Disclaimer: Charlie and Numb3rs are not owned by me.

Chapter 11

Charlie had some time before his first Tae Kwon Do lesson. He returned to Bob's office to let him know that while it may not have been flying colors, but he did pass his physical.

Bob told Charlie of the security measures that would be in place for the room. There would be a lock and guarded door to the soundproof room. Bob said there were other measures in place but they would not directly affect any of the team.

The Tae Kwon Do class size was eight students, the perfect size, as stated by the instructor Agent Victor Schneider. Agent Schneider was a small man. He did appear to have some oriental blood but Charlie was not sure which nationality. He had been teaching Tae Kwon Do to the NSA team for three years. He had taken Charlie aside and informed him that with a few pounds added to his frame he was the perfect size for this training.

The introduction meeting was a history of Tae Kwon Do as well as its use for the Government and some basic moves.

Charlie's next class was the gun training. For the day the training was solely gun safety and cleaning. They would not even begin target practice until they were completely versed in every intricate piece and purpose of the weapon and how to care for it.

The weight training class was completely all that Charlie could have hoped for, the trainer, had a relaxed and outgoing personality. Using the weights, everyone starts out slow and maintains their own speed of advancement.

Later after swimming his laps, Charlie did not dare so much as sit in one of the poolside chairs but rather headed directly back to his apartment. He changed and went to the gym. Once on the treadmill and set to his perfect incline and speed, Charlie was enjoying his run. He ran even longer than he had on previous occasions.

After showering, he headed to bed and once there fell asleep rather quickly.

Don had woke up hung over and even though he went to work, he was still feeling pretty poorly at lunchtime.

Megan invited him to lunch and said that she would like it if it was just the two of them since she had something she wanted to discuss. They went to a diner down the street and after placing their orders, Megan pulled out a notebook from her purse.

"I know where Charlie is."

Don was surprised she had even looked before he could ask her himself.

"He wasn't easy to trace but he's not hiding either."

"Megan do you know the kind of trouble you can get us into if someone were to find out you did a search for him."

"Now technically, we have a FBI consultant that is missing. We very well could have suspected foul play. It wasn't that in depth of a search anyway. There was no listing for a residence, phone or even utilities in his name. Not so much as a library card Don, but Charlie did get a Driver's License last week."

"You're kidding. Charlie finally made the big move? And you have an address listed for him, I assume?"

"The address listed belongs to an branch of the NSA. They are likely footing the bill on his rent and utilities."

"That's not surprising given the work Charlie does for them. You find out anything else?"

"No, but if he is working for the NSA now, finding out anything else would be more difficult. Had Charlie been hiding, we wouldn't have found out this much. Here's the address." Megan ripped the top page out of the notebook and handed it to Don. "I didn't know if you wanted me to track a cell phone service for him. There's no landline listed for the residence. The apartment is routed for wireless computer."

"Email, Megan I hadn't even thought of sending an email."

They were interrupted when a waitress came and brought their orders.

"Given the situation, you need to carefully consider how you should handle this. You want to be sure not to use a weapon like family guilt or obligation. It could very well be that Charlie is working on a project for the NSA. That he needed time and space away from you and your dad and that he's fully intending on returning home after the project is complete. I know that's the way I believe it is. You don't want to push him in any way in case he's on the verge of making decisions and your action could push him into a decision that you and maybe even he may not want. So consider very carefully what you're going to do before you do it."

"You think I should not do anything right now, don't you? At her nod, he asked "do you have any idea the weight of the guilt I'm carrying around, 'shake it off' sounds easy, but I just don't know if I can do nothing. I worry about him, I know it's hard to believe given how badly I've treated him recently, but I worry about Charlie and whether he's safe."

"Don, the NSA treats Charlie good, they'll look out for him and didn't I hear you mention that the director's secretary had been a good friend to your mother and Charlie?

"Yeah, Diane Conway is a great lady and she thinks the world of Charlie."

"There you go, now the best thing to do is wait. Just wait Don, he may come home when he's ready."

As they returned to the office, Don could not help but feel waiting was easy for her to say. He admitted that while he understood that Charlie was an adult and had every right to decide where he lives or what he does, he was still Don's little brother and Don wanted him here where he could keep an eye on him. Dragging Charlie back using any method he could think of would get him no where in getting Charlie to accept his apology. The only way that Don knew of to get to Charlie now involved dirty tricks and Don felt he was above that. But then again, Don was feeling desperate and desperate times called for dirty tricks.
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Charlie needed to be at the training grounds by 7 am. He parked in the guarded parking lot and made his way to the main training room. There were some agent recruits already gathered in the room. There was no sign of Agent Belmont or any other instructor and Charlie sat down and waited along with the others. A few were even sleeping. Charlie could not help but compare these students to his own when he was running late or busy with something before he could begin teaching. Again, the recruits were mainly male but Charlie noticed that the two women that he had seen in the doctor waiting room were there as well. By the time the instructor arrived there were fourteen trainees in the room.

Agent Belmont had on sweats, had a clip board and a whistle. He looked every bit like a high school football coach. He told the class that every day they would be taken by van for some cross country running. For the most part there would be trails but occasional they would run though the rough terrain with a verbal direction and a compass. The final exam would be the same, but minus the compass.

The run would be timed and while there was no set of standards at this point, a marked improvement was expected over time. This running class was mandatory for all but the clerical staff and they would have to keep up to pass the course. This was the easy part for class, the endurance running had not started yet.

For today, they would be taken to a running track and timed, just for a general idea on where everyone stood.

As the class was filing out, Agent Belmont pulled Charlie aside and told him that he would not be timing Charlie and that Charlie was on his own, just be back at the right time. Two quick whistles meant the van was leaving in five minutes.

Charlie decided he would have to bring his cell phone in case he missed those whistles, a cab ride would be better than a long walk back.

The track was not very far away. While the class members formed lines for their own timed runs, Charlie headed for another part of the track and started running. While the run itself felt good, Charlie realized pretty quickly that running on a level track was not the best idea for him. It left the mind free to think and think Charlie did.

He tried to will his mind away from it, but it did not seem to be working. Charlie could not control the images, his fist making contact with Don's mouth, picking himself up off the floor after Don had punched him back, Don dragging Charlie forcibly away from his chalkboard when his mother was sick, Don yelling at him for being in his room again.

It was too much for the professor's mind and he ran off the track and headed for a small wooded area nearby. It was not flat but it was not very large either. So, Charlie ran from one end to the other and then back again, and again. As he was running, avoiding trees and their roots, he felt his mind relaxing and after thirty minutes of this running, he returned to the track. He was more jogging than running now, but he felt much better. The recruits were not finished yet so Charlie did his cool downs and searched out his pack for the water that he had brought with him. He sat on the ground and waited for the others to finish.

They were back early so Charlie changed into his jeans and went to his office to work on the program. Charlie had to smile when he noticed that a comfortable looking recliner had been moved into one corner of the room. There was also a coffee maker and t-bags along with donuts. Bob really was a good friend to have.

When the team arrived, Charlie started explaining the new program. The time flew by and soon it was time to break it up for his Tae Kwon Do class.

Today the class would be receiving uniforms to wear while training. The gun class and weight training followed and then Charlie was finished for the. He had planned to stop at the grocery store to pick up fruit and 1 percent milk for smoothies. It was not the milk shake as the doctor suggested, but 1 percent had more fat than soy milk.