The Best Deceptions [Colby/Megan]
Title: The Best Deceptions
Fandom: Numb3rs
Pairing: Colby Granger / Megan Reeves
Theme Set: Epsilon
Author's Note: Considering the events of S3 and the finale, I'd say that this is kind of AU. Well, as far as Colby and Megan's relationship goes and how far Megan would go to save it. It was written for my claim at
1sentence .
Rating: T
#11 - Blur
The thing is, Megan always felt like she was standing still, like somehow the thing she always wanted most (even if she didn’t know exactly what it was) would pass her by so quick she’d only see it as a blur out of the corner of her eye.
#02 - Cool
Sometimes Megan volunteered to go speak to youth groups or high school/college law classes, and when they asked what the coolest part of her job was, she never knew what to say, because honestly each day it got more and more complicated-finally, one day, she just said the coolest part was when she got to go home at the end of the day and forget it all happened.
#31 - Book
She read books on space shuttles and Buzz Aldrin, on black holes and stars, but even though she did all those things Megan never felt like she was on the same level as Larry, like she belonged.
#20 - Picture
Charlie took a picture of her and Larry at some dinner he had at his house, and when she finally looked at it she thought that it was the biggest metaphor for her life; Larry’s arm was around her waist and he was looking at so lovingly it almost made her sick, but she was smiling at someone out of frame and it was almost like Larry was trying to hold on to her.
#07 - One
Her job was the one thing in the world that she had for certain, the thing she could count on-it would definitely be there tomorrow, Megan knew, and there was always danger involved, but that never really set in until she was the hostage and her life was in the team’s hands.
#37 - Time
To be completely honest, when she was held hostage Megan had moments when she was sure she was going to die; she hurt in places she never knew existed, even though she hadn’t been wounded by her captor, and she was sure there wasn’t going to be enough time, for anything really, but mostly to say what she wanted to.
#01 - Motion
The ground swayed beneath her feet and she would’ve fallen to the ground if Colby hadn’t caught her, his arms surrounding her small frame, and when she woke up in the hospital Megan’s first thought was that she had always wanted a handsome man to catch her when she fainted.
#04 - Last
They were supposed to last forever, her and Larry; even Amita said that their relationship gave her hope for Charlie, but Megan didn’t love Larry nearly as much as everyone thought she did.
#48 - Precious
She felt like the whole world when she was around Larry, a personal gravity that was more precious to him than anything else; for that, she was always grateful, but something she wanted more was for someone to forget that she could be broken, stop holding back, and love her like the devil loved sinners.
#26 - Goodbye
When she said goodbye to Larry, a soft kiss on the mouth and a promise to wait those six months for him, Megan knew that she wouldn’t be able to; she had waited too long for Colby, she had wanted him for too long and he knew it.
#03 - Young
As a child, she dreamt of Prince Charming and a castle full of hopes, something she knew now would never exist for her; she had found someone cracked and broken in places, but still good and worthwhile, even if her younger self wouldn’t think him a prince.
#45 - Naked
She had never felt so completely naked than when she was with Colby; and not just in the physical sense, either, but the way that he could tell how she was feeling or what was wrong just by looking at her.
#18 - Attention
Megan stopped the elevator one night, only Colby and herself inside, and told him she needed his attention because she’d never said anything like this before, the part where she thought that they should have sex or maybe he knew her better than anyone.
#16 - Need
The next day, she heard agents complaining about how they had to walk down the stairs because the elevator was out, but Megan remembers the way Colby’s mouth found hers and how his hands explored her skin like he had been waiting for this all his life.
#28 - Fortune
Chinese food for dinner one night with Colby, her legs resting over his lap as she lounged back on the couch and opened her fortune cookie; the little slip of paper inside, the one that said ‘the path you choose now will change your life forever’ was discarded, and Megan would wish later that she had paid more attention.
#43 - God
She didn’t really believe in God, but those nights when she was with Colby and his body moved over hers, she found herself believing just for a moment as her hands clutched at the sheets and his name escaped her lips.
#08 - Thousand
The first time Colby actually said that he loved Megan, it was the day they heard Larry was coming back from the space station; she just stood there, until he said it again, which is when she realized that this was really happening-it had gone from a workplace affair to love-and she told him that he had ruined everything, but she still wanted him to say it a thousand times more.
#32 - Eye
She went to meet Larry, because it was what she was supposed to do, and because she wanted to-of course she wanted to, but Megan found that she had difficulty looking him in the eye, and when he asked what was wrong she shrugged it off, but she knew it was because of the guilt she felt over Colby.
#36 - Stop
Her hand wrapped around his tie, she tugged him closer to her and let him kiss her before she whispered Colby, we have to stop this, Larry’s back and I can’t do this when he’s here, but the way Colby looked at her (the sheer need and hell, the love) made Megan say, okay one last time.
#42 - Bother
She didn’t bother turning around when she heard someone enter the room with her, she just assumed it was Larry; however, when she heard Colby say I miss you, I wish things were different, Megan please, she turned around and told him to leave because she just couldn’t do this anymore.
#27 - Hide
You can’t hide what’s between you and Colby, said David one day as they drove to a scene, it’s bigger than you two now, everyone’s started to notice, even Don; Megan didn’t say anything, but she started to ignore Colby and spend more time with Larry, even if it pained her.
#30 - Ghost
She couldn’t get rid of Colby even when he wasn’t around; she barely spoke with him anymore, except when they were on a case, nor did she go out for drinks with the team if she knew he was going, and still he was around, the ghost of a good thing.
#23 - Child
One night after he came back, Larry mentioned wormholes and futures, and Megan was sure she heard the word marriage, but she didn’t want to hear it because she wasn’t not ready and to be honest she didn’t want to carry anyone’s wormhole but Colby’s-and with that thought, she broke the illusion that she ever could’ve had a future with Larry.
#13 - Change
Larry had loved her differently, always gentle and kind, something she tried not to resent him for; she was the kind of girl who needed passion in her life, and Colby gave her the kind of fierce and desperate love she called for, something that had changed her life irrevocably and for always.
#05 - Wrong
Don called her, something just wrong in his voice when he told her to come in from the field, and Megan knew him well enough that whatever it was that he had to say would be the worst kind of news.
#50 - Believe
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Don, because she did; he was one of the best agents she knew, but he had to be wrong about Colby, it just wasn’t possible, and she didn’t believe him when he said that Colby had been working for the Chinese all along-it just didn’t work that way.
#21 - Fool
For the six months that Larry was circling the earth up in the atmosphere, she had been with Colby, stressing and loving him, trusting him, but now she felt like a fool for not having seen some sign of his betrayal.
#33 - Never
Colby said there were things that he could never tell her, that his secrets were something he had to deal with on his own and he didn’t want her involved (it’s for your own good, Meg), and she had assumed they had to do with Afghanistan and Dwayne, but now Megan thinks that he was trying to protect her in some small way from his dealings with the Chinese.
#39 - Torn
Don told the team that they have to move in on Colby, and Megan was torn between her duty to the team and her job, or the way she felt for Colby-she loved him, not in the way she loved Larry but in a deeper, fiercer way that burned at her, and she thought briefly that she could leave unnoticed and warn him.
#22 - Mad
She was crazy, she was surely going mad, but Megan knew without a doubt that if she had the time to think it through, she’d still come to the same conclusion-that logically, the only right thing to do was for her to go to Colby, even if she was throwing everything away.
#49 - Hunger
If anyone had asked Colby what he had expected, it wasn’t this, Megan giving everything up and helping him escape (escaping with him), but he wanted her more than he wanted anything, a sense of belonging that was deep and primal, and if she was willing to come with him then he wasn’t going to stop her.
#10 - Learn
There was nothing anyone could keep from Don Eppes for very long, either because of their own ineptness or from someone else’s loose tongue, so Megan knew that soon enough he’d know she went to Colby, and she didn’t want to know how that would turn out.
#29 - Safe
She had always felt safe with Colby, whether it was because he was a fellow agent, a former soldier, or just his presence she didn’t know; but when he suggested they go on the run (like Bonnie and Clyde, he joked, but she could see how tense he was) she knew that he would keep her safe.
#35 - Sudden
It was a quick thought, but it flashed suddenly across Megan’s mind as she put her badge on the counter in Colby’s kitchen; would Charlie think to calculate the odds of Megan turning to Colby, or the statistics of two agents betraying the very principles upon which they first took their badge?
#12 - Wait
Before they left, Colby grabbed Megan’s arm and told her wait, be sure, said that from this moment on there was no turning back because you’re going on the run with a traitor-and her hand rose to cup his cheek as she replied that she was sure, there was nowhere else she’d rather be.
#47 - Harm
Megan had often had the sneaking suspicion that Colby would do anything for her, but had never had any factual evidence until the night they fled Los Angeles; he thought she was asleep so he pressed a kiss against the soft skin of her stomach, and while his fingers traced circles on her hip he whispered, I’d die for you.
#41 - Power
There is power in this, the relationship she has with Colby; she knew that he would do anything for her, but she didn’t want to call on him to do so, mostly because she was afraid of how far it would go.
#40 - History
She was never any good at history, but she was good at her own, remembering and tracing events; Megan knew that what she was doing (joining Colby, betraying Don and Larry and whoever else) would create ripples across everyone’s lives and change their histories as well as her own.
#17 - Vision
She wished that she could see what her life would’ve been like if she hadn’t gone on the run with Colby; how different it would’ve been, for instance, who she would be with now, or how emotionally damaged she’d be from losing him.
#34 - Sing
Larry told her once that one of the things he liked most about her was the way she sang in the shower; she’s noticed that she doesn’t sing so much anymore.
#14 - Command
Eventually, Don would have to take command of the situation and give the order to move in on both Megan and Colby, something he wouldn’t want to do; they had been his best agents, he had cared for them, trusted them, and now he was the one who had to make the hard decision.
#38 - Wash
He couldn’t wash this blood off of his hands, not his friends, or rather people he had once called his friends; later, Don would simply say he had lost connection with the tactical response unit, but he knew what really happened.
#46 - Drive
As the two of them drove away into the proverbial sunset, Megan placed a call to Don’s cellphone; it went straight to voicemail, but she said what she would’ve if he answered; thanks, Don, I know it cost you a lot and you’ll never see us again-I know you don’t want to.
#15 - Hold
Colby would hold her in the middle of the night, the dark almost inhuman and oppressive, and Megan knew that this was as good as it was going to get; they were all they had left in the world now.
#25 - Shadow
There was a vestige of good around Megan still, of the woman who wore pigtails and strove to serve the FBI as well as she could, but Colby just moved from one moment to the next, trying to keep Megan and himself alive and out of reach of the FBI.
#19 - Soul
Despite all her goodness, the curious thing was that she didn’t feel all the guilty about doing what she did; she had done what felt right, had followed her heart, and the only thing she regrets about it all is that she spent her entire life trying to prove her daddy wrong and now, well, Megan was reduced to thinking that her daddy was right, she really was no good.
#06 - Gentle
She used to be gentle, Megan remembered, soft and compassionate, but time on the run changed that and she missed the time when she could afford to sympathize with the suspect but now she just didn’t have the time.
#09 - King
So this was the end, thought Megan as a tactical response unit from the FBI moved in around the hotel room she shared with Colby; game, set, and match, almost as if they had played a game of chess and the FBI had won, a solid checkmate as they captured the King.
#24 - Now
As she looked back on it, there was nothing she would change; she still would’ve gone to Colby, joined him on the run, and left her badge behind-the only thing she regretted now was that she couldn’t do anything to change the fact that she had hurt people.
#44 - Wall
When Don came to visit her in whatever federal prison she was in, it was almost as if there was a wall between them-not the literal wall, of course, but something else; Megan couldn’t find it in herself to apologize, or even explain, so they just sat there in silence, and it seemed to Megan that that was the way it had always been.
Fandom: Numb3rs
Pairing: Colby Granger / Megan Reeves
Theme Set: Epsilon
Author's Note: Considering the events of S3 and the finale, I'd say that this is kind of AU. Well, as far as Colby and Megan's relationship goes and how far Megan would go to save it. It was written for my claim at
1sentence .
Rating: T
#11 - Blur
The thing is, Megan always felt like she was standing still, like somehow the thing she always wanted most (even if she didn’t know exactly what it was) would pass her by so quick she’d only see it as a blur out of the corner of her eye.
#02 - Cool
Sometimes Megan volunteered to go speak to youth groups or high school/college law classes, and when they asked what the coolest part of her job was, she never knew what to say, because honestly each day it got more and more complicated-finally, one day, she just said the coolest part was when she got to go home at the end of the day and forget it all happened.
#31 - Book
She read books on space shuttles and Buzz Aldrin, on black holes and stars, but even though she did all those things Megan never felt like she was on the same level as Larry, like she belonged.
#20 - Picture
Charlie took a picture of her and Larry at some dinner he had at his house, and when she finally looked at it she thought that it was the biggest metaphor for her life; Larry’s arm was around her waist and he was looking at so lovingly it almost made her sick, but she was smiling at someone out of frame and it was almost like Larry was trying to hold on to her.
#07 - One
Her job was the one thing in the world that she had for certain, the thing she could count on-it would definitely be there tomorrow, Megan knew, and there was always danger involved, but that never really set in until she was the hostage and her life was in the team’s hands.
#37 - Time
To be completely honest, when she was held hostage Megan had moments when she was sure she was going to die; she hurt in places she never knew existed, even though she hadn’t been wounded by her captor, and she was sure there wasn’t going to be enough time, for anything really, but mostly to say what she wanted to.
#01 - Motion
The ground swayed beneath her feet and she would’ve fallen to the ground if Colby hadn’t caught her, his arms surrounding her small frame, and when she woke up in the hospital Megan’s first thought was that she had always wanted a handsome man to catch her when she fainted.
#04 - Last
They were supposed to last forever, her and Larry; even Amita said that their relationship gave her hope for Charlie, but Megan didn’t love Larry nearly as much as everyone thought she did.
#48 - Precious
She felt like the whole world when she was around Larry, a personal gravity that was more precious to him than anything else; for that, she was always grateful, but something she wanted more was for someone to forget that she could be broken, stop holding back, and love her like the devil loved sinners.
#26 - Goodbye
When she said goodbye to Larry, a soft kiss on the mouth and a promise to wait those six months for him, Megan knew that she wouldn’t be able to; she had waited too long for Colby, she had wanted him for too long and he knew it.
#03 - Young
As a child, she dreamt of Prince Charming and a castle full of hopes, something she knew now would never exist for her; she had found someone cracked and broken in places, but still good and worthwhile, even if her younger self wouldn’t think him a prince.
#45 - Naked
She had never felt so completely naked than when she was with Colby; and not just in the physical sense, either, but the way that he could tell how she was feeling or what was wrong just by looking at her.
#18 - Attention
Megan stopped the elevator one night, only Colby and herself inside, and told him she needed his attention because she’d never said anything like this before, the part where she thought that they should have sex or maybe he knew her better than anyone.
#16 - Need
The next day, she heard agents complaining about how they had to walk down the stairs because the elevator was out, but Megan remembers the way Colby’s mouth found hers and how his hands explored her skin like he had been waiting for this all his life.
#28 - Fortune
Chinese food for dinner one night with Colby, her legs resting over his lap as she lounged back on the couch and opened her fortune cookie; the little slip of paper inside, the one that said ‘the path you choose now will change your life forever’ was discarded, and Megan would wish later that she had paid more attention.
#43 - God
She didn’t really believe in God, but those nights when she was with Colby and his body moved over hers, she found herself believing just for a moment as her hands clutched at the sheets and his name escaped her lips.
#08 - Thousand
The first time Colby actually said that he loved Megan, it was the day they heard Larry was coming back from the space station; she just stood there, until he said it again, which is when she realized that this was really happening-it had gone from a workplace affair to love-and she told him that he had ruined everything, but she still wanted him to say it a thousand times more.
#32 - Eye
She went to meet Larry, because it was what she was supposed to do, and because she wanted to-of course she wanted to, but Megan found that she had difficulty looking him in the eye, and when he asked what was wrong she shrugged it off, but she knew it was because of the guilt she felt over Colby.
#36 - Stop
Her hand wrapped around his tie, she tugged him closer to her and let him kiss her before she whispered Colby, we have to stop this, Larry’s back and I can’t do this when he’s here, but the way Colby looked at her (the sheer need and hell, the love) made Megan say, okay one last time.
#42 - Bother
She didn’t bother turning around when she heard someone enter the room with her, she just assumed it was Larry; however, when she heard Colby say I miss you, I wish things were different, Megan please, she turned around and told him to leave because she just couldn’t do this anymore.
#27 - Hide
You can’t hide what’s between you and Colby, said David one day as they drove to a scene, it’s bigger than you two now, everyone’s started to notice, even Don; Megan didn’t say anything, but she started to ignore Colby and spend more time with Larry, even if it pained her.
#30 - Ghost
She couldn’t get rid of Colby even when he wasn’t around; she barely spoke with him anymore, except when they were on a case, nor did she go out for drinks with the team if she knew he was going, and still he was around, the ghost of a good thing.
#23 - Child
One night after he came back, Larry mentioned wormholes and futures, and Megan was sure she heard the word marriage, but she didn’t want to hear it because she wasn’t not ready and to be honest she didn’t want to carry anyone’s wormhole but Colby’s-and with that thought, she broke the illusion that she ever could’ve had a future with Larry.
#13 - Change
Larry had loved her differently, always gentle and kind, something she tried not to resent him for; she was the kind of girl who needed passion in her life, and Colby gave her the kind of fierce and desperate love she called for, something that had changed her life irrevocably and for always.
#05 - Wrong
Don called her, something just wrong in his voice when he told her to come in from the field, and Megan knew him well enough that whatever it was that he had to say would be the worst kind of news.
#50 - Believe
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Don, because she did; he was one of the best agents she knew, but he had to be wrong about Colby, it just wasn’t possible, and she didn’t believe him when he said that Colby had been working for the Chinese all along-it just didn’t work that way.
#21 - Fool
For the six months that Larry was circling the earth up in the atmosphere, she had been with Colby, stressing and loving him, trusting him, but now she felt like a fool for not having seen some sign of his betrayal.
#33 - Never
Colby said there were things that he could never tell her, that his secrets were something he had to deal with on his own and he didn’t want her involved (it’s for your own good, Meg), and she had assumed they had to do with Afghanistan and Dwayne, but now Megan thinks that he was trying to protect her in some small way from his dealings with the Chinese.
#39 - Torn
Don told the team that they have to move in on Colby, and Megan was torn between her duty to the team and her job, or the way she felt for Colby-she loved him, not in the way she loved Larry but in a deeper, fiercer way that burned at her, and she thought briefly that she could leave unnoticed and warn him.
#22 - Mad
She was crazy, she was surely going mad, but Megan knew without a doubt that if she had the time to think it through, she’d still come to the same conclusion-that logically, the only right thing to do was for her to go to Colby, even if she was throwing everything away.
#49 - Hunger
If anyone had asked Colby what he had expected, it wasn’t this, Megan giving everything up and helping him escape (escaping with him), but he wanted her more than he wanted anything, a sense of belonging that was deep and primal, and if she was willing to come with him then he wasn’t going to stop her.
#10 - Learn
There was nothing anyone could keep from Don Eppes for very long, either because of their own ineptness or from someone else’s loose tongue, so Megan knew that soon enough he’d know she went to Colby, and she didn’t want to know how that would turn out.
#29 - Safe
She had always felt safe with Colby, whether it was because he was a fellow agent, a former soldier, or just his presence she didn’t know; but when he suggested they go on the run (like Bonnie and Clyde, he joked, but she could see how tense he was) she knew that he would keep her safe.
#35 - Sudden
It was a quick thought, but it flashed suddenly across Megan’s mind as she put her badge on the counter in Colby’s kitchen; would Charlie think to calculate the odds of Megan turning to Colby, or the statistics of two agents betraying the very principles upon which they first took their badge?
#12 - Wait
Before they left, Colby grabbed Megan’s arm and told her wait, be sure, said that from this moment on there was no turning back because you’re going on the run with a traitor-and her hand rose to cup his cheek as she replied that she was sure, there was nowhere else she’d rather be.
#47 - Harm
Megan had often had the sneaking suspicion that Colby would do anything for her, but had never had any factual evidence until the night they fled Los Angeles; he thought she was asleep so he pressed a kiss against the soft skin of her stomach, and while his fingers traced circles on her hip he whispered, I’d die for you.
#41 - Power
There is power in this, the relationship she has with Colby; she knew that he would do anything for her, but she didn’t want to call on him to do so, mostly because she was afraid of how far it would go.
#40 - History
She was never any good at history, but she was good at her own, remembering and tracing events; Megan knew that what she was doing (joining Colby, betraying Don and Larry and whoever else) would create ripples across everyone’s lives and change their histories as well as her own.
#17 - Vision
She wished that she could see what her life would’ve been like if she hadn’t gone on the run with Colby; how different it would’ve been, for instance, who she would be with now, or how emotionally damaged she’d be from losing him.
#34 - Sing
Larry told her once that one of the things he liked most about her was the way she sang in the shower; she’s noticed that she doesn’t sing so much anymore.
#14 - Command
Eventually, Don would have to take command of the situation and give the order to move in on both Megan and Colby, something he wouldn’t want to do; they had been his best agents, he had cared for them, trusted them, and now he was the one who had to make the hard decision.
#38 - Wash
He couldn’t wash this blood off of his hands, not his friends, or rather people he had once called his friends; later, Don would simply say he had lost connection with the tactical response unit, but he knew what really happened.
#46 - Drive
As the two of them drove away into the proverbial sunset, Megan placed a call to Don’s cellphone; it went straight to voicemail, but she said what she would’ve if he answered; thanks, Don, I know it cost you a lot and you’ll never see us again-I know you don’t want to.
#15 - Hold
Colby would hold her in the middle of the night, the dark almost inhuman and oppressive, and Megan knew that this was as good as it was going to get; they were all they had left in the world now.
#25 - Shadow
There was a vestige of good around Megan still, of the woman who wore pigtails and strove to serve the FBI as well as she could, but Colby just moved from one moment to the next, trying to keep Megan and himself alive and out of reach of the FBI.
#19 - Soul
Despite all her goodness, the curious thing was that she didn’t feel all the guilty about doing what she did; she had done what felt right, had followed her heart, and the only thing she regrets about it all is that she spent her entire life trying to prove her daddy wrong and now, well, Megan was reduced to thinking that her daddy was right, she really was no good.
#06 - Gentle
She used to be gentle, Megan remembered, soft and compassionate, but time on the run changed that and she missed the time when she could afford to sympathize with the suspect but now she just didn’t have the time.
#09 - King
So this was the end, thought Megan as a tactical response unit from the FBI moved in around the hotel room she shared with Colby; game, set, and match, almost as if they had played a game of chess and the FBI had won, a solid checkmate as they captured the King.
#24 - Now
As she looked back on it, there was nothing she would change; she still would’ve gone to Colby, joined him on the run, and left her badge behind-the only thing she regretted now was that she couldn’t do anything to change the fact that she had hurt people.
#44 - Wall
When Don came to visit her in whatever federal prison she was in, it was almost as if there was a wall between them-not the literal wall, of course, but something else; Megan couldn’t find it in herself to apologize, or even explain, so they just sat there in silence, and it seemed to Megan that that was the way it had always been.