Hee. So responses range from hating me to loving me… I think I can deal with that.

Ddee – it is so tempting to change my pen name to that now. So tempting, especially after this chapter.

I fully expect everyone to hate me after this.

Also, I have put the Eppescest version of this up on as well. It can be found through my profile. For those wanting a different take on the story, go read that.

-BDBD-

Chapter Twelve: Revelations. In which everything comes out.

"Well, fuck," David couldn't help the exclamation.

At the sound of his voice, Charlie whipped her head up to look. She swallowed hard, eyes wide in shock, and would probably have bolted… except for the fact that Ian's arms were still wrapped firmly around her waist.

"Not in public, Sinclair," the sniper answered back looking smug, gently stroking Charlie's back with one hand. "But yes, we have been. And who's this?" He nodded at Colby.

David glanced between the other three. Colby looked as though his world had just been destroyed, Charlie was staring down at the ground as though she'd rather be anywhere else, and Ian still had that incredibly smug smile that told David he knew exactly who Colby was.

"That's Colby," Charlie whispered, still not looking up.

"Ah," Ian nodded. "The ex. I'd shake your hand in greeting but, as the current boyfriend, I'm contractually obliged to not like you."

Colby's eyes narrowed, but before he could say anything David stepped in.

"Edgerton, we're here for a reason. Can we talk business?"

"If you insist," Ian nodded at the unoccupied chairs, while Charlie removed herself from his lap. She was blushing heavily, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. The sniper looked up at her, and his expression softened a little as he caught her eye. He flicked his gaze toward the hotel across the street where they'd been staying, letting her know that he was okay with her leaving.

With a final worried glance at the visiting agents, Charlie turned and left. She figured that David could keep Colby under control, and Ian was unlikely to do more than snark if she wasn't there.

Once she got back to the hotel room, she started pacing. Now that David and Colby knew where she was – and more importantly, who she was with – it was only a matter of time before Don found out.

So, she could either wait until one of the boys told him and he came to find her, or she could call him herself, and deal with the fallout now.

As much as she wanted to take option C, run away again, Charlie knew that it was best to talk to Don herself. Reluctantly, she pulled out her phone and dialled the familiar number.

"Eppes."

"Honestly Don, don't you ever look at the caller ID?"

"Charlie!"

"Yeah Donnie, it's me."

"Charlie, where the hell are you?"

"Umm…" Time to bite the bullet. "Actually, I'm in Sibley."

"Sibley?... What are you doing there?"

"I came with Ian."

There was a pause, where all Charlie could hear was heavy breathing, like Don was trying to keep his cool. That didn't bode well.

"Donnie, listen. I know you're not gonna approve, but he's taking care of me. He gave me somewhere safe to stay while I found my balance again, and he's supportive of my maths. He listens to me babble about the numbers even if he doesn't understand a word I'm saying. He's gentle with me, but doesn't handle me with kid-gloves, and he gets me to try new hobbies. Please don't be mad."

Again there was silence for a few seconds, before she heard a sigh.

"Charlie… I'm not mad, but I need to see you for myself to trust what you're saying." There was a pause as something occurred to Don. "It was him, wasn't it? You were seeing someone around the time he was in LA for the sniper case… it was him."

"Yeah," Charlie nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "He, uh… taught me how to shoot a rifle, and then we went back to his hotel room. It was meant to be just a one-off thing, but when I needed somewhere to hide… he didn't turn me away. He really cares about me, all of me, and I think I love him too."

"Wait, back up. He taught you to shoot? Charlie, you knew I didn't want you handling guns! Dad's gonna flip when he finds out!"

"And this is why I didn't tell you," Charlie sighed. "Is it so hard to believe that I can make my own decisions about these things?"

Back in LA, Don bit down hard to keep from saying something stupid. The truth was, he did have a hard time accepting the fact that Charlie was a grown woman, capable of running her own life. It was hard to let go of the protective mindset he'd taken on when they were younger. He realised, though, that he had to try or risk being cut out of her life completely.

"I'm sorry, Charlie."

"Wait, what?"

"I said I'm sorry. I know you're an adult, it's just that… I don't want to see you get hurt. I know how much that whole fiasco with Colby upset you, and I hate knowing that there's nothing I can do to protect you from that."

This time it was Charlie's turn to pause in thought.

"Don, you're my big brother, and I appreciate you trying to protect me, I really do. But you tend to go too far." She sighed, then glanced out of the window. The view out into the forest was beautiful, and very calming. "Look, why don't you come up here yourself? You can see with your own eyes that I'm okay and Ian's treating me right. And help me keep him and Colby from killing each other."

"Oh yeah," Don suddenly remembered that his agents had gone to meet with the sniper. "I'll be there…" he glanced at his watch. "I'll be there around five, okay? We can go hunting for our suspect tomorrow."

"Okay. Bring the file with you, and I'll see if there's anything I can do to help."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah, I've been doing some equations to help Ian track down McHugh. It's definitely cutting down on the time it'd take without me, and it gives me something to think about while he's off out in the woods."

"Okay. I'll see you soon then, Baby Doll."

"See you, Donnie."

Charlie hung up with a sigh, relieved. It had gone better than she'd expected. Then again, that wasn't hard, since she'd expected it to degenerate into a shouting match within the first minute.

Now all she had to do was keep Colby and Ian from killing each other until Don arrived.

-BDBD-

Back at the diner, Colby was biting his tongue while David filled Edgerton in. He couldn't believe that one of his heroes had been the one to steal his girlfriend away. The worst part was the smug look on the sniper's face, a look that was almost daring him to take a swing. Add to that the fact that the guy was only half paying attention to the case, instead opting to scribble something on a placemat.

Then it struck him that Charlie did the same thing. She could never focus on a conversation unless her hands were doing something.

"So," David asked as he wrapped up, "do you think you can give us a description of the mystery man?"

"How about a picture?" Ian smirked as he pushed the finished sketch across the table.

Colby couldn't keep his jaw from dropping at the quality of the drawing. That was from memory?

Ian grinned at the look of dismay on Granger's face. The sooner the boy realised that he didn't stand a chance at getting Charlie back, the better.

-BDBD-

By the time Don reached Sibley, Megan had come up with a name for their suspect, Mark Brott, former lead scientist at Graybridge Pharmaceuticals. Charlie had talked the hotel owner into letting her use his scanner and internet connection to send Ian's sketch to the FBI office, which confirmed the identification.

Having spoken on the phone and gotten some of his concerns answered, Don was holding off on interrogating Ian and Charlie until the case was solved. Instead, he'd sent David back to LA to help Megan. Now he, Colby and Ian were sitting in the diner proper, discussing where to look for the two suspects. The sniper had just mentioned that Charlie was working on some equations for him, when the mathematician in question ran in carrying a map and several bits of paper.

"I found McHugh's most likely locations using isospectral geometrics," she started as she spread the map onto the counter.

"Of course you did," Ian smiled and pulled her onto his lap. Charlie continued, ignoring the interruption.

"Everyone knows that the shortest distance between two points is a?"

"Straight line," Don supplied. He knew that much, at least.

"Exactly," Charlie beamed at her big brother. She went on to explain how she had isolated McHugh's most likely paths between his frequent campsites, and where they intersected, but Colby wasn't listening.

He was watching the way that Charlie seemed perfectly at ease sitting on Edgerton's lap, and the way one of his hands was stroking her side, seemingly unconsciously. The sniper even seemed to understand some of what Charlie was talking about.

Colby nearly felt ill with jealousy. It was meant to be him holding Charlie close and nodding along to her math-talk. She was meant to be wearing his ring and getting ready to marry him, not hiding from the world with a man who killed people for a living.

He could give her security and love and a family. What sort of life could Edgerton provide for her? He was always on the move, always hunting down the next target.

So why did Charlie seem to prefer that option?

-BDBD-

The next day, all four went to McHugh's old ranch to see his wife. As the woman slammed the door, Charlie reflected that it could have gone better.

Don started to go through the stand-off again, figuring that seeing the terrain for themselves might help.

"So, when the marshals come to arrest him, he barricades himself inside the house. Now four days later, in the middle of a negotiation, for no apparent reason, he opens fire."

"When did 'crazy' stop being a reason?" Ian quipped, making Charlie smile. She didn't notice the dark look that Colby sent the sniper, but he did.

Don rolled his eyes and continued.

"A negotiator catches one in the neck, like right around here."

"The assault team went in through the front and side doors," Ian finished the chain of events. "McHugh went out that side window and made it to the tree line there."

Don looked from the map to the trees – and noticed something. Something that looked like an exit blast in the roof's beams.

Ian confirmed his growing suspicions. Someone else had been present, and it had been the third party that had shot the negotiator.

When Ian spotted fresh tracks leading away from the ranch house, Don tried to tell Charlie to go back to the hotel, only to be met with blank looks from both her and Ian.

"Don," the sniper explained, "she's safer sticking with us than going back by herself."

"And anyway," Charlie shrugged, "technically I don't have a licence at the moment. It got revoked again."

Don sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Fine. But when we find McHugh, you hang back out of range, got it?"

"Yes, Dad," Charlie griped.

-BDBD-

Once they spotted McHugh, Don turned to his sister again.

"Okay Charlie, back to the car now."

"But Don-"

"No, Charlie. You go back to where it's safe, and Ian'll come get you when we've arrested McHugh. Now go."

At the look on his face, Charlie sighed and turned to leave. When he got that look in his eye, nothing she said would make any difference.

A few minutes later, she was walking along a ridge above a dried-out creek bed, when a man stepped out from the trees in front of her. She didn't recognise him – he was taller than her, with dark brown hair and a goatee. He was carrying a rifle slung across his back, which immediately made Charlie nervous. She carefully slipped her hand into her bag so that the gun Ian had bought her was within reach.

"Professor Eppes, I take it?" The man asked, sounding amused.

"Yeah," Charlie answered slowly.

"You're looking for Mark Brott and Bob McHugh."

"Well, my brother is," she shrugged. "I don't really have that much to do with it."

"That's as may be, but unfortunately I can't allow them to be found. Alive, anyway. So I'm taking you out of the investigation."

The man lunged forward, but Charlie was quicker. She pulled the gun out from her bag and fired at him as she sidestepped out of his way.

She forgot, however, that this time there was no Ian standing behind her, and stumbled backwards – right over the edge of the ridge.