Okay, so this is a LONG chapter, simply because I knew where I wanted to end it, and wasn't going to stop before I got there.
Disclaimer: *snorts* Please!
Don was playing solitaire on the laptop, since there really wasn't anything else he could do until the team came to talk to him. He had just lost his fourth game since his concentration was off when he heard movement on the bed.
"Don?" Charlie mumbled.
Don closed the laptop and moved closer to the bed. "You really awake this time?"
Charlie started to reach his right arm up to rub his eyes, then winced, and used his left arm instead. "What do you mean?"
"You've been in and out of it a lot today," Don told him softly.
Charlie looked at his brother and smiled. "You didn't have to stay with me, you know."
Don smirked. "That's the third time you've told me that. The first few were a bit more mumbled, though," he joked.
Charlie made a face and tried to sit up, but fell back with a groan. Don was there in an instant. "Lay back, Chuck. You got pretty hurt."
The professor scoffed. "I know, trust me," he said with darkened eyes. "What happened? I don't remember much after you and Colby untied me."
"That's not surprising, you had a good sized lump on your head. We got you out of the cabin while some of NCIS and half of the DC FBI force took on the rest of the guards those bastards had on you."
Charlie flinched at the reminder. "What happened to Asaf?"
"Asaf Sayar? He was killed at the cabin. He tried to take on Ian, and you know how he doesn't appreciate people pointing a gun in his general direction," Don said with a forced smile, trying to lighten the mood.
Charlie wasn't paying attention to that, though. "What about Dad?"
Don sighed. He wished that he could talk to their father, at least to let him know that Charlie was alright, but he couldn't. He gave the message to Wright to give to him, but he'd have to wait a while before talking to him. "He's fine. You got the message to us just in time for the AD to send a team to the house and caught the two who tried to grab him. Wright has dad in a safe house for now until we're sure he's safe." He remembered telling him this a few times already, but the doctors had warned him to expect some short term memory problems until they weaned the meds down a notch.
Charlie nodded, though his mind was clearly elsewhere. Don noticed.
"What is it, Charlie?" he asked quietly. He didn't want to baby his brother, but he'd spent his whole life, especially the last four years doing everything to protect him, and it was hard to break habits.
Charlie picked at invisible lint on the bed. "It's nothing," he mumbled.
Don just raised a brow and waited. Charlie looked up and met his gaze, then dropped it again. "Don't pull that with me, Chuck. You never could lie to me."
Charlie attempted a glare, but it fell flat, and Don saw the emotional turmoil in his brother's eyes. He continued to wait, until finally Charlie opened his mouth. "Is it bad that I'm happy?"
Don didn't need to ask what he meant. "You're relieved that Sayar is dead?" he said just to clarify. When Charlie merely nodded he reached out and squeezed his brother's hand. "Charlie, that man beat you, or allowed others to do so, he clearly mentally tortured you. He kept you hidden away from everyone else, and asked God knows what from you that your morals do not allow you to do. It is understandable for you to feel nothing but gratitude."
Charlie discreetly wiped his eyes dry. "When can we do the debriefing?" he asked gruffly.
Don was a bit surprised by the change in topic, but took it in stride. "That's up to you. Whenever you think you're ready, that's fine. I think everyone would understand if you wanted to wait a few days."
Charlie shook his head rapidly, then moaned and rubbed it. "I'd rather get it over with quickly," he said honestly. He just wanted to put everything behind him.
His older brother just nodded. He was a bit surprised, but not as much as he would have been a year ago. "That's fine. Ziva said that some of the team would be by around 4 to fill me in and that's when the changing of the guards happens."
"The guards?" Charlie asked, ignoring the pain and sitting up.
Don tried to get him to lie back down, but knew it was useless. "Yeah, we have a 24 hour guard on the room. Megan and Colby took last night, and Ziva and McGee are out there right now. I'm not sure who's taking over later."
Charlie shook his head again. "No, Don. No guards."
Don stared at him. "What the hell do you mean, no guards?" he demanded.
"No one is going to get hurt because of me, I won't let them," Charlie said adamantly. "These people are serious, and I don't want anyone else to get injured by them to get to me."
Don sighed. "Look, Charlie, we can handle anyone who tries to come through that door, I promise you. Everyone is here because we want to be. From what I've gathered, everyone is doing shifts: guarding you, sleeping, and working the case."
The machines started going crazy as Charlie's breathing got erratic, as did his heartbeat. "No, Don. Someone is going to get hurt. You don't understand!" Then he remembered part of what they had wanted from him just as the door burst open and nurses came rushing in. He ignored them as he saw Ziva and Tim looking in with concern. "Ziva, they want your father's security detail. Get him to change it!"
Don was trying really hard now to push Charlie back down as the nurses worked to sedate him. He had never seen his brother this scared before, and it terrified him. "Charlie, calm down. I'll tell Ziva to talk with her father, but you need to relax, alright?"
Charlie kept fighting him, though, until the nurse injected something into his IV, and he sagged back down almost immediately. The nurses checked all the machines one last time and glared at Don for getting the patient agitated, then left. Charlie looked back up at his brother with tears in his eyes. "No guards, Donnie," he said before his eyes slid closed and he fell back asleep.
Don sat hard in his chair, holding his head in his hands. He hadn't meant to get his brother so upset; if anything, he'd wanted to reassure his brother that he was safe here. Whatever they threatened him with must have been pretty bad.
Ziva knocked on the door and poked her head in. "Don, may I speak with you for a moment?" she whispered.
Don waved her inside the room. "He's out, he won't wake up for a while," he told her, voice at normal volume.
She walked in and closed the door. "What was that he was yelling?" she asked, her face a bit whiter than usual. "I could not hear him well over the machines."
Don sighed. "He said to tell your father to change his security detail. Apparently that was one thing that the kidnappers were wanting Charlie to look up for them."
Ziva never would consider herself close to her father, but she knew that she needed to tell him. She tried to smile, but it came out more as a grimace. "Thank you, Don. I will call him," she said and left, presumably to find a landline, which were more secure than many cell phones.
Don looked back down at his brother, whose face still wasn't peaceful. He rubbed his face slightly. "What am I going to do with you?" he whispered to his brother's limp form.
Gibbs stared at the agents in front of him. "How did you get that suspect transferred to my office?" he demanded.
Ian grinned dangerously. "Don't ask. Safer that way," Ian said shortly.
Gibbs sighed. This agent was scarily similar to him. "Alright, what else do we have?"
They were in Ian's office again, and it was filled to capacity. Ian, David, Megan, Colby, Gibbs, Tony, and Fornell were all packed in. Saks had wanted to join them, but Fornell had asked him to stay with Makin.
"Okay, first thing is to look at schedules," Fornell said. "Gibbs, DiNozzo, you should escort Makin back to NCIS and get him processed. Reeves and Granger, you need to get some rest, as neither of you have slept." The two immediately started to argue, but he spoke over them. "Get a couple hours at that hotel room you go back to and rest for a couple hours. We have time before we have to go to the airport," he reminded them. "We'll send Ziva and McGee to get some rest as well. Ian, you and I have a few things that we need to talk about, since this is still my turf, I need to know what you guys have found."
David cut in. "Then I'll head to the hospital and brief Don, Ziva, and McGee."
Megan looked less than pleased with the plan. "What happened to staying in pairs?" she demanded. "We know that it isn't safe for us to be alone."
"Actually, it might be better," Gibbs said. "Throws anyone off our track if we seem a bit less worried than before. Plus, he's going to meet up with the other agents, he'll be fine."
Megan wasn't ready to give up without a fight. "If Ziva and Tim are going to be relieved, then we need another person to guard. I'm not going to ask Don to leave Charlie, and there's no way David is going to handle guard on his own."
Colby agreed. "She's right. David's good, but we need someone to stay at the door, and another person to make the rounds."
Gibbs nodded reluctantly, and Fornell shrugged. "What about the agent that you guys used to take the laptop to Don earlier?"
Ian thought about it. "That seems fair. We'd have to check with Lake, see if it was alright." He remembered Terry from the sniper case a few years before, and he doubted she would have a problem lending an agent to help for a few hours. "We'll use him until 7, then what about Colby and Fornell taking over guard so the rest of us can get to the airport?"
Colby didn't look happy about not being a part of the action at Regan, but he nodded. "Sounds fair."
"Right, then get a hold of Lake, get that agent again," Gibbs said, leaning heavily on his cane. He'd been walking a lot that day, and his stitches were starting to pull a bit, but everyone knew better than to comment on it.
David was the one that went up to see Terry, and she readily agreed to let Agent Pickering help them out for a few hours. It was only 3, so he would only be used for 4 hours. David was confused when Pickering seemed excited to help them out.
"He's new," Terry said with an eye roll when David asked her about it. "He's only been on my team for a few months, and he's always excited to do anything that doesn't involve paperwork."
David chuckled and walked with Pickering out to his car. He saw Megan and Colby headed to another car, and was pleased that they were going to get some rest. It had been a long day, night, and day again for the two of them, and they needed some rest, since coffee only worked for so long. They'd have to thank Charlie for the use of his hotel room, as nearly everyone had either used it to shower or sleep during the case.
They got to the hospital rather quickly, since it wasn't rush hour just yet, and made their way up to Charlie's room, seeing Ziva standing guard, and McGee was walking the halls, keeping his eyes and ears open for anything strange. He just nodded at them, having seen Pickering once already that day, and kept walking.
David greeted Ziva with a smile, and invited her inside, motioning the rookie to take her spot. Pickering looked confused, and David pulled him aside, explaining that while they appreciated his help with guard duty, he wasn't read into the case, and wouldn't be, so they needed to be alone for now. Ziva would fill in McGee later, but David would be the one to catch Ziva and Don up with the case so far. Pickering looked disappointed, but David shrugged it off, assuming that it was just an agent wanting to be let in on the latest crime.
Ziva and David walked into the room quietly, but Don waved them in. "He's still out from earlier," he said, directing it at Ziva.
David looked concerned. "What happened?"
Don looked down, frustrated. "He wasn't happy to have guards, he's worried about them getting hurt trying to protect him. Worked himself into such a state that the nurses had to sedate him."
David sighed. He should have known that the mathematician would react like that. He and Ziva took a seat and David quietly told them what had happened over the past two days with the case, and they had nearly identical reactions to Hadar: rage. Ziva stood and started pacing, and Don was clenching and unclenching his fists. David went ahead and told them the rest, which took nearly half an hour. He told Don that he would have something for him to do once they had the two suspects from LA.
Don stared at his agent. "Wow, I've missed quite a bit."
David gave him a grin. "Well, I think you're right where you need to be. Charlie needs you right now."
"He wants to be debriefed as soon as he can," Don told him. "I think he wants to try and put it behind him. He also knows how much we need his statement." A sudden scratching noise made him sit up. "Did you hear that?" he demanded.
Ziva and David exchanged a look. "Hear what?" Ziva asked.
Don stood up and went to the door and poked his head out, but McGee was just walking back, and Pickering was two feet from the door. The agent gave him a strange look, but Don just shook his head and went back to his seat. "Nothing, I thought I heard something. What is Pickering doing here again?"
"He's only here until 7," David reassured him. "Megan and Colby needed some rest, and everyone else had something to do, so we asked Terry if we could borrow him so that we could send Ziva and McGee home to rest before the flight gets here."
Don nodded. His hinky alarm was sending out a chime, but he ignored it. It was probably nothing. "Alright, you can head out if you want," he said to Ziva. "I think we've got it under control."
Ziva stood. "Thank you, Don. I talked with my father, and he has already changed his entire security detail for the next month, so reassure your brother that he is safe, and I am grateful for his advice."
Don gave her a small smile, and she left, likely grabbing McGee on her way out so that she could fill him in on everything she learned. Don waited until she closed the door, and turned to Don, speaking quietly. "Look, I have a bad feeling about something," he admitted. "I want you to be the one making the rounds, sound okay?"
David searched his boss' face. "You don't trust Pickering?" he asked quietly.
Don shrugged. "I don't know, I could be jumping at shadows, but I don't want to risk Charlie's safety, even if I am being paranoid. You cover the halls, make sure I'm not being paranoid .That way, anyone still has to go through me to get to him," he said, jerking his head at Charlie.
David clapped him on the shoulder. "We've all learned to trust your instincts. I'll keep Pickering at the door and do the rounds myself. Colby and Fornell are taking over at 7."
Don just nodded and let him walk outside and took his place once again by his brother.
David checked his watch as he went on his final round through the halls. It was 6:30, and he was catching Don's nerves. Something was wrong, he just wasn't sure of what it was. He just couldn't wait until Colby and Fornell got there to take over; he wanted to be out there doing something.
Charlie had woken up a few times, but David had told him they would get his statement the next day so that he could get a bit more rest. He clearly hadn't been happy about it, but didn't want to push. He really was tired and sore, which they all knew.
David reached the dead end of the hallway and double checked the storage room for something new and turned to head back when something hit his head, and all he felt was blinding pain before he blacked out.
Don was relaxing and trying not to fall asleep when there was a knock on the door. He knew that Charlie might wake up if he was too loud, so he got up to answer it, and saw Pickering standing there with two cups of coffee.
"Agent?" Don asked, unsure if he should get upset. He didn't want to think that the agent was stupid enough to leave his post, but was curious.
"Agent Sinclair brought them back, said this was for you," Pickering said with a grin, handing one to Don. "He said that it tastes a bit off, but that's hospital coffee for you."
"Tell me about it," Don said taking a sip. It did seem off, but he shrugged. It was hot coffee, and that was enough for him. "Thank him for me," he said, turning around to sit back down, when he started to get a bit dizzy. Thinking that he was just a bit tired – which he was – he took another gulp, then cursed as realization hit. He dropped the coffee and spun around.
"Something wrong, Agent Eppes?" Pickering asked with a sneer.
Don reached up and touched his lips, which were now numb. "What… you… David…" he forced out.
"Agent Sinclair?" Pickering said, taunting. "He's alive, though he'll have one hell of a headache soon. I should have done this earlier, but it took a while for me to bribe the nurse to bring me up two cups of coffee so that I could slip you those." Seeing the look on Don's face, he chuckled. "Don't worry, you won't die. I don't like to kill if I can help it. I was only paid to kill one person tonight." He picked up a pillow and moved towards Charlie's bed.
Am I mean, or what? Hehe, I'm a jerk, I know it. I couldn't stop hurting Charlie just yet, the opportunites are endless! As always, let me know what you think!
