Fic: Marked (Numb3rs, Don / Martin, Colby / Charlie, David, Megan)
Title: Marked
Pair: Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger,
Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord,
David Sinclair / Ian Edgerton,
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
“Stop staring at me.” Don groaned. “Don’t you have work to do?”
“I still got ten minutes before I’m on the clock.” Colby grinned. “Rough weekend?”
“No.”
“Come on, you can tell me. Did you have a fight with Megan?”
“You had a serious shaving accident?”
“No.”
“You got a deathly illness that causes weird marks?”
“No.”
Colby grabbed Don’s collar and peeked in.
“They go all the way down-”
“Don’t touch them!” Don pulled away quickly. “They’re really itchy.”
“Did you try some new skin rejuvenation peeling thingy?”
“No!”
“I mean, Rose from white collar crimes tried one of those and she looked like-”
“Why do you think I would try something like that?”
“Well… did you?”
“No, I didn’t! It was the cat.”
“Your cat did that?” Colby eyed the red claw marks going down Don’s cheek and down his neck. “What did you do, hide the tuna?”
“I…” Don sighed heavily and slumped down behind the desk. “Don’t tell anyone, Charlie will remind me about this for years, not to mention Megan.”
“I won’t.”
“You know that stuffed armchair we put on the upstairs landing?”
“The one I had to drag up in exchange for my own vacation days?”
“Yeah, that one. We had a late morning-”
“How late?”
“About ten AM. Why?”
“I need to get the whole picture.”
“Anyway, peaceful Sunday morning. Waking up slowly, some morning delight in bed… and then the cat starts meowing behind the door.”
“How does it get up the stairs?”
“I don’t know, but it can, and for a kitten of that size it’s a real accomplishment. Martin went downstairs to give her breakfast.”
“And left you alone.”
“He dumped me for a kitten.” Don grumped, but couldn’t keep the smirk off his face. “He came back and ten minutes later the meowing started again.”
“Can’t you get one of those pet gates or whatever they’re called?”
“We have one, but Martin never has the heart to lock her up. Opened the door and I stepped on a rubber mouse.”
“With liver filling?”
“No. I fell backwards to the armchair.”
“So you got lucky. In your age one fall can break a lot of bones.”
“You’re not that young either… And I wasn’t the only one on the armchair. Misse had climbed on it.”
“You fell on your kitten?” Colby looked absolutely horrified. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. She saw me coming and climbed up the backrest.” Don assured. “But when that happened, she went into total panic mode, and pulled out her claws.”
“You mean she attacked you?”
“No, she was scared and wanted to go somewhere safe. At least that’s how Martin explained it. She climbed up to my shoulder.”
“While you were sitting down?”
“No, I was standing up. Any idea how quickly a small cat can climb when it’s scared?”
“So those marks…?”
“Go all the way down. They’re just scratches, but they itch like hell.” Don’s hand moved up to his neck and he had to force it back down. “I keep forgetting I shouldn’t touch them.”
“Morning.” David walked in and dumped his backbag onto his desk. “Did we get a new case?”
“No, just talking about the weekend.” Colby grinned. “Normal for some of us, animalistic for others.”
“I see….” David eyed the marks and Don tried to keep his back against the partition wall, which unfortunately was too short to cover them.
“What are we looking at?” Megan joined them and took a look at the scratches. “Hmmm… They’re the wrong shape to be sex-induced… did you have a rendezvous with a metal rake?”
“No, I didn’t.” Don groaned. “Do you mind just finishing the paperwork, I need to get them forward today.”
“Sure…” She grinned and kept eyeing Don’s neck. “I’ll tell you what I told my neighbours girl, when she snatched her first boyfriend. Use a scarf or wear a turtleneck.”
“It’s not a hickie.”
“I didn’t think it was, but the same principle can be applied here.”
“Megan….”
“I’ll shut up but I have to ask: You’re not into piercing sex, are you?”
“What the hell is that?”
“I don’t know either, I just saw documentary about that. People get piercing and they gain sexual pleasure from it.”
“Do I look like I got piercings?”
“No, but your neck looks like someone tried to give you a lot of those at once.”
“I’m just one big source of amusement for you, aren’t I?”
“Not often, but today is your good day.”
“Don!” Charlie waved from the elevators and marched over to them. He handed a small pharmacy bag over to Don. “Martin asked me to drop this off on the way, you forgot it.”
“Thanks.”
“And he told me to say he’ll go shopping after work and he’ll get a real scratching post for Misse, so she doesn’t need to hone her claws on you.” He turned around and hurried out.
Don fiddled with the bag, and avoided Megan’s eyes.
“Your cat did that?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? That’s just so-”
“Don’t say it, Reeves.”
“Just so-”
“I mean it.”
“-adorable.”
“You just had to say it…”
“Guy, with a yummy guy and a cute itty-bitty kitty in a nice craftsman house… That’s what every woman wants.”
“Two guys and a kitten?”
“Yeah, you can just pick one that matches your clothes… David knows what I mean.”
“Why do you have to drag me into this?” David complained. “I have no idea what women want.”
“Who does…” Don interrupted.
“Women aren’t that picky, what David has would be ideal for a lot of women.” Megan continued. “A dangerous, sexy sniper to keep him safe, a hunky young blond to keep things interesting, and a cute little girl.”
“So a little girl beats kittens?”
“Yeah, but you’re both adorable. And Colby and Charlie got the ultimate female fantasy. Same as you, but even better: Two cute guys and a little girl, but their girls is smaller. Smaller is cuter, when we’re talking about babies.”
“You do know men don’t want to be adorable, don’t you?”
“Of course I do, that’s what makes it even funnier.” Megan picked up her bag and headed to the break room. “I’ll get some coffee before I start my report.”
“I need some caffeine too.” Colby smirked and followed her.
“I knew she would say something like that…” Don stated. “There’s a good enough reason to tell people I was accosted by a perp with a grater.” He opened the bag pulled out small tube. “Hope this helps with the itching or this will be a hell of a day…”
“Good luck applying that.” David chuckled. “I’m not helping you with that.”
“I can’t even trust the solidarity between guys anymore.”
“Like she said, I already got two guys to keep up with. You gotta ask someone else to do it.”