Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created by Cheryl Heuton and Nick Falacci. I do not own the characters, no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Authors Notes: Will now be found at the end of the chapter.

"Gifted"

Chapter 2

Charlie waited patiently for Don to reach into his briefcase and extract the contents of a beige file. Don took a photo from the top of the pile of papers in his hand and placed it on the table.

"Adam Eng." Don said looking down at the photo of a smiling bespectacled young man stilling behind a computer monitor. "Head of computer sciences at NY Compu Sci"

"Ya I know Don, I saw his lecture on distributed algorithms last fall. How is he involved in this?"

"His picture was found at the scene of Jennifer Brice's disappearance, as well as this. " Don handed his brother a piece of white paper.

"What does it say Charlie?" Alan asked

"'Protect the gifted for they are our best hope for the future'. What does that mean?"

Don didn't answer but instead passed three more photos to Charlie.

As Charlie looked at the photos the color seemed to drain from his face. "Don, these are all people at the top of their field, Ansleigh Morton, Biochemistry; Mary McLellan Physics; Scott Temple, Engineering…"

"You know them all?" Don asked, surprised.

"No, not personally but the science community isn't exactly huge. How are they involved?"

"They aren't, at least not in the commission of this crime."

"Not that I want to think that any of them are capable of this but how can you be so sure."

Don looked at his brother for a moment with a strangely pained look on his face then handed him the last item in his hand. Charlie found self staring at a picture of a young man standing in front of a blackboard, caught in a rare open smile, dark curls spilling across his forehead. Across the bottom of the picture was written, "Dr. Charles Eppes".

Charlie began to tremble and the picture slipped from his fingers and fluttered to the floor landing at Alan's feet

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The little girl shivered and wrapped her arms more tightly around herself.

"Hello? Is anyone there? Where am I?" A plaintive voice called out in the darkness.

"I'm here." Jennifer said, sounding much calmer than she felt.

"Where?" The other voice pleaded. "I can't see you."

Jennifer moved carefully in the dark towards the voice, holding out her hands in front of her until she connected with something warm.

"See, here I am." She 'looked' at the new arrival with her hands, reaching up to touch the boys face.

"What happened? Where are we?" The boy began to cry softly.

"We've been kidnapped. I don't know who did it, we can never see him. He just comes in sometimes and asks us to do stuff."

"Us?"

"Ya, I'm Jennifer. Somewhere in here is Darika, Sam and Rachael. What's your name?"

"I'm Nicholas. I don't like it here. I want my mom." Nicholas began to weep in earnest.

"Shhh…It's ok." Jennifer wrapped her tiny arms around the older boy and rubbed his back.

Jennifer felt a surge of fear and at that moment she wanted her own mom more than she ever had, instead of having to be the mom of this terrified little group but she knew her mother would expect nothing less of her. She would face this bravely or as bravely as any 7 year old was able.

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Charlie looked at Don uncomprehendingly as Alan picked up the discarded picture.

"Oh my God Donnie. What is going on? Why do you have Charlie's picture?"

"It was found at the scene of the last kidnapping. That's how I know that these people were not involved."

"Is Charlie being targeted? Is he in danger Don?" Alan frantically asked.

"Naw Dad…don't worry." Don said gently. "None of the others have been contacted; we've had them under surveillance."

"Why?" Charlie asked staring at a point over Don's shoulder, looking lost in his own world.

"I don't know Charlie. The best guess Megan has come up with is that the kidnapper is using you as an example of what a "gifted" kid can become. Are you ok buddy?" Don bent down in front of Charlie so as to look him in the eye. "Look, we really need you on this one but I need to know if you're going to be ok with this."

When Charlie looked up his eyes had lost their faraway look. "I'm fine Don. I'll need everything you have about the children, their friends, family; the more data the better. Just have it sent to my office at Cal Sci."

Don's phone suddenly went off startling him. "Eppes." He barked. "Ya David what's up? Damn it. When? OK. I'll be right there."

Don allowed himself a moment to take a deep breath before straightening up.

"What is it Donnie?" Alan asked, concerned.

"Another kid has been taken. Charlie I need you to do what ever you can as fast as possible. I'll call the office and have the files sent over right now. Take these to get you started." Don gathered up the papers and put them back into the file and extracted a second large file from his briefcase handing them both to his brother. "We're counting on you Charlie."

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Authors Notes:

-HUGE thanks to my new Beta Nartart! It makes life sooooo much easier when you have someone to run things by and to catch your silly errors. ) Your time and effort is greatly appreciated!

-I'm sorry that this is a short chapter. There is actually another large scene already written that I cut out when I realized that something else needed to be inserted before it. Instead of making you wait until I've written the missing portion I decided to post.

-I'm aiming to update every two weeks. Thus far, it looks like every week but I hate making promises that I may have problems keeping.

-Thank you very much to the folks who took the time to review. Your kind words mean more than you know.

-Thank you also to everyone who took the time to read. It's humbling to see the stats on a one chapter, in progress story.

Joey