Author's notes: Sorry for the delay, hopefully I can get another chapter done by mid-week. Thanks for the reviews and to those of you tagging this for alert or favorite story.

Numb3rs/CSI Numb3rs/CSI

Don hadn't known what to make of the scene, Colby was naked and bloody; seemingly unhurt. The young lady that according to David had been heating up the dance floor with Colby, was laying face down in a pool of blood. David had checked for a pulse and had found nothing. He had asked Charlie and the others to wait in the hall and watch for the police.

While waiting for the Las Vegas Police Department to respond, both Don and David tried to keep Colby calm. Don also tried asking Colby about what had happened.

"I swear I don't know Don. We came up to the room and that's where things started getting a little hazy. I remember talking with her about if we should have sex and then the next thing I know we were in bed." He looked at the body and drew in a ragged breath. "I remember thinking how mind blowing the sex was and I don't really remember a whole lot more." Colby sounded apologetic.

"It's ok Colby. Just keep trying." David looked at his friend and tried to look and feel as confident as he sounded. "It will come to you."

Swiping his hand across his eyes, Don tried to push his tiredness into the back of his mind. Because, by the looks of it, his going to bed was a long time coming. Colby had recovered enough to sit up. He had slipped on a pair of shorts, but Don and David had made sure that he did not try to wipe off the blood clinging to his bare body.

"Don, looks like they are here." Charlie called in.

Don wasn't surprised with the speed that the police arrived on the scene. Calling 911 and telling them there had been a death and that he was FBI certainly got the locals moving faster.

"Thanks Charlie. Guys," he replied looking at his two agents. "I'll go visit with the locals and remember, don't let them convince you to admit to anything Colby."

The younger agent nodded his head, he was still somewhat out of it. It was a strange sight for Don because even when they would drink he had never seen Colby this drunk. Colby was also having a hard time with seeing the body of the young Asian woman lying face down on the floor. They had not covered her up due to the concern of contaminating any evidence.

Stepping into the hall, Don saw several uniformed officers and an older man in a business suit approaching. "Detective," though Don.

"Are you the one that called 911?" The suit asked.

"Yes, I'm Agent Don Eppes." He pulled his ID from his wallet and presented it to the man.

"I'm Detective Brass." He made no attempt to soften his hardened features. After all, Brass had seen enough men with power or a badge that had for one reason or another crossed the line into illegal behavior. If this Fed thought he could whip out his badge and make this all go away he had another thing coming to him. "So where's the body and the suspect?" He handed Don back the plastic card.

"One of my other agents is inside with Agent Granger and the young woman's body."

"Were these others with you tonight?" Brass inquired.

"Yes."

"Alright," Brass turned to the uniforms. "I want one of you standing at this door, no one in or out unless they are on official business. You other two, start taking their statements." He indicated to the men in the hall. "I trust that you can use one of their rooms to do the talking. CSI should be here soon."

The uniforms moved to follow Brass's directives and the detective turned back to Don. "So why don't you tell me quickly what you know."

"We were coming back from breakfast."

"By we, do you mean the suspect as well?" Brass had his book out and was taking notes.

"Agent Granger," Don emphasized agent, his voice steely. "Was not with us. We were going to our rooms and it was noticed that the door to Granger's room was ajar. We had all been having a good time and thought it would be funny to surprise him, so we snuck in and hit the lights. We went in, turned on the lights and this is what we found."

"You say you were having a good time, can I assume that meant alcohol?"

"Yes, we had been drinking."

"Even Agent Granger?" Brass's tone was slightly sarcastic as he used the word agent.

"Yes, Colby was drinking too."

"How about anything else? Any drugs?"

"What!" Don was angered. "We are federal agents!"

"And they never do anything wrong." Brass bit back.

"Hey look, if you got a problem with who we work for, I'm sorry. A friend of mine is sitting in there with a dead woman, I want answers as much as you do." Don came right back at him.

"So answer the question."

"No, to the best of my knowledge, no one had done any drugs."

"So you went in, found Granger and the body. What did he say?" Brass continued to question.

"We had to awaken him, he appeared to have passed out. When we were able to rouse him, he had no idea what was going on." Don realized how harsh the truth sounded.

"What was his reaction to the body?"

"Confusion. Like I said, he didn't know what was going on." Don watched the detective write.

"Well, lets go see the body and your agent." Brass pushed the door open and walked into the room.

Scanning quickly he saw two men, one sitting on the bed, covered with blood and the other was sitting in a side chair. Both looked up. Brass tried to scan for reactions, the suspect looked upset. Remorse was common after killing someone, Brass thought. The other looked defiant, obviously has a chip on his shoulder.

"Colby Granger?" Brass stepped towards the bed. "I'm Detective Brass and I'm going to ask you a few questions about what happened tonight."

"Sure." Colby's voice cracked somewhat. He was having a hard time not staring at the body of Michelle. He was in shock, the woman he had been intimate with was now lying dead on the floor and he had no idea how it happened.

"Gentlemen," Brass turned towards David and Don. "I'm going to ask that you leave the room while I speak with Mr. Granger."

"Not going to happen." David replied first. "We aren't going to let him sit here and be treated like a criminal." He still felt the sting of guilt from his actions surrounding Colby's undercover work with the Chinese. He had felt like crap when it came out that Colby was actually working for the United States government trying to uncover a traditor.

"I've got a uniform standing right outside the door that would love to arrest a couple of feds for interfering with an official act, so take you choice." Brass was firm.

"Hey guys. Don't." Colby had raised his head and was addressing his friends. "Go, I'll be alright."

"He's got the right to legal representation if you are going to question him." Don was not about to abandon his friend.

"I'm not interrogating him, I just want some answers about what he remembers." Brass turned to Don.

"I'll make a deal. I'll stay and I won't say a word. However, if you start crossing the line, he's done."

"Fine." Brass's reply was clipped. He turned to Colby and began. "Tell me about this girl."

Brass's questions had started out routine, asking about the trip and what had happened earlier. Soon, the questions turned towards asking about Colby's personal life and what had happened in the room. As the questions progressed Colby's composure started wearing thin; he was tired and still feeling the effects of the alcohol he had consumed.

The sound of the door opening and voices from the hall alerted them to the arrival of the CSI's. The three men all turned towards the door and watched as Nick and Catherine entered the room.

"Catherine. Nick." Brass greeted them by name. "We've got a dead body and the guy who was with her to process. I'm going to go see if any of the uniforms have gotten anything." With that he left the room.

"Hi, I'm Catherine Willows from the crime lab and this is Nick Stokes. I'm going to need some photos." She looked at Colby, who weakly acknowledged her.

"I'm Special Agent Don Eppes, FBI and this is Agent Colby Granger." Don hurriedly introduced himself. "I don't think that Detective Brass took the time to introduce us." Don addressing the issue of the slight by Brass continued. "We are more than willing to cooperate fully."

"Good. Nick, do you want to start with the body?" Catherine turned towards her partner.

"Her name was Michelle." Colby spoke up, somewhat harshly. "Everyone keeps referring to her as the body."

"I'm sorry." Catherine's tone was sincere. "Would you mind if I took some pictures of you?"

"Whatever." Colby's tone was again mild.

Nick had opened his case and had started snapping photos of the women. Bending down, he placed evidence markers near smaller pools of blood and snapped a shot.

Catherine on the other hand had taken pictures of Colby while he was seated on the bed. Her face was a mask of concentration as she tried to document all of the bloodstains on his upper body. "Agent Granger. I'm going to need you to stand up so I can get some additional photos."

"Sure." Colby stood slowly and suddenly a wave of dizziness hit him. He faltered; Don and Catherine both stepping forward to help steady the man and lower him back to sitting on the bed.

"Colby are you feeling alright?" Don asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Real dizzy. I feel like sh," he paused, remembering that there was a women in the room. "I feel like crap."

"How much did you have to drink tonight Agent Granger?" Catherine inquired.

"I don't know, some beer and some shots that Michelle bought me. Not enough to make me feel like this though."

"What kind of shots?" Don asked.

"I'm not really sure. It didn't taste that great, a little salty maybe. She didn't mention it by name." Colby's brow furrowed as he thought.

Catherine sat her camera back in the case. "I think it might be a good idea if we got a blood test and see if we can see how much and what you drank."

Don looked at Catherine, "I'd like Colby to go to the hospital as soon as possible and get

checked out. They could do the blood test there."

"Let me check with Brass quick." Catherine turned.

"For what." Brass had returned and looked at the lead CSI.

"We need to get Agent Granger in and take some blood samples, plus have him checked over."

"Alright. I'll drive him in." Brass offered. "I have some additional questions to ask."

"I'll be going too then." Don looked at the detective sharply.

"Splendid." Brass's tone indicated that it was anything but.

"I need a few full body shots yet and take a few blood swabs, then you can go." Catherine interjected, hoping to defuse some of the tension.

With a little bit of help, Colby stood and quietly subjected himself to the pictures. A variety of emotions swirled about his head; humiliation, anger, confusion. When they were done, he sat down heavily again.

Catherine laid her camera back into the kit and grabbed some vials and began to take some scrapings of dried blood from Colby's arms and chest.

"My car is up front, so why don't we go right now." Brass was anxious to get going.

"Can I get dressed first?" Colby looked up at the detective.

"Sorry, but your clothing is part of a crime scene. Catherine, do you have a sheet in that kit?" Brass questioned.

"You're treating Colby like he's the killer." Don spoke angrily.

"Eppes, as far as I'm concerned he's the best suspect I have right now. She's killed in his room and he has her blood all over him. I might not be a federal agent, but the numbers all seem to add up. So you and your boy need to follow me to the car." Brass accepted the sheet from Catherine and waited for Colby to wrap himself in it.

As they exited the hotel and made their way to the car, one local news crew and several photographers swarmed them. Shouting questions and snapping pictures they pressed inward.

Don threw his arm around Colby and helped shield him. Not soon enough they were climbing into the car and Brass was pulling away.

Curling over, Colby cradled his head in his hands. Don glanced at his friend and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "One thing is for sure," thought Don. "Everything does seem to be adding up against him."