Hi all, here's my next story. I had a lot of trouble with this one, namely the plot or lack thereof, so I'm a little worried!
Anyway, as usual, I've taken some liberties with how real life works. This story is AU, and a continuation of my other two stories.
CHAPTER ONE
Don rushed through the doors of the FBI building and hurriedly flashed his ID to the guards before zooming through the metal detectors and into the elevator. He was horribly late for work, and to make it worse, he had a very active case-load that the Director was demanding updates on every five minutes or so. Something that would be pretty hard to do when Don wasn't at his desk, where he was supposed to be.
The elevator opened and Don rushed through the bullpen to his desk.
"Boss!" Colby said, conspiratorially motioning him over to his desk.
Don sighed and walked over.
"The Director came by your desk twice," Colby whispered. "I told him you were in the bathroom and then that you went for coffee, which-" he motioned to Don's empty hands "I probably should have called to let you know. Anyway, he's going to come back down any minute now."
"Thanks, Colby," Don said. "I don't think I've ever been this late in my life."
"It's nearly noon," Colby agreed.
"It's nine thirty," Don corrected with a slight snort.
"Close enough," Colby said with a shrug.
"The power went out after that thunderstorm last night and I guess I didn't reset the alarm and there was construction on the road…" Don threw his arms up helplessly.
"And the dog ate your homework?" Colby helpfully supplied. "Don't worry about it; I don't think the Director realized you weren't in."
"Where's David?" Don asked, looking around at the empty desks of his team members.
"Uh, coffee?" Colby suggested.
"Are you the only one here today?" Don demanded.
Colby sheepishly looked over at Don and shrugged. "Yeah. But y'know, it was a pretty good storm…"
"That's no excuse!" Don exclaimed, then realized that was the very excuse he'd used a moment ago. Still, as team leader he had some privileges.
Colby grinned. "Oliver doesn't have an excuse. He's – and I quote – feeling quite ill today. Like he has been every other day since he started here. Seriously Don, it's time to cut him loose."
"How many times do I have to say it, Colby," Don said with a dangerous tone to his voice. He wasn't in the mood to argue about Oliver Murphy and his lax schedule adherence. It technically was none of Colby's business either. All Don had heard from Colby and David since Oliver had started was complaints and he was getting tired of it.
Colby held his hands up in defeat. "So anyway, I've been looking through surveillance videos all morning, and I'm nearly blind. Do you mind if I go for a coffee run?"
"No, that's fine," Don said wearily. "Bring me something, would you?"
"Sure, no problem." Colby locked his computer and wandered off in the direction of the elevators.
Don sat down at his desk and eyed the overflowing in-box. Paperwork was his least favourite thing to do, and lately it had seemed there was a never-ending influx of it. It hadn't helped that he currently had two high-profile cases, and the media had been on their case about unsolved crimes ever since the multi-billion dollar fraud case that had come their way and was still unsolved. Thanks to Charlie. Don shook his head in frustration. His younger brother had also been the cause of much tension in the office, particularly between Don and the new Director.
After Charlie's return home three months previous, Jane MacRooney with Fraud Cases had wasted no time in getting Charlie a special grant to work on the fraud case with her team, despite Charlie's lack of security clearance. However, when the case wasn't miraculously solved within a few hours, the Director and those in power above him had blamed Charlie, who in turn had walked out after a spectacular argument with the Director and his boss. He refused to come back until the Director apologized, and unfortunately for Don, the Director seemed to think Don should be able to convince his younger brother to return as a favour to him. Which was so never happening. And certainly not after a few threats from the FBI towards Charlie. Charlie didn't do well with blackmail.
Don picked up a file folder and leafed through it for a moment before resolutely setting it back in his inbox. It would have to wait. He turned on his computer instead and logged into his email, scrolling down through the list to search for anything relevant. His phone rang and he absent-mindedly picked it up. "Eppes."
"Don, it's Jane MacRooney. Has the Director talked to you yet this morning?" Jane sounded anxious, and Don turned away from his email to give her his full attention.
"No, I just got in. What's up?"
"I'm going to come by and talk to you," Jane said before disconnecting the call.
Don looked at the receiver for a moment before slowly setting it down. This was not going to improve his day. With a sigh he picked up one of the file-folders and leaned back in his chair to await Jane MacRooney's arrival. She hurried over to his desk after a surprisingly short amount of time and sat down.
"What's going on?" Don asked curiously. Jane looked upset, and she was fidgeting with her hands.
"The Director is going to call you in to his office," Jane said quickly. "It's about the fraud case that Charlie was helping on."
Don groaned and shook his head. "I've already told them that there's nothing I can do to make Charlie help with that…"
"That's not it," Jane said. "There was a list made, by someone at INTERPOL."
"Ok?" Don said questioningly, not sure where the conversation was going.
"It's a list of suspects. People who have the skill and knowledge to be able to pull off something like this. Charlie's on that list."
"There must be thousands of people on the list," Don said dismissively. "And we've always known that Charlie has the ability to pull it off. We just know him better than that."
"Right," Jane said. "But some of the powers-that-be feel Charlie was less than cooperative with the investigation-"
"No one was giving him the chance to be cooperative," Don interrupted. "And threatening him was really not going to help matters. Charlie doesn't do well when people pressure him that way. He holds a grudge."
"I know, believe me," Jane said, shaking her head. "We know he had nothing to do with this because that's just not the type of person Charlie is. But they don't know that. And between Charlie losing his security clearance and this case just showing up months later… They've red-flagged him."
Don shrugged. "I don't know what they expect me to do about that."
"I think they want to bring him in for questioning. Officially."
Don couldn't help but laugh. "Really? They have no evidence of any sort. So what if Charlie has the capability of doing this? So do hundreds of other people. Are they expecting him to confess?"
Jane shrugged and looked at Don. "I just wanted to give you a heads-up, that's all."
"I appreciate it," Don said sincerely. "I guess…" He shrugged helplessly. "This is just a disaster."
"Tell me about it," Jane said, sounding chagrined. "I don't think I've ever wanted a case taken away from me before, but this is the one. Please, someone, take it away."
Don laughed. "Yeah, I can understand."
"And it isn't even necessarily the case itself," Jane complained. "It's the people working on it. The case came to me initially because there were one or two accounts that were affected, but then as we found more and more… well, by the time it was all done there were so many countries involved… and of course it's a career-making case, if you can solve it, so we've got every ambitious know-it-all from every government agency in the universe trying to solve it, and it's just a disaster all around. Believe me when I say at the rate this is going, it is never ever going to be solved. And certainly not if they keep burning bridges the way they have been. We've had no fewer than six top-level consultants walk out on us now."
"Oh?" Don said, his interest piqued again. "Have they been red-flagged too?"
Jane nodded. "Yes. The thing is, we're not just bringing in some random person to consult. We're bringing in the best of the best, who know a thing or two about computers, banking systems, and math. Like Charlie. All these people technically would be able to pull something like this off if they had the resources and the time to invest in it. With the number of banks involved, it would take some time to crack their security algorithms, so…" Jane shrugged. "Charlie's problem is that he was MIA during that time, and hasn't come up with a good reason."
"He doesn't have to give his travel plans to the FBI," Don said with a snort. "Nor does he have to justify his whereabouts."
"I'm just saying he might want to look into getting a really good lawyer," Jane said. "This case has been dragging on for far too long. They want a scapegoat, and they don't care how they get him. Charlie needs to be careful."
Don frowned and looked at Jane. "But they have no case."
"No one cares about having a case," Jane said. "They care about the appearance of solving the crime. Bonus if we can retrieve some of the money."
Don shook his head. "That's crazy. C'mon, I've been working with the FBI for years now, I know how it works. Sometimes you've got to bend the rules a little, but we're pretty much talking framing someone for a crime when there is no evidence whatsoever that he's committed it. I'm really not going to stand by and watch my brother get thrown in jail over this."
Jane shrugged and nodded. "I need to get going. I just wanted to give you a heads up, alright?"
"Yeah, thanks," Don said thoughtfully, watching her stand and walk away.
Don leaned back in his chair and ran both hands through his short hair. For perhaps the hundredth time since Charlie had come back, he wondered if it had maybe been better if his brother had stayed away. Because Don knew Charlie was guilty. The FBI and INTERPOL and whoever else was right in taking a closer look at his little brother. And Don didn't know how he was supposed to defend Charlie, protest his innocence when he knew it wasn't the truth. Should he just take a step back, and let Charlie handle this himself? But wouldn't that just make Charlie look more guilty, if his own brother didn't believe he was innocent?
And Don didn't know if he was a good enough actor to make everyone believe that he trusted Charlie. Because he didn't. And he hadn't in months.
Ever since Charlie had returned three months before, there had been a tension in the house, with Charlie on one side, and Don and his father on the other. Things were pleasant enough. There were no loud arguments, or disagreements, or complaints. But there was an underlying sense of discomfort, especially between Charlie and Alan. Their father had never been told where Charlie was, and Charlie had done his best to explain his need to disappear. But since he couldn't tell Alan the truth, and Alan could see through any lies, Alan wouldn't let it go. After numerous attempts at trying to get the complete story out of Charlie, Alan had resorted to giving him the cold shoulder. He had even been looking for apartments or condos to move into. Things hadn't improved when Anna had moved in. Alan had been polite, but refused any attempts by either of them to mend the rift. It didn't help matters that Charlie and Anna had started to mostly speak French around the house when they didn't want to be overheard. Don, meanwhile, found himself checking up on everything Charlie was doing. He didn't believe Charlie when he said he was going to CalSci, or wherever else. He'd even put a tracking device in Charlie's cell phone and on his car and kept it activated at all times. He knew that he was being a tad paranoid, but he didn't know what his brother was up to, and he didn't trust Charlie to stay out of trouble.
Because Charlie was a liar and a thief, who had wittingly transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars into a terrorist organization's bank accounts. And Don wasn't entirely sure if he could forgive Charlie for that. He understood that there were extenuating circumstances, that Charlie perhaps didn't really have a choice in the matter. But that didn't excuse it. Don shook his head and ran his hands through his hair again and watched Colby and David come out of the elevator.
"Morning, Don," David said somewhat sheepishly. "Some storm, huh?"
"Yeah," Don agreed, suddenly not feeling very talkative. "You two can work on your own for a little while? I'm about to get called in to the Director's office."
"Yeah, sure," David said. "We'll follow up on some leads, and we've still got that footage to go through."
"I'm about half-way through the tape," Colby told them. "But yeah, there's still a few hours left, and that's on fast-forward."
"Anything we need to know about?" David asked with a nod in the direction of the Director's office.
Don shook his head. "Not yet. It's about Charlie, and that fraud case."
Colby grinned. "Oh, man. If they bring him in again, would you give me a heads-up? I'd like to have my camera ready."
Don shot him a withering glare. "Charlie's not going to help in the investigation," he said. "But that's not going to stop anyone from trying to bribe him to do so."
"And that's not cool," Colby said with a sobering look at David. "Of course. But c'mon, Charlie can take care of himself."
"Yeah, I'm aware," Don muttered as his phone rang. He picked it up and listened for a moment before hanging up again. "Well, we're about to find out what their next plan is."