FIC: "Holding on to a lie" - Part 6/? (Colby/Charlie, David, Amita, PG-13)
Title: "Hiding the problem"
Series: Holding on to a lie, Part 6/?
Characters: Colby/Charlie, David, Amita.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Colby sees secrets everywhere, and feels that he can't help the ones he loves.
Author's note: This is set after " The Connections Series" and " Not thinking about you."
Feedback: I love feedback. Every comment is a coffee bean that accelerates me properly. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it. But I do own the original ideas used and my OCs.
Beta: The absolutely lovely toomuchfandom.
Previous chapter: Part 5 - "Fair deal" (Amita/OMC, Charlie/Colby, Larry, R)
Holding on to a lie
Part 6: “Hiding the problem”
David finally woke up half an hour after passing out. He rubbed his eyes, looking still dizzy. While he rested on his elbows, Colby was watching him from one of the corners of the room.
When David saw him, it seemed that he had no words, or that he didn’t remember what had happened. “I… I ah… Colby, what are you doing here?”
“Really? You don’t remember?” his partner said, and when David shook his head, he took a deep breath. “Look… I call you and when I came here, I find you drunk and feeling like crap, man.”
It seemed that Colby’s friend had started to remember some of the events of the last hours, because he avoided the other man’s eyes and tried to leave the bed. “Oh, yeah… I was… I was feeling a little lost. Nothing serious.”
“David, there are like twelve bottles of vodka here. What if you had drank them all? You would have been dead by now!” Colby stated, walking towards him.
Immediately, David turned to him with sad, angry eyes. “I would have never done such stupid thing. I don’t do suicide, man, and you know it.”
That was very true. Agent Sinclair could have his moments, but he had always been a sensible man. “Ok,” Colby responded effortless. He watched how David took a look at his dirty clothes and at the state of his apartment in amusement, like he couldn’t believe what he had done there. “Are you going to talk about it?”
“About what?”
“About what made you do it.”
David turned to his friend and muttered, “Hey, man, I can take care of it myself.”
“It doesn’t seem like it.” Colby pointed out while nodding in the direction of the state of David’s apartment.
“I’ll be ok, anyways.” He immediately went towards his little kitchen; he stumbled on his way in, and had to lean on the counter to gain some stability.
“You’re not ok,” Colby’s voice warned him. His owner was standing at the kitchen’s door, arms crossed, and lips tight. He just wasn’t going to let David take his problem to a whole other level and get drunk until one day it was too late to save him.
Maybe Colby was overreacting, but there was just something about David’s expression, about the way he talked and walked, that reminded him of someone being exposed to high levels of physical and psychological torture.
Someone just like Amita.
And because of that, even if Colby didn’t have a clue about what she had to do with David, he promised himself that he would find that out.
“You’re not ok,” he repeated when David didn’t answer and turned his back at him.
“Stop it, man. This is not going to go anywhere. I’m not talking about it with you,” his partner stated, irritated. But then he turned to the other man and seemed to calm down a bit. “Not with you, not with anyone. It’s nothing personal. I’m sorry.” He ran his palm roughly over his face.
“David… I’m your friend, you know. There’s nothi-”
“I’ve made my decision,” David muttered, looking at the floor. By the way he was taking a firm grip on the counter and the way his back was firmly pressed against it, Colby could tell that he was about to faint again.
He was about to point that out when David added, “Now, please, leave.”
“But…”
“You want me to deal with this problem then leave me alone. I really need to think; I can’t even hear my own thoughts.”
It was funny that David was saying that, considering that his apartment was in the middle of L.A. and as a result, the noises of the city filled every corner of every room all the time. But then again, he had drunk enough vodka to tell the craziest things, so it wasn’t really that weird.
“Please,” David repeated, “I’m a grown man, this is nothing.”
Colby took a deep breath. That was true; David was an adult, and he had the right to ask for some time to be alone and think about what was bothering him. Maybe if he got the chance to do it, he’d fix his problem.
“Ok, I’ll go.” The green eyed-agent nodded and walked towards the door. “If by any chance you need someone to talk to, will you give me a call?”
“Sure.”
The image of David against the counter, vodka spilled over the carpet and some of the furniture, was pretty disturbing. And the fact that it was dark, that just one window was barely open, the sun light almost touching the man’s feet, only contributed to make the scene look worse.
But still, Colby left the apartment. David had promised to call him if he needed some help, and that was what mattered. Although in the bottom of his heart, Colby got the feeling that his partner was going to try to avoid that at all cost.
What Colby needed right now was a little cheering up. His conversation with David had left him exhausted, and also eager to spend some nice quality time with his lover. Even if it consisted of watching Charlie fill the blackboards with numbers and algorithms he couldn’t understand.
It was the thrilling moment of seeing the mathematician slowly build up this huge equation, watching him erase his previous calculations over and over again, observing him grab one piece of chalk after another, and finally admiring him when he got to a solution that pleased him.
And it was especially beautiful to analyze Charlie’s face, all excited when a new response came up from his problem. He always looked so warm and accessible; the lines of his expression curving in a natural smirk that only accentuated his charm.
Colby smiled when think about that, while he walked through CalSci’s corridors, hoping to be welcome with one of Charlie’s sweet, jubilant smiles.
But when he got to the right office, he found everything but that. There it was his lover, leaning towards Amita, consciously hugging her.
And that wasn’t some kind of joke. They had been talking, probably starting to get along again…
That couldn’t be good. There was something about her that wasn’t quite right…
“Charlie,” the agent muttered.
When Charlie noticed that Colby was at the door, he stopped hugging Amita and stepped aside. She looked very calm and confident, even if her voice was maybe a little too soft for a moment like this.
“I’m sorry I went to see Alan this morning,” Amita stated with her shaking voice. “I just wanted to talk to you, but you weren’t home. I guess you had important things to do… people to be with…” Then she nodded at Colby at left the office.
“What was that?” he asked, Charlie, trying to clear his head and think the right way. It was hard for him to erase the jealously from his heart.
As a response, Charlie closed the curtains and the door. Then he turned around. “She got her job back and she came to tell me that she’s not mad that we’re together.”
“Oh, really?” Colby really didn’t think she was telling the true. He just didn’t buy Amita’s story.
“Yeah. She actually said that she wishes the best for us.” The mathematician went towards his desk and grabbed a bunch of papers. “It seems that getting ‘back on track’ is working well for her. Maybe soon she can get over the kidnapping and everything that’s happened to her.” He slowly kissed Colby on the lips. “And then, we won’t have to worry about hurting anyone anymore because of what we feel.” However, as his lover obviously wasn’t responding as eagerly as usual to the kiss, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Colby shook his head, trying to summarize his feelings in a few words. “I don’t know. She’s acting weird, David’s acting weird…”
Charlie seemed to remember that his lover had gone to see his partner. “So I guess that didn’t turn out well…”
“No, it didn’t. He didn’t tell me anything about what’s going on with him or what reasons he had to behave that way.”
“Oh…”
“And he looked like crap. He couldn’t even stand in his own two feet, and yet he kept saying that he didn’t need anyone’s help,” Colby muttered, nervously running his hands through his hair.
“He’ll be all right. He’s a strong man,” his lover assured him.
“No, he’s not all right!” Colby yelled at him, but then he tried to calm down. “I just… don’t know what to do…”
His lover didn’t yell back at him, instead Charlie spoke with kindness and love. “He knows he’s got you to count on. Just like I know I can count on you, no matter what Amita says or does.”
Charlie’s words hit Colby’s brain almost immediately. As a response, he kissed the other man deeply. “Thank you,” he whispered when he noticed that Charlie was slowly blushing. “Still, I think she’s hiding something from us…”
“What do you think that is?”
“I have no idea, but she has to be angry. She’s been in several dangerous situations, under a lot of stress. She must feel bad, even if she tries to avoid showing it to people. I’m one hundred percent sure of that, and I don’t even know what happened over the weekend between her and David.”
It seemed that Colby had sounded too worried, because Charlie kissed him on the cheek and muttered, “Hey, we’ll find it out eventually. Considering how strong your friendship with David is, and all you guys have been through, there’s a high mathematical probability that he’ll end up telling you.”
Again, Colby took a deep breath. Maybe he shouldn’t need such support and reassurance so many times, but life had changed so much for him during the last few months that he held on to the little things that helped him to keep his balance. “I hope he’ll let me help him,” he said, and he could feel Charlie’s hands caressing his arms. “Don’t worry, I’ll be ok.”
“I know you will.”
Then Charlie went to write on the blackboard, just like he had done it that morning. After a few seconds, Colby was already seated on the mathematician’s desk. And there was something he just couldn’t help but notice. “Um, Charlie?”
“Yeah?” His lover continued writing his equations, but seemed to be listening to him.
“Why’s your desk by the door?”
Charlie immediately stopped working on his numbers and turned to Colby. “Larry.”
“Why did he put it here?”
“Don’t ask.”
For the first time in the last couple of hours, Colby allowed himself to smile. “Ok.” Feeling that there was still hope for his friends and his relationship with Charlie to get better, he watched his lover flip tons of papers and read several books.
And when Charlie’s face showed him that expression of glory for having solved a new problem, he felt the happiness in his heart and deep within his soul. He knew that he could die right there and then, just because of that heavenly feeling.
Series: Holding on to a lie, Part 6/?
Characters: Colby/Charlie, David, Amita.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Colby sees secrets everywhere, and feels that he can't help the ones he loves.
Author's note: This is set after " The Connections Series" and " Not thinking about you."
Feedback: I love feedback. Every comment is a coffee bean that accelerates me properly. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it. But I do own the original ideas used and my OCs.
Beta: The absolutely lovely toomuchfandom.
Previous chapter: Part 5 - "Fair deal" (Amita/OMC, Charlie/Colby, Larry, R)
Holding on to a lie
Part 6: “Hiding the problem”
David finally woke up half an hour after passing out. He rubbed his eyes, looking still dizzy. While he rested on his elbows, Colby was watching him from one of the corners of the room.
When David saw him, it seemed that he had no words, or that he didn’t remember what had happened. “I… I ah… Colby, what are you doing here?”
“Really? You don’t remember?” his partner said, and when David shook his head, he took a deep breath. “Look… I call you and when I came here, I find you drunk and feeling like crap, man.”
It seemed that Colby’s friend had started to remember some of the events of the last hours, because he avoided the other man’s eyes and tried to leave the bed. “Oh, yeah… I was… I was feeling a little lost. Nothing serious.”
“David, there are like twelve bottles of vodka here. What if you had drank them all? You would have been dead by now!” Colby stated, walking towards him.
Immediately, David turned to him with sad, angry eyes. “I would have never done such stupid thing. I don’t do suicide, man, and you know it.”
That was very true. Agent Sinclair could have his moments, but he had always been a sensible man. “Ok,” Colby responded effortless. He watched how David took a look at his dirty clothes and at the state of his apartment in amusement, like he couldn’t believe what he had done there. “Are you going to talk about it?”
“About what?”
“About what made you do it.”
David turned to his friend and muttered, “Hey, man, I can take care of it myself.”
“It doesn’t seem like it.” Colby pointed out while nodding in the direction of the state of David’s apartment.
“I’ll be ok, anyways.” He immediately went towards his little kitchen; he stumbled on his way in, and had to lean on the counter to gain some stability.
“You’re not ok,” Colby’s voice warned him. His owner was standing at the kitchen’s door, arms crossed, and lips tight. He just wasn’t going to let David take his problem to a whole other level and get drunk until one day it was too late to save him.
Maybe Colby was overreacting, but there was just something about David’s expression, about the way he talked and walked, that reminded him of someone being exposed to high levels of physical and psychological torture.
Someone just like Amita.
And because of that, even if Colby didn’t have a clue about what she had to do with David, he promised himself that he would find that out.
“You’re not ok,” he repeated when David didn’t answer and turned his back at him.
“Stop it, man. This is not going to go anywhere. I’m not talking about it with you,” his partner stated, irritated. But then he turned to the other man and seemed to calm down a bit. “Not with you, not with anyone. It’s nothing personal. I’m sorry.” He ran his palm roughly over his face.
“David… I’m your friend, you know. There’s nothi-”
“I’ve made my decision,” David muttered, looking at the floor. By the way he was taking a firm grip on the counter and the way his back was firmly pressed against it, Colby could tell that he was about to faint again.
He was about to point that out when David added, “Now, please, leave.”
“But…”
“You want me to deal with this problem then leave me alone. I really need to think; I can’t even hear my own thoughts.”
It was funny that David was saying that, considering that his apartment was in the middle of L.A. and as a result, the noises of the city filled every corner of every room all the time. But then again, he had drunk enough vodka to tell the craziest things, so it wasn’t really that weird.
“Please,” David repeated, “I’m a grown man, this is nothing.”
Colby took a deep breath. That was true; David was an adult, and he had the right to ask for some time to be alone and think about what was bothering him. Maybe if he got the chance to do it, he’d fix his problem.
“Ok, I’ll go.” The green eyed-agent nodded and walked towards the door. “If by any chance you need someone to talk to, will you give me a call?”
“Sure.”
The image of David against the counter, vodka spilled over the carpet and some of the furniture, was pretty disturbing. And the fact that it was dark, that just one window was barely open, the sun light almost touching the man’s feet, only contributed to make the scene look worse.
But still, Colby left the apartment. David had promised to call him if he needed some help, and that was what mattered. Although in the bottom of his heart, Colby got the feeling that his partner was going to try to avoid that at all cost.
What Colby needed right now was a little cheering up. His conversation with David had left him exhausted, and also eager to spend some nice quality time with his lover. Even if it consisted of watching Charlie fill the blackboards with numbers and algorithms he couldn’t understand.
It was the thrilling moment of seeing the mathematician slowly build up this huge equation, watching him erase his previous calculations over and over again, observing him grab one piece of chalk after another, and finally admiring him when he got to a solution that pleased him.
And it was especially beautiful to analyze Charlie’s face, all excited when a new response came up from his problem. He always looked so warm and accessible; the lines of his expression curving in a natural smirk that only accentuated his charm.
Colby smiled when think about that, while he walked through CalSci’s corridors, hoping to be welcome with one of Charlie’s sweet, jubilant smiles.
But when he got to the right office, he found everything but that. There it was his lover, leaning towards Amita, consciously hugging her.
And that wasn’t some kind of joke. They had been talking, probably starting to get along again…
That couldn’t be good. There was something about her that wasn’t quite right…
“Charlie,” the agent muttered.
When Charlie noticed that Colby was at the door, he stopped hugging Amita and stepped aside. She looked very calm and confident, even if her voice was maybe a little too soft for a moment like this.
“I’m sorry I went to see Alan this morning,” Amita stated with her shaking voice. “I just wanted to talk to you, but you weren’t home. I guess you had important things to do… people to be with…” Then she nodded at Colby at left the office.
“What was that?” he asked, Charlie, trying to clear his head and think the right way. It was hard for him to erase the jealously from his heart.
As a response, Charlie closed the curtains and the door. Then he turned around. “She got her job back and she came to tell me that she’s not mad that we’re together.”
“Oh, really?” Colby really didn’t think she was telling the true. He just didn’t buy Amita’s story.
“Yeah. She actually said that she wishes the best for us.” The mathematician went towards his desk and grabbed a bunch of papers. “It seems that getting ‘back on track’ is working well for her. Maybe soon she can get over the kidnapping and everything that’s happened to her.” He slowly kissed Colby on the lips. “And then, we won’t have to worry about hurting anyone anymore because of what we feel.” However, as his lover obviously wasn’t responding as eagerly as usual to the kiss, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Colby shook his head, trying to summarize his feelings in a few words. “I don’t know. She’s acting weird, David’s acting weird…”
Charlie seemed to remember that his lover had gone to see his partner. “So I guess that didn’t turn out well…”
“No, it didn’t. He didn’t tell me anything about what’s going on with him or what reasons he had to behave that way.”
“Oh…”
“And he looked like crap. He couldn’t even stand in his own two feet, and yet he kept saying that he didn’t need anyone’s help,” Colby muttered, nervously running his hands through his hair.
“He’ll be all right. He’s a strong man,” his lover assured him.
“No, he’s not all right!” Colby yelled at him, but then he tried to calm down. “I just… don’t know what to do…”
His lover didn’t yell back at him, instead Charlie spoke with kindness and love. “He knows he’s got you to count on. Just like I know I can count on you, no matter what Amita says or does.”
Charlie’s words hit Colby’s brain almost immediately. As a response, he kissed the other man deeply. “Thank you,” he whispered when he noticed that Charlie was slowly blushing. “Still, I think she’s hiding something from us…”
“What do you think that is?”
“I have no idea, but she has to be angry. She’s been in several dangerous situations, under a lot of stress. She must feel bad, even if she tries to avoid showing it to people. I’m one hundred percent sure of that, and I don’t even know what happened over the weekend between her and David.”
It seemed that Colby had sounded too worried, because Charlie kissed him on the cheek and muttered, “Hey, we’ll find it out eventually. Considering how strong your friendship with David is, and all you guys have been through, there’s a high mathematical probability that he’ll end up telling you.”
Again, Colby took a deep breath. Maybe he shouldn’t need such support and reassurance so many times, but life had changed so much for him during the last few months that he held on to the little things that helped him to keep his balance. “I hope he’ll let me help him,” he said, and he could feel Charlie’s hands caressing his arms. “Don’t worry, I’ll be ok.”
“I know you will.”
Then Charlie went to write on the blackboard, just like he had done it that morning. After a few seconds, Colby was already seated on the mathematician’s desk. And there was something he just couldn’t help but notice. “Um, Charlie?”
“Yeah?” His lover continued writing his equations, but seemed to be listening to him.
“Why’s your desk by the door?”
Charlie immediately stopped working on his numbers and turned to Colby. “Larry.”
“Why did he put it here?”
“Don’t ask.”
For the first time in the last couple of hours, Colby allowed himself to smile. “Ok.” Feeling that there was still hope for his friends and his relationship with Charlie to get better, he watched his lover flip tons of papers and read several books.
And when Charlie’s face showed him that expression of glory for having solved a new problem, he felt the happiness in his heart and deep within his soul. He knew that he could die right there and then, just because of that heavenly feeling.