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It Changes Everything	By : IrenaAdler Category: M through R > NUMB3RS Views: 4228 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own NUMB3RS, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Colby pulled himself together.� Charlie was still alive, and it was his job
to make sure that Charlie stayed that way.�
�How are you feeling?� he asked.

�Tired,� Charlie mumbled.

�You can sleep a little, if you want,� Colby said.

�Sleep?� Charlie responded, his
voice shading towards fear.� �What if I
don�t wake up?�

�Of course you�ll wake up,� Colby said soothingly.� �And I�ll be right here.�

�They could have killed
me.�� Charlie began to shake.�

Colby lifted a hand and tentatively touched Charlie�s
cheek.� �But they didn�t.�

�I could have died.�� Charlie shuddered, a tremor that went through
his whole body.

�Shh,� Colby said, keeping all of his own horror out of his
voice.� �I won�t let them kill you.�

�How could you stop them?��
Charlie said accusingly.� �You
couldn�t stop them from grabbing us.�

�I know,� Colby said, his anger at himself coming back to
the surface.� �I�m sorry.�

�No, I�m sorry,� Charlie said, deflating.� �I know there�s nothing you could have done
without getting yourself killed.�

�I should have�� Colby started.

�I�m glad you�re here with me,� Charlie interrupted.

Colby looked down at Charlie�s head and said quietly, �I�m
glad that I walked you to your car.�

�Even though your car was in the other
parking lot.�

�Yeah,� Colby said with an embarrassed
laugh.� �Guess I forgot where I parked.�

�I doubt it,� Charlie replied.

Colby cleared his throat and changed the subject.� �So who do you think these guys are?�

Charlie gave a small shrug.�
�Does it matter?�

�Don�t know,� Colby said. ��But it gives us something to talk about.� Unless you think you can sleep.� It would be good for you.�

�No, no,� Charlie said fearfully.

�Russian mob, I�m thinking.��
Colby said.� �They never forget
and forgive.� Taking down Yuri must have
really stung.�

�You think this is an attack against Don again, like they
were doing before?�

�Not like before.�
Before they were trying to distract us, now � if it is them � they�re
just out for revenge.�

�Do you think they�ll ask for a ransom?�

Colby sighed.� �Probably a release of Yuri from prison or something else that the
FBI can�t give them.�

�You mean ��

�I mean that we need to sit tight and wait for Don and David
and Megan to find us.�

�Even though they don�t have me to help them,� Charlie said.�

Colby heard no irony or joking in Charlie�s voice.� Colby shook his head, amused as always at the
sheer arrogance of the man.� It didn�t
help that he had a lot to be arrogant about.�
�I�m sure they�ll muddle along without you.�

�Okay,� Charlie said and lapsed into silence.�

If they don�t find us,
Colby thought grimly, we�re dead.� The men that dropped us in this hole don�t
intend for us to ever leave.� They�d
kept them alive for now in case Don demanded proof that they were still
alive.� But once they�d gotten what they
wanted � or decided that they wouldn�t get it � they�d kill him and
Charlie.� Both for
expediency and to hurt Don and the FBI.

Charlie�s breathing seemed to be coming a little
easier.� In fact, Charlie had, however
unwillingly, fallen asleep.�

Colby smiled.�
Sleeping through the worst part of the shock would be the best thing
that Charlie could do.� Charlie stirred
and Colby softly stroked his cheek and made soothing sounds.� Charlie settled back to sleep.��

A lump in his throat, Colby looked down at the man sleeping
in his lap.�� He�d failed Charlie, failed
him in what was probably Colby�s biggest test.�
If Charlie died, Colby didn�t think he could live himself.� It would be just one too many failures in
life, one too many friends lost.�

Mark...�

Mark had lain in Colby�s lap, bleeding from the hole in his
gut.� A hole from a bomb that Colby was
too stupid to notice, too slow to stop.�
Mark had told Colby that it wasn�t his fault, but Colby knew
better.� Mark had died,
his bright life fading from his eyes as Colby watched.�

Colby didn�t acknowledge it then, but looking back he could
recognize that he had been in love with Mark.�
That Mark had been more than a very good friend,
he�d been someone that he could see sharing the rest of his life with.� But Mark had died and left him more alone
than ever before.�

Many others, too many others, that he�d known had died, but
it was Mark�s death that gave him nightmares, woke him up in a cold sweat, made
him swear to never get as close to anyone again.

Now here was Charlie, irresistible Charlie, who had quietly
taken up residence in Colby�s heart.� He
lay in his lap like Mark had, the smell of his blood mingling in Colby�s mind
with the smell of Mark�s.�

Colby sat and watched Charlie sleep, the faint beams of
sunlight moving across the floor.� Asleep
Charlie looked like a little boy, save for the scruff on his chin. ��Incredible to realize that
a world-class brain lived behind that face.� Sometimes Colby felt honored to have Charlie
work with him.� Then again, sometimes
Colby felt like wringing the self-absorbed, egotistical bastard�s neck.

Smiling, Colby gazed at Charlie�s face in a way he�d never
let himself.� Charlie�s lips were
slightly parted, his long lashes fluttered against his cheek.� His head rested against Colby�s left arm, his
hair as soft as Colby had imagined.

I will die before I
let anything happen to you, he promised.

Two hours passed as Colby guarded over the sleeping
Charlie.� His broken ribs throbbed and
the aftereffects of adrenaline dragged at him.�
His eyelids drooped.

�Colby?�

Colby�s eyes drifted open.�
Charlie was looking up at him.

�Hello, angel,� Colby murmured tenderly.

Charlie blinked at him.�
�What did you call me?�

Colby came fully awake.�
God, did I actually say that out
loud?� I must be a lot farther gone than
I thought.� �Angel� was his personal
pet name for Charlie, what he called him in his deepest thoughts.� He cleared his throat.� �Just checking to see you were really awake.�

�Ah,� Charlie replied, but he didn�t sound convinced.

�How do you feel?� Colby asked quickly.

�Cold,� Charlie complained.

�Still?�� Colby frowned.� He�d hoped that Charlie would have gotten
past the shock by now.� He put his
fingers against Charlie�s neck.� Charlie�s
pulse was still thready, his skin still clammy.�
But he didn�t seem any worse.� �Go
back to sleep.�

�No!� Charlie said, anxiously. �I don�t want to sleep.� What if I don�t wake up?�

�You did this time.�

Charlie twisted around to look at Colby.� Colby gritted his teeth at the pain that
movement sent through him.

Charlie�s eyes were wide.�
�But I might not next time!� What
if I die in my sleep?�

�That�s not gonna��

�Don�t let me go to sleep!��
Charlie�s voice was rising in panic.�

�Okay, okay,� Colby said, patting Charlie�s hand.� �I won�t let you go to sleep again.�

�Promise?�

�I promise.�

Charlie heaved a sigh and lay back against Colby.�� Colby felt inordinately pleased that Charlie
accepted his promise as truth.

�Anything interesting happen while I was
asleep?�� Charlie asked.

�Oh, there was a big gun battle and the FBI came rappelling
down in here, but I told them to go away and let you sleep.�

�Ha, ha,� Charlie said.�

�I know how you need your beauty sleep.�

�I wasn�t really asleep,� Charlie protested. ��I was just resting my eyes.�

�Of course.��

Charlie smiled faintly.�

Colby cast about for a safe topic.� �So, tell me about this cognitive thing
you�re working on.�

�My cognitive emergence theory?�

�Yeah.�

�Do you really want to know about it?�� Charlie asked dubiously.

�Not really,� Colby answered honestly.� �But you always make things like that
understandable.� And I�d like to
understand.�

�Okay,� Charlie said and launched into an explanation of his
recent work.

Colby tried to listen, but he was too distracted, too much
of his brain occupied by pain and anxiety, too conscious of the man lying in
his lap.� He gave up and let Charlie�s
words wash over him, only noticing the energy and enthusiasm in Charlie�s
expressive face.

It was a moment before Colby realized that Charlie had
stopped talking.

�You aren�t really listening,� Charlie accused.

�Sorry,� Colby said.�
�I�m just preoccupied.�

�� Yeah,� Charlie agreed and lapsed into silence.

Colby brought up other safe topics, like sports � quickly discussed
and discarded, movies � they discovered they both had a weakness for old Sci-Fi,
and Charlie�s house � Colby got tricked into offering to help Charlie fix his
roof.� Other topics were tackled, like
favorite beer � which just made them both thirsty, Charlie�s recent hiking trip
� he had been chased by a raccoon, and Colby�s annoying neighbors � Charlie
came up with some creative ways to convince them to be nicer to their dog.

In some ways it felt to Colby like passing the time at a
stakeout.� But he didn�t usually have his
partner in his lap or blood pooling under the skin of his ribcage.
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It Changes Everything