Disclaimer: I don't own anything Numb3rs, it's all property of CBS and whatnot, so don't sue.
Chapter 28: A Weary Soul Returns Home
Christian Wolfe heaved a small sigh as he gazed out at the Ukrainian coast-line with the Black sea stretching out towards the horizon. Beside him was Julio Vargas and Charlie Eppes, the three members of the Big Three Unit, all now back to being civilians, tourists sitting on a stone wall over looking the sea in the city of Yalta.
Christian and Julio let their gazes drift to their third companion. Both of them feeling warmth as a quiet strength emminated from the curly haired young man.
A full two weeks had passed by since the underground mission.
For those two weeks, Charlie had remained very quiet,loosing himself in meditation, sinking deep into the recesses of his mind to make peace withall of his actions. He had slowly willed himself to come to terms with what had happened, and the one hundred lives he had ended. Above all, Charlie made peace with his other half, Ghost.
Today was the day they were going home, nearly three months had gone by since they had all answered the call of the job dutifully. Now, it was timeback to their seperate lives as a New York Pastry Chef, an Arizona NARCO Cop, and a genius Passadena College Proffessor and FBI Consultant.
With a sigh, Charlie turned to his two friends and gave them a warm smile.
" Let's go home." He said with a small sigh. Christian and Julio both returned Charlie's smile and followed the young man back down the road to the hotel.
The ride in the elevator was filled with horsing around by Christian and Julio, who much to their own delight, watched as Charlie laughed his head off, looking absolutely radiant with mirth.
When they reached the penthouse, they each split up to go pack up their things. Steele had called earlier, telling them to be ready in an hour. They had spent half that hour taking in the Ukrainian coast. The other half was now being used to pack up and getting back downstairs to meet Toby.
Making quick work of all of his personal belongings, Charlie paused a moment in the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. Charlie let a small smile grace his face, he looked more like his old self than he had two weeks ago. With a sigh, Charlie headed back to his bedroom and finsihed packing. He pulled a black suit jacket over the light green vintage T-shirt and blue jeans with a ripped knee he had on.
With a final glance at the room, Charlie walked through the door to meet his two friends. Together, they walked out of the penthouse suite and headed back to the elevator, their duffle bags packed, ready for the journey home.
The elevator ride was made in comfortable silence and when they reached the lobby, they were met withthe hustle and bustle as guest were checking in or checking out, families lounging around with childrenand employees running around.
Charlie, Christian, and Julio swam through the controlled chaos to the front doors, Steele had already taken care of all the checking out hastle for his unit. Now themembers of the Big Three were waiting outside for their beloved chauffer to show up.
A few minutes later, a sleek, black SUV was pulling up infront of them, with Tobias Finch at the wheel.
" Hey there Cabbie." Grinned Charlie.
Toby rolled his eyes when the hated nickname was uttered, but theannoyance faded when he saw the smile on Charlie's face.
" Hello all." Smiled Toby as the three men piled into the vehicle, Julio andChristian in the back andCharlie in the front.
The drive to the airport was filled with thecomical banter between four good friends but in the back of his mind, Charlie could still hear the feint echos of dead men screaming in death.
When they reached the airstrip, they all bid Toby a fond farewell and headed to the waiting private jet, two NSA agents standing by as they climbed the steps.
" Hey Harding, Stevens." Said Charlie pleasantly, earning a simple nod from the two men.
The three deactivated CIA Operatives took their seats and waited for take-off.
Twenty minutes later, the sleek white jet was soaring through the heavens with effortless ease.
Charlie got up from his seat and decided to raid therack with all the junkfood in it. After he'd found a bag of Doritos, he joined Julio and Christian for a game of cards, knowing that he'd cream them both yet again.
Several hours later...
Charlie, Julio, and Christian were back in their seats, the seatbelts buckled in as the jet decended from the clouds, slowly making its way back down to earth, the JFK Airport runway in New York city in sight.
Christian Wolfe was home as the wheels of the jet set down of the asphalt. Slowly, the plane came to a halt.
With a sigh, Christian got up from his seat and picked up his duffle back.
Julio was the first to all but pounce on him, hugging him tightly and whispering some words to him.
When they pulled apart, Charlie stepped forward and gently pulled Christian into a hug.
" How do you do it Christian, how do you deal with what we do?" Whispered Charlie into Christian's ear.
" Hey, isn't that what I should be asking you?" Chuckled Christian softly.
" Yeah but, I decided I'd steal it from you just this once." Smiled Charlie as they pulled away from each other.
" Take care of yourselves." Said Christian with a sad smile as he walked through the jet door, disappearing into the sun.
With a sigh, Charlie returned to his seat and Julio to his as they waited for the plane to take off once again.
Once again, the plane was gliding through the heavens, this time, the runway of the Phoenix Arizona airport being their next destination.
Julio and Charlie set about playing another round of cards, Julio once again loosing spectacularly to his friend and leader. The sting of loosing was quickly soothed when Julio caught sight of the red, rusty colored land of his beloved home state.
Once again, the Jet slowly left the heavens and made its way down to the runway of the Phoenix airport.
Once the plane stopped completely,one of the NSA agents set about getting the Jet's door open.
Julio smiled as he pulled Charlie into a bear hug.
" Dude, I'm gonna need oxygen to survive you know." Chuckled Charlie as he returned the tight embrace.
" Yeah yeah, this coming from the guy who can go hold his breath for a good ten minutes if he wanted to." Said Julio dead-pan.
Charlie chuckled as they pulled away from the embrace.
" May San Maria watch over you always." Smiled Julio as he picked up his bag.
" Ditto." Sighed Charlie as he watched Julio disappear into the late afternoon sunlight.
A few minutes later, the white jet was soaring through the air with it's final destination, Passadena California.
Charlie sighed as he gazed out the window, taking in the panoramic view of the world beneath him.
Now he was alone, with no friends to distracting him from the residual turmoil his soul was still in.
By the time the plane reached California, it was getting dark.
As the plane departed from the heavens for the final time, Charlie swallowed down the nervousness.
What was he going to do when he got to his house?
He wasn't spending the night in another hotel room tonight, he was going straight home to his own bed in his own house.
Charlie sighed as the cool evening air greeted him as he stepped out of the place.
" Honey, I'm home." Thought Charlie without humor as he made his way to the waiting SUV, where NSA Agents Gold, and Harris stood.
" Hey." Was all Charlie said as he climbed into the back seat. Gold and Harris took their seats in the front.
Without further daudling, the SUV grumbled to life, pulling away from the private jet and the LAX Airport.
The SUV pulled into the Los Angeles street, it's destination being a quiet neighborhood in the suburbs.
Charlie gazed out the window at pretty little lights that danced by as the SUV cruised along the highway, slowly leaving the hustle and bustle of the city of Angels and heading into the place where people prefered to raise their families.
All too soon, they were pulling up about a block from Charlie's childhood home and now the house he owned.
" Thanks for the lift." Said Charlie flatly as he climbed out of the vehicle.
" Anytime man." Said Gold before he disappeared behind the window.
Charlie sighed as he watched the car vanish down thestreet. Adjusting the strap of his bag before he began walking down the block to his home. With each step, his anxiety grew, inevitably, he found himself standing before his house.
To his relief and disappointment, the lights were out and his father's car was not in the driveway. However, he recognized Don's SUV parked infront.
" Looks like the two of them probably went out for dinner together." Thought Charlie.
With a sad smile,he climbed up the stairs to the front door, fishing out his house key from his back jeans pocket.
Charlie let himself into his own house, without any warm welcome from the family he hadn't seen or spoken to in three long months, no welcome at all. Maybe it was punishment for all the families he'd torn apart with every life he'd taken mere weeks ago. Charlie locked the door behind him, always mindful of his surroundings.
Charlie decided to leave the lights out and dragged himself up the stairs to the second floor. He glided through the darkness and made it down the hall, reaching for the doorknob of his room.
The door creeked open and Charlie stepped into his room and switched on the light.
Battling the jetlag of a full days worth of flying, Charlie set his duffle bag down on the neatly made bed and then unzipped one of the side bags. He pulled out a fully loaded 55. Caliber Baretta fire arm. He stared at the lethal weapon in his hand a moment, feeling a numbness pass over his soul before he pulled out the clip of bullets and walked to his closet. He kneeled before the woodpanneled floor and pulled a few out to reveal a secret compartment in the floor. Charlie placed the gun and clip into the hole before sealing it back up with the floor pannels.
With a lingering gaze, Charlie went back to his duffle bag and began unpacking all his clothes and other items. When he was done, all that remained in the bag were his toothbrush, shaving kit, and other toiletries, he'd save those for the morning.
Charlie quickly changed into a pair of gray sleeping pants and a large Old Navy T-shirt.
The reunion with his family would have to wait till morning as he switched off the light and all but collapse onto the bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Twenty minutes later, a silver Honda Civic pulled into the driveway and Alan and Don Eppes returned from a pleasant dinner at a local Italian restaurant.
" That was a very nice dinner." Said Alan with a smile as he and Don headed up the stairs to the house. Alan had convinced his oldest son to stay the night.
" It would have been nicer if he'd been with us." Said Don with a sad smile as his father opened the door and the stepped into their beloved Charlie's house, totally oblivious to the fact that their brother and son was upstairs, dead to the world in sleep in his own room.
Don and Alan spent the better part of an hour just talking and occasionally watching the football game on the T.V. before they both decided to call it a night.
Alan bid his son goodnight, Don opting to sleep on the couchin the living room.
The two men retired for the night, they would awake to a morning they would not forget any time soon.