What If?

By: Montez

Disclaimer: Standard; Don't own, never will.

Don had just hung up the phone, having called Charlie about the pages of numbers David and Colby had found at Bonnie Parks' office. He turned to let the guys know Charlie was on his way when his cell phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, Don was surprised to see Charlie calling him back already. He flipped the cell open, a puzzled expression on his face, "Yeah Charlie?" Silence met his ear, then a muffled noise; next it sounded as if the phone had been dropped.

"Charlie?" The concern in his voice got David and Colby's attention. They watched as worry caused a crease in Don's forehead as he heard a distant 'Oh God' and the sound, that he couldn't quite place, was heard again, only louder. Don's mind worked frantically; Charlie was probably still in his car and the sound of panic Don could make out in the muffled words was unnerving.

Looking again at Colby, with worry in his voice, Don spoke. "Get a trace on Charlie's phone, something's going on; it's his number, but he's not answering me." Colby quickly left the room grabbing the first tech he could find to start the trace.

Don continued listening, hearing the noise a third time. This time, however, he distinctly heard the screeching of tires, followed by a loud crashing sound. Don exited the conference room followed closely by David, to see if Colby was getting the trace. He again called out to his brother, "Charlie! Come on Buddy, talk to me."

A feeling of panic was rising in his soul as there was silence for a few seconds then the sound of someone moving around, but still no Charlie. The next sound actually took a second to register in Don's mind as he had jerked the phone from his ear. It had been loud enough that David, Colby and the tech all looked at Don. Fear filled Don's voice, "That was a gun shot! Where is he!?"

"It's coming up," Colby replied.

Don was already heading toward the exit, David close behind. "Call with the location!" Colby shouted over his shoulder to the tech as he rushed to catch up with Don and David, who were at the elevators. As the three entered the lift the sound of Charlie's car alarm was unexpectedly heard through the phone. When the elevator doors finally opened to the parking garage, they exited, running for Don's SUV. Getting in the truck Don placed the phone in the dash holder, hitting the speaker function. As he started the vehicle the sound of the alarm filtering through his cell filled the truck.

As they pulled out onto the street Colby's phone rang, and he snatched it off his belt. "Yeah…on Magnolia…okay…we're about 15 minutes away…Let me know when they arrive…Tell them we're heading to the scene." Colby snapped his phone shut, catching Don's eyes in the rearview mirror. "The trace puts Charlie on Magnolia; LAPD has just been dispatched to the area on a MVA with several 'shots fired' calls coming in already.

Don nodded brusquely. He hadn't said a word since they had gotten into the elevator. All three men were worried about a certain curly-headed brother and friend. Suddenly the sound of the alarm coming through Don's phone stopped. They could faintly hear the sound of approaching sirens coming across it now as Don flipped his own on, pressing his foot a little harder on the gas.

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Charlie had just hung up from Don's call. He still felt, for lack of a better word, irritated at his brother. Yes it was, in hind-sight, stupid to do the interview, but couldn't Don let it rest? The looks he had gotten from him earlier in the day as well as the little comments here and there from the team, almost made Charlie wonder why he kept trying so hard to please his brother. Add to that the incident from last night and his nerves were about raw from the stress of the past couple of days. It all contributed to an uncomfortable level of nervousness, allowing him to give in to the paranoid feeling he was getting every time a car pulled out behind him.

Now, a rock dropped into the pit of his stomach as up ahead he saw what he thought was the silhouette of a sickeningly familiar truck. As he passed it his fears were confirmed as its floodlights and high beams filled his rearview mirror as it pulled out behind him. All feeling of ill-will toward Don vanished as Charlie grabbed his phone from the seat next to him and hit Don's speed-dial number. He was only able to make out the first ring as his car was slammed from behind by the truck, causing him to drop the phone. Worry that the connection was made was soon forgotten as Charlie struggled to keep his smaller car on the road.

Never hearing Don's voice over his open phone, Charlie gripped the wheel, bracing for the next impact. "Oh God!" he called out automatically as again he fought to keep control of his car from the continued onslaught of the larger vehicle. Charlie saw the curve in the road up ahead, knowing he wasn't going to clear it at the speed he was going. For the final time the truck rammed the rear of his car, sending him into a sideways skid, before he slammed into a row of mailboxes and trash cans.

Coming to such an abrupt halt had caused Charlie to slam his head into the steering wheel. Stunned for a few seconds he raised his hand toward his head. Finally he noticed the bright lights as the truck pulled up toward the driver's side of the Prius. His hand automatically, albeit shakingly, reached for the seatbelt release, as he watched the door of the truck open. Somehow he managed to grab his keys as he watched the figure approach his car. It took Charlie's mind a half-second to realize the man had raised a gun in his direction. In that instant his mind flashed back to the shooting inside the FBI offices a few years ago, when another man had aimed a gun in his direction.

The sound of the discharge snapped Charlie into action as he quickly scrambled across the passenger seat, and shoved his way out of the car. Half-running, half-crawling, Charlie made it over the slight incline to the relative safety of the bushes about 15 feet from the car. Charlie watched the man near the vehicle, seemingly unaware that Charlie had exited it. As the man stepped closer Charlie hit the panic button on his remote, setting off the car's alarm. Charlie noticed a passing car slow down as the man quickly returned to the truck and sped off. He waited a few seconds after it disappeared around the bend in the road, just to make sure it wasn't coming back. He also noticed lights in several surrounding house's had come on.

Charlie slowly stood on shaky legs. A wave of dizziness caused him to stumble slightly. Not only was adrenaline causing his body to shake, Charlie was finally noticing he had the headache from hell as well. Stumbling another step he raised his hand to his head as he remembered hitting the steering wheel forcefully. He stopped his movement as he felt something wet on the side of his head. Knowing that it was his forehead he had hit, he couldn't understand why the side of his head would be wet. Pulling his hand back Charlie saw in the dim light from the street lamp a few houses away, a dark stain on his hand. Staring at his hand as if it had just betrayed him; Charlie's shaking grew worse, as his breathing started coming in gasps. Feeling his heart rate increase and his knees weakening, Charlie's last thought was ' He shot me', as he collapsed to the ground.

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LAPD Officer Mike Jameson was the first to inform dispatch that he'd checkout the accident and possible shots fired on Magnolia. He listened as two other officers followed suit, a 'shots fired' call required more than one officer to investigate, for obvious safety reasons. Dispatch relayed that an ambulance was also en route, but would remain up the street until the scene was secured. To Jameson all that was more or less expected. However, the relay that FBI would be arriving on the scene shortly as well confused him a bit.

Officer Jameson arrived just as another officer arrived from one of the connecting roads. Officer Kevin Davis pulled his vehicle alongside Officer Jameson's, both sets of the cruiser's headlights, as well as their search beams, illuminated the small car ahead of them. They cautiously exited their cruisers, guns drawn, and together they slowly approached the driver's side.

Jameson's flashlight caught the splintered pattern of the drivers-side window with the neat hole in the center. "Definitely shots fired," he whispered to Officer Davis, who nodded in return. Davis approached closer as Jameson slowly made his way around to the other side, watching for any movement. Noticing the passenger door open just as Davis called out that the car was clear, Jameson turned some, looking into the surrounding darkened shadows caused by the cruisers backlighting the car.

As he neared the remnants of the mailboxes something caught his attention. "I got a man down!" he yelled to Officer Davis, as a third cruiser arrived on scene. Jameson quickly, but cautiously approached the fallen figure. Instinctively he reached first to the man's neck to check for a pulse, relieved to find one, though it was rapid. He called into dispatch. "Dispatch, this is unit 53, scene is secure. Direct that ambulance to our location. We have a civilian down, unknown injuries."

"Copy unit 53, ambulance en route."

Jameson heard the siren almost immediately as it had just been up the street waiting for clearance to approach. Trying to assess any injuries without moving the man, Jameson brushed back some of the curls that obscured the fallen man's face; first he took in the large knot on his forehead, then he noticed the blood. Seeing that the knot wasn't split open he looked a little closer with his flashlight. As the ambulance pulled up behind him he picked out the tell-tale signs of a GSW.

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Colby's phone rang while they were still 5 minutes from the scene. Don glanced into the mirror as Colby answered it. "Granger…They're on scene?…Okay, and they know we're coming?…" There was a long pause in Colby's side of the conversation that unnerved Don. "Our ETA is about 3 minutes." With that Colby closed his phone.

"Well?" Don snapped.

"LAPD is on scene, as is an ambulance. Charlie's car appears to have crashed into a row of mailboxes and trash cans."

"An ambulance?" Don's voice was full of worry.

"According to the first officers on the scene, Charlie's unconscious." David and Colby both saw Don tense, making Colby hold back on what else he had been told; preliminary observations from the first response team was that Charlie also appeared to have been shot.

As the SUV turned onto Magnolia the emergency lights could be seen about halfway down. Don stopped his truck in the gap between a cruiser and the ambulance and all three agents exited the vehicle at once. Colby observed officers searching around Charlie's car, "I'll check that out," he said, heading in that direction.

David nodded as he and Don pulled out their badges, flipping them open for the approaching officer. "We heard you guys were coming; I'm Officer Jameson…" That was all the officer got out before David saw Don's direction and pace change. David hurried to keep up. Finally seeing what Don was focused on, David saw EMTs crouched on the ground about ten feet back off the road from Charlie's car. Don's pace continued to quicken the closer he got, causing David to almost jog to keep up.

Don first saw the shoes and legs of the person the paramedics were working on, still unable to see the face. However he knew in his heart it was his little brother lying there, though his mind wanted so desperately to deny it. As he got closer he caught a glimpse of the dark curls and lunged forward. "CHARLIE!" David grabbed his arm as Don tried to pull away to get closer to his brother. "CHARLIE!"

David's grip tightened. "Don, let them work!" They were both near enough to see the gauze wrapped around Charlie's head as well as the cervical collar around his neck. An oxygen mask obscured most of his face. David turned toward Officer Jameson, who stood silently a few feet away. "Do you know what happened yet?"

Officer Jameson stepped closer. "Not completely; the other officers have gotten a couple of witness statements. I've stayed with him," he gestured toward Charlie, "in case he regained consciousness. From what we could tell and what the medics have said, he's probably got a pretty good concussion. Apparently he hit the steering wheel in the crash, but their main concern is the GWS on the side of his head."

Don turned abruptly, "A GSW? Charlie has a gun…gun shot wound?" David felt a tremor pass through the senior agent's arm.

"Yes, sir." Officer Jameson continued, "They're not sure how bad it is until they get him to the hospital." Jameson watched as the agent before him paled; turning his attention back to the activity on the ground, watching as Charlie was turned and a backboard slid under him.

Jameson leaned in toward David and whispered, "Is this guy one of yours?"

David nodded, "Yeah, he consults for us, but he's also a close friend and he's Agent Eppes'," David gestured toward Don, "brother." David didn't see Jameson's reaction to that as he and Don watched Charlie being lifted onto the stretcher. As the medics secured Charlie and started moving toward the ambulance Don spoke. "I'm going with him." He turned to follow his brother, but David didn't let go of his arm.

"Don, what about your dad?" David asked as he finally released his hold on Don.

"Dad," Don whispered watching the back of the ambulance with longing. "David," Don's eyes held a pleading in them David had never seen. "Could you go get him and bring him to the hospital?" David nodded as Don shakingly handed him his keys, turned, and jogged toward the back of the rig and climbed in.

As the doors slammed shut Colby approached David. They both watched as two of their colleagues, their friends, sped away, lights and sirens going. "How is he?" Colby quietly asked.

David let out a deep sigh, "He's still unconscious. He's got a hell of a knot on his forehead, but they're more worried about the GSW." David saw that the news of the gunshot wound didn't seem to surprise Colby; that must have been what David had sensed Colby was withholding when he was giving Don the information from the second phone call.

He didn't mention it as Colby spoke again. "How's Don doing?" They turned, heading for the SUV.

"He's really shaken," David said, climbing into the driver's seat. "He wants us to go and get Alan." Colby silently nodded as David started the vehicle. "You get anything?" David glanced at Colby who was looking over his notes.

"Witnesses saw a gray or silver pickup stopped next to Charlie's car; nobody got the plates or description of the driver, though. Several people reported the shot, then the car alarm going off, which apparently scared off the shooter. A couple folks think the truck may have had fancy grillwork but…" Colby paused pulling out his cell phone, glancing at David. "I think I remember seeing a truck matching this description on the security videos of the parking garage where Bonnie Parks disappeared. I'll see if I can get a tech to run it again, maybe we can get a plate from it." Colby made the call as David silently drove to Charlie's house, trying to figure out a way to tell Alan that one of his sons had been shot; only not the one he would have thought.