Work Text:
Shift in the Wind
by IrenaAdler
Something is definitely going on. Ian Edgerton was used to being able to get inside people's heads so he could predict their reactions. That's what made him such a successful tracker. It had taken him a while but he'd thought he'd finally got a handle on Charlie Eppes. The best analogy he'd come up with had been a male peacock, bristling when another male peacock came into his territory and threatened his standing as the most spectacular peacock around. As soon as Ian walked through the door, Charlie was usually fanning his plumage, excited to take on his challenger. A few days ago that had been the case, he and Charlie sparring on methods and styles. Ian usually found it invigorating, if sometimes frustrating. He'd liked how Charlie would stand toe-to-toe with him and debate everything. Not many people did that these days.
But today, Charlie was quiet and cautious, and had the unnerving habit of blushing at odd moments. Ian had come back to the LA office to see if Don's team had any ideas on his current case, which had just taken a huge turn. He'd expected Charlie to defend his original analysis, which had sent Ian off on what had turned out to be a wild goose chase. Instead, Charlie had to be badgered by Don into stating any opinions at all.
When he'd first met him, Colby Granger had taken Ian all of thirty seconds to analyze, categorize, and dismiss. Colby was a bulldog – loyal, stubborn, strong. Every good FBI team needed one of those to run down bad guys and state the obvious when everyone else was thinking too hard. When Ian had heard that Colby and Charlie had moved in together, it had thrown him a little until he'd realized that fit totally with both men's personalities. Colby was the perfect peahen to Charlie's peacock.
Today, however, Colby was anything but background. His replies to Ian's innocent questions were snappish and he argued with everything that Ian said, with a sort of muffled anger. With this, Ian found out that Colby was a lot smarter than he might seem at first, but Ian was still baffled by his enmity. At one point, Don had to send Colby off on an obviously trumped-up errand to the files room so he could cool off.
"Did I do something to him?" Ian quietly asked Don.
The look Don flashed him said that he knew exactly what was going on, but he wasn't going to talk about it. Ian could only shrug and do his job the best he could. It wasn't until Charlie's help and debate were withdrawn that Ian realized how useful they had been.
They ended up finding his killer the old-fashioned way – luck and instincts, and Ian left town without learning what was going on with Charlie and Colby. But if things were still the same the next time he saw them, Ian was going to get to the bottom of it. He was good at hunting down secrets.
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