Don's POV

I held Charlie as he shook and cried against me. I freed one hand so I could reach down to my walkie-talkie. I held it to my mouth with one hand and held Charlie with the other.

"Head on in, guys. I've got him," I said, feeling victory welling up in my chest. Charlie was safe. I found him. Alive.

When Charlie's sobs eased, I pushed him away from me.

"Where are you hurt? Are you okay? Are you bleeding? Did he shoot you?"

To all these questions, he shook his head. I doubted that he really wasn't hurt, and to confirm my suspicion, when I reached out and took his upper left arm he winced.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I-I dove out of the car. I must have pulled it out of place."

"Okay. We've got paramedics waiting on us. You ready?"

He nodded and I placed my hand gently on his right shoulder.

I turned my flashlight on again and shown the way for us. A rustling of leaves caught my attention. Apparently, Charlie noticed too because he stepped closer to me and gripped my arm tightly.

"It's okay, Bud. They're the good guys. We caught Carl. It's okay now. You're safe."

I waved my flashlight when I saw another appear in the darkness. Whoever it was waved back.

"See?"

Charlie nodded, but he still didn't move farther away from me.

A few minutes later, everyone one made their appearance and soon the woods ended and we came to the clearing.

I searched for the paramedics, and found them not too far away in the driveway.

Megan came over to us.

"Hey, Charlie. You had us worried." She reached out and touched his arm, but Charlie flinched back.

Megan looked at me with a question in her eyes. I shrugged, not knowing what was wrong.

She nodded.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay."

She walked away and headed toward one of the FBI cars. I saw that Colby had brought my SUV and also someone had brought along his car. I hoped he'd take Megan.

"Let's get you fixed up, Buddy."

I led Charlie over to the paramedics. They immediately dove in.

"Where are you hurt, sir?"

"My arm." Charlie motioned toward his shoulder.

One of the paramedics shone a light at his head.

"Looks like there's been some head trauma, also." The man took out a first aid kit and inspected his head.

I couldn't see Charlie anymore, for the paramedics had surrounded him. I stood off to the side, waiting for him to be taken care of.

Suddenly, I saw a hand move in between paramedics. Recognizing it as Charlie's, I moved forward and took it.

He squeezed so tightly I could hardly feel my hand. Some of the paramedics moved back and I took a step closer.

"We're going to need to set his arm back. This is going to hurt," The man said, looking at Charlie.

Charlie looked up at me, fear in his eyes.

"It'll be okay, Charlie. Just hold my hand as tight as you like when it gets to hurting."

Charlie nodded. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He was already squeezing my hand fairly hard.

In one swift motion, the man pulled Charlie's arm, and with a sickening pop it went into place.

Charlie screamed out in pain and he squeezed my h and to the point of breaking it.

"Good job, Buddy. You're fine now."

The paramedic wrapped a sling around his neck and placed Charlie's arm inside gently.

"I think that's it. Is that all there is, sir?"

Charlie nodded. I hoped he was right.

"Thank you," I said as the man stepped back.

"You ready to go home?"

He didn't respond.

"Do you want to stay at my apartment? It won't take as long."

His silence I took as a yes.

Leading him to my SUV, I saw that Colby was leaning against the side of the car.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"Yep. It's all taken care of. Waits is in custody right now, probably getting a lot of trouble from David."

"He deserves worse."

"How you doin', Whiz Kid?" Colby asked Charlie.

Charlie looked down at his feet. Colby looked at me, one eye brow raised questioningly.

I shrugged once more.

"I'll see you guys later. Don't worry. I'll take Megan home."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Take care, guys!"

I unlocked the car for Charlie and he stumbled inside. He began to shake when I closed his door.

I got in on my side and Charlie was staring at his hands in his lap.

I took in his appearance with the car light on. He looked unusually pale. A few bruises showed on his face and arms, but nothing that wouldn't heal. His clothes were dirty and cut up. One spot on his side looked worse than the others, though.

"What happened here, Buddy?" I asked, touching his side lightly.

He winced, making me more concerned. I looked up and saw that the paramedics had left.

I lifted Charlie shirt to reveal a burn mark, looking like where a bullet would have grazed it.

I recalled the gunshots. Had Charlie just missed being shot?

I touched the burn gently, and Charlie cried out in pain.

"When we get to my place, I'll put something on that."

He nodded in consent. I put the key in the ignition and we took off.

Charlie was silent the whole way. His silence scared me, for when Charlie was upset he was quiet.

I pulled into the parking lot at my apartment complex. Charlie got out on his own, though a little shakily.

I got out, locked the door, and stepped up beside Charlie. He didn't say anything as we went up to my apartment.

I let us in, looking around as I planned the night's events. At one o'clock in the morning, I didn't expect Charlie to want to do anything but sleep. I was beat, though the adrenaline rush would probably keep me up later.

"Okay. I'll get you some of my old clothes for you to change into and get some pillows and blankets for you to use on the couch. Is that okay?"

Charlie stared wide-eyed around the room. He had been to my place before, though now he seemed to barely recognize it. It hadn't changed much. I didn't have the time to devote to furnishing and decorating it.

I went into my room and pulled out the smallest t-shirt and sweatpants I could find. Charlie wasn't exactly small, but compared to me, the clothes I wore would swallow him.

I handed them to him when I returned to the living room. He continued to stand in the middle of the room, just looking around silently.

"You can change in the bathroom," I said, motioning toward the open bathroom door.

He moved stiffly to the bathroom.

I went back to my room and into my closet. I dug around and found the spare blankets and two pillows. Charlie always like his head to be well propped up.

When I came back, Charlie was standing outside the bathroom, dressed in some of my old clothes. If it were any other time, I'd have laughed at the way he looked. The t-shirt hang loosely off his small frame and the pants would have fallen off him if it hadn't been for the ties to it.

I laid the pillows on the couch by the armrest and laid the blankets across the backs of the couch.

"You can lay down, Charlie," I said when he didn't move.

He nodded, though I wasn't sure he actually heard me.

He finally laid down and hugged a pillow tightly in his hands. I took one of the covers and placed it over him.

"Good night, Charlie." I waited, expecting a response, but got none.

I went to bed, my head swarming over the stress and fear of the nine hours of Charlie gone missing brought.

Charlie's POV

I moved my arms, fighting to free them from the rope that bound them together. I had to get out. I had to get away.

Suddenly, Don appeared before me. Blood poured down his face like tears. I gasped at the sight of him looking so awful. I wondered how he was still standing.

His wrists were bound over his head. His head was down as though he were asleep.

"Don!" I screamed, hoping he was okay.

Then he looked up at me. His eyes held tears and I hardly recognized him for the fear and sadness on his face. But most of all, I saw the betrayal.

"Why, Charlie? Why did you do this to me?"

"Don! No! I didn't do it! I'd never do it!"

"You did this, Charlie. Why? I thought you were my brother."

"I am! Don! Don't you believe me?"

"You did this to me."

His face disappeared and Dad came in front of me.

"How could you let this happen, Charlie? Why didn't you protect him?"

"Dad! I couldn't do anything about it! You know that!"

"Do I? I wish it had been you instead of Don."

"No!" I screamed as the tears came like a flood from my eyes.

"You killed your brother."

I jumped up, screaming Don's name at the top of my lungs. It had been the most real nightmare I had ever had.