FIC: Learning Curve

[valeriev84]

Title: Learning Curve
Author: Valerie Vancollie (valeriev84 [at] hotmail.com)
Characters: Don, Colby
Rating: PG
Summary: Like David, Don doesn't like what Colby threatened to do in the interrogation room.
Spoilers: Spree, Two Daughters, The Fifth Man
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Numb3rs characters, items or situations. I only lay claim to

Comments

Author's Comments

[valeriev84]

So I got to see The Fifth Man last night and the moment Colby started threatening the prisoner (not even going to try and spell that name!), I instantly flashed back to Two Daughters where he asked Don if he was sure he really wanted to leave Ian alone with Buck. Funny things keep seeming to tie back into that particular episode.

It struck me as a little odd that, having known people had trouble coming back from things like that already and then seeing first hand proof of it again with Don, that Colby went there himself. But I figure it's got to do with the emotions at the time clouding out reason.

I just felt it was something that had to be addressed and since Bradford has said how far Don's come in his therapy, I figured he'd be more than willing to give Colby some friendly advice. He wouldn't want to see his agents make the same mistakes as him, especially not because of him.

Somehow I think this may well be the first of several fics tied into this episode for me. There were just so many great scenes in it!

[magisterequitum]

This is so great.

I really love that you have this juxtaposition of who Don was then and who is now. That Don has gone on this journey and he now wants to teach his team and have them not repeat his mistakes.

Wonderful job!

[valeriev84]

Thanks.

It just really struck me during this episode that it's almost like while Don has been moving forward since season 3, some of the other characters have been sliding backwards. Like Charlie with his pre-therapy!Don worries about not being able to stop all crime and now Colby with the willingness to do things he really shouldn't.

Hopefully Don will be able to keep them both from going too far down the dark path he followed.

[admiralandrea]

Really well done. I must admit, Colby closing the blinds totally made me flash back to Don doing the same in Two Daughters.

And I agree that Don would give Colby advice - that bit made me think of him saying to Nikki at the end of 36 Hours not to become like him, after he bounced the guy's head off the door of his SUV.

[valeriev84]

Yeah, exactly!

Don knows he's made mistakes and he doesn't want his team making the same ones.

[anonymous]

To me, the most interesting thing about that bit in the episode is that it's so hard to say what was right and wrong. David has always been more "by the book" than Don - in fact, he's the one who told Don that he needed to tell his superiors when Colby contacted him from being on the run. Of course, if he had, Colby would have died, because the leak was internal. So if Colby has a vested interest in that method, it's understandable. Nikki assured Don that he did what he had to do in Megan's case. Megan may have been less sure. And ultimately, Don told McGowan that the line, as he saw it, kept moving. It does. I don't think Don is all wrong, or David all right - sometimes you just have to play the gut and the situation and hope it all comes out okay. And that's what makes leadership so tough and why it takes real guts - there are only absolutes on paper.

[valeriev84]

I think you're right with what you said here. At the moment David can still, relatively easily, stick with his principles, but I think that, just like Don, there will come a time where he will have to make a choice.

The problem with sticking completely with a 'by the book' attitude is that the other side doesn't. The criminals they chase often will do anything and everything they can to succeed.

[lilacs_roses]

1) Get well soon.

2) Haven't read anyone else's comments so...

3) I really liked this. Yes, it's incredibly short, however, it really hit the target -- dead on.

4) And, as I commented on the 'SaveColby' site, that scene, as well as others, has a lot of plot bunny potential.

Nicely, and well, done!

[valeriev84]

1) Thanks! I'm getting there, but it's still annoying.

3) Thanks, I was hoping it would. My problem was that when I wrote it the first time, I had about 160 words. Too much to cut down to 100, but I wasn't quite sure how to pull it up to 200 without detracting from it either. In the end, it worked, but it was a bit of a struggle.

4) Oh yeah! There is so much to play with here... not that I wasn't already busy with enough Numb3rs as it is!