FIC: The Tricks of Fate, Part 2 (Don/Colby, Don/Coop, Lt. Gary Walker, the team, PG-13)
Written for the 4th Annual Numb3rs Slash Ficathon.
Title: The Tricks of Fate, Part 2
Characters: Don/Colby, Don/Coop, Lt. Gary Walker, the team, OCs.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: 4.07 - Primacy.
Warnings: None.
Summary: How will Coop's return affect Colby and Don's relationship?
Feedback: I'm all for feedback, since this is all new to me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.
Beta: The wonderful fredbassett.
Previous chapter
Next chapter
The Tricks of Fate
Part 2
The day after his encounter with the mysterious avatar, Don didn’t exactly find peace at the office. A few files landed on his desk when he was seated at his computer, looking for a profile.
When he noticed the records someone had dropped, he asked, “What’s this?”
“We’ve got a case, Donnie.”
Don was about to ask another question, then the familiarity of the voice hit him. When he turned around, he muttered, “Coop.” He pulled the other man into a hug and patted his shoulders, happy to see the wide smile and the warm eyes of his former partner. “Hey, what a surprise! How have you been?”
“Good, I’ve been good. Fugitive Recovery keeps me busy. Bad guys always find a way to get out of prison,” Coop explained.
“I guess that’s why you’re here.”
“Yeah, we’re having a huge operation with you guys and LAPD. The man who escaped was a big fish for years, the head of one of the most important gangs in the city.”
“Oh, I see.”
While Don smiled at his friend, pleased to be able to work with him again, someone else approached them with a confident pace.
“Eppes,” Gary Walker said, and offered his hand.
“Hey.” Don immediately shook the man’s hand, and then turned to Coop. “Coop, this is Lieutenant Gary Walker from LAPD, Gang Impact Team. This is Agent Billy Cooper, from Fugitive Recovery.”
“So we’re all going to work together,” Walker stated, shaking Coop’s hand. “Nice to meet you, agent.”
“Same here,” Coop said.
“We should go to the conference room. They’re waiting for us, and I certainly can’t wait to catch this guy. Gang leaders are the hardest to find, so we better get started.”
As the three of them walked towards the conference room, Don couldn’t help but smile every five seconds, sometimes looking back at Coop and finding out that he was happy to see him, too.
“It’s good to have you here, buddy,” he said before Coop got into the room.
What Don hadn’t thought about was what kind of impact Coop’s return would have on Colby. He realized how weird the situation would be when he saw his lover’s eyes, wide with surprise, his mouth hanging open while the red-head shook everyone’s hand.
“Coop, do you remember my team?” Don said quickly, trying to sound natural and formal so Colby didn’t get the wrong idea.
“Sure… Your brother, Sinclair… and…” Coop muttered, looking at the people who were seated at the table. Three of them were obviously strangers to him, so Don had to introduce him to them.
“This is Agent, Reeves, that’s Agent Warner and this is… Colby Granger.” From Don cursed himself for pausing before saying Colby’s name, because he knew Coop would realize the green-eyed agent was his lover now. “Ok, let’s do this, guys. What do we have?” he encouraged his team, whilst trying to look at the two men.
During the next half hour, everybody shared the information they had. Megan talked about the fugitive’s profile, Walker showed his expertise in gang strategy, Coop informed the other agents about the big fish’s background and Charlie started to work on one of his big equations on the blackboard. Unsurprisingly, that got him into a discussion with Lt. Walker, but luckily that ended well and soon everybody agreed on the features of their first operation.
They performed the plan two hours later. Everybody did their best, but it didn’t go well. The team broke into a small neighborhood that they knew could be full of suspects. Don asked Coop to be his partner this time because as usual, Colby had already asked David to help him out.
In a way, it was fun for Don to be able to re-live his old years at Fugitive Recovery, knowing at the same time that Coop wouldn’t ask him to come back because that issue had already been closed a few years ago.
David and Colby finally found a house full of gang members. After the SWAT team broke in, they made the suspects confess to discussing a plan to steal and sell guns to the groups in other cities close to LA. But no one talked about the fugitive they were looking for; no one could make them say where he was.
When Don got there with Coop, he found Colby’s gaze on him, as if he was disappointed. Luckily, the presence of Walker made it all easier, as all the attention was driven towards him. The man grabbed one of the suspects wrists, slammed him against the wall and asked him nicely if he’d tell them where the guy they wanted was hiding.
That didn’t work. Finally, they had to conclude that the operation had failed.
When the SWAT team, followed by Walker’s officers were about to leave, there were shots. Don, Coop, David, Colby and Walker ran to the place they were coming from, and found an LAPD officer fighting with a group of gangsters.
Within seconds, the officer was shot by one of the criminals. Don and his team started to shoot, as well as the SWAT team. One of the bad guys was taken down by Walker.
Soon, they got all the gangsters against the wall, and they were asking them where their leader was.
“Damn it, Kotler!” the lieutenant cursed, kneeling beside his officer and trying to stop the blood coming from the wound. But the young man didn’t make it. When the ambulance arrived, there was nothing anyone could do to save him. He was already dead.
Interrogations turned out the way Don wanted. After a few hours, one of the gangsters broke and said where the big fish was. A new operation was planned and performed by the team in a couple of hours, and soon the bad guy had been caught.
But as Don watched Colby talk to the leader of the gang in one of the interrogation rooms, he got the feeling Walker had been affected by this case. He had seen his face while he stared at his officer’s body covered in a black bag.
Thinking about that, Don felt absolutely useless. Why had that happened? Everybody had been so careful, Charlie’s calculations had been good…
But Don was in charge of the entire operation, he had guided the teams and followed everyone’s moves.
It was his mistake. It was all his fault.
“Hey.”
Don didn’t turn around when he heard Coop’s voice this time. He didn’t want to talk about what had happened that day; he just wanted to think about how to make things better, how to repair the damage he had caused.
“Don, if there’s anything I can do…”
“I’m ok, I’m not going to fail again,” Don muttered, and he sipped his coffee, still not looking at Coop.
He could feel his friend’s eyes on him. When Don sat at the table, Coop did the same thing.
“Donnie.”
Finally, Don had to raise his gaze and meet his friend’s. He found a worried expression on his face, and he realized again that he couldn’t make him go away, no matter how hard he tried. “Ok, I’m not exactly fine… It’s been a bad month. I’ve lost an agent in my last case… and now Gary’s officer… I don’t like the way I’m handling things. I’m screwing up and I can’t allow myself to do that.”
Coop remained silent.
“And the worst thing is, I think I’m loosing perspective,” Don continued. “Can you believe I followed Charlie’s advice and started playing an online game? It’s called ‘Primacy,’ we had a case about it a while ago. Following clues and solving mysterious stuff was supposed to improve my skills.”
“Well, I think it’s great. It’s like a simulation, like training. Whatever you need to do to feel better, you should do it,” Coop said. “No matter how silly is seems to be, it could be helpful.” He tilted his head and added, “Have you learned something from it already?”
“I don’t know if you could call it ‘learning,’ but yeah, there’re a couple of interesting people who are keeping me busy with their leads.” In fact, the only thing Don could remember at the moment was the curvy image of a lady who knew about his sexual preferences.
“Then you made the right choice. The important thing is that you’re trying.” Slowly, Coop got up and went to pour some coffee in a mug. “Donnie, I’ve seen you get over a lot of stuff. You’re going to fix this, like you always do.”
Shaking his head, Don laughed. “You’ve got so much faith in me.”
“I don’t know if it’s faith, but I know you. We spent a lot of time together. Do you remember when we used to talk for hours after the cases?”
The memory of those moments made Don smile widely. “Ah, yeah… we were staying in cheap motel rooms, surrounded by guns, just you and me.”
Coop laughed and nodded. “Yeah… And then we used to…”
Suddenly, he shut up, and Don knew exactly why. Even after long work hours, adrenaline had still filled their bodies. They’d usually ended up in bed, sharing more than kisses and a few touches.
It was inappropriate to talk about that now. Things had changed a lot since then.
“So, you and Granger, huh?” Coop muttered, sitting at the table again.
Don nodded when he realized his friend had caught on to how different his life was nowadays. “Yep. Me and Granger,” he admitted. He got the feeling Coop only wanted the best for him, so there was no trouble at confessing his new relationship in front of him. However, apart from Coop, the only one who knew about it was Charlie. “What do you think about that?”
He patiently waited for Coop’s answer. And he was right about him; he did want the best for him.
“I think that if he makes you happy, then… go ahead. Seriously. You deserve that much.”
Touched by Coop’s warm smile, Don smiled back and patted him on the shoulder. When he was getting up, Lieutenant Walker entered the break-room.
“Hey… Mind if I sit down with you guys for a while?”
Coop and Don looked at each other, then the red-head offered the policeman a chair.
Soon, the three of them were talking, sharing their experiences of losing people in the field. Even if Walker didn’t say a word about how bad he felt about having had an officer down that day, it was obvious that he had been deeply affected by the incident. His eyes looked empty, except for a little brilliant flame that indicated he wanted revenge.
After a while, Don decided to leave the room for a moment. During his conversation with Walker and Coop, he had been thinking of Colby, too, and how much he wanted to pay some proper attention to him before he started getting wrong ideas about Don and his ex-partner.
Feeling confident, he left Coop and Walker talking and walked into the office Colby was working in. The green-eyed agent didn’t want to give up, he kept looking for people who could take the team to the gangster they were looking for.
“Colby,” Don said as he walked towards his lover, who just stared at his computer screen. “We’ve already checked those files a thousand times. We’ve got the guy. There’s no reason for you to…”
“There’s no reason for me to look at them again, I know,” Colby interrupted, his eyes still fixed on the screen. “But working keeps my mind busy, so I don’t think about you… and Billy Cooper.”
Don wasn’t surprised the issue had come up. Taking a deep breath, he sat on the desk, next to Colby’s computer. “Hey, you know he was my partner back then…”
“He was more than your partner. He was your lover, probably the most important you’ve ever had. You told me that yourself, Don.”
Colby was right. Don was aware that he had confessed his past to Colby on the third night they had slept together. He remembered every moment, every word. The nearness of someone who knew what it was like to live for the job had been more than enough to make Don come clean.
They had talked a lot that night. In less than an hour, Don had told Colby about his former lovers, including Coop, and he had admitted that the red-head had been his last meaningful relationship. He had also confessed that telling Coop he didn’t want to go back to Fugitive Recovery. It had been very difficult for him, even if it was for the best.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Don said, looking at the computer screen, and with that, he got Colby’s full attention. “You know about him. But he’s not the man I’m with right now, ok?”
“Yet, you’d like to go back to him.”
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me, Don. I’ve seen the way you smile at him, I’ve seen the way you guys talk. That’s a lot more there than you’ll ever have with me.”
“What? No, how could you think that? We’ve only been together for three months, there’s a long way to go for us to…”
“I don’t know if it’s worthwhile. Because, I know I’ll never be enough for you, Don,” Colby stated with a serious expression. “If it’s not Coop, it’s Liz, and if it’s not Liz, it could be anybody else.”
“That’s not tru-”
“It is.”
A question hit Don’s mind, and he had to ask, “Do you play ‘Primacy?’”
His lover’s face was very serious. “No.”
“But…”
“Do I look like I have the time to play a videogame, Don?”
“Colby, I’ve been…”
Colby didn’t let him finish. He got up and announced, “I’m going to take these files to Megan. Maybe she missed something that can take us to more gangs.”
When Colby passed him by, he didn’t say another word. Don was left alone in the room, staring at his own hands. He knew he didn’t intend to leave Colby. They were still pretty new to each other, and yes, he and Coop had had a different kind of relationship, but he didn’t want things to change now. He wanted Colby - but apparently, Colby didn’t think the same way.
A few minutes later, Don reached the conclusion that maybe he should give Colby time to adjust to Coop being at the office. He said to himself that sometimes it was better to let people try to deal with things on their own, and secretly he hoped his lover eventually understood that he really wanted to give what they had a chance.
“Donnie,” Coop said, making Don jump in his place.
“Uh…”
“Are you alright?”
Don took a deep breath, then rubbed his thighs. “Yeah.”
“Are you sure?”
Smiling sadly, Don nodded. With that, Coop seemed to relax.
“Ok… I’m taking the lieutenant home. I don’t think it’s good for him to drive, considering what happened today.”
As usual, Coop’s ideas when it came to helping someone to deal with a situation were highly appreciated. After all, he had been Don’s partner for so long, he had learned how to handle a broken soul.
“Is that ok with you?” the red-head asked.
“Sure, sure.”
“Do you want me to give you a ride?”
“Nah, I can drive home,” Don muttered, and when Coop smiled and finally disappeared, he ran his hands over his face. He looked at the office, trying to organize his thoughts, stared at the screen of the computer, which still showed a couple of new possible suspects.
The atmosphere in the FBI building wasn’t doing him any good. He needed to go home, he needed to take a break. He needed to take control, he had to become the trusted leader of his team again.
Without making a sound, Don slowly took the laptop from his brother’s hands. Charlie had fallen asleep at the table, surrounded by piles of papers full of equations.
“You really should take a break, buddy,” he whispered, although Charlie couldn’t hear him. But as he walked up the stairs, he realized that anyone could say the same thing to him, because he never took a break from anything, especially not from the FBI.
Soon, he was in the solarium again, staring at the colorful screen. With trembling hands, he chose the virtual character he had created. Then he pulled his hands back from the keyboard, wondering if he should get into the game again or not. Maybe the mysterious woman was still there, waiting for him to return.
The image of Gary Walker’s dead officer and the one of his own lost agent made the decision for him.
Don reached for the keyboard. He took a deep breath and got in character again.
Title: The Tricks of Fate, Part 2
Characters: Don/Colby, Don/Coop, Lt. Gary Walker, the team, OCs.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: 4.07 - Primacy.
Warnings: None.
Summary: How will Coop's return affect Colby and Don's relationship?
Feedback: I'm all for feedback, since this is all new to me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.
Beta: The wonderful fredbassett.
Previous chapter
Next chapter
The Tricks of Fate
Part 2
The day after his encounter with the mysterious avatar, Don didn’t exactly find peace at the office. A few files landed on his desk when he was seated at his computer, looking for a profile.
When he noticed the records someone had dropped, he asked, “What’s this?”
“We’ve got a case, Donnie.”
Don was about to ask another question, then the familiarity of the voice hit him. When he turned around, he muttered, “Coop.” He pulled the other man into a hug and patted his shoulders, happy to see the wide smile and the warm eyes of his former partner. “Hey, what a surprise! How have you been?”
“Good, I’ve been good. Fugitive Recovery keeps me busy. Bad guys always find a way to get out of prison,” Coop explained.
“I guess that’s why you’re here.”
“Yeah, we’re having a huge operation with you guys and LAPD. The man who escaped was a big fish for years, the head of one of the most important gangs in the city.”
“Oh, I see.”
While Don smiled at his friend, pleased to be able to work with him again, someone else approached them with a confident pace.
“Eppes,” Gary Walker said, and offered his hand.
“Hey.” Don immediately shook the man’s hand, and then turned to Coop. “Coop, this is Lieutenant Gary Walker from LAPD, Gang Impact Team. This is Agent Billy Cooper, from Fugitive Recovery.”
“So we’re all going to work together,” Walker stated, shaking Coop’s hand. “Nice to meet you, agent.”
“Same here,” Coop said.
“We should go to the conference room. They’re waiting for us, and I certainly can’t wait to catch this guy. Gang leaders are the hardest to find, so we better get started.”
As the three of them walked towards the conference room, Don couldn’t help but smile every five seconds, sometimes looking back at Coop and finding out that he was happy to see him, too.
“It’s good to have you here, buddy,” he said before Coop got into the room.
What Don hadn’t thought about was what kind of impact Coop’s return would have on Colby. He realized how weird the situation would be when he saw his lover’s eyes, wide with surprise, his mouth hanging open while the red-head shook everyone’s hand.
“Coop, do you remember my team?” Don said quickly, trying to sound natural and formal so Colby didn’t get the wrong idea.
“Sure… Your brother, Sinclair… and…” Coop muttered, looking at the people who were seated at the table. Three of them were obviously strangers to him, so Don had to introduce him to them.
“This is Agent, Reeves, that’s Agent Warner and this is… Colby Granger.” From Don cursed himself for pausing before saying Colby’s name, because he knew Coop would realize the green-eyed agent was his lover now. “Ok, let’s do this, guys. What do we have?” he encouraged his team, whilst trying to look at the two men.
During the next half hour, everybody shared the information they had. Megan talked about the fugitive’s profile, Walker showed his expertise in gang strategy, Coop informed the other agents about the big fish’s background and Charlie started to work on one of his big equations on the blackboard. Unsurprisingly, that got him into a discussion with Lt. Walker, but luckily that ended well and soon everybody agreed on the features of their first operation.
They performed the plan two hours later. Everybody did their best, but it didn’t go well. The team broke into a small neighborhood that they knew could be full of suspects. Don asked Coop to be his partner this time because as usual, Colby had already asked David to help him out.
In a way, it was fun for Don to be able to re-live his old years at Fugitive Recovery, knowing at the same time that Coop wouldn’t ask him to come back because that issue had already been closed a few years ago.
David and Colby finally found a house full of gang members. After the SWAT team broke in, they made the suspects confess to discussing a plan to steal and sell guns to the groups in other cities close to LA. But no one talked about the fugitive they were looking for; no one could make them say where he was.
When Don got there with Coop, he found Colby’s gaze on him, as if he was disappointed. Luckily, the presence of Walker made it all easier, as all the attention was driven towards him. The man grabbed one of the suspects wrists, slammed him against the wall and asked him nicely if he’d tell them where the guy they wanted was hiding.
That didn’t work. Finally, they had to conclude that the operation had failed.
When the SWAT team, followed by Walker’s officers were about to leave, there were shots. Don, Coop, David, Colby and Walker ran to the place they were coming from, and found an LAPD officer fighting with a group of gangsters.
Within seconds, the officer was shot by one of the criminals. Don and his team started to shoot, as well as the SWAT team. One of the bad guys was taken down by Walker.
Soon, they got all the gangsters against the wall, and they were asking them where their leader was.
“Damn it, Kotler!” the lieutenant cursed, kneeling beside his officer and trying to stop the blood coming from the wound. But the young man didn’t make it. When the ambulance arrived, there was nothing anyone could do to save him. He was already dead.
Interrogations turned out the way Don wanted. After a few hours, one of the gangsters broke and said where the big fish was. A new operation was planned and performed by the team in a couple of hours, and soon the bad guy had been caught.
But as Don watched Colby talk to the leader of the gang in one of the interrogation rooms, he got the feeling Walker had been affected by this case. He had seen his face while he stared at his officer’s body covered in a black bag.
Thinking about that, Don felt absolutely useless. Why had that happened? Everybody had been so careful, Charlie’s calculations had been good…
But Don was in charge of the entire operation, he had guided the teams and followed everyone’s moves.
It was his mistake. It was all his fault.
“Hey.”
Don didn’t turn around when he heard Coop’s voice this time. He didn’t want to talk about what had happened that day; he just wanted to think about how to make things better, how to repair the damage he had caused.
“Don, if there’s anything I can do…”
“I’m ok, I’m not going to fail again,” Don muttered, and he sipped his coffee, still not looking at Coop.
He could feel his friend’s eyes on him. When Don sat at the table, Coop did the same thing.
“Donnie.”
Finally, Don had to raise his gaze and meet his friend’s. He found a worried expression on his face, and he realized again that he couldn’t make him go away, no matter how hard he tried. “Ok, I’m not exactly fine… It’s been a bad month. I’ve lost an agent in my last case… and now Gary’s officer… I don’t like the way I’m handling things. I’m screwing up and I can’t allow myself to do that.”
Coop remained silent.
“And the worst thing is, I think I’m loosing perspective,” Don continued. “Can you believe I followed Charlie’s advice and started playing an online game? It’s called ‘Primacy,’ we had a case about it a while ago. Following clues and solving mysterious stuff was supposed to improve my skills.”
“Well, I think it’s great. It’s like a simulation, like training. Whatever you need to do to feel better, you should do it,” Coop said. “No matter how silly is seems to be, it could be helpful.” He tilted his head and added, “Have you learned something from it already?”
“I don’t know if you could call it ‘learning,’ but yeah, there’re a couple of interesting people who are keeping me busy with their leads.” In fact, the only thing Don could remember at the moment was the curvy image of a lady who knew about his sexual preferences.
“Then you made the right choice. The important thing is that you’re trying.” Slowly, Coop got up and went to pour some coffee in a mug. “Donnie, I’ve seen you get over a lot of stuff. You’re going to fix this, like you always do.”
Shaking his head, Don laughed. “You’ve got so much faith in me.”
“I don’t know if it’s faith, but I know you. We spent a lot of time together. Do you remember when we used to talk for hours after the cases?”
The memory of those moments made Don smile widely. “Ah, yeah… we were staying in cheap motel rooms, surrounded by guns, just you and me.”
Coop laughed and nodded. “Yeah… And then we used to…”
Suddenly, he shut up, and Don knew exactly why. Even after long work hours, adrenaline had still filled their bodies. They’d usually ended up in bed, sharing more than kisses and a few touches.
It was inappropriate to talk about that now. Things had changed a lot since then.
“So, you and Granger, huh?” Coop muttered, sitting at the table again.
Don nodded when he realized his friend had caught on to how different his life was nowadays. “Yep. Me and Granger,” he admitted. He got the feeling Coop only wanted the best for him, so there was no trouble at confessing his new relationship in front of him. However, apart from Coop, the only one who knew about it was Charlie. “What do you think about that?”
He patiently waited for Coop’s answer. And he was right about him; he did want the best for him.
“I think that if he makes you happy, then… go ahead. Seriously. You deserve that much.”
Touched by Coop’s warm smile, Don smiled back and patted him on the shoulder. When he was getting up, Lieutenant Walker entered the break-room.
“Hey… Mind if I sit down with you guys for a while?”
Coop and Don looked at each other, then the red-head offered the policeman a chair.
Soon, the three of them were talking, sharing their experiences of losing people in the field. Even if Walker didn’t say a word about how bad he felt about having had an officer down that day, it was obvious that he had been deeply affected by the incident. His eyes looked empty, except for a little brilliant flame that indicated he wanted revenge.
After a while, Don decided to leave the room for a moment. During his conversation with Walker and Coop, he had been thinking of Colby, too, and how much he wanted to pay some proper attention to him before he started getting wrong ideas about Don and his ex-partner.
Feeling confident, he left Coop and Walker talking and walked into the office Colby was working in. The green-eyed agent didn’t want to give up, he kept looking for people who could take the team to the gangster they were looking for.
“Colby,” Don said as he walked towards his lover, who just stared at his computer screen. “We’ve already checked those files a thousand times. We’ve got the guy. There’s no reason for you to…”
“There’s no reason for me to look at them again, I know,” Colby interrupted, his eyes still fixed on the screen. “But working keeps my mind busy, so I don’t think about you… and Billy Cooper.”
Don wasn’t surprised the issue had come up. Taking a deep breath, he sat on the desk, next to Colby’s computer. “Hey, you know he was my partner back then…”
“He was more than your partner. He was your lover, probably the most important you’ve ever had. You told me that yourself, Don.”
Colby was right. Don was aware that he had confessed his past to Colby on the third night they had slept together. He remembered every moment, every word. The nearness of someone who knew what it was like to live for the job had been more than enough to make Don come clean.
They had talked a lot that night. In less than an hour, Don had told Colby about his former lovers, including Coop, and he had admitted that the red-head had been his last meaningful relationship. He had also confessed that telling Coop he didn’t want to go back to Fugitive Recovery. It had been very difficult for him, even if it was for the best.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Don said, looking at the computer screen, and with that, he got Colby’s full attention. “You know about him. But he’s not the man I’m with right now, ok?”
“Yet, you’d like to go back to him.”
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me, Don. I’ve seen the way you smile at him, I’ve seen the way you guys talk. That’s a lot more there than you’ll ever have with me.”
“What? No, how could you think that? We’ve only been together for three months, there’s a long way to go for us to…”
“I don’t know if it’s worthwhile. Because, I know I’ll never be enough for you, Don,” Colby stated with a serious expression. “If it’s not Coop, it’s Liz, and if it’s not Liz, it could be anybody else.”
“That’s not tru-”
“It is.”
A question hit Don’s mind, and he had to ask, “Do you play ‘Primacy?’”
His lover’s face was very serious. “No.”
“But…”
“Do I look like I have the time to play a videogame, Don?”
“Colby, I’ve been…”
Colby didn’t let him finish. He got up and announced, “I’m going to take these files to Megan. Maybe she missed something that can take us to more gangs.”
When Colby passed him by, he didn’t say another word. Don was left alone in the room, staring at his own hands. He knew he didn’t intend to leave Colby. They were still pretty new to each other, and yes, he and Coop had had a different kind of relationship, but he didn’t want things to change now. He wanted Colby - but apparently, Colby didn’t think the same way.
A few minutes later, Don reached the conclusion that maybe he should give Colby time to adjust to Coop being at the office. He said to himself that sometimes it was better to let people try to deal with things on their own, and secretly he hoped his lover eventually understood that he really wanted to give what they had a chance.
“Donnie,” Coop said, making Don jump in his place.
“Uh…”
“Are you alright?”
Don took a deep breath, then rubbed his thighs. “Yeah.”
“Are you sure?”
Smiling sadly, Don nodded. With that, Coop seemed to relax.
“Ok… I’m taking the lieutenant home. I don’t think it’s good for him to drive, considering what happened today.”
As usual, Coop’s ideas when it came to helping someone to deal with a situation were highly appreciated. After all, he had been Don’s partner for so long, he had learned how to handle a broken soul.
“Is that ok with you?” the red-head asked.
“Sure, sure.”
“Do you want me to give you a ride?”
“Nah, I can drive home,” Don muttered, and when Coop smiled and finally disappeared, he ran his hands over his face. He looked at the office, trying to organize his thoughts, stared at the screen of the computer, which still showed a couple of new possible suspects.
The atmosphere in the FBI building wasn’t doing him any good. He needed to go home, he needed to take a break. He needed to take control, he had to become the trusted leader of his team again.
Without making a sound, Don slowly took the laptop from his brother’s hands. Charlie had fallen asleep at the table, surrounded by piles of papers full of equations.
“You really should take a break, buddy,” he whispered, although Charlie couldn’t hear him. But as he walked up the stairs, he realized that anyone could say the same thing to him, because he never took a break from anything, especially not from the FBI.
Soon, he was in the solarium again, staring at the colorful screen. With trembling hands, he chose the virtual character he had created. Then he pulled his hands back from the keyboard, wondering if he should get into the game again or not. Maybe the mysterious woman was still there, waiting for him to return.
The image of Gary Walker’s dead officer and the one of his own lost agent made the decision for him.
Don reached for the keyboard. He took a deep breath and got in character again.