NUMB3RS Big Bang Master Post: Blood and Gold

[zubeneschamali]

Title: Blood and Gold
Author: zuben_eschamali 
Rating: PG-13 (language, violence, adult situations)
Timeline: AU Season Four, set after "Velocity"
Pairings: Don/Liz, Megan/Larry, Colby/OFC
Word count: 104K (!)
Summary:  Don's team might be back together after Colby's return, but are they really all in the same place?  As a new case threatens them in more ways than one, they have to work on trusting each other again and showing the rest of the FBI that they still have what it takes to bring in the bad guys and keep themselves safe from a variety of threats, some from the outside and some from within.  An AU take on Season Four, featuring angst, action, and romance, roughly in that order.  Written for numb3rs_bigbang .


Disclaimer: The characters you recognize are not mine, but the property of the NUMB3RS folks, as are the opening quotes in each chapter. I’m only using them for fun and to work out angst. Chapter titles and lyrics are all from Bruce Springsteen; the complete list is in the soundtrack post.

A/N: Long, long ago, I started this story, and then it sat, three-quarters finished, for almost two years. When the first NUMB3RS Big Bang came along this spring, I thought it was the perfect kick in the butt to get this thing done, and it was!  In the DVD commentary to "One Hour," Rob Morrow said that one of the ironies of the episode is that while the audience gets to see how trustworthy and competent each of the members of Don's team are, Don himself doesn't get to see that. Take that, combine it with a number of aspects of early Season Four that were never resolved entirely to my liking, and this novel-length story is the result.

Muchas gracias and merci beaucoup to Kiki, rittenden, cerisereve, and emmademarais for their fabulous beta work. You guys rock. Any remaining mistakes are all mine.

Thanks to Lady Shelley for maintaining "Running the NUMB3RS" and to spikedluv for her quote collection, both of which were valuable resources. Thanks to the folks at numb3rs_bigbang  and ficfinishing for making this happen and cheering us all along.

Finally, thanks to emmademarais for not only running ficfinishing and writing her own Big Bang, but taking a chance on a truly crappy summary and producing some amazing art.

Now, pretend you've seen only the first couple of episodes of Season Four: Colby is newly back on the team, Liz and Don are still together, Charlie hasn't written that book, and things are still a little tense in the office as the curtain rises…

Part 1	Part 2	Part 3	Part 4
Chapter 1	Chapter 1	Chapter 1	Chapter 1
Chapter 2	Chapter 2	Chapter 2	Chapter 2
Chapter 3	Chapter 3	Chapter 3	Chapter 3
Chapter 4	Chapter 4	Chapter 4	Chapter 4
Chapter 5	Chapter 5	Chapter 5	Chapter 5
Chapter 6	Chapter 6	Chapter 6	Chapter 6

Now available here in one handy-dandy PDF file!

10 hijacked trucks
5 coded digits
3 missing crates
1 team

Comments

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Whoo! I've longed for another lengthy N3 fic from you--can't wait to read this! :)

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, either LJ is being weird or the links (here and at the end of part 4 chapter 2) to Part 4 Chapter 3 are broken.

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Hey, bet you didn't know you were going to be the link tester, did you? ;) It should be okay now.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Lol, no problem! :) Totally worth it, this story ate most of my afternoon, btw. Going to finish it tomorrow after a job interview (yay fannish rewards).

[emmademarais.livejournal.com]

YEEEE! I'm so excited for you! It all looks great, with all the chapters laid out and the art mixed in!

I know people are going to eat this up! It's such a good story with so much drama and you've already got such a great reputation for long fic. I really enjoyed getting an early peek at it. I'm actually looking forward to reading it again now that it's finalized.

Thanks for being so great to work with and so inspiring! (And your summary was not crappy - no matter how many times you say so!)

Thanks for all the kind words, hon. /hugs/ And Congratulations! You did it!

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Thank you for all of the kind words and encouragement, too. I'm exhausted from taking four and a half hours to post this, but at least it's out there and I apparently only made one mistake, so yay! At least my SPN BB is only half as long...

[emmademarais.livejournal.com]

I'm sure this was a mammoth undertaking! I mean with all the parts and chapters and links and graphics and soundtrack... Wow. And I thought I did a lot of work to fit Sin in a measly three posts! This? This deserves an ovation! (And copious amounts of chocolate! LOL)

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Well, if I hadn't insisted on keeping it in separate chapters, it would have taken half as long, so it's my own compulsive fault...I'll still take the chocolate, though. :)

[lark_ascends]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!


SO EXCITED!!!!!! I've been so wanting more Numb3rs fic from you...

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Hope it lives up to your expectations... :)

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hope you enjoy it. :)

[hellandbliss.livejournal.com]

Came here via numb3rs_news. This story looks really interesting, especially with Don/Liz :)

I wonder if you have also posted this story on another site, like FF.net? It'd be easier when it comes to reading multi-chaptered fics. If not, it's okay :)

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

I am planning on posting it at ff.net, probably a chapter a day, if you don't mind waiting... :)

[hellandbliss.livejournal.com]

Good to know! Thanks for responding :)

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

It's also in PDF form now, if that helps.

[hellandbliss.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks for letting me know! It does help :) I'll read it when I have time. Thanks again!!!