Chapter 5: Bond Of Brothers

With a sigh, Charlie glared at his laptop. If he didn't know it better, he could swear the numbers had conspired up against him to not let him see the solution. It was the only explanation he could find that explained why he had been working on this batch of numbers and hadn't been able to find the pattern yet and break the code.

Or perhaps, he just was too tired and exhausted to think clearly enough. And too worried. Not to mention that he felt the pressure getting to him.

After all, if he couldn't break the code it could mean that millions of lives would be in danger.

He was used to work on cases and projects that had lives at cost but never something like with this one, especially not while being engaged in a race for the solution with the enemy. And a tight race it was with them fighting very dirty like yesterday's attack showed only too well.

It hadn't been the first attack actually. He knew the other side was trying to distract him, slow him down. He knew they were playing with him though he had no idea why. Over the past six weeks his bike had been manipulated, his office at CalSci had been broken in, nasty little surprises had been sent to him, he had been knocked unconscious to wake up in a strip club and finally, they had moved to shoot at him. It was clear that they could get at him, no matter how good his team members of this operation watched him – so why didn't they just kill him instead of playing with him like that?

This question plagued him almost as much as these stubborn numbers that just wouldn't open up for him.

And as if that wasn't enough to have to deal with, now Don had caught wind of something being going on, something that threatened Charlie's safety if not even his life. So now, his big brother snooped around and Charlie was deeply afraid that this would bring Don right into the line of sight of the persons playing this sick game with him and Charlie just couldn't let that happen. Don led a dangerous life enough as it was – he wouldn't add to that by dragging him into a possibly deadly mess himself.

But how could he stop Don from getting involved in this after he had learned of the attack yesterday and the resulting graze Charlie had suffered? He knew his big brother, probably better than most would think, especially Don himself. He knew that his safety was one of Don's top priorities and that whenever there was even the hint of him being in any danger, Don would go into overdrive in his protectiveness. It was one of the reasons why Charlie had been very careful to not let know Don of just what he usually really did while working for other agencies like CIA or NSA – well, apart of the fact that it was all top secret anyway. Especially when he worked on a joint CIA and NSA project like he did now. Not to mention the DSR who had some interest involved as well. The CIA and NSA cases almost always were a mess. Of course they only called him in for the really big ones and big naturally also meant bad and dangerous. The cases the two agencies worked together… He had had only three such operations yet and frankly said, he would have been happy to never have to do with one ever again. Too bad his conscience wouldn't let him tell them no when Bob or Jean called him in for one.

So no, he really didn't want Don and especially his father to know his involvement with stuff like that. His dad was worried enough about Don on a constant basis and he knew what a toll it took for their father to live with that danger. Charlie also knew that his dad was happy to know that at least one of his sons led a secure life, away from the dark sides of life Don had to confront on an every day basis. And Don couldn't know because first most, Charlie knew how important concentration was to keep Don safe and he knew his brother well enough to know that that concentration would lack if he knew that Charlie's work sometimes wasn't so harmless at all. He could well remember how Don had sprinted through an open space without cover, completely regardless of his own safety, when that sniper had targeted Charlie. No, his concentration wouldn't be as good as it should be and that could get Don hurt. And second – frankly said, Charlie wasn't so sure how Don would react if he learned that Charlie had been rather closely involved with law enforcement agencies for years now – long before Don came back to LA and eventually started to bring Charlie in on cases.

The truth was that Charlie had helped the FBI before Don had asked him to, also on sensitive cases – not often though. For him, the FBI was Don's turf and he never had wanted to invade that unless Don specifically asked him to – which he hadn't thought very likely. The shadows of their childhood just hadn't vanished yet. After a while, Don had come with a few embezzlement cases to him but that were peanuts, Charlie knew that. Still, he had been pleased that Don had been willing to ask him in on them, even if it reminded him a lot of the times when Don asked for his help with his math homework, all the time well aware that this was all he would likely get from Don to work on. But then that serial rapist case had Don troubled and when Charlie had seen a possible way to find the rapist he just hadn't been able to keep out of it and not say something to Don about him being able to help him. Since then Don had gradually called him in on more and more cases and Charlie was incredibly happy about that. He loved to work with Don and the FBI cases were a challenging experience for him. It was marvelous to see how math could help to catch killers, rapists and other low creatures and even more: helped save lives. Sure, he also had that with the work he did for other agencies but with the FBI cases, it was more rewarding than with the others because it was more personal. It also meant they were tougher to deal with, especially added the fact that there, if he was wrong, he could bring Don's life and the ones of his team in danger like the case with the Charm Boys had shown. It had taken Charlie a while to deal with that aspect of his consulting work for Don. But he had and now, he was proud to say that he and Don didn't make such a bad team.

A team he had no intention to risk with anything – like him being involved more with NSA and CIA than he just knew Don and his dad would like it. So he was really careful to keep this a secret. With his dad it wasn't that much of a problem but with Don… His brother just was too good an agent to not get suspicious from time to time – especially after he had learned of Charlie's high security clearance. He was no fool – he knew what such a high clearance entitled. And Charlie had seen that it had troubled his big brother, though he wasn't sure if it was because it had worried Don or because it had irked him that his little brother had a higher clearance than him. Charlie thought it probably had been a bit of both, though he hoped the worry for him had more part of it than the annoyance.

And now with that shooting and the graze… It was no wonder that Don had caught on, at least partly and Charlie just knew that he wasn't going to give it a rest. Not after that attempt on his life. To be fair, if the roles were reversed, he wouldn't either. That didn't make this better though. It wasn't just that Charlie didn't want Don to become a target himself, the one thing he feared most – but Don was FBI and this was a CIA/NSA operation and his colleagues within those two agencies didn't like someone else to walk into their territory anymore than the FBI liked it – or any other organization he had ever worked for. Then there was the simple fact that Don hadn't had the clearance to get in on this one. Only people with high clearance were allowed to work on this case.

Problem was that Don never was going to listen to him. Not with how things were at the moment. His visit to Suttner was evidence enough for that. Charlie still couldn't believe it that Don had really done something so stupid. To go to the chief of the LAPD and interrogate him… What the hell had his brother been thinking?

"You okay?"

Startled out of his thoughts, Charlie suppressed a sigh and looked up from his laptop, forcing himself to offer a smile. "Sure, I'm fine."

Noah dropped into the chair beside Charlie and threw a peanut up into the air that he caught with his mouth. Only then did he give Charlie a hard look. "You know, one day you should learn that everyone who knows you knows that nothing is fine when you claim that you're fine."

Frustrated, Charlie looked away. "Okay then, so I'm good," he corrected his earlier phrase and turned back to his work.

Noah chuckled. "Remember who I am? Hardened, thoroughly trained badass spy? You really think a little math geek like you can fool me?"

Exasperated, Charlie threw the agent a dark look. "Is there a point you want to make or can I continue to work on this code you want me to break?"

Shrugging, Noah met his eyes with a slight grin. "The point is that I doubt that you'll get much progress with breaking this code unless you can clear your head and get rid of whatever is plaguing you. And as it's really important that you break that code I suggest you spill now what's really on your mind."

Annoyed, Charlie held Noah's eyes. "Okay, so maybe I'm tired because for the past four months I've been doing almost nothing else than try to break this code, find a trace of Vision and figure out what they're up to next. I'm on edge because for the last six weeks I've barely missed one strange accident after the other and now yesterday, someone shot at me with the sole purpose to scare me. And you know what? I am. I'm scared shitless. Isn't that enough to trouble my mind?"

Again, Noah shrugged, never loosing eye contact though. "Sure. It's only normal you're on edge and tired. But we both know that that's not it. You usually work the best under pressure and you've been working for us long enough now to not get rattled that easily. And while the stakes are admittedly high this time around – I don't believe for a second that this is enough to break your concentration like it is broken now. You were barely there at the conference this morning and I seriously doubt you've heard every word that had been said. And ever since then you sit here sulking over that laptop of yours and not getting forward one bit." His hard eyes softened. "And this worries me because I know that not many things can break your concentration like this. So come on: Spill it!"

For a long moment, Charlie was silent, having turned away his head, contemplating his friend's words. Finally, he gave in. "It's Don," he answered quietly.

Noah frowned. "Your brother? What about him?"

Charlie sighed and leant back, running his hands over his face. "You know that Larry was witness to yesterday's attack? Well, he told Megan, which I should have anticipated, I mean, they are together after all. And of course Megan told Don and Don – he freaked out a bit after learning I've been grazed and then having vanished for a while."

Slowly, Noah nodded. "Understandably."

"Sure," Charlie agreed. "But you forget that Don's also a very good senior FBI agent. I've told him the cover story but he didn't believe one word of it. And he knows now that I've really gotten hurt and that…" he interrupted himself and looked back at his friend. "Noah, Don is my big brother. He takes that very seriously so he's a bit overprotective of me. Which means that he's not going to stand by and just ignore that someone has hurt me."

"So you think he'll want to investigate," Noah concluded.

Charlie gave a sharp laugh. "Damn right he will. He already interrogated Suttner about the cover story and while the chief assured him that all was accurate – he didn't buy it. He won't stop until he gets to the bottom of this, Noah. And I can't stop him. He won't listen to me."

For a moment, Noah thought about that. "Well, we could see to it that Bob or Jean have a little talk with his boss to warn him to but out."

But Charlie immediately shook his head. "That won't do it. Don's a very reliable and sensible agent but this is not work for him. This is personal. This is family. I'm his little brother. Getting a reprimand will only spur him on I think." He made a face and looked away, his mind straying to their childhood. "Don has a habit to get in trouble over me, totally lacking any care for his own best interests anymore," he told Noah tonelessly.

Like that time in high school when Don beat up the boys that had beaten up Charlie, which earned him a suspension and two months of grounding. Don hadn't minded one bit but Charlie had hardly been able to bear it. Why couldn't Don understand that him getting in trouble because of Charlie hurt Charlie more than anything anyone could have done to him? And now, if they really demanded Don officially to but out and his brother wouldn't listen… Charlie couldn't allow Don to risk his career! Don lived to be an agent, he was born for it, that was what made him so good at it.

But how could he bring Don to stop his own investigation? He had already tried to tell him to not do this, he all but pleaded with him last evening to not get involved with this, to just let it rest. Obviously, it had been to no use. Otherwise, Don would hardly have called Suttner to verify the story Charlie had told him. It hadn't all been a lie. Charlie was really working on an analysis to improve reaction time for the LAPD and it did involve staged scenarios like he had described them to Don. Most of the tests were over though and he was already deep in analyzing the results. When that shooting happened and Charlie had called it in, Jean, the operation leader, had decided to tarn it as part of that test, should it become necessary. Jean and Suttner were friends, so that hadn't been hard to arrange.

Still – Charlie had hated to lie to Don. He knew it was necessary, but that didn't make it any easier for him. Don was his brother. He didn't want to loose his trust and he knew only too well that lying to him was one of the fastest ways to accomplish that. Especially as his lying hadn't been to much use, hadn't it been? Don had not believed one word of what Charlie had told him. No wonder with the evidence of the graze right there.

"Hey! Charlie! Come back to us, Chap!"

Charlie came out of his thoughts to blink at Noah.

"You've spaced out on me," Noah said. "I hope you had one of your genius strokes."

Instead of answering, Charlie just shook his head. He seriously wished it had been something like that as well. Of course he was used to worry about Don, but this time it was different. This time he worried because he himself was the reason why Don could get in danger or trouble – or both. And he feared that it would mess up everything he and Don had managed to gain over the past few years. Yeah, that was what he probably feared the most. Especially after their fight this morning. It had been a while since they had had an argument like this and yeah, Charlie hated it.

He knew that they needed to talk about it, clear the air between them. With Don's line of work they couldn't afford to leave things between them with a fight. Who knew when tragedy struck? So it may not be fair, but Charlie usually made it a point not to fight with Don. Or when it did happen, to reconcile with him as soon as possible. He would never forgive himself if something happened and the last words he and Don had exchanged were words of anger and repercussions.

Yeah, he definitely needed to resolve things with Don, even though he wasn't quite sure how this time. It wasn't as if he could just go and tell Don the truth. Nor did he feel as if he was in the wrong this time. He wasn't. Even if Don worried, he had no right to simply but into Charlie's business without the least regard of Charlie's wishes in that matter.

Damn it.

Noah frowned. "Charlie – you need to get a grip of yourself. We need you on this one. You're the only one I know who can possibly figure out this code."

"I know," Charlie sighed. "Me and Kovlav. Unfortunately though we all know that Kovlav's not on our side but on Vision's."

"Exactly. As well as we know that it's better for this world that you break the code before Kovlav," Noah agreed.

"Noah, I know what's at stake, believe me. But I just can't…" Charlie rubbed his neck and hung his head. "I can't help it. I can't concentrate. I'm just too worried about what Don's going to do next."

Noah was silent for a while. Finally, he sighed and reached out to give Charlie's shoulder a squeeze. "Okay. You know what? I think you'll need a break. You've worked on this for weeks now and you hardly took any breaks. Go home, get your bike and go for a ride. Or drive out to the Valley for a short hike. And talk to your brother, Charlie. Perhaps you're right and he is a bit stubborn when it's about you. That would only be natural. But from what I've heard of him he is also a good agent who follows reason and logic. He probably already suspects that this has something to do with another agency. I know you can't give him any details – just tell him enough for him to back off."

"I already tried that…" Charlie started to protest.

"No. You tried to not tell him anything at all which is just what you're supposed to do," Noah withspoke. "But Don's FBI. He's a senior agent. It's not like you're telling a student or another civilian anything. Be frank. Tell him you're working on something for us, that you can't give details but that we're looking for your safety."

Charlie offered a weak smile. "I'm not sure that's enough for Don."

"Then make sure it's enough. You know him best. Tell him whatever is necessary for him to back off so you can concentrate on what we all need you to do," Noah gently told him then stood up, giving Charlie's shoulder another squeeze. "Come on, Chap, go home now. I'll talk to Jean, cover for you."

Charlie hesitated a moment longer, then he nodded. Noah was right. He really needed a break. And a ride would help clear his mind, to focus. "Okay," he gave in and stood up as well, starting to pack away his laptop. He stopped briefly to look into Noah's dark eyes. "Thanks," he said quietly.

Noah shrugged and helped himself to another peanut. "Hey, the faster you break that code, the sooner I can have my vacation and head out to the beach to surf and find myself a nice hot babe for the nights."

Rolling his eyes, Charlie grinned. "Just don't forget the sun lotion or you'll look like a hummer again. I'm not sure how your chances with that hot babe will be then."

Noah just grinned dirtily. "Aww, then I just score myself a nice hot nurse, Chap."

"You're a pig," Charlie stated dryly.

"And you're a geek," Noah retorted unfazed. "That's why I get more love than you. So I'm perfectly okay to be a pig."

Laughing, Charlie slapped his arm and then headed towards the exit. He couldn't wait to get home and switch the car for his bike.

He really needed a ride, clear his mind, recharge his energies.

Noah was right about Don as well. Charlie would try to talk and reason with his brother again that evening. He was pretty sure that Don would come home tonight to keep watch over him again. He was no fool – he knew exactly that that had been the reason for Don to stay the previous night and not head over to his own apartment. Charlie didn't need to be a genius to know that he'd need all the energy he could muster up for that talk with his brother and convince his protective big brother to keep out of this. Or that his chances to achieve that would still be very low.

Cursing, Don smashed the phone back onto its station, seething and trembling at the same time.

Now what?

The last time his mysterious caller had contacted him, Don had learned shortly after that his brother had been in danger. But even if it was the same case again this time, he had no idea where Charlie was, with whom he was or what he was doing.

Damn it! And damn Charlie for being so stupidly secretive!

Running his hands through his hair, Don forced himself to calm down. He needed to be calm or he wouldn't accomplish anything. First things first. He took up the phone again.

"Rick? I just got a call again. See if it's listed this time," Don barked.

Rick sighed. "Sure, Eppes. Anything for you. I've got nothing else to do at all but be at your beck and call."

Don's grip on the phone tightened. "Don't fool around now, Rick, just do what I've told you."

"You know, I remember a time when you've been at least remotely funny, not that your sense of humor had ever been that good," Rick just answered but at least Don could hear him typing away on his keyboard.

The phone had to break any moment now, that hard a pressure was Don applying onto it. "Rick, this is not a joke. A guy keeps calling me to warn me about Charlie being in some sort of danger. I need to know who this is and from where he calls me. Or at least how he manages to call me without it leaving any sort of trace."

"Charlie?" Rick asked and any trace of humor had left his voice.

"Yeah."

"Okay, just give me a moment here," Rick answered, sounding all business now. Rick liked Charlie, respected and admired him. Actually, Don suspected he was one of those geek groupies Charlie seemed to have.

He had noticed that before, how some people from Charlie's world almost treated his brother as a rock star or some sort of baseball legend. It was funny to watch – usually. Sometimes though he couldn't help but wonder. He knew his brother was special, no one knew that probably better than him. But that other scientists regarded him with such awe… he sometimes wondered just how extraordinary Charlie really was. And he couldn't say that he liked those people's behavior much – not because he resented the attention his brother got from them, but because he could see that Charlie himself didn't feel too comfortable among groupies. They had never talked about it, but Don was good at reading body language and he was an expert in his brother's nonverbal language.

After their mother's death, someone had to and he had promised their mom to look out for Charlie. It was a promise he took very seriously and the more he got to know the man his brother had become, the more important it became for him. And surprisingly, it hadn't been as hard as he had thought it would be. After coming back from Albuquerque and finding Charlie locked up in the garage and in that world of his that only consisted of numbers and nothing else he had thought he would never been able to understand his brother. Their mother was dying and Charlie refused to go see her? No, that was something he would never understand and yeah, he had resented Charlie a long time for that.

But he had made that promise on his mother's death bed and there was no way that he would break it. So he had made an effort to reach out to his brother and gradually, they had approached each other again. It wasn't until a year later and Charlie started to consult for him that they really made progress, starting to get to know each other better – and respect each other more. And in the end, it hadn't been that hard. Despite the differences and perhaps even resentment on Don's part in their childhood, Don always had a way to get through to Charlie and bring him out of his numbers. He knew he understood Charlie quite well, not his numbers, but Charlie the person, his little brother. Reading him had never been so hard for Don and he knew that in a way, he even got his brother better than their father who lived with Charlie. Perhaps it was because once during their early childhood, the way his little brother's face lit up when Don wanted to do some normal things with him like throw some balls or go to the park had very early prompted him to do just that, had made Don realize that Charlie needed such things as much as he needed the tutors to show him the wonders of math. So he teased him, played him pranks and fought with him at the same time he did the brother thing like watch out for him, teach him how to play ball or scare away the bullies.

It was true that there were many times he remembered from their childhood in which he really had hated Charlie's specialty and how everything always seemed to revolve around him. There was anger, there was jealousy and there was hurt. But there were other times, times that were just good, where he and Charlie had just fooled around or when they had stuck together against their parents to hide the fact that they had broken their mother's favorite vase by playing ball in the house. He remembered how Charlie would yell the loudest when Don made a homerun or how his little brother would always came running to him, full of excitement to tell him he made a new discovery, sometimes even before he went to Mom. And most of all, he remembered how Charlie had always looked up at him, how no matter what Don told him in his anger or frustration, the big brown eyes of his brother held nothing but love and admire for his big brother.

Yeah, it were the good times he remembered more and more and he was grateful for that. It helped cross that distance that had formed between them from the time the two boys had left their home to go to college until he had come back to LA for good and deepen that bond that would always bind them two together. The bond of brothers.

So when he saw people like Rick or outside consultants they sometimes asked onto a case to help them and work with Charlie and they then treated Charlie like some sort of wonder boy and he saw how Charlie was really uncomfortable with that, he grew more and more resentful towards such people. Charlie always had been a lonely child. There was not one friend Don could name that Charlie had had from their childhood, simply because there hadn't been any. Charlie's specialty had always set him apart. Children his age stayed away from him because they always had been able to sense that he was not like them. And soon, Charlie had been thrown into groups with children much older than him and of course the older kids ignored him – and, like the younger ones, they too weren't comfortable with him around, that strange guy who almost always talked just about numbers and statistical probability. In a way, as Don realized now, they all had been afraid of him and his abilities.

Back then Don hadn't understood it all or just why his little brother always wanted to spend his free time with his big brother. Of course he had known that Charlie was different and that he didn't seem to have any friends, but he never had made a conscious relation between those facts. That hadn't come until years later. But after he had, he had thought that that must have changed later, when Charlie had grown up and was among bright minds just like his. And for a long time, Don had believed that at least now, things had changed for Charlie. After all, when he had come back to LA he had found a well respected math professor who often hung out with his buddies from the university.

Until he had gotten a closer look at his brother's life and how even the people of the scientific world treated him as someone set apart from them. And he realized that in reality, Charlie only seemed to have one true friend and that was Larry Fleinhard and even he was much more a mentor than someone who qualified as a best friend. Of course there was also Amita, but she was another story altogether. Truth was that Charlie seldom went out to just chill and the few times he did, he usually went with Larry and as much as Don respected the older man – he wasn't that much fun, at least not fun to have with him. He had watched how Charlie had almost timidly started to hang out a bit with David and Colby but he had also seen that while they did accept him rather easily and Charlie did relax with them a great deal – Charlie also always seemed to be on guard. Less guard than usual perhaps, but he could feel a certain apprehension in his brother that just wouldn't leave him.

And it made Don terribly sad for his brother and at the same time, more and more angry with people. Okay, so Charlie was special, different. His IQ may be off the roof and he may be a human calculator but hell, he was still a human with needs like every one else. Especially those smart people who called themselves scientists and were part of the geek community should really know better than treat Charlie differently and set him apart even in his own world.

"Don?"

Startled out of his dark thoughts, Don needed a moment to detect where he was. Right. Office, threat, Rick. "You've got something for me?"

"There's no call listed again. I'm not sure yet how this is possible but I have a few ideas. I'll need time to check them out though until I can be sure how this is possible," Rick said and he sounded sorry.

Don sighed, not too surprised at those news. "Okay, just do what you can and get back to me the second you've got something."

"Will do," Rick answered eagerly and already, he was gone.

Don laid the phone in its station and put his elbows onto the desk to rest his head in his hands. He was at the end with his wits. He didn't know what Charlie was involved with and who would want to harm him, see him dead. He had no idea if this caller was one of the good or the bad guys and his words weren't to much use other than worry Don to no end. What danger was Charlie in, what games were they playing with his little brother and who the hell were 'they'?

Was this some sort of revenge? The way the caller had talked, Don had gotten that impression but if that was true, revenge for what? What had Charlie done that could prompt such repercussions? And for whom had he done this? Against whom?

After his phone call with Charlie, Don had contacted a guy he knew from the NSA to ask him if he knew something or if he could see if he could learn if Charlie was working on a case for the NSA. His contact hadn't known anything but he had said he'd see what he could find out. But even if he did, there was no guarantee that he would or could also tell Don about it.

Still, so far it was the only thing Don could do as his brother stalled him. And he had a hunch that this mess was somehow involved with the NSA, it practically reeked after them.

"Don?"

Growling, he looked up to see Megan once again hovering over him with worried eyes.

"Did something happen?" she asked, knowingly.

His first instinct was to brush her off, but then he hesitated. He could see already that she wouldn't believe him anyway and besides, she was his partner and his second in command. Plus, she had been there with him all the way, yesterday. Perhaps, she deserved to know as well – and professionally, if this thing continued, Don knew that she actually needed to know. He had no intention to take time and give up his leadership but he needed someone to keep an eye on him. With Charlie involved he would not be able to be completely professional.

So he told her the truth. "Yesterday afternoon I received a call from a man who gave me a simple message: Your brother's in danger, keep an eye on him." He stared into Megan's eyes. "Two hours later you came to tell me that someone had used my brother as target practice." As Megan said nothing, he continued and nodded at his phone. "I got another one right after you left. He again warned me that Charlie's still in danger. That someone is playing a deadly game with him and that I should watch him."

It was a long moment before Megan spoke. "You have no idea who that mysterious caller is?"

Don shook his head. "No, I've never heard his voice and it sounds as he's not scrambling or muffling it. I've talked to Rick to see if he can tell me something but apparently, none of the calls are listed. It's like they've never happened. And I have no idea if this guy just wants to taunt me or if he really tries to warn me about Charlie being in danger. I don't know," he said quietly, giving Megan a long look. "But whatever it is, after what happened yesterday and Charlie's strange behavior… He sure got my attention." He shook his head. "Do you see now why I can't leave this alone? No matter on which side this guy is – it's clear that whatever is going on revolves around Charlie and, Megan, if something happens to Charlie…" he couldn't finish the sentence.

Nothing could happen to his baby brother. It just couldn't.

Slowly, Megan nodded and took a deep breath. "So what's your plan?"

Yeah, that was the big question, wasn't it? "You have any contacts high up?"

"Maybe," Megan answered quietly.

"Then see if you can find out if and with what Charlie's involved. And though I hate to cut Colby's and David's leave short, ask them to do the same, will you? Rick's working on the calls to find out how it's possible that there's no trace of them," Don told her.

Megan nodded. "And what are you going to do?"

Don sighed and stood up. "I'll try to talk to Charlie again."

It really was his only option. This time around though, he'd try to really talk to his brother – and not just demand answers. Perhaps, if Charlie knew about the calls that scared Don so much, he maybe would finally tell him at least the basics of what was going on.

"That sounds like a good idea," Megan agreed.

Before Don could respond, his phone rang once again. He grabbed it. "Eppes."

There was a brief pause before an unknown voice hesitantly started to speak. "Agent Donald Eppes? FBI?"

"Yes," Don confirmed impatiently. "Who is this?"

He didn't have time to loose.

"Sir, this is Officer Leo Keats, LAPD. I'm contacting you about a car bomb that has gone off forty minutes ago."

Don frowned, unease settling down in his gut. "So? What's this got to do with me? Is it related to the FBI?" Though he doubted that. He got his calls to respond to from either dispatch or Merrick personally.

Officer Keats sounded even more reluctant as he answered and suddenly, Don was feeling the same dread again like he had the day before. "Sir, we checked the license plate and apparently, the car belongs to one Dr Charles Edward Eppes. And there was a message to notify you immediately, in case something occurred, Agent Eppes." He was silent for a moment while Don felt waves of panic and fear crashing over him and pulling him under. "I understand he was your brother?"

Was.

No.

No, that couldn't be.

It couldn't be.

Swallowing, Don tried to speak, but no word came over his lips. He gripped the phone harder, not noticing how his entire body had started to tremble. All he was aware of was that tiny little hope he clung to. It couldn't be, it just couldn't. But he needed to know. So he tried again.

"Was… was someone… inside?" he managed to get out, his hoarse voice nothing like his own.

"Agent Eppes – we found the remains of a body in the driver's seat," Officer Keats gently told him sorrowfully.

Still, Don shook his head as his knees finally gave out and he sank down onto his chair, the tidal waves of panic pulling him more and more down into the depths of despair.

"No."

TBC!

(Author's Note: First of all: Thanks to Charlieeppes who was so kind to beta this chapter for me. I think you did a marvelous work. Second, sorry for the long time this update took. RL got into the way. Hope you liked this chapter anyway. Thanks for all the great reviews, I loved them!)