Title: "No matter what"
Series: The Connections Series, part 23/23 (last chapter of this series)
Characters: Charlie/Colby, David, Don, Alan
Rating: M
Spoilers: None.
Summary: A new journey is about to start for the boys.

Feedback: Yes, please…

Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it, but I do own the original ideas and my OCs.
Beta:Thanks to my amazing beta.

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The Connections Series

Part 23: "No matter what"

When Colby arrived at Amita's apartment, no one answered. Luckily, an old lady let him know that she had talked to David earlier and that he had gone to the airport looking for Amita.

It was hard to find David in the middle of the crowd that was waiting for the flight. But still, Colby was able to get to him.

David was looking through one of the giant windows. His eyes were fixed in a plane that was getting smaller at every second.

"David."

It took Colby's friend a few seconds to come back to reality. However, he didn't look at his partner. He stared at his shoes, with his arms hanging on each side of his slumped body.

"Hey man, are you ok?" Colby asked, putting a hand on David's shoulder. But David jumped and stepped aside very quickly. "David, you're shaking. What happened?"

Colby was definitely worried now. His friend had never looked so fragile, so nervous, so apathetic. "Where's Amita?"

"She left."

At least David was talking. "She left? She's been through a traumatic experience, she was supposed to get some help from Megan, or a therapist, or something!"

"I think that'd be useless," David muttered.

"What did you just say?" Colby had to ask.

The other man lifted his gaze and shaking his head, whispered a little, "Nothing, I said nothing." David took a deep breath and ran his hands over the back of his head. "I'm just worried about her, that's all. Why are you here?"

"Megan was looking for you and Amita, she wanted to talk about a program for her to recover from everything that's happened lately. You weren't answering your phone."

"Oh… I may have not noticed her calls…" David didn't pull out his cell phone to check if he had any missing calls. It was like he was talking just for talk, and it seemed that he wasn't going to tell Colby what had happened inside Amita's apartment? "Let's go see Megan," he suggested, and he mixed into the crowd, leaving Colby speechless until he decided to follow him.

They both had their cars outside the airport. David was about to get into his, when Colby leaned in the open window.

Colby asked, "Why did you let Amita get onto that plane? When I saw you leave with her, I thought you were going to look after her, try to make her feel better at least for a while."

David still seemed to be reluctant to talk. "Could we talk about this later? I'm not feeling good."

"I know. You look like crap, man. Maybe you should rest for a while."

"Yeah… Maybe it would be better if I'd go home."

"Ok… See you later."

David nodded and turned on the engine. He left Colby standing at the side of the street, looking worried and curious about what had happened when he and Amita were together.

The fact that she had left the country was weird for Colby. She was supposed to get help, but she had decided to follow her original plans of going back to India after Charlie had broken up with her.

Maybe Amita needed to return to what she'd known as a child to get things back on track. Maybe that was the only thing that could cure her heart after all the changes that her life had suffered during the last days.

But the strangest thing was David's behavior. Indeed, he looked like he was going to get sick soon, so some rest would be good. Yet, his silence about why he had left Amita get into that plane was somehow disturbing.

A phone call caused Colby to lose his train of thought. When he answered, Charlie's voice on the other side of the line made him remember that he had agreed to meet him later. "Hi, Charlie."

"Hi. Is David ok?"

"Um, I don't know. He doesn't look any good, but he's taking a few hours off. And Amita… she's on a plane to India."

"What? Is that a joke? The FBI was supposed to assign her a therapist!" Charlie snapped, and he looked completely surprised and preoccupied.

"That's exactly what I told David."

"Wasn't he with Amita?"

"Yeah, but she still managed to leave. I don't know what happened. David just doesn't want to talk about it right now, but I guess that at some point he'll tell us," Colby explained, while he got into his car.

"That's so weird."

"Yeah well, at least she already made her statement with regard to Patrick Garner." Right after saying that, Colby decided to change the subject and think only about himself and Charlie for a while. "Hey, by the way, when and where do you want us to meet?"

"Mmm…" Charlie was thoughtful for a moment. "You just pick me up and I'll tell you then."

Colby laughed, and muttered, "Fine, I'll be there in fifteen minutes, Mr. Mystery."

The mystery of the unknown location made the agent hurry to get to the Eppes' residence in twenty minutes. He entered the house and found his lover and his lover's family smiling and talking at the table.

"Hi, sorry I'm earlier than I said I would…" Colby apologized, but immediately Charlie got up and took his bag, which was on a chair.

"I was ready five minutes ago, so don't worry. Bye, guys," Charlie waved a hand to Don and Alan, who nodded and continued talking between them.

Once inside Colby's car, there was a question that needed to be asked. "So, where are we going?" the agent asked, the vehicle starting to move.

"We're going to the place where all of this started," Charlie answered, "Do you remember where it was?"

Of course Colby remembered it. He smiled and nodded, and headed towards it. The night had come, and it would take them about thirty minutes to get there, given the heavy traffic.

When they arrived to their destination, there already were some stars and the moon high in the sky. The quiet parking garage where they had shared their conversation during the Bonnie Parks case, the place where Charlie had confessed his feelings to Colby .

Even if it looked very different at night, somehow there were memories everywhere. The noises of the city reached their ears, and the soft wind caressed their skin.

And Charlie started talking. "Even though I'm worried about Amita, to some extent I'm glad she's not around anymore."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean… seeing her at CalSci or at home if she decided to keep visiting my family would have been awkward, and the truth is that I don't want to feel awkward. Not when I know that this is the right thing to do," Charlie stated, watching the bright lights of the distant city. "Being with you is what I really want," he continued.

Colby simply looked at the car, feeling overwhelmed by his lover's faith on what they had. That confident side of Charlie had the ability to surprise him every time since he had discovered it a few hours ago.

Then he felt Charlie's hand caressing his neck, and his lover's body getting closer to his own.

"Do you know that? Do you know that I'm all in?"

Charlie stood very near to him and looked into his eyes. Colby said, "Yeah… I know that."

"I want to see what could come up from this, I'm willing to take the risk to start something with you, even if I've never experienced anything like what we have. I want to do it no matter what anyone says. I want to try, no matter what."

After those sweet, honest words, Colby couldn't say anything. He just stared at Charlie, not being able to put in words how wonderful and loved he felt.

"Do you understand what I'm saying? Are you willing to take that chance with me?"

Now Colby slowly nodded, not taking his eyes off Charlie. But he closed them when his lover cupped his face and placed a sweet kiss on his lips. When he broke the kiss, he remained like that, enjoying the sensation of joy and the deepness of the connection they shared. And he kept listening to Charlie's voice, starting to get far.

"I made a reservation for a quiet dinner in a nice restaurant. Of course, it would be just the two of us."

Colby was lost in that voice filling his every thought, and didn't respond to what Charlie had announced.

"Colby, are you coming with me?"

When the agent opened his eyes, he saw Charlie offering him an open hand. The moonlight highlighted the curves of his smiling face and the lines of his fingers.

They remained without moving for a second. Charlie watched his lover stare at his hand. He also saw him smile tenderly.

Colby walked towards Charlie, and they held each other's hands tightly.

Nothing more needed to be said. They were about to start a new journey together.

Together.

THE END OF "THE CONNECTIONS SERIES"

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A/N: FEEDBACK IS LOVE.

Thanks to every single reader. This wouldn't have been possible without you. 