decided there had to be a reason. He pressed the green button to dial, hoping it did lead to Control. He had to be sure, until then his weapon remained up and ready.

"Control." Alexis' voice was on the surface as calm as ever but he could detect the undertone of tension.

"Status."

"Compromised, Agent Eppes." Alexis replied. Her voice softened. "I'm sorry."

"Report."

"Two armed men in Control holding myself, Mark, Angela, Anton and Sandy at gunpoint."

Don didn't recognise the last three names but assumed that they were probably the three techs.

"How?" Control was supposed to be secure.

"They have an inside man, Simon."

Now it made sense. Alexis' report that there were two armed men in control suggested that the tally of hostiles was still at four even though he'd killed one of the intruders. He recognised the name; Simon was one of the senior techs. No wonder the intruders were able to hack the system, Simon had full access. He was the fourth man, not an intruder but an inside man. Bitterly he realised this was the man he'd been risking his neck to try to save. If he'd gone straight up to four and secured the three techs he wouldn't be in this position now.

"Anyone hurt?"

"No. We're fine."

"Alright, just do what they say." He reinforced the standing order for civilians. They had to keep themselves alive.

"Yes, Agent."

Don snapped the phone closed and rested his head against the wall for a moment before sliding down to crouch on the floor in defeat. It was done, his decision was made. A deep breath or two was all that remained of his freedom and despite Kurt's promise, quite probably his life. He thought of Charlie and his father and realised that Charlie's last contact with him had been cut off by a gunshot. He could imagine what they were going through right now and regretted the necessarily harsh tone he'd taken with his brother before the shot. Suck it up, Agent, he mentally slapped himself, there is still work to do. Pressing a different speed dial to the one he really wanted he put the phone to his ear.

"Agent?" Kurt called.

"Sinclair." The number he'd dialled answered at the same time.

"David, I don't have much time." Don started, speaking rapidly keeping his voice as low as he could yet still remain understandable before hesitating trying to find the right word. "I'm about to be … taken. There are four hostiles, they have taken over Control and have hostages. I suspect they are after information from our databases, their inside man is Simon, one of the techs. Tell Charlie and Dad I-"

"Agent, put the phone down." Kurt ordered.

"Don, we-" David started.

"David, get the word to the ADIC." Don interrupted quickly.

"Agent put the phone down now or my men start shooting your people."

"Alright, alright." He called back. He closed the phone and tossed it back down the hall, the quickest way to show he'd complied with the order. He didn't want any of the hostages killed, he'd put them at too much risk already just by making the call. "Leave them alone. I surrender."

Movements quick and methodical he unloaded his weapon. He laid the Glock on the floor as he repeated his actions with his back-up. For a moment he laid his hands over the weapons, reluctant to part with them. To save others he was giving away everything, most painfully his ability to take down those posing the threat.

"Good. Now slide me your guns."

The instruction was expected, Kurt would have heard the sounds and recognised what the agent was doing. There was no more time for hesitation, one after the other he sent the two guns sliding down the hall towards the man's voice.

"Face down on the floor, legs and arms apart. You know the drill."

The agent eased out into the middle of the hall and lay down as directed. The men were definitely professionals and were taking full precautions with him. Perhaps Kurt would keep his word after all. He waited and a few seconds later a head cautiously appeared around the corner above the muzzle of a gun.

"Look away."

Don obediently turned his head and didn't move. It was straight from the manual, the position he'd been told to place himself in made it safer for an agent to approach a dangerous offender. They were using the technique on him. He heard the men approach, knowing without needing to look that they would both have weapons aimed squarely at his head due to the protection offered by his vest. One stopped and placed a firm foot on his lower right arm, pinning it to the floor keeping his weapon aimed downwards. The other unseen man bent and grabbed Don's left arm as he knelt heavily on his back. The arm was then twisted and pulled painfully up to his shoulder blades. He felt the man pull his handcuffs from the pouch on the back of his belt and place one loop around his left wrist. Abruptly the weight lifted from his right arm.

"Give me your arm." The one on kneeling on his back ordered, forcing his other arm up even higher.

Arching his back in pain he did as ordered. The pain eased as in textbook precision he was securely restrained, hands cuffed behind his back. Only then did the two men search him thoroughly, flipping him over onto his back to get to the equipment on his vest tossing everything aside. A knife was produced and the straps to his vest were cut before it too was pulled away leaving him unprotected. Finished, they stood back and looked down the helpless agent who in turned stared steadily upwards.

"You've caused us some trouble." The shorter man said and Don recognised the voice as Kurt's.

"Good."

The corner Kurt's mouth quirked upwards. "I think I like you, Agent Eppes. But don't think I won't shoot you."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

A full grin now appeared on Kurt's face. "Alright, let's get you up. We have a problem to solve, one that you caused."

It was Don's turn to smile but he kept it from his face as he was pulled to his feet by the other man and pushed towards the door. The lock disengaged and he was forced down the stairs. Two flights down they left the stairs and headed directly for Control as he'd expected.

He had done all he could to sour the intruder's plans and it seemed to have worked. That was obviously the problem Kurt now needed solved. On the downside however he'd gotten himself captured and five civilians were now being held hostage. That problem was of far more importance to him. How he was going to address that he had no idea. Unarmed, held at gunpoint and with the threat of harm to hostages forcing his cooperation there wasn't much he could do.

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