Chapter Two

Don moved some more files from his desk, he was beginning to clear through the backlog and discover table underneath all the paper. He watched as Megan got up from her desk and walked toward him.

"Hey Don, do you want a coffee?"

"Yeah, sure" Don made a move to get up and Megan made a move to help.

"I'm fine honestly"

"Sure you are, that's why the limp re-appears when you think no one's watching"

Don smiled; he had to hand it to Agent Reeves. She didn't miss a thing.

They sat in the kitchen enjoying a friendly coffee. Conversation flowed from work to Alan and Charlie, and then quickly back to work when Don mentioned Larry.

"You're not gonna tell me are you?"

"It's one of those mysteries in life Don, something you're just never going to know about"

"Funny, Larry said a similar thing." Don sipped his coffee "Only he used a far greater number of words"

Megan smiled over her cup at him.

"So, needles huh?"

Don stared into his cup. He knew David and Colby had told Megan. He trusted that it was her alone they had told.

"Uh huh"

"Mmm, good thing you fell on your ass to cushion the fall"

"Yeah ok Reeves" Don laughed "We'll see how tough you are when you face a fear.

"So you admit it's a fear"

"I didn't say I'd faced a fear, I said when YOU face a fear, not that needles are a fear anyway. They're more of a .."

"Thing?" Megan offered. She immediately regretted her words when she saw the smile spreading across Don's face.

"And how would you know about that?"

"So how's your foot?"

"It's fine" Don couldn't stop smiling now and he knew it was getting to her. She'd give in any second. As predicted Megan finally allowed her smile freedom and even gave into a little laugh.

"So come on Megan, what is it that you're afraid of? What's your thing?"

"Well, they never bothered me before"

"Uh huh"

"But now I just can't stand them, have to cross the street to avoid them"

"Really?"

"Really, it's actually beginning to affect my work"

Don looked at the seriousness in Megan's eyes. Maybe his teasing was a bad idea. She was really opening up to him and his concern for her rose.

"What is it Megan?"

"Poodles"

"Oh very funny! Laugh it up Megan, revenge will be all the more sweeter "

Megan stood and threw away her coffee cup, still laughing she patted Don on the shoulder and walked back to her desk.

Oh they were all a bunch of comedians. That morning Don had arrived back at the office to be greeted by wall to wall, table, chair and floor covered with poodle pictures. Someone had even changed his wallpaper on the computer to a smiling poodle. He never knew poodles could smile. He'd been torn between reprimanding them and just giving in and joining in. If he reprimanded them he knew he'd feel foolish by the end of the day. So instead he'd stood looking at the mess at his desk and had burst out laughing.

Don worked through some more paperwork. It always amazed him how quickly it would build up if neglected. He was unaware of Charlie making his way toward him.

"Hey "

"Oh hey Charlie. What are you doing here?"

Charlie frowned at his brother, "Lunch? Remember?" Looking at Don's desk Charlie could see why he'd forgotten.

"Sorry brother, I'll be ready in a sec, just want to clear this file"

"Looks like you have more than just that one to clear"

Charlie pulled up a chair and sat close to Don.

"I brought the list"

"Is it as we thought?"

"Yep"

"What did the algorithm you ran it through say?"

"It listed the things we'd already discussed. This is it Don. These are the only options we can use; they're the ones with the greatest probability."

"Thanks Charlie, that's great. Hope it didn't distract you too much"

"On the contrary, it was actually fun"

"Fun?"

"Yes, fun, I can have fun you know"

Don finished with his file and slung his jacket over his shoulder.

"I'm going to lunch Megan, do you want anything?"

"No thanks Don, I'm meeting a friend"

"Uh huh?"

"Uh huh, hey Charlie how you doing?"

"Hey Megan, I'm good thanks. Larry was meeting a friend for lunch as well you know"

Megan regarded the brothers, they were way too curious for their own good.

"You know what they say about curiosity and the cat"

"No cats here Megan"

"No, but there could be Poodles Don"

Don raised his eyebrows to Megan and turned to Charlie,

"We should get going, lots to discuss"

"Ok" laughed Charlie, "See you later Megan"

George had run his store for almost thirty years. He loved it. He loved its plastic smell, loved the children that came in on a Saturday morning before the movies. They'd keep him entertained with their antics and games. They'd tell him about their week at school and all the new TV shows and movies they were watching and wanted to see. George didn't need the internet, newspapers or magazines. He had the children to keep him up to date with the world. Occasionally an irate parent would open the door and call into the store, searching for their wayward child. The parents knew George and knew their children were safe with him. Many of them had even been children here themselves. Playing the day away with all the toys. When they had the money they'd even buy a few. George's Toy Store was known throughout the family circles in LA as the only store where the kids could play and not have to buy. Parents could drop their kids off and go and wander around the other stores on the street, knowing that on their return their child would be safe and happy. Thanks to his reputation for keeping old toys in good condition George received many requests from the movie studios for antiques. This way George was able to allow the children to play and not have to worry so much about profits. He lived a comfortable simple life. He'd seen it all from inside these walls. Been entertained with so many stories from so many children that nothing they did, said, surprised him.

However the two grown men standing before him concerned him. One was taller than the other and wore sunglasses and a dark suit. He had a bandage on his right hand and appeared to have a slight limp. The other had unruly hair and soft, intelligent eyes which held an innocence rarely seen in an adult. George noticed all this in case he'd need to relay the information to the police. He was certain they were here to rob him. They didn't look like Studio Exec's. When the taller of the two men spoke George's concern quickly turned to bemusement, he was asking for plastic snakes, spiders and mice. Oh, and if he had it, bugs.

That first day back Don decided to start small. Start with the snake. Charlie had positioned it just underneath Megan's desk so that the tail was poking out. Don had to hand it to his brother. He'd picked out a good snake. From above it really did look real. Don smiled to himself. It was such a buzz to be working with his brother on something fun and mischievous. No criminals involved, no people in need of saving. Just one Agent. In need of a good scaring, uniting two brothers.

Megan was still at lunch so Charlie and Don tried to maintain an air of innocence for when she came back. They sat around Don's desk eating their sandwiches and talking about their father. They'd been having an ongoing conversation for a few days now. Neither had realised that their father had any fears. He was always so strong and knew the answers to any of their problems (the non math kind in Charlie's case) It had surprised them both to see Alan cowering in the corner of the kitchen defending himself with a broom. Their mother's fear of birds had also been a topic of conversation. They had been reminiscing a few nights ago, between trying to come up with a list of things with which to scare Megan, about different instances they could remember where their mother had avoided birds. One time she had stayed in the car when they'd gone for a drive to the beech. It had been a particularly windy day and the seagulls had been having a feast on the beech with all the food left behind by someone's party the night before. Their mother had claimed she didn't want her hair being messed up by the wind. Looking back now the brothers realised the different times their mothers fear had shown itself. Even when Alan and Margaret had returned from the store with Mickey, it had never occurred to them that she had stayed in the kitchen, under the ruse of cooking for her family, instead of welcoming the new pet. Every time their conversation had floated back to Megan and the need to petrify her, Alan had walked into the living room looking for his newspaper or a book. He definitely wouldn't have approved of the plan being put into place so the brothers had attempted to shift their conversation to baseball, and failed miserably.

"Do you think Dad has any other fears?"

"Doubt it Charlie, and even if he did I don't think he'll be telling us in a hurry"

"Do you really think Megan is out to lunch with Larry?"

"Yeah" Don laughed "I really do!"

"How weird is that going to be? I mean Larry and Megan?"

"Honestly Charlie, stranger things have happened. What about you and Amita though?"

Charlie looked at his brother. He'd never seen Don so relaxed. This was the kind of relationship Charlie had hoped they'd always have. The bitterness between them was slowly dissolving. Or if not dissolving, it was at least being pushed to the side. Years of neglect between the two, years of not being in contact, only learning about the other through their parents. They each had their separate bubble to live in. Don may never admit it but he had his own bubble to. Now they were starting to share that bubble. Each slowly allowing the other a further glimpse into their lives.

"I don't know, I'm working on it"

"Well work a little quicker will you, you need to take the pressure off me"

"What do you mean?"

"If Dad has you and Amita to concentrate on then he'll leave me alone for a while"

"I doubt that Don" laughed Charlie, "He's working on making you and your future attachment his main priority"

Don threw a piece of his sandwich at Charlie who didn't manage to duck the missile.

"Hey!"

"Uh huh, better watch it buddy, next time it won't just be a sandwich"

"Well next time I'll be prepared for your obvious aversion to talking about the fact Dad calls you the 'dateless wonder'"

Don was about to throw another piece of sandwich at Charlie when they were interrupted by a blood curdling, skin crawling, heart stopping scream emanating from Megan's desk.

"Here we go" Don turned around. Ready to flash his most victorious smile Megan's way when he saw Colby, practically hanging around David's neck, pointing toward the floor.

"Seriously man I saw it, I saw it, it's there, seriously David there's a snake under that table"

"Colby, will you be serious, we're in an office building. It would have had to take the elevator."

It was now Colby's turn to glare at Don, Don and Charlie were both leaning on each other attempting to stifle the laughter that had erupted. David realised what was up when he took a better look at the 'snake' under the desk.

"Oh! Colby, man I think you need to have another look at that snake"

Charlie walked forward, bent and picked up the snake. Dangling it in Colby's face he attempted to speak through his hysterics.

"Its….it's a rub.." Charlie wiped tears from his eyes. "Oh man I thought you were going to pass out"

Don, holding onto his side with his hands, managed to squeeze out "I thought you were supposed to be tough"

David burst out laughing. Colby just stood. Looking dangerously at each of them.