A Ghost from the Past: Small Miracles Series [4/8] (Colby/OFC-Callie, David, baby, G)
Title: A Ghost from the Past (Small Miracles Series, Part 4/8)
Pairing/Characters: Colby and the baby, David, and Charlie; mention of Don and OFC-Callie
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,985
Summary: He’d had a restless night, haunted by dreams of her. That had to be the reason he was seeing things he knew couldn’t be there...
Spoilers: none.
Notes/Warnings: Continuing the baby!fic Small Miracles Series. I ask your forgiveness for the change in perspective halfway through - the story is taking place in two different places in the FBI office and I needed to transition from one to the other. I hope you enjoy anyway.
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, regrettably - it's not mine.
Colby took the long way into the building, feeling rather heavy-hearted about the impending departure of his newest little friend. After the way his day started, tending to the needs of this tiny life that completely depended on him had been a welcome distraction from the dreams that still lingered in his mind. He was finding himself amazed by the ease with which he could take care of a baby - effortlessly fitting the required attention to the baby boy into his schedule as though it had always been a part of his routine. There was a part of him that desperately wanted to keep the little guy... to raise him as he had been raised, with duty and honor and love. But, he knew that he wasn’t set up to raise a kid. He wasn’t even remotely ready to raise a kid - not now. For the moment, however, the daydream of raising the baby kept his thoughts away from Callie and for that he was thankful.
So distracted by his thoughts, Colby was completely unaware of the smiles he received from women in the office as he walked through the hall carrying his bag on one shoulder and the baby carrier in his other hand. Had he listened, he could have heard the ovaries exploding with every sigh that escaped the lips of those watching him but he was oblivious to anything except getting to his desk. Today was going to be a hard day... more so than usual, he thought and he frowned against the ache in his heart.
He no more than set the carrier on his desk, offering the baby a smile as the infant stared back at him, before Colby felt the presence of David standing behind him. He didn’t have to turn to know there was something on his partner’s mind. They knew each other well enough that words weren’t often necessary when there was something that needed to be said.
His suspicion was confirmed when he turned and he saw the apologetic dark brown eyes of Agent Sinclair looking back at him. David’s lips furled into his characteristic grimace and his gaze shifted from Colby’s to the tiny infant in the carrier as the baby’s tongue once more lapped at the air like he was trying to say something. Colby knew the news wasn’t good.
“They found his parents, Granger. Autopsy and labs confirm - our victims... his mom and dad,” David choked pointing to the baby before his eyes again found Colby’s.
With the revelation, Colby instantly felt his heart plummet into his stomach. To be abandoned by choice was cruel, but to be robbed of parents at the hand of a killer somehow seemed worse. His eyes were sympathetic as he looked back to the baby and as though the small being sensed the change in the air, his tiny hands immediately clenched into fists and his face wrinkled - turning a brilliant shade of red just before his cry cut through the office.
Colby closed his eyes against the sound. No one could blame the little one for crying now. He deserved at least that much after every thing he’d seen, Colby thought as he reached into the carrier and easily cradled the child against his strong shoulder.
He didn’t try to soothe the baby... not at first. He just held him, letting him know he had someone he could count on right now. Somehow letting the child cry seemed to release Colby’s own pent up anxieties and heart ache. He didn’t move to comfort the infant for several long moments before his instincts took over and one strong hand moved to rub the baby’s back, shifting his weight and swaying with the child against him.
“Shh, shhh, shhh,” he whispered with his lips against the infant’s tiny head. “It’s going to be okay, buddy. We’ll find the person who did this. I’ll make sure of it,” he breathed, and his eyes caught the sympathetic look coming back at him from David. A moment of locked gazes and David nodded. He was in on it too now. They would make sure the baby found justice for his parents.
As David stepped away to answer his phone, Colby continued to shift and sway while rubbing the baby’s back - doing everything he knew to try and comfort the little man. Colby was sure the little fellow wasn’t hungry or dirty. He just needed to cry. And as he cried, Colby thought that maybe there was still hope. Maybe his mom and dad left a will. Maybe there was family that he could go to instead of being handed over to complete strangers who would never be able to tell him about the people his parents were. Maybe... just maybe they would find out what his name was. But first they needed an ID on the victims.
He shook his head, fighting the urge to run his hands over his hair as was his habit when he was frustrated. Instead he turned his focus toward his desk, still shifting his weight to rock the baby against him. As he turned, his eyes caught something over the divider that instantly made his knees weaken and his heart jump. He did a double take, sure that what he’d seen had been an apparition - a remnant of dreams haunting him. He straightened and stared unblinking then as Don walked through the maze of cubicles on his way to the exit - a tall and familiar red head next to him. Colby couldn’t see her face, but her hair... the way she walked - he swore it was Callie, his Callie. His forced his eyes closed and then again trying to blink away the vision… so sure that his mind was playing tricks on him after the night he’d spent with Callie in his dreams. When he opened his eyes again to look for her, the woman with Don had disappeared around the corner - leaving Colby stunned in the aftermath until the cries of the baby against him brought him back to reality.
David rounded his desk in time to see Colby easing himself into his chair. “Hey man. Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“I think maybe I did,” Colby answered without looking up at his partner before moving his lips to the baby’s ear, once more trying to comfort the infant in his time of need...
Charlie smiled seeing the beautiful woman walking toward him. She was making her exit as he was entering the building and he couldn’t keep himself from lingering a moment longer at the door just to watch her and to do the gentlemanly thing of holding the door for her. His smile turned bashful when she smiled back at him and he felt the color rushing to his cheeks. He continued to watch her as she reached for her phone just before she reached the door and then she nervously bit at her lip when she realized she’d left it wherever she’d been in the building. Her eyes were apologetic before she turned to walk back to the elevator and Charlie instantly reacted by letting the door close behind him as he followed her.
He stepped into the elevator behind her and found that she’d already pressed the button to the floor where he was headed. He cast her another bashful smile as he shuffled his feet to stand at the back of the elevator beside her.
“I don’t suppose you’re from DCFS are you?” Charlie asked, breaking the silence in the air between them. Before the captivating red head could answer, Charlie distractedly looked away as he smiled, “I’m sure Granger will be glad to see you after a night with the baby. Man, that kid can wail... the baby, not Granger.”
The lady who had opened her mouth to answer now stood there staring back at him, an unmistakable expression of shock registering across her face.
“I’m sorry. I thought they told you he was going to take care of the baby until you could find a home for him... or... maybe you’re not with DCFS and I’ve just made a total ass out of myself,” he sputtered unable to hold her gaze.
There was a moment of recovery before she finally cleared her throat to answer, once more smiling as she placed an encouraging hand over Charlie’s. “No one has said anything to me about it, but I appreciate you letting me know.”
The touch of her hand against his instantly put him at ease despite the way his face filled with color, shifting nervously beside her.
Before he could say another word, the elevator chimed to signal they had reached the floor of the FBI and he smiled, motioning for her to step out ahead of him. He stepped beside her then, quietly shuffling along as they navigated the maze of cubicles. She seemed to know just where she was headed and Charlie smiled again before a passing FBI agent distracted him with information about a case.
She just kept walking, making her way to the conference room on a mission to find her lost phone. And as she walked, Colby once more stood from his desk having the baby almost lulled back to a state of sleep. As soon as his head rose above the divider, he saw her. He saw her face with a look of determination in her eyes - familiar emerald eyes that scanned the office as though wary of an enemy.
He shook his head. He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and for a long moment he considered seeing a therapist. He was surely losing his mind. He could not possibly have imagined the same woman twice within as many minutes, regardless of the dreams that still shook him.
He comforted himself, knowing that when he opened his eyes... she would be gone - vanished into the air as all his dreams of her seemed to do. But when he opened his eyes, he still saw her... disappearing now into the conference room. Nothing could have prepared him for the sudden rush of blood surging through his veins as he took seemingly involuntary steps in her direction - needing to know, needing to see who she was, desperately trying to convince himself that this was all just another dream and he’d wake to find his life once more making sense.
Just as he cleared the last cubicle, stepping closer to the conference room - she stepped out, distractedly slipping her phone into the pocket of her dress pants before she looked up... and Colby found himself face to face with the ghost from his past.
The office instantly fell silent. All motion ceased. The world around them seemed to slip into non-existence as his eyes met hers and he stared back at her, unblinking, unmoving, unfeeling - unaware of anything except the pounding of his heart in his ears as his blood surged and chills shook him.
An exhalation of breath carried her name and as “Cal” slipped into the air between them, the world once more started spinning.
Her eyes locked with his for a long moment before she averted his gaze. “I’m sorry. You must have me confused with someone else.”
Then just like that, she was walking away and Colby felt the release of every thing he’d held in during those moments between them. He needed to sit down, but couldn’t stop watching as she made her exit - passing Charlie and not even acknowledging the smile she was offered. Colby watched as Charlie’s expression shifted toward confusion before he looked back to Colby now beside him. “Is she not taking the baby?” he asked, trying to ignore her recent rejection of his attention.
“I don’t think she was who either of us thought she was Charlie,” Colby exhaled, turning to walk back to his desk.
<< While He Was Sleeping, Part 3 Haunted, Part 5 >>
Pairing/Characters: Colby and the baby, David, and Charlie; mention of Don and OFC-Callie
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,985
Summary: He’d had a restless night, haunted by dreams of her. That had to be the reason he was seeing things he knew couldn’t be there...
Spoilers: none.
Notes/Warnings: Continuing the baby!fic Small Miracles Series. I ask your forgiveness for the change in perspective halfway through - the story is taking place in two different places in the FBI office and I needed to transition from one to the other. I hope you enjoy anyway.
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, regrettably - it's not mine.
Colby took the long way into the building, feeling rather heavy-hearted about the impending departure of his newest little friend. After the way his day started, tending to the needs of this tiny life that completely depended on him had been a welcome distraction from the dreams that still lingered in his mind. He was finding himself amazed by the ease with which he could take care of a baby - effortlessly fitting the required attention to the baby boy into his schedule as though it had always been a part of his routine. There was a part of him that desperately wanted to keep the little guy... to raise him as he had been raised, with duty and honor and love. But, he knew that he wasn’t set up to raise a kid. He wasn’t even remotely ready to raise a kid - not now. For the moment, however, the daydream of raising the baby kept his thoughts away from Callie and for that he was thankful.
So distracted by his thoughts, Colby was completely unaware of the smiles he received from women in the office as he walked through the hall carrying his bag on one shoulder and the baby carrier in his other hand. Had he listened, he could have heard the ovaries exploding with every sigh that escaped the lips of those watching him but he was oblivious to anything except getting to his desk. Today was going to be a hard day... more so than usual, he thought and he frowned against the ache in his heart.
He no more than set the carrier on his desk, offering the baby a smile as the infant stared back at him, before Colby felt the presence of David standing behind him. He didn’t have to turn to know there was something on his partner’s mind. They knew each other well enough that words weren’t often necessary when there was something that needed to be said.
His suspicion was confirmed when he turned and he saw the apologetic dark brown eyes of Agent Sinclair looking back at him. David’s lips furled into his characteristic grimace and his gaze shifted from Colby’s to the tiny infant in the carrier as the baby’s tongue once more lapped at the air like he was trying to say something. Colby knew the news wasn’t good.
“They found his parents, Granger. Autopsy and labs confirm - our victims... his mom and dad,” David choked pointing to the baby before his eyes again found Colby’s.
With the revelation, Colby instantly felt his heart plummet into his stomach. To be abandoned by choice was cruel, but to be robbed of parents at the hand of a killer somehow seemed worse. His eyes were sympathetic as he looked back to the baby and as though the small being sensed the change in the air, his tiny hands immediately clenched into fists and his face wrinkled - turning a brilliant shade of red just before his cry cut through the office.
Colby closed his eyes against the sound. No one could blame the little one for crying now. He deserved at least that much after every thing he’d seen, Colby thought as he reached into the carrier and easily cradled the child against his strong shoulder.
He didn’t try to soothe the baby... not at first. He just held him, letting him know he had someone he could count on right now. Somehow letting the child cry seemed to release Colby’s own pent up anxieties and heart ache. He didn’t move to comfort the infant for several long moments before his instincts took over and one strong hand moved to rub the baby’s back, shifting his weight and swaying with the child against him.
“Shh, shhh, shhh,” he whispered with his lips against the infant’s tiny head. “It’s going to be okay, buddy. We’ll find the person who did this. I’ll make sure of it,” he breathed, and his eyes caught the sympathetic look coming back at him from David. A moment of locked gazes and David nodded. He was in on it too now. They would make sure the baby found justice for his parents.
As David stepped away to answer his phone, Colby continued to shift and sway while rubbing the baby’s back - doing everything he knew to try and comfort the little man. Colby was sure the little fellow wasn’t hungry or dirty. He just needed to cry. And as he cried, Colby thought that maybe there was still hope. Maybe his mom and dad left a will. Maybe there was family that he could go to instead of being handed over to complete strangers who would never be able to tell him about the people his parents were. Maybe... just maybe they would find out what his name was. But first they needed an ID on the victims.
He shook his head, fighting the urge to run his hands over his hair as was his habit when he was frustrated. Instead he turned his focus toward his desk, still shifting his weight to rock the baby against him. As he turned, his eyes caught something over the divider that instantly made his knees weaken and his heart jump. He did a double take, sure that what he’d seen had been an apparition - a remnant of dreams haunting him. He straightened and stared unblinking then as Don walked through the maze of cubicles on his way to the exit - a tall and familiar red head next to him. Colby couldn’t see her face, but her hair... the way she walked - he swore it was Callie, his Callie. His forced his eyes closed and then again trying to blink away the vision… so sure that his mind was playing tricks on him after the night he’d spent with Callie in his dreams. When he opened his eyes again to look for her, the woman with Don had disappeared around the corner - leaving Colby stunned in the aftermath until the cries of the baby against him brought him back to reality.
David rounded his desk in time to see Colby easing himself into his chair. “Hey man. Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“I think maybe I did,” Colby answered without looking up at his partner before moving his lips to the baby’s ear, once more trying to comfort the infant in his time of need...
Charlie smiled seeing the beautiful woman walking toward him. She was making her exit as he was entering the building and he couldn’t keep himself from lingering a moment longer at the door just to watch her and to do the gentlemanly thing of holding the door for her. His smile turned bashful when she smiled back at him and he felt the color rushing to his cheeks. He continued to watch her as she reached for her phone just before she reached the door and then she nervously bit at her lip when she realized she’d left it wherever she’d been in the building. Her eyes were apologetic before she turned to walk back to the elevator and Charlie instantly reacted by letting the door close behind him as he followed her.
He stepped into the elevator behind her and found that she’d already pressed the button to the floor where he was headed. He cast her another bashful smile as he shuffled his feet to stand at the back of the elevator beside her.
“I don’t suppose you’re from DCFS are you?” Charlie asked, breaking the silence in the air between them. Before the captivating red head could answer, Charlie distractedly looked away as he smiled, “I’m sure Granger will be glad to see you after a night with the baby. Man, that kid can wail... the baby, not Granger.”
The lady who had opened her mouth to answer now stood there staring back at him, an unmistakable expression of shock registering across her face.
“I’m sorry. I thought they told you he was going to take care of the baby until you could find a home for him... or... maybe you’re not with DCFS and I’ve just made a total ass out of myself,” he sputtered unable to hold her gaze.
There was a moment of recovery before she finally cleared her throat to answer, once more smiling as she placed an encouraging hand over Charlie’s. “No one has said anything to me about it, but I appreciate you letting me know.”
The touch of her hand against his instantly put him at ease despite the way his face filled with color, shifting nervously beside her.
Before he could say another word, the elevator chimed to signal they had reached the floor of the FBI and he smiled, motioning for her to step out ahead of him. He stepped beside her then, quietly shuffling along as they navigated the maze of cubicles. She seemed to know just where she was headed and Charlie smiled again before a passing FBI agent distracted him with information about a case.
She just kept walking, making her way to the conference room on a mission to find her lost phone. And as she walked, Colby once more stood from his desk having the baby almost lulled back to a state of sleep. As soon as his head rose above the divider, he saw her. He saw her face with a look of determination in her eyes - familiar emerald eyes that scanned the office as though wary of an enemy.
He shook his head. He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and for a long moment he considered seeing a therapist. He was surely losing his mind. He could not possibly have imagined the same woman twice within as many minutes, regardless of the dreams that still shook him.
He comforted himself, knowing that when he opened his eyes... she would be gone - vanished into the air as all his dreams of her seemed to do. But when he opened his eyes, he still saw her... disappearing now into the conference room. Nothing could have prepared him for the sudden rush of blood surging through his veins as he took seemingly involuntary steps in her direction - needing to know, needing to see who she was, desperately trying to convince himself that this was all just another dream and he’d wake to find his life once more making sense.
Just as he cleared the last cubicle, stepping closer to the conference room - she stepped out, distractedly slipping her phone into the pocket of her dress pants before she looked up... and Colby found himself face to face with the ghost from his past.
The office instantly fell silent. All motion ceased. The world around them seemed to slip into non-existence as his eyes met hers and he stared back at her, unblinking, unmoving, unfeeling - unaware of anything except the pounding of his heart in his ears as his blood surged and chills shook him.
An exhalation of breath carried her name and as “Cal” slipped into the air between them, the world once more started spinning.
Her eyes locked with his for a long moment before she averted his gaze. “I’m sorry. You must have me confused with someone else.”
Then just like that, she was walking away and Colby felt the release of every thing he’d held in during those moments between them. He needed to sit down, but couldn’t stop watching as she made her exit - passing Charlie and not even acknowledging the smile she was offered. Colby watched as Charlie’s expression shifted toward confusion before he looked back to Colby now beside him. “Is she not taking the baby?” he asked, trying to ignore her recent rejection of his attention.
“I don’t think she was who either of us thought she was Charlie,” Colby exhaled, turning to walk back to his desk.
<< While He Was Sleeping, Part 3 Haunted, Part 5 >>