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Unavoidable Truths	By : ataraxis Category: M through R > NUMB3RS Views: 6483 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own NUMB3RS, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
A/N: Thanks goes once more to Separatrix for her help in beta reading this chapter and for offering suggestions. Any errors remaining to the chapter are my own. Also thanks go to those who have reviewed this story. Your reviews help spur me on to make this story exciting and makes me feel my efforts are worth the time I have put into it.

Unavoidable Truths - Chapter 12
The sun was still hours away from setting when Charlie unlocked the front door of his home and walked into the entryway. Charlie had briefly contemplated going to the garage and working out the math that was circling around in his head, but he'd been told by the doctor to not stress himself with work and add to the fact that he couldn't write left handed and his right was still bound in a sling. He could hear the sounds of a baseball game blaring from the television. That could mean only one thing. Don was still up and that caused Charlie a moment of panic. As much as he had wanted to spend the evening taking care of Don and talking with him, now that he'd come to realize that he was also attracted to his brother, he couldn't face the man. For a brief second he considered just going out to the garage and sleeping on the old couch that was out there, but knew once again his arm would have hindered that idea. He turned to close the door as quietly as possible, but the squeak of his shoe against the wood floor alerted the occupants in the other room to his presence. Damn it, I knew I should have gone to the garage or at the very least come in through the back door.
"Charlie, is that you?" his father called out over the crack of a bat, which was quickly muted as someone turned the sound down on the television. Charlie slowly stepped out from behind the pillars and coats blocking his line of sight into the living room.
"I would hope it wouldn't be anyone else, Dad. Otherwise, Don is falling asleep on the job." Charlie figured the best defense in this situation would be a good offense, something he's learned over time in dealing with Don.
"Har de har har, Chuckles! So what brings you home so early? Things with Amita not go well?" Don asked as he swung his leg off the ottoman and onto the couch so that he could face Charlie and not focus in on the game.
Charlie gave a sickly smile in response to the questions and figured Don would smell his fear and frustration if he didn't give them a bone. "I found that I was just distracted all through dinner and I guess she realized what a poor date I was being. Honestly, I think it's because I forgot to take another pain pill before I left, which made it difficult for me to focus on her with the pain gnawing away at the edges of my concentration. Anyway, we decided to cancel the rest of the evening and I'd come home, take my medication and call it a night.
"So don't let me keep you from watching the game and reading the paper. Good night, Dad. Night, Don."
Don watched as Charlie rushed upstairs as if the hounds of hell were after him and Don knew something else was going on. The reason he knew was because Charlie hadn't even thought to ask him how he was doing and how his evening went. Charlie was nothing if not caring and thoughtful when it came to his older brother, no matter how much Don always ragged on him and teased him. But maybe he was just being paranoid. He had missed talking to Charlie that evening, and Charlie could plainly see that Don was doing just fine as he had been sitting up watching a baseball game. God, the jealousy had been eating him alive and not even the game could take his full attention away from the thoughts that had been running rampant through them since having seen Charlie just before going on his date.
Not even that damn sling could detract from how good Charlie looked in those painted on jeans and tight shirt. Don left the volume turned down on the television and listened instead to the slight creaking of the floor boards from above as Charlie moved around in his bedroom and the rustling of the pages of the newspaper his father was reading. Don couldn't help thinking that sometimes their father was clairvoyant and other times the man was denser than mud when something was bothering one of his sons, but those times were very rare. Tonight was apparently was one of those very rare occasions, as his nose hadn't really budged from the paper from the moment Charlie had walked through the door.
Now of course, Don wished his dad would just get up and go to bed or go out and have a date. Then an idea of how to get his father out of the living room so he could sulk in private came to him. "Pop, since Charlie decided he's going to turn in early, he's probably going to need help changing what with the sling and all. Maybe you should go up and help him?"
The paper rattled, then lowered. "Oh, right. Yes. Poor Charlie, his wardrobe just isn't built for having a shoulder wound." Don chuckled at the look on his dad's face. He could totally relate. The words Charlie and shoulder wound really did not go hand-in-hand. "I don't think I ever thanked David, Megan or you for making sure nothing more serious happened than what did that day. Just thinking about the possibility of you both not walking away from that situation, it scares me sometimes. You're both grown men, but the world out there doesn't care that you two are my boys and that I want the best for you." Alan gave a huge sigh as if all the weight of the world was upon his shoulders. And Don thought maybe it was, at least the world that belonged to Alan Eppes.
"You know I would do anything to keep Charlie safe. So would Megan, David and Colby. So no thanks are really necessary, because I'm sure they know. Dad, it's been a long week for all of us, maybe we should all try and get a good night's rest tonight. Go up and help Charlie and go to bed. You've been running yourself ragged trying to help both of us."
Don reached over and turned off the television with the remote and watched as his father carefully closed up the paper and set it aside. "Do you need anything before I head up? Some more water, something to eat?"
Don shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. Night, Pop. Sleep well."
Alan walked over and carefully squeezed Don's shoulders. "Sleep well, Don."
Charlie had been glad that his dad had thought to come up and help him prepare for bed that night. Being one armed was damned inconvenient when the other arm was sore and stiff. He looked forward to when he could lose the sling.
Once he was alone again, Charlie started up his laptop and sat down to plan out how best to make his escape from being around Don, at least until he got his bearings straight and his emotions under control. If Don could do it, so could he.
"So, let's see about getting the next flight out to Vegas for tomorrow morning." He clicked the buttons of the trackpad as he launched a browser.
Don knew that something was completely and utterly wrong when Charlie came down the next morning with a gym bag in his good hand and a book bag over his shoulder. "Charlie, where are you going?"
Don straightened himself up on the couch, his body tension ratcheted up a notch. Charlie's fingers flexed and clenched the straps of the bag, and he licked his lips. Don took in all these signs of nervousness and it caused a ripple of panic to skitter down his spine. He knew that whatever was going on was linked to last nights behavior. Had Charlie finally had it sink in just how wrong Don's feelings were and was trying to escape? To put distance between them because Charlie was now disgusted and couldn't bear to stay in the same house? These questions raced through Don's mind as he waited for his question to be answered. He knew that if he pushed too hard, Charlie would flee. But then again, Charlie looked like he was planning to flee anyway.
"Charlie, are you going on vacation without me?" Don asked the question as nonchalantly as possible, trying to give the impression of joviality and ease. The smile that he tried on his face fell short of the mark, however.
"I... Things didn't go as planned last night with Amita and me. I... Something happened at dinner. And so, yes. I'm going to Vegas. I have to think. I can't... can't tell you more than that." Charlie was about to say more, when the honk of a car horn was heard. Charlie turned his head to the door, an expression of desperation on his face and his entire body straining to leave. "Look, the taxi is here. I'll call. Tell Dad will you, so he doesn't worry. I'll be fine." He rushed all the words together as he made for the door.
Don tried to push himself up off the couch, hoping to somehow get to Charlie before he could leave. The crutches that were propped at the end of the couch fell to the floor with a clatter, startling both Charlie and Don, but it didn't seem to slow Charlie down in his haste. The honking from the taxi seemed to spur him on even faster.
"Damn it, Charlie. Wait!" Don yelled out to his brother, but the door was shut with a bang before the last directive could be uttered. Don fell back against the cushions. From nowhere, sadness, anxiety and this feeling of anguish filled him. God, what will I do if Charlie can no longer bear to be around me. As much as he himself had thought of avoiding his brother, to spare the other man his feelings, his love for Charlie wouldn't allow for that. Don thought over Charlie's words from just minutes before, 'something happened at dinner' ... 'things didn't go as planned' ... 'i have to think.' Maybe he was being paranoid again. Maybe it had nothing to do with him at all. Maybe it had to do with Amita and their aborted date from last night. If only I knew what had happened.
"Wait, wait... Amita knows." Don tried to get his emotions back under control and to be the trained investigative agent that he was. If he couldn't get his answers from Charlie, he'd get them from the next best source. Don reached for the cordless phone that had been left on the coffee table near to the couch. He was glad Charlie had programmed the phone with Amita's home phone number, which was odd for a mathematician who had memorized the first two hundred digits of Pi backwards and forwards and yet still had a horrible time remembering simple seven digit phone numbers. As he was scrolling through the phonebook stored on the cordless, the clatter of footsteps coming down the steps halted him.
"Don, what was that racket all about? I heard a horn honking and then the front door slamming."
Don debated on telling his father that his youngest son had just run away from home. As he was about to speak, there was a knock at the door. To keep his hands busy, Don reached for the crutches where they had landed on the floor one handed, the other still held the phone. Don looked at it, and debated calling Amita now or wait until he was alone. The choice was taken away from him when David was ushered into the room by Alan. Don wondered if work had finally come to call. Or better yet, maybe he could get David to track down which flight Charlie was booked on and maybe have airport security detain him so that Don could go after his brother and talk some sense into him, whatever the situation may be.
"Hey Don. Sorry to interrupt your weekend and time off, man. It seems the labs have come up with a problem."
Don waved David to a seat, while he spoke, "What kind of problem? Was something not right with the take down on Tuesday?"
"Oh no, nothing about that. The labs must have gotten your samples mixed up or had them contaminated or something. They said they ran the samples you and Charlie gave them for comparison and they thought maybe I had been the one to make the mistake."
"A mistake? I doubt it highly, David. You're one of the most conscientious agents I know. Why did they assume it was you that made the mistake and why do you think it was them that goofed?
"Because the samples were nothing alike. The lab techs know you and Charlie are brothers, but your DNA samples weren't even close to matching. Something about not having enough alleles in common. I know I didn't get them mixed up, because I took them straight from the hospital to the labs, so they must have. I figured I would straighten the whole situation out by just getting your samples again.
"So is Charlie here? I can get both of them now, so that they can run fresh tests once more." David looked around, expecting the math professor to pop up around the corner or from the kitchen at any moment.
"Ah, well no. You just missed him in fact. He ah.. decided to leave for his vacation to Vegas a bit earlier than planned. He said something about being here made him want to do some work, and that he had to get away to avoid temptation." Don lied through his teeth, hoping to cover over the fact that everyone knew Don and Charlie had been planning to go on vacation together and that those plans had now been changed.
"Why don't you just take my sample and when Charlie comes back, you can get his. Or maybe Charlie left his hair brush." Don turned to his dad and it was then that Don noticed how pale Alan looked. "Pop, are you okay?"
Both agents were now looking at Alan Eppes with concern. David rushed out of his seat, and offered it to the older gentleman. "Here, Mr. Eppes. Please take a seat. Can I get you some water?"
Alan looked world weary once again. The time had come for the truth he'd been avoiding for over thirty years.
TBC
- 11
- 12
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Unavoidable Truths