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A/N: All disclaimers from Chapter 1 apply to this chapter.

"As my penname implies, this is the first story that I have written for fan fiction. I am an avid reader, however, and have read may wonderful stories at this site."

"I would like to thank everyone who has read my story and add a special thank you to those of you who have also taken the time to review it as well. Your reviews have encouraged me to continue on and have made this a very rewarding experience."

With my heartfelt thanks, Vicki

Epilogue:

Leaning against his car in the parking lot outside the Math building on the CalSci campus, Colby was once again rethinking his decision to go through with this meeting.

When Che Lobo Santiago had asked him to arrange a meeting with Charlie, Colby's first reaction had been a definite "no" but when Santiago had explained his reason , the agent had agreed that it might not be such a bad idea after all.

He had received a call from the latino asking him if he would come to his estate to meet with him and out of curiosity he had done so. It had also given him the opportunity to thank the man for helping them find Charlie.

The real surprise was the reason for his visit.

Santiago had asked him to arrange a meeting for him with the Professor and then had had taken Colby up to his son's room.

"Joe's over at a friend's house right now, but maybe this will explain why I would like for my son to meet Professor Eppes."

Opening the door and switching on the light, he had led the way into the room. It had looked like any normal boy's room with one exception. Instead of posters of sports and music stars there was a poster of Albert Einstein and one of Steven Hawking but the ones that had really gotten his attention, were the three posters of Dr. Charles Eppes.

Colby was speechless, of all the reasons he had imagined this one had never occurred to him and more to himself than Santiago, he had mumbled, "Charlie never told me that he had some posters made."

The latino had laughed and confessed to having the posters made for his son from magazine covers that Charlie had appeared on.

"My son loves Math and Science and has been a big fan of Dr. Eppes ever since he was seven years old, so when I found out who I had helped to rescue, I thought maybe he would meet with us."

"Agent Granger I wasn't lying to you when I said that I wanted a better life for my son and I encourage him to look up to people like the Professor instead of people from my old neighborhood." He paused, and made eye contact with Colby.

"Do you think he would meet with us? It would mean a lot to Joe to actually meet one of his heroes."

Momentarily at a loss for words, he had pretended to look at the posters. Finally, turning back to Santiago he had simply stated. "I can't speak for Dr. Eppes,, but I will ask him."

………………………………

It had taken him several days to get up enough nerve to ask the mathematician about it. After all, Santiago was still under investigation from several federal agencies and still had some connections to a few of the L.A. gangs in the area.

True, it was those connections that had eventually lead to Charlie's rescue, but nevertheless, he wasn't sure if it was such a good idea to introduce his remarkable friend to someone with Santiago's reputation.

Ultimately, it was the boy and the fact that meeting Charlie might help turn the young boy's future away from gang violence and toward a better way of life that convinced him that he should do it..

With this in mind he had driven to the old Craftsman house to ask Charlie if he would consider meeting with them. Don's SUV had been sitting in the driveway and at first he thought he would come back later, but then he had decided that it would be better to ask the mathematician with his brother present. That way, there couldn't be any misunderstandings when he did find out.

Don had reacted exactly as he thought he would, over-protective big-brother kicking in immediately, adamantly saying that "there is no way in hell, that I will allow Charlie to meet with a known gang leader!"

This decree had elicited an equally resolute statement from his brother.

"Allow…Allow me! If I choose to do this, it will be my decision and mine alone. I do not need your permission!"

In the end Don had conceded that it was his brother's decision and for Charlie the chance of helping a gifted child find the right path won out over any doubt's that Don had presented to him.

………………………………...

The agent's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a "pimped-up" SUV; that's what Colby called it anyway.

With a quick glance back at the Math building, Colby straightened up and walked over to meet Santiago and his son.

The driver of the car got out and opened the rear passenger door. Che Lobo Santiago emerged and as he straightened up he caught Colby's eye and gave him a nod. He said something to the driver and then spoke to someone in the interior of the car. The other passenger door opened and a small boy got out carrying a magazine . He walked around the car to join his father.

They exchanged greetings with the agent and followed him inside the building.

The meeting was set for 7:30 p.m. and a glance at his watch showed Colby that they were right on schedule. All classes were over for the day and the hallways were empty save for the occasional student doing extra work.

As they approached Charlie's office they could hear several voices coming from inside the room. His office door was open and they could see the Professor and a student deep in a discussion and not wanting to interrupt they quietly waited just inside the door.

Charlie was standing at one of the blackboards explaining an equation to a female student; she nodded her head in understanding, thanked the professor and started gathering up her books.

"If you are still having a problem with it, come by tomorrow before class and we'll go over it again but I think you have the proper application now."

Smiling, she called out "Thanks Professor" as she left the room.

They stepped aside as she left and nodded a silent greeting.

Charlie was still looking over the equation and had not seen them enter the room, but someone else had.

Don was sitting in a chair next to the professor's desk and noticing their arrival, he stood up taking a protective posture in front of the younger man.

Lobo turned quickly to face the agent and whispered angrily. "We had a deal Granger, we agreed on "no hardware," remember? I kept my end of the bargain, my guys stayed with the car!"

Colby calmly whispered back. "Just hang on a minute, it's not what you think."

He turned and rapped on the open door to announce their arrival. "Doctor Eppes."

Charlie turned so quickly that he stumbled into his brother's back and a muffled "Don, what are you doing? could be heard.

Don ignored him and continued to watch Santiago closely.

Colby turned to the latino with a slight smirk on his face and said "That's his brother, his "older" brother and my boss. Come on, I'll introduce you."

They walked over to the professor's desk and the agent said "Professor Charles Eppes, Special Agent Don Eppes, this is Che Lobo Santiago and his son Joe."

Don nodded his head in greeting but kept silent and much to his dismay, Charlie stepped in front of him and held out his hand.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you and it also gives me a chance to personally thank you for your assistance with that problem I had a few weeks ago."

Che Lobo was taken aback by his friendly manner and despite Don's demeanor he visibly relaxed and shook the professor's hand. He had expected him to be more reserved and a little arrogant, considering all of his accomplishments, but this smiling, unassuming young man caught him completely by surprise.

Turning his attention to Joe, Charlie continued. "Agent Granger has been telling me that you have an interest in Math. You know, Math can open up a world of possibilities for you, if you are willing to work hard enough to achieve it."

Smiling, Che Lobo placed a hand on his son's shoulder, "He is very good at Math and Science too, all of his teacher's are impressed with his abilities." The pride in his voice was undeniable.

The look on Joe's face was nothing less than adoration, he was looking at Charlie like he was a famous rock star and tentatively held out the magazine that he had been carrying.

In a timid voice he asked, "Professor, may I please have your autograph?"

Charlie's eyebrows shot up so high that they were lost under his curls and his face reddened, embarrassed by this obvious display of idolism. He quickly glanced at his brother and Colby and, with his eyes, dared either one of them to make any comment about the request.

Don looked like he was about to make a remark, but at his brother's stare he quickly coughed and covered his mouth to hide his grin while Colby suddenly became immersed in the equations on the board.

Taking the offered magazine, the professor cleared his throat and said, "Um-sure-ah-okay,.. let's see… what do we have here?"

Turning the magazine over, he found his own image on the cover. He had recently published another equation and the science magazine had put him on the cover. Taking the magazine to his desk and sitting down he quickly grabbed a pen and proceeded to sign it for the boy.

When he finished, he stood and handed it back to Joe saying, "Maybe someday you'll consider CalSci when you are ready for college."

"Dad, can I? Joe demanded excitedly, "Can I please?"

Che Lobo's face broke into a grin. "Joe, if that's what you want to do when you are ready for college, then that's what we'll do."

Turning back to Charlie, he offered his hand again and as the young man shook it he said.

"Thanks for seeing us Professor."

Looking back down at his son he added, "Come on Joe, it's time for us to go."

Following father and son out the door, Colby gave a wave to the Eppes brothers and called out "See you later" as he left the room.

As Joe climbed into the car, Santiago turned around to face the agent.

"Thanks for arranging the meeting with the Professor, it really meant a lot to Joe" He looked a Colby thoughtfully before adding. " I admit that he wasn't what I expected, he was really nice."

"Yeah, he surprises a lot of people that way; sometimes you forget the whole "Einstein" part of him."

They were distracted by the sound of a door opening and the Eppes brothers emerged from the building.

It was one of those quiet evenings where the air is still and sound carries a long way, so it was easy to hear the rather heated discussion that was taking place.

"Seriously, Don, you have to talk to Dad for me, he's driving me crazy. I'm starting to feel claustrophobic!"

"Oh yeah, why is that?" Don asked as he pulled his sunglasses from his shirt pocket.

Charlie stopped and to emphasize his next statement, he waved his hands over his curly head saying, "Dad is in his "hovering" mode, he's constantly over me all of the time, it's like he's afraid I'll disappear or something!"

"Relax, Chuck, he almost lost you, remember? Just…you know…cut him a little slack, he'll be back to normal in a few days. Besides, no way am I going to take on "hovering Dad" bro." and putting on his glasses he started walking again.

Shifting his bag to his other shoulder, Charlie hurried to catch up to his brother.

"A few days….Don it's been eight weeks! Exasperated he added, "I don't know why I even mentioned this to you because you are just as bad as he is, and don't call me Chuck!"

Don stopped so quickly that Charlie had to side step around him or risk running right into him.

"Hey, I am not that bad… I don't "hover." the agent said defensively, mimicking his brother and waving his arms over his head.

Charlie raised his eyebrows, "Oh no…. then what are you doing here? It wasn't necessary for you to be here this evening you know?" He stood there and crossed his arms, waiting with a triumphant smile on his face.

"Well, uhm….I….ah….hey, look at the time." he said pointedly looking at his watch. We'd better get going, Dad will be waiting for us." and he quickly turned and headed for his SUV.

"That is so thin, Don." his brother called after him as he ran to catch up.

………………………………...

Che Lobo looked back at Colby, a slow grin appearing on his face, "Over-protective, older-brother" he said.

"Yeah" the agent agreed. "See ya." he said as he turned and headed for his car.

"Hey Granger" Santiago called, "I still owe you one."

Puzzled, Colby stopped and turned to face him. "I don't understand, I thought we were even; you helped us get the Professor back."

"You said it was Dr. Eppes who figured out where Duque was holding Joe, so helping you save the Professor repaid my debt to him. You risked your life to save Joe, I still owe you one."

Colby was surprised at his comment, but nodded thoughtfully at Santiago and as he turned away he said "See you around."

As Colby walked away he heard Joe's animated voice.

"Dad, look at what he wrote…To Joe, I hope to see you in one of my classes some day, and he signed it Dr. Charles Eppes. Wow, Dad, this is just so awesome!"

Santiago laughed and agreed with his son but before he closed the door, Colby heard Joe ask, "Dad, if I let my hair grow long, do you think it would curl like that?"

The car door closed before Colby could hear the latino's answer.

The agent laughed out loud as he pulled out of the parking lot, passing the Eppes brothers still arguing by the SUV.

Grinning from ear to ear, he looked in the rear view mirror at the brothers. It sure was good having Charlie back….Charles Eppes, Math Rock Star, yeah, he couldn't wait to tell Megan and David about this.

Finis

A/N: "Yes, it's true that Bashere is still out there, and unfortunately, " bad guys" are like "bad pennies," you never know when one is going to show up on a certain doorstep in Pasadena."

Please let me know what you think of the whole story or just the epilogue.