Part 5 – Confessing

Don leaned back from his desk, stretched, and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't slept well last night and neither had Will. They had spoken little after leaving the house last night. After getting thrown out of the house last night by Colby. He was still trying to process the fact that he'd gotten thrown out of his own – no, the house wasn't his—yes, his own house. The house was as much his as Colby's, if not more …

Last night he and Will had just gone home, watched an old, familiar movie, and gone to bed. He'd caught Will looking at him oddly a few times, but he hadn't felt like talking and Will hadn't pushed.

This morning, Colby had been decidedly cool and Don had noticed Megan biting her lip several times. She was probably wondering what was going on. David had, of course, pretended nothing had changed, though Don had caught David looking at Colby with an expression that looked very much like 'I told you so.' David obviously deemed himself too smart to let his personal life interfere with work. Don had ignored David, been polite to Colby and avoided any one-on-one conversations with Megan while they went through the morning's casework. Now, it was lunchtime and he really needed to talk to Colby. He looked over to the large man, hunched over his computer, and sighed.

"Granger, you got a minute?"

Colby looked up but didn't say anything. It wasn't a question. Don gestured with his head towards the outside door. He walked that way and, after a moment, heard Colby following.

They got out to the walkway and Don leaned on the railing. Colby came out behind him and stood, his arms crossed and his feet planted. Don looked at him for a moment, wondering when his family life had gotten so tangled up in his work life. Then again, it wasn't hard to pinpoint – it was the day he'd brought Charlie into his very first case. He didn't regret that, or Charlie finding happiness with one of his agents, but it sure made things complicated. There was no way Don could let this fight with Colby last any longer and still have a team.

"It's not an excuse," Don said at last. "I messed up, but I want you to maybe understand why I did it, okay?"

Colby nodded, his face impassive.

"Do you know Neal Jackson?"

Colby frowned. "Agent Jackson? The guy who's always setting up office betting pools?"

"Yeah," Don said and looked out over the railing. "A couple of years ago, before you came here, Jackson's four-year-old son accidentally killed himself with Jackson's gun."

Colby hissed in surprise and horror. "So it was him."

Don raised his eyebrows and Colby said, "Megan came over last night after you … She mentioned something about an accidental killing of an agent's child."

Don grimaced and looked over the railing. The horror of that day returned easily. It had never been far from him since Nena had come to live with Colby. He said slowly, "Jackson had just come home from work and just set his gun down for a second. His kid, Jordon, had been given the big 'don't touch guns' speech many times, but he seemed to have seen his father's gun as a toy that had always been kept away from him. So, when he found it, he played with it and blew his head off."

"Shit," Colby said.

"Yeah, Jackson's never gotten over it. His wife left him and took the other kid and he doesn't see them anymore. Jackson used to be a great field agent, but now he won't carry a gun and never leaves his desk."

"Huh," Colby said faintly.

"When Will started talking about Nena getting a hold of a gun, all I could think of was Jordon's funeral, and his little coffin getting lowered into the ground." Don finally looked back at Colby, blinking against the stinging in his eyes. "I couldn't see that happen to Nena, couldn't live with that. We should have talked to you first, convinced you, but I know Jackson had done all the normal stuff and still his son died. If you had said 'no, don't teach her,' what would I have done?"

Colby grimaced and it was his turn to look away.

"You're a great dad," Don said softly, "And I'm sorry that we stepped on that. I've just … I've seen it."

Colby didn't answer and Don sighed. He doubted Colby would ever forgive him, but at least he'd laid himself open about it. He'd never talked to anyone about Jackson's child, not even his shrink.

Don leaned back over the railing, staring out at the city. After a moment, Colby leaned over the railing as well, and spoke without looking at Don. "Nena cried herself to sleep last night."

Don winced. "I'm sorry."

"Me, too," Colby said. "I try never to raise my voice to her, and I tend to be pretty hard on people who do, but here I was, yelling my head off at her uncles."

"You had serious provocation," Don said.

"No excuse," Colby said.

Don looked at him. "God, Granger, you're too hard on yourself. Everybody yells. Sometimes it needs to be done."

"Not hard enough on myself," Colby said darkly. "If everyone but me thought that Nena needed a gun lesson."

Don's eyes widened. "Everyone but—?"

"Charlie agrees with you," Colby grumbled. "'Though he hasn't said anything. He's as transparent as glass."

"He is," Don said with a faint smile. "What about Megan? And Dad?"

"Megan, I don't know, but probably. Your dad … Now your dad is a whole 'nother issue. I don't think he's ever gotten used to the idea of having guns in the house at all." Colby looked at Don. "In fact, I don't think he's ever gotten used to idea of you being in the FBI, let alone two more family members being Feds."

Don blinked. He'd thought he and his dad had worked that out a long time ago.

"But Don," Colby said, his voice hardening. "Nena's my little girl, my baby. She comes first. If you pull another stunt like this, I'm going to be forced to take her and leave LA, with or without Charlie."

Pressing his lips together, Don nodded.

Colby examined him for a long moment, then his shoulders relaxed minutely. "Okay. Your one Uncle's Pass. This time it worked out – Nena learned what you wanted from the lesson, though God knows it could have gone the other way, she could have become obsessed with guns. Still could."

"Hopefully she'll continue to respect them, though."

"Yeah," Colby said. "Though if she starts crying every time she sees me in my shoulder holster, I'm gonna be pissed."

"True."

Colby looked away from Don again as he said, "You have an Uncle's Pass, but Will doesn't. I don't trust him."

Don's chest tightened and he stared at the hard line of Colby's profile. "What?"

"Megan came over last night, Charlie called her. She really helped everybody calm down. She told us about Jackson, 'though not by name. Charlie remembered the case and how torn up you were about it."

"Okay," Don said. He hadn't realized that he'd shown a reaction, let alone enough of one for Charlie to notice. "But what does that have to do with Will?"

"Why do you think Will wanted to teach Nena to shoot?"

"Because he knew about stuff happening to kids. He said he knew a three-year-old that killed his brother with a gun."

"Megan thinks there's more to it."

Don's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, she does, does she?"

Colby looked uncomfortable. "She thinks that Will was unconsciously trying to create a fight between you and your family because he thinks, eventually, you're gonna leave him, and your closeness to your family threatens him."

Don stared at him, open-mouthed. Then his jaw slowly closed as he realized that that was exactly something Will would do. "Dammit," he snapped. "The stupid bastard."

"You think she's right?" Colby asked cautiously.

"Yeah," Don said, rubbing his forehead where a headache had suddenly appeared. "He's always doing stupid shit like this." He gave Colby an embarrassed look. "Though it usually involves sex."

"Sex?" Colby repeated faintly.

"Never mind," Don said. "But I haven't yet been able to convince the idiot I'm not going to leave him. He just doesn't get it." He smiled wryly. "You think you've got a partner with abandonment issues."

Colby snorted and rolled his eyes.

"God, what a mess," Don said tiredly. "I'm sorry, Colby. Sorry for it all."

"Do you see why I don't feel I can trust Will?" Colby asked quietly.

Don sighed. "Yeah, I do. But I'm gonna be on guard now. Someday, Will is gonna get it through his stubborn head that my family isn't a threat to him, none of my friends are a threat to him, no random person off the street is a threat to him. But messing around with my family is off limits." He slowly shook his head and muttered, "Stupid bastard."

They stood there for a moment in silence, then Colby said, "Both of you, come over to the house tonight. There's stuff that needs to be said."

Don nodded and Colby turned and walked back into the building. Don flipped open his cell phone and dialed Will.

"Hey," he said when Will answered. "Can you meet me for lunch?"