Disclaimer: The usual, nothing except Nevyn and parts of the plot are mine.

Stealing Hearts: The only Edgerton episodes I've seen are Sniper Zero and Toxin, so nope, haven't seen that one. But you've got me curious now… Damnit.

A/N: Edgerton is really hard to write… he's a cold, calculating bastard when there's a gun in his hand, but in the eps I've seen when he was interacting with Charlie, he was rather gentle and tolerant, even amused at Charlie's enthusiasm for numbers. It's tricky getting that balance right… I don't think I've quite got it yet, but hopefully I'll improve as the story goes on.

Chapter Two: In which Ian needs someone to talk to, and visits some former students.

-SE-

Ian smiled to himself as he sat on the couch, cleaning his gun. He could hear Nevyn singing in Russian as she made food, and took a moment to marvel once again at how well the house worked.

Nevyn was a small Scottish woman in her mid twenties. She was extremely chaotic. Lupus, on the other hand, had mild Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and needed to know exactly where everything in the house was. Lupus had specific procedures for everything. Nevyn made things up as she went along. Yet somehow, the two had not only been friends for sixteen or so years, had not only been undercover agents and partners in the FBI for the past fifteen years, but they had been living together almost since they'd met, and neither had killed the other so far.

Lupus was no longer an undercover agent, having been forced to retire eighteen months ago. Instead, he went by the name Ryan Wolfe, and worked as a criminalist with the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. Nevyn still returned to his house between jobs and kept him in the loop with what was happening at the Bureau. Ian had taught them both in one of the FBI's sniper courses, and had been impressed with the way they worked together. Even now, he liked to keep in touch with them when he could, and sometimes helped them with cases.

Eventually, Ian placed his rifle back in its case. Technically this time it hadn't been case-related, but Nevyn's handler had given permission. After all, it was nearly impossible to get rid of a well-connected, respected, corrupt judge through the normal, legal channels, and he would have been facing the death penalty anyway. This way, they saved the cost of a court case.

Just as he was sliding the case under the couch, Lupus entered. Or Ryan, Ian mentally shook himself. He really needed to stop using the boy's agent name and start using his civilian one.

"Hey Ian," Ryan grinned at him. "Everything went well, I take it?"

"When doesn't it?" The sniper raised an eyebrow, causing the younger man to grin.

"Fair enough. You staying in town long?"

"Few days. I'm having a few… personnel problems. Want some peace to think about it."

"Personnel problems?"

"Charmer's got a boyfriend," Nevyn informed her friend in a sing-song voice as she abandoned the dinner and came to talk. Ian threw her a glare, and she responded with an impudent smile. "Or rather, he wants one."

"So what's stopping you?" Ryan interjected before a fire-fight could break out in his living room. Again.

"It's… complex," Ian admitted as Nevyn rolled her eyes. "I'm going to come into contact with his very protective, FBI agent older brother in the future during cases. And I'd rather not give him a reason to 'accidentally' shoot me." Ryan and Nevyn shared a glance, before turning back to smirk at him.

"That's not all of it," Nevyn was convinced. "You've never let pissed off family members keep you from a conquest before."

"Nevyn…" Ian growled, before Ryan interrupted him.

"You want him as more than a conquest!" He exclaimed in triumph. Ian held up his hands and tried to get them both to quiet down, but the younger agents would have none of it.

"Aw, our cranky old Charmer's settling down," Nevyn teased. Ryan picked up when she descended into giggles, much to Ian's consternation.

"Yup, gonna get a house with a white picket fence and a dog, and adopt some kids."

"Oh, Hell no," Ian said firmly and rose from his seat. "Dealing with you two is bad enough."

His only response was renewed laughter from the pair of them, and he allowed himself a smile once he was out of their sight. They drove him up the wall sometimes, but they knew him well. He picked up the dinner that Nevyn had abandoned and tried to figure out what it was meant to be.

"Anyway," Nevyn's voice came from behind him, followed shortly by the young woman herself, "if you want something different this time, it stands to reason that you try something different in your approach."

"I realise that," Ian sighed. "Charlie's going to require a whole different approach to what I'm used to."

"That's part of the appeal though," Ryan pointed out. "Isn't it? You're used to chasing and being chased, seeing the whole thing as a game. Now you have an opportunity to branch out, try different tactics."

"Hmm," Ian stifled a laugh, recalling Charlie accusing him of something similar. "You may have a point," he conceded. Nevyn nodded.

"Of course we do. So, does this Charlie have a surname?"

"Yeah, Eppes."

"Wait, Donnie's brother?" Nevyn asked. She and Ryan looked at him in surprise, and Ian raised an eyebrow.

"Don Eppes, yeah. You two know him?"

"Sure," Ryan nodded. "He was working Fugitive Recovery at the time, we ran into him on a couple of cases. Seemed a decent enough guy."

"I liked him," Nevyn grinned. "He bought me a candy-bar!"

"Yeah," Ryan rolled his eyes. "He thought you were fifteen."

"Only the first time."

Ian smiled indulgently as his young friends bickered good-naturedly about Nevyn's ability to con sugar out of federal agents. She really did have a knack for it – the girl had the uncanny ability to appear to be in her early to mid teens, which was useful in her work against child trafficking. It could also make relationships difficult, but given her work patterns, that wasn't something Nevyn worried about too often.

The three agents eventually managed to sit down to dinner, and Ryan picked up the earlier conversation.

"So, when are you going to see this Charlie again?"

"Not sure," Ian shrugged. "It all depends on when I'm assigned to LA again, which might not be for a while."

"Oh, come on!" Nevyn exclaimed. "Put in for some time off and go seduce the guy!"

"Not gonna happen Nev," Ian smiled at her. "Work comes first."

He heard a muttered 'bullshit', but talk turned instead to Ryan's work. The young man regaled the others with gossip from the lab – apparently, CSI was a great deal like high school, with the amount of out-of-work shenanigans that went on.

-SE-

Ian left Miami a week later, with the decision to wait this out. After all, there was no telling when he'd see the young professor again, and any amount of things could change between now and then.

Part of him, though, knew that he was simply delaying the inevitable. He'd gotten his first sight of the target, and he wasn't going to stop until he'd caught it.

So for the next several months, the sniper kept an ear out for any cases that would require him to visit the Los Angeles area. He was about ready to take Nevyn's advice and request time off, when Reissler caught him again.

"Hey Edgerton! Ready to do another favour for that Eppes dude?" Agent Reissler clapped a hand on his colleague's shoulder. Ian raised an eyebrow, though inside he was delighted.

"What kind of favour?"

"Apparently he wants his team to go through proper training before their annual re-evaluation, and was hoping you'd take them through a course. I'm sure we can find other agents out there wanting to brush up on their skills as well, so you won't get bored. What do you say?"

"Well," Ian paused, pretending to think, "Courses here have just wrapped up. I'm sure I could swing by for a while. He say if he wants the full course?"

"Yup, full three month advanced course, and maybe do a couple of starter courses for the newer agents. You have any assignments coming up?"

"Not as far as I know," Ian confirmed, allowing himself a small smile. Three months in Los Angeles… he could definitely make progress in that time frame.

-EP-

"Not true!"

"Oh, so true!"

It sounded like the Brothers Eppes were arguing. Again. There was an undercurrent of laughter though, which made Ian smile.

"Anything I should know about?" He asked as he entered the briefing room, or 'Charlie's Lecture Room' as the team referred to it. His smile grew at the varying levels of surprise and delight his entrance elicited form the team.

Don, of course, wasn't surprised. He'd known about the sniper trainer's impending arrival for several days.

Agent David Sinclair looked slightly surprised, but happy to see him. The two men had gotten along well last time – especially after David had saved Charlie's life.

Terry Lake was no longer there. He'd heard that she'd gone back to straighten things out with her husband, and he honestly wished her the best. She'd been a good agent.

In her place was another female, this one with long, light brown hair and a surprised expression. He hadn't seen her before, he didn't think.

And at the front of the room was Charlie. The young professor had a look of almost comical shock – apparently, Don hadn't told him about Ian's presence in the city. But he also looked a little pleased.

"Edgerton," Don responded first, raising to shake his hand. "Come on in. Charlie's just running some scenarios past us."

"Yes," Charlie broke into a grin. "I was using Don as an example of how it's possible to break a person's nose and jaw with a single punch."

"Wait, using him as an example?" Ian raised an eyebrow. "Didn't know you had it in you, Professor."

"No," David was grinning as well. "Apparently when they were kids, Don decked a guy who was teasing Charlie. Broke the guy's nose and jaw."

"He deserved it," Don muttered. "No one picks on my little brother but me."

The whole room let out sniggers of amusement. Everyone could tell that there was sometimes tension between the brothers, but that was such a typical big-brother statement.

"It was most effective," Charlie hastened to sooth his big brother's ruffled feathers, and received a smirk for his efforts. Ian took a seat and settled into one of his favourite hobbies – watching Charlie Eppes.

Partway through the lecture, he could feel eyes on him. A flick of his gaze confirmed that it was the new girl. She didn't seem to be hostile, more… appraising, as though she was trying to figure something out. Slowly, Ian turned his head and looked straight at her. She jumped a little and turned back to Charlie. Ian smirked a little before returning his gaze to the front of the room, only to find the professor giving him a gleeful grin. Apparently, he'd noticed the silent exchange and found it highly amusing.

Ian smiled back, and Charlie continued. The sniper had to admit it – he was enjoying himself already, and hadn't even spoken directly to his quarry yet.