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The Derivative Chapter 17: Kids Stuff

Chapter 1 <- Chapter 16

Don knew he was handling things differently. Every case that involved kids was bad however, he could feel them hitting him a little deeper now. Lucinda Shay was a single mother just like Janice had been and when he saw her son at the crime scene all he could think of was what Abby must have gone through when she was alone after her mom died.

Despite this he had to stay focused on the case, keep his emotions in check, that was the only way they were going to catch the killer and get justice for Lucinda and Daniel. He entered the office and spotted Charlie standing out like a curly headed traffic cone dressed in orange with David and Colby who were gray and white suits.

Don quickly made it over to his brother “hey, thanks for coming” he gave Charlie a pat on the shoulder.

“No problem”

“Hey did the kid see anything?” David asked, gesturing toward where Megan was sitting with Daniel playing cards.

“Well, if he did, he’s not saying anything.” Don replied.

“I didn’t know Lucinda Shay had a kid” Charlie voiced.

“Yeah little boy named Daniel,” Don explained, pointing to show Charlie, who looked back letting sadness drift into his eyes. “What? You knew her?”

“I met her a few times.” Charlie explained “when the scandal first broke at the SEC, I was asked to examine the accounting related to Syntel’s offshore partnerships. She was very helpful”

“Yeah” Colby murmured “well sweetheart plea bargain will do that for you”

“You know I don’t think she knew what Syntel was doing at first but once she figured it out, she blew the whistle” Charlie informed “Was her son there when…?”

“Yeah” Don murmured, cutting Charlie’s question off.

“What can I do?” Charlie asked.

“Well, we’re putting together a list of former employees and shareholders” Don explained “maybe you could narrow it down?”

“I’ve already analyzed the company’s SEC filings. It’s a pretty good picture of who made money, who lost money.” Charlie explained.

“All right, well, whatever you can do, we’d appreciate it,” Don said gratefully.

“You got it,” Charlie agreed.

“Thanks” Don murmured, patting his brother on the shoulder again as he headed over to where Megan was sitting with the boy.

“What’s going to happen to her son?” Charlie questioned.

“We don’t know” David admitted “she’s a single-parent mom. I’m trying to run down the father, any other relative, but, uh, so far no luck.”

“You know after Abby’s mother died they were able to find Don” Charlie offered “I mean it took a couple months but, you could find someone for this boy”

“We’ll be trying Charlie,” David reassured the mathematician.

Meanwhile Don was knocking at the door of the sitting room Megan and Daniel were in. His partner looked up and he gestured for her to come and talk. She told Daniel she’d be right back before getting up and meeting Don outside of the room and earshot of the boy.

“How’s he doing?” Don asked.

Megan cleared her throat glancing back at the boy before turning to Don “there’s some blunt effect in response to the trauma.” she explained.

“What’s that, like some kind of post traumatic shock kind of thing?” the man inquired.

“A little” Megan informed “this is more immediate and hopefully it’s temporary. But he’s like an overloaded circuit. He’s just shut down right now.”

“I’m going to need him to talk to us,” Don murmured ruefully.

“I know that,” the woman reassured, glancing back at the boy “but he’s too fragile right now.”

Don shrugged “I know, but if he knows who shot his mother-”

“It’s exactly the problem” Megan clarified “he probably did, and he’s a little boy and he’s terrified. And if we push him too far now, we may never get what we need”

“All right, all right” Don agreed, walking past Megan into the room and taking the seat across from the boy “hey Daniel” he greeted attempting to shake the twisting feeling in his gut and the thought of Abby. “I’m Don Eppes. Remember? From before?” he paused and when the boy gave no indication of response he sighed “Look, I’m sorry about what happened to your mom, but-” he hesitated as Daniel shifted and grimaced slightly “I know how rough this must be for you, what- what you must be thinking.” He took a breath and glanced back out at the bullpen, the thought of a young, alone Abby still pulling at the back of his brain thoughts of his own mother as well “Actually, you know, to be honest, I don’t know what you’re thinking. But I do know something about what you’re feeling.” he admitted “You know, not too long ago my mom died.” Daniel looked up at that but his eyes quickly flickered back to the table “yeah she was like the one person who had the right answer for everything. You know, I mean all the time. And then all of a sudden she was gone” Don took a deep breath “Here’s what I’m hoping. That you and I maybe could partner up. Maybe help each other out.” he paused, gauging the boy carefully before continuing “I need to know if you saw anything this morning, Daniel.”

“No,” Daniel barely whispered, shaking his head.

“You sure?” Don pressed carefully.

“The doorbell rang,” Daniel voiced.

“Mm-hmm and your mom answered it?” The agent inquired. Daniel nodded “did you hear any voices?”

Daniel shook his head “just the gun”

“What about after?” Don asked “Did you see anything, hear anyone?” Daniel shook his head looking down at the table again curling into himself. “All right, okay.” Don backed off “Hey, that’s a good start. Good job”

“I want…” Daniel spoke up voice choked with emotion “I want her to come back”

“Yeah” Don sighed, biting his lip “I know you do. Me, too.”

As Don got up to leave gesturing for Megan to take his place sitting with the boy he wandered into the breakroom. He let off a large breath and reached for his phone on his belt. He wanted to call Abby and just hear her voice for whatever reason but a quick glance at his watch told him she’d be in class and unable to take his call. So he took another deep breath and replaced his phone on his belt before making for the coffee.

___________________

Abby POV.

I walked out of class with an annoyed groan. “Oh dear did Prof. Lisben assign another tedious reading exercise?”

I looked up at the question to see Larry meandering down the hallway. “Essay” I explained “and I already have two others due for other classes”

“Ah I see” Larry sighed as we began to walk down the hallway “quite the taxing conundrum”

“I mean professors do realize that we have more classes than theirs, right?” I asked.

“If they do I suppose they don’t care” Larry declared juggling the apple in his hand “such is the lot of the student I suppose”

I hummed in agreement as we reached my uncle’s office and headed inside. He was working on the blackboard with his back to us as we entered. What looked to be some kind of tree-pruning algorithm.

“Charles” Larry spoke calmly. Charlie about jumped out of his skin though.

He let off a breath once he realized it was just us “I wish you wouldn’t do that” he muttered.

“Boo” I shrugged.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry” Larry apologized “but why are you splitting a tree-pruning algorithm?”

“I’m trying to reduce a cumbersome set of variables to a common point” Uncle C explained as I headed over to one of the various chairs in the office and sat down.

“Okay, well, a bit of pruning I understand” Larry said “but why divide it into subsets?”

“Because I’m dealing with different groups of suspects each with almost opposite motives for committing the same crime” Charlie informed.

“Ah, so an FBI case” I voiced.

“Yes, Don asked for my help” Charlie informed “one set lost money and wants revenge. The others made money and wants to keep it.”

“Oh, this is about Syntel Corp.” Larry deduced coming closer.

“How do you know that?” Charlie questioned, surprised.

“What’s a Syntel Corp?” I asked.

“A large corporation that was caught with a fraud scandal not long ago” Charlie explained.

“Oh” I nodded in realization.

“I heard about the Chief Financial Officer being killed.” Larry informed “you might recall I lost a considerable investment in Syntel”

“Yeah? Well, you got an alibi for this morning?” Charlie joked. Larry let out a breath “I’m kidding” Charlie chuckled and I smirked.

“Ah don’t be too quick to dismiss me as a suspect” the physicist objected.

“Why, how much you lose?” Uncle C inquired, exchanging a concerned glance with me.

“175,000” Larry sighed.

“Dollars?” Charlie questioned in surprise.

“No euros” I muttered and earned a small glare from my uncle.

“Look, in my defense, I didn’t count on being defrauded,” Larry pointed out.

“Oh wow, well, are you okay, financially?” Charlie asked.

Larry scoffed “well let’s just say the words ‘publish or perish’ have taken on a brand-new meaning. But, yeah, I mean, fortunately, I’ve hedged my bets on Google.”

“Well help me then” Charlie voiced, turning back to the chalkboard and I swiveled in my seat to get a look as well. “I’ve, uh, I’ve got to combine two different groups of suspects,” Uncle C explained, raising up the front of his chalkboard. “According to monetary incentives and risk/reward ratios”

“So we need to rank them according to their motive for committing the murder” Larry clarified.

“While also taking into account what might deter them from choosing murder verses another path hence the risk/reward” I added.

“That’s right,” Charlie agreed.

“Okay, what do these variables here express?” Larry inquired, pointing past Charlie at an equation on the chalkboard. I craned my neck to see the board around my uncle.

“Well, I derived them from the bankruptcy data.” Charlie informed, “I assigned probability values to motives according to the suspects’ current circumstance.”

“Current circumstances?” Larry questioned confused “like what, where are they now or..?”

“Right,” Charlie nodded.

“Okay,” Larry murmured, pacing around the younger professor. As we all thought on the problem. “Charles” Larry finally voiced after a moment and my uncle hummed in response. “Just as a thought experiment” the physicist paused and Charlie nodded for him to continue as I sat forward in my seat “what if you didn’t know the story of the Garden of Eden?”

“Adam and Eve” Charlie muttered as Larry gestured to the apple in his hand.

“What does this have to do with the creation of the world?” I inquired confused.

“It’s just a thought experiment, let me explain” Larry advised me and I nodded. “Let's say you met them after they were exiled from Eden. Now, as they both suffer equally under the same punishment, how would you know which of them had taken the bite from the forbidden fruit?”

“But they both-”

“Shhh shhh shhh thought experiment” Larry hushed me as the cogs in Charlie’s brain began to turn.

“The outcome doesn’t provide enough information to discern the inputs” Charlie deduced “if I really want to figure out who’s guilty I’ve got to reconstruct the original fraud at Syntel”

“Precisely” Larry concluded “you’ve got to go back to the apple” the man took a large bite of his snack.

Charlie turned back to his chalkboard and began working again at a dizzying rate. Meanwhile Larry meandered back over to my side of the desk. “You know people are always so hard on Eve but Adam was just as bad if not worse” I voiced.

“What’s that?” Larry questioned.

“Well Eve had to deal with the literal devil Adam just had to say no to a naked woman” I pointed out. Larry made a humming noise as his eyebrows rose on his head and he practically nodded with his hands.

________________________

3rd POV.

Don sighed as Charlie headed out of the room and his eyes scanned the bullpen landing on Daniel who was at a desk with his meager bag of belongings. “How’s our kid doing?” he asked Megan, eyes still on the boy.

“Uh, I guess he’s a little better, but you know,” she let off a breath. “how would any of us be doing in his situation?”

“Yeah” Don sat down next to her “any word from family services?”

“There is no father in the picture” Megan explained “and we found a grandmother in” she reached for a pad of paper where she had written a note down “Bethany, Oklahoma. She has a heart condition and she can’t fly.”

“So what happens to him?” Don inquired looking over to see an agent talking nicely to the boy.

“Well, tonight he’s going to go to this group home.” Megan informed.

Don felt his stomach drop “oh come on you’ve got to be kidding me” he stated “I mean, that’s a nightmare. You know what those homes are like Abby’s social worker said she was put in one after her mom died. And- and she hated it”

“I know” Megan defended “but I called WITSEC and they won’t put a minor into custody without a court order. And you know what? It’s not really any better than a group home is, anyway.”

“I know, but I just don’t want him to get twisted around, till whatever chance we have of getting what he knows is gone.” Don explained trying to keep his emotions in check and make a logical argument. He had to stop thinking about Abby on this case.

“Well, I don’t like this at all,” Megan agreed “but I’m not set up to take care of a kid and you can barely handle the one you have”

“Thanks” Don muttered but knew she was right.

“What are we supposed to do?” Megan asked and Don looked back out at the kid, an idea coming to mind.

“Charlie has an extra room at his house” he voiced.

“Seriously? Charlie?” Megan asked skeptically.

“Well my dad’s there and Abby is staying over to so-” he gestured vaguely with his hand.

“Okay” Megan nodded “I guess it’s something”

“Yeah,” Don muttered. He watched the kid for a moment longer.

“Don” his partner finally broke the silence with a tone that made him turn to look at her eyes and he could tell she was profiling him. “If you keep acting like this case isn’t hitting you differently you’re not going to handle it properly” she declared.

Don’s eyebrows knit together “I’m not- I just-” he cut off at her look.

“That boy reminds you of Abby. You said it yourself a second ago that Abby was in the system after her mom died and before they found you as her guardian.” Megan voiced “it’s okay if it gets to you.”

“Yeah” Don sighed. Knowing she was once again right.

_______________________

Abby POV.

I gasped as my eyes scanned over the page of the book I was reading. “What?” Gramps asked mildly concerned as he sat reading in his chair.

“Plot twist- I- neh-” I ended up just making a weird noise and waving him off as I continued reading the story.

“Okay then” I heard the man mutter then there was noise from further in the house.

“Charlie that you?” Alan called.

“No, Dad, it’s me,” my father’s voice replied. “Hey Abby” he called in greeting and I waved in his general direction. My eyes still transfixed on the story in my hand.

“Donnie. What are you doing here so late?” Alan questioned “I thought Abby would be spending the night and dinner’s been put away already”

“She is and I don’t need dinner.” he paused “look-”

“If you’re looking for Charlie he’s not here yet” Gramps informed.

“Actually, I think I can talk to you” Don explained “I mean I’m sure he’ll be okay with it, but..” Don trailed.

“And who is this?” I heard Alan inquire and I finally looked up to see a boy standing in the foyer looking around a bag hung on his shoulder.

“This is Daniel.” Don introduced.

“He’s not my brother is he?” I asked and both men gave me a look.

________________

I sat a plate of PB&J down in front of Daniel as Alan and Don talked in the other room. The boy immediately picked it up to start eating. Once Don had explained what was happening I felt bad for the kid and my previous joke. This kid and I actually had a lot in common.

“Thanks” he murmured after a moment.

“No problem” I replied with a small smile. Then paused “I’m sorry about your mom. I lost my mom too and I know it hurts”

He looked up at me in a little surprise “you lost your mom?”

“Yeah and I didn’t know my dad back then either.” I explained “so I know it can be scary when you don’t have anybody but I know my dad now and I know he’ll work to get your mom justice at least okay?”

The boy nodded slightly and I looked up to see Don coming over. “Hey buddy” he greeted Daniel taking a seat. “She makes a pretty good sandwich, huh?” he asked, sharing a glance with me.

“Mom’s is better,” Daniel stated.

“Yeah” Don nodded “yeah, I’m sure that’s true”

“I was thinking about what you asked me,” Daniel explained hesitantly “you know, about what I saw?”

“Uh-huh,” Dad murmured, encouraging the boy to continue.

“There was a car” Daniel informed “After I heard the gunshot, I looked out the window.”

“Do you remember what kind of car it was?” Don questioned carefully.

“It was black or blue, maybe” Daniel offered thinking “big but not as big as an SUV.”

“You think if I showed you some pictures, maybe you’d remember?” Don suggested “I mean, you just have to do the best you can. It’s uh..” he trailed, losing the words.

“So did you find them?” Daniel asked after a moment.

“Who?” Don questioned.

“The people who killed my mom” the boy stated.

“Why do you think-” Don pressed, confused as I looked at the boy in surprise “I mean, are you remembering something?”

“They were talking,” Daniel explained “at your office” a sad and guilty expression befell my father’s face as the boy continued “they said there are, like, 6,000 people who wanted to kill my mom.”

“Oh, no, no, no” Don quickly objected “oh, no that’s not, that’s not… I think the thing is, um, you know, sometimes when we don’t know who the bad guys are, we start with a really big list. And, uh, it doesn’t mean everyone on it wanted to hurt your mom. I mean, in fact, I really think we’re probably just looking for one person.”

“Where am I gonna sleep?” Daniel asked, changing the topic.

“Uh, I thought I’d put you up in my room” Don suggested giving me a look to tell me I would not be staying in the room I normally held in the house. “How’s that?”

“Where will you sleep?” Daniel inquired, looking confused.

“Oh, I don’t live here anymore, it’s from when I was a kid,” Don explained. “Abby stays in it when she sleeps here. It’s a pretty good room. I think you’ll like it.”

“But you’re gonna stay right?” the boy clarified “you’re not gonna leave?”

Don looked back at the boy’s worried gaze before replying “uh, yeah, I can stay, sure” he agreed. “Yeah, you got it.”

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

3rd POV.

Abby blinked her eyes open. There was a figure looking down at her. She was laying down. There was a mask on her face and cool air was coming from it. Everything seemed hazy. She was looking up at the night sky. There were a lot of moving figures at the edge of her vision and she smelled smoke.

“My mom” Abby tried but the words were quieter and hard to get out “where’s my mom?” Hadn’t they just been driving a second ago? How had she gotten here? She couldn’t remember. That started her heart to beat faster and her breathing picked up. She always remembered. Why couldn’t she remember what just happened?

“Hey you’re awake” the person above her, who was still little more than a blur, spoke comfortingly. “Try to stay calm. What’s your name?”

“Abby” the girl replied softly, a sharp pain stabbing her side “where’s my mom?” she grunted through the pain.

“I don’t know Abby but we’re going to get you to the hospital” the person replied. She tried to sit up but her back wouldn’t move. The only responsive part of her body seemed to be her arm and when she lifted it up she could see the blood covering it. “Abby?” She heard the person but they were muffled as her arm fell and the hazy darkness consumed her vision again.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Abby POV.

I gasped awake sitting up in bed and putting a hand to my mouth half expecting the oxygen mask to still be there. I took a couple deep breaths as the memory faded and looked around. I was in the guest room of Charlie’s house. And according to the clock on the nightstand it was the middle of the night.

I took another deep breath and sighed getting up. It figured that everything going on with Daniel would stir up my memories of my mother’s death. I opened the door to the room quietly and carefully krept down the hallway and stairs. I was cutting through the foyer heading for the kitchen when the light flicked on behind me and I whirled around.

Don was sitting up on the couch giving me a disgruntled and questioning look. “I was just getting a glass of milk,” I informed at a whisper.

The man sighed and looked at his watch. “Why so late?”

I shrugged “couldn’t sleep”

“Nightmare?”

“Sort of”

Don sighed and started to get up. “Yeah I could use some milk too” he stated and we both headed into the kitchen. I hopped up to sit on the counter as my father got two mugs and filled them with milk. “My mom always said if you heat it up it helps you sleep” he informed.

“Actually, while milk does have trace amounts of tryptophan which is used within the brain to make serotonin and melatonin. It’s been tested and proven that milk doesn’t help you sleep better. Heated or not. It’s just relaxing” I explained. Don gave me a look as he placed the mugs in the microwave. “Sorry”

Don sighed, pressing the button to start the microwave and turning to me. “It’s fine at this point I’m used to the random fact dropping in the house”

“Fair enough” I smirked. There was a quiet moment when neither of us spoke and the kitchen was only filled with the sound of the microwave humming.

“Listen Abby-” Don started hesitantly but then was cut off by the sudden beeping of the microwave that made us both jump. He sighed, removing the two steaming mugs and handing me mine so I could blow on it softly. “Abby” he started again “I wanted to ask you, ab- about when you were in foster care” he stated. I looked at him a little confused over the top of my mug. “It’s just Megan mentioned something today and you know Daniel was almost sent to a group home before I offered to watch him and uh- you never really talk about your experience so-”

“Dad” I cut off the man’s rambling. “It’s okay,” I reassured him, feeling comfortable at least talking about that side of my history. “I wasn’t there long to be honest. It was just one house I’d been in the hospital for two week after the accident because of the my injuries and uh, yeah the mom was mean, the dad was ignorant, the daughter was a brat, and the son was a perv” Don choked on his milk slightly at the last but Abby kept talking “I was there for about a month before I ran away.”

“A month?” Don questioned, perplexed. “But I thought it was a whole six months before you came to live with me after Janice died”

“It was,” I nodded. “I just spent most of it on the streets” Don blinked at me in shock. I had figured my social worker had already told Don that. “It’s not that big a deal” I spoke quickly “i’m fine”

“Yeah but you were really homeless for five months?” the man exclaimed.

I shrugged, pushing away the thoughts of a dancing girl with red hair, an old abandoned apartment building, an underpass, an old house with loud music and a smiling boy on a table. “It was just another season of my life”

Don sighed taking a drink from his mug “you’re too young to have seasons to your life”

“Maybe” I murmured holding my warm mug with both hands “but it made me who I am today so, not all bad”

A girl with flaming red hair was spinning dancing to the music as lights flickered around her and people bounced and swayed to the music. She took my hand and pulled me up onto the coffee table twirling me around and we laughed.

I blinked away the memory, the smile fading from my face as Don straightened from where he had been leaning on the counter opposite me. He placed his mug in the sink “well we should try and get some sleep”

“Yeah” I nodded, hopping off the island counter and heading back to my room with my still half filled mug. “Goodnight” I called as I reached the steps and Don made it to the couch.

“Goodnight” he called in reply.

________________

“... look I couldn’t get a hold of you, so I asked him, and he said it would be okay.” Don was telling his brother as I came downstairs in the morning.

“Okay for what?” Charlie questioned.

“For Lucinda Shay’s kid to stay here.” Don murmured checking his phone then spotting me coming over.

“Of course, yeah, that’s fine.” Charlie replied a little surprised “Daniel Shay is upstairs”

“I think he just got up” I informed the men who turned to me “I heard him head to the bathroom”

“Look, I also need another favor” Don continued as he tucked in his shirt. “I gotta get to the airport to see if I can catch up with Thomas Galway. You two think you can hang here till Dad gets back?”

“You need me to baby-sit?” Charlie asked.

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea to leave him here alone.” Don explained.

“He’s eleven he doesn’t need that much babysitting Uncle C” I scoffed at the professor “you don’t have to look so scared”

“I’m not- I’m not scared” Charlie objected adamantly. “Actually, I have a way with children, so..”

“Oh, yeah?” Don asked skeptically and I raised a dubious eyebrow at the mathematician.

“Yeah. I’ve been told I do.” Uncle C insisted.

“You positive there wasn’t sarcasm involved?” I questioned and earned a reproachful look from my Uncle.

“It’s just for ten minutes,” Don interjected, grabbing his jacket and heading for the stairs “come on, I’ll introduce you.”

________________

“Hey Granger” I called as I approached my uncle’s office.

The agent who had been standing in the doorway turned and smiled. “Hey Abby” I came up beside him and spied my uncle in the room working completely oblivious to his audience. “Does he always work like that?” Granger questioned, seeming fascinated.

“Nah, this is him more relaxed actually” I murmured.

Granger scoffed and finally knocked on the door stepping fully into the office as I followed. “Charlie, Don sent me down to check and see what you got from the supercomputer,” he explained, grabbing the professor’s attention.

Charlie hummed in disappointment “he must not have gotten my message”

“I guess not” Granger murmured then looked into my uncle’s bowl of bubble gum “ooh, can I take one of these?” Charlie shrugged and the agent picked his candy as I went around to sit on the desk past the candy bowl. “Which message?”

“There was a glitch in the data run,” Charlie explained. “But- uh, can you just tell me which one you’re taking?”

“This red one” Granger replied, holding up the candy and I scoffed as Charlie dug around for the data sheet for his little experiment.

“That’s very interesting,” the mathematician informed, writing down the information.

“Okay,” Granger muttered, shooting me a glance I just shrugged. “So, look how small is this glitch, because Megan profiled seven ex-employees, all who have the potential to be the killer.” The agent handed Charlie the file and I hopped off the man’s desk to peek over his shoulder and he shifted the file out of view. “And anything you have might help us take this guy down before he has a chance to shoot another Syntel exec.”

“I think I have one of these names on my list, actually” Charlie said and I took a step to the side when I saw him grab the bottom of the chalkboard in order to flip it. “Yeah, Morton Standbury, but the probability of Morton’s guilt is less than ten percent” Charlie tried to explain but Granger was already getting out his phone “I mean, that’s hardly conclusive”

“Great, thanks,” the agent murmured, giving a thumbs up and putting his phone to his ear as he headed out of the office “David, hey, it’s me. Listen, Megan was right on with her hunch. The Stanbury guy is a match” he gave one final wave before disappearing.

“Success?” I questioned giving Charlie a look. He just hummed looking back at the board “on only ten percent”

__________________

3rd POV.

Alan smiled softly as Don got up from talking to Daniel. “What?” his eldest questioned as he passed him heading for the back door.

“Nothing,” Alan shrugged following his son. “Uh you know actually,” he paused, catching Don at the door. “You’ve just grown so much since, uh since Abby came along and uh, well I guess this boy is just bringing that out a bit.”

Don let off a breath looking down to avoid Alan’s eye. “Well Abby changed a lot of things you know” he paused, biting his lip “I’ll come by later” he murmured heading back out the door. Alan watched him go and nodded lightly.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

“I have a granddaughter” Alan voiced in bewilderment as both his sons and him sat at the kitchen table. The older one hunched over and looking like he was in between ill and dazed.

“I have a niece,” Charlie added, just as shocked as his father.

“I have a-“ Don hesitated to say it “I have a daughter.” He let out a large breath with the statement “I have a daughter I never even knew existed.” The man opened his mouth to speak more on it but found the words gone and ended up looking like a fish on land.

“Well what are you going to do?” Charlie asked the big question.

“He’s going to take her in.” Alan declared, looking to his eldest. “Aren’t you? ‘Cause if you don’t I will”

“Of- of course I’m going to take her in.” Don answered quickly “I just- I just-“ but the words wouldn’t come and the man simply stood up and left the room heading outside into the yard.

Alan watched him go. Charlie rose slightly from his seat as if to follow him. The elder quickly raised a hand to stop him. “I’ll talk to him,” he declared, getting to his feet.

Alan headed outside to see Don pacing the yard back and forth. Running his hand through his hair and over his face.

“Donnie” Alan spoke up to draw his son’s attention. “Talk to me”

“It- its nothing Dad I just need a minute” the son attempted.

His father saw right through him. “Uh huh sure because finding out you're a father is nothing” the man stated sarcastically.

Don stopped in his pacing and turned to look at his father. The elder man took a seat on the back steps. A couple seconds later Don staggered over to join him.

“It’s just I have no idea what it is to be a father,” Don admitted. “I mean my work is my life and I’m not in any type of relationship. I’ve never really even thought of kids b-“

“What? You think there’s a manual for this?” Alan cut his son off. “The day me and your mother brought you home I was more nervous and terrified than I had ever been in my life” Alan advised. “I also was far happier than I had ever been. You see, no father knows what they are doing; they figure it out along the way. They take from those who influenced them and they try to do what’s best for their kid.” He paused before adding “and pray they don’t mess them up to bad”

Don scoffed. Looking out at the yard. “Do you think I can be a good dad?”

Alan looked at his son with loving eyes. “I think you’re going to be the best Dad you possibly can and that with that you’ll be just fine”

Don smiled lightly. As his father pat him on the back. This however did little to quell the nervous churning in his stomach.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Abby POV.

“Do you have any idea what I could do with 300 million dollars?” Larry asked milling about Uncle C’s bookshelf as I sat on the floor doing homework and Uncle C worked on his computer at his desk.

“Three hundred and twelve” Charlie corrected. “You said you were alright”

“No, I am.” Larry assured “I was talking about my application for the Talis Foundation Research Grant”

“Why are you worried about that?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah weren’t you just bragging yesterday how you would smoke the competition and they’d be fouls not to choose you?” I asked.

“I was but now Ivan Tsgorski has taken over the chairmanship of the grant committee” Larry explained coming over.

“You attacked his theory on polarization flux,” Charlie pointed out.

I winced “oh that’s not good”

“I merely pointed out certain characteristics of gravitational waves that he had chosen to ignore” the physicist defended.

“Larry I was there when he gave that paper” Charlie reminded “and you stood up and you called him a big, fat cheater in front of a room full of people”

I gaped up at the older professor “you did not?!”

“Well, no. Now you’re exaggerating” Larry objected “that room could not have been more than half full”

I scoffed in amusement at this discovery. “Might we get back on task?” Charlie interjected. “And you back to your homework” he peered over his desk at me.

“You’re no fun Uncle C” I pouted.

“Come on, that essay isn’t going to write itself, meanwhile we have to solve a case” Charlie decreed, looking to Larry.

“All right, okay,” Larry muttered, rubbing his face with the palm of his hands as he plopped into the seat in front of Charlie’s desk. “the money, the money, the money. The money is not where we thought it would be”

“It should show up in the company’s cash flow statements, after the fraudulent transactions” Charlie explained as I attempted to focus on my mind numbing essay.

“You know all these funds, they would have been transferred electronically, correct?” Larry voiced.

“I imagine so,” Charlie agreed.

“Electronic transactions” Larry stood up as he continued “have no mass and cannot be constrained in the manner of physical objects”

“But they are bound by time, Larry,” Charlie pointed out. “And time only flows one way”

“Please do not start a philosophical debate right now I am already bored out of my mind” I warned my uncle as the physicist wandered over toward the doors. Uncle Charlie sighed and gave me a look before Larry once again called our attention.

“Are you aware you have standing water in this corner?” Larry asked, crouching down at the space between the two doors.

“I know about the leak” Charlie muttered with annoyance “I called maintenance”

“And?”

“And they’ve got to tear out the wall and find the source of the leak” Charlie explained getting up while I craned my neck to see what Larry was up to. I saw him pull up the carpet in the corner. “What is with you today Larry? All I ask is for a little focus. Now what are we missing?”

“Patience” I muttered under my breath and Charlie let out an exasperated breath.

“What are you doing?” he pestered the physicist who pulled out a pen.

“Finding the leak,” Larry stated, snapping the pen and pouring the ink into the puddle.

“Well, you’re making a mess” Charlie stammered as I got to my feet and came over to look over his shoulder.

“Well by staining the currents we can observe the ink spread out on the pooled water,” Larry explained “and then figure out the flow pattern” we watched the ink move in the water drifting closer to the wall “and once we know how it flows… yeah, you see?” he pointed “it’s not coming down from the wall. It’s coming up from the floor”

“That’s cool Larry,” I commented.

“That’s it” Charlie muttered “we’re missing the flow”

_________________

I headed into the house quickly and was met with a lot of FBI. “What happened?” I asked, approaching my uncle and father.

“Daniel’s missing,” Don quickly informed.

“What!?”

“It’s okay, Mr. Eppes. We’re gonna find him” Megan was reassuring Gramps as she entered the room with him.

“I went into the kitchen to get a couple of cans of soda for us.” Alan explained “he was standing over there, right by the table” Gramps pointed past me and Charlie as Don raised his hands to try and calm his father down. “He couldn’t have gotten away”

“It’s not your fault. So could you please just calm down?” Don asked as me and Charlie headed over to the table.

“I would have seen him,” Alan insisted.

“You're not helping the situation Dad” Don sighed.

I looked at the table that pretty much only held a phone and a couple magazines “could he have made a call?” I suggested.

“Let’s see,” Charlie muttered, picking up the phone and hitting redial.

“Hey, Don, give me a second.” Granger called while walking in, my father turned and spotted Charlie on the phone. “I just talked to David. He said he found something in the Syntel employment records.”

“Hold on,” Dad ordered his agent and then turned to his brother who was now talking to the person on the phone “Charlie, you got to keep the line clear” then turned back to his agent “say what?”

“Okay can you hold on a second” Charlie muttered into the phone then looked to Don “Dad said he saw him here. I hit redial. It’s National Cab Company.”

“Cab? Why the hell would he take a cab?” Gramp questioned.

“Running away?” I asked in confusion.

“All right, I’m on the cab.” Granger declared heading out of the room.

“Tell me if you get anything,” Don told him, his eyes lingering on me for a moment before a thought occurred to him and he jumped into action. “Megan, come with me. I think I know where he is.” with that he was heading from the house.

“I hope he’s alright,” Alan muttered.

“Me too Gramps” I agreed.

______________

I waved alongside Charlie and Alan as Daniel waved goodbye from next to Don. “I liked the kid, shame he has to go” I muttered.

Alan hummed “yes well the next stray we pick up you can look after”

Charlie scoffed “admit it you liked having him around”

“Yeah well” Alan sighed “having someone young in the house was a nice change of pace I suppose”

I smiled as we watched Daniel give my father a hug. Don passed the boy off to a flight attendant at the door to the airport waving goodbye. “What?” he asked with a chuckle as he rejoined us.

“My hope for grandchildren has been rekindled” Alan decreed and I gave him a look.

“What am I chop liver?”

“Grandchildren who I get to enjoy before they become angsty teenagers” Alan replied.

“Ah” I scoffed.

“Don’t start dad.” Don complained.

“I’m not making a formal request, I’m simply saying it would be nice” Gramps explained.

“Come on,” Don muttered.

“Dad you do realize how long the odds actually are for this man?” Charlie joked.

“Charlie, what’s your problem, huh?” Don defended quickly as he pulled me into a side hug “I already contributed. You got nothing”

“Wow now I’m a bragging point” I muttered sarcastically.

“Well, given your dating pattern” Charlie argued “or absence of a dating pattern-”

“Look, I wouldn’t talk if I were you, buddy” Don countered.

“I’m crunching numbers, kid”

“Oh yeah?”

“Statistically I’m on course to be way ahead of you in the stable family environment for offspring”

“Yeah, yeah, makes sense you’re older” Alan agreed as my father released me and we started walking.

“I don’t see siblings in my future” I muttered jokingly. “Well anymore planned ones”

“Hey, keep it up” Don muttered pulling his keys from his pocket “it’s a long walk home”

Me, Alan, and Charlie all exchanged a look and bit our tongues following my father to the parking lot.

#Numb3rs #don eppes #charlie eppes #alan eppes #colby granger #david sinclair #megan reeves #amita ramanujan #episode per chapter #larry fleinhardt #numb3rs #Abby Calvin #fanfiction

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rora-s · 4 years ago

Text

The Derivative Chapter 16: Letters

Chapter 1 <- Chapter 15

“When you said that you purchased a new car, this isn’t exactly what I was picturing” Charlie pointed out as we approached Larry’s new classic.

“I don’t think any of us were,” I murmured.

“Oh, I know.” Larry said, rubbing his face with his hands “I guess it was a little impulsive of me, right?”

“Very Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” Amita commented.

“Nice car, Dr. Fleinhardt” we turned at the new voice to see Megan approaching. “Is it new?”

“Well, only in the sense that it’s newly in my possession” Larry explained.

“And it’s like, a ‘32?” the agent inquired.

“Uh ‘31, actually” the professor corrected. “Dawn of an amazing decade: F.D.R., Jesse Owens, Dirac’s prediction of antiparticles.” me, Amita, and Charlie exchanged looks as the man continued to speak “Yeah, our souls were rekindled.”

“I can’t help but see it as 70-year-old technology,” Charlie stated as Megan went around the other side of the vehicle to get a better look.

“What? Do you have no sense of nostalgia?” I asked.

“Yes, but also one of practicality” my uncle objected.

“You’re just jealous because you can’t drive a stick shift,” Larry told Charlie with a grin.

“Hey you can’t beat automatic transmission with cruise control.” Uncle C stated.

“Charlie tells us you’re looking for Skylar Wyatt’s stalker.” Amita spoke to Megan before I could get my next sarcastic comment out.

“Yeah, her security video didn’t pick up his image.” the agent explained “and I understand that camera placement is done by math formulas? Well, whoever designed it probably isn’t as good as you, so maybe you’ll find something they missed” she handed Charlie a disc.

“Larry, a more modern pursuit” Charlie declared.

“Okay” Larry chuckled, following Charlie off toward his office.

_____________

I chopped down on another spoonful of cereal as I read my book sitting cross-legged in a chair by the window. “Chvatal’s Art Gallery Theorem?” Charlie proposed.

Larry ripped a piece of tape off with his mouth as he stood up. “That would assume a simple polygon, though, wouldn’t it?” he pointed out.

“Polygons” Charlie grumbled.

“Wow” Alan exclaimed coming into the dining room from the kitchen “I was wondering why we had no cereal left or anything else that was in the cupboard”

“I didn’t let all of it go to waste” I pointed out, holding up my bowl so Gramps could see it.

He nodded slightly, his eyes on the cardboard structure Larry and Charlie had constructed on the table. “What in the world..”

“I needed the cartons,” Charlie explained. “we’re building a replica of Skylar Wyatt’s house. We’re checking the positioning of her security cameras for a blind spot.”

“Why didn’t you just go to the house and use that?” Alan inquired.

“Well, as part of this test, we need to be able to manipulate these walls so as to determine what types of angles would be possible under different scenarios” Charlie informed. “That’ll help us calculate these potential blind spots.”

“And for some reason, they won’t let us move the walls of the actual house,” Larry muttered.

“How inflexible of them,” Alan quipped looking over the replica.

“Like you could even move the walls” I muttered around a bite of cereal turning the page of my book.

“What is, uh” Alan walked around Larry to the other side of the replica “what are those?” he pointed to two little black marks on the board.

“That’s where the FBI found two footprints,” Uncle C answered.

“Ah. What conclusions have you come up with?” Alan asked.

“Polygons are annoying” I offered sarcastically as Charlie shook his head.

“For some reason,” Larry said, picking up one of the clips that was supposed to be a camera, “we have too many cameras.”

“That’s probably because neither one of you can read a blueprint” Alan muttered. Heading over to where the blueprints were stacked and putting on his glasses. “Let me just take a look at this.” his eyes bounced from the replica to the blueprints for a moment “now, you see here, you got the slide door in the wrong place, and the dimension of the parapet is wrong. It’s too high. Let me fix it for you.” he picked up a pair of scissors and started cutting.

“I-I feel like I’m in the fifth grade again” Charlie scoffed “remember, uh remember, Dad, when we did that show box thing?”

“Yeah, the diorama,” Alan agreed.

“Right,” Charlie smiled.

“Of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address” gramps explained. “Yeah, your mother and I were so happy to be able to help you out with anything school-related that you conned us into doing the whole thing for you”

“I- hey! What are you..? I helped calculate the aspect ratios so we could get the depth effect right” Charlie objected.

“Yeah, and certainly aspect ratios were the key to perhaps the greatest oratory ever written” Larry muttered sarcastically as I chuckled and Charlie waved a hand at him in dismissal.

“There it is,” Alan declared, holding up the properly cut parapet. “Right size”

“Every entry and exit point seems to be covered in this array” Charlie voiced looking the replica over “the cameras should have seen him”

“Okay, well forgive me if I seem overly reductive here, but how do we know anyone was actually in this house?” Larry questioned.

“Well, you had that celebrity, right?” Alan pointed out “she said she saw him”

“People can lie,” I cautioned.

“Right. But there are also these footprints, guys.” Charlie objected. “I mean, this isn’t, uh, Sasquatch.”

“Must be something wrong with the cameras,” Gramps declared.

“Hacked? Or bad maintenance?” I suggested.

“They were all functioning” Charlie informed, putting his hands over his head and beginning to pace around the table.

“Well, maybe, there’s something wrong with the way they function.” Alan muttered.

“Okay, let’s remember: the human eye can only detect color within a certain narrow range of the spectrum. Now a camera, which replicates the ability of the human eye, is just as limited if not more so.” Larry mused.

“You’re right” Charlie declared leaning down “the camera’s an eye and eyes don’t see everything”

“So instead of Sasquach a ghost?” I asked sarcastically as I took another bite of cereal.

____________

“You’ve got to drive it more Larry” Amita stated as me, her, and the guys walked through campus. “I mean, you just take it to campus then bring it home”

“That car deserves the open road, Fleinhardt.” Charlie agreed.

“And it’ll make you look cool driving down the street” I pointed out.

“But the very thought of staining that perfect finish with sooty exhaust,” Larry objected “exposing it to the negligence of some Humvee driver on a cell phone”

“All right, Larry, it’s a car” Uncle C insisted “It’s whole function is to transport you from point A to point B”

“See, this is the philosophical schism” Larry declared “between a student of applied science and a student of the cosmos. For me aesthetic beauty is its function enough.”

“Or that’s just the excuse of a nervous physics professor” I quipped from the other side of my Uncle who chuckled slightly.

“Well, the aesthetic beauty of the sun is that it works,” Amita pointed out “not just that it’s bright”

“Hell of a point” Charlie agreed as we approached the car in question.

“Well, maybe it’s more art than a machine,” Larry suggested leaning on the vehicle.

“Yeah and art’s meant to be displayed” I stated.

“Hey, Megan” Amita called in greeting and I turned to see my father’s partner approaching.

“Hey, guys,” she replied.

“Hey. Uh, you’re here for the photo enhancement.” Charlie inferred “it’s um it’s still, you know, enhancing” he stammered.

“No, I’m here for FISH” she replied.

“The aquatic creature or handwriting analysis thing?” I asked with a slight smirk.

Charlie chuckled lightly putting a hand on my shoulder “I’m positive she’s referring to the Forensic Information System for Handwriting” he then turned back to her however Megan’s gaze was fixated on Larry’s car “All I’ll say is that I helped develop an algorithm for the secret service, uh, based on segmentation, or writing elements, that are considered to be in isolation, such as whole words or words separated by pen lifts-”

She held up a hand, her attention returning to the mathematician “at the moment, we’re not having a lot of luck with it.” Megan explained.

“Yeah, I’ve always thought that we missed something in the development of the software” Charlie informed “so I’m going to take another crack at it. What do you say?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Megan murmured. She handed over a stack of papers she’d been holding “thanks Charlie” she then headed over to the car to give it a look as I craned my neck over my Uncle’s shoulder.

He quickly shifted the papers away from me “oh come on Uncle C I’m just looking” I complained

“Maybe but with you Just looking normally turns to just tinkering and then just tinkering becomes just helping and just helping turns into Don mad at me” Charlie grumbled.

“Hey well it’s not like he can ground you” I muttered.

_________________

I finally finished setting up my new laptop with a happy sigh leaning back on the couch. Gramps had bought me it for a late birthday present. He’d figured I’d need one for school now that I was in college. It definitely helped. The reason it was late was because he had to get Amita’s advice on which was the best. I was very happy with the choice.

I was jogged from my thoughts by a knock on the door. I closed my laptop and got up. Charlie and Gramps were both in the garage right now so it was up to me to get the door. I opened it and was somewhat surprised to see a man standing there in a suit with short dirty blonde hair.

He looked equally as surprised to see I’d answered the door “uh, is this the Eppes house?” he asked.

“Yeah” I replied hesitantly “who are you?”

“Uh,” he reached in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Agent Colby Granger I work with Don he sent me over to check on Charlie’s work see if he’s got anything”

“Oh okay” I murmured, getting a good look at the badge before allowing him in. “Him and Gramps are in the garage. I’ll show you” I closed the door behind us and started leading him through the house.

“So, uh, who are you again?” Granger inquired.

“I’m Abby. Don’s daughter” I informed him.

“Don has a kid?” Granger muttered in shock as we exited the back door.

“Obviously” I replied. Showing him into the garage. “Uncle C we got a visitor” I announced, leading Agent Granger into the garage.

“Charlie, hey” Granger greeted my Uncle with a smile and handshake then turned to Gramps “Mr. Eppes, nice to see you.”

“Well hey” Alan exclaimed in greeting.

“So Don sent me down here to check and see how the handwriting analysis was going,” Granger informed.

“I was just telling my father that we failed to have the FISH program take into account that the shape of an individual letter varies depending on where it’s place in a word” Charlie explained “you write and ‘O’ different;y is there’s an ‘S’ placed in front of it Accounting for that, I found some interesting things out about these letters that we didn’t expect” Charlie lead the agent over to one of his chalkboards as I cleared a little space and hopped up to sit cross legged on the desk in the center of the room next to my grandfather.

“All right, what was that?” Granger asked.

“Hey, look at this” Gramps spoke up before the agent could get his answer “this letter was an original” he pulled a pink piece of paper from a stack on the desk “Hey, Charlie, they let you handle actual evidence?”

“Give that to me” Charlie snapped quickly.

“Wait, there shouldn’t be originals,” Granger objected, “you should only have copies.”

“Actually, that’s not one of Skylar Wyatt’s letters,” Charlie explained.

“Yeah, I know. It’s addressed to you” Alan said.

“Then why did you ask if it was evidence?” I inquired but went ignored.

“Is that lavender I smell?” Gramps asked, sniffing the card.

“Yes, lavender” Charlie muttered uncomfortably, plucking the card from his father’s hands.

“Nice, Charlie” Granger chuckled then his phone rang. “I got to take this, I'll be right back” the agent shuffled out of the room.

“So who’s it from?” Alan inquired.

“I hope not anybody I know” I muttered. Then thought about it for a minute “unless it’s Amita”

“Who the hell knows?” Charlie exclaimed exasperatedly “it’s not signed.”

“Not signed?” Alan questioned “since when does a college professor receive anonymous fan letters?”

“You kidding?” Charlie asked, seeming a little surprised at the question “Richard Feynman was a stud. He got marriage proposals by the dozen. Einstein was a true sex symbol.”

“Charlie, don’t you think that’s from Amita?” Alan inquired.

“That’s what I want to know,” I declared.

“Actually, um, no” Charlie admitted “because I already compared it to her writing”

“Oh” me and Alan both exclaimed in annoyance.

“So the old FISH system is inefficient” Grange spoke up, getting off his phone “but it kicked out a name, Lawrence Pike. His handwriting matches the stalker’s”

“Okay, that’s all good but-”

“But the problem is this guy’s been in jail in Utah for the last three months” Granger cut Charlie off “so he can’t be the stalker”

“Which is exactly what I was about to tell you” Charlie explained “the same person did not write all of these letters” he walked around the desk again leading Granger back to the chalkboard they’d started at “my analysis say there’s a first writer and a copycat”

_________________________

“I can’t retrofit a 1931 car with seat belts,” Larry objected.

“Why not?” Alan asked.

“Because it’s not authentic to the period,” Larry explained as we walked through the school campus.

“What I meant was, it’s authentic to this period” Alan pointed out.

“It’s totally physics Larry” Charlie stated “I mean, without a seat belt, you could get hurt even in a minor accident”

“Car accidents shouldn’t be taken lightly” I declared, trying to keep my voice light.

“Abby is right” Alan agreed placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder “you could get badly hurt”

“Look, if I'm in an accident in that car, I hope I don’t survive,” Larry declared.

“Well isn’t that a bit dramatic” I scoffed. Swallowing the small lump in my throat and infringing memories.

“Look, it’s a love affair, me and that car” the physicist explained “with affairs of the heart you know, sometimes common sense gets thrown out the window.”

“Yeah, or through the windshield” Alan muttered. I shifted uncomfortably and he shot me a concerned look.

“Hey, speaking of affairs of the heart,” Larry redirected the conversation thankfully onto Charlie “did you ever find out who sent you that anonymous note?”

“Oh, yeah, I was wondering about that.” Gramps agreed.

“Student or teacher?” I asked curiously.

“No, not yet,” Charlie muttered.

“I think we should run a handwriting analysis against the school’s records office,” Larry suggested.

“You know what? I’ve decided I don’t need to know” Uncle C declared.

“Oh, yes, you do,” Alan objected.

“Whoever it was they chose not to sign it,” Charlie explained “maybe because they’re just not ready to tell me.”

“Well, I think that’s very wise” Larry murmured “let your life retain some mystery”

“Yeah, or the poor student forgot their name and thinks you're ignoring them now” I muttered pessimistically which earned me a look from my uncle.

“Yeah. Besides, you haven’t figured out what to do with the girl you already know about” Alan pointed out. We all nodded before continuing our walk down the path.

Chapter 17 ->

#Numb3rs #Numb3rs season 2 #Don Eppes #Charlie Eppes #Alan Eppes #Amita Ramanujan #David Sinclair #Colby Granger #Megan Reeves #Larry Fleinhardt #Abby Calvin #Fanfiction #Numb3rs Fanfiction

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