David and Colby stood in the middle of the room, near the blood stain, talking quietly and keeping an eye on the two perpetrators. The other museum guests had finally relaxed to the point that they took an interest in the art works they had waited so long to see. In groups of two or three, they looked at the drawings, speaking in hushed tones to each other, glancing uncomfortably at the two agents and the two perpetrators. A few brave souls came close enough to get a look at the tiny DaVinci drawing. Finally, a tiny elderly woman approached the agents. "Excuse me."

Colby kept watch while David turned to the woman, "Yes, Ma'am. Can I help you?"

"I hate to ask, after all that's gone on in here, but could you possibly move those awful women away from the Leonardo so we could see it?"

David's mouth dropped open, but he held back on the comment he really wanted to make. "I'm afraid it's a crime scene, Ma'am. After the technicians are finished, we'll take those two out of here and give the rest of you some time to see the DaVinci."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even asked. I hope you're not offended. My husband and I have been praying for your friend. I do hope he'll be all right."

David smiled. "I'm not offended at all. Thank you for your prayers. We've gotten word that he's going to be fine."

"That's good to hear." She went back to speak quietly to a tall, white-haired man.

"I can't believe she had the nerve to ask..." Colby muttered.

"Not everybody knows the rules of crime scenes. Speaking of which, these rooms will be a nightmare of a crime scene. All these witnesses, and I'll bet none of them saw what went down in either room. None of them were looking. At least there's no doubt about who shot Don."

"True."

David pulled out his notebook and started writing.

"What are you doing?" Colby asked.

"Making a 'to do' list. We've got a lot of loose ends to tie up before we're going to solve this case."

"Too bad we won't have the Whiz Kid on this one."

David chuckled. "You're not going to believe this, but when Charlie called to tell me about Don's condition, he asked me to bring anything I've got that he can help with."

"Really? He's tougher than I thought."

"Yeah. He wants to get the people responsible for shooting his brother. I'll get the list of the kids who were given tickets to the show for him. That sounds like something he could write an algorithm for."

"Good idea." They both turned as they heard noise coming from the other end of the galleries. "I think the cavalry is here."

While David deployed his teams to their tasks, and arranged to have the perpetrators taken into custody, Colby found Liz.

"Come on," he said. "I'm going to debrief you so you can go see how Don's doing"

"Thanks," she said softly.

As they walked toward the lobby, Colby caught sight of Stevenson. "Mr. Stevenson." He showed the museum director his badge. "Do you have a small office we could use for a few minutes?" As Stevenson lead the way, Colby caught the eye of a woman junior agent and signaled for her to accompany them. "Leslie? We need you for a few minutes."

As she caught up to them, Leslie said, "Agent Granger, Agent Warner, what can I do for you?"

"I need to debrief Agent Warner, and I'd just like you to sit in on the session."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Is that really necessary?"

Colby sighed. "These days, yeah. Unfortunately. I know you and trust you, Liz, but I can't take any chances. I'm sorry, but that's the way it's got to be. Haven't you read the sexual harassment guidelines?"

"Yeah, I've read them. The HR guys don't realize that our female agents would kick the butt of any male agent who tried to harass them."

Colby chuckled. "Maybe they ought to consider having protection for the male agents in these situations."

Leslie brought her hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle.

--

Liz Warner was normally cool, calm and very collected. Nothing seemed to faze her. But when she entered the ICU waiting room, she was at the end of her rope. Charlie saw her first, and rushed to greet her. "Liz," he said softly, "he's going to be fine. Come in and sit down."

She rubbed her tear stained face and forced a smile. "Do I look that bad?"

Charlie guided her to a chair. "No.." He grinned. "Well, yeah, actually. You look the way the rest of us feel. Come on. Sit."

Alan and Amita stood. Alan embraced her. "Liz. Thank you for coming."

Liz wrapped her arms around Alan and sobbed. When she pulled away a few moments later, she was mortified. "Alan, I am so sorry." She fumbled in her pocket for a tissue. Amita touched her hand and held up a box of tissues. "Thanks," Liz said, taking a handful. She sniffed and wiped her face, then steadied her voice. "Alan, I'm sorry to have... well... after all you've been through today..."

"It's okay. You've been through a lot yourself. Were you... did you see..."

"I was in another room. I heard the shots and ran to see what had happened." She looked down at her hands. "While I was checking on Don, the picture I was supposed to be watching was stolen."

Charlie's face hardened as Alan and Amita consoled Liz. He muttered, "They shot Don as a distraction. What kind of animals are we dealing with? And why didn't they go for the DaVinci. That was clearly the best target."

"Heisenberg," Amita said softly. "They knew everybody expected them to go for the DaVinci, so they went for the second best target."

"And if I had been where I was supposed to have been, they never would have gotten it," Liz said.

Charlie took Liz's hand. "You can't blame yourself. We've got to concentrate on getting these... these..."

"Bastards?" Millie supplied as she strode into the room. "I assume we're talking about the creeps who shot Don?" She hugged Alan. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner. How are you holding up?"

"Fine," Alan lied. "Millie, do you know Agent Liz Warner?"

Millie pondered for a moment. "I don't believe we've been introduced. You were at the opening reception with Don, right? I'm Charlie and Amita's boss, here to check up on them."

Liz smiled and shook hands with Millie. "I'm on Don's team, and, uh..."

"She and Don are seeing each other," Charlie supplied.

"Oh, my poor dear, no wonder you're so upset. You weren't there... when it happened?"

"I was in the next room."

"Oh dear." She took Liz's hand. "Listen, Liz, as these good people will attest, I am a person who speaks her mind."

Charlie muttered, "One of the many things we love about our Millie."

"I heard that. Anyway, Liz, it's generally not good for coworkers, or especially boss and employee, to be dating. Maybe you should transfer to another team?"

"Well, I'm not officially on Don's team. I'm normally involved with gangs. But once in a while... actually, more and more often... we've been working together."

"Not a good idea, as I'm sure you've learned today. It affected how you did your job, didn't it?"

Liz nodded.

"I'm sure that 99 of the time, you two work wonderfully together. But then something happens to one of you and the other one, well, the other one falls apart. Am I right?"

"You're right," Liz said. "Colby debriefed me before I left to come here. I'm willing to bet that when Don's team is back to full force, I won't be working with him any more. With Megan on special assignment, and now with Don injured, it'll be a while. But right now, I can't wait to get back to breaking down doors in Compton."

--

On the surface, David Sinclair was cool, calm, and in control. He assumed the duties of lead agent without missing a beat. But Colby had been his partner for two years now, and knew that appearances could be deceiving. "Hey," Colby said as he reentered the room, "you doing okay?"

David nodded, "No," he said, smiling. "But we'll get through this How'd it go with Liz?"

Colby took a deep breath. "I told her it might be a good idea if she stopped working with Don."

"Really? How'd she take that?"

"Surprisingly well. She knows she screwed up, and she's ready for whatever repercussions come from that. She wants to do anything she can to save her career. It's got to be tough dating someone on your team," Colby mused.

David took a step back, holding up both hands, "Just as long as you don't get any ideas."

"Nah. I know you and Claudia have something going. I wouldn't mess with that."

"Good. Now let's get back to work. I just want to make sure everything's under control here, then I'd like to have a talk to our two latest perpetrators. I'm sure they've had time to get ahold of their lawyer."

Colby nodded. "It's going to be an interesting conversation. But you know, I'm having a hard time getting a handle on this case. It's like every time we start down one trail, something happens that pulls us a different way."

"I know what you mean. Hopefully Charlie can make some sense of it all."

--

All Charlie wanted to do was talk to Don. He wanted to look in Don's eyes, and listen to Don's voice, and know that his brother was all right. But every fifty minutes, he was disappointed. Don slept peacefully. Charlie was happy for that. But he really wanted to talk to him. After ten minutes of touching Don's cheek, squeezing his fingers, and listening to his deep breathing, Charlie would walk slowly, silently with his father back to the waiting room.

Finally, Andrea came to tell them that they had moved Don to his room. "You can sit with him..."

"Will he be waking up soon?" Charlie asked.

Andrea checked her watch. "It could be any time now." Seeing Charlie's expression, she added, "But he'll be very groggy. The medication he's on is pretty powerful. Don't expect too much too soon."

Alan put his hand on Charlie's shoulder. "We'll try not to. We're just anxious..."

"That's understandable," Andrea said. "Believe me, I know. But for now, just trust us that he's going to be fine. Come on, I'll take you to him." As she walked them down the hallway, she said, "Because he's in law enforcement, he'll be the only patient in the room So," she said, glancing at the crowd that followed her, "we'll be able to bend the visitation rules just a bit. You'll all be able to stay as long as you don't disrupt Don's care in any way. And," she looked from Alan to Charlie, "the spare bed will be available if you need to take a nap. From what I've seen so far, you two gentlemen don't plan on leaving any time soon."

Alan smiled. "You've got that right. And thank you for all your help."

When they arrived at Don's unit, Andrea said, "There's a small kitchenette behind the nurse's station. There's coffee and tea there. But I'd really recommend that you take turns staying with Don. You'll really need to get up and around after a while – go home, shower, change your clothes, go to the cafeteria for a meal. Don will be pretty much out of it for the next day or two, and you need to take care of yourselves too."

"Dr. Torre told us the same thing," Charlie said. "He said we'd have to be ready to take care of Don when he gets home."

Andrea grinned. "Dr. Torre is a very wise man. Okay, here we are. Room 714." She pushed the door open and peeked inside. "He's sleeping," she said softly. She led the way and checked Don's monitors and IV bags. "Everything's looking good."

Alan gently touched Don's forehead and blinked back tears. "My poor baby boy," he said softly. Glancing at Andrea, he said, "He feels a little warm."

"His temperature is up just a little. But we're watching it closely. The antibiotics should kick in soon. Abdominal wounds are prone to infection. I know you can't tell by looking at him, but he was very lucky."

Charlie smiled sheepishly. "Dr. Torre told us that too. I'm afraid I didn't agree with him until he explained."

"Don't worry. We know families aren't at their most rational when a loved one is injured. Especially in these circumstances. I heard about it on the news. A little girl shot him during a museum robbery?" She shook her head sadly. "My brother's a cop, and they have to be so alert all the time. You never know who's going to try to kill you. Well, I'll leave you to it. Press the call button if you need anything."

After Andrea left, Charlie quietly moved chairs around Don's bed. Alan sat in the closest, with Liz next to him. Don's left hand was free of needles and tubing, and she gripped it gently. Millie pulled a chair up behind Alan, and Charlie and Amita sat beside her. Amita took Charlie's hand and squeezed it. When he looked up at her, she touched his cheek. "It'll be okay," she whispered.

"I know," he said softly. "It's just hard to see him this way."

Liz sighed. "It sure is."

Charlie stood and started pacing. "I feel like I should be doing something."

"Charlie," Alan said, "please sit down. You don't want to disturb Don."

"All right." Charlie sat. "But I still feel like I should be doing something. Liz? You were there. Can you give me anything more to work with?"

"Nothing helpful," Liz said softly. "I wasn't in the room when Don was shot, and when I left my post to see what was going on, I was out of the room when the Michelangelo was stolen. So, I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help. To anybody." She ran her fingers through Don's hair, trying to straighten it a bit. "You'll have to talk with David and Colby if you're hoping to get anything useful."

Charlie pulled out his notebook and flipped back through his pages of notes and calculations.

"Got an idea?" Millie asked, leaning over to look at what he was writing.

"Not really. I'm hoping to jump-start my brain by looking through what I've got so far." He turned slightly so Millie couldn't see the notebook. "I really don't know where to go with this." He glanced at Don. "I just can't concentrate."

Amita massaged his shoulders. "You've got a lot on your mind right now. Don't try to force it."

Charlie leaned back and closed his eyes. "I told Don once that sometimes I can't work on what I want to work on, or what I need to work on. Sometimes I just need to work on what's in my head. The problem is, what's in my head right now is a tangled mess. I've got kids in wheelchairs, skydivers, a dead schoolteacher, a taser, and now a gun. Throw in three missing artworks for good measure. So far there's nothing consistent in any of it."

"The kids," Liz said, "There's always been kids in wheelchairs. Why?"

"Someplace to hide the paintings?" Alan suggested.

"Somebody you wouldn't suspect?" Millie said, "We perceive children as innocents. Yet these criminals are consistent in their use of children."

"Children and teachers," Charlie murmured. "The two brothers..." he wrote 'F.AGINCOURT' in block letters across the top of a new page.

Millie craned her neck to see what he was writing. "Fagin," she said. "Oh my gosh, Charlie! Fagin!"

"Fagin? What's that?" Charlie looked at Millie, a trace of concern in his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Millie reached in front of Amita and ran her fingernail over the first few letters of what Charlie had written. "F.Agin. Fagin."

"Oliver Twist," Alan said, nodding. "Fagin was an old reprobate who trained street urchins to become thieves."

Amita said, "And you have two Fagins working with kids."

Liz shook her head. "You'll need more than that to get a warrant."

"Of course," Charlie said, flipping back and forth through his pages, and making notes on a blank page "But now I have a thread to follow through the tangled mess. Say you've got a huge tangle of a dozen different kinds of yarn. It'll be pretty much hopeless to pull that mess apart unless you just follow one thread at a time. I'm going to start following an Agincourt thread and see where it leads."

Alan turned around and smiled at Charlie's intent expression. "Just follow your thread quietly, Charlie. You don't want to disturb your brother."

Charlie stood, and, not lifting his eyes from his notebook, walked to the empty bed on the other side of the room. He sat on the edge of the bed. A moment later, Amita joined him, and the two talked quietly.

Alan patted Liz's hand. "If anyone can make sense of this mess, it's those two."

Liz glanced at the two professors as they worked. "I know. I don't understand half of what they say, but I can't argue with their results." She yawned and started to stretch. She stopped and looked at the hand that held Don's hand. He had squeezed her fingers.

"Don?" she said softly.

"Mmmm?" Don turned his head toward her voice and struggled to open his eyes. "Liz?"

Charlie dropped his notebook and hurried to Don's bedside. "Don!"

Don squinted, trying to focus on his brother. "Charlie?"

Charlie grinned. "Don! Hey, Brother, how are you feeling?"

"Like crap."

"Do you need anything?" Alan asked. "You want me to call the nurse?"

"No. I'm good," Don murmured. "Tired."

"Get some sleep, Donnie," Alan said, touching Don's cheek. "We'll be here if you need us."

"I know," Don said, closing his eyes. "G'night."