In case you guys didn't read the extra scene in the last chapter that I added later, here it is. I italicized is, so if you have already read it, just move on to the part that isn't italicized! Thanks to dHALL for the dream idea!

When the doctor left Janet, she sat for a moment, completely stoic. Then, without warning, she burst into tears. Doubling over, she covered her face with her hands and sobbed into them.

Alan looked at her and then turned back to Don.

"Donny, do you know that woman?"

Don wiped his eyes and turned to Janet. He frowned in concern when he saw her crying. He walked over to her and sat down beside her. "Janet?"

With a shaky breath, Janet sat up. "Justin has internal bleeding. They need to operate. They don't know how extensive it is yet."

"I'm sorry."

Janet nodded, shutting her mouth to keep the sobs inside.

"Anyone here for Charles Eppes?" a doctor asked when he stepped out into the waiting room.

With one last glance at Janet, Don stood and came to the doctor, with Alan at his heels.

"I'm Don Eppes, Charlie's brother. This is our father Alan."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Keith Anderson."

"How's Charlie?"

"He's going to be fine. Your son is very lucky to be alive."

Alan nodded in agreement and glanced appreciatively at his eldest son. As the doctor continued, though, Alan's expression fell.

"Since Charlie did experience cardiac arrest, we'd like to keep him for observation."

Alan sat down hard at the news that his son's heart had stopped. Putting his hand on his father's shoulder in a protective gesture, Don nodded at the doctor and asked, "How long?"

"Maybe a few days." Giving them an encouraging smile, the doctor sat down across from Alan. "Neurologically, there doesn't seem to be any lasting effects. However, there can be respiratory or cardiologic complications that we may not see right away."

Alan nodded and the doctor continued. "Understand that pneumonia is an uncommon development in pool aspirations, since the water is chemically treated, but we're going to go ahead and start him on a round of IV antibiotics, just to be safe."

"What about his chest?"

They both looked up at Don, who looked guiltily at them both. "I was in a panic when I started CPR and..."

"Nothing was broken." Again, the doctor smiled reassuringly. "You're be surprised how flexible the ribcage can be. Charlie is going to be very sore, but it's better than the alternative. Like I said, he's a very lucky young man."

Once Dr. Anderson told them they could go back to see Charlie, Alan and Don quickly went down the hall to Charlie's room. He would have to stay for observation for a couple nights. Don knew that meant they would have to get a hotel somewhere. He might have to drive back to LA for work, but he figured he could get some time off. He would just have to give someone his statement about what happened.

When they entered Charlie's room, they found him to be abnormally solemn. He barely smiled when they came in and he didn't say anything until someone talked to him first.

"How are you feeling?"

"Okay."

"Do you need anything?"

"No."

"Do you want something?"

"No."

"Are you tired?"

"Kinda."

And on it went. Don finally looked at his father and nodded toward the door. After giving Charlie a hug, he walked into the hall with Don.

"What?" Alan asked, somewhat irritated.

"Let me talk to him."

"And get one-word answers? What good is that going to do?"

"Please. We're going to need a hotel room anyway. Go, find us some place to stay, and call me. Please, Dad."

Alan looked into Charlie's room. His son didn't even look up when he opened the door. He just stared at his blanketed feet with a defeated look on his face. Alan shut the door and sighed.

"All right. I'll go get us a place. But I'm coming right back, you hear?"

Don smiled. "Thank you."

Alan gave him a small hug and then walked away. Don watched his father go a moment, and then walked into Charlie's room.

"Hey, Buddy."

Charlie looked up at his older brother, but didn't give a response. He trailed Don's movements with his eyes.

Don sat down on the chair beside Charlie's bed. He leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees, placing his chin in his hands. He looked at his little brother and sighed.

"What's wrong?"

Charlie shrugged.

"Come on, Buddy. That's not doing me any good. I need something more than movements and one-word answers. Talk to me."

Charlie turned away, afraid of his own emotions. His brother wouldn't understand. He couldn't. It had been so terrifying, trapped underwater. He wanted to fight so hard, but he couldn't do anything. He wanted to cry for help, but there was no air. No one would have heard him. What if they hadn't known where to look? Who knew how long it would have been before they found his body under water? He would have died all alone, without the chance to tell everyone he loved how he truly felt. Charlie could have told secrets he'd kept from his family. He could have told Amita he loved her. He would have told all his friends he loved them. And Don and Alan... He didn't know how he could honestly convey just how much he loved them. But he would have tried.

Jake had come so close to winning. And he had told him that he was going after Don and Alan next. Just that thought kept his heart racing. What if he had gotten away? Charlie's tears spilled onto his cheeks as he thought about his family having to live with the same fear and torture he had.

"Buddy? Come on, Charlie. What's wrong?" Don stood and rounded the bed so that he was in Charlie's line of vision. He bent so that he was level with his brother's eyes. He saw the tears and knew his brother was dealing with a lot at once.

"Talk to me, Buddy."

Charlie bent his head and a tear slipped off his chin. He mumbled something and Don leaned forward. "What did you say?"

Charlie lifted his head and looked his brother in the eye. "I said, 'I almost died.'"

When a sob escaped his lips, Charlie turned away from Don again and pressed his face in the pillow, allowing the tears to come freely. He clutched the blanket in his hand and brought it to his face, wiping at the stream of tears trailing down his face.

"Oh, Buddy." Don stood and sat on the bed beside Charlie. He pulled his brother into a hug and Charlie turned into him. He squeezed his big brother around the waist tightly, needing someone to hold him steady. He cried into his brother's shirt, letting Don hold him as he let out all his emotions in the form of tears.

Don understood how his brother was feeling, whether Charlie believed it or not. He had come close to dying before, and it was the worst feeling in the world. On top of the torture Charlie had been through, his brother was an absolute mess. And who could blame him? He'd been put through hell and back. It was amazing that he'd held up this long. His brother needed time to get better, to recover from all he had been through. With him and Alan there every step of the way, Don was sure his brother would be okay... It just might take a while to get there.

Don had just gotten back from picking up supplies for him and his father when he arrived at an empty hotel room. He was confused because Alan wasn't there. His father didn't have a car, since he had just gone to rent it. Figuring his dad had just gotten a taxi to the hospital, Don put the groceries away and then left the hotel once more to go to the hospital.

When Don got off the elevator and went to his brother's hospital room, neither Alan or Charlie were in the room. He assumed he had just forgotten his brother's room number, or they had moved him for some reason. So Don went to the nurses' station to ask for Charlie's room number. A look crossed the nurse's face.

"I'll get Dr. Anderson so he can talk to you."

Confused, Don waited for the doctor to arrive. When he saw Dr. Anderson's grim face, he felt his heart stop.

"Dr. Anderson, what's going on?" Don asked when they were in Dr. Anderson's office.

"I'm so sorry, Agent. Eppes. I thought someone would have told you."

"Tell me what?"

"There were... complications. Your brother contracted a severe case of pneumonia. We... we tried everything we could but... he didn't make it."

Don's heart pounded in his ears. Maybe he hadn't heard him right. "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry, Agent Eppes. Your brother died two days ago."

"B-but, I was just here a few hours ago!"

"Not to my knowledge. Your father was quite upset. You haven't been here for three days."

"No! This can't be happening!"

Don turned and ran away. He ran outside to his rented car and somehow wound up at the cemetery where his mother was buried. Beside her gravestone was a new grave. The marker read the words, "Charles Edward Eppes."

"NO!" Don screamed, crashing down beside the two gravestones. This was not supposed to happen. He had come so close to losing Charlie just days before. It couldn't be happening now. It was supposed to be all right now. The worst was over. Why was this happening?

Don cried out in pain as his heart was torn in two, as if someone was playing tug-of-war with it. He buried his face in his hands and allowed a river of tears to pour from his eyes. He had lost his brother. He hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye. He even missed Charlie's funeral. It couldn't be happening!

"Charlie. No. Oh, God, Buddy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. Please, please, forgive me." Crawling on his hands and knees, Don moved over Charlie's grave and laid down on top of the loose dirt. He spread his arms out, like he was hugging the ground.

"I'm s-s-sorry, Charlie. I'm so, so sorry," Don cried brokenly. He had failed him. He had failed his brother. How could he have let this happen?

When a warm hand clasped his shoulder, Don ignored it. It didn't matter. Charlie was dead. Nothing else mattered now.

"Don?"

"No. Go away," Don whispered between sobs.

"Don?"

Don hit at whoever it was calling his name. He just wanted to be left alone, alone to deal with his grief. He couldn't take this right now. How could he when his heart was breaking?

"Don? Wake up."

The hand began to shake him and with a jolt, Don woke up. Charlie looked worriedly at his older brother. He was walking by his brother's old room when he heard Don crying out. Charlie had been scared to find tears pouring down his face. He wondered what Don could have been dreaming about to upset him so badly.

Don wiped his eyes so his vision would be cleared. Like he had thought, it was Charlie sitting in front of him. Without a second thought, Don grabbed his brother in a tight hug, cutting off Charlie's air supply.

"D-Don," Charlie choked out. He didn't mind hugs, but this was painful.

Realizing what he was doing by his brother's choked voice, Don loosened his grip. But he couldn't let go... not yet.

Charlie hugged his brother back, worry etched across his face. Don did not show emotions often. This was more than he'd seen at once before. Charlie had dealt with enough nightmares in his life to recognize that was what Don had been having. However, he didn't know what it was about, but he planned on finding out once his brother calmed down.

"It's okay, Don," Charlie said to comfort his brother. He hoped that Don would be feeling better soon because he was getting really concerned about his brother.

"Thank God you're all right," Don said as he hesitantly let go of his brother. He leaned back and stared at his brother. Charlie was okay. He was alive. But he was so afraid that he'd disappear if he closed his eyes. What if this was the dream? What if Charlie's death was the reality? To make sure Charlie wouldn't leave, Don kept his hand over his brother's.

"Don, what's going on? Are you okay?"

Don shook his head. "It was awful. God, Buddy, I thought I lost you."

Charlie watched his brother fight away emotions before he began to speak again. To give his brother support, Charlie put his other hand over Don's and squeezed. Don gave a small smile of thanks.

"I was going to the hospital to see you. You weren't in your room and neither was Dad. He wasn't in the hotel room either. I went to the nurses' station to ask about you, but they wouldn't tell me anything. Dr. Anderson took me to his office to talk to him. He said... he said I hadn't been there for two days."

Charlie frowned. Not only had he been home for three days, but Don had come to see him every day since his near-death experience. His brother's nightmare was obviously false, but disturbing nonetheless.

"What happened?" Charlie asked to encourage Don to keep talking.

"He... he said you died." Don's voice broke at the end with the word "died." Thinking about his brother dead put daggers through his heart. He couldn't imagine what he really would have done if he had lost Charlie.

Charlie felt his brother's pain. He knew how terrifying it was to think his brother was dead. There had been close calls before, and just plain nightmares that had made Charlie think Don had died. Knowing how terrifying that was, he held onto his brother's hand in a tight, supportive grip.

"Buddy, I... I honestly don't know how I would have gone on without you. It scares me to death just thinking about it. And, and dreaming about it..." Don visibly shuddered.

"I'm okay, Don." Charlie hoped his words would comfort Don. In the past, he had needed that same reassurance. It surprised him how badly the nightmare had affected Don. It warmed Charlie's heart to know how much his brother cared.

"I know." Don looked closely at his brother. When he felt tears prick the corner of his eyes, he hugged his brother, partly to hide the tears and partly to reassure himself that Charlie really was okay.

"I can't lose you, Buddy," Don whispered as he hugged Charlie tightly.

"I know. I can't lose you either." Charlie's eyes began to water at Don's abnormal display of emotions.

"When you were underwater..." Don began, but Charlie cut him off, pushing away from his brother briskly.

"I don't want to talk about that."

His fear was forgotten for the time being when Don heard his brother's tone of voice. Charlie had been struggling ever since Jake's last attack. Don understood coming close to death. But he was surprised that Charlie didn't seem to want to talk about it at all. And it wasn't just with him. His brother wasn't opening up to anyone about it. Don had even sent Megan over to see if she could get something more out of him. But Charlie had kept to himself since coming home and rarely talked to anyone. Hours were spent in the garage, and the rest in his room if he could help it. Don didn't like the way his brother was acting, and hoped he could get more out of him.

"Why not?"

"I don't. That's it! If you're okay, I'm going back to bed."

Charlie stood and started to storm away from his brother. But Don reached out and grasped Charlie's wrist in a gentle grip, stopping him from leaving.

"Let go of me." Charlie fought, but couldn't be freed from Don's grip. "Let go, Don."

"No." Don tightened his hold and pulled Charlie back to his old bed. Charlie deliberately avoided looking at his older brother, angry that he was being forced to stay.

"What is going on with you? Look, I know what happened to you was awful. I understand that, believe me."

Again, Charlie interrupted. He stood quickly and out of his brother's reach. Angrily he shouted at his big brother. "Do you? Do you understand how it feels to conscious as you slowly run out of air? Do you know how it feels to know that you're going to die and then realize it's for nothing?"

"No, but-"

"No! You don't! So I don't even see why we're having this conversation."

This time Charlie managed to get away. He went to his room and made a point of locking the door behind him. He turned his back to the door and sank down to the floor, bringing his knees up to his chest. Charlie felt the tears begging to be released, and this time he let them come pouring down. Don didn't understand. No one did. He thought he was going to die, had known it for certain. The thoughts running through his head were not ones he liked to think back on, but they consumed his mind all the time. It was so hard to move ahead when you had thought you didn't have to anymore. It was so difficult to live with yourself... when you had decided to give up.

Charlie heard Don come to the door and try to open it. He kicked the door, jolting Charlie, but then stomped off to his room. Charlie was glad. He didn't want Don in his room right now. He wanted to be alone.

Charlie had his head down on top of his knees when he heard the banging on his window. Like Don had done before during their childhood, he had gone from his bedroom window to his by the small ledge that connected the windows. Realizing how dangerous that was for a man Don's size, Charlie hurried to the window and let Don in. Heavily, Don fell to the floor.

"You idiot! Do you have any idea how stupid that was?"

Judging by the look of pain across his brother's face, Charlie could see that Don did indeed understand. His brother's ribs were still aching and should not have been pushed like that. Charlie wiped at his eyes, anger taking away the pain briefly.

"I wasn't... done... talking," Don replied breathlessly. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the frame of Charlie's bed as he sat up.

Charlie paced the floor in front of Don, shaking his head in disbelief. This was not what he wanted. He just wanted to be left alone. He'd get through this on his own... though he hadn't yet.

With his breathing back to normal, Don stood and sat on Charlie's bed. He watched his brother pace back and forth and decided now was the time to talk.

"I might not understand exactly what you went through, but don't forget that I was there. I saw you under the water, tied to a chair. I brought you out of the water, and I thought for sure that you were dead. Hell, you were Charlie! You weren't breathing! You went into cardiac arrest. You understand that?"

Charlie's attention turned to his brother, rather than pacing. The anger in Don's voice made him realize that he wasn't the only one with mixed feelings.

"I watched as Janet tried to save your life, after I had already tried. Do you have any idea what that feels like? Because I bet you don't."

Don stood and walked up to Charlie so that they were face-to-face. "I know how close you came to dying. I know it's terrifying. So don't think for a second that I don't understand. I was there, Charlie. I know."

Don glared at Charlie for a moment before turning and walking back to his brother's bed. Expecting the retaliation, Don sat down and turned his attention to Charlie. However, he didn't see anger on his little brother's face. Tears began to fall down Charlie's face once more and he looked completely terrified. It was the most emotion he had seen from Charlie since he'd been at the hospital.

"Buddy, what's wrong?" Don softened his voice, trying not to scare his little brother.

"I don't know, Don... One minute, I-I-I was there, and I had a gun out and I thought I'd catch Jake by surprise. The next he had hit me and started tying me to a chair. And, and... right before he pushed me in the water, he told me he lied about saying that he wouldn't hurt you and Dad if I came."

Don nodded in understanding. He had gotten the same message from the video Jake had left.

"If I only known that he was going to kill me, I-I-I would have done more, you know? I would told you and Dad and everyone I love how I really feel about them. I would have done something! But I thought he wouldn't lie to me. I don't know why. It... it was stupid, I know. And then I fought against the ropes around my wrists, but when the pool cover came over me, I-"

"What did you do?" Don asked, wondering why his brother cut himself off.

Charlie released a small sob and turned away from Don. "I stopped fighting."

Don frowned, confused about what his brother meant. "What? You stopped fighting?"

Charlie turned his head to look over his shoulder at Don. He nodded before turning away again. He didn't want to see his brother's face when he told him and he didn't want Don to see his face when he was crying.

"I... I just thought, 'What's the point?' I didn't think it really mattered anymore if I fought. Jake had already won. So... I gave up."

"Charlie, what are you trying to say? That you were suicidal? What?"

Charlie reached up with both hands and grabbed fistfuls of his hair. "I... I don't know! I wish I did, but I don't. I was just so tired of fighting with Jake and dealing with this whole thing. But now, now that I'm okay, I can't believe I did. I mean, I still had you and Dad to fight for, right? I should have fought until I lost consciousness... but I didn't."

Don stood and went to his brother. He took Charlie's shoulders in his hands, forcing his brother to look at him. "You cannot blame yourself what happened that day. You were dying, Charlie! No one acts the same way when they're faced with death like that. It's not normal. Just because you stopped fighting then, when it seemed apparent that you were going to die, that doesn't mean you would have if you thought you would live. Honestly, did you think you were going to live even if you kept fighting?"

Charlie slightly shook his head, but Don still saw it. "See? Buddy, if you know you're gonna die, there's not much point in fighting, is there? Jake was making sure he got the job done this time, and if Janet and I hadn't showed up when we did, he would have succeeded."

Charlie silently reached out and grabbed onto Don's arm. He tilted his head up to meet his brother's eyes and let the terror shine through.

"I almost died, Donny," Charlie whispered, his voice like that of a young child's.

Don nodded. "I know, Buddy."

Gathering his brother to him, Don hugged Charlie tightly. He could hear his little brother's cries, muffled against his shirt. He rubbed circles on Charlie's back as he tried to comfort his brother. He hoped that Charlie could understand that just because he stopped fighting didn't mean he was weak... so maybe he would start believing the same about himself.

Don led Charlie to his bed and the two brothers sat down beside each other. When Charlie's tears were spent, Don licked his lips in a nervous habit. His brother had confessed his true feelings to him. It only seemed fair that Don opened up the same way toward Charlie.

"I... I really do understand where you're coming from when you feel like you should just stop fighting, that you're not doing any good. I felt so... useless when Jake attacked you at that store. I just couldn't see how I was helping anyone or anything. If I can't be a decent big brother and protect you from assholes like Jake, then what good am I doing? That's all I could think of. I shouldn't have let my thoughts go that far, but I did. And I was still on the job. I went into a dangerous situation, with the worst thoughts going through my head. I kept telling myself how worthless and weak I am. And when I got in the line of fire... I did nothing to get out of there. I just stood there. I stopped fighting, Charlie. We both did."

Charlie stared at his brother as he took that information in. He had known all along that there was more to that story than Don told him. Guilt washed over him, knowing that if he hadn't called Don before hand his brother wouldn't have gotten shot. That was the first thought that entered his head.

"I'm sorry."

"What? No, Buddy, that's not what I meant." Don shook his head in frustration. "I'm saying that we all have our moments where we can't fight any longer, where we don't see the point in trying. That doesn't mean we want to end our lives. Everyone has low points. The difference is whether we choose to act on that or not. You fought, but you gave up. I didn't get out of the way when someone was shooting at me. But can you honestly say that if you had survived Jake's attack and gone home that night, you would have put a bullet in your brain? I know I wouldn't have after getting shot at. Sure, I would have felt like hell, but I wasn't trying to intentionally kill myself. We just get pushed so hard that eventually we can't fight any longer. Those were are bad days. That doesn't mean they're going to happen every day, and it sure as hell doesn't mean that we're going to act that way all the time. Understand? I wasn't trying to put the blame on you. I got shot. It happens when you work for the FBI. But I shouldn't have let my thoughts get that far. I shouldn't have allowed myself to think about what a failure I was. It is not the way to go into a dangerous situation because that's how accidents like that happens. I endangered the lives of my team members when they pulled me out of there. I shouldn't have done it. You did not make me do that. It was not your fault, understand?"

Charlie nodded, managing a small smile to reassure Don that he understood. He was glad that his brother had helped him with his feelings about giving up. It had been eating at him for days now. He didn't want to die, he knew that the whole time. But he had questioned whether he would be strong enough to fight on if he was ever in a situation like that again.

"Are you okay?" Don asked, watching his brother closely. He wanted Charlie to understand that he wasn't the only one who felt like giving in. But he also wanted to make sure that Charlie wouldn't give up forever.

Charlie gave a genuine smile. "I'm okay, Don. Thanks." He leaned over and hugged Don, a hug of thanks and brotherly love.

"You're welcome."

Don stood and went to the door, knowing that in a few hours he had to get up for work. He unlocked the door and turned back to Charlie wish a silly grin.

"Didn't think I'd climb to your window, did you?"

"No. You nearly killed yourself in the process." Realizing the irony in that statement, Charlie and Don laughed.

"Good night, little brother."

"Good night, big brother."

With a small wave, Don went back to his room. He hoped that Charlie realized that he was okay now. Or at least he hoped so.

Okay, this chapter is really short, but the ending has kinda snuck up on me. I thought I was going to have a couple more chapters, but I think I only have one more in me. I didn't want to combine it into one because then it would take a while to update, and I'm already late. So, one more chapter to go and then it's over. :-( I know, it's so sad.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and understood what I meant with the suicidal themes. I don't think that Don or Charlie were committing suicide, they were just hitting rock bottom and were too tired of fighting to go on. If you don't understand or disagree, I'm willing to write to you.

I'll see you next chapter!