Come in from the Cold, by OughtaKnowBetter (T)

[the-hobbet.livejournal.com]

Fandom: NUMB3RS
Pairing: none
Length: 61,985 words
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: OughtaKnowBetter on FF.net
Why this must be read:

I seem to have a government conspiracy theme going here. 'Come in from the Cold' is a crossover with 'The Unit.'

An NSA codebreaker stepped in front of a bus just after decoding a very important message and before he could brief his handler. Coincidence? The team is assigned to guard the consultant who will be the next to tackle the message, sequestered in a secret bunker with military guards on the perimeter. Don's instincts are on alert and some things don't seem to be adding up. Is it just paranoia? Oh, and the consultant ? Charlie, of course.

OughtaKnowBetter is great at action and the wry turn of phrase. 'Come in from the Cold 'is an exciting read, and to double the pleasure there is a parallel story told from the POV of 'The Unit.'

Test the Temperature

"Come in, Eppes." The voice was gruff but not forbidding, a fact which cheered Don only slightly. If he were in trouble, it would have been something to the tune of "Eppes! Get your ass in here!" or "So glad you could make it, Special Agent Eppes", with a healthy dose of sarcasm. All right, so he was not currently in trouble. The other option was that trouble was about to be served to him on a silver platter, with the director's compliments.

That seemed more likely, especially when Don saw waiters who would do the serving currently sitting in D'Angelo's office. There were two of them, both men, both attired in business formal, and both taking pains to seem unremarkable. There were no distinguishing marks that Don could see, just well-toned muscular bodies hiding under well-tailored clothing. No beards, and Don couldn't even tell if that was a mustache on the sandy-haired man's face or just a shadow from the east-facing window in the office. If the pair was committing a crime in front of him at this exact moment, Don still would have had difficulty rendering an adequate description for an APB.

Though he didn't recognize the men, he still could recognize the type: spooks. Undercover personnel. Upper-class undercover personnel, the sort that went overseas and came home with information designed to save the planet from immediate immolation, or at least a significant portion of the industrial Western hemisphere.

Whatever. Bottom line: they meant that trouble had come to roost on Don's lap.

Come in from the Cold: Numb3rs
Come in from the Cold: The Unit