numb3rsflashfic | Resolving Matters by Jestana, Challenge #5: Resloutions (Reply)

Title: Resolving Matters
Pairing/Characters: Megan Reeves, Laurel Wilson, Larry Fleinhardt; LF/MR.
Rating/Category: PG-13 for kissage, hints at 'carnal situations'
Word Count: 2,112
Spoilers: For Sabotage and Sniper Zero
Summary: Megan has to decide what to do about her niece
Notes/Warnings: References to "carnal" encounters with a certain loveable astrophysics professor. *grin* Other fics.

Resolving Matters
"Hi, Dad, thanks for coming," Megan greeted her father when he emerged from the airport.

Todd Reeves smiled, hugging her warmly. "I was sorry you couldn't come home for Christmas. You were missed."

"Ah, the requisite guilt trip," she teased, guiding him out to the shuttle that would take them to where she'd parked her car. "I was waiting for that."

He laughed, patting the hand she'd tucked through his elbow. "I've missed you, Meggie."

"I've missed you, too, Dad." She squeezed his elbow in acknowledgement. "How's Robbie? Is he still eating just pasta with butter?"

Todd chuckled. "He's discovered the joys of marinara sauce."

"Ah, the deliciousness of it," Megan commented, unlocking her car.

Her father shook his head. "No, the messiness of it."

"Oh, no." Megan laughed, sliding behind the wheel of her car and starting it. "Meal times have gotten very messy, then?"

Todd nodded, chuckling. "Extremely messy. Bob and Lacey don't even bother getting dressed in the mornings until after Robbie's had breakfast."

"That sounds like an excellent strategy," Megan agreed, navigating the airport parking lot carefully.

Todd agreed and fell silent so he wouldn't distract Megan from her driving.

*15*21*14*9*
"Plash!" Cat exclaimed, slapping the water with both palms.

Larry didn't even try to dodge the water that shot up and soaked his shirt. "Not plash, Cat. Splash."

"Plash!" she shouted gleefully. Though ten years old, her command of the English language was rudimentary at best. It was Larry and Megan's hope that Cat would pick it up in time.

Shaking his head, Larry tilted her head back and carefully poured a cupful of water over her hair to wash the last of the shampoo from it. "There you are, Cat. Time to get out now."

"No!" Cat folded her arms across her chest and glared at Larry mutinously.

He sighed and pulled the stopper on the drain. "Yes, Cat. Ma will be home soon."

"Ma?" Cat glanced around the bathroom eagerly. When she didn't see Megan, she looked at Larry. "Where Ma?"

He smiled, helping her to her feet and out of the tub. "She's on her way here. Just be patient."

"Want Ma," Cat told him firmly as she used the towel he'd handed her to dry herself off.

He dried her hair briskly with another towel. "Patience, Cat. Patience."

"Patience, patience," Cat sing-songed, her voice muffled by the towel.

He chuckled, guiding her into the den-turned-bedroom Megan had given to Cat when she'd taken the little girl into her home. "Patience, exactly, now time to get dressed." He pointed to the clothes waiting for Cat on her bed and closed the door to give her some privacy. Glancing down at his damp T-shirt, he went into the master bedroom to retrieve a dry one from the stack he kept in Megan's dresser.

By the time he'd changed, Cat had finished getting dressed and moved to the living room to wait patiently for him to come and brush her hair. He'd been hopeless at it at first, but then Megan had shown him that he needed to untangle the ends of Cat's hair first, and work his way up. If you start at her scalp, you'll catch all the tangles as you move the brush through her hair and it'll hurt worse. Sitting down on the couch, Larry gestured for Cat to sit down on the floor in front of him and he began to carefully brush Cat's tawny blonde hair that she'd inherited from her mother. The little girl was quite content where she was, leaning her head back into the brush and practically purring. Just as he was brushing out the last tangles, they heard the front door open. "Come in, Dad, I have some people I'd like you to meet."

"You always knew how to pique my curiosity, Meggie," an unfamiliar male voice answered Megan's familiar one with a chuckle.

While Larry set the brush on the coffee table, Cat jumped to her feet and made a beeline for the front hall, shouting, "Ma!"

"Hello, Cat," Megan's voice answered, sounding amused. "Were you good for Uncle Larry?"

There was no verbal response, but Larry didn't mind, because Megan soon appeared in the living room doorway, Cat attached to her hip and an older gentleman with graying blond hair and curious green eyes following her. "Meggie?"

"Dad, you remember Cat, don't you?" Megan asked, turning to her father.

The old man and little girl stared at each other for several moments. It was the little girl who spoke first, "Gampa!"

"Is this little Cat? Who's been missing for five years?" he asked, glancing at Megan.

Megan nodded. "Yes, it is."

"Want Gampa!" Cat squirmed in Megan's arms, trying to get down.

Megan set the girl on her feet and she immediately latched onto the older man's hip, nuzzling her cheek against him. "I'm surprised she remembers me. It's been a long time."

"We remember the people who made us feel safe and loved as well as the people we feared and mistrusted," Megan explained quietly, lightly stroking Cat's still-damp hair.

Her father nodded and raised a curious eyebrow. "I hope you didn't leave her here by herself while you went to the airport."

"Of course not, Dad." Megan's voice was a mixture of fondness and exasperation. Taking him by the hand, she led him over to where Larry was now standing by the couch, fidgeting a little. "This is Dr. Larry Fleinhardt, a professor of astrophysics at CalSci. Larry, this is my father, Todd Reeves."

Larry extended his hand to the other man. "Hello, Mr. Reeves, I'm pleased to meet you."

"Hello, Dr. Fleinhardt." Todd shook Larry's hand, one eyebrow just a little higher than the other. He glanced at Megan. "How did you happen to meet an astrophysics professor, Meggie?"

Megan picked up a framed photograph from her coffee table and handed it to her father. That particular picture had been taken the past Christmas at the Eppes home. Charlie and Don stood side-by-side in the middle. Colby stood beside Charlie while David stood next to Don. Larry and Megan had knelt in front, their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. Megan pointed to Don, and then Charlie in the picture as she explained, "My boss, Don, has a brother he consults with on some cases. Larry works with him at CalSci, so he helps out, too."

"Ah, so you're an FBI consultant, then?" Todd asked, looking curiously at Larry.

Larry shrugged, smiling modestly. "On occasion, I do offer insight on one of their cases."

"It's thanks to Larry that we finally found Cat," Megan added proudly, patting his shoulder.

Todd glanced down at Cat, who was still attached to his hip. She gazed up at him contentedly. He looked back at Larry with a smile. "Thank you very much for finding her, Mr. Fleinhardt."

"I didn't really do much, Mr. Reeves," Larry told him, automatically twining his fingers with Megan's when she slipped her hand into his. "I was hiking with a friend and Cat happened across us. Another pair of hikers could have found her just as easily."

Cat interjected a comment of her own. "Nuh!"

"No?" Megan crouched so their eyes were on the same level. "What do you mean?"

The little girl grinned. "I'd seen them before. Knew they were nice."

"See? Not just anyone could have found her, Larry." Megan grinned up at him.

Larry smiled faintly in reply. That was something he was going to have to tell Laurel. It would comfort her to know that Cat had been careful about whom she'd approach. "Why did you ask me to come, Meggie?"

"I was hoping you and Mom could take Cat in," she explained, smoothing a hand over Cat's hair. Larry could see the sadness in her eyes. "I'd love to raise her myself, but I can't afford it."

Todd blinked and looked down at the little girl still attached to his hip. "Are you sure of this, Meggie? Hasn't she faced a lot of change in her life already?"

"It's better that she not get too settled in here," Megan told him quietly. To Larry, it looked like she was trying to convince herself more than her father. "She remembers you and I'm sure she'll remember Mom, too."

Todd gently tilted Megan's head up so he could look into her eyes. "You'll miss her, though."

"I told you, Dad, I can't afford to raise a child by myself." Megan sighed, making no attempt to pull away from her dad.

He glanced at Larry. "Are you sure you'd be doing it by yourself?"

Megan glanced at Larry, too, and her cheeks reddened. "Please, Dad?"

*15*21*14*9*
Later that night, Megan was cuddled against Larry in bed, her head on his shoulder and his hand rubbing her back soothingly. She could comfort herself with the knowledge that Cat was with people who'd take good care of her, but she knew it would be awhile before she stopped missing her. "How did she manage it, Larry? How did she worm her way into my heart so quickly?"

"You loved her before she was kidnapped, Megan." He spoke gently, kissing her forehead. "When she was found, you were a surrogate mother for her. Until your father came, it was up to you to raise her."

She sighed softly, snuggling closer to him. "You do know how to help me put things into perspective. Thank you."

"Not at all." He chuckled softly. "Have I told you my 'children-are-wormholes' theory?"

She smiled and leaned up to kiss him softly. He returned the kiss readily and any theories he might have considered telling her about were quickly forgotten.

*15*21*14*9*
"Hi, mind if I join you?" Laurel glanced up from the book she'd been reading to find Megan Reeves standing nearby, looking a little uncertain.

Surprised, Laurel marked her place and sat up straight. "Not at all, please, have a seat."

"Thank you." Megan sat down across from Laurel. "What were you reading?"

Laurel held up the book for Megan to see the title, "In the Shadow of Man, by Jane Goodall."

"Sounds exactly like the sort of thing a scientist would read," Megan commented, a bemused smile on her face.

Laurel shrugged, setting the book aside. "I suppose it would be. I just find it fascinating to read. She made some excellent points."

"I haven't read it myself, so I wouldn't know." Megan smiled in such a way that Laurel couldn't help smiling back.

Raising an eyebrow, she asked the question that had been on her mind since Megan had joined her. "What brings you here, Megan?"

"I just wanted to talk," Megan answered, not quite meeting Laurel's eyes.

Laurel smiled wryly, raising an auburn eyebrow. "Megan, we haven't known each other long enough for you to come to CalSci 'just to talk'."

"Are you sure you're not a behavioral scientist?" Megan asked with a grin.

Laurel grinned back. "When you've been around Larry long enough, you learn not to take things at face value." She leaned forward. "What really brings you here?"

"I want to do something special for Larry, show him that I appreciate all that he's done for me over the past week or two," Megan explained after glancing around to make sure no one was listening. "The thing is, I don't know him well enough to know what would work and what wouldn't. I was hoping that, since you've known him much longer than I have, you could give me some ideas, maybe help me plan it?"

Laurel laughed. "I would love to help, Megan. On one condition."

"What's that?" Megan looked curious.

Laurel leaned forward, still smiling. "How did you convince him not to break things off after the first night you had an encounter of the 'carnal' kind?"

"I told him his argument was unfounded," Megan replied, her eyes dancing with amusement.

Laurel blinked, surprised by the response. "In what way?"

"I told him that the factors that had led to the 'untwinable' would still be present, therefore it was quite 'twinable'." Megan chuckled fondly, her eyes on Laurel, but not seeing her. "He didn't believe me, so I offered to prove it to him."

As she watched Megan, Laurel felt relief at seeing such fondness and affection in Megan's face and voice for Larry. It was very reassuring to her. "I take it you did?"

"Oh, yes, and then he insisted on further tests to prove the validity of my claim." Megan winked, smiling broadly.

Laurel laughed at that. "I imagine it's going to take a lot of testing."

"I'm counting on it."

End