It's Not Just DNA
Colby's apartment gets broken into and Don learns something about his youngest agent – and decides to show Colby what the meaning of family really is. One shot. No sex, slash, or other disturbing content.
Although I know there's more to life than things, it still didn't help when my second-favorite item was viciously destroyed yesterday by a family member. Luckily, it's not irreplaceable, but it did get me thinking about the meaning of family. Here, in "It's Not Just DNA," Colby gets to discover the true meaning of family. I'm exited – it's the first Numb3rs one-shot I've ever posted on Fanfiction. I promise that Guilty will come up, eventually.
My beta has been pretty busy with real life and I have. I managed to pull a 4.0 this quarter but it came with a lot of sleep and little sacrifices, so bear with me. Please enjoy this as a present while you await the posting of Guilty. If anyone would like to take a look at what I've done so far and offer feedback I'd be happy to send them a chapter or two so they can get a sneak peak.
Thank you, Kitchen Klutz. Reviews, comments, & feedback are appreciated. Flames will be roasted with marshmallows and served for dinner. Reviewers all get invisible internet cookies.
-break-
Colby opened the door to his apartment, feeling relieved that he was home. He made a mental note of where David's tie had been last as he opened the door; he'd promised to return it to his partner. After the door swung open, Colby stared at his apartment in shock. His apartment was a wreck – and that was an understatement. It looked like a hurricane had hit.
Colby had visited Don's apartment, once. Don's apartment practically defined clean, but only because he was never there. Colby had joked that he was like a traveling gypsy, moving from one house to the next. Colby swallowed hard as he flipped on the light and gazed at the destruction that had taken over his apartment.
The picture his mother had given him of his father was on the floor and it had been ripped into half. That was what hit him the hardest, right there. That photograph… it was the only remaining photograph he had of his father. He pocketed the picture before turning on the kitchen life.
He'd never been one to eat many meals at home, but he still had plates for when he did so. Or at least, he had previously. The plates had been smashed on the floor. He checked his bedroom. The bed was fine – it was the only thing that had been left untouched. His stereo had been systematically broken. His books, the few that he had, had been tossed on the floor.
He stepped back into the living room. "Wow," David Sinclair said as he looked at the room in shock. Clearly, someone had vandalized Colby's apartment, unless the man had gone back on his lunch break and thrown a hissy fit, which David sincerely doubted, especially since Colby hadn't had a lunch break that day. "Are you always this messy, or did you piss someone off?" he questioned, wondering what on earth had happened.
Colby turned and glared at the older agent. The long, exhausting, day was getting to him, and the fact that the only remaining memento of his father was gone did not sit well with him. Suddenly, his temper flared, and he shoved the agent against the wall. "You know what?" he hissed. "Just shove it, David. I don't want to hear from you again."
He took off the hallway in a dead run, and before David could stop him, grabbed his car keys and took off out the apartment complex door, trailing down the fire escape and setting off the apartment complex alarm.
David groaned, leaned his head back against the wall, and dialed LAPD to come process the scene. He would have called his boss, but he wanted to give Colby a chance to get back to the scene, first, not feeling like explaining why the younger agent had taken off.
-break-
Special Agent Don Eppes was looking forward to a quiet evening of watching a baseball game on television with his father and brother when his phone rang. Groaning, he stood up and stretched before answering, praying silently that it was not another case that required his attention. If it was, he decided, he was faking being physically sick and going home anyway. He hadn't called a sick day since he'd been stabbed, and then it had been required by the doctor. "Eppes," he greeted, too tired to recognize David Sinclair's familiar ring tone.
"Hey Don, it's me. Someone broke into Colby's apartment and trashed it. I'm here now with LAPD – not that we'll find anything. But, uh, Colby seems pretty upset. He took off in his car and I haven't seen him since," David said, clearly upset, blurting out all of his information at once.
Don groaned again, louder this time, while at the same time hoping that David didn't hear him. This was uncharacteristic of Colby. His younger agent was strong, confident, and would rather fight out a situation then run. Something had happened, something personal, he guessed. He sighed as he remembered the last time Colby had taken off randomly sprinting. He shook his head, trying to get rid of his tiredness in his eyes. It looked like he was going to have another case tonight, after all. He exhaled slowly. "How long ago was that, David?" he questioned, trying to get a good grip on if he was right about where Colby would go.
"About half an hour. I thought he'd be back by now," David explained. "Or I'd have called sooner."
"Thanks, David. I think I know where he is. I'll go get him," Don responded as he hung up his phone. He sighed, pocketing his car keys and scratching his head. He glanced at his watch. He wasn't really looking forward to a trip to the grave yard tonight, but it had to be done. It was supposed to start raining, and he didn't Colby to get sick. The last time that Colby had taken off running, they hadn't noticed that Colby
Megan was at his side instantly. "What's wrong?" she asked, not having heard the conversation but having seen the look on Don's face.
"Someone busted Colby's apartment. Look, David's got the scene and I'll take care of talking to Colby. You can take off, go to the apartment, do whatever. As far as I'm concerned, you're off the clock."
Megan stared at him, the idea of taking the Friday night off almost sounding novel before she realized what he'd just said. "Wait, what? Hell, no, I'm not taking off. Where's Granger?"
"At the graveyard, I think," Don said, shrugging on his jacket. He waved his hand in the face of Megan's concern. "Listen, just… I'll take care of Colby, you go get with David and take care of the crime scene."
-break-
Don had a good gut feeling where the younger agent would go. He also had a good feeling about why Colby was so upset, although he hadn't wanted to voice it out loud to Megan. Don had had his apartment broken into earlier that year. It was an occupational hazard of being an FBI agent. Criminals could easily look up your address in Yellow Pages and trash your place if they were pissed off at you. That's what they'd done to Don's apartment, anyway. Don himself didn't lose any valuables, but the place was a wreck. He'd felt violated, angry, and irritated for a week, and suspected that Colby was feeling a lot stronger than that, if he'd taken off running.
Don remembered feeling angry, violated and hurt. He suspected Colby was feeling the same way, but obviously with more emotion. It was unlike his youngest agent to take off running, which was why Don was concerned. Normally, Colby was a slug-it-out, fight-it-out kind of guy. Or, a be-so-humorous-about-the-situation that it pissed everyone else off kind of guy.
So when Colby had taken off running, Don had a pretty good idea of where he would go. Colby had only taken off running once before in the two years he'd been on Don's team. It had been about six months ago, when David Sinclair had been a jerk to Colby, calling him a traitor even after the charges had been cleared. David had mentioned something about Colby's father and, after a hallowed, disturbed look in Colby's eyes, Colby had taken off running.
They had all been a little emotional then – but David's response was totally out of line and totally uncharacteristic. They hadn't realized that Colby had actually taken off running and was planning on staying lost until they'd come into work in the morning and it had taken Don awhile to track Colby down through Colby's cell phone GPS. It was when tracer had tracked Colby down through the graveyard that Don knew where his agent was going.
His father's grave. Well, his adopted father's grave.
Colby had been adopted at the age of ten. His previous father had been arrested on five counts of assault – all of them against Colby. Colby had finally been removed from the home on the fifth assault. Don had read the file when Colby had been accepted onto the team. He shuddered at the image of his younger agent that was in the file. The photograph was of Colby, horribly abused, and terribly broken, at the young, tender age of ten.
Colby's life didn't get much easier from there. His adopted family had loved him, or seemed too, anyway, but his father had committed suicide at Colby's age of fifteen, and his mother had thrown him out of the house when he'd signed up for the army at seventeen. Colby had spent the next year sleeping on the subway until he had gotten his official military acceptance and his diploma. Colby had once told Don that the military family and being on Don's team was the only family he ever had.
At first, Don had thought he was joking, but Colby wasn't joking – he'd actually listed Don's father, Alan, as his next-of-kin after a year of working with Don's team. Don had checked his file after Alan had been asked to sign consent for an emergency operation on Colby's shoulder. Prior to writing Alan down, Colby had nobody listed.
Don had to admit that he was impressed with Colby's life so far, and was impressed with his talents on the team. Even Colby's last year of high school, when Colby had been virtually homeless, he'd still managed to pull a perfect 4.0. It said something for Colby's academic skills. He liked his younger agent, and was concerned about his sudden, abrupt disappearance. Don pulled his car to a stop at the grave site, right next to Colby's blue car.
Colby's car was old, dusty, and dented, and looked ready to fall apart. Don often had wondered, although not out loud, why Colby hadn't bought a new one, but hadn't pressed the issue. As long as Colby got to work on time, the condition of Colby's car was not Don's concern. Don slipped through the bushes and followed the path from memory. "Colby?" he questioned.
The younger agent was huddled at the grave, wearing only a gray hooded sweatshirt and a pair of jeans despite the winter chill. Don sat down next to him. "Are you alright?"
Colby looked at him, and for a second, Don saw the emptiness in his eyes before Colby closed them. Colby exhaled slowly and removed something from his pocket, slowly, showing it to Don. Don took a closer look at the tattered item. "My father," Colby explained at Don's questioning glance. His voice was hollow, almost like he was trying to force himself to have emotion. "It's the only photograph I have of my father. When I signed up for the military, my mother kicked me out at seventeen, you know that. What I didn't tell you is that I only had five minutes to pack up or she'd call the cops. I was only able to grab one photograph. I tried going back, you know, later, but she'd gotten rid of them all. I know she burned a couple…" he let his voice trail off, staring at his father's tombstone.
Don wasn't sure what to say to his agent. "I'm sorry" sure as hell didn't seem to suffice. He settled on a minute of awkward silence before asking the next question. "What happened today?" he asked, wanting to change the subject without changing the topic.
"I went home. David had dropped me off, you know, because we carpooled in together today. I walked inside. The place was a wreck. Whoever broke into the apartment tore the picture and left it on the dining room table for me to see." Colby let his voice trail off and dug his boot into the dirt.
"Were any other pictures torn?" Don questioned, wondering if there was a reason that specific picture had been torn and if it could be a clue.
Colby shook his head and glanced out of the corner of his eye at his boss. "No, and that's what makes me think that I know who did this."
Don raised his eyebrow. He knew his agent had good sleuthing skills but he didn't know that they were that good. "I'm curious for your insight," he said. "It would help us break the case faster."
Colby just chuckled humorously. "It'll sound dumb, but – I think it was my adopted mom."
"Your… adopted mother?" Don asked. He had heard very little about her and knew only from reading Colby's profile that her name was Sabrina.
"Yeah. I called the other night – last night was the anniversary of Dad's death. I wanted to see how she was doing." Colby groaned and settled into the dirt a little bit more, as if he was trying to get comfortable. "It was a dumb, idiot, rookie mistake."
"What happened?" Don asked. It wasn't like Colby to blame himself.
"She started cursing, swearing up a storm, telling me I was a good-for-nothing bastard child. I finally hung up on her because she wouldn't let me get two words in edgewise," Colby explained. "She came over to my apartment the previous night when David was there and had the nerve to ask me if I was gay."
"I bet David loved that," Don replied dryly. David didn't take insults of any type well. The last time a criminal insulted him, the guy had lost a tooth.
"Oh, yeah. He asked me if she was a crazy ex-girlfriend, and when I told him she was my mother, he took her out to the hall and had a long talk. I don't know what happened, but she didn't come back." Colby shrugged at that. He'd remembered being happy that she was just gone. He'd felt bad that the movie he and David had wanted to watch was interrupted by his mother screaming.
"Did you have any luck searching for your birth family?" Don asked quietly. He knew that Colby had been trying to search for them some the previous year but had heard little after that. He'd let the subject drop, not wanting to bring up bad memories.
Colby paused as his eyes flashed dark again. "Yeah. My real dad died in the war… somewhere in Iraq. My Mom is still alive, but when I visited her, she told me she didn't remember even having a son and slammed the door in my face."
"You just don't have good luck with women," Don said before realizing how humorless that was. He winced at his heartless statement. Good move, Eppes, insult your agent. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. But Colby – look, you know we're your family, right?"
"Yeah," Colby said. He hugged his knees tighter. "I just… God, Don… I feel so attacked, so violated… So empty."
-break-
They'd found some fingerprints on Colby's door, but Don knew that they would take awhile to run and would probably be Colby's or David's fingerprints. Don decided to take a more brunt approach. Megan was baby-sitting Colby by taking him out for coffee, and David was helping Don on the case. Don had told Colby to go get some caffeine with Megan and to calm himself down.
At least, Don hoped that Megan could calm him down; sometimes nobody could calm Colby down. Currently, Don was trying to explain to the apartment complex manager why they wanted to see the security cameras without a warrant, so they didn't have to wait until the next morning to see the video security tapes.
"Listen, we aren't trying to cause you any trouble," Don responded, leaning on the desk calmly. "But an agent had someone break into his apartment, and we think we know who's responsible. We need to be able to access the video camera to see the feed, that's all."
The manager sighed in response to that, clearly not wanting to make the federal agents angry. "As long as you don't convict me if people are walking down the halls naked," he said finally before walking to the backroom to remove the tape.
Don looked at David, trying not to laugh at the manager's comment. "I'm not asking," he said humorously.
"What do you mean; we think we have a lead on who broke into the apartment?" David asked. "Colby wouldn't tell me anything – he just shoved at me and left."
"I have a pretty good idea from talking with him. You will, too, after we look at the tape." Don accepted the tape from the manager. "Thanks," he said. After only half an hour of fighting! He thought.
-break-
Charlie's house was closer than the FBI office, and his computer had the same technology as the office did, so they drove their first. Alan was concerned that Colby's apartment had been broken into and invited him to stay at their house for a few days, which Don was pretty sure Colby would accept, especially sense his apartment was closed off as a crime scene. Don nodded in response to his father's offer before picking up the disk and inserting it in the computer. Don had forwarded through about an hour of time before someone came in the hall. He frowned, looking at her, trying to remember what Colby's mother looked like.
"Wait, pause that," David said, and Don paused the recording obediently. "That's Colby's adopted mom. She came there the other night. She accused – never mind, you don't want to know what she said, but she was pretty angry at him when I saw her the previous night. I remember her getting pretty verbal with me…"
Flashback
"First you have the nerve to go and join the military, and then you have the nerve to be gay on top of that?" Sabrina yelled, shoving her son back against the apartment wall. She roughly grabbed his collar before he could back away. "Some great agent you are, sleeping with MEN!"
"Actually, if you can back off, Mrs. Granger, I'll calmly explain to you why I'm here," David said, his hand on his holster, ready to shoot if the situation warranted it.
"And a black man no less!" Sabrina roughly shoved Colby against the wall, and he stumbled. Colby flashed a pleading look, his eyes saying silently, "Get her out of here!"
"You don't have a right to be here, Mrs. Granger, and as an FBI agent, I have the right to arrest you," David said. He placed his hand calmly on Sabrina's arm. "Let's go outside the hallway and talk, shall we?" He noticed Colby breathe a visible sigh of relief as he escorted Sabrina out the door and wondered what exactly Colby's childhood had been like.
End flashback
"Did she get physical with him? Any violence?" Don questioned. He knew that she had come over to the house the previous night, but had not heard exactly what had transpired.
David nodded. "She shoved him against the wall and then grabbed at his collar."
Don shook his head and pressed play, stunned at the woman's nerve. "So we can nab her on assaulting a federal agent," Don said. Sure enough, the woman was seen with a screwdriver, picking the lock on Colby's door. Don had to shake his head at her stupidity. "We can bust her, now," he said grimly. "Breaking and entering."
David shot Don a look. "Lots of breaking," he muttered.
"How bad is the apartment?" Don asked. He hadn't had a chance to look at it himself; he'd been too busy keeping his promise to Colby to bust whoever had destroyed it.
"Pretty bad," David admitted. "We should probably all take a day and clean it. I don't think much is missing or ruined, but it's a walking train wreck."
"That sounds like a good idea. Let's see if we can track down this Sabrina woman. If she visited the house twice, she's probably close."
"Agreed. Thanks, Charlie, we'll send Colby down your way when he and Megan are done drinking coffee," David said, nodding towards the mathematician.
Charlie just nodded. "Let me know if you guys need anything," he said as he led them out the door.
-break-
Tracking down Colby's mother turned out to be a lot easier then David and Colby had originally thought. Don was actually a little concerned that she'd already flown back to Idaho, where she lived, and that this thing could drag across state lines, which would kill all his ability to get it done tonight. Through a series of luck, David and Don found out that she was staying in a hotel for a week nearby. David and Don put on their vests before going over to the hotel.
"I need to know the room that Sabrina Granger is staying in," Don said. His hand rested calmly on his gun. He hoped his lack of a warrant – again – would not be a lack of convincing the manager.
The manager crossed his arms, leaning back, a smirk on his face, clearly enjoying having the FBI agents in his power. "I can't give away that information without a warrant."
David glared at the man, crossing his arms and standing on his heels to make himself look taller. "Sir, with all due respect, an agent has had his apartment broken into and has been personally assaulted by this woman. If you don't tell us the room, I will personally see to it that you get arrested for interfering with an investigation."
The hotel manager grunted, but sighed and uncrossed his arms. "Room 157 A," he said, handing them the key.
"Nice call," Don whispered to David as he walked down the hall, "But I really don't think that you could have arrested him on that."
David just shrugged. "He didn't know that, though, did he?" he asked with a grin that quickly faded. He walked down the hall and was silently counting the room numbers when two children came out of the room 157 B. Don glanced up; they were right next to 157 A.
David glanced at Don as he saw a male come out, followed by Sabrina. "Mrs. Granger?" he asked, recognizing the woman from last night.
Sabrina stopped, dead in her tracks, her blond hair curling slightly. "Mr. Sinclair," she said stiffly. "I thought I said that when I discussed last night that I wanted nothing to do with my eldest son. I'm not responsible for him anymore – he's over the age of eighteen, thank God."
"Yeah, well, that was before you broke into his apartment, assaulted him, and trashed the place," David responded with a shrug.
"Listen, when you go to take off a doorknob and break into an apartment, you should really disable the security cameras," Don explained, not feeling one iota of sympathy for the woman. "Sabrina Granger, please turn around and place your hands behind your back. You are under arrest for the assault of a federal agent, breaking and entry, and any other charge I can pin on you. You have the right to remain silent…"
-break-
Colby sat at Charlie's house, his eyes focused on the table. Alan had dished him a generous helping of lasagna, but he just didn't feel like eating, instead mildly picking at his food. He was exhausted, and the long day showed no signs of ending. He was just grateful that Alan was going to let him crash at the Craftsman place so he didn't have to spring for a hotel. The door opened and Colby glanced up to see Don and David, FBI vests still on. Alan greeted them and pointed towards the kitchen.
"Hey," Don said, sitting down across from Colby at the antique table. "Did you enjoy your coffee with Megan?"
"It should've had fewer creamers," Colby said with a brief smile, the first he'd had since this whole mess had started. "I think the lady put in half the cow."
"Yeah, I hate it when waitresses do that – that's why I ask for my own cream," Don said, returning Colby's smile. "Listen, you were right – your mom was the one who broke into your apartment. We've got it all on tape. She's been arrested and placed in LAPD's holding facility. We'll work on getting your apartment and your place cleaned up tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Colby asked, quizzically, checking the calendar that Alan had hanging next to the sink to make sure he was right about the date. "But tomorrow is –,"
"Friday," Don explained. "And as far as I know, David, Megan, Charlie, and I all have about a month's worth of leave time. Wright already cleared us for the weekend. Oh, and you, too."
Colby shook his head in disbelief. "Just how often do you take vacations, anyway?" he asked.
"More often then you, apparently. Wright said you had a month and two weeks saved up. Oh, here." Don pulled out the item that he'd been holding behind his back.
Colby stared at the book. It was a photograph album. He paused, then accepted and opened it. The first photograph was a smiling shot of his father, and he breathed a sigh of relief; at least he could have one more picture. He wondered how Don had gotten it before deciding that he really didn't want to know about Don's methods The next pictures were of Alan Eppes, Don Eppes, and Charlie Eppes. The photographs that continued were of the rest of the team and various people who he'd enjoyed talking too. He looked at Don curiously, wondering how Don had gotten all the photos together in such short notice.
"I just wanted to remind you who your true family is," Don said as he nodded towards the book. "You'll always be family to us, Colby. And you're welcome to use Dad as next-of-kin anytime."
Alan was walking through the kitchen and had happened to hear the last statement. "Yes, but you had better not be giving me a reason to use you as next of kin again," he added, trying to shift the boxes in his hand to get a better look at the photographs that Don had provided Colby with. "Donny does that enough already."
Colby looked up with amused eyes towards his boss, and for the first time in several hours, Don noticed the smile on his agent's face. "Donny?" Colby said with a grin, not having heard Alan's pet nickname for Don before. He turned back towards Alan. "What other nicknames does he have? Come on, with a name like 'Donald,' you've got to have some, right?"
Don smiled and glanced at David, who was standing in the kitchen entryway. They were a family, once again.