Title: Snowing on the Beach
Author: Lady-Daine
Rating: PG/K+ (May go up later for language/violence)
Author's Note: Again, big hugs for Alamo Girl and Belligerent-road-pylon for their helpful and encouraging comments! You guys make my day!
Also, many, many thanks to Lotrseer3350 for Beta reading and (attempting) to keep my chapters somewhat sane. This is much more readable for having been processed! And now that someone is looking over my shoulder, I can do whatever I want in my drafts...AKA I will have Charlie salsa dancing before this fic is over. Watch out…
So, without further ado, your chapter awaits.
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with the T.V. show numb3rs, nor do I own any characters, concepts, or anything else relating to the show. I'm simply borrowing some of them because I was too lazy to make up my own. Don't sue me- I'm a Red Sox Fan and a liberal!
Snowing on the Beach
Chapter 6
"Wow, this place is beautiful!" Lily exclaimed, bouncing around the now student-filled quad with all the enthusiasm of a young child. She swung her backpack over one shoulder and spun around, staring at the large branches above her, filtering sunlight down upon the busy scene.
"It's nice." Charlie admitted, his thoughts elsewhere as the two of them made their way towards the mathematics wing. "Haven't you been here a lot though, with your-" he cut off, unsure how much he should say. Lily stopped in her tracks and turned towards the young man. The emotional tug-of-war was still very much alive inside of her, but it was tempered now, tamed by pull of her calves that suggested hours of dance, the sun, and the soft smile on the face of the mathematician who stood beside her.
"Yeah. But never so…full of life." she replied, staring around as people of ages ranging from their teens their fifties and sixties went rushing past, books and papers flying everywhere, some calling out to others, holding hands, complaining, smiling.
"Now that may very well be perspective." Charlie said, shaking his head. She passed very quickly from the realm of age, sometimes taking advantage of her teenage years, other times sounding decades older. The young woman had a bright naivety about her that made her charming. Let free from the trap of her mind, she was an avaricious wonderer, poking and prodding around everything she saw, and reveling in the simple marvel of its existence.
"Yeah, I guess so." Lily continued to bounce down the trail for the sheer sake of doing so, leaving Charlie walking behind her, transfixed by the absolute transformation. He knew very well that some of it was a façade- she was an emotion suppresser, holding back what she was ashamed or afraid of feeling in favor of what she wanted the world to see- and she was very good at it- but at least some of her smile was genuine. He also knew better then to push it.
"So what exactly did you plan with your school?" Lily turned to him, though this time her face was slightly troubled at his question.
"Uh, Agent Epps called them."
"Don," Charlie corrected automatically. He still had trouble thinking of his brother as Agent Epps even after years of hearing it.
"Yeah, Don." The words felt alien on her tongue. To her, he was still the tall man with Italian nose who spoke gibberish a lot of the time.
"Anyway, he called the office and talked for awhile about something- he didn't tell me what- and then I talked to my guidance counselor and he said that since I was graduating in two months anyway, due to 'concerns'," she made a face. "Because some people obviously don't think that I'm mature enough to know what goes on around my ears- that I should finish my studies independently. I already took all the AP exams because those are separate from the school tests and everything, so it's really just wrapping up."
Don had shoved Lily out the door that morning with Charlie and the keys to Alan's car.
"Stick her in your library," he had said. "She'll explain to you on the way, but I need to get going and-" that was the last word Charlie had heard before Don stuffed his head inside a dress shirt, late for having spent so much time figuring out what do to with their young predicament. Now he related well with the irritation that Lily felt, with others feeling as though it wasn't important to explain anything to him. However, he felt that he had gotten the sorrier end of the deal with the whole car-keys business--Lily had driven. If the salt in his wounds wasn't painful enough when she asked him curiously why he wasn't driving, it was thoroughly scrubbed in when he found himself hanging on to his seat for dear life. Apparently, the young woman wasn't immune to the young-driver syndrome- that is, driving with only one rule: the faster- the better. For the second time in a very small period, Charlie had feared his life was going to turn upside down- literally.
"So you're going to go to the library and just…study?" the mathematician asked, pulling his mind off of his traumatic mode of transportation.
"Yeah, I guess. There's activities and labs and stuff I can do." She didn't seem at all unhappy by the idea of sitting down for six hours and absorbing material on her own.
"And you'll actually get it done?" Naïve or not, he was a teacher, and he knew more then he wanted to about the work-habits of teenagers.
"Why not? Most of it is interesting stuff, and I've got enough foundation from the teachers to do it." Charlie shrugged, unable to find a reason why not, and moved his attention to scanning the crowd for Amita, wondering where she was.
"You can hang out in my classroom or office if you want. Believe it or not, it'll probably be quieter than the library with finals coming up," he said, eyes focused on the milling colors of the CalSci population.
"Alright."
"Charlie!" Amita appeared from the midst of the chaos, toting a book-bag and an iced-coffee.
"Hi!" the young man greeted his dissertation advisee with a fond smile, the implications of which Lily didn't miss.
"How was your weekend? Did you finish your half of Friday's tests?" The pretty woman with the dark locks fell into stride beside her mentor. "I bet you were too busy working on your imaginary space problem to-"
"I most certainly did finish them." Charlie answered with mock annoyance, amused by his student's gentle teasing.
"Is that the matrices you were using with 'i' in them?" Lily asked from the mathematician's other side. Charlie jumped, an alarm going off in his head that sounded amazingly like his father's voice, saying, introduce them, like a normal human being. Don't get carried away with the math.
"Yeah. Uh, Lily, this is Amita, I'm her dissertation advisor. Amita, this is Lily, my… uh, acquisition of the weekend." Peering past Charlie, Amita smiled warmly at the teenager, who returned it shyly.
"Acquisition?" the young woman asked, tossing some of her long hair behind one shoulder.
"It's a long story." Charlie replied, throwing her an I'll tell you later look. "Suffice to say, Don brought her home one day, and decided that she's finishing high school as an independent study here, because he automatically connects school with a good learning environment. I don't know where he got that idea." Amita laughed melodiously, and Lily decided that she like her rich alto and sunny disposition.
"So, what's the game-plan for today?" Charlie asked, pleased with himself for keeping the introduction lighthearted with the given circumstances surrounding it. He would have to decide later how much he wanted to tell his student. He trusted her with almost anything, but he wasn't sure how much of the case was supposed to be released, or how much of it he really understood.
"You have classes this morning, and then research block after lunch, professor." Amita grinned at the fact that she knew his schedule better then he did.
"You know, I do have some power over if and when you get this PhD that you're so adamant about. If I were you, I might choose to show a little more…reverence to your betters." He chose to ignore the lack of effort that both young women made to hold back malicious giggles.
When they reached the math wing, Charlie threw open one of the doors and strode in, enjoying the scent of chalk and paper that let him know that he was in his territory again. The women followed, Amita good-naturedly holding the door for a very wide-eyed, curious Lily.
"How old did you say you were?" the dark-haired woman asked, musing at the fascinated disposition of Charlie "acquisition".
"Hmm… oh, eighteen." Lily replied, looking around at the voluminous hallways full of classrooms and people.
"So you're a senior. Do you know where you're going for college?" Charlie blinked. He had forgotten that this girl had had a life pre-catastrophe. In fact, though he felt some sort of strange connection to this young woman, he really had no idea who she was.
"Yeah, I'm going here. I think." Again, the young man jumped. This girl was a scientist, and probably a good one if she had gotten into CalSci. He could very well be teaching her the following year.
"You think?"
"Well, I have to find a way to pay for it, but, I mean, I got in here, and I want to go." Charlie was about to reply that it was likely that if her mom had had life insurance, she would be all set to go to any college she wanted, but he stopped himself, remembering how little Amita knew, and that the implications of such a statement would lead the bright graduate student to her own all-too-accurate conclusions. He was saved from having to mull the conflicting responses over too much, for he turned into his classroom, unsurprised to find it about half-full, despite the fact that his class was still forty minutes away from starting. Amita raised her eyebrows at him.
"What did I tell you about starting a vectors unit on a Friday? Everyone was too wasted or too tired to care about alterations in probability of direction change based on site coordinates. And you're too predictable not to have a quiz today." Charlie didn't offer any dignity to the comment.
"You set Lily up in my office, would you? I'm going to crack some heads together about not paying attention to my…earth shattering lectures."
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Don checked the address on the little slip of paper, then slipped it back into his jacket and turned towards Terry.
"Let's go," he said softly, pushing the glass door open. It was covered with a rainbow of fliers, each detailing various dancing shows, or musical events. Terry followed without a word. Together, the two of them wound up three flights of creaky stairs, with railings that used to be gilded gold, but were now chipped and black. A worn crimson carpet sank under their shoes as they ascended quickly, glancing around at white walls that also showed its age in the flaking paint and yellowing edges.
At the top was a door with fresh black lettering that said, "Studio". Don pushed this door open, and walked in, his hand resting on his pocket, automatically in "Agent Mode" even though there was no perceived threat. It surprised him to find himself face to face with the barrel of a gun.
"If you move, you might as well dance, because it'll be your last." The voice was familiar. Don reacted with all the experience of a seasoned agent, and froze. Julie was holding a shot-gun at his chest, one hand on the trigger, the other rightly on the barrel, steady with long years of practice. She was decked out in a jogging suit, and in the background, the agent could hear salsa music playing. The woman's dark eyes glanced at her target, and she immediately relaxed.
"I figured you'd be coming, but you might have made a little more noise," the Arab said, standing back and putting the safety back on her gun. "You scared the living daylights out of-"
"Do you always greet your visitors that way?" The FBI agent asked, trying to cover the sound of his racing heart. Julie was CIA to the core- she could have easily shot him and asked questions later- and in her position, it would have been entirely justified. He just hadn't expected her to be so…jumpy.
"Visitors that come at this time of day. I've no classes at seven-thirty, and with everything that's been going on, my fur is flying. I want to live at least until regional competitions."
"You suspect that someone might want to harm you?" Terry chimed in from behind the two. She too, was sticking a gun back in her holster, the tension just leaving her arms. Julie shrugged and stepped back, admitting the two agents.
"With another CIA agent dead and me teaching her daughter and talking to the FBI? You never know. I'm Julie." The woman stuck her hand out to the female FBI agent, who shook it uncertainly, looking relieved at the gesture. Don peered around the room. It was a typical dance studio: a bench and cubbies to one room on his left, a bathroom on his right, and then a large open hardwood floor with mirrors covering the walls. It was larger then average though, much larger. The ceiling had to have been at least one hundred feet high; it was a regular cavern. However, unlike outside, everything in the place was bright and new- the walls painted a cheerful green, and the fluorescent lights hitting the floor, along with skylights along one side, lending a bright atmosphere to the place.
To one side was a mish-mash of rifles and sabers, much like what Lily had been toting, as well as what looked like staffs, batons, a pile of brightly colored scarves, about twenty flags, neatly rolled up, and several pairs of black dance shoes. Embedded in one of the walls was another door, though Don had no idea as to where it led.
"Do you have a place where we can sit down?" He asked."Ah, now be careful," Julie said slowly. "I know your trade too well. None of your FBI interrogation tactics are going to work. I prefer to stand." She sent a warning look with the light comment, and both agents got her meaning quite clearly.
"Alright, if you're so informed, why don't you just tell as what we want to know, and make it easy?" Terry asked, her hackles raised, unused to a poisonous disposition in those she interrogated. Julie turned towards one of the mirrors and examined her reflection for a moment, before turning and nodding to the two.
"I've been thinking about what I should be telling you two. It'll be the truth, within…" the woman paused for a moment, and ran her hand over her forehead, which had been beaded with sweat.
"Within…" Don prodded impatiently.
"Within… within what I think it practical to tell you."
"Why don't you leave the practicality of the information that you give us up to us?" Terry challenged.
"Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?" Julie looked mildly agitated. Absentmindedly she picked up a nearby saber and began to spin it with one hand, not even watching as the weapon whizzed around her body, its blade glinting in the florescent light. Silently, Terry acquiesced with a nod.
"Alright. " Julie turned away and gazed into the mirror for a moment before turning back to the two waiting agents, having shamed them into playing by her rules.
"Nina Rissaya moved here seventeen years ago, when her daughter was still shy of her first year. She was relocated, by the CIA. They lived in Boston before that. Lily's father was a writer- mostly nonfiction. He was interested in the lives of other writers- Sophocles, Shakespeare, Kafka. Anyone classic. I don't really know much about what happened to him. I don't think he ever knew that his wife was running covert missions for the CIA all over New England. As far as he knew, she was a chemist, cloistered away at MIT, doing experiments that would never leave the lab or the confines of a science journal.
"When they moved to California, the father was already out of the picture. Mark Rissaya, I think his name was. Nina never mentioned much of him.
"So they moved to LA, and Lily become my protégé. Nina began working at CalSci, running another mission. She told me a little about it- not much mind. But here's what I do know, and I'll swear by any god you want that it's all I know about the operation." Julie paused for a second, and let the saber she was spinning clatter to the ground. Both agents jumped at the noise, but the Arab woman didn't seem to notice.
"Apparently, the CIA got intelligence that someone- not a country or a government, just a private group- was beginning to edge on anti-matter. Not controlled anti-matter, but the kind that can get really nasty. I'm assuming you know a little bit about the stuff." The woman looked up just long enough to see Don's curt nod.
"They essentially want a bomb- something that could hold a city or two as hostages. I have no idea who or why-" She held up a hand before Don could voice the question. "I just know of the threat. Nina went in to try and beat them to the technology, and perhaps to get more of an idea of who we were reckoning with. When you're working in science, you meet a lot of people who are working similar fields, at conferences, doing research, stuff like that. So Nina's been spending years getting herself established and poking around. That's about as much as I know about that."
"Why would someone want to kill her? Was she getting too close to this threat?" Terry asked skeptically. Julie looked at her sharply.
"You want my honest opinion?" The agent nodded, and the woman's face grew grave.
"I don't know if there is any threat."
"What?" Terry and Don both exclaimed.
"Nina was brilliant- someone akin to the professor Charles Epps that all three of us are familiar with, and she had her morals. The CIA wanted the anti-matter that they could use to hold the United States' enemies at bay with, and Nina wouldn't build it- she would only develop the stuff if she could do it under the right controls, controls that wouldn't allow the threat of use as a weapon. She was getting very close to coming up with something, but only she had the ability to actually create it. They could have probably found someone else to eventually come up with the same thing- but when the CIA wants something, they want it right away. I think they waited long enough for her to get the technology ready, and then decided it wasn't worth the trouble of keeping her around to put safeguards on it. And the reason they might want to take Lily out- because she knows a little about what her mother has going on, and the potential to understand it. That makes her dangerous. But, you're just talking to an old lady who has seen a lot more then she ever wanted to, and doesn't trust anybody."
Don and Terry were absolutely silent. Julie shrugged again and picked up her saber.
"It could also be another group who knew about Nina's work and wanted to try and get something out of her. She knows enough not to talk. Perhaps they want to kidnap Lily and get the girl to talk- which she might. She has no idea that what she knows might be dangerous."
"Charlie told me that Lily's knowledge lacked quite a bit."
"Some people only need a little tidbit to set them up."
The two FBI agents took in simultaneous breathes, each digesting the new information and its implications. They only moved when Don's cell became to ring in the background. Mechanically, he reached down and flipped open the top.
"Epps."
"Don, it's me." Charlie's voice sounded panicked. "You need to get down here, now!"