When Don returned to the hospital alone, Charlie was out of surgery. His brother was still asleep, so Don settled in the chair beside Charlie's bed. He hated being in this situation, hated the pain his brother was going through. Though it seemed like he'd said the same thing thousands of times before, Don vowed to protect his brother. He had to do something. There had to be some way to protect his brother, a way he hadn't thought of before. It seemed that all the other options hadn't been successful.

Sometimes Don wondered why he bothered to try to protect Charlie. It was for selfish reasons only it seemed.

Charlie had protected him and their father from Carl.

Don had failed.

Charlie had been kidnapped by Carl.

Don had failed.

Charlie had been hurt and threatened by Jake.

Don had failed.

Jake had run Charlie over with his car.

Don had failed.

With such failures, what good was he really doing? How was he being a good big brother? He protected people for a living. Don always thought he was good at his job. But was he really? He couldn't even protect his brother.

"Hey, Don," Alan said as he came in with a thermos of coffee in his hand. He held it out for Don and his son took it gratefully.

Alan had heard when his son left the house and figured it would be best to leave soon, too. He left shortly after his son did, just left better prepared.

"Any news on him?"

"He's okay. The surgery went well. They keep telling me how lucky he is." Don gave a snort, as though he didn't believe that for a second.

"You don't think he is?"

"You do?" Don said as he turned around to face his father with a raised brow.

"Yes, I do. He's been kidnapped, threatened, scared to within an inch of his life, and run over by a car. Now his spleen got pierced by a rib and he came out of surgery fine. Yes, I think he's lucky. I know men who couldn't go through half of that as well as he has. I don't know about you, but I think that's luck."

"Charlie doesn't believe in luck," Don whispered.

Alan laid a hand on his oldest son's shoulder. "He doesn't have to believe it to have it."

Don rubbed his eyes, feeling the weight of only an hour's rest pushing down on him.

"Drink your coffee, Donnie."

Alan knew what his son was going through. He had barely slept the night before until exhaustion finally set in, and even then he dreamed of Charlie. He was glad to be home, though. He knew he wouldn't have been any good to Charlie at the hospital. And if he hadn't left, Don surely wouldn't have. He had been surprised enough that Don had left when he did. His sons were so protective of each other. It made him sure that they would be okay should anything happen to him.

Don softly sipped at his coffee, his eyes never leaving his brother's face.

"I feel like I've run out of luck."

Alan sat down across from Don in a chair beside Charlie's bed. "How so?"

"I don't know. I'm just really messing up lately."

"Something wrong at work?"

"No, Dad! I can't understand how you of all people don't see it!"

"What?" Alan couldn't understand what it was that he was missing.

"You said that it's okay that I didn't protect him, but what about before now? I didn't protect him from Carl, I didn't protect him from Jake the first time! If it hadn't been for me he wouldn't have even been kidnapped and all this wouldn't have happened!"

"Shut... up."

Alan and Don whipped their heads toward Charlie, their eyes wide with surprise.

"Charlie? You okay?" Alan asked as he scooted his chair closer to his son.

"No. He thinks... he's a bad brother."

"What hurts, Buddy? Should I get a nurse?"

Charlie shook his head. "Not listening. You're not... a bad brother."

Don dropped to his knees by his brother's bed and rested his forehead on the edge of the mattress, closing his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Buddy."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Don't you listen?"

Don looked up with a furrow to his brow.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about. You're not a bad brother."

Charlie reached out and placed his hand lightly on top of his brother's head.

"I... didn't want you to protect me then. I wanted... to take care of myself and protect you two. I wouldn't have let you protect me. And this time... you had no way of knowing. You're the best brother in the world. So shut up."

Don chuckled as tears came to his eyes. "Okay."

"Good." Charlie gave his brother a smile.

"Are you in pain?" Alan asked his son.

"My stomach hurts. It feels like it's going to explode." As if to prove his point, he moaned.

"Yeah, the doctor said they had to fill your abdomen up with gas for the surgery," Don remembered the doctor telling him.

"Surgery?"

"You had to have your spleen removed, kiddo," Alan informed him.

"What else?" Charlie looked down at his arm and realized how hard it seemed to be to breathe.

"You have a few broken ribs and your arm is broken."

Charlie was silent for a long time. He remembered it so clearly, and with it came the fear that he hadn't had time to register at the time.

"I'm still tired. Can I be alone for a while?"

Don and Alan looked at each other. Alan nodded, telling his son to let him be alone.

"Sure, Buddy."

"You get your rest, son." Alan leaned down and lightly hugged his son and kissed his forehead.

"I will, Dad."

Don waited until Alan was heading toward the door to say goodbye to his brother.

"Be careful, Buddy."

Don turned to leave, but he felt Charlie grab his shirt sleeve.

He turned around and faced his little brother and was hit head-on by the fear in his brother's eyes.

"Tell me it isn't true."

"What, Buddy?"

"Please... tell me it wasn't Jake. Please."

Don felt his stomach knot. "What did you see?"

"It... it was him. He was driving." Don heard that panic in his brother's voice.

"Tell me it wasn't him. Don?"

"I... I found a note, where you were hit. It said, 'until next time.'"

Charlie turned away from his brother and clutched the sheet closer to his chin. "Oh God," he whispered.

"Charlie, listen to me. I'm going to take care of this, okay? My team is on this. We're going to find Jake and we're going to keep him from getting to you. There's an agent here at the hospital. You're going to be fine. You do know that, don't you?"

Charlie nodded.

"Tell me, Buddy." Don leaned forward.

Charlie couldn't. "I'm tired."

Don leaned back. "Okay. I'll be back later. Sleep well."

When the door closed behind Don, Charlie pressed his face into the pillow. This couldn't be happening. He thought his fears were over, that his paranoia was needless. But Jake was back. What would he do? Would he finish what Carl started?

Charlie shivered, though he wasn't cold. The door opened behind him and he figured it was Don or Alan.

"Forget something?" he asked as he turned to face the door.

But it wasn't his brother or his father. It was a woman. She looked vaguely familiar to him, though he couldn't remember ever seeing her before. It was something in her eyes that made him think he knew her.

"Can I help you?" Charlie asked, though he wasn't really in any position to help anyone.

"I suppose you can. I'm Janet Waits, Carl's mother."

"You, you shouldn't be here." Charlie scanned the walls beside him for a call button or a phone. Something. He found one to his left, but knowing all his injuries were on that side, he couldn't decide if it was worth risking the pain.

"Please, Charlie. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not Carl and I'm not Jake."

"J-Jake? You know him?"

"Of course I know him. He was Carl's best friend for years. Their friendship only got stronger after Carl was kidnapped. Did he tell you about that?"

"Yes."

"It really changed him and his brothers. They were never the same after that. And then my Toddy..."

"You said brothers."

"Yes, Carl had two brothers. He was the middle child. Then there's Justin. He's 27 now. Carl would be 30, and Todd would be 33. They were all so close. Losing his brothers has really affected Justin."

"Is that what this is about? You want me to make things better with your son?" Charlie didn't understand this woman. What did she want with him? He was starting to contemplate pressing the button.

"No, not at all. You saw Justin not too long ago."

Charlie blanched. "What? When?" He could not recall meeting the man.

"He was across the street when you were eating outside CalSci. You can't tell me you didn't see him because from what I heard you went running away from him."

"That was him?" He could hardly believe it. So he had had reason to fear. What had he wanted with him?

"Don't worry. He just wanted to try to convince you to come talk to me. He wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Much unlike his brother," Charlie couldn't help but think.

"I... I just want a chance to explain. Please."

Charlie couldn't understand why he would want her to explain. He owed this woman nothing.

Except he took her son's life.

Damn. That thought hit home and he couldn't imagine how he could turn her down.

"I'm really tired. Could you come back some other time?"

"Really? You mean it?!" Janet exclaimed.

"Yes... but can you wait until I get better? I don't want my family to know. They're pretty protective of me."

"Sure. That's fine. I'll see you later then. I'll leave my card here so you can call me when you're better. Get well soon."

"Bye."

"Goodbye."

Charlie moaned as he pressed his face into his pillow once more. What had he done? Now he's talking to Carl's mother? She knew Jake! She could be in on it for all he knew. And what about her son? This was crazy!

Charlie let a few tears of frustration slip down his face before he fell asleep. He could hardly believe what he'd agreed to.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don went to work that day, knowing he had to find out more about Jake. He couldn't let his brother live in fear like this. He had to make sure that Jake was caught and fast.

"What have you got?" Don asked his team as he walked into the break room they were all sitting in.

"Don! I wasn't expecting you back so soon. Is Charlie okay?" Megan said.

"He'll be fine. What do you know?"

"Jake was excused from parole for a week due to illness. When the week was up, he didn't return. He hasn't been heard from since," David informed him.

"Until he ran over Charlie."

"Are you sure? I mean, it could be someone else."

"Charlie saw him. It was him."

"Oh." Megan was hoping it had been someone else. Then the police could handle it and it would prove that Charlie didn't have anything to worry about except getting better.

"Damn," Colby muttered. "How's he holding up?"

"He had surgery yesterday to remove his spleen. He made it through okay. I got to talk to him for a while before I left."

"That's good."

"David, Colby, I want you to go to Jake's ex-girlfriend's house. I found out he'd been dating her for three years. She might know something."

"Okay." David and Colby stood, taking the information that Don held out to them.

"Don, you okay?" Megan asked when the other agents had left. Don had his back turned to her and he was clenching and unclenching his fists methodically.

"Don?" Megan repeated when he wouldn't answer her.

"I just... After talking to Charlie this morning, I know that I have to do this. I have to find Jake. I can't let him be that scared. I can't let that happen again."

Megan walked over to Don and placed a gentle hand on his arm. "I know, Don. I know."

"No, you don't. And that's what makes this so damn hard. No one blames me, when everyone should be. It's not right. I shouldn't be let off the hook."

"Don, no. You didn't do anything. You're the only one who thinks that, and it isn't true. And by the looks of you, you're not off the hook... because you won't let that happen."

She was right, but that didn't change anything. That didn't mean he was going to let himself off the hook that easily. He didn't deserve that. He wouldn't do it until he knew that his brother was safe and Jake was behind bars.

Well, we didn't lose power this time, thankfully! We just had a lot of snow. So, yeah, I don't have a very good excuse for my late update. Sorry! I hope you guys are all surviving the snowy weathers! It's coooooold.

Note: I really have no knowledge about paroles and whether or not that's what would happen with Jake. Unless someone can tell me differently, just go with me on this one, okay? Thanks!

Watch Numb3rs tonight!