Disclaimer: I do not own numb3rs.

Charlie rested on his haunches, the gun resting on his head. Marty was all smiles and shoved Tommy in the corner, who merely looked at Charlie accusingly. "Charlie!" Marty said, laughing, "That was great! You showed those coppers who was in charge! Incredible!"

Charlie's eyes turned dark, "Sure."

"What?" Marty said, his voice dripping with venom, "Second thoughts now? You're in this till the end. You held a gun at a police officer. Tell me that you learned enough from that tool of a brother that you're in big trouble."

"Whatever you say, Marty." charlie said, "I'm in it till the end."

Marty pointed to the ceiling and shot three times, "WOO! We're like cowboys! You and I, Charlie, You and I!"

Charlie placed his gun in the back of his pants and nodded, "What next?"

The phone rang again and Marty grinned, "You make some demands. Maybe we can get some clothes or something... a bandage for that head of yours. Sorry about that, by the way, but the end justifies the means."

Charlie walked over to the phone and Marty grinned, "Remember we're in this till the end, don't do anything stupid." At this point, Marty placed the gun at Charlie's head. Charlie shook some more and answered the phone, "h-hello?"

"Charlie, It's Don. How you holding up?"

"I'm scared, Don." Charlie said quickly.

Marty pointed the gun slightly infront of Charlie's feet and shot. Charlie jumped and screamed. "CHARLIE!" Yelled out Don's voice over the phone, "CHARLIE!"

Marty hissed in charlie's ear, "next bullet is yours."

"I'm here... I've... I've..." Charlie began to hyperventilate, "I've got some demands."

Don audibly sighed in relief, "Tell me if you're ok.'

"I'm ok."

"OK, listen Charlie, Here's out plan - "

"No." Charlie said, "I'm taking orders from everyone. and...and..." Charlie trailed off, looking at the blood on the floor, "Oh god, the blood is still here... I'm going to give some of the orders."

Don nodded and softly said, "Ok, Charlie, talk to me."

"chalkboards. I need my chalkboards, but if that's too hard, I'd like a pen and some paper. but if you get chalkboards, I need chalk." Charlie's voice was small.

"Do you need to write?" Don asked.

"My head is full."

"Ok, Charlie, but we need proof that Thomas is alright."

Charlie blinked and turned to Thomas, "Are you alright?"

Tommy nodded and Charlie said to Don, "he said he's alright."

"We need proof, Charlie, and we'll get you both out safely." Don replied.

Charlie turned to Marty, "he needs proof that Thomas is alive."

Marty yanked Tommy from the floor and dragged him towards the door. "Don't shoot, Don, it's marty and tommy. marty is armed."

Marty opened the door and marched Tommy out, gun in the banker's back. The FBI agents moved closer, guns still raised. Marty shot once into the crowd of feds and then kicked Tommy to the ground, before rushing into the bank. Charlie yelled into the phone, "DON! DON?"

"I'm here... what the fuck was that?" Don yelled.

"Are you ok? Did I get you shot?" Charlie demanded.

"No, Charlie. Bryant missed everyone. We're ok, and you're alone now."

Charlie had tears running down his face. Marty had placed the gun to Charlie's head again. Charlie croaked out, "Don. I want my demands met."

"OK, you gave us Tommy, we can get you what you want."

Marty yelled out, "Ask for a car out of here, NOW!"

"Charlie," Don said, "Take deep breaths. Don't let him scare you."

Charlie shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He paused, as if something occured to him. Charlie set the phone down, placing it on speaker. "No more demands, Marty."

Marty pointed the gun at Charlie's face, "big mistake. Big fuckin mistake."

Charlie took his gun out and pointed it at MArty,"You've got a six shooter and you have no more bullets."

Marty shifted feet, "Fuck you Charlie. Say goodbye to your brother now, you'll never see him again. I'm going to kill you."

"Charlie," Don's voice cracked over the speaker, "Don't do anything stupid."

"That man humiliates you, Charlie!" yelled Marty, "listen to me!"

"One at my feet." Charlie said, his voice icy and deadpan, "One at Don. three in the air, and one at..." charlie's voice cracked and he openly was crying. He yelled out, "AND ONE AT MARGERIE! You made me CARRY her dead body!"

"Hey, she killed herself Charlie!" marty said, knowing he was losing this battle, "come on, it's you and I till the end, Charlie."

"Don," Charlie said, "you've got five seconds to stop me. One... Two..."

On three, the feds were through the door and had Marty on the ground in handcuffs, screaming. Charlie stared straight ahead, still holding the gun as if Marty was in front of him. Don walked up to Charlie, "Hey... Hey buddy, It's me, Don. You're safe, you can put the gun down. You saved the day."

"I... I need a chalkboard." Charlie muttered, his eyes blank.

Don nodded, "Whatever you want, Charlie, it's over now. Put down the gun for me."

Charlie's arm dropped and Don took the gun, quickly passing it off to another fed. Don took Charlie into his arms and led him to the ambulance. Charlie sat down, letting the EMTs tend to his injuries. Charlie hadn't known that he had been bleeding from the pistol whip. Charlie suddenly heard Don's voice, and was shaken from his reverie, "Charlie! Look at me, please!"

Charlie turned his head towards Don, "You're here."

"Yeah, I am, and you're safe buddy."

Charlie reached out and fell into Don's arms, who comforted his little brother. Charlie cried out, "help me... I want to go home..."

"You gotta go to the hospital first. I'm going with you. Terry is picking up Larry and Dad."

"No." charlie said.

"Charlie, you need to get medical attention."

"Just give me a sedative... or something to forget... Marty was so confused. He wasn't bad. He wasn't all bad, Don."

"Marty was a murderer."
"Make it end. All of it, Don, can you do that for me?" Charlie muttered out.

Don shook his head, "It's over, Charlie, and you won."

Charlie had been going to therapy regularly. He had stopped teaching and consulting for the FBI. Majority of the time, Charlie performed basic tasks, and spoke basic sentences. He had a set routine. he would clean the house, check the mail, make lunch for him and alan, do the laundry, clean the dishes, and any other small tasks. when he wasnt doing these things, he sat in his room. His chalkboards were untouched. The FBI had given Charlie an award, but Charlie refused to recieve it publicly. It was only with Don's bidding that he accepted it at all. Don would come over for dinner daily. Today was no different, except this time, Charlie was by the koi pond. It was the first normal activity of Charlie's in weeks. Don sat beside Charlie, "Hey buddy."

Charlie responded by leaning his head on Don's shoulder. "bad day?" Don inquired.

"Alright Day." Charlie responded.

"How's dad?"

"He worries about me."

"I can see why. I heard you went to Margerie's grave today."

Charlie nodded and sat up, "yup."

"And?"

"and, I bumped into her daughter. She's a sweet girl, misses her mother." Charlie's voice cracked, "She thanked me."

"You're a hero."

"I don't feel like a hero."

"No one said you had to. Charlie, I think it's time you started to leave the house. I'm here to take you out to dinner."

Charlie shook his head no. "It'll happen again."

"You know that's not going to happen. Think of your statistics."

Charlie nodded, "I know, I just thought I could avoid it forever. How're your cases? Terry?"

Don smiled, "Ah, the subject change. Terry misses you, as does everyone else. In fact, they'd like to bring you back in, see how you're doing."

"I'm useless to them, Don."

"No, you're not. You just are dealing with a lot of trauma that happened in a short time frame. You'll get through it, and luckily for you, today is your day, so go grab anything you need."

Charlie looked disbelievingly at Don and then got up, sighing. "I'll be ready in a minute."

Don smiled and followed Charlie into the house. It would take time, but Charlie, in the end, trusted Don. Charlie would recover.

finis