Nixie
Disclaimer: The Numb3rs characters aren't mine; any other characters are all mine however. Allllll Miiiiine :-)
Summary: Don discovers that a past one-night stand with a dangerous woman now leaves him with a neglected six-year-old daughter. Don-centric WIP
A/N: I apologize for the slight delay; I, ah, actually had this started and ready to post the prologue a few days ago but I ah, got busted by FanFiction Admin for my "Reviewer Vote" section at the end of 'Jadie'—Not allowed to do THAT anymore—My bad at any rate; I read it in the guidelines and just had a serious brain fart. Soooo my new story submission was temporarily, ahem, locked. Now it's all good though; I won't make the same mistake twice! Anyway I set the rating at T for this fic; just to be safe—Also please R&R, any thoughts, opinions and suggestions, as well constructive criticism are much appreciated.
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Prologue: Summer in the City (Joe Cocker)
The day was arid and hot as Special Agent Don Eppes tapped his fingers to the beat of Joe Cocker's "Summer in the City" on his steering wheel as he sat at the red light. He was wearing a polo t-shirt with his sunglasses on to deflect the sun's glaring rays. The windows were rolled down despite the heat and Don, for once, had the radio turned up. It was his day off, after all.
The palm trees swung lazily back in forth in the summer breeze while Don hummed along with a few of the words; He smiled as he thought of what some people would say if they heard him listening to this song. He didn't listen to music often, but there were just a few certain songs that Don just couldn't help but love.
Don was singing out loud bythe time the green light came. He was terribly off key and he knew it, but the song seemed so appropriate for the day that he just couldn't help himself.
It was one of those songs that just made you feel like you were on top of the world, the coolest guy around, and Don needed that feeling, especially after closing up the last case. It had been a brutal case—a violent serial rapist that killed his victims in an absolutely mortifying manner. Don was still in what he thought of as the 'scrubbing out the inside of his brain' phase. Sometimes the gory images would just come to him. It had happened to him after other cases before but after this one had been particularly bad.
So, Don had decided that he needed a day off. Lord knew; he had enough vacation days saved up as it was—he might as well use one now and again.
Don pushed thoughts of the case from his mind. He was on his way back to his apartment from the grocery store; his fridge had been far worse than Old Mother Hubbard's ever thought of being and that was truly saying something. Don had briefly thought of just mooching a meal at his brother's house, but had decided against it. As good a mood as he felt like he was in right now, that was bound to fade before the evening came and he probably would be terrible company. He didn't want to inflict his quasi-depression on his family.
He pulled up to the apartment building and parked as the song ended; he was almost to his apartment door when his cell phone rang. Don glanced at the caller ID and frowned at the unfamiliar number. He fumbled with his keys and the groceries and contemplated not answering it; if it's important they'll leave a message, Don thought. As he opened the door Don lost his grip on the grocery bag and he managed to pitch the groceries all over the floor. Don shook his head in disgust at himself and then chuckled at his own clumsiness. Don noticed his cell phone was still ringing and Don decided to go ahead and answer it anyway.
What the hell, he thought, it's not like it can be anything too terrible— And with that, he answered the phone.
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A/N: Ah just a bit of intro fluff; it gets more serious in chapter one. R&R!