Rora-s - Rora S.

thinking about how klingon courting works by the female roaring and throwing heavy objects and the male reading love poetry

My Coming Out Story

Disclaimer: Due to the personal nature of this story names have been changed as to not reveal peoples identity.  I’m not sure why I decided to post this story now. It’s something I’ve hadn’t written for awhile but never knew when or where to place it. I’m posting it now and I hope that if someone needs it now in their life they can read it and feel a little better about how things are going.  When I was little I really didn’t have a concept of what gay was. I grew up in a loving christian home with my mechanical engineer turned youth minister mom and my current electrical engineer dad who was also the music leader at church for a number of years. There were also my three siblings of which I was the second oldest. My life revolved around church. It was literally where I went to preschool and I spent at least five days a week there well into my teenage years. 

Growing up in this way wasn’t bad. I had a great community and family. However, that changed. I remember thinking during my elementary school days that I thought of guys and girls the same. The only thing was that I understood that when you get married girls marry guys and vice versa. That’s just how it was and I thought everyone felt the way I did. You just had to pair up like that. 

I had heard the word gay and understood the concept of it when I was in elementary school thanks to my church and one kid at my school. My mom told me he was gay and I didn’t believe it because he was so nice and from what I understood gay meant bad. (He came out when we were in middle school and was one of my inspirations later on.) 

Still the first time I had a personal connection with having that label was when some girls started a rumor that me and one of my best friends who was also female had kissed on the playground during recess. This was an outright lie and my violent tendencies at the time due to (at that time) unmedicated ADHD caused me to lash out and beat up the bully which got me sent to the principal's office. I didn’t tell anyone why I had beat up the girl just that she was being mean to my friend. As I was a frequent flyer in the office at that time they didn’t really question me all that hard anyway. Now that I’m older I can’t really tell you why I didn’t tell anyone what the girls said. Whether I was embarrassed, scared, or just too stubborn to give them an answer I don’t remember I just know I didn’t. 

Fast forward to middle school and I was a far more awkward, less violent teen. At this point I was still pretty unaware of the world around me in regards to the LGBT. I knew that there were some kids in my grade that had come out as LGBT that kid I mentioned before among them. Still to me it was something that was viewed as a bad thing they were sinners. It was all what church had taught me whether it be explicitly by some or implicitly by the majority it was still something I picked up on as a child. 

Then one day my mom told me that we had been invited by two of her friends from college to have lunch with them. It was at one of my favorite little cafes so I was really excited. She told me they were psychologists and that they were together. She also told me they were two men. I was shocked. I didn’t think gay people could have significant relationships like straight people. On top of that I couldn’t imagine my mom -- who by all accounts was the symbol of a perfect godly woman to my entire church community -- could be friends with them. 

Her response to my shock: “We’re christians, they are not, we hate the sin but we love the sinner. Despite being gay they are still good people but since they aren’t christians we can’t hold them to the same standard as us. They simply don’t believe in it.” (I paraphrased but this is the general idea of the conversation) 

It was the first time I had heard such a sentiment and I went into that lunch with a curious perspective. I was still a little shy so I didn’t ask about it but I watched them together, made note of their wedding bands (gay marriage wasn’t legal then but they were symbolic to them), and witnessed their love for each other. After that I started finding myself paying more attention to my peers who had come out. Many of which I ran in the same circles as. The more I watched and interacted and bonded with them the more my bigoted thoughts that gays were these lustful bad people faded and I realized they were normal people. 

That’s when I realized something. Not everyone loves both guys and girls and just picks a side. I learned that bisexuality existed. The next step I took in my journey was repression. I was a christian. Christians were not gay. I was not gay. I could not be gay. I was just imagining it and it’s not a big deal. Afterall I still like guys so we're fine. 

This lasted until my sophomore year of high school, choir class, and a girl with freckles, short multi colored hair, dazzling eyes, and the singing voice of an angel. The panic was real and my emotions would not shut up. I couldn't come to terms with it. With any of it. 

I denied my feelings for most of that year until one day I was with two of my friends. We were all writers and talking about different stories we were working on. Then one of them paused in the middle of what she was saying and turned to me saying “these characters are gay. We know you don’t believe in that stuff but that’s what it is” 

I looked back at her in shock and I responded with “that’s okay. I am a christian and while I might never practice that myself I’m okay with other people doing it. Hate the sin, love the sinner” my friend smiled at me and said that was the first time she’d heard such an accepting thing from a christian and continued telling us about her story as we headed to class. 

I was glad I put a smile on her face and made her feel accepted but honestly I felt like a complete piece of garbage. I’d simply parroted back to hear all the stuff that had been shoved down my throat for my entire life. Did I really believe it though? I couldn’t stop thinking about that conversation for the rest of the week. I also couldn’t stop thinking about that girl from choir class but that was honestly nothing new. 

About a week later our school had standardized testing going on. Which divided up kids into computer labs by grade and last name. Me and one of my guy friends we’ll call him Cane had luckily been seated near each other. During one of our breaks when we were allowed to talk. I went over and leaned on the desk next to him. He vented to me about how he had a crush on one of our mutual friends and was thinking about asking her out but was nervous. I gave him encouragement as best I could then he inquired whether I was interested in anyone. Before I really thought about it I answered yes. He asked who and after only a few moments of deliberation I admitted that it was the girl from my choir class. He acknowledged and agreed that she was cute before continuing on. I looked at him in surprise and pointed out to him that she was female. He said he knows and that it wasn’t that big of a deal if I liked girls. I thanked him and asked him not to tell anyone because I still wasn’t sure. He agreed to keep it under wraps but did tease me a little for my crush. 

After that conversation. I finally took the leap and began to look up the LGBT community online. I found forums and support centers and ted talks and messages and christians saying that LGBT was okay. I was ecstatic but still I was worried so I prayed and the more I prayed and researched and talked with other LGBT people the more I felt like a giant weight had been lifted off my chest. Finally I could admit to myself that I was in fact bisexual and I was okay with that and so was my God. 

I still wasn’t comfortable coming out to anyone yet. So I spent more time on online forums for LGBT youth and writers. I learned about the community and I embraced my crush on the girl in choir. Even though it didn’t pan out and I fell for a boy we’ll call him Reese and started dating him my junior year. It felt like things were going okay. I was able to tell one of my friends call them Alex finally that year and they intern told me that they were asexual. We were able to support each other in our closets and were happy. 

During my Junior year even though my feelings for the choir girl faded I ended up meeting another girl in my Fire and Rescue class at the career education center that partnered with my high school. We’ll call her Polly. She was an incredible person, bright and beautiful and unabashedly herself all the time. We bonded over marvel movies and writing. Even though I was dating Reese at the time I was falling head over heels for this girl. It took me a while to figure it out as slowly me and Polly became better friends but I was developing feelings for her.

Finally, my senior I got the courage (with support of Alex) to come out to my main friend group. It was at a marching band competition and everyone was super supportive. My best friend you can call her April she said she wasn’t surprised and Reese who was still my boyfriend at the time said he loved me and would always support me and this didn’t change that. I even came back out to Cane again because I had genuinely forgotten that he already knew. He reminded me of what he said that day. That it didn’t matter and he wouldn’t tell a soul. They were all proud of me for owning who I was. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

However, it couldn’t last. When I was telling April one of the band mom’s overheard and gave me a shocked and disgusted look. She didn’t say anything but she didn’t have to. She was known for being the gossip of the group and she was a religious friend of my moms. If she had overheard then it was only a matter of time before she told my mother. 

I was terrified. When I got home from the competition I watched my mom to see if she was going to react at all to me. She didn’t and I realized she hadn’t been told yet. I was relieved but knew that I wanted to be the one to tell my mom. I didn’t want her to hear it from a secondary source, especially not the gossip. So I got on one of my forums and talked to some LGBT friends who encouraged me before I took a deep breath and headed into my parents room. 

My dad was away on business so it was just my mother. I told her I had something to tell her and she gave me her attention. I explained that I had come to accept myself as I am and that I knew God had also accepted me as the way I am. I told her I was bisexual and waited watching her. 

She stared at me for a long moment. Her face was a mixture of confusion and fear and the next words out of her mouth I will never forget she asked “does this mean you’re going to hell?” 

I felt like someone had just pulled the floor out from under me. She didn’t understand and spent the next couple minutes trying to convince me I was mistaken or that this was wrong. We stayed civil and eventually she just said she needed to process this and sent me back to my room. I cried myself to sleep that night. 

The next day at school I told my friends what happened and they comforted me. When I got back from school and band practice I hid in my room until that evening when my father got home from his business trip. He came to my door and told me we needed to talk. My younger sisters were banished to their room as me, my mom, and my dad - who had been told by my mom - sat in the living room to discuss the fact that I was gay. 

Shortly after starting the conversation/argument a boy (Derek) who was like my older brother came over. He wasn’t biologically related to us but he had a key to the house, would often come over, referred to us as his siblings/parents, and was referred to by us as our brother/son. Me and him were very close and despite my parents wanting to send him to the other room I insisted he stay as things had already begun to get heated between me and my father. 

Derek helped keep the tension down but there was still plenty of yelling. He acted as an impartial mediator for most of it. My dad yelled a lot, my mother cried, I both yelled and cried. It was a rough night. It ended with me storming back to my room. A while later Derek came to my room and talked with me. He explained that he didn’t understand or know if he agreed with it but he’d make the effort and be there for me. I thanked him.

My house after that was tense to say the least. My parents avoid the subject at all costs. My sisters knew thanks to the yelling that night but didn’t comment on it. The next time my mom brought it up was to tell me that I couldn’t tell my cousin about it because she would spread it to the rest of my dad’s side of the family. She also said I couldn’t tell her mother, my grandmother, because she had a heart condition and it could kill her. Sometimes I still wonder how my grandmother would have reacted had I told her before she died. She once told me she had a friend who was gay and that she cared about him deeply. I think she would have accepted me. 

The first time my siblings brought it up was when me and my two younger sisters were left in the car while my mom ran into the store. We were listening to music and chatting when my sister asked “so how long did you know you were bi” I was surprised because up until then I hadn’t realized my sisters knew I was bisexual. I explained it to them briefly and asked what they thought of it. They both said they agreed that people should be able to love who they want to love. Though my sister Greta thought it was kinda gross because she didn’t get how two of the same gender could have sex. Still it didn’t change anything for them and they apologized for how our parents had been handling it. I was so thankful for their support. 

By the end of my senior year I was out and proud to all of my peers. I came out to my friend Hannah and Derek's girlfriend Mary at the same time as a casual drop in a conversation. Neither reacted at the time but asked me about it later. Mary more directly wanting to understand as both her and Derek are very religious. While Hannah was more of making a comment about me eyeing a girl that I had a crush on and being obvious. I can’t remember when I came out to my older brother James who lives in a different city. However, he never really questioned it beyond being tense when I brought it up around our parents. I was becoming bold in my identity. I had even written a love poem about about girl (Polly) for an english class assignment to stick it too a homophobic teacher. 

I ended up breaking up with Reese pretty early on my senior year as I realized what I felt for Polly. To this day I still consider my feelings for her the first time I fell in love with someone. I cared about Reese deeply and still do but only ever as a friend. Since we were in middle school people had been pushing us together and while we fit together on paper and from the outside. My feelings inside didn’t match and I didn’t want to lead him on. Polly was the one I truly wanted to be with but the same couldn’t be said for her. She had met a boy in her senior year and they were starting to talk. She really liked him and I was her main confidant for her feelings. I took them and I encouraged her to pursue a relationship with the boy because I knew she felt for him more than she did for me. She loved me but only as a friend. As her and her boyfriend got closer I worked to let go of my feelings for her gradually. 

Meanwhile my parents were like a looming dark cloud and it felt like I was stuck in a cage of some sort anytime I left the shelter of my friends. This only got worse when I graduated that spring and summer rolled around. I tried to get out of the house as much as possible but I didn’t drive and this made things difficult. The relationship between me and my parents began to get more and more strained to the point I almost ran away one night after my mom punched me. 

I began to view leaving for college that fall to be the holy land. My montra became that if I could only survive the summer I could make it. Me and my friend Hannah were going to the same college and going to be roommates. I was going to get to study what I loved and be who I was. I went into survival mode. Then the biggest mental strain hit. 

Every year since I was nine years old I went to church camp for a week in the summer. I had been going longer than I was supposed to because my mom was a leader of the camp and my whole family got to go even Derek and Mary. Normally Hannah would come as well but she had something else come up that year and couldn’t. I knew the place very well and absolutely loved it. It was a time of year I looked forward to and couldn’t wait to go back too especially since I was now a worker at the camp instead of just a camper. 

This year was tougher than most. I was given a lecture about not telling anyone that I was bisexual before I left because if they found out I was gay I wouldn’t be allowed to come back to camp. I was horrified at the idea and tried my best not to think about it. Even when I got a crush on my fellow female camp worker. It was a stressful week and it all culminated one night. 

I can’t tell you whether I believed what I felt in that moment. It all felt like a blur like I was about to shatter under the weight of everything bearing down on me all the lying and fighting. I think part of me wanted to believe that me being gay could be prayed away that night and that I could just stop having to deal with all this pressure. So that’s what happened. I told one of my leaders and they asked me a bunch of questions like had I kissed a girl or had sex and then they prayed for me.  

Afterward I told my mom and she literally cried about it hugging me and thanking God that I was healed. I felt sick and I threw up before I went to sleep that night. 

I went to college that summer as a straight girl and I held on to that label for most of my first semester. I loved college. Me and my roommate/best friend Hannah met three great friends that first semester, Sylas, Kurt, and Randall. Sylas was busy a lot so we mostly hung out with Kurt and Randall. All of us played D&D together and had movie nights. Me and Hannah also found a christian group on campus and got settled there. 

I thought I was happy with my life however I still felt sick and disjointed anytime the concept of homosexuality got brought up. It was a hard time and I prayed about it alot. I talked to some of my church friends about how I had turned back to straight. Until one day a video ended up in my recommendations and it was a ted talk. I clicked on it not realizing what it was and found that it was a gay christan woman talking about how these two factors don’t have to be mutually exclusive in life. I was riveted, I watched the entire video twice and felt my heart be convicted. God never wanted me to be straight; he never wanted me to change who I was. I loved me how I was. It was the people who had the problem. 

The minute Hannah got back to the dorm I came back out to her. Her exact words were “ah so you finally figured that out”. I was so grateful to have her in my life and we talked for hours after that. Not long after I started coming out to people again and in turn Randall came out to us about how he was bisexual as well. I finally felt free again. Going back home that winter was tough, however, it was made better by the support of my friends with regular skype calls and group chat messages. Not to mention since my parents thought I was straight they weren’t pressuring me anymore. 

When I went back to school things were still going great and I ended up meeting a girl named Eve in my EMT class. We immediately hit it off and started talking. It wasn’t long before I formed a huge crush on her but she was getting over a break up and I didn’t want to push. Still we became extremely close. Eventually, she did start dating a guy me and Hannah knew from a gamers club on campus. I had missed my shot. Then I went home for spring break and had to stay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hard being away from my friends and stuck in my parents house. Still we all had regular skype D&D sessions and texted a lot on the groupchat. 

During the months I was stuck at home I got a job working at the local Home Depot. I was excited to work as it was my first real job. My grandmother had owned a family business but I didn’t do much other than stock shelves there. Here I was a cashier and I enjoyed my job a lot even though it could get crazy. Then one day I was at my register and a fellow coworker I was aware worked in the paint department approached my register with a polar pop and asked where her wife was. I was confused and she noticed I was new and said not to worry about it and have a good day. I watched after her and saw her go up and greet my head cashier who was a female and give her the polar pop before heading back to the paint department. I was astounded. 

Not long after I had it confirmed that her and the female head cashier were married. Another cashier came out to me as non-binary and another cashier told me her brother was gay and she’d be the loudest ally ever if anyone tried to mess with me. I felt accepted like nothing else. It was incredible to feel so validated and free to be myself in my workplace. 

Going back to school that fall was difficult due to COVID-19. Me and my friends (Polly as well as she began attending college with us that year) could no longer host D&D at my and Hannah’s dorm like we did before because of the regulations. Thankfully Eve came up with a solution. She was the only one of us who lived off campus in a house she rented. We were welcome there anytime. I still had a massive crush on her and when I found out she had broken up with her boyfriend over the summer I almost asked her out. However, another guy had beaten me to it. We ended up going over to Eve’s house multiple times a week and I would go even when the rest of the group wasn’t before long I was sleeping over at her house regularly. Often when it wasn’t even planned. I was even dubbed the most responsible friend by her grandmother who absolutely loved me. 

Then her boyfriend at the time dumped her. The entire group rallied to comfort and support her. She took it really hard and I stayed over for a weekend to make sure she was alright. My feelings really started to grow as we got more physically intimate with cuddling and laying in bed together still it was all considered platonic. I really wanted to ask her out but didn’t know when it was too soon. Hannah and Polly both encouraged me to ask her out. 

Then another boy showed up in her life. I was greatly concerned and disheartened as their relationship was progressing in her typical pattern. I thought I had missed my chance. However, the boy made a fatal mistake as Eve is demisexual. She doesn’t like moving into physical contact beyond cuddling too quickly if at all and he started to push her to kiss him. She immediately stopped the relationship after he made overt moves that disregarded her clearly made boundaries and he was derogatory toward her. 

About one or two weeks later I was over at her house one evening and we were talking about him and dating and life. I finally took a deep breath and told her there was something I needed to tell her and I was afraid it would ruin our friendship. I confessed to her that I liked her and wanted to date her. I didn’t ask her out specifically though because she has told me in the past she has trouble saying no so I left out the question and simply told her how I felt to do with what she felt was right. 

She was shocked and immediately started smiling saying she liked me too. I was elated. We talked more about how we had been feeling and how we had both been worried about what the other would say and how she had been blind to my pining which apparently her last serious boyfriend had picked up on and was why he dumped her. (He later told her that he saw how we were together and began to see that me and her fit better than him and her and he wanted us to be together.) We started dating that night and I immediately called Hannah and Polly to tell them the news joking that since I couldn’t tell my parents that I wanted to tell them and they jokingly responded by giving Eve a talking to about not hurting me. 

The next couple months were ups and downs but me and Eve had each other to support and our relationship was very steady. One night when I was having a depressive episode because of my school situation (I was failing my virtual classes). I called my brother James to vent to him. While he was comforting me I told him that I had a girlfriend and he was immediately accepting, asking all about her and acting like it was normal until I brought it up specifically her being female. He assured me it didn’t matter and that he still wanted to meet her but wouldn’t tell my parents. 

That winter I had to go home again for break which would be a couple months. Eve gave me her spare PS4 and a headset so we could play games together long distance and we spent our last couple days together as much as we could. Prior to me leaving she surprised me with necklaces for us that were each half of the star wars rebels symbol. Her’s had the phrase “I love you” engraved on it and mine had the phrase “I Know”. 

That winter I missed her even after going back to work and finding that another character that is a part time drag queen got added to the staff. They also pretty much adopted me and my head cashier came out to me as gender-fluid. All of them were proud to hear I had a girlfriend and I was finally able to tell someone not my family all about her. I missed her a ton. So me and Eve came up with a plan. 

After some figuring with my parents she was able to come visit for a couple days between Christmas and New Years as my “good friend”. It was a great time. My three siblings that were there all knew she was my girlfriend, my little sisters having figured it out when the three of us were talking. One of my sister Georgie admitted that she was considering herself to maybe be asexual and my sister Greta (who at one point said being gay was gross) came out to me as also being bisexual. We all are able to support each other. 

Eve’s visit went really well and my parents adored her and she adored my parents. Though it was stressful especially right after she left and my grandmother who was visiting asked -- at the dining room table where me, my grandparents, my parents, and all my siblings were sat-- “did your girlfriend leave?” There was a split second where me and my siblings shared a telepathic moment of panic before remembering that in my grandmother’s vernacular she simply meant my friend that was a girl and I simply answered yes. 

As winter break moved along I began to discuss other options with my parents about my schooling. With my ADHD and my manner of learning, virtual classes were not working for me. I had failed most of my online classes meanwhile being near the top of my classes in my in person classes. It was an obvious disparity the only exception being my math class which was a hybrid class and I will admit was a failure mostly due to my lack of ability to understand math. 

I’d already been considering the idea since my depressive episode calling James who’d been the one to suggest it during the fall semester. But now the conversation was whether or not I would sit out the spring semester. After some discussion and the fact that I didn’t have a job in my college town but did at home and Hannah wouldn’t be coming back to school after graduating early. Meaning I wouldn’t have a roommate. (Polly and me had a fight and are not on speaking terms). The decision was finally made I would not be returning to college in the spring. 

It was a hard decision and I had to tell Eve. I took sometime to figure out what I would say since I knew it was going to be hard. Finally I worked out the words and told her that was going to be gone for longer than planned. I knew long distance would be hard and suggest we try to make plans to stay in closer contact with each other that way it wouldn’t be as bad. I’d told her when we first started dating that communication was the most important thing to me in a relationship. 

A week passed and we didn’t really discuss it as we were both busy with our individual jobs. Then I got a text from her saying she wanted to talk. The next text I received was her breaking up with me. She said she didn’t want to be the only one making the effort to see each other since she had a car and license and I didn’t. She further said she didn’t want me to feel like I wasn’t getting what I wanted out of the relationship since she was into physical intimacy. She’d decided we should break up and that was that. But she still wanted to be friends because she liked my family. 

I was very placated in my response. It was a complete shock. Both because it was over text and also it had seemingly come from nowhere. She’d never communicated such feelings to me. 

I reassured her that I never felt like I wasn’t getting what I wanted out of the relationship. I also told her we could still be friends but that it would take us time to figure out our balance with each other. 

I called texted James when it happened and he asked if I was okay. I responded with I don’t know and he immediately called me. We talked for a while and he comforted me about the situation. The next person I told was Alex. They comforted me as well and we figured out a day where we could hang out, watch movies and eat ice cream as the normal break up fix it. I was grateful for both their support. 

I was hurt by Eve’s actions. I took a risk bringing her to my home with my parents. If they had found anything out about us. I don’t know what would have happened and to call it quits without even trying to work through it or communicate how she was feeling. It felt like I wasn’t worth the effort of her feelings or time and investment. 

I’d made the first draft of this before the break up and the ending had read “I hope one day I will be be to get support from my parents as well but even if I can’t, I hope that I will st least be able to be my true self around them and introduce Eve as my girlfriend” 

That’s changed now. I don’t just hope that I can introduce someone as my girlfriend I hope that whoever I bring home will be accepted by my family for who they are and me for who I am. I’m not straight. I never have been. I might marry a man someday I might marry a woman but whoever I bring home. I will still be bisexual and I will never stop trying to be a voice for those who can’t speak up. Once I’m not under my parents roof. I hope I can live my true life and help those who have been muzzled and closeted for far to long as I have.

Everyone should know the international sign for Help Me. Let’s make this famous!!

The Life Series

This is a series I'm doing that's going to chronicle the Pevensie's lives if they would have stayed after the Prince Caspian movie. Starting with a young dryad growing up in the White Witch's reign. To the Pevensie's triumpant return to fight the telmarines. Moving on to an awkward courtship, a small expedition on the high seas with pirates (or maybe two expeditions), a king determined not to fall in love, and then a new generation carving their own stories into the Narnian world. It's the life of a family and of a nation and it's just like any life should be: A grand adventure!

It’s here: Book 1- Chapter 1 

Kitty realizes she has more than one paw

(via)

The Derivative  Chapter 4: Talk

Chapter 1 <- Chapter 3

“In twenty years of teaching. I’ve never received evaluation comments like these.” Larry complained as we followed my uncle on an afternoon hike. “Boring. Me? Intellectually inaccessible.” 

“I thought we came up on this hike to get your mind off of this ridiculous thing.” Charlie pointed out. 

“I mean, one student even said I’m out of touch with cutting-edge thinking in multidimensional theory. That one alone kept me up at night” Larry explained as we scaled a small incline. 

“The first two seem plausible but the third” I shrugged “don’t let it get under your skin” 

“Thank you young enigma for the jaded advice” Larry murmured. 

“Anytime” I replied with a smirk. 

“Everybody gets bad evaluations now and then. Come on!” Uncle C hurried us along. 

“Yeah, yeah says the professor who never received anything less than a rave” Larry replied sarcastically. 

I chuckled “rave? Really?” 

“Indeed student body favorite practically” Larry informed me. 

“As with any large group, there are responses that cover the entire spectrum. I once had a girl in my combinatorics seminar tell me that I was disorganized and I talked too fast.” Charlie explained as Larry leaned on a branch to catch his breath and I took a sip of my water bottle, wondering how I managed to get dragged out here with these two. 

“Well, that’s an accurate observation actually.” Larry admitted. Charlie gave a mildly bewildered look directed at me and I nodded my agreement “but, generally speaking, I mean, your students love you, whereas mine say my classes put them to sleep.” 

“You’re an exceptional professor.” Charlie reassured his friend. “I should know I took classes from you.” 

“Yeah but you were an exceptional young mind” Larry pointed out as a couple other hikers passed us “perhaps I’ve lost my ability to reach the more typical student”  

“Hey Professor Fleinhardt,” one of the passing boys nodded to Larry. 

“Hey” the physicist greeted happily “How’s it… how’s it… how you… how…” Each attempt made to continue conversation failed on the man’s part as the boys continued to walk either not registering or ignoring the professor's attempts. “See we’re not even in class,and still my students run away from me.” 

“Hiking away technically” I corrected casually. 

There was then the sound of a police siren in the distance “I don’t think that’s it” Charlie muttered from his higher vantage. He began to hurry off in the direction the students had gone. Me and Larry followed. “Right down this way. Hurry!” 

What greeted us was a full scale crime scene. With a coroner's truck, police officers, and others gathered masses of observation. As we got around the corner of a police car I felt my feet freeze to the ground. There was a body laying a couple yards away below the bridge overhead. 

I felt the ghost of rain drops on my skin and felt the family spiking headache rocket through my brain. They were in a red hoodie. It was a boy. But each time I blinked as I began to do so furiously I was switching between this reality and the one of the girl with bright red hair. The rain was picking up, the headache was pulsing. I couldn’t breathe anymore. 

“Abby” I snapped my head around as a hand laid on my shoulder. Charlie was looking at me with concern evident in his features. “Are you alright?” 

I bounced my eyes around the scene. It wasn’t raining, it wasn’t at night, and we weren’t out on that street. I took a couple calming breaths before finally replying “yeah yeah fine” I muttered. 

“You sure?” Charlie asked again. 

“Fine” I reiterated. I caught Larry eyeing me worriedly as well. “Guys seriously I just- I didn’t expect that” I gestured vaguely in the direction of the body I did not need, or want, to look at again.

“Me neither” Charlie murmured in agreement, taking his hand off my shoulder and his features turning to one of contemplation as he looked at the bridge.

“Very well, you were just exhibiting the common signs of what one might call a panic attack” Larry voiced. 

“I’m fine, really just rattled” I tried to sound convincing. From the look on Larry’s face he wasn’t convinced but he dropped the issue and for that I was glad. 

_________________

3rd POV. 

Don sighed as he got out of his car and headed into the FBI building. His phone beeped as he made his way through the lobby and he looked to see it was Abby. “hey kid what’s up?” he answered trying to sound like he had some energy. 

“Am I going to the apartment or Grandpa’s house after school today?” she asked, sounding about as tired as he felt. 

Don thought about it for a minute “go on to your Grandpa’s alright I’ll call the school clear it up”

“So you are looking into the guy who jumped off the bridge?” Abby asked as Don clicked the elevator button. 

“Just a little for Charlie’s sake” Don muttered then a thought occurred to him. “Wait how do you know about this? Charlie talk to you?” 

“Uh… I was there when Larry and Charlie came upon the scene” Abby admitted. 

Don let off a breath. “You alright? I mean that can be some scary stuff.” he couldn’t help thinking about his first jumper case.

“Yeah I’m fine I just wish people would stop asking” Abby grumbled snappily that did not reassure Don at all of her being fine. 

“Abby, it's okay if some of this got to you” Don reassured as the elevator opened and he got on. 

He heard her sigh on the other line “I know it’s just… it’s not what people think it’s about and it’s hard to talk about” Don was confused at the answer but before he could probe more she was continuing “I have to get to class now. See you later” 

“Yeah okay, bye” Don muttered before she hung up. He let off a breath pocketing his phone. He was going to have to deal with that later, or maybe it would be better to let her work through it on her own? He was still contemplating these thoughts when the elevator opened and he was walking out. “Dad? What are you doing here?” he questioned seeing the man. 

“I called you; you hadn’t called me back” Alan explained. 

“Well, I would’ve eventually” Don assured “is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Alan muttered in reply “I need you to come to dinner at the house on Wednesday. Um, I have a date” 

“Oh yeah? A date” Don tried to sound encouraging. “Hey, well, that’s good. With who?” 

“Oh, someone Art knows from yoga” Alan explained. “Yeah, her name’s Jill. he says she’s smart, she’s funny, and, uh, quite flexible” Alan spoke the last compliment to the woman with a hinting look and slight chuckle “So I.. we’re having dinner at the house and I would like you to be there.” 

“Wow, hey, no.” Don began to quickly try and work his way out of the perceivably awkward dinner. “Just take her somewhere low-key. You’ll be fine” he suggested leading his dad back to the elevator. 

“Look, it’s my first date in over 35 years.” Alan grumbled “I would like ‘memorable’ instead of ‘low-key’” 

“‘Low-key’ and ‘memorable’ aren’t mutually exclusive.” Don objected “you know what my favorite date ever was? Pepperoni pizza in a laundromat.” 

“Yes, which explains the conspicuous absence of grandchildren.” Alan muttered then thought “well I guess planned grandchildren.” Don sighed and gave his father a look “So, Wednesday, 7:30. Bring a date?” 

Don shook his head “I can’t. Dad, I’m busy, and I don’t anticipate meeting anyone between now and then either. By the way your unplanned grandchild is heading to your house after school in” he glanced at his watch “40ish minutes so you should get going.” 

“Of course she is” Alan sighed “No, but anyway I just want to make it a couples thing, you know? Look like, seeming like…” 

“Well I don’t think-” Don cut off as the elevator opened with a ding revealing Terry standing there. 

“Hi” she greeted Don “hey Mr. Eppes” she also greeted Alan with a mild curiosity to his presence evident on her face. Her and Alan switched spots as she exited the elevator and he entered. “Good to see you” 

“You too” Alan agreed as she walked away then he turned to his son “you’ll think of something” he made a suggestive nod after Don’s partner. The FBI agent sighed as the doors slid shut and he walked away. 

________________

Abby POV. 

I headed into my grandfather’s house tiredly. I hadn’t slept last night after seeing that boy the other day. Images of him and another memory from months ago swapping places and intermingling in my mind. It was like my brain was caught in a cyclone. 

“Abby? You here?” Gramps called from his chair as I came in the door. 

“Yeah” I called back. 

He looked over at me, glasses perched on his nose. “You alright you look beat” 

“Just tired,” I admitted taking a seat next to him. Tossing my bag on the floor. 

“Rough day at school?” he quizzed. 

I shook my head “trouble sleeping. Charlie didn’t tell you? A CalSci student committed suicide yesterday. Larry, Uncle C, and I stumbled upon the crime scene while going for a hike” I explained. 

“Oh my word” Alan sighed “that’s horrible I mean I saw the news. That poor boy’s parents but you seeing that. I’m sorry” 

I shook my head “no I’m fine it’s not-” I swallowed my words. 

“Not what?” Alan prompted my abrupt stop. “Abby, listen if this is making it hard for you to sleep I don’t think it’s nothing. If you try talking about it maybe it’ll help” 

“It’s just- it’s hard to explain sometimes.” I voiced carefully. 

Alan put down the paper he was reading and removed his glasses shifting in his seat to face me. “It can’t hurt to try and explain it Abby” 

I bit my lip but let off a sigh collecting my thoughts for a moment “because of my AEM, my memory thing, I- I get these- these attacks. It’s my memory but it’s things I don’t want to remember don’t choose to remember. And- and these intrusive memories they just- sometimes in the moment I can’t keep them straight from reality it’s it’s-”

“It's scary,” Alan finished my sentence, reaching out to give my hand a squeeze. I nodded “and these attacks they’re like panic attacks? Triggered by something?” 

“Yeah they’re a lot like that” I replied feeling oddly better now that someone knew about it. “My blinders and music help calm me down” I told him, finding it easier to continue now that I’d started. Alan nodded taking in the information easily. 

“So seeing that scene, this boy, it caused one of these attacks?” he deduced. I nodded “your mother?” 

“No” I objected quickly, opening my mouth to say more but feeling it cut off by visions of red hair and pools of water on the ground under street lights. I swallowed.

“It’s okay if you can’t talk about it yet” Alan reassured me and I looked up at him again “just know when you do I’m here for you so is Charlie and your father. Now you might get tired of me saying this but uh.. Abby you’re not alone and- and if these intrusive memories are a struggle for you you should tell Don about them” 

“I know” I smiled lightly “It’s just-” 

“Hard” Alan finished my thought again “some of the most important parts of life are” 

I sighed knowing he was right “thanks for listening” 

“Of course” he nodded and picked his glasses and paper, back up again. “Oh, uh by the way. You’re going to be hanging out with your Uncle Charlie Wednesday night or otherwise at Don’s” 

“Why?” I asked in confusion. 

“I have a, uh, a date and I’ve asked your father to be there hopefully with his own date.” Alan explained awkwardly. 

I scoffed “Don on a date?” 

“Yes, that’s not a problem for you is it?” the man asked.

“No” I objected but the slight curling in my stomach was telling me internally the opposite. “I’m going to go work on my homework upstairs,” I told Alan, grabbing my bag. 

“Alright” Alan nodded, perching his glasses back on his nose. I sighed getting to my feet and heading from the room. 

____________________

“Let’s see how it does in high winds.” Charlie stated, beginning to type the information into the computer. 

Larry made a humming noise and looked over at me “and what are you reading over there?” 

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” I replied. 

“Fascinating” Larry nodded “I have to say I wouldn’t have pegged you as one who read young adult fiction despite your age. I was informed you read quite a leap beyond your level” 

“I do” I answered easily “doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good story and relatable characters”

“Fair enough” Larry agreed then made another humming noise of thought “you know young adult literature much like it’s intended audience tends to be underestimated in the long run by people. Such as the young man whose work we are interpreting was ignored by his elders in his warnings” 

I scoffed turning the page of my book “preaching to choir here” 

“School still won’t let you in advanced classes?” Charlie asked. 

“No” I mumbled “I mean they do realize it’s not my fault I missed so much school” 

“Yes, well if you ask me the greatest failing for one who wants to be an educator is to grow up and forget what it means to be young” Larry mused.

“How profound” Charlie muttered sarcastically “now can we focus please?” 

“Why of course” Larry agreed, shooting me a look before I turned back to my story. 

__________________

“Hey Chuck what’d you find?” Don asked, coming into the office alongside Terry. 

“The problem is wind” Charlie explained, shuffling over to where Larry sat and I stood behind the computer. 

“Wouldn’t they have already tested for stability in winds?” Don questioned, dubious. 

“Engineers test structural response to gusts along two axis north to south and east to west.” Larry informed 

“And, in those cases, a single side supported by two corners bears the brunt of the wind load” Charlie carried on the explanation. 

“Think of a straight-on wind as two cars colliding” Charlie posed the analogy “in contrast-- excuse me--” he shuffled Larry out of his seat to take control of the computer “quartering winds hit a building at an angle, exerting pressure on two sides anchored by a single corner.” 

“It’s like one target, two bracing going to two targets one bracing” I voiced with a shrug. The non-mathematically inclined people still looked mildly confused. 

“Imagine a car getting hit from the back and the side simultaneously.” Charlie continued with the car analogy. 

“Can those winds cause structural issues?” Terry inquired. 

“Our tests showed that the Cole Center is sound for head-on winds of up to 90 miles an hour” Charlie showed them the simulation “but here’s what happens with quartering winds as low as 60 miles per hour” he plugged it into the simulation and began to narrate what we were showing them “first the steel frame bends beyond its limits and stays bent. Then this strained steel hardens and becomes brittle. Under continuing stress this steel will fracture, causing complete structural collapse.” the computer beeps rapidly as the simulation reached its third stage “Finn Montgomery found the problem in the building’s deflection. He suspected the effects would be serious.” Charlie stated as the digital building collapsed “he was right and he may have paid with his life” 

“Alright we’ll bring it up to Cole, get people out of the building to start then start looking to see who’s responsible” Don assured. 

“Thanks Don” Charlie nodded. 

“Yeah well we still gotta see what Cole says, alright” Don told his brother. 

“Sounds like an early day tomorrow” Terry voiced “I better get home then” 

“Yeah, thanks for coming tonight” He told her. Shuffling away from those of us still testing the math on the simulation by the computer. 

“You’re welcome and it was for the most part enjoyable” Terry told him. “See you tomorrow. Have a good night you three” she called to us with a wave. 

We called back fair wells in response as she headed from the office. “Alright kid we should get back too. Got school in the morning” 

I heaved a sigh “right coming. Night Uncle C, bye Larry” 

“Night,” Charlie called, not looking up from his computer and Larry offered a wave. 

I grabbed my bag and books and followed Don out of the office. “So you and Terry had fun?” 

“Uh yeah more than dad anyway. Bit of a train wreck for the poor guy” Don explained. I made a humming noise of acknowledgement wondering what had gone so wrong to qualify as a train wreck. “Listen, I know you said you were fine with this whole thing but- uh you know I’ve seen enough to be able to tell when someone’s not fine and it’s okay if you need space to deal with it or whatever but uh, I just I guess if you have to talk about it.” he kinda trailed off with gesturing hands as words failed him. 

“We really suck at this communications thing” I determined. 

Don scoffed as we exited the building “yeah well at least we’re trying” 

“True,” I murmured and took a deep breath. “there is something I need to tell you. There’s this thing I have. Gramps correlated it with panic attacks but it’s part of my memory they call it-” 

“Intrusive memory right?” Don interjected. 

I snapped my head up to look at him “you know about it?” 

The man nodded “yeah it was in your medical records. Social worker warned me about it. I am your legal guardian if you recall” 

“Oh” I murmured realizing I probably should have realized he knew about this sooner “so why didn’t you say anything about it?” 

“Well, I figured you’d talk to me about it when you were ready or at least not until you had an attack or something” Don explained awkwardly. 

A small smile came to my face “thanks” 

“Hey you’re my kid. As new as I am to this parent thing I can stand to get a couple things right” he told me. 

I laughed lightly “okay” 

“Okay” Don nodded “now let's get out of here it’s late” he pulled me into a small side hug arm around my shoulder as we headed toward the car and I couldn’t help but keep smiling. 

________________

“Yo!” Don called coming in through the back door. 

“We’re in here.” Alan called in reply. 

A moment later Don came in with a box setting it on the dining room table “Hey, All right, FBI accountants went over all of Nevelson’s financials, and these are all the documents that relate to the foundation. Our people could find nothing.” 

“So why didn’t you have Charlie look at the records in the first place?” Alan inquired as I continued to eat quietly. Saving my ‘I could help’ pleas for later. 

“The FBI has a team of excellent forensic accountants.” Charlie objected. 

“I know.” the elderly man clarified “but it wouldn’t be the first time you find something that they missed.” 

“You know, a lot of mathematicians do have eidetic numerical memory” Charlie explained “similar to Abby’s ability to remember everything she encounters visually only specifically geared toward numbers that are repeated and in patterns”

“So my memories better” I commented with a smirk. 

“Your visual memory yes” Charlie gave me a look as he got up and began looking through the papers. 

“So I could be able to help,” I pointed out. 

“Yes you-” Charlie cut off looking back at his brother “but you probably shouldn’t” 

“Yeah and I’m saying you’re not going to,” Don declared as Charlie took the box and headed into the foyer. 

I groaned rolling my eyes “you know once I turn eighteen I’m going to get my clearance and then you won’t be able to stop me”

“Yeah well right now you’re going to help me with dishes while he works on that” Don decided collecting plates “come on” he chided and I gathered my plate and cup as well as Alan’s.

“No here I got it uh…” Grandpa objected and glanced at my dad’s back who was walking into the kitchen as he stood up. “I want to talk to Don for a second alright?” 

“Alright but if I happen to stay out here and see Charlie’s stuff for the case..” I trailed with a pointed look. 

“Fine I’ll cover for you. Deal?” He replied. 

“Best grandpa ever” I smiled and he hummed with an amused smile on his face as I turned and headed after my uncle. 

_______________

3rd POV.

Don looked over his shoulder as he entered the kitchen and was surprised to see his father following him rather than his daughter. “What happened to Abby?” 

“She had homework I made her go work on it” Alan replied “you know she’s stubborn about that stuff puts it off” Don let off a humming noise his instincts of suspicion kicking in “mainly cuz I wanted to ask you about something.” 

“What?” Don gave his father a look as he put the dishes in the sink. This made more sense. 

“You’re best date ever was with your partner?” Alan inquired and immediately Don realized why Alan had pestered Abby away before asking. 

“Dad, please” 

“No, it’s just a simple observation.” Alan defended as they put away the food. “I mean if it was so great why did you split up?” 

“It was an academy thing” Don explained “we got posted to different places. We had our careers to concentrate on.” 

“So now you’re in the same city, same careers” 

“Same office” Don cut his father off “which, in our case, can be a dangerous thing.” 

“Your mother and I met at work.” Alan posed.

“In the lunch line.” Don pointed out “Look, Dad, Terry and I have to see each other every day. You know? We have to look out for each other.”

“So that means any trust issues are already behind you.” the father suggested. “Plus Abby seems to like her” 

“Look, just because you’re eager to start dating again-” 

“Eager? Are you kidding me?” Alan cut his son off exasperatedly “you saw me last night. I know, I know, I know I got to get back into it. Your mother said I should meet new people after she was gone.” 

“Well, that’s right. That sounds like her” Don agreed. 

“I know she made me promise.” Alan sighed “I mean, she knew that, without a push, that I might not do it. So she pushed” Don nodded considering his father’s words. “And remember Donnie you’ve got more to think about than just yourself now” 

Don sighed “yeah I know” he looked out the kitchen door toward the space in the house his daughter was somewhere. 

“Being a parent is never easy and it’s twice as hard to be a single parent doing the work for two” Alan voiced. Don let out a breath and the two men were silent for a moment. “Just consider this your push” 

A moment later Abby popped her head into the kitchen. “Me and Charlie found something in the records.” she announced.

“You and Charlie?” Don questioned giving her a stern look. “What happened to homework?” The teen grimaced slightly and shot a look to her Grandfather who held his hands up in surrender. Don sighed “show me what you found” 

Abby led him out to the table in the foyer where Charlie had the records spread out under a light. “You’re never going to believe this,” Abby murmured. 

“Believe what?” Don asked, confused. 

“Fake people” Abby stated as if that were clearer. 

Don looked to his brother “Now, here is a list of workers employed in building the foundation”

“And?” Don questioned. 

“And a lot of them don’t exist.” Charlie stated “yeah. There’s a preponderance of fours and sevens in the union ID numbers, which could be due to accounting codes, except they show up in the overtime hours like, 14s and 17s everywhere here, here, and here” Charlie showed Don the various documentation. “These numbers, they can’t be explained by random occurrence. Somebody made them up. They’ve been fabricated by someone who likes these numbers who left behind a pretty obvious pattern.” 

“Fake people” Abby reiterated. 

“Well obvious to you” Don grumbled looking the paper over. 

“People like us” Abby clarified “honestly your forensic accountants should have picked up on it” 

“Here’s a very interesting thing also.” Charlie hurried over to the other side of the table as Don shot his daughter a warning look at her disrespectful tone. “All the, ah, all the workers we’ve identified as fake are listed as welders. Except there aren’t any other welders on the payroll backup.”

“Well you can’t build a foundation without welders” Alan piped in from the tv room “sounds like Nevelson was using a shadow crew.” 

“So how would that work, Dad?” Don asked as Alan walked over. 

“Non-union laborers, usually illegal aliens. They pay them under the table.” the former city planner explained “see, the contractors would use them at night to avoid the unions.”

“So what? Like lower pay, no overtime, medical benefits?” Don questioned. 

“That’s right,” Alan nodded heading back to the kitchen. 

“But people still get hurt,” Don voiced thoughtfully. “And there’ll be hospital records” 

________________

Abby POV. 

“So I am getting right back on that horse” Alan declared as the four of us sat at a restaurant eating. “Not that this lady is anything like a horse.” he added “she’s really quite attractive.” 

“So it’s not a blind date?” Don clarified. 

“No, it’s the butcher that sold me the duck.” Alan explained. 

“No” Don chuckled. 

“Yes” Alan insisted “yeah, she’s very nice and she really knows her waterfowl.”

“Right” Don scoffed. 

“Good luck Gramps” I encouraged. 

“Why thank you Abby” Alan smiled then turned to his younger son “Charlie. Charlie” When the mathematician was only somewhat responsive the elderly man turned back to me and Don “this is not the brilliant thought brood. This is the other brood.” he informed. 

“You alright Charlie?” Don asked. 

“You knew it was a suicide.” Charlie stated 

“No look,” Don objected, shaking his head. “I said from the get-go I didn’t know, but I did suspect.” 

“Despite all the variables and the inconclusive autopsy, and the layers of crime that were uncovered?” Charlie pressed. 

“The fact that the kid exhibited suicidal behavior and then he did it.” Don explained. “It’s Occam's Razor, you know? I mean, the simplest answer is usually the right one.” 

“Occam’s Razor?” Alan questioned. 

“What?” Don gave us looks as we all began to chuckle slightly “I read a book every now and then. I mean I did help in the creation of the biggest book worm I know.” he ruffled my hair slightly. 

“Occam was a philosopher, he wasn’t a mathematician” Charlie pointed out “and what he actually said was that you shouldn’t make more assumptions than needed. It’s the basis of methodological reductionism. So, any given data set,...” 

“And I thought school was done for today” I muttered as Charlie began to scribble on a napkin. Don and Alan just scoffed and let the man go. He needed to talk right now.

Chapter 5 -> 

phases of joining a new fandom

1. obsessively consume all canon content faster than human beings should be capable 2. pick a ship at random and read 2/3 of everything that exists on AO3 for that ship 3. The YouTube Edits Phase™ 4. what’s in this tag on tumblr? (repeat as many times as necessary) 5. scream

The Derivative Chapter 17: Kids Stuff

Chapter 1 <- Chapter 16

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

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

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

“No problem” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What can I do?” Charlie asked. 

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

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

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

“You got it,” Charlie agreed. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

“How’s he doing?” Don asked. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You sure?” Don pressed carefully. 

“The doorbell rang,” Daniel voiced. 

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

Daniel shook his head “just the gun” 

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

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

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

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

___________________

Abby POV. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Boo” I shrugged. 

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

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

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

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

“Ah, so an FBI case” I voiced. 

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

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

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

“What’s a Syntel Corp?” I asked. 

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

“Oh” I nodded in realization.

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

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

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

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

“175,000” Larry sighed. 

“Dollars?” Charlie questioned in surprise. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That’s right,” Charlie agreed. 

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

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

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

“Right,” Charlie nodded. 

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

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

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

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

“But they both-” 

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

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

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

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

“What’s that?” Larry questioned. 

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

________________________

3rd POV. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Thanks” Don muttered but knew she was right. 

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

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

“Seriously? Charlie?” Megan asked skeptically. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_______________________

Abby POV.

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

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

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

“Charlie that you?” Alan called. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

“This is Daniel.” Don introduced. 

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

________________

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

“Thanks” he murmured after a moment. 

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

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

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

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

“Mom’s is better,” Daniel stated. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Who?” Don questioned. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3rd POV. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Abby POV. 

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

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

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

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

I shrugged “couldn’t sleep” 

“Nightmare?” 

“Sort of” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Goodnight” he called in reply. 

________________

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

“Okay for what?” Charlie questioned. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

__________________

3rd POV. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Abby POV. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I winced “oh that’s not good” 

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

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

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

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

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

“You’re no fun Uncle C” I pouted. 

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

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

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

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

“I imagine so,” Charlie agreed. 

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

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

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

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

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

“And?” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That’s cool Larry,” I commented. 

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

_________________

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

“Daniel’s missing,” Don quickly informed. 

“What!?” 

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

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

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

“I would have seen him,” Alan insisted. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Running away?” I asked in confusion. 

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

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

“I hope he’s alright,” Alan muttered. 

“Me too Gramps” I agreed. 

______________

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

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

Charlie scoffed “admit it you liked having him around” 

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

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

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

“What am I chop liver?” 

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

“Ah” I scoffed. 

“Don’t start dad.” Don complained. 

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

“Come on,” Don muttered. 

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

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

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

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

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

“I’m crunching numbers, kid” 

“Oh yeah?” 

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

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

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

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

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