Wednesday morning, Don got the call he had been waiting on. Before he left his apartment, Colby had called with the news that they had found another local techno-shop owner who remembered Jake. About three days ago, the fugitive had ordered a VHS camcorder, with a tripod and a standard VCR, with a thirteen-inch TV monitor. The equipment was light and although he could have walked out of the store with them, he had willingly paid extra to have the packages, and a blank tape, delivered to an address on the west side.

Don wasn't supposed to be out in the field, but he demanded that Colby give him the address. Twenty minutes later, he met up with the FBI team at the house. It was the moment he had been waiting for, so there was no way Don was going to sit at the office and wait for them to bring Jake in. He was given a bulletproof vest, but he was ordered to stay in the car. He had to watch his team go inside, as he prayed that Jake would be there.

"Clear!"

"Damn it!" Don hissed when he heard that word. He punched the seat cushion and then got out.

"I'm sorry, Don," Megan said, as Don came through the front door. "He's not here. It doesn't look like anyone has been for a while."

"That can't be. We had him!"

"I know. I guess we're back to square one."

The team then proceeded to search the house for any clues toward Jake's whereabouts. Don was the one who found the VHS tape with his name on it.

"What's that?" David asked as he came up to his boss, who had been standing still for several minutes.

"It has my name on it. Where's the TV?"

"In there." David pointed toward the back of the house. "He's got it set up on the dresser."

Don went into the bedroom and turned on the television. The VCR had been properly hooked up and the remote control was sitting on top of it. Picking up the remote, Don put the VHS tape into the unit and pressed play.

The video imaged showed the dresser that Don was standing in front of, the TV monitor and VCR just as it was now. Knowing where the camera had been sitting, Don turned to look behind him, although the camcorder was no longer there.

"Hello, Agent Eppes. I was wondering when we'd get to see each other." Jake's voice turned Don's attention back to the TV and he watched as Jake walked into the shot. "You've been chasing me for quite some time now; haven't you? Sorry I've kept you going around in circles. I have to get what I want, though, and that's your brother's dead body."

Jake laughed evilly and Don had to restrain himself from punching the TV screen. He waited for Jake to continue.

"By now it's probably too late for you to do anything. Soon, you'll be short one family member. Your brother has already agreed to meet me. I convinced him that I would kill you and your father if he didn't. But here's the secret." Jake leaned closer to the camera and cupped the side of his mouth with one hand. "I'm going to kill you anyway."

Anger flared in Don's eyes, as Jake clicked the remote in his hands and Charlie and Don appeared on the TV behind him.

"Aw, how cute! Looks like Charlie still needs big brother to help him." Jake pressed the button again and a scene of Charlie huddled in his bed, crying, appeared. "Where were you then, Superman? Look at him crying! Why weren't you there to take care of him, then? Was it because you actually believed him when he said he was okay? Oh, Eppes, you have a lot to learn."

With one more press of the button, a still image of Charlie looking completely terrified came onto the screen.

"Say goodbye to little brother, Agent Eppes. Because the next time you see him he'll be in a casket." Jake laughed and then the screen went black.

"Damn it!" Don kicked the legs of a chair, which had been sitting at the foot of the bed, and overturned it.

Megan came rushing back to see what had happened. "What is it?"

"I have to call Charlie." Don rushed past her, through the house and stepped outside to get better reception for his cell phone. He quickly dialed his brother's number. As he dreaded, it went to voice mail. Though he doubted his brother would check, he had to try.

"Buddy, it's Don..." He paused, as if expecting an answer, and the continued, his words coming out in a rush. "Please, don't do this. I know everything. I know what Jake has asked you to do. Please, don't, okay? Let us catch him. Call me and tell me where you're supposed to meet him. We caught him once before that way. Let us do it again. I don't want you to get hurt. Please, Buddy. Don't do this. Dad and I will be okay. I promise. Just... don't go."

He paused again, feeling the emotion rising up in his chest as he finished his message. "Please, Charlie. I love you so much, Buddy. I can't lose you. Call me... Bye."

Don wiped at his eyes and looked up when he heard a car take a sharp turn and then pull up almost right in front of him.

"You want to save your brother?"

"Who are you?"

"Get in the car. If you want him to live, you'd better hurry up."

Don looked behind him and saw a few agents talking through the front window. Throwing all caution to the wind, Don rounded the car and got in.

The woman pulled away from the curb and sped away. It was then that Don noticed that she had the lights like on his SUV.

"Janet Waits. I'm an undercover agent for the FBI. I've been working for Assistant Director Walt Merrick on this case since before it hit your desk."

With one hand, she flashed her badge at him, and with the other, she drove.

"What? You're an agent?" Don could hardly believe it.

"Yes."

"Why didn't Walt tell me?"

For a second she turned to him, but quickly redirected her attention back to the road. "And jeopardize my cover? No way. It was best you didn't know."

"Yeah, and I've been thinking the worst of you. What's going on? How do you know where Charlie is?"

"Because Jake told me. I've been working with him part-time and the FBI the rest. I had to work with him because..."

"What?"

"He has my son."

"Oh."

"It's going to take a while to get there. Jake really wanted to make sure no one found out."

"Where is it?"

"Just on the California-Nevada state line."

Don sank back in his seat. He should have brought his team. He should have called his father. But, he hadn't done that. It was just him and Janet Waits... and that's how it was going to be.

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

Charlie had left early that morning to be sure to make it there on time. Along the way, he had to pull into a gas station to refill his tank. When he saw that he had a message on his cell phone, his heart beat a little faster.

He put the phone to his ear as he filled his tank. Hearing Don's voice made Charlie's heart constrict. It wasn't the voice of a detached federal agent. It was a big brother's voice...his big brother.

Rational, genius, Dr. Charles Edward Eppes would have listened to him. He understood how stupid his actions were. He would turn back right now and tell the FBI everything, let them deal with Jake. But the voice he was listening to wasn't Dr. Eppes.

This was Charlie. And in spite of his brother's plea, Charlie worried more about his family than being rational about this. Deep down he knew what he should do, but his heart wouldn't let him take the risk. That was the difference between the two. Dr. Eppes listened to his mind. Charlie had to listen to his heart.

"Bye, Donny," Charlie said aloud, as he shut his cell phone and finished filling up. He went inside, paid for his gas, and then drove off, back to his fate.

With tears in his eyes, Charlie drove to the designated spot where he was supposed to meet Jake. He arrived fifteen minutes early and was surprised at what the house looked like. It was a huge two-story house. Judging by the houses Charlie passed along the way, it was obviously part of a ritzy neighborhood. He wasn't sure if Jake was there or not, since he didn't see another car. He hoped to be able to catch Jake by surprise. Maybe then he could have more control over the situation.

Charlie was rounding the house toward the backyard when he reached for the handgun he'd strapped to his leg under his khaki pants. Before he came back up with the gun, he was grabbed from behind in a chokehold.

"Good to see you, Eppsey. You didn't really think I was going to let you get that gun, did you?"

Jake punched him in the stomach with a harsh blow, making Charlie doubled over as the air escaped his lungs. Then, Jake bent down and grabbed the gun.

"What else you got on you?"

Jake frisked Charlie roughly, pulling out his cell phone and wallet. "You won't be needing these."

Jake put Charlie's cell phone in his pocket. It would come in handy when he went after Alan and Don.

Charlie put his hands to the ground to push himself up. Seeing the action, Jake put his foot on Charlie's back and, applying his full weight, forced him back down into the grass. Charlie fought to keep his hands and knees under him, but Jake's first blow had enervated him and he moaned in pain as Jake ground his heel into the small of his back. Jake bent down to lift him to his feet, and Charlie struggled to fight him. Jake quickly grabbed his wrists, effectively restraining his hands, so he tried to kick him.

"So you're going to be difficult, huh?" Jake released one of Charlie's arms and brought his fist down hard in the middle of Charlie abdomen. As Charlie doubled over again, Jake dragged him across the yard and onto the flagstone decking, which surrounded a large rectangular pool. At the end of the pool was a small spillover Jacuzzi, surrounded by shrubbery.

For a moment, Charlie thought they were heading for the hot tub. As he continued to try to get his feet underneath him, he quickly realized that their destination was the decorative wrought iron table and two bistro chairs, which were sitting near the spa, at the deep end of the pool.

Jake dumped him into the cushioned seat, and before Charlie could move, he quickly grabbed the pieces of rope that had been on the ground beside the chair, where he had placed them earlier. Not giving the young professor a chance to fight back again, Jake tied Charlie's left wrist to the arm of the chair.

Realizing what was happening, Charlie swung his right fist into the air, but Jake sidestepped the blow and grabbed his arm, quickly tying that wrist to the chair as well.

As Jake stepped back to admire his work, Charlie strained against the binds that held him to the chair. "Let me go!"

"Now, Charlie, that's not why I brought you here."

Continuing his struggle against the ties that held him down, Charlie lifted his eyes to his captor. "Then why did you?"

Jake smiled wickedly as he looked out across the deep, blue swimming pool. He turned back to his captive and looked him in the eye. "We'll talk about that later."

Charlie's heart began to pound in his chest. This couldn't be good. If Jake was anything like Carl, he would probably find a way to torture him. He wasn't sure he was strong enough, but Charlie was willing to withstand anything Jake did to him. He wouldn't tell Jake anything. He would die first.

At that thought, Charlie felt his heart beat faster. Was he actually going to die?

The thought had crossed his mind, but he hadn't really thought he'd be the one to die. He had convinced himself that he might have to kill Jake, but what if it was the other way around? What if, this time, the bad guy actually won? If he had only considered that reality for one second, he could have told his family and friends how much they meant to him, how much he loved them. He would have left a will. He would have taken action. He may have only had two days to do it, but it would have been enough. Now he didn't have the chance to say goodbye.

At that thought, tears began to burn the corners of his eyes. He blinked rapidly, not wanting his captor to see the weakness that his tears displayed.

"How close are you to your family?"

At Jake's question, Charlie felt a surge of panic. His question sounded eerily similar to something Carl would ask. "We're... we're close."

"Perfect."

"Wh-why perfect?"

"Oh, nothing."

Jake paced the decking in front of Charlie, between the chair and the swimming pool. He wanted to taunt Charlie. He wanted the suspense of what could happen next to eat at him. Quite frankly, Jake wanted to have some fun and that desire was obvious to his frightened captive.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Well, if you're so eager to get started, why wait?" Jake smiled and rounded the chair so that he was at the back of it. He grabbed onto the back of the chair and started pushing forward.

Charlie's eyes widened when he started to move closer toward the pool. "What are you doing?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

"There's no reason to drag this out, Charlie. I'm going to kill you."

"What?!" It wasn't like he expected a different answer, but hearing Jake say it aloud was a shock to his system. "No! Stop! Let me go! Please, I'll do anything!"

Ignoring Charlie's desperate pleas, Jake just kept pushing forward.

"Stop!" Lifting his head to project his voice, Charlie yelled out, "HELP!"

Straining to look back at Jake, he began to plead again. "I have money! I'll pay you! I can get you out of the country so you won't get caught!"

In Charlie's need to get Jake to let him go, his words had become frantic screams. "I won't press charges against you! Please, don't do this!"

He tugged at his bounds, cutting into the tender flesh on his wrists. Ignoring the pain, he kept on fighting.

Jake stopped pushing when they reached the edge of the pool. He moved in front of Charlie and smacked him upside the head. "Stop fighting it. C'mon! It's not like you didn't know this was coming."

Charlie looked fearfully into Jake's eyes. Had he seen it coming? Charlie supposed he had, but he hadn't wanted to believe it. He was still young. He hadn't finished his greatest work. He never got married, didn't have any kids... there were still so many things he wanted to do. But Jake had told him that this would end it between them. Unable to keep his thoughts to himself, Charlie spoke aloud.

"At least... at least you promised that my family will be safe." Charlie couldn't hide the tears in his eyes this time. He would miss them so much.

Jake smiled and moved behind the chair once more. He leaned forward so that he was by Charlie's ear. "Here's my secret, Eppes. I wouldn't want you to die not knowing this."

He paused dramatically before he said in a low whisper, "I lied."

"No!" Charlie shouted, as Jake gave one final shove.

As the chair splashed into the pool, Charlie got a mouthful of water first thing. However, since there was a cushion on the chair, he was able to stay afloat for a few moments longer. He spat out the water and inhaled deeply before he slowly began to sink into the pool.

Charlie looked up at the light blue ceiling of the pool. The sun shone brightly on the water, giving it a beautiful sky-blue color. Through the water, he could see Jake at the edge of the pool, laughing at him.

"Let's see you get out of this one, Eppes!" Jake shouted, cupping his hands so he would be heard.

But, Charlie barely heard Jake's shout over the sound of his own heartbeat. With a slow thump, the chair hit the bottom. With the strength he still had, Charlie fought to loosen the ropes around his wrists. His lungs demanded air, and his chest heaved as he fought not to open his mouth and exhale. He pulled and tugged at the ropes that bound him. He even tried jerking forward to move the chair, but it was too heavy. Realizing he couldn't hold his breath much longer, he continued to tug at the binds that held him to the chair.

Meanwhile, Jake was laughing at his victory. Looking down in the clear, blue water, he noticed that Charlie was still trying to get free. He was certain that Charlie wouldn't be successful. However, he wanted to be sure that he wouldn't. He walked over to the pool-house where there was a switch to activate the pool cover. He turned it on and walked back to the water's edge to see the look on Charlie's face as the cover locked him in.

The electrical hum of the motor, which pulled the garage door-like cover across the top of the pool, drew Charlie's attention to the surface again. He watched in horror as the pool cover came over him and the water.

It was as if he had been struck in the face, and it was as he could do not to gasp. There was no point trying to get free. It was final. He was going to die.

Jake laughed. Charlie's reaction didn't disappoint. Before the cover moved over Charlie's position at the bottom of the pool, Jake called down to him. "Bye, Eppes!"

Part of him wanted to stay and watch, but Jake chuckled and turned around. He needed to move on to his next project: Justin Waits. He had promised Janet he wouldn't kill him if she helped him. What did she take him for? A good person? He walked toward the house, where Justin was locked up, trying to decide how to kill him. Maybe he would open the pool back up and let the boy see what he had done to the professor. Having used that method to kill Charlie, he could see going another round with Justin.

However, he hadn't gone far when he was grabbed from behind. A gun was shoved into the side of his head.

"Give it up, Jake," Don Eppes said to him.

"Ah, big brother made it. How fun. Now you can watch him drown with me."

Realizing the implications of Jake's words, Don turned his head toward the pool. Taking advantage of the agent's distraction, Jake drilled his elbow into the agents stomach and Don fell back onto the pool cover. The agent lost his gun as he fell, so Jake dove for it. The weapon lay close to the fallen agent, so he had to be fast if he was going to win this round.

Don sucked in a breath, quickly realizing that he had fully broken the ribs that had been injured when he was shot. But as soon as Jake moved for his gun, he forced himself to react and he turned on his side and grabbed the gun.

Charlie had stopped struggling as he stared up at the shadowed bodies on the pool cover. Without realizing he was doing it, he began to slowly exhale the spent oxygen that was burning in his lungs and the bubbles of air were slowly rising to the surface of the water.

He wasn't sure who those men were, but he felt badly for the one that had fallen onto the thick, vinyl pool cover. Over the bubbles that were being released from his mouth, Charlie watched as the second form lunged for something and the one laying on the cover picked something up.

Charlie's ears had filled with a strange humming sound, and as he watched the show above him, he wanted to open his mouth and hum along to the sounds. He knew he was supposed to be holding his breath, but for the life of him, he could not remember why. As the sound in his ears changed to a roaring hum, Charlie heard two shots ring out. He immediately recognized the sound, in spite of the false euphoria brought on by lack of oxygen, and he was certain that someone was shooting at him. He supposed Jake had decided to finish the job the old fashioned way. Deciding there was no reason to continue holding his breath, Charlie opened his mouth and released the pins and needles that filled his lungs and throat.

Don was shocked at the steadiness of the gun in his hand. His reflex had been instantaneous. It had been obvious that Jake was going to kill him, so he had to do it. After a staggering moment, rather like a bad death scene in a movie, Jake fell dramatically onto the pool cover beside him. Not taking another moment to think about it, Don pushed himself up. Through the cover, he could see a chair at the bottom of the pool and tied to it was... Charlie.

"Janet! Get the pool cover!"

The other agent appeared from the other side of the house and went into the pool house, reactivating the motor to retract the pool cover. It only took seconds for the edge of the cover to move back enough for him to slip through, but to Don, it seemed to take forever. As he slid into the water, he kicked hard against the side of the pool and swam for the bottom. He could see a mass of wet curls floating around the head of the body and as he approached, his brother's face appeared amid the black tresses. His eyes were open, but there was nothing there and Don knew that he was too late. Charlie was dead.

He grabbed onto his brother's upper arms and was thankful that with three tugs, Charlie came free. Swimming to the top, Don pushed Charlie's body over the side of the pool and then struggled to bring himself up. Janet ran toward him and pulled him up by the arm. Don's ribs were aching and it was quickly becoming very hard to breathe.

Ignoring the physical pain that was burning his side, Don focused on the surge of rage at the idea that Jake had actually managed to take Charlie away from him.

"Move!" Don pushed Janet out of his way and knelt down next to this brother.

"Oh, God," he hissed as he checked for a pulse, and found none. Quickly he began chest compressions on his brother.

"Come on, Charlie."

In between his efforts to breathe life-giving oxygen into his brother's lungs, Don began to plead with him. "Don't die on me now. You can't leave me like this."

They had been through so much together. And Charlie had been put through hell and back. How could he not make it to the end? This couldn't be it. This couldn't be the way the story ended. Don couldn't be alone after all this. Charlie was strong. He would make it... but he wasn't breathing.

The image of his brother underneath him began to blur. "No!" Don cried, thinking that Charlie was slowly fading away from him. However, it was only because of the tears that filled his eyes that Charlie looked so blurred.

"Don, stop." Janet had been standing over him, watching as he tried to return life to his brother's limp body.

"No! I... I have to do this. He can't die. Buddy, you can't leave me here. Please."

Janet's common sense told her they were too late, but seeing the man in front of her as he began to fall apart prompted her to kneel on the other side of the younger man's body.

"Let me, Don."

With a gentle push, Janet moved Don out of the way and continued administering CPR to Charlie. Don grabbed onto his brother's hand with both of his and brought it to his chest, allowing the woman to take over. With each set of compressions and breaths, Janet's motions became less enthusiastic and Don realized that she was not going to keep it up forever. At some point, very soon, they would have to stop trying.

"Please, Charlie," he begged as Janet leaned over his brother's face to breathe air into his lungs.

Suddenly, Charlie's body writhed on the flagstone and a deep gurgling sound emitted from his throat. Janet moved back as the water began to come up out of Charlie's mouth, then suddenly, he turned his head and heaved as a large gush of water spilled from between his lips. He tried to inhale, which caused a massive coughing fit and Charlie instinctively brought his knees up as he began to heave. Then, he continued to cough for several minutes as he spat the remaining water from his insides.

Don, startled, watched as his brother returned to life before his eyes. When Charlie finally stopped heaving and coughing, he flopped onto his back again, his eyes closed.

"Charlie?"

When he got no response, Don bent forward and rested his head on his brother's chest. He could hear a weak, but steady heartbeat. And he could hear him breathing. For several seconds, he remained in that position, listening to his brother as he breathed.

A whispered voice broke the silence. "Took you... long enough."

Don chuckled and lifted his head, making no effort to hide the tears that were streaming down his face. "I love you, Buddy. I love you so much."

Oh... my... gosh. It's sooooo late. I'm tired. My neck is killing me. My foot's asleep. It's 2 o'clock in the morning. I want to be in bed. But, dedicated author that I am, I stayed up this late just to post. I got the edited version from dHALL around 1 o'clock and it took me this long to get it up. I'm expecting lots of reviews and praise because I think I deserve it. Maybe I'm just being cranky because it's late, but don't I at least deserve that? Plus I hold power over your beloved Don, Alan, and Charlie. Wouldn't want anything to happen to them, would you? No, I won't but make this worth while, okay?

Thank you again to the awesome dHALL. Without her, this chapter wouldn't be nearly as good. However, this was all my idea, she just helped give it depth and details. Okay, and a lot more, but the main storyline of this chapter is mine. LOL Thanks again!