FIC: In the Arms of the Wicked, 8 (Colby/Charlie, Don, David, Ian, Megan, PG-13)
Title: "Against all odds"
Series: In the Arms of the Wicked, Part 8/?
Characters: Colby/Charlie, Don, David, Ian, Megan, mention of OMCs.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: Season 5.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Colby needs to be there for Charlie, against all odds.
Feedback: Yes, please. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything (characters, situations, etcetera) except my OCs.
Beta: The fantastic twins_m0m.
Author's note: Special thanks again to harknessgirl and Lily G from FF.net, who were so supportive and they helped me so much with this chapter.
Previous chapter
Next chapter
Part 8: "Against all odds"
After getting the same answer for the twentieth time, Don stopped looking up for Noah Cameron's cross references. The only thing he had access to was a very vague profile on the man which didn’t even have an available picture. All it said was what everyone already knew - he was the Director of the Security Clearance Investigations Program, a forty-year-old man who had important responsibilities at the FBI. But that was about it.
As Don wondered how to get more data about him, he saw Megan walking towards him with some files in her hands.
“Colby and David are working on the organization’s background, and Charlie and Larry on behavioral theory using numbers… I need all that before I can make any assumptions,” she said, and then she stopped beside Don. “Did you get any hits? Because I tried to look up Noah Cameron’s name and all I got was this meaningless profile page…”
“I got the same,” Don responded, rubbing the back of his head as Megan looked at the screen of his computer. “The guy’s the head of the Security Clearance Program, and yet he manages to become some kind of ghost. How’s that possible?”
“I don’t know about that,” Ian said as he approached them. “But what I do know is that Farrow’s connection to him makes him even more suspicious.”
“Have you checked Farrow’s file?”
“Yeah.” Within seconds, Ian was in front of another computer, entering the name to the data base. “Here it is.”
“That’s a long list of studies,” Megan muttered, arranging her glasses to read the records better. “He’s got multiple degrees in several interconnected fields.”
“That’s the only thing that could lead Professor Fleinhardt to a guy like him,” Ian commented.
“That and their love for knowledge, of course,” she corrected him.
Frowning, it seemed that Ian wasn’t in the mood to argue. “Farrow’s wealth comes from heritage. His parents held important bank stocks through the 90s, and when they passed away in 2002, he got it all.”
“How did they die?” Don wanted to know.
“Malaria. They caught the disease during one of their trips to Africa, but Farrow wasn’t with them at the time. He was here in the U.S. when he was informed that the vaccines his family had received were useless.”
So there were no leads there. Exhausted, Don ran his hands over his face. “What about that scandal that took place a couple of years ago?”
“Charlie said that Farrow was clean,” Megan said.
Apparently, Ian disagreed. “The judge determined that, but the facts could tell us otherwise. We all know that having access to a big amount of money can mean being above the law sometimes.”
While Megan took a deep breath, Don rubbed the back of his head again. The sound of the printer throwing out the copies of Farrow’s profile filled Don’s mind after he closed his eyes again. When he opened them, he found Megan’s eyes on his.
“Are you OK?”
He rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, I just couldn’t sleep, thinking of that Noah Cameron.”
“The guy is a legend but the only thing most people know about him is his name. No one ever knows where he is or what he’s doing unless he shows up or contacts you,” Ian intervened, never taking his eyes off the screen. For a moment, that description sounded exactly like one that could easily fit Ian’s kind of life.
“So, there’s no way for us to talk to him?” Don asked.
“As far as I know, there isn’t. But he’s going to get access to those tapes.”
Still looking at Don, Megan muttered, “Considering that McGowan hasn’t approached Charlie and Colby yet, I take it as he hasn’t listened to them, but how’s Charlie holding up?”
“I don’t know. Last night he had some kind of talk with Colby and it seems that it didn’t go very well. He went out and when he came back, he didn’t sleep at all and he didn’t say a word to me.”
Megan took off her glasses and sat on a desk. “Maybe he has to deal with this by himself.”
“Maybe, but I’m his brother and I don’t want to see him like that.” Shaking his head, flashes of the previous night came to Don’s mind. “But I didn’t ask him anything either last night. It wasn’t because I was trying to give him some space, you know. It was because my mind was off thinking about Carl and the interview…”
Looking confident, Ian typed a couple of words as he said, “I’m sure your brother knows you’re doing the best you can, Don. You’ve always done that. Voodoo is on your side.”
The comment and Ian’s smirk brought a smile to Megan’s face, and it caused Don’s lips to curve in reaction. After all, he had talked to Charlie that same morning and things were okay between them. They were good brothers, no matter what. “All right, I guess that’s true. Where are David and Colby, by the way? They should already have the organization’s background done.”
Still smiling, Megan pointed at one of the offices to their left, where the two men were running data on the big screens of the room. “I was there with them but I thought about giving them a little moment alone. Bonding is very important in situations like these.”
“Of course. Let’s give them a few more minutes then,” Don said as he looked back at her and then at Ian - the people he had been bonding with during the last half hour. The more time he spent with them, the more he realized how much he trusted them.
XxX
“How many pieces?” Colby asked David while he futilely looked for dates and addresses. They were using all the computers in the office, but the search was pretty much pointless so far.
“Eight hundred and twenty six.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. How the hell did they steal all that?”
After displaying the pictures on the screen, David explained, “Most of them were hidden underground and found by the land owners few years later. Then LAPD and the FBI took care of them.”
“What? They never came back to claim the artifacts?” Colby said, getting up from his desk.
“No. But then again, those were the least expensive of all.”
Colby shrugged and sat down. “I see.”
There was silence between them for a moment, until David spoke again. The tone of his voice told Colby that the next conversation was going to be about personal matters.
“So, did you think about my advice?”
Obviously, he meant the advice he had given Colby about fixing things with Charlie. The green-eyed agent took a breath as he kept running the data. “We talked last night.”
David walked over to him and leaned on the desk. “From the look on your face, I can tell you didn’t get back together.”
“No… It was… awkward and… a little bit, you know… discouraging.” The memory of Charlie words was still fresh in Colby’s mind. “He said that he should say sorry to me for what happened with Amita and not the other way around.” Calling her “The India case” didn’t really make much sense at the moment.
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t get the chance to say anything. He left.”
Silence returned for a moment. David left the desk, took a file and flipped the pages as he talked. “Well, you’re not getting anywhere with him if all you do is stand there.”
“David…” The last thing Colby needed right now was someone telling him that he had made a bad decision. David hadn’t been there anyway.
“What are you going to do if Amita’s kid turns out to be his?”
Of course Colby had thought about that issue during the last few days, but hearing the possibility from David’s lips turned on the fire of uncertainty in his heart. “We still have to wait for the blood tests to be done anyway. I’ll deal with it then.”
David’s voice sounded low and worried when he said, “Fine. But you just back him up, no matter what happens, okay?”
A little bit tired, Colby only nodded. A question popped into his mind at the sight of his partner’s still worried expression. “And what if the baby is yours? What are you going to do?” The heavy breathing of his friend didn’t surprise him as he waited for an answer.
“I… I honestly have no idea.”
Now Colby felt a little guilty for not supporting David the way he deserved. Determined to say something to make him feel better, he opened his mouth, but suddenly the other man looked at the time and spoke again.
“I gotta go to the hospital… for the paternity test.”
“Oh.” Colby was glad that the tapes of the India case hadn’t been checked yet; that way, the test could take place in a hospital as a personal matter without anyone knowing and making a scandal out of it. “What about Charlie?”
“He’s going, too. We decided that we’d do it together a few days ago…”
That was a surprise, since Colby had no idea about it. “You didn’t tell me anything.” Charlie didn’t tell me anything.
“Well, Charlie and I talked about it in private and we thought that no one had to know about it, but… you should,” David muttered. “We’re not taking Berenson’s samples, so that this doesn’t go further than it has already. We have enough with the approval of the procedure we got from the psychiatric center where Amita is staying; they took it as a different issue from the charges she’s being accused of and we don’t want anyone to think this is even more suspicious. Besides, if neither Charlie nor I is the father of the child, then it’ll have to be him.” Then he tried to leave the room but before he could do that, Colby asked one more question.
“Can I go with you?”
Again, Colby’s partner held his gaze and finally nodded, like he wasn’t really sure if he was making the right decision. But Colby didn’t care; as long as he could be there for the people he loved the most, he’d go anywhere he was needed.
He followed David out of the tech room and then into the war room and he noticed Charlie and Larry were talking inside. They looked like they had been discussing an important matter. Colby wondered if it could be the paternity tests.
“Charlie, it’s time…” David muttered, and when Charlie turned around, he added, “Colby wants to come, too.”
It took Charlie a few moments to respond, “Okay,” never taking his eyes off his lover.
The three of them talked to Megan, Don and Ian and told them about their appointment at the hospital. Of course, their friends understood and said that they would care of everything at the office. They would even call Dr. Farrow and ask him to meet Charlie at CalSci a few hours later so they could work on the case. They would also deal with the owner of the house where the set of art pieces had been found, and with the Consul that was about to arrive.
“Thank you,” David muttered, and Charlie nodded at his brother and the rest of the team. They had received the same shocking news all of a sudden. Soon David, Charlie and Colby were on their way out of the building, and then on their way to the hospital where the psychiatric centre had arranged the tests to be done. They didn’t say a word during the entire trip. Colby didn’t even dare to speak his mind and ask if it was really okay for him to go with them.
The large building where the appointment would take place was full of people waiting for nurses and doctors. It was a busy day at the hospital, and rushed people at the main desk took Charlie and David’s data before asking them to wait in a certain room.
Colby didn’t walk into the room right after the other men. He stood behind for reasons he couldn’t really figure out, only aware of the fear that had suddenly reached his heart. From where he was, he could see Charlie and David looking at the floor. But when three nurses came in bringing in all the necessary medical equipment, time seemed to go slower, every action deeply marking Colby’s soul.
The expression on David’s face said it all - shocked, frozen, and unresponsive- as the experts dressed in lab coats and wearing latex gloves started to do their job. He had probably prepared himself for this moment, but being in it was very different.
“Mr. Charles Eppes?” one of the nurses said as she prepared the syringe. Charlie made a step forward and suddenly everything seemed to be quite a show of dark expectations. Charlie sat on a chair, took off his jacket and shirt and stood there with only a t-shirt, preparing his arm for the needle; David started to take his jacket, too, as his turn would be the next. What would Colby do if his lover was the father of Amita’s child? The echo of David’s words meant suddenly everything. “You just back him up, no matter what happens, okay?” he had said.
That was what Colby had to do - be there for Charlie against all odds.
He took the courage to enter the room and he stood there, looking into Charlie’s eyes, as blood was being taken from him. He didn’t care if it was weird; the message he wanted to send was far more important than anything else.
I’m here. I’m here. He repeated it to himself over and over again as he remained still, with his lover’s gaze on his, hoping Charlie understood.
The needle was being pushed into the mathematician’s arm, but Colby didn’t see it, he didn’t even notice the clock on the wall, ticking; all he could see was Charlie’s soul through his sweet, scared eyes and his barely open lips.
The syringe was soon filled and placed aside, where it would be protected from everyone and everything until the lab analyzed it properly. Then a swab was rubbed against the inside of Charlie’s cheek and placed aside. Silence was all around and suddenly it was David’s turn - the turn of the man who had been through so much pain without deserving it. He took off his shirt, exposing the tank-top he was wearing underneath, and sat on another chair.
Watching David offer the nurses his arm was heart-breaking. He didn’t even look up as blood was taken from him. Colby didn’t know if he was ashamed, but he was sure that he was afraid. Having a kid wasn’t in David’s plans yet, and the birth of an unwanted child would strongly hit the way he lived his life.
Two drops of blood fell from the syringe when it was taken out by the nurse in charge. The thick liquid splashed David’s dark skin and slid over it in what seemed to last forever. He lost control of his focused expression for a moment, an expression that Colby didn’t believe in but that David was obviously trying hard to maintain. After the buccal swab was taken, his frown even turned into a sigh of sadness and hopelessness, and his throat swallowed just a little too roughly.
Colby watched the entire scene without saying a word, his mind focused on his friends, on the people he loved the most. When the nurses started to leave the room, he saw David take his jacket and leave looking like a completely different man - a man who was about to fight an impossible war.
Then, he realized that he had been left alone with Charlie in that hospital room. This is the moment. This is it. Colby turned to his lover, who was still seated on the chair, and his eyes fixed on the wrinkles of the shirt Charlie was putting back on. He desperately wanted to reach for that fabric, for that warm skin, and touch it. Just touch him. Just show him… that I care.
He waited for his lover to look up, and soon the same sentence he had been saying to himself escaped from his lips. “I’m here,” he whispered.
Charlie stopped paying attention to his clothes and stared back, little signs of understanding showing through his desperate eyes. “I know.”
The clock kept ticking as always. The syringes were carefully packed and on the way to the lab, and there was still a case to solve; but things would be different from now on. A new life had already been written and it was only a matter of time for it to be revealed.
Series: In the Arms of the Wicked, Part 8/?
Characters: Colby/Charlie, Don, David, Ian, Megan, mention of OMCs.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: Season 5.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Colby needs to be there for Charlie, against all odds.
Feedback: Yes, please. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything (characters, situations, etcetera) except my OCs.
Beta: The fantastic twins_m0m.
Author's note: Special thanks again to harknessgirl and Lily G from FF.net, who were so supportive and they helped me so much with this chapter.
Previous chapter
Next chapter
Part 8: "Against all odds"
After getting the same answer for the twentieth time, Don stopped looking up for Noah Cameron's cross references. The only thing he had access to was a very vague profile on the man which didn’t even have an available picture. All it said was what everyone already knew - he was the Director of the Security Clearance Investigations Program, a forty-year-old man who had important responsibilities at the FBI. But that was about it.
As Don wondered how to get more data about him, he saw Megan walking towards him with some files in her hands.
“Colby and David are working on the organization’s background, and Charlie and Larry on behavioral theory using numbers… I need all that before I can make any assumptions,” she said, and then she stopped beside Don. “Did you get any hits? Because I tried to look up Noah Cameron’s name and all I got was this meaningless profile page…”
“I got the same,” Don responded, rubbing the back of his head as Megan looked at the screen of his computer. “The guy’s the head of the Security Clearance Program, and yet he manages to become some kind of ghost. How’s that possible?”
“I don’t know about that,” Ian said as he approached them. “But what I do know is that Farrow’s connection to him makes him even more suspicious.”
“Have you checked Farrow’s file?”
“Yeah.” Within seconds, Ian was in front of another computer, entering the name to the data base. “Here it is.”
“That’s a long list of studies,” Megan muttered, arranging her glasses to read the records better. “He’s got multiple degrees in several interconnected fields.”
“That’s the only thing that could lead Professor Fleinhardt to a guy like him,” Ian commented.
“That and their love for knowledge, of course,” she corrected him.
Frowning, it seemed that Ian wasn’t in the mood to argue. “Farrow’s wealth comes from heritage. His parents held important bank stocks through the 90s, and when they passed away in 2002, he got it all.”
“How did they die?” Don wanted to know.
“Malaria. They caught the disease during one of their trips to Africa, but Farrow wasn’t with them at the time. He was here in the U.S. when he was informed that the vaccines his family had received were useless.”
So there were no leads there. Exhausted, Don ran his hands over his face. “What about that scandal that took place a couple of years ago?”
“Charlie said that Farrow was clean,” Megan said.
Apparently, Ian disagreed. “The judge determined that, but the facts could tell us otherwise. We all know that having access to a big amount of money can mean being above the law sometimes.”
While Megan took a deep breath, Don rubbed the back of his head again. The sound of the printer throwing out the copies of Farrow’s profile filled Don’s mind after he closed his eyes again. When he opened them, he found Megan’s eyes on his.
“Are you OK?”
He rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, I just couldn’t sleep, thinking of that Noah Cameron.”
“The guy is a legend but the only thing most people know about him is his name. No one ever knows where he is or what he’s doing unless he shows up or contacts you,” Ian intervened, never taking his eyes off the screen. For a moment, that description sounded exactly like one that could easily fit Ian’s kind of life.
“So, there’s no way for us to talk to him?” Don asked.
“As far as I know, there isn’t. But he’s going to get access to those tapes.”
Still looking at Don, Megan muttered, “Considering that McGowan hasn’t approached Charlie and Colby yet, I take it as he hasn’t listened to them, but how’s Charlie holding up?”
“I don’t know. Last night he had some kind of talk with Colby and it seems that it didn’t go very well. He went out and when he came back, he didn’t sleep at all and he didn’t say a word to me.”
Megan took off her glasses and sat on a desk. “Maybe he has to deal with this by himself.”
“Maybe, but I’m his brother and I don’t want to see him like that.” Shaking his head, flashes of the previous night came to Don’s mind. “But I didn’t ask him anything either last night. It wasn’t because I was trying to give him some space, you know. It was because my mind was off thinking about Carl and the interview…”
Looking confident, Ian typed a couple of words as he said, “I’m sure your brother knows you’re doing the best you can, Don. You’ve always done that. Voodoo is on your side.”
The comment and Ian’s smirk brought a smile to Megan’s face, and it caused Don’s lips to curve in reaction. After all, he had talked to Charlie that same morning and things were okay between them. They were good brothers, no matter what. “All right, I guess that’s true. Where are David and Colby, by the way? They should already have the organization’s background done.”
Still smiling, Megan pointed at one of the offices to their left, where the two men were running data on the big screens of the room. “I was there with them but I thought about giving them a little moment alone. Bonding is very important in situations like these.”
“Of course. Let’s give them a few more minutes then,” Don said as he looked back at her and then at Ian - the people he had been bonding with during the last half hour. The more time he spent with them, the more he realized how much he trusted them.
XxX
“How many pieces?” Colby asked David while he futilely looked for dates and addresses. They were using all the computers in the office, but the search was pretty much pointless so far.
“Eight hundred and twenty six.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. How the hell did they steal all that?”
After displaying the pictures on the screen, David explained, “Most of them were hidden underground and found by the land owners few years later. Then LAPD and the FBI took care of them.”
“What? They never came back to claim the artifacts?” Colby said, getting up from his desk.
“No. But then again, those were the least expensive of all.”
Colby shrugged and sat down. “I see.”
There was silence between them for a moment, until David spoke again. The tone of his voice told Colby that the next conversation was going to be about personal matters.
“So, did you think about my advice?”
Obviously, he meant the advice he had given Colby about fixing things with Charlie. The green-eyed agent took a breath as he kept running the data. “We talked last night.”
David walked over to him and leaned on the desk. “From the look on your face, I can tell you didn’t get back together.”
“No… It was… awkward and… a little bit, you know… discouraging.” The memory of Charlie words was still fresh in Colby’s mind. “He said that he should say sorry to me for what happened with Amita and not the other way around.” Calling her “The India case” didn’t really make much sense at the moment.
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t get the chance to say anything. He left.”
Silence returned for a moment. David left the desk, took a file and flipped the pages as he talked. “Well, you’re not getting anywhere with him if all you do is stand there.”
“David…” The last thing Colby needed right now was someone telling him that he had made a bad decision. David hadn’t been there anyway.
“What are you going to do if Amita’s kid turns out to be his?”
Of course Colby had thought about that issue during the last few days, but hearing the possibility from David’s lips turned on the fire of uncertainty in his heart. “We still have to wait for the blood tests to be done anyway. I’ll deal with it then.”
David’s voice sounded low and worried when he said, “Fine. But you just back him up, no matter what happens, okay?”
A little bit tired, Colby only nodded. A question popped into his mind at the sight of his partner’s still worried expression. “And what if the baby is yours? What are you going to do?” The heavy breathing of his friend didn’t surprise him as he waited for an answer.
“I… I honestly have no idea.”
Now Colby felt a little guilty for not supporting David the way he deserved. Determined to say something to make him feel better, he opened his mouth, but suddenly the other man looked at the time and spoke again.
“I gotta go to the hospital… for the paternity test.”
“Oh.” Colby was glad that the tapes of the India case hadn’t been checked yet; that way, the test could take place in a hospital as a personal matter without anyone knowing and making a scandal out of it. “What about Charlie?”
“He’s going, too. We decided that we’d do it together a few days ago…”
That was a surprise, since Colby had no idea about it. “You didn’t tell me anything.” Charlie didn’t tell me anything.
“Well, Charlie and I talked about it in private and we thought that no one had to know about it, but… you should,” David muttered. “We’re not taking Berenson’s samples, so that this doesn’t go further than it has already. We have enough with the approval of the procedure we got from the psychiatric center where Amita is staying; they took it as a different issue from the charges she’s being accused of and we don’t want anyone to think this is even more suspicious. Besides, if neither Charlie nor I is the father of the child, then it’ll have to be him.” Then he tried to leave the room but before he could do that, Colby asked one more question.
“Can I go with you?”
Again, Colby’s partner held his gaze and finally nodded, like he wasn’t really sure if he was making the right decision. But Colby didn’t care; as long as he could be there for the people he loved the most, he’d go anywhere he was needed.
He followed David out of the tech room and then into the war room and he noticed Charlie and Larry were talking inside. They looked like they had been discussing an important matter. Colby wondered if it could be the paternity tests.
“Charlie, it’s time…” David muttered, and when Charlie turned around, he added, “Colby wants to come, too.”
It took Charlie a few moments to respond, “Okay,” never taking his eyes off his lover.
The three of them talked to Megan, Don and Ian and told them about their appointment at the hospital. Of course, their friends understood and said that they would care of everything at the office. They would even call Dr. Farrow and ask him to meet Charlie at CalSci a few hours later so they could work on the case. They would also deal with the owner of the house where the set of art pieces had been found, and with the Consul that was about to arrive.
“Thank you,” David muttered, and Charlie nodded at his brother and the rest of the team. They had received the same shocking news all of a sudden. Soon David, Charlie and Colby were on their way out of the building, and then on their way to the hospital where the psychiatric centre had arranged the tests to be done. They didn’t say a word during the entire trip. Colby didn’t even dare to speak his mind and ask if it was really okay for him to go with them.
The large building where the appointment would take place was full of people waiting for nurses and doctors. It was a busy day at the hospital, and rushed people at the main desk took Charlie and David’s data before asking them to wait in a certain room.
Colby didn’t walk into the room right after the other men. He stood behind for reasons he couldn’t really figure out, only aware of the fear that had suddenly reached his heart. From where he was, he could see Charlie and David looking at the floor. But when three nurses came in bringing in all the necessary medical equipment, time seemed to go slower, every action deeply marking Colby’s soul.
The expression on David’s face said it all - shocked, frozen, and unresponsive- as the experts dressed in lab coats and wearing latex gloves started to do their job. He had probably prepared himself for this moment, but being in it was very different.
“Mr. Charles Eppes?” one of the nurses said as she prepared the syringe. Charlie made a step forward and suddenly everything seemed to be quite a show of dark expectations. Charlie sat on a chair, took off his jacket and shirt and stood there with only a t-shirt, preparing his arm for the needle; David started to take his jacket, too, as his turn would be the next. What would Colby do if his lover was the father of Amita’s child? The echo of David’s words meant suddenly everything. “You just back him up, no matter what happens, okay?” he had said.
That was what Colby had to do - be there for Charlie against all odds.
He took the courage to enter the room and he stood there, looking into Charlie’s eyes, as blood was being taken from him. He didn’t care if it was weird; the message he wanted to send was far more important than anything else.
I’m here. I’m here. He repeated it to himself over and over again as he remained still, with his lover’s gaze on his, hoping Charlie understood.
The needle was being pushed into the mathematician’s arm, but Colby didn’t see it, he didn’t even notice the clock on the wall, ticking; all he could see was Charlie’s soul through his sweet, scared eyes and his barely open lips.
The syringe was soon filled and placed aside, where it would be protected from everyone and everything until the lab analyzed it properly. Then a swab was rubbed against the inside of Charlie’s cheek and placed aside. Silence was all around and suddenly it was David’s turn - the turn of the man who had been through so much pain without deserving it. He took off his shirt, exposing the tank-top he was wearing underneath, and sat on another chair.
Watching David offer the nurses his arm was heart-breaking. He didn’t even look up as blood was taken from him. Colby didn’t know if he was ashamed, but he was sure that he was afraid. Having a kid wasn’t in David’s plans yet, and the birth of an unwanted child would strongly hit the way he lived his life.
Two drops of blood fell from the syringe when it was taken out by the nurse in charge. The thick liquid splashed David’s dark skin and slid over it in what seemed to last forever. He lost control of his focused expression for a moment, an expression that Colby didn’t believe in but that David was obviously trying hard to maintain. After the buccal swab was taken, his frown even turned into a sigh of sadness and hopelessness, and his throat swallowed just a little too roughly.
Colby watched the entire scene without saying a word, his mind focused on his friends, on the people he loved the most. When the nurses started to leave the room, he saw David take his jacket and leave looking like a completely different man - a man who was about to fight an impossible war.
Then, he realized that he had been left alone with Charlie in that hospital room. This is the moment. This is it. Colby turned to his lover, who was still seated on the chair, and his eyes fixed on the wrinkles of the shirt Charlie was putting back on. He desperately wanted to reach for that fabric, for that warm skin, and touch it. Just touch him. Just show him… that I care.
He waited for his lover to look up, and soon the same sentence he had been saying to himself escaped from his lips. “I’m here,” he whispered.
Charlie stopped paying attention to his clothes and stared back, little signs of understanding showing through his desperate eyes. “I know.”
The clock kept ticking as always. The syringes were carefully packed and on the way to the lab, and there was still a case to solve; but things would be different from now on. A new life had already been written and it was only a matter of time for it to be revealed.