This is it. The final chapter! I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. LaSalle is honestly my favorite character and I needed to throw angst at him. Not that I really needed to after the last episode. Still, I did. ^_^

Warnings: Drug use. Violence.

If you want to be kept up to date with redos on stories or want to know more about stories that will be started soon or even ask me to write a story for you please follow me on Facebook or on Tumblr (I made a Tumblr!) under SilverMidnight52! I own nothing!

Kneading at his shoulders Dwayne lead the march to his bar. It had been a tough few weeks at work with the case they were trying to solve. Something that was made all the worse by the fact that Chris still wasn't there.

Even with the fact that the man had been out of the office for while now he kept turning to him to give orders or take control while he did what he had to do. He knew that he relied on the man, but he had no idea how much until now.

Being down a man had left them all of kilter, but being down Chris had some serious side affects that none of them had known how to handle. At least that's what he figured with how everyone was acting.

Percy was back to acting like she did when she was ATF. She was running off by herself as if she didn't have a team at all. Her sarcasm was out full force and was being directed at anyone that came near her.

Which meant Gregorio. He had known that the woman was witty and could get mean when she wanted to, but he hadn't expected her to downright attack people. It was like she was wanting to hurt them.

He had had to break up fights between the two woman more often than he liked. He was close to just putting the whole team on leave until they were able to get Chris back. Especially with how Sebastian was hiding from pretty much everyone.

In truth the scientist was the one that wasn't acting like they had lost all their marbles. He had wanted to question the man about that. Between keeping the women from killing each other or the suspect they were after though he didn't have the time.

There were only three things that he could really focus on right then. Keeping his team intact, catching the bad guys, and taking care of Chris. He didn't have the time or the energy to try to do anything else.

That was where he was supposed to be going right then actually. Whenever he sent the team home for the night he went over to Chris's place to see how he was doing. Usually he was met with Cade telling him how the day went.

Chris was pulling away from him again despite the fact that his brother said that he was getting better. He didn't down right refuse to talk or see him, but he was distant and they never talked about anything beyond the surface.

Dwayne had no idea what he was supposed to do with that. It felt as if he had lost his best friend and he knew that that was his fault. He had been blind to what was going on and he had let the man down. He couldn't blame him for being upset.

Everything was weighing on his shoulders and he needed to take a moment to breathe. That was why he wasn't at the younger man's place right then. He had been neglecting the bar and had decided to take a little time to go over and see how everything was holding up.

There was a lull in the fighting between everyone and they seemed to be getting along for now as they followed him inside. Something that he was more than happy for. He didn't want to break up another fight that day.

He knew that the fighting was just because they were afraid about what was happening to Chris. He wasn't the type of person to just disappear without a word and leave them all high and dry. He didn't do that.

Percy and Gregorio knew that there was some secret going on between the two men and they were pissed they weren't being let in on it. The team wasn't supposed to keep secrets that big from each other.

It was all coming to a head. If they didn't either get some answers about the situation or get to see Chris he wasn't sure there was even going to be a team for the man to come back to. They were all falling apart.

He had tried to get the younger man to come into work. He didn't expect him to tell the girls what was going on or anything like that. All had had wanted was for them to see that he was alive and in decent health.

Chris had refused. He kept saying that he didn't want the team to see him in the state he was in, but Dwayne felt like that wasn't the whole truth. There was something going on in that man's mind that he wasn't letting anyone know.

So the fear kept growing everyday. Everyone seemed certain that the man wasn't coming home. He was gone for good without a single good-bye to anyone. Even he himself was starting to think that was the way this would all end.

When he first found out that the younger man was abusing pills he had had no idea what to think. Now that he looked at how the team was falling apart without him he could understand a little more how it happened.

He had been putting too much pressure on the man. Christopher wasn't the leader of the team. He was. It should have fallen on him to keep everyone from becoming a mess. Yet, here they were and he had done nothing.

Chris really was the heart of the team. He was the one that kept them going when the going got tough. He was the one that took care of them all when they fell down. He was the one that took care of everything when everyone else was too busy.

It hurt knowing that he had let his friend fall between the cracks. He had seen that the man was strong and he had piled work on him without thinking that it might be too much. As much as he hated to admit it Chris often got overlooked.

They all knew that the Alabama native could take care of himself and that actually preferred to take care of himself. They also knew that he was good at taking care of them whenever they needed the help.

It was easy for them to think that he was fine even when he was falling apart. Of course he was fine. He was Christopher LaSalle. That was the only way that he knew how to be. Nothing ever touched him.

Dwayne had always thought that he gave everyone equal attention. That he had let everyone know that if they ever needed anything that they only had to say the word and he was there. Somewhere along the way he had failed with Christopher.

Before he could continue to beat himself up for what was going on he heard someone yell loudly right next to him. He turned to see what was going on only to have Percy and Gregorio push him aside and rush forward.

A smile came to his lips as he watched the women hug Chris tightly. His eyes were shut as he held them close to him. It was almost as if he was relishing the fact that they were holding him. Dwayne couldn't blame him.

"Christopher," he greeted walking up to the group, "Glad to see you, brother."

"You too, King," the man replied though his smile was a little smaller than his old one, "Can I… Can we talk?"

"Oh we're going to talk," Percy jumped in bumping him with her hip though not letting go of his hand.

"Yeah," Gregorio agreed their legs brushing together as she glued herself to his side, "We have a lot to talk about. Starting with where the hell have you been?"

"And why the hell do you look like you haven't slept or eaten since you left?"

"Ladies," Chris laughed the smile growing a little brighter, "I know I've been gone a long time and… I think… I know I need to tell you what happened. I promise I will, but I need to talk to King first. Okay?"

"Fine, but don't think this lets you off the hook, Country Mouse," Percy snarked before pointing to the table in the corner, "We'll be waiting for you."

"Wouldn't dream of it, City Mouse."

Untangling himself from his teammate's Chris and Dwayne walked through the bar until they were in one the office in the back. It was rare that anyone bothered to use the room so he knew that they'd be away from prying ears.

"I know I just saw you yesterday, King," Chris started when the door shut, "But it is really good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Dwayne smiled motioning to the couch in the corner, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"About the way I've been acting. I know I've been pushing you away lately."

"I can't say I blame you."

"I know what you're thinking, Pride and it's not like that. I don't blame you for this happening."

"If I had realized I was putting too much pressure on you then..."

"No, it doesn't work that way. I like the pressure I'm under at work. I like knowing that I'm your second and that I can help the team when push comes to shove. I enjoy it and I don't feel like I did when I was younger. It's not like that anymore."

"Then why did..."

"Honestly? King, my work is my life. I'm realizing now that that might not be the best thing for me. I need other outlets in my life and I'm going to work on that. My work is important though. I love every second of it. I got hurt though. Bad enough that I had to be taken off rotation. I was left alone in my home doing nothing but thinking. That, along with the fact that I hadn't told the team of my past problems and was forced into taking painkillers, was what caused the relapse."

"Chris..."

"I know. I know it sounds small to you, but Sebastian..."

"It doesn't sound small. Chris, I live in the place I work. I know what a workaholic is. And Sebastian knows? About this? About you?"

"Yeah, he runs the meetings I go to. We talk a lot."

"Oh."

The men fell silent at that. It was the longest conversation that they had had in a long time that didn't involve sports or a case. It felt… Actually, Dwayne had no idea what he was feeling at the moment.

"King, I..." Chris started before sighing, "I want to be the best. The strongest. The best agent. The best second-in-command. That clouds my mind sometimes. I push myself too far and I get hurt. I refuse to talk about what is going on and get even more hurt. I'm working on that."

"I know you are, Christopher," he smiled resting a hand on his shoulder, "I'm proud of you, brother."

"Good. Because I'm going to need your help."

"Anything."

"Call me out when you think I need to stop. Don't take me out of the field unless you have to and even then, please, put me at my desk. Make me useful. I can't just sit around doing nothing."

"You have my word. As long as you promise to talk to me more. Tell me when you're hurting."

"Deal."

Grinning the younger man pulled Dwayne into a hug before standing up. For the first time since this had all started he looked good. Like the world wasn't crushing him. The older man was more than happy to see that.

They made their way out of the backroom and to the team. Gregorio stood up and pushed Chris down so he was sitting between her and Percy. The man didn't seem to mind as he laughed and wrapped an arm around each other them.

"You ready to tell us what happened?" Percy questioned staring at him.

"I am," Chris nodded staring at the table, "When I was sixteen..."