The Derivative Chapter 13: I Know
The Derivative Chapter 13: I Know
Chapter 1 <- Chapter 12
“Well I didn’t exactly have a lot of options” I argued, hopping out of the car.
“Maybe not but that sounds like an odd one for a snack” Alan stated getting out and grabbing the grocery bag in the back seat.
“Ugh you sound like my mother” I grumbled as we headed toward the house.
“Greetings friends” we turned at the call to see Larry walking up the drive.
“Oh Larry what brings you here?” Alan greeted.
“Well I was looking for Charles with the intention of spurring him into action on some of the math he promised me” the man explained.
“Hey Larry you haven’t heard anything about my acceptance at CalSci yet have you?” I asked as we headed to the front door.
“I’m afraid not but rest assured me and your uncle are keeping our ears to the metaphorical ground for any word from the admission board” Larry replied.
I let off groan “I hate waiting”
“Don’t worry, I'm sure they’ll accept you. You’re a great student” Alan assured me.
“Well who knows I mean the school does get similar applications from young gifted applicants each year so” the physicist ended his statement with a shrug.
I let out a breath still very anxious about the whole thing “thank you for that Larry” Gramps muttered with an annoyed edge as he opened the front door. “Hey Charlie”
We headed into the house to see Charlie sitting at the table looking over some papers with a woman. “Hey, this is officer Morris of the California Highway patrol” the professor introduced the woman who smiled. Then he gestured to us “this is my father, my niece, and Dr. Fleinhardt”
“Oh, please don’t tell me you got another speeding ticket?” Alan joked.
“Actually your son’s helping me with an accident investigation” Officer Morris explained rising from her seat to shake my grandfather’s hand and then Larry’s, then mine “we’re trying to figure out what caused it.”
“I didn’t know you were consulting for the CHP. Are you?” Alan inquired.
“Don’s case” Charlie clarified.
“Oh so this is why he ditched me here instead of taking me to the movies on his day off like he promised” I spoke with a slight edging looking at the documents laid out on the table.
“Yeah? What sort of accident involved the FBI?” Larry questioned.
“Prison bus crash” Morris informed.
“The one I saw on the news.” Gramps inferred. “The bus with the escaped convicts? Don is working on that, huh?” Alan muttered the last bit as he sat down the grocery bag.
“Yeah. Why?” Charlie questioned most likely sensing the same change in Alan’s demeanor as I had.
“Oh nothing” Alan brushed the matter off as Larry took a seat at the table “it’s just that your brother was working on fugitive recovery once for a while, uh, anyway” he shook his head.
“Appears to be basic Newtonian mechanics” Larry observed “the stuff of first-year engineering students. Now why are these elementary equations so captured your imagination?”
“Well, the confluence of so many unrelated factors coming together at a given point in time” Charlie explained “it’s actually quite a fascinating approach to Bayesian inference as applied to the analysis of time series data.”
“Yeah well as far as I know anytime an accident happens it’s because somebody made a mistake” Alan declared. “Am I right?”
“Actually most car crashes happen because of one overestimating their own ability, to make a turn or get through a light. Willing choices that’s why the common public word accident is a misnomer and reports call them crashes.” I informed absently then paused as all the adults’ eyes shifted to me “I read it once” I shrugged.
“This coming from the girl who doesn’t even have a license” Alan pointed out and I shot him a glare.
“Either way that’s what we’re trying to figure out.” Morris spoke up “whether there was a mistake and what it was”
“The answer’s not that simple” Charlie voiced as Alan pulled out his sandwich and went to open a beer I reached around him to grab my sandwich from the bag. “I mean, coincidences are a mathematical reality. Statistically unlikely events can and often do occur. Just look at the genesis of our planet.”
“Well now, I agree that the factors that brought about life on earth were statistically unlikely” Larry mused “but given the vastness of the cosmos, the limitless possibilities for matter and energy. I’m with Einstein on this. There are no accidents.”
____________
“I can understand the fascination of kinematic equations when working alongside an attractive female police officer” Larry voiced as we watched Charlie set up his little reenactment. “But, all the lawn equipment?”
“What you said about the confluence of the cosmos triggered a thought” Charlie explained “Abby you’re sitting in the road” he muttered shoeing me away so he could set down a skateboard. I scooted over to the side of the path.
“Ah, note to self: Never talk quantum theory again.” Larry voiced.
“The initial velocity of the bus barely exceeds that of the flatbed.” Charlie elaborated “the gap between them closing slowly, approximately two feet per second.” he moved the wheel barrel up.
“And then along comes the skateboard?” Larry questioned.
“That’s right, the pick up truck” Uncle C confirmed “the pick up truck pulls along the right side of the bus” he demonstrated with the skateboard’s movement. “Its velocity is 13 miles per hour greater than that of the bus. Now at this point the gap between the bus and the flatbed truck is at least..” he paused reaching for the paper in the wheelbarrow.
“84 feet” I supplied having seen the paper.
“Okay, that’s ample enough room for the pickup to safely maneuver in front of the bus” Larry declared.
“However” Charlie objected, continuing to manipulate the lawn equipment “the gap suddenly closed. The pickup veers in front of the bus forcing the bus to maneuver and hit the guardrail which causes it to torque and flip onto its side” I tilted my head as Charlie turned the wheelbarrow over.
“How did that gap close so quickly between the bus and the flatbed?” Larry inquired.
“Acceleration or deceleration” I voiced.
“Precisely.” Charlie nodded “two possibilities. One, the bus greatly increased its velocity.”
“No no no” Larry dissuaded that idea “given the mass of the bus, that’s extremely unlikely.”
I craned my neck as I saw Don’s car pulling up to the house. “Or two, the flatbed truck reduced its speed at the critical moment, causing the pickup to veer in front of the bus.”
“That’s it” Larry determined with the snap of his fingers “the flatbed slowed down”
“That’s right,” Charlie agreed.
“And that doesn’t mean anything good” I muttered letting out a breath.
“It would also mean” Larry mused.
“A Markov chain” Charlie finished the thought.
“Exactly” Larry muttered.
“Gentlemen and lady” Don greeted us as he walked up “what’s all this?” he looked over the reenactment.
“Just trying to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense” Charlie explained.
“Thought that’s what you do best,” Don sighed. “What, uh, what’s the problem?”
“Well, apparently, that seed spreader” Larry voiced.
Don gave a confused look and Charlie quickly jumped in “t-the flatbed truck”
“What- what about it?” Don inquired.
“The crash wasn’t an accident” Charlie informed. “Don, it was staged.”
“You’re sure?” Don pressed.
“Mathematically certain” I declared Don shot me a look “it’s lawn equipment and simple math please don’t lecture me on not helping”
Don sighed “fine later” he grumbled then turned to Charlie “think you can work up a model to show at the office?”
“That’s an easy matter of imputing these findings into a computer simulation” Charlie explained.
“Maybe the cute CHP lady officer can help you” I teased my uncle.
“Cute CHP lady officer?” Don questioned turning to his brother who shot me an annoyed look.
“It’s not like that,” Charlie objected.
“Sure Charles, sure” Larry murmured and we all shared a laugh at the mathematician's expense.
________________
3rd POV.
“All these different events and factors from the initial velocity of the bus to its final torque” Charlie explained to Don and Agent Cooper “all of these create what’s called a Markov Chain.”
“What kind of Chain?” Cooper questioned.
“Markov. A sequence of random values where the probabilities at any given time depend on the values at a previous time.” Charlie attempted to elaborate “the controlling factor in a Markov chain is called the transitional probability. Now in this case the bus reaches a certain point in the road just as the truck blocks the lane, just as the pickup cuts off the bus.” the professor gestured to his diagram.
“Which tells you it wasn't an accident?” Don asked with minor confusion.
“Bayesian statistics and the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation tell me that.” Charlie clarified.
“Are you sure you’re his brother?” Billy joked to Don.
“Yeah, you think he’s freaky smart you should meet my kid” Don replied off handedly focusing on Charlie and missing the double take Cooper gave him.
“If the flatbed truck had maintained its initial velocity, well then the pickup should have enough space to roam freely past the bus safely.” Charlie continued “but it didn’t.” he pressed a button going to the next image “the truck slowed down just as the right moment just as the pickup timed its move, forcing the bus to veer violently and overturn.”
“So the pickup driver and the flatbed guy are in on it,” Don deduced.
“Only the gardener’s missing” Cooper muttered.
“Let’s go find that truck driver” Don declared getting up and Billy following after him. “Good job Charlie thanks”
Don and Cooper exited the meeting room and headed through the bullpen. “So uh that comment about you having a kid that serious?” Billy asked as they paused by Don’s desk so he could grab his jacket.
Don let off a breath, his brain somehow just realizing that his former partner would have no way of knowing about Abby appearing in Don’s life a little less than a year ago. “Uh yeah um kind of a long story but uh you remember that girl from college I mentioned Janice Calvin?” Don asked as they headed toward the elevator.
“Yeah the one left you a note and went back home?” Cooper recalled.
“Yeah, well, turns out she was pregnant. And what will be a year ago soon I got this knock on my door from a social worker telling me she died and left a kid behind. And my name’s on the birth certificate” Don explained.
Cooper let off a breath “that’s crazy man.”
“You’re telling me” Don muttered as they entered the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby. “Still it’s been good having her in my life you know? Her name’s Abby and she just tested out of highschool as a sophomore applied to college for next semester”
“Really?” Cooper nodded then a slight smirk came to his features “so out of all these geniuses in your family how the heck did you end up like this?”
“Ah” Don scoffed, giving his friend a shove as the doors opened and they headed out chuckling.
__________
Abby POV.
“Why am I here?” I muttered in annoyance.
“Because I find this interesting,” Alan whispered back.
“That explains why you’re here, not why I am” I grumbled turning the page of my book.
“Well, if you’d quiet down you might just learn something” Alan suggested. I sighed and looked up at Uncle Charlie who was standing in front of a black baord that read “Math for Non-Mathematicians''
“Most people believe that they can trust their instincts” Uncle C explained “however, math suggests that our instincts aren’t always correct” he bent down and picked up a couple big white boards and big red X’s off the ground. “We’re gonna play a little game.” he declared, setting out the white cards on stands “I want you all to pretend that we’re on a game show, and I’m your cheesy game show host. And behind one of these cards is a brand new automobile.” he added a joking deepness to his voice at that last line that elicited some laughs from the audience of the class “and behind the other two are goats. Yeah, goats.” I rolled my eyes and turned back to my story.”I’m going to need a volunteer” I glanced up making sure my uncle wasn’t thinking of choosing me as a couple hands went up “come on, more of you than that. Come on.” he encouraged, receiving a couple laughs in response “Julie” he finally selected. “Why don’t you pick one of these cards? Remembering of course the object is to win the car, not the goat.”
“I’ll take the one in the middle” Julie chose.
“She takes the middle card” Charlie declared, sticking an X to the card. “And what are the chances that that card is the winning card?”
“One in three” Julie answered.
“Three choices, one car. Right?” Charlie clarified “one in three, it’s simple enough, right? Now, here’s where the game’s gonna take a turn. I’m going to reveal to you one of the cards that you did not choose” he reached to the card on the right and flipped it around to reveal a goat “So, we have two cards yet to be revealed. Now, knowing what you know, do you want to switch your choice? Or more importantly for the purposes of this class, does it matter? Will switching your choice improve your chances of winning?”
“Yes switch it” I muttered under my breath going back to my book. Alan gave me a side look.
“Well no. because now, two cards it’s 50/50, right?” Julie replied to the teacher.
“How many people agree with her?” Charlie asked.
“Don’t raise your hand” I mumbled sarcastically, turning the page of my book. Inevitable people did though most of the class in fact Alan looked around surprised.
“That’s what your instinct tells you, but you’d be wrong.” Charlie explained. “Switching your cards at this point actually doubles your chances of winning the car.”
“How?” Julie questioned.
“Well, since we started out with two goats,” Charlie explained “it’s more likely that your first choice was a goat. What are the odds of choosing the goats?”
“Two out of three” Julie answered.
“Right. So it’s more likely that this is a goat, less likely that it’s a car” the professor gestured to the center card “and it’s more likely that this card is a car” he pointed to the card on the left. “See switching your choice gives you a two-out-of-three chance of winning the car, rather than the one-out-of-three chance that we all began with.” he revealed the left card as the car to make his point. “Vroom vroom” he joked making the class chuckle. “You won a car, Julie. Congratulations.'' Then Uncle Charlie paused his eyes drifting to the back of the room before he checked his watch. “I think. Yeah, yeah, we’re out of time.” I looked back to see Don standing in the back of the room with another man who I could assume was another agent. “So uh, go home make some of these for yourselves. Put together some reasonable “n” samples, and uh.. Yeah see what happens. I’ll see you all next week. thanks.”
The students began to disperse and Alan followed my line of sight to Don and the other agent. He got up and I followed him back to the two men. “Hey Dad, what are you two doing here?”
“Oh I like coming whenever Charlie gives one of these math-for-dummies lectures. It’s the only time I actually understand what he’s talking about” Gramps explained “plus this one needed to get out of the house I couldn’t stand anymore anxious pacing about this acceptance letter”
“Hey I wasn’t pacing” I objected adjusting my backpack on my shoulders “much”
“This is Billy Cooper” Don introduced the man next to him. “He’s an agent I work with.”
“Hi” Alan greeted him with a hand shake “we’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“oh, yeah.” Don murmured “I couldn’t remember”
“You worked a case with Don out here once?” Alan guessed.
“Back in the day, yes, sir” Agent Cooper confirmed and glanced between me and my Grandfather.
“Donnie, can I talk to you for a minute?” Alan requested.
“Yeah, sure.” Don agreed and looked to Billy “just give me a second” him and Alan shuffled out of the room.
Agent Cooper turned to me “you must be Abby then” he inquired and I nodded “uh so your uh old man mentioned that you were some kind of genius like your Uncle” he gestured vaguely to where Charlie was packing up his stuff from class.
“Um yeah I have a decent IQ and an Advanced Eidetic Memory” I explained shifting on my feet.
“What’s that mean?” the agent asked.
“I have near perfect visual memory recall especially when I read” I explained gesturing to the book in my hand.
“Cool” Cooper nodded and glanced out the doorway to where Don and Alan were still talking.
“So you work with my dad?” I inquired blinking as the last word came out of my mouth easier than I thought.
“Yup” Cooper smiled “me and Don actually used to be partners back in the day when he worked fugitive recovery. Made a great team”
I smiled slightly “that’s cool”
“Hey agent Cooper” Charlie cut in as he came over to greet the agent.
________ 3rd POV.
Don walked with his father out of the room and into the courtyard outside. “Um- wh-what are you doing? What’s going on?” Alan asked, turning to Don once they were out of earshot.
“What are you talking about?” Don asked, confused.
“Well, I- I haven’t seen you for days. Not since you dropped Abby off.” Alan pointed out.
“I’m working,” Don explained.
“Yeah, I know, Charlie told me.” Alan informed “Are you going back to manhunting now?”
“Oh, I see. Dad, come on” Don sighed in annoyance. “Don’t. This is one case.”
“I seem to recall your saying that about only one case once before,” Alan pointed out, “but, if you remember, they were not good days for you, or for me. I mean, we didn’t hear from you for weeks. We didn’t even know where the hell you were.”
“Dad-” Don tried to interject but failed.
“You do realize that uh, chasing after someone you could be running away from yourself at the same time” Alan stated. “And now you’re a father Donnie, you have a daughter in there that relies on you and you have a responsibility to her. Have you even talked to her the last couple days?”
“Yes dad, of course I have'' Don finally interjected agitated. Then he sighed “contrary to what you might think I don’t plan to abandon her”
Before Alan could respond to that statement or before Don could process the emotions it set forth Charlie was joining them with Abby and Billy right behind him. Don looked at Abby for a moment as Charlie greeted them and asked Alan about his lecture.
Sometimes it was easy for him to forget she was a kid with how her brain worked and how stubbornly independent she could be. However, with her duct taped and sharpied shoes and ratty backpack she wouldn’t let him buy her replacements for, fading freckles and various superhero and tv show related t-shirts. She really was every bit the teenager her age dictated. A teenager who Don knew needed her father.
____________
“Hey” Don called walking up as Coop was loading up his car “So you’re out of here?”
“Heading to Phoenix.” Billy sighed “meth tweaker I been chasing.”
“No chance we could get you to stick around?” Don asked helping him with the bags “maybe put in for a position around here?”
“What, and settle down?” Billy chuckled.
“Hey, it’s not bad Coop, I gotta tell you.” Don advised leaning on the car.
“You don’t miss it?” Cooper inquired.
“No. Not really, no” Don shook his head.
“The rush you get when you’re hauling his ass in,” Coop tempted “your fugitive’s a couple hours ahead of you and you’re closing ground.”
“Alright, maybe a little,” Don conceded. “Hey, but not being in touch with my family, not being able to talk to anybody, I don’t miss that.” he took a deep breath “I don’t know, I think LA’s good for me.”
“Well” Coop sighed closing his trunk “plus you’re a dad now”
Don chuckled “yeah there’s that too”
“Listen that kid’s lucky to have you.” Billy told him “and if she’s anything like her old man she got a good future ahead of her”
“Thanks man” Don sighed as the two shook hands walking back toward the drivers side of the car “keep your head down, huh?”
“I’ll do that,” Billy nodded, getting in his car to leave.
___________
“You do realize watching out the window isn’t going to make him get here any sooner right?” Alan voiced.
Abby sighed and slid down to sit on the couch. “What’s taking so long,” she whined.
“Relax kid,” Don advised, taking a sip of his beer. “He’ll get here soon”
“Easy for you to say” Abby grumbled. Just then the door of the house opened and the trio sitting in the living room turned as Charlie walked in.
Abby bounced to her feet. “Do you have it? Do you have it?” she asked eagerly.
“Hello to you too” Charlie mumbled earning him a glare from his niece. “It’s right here” he held up the letter from the schools admissions office.
Abby took the letter and looked it over like it was some rare artifact. She let off a slow breath. “You want me to open it?” Don asked after a moment.
“No,” Abby objected then took a deep breath and tore the envelope open pulling out the paper inside.
The three men watched as her eyes scanned over it abnormally fast for the average person. Then another second before a large smile spread over her face.
“I got in” she whispered almost inaudibly then began to repeat it louder jumping up and down in joy “I got in! I got in! I got in!” she stopped and whisked over to where Don was sitting “Dad! Dad! Dad! Look! I even got a scholarship!”
“I can see that” Don murmured looking at the paper that was thrust into his hand “nice job kid”
“We knew you could do it,'' Alan encouraged with a smile.
“I’m going to go call Amita and tell her” Abby declared “this is awesome!” with that she ran from the room.
“Donnie, uh,” Alan spoke up after a moment “you are aware she just called you dad right? Without uh any snarky backdrop or anything”
Don smiled lightly eyes still on the acceptance letter “yeah I know”
Chapter 14 ->
More Posts from Rora-s and Others
The Derivative Chapter 5: Home
Chapter 1 <- Chapter 4
“You didn’t think to tell him first?”
“Well I did but unlike Charlie he doesn’t live here”
“Sometimes it feels like we live here”
“Ain’t that the truth. Maybe I should give him a call later”
“Oh no don’t do that”
“Why not?”
“Because I want to see his face when he finds out” I replied grinning broadly as I looked at my grandfather over the back of my chair in the sitting room.
“You know you have a liking to trouble that alarms me sometimes” Gramps muttered. I just shrugged. There was a knock at the door and the man straightened “alright now get up and make yourself look presentable” he instructed heading for the door I got up and stood off to the side as he opened the door.
“Hello” the woman at the door greeted.
“Hi you must be Ms. Collins yes?” Alan smiled politely and let her in. She nodded in response looking around the room as she entered. “I’m Alan and this is my granddaughter, Abby”
“Nice to meet you, and call me Meredith please” She smiled at us and extended a hand that I shook politely.
“So I was thinking we could start in the back of the house, go through inside and then head outside” Alan suggested.
“That sounds like a plan” the woman agreed “but I can tell you I already like this entrance space very open and welcoming”
“Oh thank you” Alan smiled then led her toward the back hall. The woman started to walk and he turned to me “you keep working on your homework. I don’t want to come in here and find you reading another mystery novel”
I let off an exasperated breath but surrendered at his stern look. He hurried after the real estate agent and I headed back over to my seat. Not long after Charlie came in and headed straight upstairs not even acknowledging my presence. I sighed and continued filling in the pointless pages of my english workbook when the door opened again.
“Hello” Don called into the house.
“Hi” I called in reply and he came over to my chair to look over my shoulder.
“English huh?” he asked.
“Vocab workbook” I explained “not only do I use a majority of these terms in my normal venacular a third of them I don’t plan to use and all of them I can literally just read the definition of and have it memorized I don’t need to fill this out”
“You do need to” Don objected “for a grade not for your brain”
“Yeah but isn’t school supposed to be about the opposite” I grumbled.
“Yeah well, life ain’t always like that kid” he commented, messing up my hair as he straightened and Charlie came into the room.
“Hey” the younger brother greeted the older. “Tell me you found Emily Burdick”
“No, I’m sorry buddy not yet” Don replied.
“Who’s-” my question was cut off by Alan’s voice reaching us from the kitchen.
“Hey, take a look at this. Here in the kitchen, I put in the new sink myself, and the, uh… I did the tile work.” Alan was explaining.
“Oh it’s beautiful work” Meredith complimented “I like how you’ve preserved the original Craftsman detail.”
“Oh, hey, boys” Alan greeted as they entered the foyer I closed my workbook and shifted around onto my knees in the seat to watch the show.
“Hi,” Charlie spoke first “we didn’t know you were home”
“Meredith, my two sons” Alan introduced “this is Don and Charlie”
“How are you?” my father greeted, shaking the woman’s hand.
“Hi Don” the woman replied and turned to the younger brother.
“Hello” Uncle C shook her hand as well.
“Hello Charlie” she smiled.
“Pleasure” he assured.
“Oh, Meredith would you mind going upstairs for a minute?” Alan asked politely “I’ll be right with you”
“Sure” she responded and headed off waving to me in greeting as she passed.
“What?” Alan asked as he turned to see the faces of his two sons.
“Nice, she’s cute,” Don pointed out with a grin. I had to try and keep from laughing.
“What’s going on?” Charlie asked, seeming amused “What is this?”
“Oh, come on Charlie. Don’t you remember we talked about this?” Alan sighed in annoyance and I no longer worked to hide my giggles which earned me a look from the men.
“Talked about what? No” Charlie replied in confusion.
“I’m sorry, I should have made sure you were paying attention when I was ta-”
“Don’t apologize, Dad.” Don objected, cutting his father off.
“No you have no idea what this is all about, trust me” Gramps told his eldest.
“I don’t think we want to know,” Charlie scoffed.
“Well you have to know” Alan tried to explain, shooting me annoyed looks as I continued to laugh at the scene.
“No, we don’t, Dad” Don started “Look you’re allowed a private life”
“Wait a minute. Just hold it a second” Alan finally intervened “this is not a date”
Charlie then began to draw bad conclusions it seemed as Don shot me a look “oh, my… Dad, what are you telling me? That this woman is a pr-”
“Real estate agent” Alan cut off the word about to leave his youngest son's mouth.
“Oh right” Don murmured in realization as I finally got control of myself.
“I’m confused. Are you dating a real estate agent?” Charlie asked.
“I thought you were supposed to be a genius” I muttered from my seat.
“Hey, you, homework,” Don ordered pointing to my workbook. I gave him an annoyed look in response. “No, Charlie, he’s selling the house. Right?”
“Yes” Alan nodded.
“Why? I- I live here. You live here.” Charlie objected.
“Don’t you remember?” Alan inquired “I said I wanted to find a smaller place for myself, maybe a condo.”
“I remember that, sure.” Charlie murmured.
“And you need a place of your own” Gramps continued.
“Yeah but I didn’t think you were serious” Uncle C explained growing irritated “you can’t- you can’t sell our house.”
“What are you saying?” Don turned to his brother in confusion.
“The market is at its peak right now.” Alan attempted to explain to his youngest who was not happy.
“Yeah but I live here” Charlie reiterated.
“We are living- We are living on a very large part of my retirement savings” Alan declared
“He’s right,” Don agreed. “Prices are high believe me I looked around”
“Can we- do me a favor-” Charlie continued to ramble as Meredith came down the stairs.
“I like how it looks upstairs; it’s great,” she explained. “I love the solarium”
“Oh you haven’t seen the outside” Alan told her.
“I do my best work in the solarium” Charlie commented seeming rather dazed now.
There was some clanging from the pipes overhead “oh, that’s the heating system.” Alan told Meredith “it’s a little temperamental. It needs a little finessing. I’ll show you later” with that he led her out the door with one last look directed at his sons continuing to talk to the woman.
Don looked over at me “I take it from the maniacal laughter earlier you knew about this?” he asked I shrugged “uh huh, thanks for the heads up”
“I can’t believe this” Charlie murmured and Don’s focus turned to him.
“Look, relax” Don reassured his brother, “I got a great apartment in a good neighborhood. You’ll find one too”
“Then why are you over here all the time?” Charlie questioned.
“Because of that one for a start” he gestured to me “and because I’m making sure you let dad have a life” he declared heading into the dining room.
____________
I raked a couple more leaves toward the pan and let off a breath “you know I have homework to do. I should really be inside.”
“Ah ah nice try” Alan objected quickly. “You’re helping. Though I do find it ironic you only ever do your homework to get out of doing something else”
I shot him an annoyed look and continued to rake the leaves scattered about the yard as Alan dumped the tray into the trash bag Charlie held. “You know, Dad I’ve been checking around. You were right about the house. You were right.” Charlie spoke up.
“Yeah, the real estate lady said that this property on the current market, I can expect competing bids.” Alan explained.
“Dad, am I, uh… Do I bug you?” he asked.
“What? What kind of a question is that?” Alan looked to his son confused.
“Well, it’s just, you know my math work, and uh..” Charlie cleared his throat as Alan unloaded another tray of leaves into the trash bag “I never listen, and I’m always in my own world.”
“Well, that sort of makes you the ideal housemate, doesn’t it, Charlie?” Alan pointed out “plus you contribute more than our part-timer over here” he gestured to me.
“I’m contributing” I held up my rake as proof. Alan gave me a look as he held up another tray of leaves he had raked.
“I just wanted to make sure.” Charlie sighed
“Make sure of what?” Gramps asked.
“You’re selling the house because you want to do it for yourself.” Charlie clarified.
“No, Charlie, I want to do it for both of us,” Alan informed.
“I thought we were having a good time,” Charlie continued.
“We are” Alan agreed “It’s just this house is so big, and it takes so much work to maintain it. And besides you’re almost 30. Don’t you think it’s about time you found a place of your own?”
“I love this house,” Charlie said.
“So do I” Alan sighed “but still, the both of us we have to move on” Charlie nodded “alright now you two finish up here I’m going to go make us something to eat”
I sighed and started raking the leaves more now that Alan was gone. I glanced over at my Uncle’s saddened face “you really do love this house a lot huh?” I questioned.
“There’s a lot of good memories here” Charlie informed “history”
I shrugged “I don’t really get that. Bonding your history to a place. Growing up with my mom we were always on the move. I was thirteen when we got our own stable place that actually was ours not a transition or one of her boyfriends places. I never really had a place that was home”
“I’m sorry” Charlie murmured.
I shrugged “just because I didn’t have a place doesn’t mean I didn’t have anything. Maybe if I did i’d hate to lose it too”
“Yeah” Charlie nodded and looked back at the house with a sigh.
__________
3rd POV.
Don sighed entering the Burdick’s kitchen where Ethan was pouring himself some coffee before heading back to work with Charlie and Amita on the fake algorithm. The mathematician's hands were shaking and he missed the cup slightly splashing hot coffee on his hand. He winced, nearly dropping the cup.
“Here let me” Don intervened taking the coffee pot and mug filling it as Ethan grabbed a towel to wipe his hand off. The frightened man let off a shaky breath.
They were silent for a moment before Ethan spoke up “do you have any children Agent Eppes?”
Don was caught off guard slightly by the question. “Yeah” he nodded “a daughter she’s sixteen”
“Then you understand” Ethan voiced turning to the agent “Emily is everything to me. Is there anything you wouldn’t do for your daughter?”
“No” Don murmured without even having to think.
“I have to get Emily back no matter what and- and if she dies-” he choked on his words. “I can’t lose her”
“I know.” Don sighed “I only met my daughter about two months ago and I can tell you it- it changed everything for me. There was this one time she went missing it was only for an hour or so but for me it felt like an eternity. I couldn’t think straight I- I was terrified with a kind of fear I’d never felt before and- and she was okay. So I can’t even begin to imagine what this is like for you. But I can promise you I will do whatever it takes to try and get your daughter back to you. Okay?”
Ethan took a deep breath “okay” he grabbed the coffee mug and started to head back to the table to work but paused looking back at Don. “What's your daughter’s name?”
“Abby” Don replied. Ethan nodded and continued out to the table leaving Don there in the kitchen with his thoughts.
______________
Don came into his apartment with a sigh glad to finally be back after working so hard on the case. “I’m home brought dinner” he called, setting the pizza he’d gotten down on the counter. Abby appeared after a moment from upstairs.
“What’d you get?” she asked hopping onto a bar stool as he grabbed a beer from the fridge.
“Meat lovers”
“Yes!” she cheered, folding the box and grabbing a slice. “Grab me a Mountain Dew” she asked while he was in the fridge and he pulled the can from the shelf in the door and sat it on the counter. “Thank you”
Don popped the lid off his beer and went to get his own piece of pizza. “You get your homework done?”
“Yes” Abby grumbled “finally. I swear they give me more just because they know I hate it”
Don scoffed “yeah I thought the same thing in school and I wasn’t a genius.”
Abby hummed “So guess what Charlie told me.”
“What?”
“He’s buying the house from Gramps” Abby informed.
Don looked at her shocked “no way”
“Yes way” Abby nodded, “apparently he has a lot saved up since, you know, he’s never had to pay rent or anything before and he liked the house so…” she shrugged, taking a sip of her soda.
“Huh” Don muttered.
“I’m glad,” Abby declared.
“Yeah why’s that?” Don asked.
“Spend a lot of time there and it’s a cool house” Abby explained.
“Fair enough” the man conceded.
“Don’t you care about it?” she asked.
“Yeah but you know it’s just a place right? I moved out ages ago.”
“Doesn’t seem like it”
“Well, yeah alright” Don muttered giving Abby a look as she smirked. “Seriously though working with the FBI I moved around a lot guess it helps you realize that what they say is true”
“What they say?” Abby questioned.
“Yeah” Don shrugged “home isn’t really a place it’s a people”
Abby smiled “well I like you people” she declared.
Don chuckled “me too kid” and he raised up his bottle a bit and Abby tapped it with her soda can for their own little toast.
Chapter 6 ->
Remember, it’s not a competition
I'm the kind of girl who is quite in large groups or around people I don't know; you only see the real me if we're close. I smile and laugh a lot, especially at most inappropriate times. I'm a hopeless romantic. I trip on air, up stairs, and over people's feet. I am the hardest person to offend, but it is all too easy t make me feel horrible. I fate telling people about my problems; they don't need to worry about me. I'm the one who listens to other people's problems. I believe people should not be judged before one takes time to get to know them, yet I am guilty of doing the exact same thing. I love think rather than talk. I'm awkward, clumsy, shy, strange... but this is me. Take it or leave it
-Unknown
Can I just… talk for a moment… about how much I love how, if you know them well, words don’t have synonyms?
English, for example, is a fantastic disaster. It has so many words for things that are basically the same, and I find there’s few joys in writing like finding the right word for a sentence. Hunting down that peculiar word with particular meaning that fits in seamlessly in a structure, so the story flows on by without any bumps or leaks.
Like how a shout is typically about volume, while a yell carries an angry edge and a holler carries a mocking one. A scream has shrillness, a roar has ferocity, and a screech has outrage.
This is not to say that a yell cannot be happy or a holler cannot be complimentary, or that they cannot share these traits, but they are different words with different connotations. I love choosing the right one for a sentence, not only for its meanings but for how it sounds when read aloud. (Do I want sounds that slide together, peaceful and seamless, or something that jolts the reader with its contrast? Snap!)
I love how many words for human habitats there are. I love how cottage sounds quaint and cabin sounds rustic. I love steadiness of house, the elegance of residence, the stateliness of manor, and tired stubbornness of shack. I love how a dwelling is different to a den.
And I love how none of them can really touch the possessive warmness of all the connotations of home.
Words are great.
The universe is at peace. A peace won by the Voltron paladins and the great sacrifice of Princess Allura. However, peace cannot last forever. After nearly twenty years a new threat has emerged sending tremors through our reality. Coming out of nowhere and launching a viscous attack. The universe is sorely unprepared and the need for Voltron is great. With the lions scattered in unknown reaches and the former paladins all falling into a mysterious coma. The Coalition of Free planets fears this could be the end of the peace they knew.
However, the lions have a different plan. Each calling out to a different new hero. These young souls must discover their inner powers and try to fill the void left by their predecessors. Fighting to save their reality and world as they know it.
A delinquent artist, hotheaded Garrison cadet, flamboyant prince, tech headed hermit, and part-time pizza cook hold the fate of the entire universe in their hands.
~This is my new Vld story about the next generation of Paladins currently on Ao3~
The Derivative Chapter 1: Sixteen
“Abbs come on time to leave” Janice called into the back room at the diner.
“Coming” the teenager replied and grabbed her backpack from the floor. Waving bye to the diner chef she followed her mother out the door.
Janice and Abby loaded into their small sedan. The vehicle was packed full of stuff from clothes to random bit and bobs. They practically lived out of their car for the last couple years until they settled down in the latest apartment and even then they had been hesitant to finally make the move.
“Okay so I was thinking” Janice began as she pulled out of the parking lot.
“Oh that’s dangerous” Abby murmured with a smirk as they drove.
Janice shot her daughter a look. “Well in a few months you’ll be turning the beautiful age of sixteen. And I was wondering what you wanted to do to celebrate? Cause if you want something big I’ll have to start saving now. But of course if you would rather run your mouth-”
“Hey hey hey I had to get this sarcasm somewhere” Abby pointed out.
“Yes your father” Janice replied.
“Yes blame it on the non-existent father in my life” Abby scoffed.
Janice sighed “alright anyway you want to have a celebration or what?”
“I don’t know” Abby shrugged. “It’s not like I want a party or anything maybe us just hanging out?”
“How about a picnic?” Janice suggested pulling up to a red light. Abby gave her a perplexed look. “Lay out a blanket on the floor in the apartment. Get some nice food it could be great”
“Yeah that sounds great Mom” Abby agreed “you’re the best”
“I try” Janice replied.
They both laughed as the light turned green. There was the sound of a blaring horn. The car filled with bright light Abby felt her mother’s hand collide with her chest. She heard the screech of brakes and the crunch of metal.
“Mom!”
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
“Abby!” Bang! Bang! Bang! “Come on get up! Your alarms been going for the last ten minutes!”
I groaned in exhausted annoyance and rolled over in my blankets swatting haphazardly at the alarm on my nightstand. There was another round of banging on my bedroom door “I’m up! I’m up!” I yawned sitting up in my bed.
“Listen I got to get to work and you have to get to school so start moving” the man on the other side of my door ordered.
“I am moving” I responded around a second yawn.
“Yeah you totally sound awake” I heard him mutter.
“Hey I heard that” I called and got a scoff in response as he headed on down the hallway.
With a deep breath I got up and started getting ready. My room was pretty plain with a dresser and bed and a couple knickknacks strewn about. I’d only been living in it for a little less than a month which was quite apparent. Though I didn’t have much stuff in the first place. I threw on a t-shirt, jeans, plaid button up, and my well loved and sharpied sneakers.
I headed downstairs with my backpack over my shoulder tossing it on the couch. My biological father was pouring himself some coffee in the kitchen. “Morning” He muttered as I began fixing myself some cereal.
“Morning Don” I replied.
“Listen with this case I’m working I’m probably going to be home late” he started.
“Am I staying at Grandpa’s then?” I inquired.
“Maybe not staying but you’ll be going there after school today” the FBI agent explained.
“Awesome” I responded sarcastically “maybe I’ll get some decent food then”
“Ouch” Don joked as his phone rang. He answered it and went into business mode “Eppes… yeah?” his face fell as he listened to the person on the other line “when? Where?” he checked his watch and I knowingly started eating faster. “Yeah alright I’ll be there as soon as I can… yeah” he hung up and started moving faster grabbing his things.
“Case?” I asked, finishing my cereal and sliding my bowl into the sink.
“Yup come on I have to get you to school and then go to a crime scene” he explained.
“But I haven’t brushed my hair or my teeth yet” I objected standing up as he walked past me to grab his jacket.
“Chew some gum and I don’t know, wear a hat” he offered.
“They don’t allow hats in school” I explained, not dropping the sarcastic edge from my voice.
Don seemed rather frazzled. “Well then I don’t know what to tell you. Now come on” I sighed and grabbed my backpack as we headed out the door. “Since when do you care about your hair anyway?”
I rolled my eyes running my fingers through my short brown hair “you’re the worst parental guardian ever”
_____________
3rd POV.
“Silber’s at work right now at the hospital” Terry informed as her and Don loaded into the truck.
“Alright let’s get heading that way then” the man muttered. Pulling out of the FBI car lot.
They drove for only a couple seconds before Terry spoke up again. “So you were late to the crime scene this morning” it was a cross between a statement and a question.
Don sighed “yeah Abby had a late start and I had to drop her at school”
“Right being a dad’s not that easy huh?” the woman voiced.
Don scoffed in response. “Well I don’t know if I even qualify as a dad yet.” he explained “she definitely doesn’t call me one. This morning I was dubbed the worst parental guardian ever”
“Well she called you her parent sorta” Terry offered.
Don chuckled lightly “yeah sorta”
“Relax Don, she's a moody fifteen year old girl who just came to live with her birth father. She needs some time to adjust” the profiler explained as they turned onto the street with the hospital.
“Sixteen this weekend actually” Don informed.
“Really?” Terry looked to the man in surprise. “You guys doing anything? Party? Something?”
Don shrugged “I got her a present. A ball cap.” Terry shot her partner a pointed look “what? I don’t know what teenage girls are into these days. And as for a party with what friends?” The two agents climbed out of the car in front of the large hospital. “She hates school, never really even talks to anybody.”
“She’s gifted right? Like your brother the mathematician?” the woman inquired.
“In a different way but yeah” Don nodded. “Took college algebra in fifth grade from what I understand and can remember anything she’s ever read. Actually she reads anything you put in her hand faster than the average person”
“Well then it makes sense she would hate school. She’s not learning anything” Terry voiced.
“Yeah well they won’t put her in an advanced program cuz she doesn’t have a solid school report history” Don explained “I don’t even think she was ever in the 1st or 2nd grade even”
Terry nodded as they entered the hospital elevator “you know it might help if you actually talk to her about it.”
“Yeah” Don sighed as the doors closed.
______________
Abby POV.
I sat in yet another class bored out of my mind. I was two chapters ahead of my teacher and classmates in all of my classes and most of the topics they discussed I had learned about already.
“Now the derivative is a way to show the rate of change. That is, the amount by which a function is changing at one given point. For functions that act on the real numbers, it is the slope of the tangent line at a point on a graph…”
I tuned out my teacher and rested my head on my desk. I had positioned myself in the very back corner of the classroom as to attract the least attention from my teacher and peers. Reaching into my backpack I pulled out my blinders. My medical grade sunglasses like eye cover that I put on to block out all visual stimuli. They were given to me by a doctor that examined me for my memory while I was in the foster system.
As I rested there isolating my mind from the world I began to dwell on the various things that rested in the back of my mind. However one topic I tended to shy away from. A topic that was getting harder to avoid. My birthday.
It was coming up and I wasn’t completely certain I wanted to do anything for it. Me and my mom had talked about how we were going to celebrate it. But she was gone now and Don. I doubted he even remembered it was coming.
The bell rang pulling me from my thoughts. I slipped my blinders to the top of my head and grabbed my stuff. Heading for the door. “Abby” I turned to the teacher who was sitting at her desk. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
I shifted in my path for the door and walked over to Mrs. Clive’s desk. “What do you need.”
She gave me a look and picked up a book from her desk handing it to me. “I saw your birthday was this weekend. Got you this”
I took the book from her and looked at it. The book was Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket. A book I had been after since its release earlier this year. “Thank you” I murmured.
“Ms. Rampart from the library said that you had been pestering her about it since you joined us so I figured it must be something you’re interested in” Clive informed.
“Yeah I got hooked on it and read up to current last year,” I explained.
“You know with the monster stories you come in here with I wouldn’t have figured you for the series of unfortunate events” Clive voiced.
I scoffed “yeah and what would you figure I’d read?”
Clive grinned back “war and peace”
I shrugged “read that years ago”
The woman nodded “well go on or you’ll miss your bus”
“Thank you Mrs. Clive, for the book” I told her.
“You’re welcome Abby and happy birthday” she smiled.
“Thanks” I nodded heading out of her classroom. Mrs. Clive was probably my favorite teacher at this school though she was a little too observant on some things. She always took the time to ask me how I was and never got mad at me for not paying attention in class. Of course she did get annoyed when I didn’t turn in homework on time. She knew I could do it.
I had to jog to get to my bus on time and as I was one of the last ones on I had to sit next to some kid who was half standing on the seat turned around talking to his friend. I was thankful that my stop was quick on the route.
Hopping off I walked up to my grandfather’s house and let myself in the front door. “Abby! Is that you?” he called.
“Yeah gramps” I called back.
He appeared shortly after “ah hey how was your day?”
“Fine” I shrugged, tossing my backpack on the couch. “Is uncle Charlie here?”
“Uh yeah upstairs I think” he replied. “You want a snack?”
“No I'm good” I settled onto the couch and opened the book Clive had gotten me.
“The grim grotto” Alan read aloud. “Sounds interesting”
“Yeah it’s from Lemony Snicket's series of Unfortunate Events” I explained.
“Seems like a light read for you” the man commented sitting down in one of the chairs nearby and picking up the paper.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I exclaimed exasperatedly.
“Because you read twice as fast as the average person and have an Advanced Eiaditic memory” Alan explained.
“It’s Advanced Eidetic” I corrected “and just because I read faster doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a small book like this”
“If you say so” Alan sighed seemingly annoyed with me “so what’s so fascinating about this book series anyway”
“I don’t know” I replied honestly as I shifted on the couch pulling my feet up “I guess I can relate to being bounced around all the time from place to place under unfortunate circumstances” My grandfather made a humming noise and finally ended his questioning as I turned my attention back to my book. We both returned to our normal after school reading silence.
____________________________
“Donnie!” I heard my father’s announced arrival from gramps before I saw the man himself
“Brisket. Must be Friday.” Don murmured as I came wandering out of the kitchen to see him.
“What’s up?” Alan inquired of his eldest son.
“I didn’t have time to drive home. Can I catch a shower here, maybe borrow a clean shirt?” the man requested.
“Yeah, sure, be my guest.” Alan agreed easily.
“So much for 'not staying'” I commented knowingly.
Don sighed, turning to look at me. “Yeah sorry kid. Case took a turn”
“It’s fine” I muttered in reply. I knew Don’s work could be trying sometimes and keep him away from home for long periods of time. Which led to me spending half my time staying at my grandfather’s house.
“Yeah well it’s nice having you around the house anyway” Alan told me as Don turned to head upstairs. “And tell your brother to come down for dinner” Gramps called after his eldest son.
“If the food’s done he’s probably on his way already” I joked taking a seat at the table.
Alan scoffed and turned back to Don. “you want some there’s plenty”
“No, I can’t.” The FBI agent objected, removing his tie and tossing it on the table “I got to get back to work.”
As Don left to go upstairs Charlie appeared. “Abby? When did you get here?”
I exchanged a look with Alan who was pouring water into everyone’s glasses. “A couple weeks ago Uncle C” I called in a sarcastic reply. Which earned me a look from my uncle.
I saw the man’s attention shift to the maps my father had brought in with him. I got up to go look over his shoulder at them. “Hey you two that’s Don’s work. Probably be better if you not mess with it”
“We’re just looking at the map gramps” I responded over my shoulder as I took in the information surrounding the thirteen little red dots on this map. My brain kicked into autopilot as it began various calculations.
“Well then just the map then none of the files” Alan ordered “you hear me”
“Yeah dad we hear you” Charlie responded this time. However from his tone you could tell his mind was somewhere else.
“You think there’s something here?” I asked.
“Maybe” Charlie breathed out as we both continued to analyze the data. “We could help” Charlie was talking lightly both our minds processing the information on the maps with mathematical precision. “Crime scenes”
“Tracking, rating, origin point” I muttered looking at the scattered red dots. Me and Charlie looked at each other both realizing the same thing at the same time.
“Charlie, Abby, what do you think you’re doing?” I turned as Don’s voice came from behind. He was done with his shower.
“Crime scenes” Charlie replied seemingly unaware of Don’s obvious annoyance “what kind of crimes?”
“Get away from here” Don snapped folding up the map quickly “these are confidential case files”
“I already saw the map it’s imprinted on my memory” I replied pointedly. “It doesn’t really matter whether you put it up now or not and we didn’t get in the files.”
“She’s telling the truth.” Alan called from where he was feeding his pet bird. “They just looked at the map. I made sure they didn’t go through anything else.”
“Good,” Don grumbled, grabbing his tie.
“Thirteen crime scenes spread over a contained region. You guys are analyzing the significance of those locations?” Charlie inquired of Don as the older brother tied his tie in the mirror on the wall. I stayed over by the table Charlie followed him.
“Yeah, it’s called predictive analysis.” Don explained “the FBI pioneered it. I trained in it at Quantico, and it doesn’t work on sado-serial crimes. There’s no way to predict the location of the next attack.”
“You know, I helped you out on that stock fraud mess,” Charlie began and I rolled my eyes at his obvious bid. “And the IRS extortion case.”
“Yeah. This is different.” Don objected finishing his tie and turning away from his brother “it’s not about numbers”
“Everything is numbers” Charlie stated and looked to me as Don grabbed his jacket. I shrugged beyond a couple theories there was nothing that I could see us being able to help with or at least not that I could with my limited knowledge. Uncle Charlie sighed and turned to the backyard something caught his eye and I watched as the gears turned in his head. “Don. Hey.” he turned quickly and went after his brother. “Um, can I show you something really quick?”
“No, Charlie I got to get-” Don attempted to argue but his rebellion was futile. As Charlie continued to pester and managed to draw him over to the window facing the backyard. I followed behind them curious to what the mathematician had come up with.
“Check this out.” Charlie gestured outside “you see the sprinkler, yeah?”
“Yeah I see the sprinkler” Don muttered clearly uninterested.
“You see the drops?”
“Yep. See the drops”
Then it clicked in my mind what he was thinking “Even using math there’s no practical way to predict where the next water drop will land” Charlie began his explanation and I walked closer. “There’s too many variables. However, say I couldn’t see the sprinkler. From the pattern of the drops, I could calculate its precise location.”
“The origin point” I voiced.
Charlie flashed me a proud grin then turned back to Don who seemed to slowly be getting the idea “it’s not about predicting the next site. It’s finding what the sites have in common. The point of origin” he nodded to me.
“Charlie, you’re saying you can tell us where the killer lives?” Don inquired.
“Yeah” the mathematician nodded.
“And I can help,” I added.
____________________________
“The movements of a serial perpetrator are defined by his needs. He watches potential victims. Avoiding detection, he’ll frequent public areas, parks, streets that don’t get a lot of traffic, waiting for moments of isolations.” Don explained pacing back and forth in the dining room.
“Isolated areas, high probability of attacks.” Charlie murmured scribbling on the pad of paper in front of him.
“Tv distracting you?” Alan inquired as he passed by the table from the kitchen. “I could turn it off”
“No, it's fine, dad.” Don objected, he glanced over at me sitting in a chair in front of the tv and I quickly diverted my eyes as the brother’s continued to talk.
Moments later Alan came over and sat down in the seat next to mine. I sighed and turned to my grandfather “This is so unfair I can help”
“You’re a teenager Abby not an adult” Alan replied with his eyes on the tv. “Let them work”
“I'm a teenager with a near genius IQ living with an overprotective jerk” I muttered.
“I heard that” Don called from where he sat on the table.
“Yeah well it’s a fact” I called over to him.
“She is capable Don” Charlie agreed “and her help would be valuable”
“I said no I mean no. You’re just a kid. You don’t have clearance and I’m not letting you get involved in a criminal case” The agent put his foot down. “Now can you just listen to me for once?”
“I listen I just don’t follow” I muttered scooting down in my chair. Alan shot me a look out of the corner of his eye.
“I get the sense that this is about more than just you wanting to help on this case” the elder man inferred. I crossed my arms and tried to focus in on what Don and Charlie were saying. “This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with your birthday being this weekend.”
“It’s not about that” I objected in a tone that was probably more snap than I intended. Sitting up I saw Don looking at me. I sighed, getting up and heading out to the backyard I couldn’t deal with this today.
__________________
3rd POV.
Don left Charlie to do his equations and settled to watch the baseball game with his father. “You going to go talk to her?” Alan inquired after a moment.
Don sighed glancing over to the back door Abby had stormed out of. “No she needs to cool off”
“Still” the grandfather muttered.
“Still what? She’s a teenager, you really want me getting her involved in a criminal case?” Don voiced.
“No, no that’s not what I’m saying Don” Alan sighed “listen it’s her sixteenth birthday this weekend”
“Yeah” Don muttered “I know I got her a present”
Alan let off an annoyed breath “Donnie it’s her first birthday without her mother. It’s her first birthday with a father.” Don sighed and looked to the ground. “Have you even talked to her about Janice at all?”
Don shifted in his seat “I don’t know dad she doesn’t want to talk what am I supposed to do?”
“Donnie there’s a difference between not wanting to talk and not knowing how to,” Alan explained, “and unfortunately it’s a trait she seemed to have inherited from you.”
___________________________
“Let’s go” Don ordered the gathered group of agents. Heading for his desk as they dispersed to get everything done.
“Another day” Terry voiced over his shoulder he glanced back at her before refocusing on his files. “That means the case cuts into Abby’s birthday this weekend doesn’t it?”
“Yeah well she’s staying with my dad” Don muttered, closing the file and tossing it aside.
“Are you at least going to call her or something?” Terry inquired.
“It’s too late now I will in the morning” the man replied, rising from his desk and heading off.
Terry sighed watching him walk away. “Yeah if you remember”
________________
Abby POV.
White light filled my view, tires screeched, horns honked, a hand slammed into my chest, the crunch of metal, a scream. “Mom!”
I startled awake sitting up on the couch. Thunder crashed outside. I removed the blinders from my eyes. “Abby are you alright” I turned as Alan came into the living room. “I heard you yell.”
“Uh yeah” I replied as my heart rate slowed back down. “It was just a dream”
“Are you sure you’re alright?” the man inquired further. However just then the door opened and in came Charlie. He looked like a drowned rat. “Aw Charlie don’t tell me you went biking out in this weather”
“I had to go by my office” the man replied as he settled down at the table pulling the FBI case files out of his bag. He was obviously shaken by something.
The front door opened again and in came Don. “Hey guys, what's up?” he asked, seeming deflated. “Charlie you’re soaked”
“Yes I’m aware” the younger man replied.
Don removed his jacket and went for the coffee in the kitchen as I wandered over to the dining room. Which seemed to be the place everyone was congregating. Our reflections shown in the darkened rain streaked windows. Don reappeared shortly after with a mug of coffee. He placed it on the table and began pacing the room.
“I can’t get my head around it.” Charlie voiced after a moment.
“What are we missing?” Don ran along the same thought “where’s the problem? And how do we make it work? We need to make it work” he stated the last part more forcefully.
It was weird watching him work. The gears turning in his head. “We need to retest it. We need another run.” Charlie declared standing and going up to Don who was still pacing.
“Well that’s not going to happen” the agent objected, turning to his younger brother.
“Well, look I know that it’s gonna be hard for you to talk your boss into doing it again,” the mathematician tried “but we can’t stop after one attempt-”
“Charlie” Don tried to interrupt however the professor continued to truck on.
“New methods require repeated trials-”
“Charlie, I’m not on the case anymore.” Don explained finally. “Okay?”
“Why?” Charlie inquired.
I sighed and watched the look exchanged between Alan and Don. “because my supervisor wanted fresh eyes on it.” I could tell he was lying.
“Well, maybe the math is not the problem” Alan suggested suddenly.
“What do you mean?” Charlie questioned.
“Well, you just said that there was something you couldn’t get your head around,” Alan elaborated further “and I know for a fact that it can’t be the math.”
“What else is there?” Charlie sighed. Then it clicked like it was obvious.
“The people” I voiced causing all of them to look at me like they had just realized my existence. “The math can only predict what people will do acting within certain parameters what if this guy acts outside of your preconceived notions of human behavior?” I offered.
“Hey, maybe they’re right” Don nodded walking past me back to the window to point at the water spraying outside. “I mean, this sprinkler. That totally made sense. That you could track back from the location and find out where the guy lives. Right? Totally made sense.” he turned from his father and brother to look at me. “Maybe we’re thinking about this guy in too narrow a focus.”
“Are you saying I need to consider more than his criminal activities?” Charlie seemed confused.
“No not exactly” Don explained “I’m saying we maybe need to consider more than just where he lives. Like Abby said. You know look at me. If you designed an equation to find my origin, you wouldn’t get my apartment ‘cause I’m almost never there. My base would be my office.”
I looked to Charlie as he meandered over toward the window the gears in his head spinning. The math forming in his mind. “Which means we use his home and his work as points of origin.”
“Exactly” Don agreed.
“I can design an equation to identify two hot zones.” Charlie muttered eyes still transfixed on the window. “Why didn’t I think of that?” he questioned, turning back to us. “Don… Dad… Abby.” he looked to us each individually. “That’s brilliant”
It wasn’t long before the boys were packing it up and heading back to Don’s office. Both invigorated by the discovery. Once they were gone Alan turned to me. “You should get to bed, it’s late and tomorrow is a rather important day.”
I nodded slightly as he turned to head to the kitchen “Do you think he knows?” I voiced almost not meaning to. “Do you think Don remembers that it’s my birthday tomorrow?”
Alan sighed looking back at me. “Abby, Don can get wrapped up in his work but uh, he’s never been one to forget what’s important.” I bit my lip and looked to the floor thinking. “Alright now up to bed”
“Goodnight gramps”
“Goodnight Abby” the man smiled at me as I headed for the stairs.
I reached the room that had at one point been Don’s and collapsed on the bed. My world had been a lot smaller when it was just me and my mom. A lot scarier and a whole lot less normal but definitely smaller and less complicated.
_________________________
I was startled awake again from the same dream, the same memory. I slowed my breaths and got up from the bed. Dawn had barely set in and light wasn’t very prevalent outside. I paced back and forth in the room. Thinking over everything before finally making a decision.
I threw on some clothes, grabbed my backpack and headed out of the room. I crept through the house quietly as not to wake Gramps snoring down the hall. As I reached the front door I paused looking back at the house before ducking out and running.
____________________
3rd POV.
Don sighed as he packed away the last couple files on his desk. The case was finally closed and he was exhausted. He glanced over and saw a small stack of books on his desk wrapped in a bow. He pulled it closer to him and looked at the card on them. To: Abby From: Terry.
“Figured you could give it to her for me” the female agent spoke up causing Don to turn to her.
“Yeah sure” he agreed.
Terry gave him a smile. “Go home Don and celebrate your daughter’s birthday” she instructed him.
Don nodded as she left. He sat there for a moment thinking about everything today meant. Sixteen years ago today he had become a father and he hadn’t even known it. Then a couple weeks ago he had been told and expected to start acting like a Dad. Don sure didn’t feel like a father. Anytime he talked to Abby it felt weird like he couldn’t find the words or she would just give him sarcasm. It was easier just not to talk at all. He had no idea what he was doing and she certainly didn’t seem to want him around.
Don let off a breath and rose from his seat gathering up his things. Then his phone rang glancing at his caller ID he was surprised to see it was his father “hey dad what’s-”
“Abby’s missing” Alan interrupted.
Don immediately felt like he couldn’t breath. His heart rate picked up and his lungs felt empty. “What?”
“She’s missing. Gone.” Alan repeated he sounded scared himself “I went to wake her up this morning and she just wasn’t there”
Every worse case scenario started shooting through Don’s mind. Where could she be? Could she be hurt? Kidnapped? Lost somewhere? Scared? He couldn’t think straight as fear coursed through his veins.
“Alright call the cops put out an Amber alert” Don suggested “see- see if she’s with Charlie or something. I’ll try her cell and go look at- ah the library, the apartment. Places she might go”
He was talking extremely fast he realized as the cop side of him battled with a side of him he’d never felt before. A kind of pure terror and concern that he couldn’t even begin to quantify as he grabbed his coat and bolted for the elevator hanging up on his father and speed dialing his daughter’s number. She didn’t answer. He tried again and again as he reached his car. This couldn’t be happening. Where was she?
___________________________
Don was driving away from the library as his phone rang. He answered it without even glancing at the caller ID hoping to hear his daughter’s voice on the other line. He was disappointed.
“Don”
“Charlie I can’t talk right now. Abby is-”
“I know Dad told me” Charlie informed “He also said she was upset-”
“She’s always moody Charlie what are you saying?” Don snapped probably a little more harshly than he meant to.
“I think I know where she is” Charlie spoke quickly as not to be cut off by his frantic older brother.
________________
Don cursed himself for not realizing it sooner. After all his worrying and frantic searching why hadn’t he looked here first? As he pulled to a stop and got out of his truck he felt himself slow as relief washed over him.
Sitting in the grass not too far off was Abby. She was staring at one of the various stones of the cemetery. Don sighed and walked over to her somberly.
Nothing was said as he sat down next to her. He didn’t need to read the name of the stone to guess whose it was. Janice Calvin. His ex-girlfriend and Abby’s mother.
“You know you scared everyone half to death” he finally stated after a moment.
“Sorry” the girl replied, looking to her feet. “I should have left a note or something. I just wanted to be alone here for awhile.”
“Yeah” Don let off a breath just relieved she was okay.
“It’s my sixteenth birthday” Abby muttered, turning back to the stone but still not looking at him.
“I know I got you a present,” Don replied softly.
“Mom and me had been planning my sweet sixteen before..” Abby trailed looking to the ground. “It was just going to be the two of us. We were going to cook and have a picnic in our apartment. We couldn't do much because you know we didn’t have a lot of money. But we were going to have each other.”
“I’m so sorry Abby” Don told her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders hesitantly. “Your mother loved you”
“I know she did I just- I just miss her” Abby sniffed and for the first time. Don saw his daughter cry. He felt a part of him inside falter. Like something had broken or shifted.
“I miss her too.” Don explained. “Your mother was an incredible person. And my biggest regret was letting her go”
“Do you think if she would have stayed- if she would have told you,” Abby questioned. “That things would have been different? That we would have..” The girl trailed but her question was clear.
“I don’t know Abbs but” Don sighed and finally he understood what his own father had been trying to tell him all this time. “Abby I have no idea what I’m doing here. I’ve missed so much of your life to the point I- I didn’t even know what to get you for your birthday. I just-” he paused biting his lip. “I just feel like we’ve both been living with each other these last few weeks and not actually trying to have a relationship because it’s scary and complicated but Abby.” he sighed “today when dad called and told me you were missing.. I’ve never been more scared in my entire life.” Abby looked up at him as tears streaked down her face. “Now I know your mom loved you and Abby so do I alright?”
“Alright” she managed but in the next second Abby wrapped her arms around Don’s middle as she broke into sobs. Don just held her in his arms holding back his own tears.
__________________
Abby POV.
It was late. After the cemetery Don had called and told everyone that I was safe. I felt bad putting them through all of that. I just hadn’t realized how many people would freak out had I gone missing. I was sitting at my desk in my own room reading one of the books Terry had gotten me quietly.
There was a knock on my door. I paused in my reading and rose from my chair. Opening it I wasn’t exactly surprised to see my father standing outside. “What?” I inquired with minor annoyance at being disturbed. Though after everything that happened today I didn’t have much energy left to be annoyed.
“Come on I’ve got a surprise for you” Don replied ignoring my sarcasm.
“What?” I repeated exasperatedly curious for what this surprise could be.
“Come on” Don scoffed, ushering me out of my room and toward the living room. I dragged my feet and had to practically be shoved out by my determined father.
My irritated rebellion ended however as we exited the stairs. The coffee table had been moved and various colorful lights were hanging all around. In the center was a blanket laid out with something like a picnic setting. “Now I know it’s probably not exactly what you and your mom planned but..” Don sighed stepping around to look me in the face as I stared around in awe “Happy Birthday Abby”
“Thanks D- Don” I replied. Stumbling on the name as the word Dad nearly slipped from my mouth. He smiled and we settled down on the blanket to eat. Talking and laughing and joking. It was a fun night and after all of it I was really happy to have my dad in my life.
Chapter 2->
While finally watching the entire supernatural series that I never actually finished and writing a Numb3rs fanfic at the same. Certain things have begun to happen.
Such as me realizing commonalities, say/typing Dean when I mean Don and vise versa, also imagining Don speaking with Dean’s voice though not the other way around. I don’t know if this is just my brain acting weird but these shows are oddly similar. Like you can’t tell me people haven’t noticed this before.
The Derivative Chapter 15: Seventeen
Chapter 1 <- Chapter 14
I came trudging into my uncle's office and threw my backpack down in his chair. The three men within the office gave me a concerned look. “Trouble adapting to college life?” Charlie inquired.
I let off a breath leaning on the desk “college students are better but no less annoying than high schoolers” I declared “I just talked to a girl in one of my classes who asked and I quote ‘are you visiting on a high school field trip?’” I mocked the girl's squawky voice.
Don chuckled slightly “well you are sixteen. Not a lot of kids your age running around these halls”
“She sees me every other day in our class. She borrowed my pencil once” I exclaimed indignantly.
“Ah it seems this fair student was wrapped in her own world to the point of tuning the rest out” Larry declared.
“Yeah or she’s just an asshole” I muttered then glanced at the computer screen on the desk “is that some kind of code?”
“Yes it’s a rolling code for a car remote” Charlie explained, holding up the remote in question in his hand. “It’s actually part of a kidnapping case”
“Kidnapping?” I questioned.
Don sighed and shot his brother a look “yeah it’s a case we’re working.”
I nodded, resisting the urge to ask if I could help. Just then my phone alarm went off. “I have class” I sighed, turning off the alarm and grabbing my backpack.
“I’ll walk with you,” Don offered. I nodded and waved farewell to Charlie and Larry as we exited the office. We only got a couple feet from the door before Don was talking again “so your birthday is this weekend.”
“What? Really? I had no idea” I replied sarcastically.
Don scoffed “I was just wondering if you wanted to do anything? I mean just me and you could hangout or we could have a barbecue at the house with everybody. Whatever you want” he shrugged.
“Uh yeah a barbecue would be cool” I murmured the grip on my backpack tightening a bit.
“You sure?” Don asked. I glanced over to see him looking at me with mild concern in his features.
“Yeah fine” I assured him as we reached the door to my classroom “it’s just…” I hesitated “don’t worry about it it's nothing”
“Okay” Don nodded “have fun on your field trip” he teased.
“Ha ha very funny” I muttered a small smile on his face. He turned to leave and I ducked into the classroom. There was a sinking feeling in my gut and another feeling that I couldn’t quite place and didn’t really like.
________________
3rd POV.
“And no, no contact, in almost seven hours” Don murmured looking at the board set up in the war room. “What the hell are they after?”
“I still think Erica Logan has to be the key” Megan declared standing up as Don began to pace the room. “This kind of radical shift in behavior? There has to be some sort of trigger.”
“Trigger?” David questioned from his seat “like what?”
“I can tell you what a textbook would say,” Megan explained. “Statistically, it’s things like a near-death experience. A person can exhibit an extreme shift in behavior if they survived a plane crash. Another could be a person who’s told they only have a month to live, may act on fantasies of an alter ego.”
“Doesn’t fit, though in this case” Colby objected. “The autopsy would have flagged that.”
“All right, so what else?” Don inquired leaning on the table.
“Uh, parental instinct” Megan offered “the perception of a serious threat to a child.”
“That also doesn’t fit” Colby spoke up again “I mean, her father said she doesn’t have kids, right?”
Don thought about his talk with the man for a second and the pictures in the house realization hitting him “but there was a brother, right?” he asked, gesturing to David who had also been there for the interview “the old man said she practically raised him.”
“Yeah,” David nodded in agreement, sitting up in his seat.
“A younger sibling could be the trigger, if they had developed that kind of relationship” Megan agreed.
“Younger brothers can definitely be a trigger, trust me on that one” Don stated with an edge of humor before going back to business mode turning to David “why don’t you go talk to the old man see if you can get an address on the son.” the agent nodded and started grabbing his things “I mean, I want to get everything we can on this kid, right?”
Colby grabbed his things and followed David out of the room. When it was just them Megan turned to Don. “Speaking of parental instincts, how's that daughter of yours doing?”
“Abby? She’s fine” Don shrugged.
“Really? I mean it can’t be easy being a sixteen year old kid in college” Megan voiced.
Don scoffed “she complains less about it than she did about high school so” he shrugged.
“Well since she’s in a house full of men. Why don’t you tell her if she ever needs a woman’s advice she can have my number” Megan offered.
“Thanks” Don smiled at his partner before she turned and left. Don shifted some files and thought a bit to himself. He’d never thought about it before but Abby was constantly surrounded by guys. The only female influence in her life right now that he could think of was Amita. Was that why she had been so weird about the barbecue?
Don doubted it. Maybe he was just coming to weird conclusions. Maybe the barbecue wasn’t even an issue and she was just preoccupied with the class she was about to walk into when he asked. No, she had a look on her face that told him she wasn’t happy about something. He just had no idea what and now he had to figure it out.
As he turned to leave the board caught his attention again. Parental instincts could change behavior. He thought that was a bit of an understatement.
_______________
Abby POV.
“Oh come on Charlie it couldn’t have been that bad.” Alan objected from the kitchen as the mathematician sulked at the dining room table.
“Actually, I truly can’t explain how awful it was,” Charlie muttered as Alan came out and sat a mug of hot tea down in front of his son and two plates of cake, one for him and one for me.
“Oh, I don’t understand it.” Gramps grumbled “You and Amita. You always got along so well.”
Charlie shrugged “I’m just as confused as you are”
“Yeah well, maybe it’ll be better next time, hmm?” Alan suggested as I just ate my cake and read quietly.
“Yeah, I don’t think there’s going to be a next time in the future” Uncle C sighed as my father entered the house through the front door.
“No, no, you do not give up.” Alan objected. “You never give up”
“Who’s giving up what?” Don inquired.
“Charlie. He blew his first date with Amita” Gramps informed.
“And he’s being very pouty about it,” I added, earning me a small glare from my uncle.
“I wouldn’t say that I- I blew it, Dad or that I’m pouting” the professor objected. “I mean that’s…” he trailed off as Alan gave him a look “yeah, maybe I blew it.”
“And are pouty” I chimed in and got another half hearted glare.
“Wait, what happened, buddy?” Don asked, shedding his coat.
“It’s just we found out that we really don’t have much to talk about outside math” Charlie explained as Gramps got to his feet.
“And you can’t talk about math because?” I questioned.
“Well it’s our work and we want to talk about more than just work” Charlie muttered.
“Oh, man.” Don sighed “Yeah, I know about that. Maybe it’s an Eppes thing you know? When Terry and I started dating, the first thing we said was we weren’t going to talk about work, right? You know, not a word.”
“Don’t say it’s an Eppes thing cuz that curses me too” I complained.
“Hey last I checked your last name was still Calvin so you get exempt” Don pointed out.
“So, how’d you work it out?” Alan inquired, handing his eldest the beer he had just retrieved from the kitchen. “With Terry?’
“Well, I mean, she’s back with her ex but..” Don murmured.
“That’s really very encouraging,” Charlie grumbled sarcastically.
“I didn't mean it like that” Don objected with a slight chuckle “I’m sorry. It’s different with you guys. You’ll work it out.” Charlie just let off a breath. “Meanwhile, I’m hitting a wall with this case.”
“You haven’t found them yet?” Charlie inquired.
“Found who?” Alan asked as Don headed back into the foyer to grab his file off the table.
“A mother and her eight year old daughter, kidnapped.” Don informed heading into the living room with his file.
“That’s horrible,” Alan declared.
“This is the same case with the car key code thing?” I asked.
“Yeah” Charlie replied with a nod as the three of us stood to follow Don into the living room. I brought my book and slice of cake with me.
“Who took them?” Gramps questioned.
“I don’t know yet” Don explained sitting on the couch “I mean, we got this one suspect who’s a bookie, and we think there’s some connection, but we got these files off his computer, and they’re impossible to analyze”
“What are you looking for in here?” Charlie questioned, going to look over the file Don offered him as I sat on the couch next to my father. .
“Well, I mean, the people who financed the operation.” Don explained “this guy’s been running bets through a website called Statswire that dead-ends at a URL in China. And with all the money he’s pulling in and paying out, we can’t tell the difference between the backer and bettors.”
“Well these abbreviations may be names and dates” Uncle C suggested looking the file over “but the numbers in this column here 35-17-11” he muttered as Gramps went to look over his shoulder. “23-17-5, 24-12-3 ½? Yeah I’m assuming that they’re part of some sort of odds making, but they just appear to be at random and they can’t be.”
“You’re right. They’re not random” Alan voiced as I shifted my cake away from my thieving father.
“What are you talking about?” Don inquired.
“Where’s that paper?” Alan muttered standing up and going over to a stack of newspapers “this weekend’s football scores.” he stated grabbing the paper he was looking for and coming back over as we all huddled over the file to look. “Let me see. 35-17-11 here.” he pointed to the newspaper “the Packers beat the Vikings 35-17, and the spread was 11”
“Whoa,” Don murmured.
“Nice catch Gramps” I said with a slight smirk.
“Thank you. 23-17-5. That here, Niners in San Diego, five-point spread, right?” Alan found another “24 to 12 was the Jaguars over the Colts. Huh?”
“Let me see that” Don took the paper and looked it over.
“3 ½ was a ridiculous spread” Gramps commented “I took the Jaguars and made a hundred bucks”
“What, you have a bookie?” Don questioned his father in surprise.
“Busted,” I murmured.
“Should I have a lawyer present?” Alan replied.
“No, I’ll let you slide.” Don murmured looking back over the paper. As I chuckled lightly.
“Wait a minute. If this column is the point spread, I can use it to calculate the ratio of winners to losers” Charlie explained “and potentially trace the payouts and the money flow.”
“Yay teamwork” I murmured.
“Says the girl who sat there eating cake the entire time” Don pointed out. I just shrugged with a smirk.
_________________
3rd POV.
Don got out of his car with a sigh. He was relieved that she had at least thought to text him this time. As he made his way across the grass to his daughter she glanced up at him before her eyes became fixated on the ground.
He sat down next to her in front of the head stone. After a moment of silence he finally spoke “what’s wrong?”
“Why do you assume something’s wrong?” Abby replied, still not looking up at him and she fiddled with her blinders in her hand.
“Because I know you well enough now to know when something’s bothering you” he replied softly. Abby shifted but didn’t speak. “You know if you don’t want to have a party or something for your birthday that’s fine. It’s okay if you don’t even want to celebrate it but I’d like to know why” he explained.
“It’s not that I don’t want to celebrate it” Abby objected. “It’s just-” she took a shaky breath “I suddenly have people to celebrate with and I’ve never had that before because-” she cut off.
“Because what?” Don encouraged.
She took another deep breath “last year we sat here and I told you how much I love and miss my mom now I’m sitting here and- and I’m just mad at her. I’m mad because she didn’t tell you about me. Didn’t let us meet sooner because I spent nearly sixteen years of my life not knowing you, or Grandpa, or Uncle C and because I want to have that stupid barbecue with you guys and I wish I could have had that sooner but-” Abby cut off again and tears rolled down her cheek. “I’m never going to see her again and all I am is mad at her”
Don wrapped a gentle arm around Abby pulling her closer. “Listen Abby, the last year of my life spent with you has been an incredible time. We’ve gotten to know each other and despite some preconceived notions I haven’t managed to screw up being a dad too bad. Right?” Abby scoffed at the last statement, sniffing back her tears. “That said I was a very different person years ago when I met your mother. And the truth is I don’t know if I could have been the father I would have wanted to be to you all those years ago. Heck I’m not even sure I’m the father I want for you right now.” he bit his lip pausing before he continued “not having you in my life all these years… it hurt and when I found out honestly I was mad too but- but I know your mother loved you Abbs and she only did what she did. She only kept this secret because she loved you and she thought it was the best for you.”
“I know,” Abby sighed.
“And now we do have each other and the rest of my crazy family,” he muttered, making her laugh a little. “It’s me and you kid and I’m not going anywhere”
“Thanks dad” she murmured sniffing back tears “but I’m still mad”
“I know,” Don murmured, pulling Abby into a hug “but I’m sure you’ve been mad at your mom before. She can take it and one day you’ll figure out how to forgive her, trust me.”
Chapter 16 ->
-
day-knight liked this · 3 years ago -
beetea38 liked this · 4 years ago -
legolas-bromance liked this · 4 years ago -
rora-s reblogged this · 4 years ago
