Chapter 13

As students filed out of the classroom, Charlie glanced up and spotted his brother standing in the back of the room. He turned his attention back to the frustrated student in front of him, but continued watching Don out of the corner of his eye as he ambled down toward the front of the room, dropped into an empty chair, and sprawled out as far as the attached desk and neighboring chairs would allow.

Charlie turned away slightly to prevent smiling in response to Don's happy grin. He hadn't mentioned to Don that he was aware of the recent shift in Don's relationship with Terry. The last thing he wanted was for Don to think his little brother had been spying on them. He knew Don would tell him eventually. For now, it amused him to watch his brother acting like a lovesick fool and thinking no one noticed the change.

Charlie focused back on his conversation. Since it was clear this student was still having trouble with the concept he'd introduced during the lecture, he suggested she come by tomorrow during office hours and they'd review it together. Slightly mollified, she agreed. Charlie smiled encouragingly and began packing up his things, assuming Don would prefer to wait until she left before discussing whatever he'd dropped by to tell Charlie.

Sure enough, as soon as she walked out Don stood up and wandered over to Charlie. Don's grin was just as big as it had been when Charlie first spotted him in the back of the room.

"You seem to be in a good mood," Charlie commented.

Don shrugged and glanced away. Charlie shook his head and turned to erase the whiteboard, wondering when Don was going to admit what was going on with Terry.

"You know who else is in a good mood?" Don asked.

Charlie turned around, wondering if this was finally it.

"Alex," Don declared happily.

Okay, not the name he'd been expecting to hear. "Alex?" Charlie repeated.

Don nodded. "Yep, been in a good mood all week."

Charlie grimaced at the understatement. Alex had been crowing about his team's victory all week. Charlie had reached the point where he really wanted to hit the guy. Or at least see an instant replay of Terry knocking him flat. He wondered if anyone videotaped the game.

Pushing the thought aside, Charlie focused on why Don was bringing it up now. "Good enough to help you with that favor he was supposed to do for you?" Charlie guessed.

"Head of the class, Charlie." Don handed over a thick folder. As Charlie flipped through it, Don launched into a story. "So, about three months ago, I find out that my little brother does consulting work for the NSA. Pretty high-level stuff too. I mean, his clearance is higher than mine."

Don shot him an annoyed look and Charlie glanced up from the file to smirk in response. Don rolled his eyes and continued his story. "Anyway, it occurs to me that if I didn't know about it, then probably nobody else he's close to knew about it either. That he was doing, whatever he was doing, on his own. So, I talked to Amita."

Charlie's head flew up. "What? But you can't…"

Don held up a hand and continued. "I asked her if she'd be willing to go through a background check without knowing why. That it would take months, that they'd interview her family, friends, old employers – the works. I told her the questions could be intrusive, maybe even insulting. And at the end of it, if she didn't get clearance she'd never find out what it had all been about. But if she did get clearance, she'd be able to work with you on exciting new projects. Maybe open up her career to new opportunities. And you know what she said?"

Charlie looked up from the security file on Amita Ramanujan. "She said yes."

Don smiled.

Charlie shook his head. "I don't understand. A background check like this should take six months. Minimum." As the answer to his own question occurred to him, he continued, "Unless… you know someone who can do you a favor."

Don nodded. "Right. We didn't break any laws. She passed on her own. Alex just…"

"Made sure her file made it to the top of the list," Charlie finished.

Don shrugged. "I figured you could use a partner. It's important, you know? Having somebody to watch your back. To share the wins and the losses. It helps. But it's up to you two. If you don't want to involve her or she doesn't want to get involved, that's fine. At least now you've got the option."

"So, you mean I can discuss my work with her now?"

"Charlie, if you want her to, she can collaborate with you on the work. Or check your work. What do you call it? Peer review? She can have access to any project you bring her in on."

Charlie closed his eyes as the ramifications hit. It was the missing piece. Consulting with Don was so different than his work for the NSA. Don might yell, and push, and demand the impossible; but he also genuinely cared about him. And the longer they worked together, the more he allowed Charlie to let Amita and Larry and even Dad help out. When he worked for the NSA, Charlie always felt cut-off, alone.

He opened his eyes when he heard Don call out, "Hey, Amita. Fancy meeting you here."

"Yeah, it's not like I spend a lot of time here. In the math building," she jokingly replied.

"Well, I should be going," Don announced. He nudged Charlie before starting for the door. "See ya around."

"Don!" Charlie called out. When Don turned around, Charlie didn't know quite what to say. "Thanks."

Don smiled and waved a hand dismissively before continuing his path out of the room. "Amita," he politely nodded as he passed her.

Amita smiled back at him and walked over to Charlie. "What was that about?" she asked.

Charlie looked at her and realized it was time he stopped treating her like a student and started treating her like a colleague. And maybe, like a partner. He wasn't sure where his relationship with Amita was headed. But keeping secrets from her didn't seem like a good way to find out. "Why don't you let me take you out to lunch? I'll tell you all about it."

Don reappeared in the doorway and called out, "Hey, Charlie! I challenged Alex to a rematch next week. You up for it?"

Charlie raised his eyebrows. "You ask him for any more favors?"

Don smiled. "Nope."

Charlie took his time as he pretended to consider the issue. "Nothing to lose?"

Don shifted and leaned against the doorway. "Nothing to lose," he promised.

"Count me in," Charlie replied with a smile.

Don groaned loudly. "No math jokes," he warned sternly as he pushed off the doorjamb. "And, you know, try to show up this time, huh?" he added in an annoyed tone.

Charlie sputtered. The pun was unintentional. And Don knew why he'd missed the last game. Before Charlie could voice his objections, Don was gone.

He turned to face Amita with an uneasy laugh. "He's not rea… Kidding! He's kidding!" He added a nonchalant wave of his hand, but one look at Amita's concerned expression told him he'd failed to convince her.

Charlie sighed and ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. But he couldn't help smiling as he heard a low whistling floating in from the hallway that sounded a lot like 'Secret Agent Man.'

THE END