I don't own Numb3rs. I miss the show greatly though. This is my pathetic attempt at a fanfic for the show. It's not exactly great but I had an inspiration. I'm still working through it too so reviews are a source of weather or not I should continue.
There won't be any pairing slash or otherwise in this. I know. I'm trying something different.
Ian Edgerton sat in the back of the lecture hall in which Marshall Penfield was teaching. Don and Colby were sitting two rows ahead of him and it was apparent that Don wasn't really paying any attention. Colby was at least trying to understand even though it was noticeable that he was about to resort to smiling and nodding since that was all he really could so.
Ian however was finding the lecture boring in comparison to Charlie's usual speeches. Charlie was far more animated and engaging than this Penfield guy. He'd heard that the two mathematicians were friendly enemies and he could see why. Marshall was somewhat pompous and was dry in comparison to Charlie who actually fit well into the university's usual occupants. He could have sworn that there were more MISSING posters of Charlie here than anywhere else too even though they didn't cover nearly as many hallways as Millie apparently wanted them to – hence why her arms had been laden down with even more. That made it really clear how respected he was at CalSci.
To tell the truth, he was amazed at how he'd never heard about Charlie's disappearance. He wanted to blame being in the middle of a case but something told him it was Don who hadn't bothered to ask for help. Maybe the superiors had mentioned bringing Ian in but Don had been so focused on finding his baby brother that he hadn't done so. Ian couldn't believe he hadn't done so considering he could have made the investigation have gone somewhere. He had to congratulate Don for his determination but Christ he was an idiot.
Seeing Amita had been nice but she'd been so busy with classes she was covering and what she was working on that they hadn't had much time to speak. Larry and Millie had pounced on the chance for a case to work on that didn't include Charlie's disappearance. They wanted a distraction as badly as the agents did and they were more flexible than Ian had expected. All three seemed worn down but they were in better shape than the agents. Mille and Larry were worn from trying to pull Amita from her work but she was steadfastly rooted to what she was doing and refused to budge from it.
Ian clenched his fist and bounced it off his chin and mouth as he listened to Penfield. This guy had some amazing balls on him to be speaking of something named "The Eppes Convergence" when the kid was gone. He brought up something he said he'd found to be useless within the "original equation" before suddenly explaining that Charlie had come up with a variation that was named "The Penfield Variation."
"And then," Penfield concluded. "I felt like a major ass but Dr. Eppes and I shook hands and agreed to disagree." He shrugged. "Class dismissed."
The lecture hall became filled with the sound of shuffling papers and sighs of relief that they were done. Students passed them slowly, some chattering about future plans while others whispered that Don Eppes was there. They knew Eppes then. They must have seen him often since he had his brother as a consultant. The murmurs about Don being present brought up questions about Charlie. Had he been found or was this another case to be consulted on and they were only resorting to Penfield since they had no other choice?
"Nice to see you again Don," Penfield said as he was approached by the three agents when the students had cleared out. His face was drawn in concentration. He could tell that he wasn't going to be told Charlie had been found. Ian had to congratulate him on how quickly he'd noticed that this was a business call.
"Hey Marshall," Don said, his voice strained.
Ian had been right that he hadn't been getting much sleep. His agents may not have slept last night but at least they were sleeping. Ian had been shocked at how Alan had taken the disappearance – David and Liz had finally clued him in – but was only glad the elder man hadn't done something desperate.
At least he was crying.
"Can I help you?" Marshall asked gently as if he felt he was about to cross a line he shouldn't.
He was probably right. This was Charlie's area not his. He had better not expect he can take the professor's place in their lives. Ian had to give him credit for trying to be cautious but he wasn't about to like him for pretty much bad mouthing Charlie's ground breaking formula. Yes, Ian knew that was Charlie's "life's work" that Marshall had put down. It had finally dawned on him as he thought back to some research he'd done on Charlie years back after first meeting him. He personally felt Marshall should feel honored for being the namesake of the variation Charlie had come up with.
"We need a bit of consulting," Colby managed to grate out. Ian nearly died from laughter at how formal Colby was being. If this were Charlie, they would have joked a bit and then run into why they'd come. This wasn't Charlie though.
"I'll be happy to help," Marshal said carefully as he picked up his bag from a table. He stuffed some files into it and then looped the strap over his head so it would sit at a diagonal line across his torso. "Have you asked Millie and Larry in on it too? It'd be an honor to work with them."
Don and Colby nodded, Don slightly slower than Colby. He wasn't really there. He was somewhere in a memory that most likely held Charlie in the spotlight. Again. Ian nudged him roughly as Colby spoke to Marshall giving him a deadly look.
"Snap out of it," he hissed in Don's ear as he moved past him.
He could feel Don glaring daggers at his back as he began to look over the transparent boards on the stage. He didn't bother to try to understand any of what was on them. He knew he wouldn't and he couldn't bring himself to even look at something he knew Charlie had worked on for too long. He felt like he was being like Alan when it came to seeing things that reminded him of the professor. He shook himself mentally and turned to watch Colby and Marshall.
"You don't have a brother do you?" Don hissed suddenly in Ian's ear.
At least he wasn't lost in memories. Ian shook his head as if it weren't that big a deal. He didn't care that it would make Don want to hit him. He was doing this on purpose. He wanted Don to focus. He felt like he needed Don to focus or else they wouldn't be able to finish this case so Ian could work his own angle of Charlie's disappearance.
He could almost feel Don's hands constrict into tight fists. He was glad that Don wasn't focusing on Charlie at that moment. Don had to realize the sooner he snapped out of his worry, the sooner something might actually happen in Charlie's favor.
"Then you have no ground to talk," Don growled before spinning on his heel to speak to Marshall. His voice was stronger and Colby sent Ian a thankful glance. He nodded and then went back to looking over the hall.
Ian's eyes were about to focus in on certain chairs in the balcony as any smart sniper would when his eyes caught movement at the doors. His hand moved slowly to his gun as if he couldn't help it. He let it fall when he saw a young woman walk in, her eyes somewhat wide as she took in the hall. Don, Colby, and Penfield caught sight of her as well and Marshall was the first to speak up to her.
"Hello! Can I help you?"
Ian suppressed a twitch at how much more confident he sounded with the young girl than the students he'd had before. The girl stepped closer to reveal a subtly lithe and curvy form. Her caramel blonde hair fell in soft waves that were probably more noticeable if her hair were longer than it was. At present, she had it asymmetrically divided so the majority of her bangs fell on the right side of her face, the edges falling over the lobes of her ears by at least half an inch. Her green eyes glowed with anxiousness at her surroundings and yet she was completely calm.
"Hello," she said, her soprano voice hitting them like a calming wave at the beach. "I'm new here. My name's Sheila Rodriguez." She held up a hand to Marshall and looked at him expectantly. He smiled back and shook her outstretched hand.
"I'm Dr. Marshall Penfield," he replied. She smiled slightly at him and nodded in acknowledge. "Do you have your schedule?"
"Oh! Yes!" she chirped her movements suddenly spastic as she dove her hands into her bag. After a minute, her hands shot out of her bag with a piece of paper. She handed it over to Penfield and he looked it over, his hands suddenly shaking.
"You're a bit late for this class miss," he chuckled, his voice giving away his fear. Another student for Charlie's class apparently. Don's eyes were suddenly drowned in self pity again. "Did you get lost?"
"Yeah," she chuckled. "I went to where it told me but ended up getting lost trying to find this place." She laughed nervously then. "Sorry."
"No problem," Marshall insisted. "Next time uh just," he waved his hands in circles as he floundered for an answer, "just go to the library until after class ends. I'll be happy to help you catch up. Speaking of which, I need to give you some make up work." He glanced at Don and Colby. Ian waved him off.
"I'm sure Mille and Larry will let you in on whatever they find out," he muttered.
The girl smiled at him thankfully then let her eyes scan over the other two men. Her eyes stopped at Don and stuck. Ian felt his eyes narrow as she looked him over. It was like she recognized him from somewhere but she wasn't sure where. She shook herself visibly and followed after Marshall who was already moving – like he wanted to get away from the agents. She waved at them in farewell as she went.
Ian moved up to Colby and looked at Don as he stared at the boards as if he were watching Charlie again. "Did you see that look she gave Don?" he asked.
"Yeah," Colby sighed. "I don't think Don did though. He's watching the boards as if it was a portal to two months earlier."
Ian nearly growled profanities. "Of course. I distract him from what's bothering him and the first clue of his brother drags him back down."
"Yeah," Colby sighed as he nodded. He flipped out a notepad and wrote down the girl's name. Ian had a feeling that he might not have written it right but at least that was a start. Time was short and Ian grabbed Don by the shoulder to drag him off to the doors.
"What's up?" Don asked blankly. Ian nearly hit him.
"We're watching a girl," Ian growled back, his hand releasing Don's shoulder as he continued on. Colby was trailing after both of them carefully making sure Don kept going after Ian.
"Why? We have no reason to," Don muttered somewhat forcefully.
"My gut is tying itself into knots," Ian replied in a short tone. That was enough to shut Don up. Even Colby knew what a sniper's gut told him was usually right. The three came to a stop near the office Ian knew to be Charlie's to find Marshall handing the girl papers. He instructed her to only do what she understood and he'd assess how far she was.
"May I ask," Marshall began only to continue when the girl nodded. "How old are you?"
"Eighteen," was her automatic answer. Marshall blinked and nodded in evident surprise. Ian was staggered too. He could feel the same feeling rolling off Don and Colby behind him in waves. She was like a female Charlie!
"Wow you've just reminded me of someone," Marshall murmured. She smiled.
"I'm better at science than math," she chimed. "I'm sure I'll do well enough though." Her smile was sincere as she bowed her head and moved off on her way.
"Uh, see you tomorrow," Penfield murmured, his voice soft. She nodded and waved good bye.
"Yes," she confirmed. "You will." With that, she was gone.
"I don't like her," Ian muttered. Colby sighed and nodded his understanding. "Let's go." They left the campus in silence, Don's eyes flitting over the area as if he were looking for his brother. Ian kept his mouth shut as he started the car. He was so preoccupied with his concern about Don's actions that he didn't see the pair of green eyes watching them leave.
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