I don't think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that still remains

10000

"Don's probably looking for this place." John's voice carried over to Charlie from the door. Charlie hadn't even realized he was in the room.

"Probably."

"I'm moving us to a new location, but you're going to have to play by the rules." John's tone made Charlie nervous. "You'll have your own room at our place so you should feel better away from the chair."

The prospect of getting out of the chair was enough for Charlie to be somewhat more relaxed, but he didn't forget what he had been forced to say on the tape, John had promised he would torture him, and he believed it. Charlie hated saying those words to Don. He knew how much they would hurt, but there hadn't been any point in fighting John on it.

"Does it hurt? The chair, I mean." John walked closer to the chair.

"I'm kind of numb, really." It was true. He could barely feel half his body.

"It'll be over soon." John sounded caring.

Suddenly Charlie felt something cold and wet on his forehead. "What are you doing?"

"I want to clean some of the blood from your face and hair."

The water felt good. It was too cold, but it didn't matter to Charlie. The smell of his own blood nauseated him.

"You said I'll have to play by the rules. What are the rules?"

"We're going to move to a house, and I'm going to get you your own room and a bed." John replied. "We can't tell anyone you're a math genius, so here's what we'll do. Have you ever seen the movie 'Rain man'?"

"Yes." Charlie had seen it. He'd been confronted with it his whole life. An autistic man gifted in math was the way many people who didn't understand his gift thought of him when he was younger, and there had been a time in his life when he was a toddler that the doctors had thought he was like the Rain man. He really hated that movie.

"Then you know what you'll have to do. I'll tell people you imagine things and if you ask someone for help, I'll kill that person and put you back in this chair. Understood?"

Charlie swallowed. "Yes."

"I meant what you told your brother, you know. He didn't treat you right, and he doesn't deserve you, so now you're my brother. It'll be better; you'll see." Charlie didn't even know how to answer that statement. John kept talking while washing Charlie's hair. "I know it sounds strange, but I've lost my brother, and you've lost yours, so now I'm going to take care of you. I'm not sure how we'll do this yet, but we'll figure it out."

Charlie closed his eyes as the wet cloth went over his face. He was trying as hard as he could to conjure up a picture of Don to calm him down. Don had always had that effect on him when they were kids, and he needed that now as John talked so casually about taking him away. Charlie shuddered in revulsion every time John touched him, something that didn't go unnoticed.

"Are you cold?"

John seemed to take Charlie's silence as a yes. He finished cleaning Charlie and left the room, returning a few minutes later.

"Maybe this will help." John spread a blanket over Charlie's motionless body.

Charlie was sure that if he tried to move it would be very painful. The blanket didn't make him feel much better.

"You look sad, Charlie; what's wrong?" John's questions seemed to get stranger by the moment.

"My dad. He's given up a lot for me, and I hate doing this to him."

John seemed to consider this. "It wasn't easy to raise a boy like you."

"I wouldn't think so. Paying for all my tutors, my going to college when I was thirteen and my mom coming with me. She was his wife. It must have been very hard, but they gave everything for me." Charlie pleaded with John to understand.

"Where was Don when you left for school?"

"He went to college too. Dad was left home alone."

"We can call your dad if you want; I guess he deserves a personal goodbye from you. And it'll do you some good too. Give you some closure with him." John made Charlie want to cry.

"Really?" he forced his voice to sound thankful and hopeful.

"Yeah, I'll go set up the call right now."

"Is there anything I shouldn't say?" As much as he wanted to talk to his father, Charlie didn't want Alan to have to remember him screaming.

"It's good that you're careful. Just don't talk about me. Take the time to say goodbye."

Charlie couldn't find his voice to answer. Saying goodbye to his father forever sounded like something out of his worst nightmare.

10001

Alan was trying to work. He'd been staring at a blueprint in his dining room for the past hour, but its contents didn't seem to register. His mind kept wandering to his son. He practically fell out of his chair when the phone rang.

"Hello."

"Hi, Dad." Alan's knees buckled and he sat down on the couch the second he heard Charlie's voice.

"Charlie, are you okay?"

"I'm okay." Charlie sounded distressed. "I just wanted to hear your voice and tell you..." He couldn't finish.

"Listen to me, Son. I saw the tape, and I want you to know you have nothing to be sorry for. You're a wonderful son, and you'll be okay; we'll get you home. Do you hear me?" Alan swallowed hard.

"Thank you, Dad, but I don't think..." Charlie paused. "John says he'll let me live, but I'll never see you again."

"Don't you dare say goodbye, Charlie." Alan couldn't bear the idea.

"I have to." Alan could hear raw anguish in Charlie's voice. "I can't live with John and think about you. I need you to know that I'm alive and that I'm okay. And I need to know you're okay, too."

"Don't worry about me."

"I know you. I know what this is doing to you. I need to know you're okay."

Alan wanted to cry and scream and do anything except say goodbye to his son, but he could tell that Charlie needed to hear everything would be all right on his and Don's end.

"I'll be all right. I will see you again."

Charlie was now openly crying, his voice cracking with his every word. "I hope so, Dad. It's just so hard, and I can't..." Charlie couldn't finish, wouldn't finish, and Alan knew why.

"Is he hurting you?" Alan's paternal instincts took over, and all he wanted was to know his young son was doing well.

"It's better now."

"Is he taking care of you?" Alan asked. "Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"I ate earlier. Not a lot, but I'm okay."

"Are you hurt?" He pressed.

"I can't feel anything, and I can't move." Charlie's voice was almost too weak to be heard.

Alan just wanted to protect his son and make everything better like when Don and Charlie were kids, but now he didn't know how to help.

"You can do this. You're a strong man-"

"No, I'm not. John..." Charlie breathed heavily and started over. "It's been almost two days, and we're going to leave this place soon and then-"

"Don't say that." Alan raised his voice slightly. "I'm your father, and you will see me again. Understood?"

"I have to say goodbye now."

"No, Charlie, listen to me." Alan said desperately. "You hold on. Promise me you'll be alive when we find you. That you'll still be you. Promise me."

"I'll try." Charlie paused. "You take care of each other."

"We will."

"Goodbye." The line went dead.

Alan sat there, with the phone in his hand for a few moments, absorbing what just happened and how desperate Charlie had sounded. After a few minutes, he pressed the hookswitch for a new tone, and dialed the familiar number.

It was a few seconds before a familiar voice picked up.

"Eppes."

"Don."

"Hey, Dad. I don't have anything new to tell y-"

"I just talked to Charlie." Alan cut him off.

"What?" Don shock and surprise hummed through the line. "Are you at home?"

"Yes," he replied wearily.

"I'm on my way."

Alan trusted his son. He trusted Don with his own life and with the life of his youngest. He just wished it wasn't necessary.

10010

Don and Megan reached Charlie's house twenty minutes later. Megan had insisted Don didn't go alone to talk to his father. She knew how hard this was on the Eppes family and that they would need someone to keep a level head.

"Dad," Don called as they entered the house.

"I'm in the dining room."

They walked into the room where Alan was waiting for them with a cup of coffee in his hands. Megan walked straight to the kitchen to pour herself and Don some coffee and give father and son some time alone.

Don sat up to his father's right, putting a comforting hand on his arm. "How is he?"

"Whatever's happening, it's hard for him. He said he can't move or feel anything. And he called to say goodbye, Donnie." Alan leaned in a little, "Said John was taking him away and that we'll never see him again. He wanted to know that we'd be okay."

"Taking him away where?" Megan asked from the doorway, holding two cups of coffee.

"He didn't say. I don't think he knows much about this guy's plans."

"What else did he say?"

Alan talked slowly. "Not much. He's not in pain right now, but he was at some point. He sounded very weak. He called to make sure that we're okay and that we'll take care of each other."

"Did he say anything about John?" Megan asked, now sitting next to Don.

"No. Nothing about John and nothing about where he was. I got the impression he was trying not to mention your name, Donnie."

"I doubt John would've let him say anything along those lines," Megan contemplated out loud. "He probably doesn't have much hope of tipping us off and surviving it." Megan regretted the harsh words as soon as she saw Alan's pale face, but she knew he wasn't surprised. "What I am curious about is why you think he was intentionally not mentioning Don."

"He called to say goodbye and that we'll never see him again but didn't mention Don." Alan momentarily looked at Megan. "That just doesn't sound like Charlie. He also said something about us taking care of each other, but the way he phrased it sounded weird; like he didn't want to say who he was referring to."

Don looked at Megan. "What are you thinking?"

"We've been working under the assumption that this guy has it in for you. Charlie avoiding mentioning you could mean that John does hate you and that Charlie knows it," she answered.

"You're saying that Charlie knows why this is happening."

"Yes. And I think he told us the only way he could."

"How did he sound?" Don looked at his father again.

"Scared. Sad. He didn't sound like he has much hope."

"We'll find him." Don searched for the right words to say, "At least we know he's okay."

"Somehow," Alan shook his head. "That's just not enough."

"I know," Don said softly, looking down at his hands.

They sat there in silence, sipping their coffee, each lost in their own thoughts over the whereabouts of Charles Eppes.

10011

The four Federal agents were sitting in the conference room again, trying to brainstorm a solution to their problem.

"This is getting us nowhere." Colby sighed, "We have a list of over four hundred empty industrial buildings and of two hundred criminals and their family members who might have a motive to kidnap Charlie to get to Don. We have to narrow it down somehow."

"Anything from Amita?" Megan asked.

"Nothing yet," David replied. "What about the number on the tape?"

"The same as the one in the email. Larry hasn't found anything unique about it."

"Amita said something about the numbers," David stated, "She said these numbers would be instinctively considered 'beautiful' numbers, which means they can be divided by a lot of small numbers. But that doesn't give us much."

"Two days," Don sighed deeply. "This can't be happening." He rubbed his hand over his eyes. "Are we running those names and the buildings?"

"I'm running the buildings." Colby replied. "We have several FBI teams as well as LAPD going over them. We hope to find the right building before John moves to a different location."

"We're working with a number of people on our list of suspects," Megan added, "but I'm afraid it will take a while."

"We don't have a while, Megan." Don leveled a look at her.

"We're working on it, Don." Megan said calmly. "We're all doing everything we can."

"I know." He sighed in defeat. "I've been looking over the case files myself, trying to see if anything jumps out at me, but nothing so far."

Megan leaned in close to Don, trying to offer some comfort, "We'll find him. It's just taking a bit longer than we expected."

Don nodded at his friend. They were all doing their best but their lack of progress left Don incredibly frustrated.

10100