Thanks to all of you that are still reading. I appreciate your support.

Chapter Four

Every time Charlie tried to open his eyes, the bright lights forced him to abort the effort. He wasn't sure of anything. He thought that he felt some distant pain but he couldn't form a coherent thought for more than a second. Even his numbers had escaped him for the moment.

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Don had been barking orders to his team for ten hours. It had been that long since they had been attacked in the driveway of his family home. Fortunately the fast acting sedative that they had been subjected too had worn off almost as quickly as it had taken them down. He couldn't ignore the feeling in his gut that demanded that he find his brother quickly. None of the others that had been taken had been recovered alive. He was determined that Charlie would be the first.

"Brennan tell me how you tracked down the scientists in Geneva again. There's got to be something that we've missed."

"Eppes, you have got to back off and let us handle this. You cannot take the lead on an investigation that was number one, was initiated by another agency and number two, has become personal for you."

"You can't be serious. Are you forgetting that I happen to know that your brother was shot during the course of this investigation? You have a lot of nerve trying to pull rank here." Don fumed.

"What if I could tell you that I know that your brother is alive."

"What? Are you trying to tell me that you are some kind of psychic?" Don thought for a second. "No. You had agents on him." And then it all clicked. They had used them all. "Tell me where Charlie is Brennan!" The older agent advanced on Michael. "You used him for bait. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"This is bigger than you are. Back off Agent." It was the first show of alpha male that Brennan had displayed since his arrival. "If you will calm down, I have received permission to fill you in."

"Tell me what's happening here." Don shouted furiously. "I want to know where my brother is now."

"Charles Eppes had been abducted by Androssi. This is the plan that was approved by the CIA and by the NSA in conjunction with the FBI." Michael stated.

"There's no way we would approve this. On who's authority?"

"Merrick." Megan put it together.

"We know exactly where your brother is, Eppes. What we hope to accomplish is to find the others that are missing before we retrieve him."

Don couldn't speak, he was in such turmoil over what Brennan had just informed him. He picked up his jacket and headed toward the exit.

"So, you guys let us spin our wheels here for almost eleven hours when you've know exactly where to find Charlie?" Colby looked to Brennan for further confirmation. When he saw Michael nod slightly, Colby calmly walked over to Brennan, and did what all of the others had wanted to do. He punched him and then continued out the door behind his boss. Megan and David followed suite.

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Sasha had signed herself out AMA when she had spoken to her father and been told of the status of her friend. She had dressed herself and listened to her mother beg her to stay put while she recovered from the side effects of the concussion that had put her back into the hospital. Then she had taken a cab from the medical facility to the FBI offices. She had been very surprised to find Don and his team in a heated discussion in front of the building.

"What are you doing here Sasha?" Megan noticed her entrance.

"I am about to share information with the FBI that will get me terminated from the CIA." She informed them.

"We already know that they allowed Charlie to be taken." David stated.

"Yes. But I am about to tell you how to track where he is." Sasha grinned. "Can we go somewhere private to discuss this? Preferably someplace that has computer access."

"Yeah. I know just the place." Don lead the way.

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"You're hacking into the CIA database?" Don watched over Sasha's shoulder.

"If you have a problem with how I am going to track him down, please go into the other room." Sasha's voice was steel. She felt betrayed by her family and by the CIA. There was no way that she was going to stop before she fixed this. Then she would deal with the personal ramifications of this betrayal. She had already instructed David and Colby on what kind of weapons and ammunition that they would need to complete this rescue mission. They would meet at a secure location in less than an hour.

"Sasha, if you need to talk about – about anything when this is over, I would be happy to help you in anyway that I can." Megan offered.

"I think that when this is over I need to take a long vacation away from everyone." Sasha continued to type furiously. "Thanks for the invitation."

They were all silent for several minutes. Don and Megan watched as Sasha went through pages and pages of data. The next set of images were from satellite feed. After a few more minutes, Sasha had exactly what she needed. "You see that blue dot? That is the location of Charlie Eppes. It doesn't look like they've moved him for several hours. Odds are, we can get in and get him out before they know anything about us being there."

"What makes you say that?" Don questioned.

"This is a medical facility about thirty minutes outside of downtown LA. It's not a secure building."

"Why would they take him to a medical facility?" Megan wondered.

"Brennan didn't tell you? Androssi didn't take Charlie for the same reason as the others. He changed his MO with the last three abductions. Androssi wants his DNA. They want to genetically engineer humans – super humans. Don I wanted to tell you how sorry I am. When I was asked to inject Charlie with the GPS tracking chip, I was told it was just in case he was abducted. I'm sorry."

"I'll tell you what, Sasha, I think we were all played here. There's nothing to be sorry for. Now, let's go get my brother back."

Don and his team were ready to go in less than an hour. They had positioned themselves outside of the building that typically was used for private, long-term care of loved ones. No one would think to look for kidnapped professor of applied mathematics in this beautifully landscaped two story building with the four foot iron cross that decorated the top of the sign.

Colby and Megan were to play the parts of patient and doctor. Megan would pretend to be there to admit her patient for long term physical therapy due to his lengthy recovery from a serious car accident. While they played out their distraction, Don and David would get Charlie out. Sasha would be in contact with all of them through the headsets since she was staked out inside Don's SUV with the computer. She could advise them of the position of everyone inside the facility since she was tapped into the security system.

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Charlie could not remember the last time he had been so miserable. He had thrown off some of the drugs that they had injected him with and now he wished for more. Now that he could think, he was sure they had done medical tests of all kinds on him including a lumbar puncture and several biopsies. There was general pain and discomfort in every part of his body. He needed to get away from here. He needed to not be strapped down to this hospital bed. He needed his brother to rescue him.

Vaguely, he thought he heard a disturbance from somewhere down the corridor. Then he knew he heard the sound of someone falling just outside his door. When he looked to see who had entered his room, he saw the back of one of the large men that he knew had taken him from the driveway of his home. Then he thought he was hallucinating when he saw Don and David enter the room and push the limp body Androssi's goon into one of the chairs.

"Charlie." Don was already trying to get the restraints off of his brother. "Charlie, are you okay?"

"Are – are you real?" It was a soft croak.

"Yeah, buddy. We're real. Just give me a minute and we'll get you out of here." Don turned to his accomplice. "David, help me get him dressed quickly." And then back to Charlie. "I'm sorry Charlie, but we have to hurry. Just let me know if it hurts too much."

"Just get me out – out of here, please." The younger Eppes pleaded. Don didn't miss the haunted look in his brother's eyes. Don hadn't needed further ammunition, but David could have sworn that Don moved even faster after hearing Charlie's plea.

David smirked as he continued to half listen to Megan berating the staff on procedures and lost documentation in the front lobby as he and his companions slipped out of the side door unnoticed by anyone. By the time they got Charlie to the SUV, Megan and Colby joined them. All four of the FBI agents sighed in relief as they departed from the facility's parking lot with the precious cargo secured.

"David, pull over for a minute." Sasha demanded.

"Are you crazy, we need to get him to a real hospital now."

"I need to get the tracking chip out of him before we go any further." Sasha clarified and David obeyed.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Don demanded.

Sasha refused to answer as she pulled out antiseptic and a small scalpel. In seconds, she had the area on Charlie's shoulder bandaged and nodded for David to continue.

"Charlie, Charlie, you can't go to sleep yet." Sasha grew worried as his eyes began to close. "I don't know what they gave you, so you need to stay awake."

"Hurts." He slurred.

"I know." Sasha empathized with him completely.

"Sasha, how much trouble are you in because you helped us?" Don seemed to think about this for the first time since this had begun.

"I'm not in any trouble. After all, I don't know anything about the CIA database being hacked into this afternoon. Nor do I know anything about the anonymous call that you received about where to find Charlie. All I did was come to the hospital after you called to tell me that Charlie was safe. That's why you are going to drop me off at the first bus stop that you come too. Right Agent?" She looked to him for understanding.

"Right."

"Charlie, you be cooperative for the doctors. Okay?" Sasha brushed his hair from his forehead.

" -ll, be good" His strength was all but gone.

"I'll meet you guys there." Sasha got out as David stopped the car.

"Charlie, you heard Sasha, stay awake." Don shook his brother's shoulders. "Charlie come on. Wake up."

"Can't" Charlie informed his brother as he slipped into unconsciousness. Don was worried about the fever that raged through Charlie's body. "This can't be good." He murmured to himself as they closed the distance to the hospital.

TBC

A/N : Sorry about taking so long to post this part. Who knew life at Starbucks could be so crazy. I would like to thank you for all of the positive reviews. You guys rock!