As I am sure is patently obvious, Numb3rs and its characters do not originate with me nor belong to me. This story does. I feel sure you can distinguish between the two.
I owe many, many thanks to many, many people for helping me to get this story written and survive the process.
Q, for listening right at the beginning, asking many questions I found difficult, and for being one of the first to bravely attempt to wrangle all my commas and paragraph breaks.
Lynnmonster, perhaps the first to hear the whole arc of the story, who also asked important questions and has remained enthusiastic about this story for all the time it's taken to write it.
Merryish, for prodding me to actually start actually writing it.
Mia, for quite literally years of cheerleading.
Julad, my most durable and constant beta, for saving me from doing all sorts of stupid things with this story and improving it in a hundred small ways. Sorry about the lost sleep.
All the DC local fangirls, and all the ladies of the chat room who've cheered me on the entire time I've been writing this, completely sight unseen.
Missi and Frost, both of whom have on occasion listened to me go on about this at length.
Miss Molly Etc, my dear darling, for saving me from probably the single stupidest thing I attempted to include in the story with a well-timed "Really? That's what you're going with?" and for contributions above and beyond the call in teaching me the correct use of paragraph breaks. All remaining dodgy paragraph breaks are my own fault, as well as all remaining stupid things, of course.
Rachel, for another valiant if doomed effort at beta, and for promptly forgetting that she'd ever been involved.
Riverlight, for efforts I have unfortunately almost totally ignored. I'll try to be better at that if you ever offer your help again, dear heart.
Treewishes, for being amazing and insightful and fast. I am in awe.
Strangecobwebs, for not ever telling me to shut up or disowning me, even that one time when I did totally unironic Paul Gross Arms on a crowded train because I'd identified the Missing Persons theme song, and for pretending like me becoming wildly neurotic about my own writing is something that only happens sometimes, and not a constant state of being.
Iulia, for everything, as always.