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bullet-prooflove · 3 months

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From the Taylor Swift Midnights prompt list: 72) The first night I saw you with Don Eppes?

Tagging: @kmc1989

WOW this one got completely away from me.

The first night Don Eppes laid eyes on you, you were wearing a little black dress that left virtually nothing to the imagination. Your hair fell across your shoulders as you tipped your head back and laughed with a man twice your age as he placed his hand upon your thigh.

When he leans in close and whispers the most filthiest thing into your ear, Don can’t help but feel revolted.

“That’s certainly creative.” Sinclair murmurs over the comms system as he sips from his coke at the bar.

Don leans back in the plush Chesterfield by the fireplace as he turns the page of his newspaper, his gaze fixed on you.

“The guys a walking sex crime.”

He isn’t wrong, that’s you’re all here tonight. The man you’re sitting next to, the one whose hand is creeping even higher up your dress is suspected of drugging and murdering five women in hotels just like this one. Don doesn’t know how you can stand the feel of him on your skin.

When he invites you back up into his room, they’re all apprehensive despite it being the goal. The only way to nail this guy is to catch him with his tool kit, which they suspect he takes with him on his excursions. It’s imperative they get in there and the best way to do it…

An undercover op.

Don takes the elevator with you, his jaw clenches as he watches Richard Charmain’s hand slip down from your waist, down to your hip and then lower, his fingertips play with the hem of your dress. Your hand comes to rest on his wrist before you guide it back to your hip.

“You promised to show me your room.” You remind him with a chiding tone to your voice and Don sees the moment that switch flips in the other man. His eyes darken as his grip on you tightens.

That’s what his trigger is, Don realises. Women who talk back. He likes the ones he fucks to be pliant. The ones he kills, are the ones that resist.

He busies himself pretending to be searching for the keycard to the room next door as he watches you step inside. He hears the door shut before he withdraws the gun from underneath his blazer. He lingers outside as Sinclair appears from the second elevator, taking up position on the opposite side.

“I’ve changed my mind.” They hear you say over the comms system and that switch it flips again.

“That’s not how it works sweetheart.”

They hear the slap through the surface of the door, you collide with something and then everything goes silent. It takes them a second to realise that Charmain has busted the mic.

Don’s heart thuds in his chest as Sinclair uses the keycard to open the door.

When he steps through the door, he’s ready to pull the trigger, to defend you. Only that’s not the scene he walks into. You have Charmain in his knees, his hands on the back of his head, a gun jutting into the base of his neck.

There’s blood running down your chin from the busted lip and your eyes are blazing. You look like a Valkyrie, beautiful, wild, furious and so fucking sexy, Don's dick twitches in his jeans.

Sinclair takes over then, handcuffing Charmain, escorting him out. You set the gun down on the sideboard, your hand trembling slightly. The adrenaline, it’s leaving your body, he knows what comes next, what the fall looks like.

“Here.” Don says, stripping off his jacket in the aftermath and draping it around your shoulders. He guides you towards a chair, sitting you down before he kneels in front of you, plucking a tissue from the box on the vanity. He uses his fingertips to tilt your chin up towards the light, dabbing lightly at the split in your lip.

“I think you’ll live to fight another day.” He smiles, his thumb ghosting along the line of your jaw as his eyes flicker up to meet yours.

He’s never seen such a rich hue of colour, so captivating, so dazzling. He thinks he understands now what Charlie means when he talks about the beauty of the stars It’s like someone’s plucked them right out of the sky and put them in your eyes.

It’s Colby that interrupts the moment, he pops his head in to ask if you need a medic and Don draws away tossing the bloody tissue into the wastepaper basket.

The next time he sees you, it’s in another hotel bar, wearing another little black dress. This time you’re alone, sipping from a glass of bourbon. Off the clock, he realises as he slips onto the barstool alongside of you.

“We have to stop meeting like this.” He says as you incline your head towards him and that smile, he thinks spend the rest of his life waking up to it.

“Isn’t this how it always starts?” You ask him as the bartender takes his order. “A guy and a girl sitting at a bar, sharing a drink?”

“Yea.” He says, his hand coming to rest on yours, fingers entwining. “I think it does.”

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#don eppes #don eppes x reader #numb3rs

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dancingwithlamas · 8 days

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Alan wanting to teach his son things. Alan being so proud of Charlie for being the little math genius that his is, but wanting to have those moments of bonding where you help someone learn. Alan wanting to play golf with Charlie because that something Charlie doesn't know, but only if his kid is having fun.

Charlie who feels he should be better at golf because he knows the equations to make the shots. Charlie who's not having a great time, and once again feeling like he's bothering his dad.

Don stepping in to say "no, actually he just likes spending time with you, and if he can show you something you don't know all the better."

The Eppes family man. I love them

#Also Don and Alan ganging up on Charlie when they chess #Not only were they on a team but they were also distracting him #I honestly thought Don was cheating at first and moving a piece when it wasn't their turn #I'm so glad that the Eppes family is the main relationship of the show and not some romance #I love family dynamics #Eppes family #Alan eppes #Charlie eppes #numb3rs #don eppes

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fandom-imagines-stories · 1 year

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Unknown Trajectory

Don Eppes x Reader

Words: 3864

Part One of Three

Summary: Charlie begins a specialty course, co-taught by a teacher in criminology. He invites Don as a guest speaker to show the kids first hand the importance of mathematics in crime solving. Don, however, finds more interest in Charlie’s co-worker. When he and the reader begin a relationship, they keep it hidden from the genius mathematician, but find that their growing feelings for each other are only the start of the equation.

Notes: What started as a fluff idea turned into a three part drama. Welp. I know this isn’t the most popular show for imagines, but god I love writing for Don. Rob Morrow is just great. I hope there are some of you out there who enjoy! Let me know I’m not alone haha.

More Crime Drama imagines: HERE

Don felt like a kid called to the principal’s office. It was stupid. He’d been to Charlie’s place of work countless times, but in those instances, he was there to do a job. He didn’t have to stand up in front of a bunch of kids with higher IQs than him and try to explain how his genius kid brother helps him do his job.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” he whined, fixing his tie in Charlie’s mirror.

“And I really, really appreciate it, Don,” Charlie said. “I mean, explaining things with Dr. Y/L/N is one thing, but having you here to let them see the real-life connections I think will really help their understanding of the concepts.”

Don shook his head. “I better not just end up standing up there like an idiot while you and some other ancient law professor with a stick up his ass use me like some, I don’t know, ventriloquist dummy.” Leaning against the desk, Don had his back to the door. “Who is this Dr. Y/L/N, anyway?”

“Well not ancient and not a ‘he,’” a voice behind him chided. “As for the stick though, I’m afraid I have some students who might agree with you.”

Don gave his brother- who could very clearly see the door opening- a deadly glare.

Charlie’s brows raised and he laughed nervously. “Y/N. Good of you to stop by before the lesson.”

“I figured I should meet our special guest before he leads our class for the day.” You smiled at Charlie and held out your hand to his brother with a playful glint in your eye. “You must be Agent Eppes.”

“You can call me Don,” he grimaced. He shook your hand, giving you an apologetic look. “Sorry about that. It’s been a long day and my brother kinda sprang this on me and when he talked about you he made you sound….”

“Like an ancient law professor with a stick up his ass?” You teased.

“I did not!” Charlie protested.

“It’s okay, Agent Eppes.” Your smile conveyed no hard feelings. In fact, it lit up the room. “I’m just giving you a hard time. Charlie’s told me so much about you.”

Don glared at him again. Charlie held up his hands innocently.

“All good things,” you laughed. Starting back to the door, you turned around again to give the older Eppes a wink. “Mostly.”

Don bit the inside of his cheek, finding himself utterly speechless. His brother, however, was not.

“We should probably go,” Charlie said. “We don’t want to be late for our own class, hm?”

“Yes, I can’t wait for Agent Eppes to lead our discussion.” You watched the FBI Agent’s face fall.

“Leading? Who said I was leading?” He looked to Charlie in an irritated panic. “I said I’d answer a few questions.”

Charlie patted him on the back. “You’ll do great.”

The two of you ushered him into the rush of students before he had the chance to bail.

The class went better than he expected, though it certainly helped to have you sitting with your students, looking up at Don with interested eyes and a stunning smile. By the time it was over, he was almost a little disappointed that he had to leave.

“I’ve got to run,” Charlie said on your way out of the classroom. “I promised Larry I’d help him with a demonstration, but we’ll definitely get together to discuss the next assignment, yeah?”

You nodded, giving him a bright smile. “Today was amazing. I can’t wait to see what the students are going to write for their research assignments.”

“Yeah, me too.” He put a hand on Don’s shoulder. “And thanks a lot for coming today. I think it really made a difference.”

“After all the cases you’ve helped with, it’s the least I can do, Charlie,” Don said.

“See you guys later.” And he was off, diving in between students and hurrying down the hall so he wouldn’t be late.

You motioned for Don to follow you outside so you could get out of the chaos. The sun just barely peeked out from fluffy white clouds, providing a break from L.A.’s usual heat.

“Really, Agent Eppes, I can’t even begin to thank you for today. I think it really helped them understand the point of the class, seeing you and Charlie interact and hearing about what you do,” you beamed. “It was amazing.”

“Thank you for having me, Dr. Y/L/N,” he said. “It was honestly a lot more fun than I thought it would be.”

You smiled. “You can call me Y/N.”

“Only if you stop calling me Agent.”

You pretended to debate the idea and nodded. The two of you found a bench to sit on. His arm brushed against yours, giving you goosebumps despite the warm air.

Don inhaled sharply, running a hand through his dark hair. “Listen, I really am sorry about what I said before the lecture. I was freaking out about talking to all those kids and I was being an ass.”

“You really don’t have to worry.” Looking over the courtyard, you laughed with a sigh. “Believe it or not, I’ve been called worse.”

“Can I at least make it up to you?” He asked. He leaned a little closer. “Buy you dinner?”

You turned to him with a smirk. “Are you asking me out, Don?”

“Only if you’re saying yes, Y/N.”

The clock on the quad struck three and you stood up, taking a piece of paper from your bag and writing your number.

“I guess I can accept that form of apology,” you said, walking away with a new sway in your step.

Don watched you go, the simple fun of flirty taking root as something much more complicated in his chest. He ignored it, for now, but found that it never really went away. Especially when he thought about that smile.

The first weekend, he had to cancel due to a series of bank robberies.

That Wednesday, you rescheduled due to a case your friend needed an expert witness for.

Almost two weeks passed before you found the slightest open window, and even then it was just a couple of hours during a time that would definitely be classified as ‘booty call’ appropriate. But, despite the connotations of the hour, you made the call.

“Eppes.”

“Hey, Don. It’s Y/N.” You bit your lip, starting to regret the call already. “Sorry, it’s late.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I was up anyway. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I was just calling because… God this is stupid,” you sighed. “Do you want to come over?”

There was silence and then-

“Uh… sure?”

“Only if you aren’t busy. I was planning on ordering a pizza because I haven’t eaten all day and I thought, well, it isn’t exactly fancy, but it still kinda counts as a dinner date, so I called and-”

“A dinner date it is,” Don said before you could spiral too much. “Just tell me your address and I’ll head over, yeah?

You relayed the apartment address and hung up, any confidence you’d had when the two of you first met having totally dissipated.

It took him only twenty minutes to find your place, which was far shorter than you’d anticipated. Your kitchen table was littered with research files and the living room was in an even worse state.

“Oh God,” you sighed, running a hand down your face, and opened the door.

Don stood with a pack of beer in hand and a cautiously optimistic smile.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hi. Come in. Sorry about the mess. I was cleaning, and then the pizza got here, and then you…” You winced as he looked around, but there was no judgment in his face.

“If you think this is a mess, you should see mine,” he laughed. His eyes fell upon the already full table. “Where do you want to eat?”

“Um.” Your eyes searched around in a panic. Finally, you shrugged. “Fire escape.”

“Ah, dinner under the stars,” he teased. “Very romantic.”

You both climbed out of the window and onto the landing. Don’s hand found the small of your back to make sure you didn’t fall as you sat down on the first step. He sat beside you a step down.

At first, you both just talked about each other’s days, how you’d been since the last time you saw each other- though, you’d spoken on the phone several times in between. He made a joke about having a lesson with Charlie but admitted they couldn't have solved the case without him. You talked about how well the course seemed to be going, and how the kids still mentioned how much they loved hearing from Don.

“So how does a beautiful criminology professor end up working with my math wiz brother?” Don smiled, taking a sip from his beer.

You shifted on the step of the fire escape, shoulder bumping his.

“I, actually, approached Charlie.”

He raised a brow. “Really?”

“Uhuh.” You took a bite of your pizza, leaning forward so the grease wouldn’t drip onto your chin. “I heard what he'd been working on for the FBI and I just found it totally fascinating.” Setting the food aside, you leaned against the rail. “He’s taught me a lot.”

“Whether you ask him to or not, right?” Don chuckled.

“He’s definitely…” You thought for a moment. “Enthusiastic.” The thought of Charlie’s over-caffeinated ramblings made you smirk. “But, I don’t know. I had to take College Algebra twice, so I might not be the easiest student to teach.”

“I’m sure you’re a dream compared to me and my team.”

You swallowed a drink, shaking your head. “Not from what he says. I mean, you should hear the way he talks about working with you. He just lights up, Don.”

Don hummed but said nothing, and brought the bottle back to his lips.

The two of you sat in the quiet of the evening, leaning closer ever so slightly, like magnets put next to each other. There was a side of you that blared warning sirens, reminding you of all the reasons this was your first date in two years. That, and he was a federal agent who, on more than one occasion, Charlie had joked about his utter lack of a love life. But you ignored all of it when you closed the space between you.

There was no hesitation, no worry of what this meant. His lips moved against yours, his hand cupping your cheek before moving to the nape of your neck, deepening the kiss.

Suddenly, all of the stress and pressure from his week melted away. Don smiled against your sigh, setting the pizza box on the landing so he could pull you closer.

You were both so lost in the moment, you didn’t notice the rain until it started to pour.

When you finally broke apart, your shirt clung to your skin. His white T-shirt might as well have vanished altogether with how the water turned it completely transparent.

But the rain was warm and welcoming. It ushered in suggestions. It encouraged.

Needless to say, the two of you spent the rest of the evening inside.

When Don woke up, his arms were empty, his shirt was drying on the back of a chair, and blinds were drawn back, allowing the sun to blind his tired eyes before he remembered where he was.

He checked the clock on the nightstand. 7:30.

“Great," he muttered.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he ran a hand down his face to try and wake himself up. With his vision adjusting, he noticed the paper lying over the top of his drying shirt.

Had to prepare for an 8:00 lecture. Didn’t want to wake you. Maybe meet for lunch?

P.S. There's coffee in the kitchen. I made sure to leave it on so it’ll be hot for you.

Don laughed to himself. Usually, he was the one who had to sneak out because of work. It had to be the first time he’d woken up alone because of homework.

He put on his clothes and made his way to the kitchen where, sure enough, the coffee pot was left on. He switched it off and poured himself a cup, glancing around at the chaos that was your living room and table in the daylight. It reminded him of the garage when Charlie was on a roll with some equation or another. But he didn’t mind it. He could see how dedicated you were to your job, like he was. So, even though he had to lean against the counter rather than sit at the table, everything already felt so familiar, more welcoming than his own cold and empty apartment.

He got a call not long after he finished his coffee and sighed. Another day, another case. Still, he thought about your note as he drove. Maybe he could still stop by CalSci. He’d probably have to talk to Charlie anyway and besides, he still owed you a meal.

It was cutting it close, but Don managed to have time to get to CalSci just before noon with some sandwiches from a deli on the way. As he made his way to your office, he followed the sound of a very cheesy 80s power ballad that rang over the gaggle of students. The closer he got to the door, the more he could pick your voice out from Foreigner.

“Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far. To change this lonely life.”

Don opened the door just a crack and found you jumping around, using a gavel as a microphone.

“I wanna know what love is. I want you to show me!”

He bit his lip to keep from smiling too widely. Don let you finish the verse before he finally spoke up.

“So this is what you ditched me for, huh?” He said loud enough so you’d hear him over the music.

Your body went stiff and you slammed your hand on the radio’s off switch. You whipped around, cheeks red as a beat, and ran your fingers through your hair which had become a bit of a mess from head-banging for the past half hour.

“Don,” you gasped, “hi.”

“Hey,” he grinned. “Don’t stop on my account, I just figured I’d drop by with that lunch you mentioned.” He set the bag of food on your desk. “I didn’t know what kind you’d like, so I got turkey or roast beef.”

“How romantic,” you teased, leaning on the desk with your hand on his arm.

“It’s better than soggy pizza, I can tell you that.”

You groaned, running a hand down your face. “I still can’t believe I called you last night. I swear, I don’t usually do that kind of thing. I just figured it might be our only chance to-”

“I had a good time.” He assured you, tucking a wild hair behind your ear. “A great time, actually.” He placed his hand behind your head. “I’m glad you called.”

Your lips just barely brushed his when you pushed back with a reluctant sigh.

“I can’t do this.”

Don let his hand fall back to his side and tried not to let his face fall as well. He cleared his throat and took a step away from you.

“Right,” he said stoically. “Okay.”

“Oh my God, no that came out wrong,” you exclaimed. “I mean I can’t do this right now.”

His brows furrowed in confusion. “Okay?”

“Don, I really, really enjoyed last night.” You took his hands in yours. “I had more fun than I’ve had in a long time and, I know our schedules are crazy, but I would really like to see you again. Preferably not on my fire escape, though I’m definitely not upset about what that led to.” The memory of his lips against yours, his hands grasping yours, his body against yours popped into your mind. You shook your head, forcing yourself to focus. “I just can’t do it right now because-”

With the knock at the door, you let your hands drop his and you both stepped further away from each other.

“Are you ready to go over-” Charlie started. His words and his feet halted, however, when he saw you weren’t alone. “Don, hey. What are you doing here?”

You and the agent exchanged a look and an unsaid understanding passed between you, though neither of you knew the reason.

“I, uh, I was coming to see you and thought I’d say hi to Dr. Y/L/N,” Don said.

“Yeah, I had a couple of questions about some of your… procedures that I wanted to clear up for the next lesson,” you coughed to cover your lie. “Don was nice enough to stop by since he’s here to see you.”

“Right.” Don nodded.

Charlie blinked. “Ooooookay.” He waved the files in his hand. “So, are you ready to go over the equations to narrow down possible killers from larger lists?”

“Actually, Charlie, I do need to talk to you,” Don said. “It’s about that serial killer we think may have started up again.”

“Right.” Charlie tapped his chin with the folder. “Um, Y/N can I take a rain check? We can talk it over after your last class?”

“Sounds good.” You gave him a tight smile. “Good luck catching bad guys. Both of you.” Both Eppes nodded, Don mouthing an apology so Charlie wouldn't see.

You returned it with finger guns.

Once they were gone, you hit your palm to your forehead. “Finger guns?” You chided yourself. “Really?”

With a sigh, you switched on the radio and rummaged through the bag Don brought you for the turkey sandwich.

“Hey, Charlie. Yeah, let’s talk about class,” you said in mock conversation. “Oh, and by the way? I had sex with your brother. That’s not going to be weird right?”

You let your forehead fall to your desk, narrowly missing your sandwich.

This was going to be more complicated than you thought.

“I’m serious!” You giggled. “I am deathly afraid of, you heard it, swans.”

“Swans?” Don shook his head. “Like white fluffy birds they put on valentines cards, those swans?”

“Don’t let the cards fool you. Swans are demonic little creatures.” You sipped your wine, still sniggering. “I got chased by one as a kid. The thing almost bit me. Scarred me for life.”

“Well, if we ever come across any rogue swans, I’ll protect you,” he smiled.

“Oh, right, my knight in shining Kevlar going up against waterfowl. That’s something I’d pay to see.”

You both laughed a little too loudly, the other patrons at the restaurant casting looks in your direction. Despite that, the wine and candlelight definitely set a different scene than beer on your fire escape. Though, you might still prefer the latter.

It’d been two months since that night. And somehow, in the face of all the obstacles your jobs posed- including keeping everything a secret from his brother- you’d managed to build something resembling a real relationship. Which excited and terrified you.

“How were classes today?” He asked, pouring you more wine.

“Your brother scares me with how smart he is sometimes,” you exclaimed. “I mean, the things he’s able to figure out using symbols that mean absolutely nothing to me…”

“Welcome to my world, sweetheart.”

Don placed his hand on top of yours, gently drawing circles on the back of your wrist, seeming lost in thought.

“Speaking of Charlie,” he started, glancing up at you with a question you’d both had on your mind.

“Right,” you sighed.

“Should we…” Don cleared his throat. “We should tell him, right? It’s weird that we haven’t told him.”

“I thought that too.” You swirled your wine in the glass. “But now isn’t it more weird that we haven’t told him? I mean, what do we say? That we’ve been seeing each other for a couple months now and just forgot to mention it?”

“Yeah, but we can’t go on sneaking around like high school kids, right?”

“I know, I know. But it still just feels… weird.”

Don raised a brow. “Dating me feels weird?”

“No,” you rolled your eyes, poking his arm. “But dating my co-worker’s brother behind his back is a little odd.”

“Charlie’s a big boy, I’m sure he’ll be fine. Besides, it's not like you two were a thing.” Don took a drink.

You lowered your eyes.

“Wait,” he swallowed. “You and Charlie…” He shook his head in disbelief “And you didn’t think to mention it?”

“It wasn’t even really a thing,” you defended. “It was… a fraction of a thing. A teeny tiny percentage of a thing.” He still stared at you wide-eyed, so you continued. “We were at an end-of-the-year function for faculty, had a couple drinks, and went for a walk.”

“That’s it?”

You bit your lip. “And we kissed. But that was it!”

“You kissed my brother?” He exclaimed.

People around you started to whisper.

You lowered your voice.

“Now who’s acting like a high schooler?” You scoffed, leaning back in your chair.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just-” Don held up his hands, holding back laughter. “Difficult to imagine. That’s all.”

“Obviously, we decided to just be friends and that's part of how our joint class came to be,” you said.

He nodded, but couldn’t contain his smirk. “But you didn’t want to say anything about us just in case he carried a torch for you, huh?”

“No, it isn’t that.” You knew as well as anybody that Charlie had eyes for one person and you were over the moon that he and Amita were finally working things out. But you also couldn’t bear the thought of upsetting him over something like this, especially after not telling him for so long. “I just didn’t want to make things awkward.”

“Well, like I said, Charlie’s a grown man,” Don shrugged. “Even if he did have a problem, he’d get over it.”

The waitress brought the check and Don snagged it before you could. You finished your wine and he ate the last piece of bread by the time she got back.

“I will say though,” you mused as the two of you stood to leave, laying a hand on his chest. “All of the secrecy is more than a little bit sexy, hm?”

He cocked a brow. “Yeah?”

You nodded. “Makes you seem like James Bond.”

He chuckled, his hand finding the small of your back to lead you back to the car.

“Alright, then maybe you should get me to a secure location, Dr. Y/L/N,” he teased. “We wouldn’t want to blow my cover.”

“I’m sure I’ll think of something.” You winked and got in the car.

While it certainly wasn’t a path you expected to be on, for the first time in a long while, you were enjoying the ride.

Maybe, this time, things would be different.

For both of you.

#don eppes #numb3rs #rob morrow #david krumholtz #numb3rs imagine #don eppes x reader

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kinfanfiction · 2 years

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Charlie Eppes x Fem!Reader - Chapter 1 - Can’t Face Her

A/n: I absolutely had to write this. I am invested in Numb3rs and I am dedicating this to it’s small fandom because there’s truly not enough Charlie x Reader fics out there. I love Charlie and this is my favorite role that I’ve seen David Krumholtz in. Anyways I went with the two comments on my opinions needed post and with the reader staying near Charlie rather than moving away. We’ll be starting off with before season 1 starts. The reader convinces Charlie to visit his mother before she passes. Enjoy the angst!

P.S. I stated this when posting my Bernard fic, but I know it’s not likely a lot of the same people that read that will read this and vise versa; I am 100% willing to edit and repost this for NB and Masc readers!! (Not that I even use pronouns or gendered terms that much because 2nd person is helpful in that way, but for the times I do I’d like to make my fics more gender inclusive by making more copies of them with different sets of pronouns!)

Not long after the Eppes found out that Margaret had been diagnosed with stage four cancer, after they told all family, you and your parents were the first friends to know. You had noticed something was going on with Margaret when you’d gone to visit their house the past few times, and now you finally knew what. While Alan and Don stayed at her side, you went to get them groceries so they didn’t have to step away for even a second. You put away the groceries and peeked into Alan and Margaret’s bedroom where she lay, and your heart shattered at the sight. The state of her had gotten much worse since the last time you visited.

Margaret was like a second mother to you, she’d watched you many times as a child when your parents couldn’t. Seeing her like this wasn’t easy. You knew she’d refused chemotherapy, in spite of Alan’s wishes. She didn’t want to suffer the pain of treatment on top of the pain she was already fighting. Deep down, she knew she wasn’t going to survive this. She seemed strangely at peace with this, though no one else was. You kneeled at her bedside and gave her a soft smile as tears pricked your eyes. She returned the smile. “Hey, Margaret... how are you feeling?”

“The best anyone can when they’re dying.” She gave a shrug and chuckled dryly. “Darling, I’m with my family, minus one member, I’ll be alright.” She assured, grabbing your hand. Her “Minus one.” Comment made you realize Charlie wasn’t there, and you hadn’t seen him when you walked in. You knew what that meant. You sighed and kissed Margaret’s hand before getting up to find your best friend.

“Charlie!” You shouted as you approached the shed where the young man always hid when he couldn’t handle his grief. He channeled it into an impossible math equation that had never been solved. He knew it would lead to no end, and that was the point. A permanent distraction. Unfortunately, it was never permanent, and made his overall grieving process more painful as a result. You slid the wooden door open and stepped inside to see exactly what you’d expected to. Blackboards were put up at every angle available within the shed, and Charlie was scribbling equations onto them with a concentration fueled by emotions you knew were related to his mom’s illness.

“Charlie...” You spoke his name again, quieter now, and with a hint of despair. “You can’t hide in here forever. I know it’s hard but you have to come out of here.” He just ignored you and kept scribbling. The squeaking of the chalk on the blackboards was beginning to bother you more with each second. You knew words weren’t going to do anything, so you grabbed his arm and made him turn around. He gave you a frustrated look, or at least tried to, but sadness shone in his eyes.

“Not now Y/n, I’m in the middle of an important calculation.” You furrowed your eyebrows and snatched the chalk out from his hand.

“Screw your calculations!” You exclaimed with frustration, but then you quickly calmed your tone. “Charlie... I know this is hard for you.. But I also know you’ll regret not spending this time with your mother.” You tugged on his arm to get him to look away from his work, and when he looked at you, he looked angry.

“I need to focus! And- and you’re distracting me!” He yelled, pulling his arm away from you. You were surprised, because he hardly raised his voice, and especially not at you. “I need you to go, I have work to do.”

“Oh, come on Charlie you know this equation is pointless-”

“I said go!” He yelled louder. He hardly let you get a word in. You knew you weren’t going to get anywhere with this argument, so you huffed and left.

Over the next couple months, you visited frequently, bringing food and comfort into the Eppes home. Your parents came too when they could. Every time you’d visit, you popped in to check on Charlie, who was working on the same equation. You always tried to say something to encourage him too see his mother, but he just brushed you off and kicked you out. It hurt, to say the least, but you knew his dismissive nature had nothing to do with you. He was in pain, and he refused to acknowledge it.

Eventually, it came down to Margaret’s final days. You knew it was now or never, so you went into the shed and took off the headphones he had been wearing, took the chalk out of his hand, and turned Charlie to make him face you. Deep down, he was glad you did. He hated how he’d pushed you and his family away, but he hadn’t been ready to feel the full effects of his grief. “Charlie. I know you hate this as much as the rest of us, but please. I’m begging you. Leave this shed, leave your work behind, and come see your mom. A future version of you will be glad you did.” He looked at you with an unreadable expression, first seeming frustrated, then confused, then his face dropped completely, and you could see tears forming in his eyes that quickly began to fall. You quickly wrapped your arms around him and let him sob into your shoulder until he was ready to speak.

“I can’t... I can’t face her. I’m scared. I don’t want to believe she’s dying. I know she is, I just.. Oh god, Y/n. My mom is dying. I c-” Then he burst into more sobs, and your heart continued to shatter, like every piece in your chest was just determined to continue breaking off into smaller pieces until your heart was just a pile of sand. “She has always been so strong, lifted me up when I was weak, I don’t think I can be the strong one.”

You shook your head and gently ran your fingers through his curly hair to calm him. “You don’t have to be. If anyone needs to be strong, I’ll do it. Your family is like my second family, I will be here with you all, my parents will come visit. We’ll be the strong ones, we’ll help you all through this. Your mom wants you by her side. I know it’s easier to be here, surrounded by something familiar and comfortable, but you’ve got to escape what’s comfortable and be with your family. They need you.”

“No, they don’t need me. They’ll be okay if I stay here.” He spoke, trying to convince himself there was truth in his words.

“They do need you. I promise you they do. This impossible equation is not what's important now. Come see her, just for a little bit. As long as you can handle.” Charlie didn’t respond for a long moment. He was regulating his breath and trying not to cry again, and you continued holding him, not letting go until he did.

He took another deep breath before speaking, “Okay. I’ll try.. I love my mom, I do, I just-”

“I know. You don’t have to explain yourself to me. Let’s go.” You led him out of the shed and the two of you walked back into the house, and on the way there, he grabbed your hand and held it tight.

You stepped into the master bedroom and Margaret’s eyes lit up. “Oh, Y/n. Thank you for bringing him.” She smiled, and Charlie knelt at her side, grabbed her hand, and then he couldn't help it, he just cried. Don noticed and knelt beside him, giving him a side hug as they both looked at their mother. Alan was knelt beside her on the other side of the bed. You stood in the doorway, and with all her boys at her side, she beamed at you and mouthed another ‘Thank you.’ She looked tired, yet content. You nodded, blew her a little kiss and left. They needed this. Just the four of them.

The next morning, your parents shook you awake to inform you that Margaret had passed away peacefully in the night. Your heart dropped, but you knew that Margaret at least got to see her husband and both sons one last time, and once she had that, she was ready to go. You got ready and ran over to see the Eppes, your parents following behind you. Margaret’s body had already been taken away, and all three men still stood around her deathbed. Don was holding onto his brother, with Alan wrapping himself around both of them. Then they let go as you and your parents walked in. Your father gave Alan a hug, your mother gave Don a hug, and you gave Charlie a hug. You all cried. Once all immediate tears had been shed, you sat around in the living room and talked about the wonderful woman you’d all had the pleasure of knowing while she was alive. Alan told the most stories. You held onto Charlie’s hand the whole time, making sure he knew you were supporting him.

After a while of talking, you and your parents cooked lasagna, Margaret’s favorite. You had to make sure the family was still eating. You knew grief made people lose their appetite, it had happened to you before. You sat around and talked some more, but not long after dinner begun Charlie got up from the table and went up to his room. You followed soon after. You opened the door to find him exploding into uncontrollable sobs. You ran over to sit beside him and wrap him up in your arms. “You’re right. I should’ve spent more time with her. I’m such an idiot, and now she’s gone-” You quickly shushed him to shut down his spiraling.

“Shhhh, Charlie, it’s good that you saw her when you did. She was holding on for you, when you showed up, she finally felt ready to pass on because she had all the most important people in her life at her side. Don’t regret the time you spent away from her, be kind to yourself for spending what time you did with her. Charlie she loved you, she understood why you needed to be away. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” You assured him softly, and he couldn’t find the words to respond, but your words consoled him, and he calmed down again. “Let’s go back downstairs and finish eating dinner, alright?” He considered just hiding away in his room for the night, but knowing you would be sitting beside him made him feel more prepared to go back to the table.

The rest of the night felt calm, but the heavy air in the room still weighed on you all. Your parents went home, but you decided to stay, because you wanted to look after the grieving family. Your parents came back later to bring you an overnight bag, and you dressed in your pajamas and got ready for bed before lying down in the guest bed. You laid awake for a while, thinking about Margaret being gone, and the state in which you’d seen the Eppes that you knew would last. As you thought quietly about all the sweet moments you’d had with the woman over the years, you heard a knock on the door. “Come in!” You hollered. Charlie creaked the door open and saw that you were laying in bed, and assumed he’d interrupted you trying to sleep.

“Oh I’m sorry! I didn’t realize I- I’ll let you sleep.” He quickly began to close the door.

“Charlie, I know none of us are sleeping at a normal hour tonight. Come in.” You insisted. He paused for a moment, then nodded and quietly slipped into the room and sat down beside you.

“There’s nothing I really want to talk about right now, I just didn’t want to be alone.” You nodded and scooted over to make more space for him to lay beside you, and he did. You both laid side by side on your backs, staring at the ceiling in silence. It reminded you of all the nights you’d spent at each other’s houses, staying up and talking about anything you could think to discuss. Though this time, no words could convey what you both felt. After a while, you heard him begin to snore, and soon you drifted off as well.

#charlie eppes #numb3rs #fem reader #don eppes #david krumholtz #x reader #y/n #chapter 1 #charlie eppes x reader

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altschmerzes · 11 months

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Did you ever watch Numb3rs? I feel like you would enjoy the vibe.

yes!!! i did!! and you're right, it was totally up my alley, you got me in one XD honestly a piece of media that will forever have a soft spot in my heart for many reasons but particularly for its portrayal of jewish characters and a like. soul searching arc for a character that brought him to connect more strongly with judaism. also an absolutely top shelf sibling dynamic. mwah. beloved.

(one of the lost media things that haunts me most is the unaired pilot where gabriel macht played don eppes. i want to see it so bad. he's one of my fave actors and i'd be FASCINATED to see his take on don, though rob morrow did a great job and i can't imagine it being anyone else)

#gav gab #anotherlongstoryshort #gav answers #gosh i really did love that show eh #YOU GOT ME DEAD TO RIGHTS ON THIS ONE SLDFJS

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staydandy · 1 year

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Numb3rs (2006) - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : FBI agent Don Eppes recruits his younger brother, Charlie, a mathematical genius and college professor, to help solve some of Don's toughest cases. Although others at the bureau are skeptical of Charlie's involvement, he finds support in a colleague at the university where he teaches. (wiki) AKA : Numbers

Whumpee : Charlie Eppes played by David Krumholtz (left)

Country : 🇺🇸 America Genres : Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Family

Notes : This is a Partial List - I didn't list every bit of whump, just what caught my attention the most • Unrelated - but some of you might recognize Charlie/David Krumholtz as Bernard from The Santa Clause movies (I must admit I had a crush on Bernard as a kid, which continued to Charlie as I got older 🙈) • The episode list is formatted season-episode : 00-00

Episodes on List : 5 Total Episodes : 118 Total Seasons : 6

*Spoilers below*

01-02 : Charlie is in shock upon seeing a crime scene he didn't predict correctly … queasy … shuts himself up to obsessively work on a near impossible math problem

02-21 : Whiteboard near his head is shot.. scared, shock … returns to where shooting happened, flashbacks

04-11 : While driving at night chased by a truck … chased a second time, crashes his car (minor), hits his head, shot at … shocked by sound of book dropping (similar to gunshot)

04-14 : not whump : funny - goes through FBI training, fails just about everything except for shooting range

05-23 : Hit in the head, collapses, passes out … thinks his girlfriend is in a burning car, stopped from running to it, collapses

#whump #whump list #American whump #America #Numb3rs #Numbers #Charlie Eppes #David Krumholtz #shock #queasy #scared #chased #car accident #knocked out #collapses #passes out #faints

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hummingbird-of-light · 2 months

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Round 3: Second story for @badthingshappenbingo ~

Title: Caution! Wet Floor

Fandom: Numb3rs

Character(s): Larry Fleinhardt, Don Eppes

Relationship(s): Larry Fleinhardt & Don Eppes

Rating: G

Words: 593

Prompt: Arm in a Sling

Warnings: Broken Bones, Accidents

(You can also find this story on AO3)

~ Caution! Wet Floor ~

"I just can't believe it. I just can't believe that such an incredibly embarrassing accident has happened to me of all people. What will my students say?"

With a pained expression, astrophysicist Dr. Larry Fleinhardt rubbed his injured arm, which was lying in a triangular bandage wrapped in a sling around his shoulder. It was a first aid measure that Don had taken. The temporary splint only had to hold until they reached the hospital.

"Well, they'll probably say that you went all Fleinhardt," Don replied, a hint of a grin on his face. Larry gave the agent a dirty look.

"Don't start using my name as an adjective! It's quite enough when Charles does it. I expect better from his older brother, so – ouch, ouch, ouch!" One wrong move and Larry's arm hurt indescribably again. He squinted his eyes and gritted his teeth.

Don looked over at him and gave him a sympathetic smile before looking back at the road. If traffic in Los Angeles continued to be this slow, it would be an eternity before they reached the hospital.

"I'm sorry, Larry. I didn't mean it like that. And it would be better if you tried to sit still and not get too excited."

The professor had a tendency to gesticulate wildly during his tirades, which was not a good idea in his current state.

Larry sighed heavily and leaned his head back into the headrest of the car.

"I know, I know. Oh, if only I'd remembered that Wednesdays are always the day they clean the corridors! Then this bloody arm fracture wouldn't have happened in the first place," he complained.

"Maybe next time you're on your way to a lecture, you should just not have your nose buried in a book, but focus on your surroundings. That can be really helpful."

Larry heard the mischievous undertone in Don's voice very clearly and once again he glared at his friend.

"Donald Eppes," he said in a warning voice and the agent shrugged his shoulders.

"What, I'm just saying."

Larry simply shook his head and mumbled a quiet "No respect" to himself before the two men remained silent for quite a while.

The silence was only broken when Don suddenly couldn't hold back a laugh and snorted.

"What's so funny, young man?" Larry demanded to know, his eyes narrowed suspiciously and Don waved his hand away.

"It ... it was kinda funny. The way you slid along the freshly mopped floor, trying to find your balance. Almost like a cartoon."

For a moment, Larry felt annoyed at Don's sudden burst of laughter, but then he imagined the image that had presented itself to the his best friend's brother as he had turned into the corridor.

A small, elderly man in a floral shirt, slithering through the corridor like Bambi across the frozen lake and eventually falling to the floor, only to slide on belly first.

The physicist couldn't help but smile. It had certainly looked very amusing.

"Sorry, sorry. I ... No, it wasn't funny at all. You're hurt. I shouldn't laugh about it," Don quickly apologized, but Larry only shook his head.

"It is all right, Don." He patted the driver of the car on the knee before laughing himself. "Who knows ... Maybe the story will even get an honor roll entry in my students' yearbook."

"Oh, I'm quite sure it will, Larry. After all, you're one of the best professors CalSci has. If you're not a celebrity, who is?"

Both men laughed and suddenly the pain was only half as bad.

#bad things happen bingo #prompt: arm in a sling #fandom: numb3rs #fanfiction #larry fleinhardt #don eppes #broken bones #accidents #humor #fhump #whump #more fhump than whump #mega_whumps_characters

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youvebeenlivingfictional · 1 year

Text

Multitudes

Men I Always Meant to Write For Masterlist

Pairing: Don Eppes x Reader

Rating: M

Notes: Another part one of a shamefully indulgent (and unofficial) Men I Always Meant to Write For series. Not beta-read.

Warnings: Fluff; mentions of canon-specific violence; flip-phones because it’s 2007

Tag list: @informally-liz (here to infuence you on another obscure blorbo :P) ; @20th-centu-fairy-girl (it’s our baby) ; @nominalnebula @amneris21 @elen-aranel @missredherring @blueeyesatnight @brandyllyn (idk he’s tortured and I thought you might like him ¯\_(ツ)_/¯; feel free to ignore!)

Summary: You’d be damned if you said you’d never been interested in Don Eppes. In your brief acquaintance, you’d felt a certain pull to him. There was nothing to be done then—between his work trying to solve the case and your work trying to cover it for the paper you work for, the two of you had butt heads. But once Eppes had realized that you were more interested in helping the case that sensationalizing it, his irritation had cooled. You’d almost been chummy by the end of the case—almost.

“Hey, choke up on that bat a bit more.”

You do so without thanking him for the advice, without making a single comment. But when your bat connects with the ball with a sharp, resounding clink!, you feel yourself grinning.

“I was doing alright, you know,” You tell him. But you keep your hands as he directed, taking a swing at the next ball shot out of the machine. Your bat makes contact in as advantageous a place as before.

“I know.”

“Oh? You been watching me, Agent?”

“Caught my eye as I was passing.”

You grin, reaching back and whacking at the button to stop the machine before you turn to face him fully. You realize instantly that it’s a mistake.

Don is leaning against the fence behind you, two fingers hooked into the fence of the cage. He’s chewing a wad of gum like his life depends on it—like he’s trying to imitate his old heroes chomping tobacco and shooting the juice through their front teeth.

"You been here long?" You ask.

"Just finished up. You?"

"Got about, uh—" You shake your sleeve back, eyeing your watch, "Ten minutes left."

"Want a beer?"

The offer makes your brows raise in surprise. Of all the things you thought may come out of Don Eppes' mouth over the course of this conversation, this didn't break the top ten.

"I could go for a drink," You admit. Don's grin widens and he shifts from foot to foot, nodding to the machine.

"Get back to it, then. Sooner you finish up, sooner we can go."

"Are you just gonna stand there and watch me?"

"You intimidated?"

"Maybe."

Don chuckles, flashing you his pearly whites as he straightens fully.

"Alright. I'll wait for you down there."

"Okay," You laugh, nodding. You can't help but watch him go, and you damn the way he turns back to meet your eye in turn.

You’d be damned if you said you’d never been interested in Don Eppes. In your brief acquaintance, you’d felt a certain pull to him. There was nothing to be done then—between his work trying to solve the case and your work trying to cover it for the paper you work for, the two of you had butt heads. But once Eppes had realized that you were more interested in helping the case that sensationalizing it, his irritation had cooled. You’d almost been chummy by the end of the case—almost.

“What’s got you out here tonight, anyway?” Don asks. You shrug a shoulder, trailing your finger along the label on the beer.

“Just had the urge to hit something. Better for myself and everyone else that I work it out at the cages, right?”

“I hear that,” Don mutters. You smile a little.

“That why you’re here?”

Don raises a hand, tipping it back and forth. You smile, leaning back in your seat a touch.

“Tough case?” You ask.

“Am I on the record?”

“Oh, fuck off,” You grumble, fighting back a grin at Don’s laugh. “You know as well as I that California is a two party consent state. Anything I’d record without your permission would be inadmissible and punishable by law.”

“Nice to know you care about those rules and regs.”

“I’d be an idiot not to.” You tip your head to the side, eyes sweeping Don’s face. “You haven’t been sleeping.”

“Oh no?”

“Mm-mm. You look like you haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep in a few days.”

“You know what that looks like?”

“I know exactly what that looks like. I saw you during the case, I saw you at the hearing. Those were two very different looks.”

Don pushes out an irritated huff between tightly pursed lips.

“You keep an eye out, huh.”

“Both of our jobs require reading people.”

“Is it my turn to say what I see?”

“If you like.” It’s only fair, but it’s intimidating. Don considers you for a long moment, eyes narrowing just a touch. It makes you want to squirm in your seat, but you’ve been given looks like this by people that would just as soon shoot you as look at you. Don’s not like that.

“You don’t like whatever it is you’re covering.”

“Oh no?” You arch your brows. “What makes you say that?”

“When we worked together—”

“—Oh, you mean when you subpoenaed my research and brought me in for questioning?”

“—You held yourself differently. Stronger eye contact, better posture. You were engaged. Whatever you’re working on right now is takin’ it outta you.”

Your brows shoot up at the accusations, and you find yourself pushing out a shaky laugh as you turn your face from him, raising your beer to your lips. It’s a little freaky that he can see into you like that.

“Am I wrong?” Don presses. You swallow thickly, the beer like a lump in your throat as you push it into your stomach.

“God, I wish you were.”

“What is it?”

“What I’m working on?”

“Uh-huh.”

You bite your lip, fiddling almost nervously with your beer. “How about a rule for tonight?”

“What kinda rule?”

“No work talk.”

Don leans back in his seat a little bit, tipping his head to the side. You can feel him trying to read you; you’re certain he’s trying to dig right into your soul. And then he gives a short nods, lips pursing.

“Alright,” He concedes. “No work. Then what the hell do we talk about?”

The two of you talk about family, and about school. He digs into your time at Quantico, and why you dropped out of training for the FBI.

“It was one of the biggest things that popped for you,” He tells you, “When I looked through your file.”

“Yeah, I bet.” You pillow your chin on your hand.

“You ever regret it?”

“Dropping out?” You ask.

“Mhm.”

Your hand slides from your chin to scrub at the back of your neck as you consider it.

“I...I won’t pretend that having my hands tied with the ways I can investigate sometimes doesn’t drive me nuts—knowing that I’d have access to way more if I’d stuck to that track, but...” You life your head again to look at Don. “But what you do, day in and day out? I couldn’t do that. I realized it a little too late.”

“You go right into reporting?”

“No, no. I did a few other things in between—marketing, analytics...Things that let me dig into how people think, why they do what they do. Then I hit on journalism.”

“Why the switch?”

“I felt like the things I was saying at work just weren’t being said loud enough.”

Don nods silently, then offers, “It’s too bad. You were good at it.”

Your eyes and smile widen, stunned. “You looked at my assessments?”

“Yeah,” Don admits with a soft laugh, “But it’s more than that, it’s—When we worked the case. The way you talked to the witness, you know, how you—twisted the emotional knife. We spent five days trying to get to that woman, it did nothing.”

“Well, sometimes you just need a different angle.”

“Hey, I’m all about the different angle. I’ve been working with Charlie for...Two, three years now, different angle is his middle name.”

“Charles ‘Different Angle’ Eppes? Gee, thanks mom and dad.” You smile widely as Don smiles, his arms folding on the table. “You two work well together,” You add. It’s Don’s turn to shift with nerves, hiding his face for just a moment as he scrubs his hand across it.

“We do now, yeah.”

“Not always a happy partnership?”

“Not even that, just, you know...We didn’t get along when we were kids. Sometimes the fact that we get along now seems like a...An anomaly.”

“A statistical improbability?”

“Exactly,” Don laughs. “Thank you—You know what, I’m gonna tell him that...I don’t know, though, you know.” His mirth sobers as he lowers his eyes to the bar. “It’s nice to get along with him now. It’s like I’ve opened the door to something I didn’t even know existed.”

“You happy you did?”

“Yeah,” Don’s brow furrows, nodding. “Yeah, he’s—He’s a smart guy, good kid. He likes to help—and I appreciate it, you know, any lead or any clue that he can point us to, it can make or break a case sometimes.”

“It’s nice that that can bring you closer, even if it isn’t always under the happiest of circumstances.”

“Never is if a crime is involved...” Don trails off, lips pressed thin. And then you see him push a smile onto his face, pointing an accusing finger at you. “You said no work.”

“I’m not sure family chat counts as work, Eppes.”

“Oh no?”

“Overlaps, maybe.”

“Definitely.”

You raise your hands in concession. “Fine, no family-slash-work chat.”

“Good.”

“So I definitely shouldn’t ask about the couple of times your dad consulted informally?”

“Who told you that?”

“...Your dad.”

it’s a bad idea to let Don buy you another beer. It’s a worse idea to let him drive you home. The worst idea you have is inviting him inside—but he follows you to your front door, up the steps, into your apartment.

He takes his damn time peering around your shelves, at your framed photographs and your books. You take your damn time opening your beers, eyes set primarily on Don—on the slope of his shoulders, and the slight narrowing of his eyes and purse of his lips as he takes in the contents of your bookshelf—until your bottle opener slips and you skim your knuckles. You hiss, muttering, “Son of a bitch.”

“You okay back there?”

“Uh-huh,” You answer hurriedly, looking down at the beer and cracking it open before you glance over your knuckles. The skin is irritated, raised just a touch. It’s not major, nothing some cold water can’t fix.

“What, the beers fightin’ back?”

You glance up, an irritated pout affixed on your face. It melts when you see Don holding a heavy, engraved crystal plaque.

“Find something you’re interested in?” You ask.

“Excellence in broadcasting,” He reads, then looks at you as he holds up the plaque. “You were in tv?”

“Produced from a studio for a year, then jumped ship for print.”

“Some would say that written journalism is giving way to broadcast.”

“If you’re gonna say that, you’re not getting this beer.”

Don raises a penitent hand, chuckling, “I said some, not me.” He sets the award down before he strides toward you. You hold one of the beers out, and he takes it—only to set it aside in favor of taking hold of your hand and looking at your knuckles.

“What’d you do?” He mumbles, crowding closer.

“Nothing.”

“Oh?”

“Wasn’t paying attention. It slipped.”

“Oh yeah? What were you payin’ attention to?”

It’s a trap of a question. You can’t tell him you were paying attention to him, but if you weren’t paying attention to your hands, then what the hell else could you have been looking at? You shrug a little bit, mumbling out a lame, half-hearted excuse.

“I don’t think I caught that,” Don chuckles.

“Nothing to catch.”

“No?”

“Nothing of consequence.”

“Not sure I believe that.”

Don raises your hand to his lips, brushing a tender kiss along your knuckles. It makes your stomach twist with shock. You almost feel as if you’ve stepped out of yourself—like you’re peering at Don from another vantage point. His warm breath brushes the back of your hand as he lifts his head to peer at you from under his sweeping lashes.

You watch one another for a few long moments before Don straightens up. But where you thought he’d let go of your hand, he tugs you closer. You wobble a touch, raising your other hand to catch on his shoulder. He dips his head, nudging his nose against yours. But he waits. Don doesn’t dive right in; his eyes search yours, and at such close proximity, his dark eyes seem to contain multitudes.

This feels like an awful idea. You don’t want this to hang over your interactions in the future; you don’t want to risk what has become a genial relationship with him, and his team. But more than that, you want to feel Don pressed far closer than he is now.

You lean in just a little, your nose brushing lightly against Don’s. You track one another’s gaze, hardly blinking as you grow closer. For a moment, you think that one or both of you will back off, laugh awkwardly, dismiss it. But before you can second-guess yourself, Don dives in for a kiss. Your eyes slip closed at the contact. Your free hand raises to curl around the back of his neck, keeping him close. Don slides his hand away from yours, resting them on your hips. Your skin prickles with heat as he backs you up against the counter. He groans softly, smoothing his hand up the back of your shirt. You tip your head, teasing your tongue between his lips and whimpering softly. You’re set to push yourself up onto the counter, but—

You groan again, tipping your head back as his phone rings in his pocket. He spits a curse, reaching for his phone and opening it.

“Eppes.”

You lean up, brushing your lips against his neck, grinning as his fingers press against your skin, sweeping against your bra strap.

“...Alright...Alright, I’ll be there in twenty.”

Dang.

You lean back, smiling a little as he closes his phone and tucks it away again. He sighs, and before he can apologize, you offer, “It’s alright. Could’ve just as easily happened to me.”

“Yeah.” Don agrees, but he doesn’t look convinced.

“You alright to drive?”

“Oh, yeah,” He nods. “You barely got that beer open, anyway.”

“Fuck you,” You laugh, shoving his shoulder. Don doesn’t get far, just leans back in and gives you a warm, slow kiss.

“Rain check?” He murmurs.

“Sure.”

You disentangle yourselves, and you straighten your shirt as you trail him to the door.

“Be careful out there, Eppes.”

“I will be,” He shoots you a wink. “You gonna be up long?”

“I can be.”

His smile widens into something dopey and warm, and he nods, promising, “I’ll call.”

#Don Eppes x Reader #Don Eppes x You #Don Eppes/Reader #Don Eppes/You #Don Eppes fic #Don Eppes imagine #Multitudes

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bisexualmultifandommess · 1 year

Text

I made this and it’s so dumb but I love it lmao

I was going to put David as Phoebe but then I could imagine David as Joey being forced to keep it a secret from Don by Colby 😂

#this also means colby and charlie would have chandler and monica’s I love you scene too #protective big brother don finding out one of his agents is dating his little brother #numb3rs #numb3rs edit #edit #memes #charlie eppes #colby granger #don eppes #larry fleinhardt #megan reeves #david sinclair #colby x charlie #charlie x colby

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bullet-prooflove · 2 years

Text

Ask List, Rules & Updates - PLEASE READ!

Please do not solicit me to read your work by tagging me or sending it to me unless I have asked you to.

The Schedule - See what's coming up this month!

Works In Progress - A visual up to date list of what I'm working on currently and their status.

MasterList:

Patreon:

Luna Creative Academy

Prompt Lists:

Character Tag List:

I have updated my ask list below so please only pick from the characters below if you want to submit.

The Rules:

Only pick people off the character list below for each fandom.

One prompt per ask - you can send as many asks as you want within reason

Include the whole prompt in the ask, not just the number.

I don’t write things like Voight’s daughter/Hondo’s friend/Adam’s sister

I also don't write specific asks on this blog eg: reader is a firefighter/doctor/cop who has this/does this. They meet and do this/and this and say this... I usually work from prompts.

I don't write other people's stories so if you have a long detailed idea you want writing, this is not the blog for you.

Fandoms & Chars I write for:

The Bear:

Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto

Michael "Mikey" Berzatto

Richie Jerimovich

Blue Bloods:

Jamie Reagan

Joe Hill

Chicago Fire:

Jeff Clarke

Sam Carver

Chicago Med

Connor Rhodes

James Lanik

Crockett Marcel

Sam Abrams

Mitch Ripley

Dean Archer

Sean Archer

Cobra Kai:

Daniel LaRusso

Johnny Lawrence

Terry Silver

Criminal Minds:

Luke Alvez

Will LaMontagne

CSI Vegas:

Trey Cahill

Josh Folsom

FBI:

Jubal Valentine

O.A Zidan

Stuart Scola

FBI: Most Wanted:

Remy Scott

Clinton Skye

Fire Country:

Bode Leone

Luke Leone

Manny Perez

Vince Leone

Haven:

Dwight Hendrickson

Duke Crocker

Nathan Wuornos

Hawaii Five-O:

Danny 'Danno' Williams

Adam Noshimuri

Hudson & Rex:

Charlie Hudson

JAG:

Mic Brumby

Harmon 'Harm' Rabb

AJ Chegwidden

Law & Order:

Nolan Price

Nicholas Baxter

Jalen Shaw

Vince Riley

Cyrus Lupo

Michael Cutter

Ed Green

Law & Order: Criminal Intent - Toronto:

Henry Graff

Law & Order SVU:

Joe Velasco

Mike Duarte

Terry Bruno

Magnum PI:

Rick Wright

Thomas Magnum

Shammy

Mayans MC:

Bishop Losa

Taza Romero

Micheal 'Riz' Ariza

Nestor Oceteva

EZ Reyes

Neron 'Creeper' Vargas

Manny

Mayor of Kingstown:

Mike McLusky

Robert Sawyer

MCU:

Frank Castle

The Mentalist:

Kimball Cho

Marcus Pike

NCIS:

Alden Parker

Nick Torres

Gage Winchester

Jimmy Palmer

NCIS LA:

Vostanik Sabatino

Arlo Turk

Harmon 'Harm' Rabb

Marty Deeks

AJ Chegwidden

NCIS: New Orleans

Dwayne Pride

Douglas Hamilton

Chris LaSalle

Sebastian Lund

NCIS Sydney:

JD Dempsey

De Shawn Jackson

Michelle Mackey

Numb3rs:

Ian Egerton

Don Eppes

Psych:

Carlton Lassiter

Red Dead Redemption 2:

Arthur Morgan

The Rookie:

John Nolan

Wade Grey

Ejiah Vestri

Ryan Caradine

Aaron Thorsen

The Rookie Feds:

Matt Garza

Brendon Acres

SEAL Team:

Sonny Quinn

Brock Reynolds

Trent Sawyer

Eric Blackburn

Silent Witness:

Jack Hodgson

SOA:

Juan 'Juice' Ortiz

Filip 'Chibs' Telford

Alexander 'Tig' Trager

David Hale

Supernatural:

Dean Winchester

Ted Lasso:

Roy Kent

Top Gun Maverick:

Beau 'Cyclone' Simpson

Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

Tulsa King:

Mitch Keller

Dwight Manfredi

Twisters:

Tyler Owens

White Collar:

Matt Keller

Will Trent:

Will Trent

Yellowstone:

Jamie Dutton

Kayce Dutton

Lee Dutton

Rip Wheeler

Travis Wheatley

Ryan

Walker

Feel free to send me prompts if you see anything you like with one of the characters.

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babytarttdoodoo · 9 months

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First sentence thing and I’m being shameless about it-

Don froze in the doorway. “Kyle, what the hell is that?”

Leave the first sentence of a fic in my askbox and I will write the next five.

You MENACE. For the context of literally everyone else, Kyle is a character dreamed up as part of a Numb3rs AU between @readwing, @altschmerzes and myself.

I will not be able to keep this to six sentences.

---

Don froze in the doorway. “Kyle, what the hell is that?”

He watched the young professor startle with only the slightest twinge of guilt, seeing as how seemingly every writable surface in his garage was covered in unintelligible mathematical scrawl.

Kyle flailed a little as he span to face him, a hand coming to his chest in an apparent attempt to calm his heartrate.

"Agent Eppes! Sorry! Your, uh, your dad let me in. He said I could wait for you in here."

"Of course he did." Don sighed and made a beeline for his vacant office chair, motioning to the repurposed evidence boards. "What is all this? It's for the case?"

"Yeah, yeah it is," Kyle hurried to reassure him, pointing to several sections of the complex equations. "It occurred to me that we could redirect the search parameters to account for the patterns of the victims' movements, in addition to the assailant's. I've already refined the next probable area of attack down to a ten-block grid."

Despite his exhaustion, and despite the exasperation of running into this guy around every corner in his life lately, Don managed a tired smile. "That's great, thank you. I'll call it in."

Kyle offered a hesitant smile of his own, looking a little sheepish in the face of Don's reaction. "Happy to help. Though, I'm sorry if I'm intruding. I was just passing and thought I could swing by with an update."

He turned back to the boards, taking in the scale of the work he'd done with mild surprise.

"... I guess I got a little carried away. This space is incredibly conducive to lateral thinking."

"You think so?" Don glanced around the renovated garage. "I only converted it into an office last year. There's not really a place in the house for all of... this."

He indicated the file folders that littered his desk, and the assorted horrors that lay within.

Kyle looked around as well, taking in everything from the old couch and pool table shoved off to one side of the structure, to the boxes and boards that served to keep the overspill of Don's professional life in some semblance of order. His smile grew into something more genuine.

"I like it."

#my fic #ask box games #readwing #numb3rs #don eppes #I did not stick to six sentences

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doyouknowthisjewishcharacter · 8 months

Text

Do you know this Jewish character?

#jewish characters #jumblr #don eppes #numb3rs #other in media confirmation #rob morrow specifically asked the writers to give his character a plot line about being jewish lol

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fandom-imagines-stories · 1 year

Text

Risk Assessment

Don Eppes x Reader

Words: 3844

Part Two of Three

Summary: As your feelings for each other push boundaries you’d both set for yourselves a long time ago, Don distances himself during a tough case and you have to decide if your relationship is worth the risk.

Notes: I know it’s been a minute, but I haven’t forgotten about my Don fans out there (we are few, but we are powerful haha) I love this show and the brother dynamic and Don’s emotional complexity is just so fun to write. I will hopefully have the last part up at some point soon.

More Don: HERE

You took the stairs two at a time, heart beating out of your chest, and mind reeling. You didn’t hear the nurses asking you if you needed help over the panic in your head. All the news said was that there was a shootout between a suspect and FBI agents. Many casualties, including one agent in critical condition.

So when Megan called you that he’d be here, you’d almost gotten sick waiting in traffic. How she’d known to call you, you hadn’t given much thought to.

By the time you reached the right floor, you couldn’t breathe, your eyes were blurring with tears, and your legs wanted to give out. But you kept going.

Doctors rushed by with a gurney and all you saw was the blood.

You started to follow them.

He found you first.

Don put one hand on your shoulder to stop you from rushing after the gurney and one hand on your cheek to bring your eyes to his.

“Don,” you sobbed, shaking your head and blinking away tears, worried he’d be gone when you looked again. “I thought- I hadn’t heard anything and I-”

“I’m okay, baby. See?” He motioned to the bandaged cut on his forehead. “I’m fine. Just take a deep breath for me, sweetheart.”

“Oh my God,” you threw your arms around his neck. “Thank God. I saw the news and I just knew you were there. I had this awful feeling and then Megan…” You trailed off, burying your face in his neck.

Don nodded. “Megan told me she called you, but your connection got cut off.” He pulled back to kiss your forehead. “I’m sorry for worrying you, but I’m okay. I promise.”

“No, I’m sorry,” you sniffed, wiping your face with the back of your hand. “I should have waited. Instead, I barged in here like, well, like the FBI.”

He led you over to some chairs where you could both sit, not letting go of your hand. From around the corner, Megan came with a pair of coffees from the cafeteria, stopping when she saw the two of you. She ducked back behind the corner before either of you saw.

“You’re really okay?” You asked, fingers grazing the wound on his head.

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “I got pushed out of the way by…” His eyes followed the trail of doctors hurrying with the person you’d seen before. “Her name’s Anderson. Took a bullet to the neck.”

“Jesus.”

“Worst part is, the guy got away.” His grip on your hand tightened. “This sicko that’s been shooting people in broad daylight and we almost had him and he still got away.”

He swallowed hard and kept his eyes on the hall.

A silence fell between you as you calmed down and his shoulders tensed. Finally taking a deep breath, you sighed.

“Don, I’m so sorry.”

He let go of your hand. “It’s not like you pulled the trigger.” Don ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “You know, you really aren’t supposed to be here and I think I’ve freaked you out enough for the night, huh? Why don’t you go back to your place and I’ll meet you there?”

You were taken aback, but not totally surprised. When it came to stuff like this, your boyfriend wasn’t the most open. But, then again, neither were you. It was something you had in common- bottle it up and hope it doesn’t burst.

“Yeah, okay.” You stood, kissing the top of his head. “I can make something up for you, if you want? I think I’ve still got some of that pasta you liked. I can throw it in the microwave.”

“That’d be great, actually.” He tilted his chin up, pulling your lips to his for one more kiss. “I’ll call if anything else happens, okay? And I promise, if the connection goes bad, I won’t leave you hanging.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Agent Eppes.” You kept looking back at him as you left as if waiting for him to call you back. But he didn’t. So you left.

Now with the seat open, Megan crossed the room to sit beside her team leader.

“So that’s the mystery woman,” she said, handing him the coffee.

“Mystery woman?” He scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on, for the past four months you show up to work with this big grin on your face and then this happens-”

“Speaking of which,” he interrupted. “What the hell were you thinking calling her? You know, it really freaked her out. She didn’t know what happened and she comes sprinting in here like, I don’t know, I’m dying. I hate doing that to her.”

“Don.” Megan shook her head. “You’re the one who told me to call her.”

His brows furrowed. “What?”

“I mean, sure, you were kinda out of it from hitting your head, but you just kept saying, ‘Y/N. Call Y/N. I want to see her.’ So you gave me your phone and I called her,” she explained.

Don leaned back in the chair, piecing together bits of fuzzy memory. He took a drink of coffee.

“Huh.”

Megan nodded, drinking from her own cup. “So you guys seem pretty serious.”

“Megan…” He groaned.

“I’m just saying, if she’s the one you’re asking for in your hour of need, it can’t just be a fling, right?”

“Isn’t it a crime to harass the guy with a head injury?”

She opened her mouth to rebuttal, but both agent’s focus switched to the doctor approaching them. And from the looks of his expression, it wasn’t good.

You heard more details on the news than you did from Don. In the days following the shooting, authorities were in an intense manhunt for a man named Pete Nicholsen, the lead suspect in a series of killings involving a hooded shooter in public places.

Agent Anderson was paralyzed from the neck down.

That, you heard from Megan.

In fact, you hadn’t heard anything from Don in two days.

It was Charlie who invited you over for dinner. He said things had been tense and that having some company might be nice, especially since you and his brother seemed to get along at the lecture.

He told you he might be in the garage, so he left the door unlocked. But when you opened the door, it was the older Eppes brother you saw first.

Don sat in the living room. While there wasn’t any light, you could tell it was him by the way he sat, leaned forward with a beer in his hand. Like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“Hey stranger,” you greeted softly.

Don’s back straightened up and his head whirled around.

“Hey.” A small smile graced his lips and he stood to meet you. “What are you doing here?”

“Charlie invited me. He thought a guest would make dinner less… tense.”

“I see,” Don grunted, running a hand down his face. “So he still doesn’t know?”

You shrugged. “I didn’t tell him. He just thinks we ‘get along.’”

“I wonder what gave him that idea,” he smirked, putting a hand on your cheek and pulling you in for a kiss.

You sighed against his lips, melting into his touch. You hadn’t stopped thinking about it for two days. Thinking about how he was at the hospital. That same tension was there now, even as he kissed you.

“Don,” you said, pulling away. “Are you okay? I know that there’s been a lot going on, but you kinda vanished on me and I’m not going to lie, I’ve been pretty worried. I mean, I have to learn everything from the TV and sure, I get that maybe you don’t want to talk about it but-”

“Honey, slow down,” Don sighed. He leaned against the back of the chair, nodding. “You’re right, I had to step back for a couple of days. With what happened to Anderson and then you showing up at the hospital thinking it was me, when it should have been me, I don’t know, there was just a lot going through my head I had to deal with, okay?” He took your hand, running his thumb over your knuckles, slowly going back and forth to calm you down. Or to calm him down. He couldn’t really tell. “But I’m back now, alright? You don’t have to worry.”

Despite his reassuring words, the tone of his voice only increased your already growing concern. You remembered the gut-churning panic you’d felt when you thought he was the one in that hospital bed. You thought about every surge of electricity you felt spark in you whenever he smiled. Even now, the way he was looking at you, guarded and all, you still just wanted him to look at you for forever.

This is what you were afraid of and yet you didn’t want it to stop.

“Don, I-” You started but were cut off by the sound of footsteps.

“Hey, Y/N, you’re here.” Charlie beamed. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

With his brother’s eyes on you, you stepped away from Don to join Charlie in the dining room, letting those three terrifying words die on your lips.

It was your turn to play the ‘dealing alone’ game. Not out of pettiness, but out of protection. While your heart was so full and your chest ached when he wasn’t around, your brain reminded you of all the reasons you hadn’t wanted to let things get this far to begin with. You told yourself a long time ago that nothing was worth the risk of getting hurt again.

And all of it was because of a stupid four-letter word.

The repetitive rattle of your fingers against the table helped tune out the rest of the cafe. Unfortunately, that included your lunch date.

“You okay there?” Megan asked with an amused smile. “You look like you just joined Larry in space for a second.”

“Sorry,” you sighed, shaking your head. “I’ve just been thinking about a lot.” Sliding your empty plate aside, you eyed her curiously. “Like why you asked me to have lunch. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have a badass FBI best friend, but this just felt a little out of the blue.”

“Alright, you’ve got me there,” she admitted. “Though I wouldn’t mind having a brilliant criminology professor in my back pocket whenever I want to remind the boys that this job isn’t all about running around with a gun.”

You both laughed and you felt some of the weight on your chest lighten.

She took a drink of her coffee. “There is something I wanted to ask you about, if it isn’t overstepping our budding friendship…”

“You’re wondering about how I know your team leader.”

“No, I know about the class you teach with Charlie, and Don complained about his little guest appearance the whole week leading up to it,” she said. A smirk teased her lips. “I was more wondering why you two are keeping your relationship a secret.”

Your mouth fell open and she laughed.

“I read people for a living, remember?” She pointed out. “I had some suspicions, but when he kept asking me to call you when he had that head injury and you came running into the hospital like John Wayne, it pretty much confirmed what I thought.”

“He asked you to call me?”

Megan nodded. “Oh yeah. You were all he could talk about when he was all loopy. It was pretty cute, actually.”

You covered your growing smile with your hand, imagining Don doped up on pain meds and rambling about you to his co-worker. But then you remembered the circumstances and remembered who was really hurt that day.

“So you figured it out,” you shrugged.

She pointed a finger at you playfully. “And you haven’t answered my question.”

“It’s,” you took a deep breath, “complicated.”

“With Don? Shocker,” she teased.

You both finished your meals and paid. On the way out, she put a hand on your arm, giving you a smile that was somewhere between friendly and concerned.

“This job can be a lot to handle, especially when you're involved romantically with someone in the field,” she said. “And I know Don isn’t much of a touchy-feely kinda guy, but I think that you’ve been really good for him. I mean, I’ve really never seen him so happy. But, like I said, I know it can be a lot so if you ever want to talk, I’m around, okay?”

You laughed. “Thanks, but I pretty much wrote the book on ‘emotional detachment.’ I think I can handle Agent Eppes.”

She lifted her hands in mock surrender. “Maybe that’s even more reason to talk to someone about it.”

With a look that conveyed the phrase ‘just think about it,’ she went back to her car and you walked back to yours, trying your best to shrug off her ability to not only read you, but also the issues that you were starting to notice in a relationship she shouldn’t even know about.

Charlie was in the middle of explaining to the class the ways equations can be used to track the spread of a bioterrorism attack when you saw him. You looked up from the notes you were taking and there he was. Standing outside the window. Waving at you. He looked like a normal guy. Nice haircut, clean clothes, new-looking backpack. But something about him seemed familiar. While you couldn’t place from where, something in your gut was telling you to not look him in the eye.

No one else seemed to notice him and he was gone by the end of the lecture. Still, you couldn’t shake the unease from your nerves.

“Earth to Professor Y/L/N,” Charlie teased, waving a piece of chalk in front of your face. “If you really thought it was that boring, you could have just said so.” He smirked and took a seat across from you.

You looked around. The students had all left and you hadn’t even noticed.

“It was really interesting, Charlie. I’m sorry,” you sighed. “I guess my head is just somewhere else.”

“Yeah, you uh,” he nodded, “you’ve kinda seemed that way for a while. Is everything okay? If the class has too much to your plate, I can take over some more of the grading-”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You already do too much as it is.” You stood, packing your class notes into your briefcase and hugging it to your chest. “Besides, I’m fine. I just haven’t been sleeping well.” His concern only deepened so you came up with something more reasonable than dreaming about his brother choking on his own blood with a hole in his throat. “New neighbors. Probably just some partying college kids.”

“Uhuh,” he hummed, narrowing his eyes. Whether or not he believed you, he didn’t press the issue. Charlie wasn’t exactly great when it came to emotions and, while it was deeply bothering him to see someone he liked to think of as a friend in a bad place, if it wasn’t solvable through math, there wasn’t much he could do.

“Do you want to go grab some coffee?” You asked, hoping to change the subject. The last thing you needed right now was a line of questions that you weren’t ready to answer.

“Coffee sounds perfect.”

You were both halfway to the campus cafe when you heard the shots. At first, you thought someone had set off fireworks or something, but you remembered the man outside of the window. You’d seen him on the news.

Pete Nicholsen.

He took the stairs two at a time, sprinting into the courtyard where campus security, police, and other FBI had already gathered, along with a whole audience of students and staff. Don didn’t give himself time to think. He just ran.

Don spotted Sinclair first, standing over the body of a woman with Y/H/C hair. She wore a blazer and had a briefcase busted open just a few inches away from her hand. He tried to calm his breathing as his mind went into a frenzy.

The call was shots fired at Cal Sci. One casualty. Female. He only had one thought.

What had he brought you into?

“Who is it?” He asked his fellow agent.

“We’re looking for her I.D. in her things now,” David explained.

“I need it now, damnit!” Don ran around to the other side, hoping to be able to see the woman’s face, and tried to prepare himself to see yours.

“Agent Eppes!” A voice called from the crowd.

He spun on his heel, frantically scanning the group of students.

“Don!”

He turned again and saw you.

All of the breath in his lungs exhaled in a sigh of relief. He motioned to Colby that he’d be right back and rushed across the courtyard. It took every ounce of control he could muster not to pass the police line and pull you into his arms just to make sure you were really there.

“Are you okay? Were you out here when it happened?” He asked, making sure to keep a step away to maintain his composure. “Where’s Charlie?”

“I’m fine. And he’s working with Larry to get a jumpstart into figuring out where this guy could have gone after he-” You caught a glimpse of the body through the crowd of law enforcement. “Oh my god.”

“Hey, just look at me, okay?” He whispered. “Keep your eyes on me, sweetheart.”

“Don.” You blinked, took a deep breath, and focused back on him. “Don, I saw him.”

He froze, that same sinking weight in his chest coming back. “What?”

“He was outside-” You ran your fingers through your hair, trying not to panic. “Nicholsen was outside of the classroom. With me and Charlie. He waved at me like he knew who I was.”

Cal Sci. One Casualty. Female.

“Okay,” he cleared his throat and nodded. “Okay, then I’m going to need you to come with me. And we should go get Charlie.” Don motioned to Colby and the others again, pointing in the direction of Charlie’s office. They continued investigating the crime scene. “This just got a lot more complicated.”

He helped you push through the crowd, his eyes scanning every face expecting to see Nicholsen’s confident smirk looking back at him. Once out of the way of the scene, Don found a deserted hallway and let his barrier break. He locked you in his embrace, cradling the back of your head with his shaking hand.

“I don’t have to tell you what I thought when I got that call,” he said against your shoulder.

You rubbed your hand back and forth across his tense shoulders. “I guess we’ve traded places this week.”

Don pulled back. “That’s not funny.”

“I’m not trying to be,” You looked at him and those dark eyes and nodded determinedly. “I want to catch this guy, Don.”

“No.” He started walking toward his brother’s office. “You aren’t touching this case anymore. Neither is Charlie. This guy knows who you both are. I’m not giving him a chance to take another shot at you.”

“You can’t be serious-”

“What do you think that is?” He shouted, spinning around and pointing back toward the courtyard. “It’s a message, Y/N. That is a warning shot. The next time, he isn’t going to miss and I can’t let that happen. I-”

Three words lingered on his lips, brought out by the terrifying thought of losing you.

Don swallowed hard and continued down the hall. “We have to go.”

The truth was, he had two thoughts when he got that call.

Please not her.

I love her.

And it scared him to death.

His apartment was dark. When you unlocked the door with the key he’d given you, it didn’t even look like he was home. But once you got into the living room, he was there like he’d been at Charlie’s place. Alone. In the dark. With a bottle of beer in his hand and a blank stare in his eyes.

“Don?”

He jumped, blinking up at you like you’d pulled him out of a trance.

“Hey. I didn’t even hear you come in,” he said. He sounded exhausted, but there was something else too. Something that worried you.

“I looked over some data with Charlie. He thinks he might be able to figure out how to finally catch this son of a bitch.” You sat on the arm of the chair, rubbing his shoulders.

He shrugged you away. “I thought I told you that you were both off the case.”

You stood again, crossing your arms. “And you thought that was going to work?” You scoffed. “Have you met your brother?”

Don set the bottle down on the side table so hard you thought it might break.

“Damnit, Y/N, you saw the guy outside of your classroom,” he snapped. “He shot a woman on your campus that matches your description.” He stood too, looking you in the eye. “He’s still out there and you think this is a joke?”

“Charlie isn’t going to hide, Don,” you fired back. “And neither am I. The quicker we find this guy, the quicker all of this is over, right?”

“It isn’t that simple.”

“Don,” you sighed, reaching out for him again. This time, he didn’t pull away, but when your hand found his cheek, you recognized the look in his eye.

Conclusion.

“Donnie, what is this about?”

He took a deep breath and gently took your hand away. “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

You opened your mouth but found your throat had gone dry and the air had left your lungs.

Don clenched his jaw to keep himself in control. Already, a voice in his head was screaming at him to stop, repeating those same two thoughts from before.

Please.

I love her.

But that was exactly why he had to. He’d realized today how much he had to lose. And he couldn’t bear the weight pushing down on his chest. Maybe it was time to let it go.

As the tear slipped down your cheek, he hated himself for the weakness that got him there. He couldn’t protect you. He wasn’t strong enough to face those emotions of panic and loss like he got a glimpse of today. You deserved someone who could hold you without thinking about everything going wrong.

You didn’t say anything. You just went into his bedroom, grabbed a few of your things, and walked to the door, stopping to look back at the man you’d fallen so totally in love with and loved him all the same even though your heart was breaking.

“I thought we were worth the risk, you know.” Was all you said before closing the door behind you. The apartment fell into a silence that seeped into his head.

Don sat back down and stared into the dark.

#don eppes x reader #numb3rs #numb3rs imagine #don eppes #charlie eppes #rob morrow #david krumholtz #megan reeves #crime drama imagines

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