Disclaimer – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

CHAPTER TWELVE

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Charlie turned the corner leading to the interrogation room. He'd heard that the mysterious Telford had been brought in by Colby and David and he wanted to see the man for himself. The man that had almost killed his brother eight months ago.

What is everyone doing in the corridor? He wondered. He stopped suddenly as he realised what he was seeing. Don was being held with a gun to his head by a man standing behind him. They were near the door to the stairs, not in the interrogation room. Charlie was surprised to see that although the rest of the team were there, along with the DHS agent, none of them had a gun out. He observed however, that they each had their hands wrapped tightly around the butts of the holstered guns. It seemed that no one had raised the alarm, perhaps he should?

Charlie started to turn, to grab the nearest agent who was only a few yards away and out of sight of the corridor when he saw Don's eyes on him. Charlie hesitated, his mouth opening to say his brother's name. He saw Don reach back and open the door to the stairs, a moment later and he was gone. Colby started for the door but Megan stopped him. The team then turned and saw Charlie staring at them.

"Was that-?" Charlie started as Megan reached him. He received a nod. "You have to go after them. He'll kill Don!"

"Steady Charlie." Megan soothed, taking his arm and turning him around. "We can't go straight after them, he has Don's gun. We're going to the security office. We'll monitor them from there and move in as soon as we can."

The team headed off, Charlie following. He saw the DHS agent angle off saying something about reporting in to someone. Charlie didn't get the name, he didn't really care what the DHS agent did.

Charlie joined the team in the lift and they descended to the first floor. He followed as they entered the building's security office. Charlie stopped just inside the door, amazed at the banks of monitors showing virtually every space in, and access points to, the building. There were also views outside the building showing the street and footpath. He'd always known that the building had excellent surveillance, had worked on footage from the bull pen when it had been shot up, but he had not expected quite this much. He knew that Larry would be horrified.

He pulled himself away from his thoughts and saw that Megan had grabbed a woman sitting at the supervisor's desk and was talking urgently into her ear. The main central monitor flashed to a view of the stair well. The number on the wall indicated it was on the level they'd last seen Don. Empty. The security supervisor switched to the next camera one floor below and then the next and the next until they finally saw Don and Telford standing next to the door leading out to the lobby, one floor below their current position. It was obvious that the two men were having a conversation. Telford's hands were also empty, they couldn't see the gun.

"Do we have sound?" Megan asked.

"No, vision only." The supervisor replied.

Don opened the door and they walked out of the stairwell. The supervisor changed the view again enabling them to continue watching as the two men quickly walked across the lobby and out the doors, Don showing no outward sign that he was under duress. The lighting outside allowed them to see which way they turned before the operator switched to an external camera.

"Let's go." Megan ordered, grabbing a hand held radio from a set charging on a stand near the door. "Charlie, stay here."

The team had barely left the security office when Charlie was forced to move aside to allow the entry of the senior DHS agent, the same agent he'd seen upstairs earlier but hadn't heard his name, and ADIC Merrick with Don's guard bringing up the rear.

"Who's after them?" The senior DHS agent demanded.

"Agents Reeves, Sinclair and Granger." The supervisor answered.

"Unacceptable." The DHS agent turned to Merrick.

"From what your agent said the offender is a man named Telford." Merrick said. "Agent Eppes' team are familiar with him and are our best hope of getting Agent Eppes back in one piece."

The DHS agent wasn't mollified. "Wachowski, take Nielson and Waters and get after them. We must get Eppes back alive."

The younger DHS agent ran from the room. Despite the senior agent's words, Charlie felt that he didn't really care for Don, per se, but needed him for the connection to the terrorist. He chided himself for the unfair thought, Don was a fellow agent in trouble, of course they cared.

"Reeves to security." Megan's voice came over a radio speaker mounted under the supervisor's desk.

"Security." The supervisor answered the call herself.

"We're exiting the building now. Do you still have a visual?"

"Negative. They've left the range of the camera turning left."

"Received. Reeves, clear."

Charlie had let his attention get distracted, he hadn't seen Don disappear around the corner, had missed his chance to have a last look at his brother before the cameras were no longer useful. He saw the team appear on the monitor and disappear around the corner, following his brother's trail.

Merrick tapped the operator on her shoulder. "Show us the interior view of interrogation one, with sound. I want to see how this happened."

The operator checked the time she'd noted on her duty sheet when the team had first come into the office. She changed cameras then scrolled back about ten minutes. The full colour image showed Telford sitting alone in the room. She fast forwarded briefly until they saw Don enter. The vision resumed normal speed allowing them to follow the conversation. They watched in silence as Don was disarmed by Telford who then forced his way from the room holding the agent as his hostage. The operator switched to one of the four cameras in the bull pen, this one black and white without sound. Charlie saw the obvious pain his brother was in when Telford pressed the gun firmly into his neck and winced in sympathy. They watched the action as it moved to the edge of the screen and stopped at the stair well door. He shook his head, what else could go wrong for Don today?

"What was your agent doing with a firearm in that room with a suspect?" The senior DHS agent demanded.

"I'll take that up with him when we get him back." Merrick sounded just as angry.

For his part Charlie thought he had an idea how it must have happened. Although he knew his brother was very careful he also knew that he was under a lot of strain at the moment. The weapon was such a part of Don, worn so often and for so long that he would barely notice its presence. Don would feel naked without it. With everything else going on he figured his older brother had just plain forgotten to take his gun off and store it in the weapons locker mounted outside the room. A mistake that could now cost him his life.

Charlie had heard some of what Telford had done, both to Don and to other agents. He'd offered to help but Don had refused to let him get involved, had refused to discuss the matter further. He now regretted not pushing Don, not following up with the team. If he had done something, had been able to go over what data they had he might have been able to lead them to Telford sooner. Then Don would not be out there now, his own gun held against him.

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Don and Telford were half way down an alley, a few minutes brisk walk from the field office. There were no lights in the narrow access road but the wash from the nearby streetlight was enough to see by. Don stopped and turned on the other man. "You're out. Why did you want to meet me?"

"They are running a secondary investigation. All efforts should be on finding Zuheen, not wasting time trying to find an alternate bomber."

Don had been right. He remembered his conversation with Barnathan, remembered thinking that the agents sent out on taskings had been getting negative results, that the investigation might be moving off track as a result. "I've got no control over what they do." Don told Telford. "I told you that would happen."

"And you haven't been out of the building since you got here. You need to be seen."

"Is that the real reason you wanted me to meet you outside?" Don suddenly remembered the set of headlights that had followed him for a short distance after he'd left the building. At the time he'd thought it was possibly Wachowski and had shaken him off. "There was a car tailing me."

"Tell me."

Don told him. He realised he'd had no indication from Wachowski or Barnathan that the tail had been theirs. The only other option aside from the terrorist was Telford or one of his men. "It wasn't you?"

"No." Telford pressed him for details but he had no more. "We need you outside again."

"You think that was Zuheen?"

"It could have been." Telford mused. "I suspect you wouldn't have seen the television. They have been constantly broadcasting about the mall along with replaying the press conference, attributing it all to Zuheen as we planned. Plus there is the press release from Zuheen himself. Now is the time to step up the pressure. We'll give the media some more material, see if we can get Zuheen to expose himself. We need you to be outside."

"How am I supposed to do that?" He waved his hand in the general direction of the FBI building. "They don't trust me at all. I'm under house arrest as it is. Who knows what will happen to me after this little effort. I can't do anything."

"You are no good to us locked up." Telford said.

"Yeah, well you put me in this position. You let yourself be caught." Of that Don was sure. "Why?"

"Your team are quite good. But then, they have you as their leader. It's not often someone gets the drop on me."

So it hadn't been planned. Don was a bit surprised by that and proud of his team for catching him. David and Colby were good but Don grudgingly admitted that Telford was probably better. He was certainly less constrained in how far he would go, had amply demonstrated that in the past. "There's more to it, you could have got away."

"Yes, but that would have meant killing Granger and Sinclair."

It was hard but Don had to ask. "So? You've killed agents before."

"Yes, but not your agents. There was a real risk that I would have lost you if I killed them." Telford looked at him shrewdly. "I know some of the lengths you will go to in order to protect your own. I can only imagine the lengths you would go to trying to catch someone who'd killed your agents."

Don's eyes narrowed. That was another slip, more confirmation that someone inside the FBI was keeping a close eye on Don, and had been for some time now, to have known about his actions when Megan had been kidnapped. Don had no misconception that that was the incident Telford was referring to. He and Edgerton had been given a dressing down by Merrick afterwards but that was as far as it had gone. "So you figured you'd leave it to me to get you out."

"I knew I could rely on you."

Don gritted his teeth, his fists unconsciously clenching at his helpless position. Telford just couldn't help but rub it in. "So what now? I just wander back in and say you let me go?"

"Not exactly." Telford pulled Don's gun from his belt. "Now I let them find you. You just see to it that they don't connect me to this."

Don didn't have time to wonder what was going to happen next, he barely even saw it coming. Telford suddenly raised his gun hand and smashed Don across the side of the head with the weapon. Don fell but wasn't completely unconscious. Telford knelt beside him as he struggled to sit up. "We will be calling. Make sure you're available." Don didn't see the next blow, he was just aware of a sudden crushing darkness before there was nothing.

A/N: Sorry Don…