Disclaimer: I do not own Charlie or any of the Numb3rs Characters.

Chapter 14

The next day the van pulled up to some pretty rough looking terrain. Charlie's eyes lit up at the prospect of this run. Once the recruits had gotten out of the van, he checked his watch and started his run. He had two hours before the van was scheduled to leave. The rain they were expecting last night had not come, but was expected to make an appearance sometime before noon. If the rain became a steady downpour or there was lightening the class was to return to the van. Agent Belmont warned against running this terrain in the mud and cautioned them all to be careful.

Charlie's mind had completely relaxed. The running pushed out thoughts of everything beyond his next step. By the time he had completed his run, and he was feeling carefree, he decided the unscheduled visit from his dad was not such a bad idea after all. There was only a mild sprinkle when the two hours were up and he arrived back to the van.

One the ride back, Agent Belmont was talking about the NSA baseball team. He, himself had been on the team since it was first formed. He said that they played against other government agencies. Their biggest rival was none other than the IRS. Charlie and a few other members had to snicker at this. He thought that he might attend a game or two as a spectator, they usually played on the weekends but there was the occasional weekday game. It seemed like a nice way to pass some weekend time.

Once Charlie changed and got to his office, he set to work with loading what he had worked over the weekend into the computer system. His team arrived soon after. Charlie explained what he had done so far and gave them their assignments. The team had made a lot of progress today.

His training classes today had gone well. He was pleasantly surprised with how well the target practice had gone once he learned not to close his eyes. Charlie still was not sure how long he would stick with it, but he did know if he dropped out of it, he would have to find some other class to fill that hour time slot since waiting around for an hour was not an option. Waiting was not one of his strong points.

After the weight training class, Charlie left right from NSA to the airport. He was really hungry today and hoped his father was up for stopping and eating before they got back to his apartment. Charlie was pretty sure Alan would not have purchased a meal on the plane.

Every day there was food of some sort in Charlie's office when he got there, but today he had been too focused on his work and explaining the details to the agents, so he had not eaten.

Charlie pulled into a spot as close as he could get to the main entrance. It was a great spot and he took that as a good sign of how well the evening would go. It may have worked even better if he had arranged to pick his dad up at the curb but it was too late for that now.

Charlie checked the arrivals screen and the flight would be landing on time. He waited behind the barrier for his father to appear. He had always thought airports were the best places to peoplewatch and tonight was no exception. He had made it a habit over the years to watch the fellow travelers.

After about fifteen minutes, Charlie saw his father coming toward him from the barrier. He had a large carry on bag. 'Good, no baggage claim'.

His may not be a group hug type family, but Alan was acting like he'd been a hugger all of his life. Charlie could hardly breathe.

"Son, I've really missed you."

"I've missed you too Dad. How was the flight?"

"Long Charlie and very crowded and you know you only get a tiny bag of pretzels now."

"Not if you fly 1st class Dad." Alan gave Charlie a look that let him know that was not an option.

"That's throwing away money Charlie, it's just a few hours. Some people are just spoiled."

"Hey let's get out of here and go get something to eat then. I'm starving."

Alan leaned back and looked at Charlie. "I knew it, I knew you were not eating."

"Dad..."

Alan opened his bag and handed Charlie a slightly squashed blueberry muffin that was wrapped in a McDonalds napkin and likely was bought in LA judging by the damp look of the napkin.

"Uh thanks Dad. But, I have been eating, it's just that today I haven't had time since breakfast."

Alan turned and was looking behind him. "Looking for something Dad? Meet a lady on the plane?"

"You know those long distance romances never work out Charlie. I was just looking for the directions around this place." Alan turned to look back at him. "You better eat that, I need to go to Baggage Claim."

"Dad...how much did you bring?"

"Charlie, I don't know where you live or what you have, so I may have over packed. But better safe than sorry."

'You are so dead Don'

Charlie nibbled the muffin and trailed behind his rapidly moving father. His father seemed to be in an awful big hurry to do nothing but wait for the luggage to start coming down the ramp.

After a short wait at Baggage claim, Alan had reached down and pulled a large suitcase off the belt. It was the first baggage out. Alan set the bag next to his feet.

The next bag out was a large bright red suitcase with gaudy gold Christmas tree garland. Charlie noticed his father did not reach for that one. It hit the bottom with a thud and after some wobbling it managed to stay upright. The garland, a beacon for whoever may eventually claim the bag.

"Charlie, we may need to rent a cart to carry all of this." Alan was reaching for a second and somewhat smaller bag than he had recently claimed.

"All what Dad? We can manage these three bags." At that second Alan again reached out and took another bag off the belt. Charlie watched as the bright red bag passed them again. "How much do you need for six days?"

"I like to be prepared."

"So, I've noticed over the years"

He went to rent the cart. He deposited the money in the slot and a hand reached for the cart. Charlie followed the arm and found himself looking up into the smiling face of his brother.

"Hey Buddy, I've missed you."