What follows is a follow-up to my David one-shot 'Careful'! So this probably won't make since if you haven't read careful, although this is more Colby-centric.
Unbetaed, and I own nothing, unfortunately.
We all make mistakes. I've probably made more than most, but when you're young, the whole world is your oyster, everything seems like a good idea. Even posing as someone posing as someone else.
I couldn't get the SUV to move fast enough, my foot slammed on the throttle, "Come on!" I shouted at the wheel. David had called in for back up ten minutes ago and I hadn't been able to get hold of him since. I needed to move faster. Every second could mean the end of a life. An ending I did not want to reach yet.
I was the kid who used to skip to the end of any comic or book I was reading, normally after that I would put it down, especially the books. But now… I couldn't bear it if he died on my watch. He's my partner, and my friend. The chalk to my cheese. I mean we have the 'good cop, bad cop' thing down to an art. David always was good at following rules, I never was.
I finally reached the warehouse where David had last called in. Desperate as I was to shout his name, to calm my ever-increasing heart rate, I instead followed procedure. Gun out. Entering carefully. Not giving away my position.
Up the stairs. Two at a time.
At the doorway. Finger on the trigger.
I could see the man, with his gun to David's head. Hardly a man, a boy. Reminding me too much of my younger self. A naïve adolescent Colby Granger, unsure of his future, or even his present.
"I'm sorry," said the boy "I… I can't…" I saw his finger tighten, and then I was running, shouting, "FBI… Drop the gun." My breaths were catching in my throat. David on the floor, bleeding. The boy raised his hands, the gun spiraling across the floor after falling from his shaking fingers. I ran to David, desperate. My hands covered the wound, stopping the blood from flowing out. His eyes opened and I released a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding. My shouting had startled the boy. His nervous hands had jerked downwards. The shot had fired, but only grazed my partner's leg. He was alive, and in that split second, that was all that mattered.
We all have to make mistakes; it's part of human nature. But mistakes change lives. Mistakes kill. Mistakes ruin families, friendships. Mistakes can destroy everything a person cares about.
But sometimes mistakes can just graze.
Here ends my second attempt at one-shot numb3rs fanfiction. I don't think this was as good as my first shot, but this was a spur of the moment thing. In fact I'm quite enjoying it. I may end up writing a few more of these.
Thank you for lending me a few minutes of your no-doubt hectic lives. It only takes one more to let me know what you thought. It means a lot to me when you press the button just below :P. Thank you in advance.
Turnipchick xx
