Title: The Dare
Author: PirateLeia
Rating: T for language
Summary: A drunk Megan dares an equally drunk Colby to do something he's been wanting to do for a while. But will a terrorist and a misunderstanding ruin Colby's chances of a happily ever after? Slash, Colby/David.
Warnings: Language, slash, mentions of homophobia
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs. (duh)
Notes: 1 Hamilton reference and 1 Dear Evan Hansen reference (not a crossover)
Colby must have been drunk. He wouldn't have made the deal otherwise.
Right?
He would readily admit to himself that he was pretty okay with the bet, but he was pretty damn sure he wouldn't have made the promise if sober.
He remembered the night he'd agreed to the bet, 2 days ago. Saturday. Charlie's house. But it was Don's fault, not Charlie's.
Don had invited the guys- Colby, David, Megan, Liz, and, of course, Charlie- over to Charlie's house to watch the game and have a few beers. David couldn't come because he was visiting family upstate.
The aforementioned "few beers" turned into… well, more than a few. Megan came up with the idea to play truth or dare.
Of course, all present protested, deeming the game too childish. But eventually Megan wore them down, as was her way.
It started well enough, with Charlie blushing at Megan's relentless interrogation about Amita, Don admitting Liz was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and getting back at her by making her sing Let It Go, and Megan doing cartwheels (and almost breaking a lamp) because Charlie couldn't think of a good dare.
Eventually, Charlie passed out on the couch, and Don and Liz went onto the back deck to 'stargaze'. That left Megan and Colby sitting at the dining table, becoming more drunk by the minute.
"Truth or dare?" Megan asked.
Colby briefly considered choosing 'truth', but even when sober, Megan could ask questions so intrusive as to make even Colby squirm. There was no telling what she might ask when drunk.
"Dare."
She grinned at him slyly, and he felt a shiver run up his spine. Perhaps he had chosen the wrong option after all…
She set the beer bottle down with a loud thwack.
"I dare you to ask David out on a date."
Instantly, Colby felt his face redden. How does she know? He shoud have expected it. Of course she knows, Profilers know everything. That's what makes them so fucking annoying.
Colby forced a confident grin.
"Fine."
"What," she teased. "You afraid he'll say no?"
"Hey!" he protested in mock outrage, "He'd have to be a real dumbass to say no to this!" He flexed his arms, and she giggled drunkenly.
"Wanna bet?" Her eyes twinkled maliciously.
"Sure. How much?"
"The paperwork for the next terrorism case."
Colby considered. Terrorism cases always had a helluva lot of forms to fill out, legal shit, and Colby hated paperwork more than anything. But then he pictured David's smile. The way way he would grin at Colby, relieved, at the end of a chase. The glint in his eyes, the way he- oh, get ahold of yourself.
"Okay, fine."
And they shook on it.
Relieving the incidents surrounding the initiation of his predicament did no help in finding a solution.
Asking David out on a date should be just like any other time. flatter current object of affection with a compliment or maybe a pick-up line, offer to pick 'em up at 7 for dinner, then boom! He's got a date. But all the other times had been different.
All the other times had been girls.
Colby wasn't one of those gay men dating girls to seem straight. No frickin' way.
Colby had always been perfectly content with only looking at girls, only dating girls, only loving girls… until he met David. And then Colby didn't know anything anymore. And when he looked at David, what he felt was not just lust (although he did feel plenty of that), but something more. Something almost like... love.
At first, he hadn't believed it himself. Was he, Colby Granger, renowned lady's man (at least according to him), falling for a guy? Apparently so. And apparently Megan had noticed.
Colby sighed and inadvertently ran his hands through his hair, a gesture that he did when stressed.
And stressed, he was. So stressed, in fact, he didn't even notice Megan approaching his desk until her long fingers were impatiently tapping on a pile of papers.
Colby looked at her and hoped she'd been even more drunk than him, drunk enough to forget the entire bet.
But Colby's hopes were squashed when Megan wiggled her eyebrows and informed him, "Y'know, David just got back." She nodded in the direction of David's desk, where the man in question was shuffling through some papers.
God, he looks hot, Colby thought, then, get ahold of yourself.
Megan seemed aware of his inner turmoil, because she gave him a sympathetic glance.
"The longer you wait, the harder it'll be."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll ask him tomorrow."
Megan walked away, shaking her head.
Colby just sighed.
After a long day of filing paperwork from the kidnapping case of the week before, a very tired Colby was surprised to see David waiting for him by the elevator. Colby was struck by how attractive his partner looked with his jacket off and sleeves rolled up.
Colby quickly fell into step with David, and they walked down the hallway, making comfortable small talk. That is, until David asked, "Hey, so, Megan said you wanted to ask you something?"
Colby's heart felt like it was beating out of his chest. Damn it, Megan!
"Uh… yeah, um, I was gonna ask you, well, um, y'see, I- er…"
"Why are you blushing, man?" David smirked, but he looked confused.
"Well, I was sort of wondering if you might want to, er-well-"
"Spit it out, man."
"Would you maybe want to go out to dinner with me sometime?"
Now it was David's turn to blush. "Like a-a date?" He asked hopefully.
Colby nodded, unable to speak.
"But aren't you, um, straight?"
"I used to think so, too."
"Sure, man. Text you later?"
Colby nodded again, and waved.
With one last heart-melting smile, David hopped into his car. David drove off, and Colby stood there for the next 10 minutes, grinning like a madman.
An hour later, Colby was at his dining table eating an apple when his phone buzzed. From David? But no, it was from Megan. He sighed, but clicked on it anyway.
PsychicReeves: i saw u ask david out adorable lolIdahoAgent: youre too old to say "lol"PsychicReeves: oh please youre almost as old as meIdahoAgent: keep telling urself thatPsychicReeves: {eye roll emoji} {laughing emoji}
Colby debated telling her she was too old to use emojis, but decided to instead continue to wait impatiently for David to text.
His phone finally buzzed again, startling him to the point of almost falling out of his chair in excitement.
Goddamn, he told himself, you're acting like a teenage girl.
He clicked on the message.
Sinclair: heyIdahoAgent: soSinclair: i must admit i don't have much experience with this kind of stuffIdahoAgent: its okSiclair: so how about that new gay resturaunt downtown?IdahoAgent: sure. Wednesday @ 7?Siclair: c u thereIdahoAgent: bye
Colby couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face. He was actually doing this! He had a date with David!
He couldn't wait till Wednesday.
When Wednesday finally came, Colby spent the day fidgeting and being in a general state of impatience.
When the work day was finally over, Colby grabbed his stuff to head out. He responded to Don's ironic, "Why're you acting so weird? Is it because of some girl?" with a chuckle.
"Something like that."
When Colby got to his apartment, he checked the clock. 5:37. He started getting ready to go.
The hard part, he decided, was finding something fancy to wear that did not make it like like he was going to work. He finally decided on a navy suit and white shirt. was in the middle of a tie/no tie debate with himself, when he realized he needed to leave within the next few seconds or he'd be late. He grabbed a blue tie and headed out.
When he got to his car, he realized he'd forgotten his car keys.
"Shit!"
He ran back into his apartment and grabbed the keys from the counter.
He arrived at the restaurant just on time. When he stepped inside, he saw David waiting for him by a table, looking stunning in a grey suit and tie.
"Hey," David did shyly.
"Hi," Colby said back.
Colby sat down and they chatted comfortably (albeit a little nervously) while they ate.
That is, until Colby noticed a rhythmic beeping sound coming from beneath the table.
"Hey, do you hear that?"
"Hm?"
"That beeping. It sounds almost like…"
David looked underneath the tablecloth. When his head reappeared, his eyes were wide.
"A bomb," he confirmed.
Colby's instincts took over. "BOMB!!!!!" he shouted, and a few couples looked up from their dinners but otherwise seemed unbothered.
"BOMB!" he tried again. "Under the table!"
A few more people looked up, but returned to their dinners, muttering about "crazy people" and "trying to scare us".
Colby glanced down and was not surprised that David was already underneath the table, presumably trying to defuse the bomb.
Colby ducked under the tablecloth, barely taking time to notice how close their faces were.
"Need any help?"
"Nah, I got it. Just try to warn people."
Colby nodded. He stepped onto the booth, trying to make himself heard. He heard tinkling glass and felt something small and sharp on his head, but paid it no mind.
"Bomb!" He shouted. He dug in his jacket pocket for his badge. He found it and held it up. He heard a couple of gasps and the sounds of people scrambling away, but it was soon drowned out by the beeping becoming gradually louder.
"David," Colby said, trying to keep calm. "If it's not defused yet, just get away from there. You need to get as far away as you can so you don't get hurt."
All he got was a grunt in response.
All the other staff and couples were already outside. Colby was about to go down there and drag David out if he had to, when the beeping suddenly stopped.
David stepped out from underneath the table, bomb in hand.
"I got it," he said breathlessly.
Colby pulled him into a relieved embrace.
After about thirty seconds, David pulled away. "Careful with the bomb."
"Right."
Colby flipped his phone open and speed-dialed Don.
"Hey, Don."
"Sup?"
"Well, I was out with David, and-"
"Wait, wait. You were… out with David"
Colby sighed. "Yes."
"Hold on," Don said, and Colby could tell he was putting a hand over the phone's speaker. And then came a muffled shout.
"Hey, guys, Colby and David went out to dinner together!"
Colby groaned inwardly.
He then heard cheers, and a voice that sounded suspiciously like Megan's saying, "Hey, Liz, you owe me twenty bucks!"
"Don," Colby said, gritting his teeth. "Did you just-well-that was not relevant!"
"Not relevant? Are you kidding me? We've been waiting for you guys to get together for years!"
"Anyway, there was a bomb."
"What the-"
"Yes, Don, a bomb."
"Where?"
"That new gay resturaunt downtown. David defused it, though."
"I'm on my way."
"See you."
He hung up and surveyed the restaurant. There were a few overturned chairs and broken plates, but other than that, the damage was minimal.
By the time the large black van showed up, everybody had left, except for Colby, David, and a very disgruntled restaurant manager.
The van door opened, and Megan, Liz, and Don stepped out. Don immediately went to talk to the manager. Liz took in the broken chandelier, overturned table, and half-eaten plates of food. She smirked.
"Romantic."
Colby rolled his eyes at her and walked over to Meagan.
It was time to gloat.
"Well, this is your terrorism case. Have fun doing all the paperwork."
Megan shot him a dirty look, but she was obviously trying to hide a smirk. She did seem to enjoy playing matchmaker.
"What was that about?" David asked, nodding at Megan.
"Oh," Colby answered without thinking. "We had this bet, where Megan dared me to ask you out and-"
"Wait," David said, hurt. "You asked me out on a fucking dare? I thought…"
"Wait, David, no! It's not like that! I-"
But David was already walking away.
After a sleepless night of arguing with the restaurant manager, dusting for fingerprints, avoiding David, and pretending not to notice Megan's sympathetic glances, the only thing that was keeping Colby going was Starbucks coffee from Liz's coffee run.
Colby spent the next day researching backgrounds of suspected terrorists, and trying to work up the courage to talk to David.
Hands firmly in his hair, Colby one again looked up to see Megan staring down at him.
"Like I said last time, the longer you wait…"
"I know, I know… but I really messed up, Reeves."
"I know."
He shot her a look, and she raised her hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Well, It's true," she pressed on. "And what are you going to do about it?'
"Apologise?"
"Are you asking me or telling me, Granger?"
"Telling."
"Good. Then do it. David's a good guy. He'll forgive you if you just give him the chance."
"Last time he had to forgive me for something, it took months!"
"Well then, the sooner the better."
Colby merely grunted in acknowledgement.
When Colby checked his phone that night, his notifications told him that he had one message. David? But alas, no.
ProfessorMath: I analyised the data and I believe I may have found the man who atemppted to kill you.IdahoAgent: oh rllyProfessorMath: Yes. You guys have aparently been trying to catch him for a while. Homofobe named Michael Smith. Targets gay bars and resturaunts in the LA area. Uses this tipe of bomb.IdahoAgent: Am i supposed to head overProfessorMath: Ask Don.
As if on cue, Colby's phone rang.
"Granger here."
"Eppes."
"Is this about the terrorist? Should I head over to help you catch him?"
"Warner apprehended him a few minutes ago, actually. We got a full confession, started spouting bible BS."
"Oh."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired. You?"
"Same."
"See you."
"Bye."
Colby hung up.
Laying in bed that night, the last thing Colby thought of before drifting off to sleep was how upset David was, and how that needed to be changed.
The next day, Colby saw David eating lunch in his cubicle, and decided to try to apologise. But when David saw him coming, he ran off.
"David, wait!" Colby cried out, but David was already out the door.
By 5:10, everybody had left the office, eager to escape for the weekend. Everyone, that is, except for David and Colby. Even Don wasn't working late.
David was taking his time putting away his stuff, presumably waiting for Colby to leave.
And Colby was waiting for David.
Colby once again walked over to David's cubicle. David got up to leave, but Colby stopped him.
"Please man, just… hear me out."
David turned to face him.
"Fine."
Colby took a deep breath. "Listen, man. I mean, there was a bet, well, more like a deal. And I only went along with it because I really do like you, and I didn't mean to hurt you, and I shouldn't have made the bet. But I never would have asked you out if she hadn't dared me to, not because I don't like you, because I do, I really do, but because I was always too scared you'd say no. And I'm so sorry. I messed up, and I really hope you can forgive me, if you can't I understand, 'cause what I did was so stupid, and… And I love you. And I'm sorry, so sorry, and I really do love you more than anyone else, and I'm so sorry, and no matter what happens, even If you can't forgive me, even if you never want to see me again, I just want you to know that I love you."
Colby was afraid to look at him, but then David grabbed Colby by the shoulders.
"I forgive you," he whispered.
And he kissed him, and the whole world fell away.
If you found the references, comment them! Please RR!