Fic: Stars Misaligned -- Part II - Don
Title: Stars Misaligned
Summary: In hindsight, he really should never have answered the phone.
Pairing: Don/Robin
Genre: Humour/Romance
Rating: 14A
Spoilers: Set season 5, no specific spoliers.
Part 4/11
Don fidgeted in his seat, staring unfocussedly at the dash board's digital clock. He knew Colby was half-watching him from the driver's seat. He was also fairly certain that Colby was driving along a straight road, going a few miles below the speed-limit. Too damn bad it didn't feel like it. His stomach lurched as his gaze slipped from the clock to the widow, and the world tipped and slid past. He quickly shifted his attention back to the more stationary clock.
"You sure about this Don?" Colby asked, for what had to be the fifth time since they had pulled out of the parking lot. Actually, Don mused, it had probably been more, since he had most likely spaced out through a few. That might be why he keeps asking. . .
"Yes." He ground back looking up, trying to gauge where they were. Too late he remembered why he had been staring so intently at the clock. His stomach flipped obnoxiously again. He closed his eyes and willed it to settle. Only for some reason it did not feel inclined to listen.
"Uh Colb?" He managed after a minute, when he knew it was a losing battle. "I think - uh" he stammered petering off as he felt bile rising in his throat.
"Don?" Colby asked his voice full of concern, and Don suspected Colby was looking right at him now. Must be hard to watch the road that way, part of him thought, the other part of him was too busy trying not to throw up in his own car to respond.
"Pull over." He finally managed. Immediately he felt the car slow to a stop. Clumsily he fumbled with the door handle and half collapsed out of his seat. Something held him back from falling all the way out, but Don did not really notice, he was too busy spraying his lunch over the gravel at the shoulder of the road.
He emptied his stomach, and was vaguely surprised at how much was there, since lunch had been sometime ago. However, the nausea did not pass when his stomach contents were depleted. Instead he spent several long minutes, hanging half-in half-out of the car painfully dry heaving.
Finally it passed and Don struggled to sit back up. His seatbelt was still on, he belatedly realized, which he supposed, accounted for why he had not taken a header onto the side of the road. A firm hand helped push him back into his seat, and Don noted that at some point Colby had come around to his side of the car. He really hoped he hadn't vomited on him, or his car for that matter. He forced his eyes open and fixed Colby with what he hoped was an apologetic look. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Colby just sighed and closed the door. A moment later Don heard the driver's door open and close as Colby got back in. For awhile the two agents sat in silence, Colby making no move to start the car.
"Uh, Colby?" Don asked finally prying his eyes back open, satisfied to find that the world around him remained stationary this time.
"This is a really bad idea." Colby replied not looking at Don.
"Come on Colb, please don't back out on me now." Don had the sneaking suspicion that he was whining but he could not bring himself to care.
Again Colby sighed. "So help me, I have no clue why I let you talk me into this." He replied, a little melodramatically, Don thought, but at least he started the car again.
The drive resumed in silence, and Don could not say he really minded. His shoulder had edge its way back up from a 'dull ache' to 'painfully throbbing'. And if his shoulder was painfully throbbing, then he did not want to know what his head was doing. Non-the-less, he had somewhere to be and he was going. Besides, he would feel a lot better once he got out of the car, he was sure, well, pretty sure anyway.
They drove on for awhile, maybe twenty minutes Don thought, but then he was fairly confident that his sense of time was shot right now so he could not be sure, when Colby muttered something that sounded vaguely profane under his breath. "How quickly does your car run out of gas when it's reading empty?" He asked innocently from the driver's seat.
Don, who had been resting his head against the nice cold window, shot up in his seat at the question. The sudden movement jostled his shoulder and he grunted in pain. He peered over to the gauges as best he could and saw that the needle was in fact pointing to the 'E'. Well the car is still moving now, so that's a good sign right? "I uh, I dunno." He muttered, after-all he had never in fact tested exactly how far one could drive when the car's gauge was proclaiming itself devoid of fuel.
"Great." Colby replied, sounding anything but pleased. "I think there's a gas station a block or so off here." he said making a quick turn, catching Don off balance and causing him bang his shoulder into the door.
"You think?" Don muttered darkly, not really liking the sound of that.
"I'm pretty sure?" Colby offered back.
It actually turned out to be more like five blocks, but they some how managed to make it without puttering to a unfortunate halt. Colby shut the car off and hoped out. Don, after fighting with the seat belt for a minute, slowly followed.
"Where you going?" Colby asked eyeing Don carefully.
"Get water." Don said gesturing towards the convince store, "and a breath mint." He added as he walked away. He really needed a breath mint. Behind him, he could swear he heard Colby laugh.
The small store was quiet. A bored looking teenager flipped through a magazine behind the counter and barely looked up when he came in. He headed straight to the back of the store, to the cooler and opened the door to retrieve a bottle of water. The cold air that blasted out of the unit felt really nice, and Don just stood there for a moment staring at the drinks wondering exactly what he had been looking for.
Behind him, he heard the front door of the store open, Colby, Don figured still staring at the drinks, now what was he looking for again? Water right. He grabbed the first bottle of water he could see and closed the cooler's door.
Colby must have followed him in, because clearly he could not be trusted to fetch a bottle of water on his own, without supervision, funny last time he had checked he was Colby's supervisor. Ah well, clearly this was no longer the case. Well it did take you an unusually long time, his mind felt compelled to remind him. He shrugged it off and made his way back up the aisle reading the bottle in his hand. 'Pure Spring Water' it declared proudly. The nutrition facts listed a line a zeros. Now why do they bother putting that on a bottle of water? It's water for crying out loud, what is supposed to be in it? Proteins?
He had just made it to the end of the shelves when he finally looked up. The man who had come in was not in fact Colby. He had darker hair and was bigger. His back was to Don as he was facing the cashier, something about his stance set an alarm off in Don's sluggish brain. He drew his gaze from the man's back to the teenage clerk, who was looking at the man with wide-eyed fear. Don blinked slowly, he knew that look. He really ought to know what to do about that look. Really. He automatically reached for his gun. Unfortunately he forgot the bottle of water he was holding which he dropped to the ground. It bounced loudly, and the man whirled around surprised.
Don froze and blinked dazedly into the dark gun barrel that suddenly appear in his face.
Summary: In hindsight, he really should never have answered the phone.
Pairing: Don/Robin
Genre: Humour/Romance
Rating: 14A
Spoilers: Set season 5, no specific spoliers.
Part 4/11
Don fidgeted in his seat, staring unfocussedly at the dash board's digital clock. He knew Colby was half-watching him from the driver's seat. He was also fairly certain that Colby was driving along a straight road, going a few miles below the speed-limit. Too damn bad it didn't feel like it. His stomach lurched as his gaze slipped from the clock to the widow, and the world tipped and slid past. He quickly shifted his attention back to the more stationary clock.
"You sure about this Don?" Colby asked, for what had to be the fifth time since they had pulled out of the parking lot. Actually, Don mused, it had probably been more, since he had most likely spaced out through a few. That might be why he keeps asking. . .
"Yes." He ground back looking up, trying to gauge where they were. Too late he remembered why he had been staring so intently at the clock. His stomach flipped obnoxiously again. He closed his eyes and willed it to settle. Only for some reason it did not feel inclined to listen.
"Uh Colb?" He managed after a minute, when he knew it was a losing battle. "I think - uh" he stammered petering off as he felt bile rising in his throat.
"Don?" Colby asked his voice full of concern, and Don suspected Colby was looking right at him now. Must be hard to watch the road that way, part of him thought, the other part of him was too busy trying not to throw up in his own car to respond.
"Pull over." He finally managed. Immediately he felt the car slow to a stop. Clumsily he fumbled with the door handle and half collapsed out of his seat. Something held him back from falling all the way out, but Don did not really notice, he was too busy spraying his lunch over the gravel at the shoulder of the road.
He emptied his stomach, and was vaguely surprised at how much was there, since lunch had been sometime ago. However, the nausea did not pass when his stomach contents were depleted. Instead he spent several long minutes, hanging half-in half-out of the car painfully dry heaving.
Finally it passed and Don struggled to sit back up. His seatbelt was still on, he belatedly realized, which he supposed, accounted for why he had not taken a header onto the side of the road. A firm hand helped push him back into his seat, and Don noted that at some point Colby had come around to his side of the car. He really hoped he hadn't vomited on him, or his car for that matter. He forced his eyes open and fixed Colby with what he hoped was an apologetic look. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Colby just sighed and closed the door. A moment later Don heard the driver's door open and close as Colby got back in. For awhile the two agents sat in silence, Colby making no move to start the car.
"Uh, Colby?" Don asked finally prying his eyes back open, satisfied to find that the world around him remained stationary this time.
"This is a really bad idea." Colby replied not looking at Don.
"Come on Colb, please don't back out on me now." Don had the sneaking suspicion that he was whining but he could not bring himself to care.
Again Colby sighed. "So help me, I have no clue why I let you talk me into this." He replied, a little melodramatically, Don thought, but at least he started the car again.
The drive resumed in silence, and Don could not say he really minded. His shoulder had edge its way back up from a 'dull ache' to 'painfully throbbing'. And if his shoulder was painfully throbbing, then he did not want to know what his head was doing. Non-the-less, he had somewhere to be and he was going. Besides, he would feel a lot better once he got out of the car, he was sure, well, pretty sure anyway.
They drove on for awhile, maybe twenty minutes Don thought, but then he was fairly confident that his sense of time was shot right now so he could not be sure, when Colby muttered something that sounded vaguely profane under his breath. "How quickly does your car run out of gas when it's reading empty?" He asked innocently from the driver's seat.
Don, who had been resting his head against the nice cold window, shot up in his seat at the question. The sudden movement jostled his shoulder and he grunted in pain. He peered over to the gauges as best he could and saw that the needle was in fact pointing to the 'E'. Well the car is still moving now, so that's a good sign right? "I uh, I dunno." He muttered, after-all he had never in fact tested exactly how far one could drive when the car's gauge was proclaiming itself devoid of fuel.
"Great." Colby replied, sounding anything but pleased. "I think there's a gas station a block or so off here." he said making a quick turn, catching Don off balance and causing him bang his shoulder into the door.
"You think?" Don muttered darkly, not really liking the sound of that.
"I'm pretty sure?" Colby offered back.
It actually turned out to be more like five blocks, but they some how managed to make it without puttering to a unfortunate halt. Colby shut the car off and hoped out. Don, after fighting with the seat belt for a minute, slowly followed.
"Where you going?" Colby asked eyeing Don carefully.
"Get water." Don said gesturing towards the convince store, "and a breath mint." He added as he walked away. He really needed a breath mint. Behind him, he could swear he heard Colby laugh.
The small store was quiet. A bored looking teenager flipped through a magazine behind the counter and barely looked up when he came in. He headed straight to the back of the store, to the cooler and opened the door to retrieve a bottle of water. The cold air that blasted out of the unit felt really nice, and Don just stood there for a moment staring at the drinks wondering exactly what he had been looking for.
Behind him, he heard the front door of the store open, Colby, Don figured still staring at the drinks, now what was he looking for again? Water right. He grabbed the first bottle of water he could see and closed the cooler's door.
Colby must have followed him in, because clearly he could not be trusted to fetch a bottle of water on his own, without supervision, funny last time he had checked he was Colby's supervisor. Ah well, clearly this was no longer the case. Well it did take you an unusually long time, his mind felt compelled to remind him. He shrugged it off and made his way back up the aisle reading the bottle in his hand. 'Pure Spring Water' it declared proudly. The nutrition facts listed a line a zeros. Now why do they bother putting that on a bottle of water? It's water for crying out loud, what is supposed to be in it? Proteins?
He had just made it to the end of the shelves when he finally looked up. The man who had come in was not in fact Colby. He had darker hair and was bigger. His back was to Don as he was facing the cashier, something about his stance set an alarm off in Don's sluggish brain. He drew his gaze from the man's back to the teenage clerk, who was looking at the man with wide-eyed fear. Don blinked slowly, he knew that look. He really ought to know what to do about that look. Really. He automatically reached for his gun. Unfortunately he forgot the bottle of water he was holding which he dropped to the ground. It bounced loudly, and the man whirled around surprised.
Don froze and blinked dazedly into the dark gun barrel that suddenly appear in his face.