Warnings: Charlie and Amita are both out of character. I did this because this is the way I think they'd be if they were together for a while. They've gotta come out of the shells sometime!

Charlie and I strolled hand in hand down one of the quiet paths surrounding Cal-Sci, neither of us saying a word. We saw a bench, and sat down, still not saying anything. I rested my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around me. "I love you, Amita…you know that right?" he said quietly, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I do. I love you too Charlie," I said, meaning every word.

"Amita... I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't want there to be a day where I don't get to see you, or talk to you, or kiss you." I sat up in surprise. Was he doing what I thought he was doing? He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He was! Opening it, he looked into my eyes and said, "Amita Ramanujan, will you marry me?"

I threw my arms around his neck, tears pricking my eyes. "Yes, Charlie! Yes, I will!" He smiled, kissed me sweetly on the lips and slid the ring onto my finger.

A few minutes later we had to head back. Our lunch breaks were nearly over. We talked quietly this time, about how to tell everybody else, what kind of wedding we wanted, and all the things a newly engaged couple would talk about. Charlie stopped suddenly and looked around us, a confused and slightly nervous expression on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, I thought I heard something. It must have just been the wind."

"It wasn't just the wind, Amita," a cold voice said from behind us. Recognizing it, I stiffened, and turned around, grasping Charlie's hand more tightly.

"It's good to see you, Amita." He said smiling evilly. "Oh! And who is this?" He asked with mock interest, looking threateningly at Charlie.

"I believe the question is: who are you?" Charlie shot back at him.

"What? Amita never told you about me? Surely there must be some mistake."

"There's no mistake, Malcolm," finding my voice I spoke up, "there's no reason why I'd want to talk about you!"

"Yes, well, you'll have to pay for that." Malcolm said, reaching into his inside coat pocket. He pulled out a gun. "Now you're going to pay you're life, because you ruined mine." He pulled the trigger before I had a chance to move. But, not before Charlie had a chance, he leapt in front of me, and the bullet hit him square in the chest.

"NO!!!" I screamed dropping to the ground to see if Charlie was ok. Malcolm, not knowing what else to do, ran in the opposite direction. "Charlie! Charlie! Say something!" By now my eyes were so filled with tears that I couldn't see straight. Trying to be strong for Charlie, I started screaming for help. Within a minute, a lady came running down the path.

"I heard the gunshot," she said breathlessly, "and called 911. They'll be here in a few minutes."

I nodded my head, somewhat pathetically, and went back to trying to get Charlie to talk. "You can't leave me," I sobbed, "I need you! Please Charlie, don't leave me! I can't lose anyone else!" After that, everything was a blur. I heard the sirens of the ambulance get louder and louder until they were practically on top of us. The paramedics loaded Charlie into the back, and I climbed in after him, still hysterical. It wasn't until I got to the hospital, and they took Charlie away that it occurred to me to call Don. With shaking fingers, I dialed Don's cell phone.

He answered after the first ring. "Eppes."

"Don? It's Amita."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Don…" I faltered.

"Hey, Amita, is something wrong?"

I cleared my throat. "I'm at the hospital. Charlie got shot." I dissolved into tears once again.

"What? I'll be there in just a minute, Amita, hold on."

"Ok," I said tearfully. I sat quietly for a moment, staring at the ground until I heard a small voice above me.

"Hi." I looked up and saw a skinny teenage girl, about 15 I would guess, holding a toddler on her hip. "I'm Lily. What's your name?"

"Amita," I half whispered.

"My mom has cancer," she explained, "and she got sick this afternoon, so I'm stuck here with my little sisters." She pointed at three young girls sitting quietly, a couple yards away. "Kate was getting fussy, so I'm stuck holding her." She gestured to the sleepy little girl in her arms.

I was silent, not knowing what I was supposed to say to this stranger. "I'm sorry about your mom," I said finally.

"Oh, well, she's been sick for a while. I've gotten used to taking care of the kids by myself."

"What about your dad?" I asked, warming up to the talkative teen.

"He left before Kate was born."

"Oh…I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's ok. He wasn't much of a dad anyway." Neither of us said anything for a while. "So why are you here?" she asked.

Tears pricked my eyes. "My fiancée got shot," I managed to squeak.

"That's terrible!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, and it's all my fault!"

"I doubt that. Tell me about him. What's his name?"

"His name is Charlie. We both are professors at CalSci."

"Are you two, like, geniuses?"

I laughed. "I'm not really, but Charlie sure is."

"What's he like?"

"He's one of the kindest, most caring person that I know," I said, not knowing how exactly to describe the man I loved. "He…he makes me feel special, just by looking at me, he always knows exactly what to say to make me feel better when I'm scared or upset. He's one of a kind, somebody who can't be replaced." Tears leaked out of my eyes at the thought of having to replace Charlie.

"He sounds amazing," Lily said.

I felt much better after talking about Charlie; it distracted me from the reality of what was happening to me. "Talking about him really helped…how'd you know?"

"I've had to deal with my mom's condition for a long time…I know how to sidestep grief," Lily looked so young and vulnerable then, and I admired her strength and courage. Here she was, a girl of about 15 showing me how to be strong.

Don arrived just then. "Where is he? Is he all right? How did it happen?" He shot questions at me the moment he saw me. He glanced at Lily, confused, and she walked away, going back to her sisters.

"I don't know! They won't tell me! They won't tell me anything!" I exclaimed, the calm that I had felt talking to Lily disappearing instantly.

Don took me into his arms. "Don't worry," he soothed, "everything is going to be ok. Now lets just sit down, and you can tell me the whole story, ok?"

I nodded, and let Don guide me to a hard plastic chair. Taking a deep breath I began to tell the story. "Charlie and I were on our lunch break. We decided to talk a walk…" I paused, trying to decide whether I should tell Don about out new engagement. I decided not to. "On our way back, this guy, Malcolm Burnes, came up behind us. He had a gun-"

"Wait," Don interrupted, "you know him? How?"

"Um, we knew each other…. a long time ago. Anyway, he pulled out a gun and shot at me, and Charlie jumped in front of me and so he got hit instead." I finished lamely.

"Amita," Don said gently, "there's something you're not telling me. I'm FBI remember? I know that people, even crazy ones, don't stalk people and try to kill them for no reason."

I started to cry again. "I just-I just thought that this was all over. I thought I'd never have to think about him ever again, and I never thought that he would hurt the man I love!"

"Amita…what happened between you and this Malcolm guy?"

A/N Dun dun dunnnnn…. as much as I hate reading cliffies, I love writing them. Sorry…. more to come soon! K, so I was gonna post the next chapter, but my computer went insane so part of the chapter got deleted and I didn't realize it. Sry. I'll fix it soon!