So...Where Do We Go From Here?

Chapter 1

It was just another day until that phone call. That phone call, even though he was unaware of it at the time, would change his life forever.

After listening to the caller, "OK, I'll be there in 20 minutes," he answered.

"What have we got?," he asked as he arrived at the scene.

"Looks like another burglary...," she started as she filled him in on the events that had transpired at the same house earlier that evening.

"Was anyone else home?," he asked after she told him that one victim had already been rushed to the hospital with two gunshot wounds.

"Her nephew, 17, came home from school as they were leaving. Fortunately, he was only knocked unconscious. The paramedics are checking him out now," she said, pointing over to the ambulance, where a police car was blocking any view of the people over by it. "Don, there is something you should know first," she continued as he had started walking over to talk to the boy.

A little late for that don't ya think, he thought as the boy suddenly came into view before he'd had time to ask her what he should know first. At first sight he knew what she was going to say, it was obvious to anyone who wasn't blind. The kid looked just like him in his teenage years. "What'd you say his name was?," he asked as he stopped mid-step, continuing to stare at the 17 year old boy.

"Alex. Alejandro Trellus. Son of -"

"Sarah Trellus," he finished her sentence for her. He hadn't seen or heard from Sarah since college. They had gone out a few times in high school, but when they happened to be attending the same college they really hit it off. Then she broke it off out of nowhere and disappeared. Apparently she had stayed close. "Where is she?"

"Neighbors say that he's been living with his aunt for about a year, apparently his mother died in a car crash last fall. You want me to go find a birth certificate?"

"Yeah."

He was still in a state of shock as he walked over to talk to Alex. I can't believe I have a son, he thought to himself as he reached the boy who looked almost exactly like him. Right then the boy looked up and you could see the shock on his face as well.

"Whoa...," Alex muttered. Is this for real?, he thought to himself, desperately wishing he wasn't meeting his father for the first time while he was alone, no one he knew to encourage him, but he looked just like the guy so apparently it really was happening.

"Yeah," Don stated back, seeing that the kid was just as surprised as he was. And, after what seemed like the longest silence in the world, he finally said,"I'm Don Eppes with the FBI. It's Alejandro, right?"

"Yeah," he responded, knowing that this stranger was just as confused and scared as he was, "but everyone just calls me Alex. How's my aunt?" He was trying to avoid the inevitable conversation, if only for a little while.

"She's already at the hospital, they had to do immediate surgery so we won't know how she's doing until they finish." Thankfully Megan had filled him in on that detail before he had come over here.

At that minute, the paramedics finished up and said they were going to take Alex to the ER to get some tests, just to make sure there was no serious damage.

In the hospital, Alex sat there wondering what he should be thinking and feeling, desperately wishing he wasn't alone. Then suddenly, as if his wish was being granted, he hears a familiar voice outside in the hall arguing, of course, with the nurse to reveal which room he was in.

"Ande!," he called out, ignoring the shooting pain to his head as he yelled.

Then he saw her. They'd called each other their "other half" since they were kids and until this moment Alex had never truly understood why. She ran over and gave him one of the biggest hugs she'd ever given him, and suddenly he felt like everything was twenty times better.

"Alejandro Jerald Trellas!," she screamed at him, "If you didn't have a concussion right now I'd punch you in the face so hard it'd give you one!"

He was so happy to see her he didn't even care she was threatening him, even if she'd probably follow through after he got better. "I missed you too, sis," He stated with such emotion and truth, even a hint of sarcasm, that she didn't say another word. She only locked eyes with him, as they had done many times before, speaking directly to him and not speaking at all, and telling him she'd missed him too.

Ande had only been gone a little over a week, but in her brother's eyes she could see that she had made a mistake yesterday in going out with her friends all night instead of coming home and seeing her brother, even if it meant she would have gotten chewed out by aunt Bella. She'd never been the emotional type, but seeing the fear and panic in her brother had her worried.

"What's wrong?," she asked him impatiently.

"Uh...well...it's kinda complicated. Uh...we-"

"Look, just spit it out!," she was really starting to worry now.

"I think it'd probably be best if you saw for yourself," he stated, breaking eye contact with his sister.

She'd never known her brother to be this nervous about telling her something she needed to know. "Where do I look?," she asked, resigning in her effort to retrieve the information from her brother.

Back at the office, Megan was coming up to him in the break room with a piece of paper to show him. She paused, hesitant on handing it to him, but he grabbed it to read it over. And then he saw it, his name in the space that read "father". Oh man, he thought as he re-read it just to be sure he wasn't imagining it.

"There's something else you should know," she said, interrupting his line of thought. "Bella Masterson, the aunt, the hospital just called..." she paused, trying to give him time to absorb everything, "she just died in surgery."

After a long pause she continued, "You think you're ready for this?" He knew she was aware of his current state of shock, but he didn't really care.

"I guess I have to be, don't I?," he answered while picking up his jacket as he stood to leave, suddenly very confident in what he had to do.

On his way out he noticed that someone was arguing with a surprisingly shock-stricken David and Colby. He couldn't tell what was so shocking, until he got closer and saw who it was they were arguing with. Now he understood the shock.

"What's wrong with you two?! You look like you're seeing a ghost or something," Ande said provokingly. She knew she was probably just taking out her anger over her aunt and brother on them, but she didn't really care. She'd always been the one with the temper, so she'd gotten used to pissing people off, even getting a kick out of it most of the time. But the staring she didn't like one bit, "OK, seriously what is so freaking fascinating? Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to stare at people?"

"Sorry, it's just-," Colby started.

"Just what? Just so fun, cool, what?," she retorted.

"Uncanny," David finished Colby's earlier sentence.

"What? That me and my brother look alike?," she was starting to get pissed when the reason was that she looked like her brother. The word "duh" came immediately to mind. She'd had enough so she started to leave, "It's not that unusual for brothers and sisters to look alike ya know! Espe-," she stopped mid-sentence when she turned only to find what seemed like merely an older-looking Alex.

Twins, Don thought as he caught the end of the conversation and then stared into a face almost identical to the one he'd learned to be his son's.