Disclaimer: I don't own anything Numb3rs, it's all property of CBS and whatnot, so don't sue.
Chapter 19: What Nightmares May Come and The Torture Ends
Don Eppes found himself surrounded by darkness as he walked down a corridor of some kind. He saw a faint, eerrie blue light shimering in the distance. Don, though confused walked towards the light.
When he reached it, the light turned white and flashed across his vision, momentarily blinding him.When his vision cleared,Don found himself standing on the roof top of the FBI Offices he worked at.
" Why am I here?" Thought Don as he looked around the deserted area, his confusion mounting until a soft moan of pain caught his attention, it came from somwhere behind him.
Don turned sharply and saw something in the shadows. He couldn't make it out.
" Hello, is somebody there?" Called out Don.
As if in answer, furious, red and orange flames erupted from the concret ceiling, rising up like a wall. Don was knocked off his feet by the flames. When they died down in their intensity, Don felt his eyes grow wide in horror.
The flames illuminated the figure in the darkness, giving a face to the disembodied moan.
Charlie, his beloved Charlie.
His baby brother stoodchained from a stone pillar. He had no shirt on, revealing a body marred with bleeding cuts and bruises. Charlie head hung low, his curls obscuring his face as he gasped for each breath.
" CHARLIE!" Screamed Don as he ran forward, only to have the wall of flames drive him back.
" CHARLIE!" Screamed Don again.
Charlie let out a soft moan and seemed to come to. He lifted up his head and look up with pain filled eyes, directly into Don's eye.
" Donnie." Moaned Charlie as he struggled feebly against his bonds, let out small noises of pain at the movement.
" DON'T WORRY BUDDY, I'LL GET YOU OUT OF THERE, JUST HOLD ON!" Screamed Don as he tried once again to get over the flames.
Then out of nowhere, a beam of searing white light seemed to shoot downfrom the night sky, bombarding the figure chained to the pillar.
Don sheilded his eyes against the light, trying desperately to get to his brother.
Don watched as Charlie's face screwed up tighly as his mouth opened as an unearthly scream of sheer agony erupted from his throat.
" GGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Don watched in unspeakable horror and his brother began literally burning to ash before him. It was like Sonja burned by the light of the sun, with Lucian watching, helpless to do anything. Straight out of the first Underworld movie.
" CHARLIE! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Screamed Don, tears pouring out of his eyesas he watched Charlie slowly dying in this hideous way.
Suddenly, the wall of flames erupted again,burying the image of Charlie slowly being burned to dust behind a curtain of fire.
Then, as quickly as the flames and flared up, they disappeared to reveal a lone figure,dressed all in black, with pale blue eyes staring coldy back at him.The hilt of a Samurai sword jutting from it's place across the figures back
It was the CIA Operative who'd struck fear in Don and his fellow FBI Agent with mere words and promises.
The Operative's gaze seemed to stare straight into Don's soul as he lay kneeling and crying at what he'd just witnessed.
Terror froze Don to the spot as the CIA Operative slowly stepped forward, coming to loom over him, staring down at himindifferently.
" Looks like you couldn't save that precious babybrother of yours." Came a cold, gravelly voice.
Then the Operative lashed out and roughly gripped Don's chin, forcing the man to look at him.
The two were eye to eye before the Operative spoke the words that Don Eppes was always afraid to hear.
" You killed him Don, you killed your precious Charlie. You let him DIE!"
Don shook his head furiouslyand trembled all over. Before he screamed.
" NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Don awoke with a scream in his apartment and threw off the sweat covered sheets as he bolted from the bed.
He dashed to the bathroom and made it in time to empty the contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl. Once he couldn't throw up anything else, he shakily got to his feet and slumped over the sink, panting as he felt himself go numb. With trembling hands, Don turned on the cold water and splashed some of the cold liquid onto his face. He gazed at himself in the mirror through the dim light of the early morning, he was pale, shivering, and above all, haunted by the visions he'd just awoken from. With a thick swallow, Don stumbled his way back down the hall to his bedroom.
He knew full well that he wouldn't go back to sleep. Instead, he walked blindly to a corner of the room and slammed his back to the wall before sliding down to sit on the floor as violent sobs started wracking his body and tears of torment and agony spilled from his eyes.
Don Eppes, the hard as nails FBI Agent, was crying because of a nightmare he'd seen.
He'd watched his beloved Charlie turn to ash before his eyes, and then a stone cold killer had told him that it was all his fault.
It had been a full month since Charlie disappeared again, and there was no way of knowing whether or not he was alright.
Don Eppes, was terrified for his baby brother.
Don Eppes, was now terrified of a pale eyed man in black.
Meanwhile, in a classified area somewhere in Europe...
" This stinks." Thought Ghost with a mental roll of his eyes as the tear gas filled the room. This was the fifth time they were being gased. It had only taken them that many times to grow accustomed to the unpleasant feeling the gass induced.
This torture would last for an hour before the three operatives, who were shirtless,would be unstrapped from their chairs and taken to the showers to cleanse the burn.
Throughout this hour of, Ghost closed his eyes and cleared his mind of all thought. He chose to retreat to the deepest corners of his vast mind. The pain would not get the better of him, ever.
Time seemed to slow until finally, Ghost felt himself being unstrapped from the chair he was in and dragging him down a corridor.
Then the welcome feeling of ice-cold water raining on him.
Ghost stood under the water, revelling in the feeling. He tilted his head back at allowed the water to pelt his irritated face.
After a few more minutes of letting the water flush out the irritants, the water was shut off and somebody handed him a towel.
" Thanks Toby."Said Ghost gruffly.
Toby felt an involuntary shudder run down his spine as he stepped back after handing his friend the towel.
" C'mon, the others are waiting." Said Toby quietly as he tugged at Ghost's naked arm.
Ghost walked on his own accord beside Toby and the other guy as they made there way down another dark corridor, a dim light at the end of the tunnel.
When the three men reached the light, Ghost was roughly shoved into the white room.
" Ah Ghost, glad you finally made it." Came the now very irritatingly amused voice of one Lt. Harry Oswald.
Ghost looked through slightly blurry eyes as just made out the forms of Nighthawk and Mojave.
" Hey guys." Said Ghost gruffly.
" Hey hermano." Said Mojave tiredly.
" Hey man, how you doin?" Asked Nighthawk in true New Yorker style.
" All three of you should be feeling great, seeing as to how you passed all seven levels of the program with flying colors." Smiled Oswald.
The three operatives stared back at Oswald stunned for a moment before they felt warmth spread all over them.
They passed the program, it was over now. However, the three men remained absolutely silent.
Ghost stepped forward and held out a hand to Oswald, who accepted it. The Lt. held back wince when the Operative squeezed his hand a little tighter than was need.
" We free to go?" Asked Ghost as he let go of Oswald's hand.
" You get a few weeks to recuperate, than it's back to work." Came a new but familiar voice.
Derek Steele, commander of the Big Three Unit.
" Wouldn't have it any other way sir." Smiled Ghost as he and his unit, Toby included, were excorted out of the building to the waiting car.
" By the way Boss, we're in Russia aren't we?" Asked Ghost as his teamgot into the car, Toby driving.
Derek Steele's stunned silence was confirmation enough.