Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Numb3rs or any character therein. I do not own the rights to Brighter than Sunshine- it is Aqualung's; the lyrics are all over the internet, so I assume this is in the public domain. The quotes at the end are from A Streetcar Named Desire, copyright 1951, also in the public domain; I put them in italics to identify them.

Author's note: Three dance stories- a oneshot, a twoshot, and a threeshot. This is the oneshot- bang.

The elevator door finally slid open, as Don slinked out into the bull pen, minus the bull; except for the receptionist, there was no one on the floor, so the usually busy labyrinth of cubicles was stilled and calm. The clock on the wall registered the time as 6:34am. The agent strode slowly to his desk, his body feeling crumbled and worn within the black t-shirt and jeans that loosely covered it. He was planning to file a report about his team's activities over the past two days. While his underlings had gone home the night before, he had stayed up all night at his apartment typing the team's findings into a neat, somewhat coherent package. Now, all he had to do was transfer the information into the Bureau's main computer frame and he could go home for some sleep of his own.

The quiet of the office space threatened to lull Don to sleep, so he stepped into the staff lounge to get some caffeine. He was pleased to find a pot full of coffee already sitting there, but surprised to find a chair full of Charlie as well, who was busy scribbling various unknown equations on a small pad of paper. He was also dressed in jeans, but his were topped off with a flame-red t-shirt and an unbuttoned white, short-sleeved dress shirt; the younger Eppes looked like packaged energy, his right hand continuously writing while his left tugged his long, curly hair out of his face and behind his ears every few seconds.

Filling up a cup with hot liquid and Splenda, Don pulled a chair up to the table upon which Charlie was leaning, the mathematician's eyes completely engrossed with the work in front of him.

"Hey, buddy- whatcha doing here so early in the morning?"

Charlie jumped a little at the sound of his brother's voice, and then he looked at him with shy eyes. At first, he could not speak, but the encouraging warmth of his brother's smile unfroze his voice and allowed it to expel a soft reply.

"I thought- well, I needed to ask you about a problem I have- a subject I don't have much data about- at least, not enough to solve the problem."

Charlie cleared his throat several times before continuing, his voice louder.

"You see, it's a problem I need to solve by tonight- otherwise, the outcome will be a sum that is really undesirable."

Charlie looked away, embarrassed.

Don looked at his brother, his previous weariness shedding away the moment his interest in helping his brother overtook him; his body was revitalized. Reassuringly, Don patted his brother on the shoulder.

"Go ahead, buddy, I'll do whatever I can to help you solve this problem," Don stated firmly, adding "I promise."

Trusting his brother, but no one else, Charlie looked around to make sure they were alone.

Seeing what he was doing, Don laughed, "Don't worry- no one comes here till well past seven. You and me are the only idiots who would think to be here at this time of day."

Charlie smiled; then he started rambling.

"Okay, well, it's like this. We're having a big reception tonight at Cal Sci- I mean big to the nth degree. I hadn't planned on going, but Amita called me last night and asked me if I could take her- and, of course, I said yes- 'cause, it's Amita- of course, I wanted to go since she asked me- and it's Amita- so we're going, and I'm taking her, to this reception- it's going to be big- and, you know, Amita, well, she likes to dance- maybe you didn't know, but she does- and I would like to, too, I mean also- you know, like to dance, because she'll be disappointed- that is, Amita will be disappointed if I can't- you know, if I can't dance with her- and I can't, I mean, dance..."

Don interrupted Charlie with a hand in front of his face and a stern "Hold up."

Charlie did as he was told, chewing on his bottom lip and looking at Don like he had just been scolded.

"Are you trying to tell me the problem you have is that you can't dance?" inquired Don, lowering his hand and looking straight at his brother.

"Yeah, Don- I can't dance," Charlie admitted glumly.

Suddenly, Don's face lit up with a big, beaming smile. He stood up quickly and pulled his brother to his feet from behind, startling the professor so much that the chair he was sitting on clanged to the floor out from under him. Don grabbed his younger brother by the arm and pulled him through the bull pen, he himself looking around for other people; there was no one. He tried various doors as he dragged his helpless brother behind him. Finally, a door opened under his strong grip, and the two brothers fell into an interrogation room, Don turning the lock behind them.

His eyes penetrating into every corner of the room, Don set about with his preparations. First, he picked up the three chairs that sat around a table in the center of the room; these he stacked into a corner. Next, he pushed the table against the far wall. Last, he checked the time- 6:52, plenty of time before others would arrive at work.

And then he turned with a grin to a stunned Charlie, who cowered against the wall, his mouth gaping at his brother.

"Shall we dance?" Don asked, bowing to his brother.

It took a moment for Charlie to understand the words of his brother, but as they sunk in, a grin of his own snaked across his face. He slowly moved to the center of the room, where Don now stood upright, waiting for Charlie's response.

"Really- you'll teach me?" he asked, already knowing the answer, but needing to be sure that Don was serious.

"Of, course, Charlie. Mom taught me the proper way to dance with a girl, and I'm now returning the favor to you."

Charlie felt warm inside, knowing that indirectly his mother was with them, and that his brother was willing to teach him to dance.

"Okay, Don- you can be the teacher today. What do I do?"

"Well, first I need to show you how to hold a girl- look, give me your hand-here."

Don indicated that Charlie place his right hand in Don's left.

"Now, your other hand goes around my waist,"

Charlie complied, loosely placing his hand at Don's waist, while Don placed his right hand on Charlie's left shoulder.

"Now, we're going to do something you're really good at- we're going to begin counting- real simple- like this: one, two, three, and one, two, three..."

As Don counted the numbers over and over, he began guiding Charlie along a circular path, trying to get his brother to move each time he recited a number, dipping both their bodies a little bit each time.

"Good, Charlie, good- that's it," Don encouraged his little brother. "Now, you try counting."

As he barely held on to his brother, Charlie started to count out loud, too, trying to keep his body moving to the simple beat.

"One, two, three, one, two, three..."

Charlie moved slowly with Don, stumbling over his feet a few times- and stepping on Don's more than a few.

Don ignored this, trying to keep Charlie focused.

"That's it, that's right- now, I think maybe you got it- try counting in your head while I keep counting out loud."

Attempting to do as his brother suggested, Charlie tried to count in his head-

One, two, three- One, two, three- one times two, three, one times two times three, one times two hundred times three, one times two hundred times-

WHOA!

Charlie and Don fell to the floor with a crash, their feet having gotten entangled when they began dancing out of step, causing each other to trip. They both let out a loud "Oof" when they hit the floor, Charlie landing partly under Don- but the eldest Eppes smoothly slid off his younger brother and just sat in the middle of the floor, trying to detect what had gone wrong. Charlie lay on his back looking up at the ceiling, a deep red blush inching across his face.

I'll never learn to dance, he thought, deciding that as soon as he had the guts to look at Don, he would thank him for trying- then he would take his so-called genius butte out of there as fast as he could.

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It was only a little past 7:00 when Agent Colby Granger passed through the bull pen, trying to find Don. The receptionist said he had arrived over half an hour before, and she had not seen him leave. Other agents were beginning to arrive, as there was supposed to be a small conference detailing the new firearms the Bureau had just purchased. Colby assumed everyone would want to be first to see the new weapons, the result being that the office would be loaded earlier than usual. It figures Don came early, Colby thought, he'd probably pay just to run a finger along one of those guns. The young agent believed his older boss to be a combination of steel and iron tempered with the hot coals of a quick temper- the result, one tough machine- an opinion shared by most of his peers.

Colby rounded a corner of the office, did not see Don, and started turning to leavewhen asudden movement in one of the interrogation rooms caught his eye, and he walked slowly up to the one-way mirror to see who could be on the other side so early in the morning. He did a double-take when he realized it was his boss- and he was dancing with his brother, counting out loud "One, two, three, one, two, three..." Colby easily assessed the situation- Don was trying to teach Charlie to dance. For some reason, the agent had forgotten the conference and had decided to take advantage of what was usually an empty office to play teacher to his brother. At this moment, both brothers seemed oblivious to the world around them, as they were concentrating so hard on counting.

Placing his hands on his hips and looking at the floor, Colby thought about the situation- and its possibilities.

Well, on the one hand, I should respect this obviously private moment between two brothers- one of whom is my boss, writes my reviews, and can probably kick my ass.

On the other hand-

Colby was too young and fresh to resist. He turned and practically ran to the bull pen, grabbing every agent he could find and talking in short spurts, gesturing toward the rear interrogation room.

If the agents had moved any faster, there would have been a stampede in the bull pen.

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Don slowly got up off the floor and stood up. He offered a hand to Charlie, who was still too embarrassed to look at his older brother and rolled over to his knees so he could stand on his own. Starting for the door, he apologized to Don over his shoulder, thanking him for trying his best.

Refusing to give up, Don strode to Charlie and grabbed his shoulder, forcing him around to face him. With his most serious voice, he stated-

"Okay- that's what we call a failed experiment. What we need to do is assess which, uh, variables we put in did not, uh, work- or whatever. You know- what went wrong?"

Then Don smiled at Charlie.

Charlie relaxed at his brother's smile- he wasn't angry at him for tripping. He tried to think what he had done wrong, but he felt he had been following every word of advice that Don had given him. All he had to do was keeping counting 'one, two, three, one, two, three, one times two, three, one times two times-'

"I think I found the source of the problem," Charlie smiled back at Don. "I just can't seem to concentrate on something as simple as counting to three over and over. My mind keeps wandering to multiplying those three numbers- and then making the numbers I'm multiplying bigger."

Scratching his head, Don thought about this unique problem. Counting to three had been the perfect way for his mother to teach him to dance. Somehow, though, Don knew this was not the approach she would have used with Charlie. He tried to think what other methods his mom might have used- and stumbled upon one that matched up with his mother perfectly.

She probably would have used music.

"Come on, Charlie", Don directed, "We'll try another way that doesn't involve numbers, so that maybe you can concentrate on just the dancing."

With hesitating steps, Charlie gingerly positioned his right hand in Don's again, circling his brother's waist with his left.

"Okay- first question- do you like girls or not?"

Charlie was taken aback by the question. His response was a squeaky "yes".

"Well, act like it. If you're going to hold a woman, mean it. You need to pull her close and hold her- you can't just barely touch her and expect her to let you lead her. You have to show her you want to hold her, want to dance with her- that you just plain want her."

Don pulled Charlie closer to him. In response, Charlie held his brother's hand more tightly, gripping his waist with a firm touch, but still making sure that they were not touching in any way that would make them self-conscious.

"That's it," Don praised. "Now- forget the one, two, three crap. I'm going to sing and move my body- close your eyes and just listen to the beat of the song and try to move your body the same as mine."

Charlie nodded his head in agreement, closing his eyes.

Slowly moving side to side with the beat of the music-

Step left, step right, step left, step right

Don began to sing-

I never understood before
I never knew what love was for

Step left, step right, step left, step right

My heart was broke, my head was sore

Slow swing of the hips- What a feeling

Step left, step right, step left, step right

Tied up in ancient history
I didn't believe in destiny

Step left, step right, step left, step right

I look up you're standing next to me

Slow swing of the hips- What a feeling

Pause-

"Okay, Charlie- now you're getting it- let's try moving around more in a circle."

Quick nod.

Step left, step front, step right, step back

What a feeling in my soul
Love burns brighter than sunshine

Brighter than sunshine

Step left, step front, step right, step back

Let the rain fall, I don't care
I'm yours and suddenly you're mine

Swing of the hips- Suddenly you're mine

Back and forth of the hips- And it's brighter than sunshine

Pause-

"I think you got it, Charlie! Now, we'll add some hip rocking- with every word, move your hip one way, then the other- use your hands to make me do the same. Try to follow the beat. And when you swing your hips, go around in a circle."

Nod.

Step, step, rock, rock

I never saw it happening
I'd given up and given in

Step, step, rock, rock

I just couldn't take the hurt again

Slow swing of the hips- What a feeling

Step, step, rock, rock

I didn't have the strength to fight
Suddenly you seemed so right

Rock, rock, rock- Me and you

Slow swing of the hips- What a feeling

Pause.

"You've got it, Charlie! You've got it. Now, open your eyes and look right into mine. Yeah- okay, now do everything at once. Rock side to side, swing your hips back and forth, and take steps around in a circle. Just concentrate on my eyes and my singing."

A smile and 'okay' and the Eppes brothers were in full swing dancing, both smiling as Charlie finally let loose and started to move quicker and more loosely, following Don's singing.

Step, rock, step, rock, step, rock

What a feeling in my soul
Love burns brighter than sunshine

It's brighter than sunshine

Step, rock, step, rock, step, rock

Let the rain fall, I don't care
I'm yours and suddenly you're mine
Suddenly you're mine

Slow swing of the hips- It's brighter than the sun

Slow swing of the hips- It's brighter than the sun

Let go of waist- It's brighter than the

Spin, Spin, Spin- sun, sun, shine.

Crash.

Don found himself flat on his back, laughing so hard he couldn't ask Charlie why he had tried to spin his much taller brother. It was a good thing, too, as Charlie didn't know why he had, either; he just remembered the move from an old film he had watched late one night. If he had been thinking about his numbers, though, he probably would have also remembered the difference in height between him and Don, which would have forfeited his attempt.As it was, during the last spin, Don could not quite twist his body under Charlie's extended arm, his feet overlapping as he lost his balance and fell to the floor. Charlie had been quick this time out- he had deftly removed himself from the path of Don's falling body, avoiding the same fate as his elder sibling.

Charlie just stood over Don, giggling while he stepped back and forth, trying to keep the memory of his lesson so he wouldn't forget it before his date with Amita.

"Well," Don finally said, looking mischievously at Charlie, "I have to admit that's one move that will help you get Amita where you want her- on her back and breathless."

Charlie stood straight, placing his hand over his heart, feigning shock.

"I, Charles Eppes, am a gentleman- I would never use such tactics to take advantage of a lady."

Raising an eyebrow to Charlie, Don used his best southern belle impression to reply-

"You're a natural gentleman, one of the very few that are left in the world."

His brother replied with his own Rhett Butler imitation-

"Yes, my dear, because, frankly, I do give a damn."

"Well," Don continued to drawl, batting his eyelashes dramatically and laying his clasped hands under his chin, "you won't mind helping a lady up."

"Why certainly," Charlie's Rhett voice replied, as he held out a hand to his brother.

As Don grabbed hold of Charlie's hand, and his brother pulled him up, he continued to play, "Thank, you kind sir, -I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."

Continuing to laugh, Don looked up at the clock and realized it was time for his co-workers to start arriving.

"Hey, Charlie, help me put these chairs and this table back."

Soon, the room looked like it did before and the brothers headed to the interrogation room door. Don placed an affectionate arm around his brother's shoulder- and slid his arm around Charlie's head so swiftly it took the younger brother a full minute to realize Don was giving him a noogie.

"He who laughs last, laughs best," Don said, releasing his brother and exiting with a superior air-

until he realized the observation room was tightly packed with federal agents, all of whom had been carefully- and unmercifully- keeping their own laughter under strong constraints-

constraints that buckled upon the entrance of Special Agent Donald Eppes and his brother.

Don couldn't comprehend the entire situation. He only knew that the raucous laughter he heard was more for him than for Charlie. He also knew it would be a long time- if ever- before he would be able to live this down. So, doing what he did best, he gave every agent in the room his best scowl and walked swiftly from the room,tryingtoescape the catcalls that followed him-

"Dance with me Eppes- or is your dance card all full?"

"No-dance with me- I'll make you give a damn-"

"Let me hold you, Eppes- I can help you get 'up'-"

"If you like being on your back so much, I've got some moves that'll keep you there"-

"Hey, Eppes, save the last dance for me?"

Meanwhile, Charlie stood before the crowd of agents, bowing deeply at the waist over and over again, a smile so large on his face it threatened to break. With an overstated flourish of his hand, he then left the group of agents and went to stop at Don's desk to thank him. Don just mumbled a reply and Charlie headed for the elevator.

As agents started spreading throughout the bull pen, the sound of their laughter carried to Don's ears, making them ring. He chanced a glance around, and then watched his brother as he was leaving. Charlie held his right hand up while he held his own waist with his left hand. He was singing to himself as he continued to rock side to side, throwing in a little hip swinging for good measure. Though the place was full of agents talking about him- and laughing- the only sound Don heard was the quiet singing of his brother, which resonated in his head long after his baby brother had gone, somehow stifling the noise of all the other people around him.

While he typed in the last ofhis report,Don smiled to himself with self-satisfaction, humming quietly-

What a feeling!