Author: Nicole101

Summary: "What's the worst that can happen?" Don doesn't like this case from the start, now he and his father have one million seconds to get one million dollars or his one and only little brother will be returned in a million pieces.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and Santa was mean and didn't get me Numb3rs for christmas. I was such a good girl too!

A/N: Hey! I got a new computer for Christmas! New story for y'all! I'm in need of a beta. If anyone would like to acquire that position, just let me know. I'm really not to sure if this story is good so any reviews would be helpful. Also I can't promise regular updates or fast ones, but I can guarantee that I will finish this story. Hope you like it!

R&R, but please don't be cruel.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Prologue

"C'mon Charlie it'll be fun," Amita smiled at him, trying to coax him out of his office, he'd been working too hard the last couple of days.

"I have to grade these papers on the Bessel Function (1)," he argued, finales weren't long off and he needed to finish.

"Just for an hour or two, I'm sure there's something mathematical about comedians(2)," she negotiated, knowing she'd eventually get him to come.

"Fine, I'll go. I don't know why I let you talk me into these things," Charlie shook his head, amused.

Amita just smiled and Larry came up beside them, "Charles, was Amita able to persuade you to accompany us?"

"Yes she was, but I can't go for long, agreed?" Charlie responded, "What exactly made you want to go?"

"Well Charles..." Larry began as the three of them left for Comic's Corner.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 1: The Need To Protect

A week later

"Not on this case Charlie, I have a bad feeling about it," Don tried to explain the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him not to allow Charlie to work on the particular case.

"Don..." Charlie trailed off, "It would take so much longer without my help. What's the worst that could happen."

"Do you really want to know?" Don challenged, there were a lot of things that could go wrong on any case and his gut told him something would on this one. A series of kidnapings had occurred and the victims came back in a progressingly worse state. The first came back, after the ransom had been paid, relatively unharmed. The second was covered in bruises and the third had several broken bones. The fear instilled in everyone was that the next victim wouldn't be returned at all, at least not alive.

"Don, really what's the big deal about this case? Why is it so different from the rest?" Charlie asked, focused on getting his brother to change his mind.

"It just doesn't feel right," Don told him in a low voice.

"Don..." Charlie trailed off again and finally the agent let up.

"I have a feeling I'm going to regret this but...okay," Don sighed, slightly angry that he couldn't hold out on his little brother. Charlie was supposed to be the one who couldn't say no.

"Alright, I'll get to work on an algorithm to find similarities between the victims and the kidnappers time line. Itmay show us who's next and when," Charlie started to ramble a little.

"There is a condition Charlie," his elder brother stopped him.

Charlie let out a soft sigh, "What is it?" He asked suppressing the urge to roll his eyes at Don's unnecessary concern.

"Your not allowed at the crime scene. We'll get you pictures and that'll have to do," he set down the ground rules for Charlie's involvement.

"Okay, I'll guess that will have to suffice, but I could get better informa-" Charlie began.

"No!" Don answered forcefully, "You're lucky I'm even letting you work on this."

Charlie didn't reply to this.

"Your not going to any of the scenes. Come on Charlie, you're a genius, I'm sure you can follow these simple instructions."

"Yes, you don't have to repeat yourself. I heard you the first time,"

Don had to smile at this, "Really, because I'm never really sure with you."

Charlie smiled and knew that everything was alright between them once again, "Well... can I get the information?"

"Ask Megan, she'll make you some copies," Don answered him and watched silently as he walked away. He pondered why he was so against Charlie working on this case. Maybe it was just the state of the victims or that it seemed so random. As random as the sniper had seemed to be and he didn't even want to remember what might've happened of David hadn't pushed Charlie down.(3)

He continued to watch his younger brother collect the files from Megan and leave the FBI building with her, probably for a ride home. Everything will be fine, he told himself silently, but there was still the nagging feeling in the back of his mind and the pit of his stomach that told him otherwise.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Charlie sat in the passenger's seat of Megan's van, contemplating ways to accurately predict the next strike as Megan drive him home.

"He's just looking out for you, you know," she told him, her eyes still focused on the road.

"I'm a grown man, I can look out for myself," Charlie rose his eyes from his work for a moment.

"I know, Charlie, but that doesn't change the fact that to Don you're his kid brother and he feels the need to protect you,"

"Mmmmhmmm," Charlie had barely heard her, he was again engrossed in his work.

Megan just shook her head. She dropped him off and on Don's earlier instruction, waited for him to be inside before driving away

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright," a cold voice told his followers, "We'll surprise him."

The other five men nodded silently and got into position, skillfully hiding their large forms behind inconspicious objects.

"Not a word is to be said or a muscle to be moved until I give the okay, got it?" the cold voice asked.

"Yes," the five voices whispered their answer in unison.

"Good, because if you do, we'll be less a man, a bullet and plus a body"

"That's some good math," one of them chuckled in an ironic tone.

"Shut up," the first voice hissed dangerously.

"How are you going to turn off the lights?" Another questioned curiously.

"Well you can't see him, but Dark Shadow is right near one of the light switches."

"Oh, right. Sorry," the curious man replied almost meekly.

"Our victim should be here soon," the voice informed them, peeking at his watch momentarily.

"Will we get good money off this one?" Dark Shadow asked greedily.

"For his sake, I hope we do," the man who had chuckled earlier mentioned cruelly.

"We strike these people for good reason, they'll pay the ransom anyway they can," another with orange hair spoke up.

"Blaze, shut up!" the voice was exasperated at his men's need to talk during a strike. If this kept up, he'd need to find some new men, but that would be difficult, since his men had exactly the expertises he needed.

Everyone was silent, they could hear foot steps in the adjoining rooms and heard the door open and close quietly. Their victim seemed to be working on a laptop computer. They waited for their signal, knowing it could very possibly be a long night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Charlie waited patiently in the garage of his home for the algorithm to give him something probative. He was using the data mining technique he had used for a previous case that included numerous robberies and cell phones. He winced remembering that it was then Marshall Penfield had attacked his theory. Pushing away the memory he continued his waiting for the information. A moment later it was laid out in front him. Charlie's eyes widened in shock at the information his algorithm had given out. Quickly his eyes darted from side to side and he reached for his cell phone.

"Eppes," his brother answered.

"Don?" Charlie asked in a slightly frightened voice. Only a trained agent would have been able to detect it and Don was a trained agent.

"Charlie? What's wrong?" Don asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

"The algorithm told me who and when the next kidnapings would happen," Charlie told him breathlessly.

"When? Maybe we could catch him in the act?" Don pressed his younger brother for the information.

"It'll happen tonight, possibly any minute," he told Don.

"Damn it! Who?" Don questioned.

Charlie remained silent for a moment and Don continued.

"Charlie...something tells me I don't want you to answer this, but who?"

In a scared whisper Charlie gave him his answer and his worst nightmare, "Me."

"I'm on my way-" but all Don heard was the dial tone. That's the worst that can happen, Charlie, Don told his brother mentally as he ran towards the door, signaling Colby and David to follow.

On Charlie's end, the lights had been shut off and a man that looked like nothing more that a shadow, clothed all in black, snapped the phone shut.

"Well hello Professor, it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. We've been watching you for quite some time now," the shadowy man said in a voice that gave Charlie a horrible feeling of apprehension in his stomach.

"We?" Charlie asked in a frightened voice.

The man nodded and four new shadows, one of them from right nearby the light switch (Dark Shadow), emerged from within the darkness.

"Too bad your math didn't tell you that information earlier," one of them chuckled coldly and he looked familiar, like one of the comedians from the club he went to last week.

Charlie swallowed thickly in his nervousness of what was to come. He too, had heard of the increasing amount of violence these men were using. Shuddering slightly he backed up towards the wall, only to bump into a sixth man with flaming orange hair. He too looked familiar; but Charlie couldn't quite place him. This man grabbed his arms firmly, pinning them there. The first man approached, pushing his face into Charlie's personal space. The young man could smell the vile texture of garlic and onions of the man's breath. The man (who was obviously in charge) whispered menacingly into his ear, "I hear you like numbers Professor. Guess what? So do I."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(1) Bessel was a mathematician who worked in mathematics (duh), astronomy, and celestial mechanics. He developed a way of mathematical analysis called the Bessel function. Born: 22 July 1784, Died: 17 March 1846 from cancer.

(2) There are some mathematics involved, for example. Say a comedian comes in one day. The next day you could predict the amount of patrons the next by the level of amusement the day before. Also the number of good comedians will affect the number of patrons. So you see, Amita was right, even though this math is simpler than Charlie would be use to.

(3) If you do want to know what might've happened, check out Mea Culpa by Whyte Star.

A/N#2: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my second Numb3rs story. For people who are reading "Going Once, Going Twice, SOLD!" You can expect chapter 13 up around January 13th, I have it saved at school and won't be able to post it until I have access to the school computers again. I live for my reviews so please review. PLEASE! Again if anyone wants to beta for me, tell me!