Disclaimer: Characters etc belong to CBS and the show's creators.


Six

"I'm here to see Special Agent Eppes."

"And you are, sir?"

"His father."

"I'll see if he's available, please take a seat."

"Thank you." Alan wandered away from the front desk at the bureau office and sat on down on an uncomfortable bench. Too late he realized he should have brought a book with him, as Don wasn't expecting him and might not even be there.

"Sir? Agent Eppes is not answering his phone – would you like to wait?"

Alan hesitated for a moment, before nodding. "If that's all right."

He looked around for something to read and helped himself to a recruitment pamphlet for the FBI. As he flipped through the pages he was reminded how proud he was of his eldest son, and Charlie too for that matter. They were making a difference. As much as he hated Don's job and the danger it could potentially put him in on a daily basis, Alan had always admired his career choice.

Don had always been self sufficient as a child, even before Charlie came into the world and demanded so much attention. He asked for little but in return gave generously when it came to others, especially his family. Alan had always regretted the need for Don to return home when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. He gave up running his own field office, even gave up the woman he was supposed to marry, although that wouldn't happen until later. Don gave it all up to move back to LA because he was needed, by all of them, and he came without having to be asked.

Alan mused that perhaps that was why he was getting so involved in his son's personal life. Don had never been terribly open about his feelings and Alan knew his sticking his nose in now was probably the last thing he wanted. But Alan also knew that Don would do anything for his family, especially Charlie, and if that meant giving up someone that might make him happy then so be it. It couldn't happen if it meant his little brother was hurt in the process.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Don's voice coming down the corridor. He son rounded the corner, mid-conversation with Terry, when he looked up and saw Alan.

"Dad? What are you doing here? Is everything all right?" Don asked immediately, assuming something was wrong.

"Everything's fine. I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to see if you had time to grab a bite to eat with your old man. Hi, Terry." He beamed at Don's partner.

"Hi, Mr Eppes, nice to see you," she replied with a bright smile.

"Dad, I'm working," said Don impatiently. "Why didn't you call?"

"Because you would have said you were working and not to come," Alan responded with a twinkle in his eye.

"Exactly."

"So I figured it would be more difficult for you to weasel out of it if I was here in person."

"I'm sorry, I've got interviews this afternoon…" Don frowned in frustration. The last thing he needed was his father wading in on this situation with Charlie – the reason, he had no doubt, why Alan was there.

"Not until 2," Terry piped up, much to Don's chagrin. "You've got time to go to lunch with your dad."

"So that's settled, then," Alan said, clapping a hand on Don's shoulder.

Don shot Terry a 'thanks for nothing' glare and handed her the folders he was carrying.

"I'll be back in an hour," he said darkly.

"Have a nice lunch!" she cried after them, grinning.


Alan and Don sat at the bar of a nearby restaurant eating club sandwiches. While Don practically inhaled his food in an attempt to shorten any potential lecturing time, Alan only picked at his sandwich, contemplating his son instead.

"You know the story of how I met your mother?" he said finally, after it was clear Don was in no mood for small talk.

"Yes, Dad, at work in the lunch line," Don replied, his mouth still half full.

"Right, only the thing I haven't told you is that she was dating a good friend of mine at the time - he introduced us."

"Really?" Don stopped chewing.

"Uh huh. So we met, and I knew immediately… that was it. I was smitten. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on, and the kindest. The funniest." Alan shook his head at the remembrance. "God, she was a knock out. The problem was she was with my buddy… The things is, the more I got to know her the harder it became to remember that I wasn't supposed to be feeling this way about my friend's girlfriend."

"So what did you do?" Don asked curiously, learning something new about his parents.

"What did I do?" Alan repeated. "What could I do? I wrestled with my conscience, beat myself up for being a bad friend… and then asked her out. We had dinner and went dancing and a few days later she broke it off with him."

Alan looked his son dead in the eye. "I felt bad for treating my friend that way. But I had no regrets. Because I knew if I didn't ask her I would be missing out on something wonderful. And I was right."

Don thought about this for a moment. "What about your buddy? Were you still friends after?"

Alan's mouth twitched. "Well, no, he never did speak to either of us again, but…"

Don couldn't suppress his smile. "So your point is…?"

"Don't worry so much about Charlie, he'll get over it," said Alan adamantly.

"I don't know, Dad," Don shook his head sadly, "he was pretty pissed."

"He's your brother and he loves you. He wants you to be happy. And I'm telling you, son, even if there's a small possibility that you would be happy with Amita, then don't miss the chance to find out. You could be missing out on a lifetime."

"Or it could go nowhere," was the pessimistic response. But considering he hadn't stopped thinking about her all day, Don sincerely doubted it.

"That's the spirit," said Alan sarcastically, tossing his hands up in defeat. He picked up his sandwich, but still didn't eat. "You know, there aren't always clear answers to life's questions, Donny. But I never took you for someone who'd be content to die not knowing."

With that, Alan left him to his thoughts and took a bite of his lunch.


Charlie returned to his office after his morning lectures, dumping a heavy stack of books on the table with a bang. The loud noise was followed by a much softer one, a knock on his open door. He looked up and was surprised that it was Amita – surprised because she never knocked anymore, and had been making herself at home in his office for more than a year.

"Have you got a second?" she said quite formally, he thought.

"Sure," Charlie replied, not trusting himself to say more. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to act, wasn't even sure how he felt after seeing her for the first time in a couple of days.

"I've been speaking with Professor Lintz…" she started, but didn't continue.

Charlie frowned. Lintz was a fellow lecturer in the math department, a much older colleague whose failed attempts at proving the Poincaré Conjecture were legendary.

"Why?" he asked simply.

"I asked if he would be willing to take me on… to be my new thesis supervisor," Amita replied with difficulty.

Charlie slumped against his desk, his eyes not leaving hers. "Why would you do that?" His voice, previously void of emotion was now filled with naïve incomprehension.

Amita stepped closer to him, hugging her notebook to her chest. "Because I don't want to hurt you, and it's clear that we shouldn't be working together."

"Amita, come on…"

"No," she said vehemently. "I won't come between you and Don. Your family is too important to you, and you are too important to me. I don't want to be that person."

"You won't come between us…"

"I will if I want to keep seeing him, Charlie." She glanced away before forcing herself to meet his gaze once more. "And I do."

Charlie's shoulders sagged. "You really like him, don't you?"

Amita nodded imperceptively, unaware that tears had formed in her eyes. "I don't know if it will lead to anything, or if he'll even be open to the possibility. But I'd like to find out."

"You should," Charlie murmured, his voice cracking. "He's a good guy."

She tried to smile in appreciation but it came out as a grimace. "Regardless of what happens with Don, I think it's better if we don't work together anymore."

"Amita, I want to be your thesis supervisor – we work so well together."

"I can't feel the way you want me to, Charlie. I'm sorry."

"So that's my problem, not yours," he insisted.

"It's not fair on either of us – I don't want us trying to work together and fail because we can't discuss the pink elephant in the room. I've worked too long and too hard to take that risk."

"You know I'm the best person to be your supervisor, Amita. You don't want Lintz."

"Maybe not, but I'd rather have Lintz as my supervisor and you as my friend, if you think we could find our way back to that someday. And if not working together now is the way for that to be a possibility, then… I'll take him."

"God, I'm still your friend, Amita. I'll always be your friend." Charlie rose quickly from the desk and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "I'm sorry you doubt that."

"I'm sorry I can't be more…" she whispered, holding him tightly.

"But maybe you can for Don, and that will have to be enough for me." He pulled away and looked into her eyes. "It can be enough for me."

Amita smiled, her dark eyes shining. She kissed his cheek and hugged him quickly again.

"No more talk of Professor Lintz?" Charlie said firmly, now holding her at arms length.

"Only if you're sure."

Charlie smiled at her, a little sadly at first, but with growing certainty.