Disclaimer: Don't own nowt, including Numb3rs and the characters.

A/N: There is some more mild Colby whumping and it probably won't be the last!

Chapter Nineteen – Terrified

Colby pulled up outside the garage in which Melissa Murphy's father worked. He asked a mechanic to point him out and went to speak to him. The man was, to put it nicely, a loser. He clearly had no interest in his daughter and wanted nothing to do with her. He left Colby in no doubt that Melissa was better off without her father in her life. Leaving the garage before he did something that could lose him his job he pulled out his cell and called Don to let him know that Melissa's father was a dead end. He then got back into the car and drove to the restaurant where Jenny Knowles father worked. This time when he asked for him he was told that he was out sick and hadn't been in for a few days. Once again he called Don.

"Ian Gains isn't in work, I'm going to drop by his home."

"Alright Colb, call me when you're done." Don replied and hung up.

Don was back in the office with the rest of the team, they were discussing what they had found out from the respective families, it wasn't much, certainly nothing that indicated who may have taken the girls.

"There is no common theme really. The girls are a similar age being raised by their single mothers, other than that there are no similarities. They don't attend the same schools or live in the same neighbourhood. Isn't that usually part of the MO with these guys?" Asked Liz.

"That's true in some cases but not in every case. The fact that these girls are a similar age and have the same hair and eye colour could be all the offender needs to draw him to them." Replied Megan.

"I still think there has to be more to it than that." Said David.

"I agree. There was no abuse of the first girl, that is unusual when there is no ransom demand made, there is nothing normal about this abduction."

"Don, where do we go from here?"
"Well…" He never got to finish his sentence as Charlie came rushing out of the war room calling his name across the office.

"Don!"

"I'm here Chuck, what's got you so excited?"

"Come with me, I'll show you."

The whole team exchanged curious glances but followed the excited young mathematician anyway. They entered the war room and waited for Charlie to start.

"Colby plotted all the known points for both children and parents. There was no pattern and no algorithm was finding anything. Then it struck me, it's because there is too much information."

"Hang on a minute Charlie, you're always saying more information is better." David was puzzled.

"That's true, but this is an exception to that rule."

"What is it about this that makes it the exception, come on Chuck you have to be more specific."

"OK, there were anomalies within the data that Colby provided. The locations for Melissa Murphy's father were throwing off the data. When I removed those locations the pattern became apparent. I think I have found where the kidnapper is."

"Where?" Asked Liz urgently.

"There." Charlie pointed at the pin that Colby had stuck in the map for Ian Gains' home address. David didn't hang around to hear any more, he left the room to make a call, if Charlie said that's where the kidnapper was then he believed him, he'd been right too many times to disregard what he was saying, he had to warn Colby, if the man was holding Jenny there he would not appreciate an FBI Agent knocking on the door asking questions.

"You're sure? What makes you think it's there?" Asked Don.

"It's the only place that makes sense, it's the one address that falls outside the zone of where the girls lived and the places they were abducted from."

"They don't want to commit a crime near to their home, but he might be willing to take her back to his house because he feels safe there."

"That's right."

David hurried back into the room. "Don, I can't get hold of Colby, he's not answering his cell."

The Supervisor groaned. "Damn. Our very own trouble magnet has more than likely knocked on the door of a suspected kidnapper. Get your gear, we'd better get over there. Liz get hold of SWAT." Turning to Charlie. "Thanks bro."

----------------------------------------------------------------

Colby pulled up outside a single storey house. It was run down, paint peeling from round the windows. The whole neighbourhood looked like it had seen better days. He got out of the car and approached the door, he noticed a curtain twitch off to the right, so he knew that he was being watched. Knocking he waited for the door to be answered. The door was opened by a man in his late twenties, dark brown hair already going grey at the temples.

"Mr Gains?"

"Yes, can I help you?" Asked the man.

"I'm Agent Granger with the FBI." He showed Ian Gains his ID. "Can I speak to you for a moment please?" The man didn't open the door wider to allow him in, Colby would later wish he had paid more attention to this fact.

"Why?"

"It's about your daughter."

"I don't have a daughter."

"Yes, Mr Gains, you do, and we both know it. She has been abducted and I need to ask you some questions. We can do it here or at FBI headquarters."

Glancing over his shoulder Ian Gains opened the door further and allowed Colby to step across the threshold. He took a moment to glance round the house, like the outside it appeared tired and in desperate need of redecoration, following Ian through to the sitting area he noticed that the furniture had seen better days as well, but nonetheless he sat down when invited to do so.

"How can I help?"

"Jenny was taken from a shopping mall earlier today, a security guard was critically injured during the abduction. When was the last time you saw your daughter?"

"Agent Granger, I am sure you already know I walked out on Sammy when she was pregnant. I have never seen my daughter."

"Do you know where she lives or goes to school?"

"No." The man responded.

Colby thought Gains responded too quickly, there was something off, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "I went by your place of work, but they said you were out sick and had been for a few days."
"That's right, I've had a stomach bug, can't work with food if you're ill."

"I see. Do you live alone Mr Gains?" Colby asked when he heard a muffled sound coming from another room.

"Yeah, I have a couple of cats, I need to go and see what they're up to."

"Don't let me stop you, I still have a couple of questions to ask you, so I'll wait." His tone brooked no argument. He watched as Gains got up and left the room. Once sure the man was gone he stood up and started to have a nose round, he didn't really know what he was looking for, but when he spotted a doll behind one of the armchairs he was certain that Gains was lying to him. He walked into the hallway looking for the man who seemed to have vanished, he heard a noise coming from behind a door, it sounded like a child whimpering. Listening carefully he could hear Gains doing something in a room that he thought to be the kitchen, without another moments hesitation he opened the door quietly. Sitting on a bed in the corner of the room was Jenny Knowles, he glanced over his shoulder before heading into the room, placing his finger against his lips indicating to the terrified child that she should be quiet. Going to her side he enveloped her in a comforting embrace, trying to reassure her. "Hey sweetie, my name's Colby, I'm a police man. It's going to be OK." He whispered. Pulling the trembling child to her feet he kept her close as he walked to the door, he looked round to make sure the coast was clear and ushered her from the room towards the front door. Unfortunately Colby didn't see the man quietly approaching them as he was busy trying to unlock the front door, Jenny did and immediately stiffened. Colby sensing the change in her turned just as Gains went to take a swing at him with a piece of wood, he managed to deflect the blow, but not before it glanced off his forehead making him see stars and causing a cut above his eye, in trying to avoid the coming blow he was knocked off balance and fell to the floor. He hadn't had his gun out as he had been intent on not scaring Jenny Knowles any more than she was already and now before he could reach for it Gains grabbed the girl and pulled out a knife.

"You should have left when you had the chance Agent Granger. Now take your gun and slide it over to me please, and your cell."

Colby could see him waving the knife around, he didn't think the man was going to hurt Jenny, but he couldn't take the chance so he reluctantly took out his weapon and cell, which he then slid to the man.

Gains leaned forward and spoke to Jenny. "Pick them up honey, and hand them to Daddy." Too scared to do anything other than what she was told she bent down and picked them up, as she handed Gains the items Colby's cell started to ring.

"That will be my partner, he is going to wonder why I'm not answering."

"By the time they figure out where you are I'll be long gone."

Colby decided it would be prudent not to tell the man wielding a knife and clinging to a terrified 8 year old that the team knew exactly where he was, he needed to buy them some time, ensure that the man was still here when they figured out that they needed to come and get him out of yet another tight spot. He really needed to come up with a way to stop getting into tight spots in the first place, but he could worry about that later.

"Look Ian, I don't know why you've done what you have, but I am sure you don't want to hurt Jenny."

"Are you mad? Of course I don't want to hurt her. She's my daughter, I want to get to know her, she should know her Dad."

Colby glanced at the girl and tried to convey with his eyes that she was going to be alright and he was going to get her out of this, somehow. "I don't think this is the best way Ian. Kidnapping isn't exactly going to make a judge award you visitation rights."

"Kidnapping, how can spending time with my little girl be kidnapping?"
"I was thinking more about Melissa Murphy, the first girl you kidnapped, she wasn't your daughter. If you turn yourself in now then I can tell the ADA that you came in voluntarily, they'll cut you a deal." Colby had no idea if this was true, he was winging it, but he had to do something.

"Then I'll never see Jenny again. This way she is with me always. That first girl, Melissa that was a mistake. I thought she was my daughter, when I saw her mother on the TV I realised my error and dropped her off at the mall, where I knew she would be found. She looked so like Jenny."

"I thought you said you had never seen her?"

"Oh, I had seen her at both the malls. I didn't run out on them completely voluntarily, it was Sammy's parents, they told her I wasn't good enough for her, their constant nagging drove a wedge between us, we had a massive row and I walked away, I couldn't stand the constant fighting. That doesn't mean I haven't been watching for her all these years, waiting for my chance."

During this exchange Colby had started to move forward as unobtrusively as possible, he needed to get Jenny away from Gains, he was clearly unstable. The girl had grown silent, she no longer struggled against her father's hands. Colby could see a glint of determination suddenly appear in her eyes, before he had time to fully process this thought she stamped hard on Gains' foot, he let go of her, though not before cutting her arm with the knife he was holding. Colby had no choice but to react, he barrelled forward into the man whilst he was still surprised by Jenny's attack, he knocked him to the floor, grabbed the girl and pushed her ahead of him. Ideally he wanted to get her out of the house, but Gains had been between them and the outside. Pushing Jenny back in to the bedroom she had been held in he closed the door behind them and dragged the bed across the door, at the very least buying them some time.

Within seconds there was angry banging on the other side of the door. Looking at Jenny and seeing that her arm was bleeding he inspected the wound quickly, it wasn't deep but he needed to stop the steady flow of blood. He grabbed a sheet from the bed and tore a strip off it wrapping it round her arm as a makeshift bandage. No sooner had he done this than a blood curdling scream of rage emanated from the man standing on the other side of the door, it was enough to freeze Colby's blood.

He heard the distinctive sound of a gun being made ready to fire, grabbing Jenny he pushed her to the floor and covered her with his body. He sincerely hoped that the team were on their way, it wasn't going to take long for this maniac to get in the room and the windows were barred. As bullets hit and pierced the thin wood Colby tried to protect Jenny with his body without crushing her with his weight, he felt a hot searing pain as a bullet grazed his arm, he didn't dare lift his head to inspect the damage. After what seemed like hours but was actually only seconds the shooting stopped, Gains had run out of bullets, and the silence that followed was deafening. He could feel Jenny trembling beneath him, he whispered nonsense trying to soothe her, she looked at his arm which he could see was bleeding, the bullet had grazed his upper arm. He took a few moments to assure her he was OK.

Gains was now kicking at the door and he could see that it was going to give any moment, there was nowhere to go so he put Jenny in the far corner of the room and stood between her and the door, he was fully prepared to fight Gains in hand to hand combat. Both his FBI and Army training would stand him in good stead, but he was unarmed and Gains had a knife.

A last hard kick to the bedroom door splintered it into hundreds of pieces, Gains easily pushed the bed out of the way and entered the room, he glared menacingly at Colby. "Nobody is going to stand between me and my daughter." He lunged at the agent with the knife, which Colby neatly side stepped. The younger man was smaller than Colby, but he was quick and was fuelled by anger, his attack was ferocious.

Colby was working on instinct, both survival and protection. It was his duty to protect this little girl and he would do so to the best of his abilities until help arrived or either he or Gains were laying on the floor unable to fight any longer. Gains suddenly tried a new tactic, he started swiping the knife at Colby, causing him to jump back, in the small room it wasn't long before the FBI agent's back was literally up against the wall and he had nowhere to go. Out of shear self preservation and fear for the safety of Jenny he deflected the next swipe of the knife with his arm, ignoring the pain of the blade slicing his skin, he made a grab for the weapon. Gains' tried to pull away, but Colby had a strong grip around his wrist, both men fell to the ground, rolling round trying to get control of the knife.

Gains struck Colby in the face with his elbow causing his nose to bleed, but the determined agent refused to let go of the hold he had on the other man and retaliated with a pile driver punch to Gains' jaw.

There was no doubt in Colby's mind that this was going badly for him and he needed to do something to gain the upper hand. His chance came when the sound of sirens in the distance caused Gains to pause long enough for Colby to grab hold of the hand wielding the knife with both of his hands, he forced the man to drop it by bending his wrist back. Gains cried out in pain, which gave Colby a small moment of satisfaction, but not one to rest on his laurels he punched his tormentor in the face once more, this time rendering the man unconscious.

Breathing heavily Colby staggered to his feet, picked the knife up off the floor and threw it into the hallway out of reach if the man should regain consciousness. The sound of the sirens was getting nearer, much to his relief. He made his way over to Jenny who had been cowering in the corner, her hands covering her face. He squatted down in front of her and gently placed his hands over hers.

"Jenny, it's OK, he's not going to hurt you again sweetie."

She looked into the gentle green eyes of the man who had just rescued her, with tears rolling down her cheeks she threw her arms round his neck, buried her head in the crook of his shoulder and clung to him as if her life still depended on him. "Shhhh, it's alright, shall we get outta here?" He asked softly and felt her nod.

Despite his injuries he gathered the girl up in his arms and started to carry her out of the room, stepping over the prone body of the man that had held her captive, even if only for a short time.

As he stepped into the hallway there was a loud crash as a battering ram connected with the front door and shattered the lock. The little girl in his arms let out a cry, he gently rubbed her back reassuringly and stood still, not wanting to alarm any heavily armed agents.

If Colby had been inclined to humour at that moment he would have laughed at the way the first SWAT agent through the door stopped in his tracks at the sight of Colby, causing the rest of the entry team to crash into one another. Luckily the lead agent knew who Colby was.

"He's in there." He nodded towards the bedroom and strode passed the stunned men. Big burly Agent Granger gently cradling a little girl was a sight to behold and not one any of them would forget in a hurry. The SWAT team returned to their normal professional selves in a fraction of a second and went to secure Gains.

Hot on the heels of the entry team had been the rest of Colby's team. One look at him told Don that now was not the time to ask questions and he immediately radioed for an ambulance. The team quietly escorted the pair to one of the SUVs. David opened the door to allow Colby to lower Jenny in but she wouldn't let go of him so he sat himself down and put her on his lap, gently stroking her hair as she quietly sobbed.

When the ambulance arrived he carried her over and climbed in with her, his demeanour told the paramedics that they'd be better not to argue with the large man, he was clearly extremely protective of this child and she was obviously traumatised, but trusted him.

Don looked at Colby as he settled the little girl on his lap once more. "We'll see you at the hospital." He stated softly. Smiling gratefully his youngest agent simply nodded in thanks and the doors were closed behind him.

----------------------------------------------------------------

At the hospital Jenny had got extremely upset if Colby tried to leave her, so he had stayed with her whilst she was treated for the cut to her arm, once the wound had been stitched and bandaged the nurse turned to the FBI agent.

"Come with me and I'll take a look at you now."

As soon as he went to follow her Jenny started to sob. "Please don't go."

Turning back he put his arms around the weeping child. "Its OK, I'm not going anywhere." He looked at the nurse apologetically, she knew better than to argue with him, she had already tried to get him to leave the little girl when they had come in, she had even tried to treat him whilst he was watching over the child, but she was so terrified she wouldn't let go of him making it impossible to inspect his injuries as thoroughly as she needed to. Sighing she shook her head and left the room where she bumped into a man wearing an FBI jacket.

"Hi, I'm looking for Agent Granger and Jenny Knowles, I'm his Supervisor, Agent Eppes."

"Well, Agent Eppes, perhaps you will have better luck separating the pair of them than I have. Your agent needs to be examined but as yet we have been unable to do so as Jenny won't let go of his hand, let alone allow him out of her sight."

"Leave it with me, I'll see what I can do. Jenny's Mom is on her way." The nurse indicated the room behind her and watched as the Supervisor and another agent entered the room. Both men were astonished at the sight that met their eyes, Colby had sat up on the bed and pulled Jenny against him, she was curled up sleeping, the only sound was a soft whimper from her every now and then. Don and David knew that their friend had a softer side, but they had never seen him so protective.

"Hey Colb." Whispered Don.

"Boss. Where is Gains?"

"Megan and Liz have taken him in, you gave him a concussion but the doctors released him to our custody. He isn't going to get anywhere near Jenny again." Replied David. He looked closely at his partner, he was sporting the start of a pair of nice black eyes from where he was elbowed in the face, not to mention that blood streaked his left arm in two different places. "You need to get that looked at man."

"I'm not leaving her." He replied matter of factly.

"Her Mom will be here soon." Assured Don.

"When she arrives then, and only then, I will see someone. Don't worry they're just superficial."

"Bud, when did you become a doctor." David said sarcastically, he was worried and it made him snappy.

Keeping his voice calm and low so as not to disturb his small charge. "The paramedic had a quick look in the ambulance. I'm OK man, honestly."

David's shoulders sagged. "I'll go and see if I can find out when her Mom will get here."

Giving a quick glance at Colby Don followed him out into the hospital corridor, pulling the door quietly shut behind him, he rested his hand on David's shoulder. "Don't be too hard on him, at the moment his focus is Jenny. As soon as her Mom is here we'll make sure that he gets looked at, OK?"

"Yeah. It's just he's been through so much, and now this. When does it ever end?"

Don shrugged. "There is no doubt about it, wherever trouble is Colby isn't far away these days."

"Can you assign him to desk duty? I must have aged 10 years in the last 4 months! If I had any hair it would be completely gray!"

"Oh yeah, I can see Colby sitting at a desk, not. Dude, we're just gonna have to get some complete body armour for him."

"How about a riot shield for extra protection as well?"

"I'll see what I can do." Both men gave weary smiles, it had been a long day. At the sound of a commotion down the hall they turned to see Sammy Knowles hurrying towards them.

"Where's Jenny? Is she OK?"

"She's OK Ms Knowles, she has a cut to her arm but she will be fine. She is in with one of my agents."

"Thank God. I want to see her."

"Of course, come with us." They led her to the room and opened the door.

"Jenny." She cried out, taking no notice of the man her daughter was huddled against. Jenny startled awake at the sound of her Mother's voice.

"Mommy." She looked at Colby who smiled and slid off the bed to allow Sammy Knowles to take his place.

She pulled her daughter into her embrace, kissing her forehead gently, clearly relieved to have her daughter back safe.

Taking one more look at the scene before him Colby smiled and turned to join his colleagues out in the hallway.

"Right, let's get you taken care of." Don stated and led him down the corridor towards a waiting nurse. "He's all yours."

The nurse took Colby into another room and closed the door. Without a word the nurse assisted him to remove his jacket and shirt. "Sit on the bed please." He did as he was told without argument, now he wasn't worrying about Jenny his arm was starting to throb. The nurse gently cleaned both the wounds on his arm and the cut above his eye. "You were lucky, the bullet only grazed your arm, I won't need to use stitches, just strips to pull the wound together, same with the cut over your eye." She turned her attention to the knife wound. "Not so lucky with this, it's deeper and will need a few stitches, your clothes prevented the wound being any worse though." This said she left the room to return a few minutes later with the paraphernalia that she needed to treat his wounds. When she had finished stitching and bandaging his injuries the nurse helped him back into his ripped shirt, put his arm in a sling and then put his jacket over his shoulders. "Have you got some painkillers at home, you may find you need them?"

"Yup, still got some from my last trip here." The nurse merely raised her eyebrows in response to this statement and ushered her patient out to his waiting friends. "You'll need to take it easy for a few days…"
"I know, I don't want to pull the stitches. Thank you." Nodding the nurse went back to work. Colby turned to Don. "And yes, I know, you're taking me home." He said before his boss could say a word.

"Psychic now eh?"

"Nope, just been here a few too many times, I know the drill."

"Let's go." The three FBI agents walked out to Don's SUV and were silent on the drive to Colby's apartment. When he pulled up outside Don turned to him as he got out. "You did good Colby." Never good at taking compliments the younger man just nodded. "Take the rest of the week off, I'll see you Monday morning bright and early."

Since it was now Thursday he didn't feel inclined to argue. "Thanks. See you both Monday." He disappeared into his apartment building and the other men returned to headquarters to wrap up the case.