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Undercover	By : IrenaAdler Category: M through R > NUMB3RS Views: 2309 -:- 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
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Part 33 � Ruffled
Feathers

Mercifully, Megan didn�t rub it in that Don had screwed up
the interrogation.� Instead, she set to
soothing Charlie�s ruffled feathers and left Don to brood in peace.�

Don was in the break room, gloomily stirring Splenda into cold
coffee, when something out of the corner of his eye made his head jerk up.

�Dammit!� he swore and raced out of the room.� He wasn�t in time, though.� Before he could stop her, Sanchez had yanked
open the door to the interrogation room and advanced on Rubel.

�Who is stabbing me in the back?� Sanchez demanded.� �Which one of my agents is giving you intel?�

Rubel stared at her.

�Who is it?� she yelled again.

Don stepped in behind her and said wryly to Rubel, �Matt
Rubel, meet Jan Sanchez, head of the LA office of the DEA.�

�Oh,� Rubel said, his lip curling.

�How many of my raids have you ruined?�� Sanchez snarled.� �How many tons of drugs are on the street
because of you?�

Rubel snorted.� �How
many people have you killed this week?�

�I want answers!�

�And I want World Peace,� Rubel said with a sneer.

�Jan,� Don said, taking her arm.� �Can we talk outside?� Just for a moment?�

Sanchez glared at him.�
�Fine.�� She shook off his hand
and stomped out of the interrogation room.�
In the hallway outside, she turned on Don and snapped, �Why didn�t you
tell me you had him?��

Don just raised his eyebrows and looked at her.

�Fine,� Sanchez said testily.� �But I�ll bet you ripped his head off too.�

�Yeah,� Don admitted, �But it didn�t get me anywhere.�

�You�ve got nothing
from him?�

�Well,� Don said, gesturing for Sanchez to step into the
observation room.� �We�ve gotten some,
but not from intimidation.�

Sanchez went into the room, joining Charlie and Megan.�

�Could you fill her in?� Don asked Megan.

Megan glanced between him and Charlie then nodded.

�Take a walk with me?� Don asked Charlie.

Charlie grimaced but went out the door.�

Don shut the door behind them and said, �I�m sorry.�

Charlie glared at him for a second then, unexpectedly, gave
him a sideways smile.� �No, you�re not.�

Don matched his smile and shrugged.� �No, I�m not.�
I mean, I�m sorry that you feel like I used you, but I ��

�Used me,� Charlie finished.

�Well, yeah,� Don admitted and pushed open the door to the
outside.� �But it worked.� Better than anything I tried.�� He leaned against the wall of the walkway and
looked out across the city at night.� He
was surprised that it was night.� He�d
completely lost his connection with normal night and day rhythms, the only
rhythm that mattered was Will�s sleeping and waking cycles.

�You � doing okay?� Charlie asked tentatively.

�Better every day that Will gets better,� Don answered
without looking at Charlie.� He hesitated
then asked, trying to sound casual, �How �bout you?�

�Me?�� Charlie
responded.� �What do you mean?�

�I mean, with Will getting shot.� Almost dying.�
Knowing that it could have been me.�
Or Colby.�

Charlie heaved a sigh and leaned on the wall next to Don.�� A year ago, Don would never have brought up
the difficult subject, and a year ago, Charlie would have gotten all tense and
defensive.� They�d both grown up in the
tumultuous last year.

�It bothered me,� Charlie confessed.� �It bothered me a lot.� I�ve computed all the scenarios over and over
where you get hurt or killed, then done the same scenarios for Colby.� In the end, I�ve realized that, contrary to
what seems rational, the best thing to do is not think about it.�

Don chuckled and looked over at Charlie.� �Now you�ve got it.�

�But how do you not
think about something?�� Charlie
continued.� �It�s like telling you not to
think about green jelly beans and automatically you think about green jelly
beans.�

�Sour apple.�

�See?� Charlie shook his head.� �Is that how you and Will manage it?� By not thinking about it?�

�Yeah,� Don said wryly.�
��Don�t make a will and you never die� sort of attitude.� Doesn�t always work.�

�Like this time,� Charlie agreed.� �Will�s mom could have ��

�I know, I know,� Don said. �Will and I will talk about
signing some form or something, soon.�

�You won�t just not think about it again?�

�Nope,� Don said definitely.�
�If Min had thrown me out, I think I would have done something really
stupid, like taking armed control of Will�s hospital room.� I never want to feel that helpless again.�
�
�And with Colby�s family �� Charlie said.

�Yeah,� Don said.� At
least it had been Min against the rest of Will�s family.� If Colby got seriously hurt, Charlie could
get shut out completely.

They gazed over the city for a moment, contemplating the
unfairness of the situation, then Don said, �We better go back in.�

They returned to the observation room to find it crowded
with agents.� Colby and David had joined
Sanchez and Megan and they were all watching a recording of Charlie and Rubel�s
conversation, interrupted as it was with Don�s intrusions.�

Charlie watched but Don leaned against the wall and looked
elsewhere.� He had no desire to see
himself screwing up, hearing it was plenty.

After Rubel had stopped talking and David had turned off the
recording, there was a thoughtful silence in the room.

�Maybe he really did pull the info on secret drug raids out
of the air,� Charlie mused.

�You mean, like bugs?� �Sanchez asked.�
�We get the office swept regularly, in fact, more often than the regs
say.�

�But what about an electronic bug?� Rather, I mean, a computer one?� Charlie
asked.

Sanchez shook her head.�
�The computer security is state of the art, best around.� Plus, we do extra checks all the time.�

�Well,� Charlie said with an apologetic shrug.� �I�m not saying that he�s broken your
security, but if anyone could do it, he could.�

�So, he�s not only broken in, but still in and completely
invisible?�� Sanchez threw up her
hands.� �Great, that�s helpful.�

�I could look around,� Charlie said meekly.�

Don was surprised to see Charlie look apologetic.� He must
be feeling guilty for being such a drooling fan girl to the man who got Will
hurt.� Don flashed a grateful smile
at Megan, who must have helped Charlie see Don�s point of view.

�Knock yourself out,� Sanchez said, a little testily.� �See if you can find what the best DEA techs
can�t.�

Charlie nodded.� �I�ll
start right on��

�In the morning,� Colby interrupted firmly.

�But��

�Rubel�s not sending out any more emails tonight,� Colby
said.� �You haven�t been sleeping well
since Will got shot.� I know.�
You are going home to bed.�

Charlie looked like he was going to argue, but Colby just
turned him around and gave him a gentle shove towards the door.

Charlie�s face flushed with embarrassment as he said to
Sanchez, �First thing tomorrow.�

Don saw that even Sanchez had to smile at the sight of Colby
being a mother hen to a grown man.

�Tomorrow, then,� she said.

�David, could you put Rubel in lock-up for the night?� Don
asked.� �I�m gonna go see Will and tell
him what�s been going on.�� He gave
Sanchez a tired smile.� �And he�s gonna
be a lot more pissed than you.�
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