A/N Thank you Tecwyn for your continuous reviews for this series! And thank you all for reading!

Falling: To Fall Into a Trap

David signed the report and closed the file. Putting it on his growing stack of finished files with his right hand, he made a grab for the next file with his left hand, but he could just feel the smooth plastic of the inbox. Irritated, he looked but his tray was really empty.

"Face it, David," Colby drawled, "you're finished." He was leaning back in his chair with his feet put up on another chair.

Taking a deep breath, David slowly put down his pen and glanced to his partner who was rocking the chair. He sighed before he dropped his head. "So it seems."

Colby jumped up and pumped his fist. "Finally. So, now that you're done with your reports, what about the beer?"

"I'm tired." David rubbed across his face. Actually, he would have preferred to say exhausted or worn out but that would have aroused Colby's suspicions even more. Tired seemed to be his safest option. He twisted in chair to face his partner. "How about another time?" David told himself firmly that he didn't see any disappointment in the way Colby's shoulder sagged. "I'll just go home."

The last part of his eager anticipation ebbed away and Colby slouched down in his chair. "Fine. I'm not going to keep you from your beauty sleep. You probably need it with all the surveillance duty you have taken on."

David winced as he heard the bitter undertone in Colby's voice, but he let it go. "You're right," he agreed without looking up. It couldn't be helped, and he focused back on his computer to shut it down. "Maybe you can catch up with Liz. It isn't too long ago that they have left," he said keeping his attention on the screen in front of him.

"They have already left an hour ago," Colby stated and grabbed his stuff.

With a sigh, David climbed to his feet. He was tempted to remind Colby that he had given him the advice to go with them, but that would be just petty. "See you Monday."

"If the world hasn't ended by then." Colby remained sitting at his desk. His joke lacked the usual smile and quick wit as if he had to force himself to joke.

David snorted, grabbed his jacket and went to the elevator. Even the best joke wouldn't have been able to elicit a real laugh from him, his head was in a too dark place to laugh freely. He waved goodbye.

"David?" Colby rose.

"Yes?" With his left hand, he held open the elevator door.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" He put his hand on top of the office partition and stared at him with his special mix of eagerness and hope, just twinkled with a hesitant smile in preparation to be disappointed. "Just a short beer for the sake of old times."

David would love to take him up on the offer but it wasn't like the old times. He had signed the paper and lost. Now there was no turning back anymore. He shook his head before he forced himself to say the words. "No. I can't. Maybe next time." On one hand he wanted to tell him the truth, on the other hand he had no words for it. So he pulled his hand back and waited for the elevator door to close.

Looking sideways, he avoided Colby's scrutinizing look until the door had erected a barrier.

David muted his TV and glanced to the door just as its bell rang again. Without thinking, he threw the remote on the couch. Was it too much to ask to have a weekend alone to lick his wounds?

Again, the door bell rang without mercy. "David? I know you're there."

Despite the situation, David had to laugh. Colby was nothing if not determined.

"I also have a six-pack." The voice outside his door was quiet for a moment. He was probably listing before continued, "I'm not going away until you open the door."

Realizing that his laugh had given him away, David rose and went to the door. Without shoes, he slunk across the floor. His quiet movement gave him the opportunity to play dead, and David waited, hoping Colby would leave after all. In the silence, the sudden rap against his door was loud enough that David jerked.

Colby had resorted to knocking. "Come on, David, I know you're there."

Shaking his head about his own behavior, David peeked through the peephole before he opened the door. With his hand on the doorknob, David closed his eyes and forced is mind to focus. Opening the door, he adopted his best bored face to greet Colby. "Oh yeah? And how do you know?"

"Besides that you opened the door?" Colby smirked and held up the promised six-pack. "Your car is parked around the block, your mail box is full and you didn't answer your landline." He tilted his head to the left and took a tiny step forward in an unvoiced question to be allowed in.

David looked down fighting with himself before he opened the door wide and let his friend enter. "I could have been gone over the weekend."

"Sure," Colby agreed, "but after my careful investigation I came to the conclusion that you didn't leave the city."

Not in the mood to deal with any investigation just now, David snapped his fingers and Colby dutiful opened the six-pack and tossed him a bottle. He took a sip, enjoying the cool liquid running down his throat. Colby had to have just bought it. Offering him a seat with his hand, David shut off the TV and dropped down on the couch.

He tried to find something to talk about, but his mind was blank. Everything he could think of was the very thing he didn't want to talk about. Just as the silence threatened to become uncomfortable, David grasped at the only straw available. "You're investigating me?" He narrowed his eyes.

Colby shrugged. "If you don't talk to me?" Leaning back, he started to recount his work. "At first, I thought that your refusal to go for a drink with me was a result from the spy fallout but then I remember that I'm an FBI agent."

"You have interesting devices to aid your memory." David laughed out loud. Maybe Colby's visit wouldn't be so bad after all. He had already laughed.

Colby put up his feet on the couch table and continued. "Then I've asked around and learned that you didn't go out with anybody. Instead, you volunteered for literally every additional job in the office. If Don hadn't refused, you would have taken the surveillance shift that Megan and Liz ended up with, right?"

Condensation water appeared on the bottle and David swept across it. He kept his attention on the bottle and allowed the silence to reign over their conversation.

"And, so I'd thought if you don't come to the beer, the beer has to come to you," Colby continued as if he hadn't waited for him to say something.

But David kept silent and took another sip.

"I have time, that's the reason I brought a six-pack." Colby sipped his drink and made a show of relaxing on the sofa.

David shook his head and looked down. "You won't believe it."

"I have a pretty good imagination and I know a lot of things - even things that went from 'cool you're doing something brave' to 'you're betraying your friends'."

Wearily, David climbed to his feet. Lately, everything he did, required more energy than usual. He grabbed his very own file and paged through it. Then he threw it down in front of Colby. "I was stupid. I fell into a trap like an absolute beginner."

Colby sat up and reached for the file. With his hand hovering over the file, he stopped and looked up. "What happened?"

"Read it." If he would read it, it would be easier to stomach. David was still working on accepting the hard truth. He wasn't ready for talking about it.

"You're sure?" His friend stared at him and waited until he had nodded before he grabbed the file.

"It's the official LAPD report," David explained. He watched his partner, noting how his face went from curious to attentive. He could see the moment, Colby came to the conclusion of the report - how he had fallen into the trap.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Colby said and looked up. "Your money. It's all gone?"

David nodded. It still hurt far worse than any gun shot wound had ever smarted. And there was no pill to numb the pain. "I hadn't had saved up much but now the little is gone." He put his head into his hands and groaned. "I was so stupid to fall into a trap, to fall for a scammer."

Colby flung down the file. "David, this isn't your fault. You couldn't have known that -"

"Colby," David interrupted his friend and looked up until he had his attention, "I invested in a fraud."

"Yes, but a really believable fraud - this guy, Montgomery, right?" Colby opened the file again and verified the name. "Montgomery had everything - the right phone number, the correct email address, and he didn't even promise anything usual. Seriously, everybody could have fallen into a trap like this one."

Stubborn, David shook his head. "But not everybody fell into it." He started to pace. "Only me," he added and used his thumb to point to himself. "I was the only one."

"Just because you're planning your future doesn't make you -" Colby broke off and eyed David carefully. "You made your mind up and blame yourself, right?"

David didn't grace this question with an answer and Colby didn't seem to expect one. Instead, David clenched his teeth to keep useless words in.

Grabbing the next bottle, Colby tossed him another cool beer and took one for himself. "And now?"

"Now I'm broke," David muttered. He had a few days to get used to the thought and yet the words still hurt. But he was a fighter. Raising his head, he squared his shoulder. "But I have a job and I'll get back on my feet in a few months. It's just a little tight right now." He just had to get through this dry spell. Nothing he hadn't done before – except it had never been so much his fault.

Colby nodded. "So, it's not my company that you're refusing but spending money?" He appeared seldom relived at the thought as a big grin appeared on his face.

"What? You thought I'd refused to get a drink with you?"

Meeting his glare before he looked away, Colby shrugged. "The thought had crossed my mind. It's not like it used to be."

David let the statement go unchallenged. It was the truth. It wasn't the same but it also wasn't bad.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Colby leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees and trying to catch David's eyes. "We could have helped."

David shook his head, biting his lip. "Because I feel stupid for falling for a fraud? I'm an FBI agent for crying out loud!" He rubbed across his face, ignoring the churning feeling in his stomach and the rush of alcohol through his body. Calming down before he actually got upset was his newest acquired skill.

"Oh man," Colby said. He glanced to the file on the small table, scanning the pages again. "Seriously, don't go down that route. Even the LAPD thinks that you couldn't have seen this trap. Are you sure that you weren't specifically targeted?"

"Yes. I did my homework." David sat down and relaxed his tense shoulders. Talking about facts was a safer territory to navigate than questions about blame and responsibility. "I've found out that this Montgomery has already done a similar scam several times."

"Want to tell me what exactly happened?" Colby voiced his question with an understanding undertone usually reserved for an upset witness.

David pressed his lips together. He didn't want pity or condemnation, so he needed to tell the truth as hard as it was. "I've done some research for a pension plan, you know? I'm not getting younger and now is the perfect time to start. Providing for the future ..." he trailed off and dwelt on his thoughts. He had wanted to prepare for the future and now he was even worse off. "I can't tell you anymore how I found Montgomery, I guess it was an advertisement, but he seemed legitimate and professional. He promised small but steady increase and was never intrusive." David stared at his notebook resting on the shelf. He could still remember how he had scanned Montgomery's internet page and how he had exchanged emails with him.

"That's what the LAPD report says," Colby checked the words again. "And here, the guy not only advertised his service he even had falsified the email address to make it look like it came from a real bank." He looked up to David. "You didn't do anything wrong. Seriously, you -"

"Thanks for the beer," David interrupted him and rose to his feet. He couldn't look his friend into the eyes, too raw the pain how he lost everything just by the stroke of a pen. He had willing signed his savings to fraudster without even suspecting anything. David balled his fists, he had expected better from himself.

Taking it as the clue it was, Colby climbed to his feet. For a short moment he hesitated. Then, with a pat on his shoulder, he squeezed past him and left him alone.

"Don't ever say, I don't pay my debts," Agent Mallory said as he rounded the corner with his arms full of take-out food.

David looked up confused but Colby put his feet down and jumped up. "You're prompt." After accepting the containers, he shook Agent Mallory's hand.

"See you around," the agent said. With a scowl on his face, he pointed to David. "Remind me never to bet with him," he tilted his head to Colby, "again. And you're better watch your partner before he has an even bigger reputation."

Before David could answer, Colby had already taken the bags and was inspecting them. He looked up. "Reputation?" He smirked. "What reputation? And besides why should I stop? This is far cheaper than buying my own food!"

Mallory's laughter echoed across the floor but it was the delicious smell that drew Liz and Don nearer. "What we've got?" Don asked and eyed the bags before he checked his watch.

David couldn't tell whether it was just his habit or if he actually checked the time if it was already noon.

"Agent Mallory paid his debts and was nice enough to bring it even over."

Don screwed up his face. "I guess," he drawled. "I'll better do not ask, right?" He glanced to David who could only shrug his shoulders. Whatever Colby had done, he didn't have a clue. "So, are you sharing again or was it a one time offer the last the time?"

"I can't eat all of this alone." Colby grabbed the bags. "Please." The uppermost container threatened to topple over and Colby could grab it the last possible moment.

"Here, let me help you," Liz offered and efficiently relieved him of his price and carried it over to the break room. Don followed her carrying the other bags.

"Colby?" David leaned back in his chair. Playing with his pen, he waited until his partner looked to him. "Didn't you promise something?"

With a slightly guilty look, Colby crossed his arms and shrugged. "I did and I didn't break it. You just didn't want me to pay for you." He fought against the full-blown smirk on his face but David could see that it was an uphill battle. Colby had thought carefully about his actions. "You never said no to other agents springing for our take-out. You just didn't want me or the team inviting you." He clapped his hands together. "And don't worry, nobody is going to suspect anything."

David crossed his arms and scowled. "We're in an office full of federal agents. You don't think that it is going to be suspicious that you win all the bets?"

He shrugged. "I won't win all the bets." Holding up his hands, Colby refused to back down. "Don't worry I'll pay my debts."

"Still, it's-"

"Come on David," Colby clapped him on his shoulder. "Everybody knows that you're the sensible one; meaning that you won't bet and lose. Don is the boss who stays mostly out of inner office battles and Liz is so near," he held his index finger and thumb an inch apart, "from participating because she wants to eat something else."

"Are you coming or do we have to eat it alone?" Liz called out and waved them over. "Come on. Food's getting cold."

David cracked a small smile at Liz' happy expression while Colby waved back and signaled Liz that they were coming. But then it disappeared again as he thought about Colby's words. "The sensible one? Remind me again who fell into a trap?"

"David," Colby's smile dimmed, "we, the whole team is winning. We all benefit. You can't possible try to deny us this just because you're a little angry at yourself, can you?"

"You're right." He relaxed his arms again and tried to smile. "I'll get over it. So let's enjoy the offering brought by Agent Mallory," David said. With his hands on the desk, he pushed himself up. "Thanks man," he patted his friend on the back.

The relived smile on his partner's face was worth the white lie.

David got into Colby's car and closed the door behind him. It was late in the evening and Colby held out a file that David accepted. "Where are we going?"

"We need to interview a woman. She's back in town and this is our first chance to talk to her."

He paged through the file. "And what has she to do with the money laundering?" He looked to his partner. "Because I don't think a seventy-one old woman is the mastermind behind our money laundering scheme."

Colby snorted. "Why not? She would have time to come up with something like this. But you're right, this interview is for another case."

Out of the window David watched the landscape passing by until Colby stopped the car in front a small yellow house with an overgrown garden.

"Here we are," Colby said needlessly and shut down the engine.

Until recently, the garden had been well-kept. David could still see the old beds where flowers had been grown. He followed his partner to the door and let Colby do most of the talking as he was the one with the most information about this new case. Then he followed them into the house.

"Do you want some tea?" Mrs. Baker asked. The elderly woman wore her white hair in a typical granny perm. The whole house seemed cut out from a magazine. From the doll collection to the tasteful cupboards, David felt as if had entered a TV set. Even the cup in her hand, that was shaking slightly, was painted with a typical floral motive.

"No, thank you, ma'am," Colby said with a smile. "So, you cannot describe the man who rang at your door?"

She shook her head and folded her hands, resting them on her lap. "He seemed so sincere and nice."

Colby glanced to David, his face reflecting the pity they felt.

"And he had been so patient and attentive and have every necessary paperwork with him." She snorted. "What an old and foolish woman I am for falling for such a simple trick. My daughter is right, I cannot be left alone, I am too old to live alone."

David bristled at her self-recrimination.

But it was Colby who said something. "With all due respect, ma'am," he started, "to fall for a trick that was designed to entrap people, isn't a matter of intelligence. You are not the only one to fall into a trap like this - it also happened to a friend of mine."

Mrs. Baker smiled a little. "You are a lovely young gentleman, trying to console me. But please tell me this - your friend, was he as old as I?" She fingered her handkerchief. Leaning forward, her whole body was a testament for her longing to find absolution for the blame she felt.

David could relate to this feeling.

Colby's gaze darted to David and back to the old lady. "No ma'am, he is a young smart man. You see? Everybody can fall into such a trap."

She forced her lips to form a smile but David could see that she wasn't convinced that she hadn't fail herself.

"Ma'am, your daughter is wrong. These people," David began as he couldn't let this old lady continuing to blame herself. She was the victim in this scheme and shouldn't blame herself. "They're spending their whole time thinking about nothing besides trying to fool other people. They use all of their creativity, their smartness and cunning to betray other people. They use the same amount of care you used for your house and garden to scam people. To fall into a trap that was designed for such use and carefully hidden is not something you need to be ashamed off. You are the victim here. This wasn't one of the frauds where afterwards you can point out what should have clued you in. The man had the paperwork, the manner and the right answers for every good question." He leaned forward until he caught her eyes. "You are not at fault here. The blame rests on them and not on you."

She dabbed with her handkerchief at her eyes. "Thank you for your kind words. But my savings are gone and the detective had warned me that I won't see my money again." She reached out with her small hand and patted David's forearm. "But maybe you two can find these men and my money? Then maybe I won't feel so foolish anymore." Hope brightened her face and allowed her to smile.

Colby made a face knowing that apprehending these men was highly unlikely. "Ma'am, we'll try our best but the detective was right. Our best option right now is to prevent other frauds from occurring."

"Oh, you're right. It's so much more important to warn other people and prevent their loss," she said, made a dismissing motion with her hand and stood up. Her hopeful smile turned into a determined one. "I may not have any money left but I have enough life left to fight." Her eyes darted to David. "And now that I know I'm allowed to fight because there was injustice done to me, I will find a way to warn people." She nodded. "Yes, I will."

David lowered his gaze touched by the strength of this old woman.

They needed another half an hour to finally leave the house. Mrs. Baker had offered them anything she had in her kitchen until finally Colby had used his most serious voice to announce that they had to go now or their trail would go cold.

After Colby had closed his car door he put the key into the ignition but didn't start the engine.

"What are you waiting for?"

Drumming on the steering wheel, Colby glanced to David. "You said something really smart in there."

"That it isn't her fault because it was designed to fool people?"

Colby nodded. "Do you really believe that it wasn't her fault?"

"Of course I do. How is she supposed to detect a trap that had been in use for years and always refined until it is almost impossible to spot it in time?" David raised his voice. "It's not a matter of age. It's a matter of the smartness of the scammer."

Colby's lips twitched. Staring straight ahead, he seemed to fight off a smile.

"What's with that smile?" David asked and turned into his seat to face his partner.

"Oh nothing," Colby said and allowed the smirk to appear as he faced him, "it's just that if you really believe this, why are you so angry at yourself that you fell in a similar trap?"

David opened his mouth to tell him that this was something entirely different but Colby beat him to it and raised his finger. "There's no difference. The time and money spent for creating a trap is the difference between a trap people can avoid or fall into. It's not the man falling into who is at fault but the men creating these traps and scams."

Pushing himself into the backrest, David crossed his arms and clenched his teeth.

"I couldn't have said it better than you," Colby said. "So, what about starting to believe it for yourself?"

David worked his jaw. Finally, the pieces clicked: Colby's mysterious case, the lack of information and the strange hour almost as if wanted to write if off as after-hours. All of it, Colby had done to convince him to stop blaming himself. He started to laugh. First it was a small chuckle, but then he laughed out loud. "You're unbelievable, man, you're unbelievable." He glanced to his partner. "Is this even a real case?"

"Absolutely!" Colby raised his hands and put on his best innocent face.

"What would you have done if I hadn't shown empathy?"

"I know you, and I was pretty sure that any victim of a scam could use somebody to console and not judge them. Mrs. Baker would be better off either way."

Suddenly, David froze. "Please tell me that it's not -"

"It has nothing to do with your Montgomery," Colby interposed before David could finish his thought. "I wouldn't bring you near this Robert and compromise any case we could ever build against him."

"You know his name?"

A dangerous glint appeared in Colby's eyes. "I know everything about him that there's to know. One day he is going to make a mistake and I'll be there to catch him."

David looked down. "If my work pays off it may be sooner rather than later but I'm going to give my notes to the LAPD."

"No problem. They know me already. That," he pointed to the house, "was their case."

Before David could say anything else, Colby's cell started to ring. With fast and precise motion, he pulled it out of his pocket. After a quick glance at the caller id he paled and swallowed hard.

"What?"

"It's Don."

David blinked. "And?" he drawled. "He's our boss. It's normal that he is calling."

The cell continued to ring. Colby stared at the device in his hand as if it was a poisonous snake.

"You should take it or why ..." David trailed off thinking back through their conversation. He closed his eyes. "Please don't tell me that this isn't an official FBI case?"

Colby shifted in his seat. "Technically it is but -"

The ringing stopped and Colby's relaxed. But his retrieve was short-lived as David's cell started to ring. Without even glancing at the caller id he ignored his partner's shake of the head and flipped it open. "Sinclair."

"David? Is Colby with you?" Don asked without any greeting.

"We're on our way to the office," David said and made a motion with his hand for Colby to start driving.

"You have twenty minutes," Don ordered in a clipped tone and hard voice, "and tell Colby he better has a real good explanation for why a LAPD detective calls me to ask whether we have gotten any further with his case? A case I didn't even know we were working on!"

Out of the corner of his eyes, David saw Colby tensing up. "We have an explanation," he assured his boss and finished the call.

"We?" Colby asked. "And how angry do you think he is?"

"Yes, we. After we explained him everything, he'll calm down again." David looked out of the window. "Eventually," he added.

As they drove past the houses and people David perceived what Colby had wanted to do - there was nothing more effective than coming to a realization yourself. Not he was stupid but Montgomery was stunningly smart and used it for the bad. He wouldn't stand a chance against Charlie in math, and he hadn't stood a chance against that trap.

Looking at his partner, David finally was able to accept that he wasn't to blame for falling into a carefully hidden and clever trap. But he had friends willing to help him out of it again - whether the hole was called guilt, being broke or needing help to track down the mastermind behind it - the hands to pull him out were already held out. He just needed to take them.

David leaned back his head and closed his eyes. He was smiling, finally at peace.

END

A/N Thank you for reading. If you're interested, there's small epilogue in the next chapter.