numb3rsflashfic | Boys Who Wear Glasses by Dira Sudis (Challenge #37

Title: Boys Who Wear Glasses
Author: Dira Sudis
Pairing: Don/Colby
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,192
Summary: It's time for some wild speculation.

Notes: Thanks to

iuliamentis for beta!

Boys Who Wear Glasses

"Where d'you think he's going?"

Colby was staring at a half-written case report, trying to figure out how to make and then I spent sixteen hours combing through irrelevant data while we waited for Charlie to figure it out sound like the brilliant investigative strategy it had eventually turned out to be. It took him a couple of minutes to realize David had said something. "Huh?"

David chuckled. "Just give up and say Charlie saved our butts, man. Don. I was just wondering where he was going. He took off like a man on a mission, but he didn't say anything about where he was going. He's been doing that lately."

Colby swiveled his chair to look at David. "He probably just wants to get the hell out of here before the AD shows up with another case. Can I call myself diligent in a report?"

"No, it sounds pathetic. Seriously, man, he's going somewhere, where do you think he's going?"

Colby shrugged, turning away to frown at his report again. "I don't know any more than you do, David."

David snorted. "I'm not asking you what you know, I'm asking you what you think. We've been doing paperwork for twelve hours straight, man, it's time for some wild speculation."

Colby grinned but shook his head. "Sorry, I'm busy being pathetic over here."

"Yeah, whatever, you do that."

Colby typed in peace for a couple of minutes, skipping ahead to the results and glossing quickly over the sixteen hours part. It wasn't like he'd get overtime for it anyway.

"I'll bet he's sneaking off to grab some sleep before his DJ gig at some warehouse rave." From the sound of his voice, David was leaning over his own desk. Colby could hear the faint scratch of his pen.

Colby stared at his own report, thinking it over. "I don't know, maybe he seems sleep-deprived lately, but I don’t think that's it. You ever been in the car when he zoned out and started singing along with the radio?"

There was a pained silence, and then David said, "Okay, yeah, scratch that."

Colby smiled, his typing speeding up as he described the arrest. Takedowns were easy to describe.

"Animal liberation crazy," David said out of nowhere. "He's coordinating a rescue raid on a lab full of kittens right now."

Colby got the mental image, crystal clear--Don in tactical gear and a black ski mask, arms full of squirming kittens--and he was laughing out loud even as he shook his head. "I'm pretty sure animal liberation crazies don't eat at In'n'Out."

"Those are cows, Granger. Kittens are a whole different thing."

Colby chuckled--in his mind's eye a kitten was clinging to the ski mask, perched on top of Don's head--but he didn't bother to reply, glancing at his notes as he covered the suspect's incriminating statements during arrest.

"All right, if you don't think it's kittens, what is it? What's Don rushing off for?"

Colby kept typing until he'd run out of notes and then gave up and turned to face David. His partner was smiling, waiting for Colby to give him a theory to shoot down.

Colby stared up at the fluorescent lights for a few seconds, pretending to think about it, then shook his head. "Don's a hero by day, man. He fights crime, he stops bullets, he hauls in the bad guys. I bet at night he's secretly Clark Kent."

David's smile widened, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter, and Colby ran with it.

"I bet you he goes home at night, puts on a sweater and a pair of glasses and does crossword puzzles. Maybe lately he's developed a tragic addiction to cryptoquips."

David laughed out loud at that, a single sharp, "Ha!"

Colby looked away, smiling, and gave up on finishing the report tonight. There wasn't much left, and he could do it in the morning. Don had already left, after all, and the official workday was long since over.

"No way, though," David said, even as Colby saved his work and shut down his computer. "Just because your idea of a good time is an exciting game of chess..."

"Oh, now it gets personal," Colby muttered. "That's it, I'm out of here."

David's laughter followed him all the way to the door.

***

Don was leaning against the outside wall of a bus shelter, a block and a half away from the office. He had his arms folded and his sunglasses on, staring at traffic or the slice of sunset visible between two buildings.

Colby stopped just out of arm's reach from him, but Don didn't look over. He might well be sleeping behind those shades; in the last couple of weeks they'd closed three cases back to back and spent all the time since trying to chase down all the paperwork involved. "You loitering, sir?"

Don turned his head and straightened up with a bright smile. He didn't seem tired at all, and looking at him Colby felt the long day drop off his shoulders.

"Nah," Don said as Colby took another step toward him, close enough to touch. Don's arms stayed folded. "I'm stalking an FBI agent."

Colby grinned and shoved his hands into his pockets. "That's a dangerous hobby, those guys know how to defend themselves."

"Yeah, and the women are even worse," Don muttered. He kicked Colby lightly, toe to toe, and then stepped around him onto the sidewalk. Colby fell into step with him, careful not to let their arms brush. "That what you were doing at the office? Defending yourself from all that scary paperwork?"

Colby ducked his head, smiling. "Sorry, I can't comment on an ongoing operation."

Don raised an eyebrow, halfway back to being Colby's boss.

Colby spread his hands, smiling. "I had an appointment to get to, and my partner wouldn’t shut up and let me work."

This time the raised eyebrow came with a smirk, and Don wasn't looking like Colby's boss at all. "That a fact?"

Colby smirked right back. "He was wondering where you hurried off to. He has this theory about your secret life rescuing kittens."

Don wrinkled his nose. "Kittens?"

"Yeah, I told him I didn't think it was your scene."

They walked in silence for a couple of seconds. Colby thought Don might not ask, but as they stood on a corner, traffic rushing by, he bumped his shoulder against Colby's. "What did you say my scene was?"

Colby kept his eyes on the crosswalk signal, but the red hand didn't budge. "I, uh. I said you're probably totally boring. I told him you wear glasses."

He dared a glance at Don's face, and couldn't tell whether the outraged look was real or a joke. He looked away again, telling himself the heat in his face was just the glare of the setting sun. "You did not!"

There was a thread of laughter audible in Don's voice, and Colby smiled as the signal changed to walk.

"Yeah," Colby said, holding his ground for a second so that Don stayed beside him while everyone else streamed by. "I just didn't tell him I think it's hot."