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 TWENTY-ONE

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He long he stood there he didn't know but Don suddenly came to his senses. What the hell was he thinking? He would be no better than them if he did this. To kill Telson like this was vigilantism, pure and simple. Murder. He had never before really understood how cops turned vigilante, academically yes, but not emotionally. But now he did. And that thought alone was enough to shock Don. His pulled his finger off the trigger and stepped back, lowering the gun slightly, his aim not as precise. He started shaking in reaction. This was not him, he couldn't murder in cold blood.

There was movement behind him and a soft voice: "Don?"

His attention had been so taken with his thoughts he hadn't heard the vehicle arriving behind him. He didn't turn, he couldn't afford to take his eyes off his prisoner, Telson was too dangerous.

"Don?" She had seen his stance shift slightly, knew that he had heard her. Megan moved closer until she was standing next to her boss in his field of view. She took another cautious step so that now she was standing next to his extended arm. Her free hand came up towards his gun, slowly and carefully. She stopped just short of touching him.

"Megan." Don acknowledged, the word barely audible. He watched as Colby and David moved in towards Telson, guns aimed at the kneeling man. They stopped just short, out of his line of fire.

"We've got him." Megan said. She holstered her own gun as her left hand slid over the barrel of his Glock, her fingers gently touching his. She didn't apply any force. Don was starting to shake violently, was hanging on by a thread, any sudden pressure could shatter the moment. She waited.

Don took a deep breath then relaxed his grip on his gun allowing her take it from him. Ryder had been right, Don realised, given the right circumstances he would step outside the bounds of law. The fact that he had figuratively and literally stepped back from the abyss didn't enter his thoughts. He just knew that he didn't trust himself with a firearm whilst Telson was present. He dropped his suddenly aching arm and turned away. "Check the cuffs."

"We got him Don." Colby said.

"What took so long?" Don asked Megan. He pulled his wire off and handed it and the digital recorder to her.

"His back-up were waiting. We just saw them in time." She explained carefully pocketing the recorder. "We got them both, they're on their way to the office with the other team."

Don nodded then went back to the car and got into the passenger seat, he didn't feel up to driving anywhere. The shakes started to ease as he watched his team thoroughly search Telson removing his weapons and cell phone before lifting him to his feet. The prisoner was taken to the armoured decoy suburban that his team had been driving and placed into the back. Telson looked over at Don as the door closed and unaccountably smiled. Don suppressed a shudder and maintained a steady gaze until Telson turned away.

Megan, Colby and David had a short discussion before Megan climbed in beside her boss and sat behind the steering wheel. Don heard David call it in on the radio from the armoured SUV. The SUV then backed out and drove away, followed by a LAPD unit that Don hadn't even known was there.

"Do you want this back?" Megan asked holding up his gun.

Don looked at the weapon. He had nearly used it and he knew that if he had done so, if he had crossed that line, it would have ended up in his own destruction. He had killed before in self defence. He had even killed with some satisfaction when he shot Crystal Hoyle as she had driven her car at their roadblock in an apparent attempt to take as many of them with her as she could. He'd fired before Edgerton could, his aim deadly accurate.

But the satisfaction had lasted only a short time before the horror at having taken a life, no matter how justified, had settled onto his thoughts. Along with the realisation of how far he had gone to get Megan back, and how far he might have gone if it had been necessary. He remembered going home after the shooting, his brother asking how things had gone, "Bad, huh?" and his own short reply, "Yeah".

But that had been in self defence and the defence of others. Shooting Telson would have been murder. He knew he wouldn't have been able to live with the decision to kill Telson in cold blood. He had realised what he was about to do before Megan had called out to him, he had pulled himself back in time.

"Yeah." He took the Glock and held it in his hand for a few moments contemplating the lethalness of the weapon as if for the first time. He finally slid it back into the concealed holster. "Thanks Megan."

"No problem, boss." She said keeping her tone neutral. She knew she had to keep it simple, knew that Don was in a delicate frame of mind. He needed support, not analysis.

"It's over." He said. And it was for them, especially for Don. Homeland Security would take it on from here, relieving the FBI of the case. With the mastermind behind the mall having been FBI, it was no longer possible for the FBI as the normal lead agency to investigate impartially. The investigation had to be handled outside. Don would have no more involvement regardless; he was after all, a victim.

"Let me take you home."

Don didn't want to be alone. He was worried where his thoughts would take him if he went to his apartment. He needed company. "Take me to Charlie's."

"You got it." That was what she had meant and where she had every intention of taking him regardless of his wishes anyway. Megan started the car and pulled out, turning in the opposite direction, away from the office.

They travelled in silence, Don trying to come to terms with his own demons, with the choice he'd almost made. And the fact that he hadn't. Megan understood that he needed the time and left him with his thoughts. They pulled into the driveway outside the Craftsman house.

"Talk to them, Don." She said as he started to get out. "Tell them everything, including about last time."

Don looked back. How did she know he hadn't told them about that?

"Tell them." Megan insisted. "Trust me, it will help. They are strong enough to take it."

Don looked at the door of the house as it opened and Charlie and Alan stepped out onto the porch. He turned back to Megan. "Yeah, I guess so." He said dully as closed the car door. Finally after twenty-four hours, the longest twenty-four hours of his life, it was all over. His was no longer able to escape the aches and pains from his various injuries. He found he had no more energy for emotion.

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As the door to the house opened Megan had been relieved. It meant that David or Colby had been able to phone and warn Don's father and brother that they were coming. They'd sent Charlie home after Don had left the building, whatever was going to happen was going to happen and they needed to be together. Megan watched as her boss walked slowly up to the door, saw Alan put his arm around his eldest son's shoulders and help him inside. Charlie glanced back at her and waved before closing the door. Megan put the FBI sedan in reverse and pulled out onto the street.

Don would be alright. It would take a little time she knew, but Don had already taken the first step himself. When they had finally arrived to back Don up they had seen from the way he had been standing behind Telson exactly what he intended. As a behavioural analyst she completely understood why. She was glad that he hadn't seen them behind him. Don didn't know that she'd been forced to aim her weapon him. That was going to bother her for some time. She'd hesitated but that had given Don the time he needed to change his mind.

Of his own volition he had stepped back and lowered his gun before she had been forced to take action. The time of greatest temptation and he had resisted it without help. The iron will that led to others secretly calling him a control freak was a two edged sword. Being a helpless pawn in Telson's game had caused him great distress. But that need to be in control was what had saved him in the end. Megan was confident that he would come to terms with everything that had happened.

Eventually. If he didn't bottle it all up like normal.

A/N: Knew he couldn't do it, but he sure was tempted. Couldn't even hit him, 'never struck a prisoner in his life'. This was the end, but one of the characters objected. He wanted to get his two cents in. I didn't want to argue with him. . .

TBC