Alrighty, yet another update. This story is pouring out of me almost quicker than I can type it. I hope you are all enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it.

Disclaimer: They gave me the rights to Numb3rs, then I tortured Charlie and got them taken away :-)

Ian parked his car and walked into the FBI lobby with David. He hadn't filled in the other agent in on anything yet, not trusting that his car hadn't been bugged, since it was unattended at the scene overnight, as well as the entire time he'd been at the hospital.

They saw Gibbs and Tony talking over in a corner and made their way over to them. "Gibbs, follow me," Ian said shortly.

Gibbs gave the agent a look, but nodded and followed him through the halls. He wondered where they were going, but they stopped at a small room that looked as though it used to be a closet and had been converted to an office.

Ian let everyone in and closed the door, double checking that there were no cameras or recorders. He spent so much time in DC that he had asked for a small office to do his paperwork, which was the bane of his existence. Being as paranoid as he was, he made sure that any modifications that were made in his absence would be clear, and he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, as dust covered nearly every inch. Perfect.

"Look, I know that I'm probably being over cautious, but experience has taught me it's important."

Gibbs just shrugged. "What have you got?" he asked.

Ian leaned against the corner of his desk. "I don't know if you have gotten any information about the interviews with the suspects yet…"

"Actually," Tony said, picking up on what Edgerton was saying. "I spoke with a few of the agents. Apparently the two suspects that flew back to LA to kidnap the father of the Eppes brothers were the two others who were mostly involved in the kidnappings. So far, eight of the suspects have said as much."

"That makes sense, trying to seem as innocent as possible in all of this," Ian muttered. "All the same, I'll put a call in to Wright, see if I can find out what they're saying. Until the professor is out of surgery and awake, we don't have any positive IDs on the main players in this." He sighed. "I did a little digging myself. One of the crews from the cleanup squad at both the house and the cabin they were keeping the professor called me about some papers they found. There was one name that popped up immediately for both of us. Hadar Bray."

David's jaw dropped. "Are you sure about that?" he asked.

Tony glanced at Gibbs, who looked as confused as he felt. "Are we supposed to know that name?" he asked.

Ian chuckled darkly. "I understand if you don't, but Fornell would. Hadar Bray was just given the position of Section Chief. He's Fonell's boss."

Gibbs straightened. "When was he promoted? What do you know about him?"

Ian folded his arms. "His mother is American, his father was Palestinian and killed during the war: car bomb. Hadar has worked his way up the FBI ladder quickly. He was promoted less than two months ago."

Tony cursed under his breath. "What evidence was there at the scenes?"

"Other than the main kidnapper Asaf Sayar's phone having a 45 second call from Bray less than five minutes after Eppes called Fornell for backup on his way to the first scene?" Ian asked.

Gibbs thought hard. "Well, it's a start, but we're going to need more incriminating evidence before we try to take Bray down. I don't think we could even take this to Brown."

Ian shook his head. "Hell no. From what I hear, they're good friends; they go to the shooting range together nearly once a week. He would warn Bray before we could even make a move."

"So we're back to square one." Tony looked at the other three agents. "We need to talk to the suspects and find out what they know. If one of them has evidence against Bray, then we have something we can use."

"True, however we also have to keep a close eye on the suspect and make sure that no 'accident' happens to them before we can get them on tape," Ian pointed out.

"What if Bray isn't working alone?" Gibbs inquired. "We could lose everything by one person saying the wrong thing to the wrong person."

"What we need is to interrogate these people alone, without any other FBI interference. If they indict someone, then we move them as quickly and as quietly as we can to you guys at NCIS. I'm sorry, but I don't trust anyone here right now with this," David said. He was getting a bit nervous. This whole situation was getting pretty hot. What he wouldn't give for his own desk and a good old fashioned bank robbery right now.

Gibbs nodded. "Do you have enough pull that you can get everyone else away from the room we'll be using to talk to them?" he asked Ian.

Edgerton thought hard. "I'll do what I can. If nothing else, I can pull rank, since I'm a bit higher than some of the other jokers they'll have keeping an eye on you two. Plus it's getting late, and it'll be a changing of the guards, so to speak. We can use that to our advantage."

David broke in. "If worst comes to worst, we can always get Don in here. The victim's brother he might be, but he has run his own office, and is head of the Violent Crimes Squad in LA. That's plenty of pull right there. I'd rather not bring him in, though, if we can help it. At least, not yet."

Gibbs and Tony nodded. "Let's get to work."

Don checked his watch yet again. He was sure that the floor he'd been pacing was now worn down at least a few centimeters from the rest of the tile floor. It was now after midnight. Ian and David had left over four hours ago, and he hadn't heard a word from anyone since.

"Agent Eppes?" someone called.

Don spun his head around so fast that his neck cracked. He ignored it and ran over. "Is the surgery over?" he demanded.

The doctor nodded. "We repaired the damage to his leg. The bullet went through his femur, causing some damage, but we did what we could and put a cast on it. He's been moved to Recovery and you can see him shortly."

Don's legs buckled and he sat hard in a chair. "So he's okay?" he asked in a whisper.

The doctor was careful to keep his face neutral. "I wouldn't say he's completely out of the woods just yet. He is still dehydrated and malnourished. He is on IVs for both of those, as well as blood transfusions for what he lost. We have to regulate the amount of pain medication he can have, because of the concussion. I have hope that he will make it through the night. If he does, I will be much more optimistic."

Don started shaking slightly. He was hoping for better news, but he wasn't going to complain. "When can I see him?"

"I will have a nurse come out and show you to his room. I realize that as the victim of a violent crime, that you will need pictures and a file?"

Don was trying to think, but all he could think about what his brother. Colby seemed to realize that the doctor was waiting for something, and walked over.

"Agent Granger," he introduced himself. He looked worriedly at Don, who hadn't acknowledged his presence. "Was there something that I could help with?"

The doctor smiled slightly. "I was simply double checking that you would need photos and a file for Charles Eppes."

Colby nodded. "That's correct. Anything you have, we'll need in order to prosecute those responsible." He stuck out his hand. "Thank you doctor. Will Don be able to see Charlie tonight?"

The doctor nodded. "Only him, though. The rest of you will have to wait for regular visiting hours."

Don looked up, finally having better control over himself. He looked at his agent. "Do you think we should have a guard on the room?" he asked, thinking it over.

Colby didn't need to. "Yes, we do. He's a kidnap victim, only recently rescued. Megan and I will pull first shift until we can get some others from the DC force to help us."

The doctor frowned, but nodded. It had been a while since one of his patients had required a guard on the room, but these were the Feds. He wasn't about to cause trouble for them. "Well, like I said, I'll have a nurse come and get you when you can see Charles."

Don nodded a thank you, and buried his head in his hands. Colby clapped him on the shoulder and went over to the other agents. "Don's going to go and see him here shortly; I guess the surgery went alright."

"Can we see him?" McGee asked.

Colby shook his head. "Only Don until tomorrow at the earliest; immediate family and all that. Megan, I think you and I should pull first shift on guard duty for the room. It would make Charlie feel a bit safer to know we've got his back."

McGee interrupted. "I doubt the doctor would like that. Megan, forgive me, but you were just released from here a few hours ago yourself. You need rest, and you aren't going to get that here. I'll stay with Colby and you can take over in the morning."

Megan was about to release all of the anger in her and verbally lay into the man, but Colby laid a hand on her arm to stop her. He looked at the NCIS agent. "Thank you for the thought, McGee," he said softly. "However, Charlie is one of our team, and I think we need to be there for him tonight. But you can take over in the morning. Scouts honor."

McGee sighed. He had wanted to do something, but he also understood. Ziva, who had been silent through all of this, spoke up for the first time in hours. "McGee, maybe you could go and see Abby? I do not think she knows about anything that happened since yesterday."

McGee lightened slightly at the thought, but was still a bit disappointed. "That sounds like a plan. I'll see you in the morning. You want to catch a cab together, Ziva?" he asked with a small grin.

Ziva cracked a smile at that, as it was the last thing he had asked Charlie. "That would be fine." She gave Megan one last look. "Please call if something happens to him tonight?"

Megan smiled. "Of course we will. And if you hear anything from Gibbs or Tony, will you let me know?"

Ziva nodded, and she and McGee stood. "We'll see you in a few hours."

As they left, Colby and Megan looked around. Fornell had been dozing in his chair for a while now, and Don was sitting in the same position since the doctor had left. Colby went to wake Fornell, and Megan went over to Don. She simply sat next to him and nudged him with her shoulder.

"They're hopeful, but can't give me a definite on if he'll make it through the night," Don mumbled. He was so tired. Not just physically, but emotionally as well.

Megan snorted, and Don looked up at her, curious. "Don, your brother made it through four days of being…" she was about to say tortured, but his eyes darkened at the implication, so she hurried on. "He made it through that, the fear for you and your father, the rescue, and two surgeries. All of that, and you are worried about a couple hours of him resting?"

Don chuckled slightly. "You have a point there." He sat up, and struggled to bring back Agent Eppes, rather than Big Brother Don, who had been in control for the last few hours. "Who's doing guard duty?"

"Colby and me," she answered. When she saw him open his mouth to object, she cut him off. "If you even imply that I can't handle a couple hours of watching over him with Colby right next to me, I swear I'm going to hurt you," she threatened, steel in her eyes.

Don raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, you can help with first watch. I'll call the DC office tomorrow to get some more people to take over for us later on."

Megan started to say something, but a nurse came in. "Agent Eppes? I can take you to your brother now."

Megan had never seen someone move that fast in her entire life. It was as though a man had been dying of thirst and had seen a bottle of water. She shared a smile with Colby, who had sent Fornell home, and they sat back and waited.

Don sprinted over to the nurse. "Okay, I'm ready," he said quickly.

The nurse, her nametag said Jane, smiled at him. "Calm down, agent. We discourage running here."

Don just looked at her and started walking.

Jane caught up with him. "Slow down there, sonny. You don't even know where you are going." She took the lead and lead him through the halls and through a door labeled Recovery. "I'm going to take a guess here and say that he's your younger brother?"

Don looked at her, but didn't break pace. "What makes you say that?"

Jane laughed. "I'm the youngest, and I have three older brothers. I know what it looks like, trust me." She stopped them outside of a room, and put a hand on his arm to keep him from going inside just yet. When he looked at her, she spoke gently. "The bruising has had more time to develop, along with the surgeries. It's going to look bad, but just remember that he's going to be fine," she said firmly.

Don swallowed, and nodded, then pushed the door open. His breath caught as he looked at his baby brother.

Charlie was lying on the bed with both feet elevated slightly. He couldn't see how long the casts were because of the blanket that was covering him, just as he couldn't see the bandages from the surgeries on his ribs and liver. But his face was another story. There were bruises covering nearly one entire side, and he knew that Charlie wouldn't be able to see out of one of his eyes for a while. There were quite a lot of tubes running through him, and machines that were hooked up. Some of them, Don recognized. Others he'd only seen on TV, and some he didn't know at all. He would ask someone later.

With a shaking hand, he pulled a cushioned chair close to the bedside and grabbed onto one of Charlie's hands, his thumb on the pulse point in the wrist. It was his way of making sure that his brother was still alive.

"It's good to see you, Buddy," he whispered. "Remember your promise to me. You have to wake up, even if it's only for a few minutes to say hi. I need you to wake up and talk to me."

Squee! I love being sappy sometimes, though I always love angst. I know that this is my longest chapter yet on this story, and I hope it wasn't too jumpy for you. There's just quite a bit happening in a couple places, and want to do well with both. If there is a plot or character that you feel I've neglected or forgotten about, feel free to let me know!

I looked it up, and Section Chief is right above SAC and right under Assistant Director, so that's the position I've used in this chapter. It is real, at least as real as the FBI's website tells me.