Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters from said show.

Chapter Fifteen – Protect

Arriving at Charlie and Alan's house for dinner with the rest of the team, Colby was greeted by the two men as well as Larry and Amita. He was ushered into the sitting room and pushed down into a comfortable chair. Having established that Alan didn't need any assistance in the kitchen, everyone joined him and sat talking. Nobody mentioned Jasmine, the idea of this evening was to distract him from all that was going on around him.

He loved being at the Eppes family home, it was so warm and welcoming. Looking around the room at his friends and colleagues as they sat and talked about what had been happening in their lives, he felt truly content. Despite his aversion to being surrounded by people all the time at the safe house this was entirely different. No longer trapped inside the same walls he could relax.

Don was watching him, trying to decide if he had done the right thing earlier when he put a call in to the AD. He looked like a different person to the one sitting on the bench in the park just hours earlier, he hoped that the news that he had for him would help a little too.

"So, Colby, I have some news for you."

"Oh? Should I be worried?" asked Colby warily.

"No, I think it's everyone else at headquarters that should be worried."

The others had stopped their conversations to listen to what Don was saying, exchanging puzzled looks. He hadn't told anyone else what he was going to do, just in case he couldn't make it happen.

"What's going on, what do you mean?" asked Liz.

"Well with Colby back in the office, the other agents need to worry about being able to drink their coffee, as opposed to using a knife and fork to cut it."

"Yeah, not for at least another week though." Sighed Colby.

"That's where you're wrong." Teased Don.

"Will you just tell us what you're on about." Exclaimed Megan in exasperation.

"I spoke to the AD earlier, managed to persuade him to allow Colby to come back to the office. Desk duty only, mind you, until the FBI doctor clears you for field work…"

"What? Really? That's great! When?" Enthused Colby.

"Oh yeah, he definitely needs to get out more if he thinks sitting at a desk is great!" chuckled David.

"You can come back in tomorrow. There are conditions to this agreement though, and if you break any of them the AD will have both our asses."

"What are they?"

"As I said, no field work, you aren't to work more than 6 hours a day, if there is any sign of coming back to work early affecting your health you have to go home immediately, no arguments. I assured the AD that none of that would be an issue."

"I can live with those conditions. Thanks Don." Colby's grin spread from ear to ear, it was no small feat to get the AD to agree to allow him back in the office early and he appreciated his boss going to bat for him.

"That is good news Colby, now lets eat." Said Alan who had come into the room in time to hear what was being said.

The group gathered round the table, with a very happy Colby, and they all enjoyed the home cooked meal and the companionable chatter. The last few weeks hadn't just been stressful for Colby, everyone round the table had been on edge, worried about one of their own.

After the meal Colby offered to help Alan clear away, but he would have none of it, ushering the young man back into the sitting room to sit down. Not to be out done Megan and Amita then pushed him down into a chair and they went to do the clearing up, both felt it was the least they could do considering he had gone to so much trouble cooking for them.

The 2 women got on very well, they spent a fair bit of time together as the men they were in love with were such close friends. It had been a while since they had been able to get together and they found that this gave them the perfect opportunity to catch up.

"How are things with you Amita?"
"Good. Busy. Nothing new there though. Charlie keeps me on my toes too. Though he hasn't had much consulting work with the FBI recently."

"To be honest we haven't been working many cases because of this thing with Colby. We've all been focused on finding who's behind it."
"Yeah, Charlie desperately wanted to help after the knife incident, but Don wouldn't hear of it."
"Hmm, Colby made Don promise not to involve him. He was worried about possible repercussions."
"I can understand that, but Charlie would have helped any way."
"I know, which is why Colby extracted the promise before agreeing to go into protective custody."

"Figures. He is one stubborn guy."
"Quite possibly wouldn't still be with us if he wasn't." Both women remained quiet as that sobering thought sunk in.

"Megan, can I ask you something, just between us?"

"Of course."

"Do you think Jasmine is behind this? I mean she seemed so lovely, perfect for Colby…." She trailed off.

"I'm not sure. I agree, she was lovely, but from what David told me, she could also be a bit possessive, even though they weren't actually dating."

"So you think this Rutherford is telling the truth, that she set him up, somehow manipulated him into kidnapping Colby?"

"I don't trust the man one bit, it's hard to know who to believe really." Sighed Megan. The conversation was interrupted by her cell phone ringing.

"Reeves…. Hi. OK. I understand. Really? Can you e-mail me a copy? I really appreciate it, thank you." She hung up and glanced in Amita's direction. The younger woman had stopped what she was doing and looked at Megan with concern.

"Is everything OK?"

"I need to speak to Don without drawing attention to it. Can you try and get him to come in here, I don't want Colby to hear what I have to say just yet, until we can decide the best way to tell him."

"Yes, of course." Amita was curious but understood that Megan wanted to discuss the call with her boss. She left the kitchen and saw Don was talking to Charlie. "Don, can you pop into the kitchen for a minute?" Both men glanced at her and she shook her head, immediately both understood that whatever was happening it wasn't for everyone's ears at that moment. Looking in Colby's direction and seeing that he was occupied by a conversation with David, Alan and Larry, the 3 of them headed back into the kitchen. Charlie ensured that the door closed behind them.

"What's up Megan?"

"I just had a call from my contact in the UK. She told me that Jasmine has quite a list of nuisance complaints and criminal damage complaints against her. No charges were ever filed, though she was given a warning. Rutherford was telling the truth about that."

"Damn. Makes me wonder what else he was telling the truth about."

"I know. I guess it's possible that moving to the US was a fresh start for her and she has changed. Perhaps her interest in Colby was genuine."

"Maybe, but it raises a considerable amount of doubt. What are we going to tell Colby?"

"I think you should tell him the truth. If he finds out later that you didn't then he is going to be angry, and rightfully so." Charlie replied.

"He's right Don."

"But we just got him to relax and now we have to destroy that again."

"Now is a good time to bring it up with him, he's surrounded by people that care about him, we can support him through this." Megan assured Don.

"Alright, lets get it over and done with." Sighing he led the group out to the sitting room.

Colby looked up to see the group approaching. He narrowed his eyes, every instinct telling him that they were about to give him bad news. David noting the change in his demeanour followed his gaze and tensed slightly. Don gave him a look that spoke volumes and he moved himself so he was sitting closer to his best friend.

"Don? What's going on?"

He sat on the coffee table in front of Colby and took a deep breath and told him what Megan's contact had said about Jasmine. When he finished there was a long pause whilst everyone took the information in, they then all turned to Colby. He stared at the floor.

"How could I have been so blind?" he asked to nobody in particular.

"Hey man, you weren't blind. She fooled us all." David tried to reassure him.

"You couldn't have known, she could very well be completely innocent in all this. After all we have no proof that she has done anything wrong." Don tried to be practical.

"I know this is hard on you, but don't beat yourself up Colby. What you're feeling is perfectly natural. She came across as a young woman who needed help, you were there for her, you weren't wrong for that." Megan was hoping that he was listening to them.

"Thanks guys, don't worry, I'm not going to fall apart at the idea that she wasn't what I thought. Just, well, I dunno what to think right now. I hope she wasn't part of all this and she really had changed but I also know that may not be the case. What I really want is to know either way."

"Son, we are all here for you if you want to talk about this." Alan leant forward and looked straight into the young agents eyes, forcing him to make eye contact. Colby could see the sincerity in those eyes and was truly grateful at that moment for the elder man's presence.

"I know, but I think I just need time to get my head round this latest bit of news. Would it be alright if I headed back to the house?"

"Yeah, course. I'll drive you." Responded David picking up his keys.

"Thanks for tonight, I really appreciate it, the time away was just what I needed."

"Anytime son." Replied Alan.

Colby said his goodbyes to the rest of the group then he and David headed out.

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"Do you think he's gonna be OK?" Charlie asked, concerned.

"He's got a lot of support, I think he'll be just fine." Alan assured his youngest.

"I wish we could figure out what was going on, but we keep hitting dead ends." Sighed Megan. "I'm worried that this, whatever this is, isn't over."

"We'll protect him, no matter what." Don stated firmly.

"At least with him going back to work you'll be able to keep a close eye on him. I would have thought he'll be safe at the office, and you will be able to start dealing with other cases again, take his mind off things."

"You're right there Chuck. Will be good for all of us to think about something else for a while. Though we can't let this drop either."

"No, but I think it's time we tried to focus elsewhere, for Colby's sanity as much as anything else. After over 3 months of drama we are no further forward, that isn't helping him."

"Well we can stand here and debate this all night, but we've got work in the morning. We'll just need to see how things go." With that the group went their separate ways.

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The following morning David drove Colby to the office. They entered the bull pen and he was greeted by fellow agents welcoming him back. He reached his desk and lowered himself into his chair happy to be there. A few minutes later Don, Megan and Liz arrived.

"Right, Colby, you need to come with me to see the AD, the rest of you head to the war room and pick up where you left off with the files on that spate of recent robberies." He and Colby then walked to the AD's office, the door was open and when he saw them standing there the AD waved them in and gestured to the pair to come in and sit down as he finished a phone call. He turned to Colby and smiled. "Welcome back Agent Granger."
"Thank you Sir."

"I take it Agent Eppes has advised you of the conditions for your return?"
"Yes Sir."

"Good. As long as you stick to them I have absolutely no issue with you being on desk duty. If I see even the slightest deviation from those conditions I will not hesitate to remove you from active duty until further notice."
"I understand Sir, I appreciate the chance to come back early and will not let you or Agent Eppes down."

"Good, now get to work. I need to speak to Agent Eppes." The AD softened his words with a smile. Colby nodded and pulled the door closed behind him then went to join his colleagues. When he reached the war room he saw that Charlie had joined the team.

"Hey Charlie."
"Colby! Good to see you back here."

"Thanks. What are you working on?"

"There have been a series of robberies at convenience stores around LA. The two perps enter the store late at night, wearing masks, and then hold the clerks at gun point, the last three robberies they have turned violent and seriously injured the store clerk." Liz filled him in.

"Don't tell me, Charlie, you're trying to see if there is a pattern."

"Of course." He smiled. "As I've said before even when we are trying to do things in a random way patterns form unintentionally."

"How many robberies have there been so far?"

"Six." Replied Megan, smiling at how easily Colby slipped back into his role with the team.

"Is there any video footage?"

"Yup, there was a camera at each store." It was David's turn to reply. "But we've not had a chance to view any of it."

"How about I go and start on that?" He volunteered.

Don had been watching through the glass doors, he was glad to see his team back together with the addition of Liz. This is how it should be and he believed that Colby would be an asset working from the safety of his desk whilst the rest of them followed any leads. He entered the room. "That's a great idea. You go and set that up, David, Liz can you go and interview the latest victim. Megan and I will go and see the store manager. We'll meet back here in a couple of hours." The team split up to go their separate ways.

As Colby watched them go he felt a pang of jealousy that he wasn't joining them, especially when he saw David and Liz leaving together. The feeling was a fleeting one however as he realised and accepted his current limitations, but damn it was good to be back and doing something constructive again. He headed to the room with the video equipment that a tech had set up and began trawling through the hours of footage, for once he didn't care that it was going to be a long task, he was just glad to be back.

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A/N: There may be a delay in posting the next chapter as I may not have access to the net until Thursday! I will post the next as soon as I can, I do try to update every few days! Thanks for the reviews, story alerts and general support with my first ever fan fic.