Summary: After a serious injury, Charlie's life takes a downward spiral that will slowly destroy it unless Don can help him in time.

Warnings: This story deals with minor drug abuse, although nothing illegal is done. If this bothers you, please don't read. There is also a lot of angst and one act of violence in this chapter.

Author's Note: This story started as a response to a challenge posted by D. Lerious to have one of the Eppes' become addicted to pain killers. I couldn't quite make it work, so this is what I got instead.

Author's Note 2: I am nervous about posting this because it deals with a sensitive topic that has not always been openly received. This story is a character study that deals more with Charlie battling his inner demons than drug abuse. I have done my research and tried my best to make this realistic.

Feedback: I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please don't flame me, though. I have warned you about the content.

Disclaimer: The characters you recognize belong to Cheryl Heuton and Nick Falacci. I am making no money from this.

Thanks to my beta Elise. This story was a challenge.

Inner Demons

Part 1/6

by Megan

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire.

-Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

"Charlie, whatever happens, I need you to promise me you'll stay in the car, all right?" Don wanted to make it clear to Charlie that he wasn't going to tolerate another 'consultant in the line of fire' incident. The memory of the sniper's attack was still too fresh in his mind. He still woke up in the middle of the night from nightmares that left him believing Charlie had been killed.

"I will. I have all the data I need so there's no reason for me to go anywhere," replied Charlie.

Charlie had been assisting Don with tracking the movements of a kidnapper. Three children had been taken in the past week and no one had seen anything. At least no one had until now.

An hour ago, a frantic mother had called and reported her child had been taken from a public park. There were witnesses this time, and as luck would have it, someone saw the man and child enter a condemned building minutes from the park. Charlie had been riding with Don when the call came in and there was no time for Don to do anything with Charlie except take him to the building.

"Suspect spotted on building main floor, west end. No sign of the child. Over," came the static-filled voice of a police officer over Don's radio.

"Nobody goes in until I get there, is that clear?" Don ordered. He'd worked too many kidnappings and knew things could go south quickly.

Don pulled up beside the LAPD cruisers and hopped out, gun drawn.

"Stay here, Charlie!" he ordered once again.

Charlie watched as his brother joined the group of officers. By Don's hand gestures, he knew he was giving out clear instructions as to how to enter and retrieve the girl, and any of the other kidnapped children if they were still alive. One by one, Don and all of the officers, except one, entered the building.

What happened next did so with such speed that Charlie didn't have time to process it. Someone shouted, followed by a flash of movement as the young child ran from the building. The officer that had remained on the outside moved quickly to intercept her, but not before Charlie saw the sun glint off what could only be a handgun poking out of one of the windows. It was aimed at the little girl.

With a speed born of terror, Charlie was out of the car and running before he even realized what he was doing. He was so certain he wasn't going to make it in time. Pushing hard with his legs, he jumped the remaining distance and grabbed the girl at the exact moment the crack of a gunshot, followed by another more muffled one, echoed off the neighbouring buildings.

He felt his body jerk, followed by a hard landing on his left side with the girl safely enveloped in his arms. His heart hammered wildly in his chest. He only thought of the scared little girl in his arms.

"Are you all right?"

Charlie couldn't see who had spoken, but knew it had to be the police officer. He felt the little girl being removed from his arms.

"Sir, are you all right?"

"I think..."

"Charlie!" Don's frantic voice called out. "Charlie! Are you okay?"

Charlie had taken a few deep breaths and was trying to ignore the numbness creeping down his left leg and into his lower back. He tried to keep his fear in check.

"I think I might have pulled something," he shakily answered.

Don quickly started visually assessing Charlie for injuries. Cold tendrils of fear had started seeping into him when he realized Charlie was making no move to get up. He dropped to his knees next to him. "Where are you hurt, Charlie?"

"I... I don't know. What happened?"

"It's all right, Charlie. Don't worry about that now." He had run his shaking hands through Charlie's hair looking for blood, and was working his way down his chest and back. "Is this hurting anywhere?"

"No." Charlie's voice was getting weaker. One of the officers behind him could be heard requesting an ambulance.

Don continued his search, and was completely unprepared for the howl of agony that escaped his brother when he pressed his hand into Charlie's left hip. Jerking his hand back as though he'd been burned, he felt panic starting to grip his mind.

"Oh god!" Charlie yelled, curling in on himself.

Don thought his heart was going to stop when he noticed the blood pooling underneath his brother. "Damn it! Where the hell's that ambulance!" he yelled. "Charlie, I have to roll you over and take a look, all right?" he stated with urgency.

Charlie shook his head no. He was in too much pain to try and form a response.

"I'll be as gentle as I can." He motioned for one of the other officers to help, and together they rolled his younger brother onto his back.

Charlie's face was ashen, and his eyes tightly shut. Don was vaguely aware of someone putting a rolled jacket under Charlie's legs. The wound was low on Charlie's left side, only inches above where his leg joined his body. Blood was steadily seeping out; staining the ground.

"This is gonna hurt, Buddy," Don said as he placed one hand on the other and pressed them both as hard as he could against the wound.

Thrashing, Charlie was so weakened from the loss of blood there was no way he could have dislodged Don's hands. Slowly, the fight drained out of him and his muscles slackened as he mercifully lost consciousness.

Feeling the moment Charlie went limp, Don was about to yell for the ambulance again when he heard the sirens, followed by the screeching of tires as it arrived and came to a stop.

He felt firm hands grasp his shoulders and pull him out of the way, but refused to move any further than was absolutely necessary. With a detached fascination, he watched as the paramedics cared for his brother. IV's were quickly started, a pressure dressing was applied to Charlie's hip, and he was on the back board and being rushed to the ambulance in no time at all.

"Don. Don, are you okay?" A distinctly feminine voice pierced the fog that was rolling into his mind. He tore his gaze from the retreating ambulance and locked onto the concerned face of his partner and friend, Terry Lake.

"What?"

"I asked if you were okay." She gestured to the blood staining his hands and clothes.

"Oh. It's... it's Charlie's," he quietly answered. The horror of the past few minutes hadn't caught up with him yet. He was surprised his voice was as steady as it was.

"There are other field agents on the scene now that can handle this. I'm driving you to the hospital."

Don looked one last time at the spot where Charlie had lain. All that remained was discarded medical equipment and scarlet blood.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Terry expertly pulled the SUV up to the emergency department beside the ambulance that had delivered Charlie. Don was out and running for the ER before Terry had come to a complete stop. She knew he hadn't heard when she told him that she was going to park the vehicle.

Don ran into the ER. Pulling out his badge, he stopped the first person wearing scrubs to enter his line of sight and demanded to know where Charlie had been taken. The startled young orderly had hesitantly pointed Don in the direction of the trauma rooms.

The chaos that was the ER didn't register with Don. Charlie was his only concern, and he was going to find him. Dodging people and medical equipment, Don heard yelling coming from a room at the end of the hall. Stepping up his pace even more, he sprinted to the double doors and peeked inside. He almost died at what he saw.

The naked form of his little brother burned itself into his mind. Charlie's bloodied clothes has been hastily cut off and shoved into a white plastic bag. There was a sheet pulled up to mid-thigh, providing no protection from prying eyes or the cold.

His pale complexion stood out in stark contrast against the blood covering the left side of the gurney and most of his lower body. With a jolt, Don realized Charlie's eyes were open. A sharp cry of pain was jerked from his little brother's throat when the doctor probed a tender area.

Not able to stand helplessly while his brother suffered, Don shoved open the doors. Five startled pairs of eyes, and one confused pair, locked onto him. Before he could reach Charlie's side, a rather large nurse blocked his path.

"Sir, you can't be in here," she forcefully stated.

"Like hell I can't. That's my brother!" he emphatically stated. No one was going to take him from Charlie's side again.

The nurse was about to physically remove him from the room when Charlie softly called his name.

"Charlie, I'm here," he responded.

"It's all right," the doctor told the nurse.

Don was immediately at Charlie's side, gently taking his hand. Tears pricked at his eyes as he took in Charlie's frightened expression. He'd give anything to take away the pain his brother was feeling.

"It hurts," Charlie breathed.

"I know, Buddy. I know."

"You said you're his brother?" the doctor addressed him.

"That's right."

"Does he have any allergies or medical conditions?"

"No, none."

The doctor had applied a dressing to Charlie's hip, and was pulling off his gloves. One of the nurses pulled the sheet up to his brother's chest and removed the brakes from the gurney, preparing to move Charlie.

"Your brother is going up to surgery now to have the bullet removed. The waiting room is on the fifth floor, south end. It'll be a while."

"Charlie?" Don squeezed his hand to get his attention. "They're taking you up to surgery now. I'll be waiting for you when you come out, okay?"

"Don... sorry." His brother's eyes slipped closed as he once again lost consciousness and was swiftly taken from the room.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

TBC

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