A/N: I had alot of reviewers who wanted me to sell Charlie, and I haven't decided whether or not I am going to, but if so, I know to whom he'll be sold. As for the bad guy turning out to be good, I think, if I sell Charlie, I can use that basic idea, though I might twist it around around a little. I also ask that later on, you don't get mad, but I'm going to play with Charlie's emotions.(I love playing with my character's emotions!.)

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Chapter 5:

Bete Noire

Charlie fought off the evil thoughts that haunted him unfailingly. He now knew what his bete noire, his absolute worst nightmare, would be. If he was sold to Alex... he didn't know what he would do or what he could do.

The handcuffs continued to dig into his wrists, reopening the old wounds. He glanced upward at them and winced at the sight of his blood oozing from his wrists. He hated feeling so helpless and being at the mercy of Lexo and his friends.

His joints were very stiff and sore from laying down so long without excersizing at all and he wished knew how much time was left, actually he wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but that didn't stop him from wondering.

What confounded him the most, was why. Why did Lexo feel such hatred toward him and his brother, that he would do 'this'? His ponderings, however were interupted.

The door creaked open slowly and Charlie's head snapped over in that direction, staring at the door. Hoping, that somehow, it was Don. No such luck, for Lexo entered the room, smiling evilly, as usual.

"The price seems to have risen considerably," he announced, " 80 thousand dollars."

Charlie still couldn't believe he was serious. It was clear that Lexo was indeed intending on selling him. Tears started to form in his eyes as he realized he would probably never see his family, ever, again.

Lexo left soon after, leaving Charlie wondering what lay ahead for him.

The tears became relentless as he sobbed through the gag. He'd never teach again, never help Don solve crimes. He'd never get married or have kids. It was all too much to bear at one time and he ended up drifting off into a fitfull, restless sleep. One plagued with nightmares and they were all the same.

Charlie was shackled next to rows and rows of other people and an auctoneer, emotionlessly auctioning off people, one by one. He was last and the price seemed to rise and rise, until finally someone called out, "10 million dollars!"

"Going Once!" The auctoneer called out, and it was followed by silence, "Going Twice!" Again the silence repeated itself. "SOLD!"

Charlie strained to look at the man who had bought him, rising onto the tips of his toes to get a look from in the crowd. He raised his head and looked straight into the cold, heartless eyes of Alex.

"Nooooo!" He cried out desperatley but it was muffled and he was dragged away roughly from the crowd.

Charlie awoke abruptly in a cold sweat, his face covered in wet tears.

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"I put out a broadcast for Victor Nevence. If someone sees him, they'll call the hotline," David informed Don reassuringly.

"I'm gonna go see how my dad's holding up," Don said, "Keep me posted," he picked himself up off his chair and walked quickly out of the room before anyone could see the single tear drifting down his face.

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"Dad?" Don called into the house.

"Don!" Alan ran into the porch, "Did you find him?" Alan asked hopefully.

"No, sorry," Don said sadly, "How are you taking it?" He was genuinely worried about his father.

Alan just stared blankly at his son for a moment, blinked silently and then said, slowly and deliberately, "How am I taking it?"

"Sorry, stupid question," Don replied, shaking his head.

Alan and Don walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Flicking on the t.v. for something to do, Don noticed Charlie's picture on the news.

"Twenty-eight year old Professor Charles Epps was allegedly kidnapped from his home last night. A broadcast is being put out on this man, suspected to have committed the crime," a picture of Victor Nevence appeared besides Charlie's, "If you have seen either of these men please call 1-800-555-TIPS. It is thought that so far the FBI has no clues leading to Proffessor Epps's whereabouts," a reporter announced. "Proffessor Epps's brother, Agent Donald Epps, currently working for the FBI, is working dillengently to find his family member."

Don couldn't watch the rest and shut off the t.v. He sighed quietly, "Yeah, I'm working so hard, sitting here on my ass," he said sarcastically to himself.

"Don, don't be so hard on yout self," his father told him, "You've been working for almost twenty-four hours straight."

"Twenty-five, but who's counting?" Don corrected quietly.

"Get some sleep, your co-workers will keep you informed and if anything comes up, I'll wake you," Alan promised.

"Fine...okay, but just for an hour," Don yawned as Alan got up and he spread out on the couch. Alan grabbed a blanket and covered his already asleep son.

He sat on the recliner and watched Don as he slept. He couldn't bear to lose either of his son's and prayed that somehow, Charlie would come home to them.

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Charlie wished that he could wipe away the tears that lingered on his cheeks. He was alone again and over half of his time was up. Lexo had informed him of the halfway point at least three hours ago.

Hours of silence began to take its toll on him and he desperately wished for a kind voice to sooth his fears. Like his mother, but she was even farther away than Don or his father. He wished he had been there for her, when she had needed him, but he didn't know how to cope with the news at the time. If he wasn't there for her, why should she be there for him?

Charlie spent his time having imaginary conversations in his head with Don, his mother and his father. 'I'm going crazy,' he thought.

'Crazy people don't know they're crazy, Charlie,' his mom told him gently.

'I sure hope so,' Charlie replied in his head, 'I'm sorry mom.'

'It's alright, I know you meant well,' she said, 'Now don't worry, everything will be okay.'

'Everything will be okay', he wished she was actually there to tell him that, like so many times before. After his first day of high school, when another kid had teased him and beaten him up, his mother told him that everything would be okay, as she tended to him, and it had been.

The door opened with its ever familiar creak and Lexo walked in, "Hey Charlie."

Charlie knew he was just instigating and didn't try to say anything through the gag.

"Just thought I'd let you know, everything been's decided. I won't tell you who, that's a surprise. But I will tell you how much, 115 thousand. Not a bad profit, don't you think?" Lexo smiled at him manically.

Charlie tried to figure out statistically who had probably won the bid. There was a number of variables and he didn't have all of them yet, so he couldn't come up with accurate possibilty ratio.

Lexo chuckled lightly as he left Charlie, to again ponder his fate. In this case, the first fourty-eight hours were more crucial than usual statistics relayed. After he was sold, all Don would have was a paper-trail. Maybe even less than that, if Don hadn't any suspects.

He just didn't get it, what was Lexo's motivation? What turmoil went on in the man's mind that told him this was condonable. What had happened to him? In a way he pitied the man, he didn't know what happened to Lexo, but whatever it was, it must have been horrible.

"Damn it!" Charlie thought to himself. He was starting to identify with his kidnapper, Stockholmes Syndrome. No this man was planning on putting him through all sorts of horrors.

Charlie pushed his pity away. He supressed the sympathy and replaced it with the anger he felt towards him and unwittingly, also with the fear.

His stomach grumbled and Charlie realised how hungry he was, he hadn't eaten since... well... since three hours before he was kidnapped. He hadn't had anything to drink either and he knew he was getting weaker because of it. Probably Lexo's own sick way of limiting his strength to fight back and it was working.

Charlie had lost the strength to struggle against his restrained limbs. He lay there prone and still. Hope was draining from him fast and his tears weren't anywhere close to drying.

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Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm going to start working a chappy 6 for all of you now.