Disclaimer: Standard still applies.
A/N: Numb3rs is on tonight! Yay! Can't wait to watch it ... Just another 9 hours and 15 minutes till the episode. -laughs-

"Charlie." Megan said, "Listen to me."

But Charlie didn't want to listen to her, "Isn't that just like disappearing into the sum of yourself? A-And the person you are disappearing into?"

Megan sighed and sat down beside him, "Charlie. Stop this type of talking right now."

"It's like one plus one equals nothing at all. One plus two equals nothing at all." He paused and looked up as another Megan came into focus. "One plus me equals nothing at all." He looked at everyone in the room. All the people who hated him. "One plus you equals one plus you equals you and you and you and you and nothing at all." He shook his head, trying to get all the people to disappear. "Nothing at all." (1)

He looked around at all the faces as they started to disappear. He chuckled slightly, making him cough. Sending pain racking through his body, "Two Megan's? This is new." He smiled sadly, turning into sobs. "Nothing at all."

Megan had walked down the steps with her flash light. She had heard Charlie talking to himself. He stared down at him in horror. She couldn't trust herself to speak. He was shaking from God knows what. His eyes where unfocused and they moved all around the room. "Charlie?"

Charlie's eyes darted to Megan. "Th-This is the first time I've seen two of you." He paused, "Does that mean that my mind is splitting in two? I hope so. Th-Then maybe I can explain all this if I have two of me w-working on the problem." He nodded slowly. He didn't feel much pain anymore. The numbness was too great.

Megan walked up to him slowly and started to reach for Charlie, to calm him down and get the chains off. He needed medical help ASAP.

When her hand was just an inch away from his body, Charlie jerked back, into some of his own vomit, "No! Don't touch me!" He cried out, frightened. "You try to touch me and then you can't and then I know you aren't real and then I know that I'm alone and then I know that everyone hates me and they aren't coming for me and then I know that I'm all alone. I'm all alone." He was crying so hard.

Megan stared down at her friend. He heart broke when she heard him. "Charlie." She said soothingly, "It's Megan. And I'm really here."

Charlie shook his head, "Nu-uh. We've done this before, Megan." He nodded, "I remember it. Why?"

"Why what?" She asked, moving closer still.

"Why don't you hate me? Why are you the only one who will believe? It's stupid to believe." He said, "I stopped believing a long time ago."

Megan sighed and ran her hand through her hair. She was going to do it. She had to do it. So that he could accept what was happening. She quickly reached out and touched his face.

He jumped, eyes wide. "No! You can't be real! You can't! If you're real then this all really did happen and then everyone will know."

Megan looked him over, wanting to hug her friend, but she knew that she couldn't do that. Over his heart was the pi symbol, he had three bullet wounds and a lot of cuts and bruises, his body was red from some sort of burn. And there, what was that? The dark line that went from the corner of his mouth to his chin. It wasn't blood. Megan reached out slowly, touching the thick liquid. She knew what it was instantly. "Oh, God. Charlie." She stared into his frightened eyes.

Don sighed, "I'm going in."

"Don." David said, "You know you can't."

"Megan's been in there for a long time. I've got to see what she found!" Don yelled, leaving his dad with the two FBI agents and Tirry.

Don stormed inside and immediately saw the hole in the floor. He held his breath, going down into the darkness with his flash light out.

Charlie looked beyond Megan. "No!" He yelled, backing up some more. "Don can't be here! Don can't see me! I'm not strong. I'm nothing! He can't see nothing!" He cried, backing away as far as his chains let him.

Don stared down at his brother and felt the tears stand in his eyes. "Oh, God. Charlie." He said, walking forward. He wanted to hold onto his brother and keep him safe. This should have never happened to his fragile brother.

Megan stood up and got in Don's way. She sighed, "Don. I'm going to leave you here with him. Talk to him. H-He's been though a lot. I'm going to go call an ambulance." She gave Charlie one last sad smile before she went up.

Don couldn't feel his legs, they were like jelly. He found himself kneeling in a mixture of mud and blood. "Buddy ..."

"52.641592653589." Charlie said shaking his head. "52.641592653589 plus one more day plus oil plus two Megan's at once plus Megan being real plus Donnie." Charlie was rocking back and forth "57.641592653589."

"Charlie. Buddy." Don pleaded, "Calm down."

"57.641592653589. 57.641592653589."

Don could hear ambulance sirens. "Buddy? I need you to calm down."

"Hey, Don." Don turned and saw Colby staring at Charlie, his face pale. "Oh. God." He walked forward, "I uh. I've got the k-key ..." He held out a key and Don grabbed it.

Don cautiously moved toward his brother, "Buddy? I'm going to unlock the chains, alright?"

"57.641592653589." Was the only reply.

Don sighed as he unlocked the chains and took them off from around Charlie's neck and wrists.

Charlie could feel the difference. He looked around and saw Don and Colby. "No! Get out! You hate me! I'm nothing! You can't see me!" His voice cracked.

Colby was kneeling besides Don, "What the hell did Tirry do to him?"

Don shook his head, unsure when he heard some foot steps and saw more lights. He could feel being pulled back away from his brother by medics.

Megan was talking to one of them, "You've got to pump his stomach right away."

"And why is that? I figure keeping him stable would be our first priority."

Megan ran her hand through her hair again, "I have reason to believe that he's got oil in his stomach."

Don raised his eyebrows. That would be the dark stuff around Charlie's mouth. What had Tirry done to his brother? What would he have done if they hadn't found him? Don's eyes connected with Charlie's. He tried to sooth Charlie with his gaze. It seemed to be working. Charlie was calming down for the EMT's. They put him on a stretcher. One of the men walked up to Don, "We're taking him to the local hospital for now. But later I'm sure that you can take him to whatever hospital you desire."

Don nodded his thanks and followed them up from the basement. He watched as Megan hung up the phone. She turned to Don.

"The other agent's are coming back. They will transport Tirry to the holding cell." She paused, "I have to be here, as does Colby and David. But you and your dad can go to the hospital. Charlie will need you." She put a hand on Don's shoulder.

Don nodded, "Thanks Megan."

She smiled, "No problem Don. Just do one thing for me."

Don raised an eyebrow.

"Keep me in the loop with how Charlie's doing. I'll make sure that we all go and visit him before the day is through."

Don nodded, "Sounds great."

Megan watched Don go with his father and then she turned to the one room school house. She sighed as the local police showed up. It was the sheriff herself.

"I need to talk to the Agent in charge." She announced loudly.

Megan walked up to her, "Special Agent Megan Reeves. Lead Agent."

"Sandra Vivi. Sheriff." She paused, "Would you mind telling me what is going on?"

Megan nodded. "The man who was living here is under arrest. I believe you know him as Mathew Charles Don AKA "Hammer"?"

Sandra nodded. "Yes. He seemed like a nice guy..."

Megan snorted, "Have you ever been in his house?"

Sandra nodded again, "Yes. What does this--?"

"How about his basement?" Sandra shook her head, Megan continued, "Hammer's name is Ben Tirry. He kidnapped and tortured a math professor."

"Wh-What?" Sandra asked, her voice hollow. "A-Are you sure?"

Megan nodded.

"Is the math professor alright?"

"He's on his way to your hospital right now. He was in bad shape. He should make it." Megan paused, "Physically anyway."

Sandra looked around and saw Tirry in handcuffs, he was sitting between two agents. Megan watched as Sandra's face hardened. Megan followed the gaze.

"I had no idea that he was doing such things. If I had known ..."

Megan nodded. "Yes. I understand." She paused, "Now, if you will excuse me Sheriff Vivi, but I have to be getting to the crime scene."

Sandra nodded, still glaring at Tirry.

Tirry looked at Colby and David, the agent's guarding him. "How'd you find me? I thought I had covered my tracks very well."

"Not well enough, it seems." David answered.

"You're a sick bastard." Colby voiced.

Tirry shrugged. "It was fun while it lasted."

Tirry was not ready for what came next, Sandra had suddenly appeared next to him and she punched him in the face.

Colby laughed and David chuckled at Tirry's reaction. He had cried out in pain.

Sandra stopped herself before she punched him again.

Charlie had been through it before. He knew what it felt like. So he didn't protest any when the doctors stuck a tube down his throat and pumped his stomach. Getting all the oil that Tirry made him swallow leave.

But while some where sticking a tube down his throat, some others where poking and prodding his body. Cleaning the wounds and looking at his chest.

They were sticking IV's into his body. He was malnourished and dehydrated. They also were giving him new blood. He had lost so much of it over the past week.

Charlie didn't think he had ever seen so many doctors before. It was frightening. He wanted to disappear and become nothing.

He felt so tired suddenly. Turning his head he saw at nurse leaving with an empty syringe in her hand. She had drugged him. No wonder he was so tired. They probably needed to him out for something. Maybe he'd die. And go to a limbo, where no one hated him.

Don watched all the doctors buzz around his brother with worry. Charlie was in such bad condition. But all Don had to do help himself feel better was to look at his brother. He watched as Charlie's eyes started to droop, too heavy to stay up. His face became slack, as sleep came over his little brother.

Don sat down in a chair, beside his father.

Alan was glad that they found Charlie alive. He never got a good look at his son, and he didn't know how bad the injuries where. On the way to the hospital, he had tried to get Don to tell him. But it was in vain. Don was too busy thinking, he hadn't heard his father's questions. Even now, Alan couldn't see the extent of his youngest son's wounds. "Donnie."

Don's head turned quickly, facing his father.

"How bad is he?" Alan asked.

Don sighed, rubbing his forehead with his left hand. "I. I don't know. He didn't look good down there in the dark. And." He swallowed, "And his talking. It didn't make any since."

Alan nodded, "I expected that. He's been though a lot, and he hasn't had his medication in quite a while." He paused, "We need to tell Dr. Roland." He stood up, "I'll go and call him. Telling him that we found Charlie."

Don watched his father leave. And not for the first time, Don wished that he had killed Tirry instead of just assaulting him. Don was thinking ways to kill the man when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up suddenly. "Y-Yes?"

Three men and two little boys where standing there. One of the boys had a cast on his leg.

"A-Are you Don Eppes?" Don nodded. The man continued to speak, "I'm Max Vivi. My wife is the sheriff and we just want to tell you that we're sorry."

"Sorry? What for?"

"We didn't believe our sons." One of the other men said, his hand resting on the boy with the broken leg's shoulder. "They had told us that Hammer was not right. That there was something happening at his house."

The third man looked into the room where Charlie was, "He's your brother?"

Don nodded sadly. He looked at the two boys, "I was told by one of my friends that one of you helped find my brother."

The boy without the cast nodded. "My dad and I." He looked up at his father.

Don smiled, "Thank you for helping. It means a lot to me." He rubbed his hand through the boy's hair who smiled back.

Another man walked up, he was a doctor for sure, "Eppes?"

Don nodded, "Yes?" The other men and boys were quiet, listening.

"You're brother is stable now. We can call another hospital and they can send a helicopter to pick him up and take him to the place of you're choosing."

Don nodded. "Good." He made the preparations for the movement of his brother.

His brother was going to be safe. His brother was going to live. His brother was stronger than he thought.

(1) That is from the song "High Life" by the Counting Crows.