Disclaimer: Numb3rs and all related characters, etc, belong on CBS' shelf, I'm just playing with them. Really, I'm only borrowing them without permission. They'll get back.

Author's Note: I'm so sorry that this took so long to get this up. My muses refused to help me on this, and started to bombard me with ideas for other things…hopefully, I won't make you guys wait that long again, though I do not fully promise that. Also, sorry for the short chapter, but this had to come out, and nothing else really fit in with this chapter. Anyways, enjoy!

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Don had learned long ago never to say, "Things cannot get any worse." He knew that things always got worse once he said that, and there was no point in making things any worse than they were already.

However, it was becoming harder and harder not to say it.

First, he was legally considered a suspect, as well as Charlie. But none of the agents believed it, it was just protocol. Now, the note was there, almost exactly in his handwriting, and the agents were beginning to have their doubts.

They couldn't even ask Stephanie, to see if it was him and Charlie that kidnapped her. That was the entire development they left for. Somebody had found her body. She was dead.

David and Colby had both looked at him, disbelief in their face. He could tell that they didn't think he would ever do something like that, but the evidence just kept pointing at him. Megan looked a little disappointed in him, hurt that he had appeared to turn into one of the horrible criminals that he had fought against for so many years. Don was starting to wonder if the judgments against him would really blow over when the case was over.

This isn't fair. It isn't fair to either me or Charlie.

Now that the two of them were back at the house, Don was trying to control his frustration.

"Don?" Charlie asked him tentatively. Don barely registered that he heard his voice, like it was far away. Charlie was sitting on the couch, across from where Don sat in his chair. Neither of them were doing much of anything, just wising their problems would go away.

"Yeah Buddy?"

"Things are going to be alright for us. They'll work out. The evidence is on our side."

"You mean the evidence is on your side. You remember that note on the back of my business card? Even though I didn't write that, it sure looked like it did. Witness accounts say that people that look like us were the kidnappers. We were right there in the building, talking to her only a couple minutes before she was kidnapped. I pulled a gun on her, Charlie. Evidence is most definitely not on my side," Don snapped back.

Charlie involuntarily shifted backwards in his seat, but recovered from the remark quickly. "Well, that's what they think the evidence shows. But the math would prove otherwise."

"Charlie, what I need right now is not math to solve this. I need concrete evidence to prove that we are innocent. Besides, you aren't allowed to use your math on this case."

"What's this? You are trying to convince Charlie to not do math? Are you going crazy?" Alan asked, entering the room. The brothers both jumped at the sudden interruption, but relaxed when they saw it was their father.

"No, he's allowed to do math. Just not for this case," Don responded. He managed to smile weakly at his father. "I tried to get him to stop doing math when he was six, remember? I'm not making that mistake again."

Charlie smiled, and it looked like a genuine smile. Since Charlie has always been a horrible liar, Don wondered if it was real. "I remember that. I elbowed you in the chest, didn't I?"

Yes, it was a genuine smile, a nice change from the sulking that both of them had been doing for the past day or two. "Yeah. Never even turned around. Just knocked the wind out of me and continued to work."

They all shared a laugh, and it felt good to truly laugh again. Don hoped that he would be laughing more within the next few days.

"So, Don," Alan turned back to him, "this is a first. Since last year, whenever he thought he could help, you always allowed Charlie to use his math for a case. What's different about this one that Charlie isn't allowed to help?"

Dang it. Don thought. He had hoped that he would never have to find out about this. But there was no way out of it, now that his father directly asked. And his father was the only one who could always tell when he was lying, even if he didn't acknowledge it.

"The reason that Charlie isn't allowed to help is the same reason that I'm not working on it," Don started, trying to delay the full answer. Alan merely nodded, encouraging him to continue. "There were several kidnappings and murders of college students recently, and we thought we had figured out the pattern of the guy, even though we didn't have any suspects." Don continued to tell the story, glad that Charlie or their father didn't interrupt him. Now that he had started, it was easier to just continue without interruption.

"And so, because the evidence seems to be pointing at it, Charlie and I are both considered suspects. Although I believe that they think Charlie is only an accomplice, and I'm kind of the ring leader of this." Don sighed. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, since he was no longer hiding anything from his father. The feeling in his stomach refused to go away, though, and he suspected that it wouldn't until the entire mess was over.

"Oh, Donnie, why didn't you say anything before?"

"There was no point in going out of the way to tell you. I knew you would just worry about us, and there's no point to. We know we're innocent."

"Don, I am your father. It's my job to worry about you boys. And it doesn't matter how old you two get, I'm still going to worry," Alan told him. He relaxed a little afterwards, but Don could see that there was no way he was completely relaxed now. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Do? What can we do? We just have to wait until the other agents get it all sorted out, right? The two of us aren't able to work on the case at all, so we can't bring forth evidence or a number pattern or anything. I trust the agents, but this guy is apparently good at what he's doing. I don't think he's going to be caught anytime soon."

"Personally, right now, I don't care much about the other guy getting caught. I mean, I don't want other people to be kidnapped or killed, but they aren't my primary concern. Really, I don't want my boys to be worried about this kind of thing right now."

"You know," Charlie piped up, and Don realized for the first time that he had been quiet the entire time he and his father were talking, "I'm starting to think that this kidnapping isn't linked to the others."

"What do you mean, Charlie?" their father asked. Don was mildly interested, as it probably dealt with math to try to solve the case. And it didn't seem to matter how much he said that he wasn't allowed to solve the case, Charlie would probably continue to work on it.

"Well, you said you guys had figured out a pattern, right Don?"

"Yeah. So what? Obviously, we were wrong."

"Not necessarily. What if the victim profile happened to be the same for both, but it was actually two different kidnappers? What if the first kidnapper was on his own, and somebody who wanted to get revenge on either you or me, or both of us, started a new pattern for himself? The FBI would be working on two different cases," Charlie explained.

"Are you actually saying this might be a coincidence?" his father asked.

"Dad, you know I don't believe in coincidences. Because Stephanie's profile was close to the other students, I'm guessing that it was an attempt at a copycat," Charlie responded. It was apparent to Don that he had thought this all out.

"But if it was a copycat, why would he break the pattern?" Don wasn't sure whether to believe the theory or not.

"Either the kidnapper didn't notice there was a set pattern, or he wanted to make it seem like your determined pattern was wrong. I'm guessing the latter."

Don nodded. Charlie actually had a point, and explained himself well without using math. Of course, this wouldn't help much now, but once Charlie was found innocent, it could help find the real guy for either of the cases.

"Of course, there is only one way to test this theory."

"Yeah. Have another victim," Don finished, sinking back into the chair. Silence followed, and the sound of Don's phone ringing cut through the silence.

"Eppes."

"Don, it's Colby. We need you and Charlie over at the office as soon as you can get here."

"Okay. We can be there in about fifteen minutes."

"And Don?" Colby sounded slightly uncomfortable. "You know that as your friends, we don't believe that you or Charlie would do something like this. But with the evidence all pointing your way, as an FBI agent, I would suggest that you hire a lawyer for you two."

"Okay. Thanks Colby." Don hung up the phone with a feeling of defeat. Things had definitely just gotten worse.