I'm Still Here (Numb3rs)

Just a Thought

Looking up from her desk, Megan stood and grabbed her coat from the back of her chair.  Her hand was shaking slightly, as she slipped her hands through the sleeves of her tan coat. 

Not like her. 

"Going home?" Don asked considerately as he closed the file in front of him, then put on his own coat. 

"Yeah. It will be so good to go home and sleep." Reaching into her pocket, Megan pulled her keys out and grasped them tightly in her hand. "I'm thinking now that I probably won't be able to sleep on the plane." 

"I forgot about that. What time is your flight?" 

Gazing down at her watch she found it to be already a quarter past eleven. "At five." 

"In the morning?" 

"Yeah." Her gaze shifts to looping her finger through the key ring. "I was thinking the faster I get there, the less time I have to change my mind." He nods quietly, catching her pale complexion in the light as they walked past empty cubicles. 

Still shaking

"What?" Megan asks, finally addressing his concern as they waited for the elevator to reach them. It was always kind of slow this time of night, due to excessive use during the day. 

"Nothing. It's just I've been watching you for the past few minutes--"

"And I've been watching you watch me." She teased lightheartedly as she pressed her coat closer to her body. 

"Well, I guess I'm just a little concerned, that's all." 

"Although I appreciate the concern, I have to tell you it's probably just nerves. I haven't  seen nor talked to my father for at least ten years." She raised her eyebrow, although silently admitting in her mind not knowing whether this was really nerves and if sleep would really help in this case.

Nodding, he stopped to realize how lucky he was. To be working side by side with his brother; to be living so close to his father. And yet he had never stopped to really reach out to her. In fact, her words rang true when he realized how much he had been pushing her away. So much that she had been pulling later shifts, often being the last one to leave at night or even still there when the team arrived again in the morning.

He didn't have any reason not to trust her, and he knew she was always looking out for him. She had taken control of a case when he had been forced to turn his phone off during one of his therapy sessions. By the time that he had gotten back to the office, they had returned the boy back to his father and were sitting at their desks, happier than he had seen them in a long time.

The door to the elevator opened bringing him out of his thoughts as he watched her step out. He caught up to her just as they ran into David. "Hey, Don. Megan." He greeted, "I think I just got a lead that I think we may be able to use. Marcos Demos wasn't where we thought he was when his wife disappeared."

Megan stepped back as Don took a look at the file David was holding in hand. Both David and Don gazed up to look up at her, keys still in her hand. "Crack of the alibi." She took another step back. "I would love to join in, but I have to catch a flight—" She looked at her watch, finding it had only gotten later in the night. "In almost five hours"

A smile appeared on David's face. "I remember you mentioning something about that. So, when should we expect your safe arrival back here?"  

"I should be back on Friday. However, I'm not scheduled to come back to work until the following Monday." David nodded silently, watching her walk slowly towards the doors leading out to the parking lot.