Luna, a numb3rs fanfic

Luna

A/N: Hello wonderful people! First off, I would like to thank all my reviewers from my previous story "Jadie" and thank you to all those who took time to vote. THIS IS THE WINNER! I think I might nix the "A" idea; it was the least voted for and I'm not sure I could write it convincingly without being cheesy. However "B" and "C" were neck and neck right up to the end! However "B" is in fact the winner! After this is completed keep your eyes open for the next fic—idea "C". Oh and for all those you didn't read "Jadie" and have no idea what I'm talking about, read "Jadie" and the reviewer vote section at the end—you can't vote anymore but for the curious, its there—Oh and I tried to do a little c-mas tree down below—I hope it comes out right when I post this—if not well then you know why there are weird little characters just floating around. Oh and one last thing, once again any references to the shelter or other official type institutions and how they're run—I'm making it all up! And…ah dammit, one last last thing, the kid in this fic has an accent—it may be confusing; I'm writing it as close to how I imagine her sounding as possible (try to think short vowels—kinda like Irish or something like that). Anywho, enough of me blabbing and on to the fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own them, much to my disappointment—

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Don hadn't planned on volunteering at the shelter, but his father was sick and Alan had all but begged his son to go in his stead—Alan had promised some of the "regulars" he would bring some 'home-cooked' food for them and Alan wanted to be sure they got it. It was so close to the holidays and all—Alan had just wanted to spread a little holiday cheer.

Which is precisely how Don wound up driving his SUV, filled with containers of food his father made, to the shelter one afternoon after work. His plan was to drop it off, help out a little and then leave.

He should have known better—things are never that simple.

Don mused over religion, in light of the holiday season, and was not really surprised to realize that he never thought about it that much. As a child, his family never practiced any particular religion, so now, while Don did believe in God, he didn't particularly focus on the details too much. He knew that his father came from a Jewish background—they had followed and still followed Jewish dietary habits—no pork and such—but his father never spoke of religion and as far as Don could recall, his mother hadn't spoken about religion either. It struck Don as odd now; that he never really knew what his mother believed as far as God went. Maybe he'd ask Charlie or Dad sometime—either of them were more likely to know than Don ever would.

Don parked the SUV by the curb in front of the shelter, and sighed as he turned off the ignition. He didn't want to be here—he really had better things to do.

Of all the things he'd been expecting from the shelter, Luna had not been one of them.

Everything had started as Don expected—Don introduced himself as Alan's son and presented all the 'regulars' with Alan's home-cooked food (which they graciously shared with some of the 'first-timers' to the shelter). They were all a ragged bunch; most of them were homeless and came to the shelter for the meals, and others had fallen on hard times and needed somewhere to stay while they regained their footing. All of what Alan had called the 'regulars' were homeless men who showed up at the shelter in a group like clockwork. If it was anywhere near a mealtime, these guys were there. Don had been helping out a little and was trying to think of a practical way to dislodge himself from the place and make his escape, when one of the regulars nudged his buddy and pointed out the window and soon, all the regulars were raising a regular ruckus. Don, his thoughts of leaving temporarily abated, watched as curiosity stole into his mind with cat-like steps.

The men shouted greeting, and there was a chorus of 'I thought you didn't ever come in the shelter?' as a slight girl entered the room.

She was a twig-ish looking girl, about eleven or twelve years old, by Don's guess. She had her dark brown hair pulled back in a meticulous braid and her bangs fell over her deep brown eyes. She wore an oversized forest-green sweater that was beginning to fade and the sleeves extended past her hands. And she wore a pair of torn, baggy blue jeans that appeared about ready to fall off, as she was continually pulling the waist of the pants up. Dirty white sneakers protruded from the hems of her jeans. Don could tell, that while her clothes were clean, they were probably the only clothes she had—they were faded and extremely worn. The girl had a carrier bag of sorts slung diagonally across her left shoulder so that the bag rested against her right thigh. It, like all her clothes, seemed to be grossly oversized.

Don knew, that this was a kid who lived on the streets.

"Hey Luna!" The regulars all shouted, as Luna grinned and raised her arms straight up in the air, as if she were a rock star being greeted by her fans.

Don couldn't help but smile at the kid's enthusiasm.

Luna ran and perched herself on the top of the back of one of the chairs, putting her feet where anyone else would have their rear.

"Hey Mr. Eppes!" One of the homeless men named Ron called out, as Don was trying figure out how the kid who was obviously living on the streets, was so obviously clean.

"Come over here and meet Luna, she's a real character!" Don walked over, trying not to grimace—he wasn't used to be addressed as 'Mr. Eppes'—in Don's mind, 'Mr. Eppes' would always be his father—but Don didn't bother to correct him as he walked over to the table.

"Hallo there!" The girl stood up, "Luna's th' name, pleased ta meet cha!" Luna spoke, her words heavily accented, and extended her hand towards Don. He took her hand and shook it; he was surprised that such a skinny kid could have such a firm grip.

"My name is Don Eppes, it's nice to meet you too." Don smiled. There was something charismatic about his girl…

"So," Don started, unable to stop himself, "why aren't you in some kind of foster care or home…?" Don trailed off as Luna's face crinkled in disgust in a highly comical manner.

"Ack! Th' system's rott'n—I've run ah-way eight times from bad foster homes and returned to my ol' hauntin' groun's e'ery time and there's nuttin' they've been able ta do about it! I'd ruther eat mah sweat'r b'fore I go back ta one ah them places!" Don's eyebrows arched, and he pulled up a chair as the group cracked up at the girl's resolute statement. Don had thought for a moment about leaving, but his curiosity overpowered his desire to leave. This kid was definitely interesting…

Don soon discovered that he was enjoying himself. Luna's antics were outrageous; they included juggling fruit, slight of hand tricks with quarters (where somehow, Don always ended up with one less quarter than he lent her), telling comical stories where she coaxed pocket change from wealthy business men on the streets and her getting paid for little wood carvings she did for a small shop owner and so on and so forth. Don glanced down at his watch as he chuckled about Luna's latest story involving a flighty lawyer, a dollar bill and a squirrel. He was surprised to see that the afternoon had turned into evening without him even realizing it.

Suddenly a faint 'meow' was heard coming from Luna's bag. Don glanced at her in confusion.

"Was that what I thought it was?" Don asked, incredulous.

"Ay, it pro'ably was." Luna pulled back the flap of the bag, and six furry little kitten heads popped out. "Th' 'ungry lit-ul bastards—I found 'em abandon'd in th' park." She smacked her hand on her forehead. "Speakin' uh such, I gotta get 'em to th' animal sheltah!" One of the homeless men named Jonah shook his head.

"You won't make it in time, it closes soon…"

"Dammit…I can't feed 'em—I just gave mah money to this family, thay needed it more than I—but now I haven't got anything ta get these fellas any food!" Don started a little, surprised about her comment about giving her money away. He wouldn't have expected that…

As she brought her hand up to her face, her brow creased in thought and Don didn't know what suddenly possessed him, but somehow he found himself volunteering.

"I'll drive you." Luna's face lit up.

"Mah kindest thanks! We gotta go now tho', if we want ta make it!" She leaped from the chair and Don followed her, waving good-bye to the group.

"Come back with your father sometime 'eh?" called a couple of guys as Don went out the door, where the girl was waiting, Don nodded and waved to the guys through the window.

Don pointed his SUV out to the girl, and she hopped in as Don unlocked it.

"Could ya stop by th' church b'fore we go to th' animal sheltah?" Luna asked throwing Don off, "There's sumthin' I need ta check real quick-like…"

"Sure." Don spoke, wondering why she would want to stop by the church, yet he decided that it probably wasn't important—she would probably run in and then be out again. He started up his vehicle and off they went.

Little did Don know—things are never that simple.

Don pulled up the cathedral—it an old church and very large. It loomed out over its surroundings, like a sentinel watching over its denizens. Don parked the car and was prepared to wait, when he got another little surprise.

"C'mon!" Luna said as she hopped out of the vehicle. Don sighed. He really should have known. He wasn't comfortable in churches—he never had been—he always felt like everyone in the place was scrutinizing him.

Don reluctantly unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the vehicle. Things weren't ever as simple as he hoped.

Don stepped into the cathedral, gazing up at the arching ceilings and the brilliantly colored stained glass windows. The vast room seemed to glow with a soft golden light, as the color of the ceiling was various golden colors with amber hues and yellows sponged over a soft orange base. The place was simple gorgeous. Don stayed to the back as Luna moved towards a group of priests by the white-draped altar in the front of the church. Don remembered vaguely hearing about how the church choir was now going to be performing traditional religious Christmas songs every evening for the public for the next week until Christmas.

Don snapped from his thoughts as he heard Luna speaking with the priests. Because of the acoustics of the cathedral, Don could clearly hear what was being said, as Luna spoke with a slight, brown-haired priest.

"I was wonderin' if th' Smith's were still tryin' to get kittens for their littles…" Luna's accented speech puzzled Don—he couldn't quite pin down the accent—it was a pygmy accent of some kind; that is, a combination of more than one accent and Don couldn't place it.

"They most certainly are." The rumbling bass of the priest's voice somewhat shocked Don. It was a very skinny man—he'd been expecting a higher voice. I seem to be getting surprised a lot this evening…Don thought wryly.

"Could I mebbe leave these kittens I foun' here for 'em? They only have three littles bu' I still need ta take the other's to th' animal sheltah…"

"Certainly." Don watched amazed as Luna handed over a three kittens to the priest. That's why she wanted to come here first?

"I'll b' back laters!" Luna called, waving as she walked away. The priest smiled and nodded as he moved towards a back room, Don assumed, to put the kittens in a safe place.

Luna skipped up to Don.

"OK, Let's go!" Luna looked like what she had done was the most natural thing for a street girl to do. Don merely nodded.

They still needed to get to the animal shelter.

Don pulled up to the animal shelter just as what appeared to be a single remaining employee, was closing up for the night.

Luna hopped out of the SUV as Don put the vehicle in park, and she ran up to the blond female employee.

" 'Ey! Muriel! I've got three lit-ul kittens for ya! Tell me ya aren't closin' jus' yet?" Luna ran up, pulling back the flap of her carry-bag. Don watched through the windshield as the employee shook her head in an amused manner at the strange girl, opened the shelter door back up and went inside, Luna following.

A few minutes later, Luna reappeared outside and jogged back over to Don's SUV, opened the vehicle door and looked inquisitively at Don.

" 'Ey, thass nice of ya ta wait for me—I thought ya woulda left by now, seein' as how I only ask'd ya ta take me to th' animal sheltah and you've all-ready taken me furt'er than that…" Luna stared at him curiously. Don didn't hesitate to answer.

"Well I don't make it a habit of just leaving a kid at an animal shelter in the middle of the city, in the middle of the night." He looked at her sternly, and was amused as the street girl's eyebrows arched.

"We-ell, is tha' so? Since you've been so kind as ta wait for me, than I'd like ta invite ya ta come to th' church with me and lissen to th' choir, if you'd be so inclin'd" Don hesitated, then thought, ah, what the hell, what else am I going to do?

"Sure, hop in." Luna grinned at him, and Don, in the back of his mind, was vainly trying to figure out how his tiresome errand for his father, had become and interesting and pleasant—albeit different—experience.

As they pulled up to the church and the faint strains of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus could be heard, Don decided it didn't really matter.

Don couldn't believe that human vocal chords could produce such lovely sounds, as he sat down next to Luna on pew in the back. Luna sat only briefly humming a few keys, then stood up and began to sing along with the female soprano part. Don noticed that a few other people in the medium sized group in the church were standing and singing as well.

Don sat back and closed his eyes allowing the chorus of voice to wash over him, each song rising and falling, high and low voices in perfect harmony flowing through and culminating in perfect tones at the height of the song. Don listened with some amazement at the crystal tone of Luna's lonely voice in the back of the church. It rang out with such clarity that Don had virtually no doubt that those in the front of the church would easily be able to pick out the child's voice if they were listening for it. Who knows, maybe they would hear it even if they weren't listening for it. The kid's got some lungs in her…Don thought as he watched the street girl poor every ounce of her soul into the words of each and every song, her face shining with some internal light.

Halfway through the performance, a collection plate was sent around and when it came to Don and the girl, Don received another surprise.

He had put a couple dollars in the plate—after all it had seemed like cordial thing to do—but Luna, much to Don's astonishment, began methodically going through her pockets and any change that she came up with, she put in the plate. After she emptied her pockets, she met Don's incredulous look and shrugged.

"I can get more money, 's no big deal—th' people they give it ta need it more tha' I" Luna whispered to him.

Don could only sit there through the rest of the songs, contemplating his own generosity, or rather, what he had perceived to be generosity.

When it was over, Luna asked him if he would come with her again the next day, and Don found himself accepting.

Don drove to his apartment in silence, he had a lot to think about—foremost about the girl who had nothing, yet gave all she had to others without hesitating—and all the things that had seemed so important for him to get accomplished, never even crossed his mind.

Over the next four evenings, Don went to the church with Luna. She complained that no one would ever go to the church with her and that now that Don would go with her, she was going to ask him every chance she got. Don had only smiled at the time, but inside he was even gladder—as time went on, he grew concerned for Luna. She was living on the streets all by herself in LA and Don worried about what would become of her.

He had learned many things about her—like that she would borrow a shirt and jeans from animal shelter employees for a day, while she washed her own clothes at the Laundromat—she would take showers at public facilities like gyms, explaining her cleanliness—she slept in an old abandoned movie theater in a run down section of town—she got money from a shop keeper for carving intricate knick-knacks, yet she gave most of it away—

The list went on—she was entirely self-sufficient and yet Don couldn't help but think that someone should take care of her. She wouldn't stay in foster care, orphanages, or any kind of home for that matter—she was too resourceful to be kept in one either. Don didn't know what to do.

So, every evening he went to the church with her and when she asked him if he would come with her the next evening he would always say yes. He kept an eye on her and he even took her out to dinner a couple times, just to make sure that she got some good meals in her.

Don grimaced inwardly as he sat next to Luna in the church for the fifth evening in a row. In two days it would be Christmas Eve and his father, although not specifically religious, would always have a nice dinner, 'just because'. Both Don and Charlie had grown out of religious celebrations and all they did anymore was to have a nice meal together on the holidays. Don couldn't miss that dinner, yet he didn't want to let Luna come to the church alone—irrational he knew—she'd been coming to the church alone for a long time before he ever came along, yet he couldn't help but feel protective of the spunky street kid. Ah, well…I'll worry about it later…

Don pushed the frustrating thoughts out of his head and found himself humming along to the Christmas songs. He heard the same set over and over now and surprisingly enough; Don was now pretty sure that he knew all the words to all the songs.

In the pause before 'O holy night', Luna had heard Don noticed Don lip-syncing the words and now she leaned towards him and whispered.

"C'mon! Stan' up an' sing with me if ya know th' words!" Don started and opened his mouth to protest the grinning child. "C'mon!" She grabbed his arm and started pulling before he could say anything. "Ya aren't gonna get outta this 'un!"

"But I can't sing!" Don hissed at the girl, as he stood up.

"Why not? Not'in wrong with your voice, I expect you'll do jus' fine." Luna looked up at him and grinned a toothy grin, just for him.

"But I don't know what part to sing…" Don wracked his brain; he didn't want to make a fool out of himself, which he felt he was sure to do.

"Guess." Luna spoke obstinately, and Don's protestations were cut off as the introductory music began and the female vocals started the song.

Don tired to mumble in at the male vocal entrance, but Luna noticed and elbowed him in the side, giving him a warning look. Don sighed and sang at a medium volume. He wasn't sure when it happened, but at some point he forgot he was singing in a room full of people, and he began to truly feel the music as the voices echoed off of the arching cathedral ceiling. Soon, Don found the right pitch and was singing with almost as much enthusiasm as Luna. At the song's end Don smiled inwardly as Luna gave him a playful push.

"Ah, ya sing jus' fine, ya big puss!" Don laughed and shrugged.

"Ok I didn't know I could sing that well, I just figured it out." Luna gave him a 'yeah right' look and Don laughed again.

"Fine Tenor I tell ya, ya got a real fine tenor pitch…" Don grinned.

"Tenor huh? Well…that's interesting…" Don was oddly pleased as the instrumental began for the next song and Luna nudged him.

"Ready for th' nex' one?"

"Are you kidding me? I was born ready!" Don smiled, as they began to sing once again.

It was Christmas Eve and Don sat at his brother's house, maintaining a false cheer. Luna had been perfectly all right with the fact that for the next two evenings Don wasn't going to be able to come to the church with her. She'd been perfectly understanding. Don almost couldn't stand it. His father and brother chatted aimlessly, and every time Don glanced at his watch, he made a mental note of where Luna was in her daily schedule. She had chatted about it so often that Don had it memorized and for the past two days he even followed her through a couple rough parts of town, while he was on his break at work. Not that Luna knew it, of course—but Don just didn't like the thought of the skinny girl going through the bad parts of the city without someone to watch her back. Shortly before Don figured Luna would be at the animal shelter a faint knock on the door was heard. Charlie and his father frowned.

"Who could that be?" Alan wondered as Charlie got up to answer the door.

"Huh…" Charlie spoke as he bent to pick up something off the porch, "No one's here but it looks like they were looking for Don…"Don started as Charlie handed him a small, carefully wrapped package; the green paper, the bow and the meticulously printed tag with his name glared at Don, and he had a sneaking suspicion he knew who it was from.

"Well Don, have you got a new friend to tell us about?" Alan joked. Don feigned a smile.

"Something like that…" Don looked down at the package in his hands.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Charlie asked, ever practical. Don carefully did the wrapping paper, and Don opened the small brown box. Inside, Don could see as he felt a small pang in his chest, was one of Luna's delicately whittled carvings—it was a German Shepard with badge on its chest. There was also a small piece of paper, which Don pulled out with two fingers. It read, 'Agent Don—I know it isn't much, but I just wanted to give you a little something to thank you for letting me drag you to church. Merry Christmas, Luna.

"Hey, um…"Don started, and then he stood up abruptly, "There's something I have to go do –I'll be back in an hour." And with that, Don went out the door.

"What was that about?" Alan asked his youngest.

"I have no clue." Charlie looked at his father and shrugged.

Don is going to have some explaining to do, Alan thought as curiosity gnawed at him.

Little did he know, he was in for a surprise.

Don drove impatiently, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel at all the stoplights until he got to the church. The gift from Luna had seemed to spur him into action. He had the faint semblance of a plan forming in his head and he was going to be damned if he was going to let such a caring child be alone on Christmas Eve, or any other time for that matter.

Luna was in her usual spot in the back of the church as Don entered through the double doors of the cathedral. Luna appeared surprised when she saw him, but when Don smiled and waved as he walked over, her open face lit up.

"Whatcha doin' 'ere?" Luna asked, "I thought you were gonna spend to-night with your family…."

"Ah well," Don shrugged, "I changed my mind," he stated simply, as if it made all the sense in the world. Luna regarded him suspiciously, yet didn't complain. Through each song, Luna and Don's respective high and low voices harmonized perfectly. Don felt as the final song ended, that this harmony was the answer to a question that had taken root while he'd been driving to the church.

Outside the church, Luna prepared to say goodbye, but Don spoke first.

"Hey," He said casually, nudging her on the shoulder, "I have a proposition for you."

"What?" She looked at him curiously.

"I know you don't like foster homes but what if it was a foster home with someone you say, trusted?" Luna's eyes narrowed, and she put her hand son her hips.

"Like who?" She demanded, fully gearing into stubborn mode.

"Like me." Don gauged her reaction. Her face slowly slid from shock to contemplative to hopeful.

"Really?" She asked in a small voice.

"Really." Don held out a hand to her, "Starting tonight—I'll have to get the official paperwork done after the holidays, but until then. Luna opened her mouth and then closed it. He had rendered the chatterbox speechless. Silently, she took his hand.

They were almost to the SUV when, in a small voice, she spoke.

" Thank you."

"No thank you."

Don smiled at the child, and felt that no matter what, this was the right thing to do—and he savored the feeling.

It was truly the beginning to something beautiful.

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FIN

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A/N: THE END! You likey? Drop me a review and let me know what you think! Keep an eye open for my next fic, I'll be starting it soon. R&R!