A Name on A List—

Words swirled around him – "Traitor … Bastard … You were my friend …" Megan's white face, David with a wet cheek, Don with nothing to say at all.

Colby woke at home, in bed, and breathed a sigh of relief. He turned on his side and put his arm over Charlie's back. He buried his face in Charlie's hair, inhaling the familiar smell of soap and chalk, enjoying the familiar soft snores. Charlie stirred and turned over, blinking at him.

"Something wrong?" Charlie asked.

Colby shook his head, pulling Charlie close. "Just had a bad dream. Something stupid about being a double agent. I lost you and Nena, lost everyone I ever cared for, lost everything. Stupid, huh?"

But Charlie didn't smile, didn't reassure him. He looked at Colby and his brown eyes were pits of fear, despair. "It wasn't a dream. It's true."

"Just a nightmare …" Colby gasped. His skin felt tight, stretching across his face. His heart was a lead demon, battering wildly against his ribs.

"You're a good man, Cole." Charlie whispered. "I really believe that." Charlie was moving away from him, faster and faster. "I will always believe that."

"Angel!" Colby screamed.

Colby's arms were empty and he was in an interrogation room. Don, Megan and David's anger and disappointment pounded on his face like a hot wave, blackening and peeling back his skin to reveal rotten meat underneath.

"No!" he tried to say, to explain, to turn the anger aside, but he couldn't speak. His lips cracked and bled and curled into ash. No, he pleaded silently. Please …

Colby opened his eyes and wiped salt tracks from his cheeks. Sighing, he rubbed the place on his finger where he'd once worn a ring and stared up at the ceiling of his jail cell.