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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.

Chapter List
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Colby snapped awake, his heart pounding.� Above him the staccato of gunshots, shouts,
running feet, more gunshots.

�What�s going on?� Charlie asked anxiously.

�Shh!�� Colby hissed
and strained to hear what was happening far above them.�

Sound exploded in the darkness in front of them.� Shots hammered the concrete near their feet.

Instantly Colby grabbed Charlie, spun him around and shoved
him into the corner, shielding him with his body.� Gunshots spattered around them, tearing
through the leaves, piercing the paint cans with sharp pings.�

Colby pushed Charlie�s head down, covering it with his hands
and sheltering it with his shoulders.� He
pressed Charlie tighter into the corner, ignoring Charlie�s soft grunts of pain
as his wounded leg was bent underneath him.

Their only chance was silence and darkness.� Colby gripped Charlie tightly.� Charlie was shaking so hard that his teeth
clattered.

Shouting, screams, distant gunshots then a hush.� Colby didn�t move.� His hands on Charlie warned him to stay
quiet.

�Agent Granger?� called an unfamiliar voice.� �Dr. Eppes?�

Colby tightened his hold on Charlie and breathed, �Shhh!�

�Are you alright?��
The voice called again.� �Hello?�

A waiting quiet then a vicious curse in a
foreign language.� Muzzle flash
and bullets slammed into the concrete.�
Bits of leaves and chips of concrete peppered Colby�s back.� Colby tried to be stone, steel.

The snap of another gun, then silence.

Colby held Charlie still, his muscles cramping with the
effort, his ribs screaming in pain.� The
smell of gunpowder hung heavy in the air.

�Colby?� Charlie?�

Did he know that voice?�
All Colby could be sure of was the pounding rush in his ears, the pain
in his side, Charlie�s slim trembling body.

A scraping sound � the grill being lifted.� Flashlight beams slicing through the
darkness.� The clatter
of a rope hitting the floor.� A
slithering sound as someone came down the rope.

�Colby?� a voice asked quietly.� A familiar voice.� Don.

Colby groaned in relief and released Charlie.

�Don!� Charlie cried.

�Charlie!� Don gasped and fell to his knees, gathering
Charlie into a fierce hug.

Charlie held on to his brother and sobbed, great gasping
sobs.� Don held him close and rocked
him.�

�It�s okay, buddy,� Don said, his voice raw with
emotion.� �It�s okay.�

Colby put his head in his hands and let the tremors overtake
him.

Colby had little chance to talk with Charlie after
that.� The next few hours were a blur of
anxious faces, doctors, medication and bandages.� Colby had multiple broken ribs and several
deep gashes on his back and ass where bullets had grazed him.� He hadn�t even been aware of them at the
time.� The back of his neck and arms from
shirt sleeve down, every inch of skin that had been vulnerable,
was marked by hundreds of tiny cuts from flying debris.

David also silently showed Colby his jacket which Charlie
had been wearing draped over him when the shooting started.� �The
jacket had fallen off when Colby had shoved Charlie into the corner.� It was completely shredded, at least thirty
bullet holes in the back alone.� Right where Charlie�s chest would have been�
and my own pelvis.� Colby�s mind
stuttered with the realization of how close he�d come to death, how close
Charlie had come.

Don and Alan Eppes were constantly near Charlie, holding his
hand or touching his shoulder, reassuring themselves
of Charlie�s safety.� For the last seven
hours, they hadn�t even known if Charlie was still alive and had tried to
prepare for the worst.� Not that you ever can.

Colby and Charlie�s captors were dead, killed in the gun
battle that they�d heard above their heads.�
The last man had been killed while firing into their prison.� Their kidnappers did indeed work for the
Russian mob and Don would have to figure out how to not let this escalate any
further, but not tonight.� Tonight, Don
and his dad held tight to both of Charlie�s hands as Charlie�s bullet wound was
cleaned and bandaged.

The doctor agreed with Colby�s assessment that Charlie�s
wound was as harmless as it was possible for a gunshot wound to be.� The shock would have killed him though.

�Thank you,� Alan told Colby, his face red from tears and relief.� �Thank you for saving my son�s life.�� Alan took Colby�s hand in his own
surprisingly strong grip.

Alan was standing by Colby�s hospital bed.� David and Megan were there as well.� Charlie had been taken to another room and
Colby felt the beginnings of a terrible emptiness.

Colby sighed.� �I wish
I could have done more.�

�You did everything that could be done,� Alan said.� �He�s alive and in g-good shape.� The doctor said you stopped his bleeding, kept
him warm and didn�t let him go too deep into shock.� Not to mention saving him from being sh-shot
again.�

�Good,� Colby said, tiredness washing over him.

�Thank you,� Alan said again, then
left the room to return to Charlie�s side.�
Colby�s eyes followed him out the door, wishing he was going with him.

�You did everything you could,� Megan repeated quietly.� �You did good.�

Colby grimaced and looked back at Megan.� �I shouldn�t have let them take Charlie at
all.�

�Oh, and it would have been better for you to die on the
CalSci campus and have them take Charlie anyway?�� Megan snapped.

�I could have stopped��

�You�re not Superman,� Megan said, her voice still tinged
with frightened anger.� �You kept yourself
and Charlie alive and that�s all that matters.�

Earlier, David and Megan had told Colby that they�d only
found them by a large number of people doing hours of dogged searching and a
big dose of luck.� Don had gone
completely insane, calling in favors from everyone from the LAPD to the U.S.
Marshals to the local news helicopters.� It
had been a CHP officer that finally spotted the van that had been seen leaving
CalSci.� She had radioed it in, then watched the van until the small army of law enforcement
could get there.� The FBI-led force had
attacked just minutes before the kidnappers� deadline.� Colby could easily picture Don as he lead the
charge � his gun held ready but wearing too little protective gear, his face utterly
focused, his body tight with tension.�
Colby hoped that it was Don�s bullet that killed the man who shot
Charlie.

�Better take it easy now,� David said, squeezing Colby�s
shoulder, �since there�s tons of paperwork waiting for you at the office.�

Colby smiled faintly.�
His eyes were drooping closed.�
There was no longer a reason to keep them open.� Charlie was safe.

Megan patted Colby�s arm.�
�Get some sleep,� she said.�
�They�ll probably discharge you in the morning.�

Colby nodded and closed his eyes completely.� He heard them leave the room and saw the
light above him dim.� Discharge me �but to what?
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It Changes Everything