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.

A/N: Thanks for all the comments. Glad to see I am keeping people guessing. There are some more surprises to come.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

-10100-1000-101—10100-101-1-1101-

Megan shoved the radio into a pocket as the three agents ran down the sidewalk, weapons drawn. They soon reached the corner around which Don and his captor had disappeared. They slowed and peered cautiously around the edge of the building before proceeding. Now they had to do it the old fashioned way, clearing each shadowy building entrance and alley, checking behind parked cars and other possible hiding places before moving on. It was slow going.

They really had no idea which way their quarry would have gone so they took the path of least resistance, straight ahead. Colby was on point when they reached an alley another block over. He took a quick peek around the edge of the building, pulling his head back as he processed what he had seen. His military training had allowed him to rapidly pick out the still form of a man lying halfway down. The man wasn't moving.

The tactical position wasn't good. Although the alley wasn't really all that dark it was significantly darker than the sidewalk which meant that they would be silhouetted against the street when they entered. Despite not seeing anyone else in the alley there was nothing to discount the possibility of an ambush. If someone was lying in wait then he had the advantage. There was also a distinct lack of cover, none of those handy dumpsters or piles of boxes seen in all the popular television shows. There were just the lower sections of fire escapes and some darker shadows suggesting entrances to the adjacent buildings.

Colby risked another look. He again saw the still form of a man on the ground. The dim light didn't allow him to determine if it was his boss but the sinking feeling in his gut told him it was.

"There's a man down, about twenty yards in." Colby briefed the others. "I can't see anyone else."

"Is it Don?" Megan asked.

"Can't tell. He's not moving." Colby added.

Megan pulled out her radio. "Reeves to security."

"Security." The voice was faint as Megan had the volume turned right down.

Megan gave their location, naming the building in front of which they were standing. "Roll paramedics, we have a man down, unknown ID or injuries. Show us proceeding into the alley."

"Received. Calling EMTs. Good luck."

The radio went back into her pocket as the team exchanged glances. They were ready.

"Careful. There's no cover in there."

"Alright." Megan said. "When we move you lead and David will take the far side. I'll follow you in."

The entry to the alley would have made the instructors at Quantico proud. As Colby, after a last cautious peek, ran crouched around the corner followed a moment later by Megan, David raced straight across to the corner of the opposite building. He was the most exposed at that time but as a moving target he had some protection. He also served as a distraction by being more visible than his team mates making it more likely for a waiting attacker to see him not the others. David took up a position crouched at the base of the building, peering from that cover into the alley. He remained in place, gun up and tracking his line of vision as he searched the area he could see, ready to lay down covering fire if needed.

Meanwhile Colby and Megan made their way rapidly down the left wall, hunched over to present smaller profiles. They checked the one doorway they passed, relying on David to ensure the fire escapes above them were clear. They made it to a spot a few feet from the prone figure.

Now that they were closer they were able to recognise the coat along with the head of dark short hair. It was Don. He was lying on his back, way too still. It wasn't possible to see if he was breathing.

Megan was the first to break away from the inevitable thought. She carefully moved out towards their boss after touching Colby on the shoulder to let him know what she was doing. When she reached Don she reached out and gently laid her fingers on the side of his neck. The strong steady pulse flooded her with relief.

"He's alive." She whispered.

Colby waved at David, indicating for him to join them. He then kept a wary watch as David helped Megan tend to their boss, rolling him into the side stable position and checking for wounds. There were no easily visible injuries, no obvious gun shot wounds but in the dim alley it was possible to miss something. They hadn't had time to grab flashlights, not that they would shine them around anyway given that they hadn't yet cleared the area. Megan used her radio to call in a sit-rep and repeated the demand for EMTs. She also requested a BOLO for Telford be given to both their agents in the field and the LAPD. There was nothing now they could do other than wait and monitor Don's unconscious form.

Colby suddenly snapped around, gun tracking his eyes as he heard movement from the entrance to the alley. He abruptly jerked his weapon to one side as he realised the man in the lead was Don's DHS guard. He was followed by two other DHS agents, the three men running to their position, guns also out and ready. Colby watched them come before turning his attention back to his duty, covering the uncleared part of the alley.

Megan and David lowered their own weapons as the other agents reached them. Megan addressed herself to Wachowski. "We've cleared the alley this far. Make a sweep down there to be sure Telford's not hiding nearby."

Wachowski waved his companions on before stepping closer and looking down at the unconscious agent. "How is he?"

Megan realised that the DHS agent didn't have a radio and wouldn't have heard her report. "He's alive. We're waiting on the EMTs. We haven't seen any sign of Telford."

Wachowski pulled out his cell phone with his spare hand, pressing a speed dial button. "We've found Special Agent Eppes. … You've heard? … Yes, sir."

"What?" Megan demanded as the cell was tucked away.

"I'm to stay with him. If the EMTs clear him then we're to take him straight back to the field office."

Megan stared at him. She was starting to dislike the lack of care the DHS was showing to her boss. Sure he was in the middle of everything and had been hiding things from them, but it wasn't by choice. She knew Don, knew that he wouldn't willingly be a party to the terrorist's plot. The DHS were making life as difficult as possible for him. She decided she didn't want Wachowski standing over them. "Go wait for the EMTs."

Wachowski didn't move. "I have to stay with him." His gun hand moved briefly, towards the prone agent. It wasn't a threat, it was just the hand he unconsciously gestured with.

"I'll go." David offered. He could see there was no percentage to be gained arguing over the point. The DHS agent wasn't going to move and the EMTs needed to be flagged down to ensure they came to the right spot.

It felt like forever but the paramedics finally arrived a minute or two after Don had started to revive.

-100-1111-1110-

The first thing Don became aware of was the flash of a brilliant light in his left eye, followed almost immediately by another flash in his right eye. Blinking away the after images he finally saw the concerned faces of his team. He also saw the paramedic fussing over him, checking his vitals before probing at the side of his head. He realised he was lying on a gurney in the back of an ambulance.

"Hey!" Don protested when the man hit a particularly tender spot, knocking his hand away. "Ouch!"

"What happened?" Megan asked.

"He hit me over the head with my gun." Don answered her, stating the obvious. He kept a wary eye on the paramedic as he protectively put his own hand on the side of his head. "Did he get away?"

Megan frowned. Don's phrasing of the question was interesting, what he should have asked was 'did you catch him?'. Her psychology training suggested that Don wanted Telford to get away. It didn't make any sense, but then neither did a few things that had just happened. "Yes. LAPD have got the description but with all their spare units tied up at the mall-." She shrugged.

Don correctly interpreted the shrug. "They're not going to be able to look for him." He said, trying to sound upset instead of relieved. He tried to look at his watch but the monitor attached to his hand made it difficult. "How long was I out?"

"About ten minutes or so. Looks like we just missed him."

Don tried sitting up. He managed it with his head starting to throb. There was no nausea, the usual side effect of being struck on the head, the painful cramping of his stomach took care of that. He pulled the monitor off his hand, ignoring the protest from the paramedic. Don saw that they were still at the alley, Granger and Sinclair had gone back in and along with some other agents, were shining flashlights around at the spot where he remembered standing with Telford, where they would have found him.

"Sir, you should let us take you to the hospital to be checked out. You were knocked unconscious, there could be serious complications." The paramedic said, but sounded like he already knew it was a lost cause.

"No, I'm fine." Don insisted. "Just a headache. Can you give me something for that?"

The paramedic reluctantly opened a locker and pulled out a couple of over-the-counter paracetamol tablets. "Here. If you get blurred vision, dizziness or nausea you are to go straight to the hospital." He directed his instructions to Don and Megan equally. It looked like he thought that Megan would be sensible enough to take his advice.

Don wanted something stronger but then decided that perhaps the associated drowsiness wouldn't be in his best interest. He took the tablets and made it to his feet before carefully climbing out. He was unsteady but made it under his own power.

"Cops and FBI agents never listen." Don heard the paramedic complain to Megan before she followed him out.

"You don't need to go to the hospital?"

Don turned to see Wachowski. He stifled a groan, he should have guessed the man wouldn't be far away. "No."

"Then it's time we got back." The DHS agent said steering Don towards the street.

Don hesitated, he wasn't in any shape to walk all the way back to the office, until he saw the car waiting amongst the other FBI cars now parked there. The other two DHS agents he'd met earlier at his apartment were waiting with it. Don obediently went with Wachowski as Megan watched without comment.

The ride back was brief, too brief. Don was not looking forward to going back into the building. Telford was really doing a number on him and he just knew that Barnathan would be waiting to demand an explanation. He just hoped that when this was all over he would be able to dig himself out of the mess he was in without too much damage to his career.

As Don had expected Barnathan was waiting at the lift. He turned without a word and headed back to the interrogation room. Don and Wachowski followed, with a brief stop in the break room to collect an icepack kept in the fridge there.

When he entered the interrogation room Don noted a file sitting open on the desk. They both sat down, Barnathan waving him again to the wrong side of the table. The DHS agent then silently flipped through a few more pages before closing the folder. Don saw Telford's name on the front, although he'd already recognised his report. Merrick must have given it to Barnathan. "Interesting reading. A very interesting man this Telford."

"I would call him something else." Don said darkly.

"I don't doubt it." Barnathan pushed the file partway across the table. "This is now the third time he's let you go. He had absolutely no reason to let you live, another murder of an agent won't affect his death penalty any. He's either very dumb, which I doubt, or very confident."

"He didn't need to kill me. He was trying to get away, killing me would have flooded the streets with police and agents. Besides which, we've been looking for him for eight months and we haven't been able to track him." Don explained. "From what I've been told catching him today was a pure stroke of luck."

"Odd though, that he turns up now."

"What?" His headache was making it difficult to concentrate. Don adjusted the icepack and hoped the paracetamol would kick in soon.

"There have been a lot of coincidences today." Barnathan elaborated.

Don had to stop this line of reasoning. Damn Telford for foisting this whole thing on him in payback, he hadn't made him kill his men. "I see where you're headed but this is way out of Telford's league. He is a vigilante, killing dirty agents and informants who'd made deals absolving them from punishment for their crimes. It's all in there." He tapped the closed folder with his spare hand. "If you're trying to connect him to Zuheen, it's just not possible."

"You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for that, Eppes." He leaned forward watching the FBI agent closely. "We'll be following this up. Who knows, perhaps we will have a better chance of catching and holding this Telford than you."

"Good. The more help we have getting him the better." Don watched the expression on Barnathan's face change. The DHS agent had clearly expected Don to object, not acquiesce. Don couldn't protest or else the tenuous connection Barnathan had made between Telford and the terrorist act based purely on coincidence would be strengthened.

"Hmm." The DHS agent sounded unconvinced. He picked up the file as he stood. "I'd tell you to rest, Eppes, but I think your ADIC wants a word."

Don stifled another groan. He had a fair idea what was coming next. He really didn't need it. He watched as the door closed, leaving him alone with Wachowski standing silently in the corner.

A minute later the door opened and Merrick entered. The ADIC glanced at his subordinate before turning to the junior DHS agent. "Outside."

Wachowski hesitated. "Sir, I…"

"I said, outside." Merrick repeated.

Wachowski got, closing the door softly behind him.

Merrick stood silently for a moment as Don waited. "How's the head?" He said finally, sounding less than sympathetic.

"Sore."

"I hope so." Merrick stepped over, slamming his palms onto the table top. "What the hell was that about, Eppes?"

"Sir?"

"Let me spell it out for you then. What were you doing taking a firearm into an interrogation room with a suspect?"

Don had an impertinent thought, he was effectively the suspect here and both Barnathan and Wachowski had brought firearms into the room with him. The only difference was that he wasn't yet in handcuffs. He didn't think that mentioning either point would go down too well, the way his luck was running the handcuffs could easily make an appearance. "I guess I wasn't thinking. I forgot." It was lame but he had nothing else.

"You damn near got yourself killed. You could have got your team killed." Merrick remembered something. "Or your brother."

Don flared, leaping to his feet. That was too much. "Don't you think I know that?" He suddenly wobbled and sat back down raising the icepack to the side of his head again as his stomach clenched painfully. The sudden movement had not been smart but Merrick's mention of Charlie was unwarranted.

Merrick now looked at his agent with some concern, hearing the grunt of pain and seeing the grimace that had appeared on his face, the arm that moved protectively across his midsection. "I think you need to see a doctor."

"I'm fine."

"It wasn't a suggestion. Stay put." Merrick left abruptly.

Stuff this, Don thought still angry. If he had to see the doctor, then that was fine, but he didn't feel much like sitting here waiting. Merrick could just come and find him. He made it to his feet and went to the break room. The couch in there was much more comfortable than the hard interrogation room chair. He had Wachowski turn the lights off and whilst it wasn't exactly dark, it was dimmer. He lay partially curled on his side and closed his eyes.

A few minutes later he opened them, he'd had a worrisome thought. "Wachowski?"

"Yes?"

"Are my team back yet?"

"They came through while you were in with ADIC Merrick."

"Can you ask one of them to come in here for a moment? It's not about the case." He hastened to add.

"They've already left."

Don pulled his cell from his belt and hit the speed dial for Megan. Wachowski started towards him. "Relax, Agent Wachowski. It's not about the case."

"Reeves."

"Megan, it's Don."

"How are you doing?"

"I've been better." He admitted. "Where are you?"

"We, ah." Megan hesitated.

"Sorry, shouldn't have asked." Don's question had been from force of habit, wanting to know what his team was doing. "Look, I want my father to be given protection."

"You think Telford will go after him?"

"I don't know, I don't think so, but…"

"Don't worry. I've already sent someone around. They should be there by now."

"Thanks, Megan." Don hung up. He knew he could rely on her. He should have thought of it himself, long before now. Charlie was safe, he was still here in the building, Don had seen him across the bull pen a couple of minutes ago.

He put the cell phone back into his pocket and closed his eyes again. He couldn't relax though, the cramps becoming much more of a problem than the headache. Perhaps seeing a doctor was not such a bad idea.