Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs. I do not own Charlie, Alan, Larry, or Don.
A/N: Companion piece to "Death Defied By Will"
Different ending than "The Will To Live", but I'd read both this one and the other.
Hard to write. I had to dig up some memories and feelings I've had over and over again.

Larry stared down numbly. Why did Charlie tell Larry to tell Don and Alan that he loved them? Was he giving up his will to live? Larry looked over his friend. It didn't seem like Charlie was breathing. Larry moved his shaky hand and reached, hoping to feel a pulse, but that was in vain. Larry quickly crawled to the other side of the hall. He stared at his friend.

How could Charlie be dead?

Charlie couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. Any minute now that body will open it's large brown eyes and start it's constant motion, start talking about math and the world. Any minute. He just had to wait. Larry sat there, staring at the right of the body. Willing it to move. But it never did.

How could this happen? How could his best friend be dead? Larry felt something touching him, he heard a noise. Had Charlie woken up? Larry blinked and saw a man standing beside him. It was an EMT, asking him something.

"Pardon?"

The man sighed, "Are you the one who called 911?" Larry nodded and looked at the body across the hall, "I'm sorry," The man told Larry, "We couldn't revive him."

Larry's stomach dropped, everything fell away. His friend. Sometimes his only friend, was dead.

The man was still standing beside Larry, "Can you tell us what happened to him, sir?"

Larry looked from the body to the man, back to the body. His hand reached his ear, in a nervous habit. "I-I don't know. He just showed up at my door. I called 911 right away."

The man looked up as two other men came walking up. "Hey, Jake." One of the two men greeted, "We followed the blood trail like you told us."

Larry paled, "Blood trail?"

The man who had been talking to Larry, Jake, bent down, "Yeah. It seemed as if your friend walked or more accurately drug himself to your door. I had Tim and Mike follow the blood trail." He turned to the two men, Tim and Mike, "So?"

Larry stared up at the two men. They knew what had happened. "It appears as if he was riding a bike ..." The one talking looked down at Larry.

Larry nodded, "Yes. He doesn't drive much."

The one who was talking continued, "And as far as we can tell, he got hit by a large vehicle."

The man who hadn't said anything yet was putting a blanket over Charlie's body. When he was done, he turned on Larry, "What was his name?"

Larry opened his mouth, but the words never came. If he said Charlie's name, then it would mean that he was dead and gone. He felt a hand on his shoulder again, it was Jake. "Please. We need to know."

Larry nodded and cleared his throat, "Charles. Charles Eppes."

Jake nodded, "Does he have any family?"

Larry froze, Alan and Don. He nodded.

"Do you want us to notify them, or do you want to?"

Notify. Yeah. You notify people that a loved one has died. That just doesn't seem like the right word to use. It doesn't sound like it could hold such a burden, such a sad image. Alert? Inform? No. No word would work there. There wasn't any elegant word to use. There wasn't any elegant way to tell someone that they have lost something so precious

The only thing Larry knew was that he didn't want them to tell Alan and Don. "I-I'll do it."

Jake nodded. "Alright." He got up slowly.

The one who asked about Charlie's name spoke up, "Where should we take the body?"

Larry stared at the man. He didn't know. Don and Alan would know that. "Uh. I don't know."

The other man nodded. "Alright. We'll take it to the city morgue then. His family can come and pick it up when they are ready."

The three left with the body.

Larry stared at the blood stain in front of his door. The body was there. The body. Larry swallowed, it wasn't "the body" or "it" ... that was Charlie.

Larry jumped when he heard his phone ring. Who would be calling at this hour? Larry shivered, knowing that it must have been Alan.

Larry slowly got up and tried to not step in Charlie's blood. "H-Hello?"

"Hi, Larry. Did I wake you? I'm sorry if I did."

"A-Alan..."

Alan continued talking, "Will you check in on Charlie for me? I called him over an hour ago and he said that he would be home right away. But I figure that he got focused on a math problem and forgot about going home. So, will you check on him?" Alan was quiet as he thought he heard some sort of whimpers or cries. "Larry?"

Larry swallowed. "I-I'm sorry to tell you this, Alan. But." He took a deep breath. He had to tell him. "Charlie was in an accident."

Alan raised his eyebrows. "Is he alright? What hospital is he in?"

"The city morgue."

Silence, it is not always sweet.

"The city morgue? Larry, what happened?"

Larry could hear the worry in Alan's voice. "Why don't you just come to C-CalSci. I'll call Don and have him pick you up and bring you here. Alright?"

"Yes. Yes. Alright." Alan hung up the phone in a daze and grabbed his car keys.

Larry hung up his phone and then picked it up again. He had a knack at remembering numbers, but not as good as Charlie's ability. Seeing Charlie with numbers always excited Larry. And he would never see that again. He dialed Don's cell slowly.

After many rings, Larry heard a voice.

"Eppes."

"Don, you need to come to CalSci now." Larry said quickly, eyes closed tight.

"Larry?" Don asked, sitting up. "What happened, Larry?"

"Just come to CalSci. You need to go and pick up Alan on the way."

"Larry?! Larry?!" Don cursed as the line went dead. He quickly got up and put some pants and shoes on. He grabbed his car keys and headed out his door.

Don arrived at his childhood home before he realized it. He sat in the car as he watched his dad run out and get in the passenger seat. Don put the car in drive as soon as Alan was buckled in, flooring it. "Dad. What the hell happened?"

Alan shook his head, "I don't know. It has to do with Charlie."

Don's stomach dropped. Charlie? "What about him?"

Alan sighed, "I'm not for sure. I had some trouble understanding Larry." He didn't want to tell Don the part he heard until he found out the truth. He didn't want Don to worry like he did at hearing City Morgue. "What do you know?"

"Larry just told me to pick you up and go to CalSci." Don sighed as he saw the school ahead of him. He pulled up and stopped short, slamming on the breaks. "Do you know where we are supposed to meet them?"

Alan shook his head, "We'll try both of their offices."

The two of them stopped suddenly. Don couldn't take his eyes off of it, while Alan had to look away. He knew then that he hadn't misunderstood Larry. He bit back tears.

"I. I think that we should follow the trail ..." Don said quietly as the two of them started following the blood trail.

Don could tell where the person stopped and took a break, there was more blood in those areas. He followed it, not wanting to breath, not wanting to find out, but at the same time, he had to follow it. The person had stopped in front of Charlie's office for a while, but then they had moved on.

Don and Alan turned the corner and saw Larry sitting on the floor, across from a pool of drying blood, he was staring at it.

Don rushed up to Larry and put a hand on his shoulder, "Larry? Larry? What happened?"

Alan walked back, running into the wall, "No. No." He couldn't hold back his tears now.

Don looked from Larry to Alan, then back and forth. It seemed as if they both knew what happened, and he didn't. He looked around, for Charlie. But he never saw or heard Charlie. He took a step back and paled. That was Charlie's blood? "Someone tell me what happened?"

Larry spoke up, "He arrived at my door and so I called 911. They followed the blood trail and apparently he was biking home and he got hit by someone in a vehicle."

Don closed his eyes and cursed loudly, "And where is he now?"

Alan voiced in, knowing this answer. "The city morgue."

Don fell down on the ground. Charlie can't be dead. No. He wouldn't believe it. This had to be a nightmare. If Charlie was dead, then who would Don pick on? Who would Don come for when he needed help with his case? Who would he go to when he just needed to be beside his brother? Who would be his brother? It couldn't be true. He had the dangerous job, he was older. If anything he should have died before Charlie. "No. He's not dead. He can't be."

Larry nodded. "Probably internal injuries. He appeared to have some broken ribs and who knows what could have done to his insides." He paused, "They might do an autopsy if you ask ..."

Don covered his face with his hands, he wouldn't cry now. He had to be strong. He had to. He had to have him back. He couldn't be dead.

"It's all over the school." Alan said quietly.

Larry looked at Alan, "What is?"

"His blood."

Larry paled and swallowed. "I-I should call Mildred. She needs to know. An-And Amita." He got up slowly on unsteady knees.

"I have to see him." Alan said, standing up as well. "I need to see him." He turned toward Don, "A-Are you coming?"

Don didn't know. He didn't know if he wanted to go. If he saw him then it was true. But he couldn't let his dad go alone. After a length he shook his head and got up. "We should tell Larry." He walked into Larry's office where he was on the phone. Don made sure he didn't step on any of the blood. "Larry." The professor looked up, frightened. "Dad and I are going to the," Don swallowed, "city morgue." Larry nodded and went back to talking on the phone.

Don had driven quietly on the way. Alan had watched the buildings and light quietly on the way.

They stepped out of Don's SUV and stared at the building.

The city morgue was a dark red brick building. There were lights on. But there is always lights on in the morgue.

Don took a breath and made his way inside. A woman was behind the desk, she was reading a romance novel. Her head popped up from the pages when she heard the door open. "Hello. Can I help you?"

"I believe you got a," Don had to take a breath as his stomach turned, "body brought in here earlier tonight."

She nodded. "Three actually. Does the body have a name or is it a John or Jane Doe?"

"His name is Charlie Eppes." Alan said, speaking up.

Her face grew slack. She nodded. "Yes. Dr. Eppes." She sighed, "You're his brother and father?"

They nodded as she stood up and lead them back to were the bodies are kept.

The room was cold and there were small doors, most with a label of someone's name. She looked around whispering, "Eppes. Eppes. Eppes." She nodded when she found the body, pulling the door open and the slide out, showing a blanket with something beneath it. She pulled back the blanket.

Alan couldn't hold it in, he turned to the side and lost his dinner. Don turned to his father and rubbed his back in small circles.

Charlie was dead.

The body was right there.

The proof was the dead body.

The lifeless body.

That body is not Charlie.

The body looked like Charlie, but it did not move like him. The blue lips didn't smile. The ghost hands didn't move with enthusiasm. The hair was lifeless, not bouncing when the head moved excited at an idea of math.

So, the body was Charlie. But at the same time, it wasn't.

Don wanted to see more than the face. He wanted to see more than a deep gash on the side of the head that should have killed him right away. He reached out and pulled the cold blanket down, away from the cold body.

If Alan hadn't already done it, he would have lost his dinner.

His whole body was white as chalk. His chest was dented in, bones sticking out, sometimes literally. It wasn't right. Did he drag himself from the accident to Larry's room to try and live? What could help a man in such bad condition get so far? It was apparent that if he hadn't had tried to move, his broken leg and knee wouldn't have been so messed up. It was also apparent that he should have died on impact.

Don put the sheet over the body. He couldn't look at it anymore.

The funeral was packed. Don didn't even want to guess as too how many people showed up. Students, FBI Agents, Family, Friends, Professors. Don was even to see some people from other countries. He had no idea as too how many people his brother touched in his life.

It was a closed casket, due to the deep head wound.

It was a sunny day, not a cloud in the sky.

He was buried beside his mother.

There was a new scholarship that CalSci gave out, named after Charlie. The FBI created a program for math consultants, named after Charlie.

Don had been living with his dad since that night. He hadn't stepped into Charlie's room or the garage since that night. But Don was doing pretty good, all things considering.

Alan was glad that Don had been in the house with him. He didn't think he could stand to be in it by himself. But for the past few days it had been full of people stopping by. Then night came and he would have been alone, but Don was there to help him.

Everyone was shocked at the young professor's death, they had even found the guy who had hit him in the first place. He was going to court.

Now, at the grave site, it was only Don and Alan. Alan was looking at Margaret's gravestone while Don was looking at his brothers.

They were both quiet, in their own thoughts. The wind going through the near-by trees was the only sound heard.

They both knew that they still had each other, while the other two were now as one again.
And one day they would all be together.

Fin