Maybe Then Someday
by
Numb3rsfan
Chapter Two: Discovery
9AM. It was exactly 9AM in the morning when the alarm clock of Alan Eppes woke him up. With a small grunt he forced himself in to a sitting position as his eyes fought to get used to the sunshine that filled his room. Alan looked around his bedroom as he always did when he first woke up. He saw the pictures of his wife Margret and their two boys that hung on the wall near the window, he also saw the open magazine that he had placed on his nightstand the previous night.
Getting out of bed Alan walked through a cloud of dust that hung in the air; made visible by the early morning sun. Dust, it was an annoyance but this was Charlie's house, not his and if Charlie wanted dust then so be it. On his way out of the bedroom Alan silenced his alarm clock, a little miffed when he heard another alarm clock going off.
Entering the hallway he trudged down passed Don's old bedroom, the washroom and the bathroom until he stood in front of Charlie's bedroom door. The door was open revealing the interior of the room. At first Alan saw nothing unusual. Entering the bedroom he walked over to the blaring alarm clock and silenced it, sighing in the now peace and quiet of the bedroom. Peace and quiet this early in the morning was a Godsend; it helped him prepare for the coming day.
He needed time to prepare; time to worry about his eldest son on that dangerous job of his which was none other than working for the FBI as a Special Agent. Alan was very proud of Don and all that he accomplished but that didn't stop Alan from worrying every time that Don's life was put in danger. One thing made him smile though, and it was the fact that both brothers; Don and Charlie were working together. After the kind of childhood the two of them had had...seeing them now work together was a blessing and it was something that Alan wished his wife could have seen.
Turning, Alan was about to head out of Charlie's bedroom when his eyes fell on the floor; more importantly the pieces of plastic and machinery that had once been Charlie's cellphone. Alan knew that Charlie loved that phone so much that he would never have done that of his own accord.
"Charlie?" Alan called in to the quietness of the house.
While seeing the destroyed phone was unusual, it didn't trip his worry alarm yet. Sometimes Charlie was careless; everyone knew it. Was today one of those times? Padding out of the bedroom Alan went to the foot of the stairs and called down below, "Charlie?"
Still there was no answer. Seeing the front door open, Alan went down stairs and looked out in to the yard and the street. Something was obviously not right with this picture.
Forcing himself to stay calm Alan searched the house before contacting Charlie's close friends Dr. Larry Fleinhardt and Amita Ramanujan. After just five minutes; five whole minutes of speaking to those two people it was clear to Alan that neither of them had seen Charlie since yesterday afternoon.
Now it was time for Alan's worry alarm to go off. With Charlie's phone destroyed, the front door open and now neither Larry nor Amita knowing where Charlie was...it couldn't be a coincidence.
With shaking hands Alan punched in his eldest son's cellphone number, putting the receiver to his ear as he heard the tones sound, letting him know that it was ringing.
Perhaps this was nothing, perhaps Charlie was fine, having been called out by Don in the middle of the night? But then why the destroyed cell phone and why not lock up when he left?
"Eppes."
Alan snapped back to the present when he heard Don's voice come through the phone. Taking a deep breath, Alan slowly let it out so he wouldn't sound like a maniac to his own son.
"Donny it's your father. Listen...do you know where Charlie is?" Alan asked. He didn't want to worry Don so he figured asking the generic question first before laying in to Don with his worry was more prudent. It wouldn't do to worry Don without cause.
"No, sorry Dad. I last saw him yesterday afternoon when he came to the office. Why don't you try his cellphone?" came Don's reply.
Typical non worried Don reply. No sense of worry nor rebuke, just a suggestion.
Alan shook his head even though he knew that Don couldn't see him do it. Don saying that he didn't know where Charlie was, was something that he didn't want to hear; not from Don.
"That's just it Donny, I can't. I woke up this morning and heard Charlie's alarm clock going off so I went in and shut it off. That's when I noticed his cellphone on the ground, destroyed. I went downstairs and found the front door open too. Donny...neither Larry nor Amita know where he is, and he isn't anywhere in the house. I am very worried." Alan said.
There he had said it, no taking it back now. Alan heard Don's intake of breath through the phone and could just imagine his son's mind whirling with possibilities; some good and some not so good.
"Did you call the school? Perhaps he's there." Don suggested. It was clear in his voice that Don doubted this but he was just trying to mark off possibilities as to where Charlie could be.
"When I talked with Larry he was already at the school. He said that Charlie wasn't on the campus." Alan replied.
Another intake of breath; Don was obviously thinking carefully. It was clear that Don was worried but he didn't want to worry his father anymore than Alan already was.
"Okay dad, my team and I will be at the house in a minute." Don said.
Alan closed his eyes, grateful to hear his son say those words.
Ending the call, Alan put the phone back in the charger before going to sit in the living room. He didn't know what to do until Don got there. What could he do? He couldn't go about his normal routine as if nothing had happened could he?
NUMB3RSNUMB3SNUMB3RSNUMB3RS
Don sat as his desk looking over the daily morning reports as he sipped a cup of coffee. He had gotten in thirty minutes early and was almost dead on his feet; the coffee being a welcome wake up call. In the bullpen which some had comically called 'Charlie's Office' were Agent's Reeves, Granger and Sinclair; all of whom were looking over Charlie's work for lack of something better to do.
A vibration on his desk caused Don's heart to race. Seeing it was just his cellphone he gave a sigh.
~At least I set it to vibrate last night.~ he thought to himself, just imagining how much his ringtone might have startled him if he had turned up the volume on the phone. Putting his coffee cup down, Don answered it with the usual "Eppes." After a moment he realized it was his father but as his father asked about Charlie, a lump began to settle in Don's stomach. Just why was Alan asking about Charlie? Shouldn't he know where his own son was?
The news about Charlie's cellphone and the open front door got Don's worry meter blaring at full blast. Something was obviously very very wrong with this picture. It wasn't like Charlie to destroy something he loved, nor fail to lock up if he went somewhere. Sometimes Charlie was careless but never that careless!
Calmly Don assured his dad that he and his team were on their way. That seemed to assure Alan enough because he hung up a few seconds later. Standing up, Don grabbed his blue FBI jacket off of the back of his chair, slipping in to it as he headed for the bullpen.
Once he pushed open the door he didn't wait more than two seconds before saying, "Charlie's missing."
Those two words caused all three agents to turn towards him; all three of them already in FBI mode.
"What happened?" Colby Granger asked as he, David and Megan grabbed their FBI jackets and followed their boss towards the elevator.
That was the million dollar question wasn't it? What exactly had happened? Don hadn't been given any specifics by his father other than the destroyed cellphone and the front door. Was there something else Alan wasn't telling him?
"Charlie's missing. My father says he's not at home and neither Larry nor Amita know where he is. Charlie's cellphone was destroyed and the front door was open." Don supplied as he entered the open elevator car followed by his team.
Upon hearing the last bit Megan, Colby and David had a feeling that Charlie had been abducted even though they didn't voice their feelings, already knowing that Don knew the same thing.
"He's probably on his way to CalSci." Colby offered, trying to offer words of consideration to his boss.
Don's face was etched with worry even though he had slipped in to FBI mode when he had filled his team in on what he knew.
"I hope so Colby...I hope so." he muttered.