Hi everyone!!So this is my first story and I'm surprisingly nervous!

I should probably warn you about a couple of things..

First of all,the story contains character death!

The second is about my writing..Obviously it needs improvement,but for now I just want you to bare with me a little when it comes to grammar and vocabulary!You see,English is not my mother language and although I did my best,some things must have slipped..

Also the title "Life Will Go On" is actually a beautiful song by Chris Isaak!

And of course I don't own anything(I never quite understood why is this necessary).IF i owned Numb3rs we would already have season 7,8,9... ;)

Enjoy!!

"Come on , man!"

Special Agent Colby Granger could feel the adrenaline cursing through his body. It had been a very long week. They were working a serial killer case, like they've done many times in the past. The thing is this one, had hit a little too close to home for everyone. Someone was targeting Federal Agents. Three FBI Agents were already killed, along with a LAPD officer , who unfortunately had been in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

So, it's an understatement to say that everyone were more than eager to put the man responsible away for the rest of his natural life. Easier said than done! The criminal wasn't using a specific pattern to allow the FBI and Charlie Eppes to narrow down the disturbingly long list of suspects Don and his team had come up with. Until an hour ago. After many sleepless nights and a 15-minute explanation Colby couldn't even begin to understand, the Professor had given the team two suspects, two ex-FBI Agents. And now it was, at long last, time for action.

Driving toward the house of suspect number two, John Mercer, Colby was once more arguing with his partner, David Sinclair, about the time off they both had coming . The topic had already come up many times, without result. Colby was already planning a trip to Santa Monica, where he could spent his time surfing, and wanted his best friend to join him.

"The answer is still no!" David answered with his matter-of-fact tone.

"But why? Come on, please!" The ex-soldier sounded like a five year old, even to himself.

"Because I still remember what happened the last time! And just so we're clear I'll still remember it when you ask me an hour from now."

"That was so not my fault. I mean, we went camping, dude. It's something people do to relax!"

"Did I, at any point, seem relaxed to you?" asked David incredulously.

"How was I supposed to know that you're allergic in a hundred different things, most of which you find only in the forest? Anyway" ,he added when his partner opened his mouth to respond, "this time we're talking about the ocean, the beach and hundreds of girls..sorry, women, with bikinis. Do you happen to be allergic in any of the above?"

The senior agent didn't respond, causing Colby to smile. Victory is close, he thought.

"Dave, you and I both know that I'm gonna whine about it until you say yes. Which we also know that you eventually will. So why not save us both the time and agree already!"

You know he's right, a voice sounded in the back of David's head. Yes, he did know it, but stubborn as he was, he wasn't ready to admit defeat…yet.

"We'll talk about it later.", he said with the most convincing tone he could manage, "We're here."

Switching from relaxed friend mode to FBI agents in a matter of two seconds, Colby Granger and David Sinclair, excited the car a few meters away from the place where their suspect lived.

"Fantastic" David muttered feeling the rain that was starting to fall from the dark sky.

Turning around they saw Tim King and his unit approaching, looking prepared for an actual war.

"Ready, pretty boys?", the SWAT leader asked casually.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that", Granger said sending him an evil glare.

Drawing their guns, the two agents stalked toward the house, surrounded by five SWAT members. Was it a sunny day someone would have noticed a flash from the gun that was currently aiming at them. As it was though, the first sign of danger was the horrible sound the weapon made as the first fires where shot.

As in slow motion Colby saw the agent in front of him, Ryan, he remembered briefly, going down. His trained from war mind and hand managed to fire back three times as Tim King reached his stricken team member and started pulling him toward the safety of a car parked nearby. Searching frantically for his partner Colby saw him diving behind a wall. Overtaken by relief he took a step, trying to reach the place where David was hidden, when he felt a hot, excruciating pain coming from his left shoulder. Forcing his frozen body to move he managed to drop himself next to his partner.

David felt the warm body of the younger agent crouching beside him. It was only when he turned to ask what they were supposed to do now, that he saw his best friends eyes closed tightly. His own eyes moved from Colby's face to his body, where they immediately fell on his covered in blood shoulder.

"Col, you okay?" he asked, failing miserably to hide the panic that colored his voice.

"Sure, man, what about you?"

"Having the time of my life here" ,Sinclair rolled his eyes.

"So I guess the Whiz Kid was right…again."

"Yeah, he was, brother" agreed the senior agent, who was by now trying desperately to stop the bleeding, pushing hard with both hands.

Trapped into their own personal hell the two men failed to notice the sudden lack of sound and the figure coming in their direction with his gun raised.

Tim approached the only two agents not belonging to his team, thinking that if something had happened to them, Don Eppes would probably murder him.

Granger and Sinclair were half hidden behind a wall and seemed unaware of his presence. Only when he was close enough to see them clearly did he notice that what held their attention was a river of blood coming from Granger's shoulder. Cursing under his breath, he put his gun back into the holster and moved quickly to kneel beside them.

Colby more felt rather than saw someone next to him. Managing to open his eyes, he recognized King watching him with a worried expression, that however didn't match the comment that came out of his mouth.

"Bang up job, Granger"

"Thank you! What happened?"

"Ryan got hit in the vest, but he's going to be fine. The suspect was stupid enough to come out and we managed to disarm him, unfortunately not before I put a bullet in his thigh", he concluded with a smile.

"Yes, as you can see my heart, or in my case shoulder, bleeds for him"

"Did you search the house?" intervened David, whose covered in the blood of his partner hands, stripped him from any sign of humor.

"Not yet, but I called for an ambulance. Said they'll be here in five."

"David, we need to find the guns, match them with the bullets from the other victims. Go, I'll be fine." , Colby tried to sound convincing.

Tim, seeing that David was torn between finding the guns and staying with his partner, quickly added, "I'll stay with him, make sure he behaves. Go ahead, we need to nail this son of a bitch. It'll only take a few minutes. Take Danny with you."

David hesitated for a while, but finally agreed with the two men. They had to put an end!

Squeezing his best friends hand and locking their eyes, he smiled softly.

"I'll be right back, ok? Hold on, brother."

Receiving a nod and a weak smile in return, David Sinclair stood up and with a last glance at one of the most important people in his life, made his way to the house, at the same time signaling Danny to follow him.

The minute Tim saw David and his agent disappear behind the door, he turned his attention back to the injured man in front of him, who by now seemed considerably paler and was taking short, shallow breaths. He was about to offer some reassurance to the young agent, but what he saw made him forget, for a moment, how to form a word. Colby was staring at something behind him with an expression that King could only describe as horror.

Colby Granger was generally proud of his pain tolerance. His Army background in addition with his current job had managed to make him quite tough when it came to that. However, this guy was either unbelievably good or extremely lucky. The bullet had tore right through his muscle, making him feel like someone was trying to pull his arm out of the socket. Desperately in need for some distraction, he opened his eyes and concentrated on his surroundings.

The first thing, or rather person, he saw was Tim King, who had taken David's place in keeping him from bleeding out . A few meters away a man was laying face down, with two considerably larger agents pinning him to the ground. Through a thick fog of pain Colby's mind registered two facts that managed to divert his attention from the pressing matter of his blood leaving slowly but surely his body.

First, the man currently struggling with the SWAT guys couldn't be older that forty years old. Yet, the agent clearly remembered seeing the picture of their suspect back in headquarters. That man was much older, sixty or sixty five maybe, with gray hair and a physical constitution that certainly wouldn't allow him to struggle with two heavily armed men.

The second was that the guy in front of him, despite being clearly in pain, had a smile on his face that sent shivers down to Colby's spine. His mind raised red flags, screaming danger, as his senses quickened once more.

He saw him standing behind a tree across the street. He was wearing a hood, but there was no mistake that it was the man they were looking for, John Mercer. He was looking at the house, his house, Colby realized, with an expression that promised only one thing: death.

Without switching his gaze, Colby opened his mouth to warn King, when Mercer fished something from his pocket. It was a small black box that resembled a remote control. It was the reason Colby's heart suddenly stopped.

Every rational thought vanished from the agent's mind and forgetting about the pain, the blood, everything, Colby came to his feet. The sudden movement caught Mercer's eyes and his face twitched in a cruel smile before mouthing: Too late.

Tim King watched with wide eyes as Granger jumped from his sitting position and a few seconds later turned and started running toward the house.

"Grang.." ,he started, when he heard him scream.

"DAVID"

And then Mercer pushed the button.

Special Agent Don Eppes was beyond furious. He knew that it was childish and irrational, but he couldn't help it. His brother had given them two possible suspects and Don had teamed up with Liz and Nikki, talking the first one, leaving David and Colby to deal with the other. As it turned out, their suspect wasn't the man they were looking for and now Don was driving like crazy through the city, boiling over the fact that his friends were confronting a serial killer and he wasn't there to help. They are your responsibility, he kept repeating to himself.

They were a few minutes away from the second location, when a horrible sound caused him to hit the brakes viciously. Nikki dropped the phone she was , a moment ago, screaming at and along with Liz, threw her arms in front of her.

"Smooth, boss", she said when the car came to a stop.

But Don wasn't looking at her. He was staring at something in front of them. Following his gaze, both women saw the flames that were, despite the heavy rain, clearly visible.

There is no such thing as coincidence, Charlie always said. And yet the person who trusted him the most, was praying that he was wrong, that the explosion was nowhere near his agents. He couldn't even convince himself, let alone reassure the two women who had, by now, reached the same conclusion and were looking at the black smoke with fearful expressions. Restarting the engine reluctantly, Don tried in vain to brace himself, as he took the last turn.

The first thing the three agents saw, was the fire that had, by now, consume the entire building. And there, just a few meters away from the burning house, Colby Granger was staring blankly at the flames.

"Colby, we have to get back", Tim said with a broken voice. It was all a setup, he realized glancing back at the fire. From the very beginning, they were walking into a trap. And now it was too late. With a huge effort, he turned his attention back to the agent he was, at the moment, restraining. He didn't seem to realize what had just happened.

"We need to move", he repeated.

"No", came the reply and suddenly he felt a pressure as Colby tried to force his way passed him.

"Colby, he's gone", he tried desperately to reason with him.

"No", repeated the FBI agent stubbornly.

And suddenly they weren't alone. Don Eppes was standing right next to them, looking ten years older than usual.

"Col, are you okay? Oh God, you're hurt", he said noticing the blood for the first time, "We have to get you to a hospital. Where's David?"

"Eppes…", he heard Tim's voice, but didn't respond. Partly because he was too worried about Colby and partly because he didn't want to hear what was coming. Because deep down, he already knew.

"Colby, please", the SWAT leader said.

Special Agent Colby Granger wasn't aware of anything. He couldn't hear the two men talking to him or the sirens that were growing louder. The only thing he was aware of, was the heat coming from the flames. He could feel the warm sensation despite the cold rain.

"He's gone", he heard a voice somewhere in the distance.

"No", he uttered once more, although this time, he wasn't sure that something actually came out.

He waited, his eyes fixed on the flaming house, where he had seen his partner vanish in, just a few minutes ago.

You'll be right back, you promised, he thought angrily.

"He's gone", the voice insisted.

And that's when it hit him. David wasn't coming back, he would never see him again. His partner, his best friend, his brother was really gone. That was his last thought, before he mercifully submerged into darkness.

Yes,he really is dead!Sorry!

Thanks a lot for reading!!Please let me know what you think..

PS:That line Colby said "girls..sorry..women",I didn't come up with it!It's a Tony line in NCIS,but it made me laugh so hard,that I borrowed it!Plus,I think it suits Colby's style!!