Want to send out a big thanks to my beta's, Susan and Lee Ann. For finding all my mistakes and pointing out the good stuff ;-)

Charlie sat next to the pond, absentmindedly-tossing food to the koi. It was awkward using his left hand, but the thick bandages on his right hand made it impossible to use. He sighed and stared down at the hand in his lap. He had no idea what he'd done yesterday, which only gave him something else to worry about. When Don left earlier, Charlie had remained on the couch, just staring at the front door. He knew Terry was worried about him, but he didn't have time for her concerns. All he was thinking about was his father and brother. She'd come in to check on him and asked if he wanted lunch, as if he could keep anything down with his stomach in knots. He'd finally escaped into the backyard and to the koi. Charlie knew Don would get their father back, but in what condition? Would Sergie beat him? Break his leg or worse? Charlie shuddered at all the possible things Sergie could do.

Before working with Don Charlie would never have thought of all the possible ways one person could hurt another. It wasn't that he was naïve and believed the world was a perfect place; it was just that Don's world was much darker than his life as a professor. Charlie sighed again and tried not to worry. He laughed bitterly, knowing that was never going to happen.

"Charles."

Charlie jumped when Larry called is name. He'd never even heard Larry approach. His mentor sat next to him, but Charlie hunched his shoulders and refused to look at him, refused to acknowledge his presence.

"Charles," Larry called, touching his shoulder. "We need to talk."

"I'm not really in the mood."

"Agent Lake tells me you've been sitting out here for hours."

Charlie shrugged and threw more food to the koi. Their scales flashed in the sun as they raced for the pellets.

"Charles, look at me," Larry insisted. When Charlie turned, Larry wasn't surprised by the dark circles under his eyes. What did startle him was the haunted look in Charlie's dark eyes. "Do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"No, "Charlie admitted. "I asked Terry but she wouldn't tell me. She said it could wait."

"I don't believe that's wise," Larry said, rubbing his chin. "Without all the data you can't understand what's going on."

"I've been trying to remember," Charlie shook his head in frustration. "But it's like there's a blank wall."

"There's no easy way to do this," Larry said as he pulled a paper from under his arm. "Maybe this is the best way."

Charlie reached for the paper with his right hand and winced. He dropped his hand back into his lap and took the paper with his left. When he saw the picture he gasped. It showed him holding Amita in a chokehold. Since the picture was in color Charlie had no trouble seeing the blood on Amita's white shirt. The headline told it all "Popular professor drugged on Campus".

"What the hell?" Charlie yelled and unconsciously used his right hand to try to flip through the pages. He cried out in pain and frustration as he crumpled the paper with his left hand and threw it.

"Easy, Charles, I'll try to explain."

"Just tell me one thing," Charlie growled. "Is Amita all right?"

"Yes, she's fine," Larry assured him.

Charlie closed his eyes and slumped forward. "What happened?"

"You really don't remember anything?" Larry asked, and Charlie glared at him. "Okay, okay," Larry said, patting the air with his hands. "Sergie drugged you."

"How?" Charlie asked, confused. "I had classes all morning then went to lunch with you and Amita."

"You'll have to ask Don," Larry frowned. "I'm guessing it was in your juice."

"What was the drug?"

"Ketamine."

"Special K," Charlie laughed bitterly. "A party drug."

"Also used as an anesthetic," Larry added. "Mostly used by veterinarians because of the side effects to humans."

"I guess one of the effects is to go postal."

"Severe hallucinations, great strength and an out of body experience," Larry explained.

"Like when you die," Charlie said with a hitch on his throat.

"Yes." Larry watched as Charlie wrapped his arms around his body and doubled over. "Charles?"

"God, I thought that was a dream. It was horrible."

"It wasn't real, Charles."

"Easy for you to say," Charles said softly.

"That was stupid to say," Larry said, shaking his head. "Of course to you it was real."

"What else?" Charlie demanded. "How did I hurt myself?"

"The juice bottle was glass," Larry explained. "You broke it then grabbed Amita and held it against her neck."

"What?" Charlie exclaimed.

"Maybe that wasn't the best way to explain," Larry said as he watched Charlie get to his feet and start pacing. "She's all right, Charles."

"You're sure?" Charlie asked, stopping and looking down at Larry.

"Yes, of course," Larry said, standing and grabbing Charlie's arm. "But you can ask her yourself. She's inside."

Charlie turned towards the house and stared. He couldn't do this, not now. Charlie walked away from Larry and headed for the garage.

"That didn't go quite the way I planned," Larry said, steepling his hands and tapping his chin.

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Don drove his SUV in silence along the 134 freeway. The hum of the cars passing at high speed did little to calm him down. The past two days had been an emotional whirlwind. Normally he could keep things under control but Sergie sure knew how to push all his buttons. Drugging Charlie had been bad enough, but kidnapping his father had been the straw that broke the camel's back. He'd never wanted so badly to kill someone in his life. The Bureau would question the shooting of the suspect, but with Agent Edgerton taking the credit for the kill Don knew there was nothing to worry about. Don glanced over at his father and he could see Alan was trying to put on a brave face and was failing miserably. While they had waited for someone to stitch the cut over Alan's eye Don had explained what happened to Charlie. His dad had been pretty shaken when Don had finished and he knew it would take awhile before his family was back to normal. Alan turned to Don and frowned.

"You're sure Charlie's all right?"

"It's going to take some time, but he'll be fine."

"You said his right hand was cut pretty bad."

"It was," Don said. "He has to go back to the hospital tomorrow and get it checked out."

"And the dreams?"

"Not going to lie to you dad, they were bad," Don sighed. "Might take Charlie awhile to get over those."

"Is there someone in the department he can talk to?" Alan asked.

"Sure," Don answered reluctantly. "But I won't push it. I think if he just talks to us he'll be fine."

"Your mother was the one Charlie talked to, not us."

Don knew his father was right, but he wouldn't push Charlie into talking to the department shrink unless he asked. Maybe he could talk to Terry. Don would have to see if she was willing to help.

Twenty minutes later Don was pulling into the driveway. He got out of the car and walked around to meet his father. Alan put his arm around his son's shoulder and walked with him into the house. As they stepped into the living room Terry came out of the kitchen to greet them.

"How'd it go?" Terry asked.

"We'll talk later," Don said.

Terry nodded and turned to Alan. "It's good to have you back, Mr. Eppes."

"It's good to be back," Alan smiled. "Where's Charlie."

"He's outside sitting by the pond."

Alan excused himself and made his way through the dining room to the French doors and outside. Don glanced at Terry and saw her biting her lower lip.

"What's wrong?"

"He's been out there since you left," Terry said, looking at Don. "He hasn't eaten anything all day and…"

"And what?" Don demanded when Terry hesitated.

"Larry stopped by," she explained as she stepped away from Don. "He brought this to Charlie."

Don took the paper and saw the picture. "He knows?"

"Yeah, Larry told him what happened to him."

"And?"

"And nothing," Terry sighed frustrated. "Amita was also here but when Larry told him Charlie disappeared into the garage. He came back out after they left."

"Damn!"

"Larry feels bad but he thought Charlie should know," Terry explained. "He said Charlie just couldn't handle seeing Amita."

"I bet," Don said sarcastically.

"Don't be mad at Larry. Charlie needed to know."

"I know," Don nodded.

Terry watched as Don walked towards the doors to the back yard. He didn't go out and just watched from the window. Terry joined him and saw Alan was standing a few feet from Charlie.

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Alan exited the house and walked towards the pond. Charlie had the lights off, but Alan knew where everything was. The moon was full and he could see Charlie sitting next to the pond watching the koi. Alan didn't say anything as he watched his younger son. It was odd for Alan to see Charlie sitting so quietly. Ever since Charlie had learned to walk he'd been in constant motion, always wanting to know how things worked and why, sometimes taxing the ability of his father to answer every question. Alan closed the distance and Charlie still hadn't turned to greet him. Sitting down next to Charlie took a little effort; sitting crossed legged was for younger, more flexible bodies. Now that he was closer, Alan could see the heavy bandages wrapped around Charlie's right hand. His youngest didn't seem to feel like talking, and that was okay with Alan. He just put his arm around his shoulder and waited. Charlie finally turned to him and Alan was caught by Charlie's eyes, eyes that were so much like his mother's. Charlie threw his arms around his father and Alan was surprised by the strength of his grip. Alan hugged his youngest son as he kissed the top of his head.

Terry smiled as she watched Don approach his brother and father. Don knelt down and put his arms around them. No words were exchanged, there wasn't any need for them. Terry stepped away from the window and gave the family some privacy. She knew it would take time but together they could get through this.

Epilogue

Don sat up and looked around the room. He wasn't sure what had pulled him from sleep so he sat and listened. His patience was rewarded when he heard the floorboards in the hall squeak. Don sighed and figured Charlie must be awake. His brother had seemed better after coming inside and calling Amita. Don had been surprised when his father had gotten Charlie to talk to her. The conversation was awkward but at least they had talked. Don knew he better go check on Charlie, threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. Don couldn't find his robe in the dark and walked out of his room in his pajama bottoms only. The hall was dark, but he could see a curly-headed silhouette standing by the door to his father's room. Don tried to walk down the hall without scaring Charlie, but the boards squeaked and Charlie turned, startled.

"It's okay, buddy."

"What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Don watched Charlie shrug and knew that was all he was going to get. At least the dreams didn't have Charlie screaming himself awake like last night.

"Come on," Don said quietly. "Let's go raid the fridge." Charlie didn't follow and turned back to look at the door to their father's room. "He's really in there, Charlie."

"I know, it's just…"

"You had to make sure for yourself," Don nodded. "Well go on, then we'll go raid the fridge."

Don watched as Charlie quietly opened the door and peeked inside. He watched for a few minutes then closed the door and turned to his older brother and followed him downstairs. Don turned on the lights to the dinning room and made his way to the kitchen.

"So what do you want?" Don asked, opening the fridge and peering inside.

"Don't think I could keep anything down," Charlie admitted.

"I know something."

Charlie watched as Don closed the door and opened the freezer. He pulled out the ice cream and placed it on the counter. Charlie smiled and grabbed two bowls out of the cupboard. Don scooped out generous portions before replacing the ice cream in the freezer. Charlie took the bowl Don handed him and followed him to the living room. They sat on the coach and Don grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. While Don flipped through the channels Charlie ate his ice cream.

"Don?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Don turned to his brother and smiled. He looked back at the TV to see an old baseball movie on.

"The Lou Gherig story," Charlie said.

"This is great," Don said.

"Yeah it is," Charlie said as he ate his ice cream with a smile.

Don looked at his brother and wondered if Charlie was referring to the movie or something else. It really didn't matter.

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Alan grumbled and sat up in bed. The static from the TV downstairs had interrupted his sleep. He figured Charlie must have had some of those nightmares Don had mentioned and gone downstairs. Charlie would sometimes turn on the TV while he worked on equations and forget to turn it off. Alan pushed the covers back and swung his feet to the floor. He grabbed his robe and headed for the door. As he made his way to the living room he was surprised to see Don asleep sitting on the couch. His eldest had his head back against the pillow and was snoring softly. He was about to call and wake him when he heard a second snore. Walking closer he saw Charlie curled up on the couch with his head on Don's lap. Alan smiled as pulled the afghan off the rocker and covered Charlie. There was a smaller blanket hanging off the armchair and Alan carefully covered Don's upper body. Stepping back he stared down at his two sons. The past few days had been rough for all of them but Alan knew they would get through it together. As he made his way back to the stairs he stopped at the picture of his wife. He still missed her terribly but having his sons here made it bearable

"You'd be so proud," Alan said. "I know I am."