Special thanks to ancientmaverick for beta reading. All remaining mistakes are my own.


CHAPTER FIVE

Colby kept his eyes closed and covered by his only working arm. His right arm tingled, but as long as he didn't move, it stayed quiet. And Colby wasn't planning to move. Ever. Again.

Currently they were still staying afloat. This had to be enough.

His lips hurt more than his shoulder, but he didn't have any moisture left to wet them.

Larry wasn't fairing any better. He had never spent so much time in the sun. His tongue was glued to the top of his mouth, and every breath vibrated in his head like a big drum and orchestra.

"Colby! Colby!"

The man in question shook his head. No, he wasn't going to answer again. If they wanted him to stay alive, they needed to let him rest and save energy.

He kept his face hidden even as a loud splash of water startled him. Maybe it was a shark. But he simply wasn't interested anymore.

Trying to remember if sharks were a possibility, Colby forgot what he had been thinking about.

Suddenly the dinghy swayed. Colby jerked. Sharks wouldn't jump in a boat, would they?

He felt water drops on his over-heated face, and somebody tugged at his arm.

"What?"

"He's alive," a loud voice screamed. Colby turned away. Everything was too loud and too hot.

"So is the other one," the same loud voice announced.

Maybe he should check if the shark was gone. He blinked his eyes open. Above him a big crab with a human face stared down at him. Colby shook his head. On second glance, he recognized the red as a life jacket. No crab, then.

The human crab smiled down.

Colby closed his eyes again. Coast Guard meant something good. Even if he couldn't remember just at that moment what it did mean. But at least it wasn't a shark.

"Larry?" He tried to form words around his swollen tongue.

"The professor is fine, Agent," the voice reassured him.

"Th's good."

After a lot of shaking and shoving, he was suddenly airborne and moving fast. Before his hand could grab a steady part, the moving stopped. His hand flailed around.

Suddenly, a hand caught his. "You're okay. We've got you. We've got you."

He knew that voice. As recognition sat in, he let his eyes close again. If David was around, it was safe to rest.


"Charlie, stay here." Don pulled his brother away from the reeling and turned him toward the wardroom where they could and should stay.

Before he could remind his brother again about his promises to stay out of the way, Don was interrupted by Megan and David. They had jumped up and run to the railing the moment the first basket came up.

"David, let the people work. They do actually know what they are doing."

He grabbed his agent and pulled him away from the paramedics tending to Colby.

Colby looked bad, but Don had long ago learned to judge a medical situation by the reaction of the person with medical training and not his own impression.

The paramedics were focused, but they didn't hurry. Colby would be fine. Anything else was unimaginable.

Forbidden memories surfaced from another boat and Colby and the real possibility of death hovering around. Don shared a knowing look with David. He wasn't the only one with this particular memory.

He raised his eyes to find Megan watching the little entourage going inside the medical bay, preparing to follow.

"Megan, come on. You've seen Larry for yourself. He is fine. They are fine. Come on."

The men of the Coast Guard secured their own dinghy and confiscated the dinghy containing Colby and Larry as evidence for the FBI. There would be a lot of paperwork in Don's near future.

Then the engines started again, and the ships returned to the bay without any order or word from Don.

Don didn't like to be sidelined. His team wasn't doing much better. They had all wandered off, but Don didn't need his investigative skills to find them. He just had to follow the annoyed faces and raised voices. These marked a path all the way to the medical bay.

"Remind me why I brought you all with me if you can't stay out of the way?"

Charlie looked up from the head of Larry's cot. "I needed to be here in case I had to refine my calculations."

David had pressed himself into the farthest corner. He had crossed his arms as he watched over his friends. "I know Colby the best. I'd know what he would do in case Charlie needed an answer."

Megan smirked. "Same for me with Larry."

Don laughed and threw up his hands. "Yeah, yeah. I am going to have to go apologize for all of you."

But he wouldn't mind. If the Captain of the Coast Guard boat had a problem with it, she wouldn't hesitate to tell him. But at the end of the day, they were all just relieved that they had found them alive and in time.

It was a miracle, only possible because everybody had done his or her very best, to retain hope, to find a lead, to do math, and to stay alive. Maybe some prayers were answered.

He looked around from one agent to his brother, to Larry, and back to his agents. Bradford was right. He had a fine team.


"Didn't I just pick you up from the hospital?" David asked as the hospital doors closed behind Colby.

Colby smirked and shook his head. "How could I have known that it would be so dangerous to know a professor of astrophysics?"

David laughed. Then he got serious. "So what's the verdict?"

"Drink water, rest, anti-inflammatories, and pain killers," Colby rattled off the list. By the way his muscles ached and every step hurt, he had every intention to do exactly as prescribed.

David's smile didn't change; instead, it grew.

"What?" Colby growled and stopped tugging at his sling.

"I have no doubt you'll be bored in no time." He rattled his keys. "But I don't think Don is going to let you help again."

Snorting, Colby rubbed his stubble. It would be a challenge to shave left-handed. But he didn't dispute David's assessment.

"How's Larry?" David asked.

Colby turned around and indicated his friend with the tip of his chin. "Ask him yourself."

Amita and Charlie trailed behind Larry. Together, they made their way to the parking lot. Colby and David caught up to them.

"How are you, Larry?" David asked after they had greeted each other.

"Confused. Is it true that my demise was wished by a collector of classic cars?"

Colby laughed. He had grilled David already the day before for all the details. He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't lived it.

"Yes. Richard Dumont wanted to have your car by any means necessary. But don't worry, he and his henchmen are going away for a long time. Robin is going to ensure this."

"I guess he would have respected my beauty; I am just worried about the effect the living conditions in a prison like a museum would have on the spirit of the car."

David raised his eyebrows. "I don't think your car would have to suffer in Mister Dumont's possession. His garage is spacious enough and he drove his cars a lot." He kept his tone serious despite the laughter on Amita's and Charlie's faces.

"I suppose that's good." Larry scratched the healing skin on his face where he had the worst sunburn.

The 1931 Model A stood out on CalSci, and it also stood out in the parking lot of the hospital.

Larry stopped as he saw his car.

A lot of stares found their way to it. Or perhaps to the woman standing respectfully beside it.

"Larry," Megan greeted with a smile and a quick speck on his check. "I brought you your car, so you can see yourself that she's fine."

"Oh my," Larry walked around the car while carefully inspecting it.

Colby shook his head. "I can't believe I almost died for a car. A car!"

"It's because you don't see the art in the function. This is not a car; it's driven elegance," Megan said with a serious face. David prudently stepped back.

"Still a car. What happened to a bus full of children? Or world peace? Or national security?"

Larry paused in front of the little group. Amita and Charlie hung back, reassured in the normal banter and healthy behavior of their friends. Everything would be fine.

Resting his hand friendly on Colby's healthy shoulder, Larry added his wisdom. "There is an old saying: to save a life is to save the world. It doesn't matter if it is a school child or an old man like me. It's the mind set that values life more than almost anything else. This is what saves the world and ensures its peace. If we would all do it more, we would go in a brighter future. Or was it the past we would change?" Larry tilted his head thinking.

Before Colby could cover up his embarrassment at the unexpected compliment, Larry helped him out with this too by starting to scratch his healing skin again.

"Don't," Megan advised and grabbed his hand holding it. "You're only making it worse. As somebody who would fall asleep in the sun, I know."

Suddenly Don came around the parked cars. "I thought my dad would throw a party in his garden and not the parking lot of the hospital."

"Alan is preparing a party?" Larry let his arm, on its way to scratching again, sinking. "This is unexpected."

Charlie patted his old friend on the back. "Larry, you better believe that there will be a party. And you're invited. So we would be happy if you could come."

Larry gave a half nod. It was as much as commitment as they could hope for.

"What are you doing here?" Charlie asked his brother to allow Larry his peace.

"How do you think Megan got to Larry's car and will now be able to go back to work? I don't know about you math guys, but the FBI has work to do." He gave all of his agents a long look. Even Colby was included. "So, how long till you're back?"

"Are you missing me already?"

"Nah, take your time. You deserve it. I just need to know how long I have to worry." Don said with a straight face.

Colby raised his eyebrow.

"Man," David explained, "you haven't picked up as many injuries on the job as you did on your first day of medical leave."

Now that the danger had passed and all the injuries would heal, they all could agree how unlikely and ludicrous the whole thing had been.

"Ha ha ha," Colby grouched as everybody else shared a smile.

"Of course, I could ask our resident math genius for a probability for this," Don started and looked at his brother. "But he would turn it around and calculate a probability for all of us."

Charlie tilted his head in thought. "It wouldn't be difficult to -"

Don held up his hand. "And I don't want to know these numbers."

Amita laughed as Charlie smirked. He would run the numbers. Just because.

"Megan, I thank you for your thoughtful gesture," Larry started and pointed at his car. "But now I have urgent matters to attend."

"What would be so urgent, Larry? Shouldn't you go - " Amita stopped. She wasn't sure where Larry was currently staying. She looked to Megan who just smiled. "... and ... and rest?" Amita stammered without finding the resolution to the implied question.

"This is the common advice, but I first truly do have important matters to attend," Larry said and turned to Colby. "Agent Granger, I hereby offer you my services to drive you home in a classic car that can evoke such a greed that we were almost killed for it."

For a moment, everybody expected a good comeback or joke and held their breaths. But then Colby just nodded. "Sounds good."

Together they watched silently, fascinated as Larry drove off with Colby as passenger.

"I'd never thought I'd see that," Amita stated.

"Stranger things have happened," Don mused and turned to his car to follow them. They wouldn't get far before they had to switch to more comfortable cars, but it was the thought that counted.

"Yeah, like what?" David asked, playing with his remote. He had planned to drive his friend home. This time he would stay there. He even had Don's permission.

"Charlie and I," Don answered, "If you'd have told me ten years ago that Charlie would consult with math on my cases, I'd have laughed you out of the building."

"And now you have your own thoughts about where math could be applied," Charlie finished. A small and proud smile tugged at his lips.

Don caught his eyes. "Like I said, stranger things have happened."

Then his face turned serious. "Come on. We've got work to do."

THE END


Thank you for reading and thanks to everybody who left a review!

Thanks to rittenden for the Fic-To-Order-Forum and to Mega07ghost for the request.

The prompts were:

Characters: Larry, Colby

Setting: Time (?) (If that's a possible word for setting)

Situation: Colby and Larry are kidnapped and the kidnappers leave them on a boat/a ship. Now this ship sinks and water fills the room and Colby's and Larry's time is running out. It's up to you if they get saved by the team. I just want a story where you can see that despite their differences they can be good friends.