I looked back over the original chapters and found that I didn't like the original first section of this chapter. It gave the idea that the bad guy was far more aware of who Charlie was than he should have been which made the later explanation pointless and repetitive.

Mellissa Reynolds was watching the team. The professors and Alan all sat near the boards, listening carefully to the agents and the detective spoke. She watched as the professors said they would need a little more data, the agents passed over what they could find every chance they got, Ian and Don shared looks with Gary, and she simply stared. Walker and Don's team had to go over what they knew of Cornel's escape, his old associates, and his old habits; all of which seemed to play into what the professors were calculating.

"Alright," Walker muttered slowly as he digested what had been told to him. "You," he pointed at Marshal, Millie, and Larry as he spoke slowly, "have Sheila Rodriguez in your classes and school hence why you," he gestured towards Don, Ian, and the team, "are worried that if the house guest – whose voice and eyes seem very familiar to me – is there, in the open, Frank Cornel, the escaped con will take the opportunity?"

There were nods all around the room and Gary Walker felt himself sink into one of the chairs. He rubbed his temples and tried to think of a way to calm them all down but it was apparently a wasted effort. He sighed and shrugged at them all signaling he had no idea what to tell them. As glad as he was to hear the rumors of Sheila's move to CalSci were true, he wasn't completely sure he liked the idea of her housing someone Frank Cornel – whose work he'd seen – had his sights on killing. Of course, it didn't help that something about said house guest seemed familiar – though, when he tried to figure out why, the reason escaped him.

"Of course," Don stated as calmly as he could manage.

The case was beginning to rub him the wrong way; Sheila was bringing a lot of danger to the CalSci campus – which of course scared him because now his father was helping Millie, Larry, and Marshal look for how Cornel had gotten out of the jail house. Which of course the fact his father was on one of his cases made him twitch for so many other reasons but he wasn't going to go through with telling Alan that. He wasn't going to tell his father he didn't want him on the case partly because Alan was a city planner.

That was always helpful when trying to find a building's weak points right?

"Alright," Gary sighed. "You've made my life instantly more difficult than it needed to be this week." The professors smiled and let their shoulders rise and fall at the snarky comment that even Ian could tell was only partially serious.

Reynolds sat in a corner, her eyes watching them all closely, though they shone with confusion. It was expected she didn't understand what the hell was going through their heads at that moment since she hadn't been around long enough to do so but she could sense the slight ease of tension in their shoulders as they joked. She was tempted to start writing what she was seeing but she remained still. It had become apparent that at times with these people, it was best for her to simply sit and observe. She was finding she was getting more information about them that way than simply trying to explain that she knew all of their accomplishments and great deeds.

That she knew about the missing professor Charles Eppes, brother to Don Eppes, an agent and son to Alan Eppes, a 'mother hen' to rival all mother hens was something that would apparently have to wait to be told. Yes, she had heard the legends of the team she now sat with but she had heard the legends about the amazing professor of CalSci University's Math Department with far more interest than anything else. She had enjoyed hearing the tales of what was done to find criminals using mainly math. However, having transferred from a lower level of the Major Crimes Section of the FBI, she had only had the chance to meet Charlie in person once.

Her mind had been blown by one lecture and Charlie had been more than gracious when he'd met her at the dinner. She was still thanking her old boss for allowing her to be in the crowd of math and science geeks that was believed to have a math oriented hacker who had moved money out of multiple peoples' bank accounts while bouncing his signal off multiple signal lines. If he hadn't, she wouldn't have been able to meet the mathematician who'd narrowed the search down and given them a place to look.

Charlie had disappeared half a year later and it had hit the department hard when the cases started piling up on everyone's desks. She hadn't enjoyed it when the files began to tower over her head within the first week – wondering what was going on with the professor Eppes's consulting – when the first 8x10 fell before her. Of course, when there had been a call for fresh eyes to look at Charlie's case, she'd jumped on the chance only to be disappointed when she found the same thing everyone else before her had; nothing.

Then, the impossible happened. Ian Edgerton was called in on the Cornel case and suddenly, a door was opened and she was allowed to work it. Finding Cornel's old hideouts and contacts had been fun. She had impressed herself with finding the bar that was staked out and she was then tossed the name Carlos Valero which dragged in Lieutenant Gary Walker. As she watched, the greatest team she believed to exist began to grow and clamp down on the city again. Walker stating that the house guest sounded familiar to him only spurred her into the fire faster.

She wanted to see this case solved.

She believed that once this case was solved, something could be done on Charlie's case. That was almost too good to pass up so when her boss said she'd done enough work to actually be on the case, she'd snagged the chance – anything to swim with the big fish right?

"What do you guys think?" Nikki asked the group of professors. "Do you think he had a partner or more when he got out?"

"Actually…" Larry mumbled as he stared at the board skeptically. It was a strange expression to see on his face. "At this particular moment, I cannot conclude much of anything."

"Well, we have only gotten started so of course there's not much here yet," Millie countered casually as she waved her hands at the board.

"Right," Marshal stated as he stood. "I don't think it'll take us too long to find something," he added quickly, a small smile gracing his face. David and Colby looked at him gratefully.

"Take your time and get it right," Liz stated. "We want to catch this guy."

"Understood," Larry mumbled as he stared at the board. He grabbed a pad of paper and started to copy things down on it. He was in a zone that could not be reached. Alan was smiling at him as he helped Millie gather things up.

"I'll work on this as long as I have to though…unlike some people, I can't function without sleep," Marshal stated to Don. He sent a wry look at Alan who laughed.

"Charlie can't function without sleep either," the loving father stated happily. He gave a meaningful look at his other son. "No matter what he says right Don?"

Don scoffed and nodded, sending the same look back at his father. The agents chuckled too. Reynolds felt her stomach twist. The team was smiling – the team that lost so much within one night, was smiling and laughing. That had to be a good sign right? Reynolds wasn't completely superstitious but she did feel there were such things as good or bad feelings or signs. Charlie had been a touchy subject days ago and now they were able to talk about him? That had to be a good thing right? Even Ian seemed pleased.

So why was her stomach tying itself into knots?