Sooo, okay sequel to Curiosity and Brother Duties, finally... I started this pretty much after I wrote the first part and almost finished it within weeks, but then: nothing. My muses have problems with finding good words for the end of my stories... -.-
But here it is for all the people still interested^^
Disclaimer: Neither Chuck, nor Numb3rs, nor Stargate Sg1 and Atlantis are mine. Sadly. And I don't make money from this^^
Warnings: slash, violence, drugs and that should be all.
It will be alright
*Flashback*
"Captain Casey, everything okay?" Casey looked away from the person that had captured his attention and looked to his side, were one of his men looked at him in askance.
"Yeah, everything all right, Walters.", he looked back to his point of interest. Casey had just gotten off the plane, had finished his debriefing with the General and was on his way to get a coffee, when he saw him. A relatively small man, though in comparison to him most men were small, with wild brown locks and a kind smile, that in its innocence didn't seem to belong into this environment. He had a slight geekiness to him that didn't jump you right into your face, but was more subtle. It was the first time John Casey saw Charles Eppes.
*End Flashback*
The sun streamed into the window, as she came out of her hiding place behind some clouds, letting her warm orange rays shine upon the person that was hiding from her in the big, warm and soft bed. Charlie burrowed deeper into his pillow. His alarm-clock would ring in approximately two and a half minutes and he wanted to spend every remaining second of it in the comfy blankets of his bed. The sun, though, had other plans and her rays warmed the room, causing the content warmth of the bed to turn into a sweaty heat. So, Charlie threw back the covers, with a sigh and sat up. With a glare to the sun he reached for his alarm-clock and turned it off before it could ring. With another sigh he searched for some clothes and went to his bathroom. A shower and a brush to his teeth later, he stepped out of the door and turned into the direction of his bike, a jam toast in his one hand and his book bag in the other. The only thing he noticed was out of order before everything went black, was a slight pain and then pressure in the side of his neck.
*Flashback*
"Professor Charles Eppes, meet Major John Casey, he's your protection for this mission, he'll brief you with the information we could gather and you'll not leave his presence until this mission is over.", the screen turned off and brown eyes wandered to his side and up to the face of the soldier standing beside him. Charlie had met his fair share of military men in his consultations for the NSA, though fewer than he had expected in the beginning, most of the times he was thrown together with other scientists, but this man looked more like one of the warriors of Antiquity, with his tall growth, wide shoulders, well muscled body and silent, confident stance. The Major turned his head to him and Charlie was confronted with sharp blue-gray eyes that seemed to see everything. He was told to sit down at the table behind them with a nod from the man and a file was pushed towards him. As he opened the file, he, for the first time, heard the low, grumbling voice of Major John Casey. It was a sound he could listen to until the end of time.
*End Flashback*
Chuck was on his way down into the Castle, their headquarters beneath the Orange Orange, as they had their weekly meeting with the General today. It had been unusually quiet in the last two weeks and so he hadn't seen her for a week, which in his opinion was safer for him. It meant that no-one had been plotting to kill him. He was actually surprised to see that both of his handlers were already there. Casey cleaning his hand-guns and Sarah at the computer, finishing her report. He was about to greet them Good Morning, as the conference screen switched on, turning all their heads around to the face of the General. Her expression was grave and her eyes concerned, and Chuck grew worried as her gaze didn't land on him first, but on Casey.
"Major Casey, until further notice, you are hereby pulled out of Project Bartowski and you are to return to Headquarters immediately, you'll be picked up in approximately 15 minutes." Casey stood strait as he replied.
"Yes, Mam. May I inquire about the cause of this sudden development?" Chucks eyes met Sarah's in question and she just lifted one shoulder in equal confusion.
"It concerns Project Mercury, there was an incident this morning, which requires us to take you into protective custody." Casey nodded, his face expressionless, and he started to reassemble his weapons, before he hid them on his person again. As Casey made his way to the back of castle, to get his bag of extra clothes and toiletries, Chuck spoke up.
"Wait, wait, wait, what's up? Why is Casey taken into custody? What's happening?", the eyes of the General fell onto him as she answered in her usual strict manner.
"This exceeds your security clearance Mr. Bartowski, and thus, does not concern you or Agent Walker." Chuck took a step forward and held up his hands.
"Woe, em- I have every government secret stashed in my brain, aren't I outside of the term 'security clearance'? And maybe I can help?", her gaze softened for a moment before she turned serious again.
"Until you flash on it, you don't have security clearance. This situation is outside of the Intersect, it has no information that could help us solve it, we will handle it without you." Casey came back with a military duffel bag over his shoulder.
"Agent Walker, I hope you can handle the Intersect alone for the moment, if any problems arise, call." and with that the screen went black again, and the tension in the underground base grew drastically. A warning beep turned their attention to one of the monitors. It was the warning for a person entering the shop above. On the video-feed Chuck could see a man in his mid fifties with short hair and in casual wear. Chuck could hear a growl from Casey that could nearly be classified as a whine. Startled, he looked over to the other man, but Casey just adjusted his bag and went up the stairs.
"Try not to mess things up while I'm away, Walker, Bartowski." He threw over his shoulder.
"Wait." they both said climbing the stairs behind him and entering the store through the freezer-room.
The man in the shop greeted Casey with an open smile, looking to them in slight askance.
"General O'Neil, meet my current Partner, Agent Sarah Walker and Charles Bartowski, her boyfriend." a searching look to Casey and a nod later, the General shook both their hands with a laugh.
"Call me Jack." the man said and turned back to Casey. Why was a General escorting Casey into protective custody? "Everything ready, John?"
"Yeah, we can go." answered Casey curtly with a nod in their direction, the Major turned into the direction of the door closely behind the General.
"You know, it'll always be strange for me to meet you after mostly seeing only your brother, your body-language is just so different, it's quite disconcerting." they could hear the older man say as the door closed behind the two military men.
"Did he say brother?"
As soon as the doors of the car fell shut and they were on the road, Casey began with his interrogation.
"What did happen, Jack? Why are you the one picking me up? Dave and Hannah are okay, aren't they? And the kids?" Jack noticed the tension in Casey's voice and answered swiftly.
"They are okay. This is about Project Sirko, it has nothing to do with my program and everything to do with your NSA. You remember the asset you protected when that Project went south?" Casey nodded, a sick pressure building in his stomach.
"Yeah, Professor Charles Eppes, the math-genius." he said, forcing himself to sound calm.
"He was abducted this morning, he failed to arrive at work on time and they found his things in the drive way of his home." a heavy, cold stone of fear, desperation and panic settled in Casey's chest. "You will be briefed on the whole situation at Headquarters and as to why I'm picking you up? Well, I was in the vicinity and your General needed someone she could trust. Of course the presence of Colonel Dixon at her office convinced her that you should be escorted by someone he could trust as well. Your brother is quite protective of you, given the circumstances that you don't see each other that often." Casey grunted affirmatively.
"We're the only family we have left, though he has his own family now to fall back on, he worries about me, because I haven't." Casey shrugged and forced himself to smile at Jack mischievously. "Of course the fact that he is four minutes older than me, automatically gives him the rights of an older brother to be overprotective and a worry-wart." That got a laugh out of the General and Casey tried desperately not to think about his missing lover.
*Flashback*
Casey watched the pen flying over several sheets of paper in a rhythm that he couldn't quite catch, occasional mumbling from the younger man interrupted the silence now and then, dying sometimes in mid-thought. If the situation, it was all about hadn't been so serious at the time, he would have thought it adorable. He stepped forward and placed a plate of pasta in front of the working genius, and a small pot of self-made tomato sauce in the middle of the table. He held out a fork to the startled math-genius.
"You haven't eaten in ten hours, as I am responsible for your survival it seems your behavior requires me to cook." at the utterly confused look he got Casey smiled one of his rare smiles before huffing theatrically. "You have to eat." he gestured to the food. "And take a break from all this calculating, we can't have you making mistakes because you were exhausted. Get some fresh air and exercise." he grumbled as Charlie finally took the fork from his hand and reached out for the sauce-spoon. He was about to exit the room, when Charlie spoke up.
"Major, I'm not supposed to leave your vicinity, so, erm, would you like to go for a walk with me after dinner?" There was a slight falter in his step and a short pause before he answered with a smile to himself and in his voice.
"Of course, Professor."
*End Flashback*
"Don, Amita is on the phone for you." Colby said holding out the receiver of the phone for him. Confused, Don took it.
"Amita? What's up?" he asked, a slight frown on his forehead.
"Don, have you heard anything from Charlie today?" the frown grew deeper.
"No, I haven't. Why? Anything happened at University?"
"No, he just didn't come to work and I can't reach him at home or on his mobile." slightly worried, Don reached for his jacket and car-keys.
"Okay, I'll drive home and see if he maybe just slept in or is to focused on one of his projects, you know how he can get, and with Dad on vacation, no-one's there to look after him." he could hear the relieved smile in her reply.
"Good, thank you." he put the phone back onto its station and slipped into his jacket.
"I'm driving home for half an hour, call me if anything comes up with the suspect." A couple of "Yeah's" and nods were his answers. He just hoped it really was as harmless as he said it was.
It wasn't. As he reached the street where he grew up he could see the black SUV of State Agencies, that was parked across from the house and a little down the street. The knot in his stomach grew harder and heavier. He parked in front of the house and went into it, searching through every room. He found nothing, no indication that his brother had left on one of his little vacations or anything else. This was not good.
He went back to his car and reached for the cellphone he had gotten a few months ago in case of emergencies from the lover of his brother. Hopefully, he knew what was going on, if not he had to talk to his boss. He looked into the rear-view-mirror to the black SUV and the two figures watching his every move.
With a flick of his wrist he activated the white noise device, that would disrupt any bugs or other surveillance technology, before dialing the secure line. He waited, the toot of the dialing making him more nervous with every time it wasn't followed by the click that meant someone answered the call.
"Come on, come on, John. Answer the damn phone." And then finally, a click.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Chuck looked up from the computer screen, where he had been finishing his own reports, to Sarah who was cleaning her weapons. He watched her for a moment, not sure if he should ask or if he shouldn't. In the end, his curiosity got the better of him.
"What is Project Mercury?" it was unusual for him not to flash on a Project name, but maybe it had another trigger. Sarah looked up from the barrel in her hand with a contemplating look on her face.
"It's a cover for Projects. Whenever one of these missions go south, they call in the persons concerned with that particular mission under the name of Project Mercury." Chuck frowned, thinking about what kind of Projects could require a second security designation. It weren't nice scenarios he came up with.
"And Casey's involved in one of those Projects?" he heard a quiet scoff from Sarah, but he could see that she was suppressing the rising concern for her partner.
"He's part of most of them. Hell, Project Bartowski is a Mercury Project."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"So there's nothing we can do to help." that caused Sarah to smile at him, though she shook her head.
"Nope. As we have no idea what's going on, all we can do is keep you safe and out of trouble, and wait for Casey to come back." the "if he comes back" was left unspoken, and therefore resonated in the following silence.
*Flashback*
Charlie had been forced to make a break after working non-stop for twelve hours. His protector had practically man-handled him away from his papers and onto a kitchen chair to eat something. As the Major had insisted that he get some fresh air and Charlie wasn't in the mood for a walk, they somehow ended up on the roof. Which is how he found himself lying on his back and staring up into the stars with the stoic soldier sitting beside him, his back against the attic-door, pointing out the different constellations for him. The atmosphere was light and content. And, if Charlie dared to think about it, slightly romantic.
His gaze fell from the sky to the man beside him. The Major had his eyes focused on the stars in the sky and smiled lightly. He had stopped wearing his jacket a few days ago, as it had grown rather warm with the beginning of summer. Now, all he wore were the black army boots, trousers, a white T-shirt and his dog-tags. He must have been on a mission in the south-east before this, as his skin was contrasting with the white of the shirt in a saturated bronze color.
Charlie let his gaze wander over the man and smiled to himself. This man was just beautiful. Of course, he thought to himself, most would say handsome and masculine, and Charlie would agree with them, but in the light of the three-quarter moon and through his eyes, Major John Casey was beautiful. And he was one of the few people who actually listened, when he started to ramble on about mathematical concepts and theories, and didn't just tell him to shut up and continue working. Of course they didn't say it in those words, but it was the meaning of their polite words and blank stares. He sighed. Too bad, he was military.
"Hey, you still listening, Professor?" now the, in the moonlight, silver eyes were focused on him and Charlie relished in the fluttering of his heart for a moment, before suppressing it and answering the question.
"Of course, Major." he replied grinning. "What were we talking about?" that got a chuckle out of the man and Charlies smile widened. He knew he was blatantly flirting with the soldier, but the Major seemed to take it with humor and not with anger, so he continued with it.
The man laid down beside him and pointed up to a cluster of stars that formed some kind of bow.
"That's Lyra, like the old instrument." Charlie tilted his head, brushing with his cheek against the other mans shoulder.
"Yeah, it looks like a harp. Much better than Virgo, I'll never understand how they saw a woman in that bunch of points."
"Who knows what they smoked as they decided what they saw in the stars." answered the Major with a smile in his voice. "But they're beautiful nonetheless." Charlie looked to his side, studying the profile of his companion.
"Yeah." He said and looked back up. It wasn't much later, that the exhaustion of the day caught up with him and he fell asleep on the roof. Never knowing that a callused hand cupped his face for a moment, stroking a thumb over his cheek and brow, before he was lifted into strong arms and carried into the house and into bed.
*Flashback End*
They spent the drive mostly in silence. Jack couldn't help but notice the tension growing in the other man, as he might didn't know John Casey very well, but he knew his twin, and while they were quiet different in body language, they did share some similarities. His gaze shifted back to the street.
He knew that expression. He had seen it on Colonel Dixons face once, as he had asked him for time-off because his wife had been in an accident and had been severely injured. Thank god it hadn't turned out to be fatal and as far as he knew, Hannah was right as rain again. It was the expression of suppressed worry for loved ones.
His musings were interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone. Which shocked his passenger into a flurry of movement. It was a while before Casey had reached his duffel bag on the back seat and had gotten the mobile out of it. With a short, pained look onto the display he pushed the accept button.
"John Casey." he said into the phone and Jack knew from the lack of formality that it was a private call, though with the silence in the car he could hear both sides of the conversation.
"John." the male voice on the other side seemed relieved. "Please tell me you know where Charlie is and that he is all-right." He could see Casey close his eyes for a moment, before they found Jack's with a request in them. A request not to interfere.
"Don, I'm sorry, but he was abducted this morning."
"What?" came the faint reply from the other side of the conversation. All the while Jack shot Casey a look that clearly asked if he was crazy letting an outsider know about that, even if he knew the person involved, even if he had the private number of the Major. Casey would have to explain a lot if he didn't wanted to be court marshaled.
"This has something to do with his work for the NSA, hasn't it?" another look shot in Jack's direction.
"Yes." and before either Jack or the other man on the phone could interrupt he continued. "Don, let us handle this. Don't talk to anyone. Please trust me, I will bring him back." Jack could hear nothing at first but then came the reply, the voice sounding exhausted, despite the early hour of the morning.
"Bring him back alive, John. Don't let me down, or him."
"I wont." and with that he hung up. A long oppressive silence filled the car.
"So." Jack said, eyes on the road. "You want to tell me who that was?"
"Don Eppes."
"Related to the missing Professor Charles Eppes?"
"His brother."
"Are you insane? Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't arrest you for spilling classified information." Casey's face was back to expressionless, though now it was cold expressionless and not worried expressionless anymore.
"Agent Don Eppes works for the Federal Bureau of Investigations, he has the required clearing for the status of his brother, even though he hasn't for the projects he was concerned with, and so it wasn't against regulations to tell him that his brother is missing." Jack thought back to the reassurances between the two men on the phone, there was nothing formal about it.
"What is really going on here, Major?" he asked as he was waved through the gate and drove onto the parking lot of the Californian NSA HQ. He didn't need to search long and shifted the gears into parking as he stopped.
"Major?" he asked again.
"General." The blue-gray eyes that were so strangely familiar and then again not, studied him for a moment, before averting their gaze to the front window.
"I believe this is a situation, were you don't ask and I don't tell, sir."
As soon as the sentence was finished the Major left the car and was on his way to the entrance, while Jack sat in his seat for a moment, too stunned to move. But then he thought about Lt. Colonel Mitchel and about Major Lorne and their relationships that he knew would be questioned by most in the military, endangered their careers, and the strain that was on them and their partners because of that. He stepped out of the car and locked it up before following the mirror image of the leader of SG-13.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The darkness was interrupted with awareness, like slowly drifting from sleep but without the dreams. Just total darkness, which he suddenly noticed was there and then realizing that he can notice things again, that he can think again, that he actually ceased thinking for a moment. How long? The next thing that comes back is the sense of touch. But hard and unfamiliar. Every surface seemed cruel and sharp, cutting into his skin as if he was wrapped in hard-edged metal and not in soft clothing. He was afraid to move, fear cutting through his slugged thoughts, kick-starting his brain back into overdrive.
He was lying on a hard surface, on his side, his hands and feet were bound behind his back, making his joints ache with the strain that position put on them. A blindfold kept his eyes from opening fully and from seeing anything more than the slight feeling of light. Artificial? Natural? He couldn't tell.
What happened? What was the last thing he could remember?
Warmth. Sunlight. Strawberries and sweetness. The smell of grass and the tall red flowers that grew in front of his house. The smell of home.
What happened? Where was he? How long had he been unconscious? What the hell happened?
A noise distracted him from his thoughts. It was the scrapping and stomping of boots on concrete, four boots equaling two people. Charlie stopped trying to move and forced his breath to slow down, mimicking the breath pattern of an unconscious man, thanking his lover for teaching him this. The sound of footsteps was joined with the sound of voices, both male and rough, though the language was flowing and light. Italian? Maybe french.
He heard the sliding of a key into a lock and the thump of a heavy metal-door opening. Now the voices became clear enough to understand.
"His house is under surveillance already, I'm pretty sure this is the right guy." he could hear from above him.
"He does not look like much." the other voice said, bringing with him the smell of cigarets, so promptly was labeled the smoker in Charlies mind.
"You can't go by look with those guys. Why else would the NSA watch his house and run around like headless chickens, when he isn't involved with Project Sirko?" Charlie had to force himself not to gasp. They were after Project Sirko? His thoughts promptly wandered to his lover. Worry gnawing at his insides. Hopefully he was safe. The pain of a boot kicking him in his stomach made him gasp and focus on the situation at hand.
"Hey, Professor, wakey, wakey." Charlie groaned as he felt the shock and the pain lessen. A hand grabbed his arms and with some fiddling his feet came free and Charlie had to stop breathing as the pain of overstretched muscles and sinews cut through his legs and back and arms. He felt like one big bone-deep bruise. He couldn't stop the groan of pain, though, as he was heaved onto his feet and the sudden feeling of vertigo was not helping his still drug addled mind. And while he threw up the little he had in his stomach, his thoughts drifted away again.
Was he supposed to be this calm? Why wasn't he panicking? He should fight all this. He knew that, but something held him back.
Be calm. Try to get as much information as you can. Wait for the right opportunity. Let them think you're weak. Get stronger if you're hurt. Surprise them. Do not risk yourself. I don't ever want to lose you to the scum that I'm fighting every day. Should they ever come for you, I will hunt them down, but don't risk yourself. Please, I can't lose you.
"Disgusting. Wash him and bring him to the room, I'll bring the good Interrogator, let's him have a talk with the good Professor." the smoker said. Getting stronger and getting information it would be then.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
/Flashback/
Charlie woke with one hand covering his mouth and another shaking his shoulder. His brown sleepy eyes focused on the huge shadow above him and only as he recognized Major Casey, did his struggles cease and his heart-rate slow down from the sudden adrenalin high.
"Sh, it's me. We've got intruders." came the near inaudible whisper from the Major. Charlie nodded and the hands vanished. "We have to move, grab your things."
Charlie grabbed the bag where he put his papers and calculations into every night, so that it wouldn't be left behind in an emergency, like now, same reason why they both slept in full clothing. It also contained some clothes and toiletries. As soon as he was ready, his hand was grabbed and he was pulled along, out of the room. He could hear people moving on the first floor and on the stairs. He shifted his hand in the grip of the Major, who slid his fingers between Charlies and squeezed reassuringly.
Charlie noticed just then that Casey had a silenced gun in the other hand. He was led to the stairs which led to the roof, all the while keeping track of the shadows in the darkness around them. The adrenalin pumped through both their veins and Charlies heart sounded extremely loud in his ears. These men down there were here to kill him.
At the sound of a shout behind them he promptly found himself shoved against a wall, body covered protectively by Casey's own. He could feel the tensing of the muscles through the thin fabrics they were wearing, could hear the muffled pings that followed shortly, louder than in any films he had ever seen, could smell the gun-powder and the scent of fresh wood and ocean from the Major.
Running footsteps and heavy thumps. An explosion beside his head made him flinch, more followed, as the bullets entered the concrete besides him. Casey dragged them along the wall, further down the hall, all the while covering him from the gunfire and firing his own weapon. As soon as they reached a door they found cover in the room behind it. Casey held his position by the door, eyes focused on the enemy at the entrance of the hallway. It wasn't long before silence reigned again.
For several minutes they just stood there and listened. Nothing.
"We have to go on. We can't risk you and those papers. Come, we'll go over the roof."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
They stumbled onto the roof without further problems, the Major always covering him in case of danger from behind, sharp eyes keeping track of every direction. Casey led them to the fire escape and down the steps into the forest that surrounded the house that they had stayed in.
It was ten minutes into the woods when they could hear the movements of other people behind them. Casey stopped him and listened into the dark, coming to a decision. Charlie met the hard, determined eyes of the Major as Casey reached behind him and took his second gun out of a holster to give it to Charlie.
"You know where to go. This is exactly as we practiced. The safe-house is 15 kilometers in that direction, you know what signs to look for." Casey squeezed his shoulder. "I'll hold them off, you have to go ahead. Whatever happens, don't come back." Charlie opened his mouth to protest, but the Majors fingertips landed on his lips, silencing him. "Don't argue, Professor, it is my job to keep you and the Project save, not the other way around." Casey shot him a short smile then shoved him in the direction he had to go.
"Go!"
Charlie hesitated for only a moment, then lent in for a short hug, before clutching the heavy weapon in his hand and started running, careful of the things he knew the darkness of the night was hiding and happy that he wasn't as night-blind as his mother had been. He tried to ignore the sick feeling of worry in his stomach and he knew that he stood under shock slightly. He arrived at the safe-house without really knowing how he had gotten there, remembering only hours of running and walking. The sun was high in the sky and had heated the cool forest air in the early morning hours. His clothes clinged to his body and his bag had been a steady weight on his back and shoulders.
Breathing heavily Charlie stumbled up the porch-steps to the heavy door. Entering the access code into the number pad. The door opened with a hiss and exhausted, Charlie tripped into the shade behind it, sliding onto the floor as the door closed behind him and lent against the wall enjoying the cooler air inside. Then he heaved himself over to the phone. Taking the receiver he typed the number he had been told at the beginning of the mission and then let it ring for a minute before typing in another set of numbers, then ending the call.
Now, all he had to do was wait. He looked down at himself, noticing for the first time how filthy he was, covered in sweat and dirt and little twigs. His brown gaze fell onto a stain on the side of his shirt. It was as big as a handprint and a dark rust color. He frowned and pulled the fabric closer to his face. Was that blood? His tongue darted out to the stain and the sharp metallic taste proved his suspicions.
Where did it come from? He looked down again, but there was no wound that would explain where it had come from. The frown deepened as his exhausted mind tried to think of a solution. The realization came with a rush of adrenalin, panic and regret.
/Flashback end/
Don lent back into the driver seat with a heavy sigh. His gaze lost between the outside world and the front window glass, the cell-phone still in his hand, screen black.
And now? What was he supposed to do now? The NSA would never let him work on the case for various reasons, security clearance was just the most obvious issue. But he couldn't just go back to work and pretend everything was alright, when he knew it wasn't!
His unfocused gaze shifted to the black cars. He absolutely abhorred waiting. That was why he went into law enforcement, to do, to change things, to not be the one waiting and hoping.
Don sighed again.
John, you better hurry up.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The General couldn't bring herself to look away from the screen on her desk. She had waited for Major Casey to arrive since she had made the call two hours ago, and now saw as he walked in through the video cameras in the halls. But what had captured her attention was the meeting of the brothers. Colonel Dixon wasn't a fixture in the NSA, as he was mostly concerned with his own team within the SG-teams and was mostly on missions with them. Of course she had known that they were twins, and she had met them before but she had never seen them together, never seen them interact.
It was fascinating. Her fierce and cold Major seemed to melt shortly into the embrace of his brother before gaining back his masks and they continued their conversation with half sentences and body language. It was peculiar, and she couldn't help herself thinking that they would make a terrifying pair in the field. The fact that they looked identical was equally jarring.
She turned the screen off, as they arrived before her door and the Major knocked. She bid him in. He stepped in, closed the door behind him and saluted.
"Ma'am."
"Major Casey. Please sit down." she gestured to the chair in front of her desk. He nodded and sat down. "As you already know, today at approximately 0630 one of the Mercury Projects was compromised. The Project in question was Project Sirko. 0700 one of our Agents noticed the absence of Professor Charles Eppes at his work and upon further investigation we came to the conclusion that he was taken from his home, it seemed to have been a surprise attack from behind. We found a syringe with remnants of a strong sedative and traces of Professor Eppes DNA, so we can assume that he is still alive and is held to gain information. Sadly we couldn't gain any traces of the abductors other than that." she paused and looked over to one of her closest and most trusted Agents.
"The two of you spent seven months in isolation while Project Sirko was active, not counting the three weeks interruption to relocate after it had been nearly compromised after three months in, I have to know if you can tell me anything that might help us find Charles Eppes before his abductors get the locations or the key." Casey studied her thoughtfully for a long moment. He lent forward as he answered, his eyes gray and hard.
"I'm going to be on the rescue team and I need access to the Sirko Network." The General blinked in surprise, then her face became thoughtful. Normally, she would never risk another team-member of a Mercury team when one was already at risk, as they both held the information that the captors wanted, but Casey was one of her best, it was a risk she could take. She could grant him the first request.
"As far as I remember the Sirko Network is not intended to help finding people." Casey nodded.
"It isn't, but it can be used as a way to track certain signals."
"And how would this help us find Professor Eppes?" The General blinked, did cold and unflinching Major John Casey just blush?
"I installed a tracking chip into Professor Eppes hip after the first incident with Project Sirko." Auburn eyebrows wandered higher. The General reached for her phone, cutting of the white noise device before dialing.
"We will talk about this later, Major." he nodded. And though he had technically acted against protocol, the General was relieved, they would get their mathematician back.
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Charlie was brought into a room a floor above his cell. There were still no windows, just some light-bulbs and one chair to which he was promptly chained. The man stepped back when he was sure that Charlie couldn't escape his bindings. Charlie could hear him come to rest behind him, waiting.
It were a few minutes before the door opened again and three men dragged a fourth with them. They pulled him to his feet and he swayed shortly before catching himself. Charlie studied him. He was tall, mostly half a head taller than the others and had a mop of dark brown hair that was cut so it barely touched his ears. His eyes were a mix of brown, green and gold and showed pain that wasn't purely physical. Charlie noticed the limp with which the man walked, the bruises along his arms and the red and violet blotch at his right cheek. God, he was barely twenty-five, probably more like twenty. What had he got to do with this?
"Professor Eppes, meet Agent Hannes Fuchs, he's our information gatherer." one of the men that had dragged the Agent in taunted. "We captured him just for you. You don't need to worry, he's a professional, it will only hurt, not kill you." he continued, shoving Fuchs forward. Fuchs stumbled but expertly caught Charlies gaze.
"Of course you can avoid all that if you just give us what we want." the man says and Charlie recognized him as the Smoker as he got a good look at him. The other men had positioned themselves in the remaining corners of the room, watching the proceedings.
"What..." Charlie had to stop as all that came out of his mouth was croaking. He swallowed several times and tried again, it was still hoarse, but at least understandable. "What do you want to know?"
"I want to know the calculations of Project Sirko and the access-password for the network." Smoker said and Charlie couldn't help the snort that escaped out of surprise. "You find that funny?"
"No, it's just, I have no idea what you're talking about." Charlie answered calmly, noticing the barely there nod from the Agent. Charlie noticed the tension that had built in the Agents shoulders and stance, the gaze that asked him for something, though he didn't know what.
"I think we let Hannes here refresh your memory a bit. There, there Agent Fuchs, get to work." Fuchs' tension grew, but he did step forward and took a pair of pliers out of his pocket. He lent forward as he grasped Charlies pinky and ripped out his fingernail. The pain that ripped through him was like fire shooting along his nerves and made him scream shortly before he pressed his lips together and muffled it to a moan.
"Sorry." came the nearly inaudible whisper from Fuchs, his voice too, was rough and disused. "Continue screaming." he said as he pretended to rip out the nail of his ringfinger. Their charade continued.
"I think that is enough, Agent Fuchs." said Smoker but Fuchs just continued, pretending, pressing down on Charlies mangled pinky to cause another true scream of pain. "I said stop. " Smoker said and the man that had stood behind Charlie stepped forward to stop the man.
It happened so fast that Charlie barely had time to catch up with what had happened after it was done. Fuchs grabbed the man and pulled him forward, unbalancing him and using him as a shield against the other men, at the same time he took the gun from the holster on the mans side and shot him in the head, spraying blood on them both. The others where as surprised as that man had been and that second of hesitation brought their death with swiftness and precision. It was only after the fact, when Fuchs turned back to him and asked him if he was okay with a slight German accent that he noticed the silencer on the gun. Charlie nodded.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Fuchs smiled shortly, which turned his features of stone-cold ruthlessness into the face of a charming art-student and made him look like sixteen. He lent down and helped Charlie out of his chains.
"I'm Agent Hannes Fuchs from the BND, but call me Hannes, I think we have every right to be informal today. I'm sorry for the pain, but it had to look real. And they caught me off guard..." he looked to the side shortly before continuing. "They took something from me that is more important than both of our lives to me." the chains fell to the ground and he held up his hand to help Charlie stand.
"Were you involved with Sirko?" Charlie asked. Hannes studied him shortly making sure Charlie would be able to move by himself.
"I'm from Project Ariana." Charlies eyes widened.
"Oh." he followed the Agent to the door, watching as Hannes gathered the weapons from the men he had killed on the way. "But then you know the positions and the Password for the network." Fuchs send him a smirk that stretched the bruise over his cheekbones in a painful-looking way.
"Yeah, but they didn't know that." he looked out into the corridor but apparently couldn't see anything dangerous and stepped out. Charlie followed. They were at the end of the corridor at the top of the stairs leading down as they heard the sound of guns being fired above them. Fuchs shot Charlie a look.
"That your rescue team?" he asked. Charlie looked to the ceiling and listened to the shouts and shots from above. A sudden longing captured his breath as his fingers found the small catch at his right hip bone that he could feel through the fabric of his clothes, even though he knew that there wasn't even a scar left from the chip that John had implanted there.
"I hope so." he answered, looking back down to Hannes. The Agent looked uncertain of what to do.
"I need to go on, I need to find my girl, she's down there somewhere and probably scared to death." he sounded desperate and worried beyond reason. That answered at least how they had gotten to him, Charlie thought, they had captured his girl-friend.
"Okay." he said and nodded. "Then let's go on."
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/Flashback/
It were three weeks later that he saw Major Casey again. He had been picked up by the NSA an hour after the phone call and had explained the situation to the General in charge of the Project. After a medical examination he had been brought to a safe house and had been told to stay there until they had cleared everything up from the incident and then the Project would be continued.
That had been three weeks ago and Charlie was half mad with boredom and worry, so much so that he started in on the p versus np problem again. And that's how the Major found him. Sitting in front of two blackboards leaning against the wall, surrounded with papers that were full of scribbles that even Charlie himself would have problems to decipher, and blackboards hanging on walls and lying on the floor.
"Hm, I'm away for three weeks and already you lost ten pounds, how did you ever survive without me." Charlie whirled around, his brown eyes wide. The Major lent against the door-frame, not to look casual, but to actually lean against it.
"You don't look so hot yourself." Casey lifted one of his shoulders in a shrug.
"Yeah, well. You should see the other guy." he responds with a smile. Charlie stands and walks over to him, his expression closed and hesitant. He stopped on the edge of Casey's personal bubble.
"I did." he said quietly and without judgment. He had been shown the pictures of their hideout and had seen the close up's of the bodies, being questioned if he recognized any of them. He hadn't.
"I'm sorry."Casey mumbled. Charlie frowned.
"For what?" The Major shrugged and then winced slightly.
"Don't know. This going south." Now Charlie rolled his eyes and reached for the Major.
"That, is so not your fault." he said. His fingers squeezed Casey's wrist. "unless of course you told those men where to find us and I doubt that because then I wouldn't be sitting here. I would be dead and the network would be in the hands of terrorists. And as this isn't the case I seriously doubt that any of this is your fault. If you want to blame something on yourself then you can blame yourself that you saved my life."
The Major looked at him for a long moment. His blue-gray eyes seeming to read every thought that went across his mind.
"Then you, Professor, should accept that this isn't your fault either." Casey looked at all the blackboards and papers around the room with a meaningful look. As Charlie opened his mouth to reply something, the Major interrupted him. "We're to be shipped out in half an hour, I hope you've eaten something, because we wont be able to for at least four hours." his tone now professional and detached. Charlie took a step back.
"Okay. I'll just..." he looked around at the writings of the blackboards that even to him, made little sense, he had been really out of it, apparently. "Get my bag and stuff." Casey nodded.
"You do that." he lent for ward a bit, crowding into Charlies space. "And Professor, you've got chalk powder on your nose." he tipped his own nose to indicate the place with a wide humorous grin. A small laugh escaped Charlie's mouth and he was surprised how fast and easy he had come out of his funk.
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/Flashback end/
Hannes limped down the stairs, constantly looking out for the men that had captured him, while also keeping an eye on Charlie. With a glance in the direction towards the Prof, Hannes could see that Charlie was still behind him, even though he looked very pale and a little green around his gills. But he couldn't take care of him right now, he had something more important on his mind.
If they had hurt her, he would hunt down every single one of them and would make them beg for death when he was ready with them. His heart would cease to function properly just thinking about her being... he couldn't even think the words. The only words in his mind were repeated again and again.
'She'll be alright, es ist alles okay, it's gonna be fine, ihr geht es gut, she's fine, oh God please!'
They reached the end of the stairs and went into the corridor leading to the holding cells. A quick look up and down revealed that none of the goons were left down here, probably all of them went up towards the shooting or abandoned ship. Hannes lowered the weapon he had acquired, though he kept himself ready to shoot at any moment, and went down the corridor looking into every peephole of the doors.
"Come on, come on, come on, where are you, baby?"
He had reached the last door when he sighed in relieve from what he saw and was about to put his gun away to work on the look of the door, when there was shouting from the stair well.
"Throw the gun away! Hands up, stop moving!"
"Away from the door!"
"Don't move!"
"Throw your gun down!"
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Charlie sank down onto the floor as the men in black combat gear came down the stairs and started crowding the corridor. The adrenalin was receding fast and the drugs hadn't helped his health, he still got vertigo and nausea every few minutes. The shouting calmed down after Hannes put down his gun and slid it over. As they cuffed him he shouted at them.
"Please, I just want to get her out of here. She's scared." he sounded desperate and Charlie noticed he looked like sixteen again as he pleaded with the Agents. They held him back as they opened the door to the cell carefully. There was a shout, high and delighted and a small girl ran towards Hannes throwing herself at his legs.
"Papa!" The Agents finally let go of their captive and Hannes knelt down to lift his four year old girl into his arms.
"Oh, Gott, Jenny es tut mir so Leid." It was obvious how relieved Hannes was and now Charlie could feel nothing but disgust at his abductors, who had kidnapped and endangered a child to get her father to torture people. The little girl was crying into her fathers shoulder and Hannes stroked her back and her long dark hair mumbling apologies and reassurances in German and English. Seeing that scene, Charlie missed John.
Just in that moment strong arms pulled him from the floor and pulled him into an embrace.
"John?" Charlie asked in a gasp. The combat vest was uncomfortable but the scent and warmth was unmistakable and he sank against his lover.
"Charlie." they stood like that for a moment, then John took a step back and looked at Charlie. "You need an ambulance." Charlie didn't even protest as he was lifted from his feet bridal style and carried up several stairs towards an ambulance. He could hear the other Agents following, but he didn't care. He could barely keep his eyes open. He fell asleep as the ambulance began to drive out to the voices of Medical Officers and the deep tones of his lover reassuring him.
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Don was the first person he called. John didn't have to wait long before the call was answered.
"Yes?" came the eager tone from Charlies older brother. John smiled.
"I got him back, he's all right." there was a sigh of relief and a small chuckle on the other side.
"Oh, thank God! Thank you, John. Can you tell me anything?"
"He has been drugged pretty good and it didn't become him. He wont be willing to use his pinky finger in the next weeks but otherwise he's fine. He's going to be right as rain." John answered the things that were important and the only things he was allowed to tell. "He will be released tomorrow and will be debriefed. He'll be home in two days."
There was a sigh from Don which did sound relieved but not very happy.
"Okay." another sigh. "Call me if anything changes." John nodded.
"I will." he answered and ended the call. He leaned back in the hospital chair and put the phone away. His eyes studied Charlie, who slept deeply and hadn't woken up since the ambulance. His heart stuttered a little at the thought that he could have lost him, but he took a deep breath to steel himself. He had known it was a possibility, but it was always different if it happened for real. And really, he had always thought it would happen to him first.
There was an almost silent knock at the door and it opened just a little at his grunt of acknowledgment. It was the little girl that had been held captive in the cellar as well. How had she escaped the agents that had been watching out for her while her father was in surgery, because apparently some of his ribs had been broken and had to be realigned to heal properly, he couldn't begin to imagine. She looked over towards the bed and then towards John.
"Can I wait here until my Papa is back?" she asked and her green-brown eyes were huge as she looked at him.
"Yeah. It's okay."
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Charlie woke up to giggling and the smell of disinfectant. He turned towards the sound and saw a small girl with long curly black hair sitting on John's lap as his lover told her a story about bad magicians and black clothed knights that had suspicious similarities to a mission report Charlie had read once.
"That is not what happened." Charlie croaked, but smiled as both looked up at him.
"Hey, Professor." John said and shifted closer, taking a cup with water and a straw and presented it to Charlie, who took a few sips. After putting the cup away John took Charlies hand.
"Hey, Major." Charlie replied, his gaze was probably full of mushy feelings but he didn't care, as John's were just the same. He looked down to the girl. "And who are you?" he asked with a smile. The girls face lit up at the question and leaned towards Charlie.
"I'm Jennifer Fuchs." she said in a serious tone, as she recited what her Dad had probably said she should say when asked. "But nobody calls me that. I'm Jenny."
"Where's your Daddy, Jenny?" Charlie asked and the girl looked sad for a moment, before she smiled again, though her hands rubbed at her eyes a little.
"He is made good again by the doctors. The bad men put bad things in his blood and hurt him." she looked up at him. "But he is going to be good again and my Omi is on her way here."
"Does your Omi know where you are?" John asked, slightly alarmed, because he had informed the nurses that the girl was here, but he didn't know if they hadn't forgotten to tell the grandmother. She shook her head. There was a knock on the door and a woman in her mid-fifties entered, smiling as soon as she saw Jenny.
"Jenny, mein Schatz, was machst du denn hier?(Jenny, my dear, what are you doing here?)" the woman asked as Jenny jumped off of John's lap and ran over to her grandma, who was clearly related, though she had short dark auburn hair and dark blue eyes, they shared the shape of their eyes and the form of mouth.
"Ich wollte nicht allein warten und der nette Onkel kann ganz tolle Geschichten erzählen, fast so gut wie Papa.(I didn't want to wait all alone and the nice uncle tells really great stories, almost as well as Papa.)" the girl answered as she held her hands up and was picked up by her grandmother. The older woman turned towards them and nodded in thanks.
"Thank you, for looking after her. I hope she was no trouble." the woman said with a hard German accent. The two men shook their heads and smiled at her as she turned away. Jenny waved good bye over her Grandma's shoulder.
"Bye." she said.
"Bye, Jenny." they answered. The door fell close and they were alone.
Casey sat down on the bed facing Charlie and Charlie sat up in his bed, making a little bit more room.
"I had no doubt that you would come for me." Charlie said as he met John's gaze. John's face broke a moment with fear and relief as the memories of the last hours came back. But then he smiled and lent forward to press a kiss against Charlies lips.
"Never do that to me again." John whispers and Charlie chuckles against his lips.
"I love you, too."
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/Flashback/
They were back in another safe-house, this time near the ocean. The were lying in the sand and looked up into the sky. It was the last night of the mission. Charlie had finished the calculations for the weaponized satellite network and the Major had called it in. They were going to be collected in the morning. The moon wasn't full anymore but just a slither in the star-filled sky.
They didn't talk but somewhere in the hours that they had been looking at the stars and after two shooting stars, Charlies hand had been entwined with the callused hand of Major Casey. John. His heart had skipped slightly, but he hadn't pulled away. He looked over to John, who had been looking at him for quite a while now.
"This wont be easy." the Major said quietly. Charlie just grinned as his heart danced in his chest. John smiled back and his face softened. Charlie turned and was now leaning over John and the Major cupped his face with careful delicacy. The met in the middle for their first kiss.
"But we'll make it work."
/Flashback end/
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FIN
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