Charlie slept fitfully, his conscience yelling at him all night. He had told Don he'd be more honest with him and that he'd allow his brother to protect him. Why couldn't he prove that by telling him about Janet? Don wasn't one to get mad about things like that. He usually wasn't angry with his brother at all. But Charlie couldn't just let this out. He was going to keep it to himself. Then again, he had chosen
to do that with Carl and Jake. He didn't tell anyone, and it turned into such a disaster. The odds were against that happening again, right? Not if they included Carl's family.

If only things could be easier. Charlie wished that that could be so. His life had never been normal. He had been different from other kids, different from his family. He had wished for ordinary for years. No one really understood him, except for his mother at times. But he was alone in himself, unique to a point where he never fit in. Even at CalSci he rarely felt at home, and he hated that. So why would he think for a second that his life could go on as usual? That just didn't happen. Not in this world.

He was eagerly awaiting his family's arrival. He had been bored to tears overnight since he could hardly sleep. He fell asleep quickly at first, but woke up soon after from worrying so much. It wasn't a good night for him and he ached all over. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like off the medication. His stomach felt too big and it made him sore. Charlie couldn't wait to be better. He knew that
stress wasn't helping him right now, so he awaited Don and Alan's return so he could have something to keep his mind off it. He didn't have to wait long. Don came in early in the morning to see him, probably before work, Charlie assumed.

"Hey, Buddy. How you feeling?" Don asked as he came closer to his brother with a tentative smile on his face.

"I'm okay." Charlie wondered if his brother would believe him.

"That's good. Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, pretty well." Again, could Don see the lie?

"I'm glad. Dad told me to tell you he'd be coming over later. He wanted to get a few things done at home first, and he wasn't sure if you'd be awake yet or not."

"That's fine. How's the case coming?"

"We're making progress."

Charlie frowned. Isn't that what they told family members when they had nothing new going on?

"Um, that's good, I guess."

"Yeah. Trust me, Charlie; I'm going to get this guy. No matter what it takes. The police already knew he wasn't making his parole, so they've been on the lookout for him. Every police station from Redding to Chula Vista has his picture. We'll get him."

Charlie nodded. "I know you will, Don. You always come through."

Don pulled up a chair and sat down. He kept his gaze on his brother's face. "I'm sorry I didn't come through for you this time."

"What? There was nothing more you could do, Don. You called for the ambulance, you came to the scene, and you told Dad. You did what you had to. That was all you could do."

"Yeah, but I wasn't there with you. I didn't catch that son of a bitch and I sure as hell didn't protect you from him."

Don felt the tension in his back. He was on edge about the whole situation. There should have been more he could do, but there was nothing that he could think of. Maybe later he would find a way to make this up to Charlie.

Don wished his brother wasn't so easy on him. He wasn't the good brother Charlie made him out to be. He wasn't a hero. He hadn't saved his brother. What kind of a superhero couldn't even save the people who mean the most to him?

"It's okay, Don. Really. Just... stop it, okay? I know you're feeling guilty but it's so needless it's not even funny. You need to let up on yourself. You're way too hard."

Charlie grimaced as he felt a pain in his side from moving the wrong way. Don caught the look and frowned in concern.

"What's the matter?"

"Hurts. I'm okay, though." Charlie waited for the pain to subside before speaking. It wasn't much, but it made it hard
to breathe at times.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No... I suppose you're not really in the mood to forgive yourself and let yourself off the hook, yet, are you?"

Don smiled. "No."

"Didn't think so."

Both boys looked up as someone walked in the room. It was a teenaged boy holding a bouquet of flowers. Charlie watched him come up and noticed the ring in the boy's left eyebrow. That had never made sense to him why someone would do that. Then again, he didn't understand why a lot of people did anything, and often people felt the same way about him.

"Hi. Um, are you Charles Eppes?" The teen asked.

"Yes."

"These are for you." The boy handed Charlie the flowers and he read the card.

"Happy trails to you until we meet again," the card read. Charlie looked at the sticker on the plastic covering of the bouquet and read the name of the flowers. He had never been too good with knowing his flowers.

They were bleeding hearts.

Charlie's own heart jumped in his chest.

"Don." He didn't scream, didn't even say the name overly loud. But Don heard a message of fear as loud as if Charlie had actually screamed it to him.

He leaned over and looked at the card, wondering what it was about.

"It's him, Don. It's Jake," Charlie whispered when Don leaned over for a better look.

Something flashed in Don's eyes and he spun toward the teenager. He grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt and brought their faces close together.

"Who had you send these flowers?" Don barked.

"S-s-some lady. She said it was for a friend."

"What was her name? I need a name!"

"I don't know her name! She just told me to give it to him and she paid me $100 for it."

"Where was this?" Don let go of the teen's shirt and took a calming breath.

"Just outside. I was riding by on my skateboard when she stopped me."

"What did she look like?"

"I don't know. Tall, red hair. She didn't look like she could hurt a fly. She had nice eyes."

"Damn it."

Don pulled out a card. "You think of anything else or if you see her again, you call this number, understand?"

"Y-yes, sir."

The teen basically ran out the door. Charlie turned his eyes to his older brother, who was pacing at the edge of his bed.

"Don?"

"He hired her to do it. No questions asked. He probably didn't even know her. What if he threatened her? Damn it, I could have more people in danger. He has to be close. I need to go to the office."

"Don, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Don stopped before he got to the door, realizing that his brother was still in the room. "Are you okay, Buddy?"

"They're bleeding hearts, Donny. What... what if that means something?"

Don charged his brother and grasped Charlie's head tightly within his grasp. "Don't even think about it, you hear me? I'll take care of this. Don't worry about it. Don't let it so much as enter your mind for a second. I'm not going to let him get you, okay?"

The harshness in Don's voice made tears come to Charlie's eyes. It reminded him of times his parents had yelled at him for doing something dangerous, like the time he tried to stick a fork in an electrical outlet. They were just protecting him, but he didn't like to be yelled at.

"Oh, Buddy." Don's voice melted at the sight of tears in his brother's eyes. He squeezed Charlie's upper body tightly, so as not to hurt his injured ribs. Charlie held onto his brother's wrist with his good hand and allowed himself a moment to feel safe.

"Thank you," Charlie whispered to Don, so to thank his brother for taking such good care of him.

"It's okay, Buddy, you hear? I'll be back tonight. Maybe I'll bring some dinner, okay?" Don said as he moved toward the door, walking backwards.

"That'd be great."

"Okay. I'll see you later. Dad should be here any minute."

"All right. Bye, Don."

"See you, Charlie!" Don jogged out of Charlie's room, leaving his brother alone.

Which was never a good idea.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alan felt like his house was too empty. His boys weren't home. It was just him. He still had an eerie feeling like he wasn't alone.

He worried about Charlie being in the hospital. He hoped his son would be okay. Luck had definitely won this time, for which Alan was thankful. His sons had not been so lucky lately, and that made him feel worse because he hadn't been directly hurt. The only pain he had endured was because of his sons' hurts.

He finished up the last of his household jobs and gathered what he'd need. He picked up the latest book he had been reading in case he got bored and grabbed his keys off the mail table. Wondering if Charlie would be bored, he decided to go upstairs to Charlie's room to grab a notebook.

He walked up the stairs and opened the door, wondering to himself when he had last seen the door closed.

Alan's heart jumped to his throat when he opened the door and found a man in a ski mask spray-painting his son's wall in red. The man turned when the door opened and he stopped what he was doing.

"Get out of the way, old man. This isn't about you," he said as he came toward the door.

"No. Y-y-ou hurt my son!" Alan screamed, realizing it had to be Jake.

"Fine."

Jake shoved Alan into the doorframe, and Alan hit his forearm painfully on the wood. He wasn't able to react as Jake ran past him and down the stairs, escaping through the back door.

He began to shake when he knew he was alone again. He turned around and took out his cell phone from his pocket. He dialed the only number he could think of at the moment and stared at the wall until his call was answered.

"Donny, we have a problem."

Don stared at the red lettering, oblivious to the sound of the CSU around him. The words, "Welcome home, Eppes" shouldn't have been anything terrifying, but the thought of his little brother seeing them scared Don.

He turned and walked out the door and downstairs. His father was at the kitchen table with his head in his hands.

"Dad? Are you all right?" Don asked as he pulled up a chair and sat in front of his father.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Alan rubbed his forearm, without even thinking.

"What happened to your arm?" Don demanded.

"It's nothing, Donny. Stop worrying."

"If he hurt you, it's my job to know."

Don held out his hand and waited for his father to place his arm there. When he did, Don rolled up the sleeve and saw a nasty purple bruise.

"How did it happen?"

"He shoved me out of his way and into the door frame."

"Damn it. This guy is picking the wrong people to mess with." Don shook his head as he let go of his father's arm.

"Did you put some ice on it?" Don asked once his temper had calmed.

"Yes. Would you stop worrying? I'm fine."

"How in the hell am I supposed to stop worrying when left and right my family is being threatened by some lunatic?!"

"Donny, calm down."

"I can't!" he screamed, and Alan flinched. "I can't calm down! My team is after this guy and we have yet to stop him but he's made three attacks on Charlie so far!"

"What? Three?"

Damn. Don hadn't meant for that to get out of the bag so soon. "Yeah, he sent Charlie flowers."

"Wh-what kind of flowers?"

"Bleeding hearts."

What did that mean? Alan felt his pulse race. This couldn't be happening. Bleeding hearts? Was that really what Jake was planning to do to Charlie? Alan shivered just at the thought that at one time he had talked to this man and had been polite to him.

"Don't worry about it, Dad. Really."

"If you can worry, so can I," Alan snapped.

Megan, who was listening from the other side of the door, stepped in then.

"I think you both need to calm down, okay?" Megan suggested. She placed a gentle hand on Alan's shoulder and gave Don a look that told him now was not the time to get worked up.

Alan took a deep breath. "You're right, Megan. I'm sorry I got worked up."

"It's okay, Dad. We both got a little too carried away."

"It's understandable, you guys, but you need to keep the center of all this in mind."

"Charlie?" Don looked up at Megan and she nodded.

"I know you're both too busy worrying about him to actually consider his feelings in this. Give him more credit, though, okay? He'll need your help to get through this, no doubt about it. But let him be a part of the process, too. Maybe not now, but later, when he has some more strength. He's not going to be allowed to go to work, for what, 10-14 days? He'll need something to keep him occupied. Just, please, work with him, too. And don't you dare leave him out or he'll be angry with you for it."

Megan squeezed Alan's shoulder and smiled at Don. "Now, I think Charlie could use some company. Alan, you're allowed to go. You might as well, too, Don."

"Okay. You want me to drive, Dad?"

"Sure."

The boys stood and walked toward the door. Don stopped by Megan and leaned over. "Thanks," he whispered.

"You're welcome," Megan said back.

Charlie felt lonely. Don had told him that their father would be stopping by soon after he had left. It had been four hours since Don had stopped in. He slept off and on, but he was too curious as to where his father was to sleep soundly. His father finally came later, and Don was with him.

"Hey, guys," Charlie said, trying to sound cheerful, though he wasn't feeling that way. He was happy to see his family finally arrive, but he couldn't help but wonder where they had been.

"Hi, kiddo. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, Dad. What about you?"

"I'm just fine. Why?"

So he was fine? Apparently there wasn't any immediate danger to be concerned about. So why had he been gone?

"Don?"

"I'm fine, too, Buddy."

Charlie took a moment to look at his brother's face. There was definitely something wrong. "You don't look it."

Don smiled. "I'm fine. Really."

Alan came over and sat by Charlie and rubbed his son's shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner."

"It's okay... but why were you late?"

Alan and Don shared a look, which wasn't a good sign to Charlie. What had happened?

"What?" Charlie asked when they seemed to be having a silent conversation that he wasn't a part of.

Don turned his gaze from his father to his little brother. "Buddy, something happened today."

Charlie looked frantically between Don and Alan. "What? Are you all right?"

"We're okay. It's just, um... Jake was at your house."

Charlie waited for that to sink in. Jake had been at his house? The idea sent chills through him, and he clutched the blanket a little tighter around him.

"There's a team there right now. We're hoping since he was so close we can catch him pretty quickly. Who knows, maybe by tomorrow this whole mess will be over?"

Charlie hoped so. It would make his life a whole lot easier. After that he'd just have to get through talking to Janet.

"Were you home?" Charlie asked as he turned his gaze on his father.

Alan couldn't look away from the soulful brown eyes that stared right through him. He wanted to lie to them, to tell them he had been safe and sound. But he couldn't lie, not with those eyes looking at him.

"Yes, I was."

A rare occasion occurred and anger flashed in those brown eyes. "Did he hurt you?"

Alan silently rolled up his sleeve and showed him the bruise on his arm. "It's okay."

"What happened?" Charlie asked as he gingerly ran his finger over the bruise.

"He pushed me and I hit it on the door frame."

"I'm sorry."

Alan smiled gently and brushed Charlie's hair back. "Don't you worry about that, kiddo. You have nothing to be sorry for."

Charlie smiled back at his father and looked over at his brother. Don was staring at the wall opposite him. Charlie could see a storm brewing, and he wondered when the first bolt of lightning would strike.

Hello! I'm still alive, I promise! I'm so sorry about this delay. It's awful, I know. I've been doing horrible in my Trig class, so I've been spending basically ever spare moment on it. Today I got at school eight hours before my first class and for nothing, apparently. There was supposed to be a tutoring session, but it was canceled. Grr. So, I finished this in my spare time. I hope you liked it. I tried to make it long, but sometimes it's hard to tell what you consider long. LOL

Take care!