Charlie had to take a moment to catch his breath. It had seemed to rush out of him at the word "blind."

"Well, answer me, damn it!" Don, who moments before had been concerned, was now raging with anger.

"Yes... in my left eye." Charlie finally managed to answer the question and he felt the ground go out from beneath him. What had he done?

Don couldn't name one emotion that described what he was feeling. Anger, hurt, guilt, betrayal. All mixed in his mind but only came out as anger.

"What the hell, Charlie! Why didn't you tell me? Did you think I didn't need to know?"

"I-I was trying to protect you."

"Protect me? Yeah, Charlie, you did a great job of that. Who else knows?"

"Dad... and Megan."

"What?" Don screamed, causing Charlie to flinch. "You told Megan before me?"

"Actually Dad told her."

"Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better. My own father couldn't tell me either!"

"Please, don't blame Dad, or Megan. I made them promise not to tell."

"Why? I had a right to know! I should have known about this sooner! How long have you known?"

"Since my vision started clearing."

"So you didn't tell me about it and lied to me for almost two months? Wow, I feel I can really trust my family."

"Don, please. I didn't mean for you to feel this way. I-I was just trying to protect you from the guilt."

"Yeah, well, you judged me wrong, pal. Not knowing is a hell of a lot worse because you didn't trust me enough to tell me!"

Don started to walk away so Charlie stood and grabbed his brother's arm.

"Don, wait-"

"Don't touch me!" Don shoved his brother hard, causing Charlie to fall to the ground.

Charlie watched his brother run into the blur of traffic, barely making it across the street before getting hit. As the cars moved past, he lost sight of his brother. He could feel the hole that separated him and his brother grow until he knew there was no way around it.

Charlie was overcome by a wave of tears. He hadn't mean for this to happen. He wondered how he could be such a genius yet still be capable of making such a huge mistake.

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Don sped away from CalSci, disgusted at the sight of it because it reminded him of his brother too much. His mind whirled with thoughts and at the center of it was an agonizing pain caused from his brother's betrayal.

He pulled over at an abandoned gas station and just sat for a long while. He knew he couldn't go back to work like this, though the pain he felt would always be first on his mind.

Don felt hot tears stream down his face. He couldn't believe Charlie had kept it from him for so long. If Charlie had told him right away, the main thing he'd feel would be guilt. But that wasn't the case now. Charlie had kept something extremely important from him. Don wasn't exactly in the forgiving mood.

Today had been so wonderful. He and his little brother were getting along so well. Don had actually felt closer to his brother. And then he had come close to losing him. And then this?

Don rounded his fist on the steering wheel as he grunted in anger. He didn't know what to do. He felt like his relationship with his brother had been broken indefinitely.

After regaining his composure, Don returned to work, feeling every bit as angry, but he now had it more under control... or so he thought.

"Don, I'm glad you're back. I just found-"

"I don't want to hear a word out of you, Reeves," Don said angrily before entering his office.

Megan was surprised at Don's outburst. She cautiously made her way to Don's office and looked at her boss.

"Oh. He told you."

"Didn't I say I didn't want to hear anything from you? Get to work."

"Don, you must be upset but Charlie was only-"

"I know. He was 'trying to protect me.' Go do your damn job!"

"Look, you have to give him a break-"

"Leave this building now! You're suspended!" Don screamed as he stood up, causing several heads to turn in their direction.

"For what, if I may ask, sir?"

"For disobeying orders. Get out of here."

"Of course."

Megan knew Don was just mad. Normally, she would have fought back, but she could see Don was in no mood for that. She supposed she had crossed the line by getting too personal. So she wouldn't complain too much about being suspended.

"Colby!" Don screamed for the agent.

"Yes, sir?" Colby wasn't about to take any chances of getting on Don's bad side, though he thought it was unfair of his boss to suspend Megan.

"Send Charlie a fax. Tell him to send all he's done so far and all the files he has back here. He's off the case."

"Okay." Colby couldn't keep the surprise and confusion out of his voice.

"Something you'd like to add, Granger?"

"No, sir. I'll get right on it."

"Good."

Don sat back down at his desk and faced a framed picture of him and his brother together. it brought on another wave of anger so he picked it up and threw it at the wall. The sound of shattering glass stilled the whole office.

Don knew he had to get a hold of himself and he wouldn't be able to do it at his office.

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Charlie returned to his office. He could see a fax waiting for him. He walked over to it and read what it said.

"No." Charlie choked on a sob. Don was cutting off all ties with him. He didn't even want him on the case anymore. If Don was that mad, how would he ever fix this?

Charlie decided to go home. He canceled his last class of the day, though he did take time to leave an assignment for his students. He rode his bike home and actually managed to get lost at one point.

He finally arrived home a little earlier than usual. Alan was surprised to find him home so soon. He had been sitting in the living room reading when Charlie came in.

"Charlie! What are you doing home so early?" Alan stood and came toward his son who stood frozen just inside the house.

"Charlie? Are you okay?"

The last few hours caught up with Charlie in a matter of seconds. As his body reacted, Charlie ran for the bathroom.

"Charlie!" Alan didn't know what was wrong with his son but he knew the sign that Charlie had to throw up. He followed his son into the bathroom and held Charlie's hair back for him.

As the retching subsided the tears and sobs came, making Charlie shake.

"What's the matter? Are you all right?" Alan dropped to the floor and turned his son away from the toilet and toward him after flushing the toilet.

"You were right, Dad. How could I have been so stupid?"

"What? What is it?"

Charlie turned misery-filled eyes to his father. "Don found out."

Alan gasped. "Oh, no." He feared how it went since it had caused such a reaction from Charlie.

"You were right, Dad. I should have told him sooner. Now... now he hates me."

"No! Your brother could never hate you."

"He can now! You weren't there, Dad. You didn't see his reaction. He-he thinks I betrayed him. And I don't know how to fix it."

Charlie leaned forward as his stomach lurched. He threw up once more, emptying his stomach of the remainder of its contents.

"I don't, I don't know what to do! He pulled me off the case and now there's nothing! There's nothing that'll keep us together. Nothing! Oh, God." Charlie hugged himself tightly as he began to rock back and forth.

Alan reached out and took his son in his arms, taking over hugging his son.

"Sh. It'll be okay. It'll all work out. I promise."

"No it won't! I-I've ruined it. I broke Don's trust. He can't even work with me anymore. Oh, God. How do I fix this?"

Hearing the signs of a panic attack in his son's voice, Alan held onto Charlie tighter.

"Calm down. It'll be okay. You'll see."

Charlie's cries turned into quiet shrieks muffled by his father's shirt. He felt his heart tear painfully in two. The relationship he had worked so hard to build with his brother came crashing down and it was all his fault.

After his tears were spent, he sought the comfort of the numbers. He went out in the garage and started a simple algorithm. Once finished, he stepped back and looked at it. He could see it was horribly wrong. Tears of frustration came as he furiously wiped the chalk off the board.

Charlie went to the couch in the garage and laid down and cried. He wished he could make it all go away but there was no point.

He had made the worst mistake of his life and not even math could fix it.

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Alan called his oldest son when Charlie went out to the garage.

"Unless someone died, I really don't want to talk to you," Don snapped at his father. Alan was surprised at his son's anger toward him.

"Please, Donnie, don't take that tone with me. You're taking this way too far."

"Really, Dad? I think I'm taking it pretty normally considering my family has been lying to me!"

"Don, you've really upset your brother. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Yeah, well, he should have thought about that before he decided to lie to me."

"Please. He's extremely upset. He needs you."

"Too bad. He's the genius. He'll figure something out. Has he turned to P vs. NP yet?"

"Don, that's not fair."

"You know what else isn't fair? My family not having the decency to tell me that my brother is half blind because of me. How's that for fair?"

"Please, just-"

"I'm going away at the end of the week. I don't know how long I'll be. Don't expect to hear from me."

"Where are you-"

"Bye."

Alan stared at the phone in his hand for a long time. He felt tears come to his eyes. When he looked up he found Charlie watching him.

"Was that Don? Did he call?"

"No. I-I called him."

"What did he say?"

"He's going away for a while. He didn't say where."

"No!" Charlie screamed as he dropped to his knees.

"Charlie, what is it?"

"This is just like last time. I drove him away to Albuquerque. Now I've done it again. Oh, God."

"Oh, Charlie."

Alan held Charlie once more and the two cried together. Alan feared Charlie was right. He was afraid they had lost Don once more.

Would they get him back this time?

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

Don knew he was being too cruel toward his family. He wasn't behaving like himself and that bothered him. But he did need some time away. This had struck him too hard. It was causing him to behave irrationally and he was losing control. He couldn't have that, not with his job.

He'd get Megan back and sign the case over to another agent. Since he'd never taken much more than a day off at a time he knew he could get about all the time he wanted. He wasn't sure yet where he'd go. He just knew he wouldn't tell Charlie or his father. Maybe he wouldn't tell anyone.

When he got to his apartment, he immediately went for his fridge full of beer. He drank so he wouldn't allow himself the chance to feel guilty. He drank so he could forget for a moment the pain he was feeling and the betrayal that hurt him to the core.

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Larry came over later that evening to check on Charlie. He was surprised his friend had canceled a class so early in the quarter. There was a certain feel to the Eppes home that caused Larry to feel more concerned for his friend. He could see Alan was having some troubles and it scared him. He feared something horrible had happened.

Charlie was in the garage when Larry came in. He was staring at a math problem he had attempted over ten times and still had not come up with a solution.

"Charles, is everything okay?" Larry asked as he came toward his friend.

"I've tried this problem probably a dozen times... and I still don't have the solution. In the time you've known me, how often has that happened?"

"I'd say close to never. Charles, what's going on?"

"It's like what I've done to Don. I can't fix it now. It's unsolvable."

"Weren't you the one who said only those who have failed to solve problems will think that?"

"I suppose so. But this... this I don't think I can fix."

"Would you care to share with me this trifling dilemma you have with your brother?"

"I lied to him. I never told him something... something very important. And now I've betrayed his trust. I don't think I can fix it."

"I sincerely doubt it can be that bad, Charles. Perhaps you're overreacting?"

"No. I've ruined it. I don't think I'll be able to save my relationship with Don."

"Well, you must take into consideration that there will always be certain quarrels between brothers. They'll-"

"I'm blind, Larry! I can't see out of my left eye and I didn't tell Don! What kind of brother does that make me?"

"Oh, Charles, I-I had no idea."

"Yeah, well, neither did Don. Now he knows and I'll never gain his trust back."

"No, no. Don't talk like that. It'll work out some how. I'm sure there's a good explanation for why you didn't tell Don and when he calms down he'll see it, too."

"I was trying to protect him. How could I have been so wrong, though? This never should have happened. Never."

There was a knock on the door before Megan entered.

"Hi, guys. I saw your car here, Larry, and stopped in. How are you holding up, Charlie?"

"I'm not. How are you? I'm surprised you're still in one piece."

"It's okay. I just got suspended." Megan laughed it off.

"What?" Larry couldn't believe Don had gone so far.

"Not you, too." Charlie went to the couch and laid face down.

"What do you mean?" Megan went to him.

"I've ruined it for everyone. I never should have allowed you and Dad to get involved. Now I've got Don mad at the two of you also."

"It's okay, Charlie. It was my fault for stepping over the personal boundaries. Besides, I'm sure Don will have changed his mind by morning. It's no big deal!"

"I don't know what to do. Don told Dad that he's going to go away for a while and I don't know where. He wouldn't tell Dad. What if I've driven him away again?"

"What do you mean again?" Larry was confused.

"Well, Don never has said it, but that's why he left before. That's why he was in Albuquerque instead of LA. He couldn't take living near me anymore so he left."

"Charlie, I really don't think that's the case." Megan refused to believe that.

"I do, though. I was always bugging him. I-I promised myself I'd never chase him away again when he came back after Mom got sick. And that's exactly what I've done now."

Charlie pressed his face in the cushions on the couch to absorb the tears that spilled down his face. When his sobs reached Megan and Larry's ears, they both felt the pain for their friend. Both tried to help him by telling him assuring words and by patting him soothingly.

Charlie looked up at them with red-rimmed eyes. "The only thing is, how long is he going to be away this time?"

Neither had an answer for him.

Wow, speed typer! LOL Thanks again for all the help you've brought with the lyrics!

Thanks to stealthy290 for this title from "Golden"by Switchfoot.