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"Hey Edgerton," Agent Reissler called out. "You got a minute?"
"Sure," Ian Edgerton came to a halt. He waited for Geoff to catch up and tell him what he wanted.
"You remember Don Eppes at all?"
"Eppes… FBI Eppes? Albequerque?
"That's the one. He's in L.A. now, and his team's up against a serial sniper. He called, wanted to get a sniper's perspective of the killings. You up for a road trip?"
"Sure," Edgerton shrugged. He was between assignments at the moment, and secretly eager to have a target again.
"Great, because I told him you'd be there tomorrow."
Son of a… Ian growled softly. Geoff really had no concept of the time it took to get between places. He'd have to leave right now, and push the speed limit as well, in order to get to Los Angeles at a respectable hour.
Good thing he kept his life in his truck then.
-SE-
The first time Ian Edgerton saw Charlie Eppes, he was talking to his brother. Ian had met Don a few times before and got along fairly well with him. He knew, of course, that Don had a genius mathematician for a younger brother, and that the professor helped the FBI sometimes with number-related cases.
He hadn't expected him to be this cute, though.
Ian bit back a laugh at the first words out of Charlie's mouth. A challenge to his sniping abilities. He decided to indulge the young man and explained his reasoning for placing the sniper's location. He couldn't keep the smile away as he was challenged again, and knew that he was probably unnerving Don a little.
It seemed okay though, as Charlie backed off a little. It seemed he wasn't about to admit that he'd been wrong, but he'd acknowledge that the sniper-trainer was probably right. Ian slipped his sunglasses back on as he surveyed the crime scene, reflexively calculating the best weapon and angle to eliminate each of the exposed officers on the street below.
-SE-
Charlie leaned against the wall and looked out of the window, scribbling notes while barely looking at the paper.
"Hello there, Professor. Still figuring the angles?" Edgerton. Something about the man set Charlie's teeth on edge. Maybe it was something to do with being proven wrong earlier.
"What I'm figuring," Charlie started in as even a voice as he could muster, "is the reason why he missed. This shot is way closer than any of the others."
"Well, closer doesn't mean easier," Ian sighed, and Charlie looked up at him. He knew that the agent was also a sniper trainer, and figured that he was about to receive a lesson that many men had heard over the years. "He ran a higher risk of being seen here."
"Well that wouldn't affect the shot itself, would it?" Charlie honestly couldn't get his head around all of the variables involved in firing a gun at someone, but surely visibility wasn't one of them?
"Edgerton gave him a look then, one that Charlie couldn't decipher, though he thought that there was a hint of a smile.
"Forget about the math for a second," he beckoned Charlie closer with one hand. "Just look." He opened the window, and Charlie decided to humour the man.
He stepped up to the open window and felt Edgerton standing just outside of his peripheral vision. It was more than a little uncomfortable, until the older man held up a laser-pointer level with Charlie's head, and clearly visible.
"Try to think like he does. Invisibility is a sniper's greatest strength." He was playing the laser over the crowd below as he talked. "If he starts to worry about losing it, his heart rate increases." He replaced the pointer in his jacket, but continued to stand close. "He doesn't know how to handle it, his breathing gets thrown off."
It must have been the fact that he was standing next to an open window, with a man he didn't know right behind him, Charlie reasoned. But as Edgerton spoke, in that low, calm voice, Charlie could feel his own heart rate speed up, and his breathing became unsteady. He mentally shook himself and tried to remember that this was a conversation. He was meant to have some input as well.
"Breathing rhythm," he managed to get out, and turned to face the other man. Edgerton was looking at him with a mixture of tolerance and amusement. He'd seen that look on Don's face often enough, but seeing it on someone else felt odd. For he could almost swear that there was affection in there as well.
"You've really never fired a gun before." It was halfway between a question and a statement.
"I don't really believe in them," Charlie threw Edgerton a smug smile. As the window closed, he felt much more in control of himself.
"Believe in them? It's not like they're ghosts." Edgerton's gaze told him to continue, that he was interested, and Charlie paused for a second. Not many people actually tried to understand how his mind worked, and it was just as unsettling as his continued close presence.
"Obviously that's not what I meant," he muttered, and Edgerton pushed forward.
"So you don't take into account sweat getting into his eyes, or his hands cramping up, or adrenaline twitching the barrel." Charlie looked away for a moment, thinking. "That's the difference between an expert marksman, and a man who aims at white meat but goes home with a wing."
"A woman got shot today," Charlie pointed out. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the older man's terminology. "Not some… animal."
Edgerton smiled and ducked his head, clearly holding back a laugh.
"I see. So when I regard her as a technical problem I'm a sick bastard, but when you plug her into an equation, you're a scientist." Charlie could hear the edge of annoyance in Edgerton's voice, but chose to ignore it.
"It just seems like it's all some kind of sport to you."
The two men stood looking at each other for a moment, and when the older man spoke again, his voice was as cold and calm as Charlie had ever heard it.
"It's my job to put my head inside the mind of a killer." Charlie's eyes flicked down as he processed the new information. "Your brother's, too," and he looked a little sad as he turned to walk away. Charlie assumed that he was being left to think about his position.
"You coming?" Edgerton called out without slowing or turning. Okay, apparently not. Charlie rubbed his head and followed the older agent back to the crime scene, where Don would be waiting.
The two men continued talking on the way down, and Charlie discovered that he was enjoying himself. Edgerton continually pushed at his views of the world, causing him to rethink several of them, before talk returned to the case. Terry showed up just as they were leaving the building and broke the news about Osborn.
Ian and Charlie shared a look, and it clicked with both at the same time. There were two snipers.
-SE-
Charlie was talking about math again.
Edgerton was leaning back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head. The sniper was only paying attention to the words with part of his brain. The rest was watching the way Professor Eppes moved. The way he used his hands to talk. The way he couldn't stay still. The way his eyes darted all around the room, but always returned to his brother, as if needing his approval to show that he was on the right track.
The entire team was now weighing in, and Edgerton figured he'd best pretend that he was paying attention, when all he really wanted to do was go out, find the sniper and put a round or two into him.
"Are you seriously comparing these shootings to, what, some kind of fad?"
"One that's growing," Charlie confirmed ominously before going to the notebook and adjusting the graph. Ian hid a smirk. The professor had a definite sense of the dramatic.
-SE-
"I need to learn how to shoot a rifle."
Ian paused outside the door as he heard Charlie say the magic sentence. He was about to enter and offer his services, when he saw the look of pure horror flash across Don's face, before it was quickly smothered. Don sent David out of the room before turning back to his brother, but Ian decided to stick around and eavesdrop.
"You gotta teach me," Charlie started again.
"Why? Because of what Edgerton said?" Ian blinked. He'd never heard someone spit out his name with such venom before. "No, you don't. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. Please, just do what you do." This was a side of Don that he hadn't seen before – apparently there were some issues between the two brothers.
"It has nothing to do with that," Charlie was trying to convince his big brother. "I'm telling you, Edgerton was right." Wow, he'd never expected to hear those words from the young professor. "Well, he was a little right." Ian smirked. That was more like it. "Okay, the weight of the gun, the noise of the shot, the effects of the recoil, there's no way I have of understanding that because I don't know what it is to shoot a gun."
"Exactly, which is why I brought him in to begin with."
Ian listened as the brothers continued to argue. He could understand Don wanting to protect Charlie, understood all of his reasoning. But Charlie, it seemed, was nothing if not determined. He smiled as the young man brought up something he himself had said earlier.
"Edgerton said it was your job to get into the mind of a shooter? Well maybe it's my job to understand his mechanics."
Ian nodded. There was no arguing with that, really. And Don seemed to agree, if the resigned sigh from inside the room was any indication.
-SE-
"You're flinching. You're closing your eyes, anticipating a loud noise."
"It's a loud noise. It's a perfectly natural physiological response to what I'm doing."
"Charlie, that's not gonna help you hit the target!"
Ian couldn't help but smile. He hadn't been able to resist following the Eppes brothers to the gun range. He knew that Don was a fair shot, and wanted to see what he was like as a teacher.
So far, he really couldn't recommend the guy's method.
"Look…"
"What?"
"You fired the rifle, how about we get out of here. Come on."
"No! I need to learn this. All right? Come on."
"All right. We'll try what's called an empty lung technique." Ian kept his eyes on Charlie as Don explained, and tried to think about how he'd help the mathematician improve his shots.
He hung back as the brothers finished up, deciding to stick around a while. The last thing he heard from Charlie was something about 'regression to the mean', whatever the hell that meant.
-SE-
The team, plus Charlie and Ian, strode into the conference room. Everyone was sipping from coffee mugs, except for Charlie. Ian figured that the equations the young professor had been running were enough to energise him.
"According to you," Charlie spoke to Ian as he walked sideways through the door, "our sniper or snipers have shown no exceptional amount of skill."
"There was one shooting that showed proficiency."
"The homeless guy," David pointed at the man's photograph.
"Yeah, but he was killed by the two frat boys," Terry pointed out. "Working together gave them a clear advantage."
"Yeah, so that explains the increased skill level in that one case," Don stood at the front of the room as his agents sat down. Charlie remained standing at the whiteboard. "But yet…" Don prompted his brother to continue.
"Yet five of the shootings have resulted in a fatal wound from one single shot. How do you explain that?" He sounded questioning, not accusatory, and Ian shrugged.
"A little ability, a lotta luck."
"You know what?" Charlie asked. "You're actually exactly right."
Ian raised his eyebrows, but nodded and smiled in appreciation of the acknowledgement.
"I told Don, it's called 'regression to the mean'." Charlie screwed up a sheet of paper into a ball. "I am an exceptional basketball player." He tossed the ball at the bin and it bounced out. "But let's say for the sake of this argument, that I'm… that I'm not."
"Yeah," Don was smiling fondly at his little brother as he missed another shot. "I think you could argue that side a little better, Charlie." Charlie smiled back sarcastically.
"Let's say I could only hit half of me shots." He aimed again as Ian smirked and David stifled a laugh. "I am…" the shot went in. "One for three." Another three shots went in, in rapid succession.
"Woah," David grinned appreciatively. Apparently, Charlie hadn't just been bragging before.
"Okay," he started again. "I'm four for six. Right? I went from a three-thirty-three average to a six-sixty-six average in three shots. Now, if I just kept shooting baskets all day long, eventually my hits and misses will even out to about five hundred."
"Right," David seemed to be catching on. "We have hot and cold streaks, but over time you're gonna find your level."
Charlie went back to talking about numbers and graphs, but this time Edgerton was focussed entirely on what he said.
-SE-
Ian watched as Don gave out the orders, and silently slipped away. He knew what his job was, and didn't need anyone to tell him to do it.
He took up position, knowing instinctively where the sniper was likely to shoot from. A few minutes later, he watched from the corner of his eye as a car pulled up – then swallowed hard as Charlie got out and started wandering around without cover.
He heard Don's shout come a mere second before the shot, and quickly turned back to the building. He could see where there was an open window, and a rifle sticking out of it, aimed this time at David who was protecting Charlie. Ian calmly adjusted the rifle a little and squeezed the trigger. He nodded in satisfaction before making his way over to where Don was likely tearing his brother a new one.
"Shooter's down," Ian told them. "Is he okay?" He couldn't keep the hint of concern from his voice.
"Are you crazy?!" Don was yelling. "You could have got yourself killed!"
"I was just, ah…" Charlie gulped for breath. "I was just working on some probabilities as to where Cramer might position himself." Don hung his head in frustration as Charlie passed his notes to Ian. The sniper looked over them, then looked to Don with a slight smile.
"Actually, he was pretty close."
"Don glared at Edgerton. That was all Charlie needed – encouragement.
"C'mon, I'll get you out of here," Don pulled his little brother up and started leading him back to the car. "You all right?"
"I'm sorry."
"It's all right. Just… next time, use a phone, okay?"
Ian smiled as he caressed his beloved rifle. There were definitely some unresolved issues between the brothers, but it was a lot of fun watching them interact.
-SE-
Ian sighed as he sat in his truck. It was time for him to move on, but he didn't want to. He wanted to stay and get to know Charlie better… a lot better. He was intrigued by how the young man's mind worked, and found it refreshing that Charlie was willing to challenge him and have verbal sparring matches. Most men were too afraid of or intimidated by him to do so.
He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Normally if he wanted something, he went after it and didn't stop until either it was his, or he no longer wanted it. The same held true for the people in his life.
Something held him back this time though. Perhaps it was his working relationship with Don. Maybe it was the naivete which the professor displayed. Either way, he knew that he wanted Charlie, but also knew that he'd have to change his tactics this time.
Suddenly his phone rang, startling Ian out of his reverie. He glanced at the caller ID and smiled, then answered it.
"Hi, Nevyn."
"Howdy, Charmer," the girl's thick Scottish accent was a welcome change. "So, I have something that I need your help with," she said without preamble.
"Oh?" Ian glanced at the rifle case on the seat next to him. There were very few problems that Nevyn would call him about, and all would end up resolved using his best friend. He liked it when she called with a problem.
"Yeah. There's this judge causing problems for Lupus' boss. Wanna come help me… remove the problems?"
"Absolutely," Ian smiled his predatory smile. "I'll be there in a couple of days."
"No rush," Nevyn assured him before hanging up. Ian tossed the phone onto the seat and reached for his keys. Looked like he was headed to Miami. And maybe Nevyn could give him some ideas about what to do with Charlie.
-SE-
Ian smiled to himself as he sat on the couch, cleaning his gun. He could hear Nevyn singing in Russian as she made food, and took a moment to marvel once again at how well the house worked.
Nevyn was a small Scottish woman in her mid twenties. She was extremely chaotic. Lupus, on the other hand, had mild Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and needed to know exactly where everything in the house was. Lupus had specific procedures for everything. Nevyn made things up as she went along. Yet somehow, the two had not only been friends for sixteen or so years, had not only been undercover agents and partners in the FBI for the past fifteen years, but they had been living together almost since they'd met, and neither had killed the other so far.
Lupus was no longer an undercover agent, having been forced to retire eighteen months ago. Instead, he went by the name Ryan Wolfe, and worked as a criminalist with the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. Nevyn still returned to his house between jobs and kept him in the loop with what was happening at the Bureau. Ian had taught them both in one of the FBI's sniper courses, and had been impressed with the way they worked together. Even now, he liked to keep in touch with them when he could, and sometimes helped them with cases.
Eventually, Ian placed his rifle back in its case. Technically this time it hadn't been case-related, but Nevyn's handler had given permission. After all, it was nearly impossible to get rid of a well-connected, respected, corrupt judge through the normal, legal channels, and he would have been facing the death penalty anyway. This way, they saved the cost of a court case.
Just as he was sliding the case under the couch, Lupus entered. Or Ryan, Ian mentally shook himself. He really needed to stop using the boy's agent name and start using his civilian one.
"Hey Ian," Ryan grinned at him. "Everything went well, I take it?"
"When doesn't it?" The sniper raised an eyebrow, causing the younger man to grin.
"Fair enough. You staying in town long?"
"Few days. I'm having a few… personnel problems. Want some peace to think about it."
"Personnel problems?"
"Charmer's got a boyfriend," Nevyn informed her friend in a sing-song voice as she abandoned the dinner and came to talk. Ian threw her a glare, and she responded with an impudent smile. "Or rather, he wants one."
"So what's stopping you?" Ryan interjected before a fire-fight could break out in his living room. Again.
"It's… complex," Ian admitted as Nevyn rolled her eyes. "I'm going to come into contact with his very protective, FBI agent older brother in the future during cases. And I'd rather not give him a reason to 'accidentally' shoot me." Ryan and Nevyn shared a glance, before turning back to smirk at him.
"That's not all of it," Nevyn was convinced. "You've never let pissed off family members keep you from a conquest before."
"Nevyn…" Ian growled, before Ryan interrupted him.
"You want him as more than a conquest!" He exclaimed in triumph. Ian held up his hands and tried to get them both to quiet down, but the younger agents would have none of it.
"Aw, our cranky old Charmer's settling down," Nevyn teased. Ryan picked up when she descended into giggles, much to Ian's consternation.
"Yup, gonna get a house with a white picket fence and a dog, and adopt some kids."
"Oh, Hell no," Ian said firmly and rose from his seat. "Dealing with you two is bad enough."
His only response was renewed laughter from the pair of them, and he allowed himself a smile once he was out of their sight. They drove him up the wall sometimes, but they knew him well. He picked up the dinner that Nevyn had abandoned and tried to figure out what it was meant to be.
"Anyway," Nevyn's voice came from behind him, followed shortly by the young woman herself, "if you want something different this time, it stands to reason that you try something different in your approach."
"I realise that," Ian sighed. "Charlie's going to require a whole different approach to what I'm used to."
"That's part of the appeal though," Ryan pointed out. "Isn't it? You're used to chasing and being chased, seeing the whole thing as a game. Now you have an opportunity to branch out, try different tactics."
"Hmm," Ian stifled a laugh, recalling Charlie accusing him of something similar. "You may have a point," he conceded. Nevyn nodded.
"Of course we do. So, does this Charlie have a surname?"
"Yeah, Eppes."
"Wait, Donnie's brother?" Nevyn asked. She and Ryan looked at him in surprise, and Ian raised an eyebrow.
"Don Eppes, yeah. You two know him?"
"Sure," Ryan nodded. "He was working Fugitive Recovery at the time, we ran into him on a couple of cases. Seemed a decent enough guy."
"I liked him," Nevyn grinned. "He bought me a candy-bar!"
"Yeah," Ryan rolled his eyes. "He thought you were fifteen."
"Only the first time."
Ian smiled indulgently as his young friends bickered good-naturedly about Nevyn's ability to con sugar out of federal agents. She really did have a knack for it – the girl had the uncanny ability to appear to be in her early to mid teens, which was useful in her work against child trafficking. It could also make relationships difficult, but given her work patterns, that wasn't something Nevyn worried about too often.
The three agents eventually managed to sit down to dinner, and Ryan picked up the earlier conversation.
"So, when are you going to see this Charlie again?"
"Not sure," Ian shrugged. "It all depends on when I'm assigned to LA again, which might not be for a while."
"Oh, come on!" Nevyn exclaimed. "Put in for some time off and go seduce the guy!"
"Not gonna happen Nev," Ian smiled at her. "Work comes first."
He heard a muttered 'bullshit', but talk turned instead to Ryan's work. The young man regaled the others with gossip from the lab – apparently, CSI was a great deal like high school, with the amount of out-of-work shenanigans that went on.
-SE-
Ian left Miami a week later, with the decision to wait this out. After all, there was no telling when he'd see the young professor again, and any amount of things could change between now and then.
Part of him, though, knew that he was simply delaying the inevitable. He'd gotten his first sight of the target, and he wasn't going to stop until he'd caught it.
So for the next several months, the sniper kept an ear out for any cases that would require him to visit the Los Angeles area. He was about ready to take Nevyn's advice and request time off, when Reissler caught him again.
"Hey Edgerton! Ready to do another favour for that Eppes dude?" Agent Reissler clapped a hand on his colleague's shoulder. Ian raised an eyebrow, though inside he was delighted.
"What kind of favour?"
"Apparently he wants his team to go through proper training before their annual re-evaluation, and was hoping you'd take them through a course. I'm sure we can find other agents out there wanting to brush up on their skills as well, so you won't get bored. What do you say?"
"Well," Ian paused, pretending to think, "Courses here have just wrapped up. I'm sure I could swing by for a while. He say if he wants the full course?"
"Yup, full three month advanced course, and maybe do a couple of starter courses for the newer agents. You have any assignments coming up?"
"Not as far as I know," Ian confirmed, allowing himself a small smile. Three months in Los Angeles… he could definitely make progress in that time frame.
-EP-
"Not true!"
"Oh, so true!"
It sounded like the Brothers Eppes were arguing. Again. There was an undercurrent of laughter though, which made Ian smile.
"Anything I should know about?" He asked as he entered the briefing room, or 'Charlie's Lecture Room' as the team referred to it. His smile grew at the varying levels of surprise and delight his entrance elicited form the team.
Don, of course, wasn't surprised. He'd known about the sniper trainer's impending arrival for several days.
Agent David Sinclair looked slightly surprised, but happy to see him. The two men had gotten along well last time – especially after David had saved Charlie's life.
Terry Lake was no longer there. He'd heard that she'd gone back to straighten things out with her husband, and he honestly wished her the best. She'd been a good agent.
In her place was another female, this one with long, light brown hair and a surprised expression. He hadn't seen her before, he didn't think.
And at the front of the room was Charlie. The young professor had a look of almost comical shock – apparently, Don hadn't told him about Ian's presence in the city. But he also looked a little pleased.
"Edgerton," Don responded first, raising to shake his hand. "Come on in. Charlie's just running some scenarios past us."
"Yes," Charlie broke into a grin. "I was using Don as an example of how it's possible to break a person's nose and jaw with a single punch."
"Wait, using him as an example?" Ian raised an eyebrow. "Didn't know you had it in you, Professor."
"No," David was grinning as well. "Apparently when they were kids, Don decked a guy who was teasing Charlie. Broke the guy's nose and jaw."
"He deserved it," Don muttered. "No one picks on my little brother but me."
The whole room let out sniggers of amusement. Everyone could tell that there was sometimes tension between the brothers, but that was such a typical big-brother statement.
"It was most effective," Charlie hastened to sooth his big brother's ruffled feathers, and received a smirk for his efforts. Ian took a seat and settled into one of his favourite hobbies – watching Charlie Eppes.
Partway through the lecture, he could feel eyes on him. A flick of his gaze confirmed that it was the new girl. She didn't seem to be hostile, more… appraising, as though she was trying to figure something out. Slowly, Ian turned his head and looked straight at her. She jumped a little and turned back to Charlie. Ian smirked a little before returning his gaze to the front of the room, only to find the professor giving him a gleeful grin. Apparently, he'd noticed the silent exchange and found it highly amusing.
Ian smiled back, and Charlie continued. The sniper had to admit it – he was enjoying himself already, and hadn't even spoken directly to his quarry yet.
-SE-
"So Don punched a guy out," Ian commented to Charlie once the others had all left to make the arrest. Charlie nodded.
"Yeah. It wasn't 'cause he teased me, though. I could ignore the teasing."
"Then what was it for?"
Charlie paused in cleaning the whiteboard, apparently considering the answer.
"Don and I were in the same year in high school," he eventually started again, not turning to look at Ian. "For the most part I kept out of his way – we didn't have any of the same classes, and moved in very different circles. He was one of the popular sporty guys."
"A jock," Ian commented, and Charlie winced, but nodded.
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, he was smart and all, but he wasn't as good at the academic stuff as I was."
"Was anyone?" Ian wondered aloud. Charlie bit back a laugh before continuing.
"I had Physics with one of Don's friends. Paul. And he tried to get me to do his homework for him, since he was Don's best friend. I gave him the same answer as everyone else who tried to bribe me into doing their homework: not gonna happen. He got all huffy, but didn't say anything more about it."
"And Don decked him for it?" He was feeling slightly uneasy as Charlie shook his head.
"Nah. I'd set up this experiment using the swings in the playground. It involved standing on the swings as they were moving. Paul threw a rock at me in the middle of the arc, which made me fall off. The rock and impact with the ground gave me a concussion, and a dislocated shoulder." Ian winced in sympathy, but Charlie just shrugged. "First thing Don did, as soon as the rock left Paul's hand, was deck him. By the time I hit the ground, he was next to me, making sure I was okay. Paul got expelled, and Donnie got suspended for a week. He told Paul that if he ever came near me again, it'd be the last thing he did."
"Wish my older brother had been like that," Ian let out before thinking. When Charlie turned to look at him in question, he mentally cursed himself.
"I didn't know you had a brother," the professor said in surprise. "What was he like?"
"Grade-A asshole," Ian admitted. "I was the middle kid, have a younger sister as well. We… don't talk much these days."
"How come?" Charlie sat down near him, and inside, Ian cheered. Maybe talking about family wasn't such a bad thing after all.
"Ah, she doesn't approve of my lifestyle. Thinks I should have become a normal teacher instead." Charlie tilted his head to one side, surveying the sniper, and grinned a little.
"I'm trying, but I really can't picture you in an indoors classroom. You certainly wouldn't fit in with any teacher I ever had."
"Yeah. I'm good at sniping and tracking though, so that's what I stick to these days."
"Good?" Charlie raised his eyebrows in indignation. "You're an amazing sniper!" He then bit his lower lip, apparently embarrassed at the outburst. Ian grinned at him.
"Glad you think so. Does that mean you'll be coming along to my beginner's course?"
"No chance in Hell," Charlie shook his head emphatically.
"Oh come on. You're a pretty good shot to begin with, you could be excellent with some training."
"Absolutely not. I fired a rifle twice. That's more than enough for me." He seemed adamant, and Ian backed off a little.
"We'll see," he murmured. "Well, I suppose I should go report to Merrick. See you round, Professor." With that he stood and left, not waiting for Charlie's farewell.
-SE-
"So what does a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher have to do with calculus?"
Agent Edgerton was sitting in the back of a Cal Sci lecture hall, arms folded across his chest, observing one of Charlie's lessons. One of the basics of sniping was to try to observe the prey in their natural habitat – and Charlie had never looked more natural. Sure he'd seen the professor lecturing the FBI agents, but that was only a peek at his teaching style. Here, he was in his element – free to go off on any tangent that crossed his remarkable mind, make number jokes that were actually understood, and he knew that all of his students actually wanted to be there listening to him.
"Well, Zeno was famous for his paradoxes. One of them was about Achilles and a tortoise. Basically, the problem is this: Achilles and a tortoise agree to a race, but the tortoise is unhappy because Achilles is very fast. So, the tortoise asks Achilles for a head start. Achilles agrees to give the tortoise a 1,000m head start. Does Achilles overtake the tortoise? The problem has also been described by someone trying to shoot a moving tortoise with an arrow, and figuring out how far the tortoise would travel before the arrow hit them. Both problems basically equate to the same thing – how to work out the relative distances covered by two moving objects.
"Now using differential calculus, we can solve this in one of two ways. The obvious way, is to start by writing…" And he was off, writing symbols that Ian was barely able to follow. It had been a long time since high-school calculus, but he was enjoying watching the lesson. All around him, Ian saw students taking notes and copying the formulae from the board.
"This, however, is not the method that Zeno used to approach his own paradox. Instead, he broke it down like this…" And Charlie started on the other whiteboard, in a much more complicated equation. It took a while to explain to everyone, but Ian could vaguely understand it.
"So, what's the upshot of all this? Basically, Zeno figured that you could shoot at as many tortoises as you like, because as long as the little buggers are moving, you can't actually catch them." There was a ripple of quiet laughter, and even Ian let himself smile. Charlie then glanced at his watch and heaved a dramatic sigh.
"Alas, I see we have nearly exceeded our allotted time for this week. I want you all to do the exercises in the text book to make sure you understand, and I'll see you all same time next week."
The students all packed up and filed out, though a few went to the front of the hall to discuss something with their professor. Ian waited for the crowd to thin a little before getting up and slowly making his way down as well. He caught a few curious glances from the students still there, but most didn't seem fazed by his presence. After all, Professor Eppes often had people sitting in on his lectures, and sometimes even brought unexpected guests in to talk about various real-world applications for mathematics.
Charlie himself, however, trailed off in shock as he saw the sniper. He'd thought that the older man would look out of place in an academic setting, but he seemed to be able to fit into any environment with little difficulty.
Ian reached the front of the class as Charlie got over his surprise and grinned at him.
"Agent Edgerton! I didn't expect to see you here."
"Yeah, well, if you're not going to visit my classroom, I figured I'd come see yours."
"And did you learn anything?"
"Apparently you want me to go shoot tortoises."
"No, no!" Charlie held up his hands and tried to back-pedal, whilst the students still hanging around giggled.
"Yes, I quite clearly heard you," Ian couldn't stop the grin from forming. "You were encouraging us all to go shoot some defenceless reptiles. Since when were you such a sadist?"
"I give up," Charlie hung his head, still smiling.
"Good. Does that mean you'll come take shooting lessons?" Ian saw the surprise on the students' faces, but ignored them.
"Like I said before, Edgerton," Charlie shook his head, "there's no chance in Hell that you'll get me firing a rifle again."
-SE-
"So," Ian bit back a laugh, "No way in Hell I'll get you firing a rifle, huh?"
"Shut up," Charlie glared at him, which only made him laugh. "I'm not here for a lesson, just to watch."
"Sure you are," Ian smirked and turned to Don, who was watching them with an amused expression. "You'd better be here to shoot though."
"Absolutely," Don nodded. "But Dad would probably kill me if I let Charlie pick up a gun again."
"Yeah, yeah," Charlie rolled his eyes and sat down at a nearby table so he could observe and write at the same time. Don and Ian shared a chuckle as the rest of the team arrived, and they set about the business at hand.
-SE-
"Miss." *Bang!* "Dead hit." *Bang!* "Scrape it." *Bang!*
Ian was aware of Charlie's muttered predictions, and slightly unnerved by the accuracy. He raised an eyebrow at the young professor and received a cheeky grin in return.
"Pay no attention," Don muttered as he reloaded. "He does that all the time."
"Oh?" Ian was curious.
"Yeah. When I played baseball, he'd always predict, fairly accurately I might add, how many hits and misses I'd get just by watching my stance."
"It's not that hard to transfer the equation to shooting," Charlie shrugged. "Even though your stance is more limited, it just means that the small variations matter more."
"If you say so," Ian nodded. He never would have thought to cross baseball with shooting, but apparently it made sense to Charlie.
-SE-
"I didn't realise that they were that close," David remarked to Don as they were getting ready to leave.
"Who?" The senior agent looked confused.
"Charlie and Edgerton," David said, as if it were obvious. "They seemed pretty wary of each other last time."
"Still are, aren't they?"
"Not from the looks of it," Megan commented and nodded towards them.
Several feet away, Charlie and Edgerton were sitting on opposite sides of the table. Ian was drinking from a coffee mug, smiling indulgently, whilst Charlie was apparently explaining the equations he'd been working on. The young professor looked excited and was smiling as he gestured enthusiastically.
"Guess they worked out their differences," Don said non-comittedly, though inside he was concerned. He wasn't sure he liked the almost territorial look that Edgerton was giving his little brother, and his mind flashed back to the conversation they'd had at the start of the training session. At the time he hadn't thought much about it, but Edgerton's comment had made it apparent that the two men had spoken in private since the sniper had arrived in Los Angeles.
Don wasn't sure why the thought bothered him so much, but he wasn't going to ignore it. His instincts were rarely wrong, and where Charlie was concerned, he wasn't taking any chances.
Megan didn't say anything, though she kept one eye on the men at the table and the other on Don. She'd suspected for a while that Charlie might 'swing both ways' as it were, and she was fairly certain that Edgerton was more than a little interested in him. What concerned here was Don's reaction to the potential relationship, and she wondered if Charlie had ever actually outed himself to his family. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, as Don called out to his brother.
"Hey Charlie! You coming, or should I let you walk back to college?"
"Coming!" Charlie called back and started to gather the notepads that he'd scattered over the table. As he stood to leave, Edgerton grinned up at him and made a gun with his right hand.
"Bang, bang," he grinned and twitched his wrist, pretending to shoot Charlie. The professor grinned back before jogging to catch up with Don.
-SE-
Back at his office, Charlie was going through the notes he'd made at the gun range, when something fell out of one of the pads. He picked it up and blinked in surprise. It was Edgerton's business card. He turned it over and let out a small laugh. A cell phone number was written on the back, underneath the words 'bang bang'.
Charlie smiled for a moment, considering. Did he want to take a chance? He was interrupted from his thoughts by a knock on the door, before Amita walked in. His smile faded a little. Truth be told, he still wasn't sure where the two of them stood, and he knew he should sort that out first. Things were very complicated.
"Hey Amita," he greeted her softly.
"Hey Charlie," she smiled back. "Look, I know that I was meant to help you with that program tonight, but I was wondering if we could reschedule? Something came up." The beautiful young woman looked uncomfortable, and Charlie blinked in surprise before he remembered what she was talking about. They were working on a 'math for non-mathematicians' computer program for the college, and had planned on going through the preliminaries that night.
"Of course we can," he assured her. "That's not a problem. May I ask…" He trailed off as a student he vaguely recognised stuck his head around the door.
"Ami, you coming? We'll be late."
"Just a second, Pete," Amita smiled shyly at the boy, and something clicked in Charlie's mind. "I need to clear something with Professor Eppes."
"Okay. Sorry to bother you, Professor," the boy nodded and left. Amita turned back to Charlie, biting her bottom lip nervously.
Charlie, on the other hand, was sporting a huge grin.
"You have a date!" He said gleefully, and Amita sighed in relief.
"Yeah. I mean, things between us…"
"Are complicated," Charlie nodded. "I know. We got so used to the student/teacher boundaries that we can probably never completely get rid of them."
"Exactly. So, you don't mind?"
"Of course not," Charlie assured her. She raised an eyebrow, and he laughed. "Okay, maybe a little. But you deserve to be happy, so go! Have your date, have a relationship. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks, Charlie," Amita gave him a quick hug. "Do me a favour though?"
"What is it?"
"You deserve to be happy too. So find someone that can make you smile, and go for it."
"Yeah…" Charlie muttered as she turned and left. Without looking, he picked up his cell and dialled a number. When it was answered, he spoke without preamble.
"So… you up for dinner?"
-SE-
Charlie hung up the phone, almost giddy with relief. He hadn't been miss-reading the signals, and hadn't just made a huge fool of himself. He then realised that he should probably call his father and let him know that he wouldn't be home tonight.
He waited while the phone rang, before going to the answering machine. He heaved a sigh of relief – at least he wouldn't have to go through an interrogation just yet. That could wait until he came home.
-SE-
"Hey Dad, just letting you know that I won't be home till late tonight. I'll, uh… I'll tell you about it when I get back. Catch you later!" *beep*
Alan smiled in delight. He knew that tone of voice – his youngest had a date! He was a little put out that Charlie wasn't bringing the girl home to meet him. But maybe, he reasoned, he'd already met her. Maybe it was Amita! He really hoped it was. Amita was a lovely young lady, and she could keep Charlie intellectually stimulated. They made a good couple.
Humming happily to himself, Alan headed to the kitchen to make his own dinner. Maybe he'd call Art later, see if he felt like going bowling.
-SE-
Charlie cleared his throat and straightened the cutlery for the fifth time in as many minutes. It was already at perfect right angles to the table edge, but he couldn't help himself. He hadn't been this nervous in ages, not even for his date with Amita. It probably didn't help that the last time he'd had a boyfriend was nearly seven years ago, and he'd been a bit of an asshole. Heh. Don really hadn't liked the guy – had nearly beaten the guy to a pulp when Charlie had caught him in someone else's bed. The brothers hadn't really been getting along at the time, but Don was still insanely protective of his little brother.
He glanced at his watch. 6:33. Edgerton was late. Charlie felt his face fall – maybe Ian had decided not to show up. Maybe he hadn't meant it when he said he wanted to see him. Maybe it was all a horrible mistake.
"Don't look so thrilled, Professor," Ian smirked as he slid into his seat. "You might break something."
Charlie jumped and looked up in delight, then nearly swallowed his tongue. Damn, but Ian was hot in his casual attire. He looked like a predator. A very stylish and well-dressed predator.
"I, uh," Charlie stammered, then hung his head sheepishly. "I thought maybe you'd reconsidered."
"And stand you up?" The smirk turned softer, into a tender smile. "Never happen." Charlie let out a breath in relief. "Now tell me how you managed to escape the warden to meet me."
"Don?" Charlie grinned. "Easy. I didn't tell him." Ian let out a laugh, and Charlie decided that he really liked that sound. "I mean, I don't want to hide this, I just don't want him to know just yet."
"I get it," Ian nodded. "He'll probably throw a fit when he finds out I've corrupted you."
"Who says you did the corrupting?" Charlie asked, and Ian had to swallow hard at the evil glitter in the professor's dark eyes.
Maybe Charlie wasn't as innocent as everyone treated him.
-SE-
Alan opened the front door to find Amita standing there, looking rueful.
"Amita!" He said in surprise. "What are you doing here? Isn't Charlie with you?"
"No," Amita said, confused. "I was looking for a friendly face… hoping to talk to him."
"Oh, well," Alan stepped aside to let her in. "He's not here, but I can be pretty friendly when the occasion calls for it. You want some coffee or something?"
"Please," Amita nodded, a little sadly. "I don't mean to intrude, I just don't want to be alone right now."
"It's no problem. Come on through to the kitchen, we can talk there."
"Thanks." She followed him and took a seat at the counter, sighing. "I was on a date, which went south pretty quickly."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Alan commiserated. "Nothing to talk about?"
"Ugh," she made a sound of disgust. "I realise that my date with Charlie didn't go so well, but I'd rather sit in silence for an hour than listen to a condescending ass for half an hour. I mean, I'm an intelligent woman. I have a degree, I'm studying for a second, I've worked with some brilliant minds."
"Absolutely," Alan agreed. He'd always known that she was smart.
"So faced with that," Amita continued angrily, "why would someone just assume that I want to settle down, stay at home and pop out kids? I made it clear that I'm not looking to start a family yet, but all he could talk about was having kids to carry on the family name!"
"Sounds like a jerk," Alan said decisively as he placed Amita's coffee down in front of her. She smiled up at him, a great deal of the tension leaving her.
"Yeah. I told him not to bother calling for a second date." She took a deep breath, then a sip of coffee. "Mmm, perfect. So, is Charlie working late tonight?"
"Well," Alan started, a little confused, "he left a message saying he wouldn't be home until late, and that he'd tell me more when he got home. I just assumed… I mean, it certainly sounded like he had a date as well. I figured he was going out with you but didn't want to jinx it."
"Charlie doesn't believe in jinxes," Amita smiled. "But you could be right about the date. I encouraged him to try a relationship when we spoke today."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Nothing's going to happen between us, and he deserves to be with someone who makes him happy. We both do."
"I agree," Alan nodded. He was about to continue when they heard what sounded like a shout of rage from Don, followed by a crash at the front of the house. Both Alan and Amita ran to the front door, and Alan pulled it open just in time to see Charlie trying to pull his older brother off of someone.
-SE-
Ian smiled indulgently as Charlie chattered away. He might not understand everything that was being said, but he loved listening to Charlie's voice. The enthusiasm, the joy, the pure… Charlie-ness.
The professor trailed off as he noticed that Ian wasn't actually participating in the conversation.
"You… didn't understand any of that, did you?" He asked, mentally kicking himself.
"Not a word," Ian smiled and took a sip of his wine. "I don't mind, though." He was rewarded with a dazzling smile, and promised himself that he'd earn more of those.
"You tell me something," Charlie decided. "Something that no one else knows."
"Hmm…" Ian paused. Something no one else knew? "I hate peas." Charlie laughed, and Ian smiled at him. Before the professor could protest that that wasn't what he'd meant, he continued. "And my favourite book when I was ten was 'The Children of Cherry Tree Farm'."
"What's that about?" Charlie asked. He hadn't heard of it before.
"Ah, it's an English story about some kids on a farm. It's by Enid Blyton, and was just so far from what I knew. I was fascinated by these kids wandering the countryside and making friends with a wild man who lived in a cave…" he smiled. Charlie was leaning forward, looking enthralled. "What about you?"
"'The Little Captain'," Charlie said decisively. "Though only part of it was the story. It was more that the book had belonged to Don, and he gave it to me one year for Christmas."
"You really did idolise him, didn't you?" Ian observed. Charlie shrugged uncomfortably.
"He's my big brother. As much as he complained about me, he always stuck up for me. Well, until high school, and I can understand his actions now."
"Fair enough," Ian nodded as the waiter came back with their desserts. "Your turn. Tell me something no one knows about you?"
"Uh…" Charlie thought for a moment, then looked down. "When Larry and I talk about the mathematics behind calculating the distance of the stars… it's code. It means that one of us, usually me, is really depressed and needs something factual to hold on to for a while, before we can deal with the world."
Ian said nothing, just watched Charlie for a moment. It was making him nervous, until the sniper spoke again.
"You tried to kill yourself." It was a statement, not a question, and Charlie couldn't lift his eyes to look at his companion. "Recently?" He shook his head.
"Not for sixteen years. I still get depressed, but Larry's always there to keep me from doing something stupid."
Ian reached across and gently gripped his chin, forcing Charlie to look up at him. They locked eyes for a moment, before Ian smiled gently.
"I'm here now too."
Charlie's smile then couldn't possibly have gotten wider.
-SE-
Edgerton was walking him to his front door.
No matter how many times he thought it, it still felt weird. He felt like a teenage girl, and tried to think of something to say. Ian was being quiet, as was usual.
Ian glanced down at his companion and smiled. The professor seemed so nervous. He really should do something to put him at ease before meeting the man's father. They reached the front door, and Ian smiled as a thought crossed his mind. He gently took Charlie's hand, and the younger man turned to look at him.
"So," Ian said, his predatory grin back in place, "do I get a good-luck kiss?"
Charlie grinned back, then grabbed the back of Ian's neck to pull him within reach. The sniper let out a chuckle before losing himself in the feel of Charlie's lips on his. Damn, the professor certainly knew what he was doing.
The next thing he knew, Ian was flying backwards. This wasn't part of the plan, he thought as he hit the ground with an undignified thud.
-SE-
Don had decided to head home for the night, when he remembered the case files he needed to drop off with Charlie. Swearing softly, he quickly flicked through his drawers until he found them. He really wanted to get home quickly and have a drink – Megan's hints about Charlie and Edgerton had really unnerved him.
The drive to Charlie's house was easy. He'd done it so many times he could let his mind wander as his body handled the car. He pulled up and got out of the car without really concentrating, then froze. Charlie was being pinned against the front door!
Hearing a whimper escape his brother, Don felt a red haze descend on him. He let out a shout of rage and flew at the man who had Charlie pinned. Don grabbed him by the back of the jacket and hauled the man off of Charlie, throwing him off the porch and onto the path below. He leapt down to beat seven kinds of hell out of him, when he felt hands trying to stop him. Somewhere through the haze, he heard Charlie calling to him.
"Don! Donnie! Stop it! Get away from him!"
Somehow, the panic in his brother's voice got through to him, and the red mist started to clear. He realised that he was sitting astride Edgerton, one hand around the sniper's throat and the other drawn back to punch him. Charlie was holding on to that arm as though his life depended on it. Momentarily stunned, Don paused, and Charlie took the opportunity to drag him away from Edgerton.
"Don! What the Hell?" Charlie shouted at him.
"He… he was hurting you…" Don wasn't so sure now. "You were whimpering…" Charlie looked at him, anger mixing with amazement.
"Don, you really can't distinguish between a 'please stop' whimper and a 'sweet fuck don't ever stop' whimper? No wonder you never date anymore!"
That was a low blow. Don looked away while Charlie helped Ian to his feet. The sniper rubbed his throat before smiling ruefully at the younger Eppes.
"Told you he'd throw a fit," his voice was a little strained, but the humour was still there. Charlie smiled and leaned up to kiss him again.
"Now THAT'S hot."
All three men whipped around at the feminine voice. Amita was standing on the porch, one hand on her hip, with a huge smile on her lips and a sparkle in her eyes. Alan stood next to her, arms folded across his chest, looking less than amused.
Don and Charlie glanced at each other, then down at the ground. They wore identical 'oh shit' expressions. Ian, on the other hand, wore a wry smile. This was definitely not how he'd planned on meeting Charlie's father.
"Gentlemen." The Eppes brothers flinched at their father's tone. "Inside. All of you." The brothers entered the house, heads still down. Ian followed, looking amused. He bit his lip to keep from laughing when he caught Alan's eye and the older man winked.
He had the best time with this family.
-SE-
Several weeks later, Ian Edgerton drifted awake. He lay still as he felt something moving over his chest, and tried to stifle a smile.
"I saw that," his lover laughed. "You're awake." Ian opened his eyes.
"I was having quite a good dream, you know." He pretended to be put out. Charlie just grinned cheekily down at him.
"Well lucky you, you get to wake up to better reality."
"You're rather full of yourself, aren't you?"
"Yep!" Charlie confirmed, and both men laughed. The younger then leaned forward to kiss his lover thoroughly. He pulled back after several minutes, and the men smiled at each other.
"So," Ian picked up his earlier thought, "what were you writing on me this time?"
"An equation. And it's not finished yet."
Ian chuckled, but kept quiet as Charlie picked up the sharpie again and went back to writing across the sniper's chest. After a moment, he leant back to admire his handiwork.
v2 = vo2 + 2as
Ian took a moment to read it upside-down, then smiled. He'd seen that one before – it was used to measure the velocity of a bullet. He looked up at Charlie, and formed a gun with his fingers.
"Bang, bang," he said softly as he 'shot' his lover.
The men looked at each other, and knew with certainty that with their little ritual, Charlie was saying 'I love you' in the only way he knew how.
And so was Ian.