Maybe Then Someday
by
Numb3rsfan
Chapter Three: A Clue
A swift kick to the ribs was more than enough to jar Charlie out of his more or less restful sleep. Opening his brown eyes Charlie found that he was in what appeared to be a high tech morgue. There were slots in three of the four walls where racks for the bodies would be. Off to the side there were several panels, computer screens and buttons.
"Rise and shine Professor!"
Charlie's eyes slowly tracked to his right side. There was an older man with salt and pepper hair wearing a gray shirt, black pants and a white lab coat with several pins in the outer pocket; a complete nerd some might think if they saw him.
Licking dry lips Charlie croaked out, "Who are you?"
The man smiled a creepy smile that sent shivers down Charlie's spine as he patted Charlie on the shoulder.
One look at the man's face and Charlie became fairly certain that he was gay. That thought creeped him out more than anything because of where they were. As if sensing Charlie's thoughts the older man chuckled an insanely girly chuckle. "Professor Eppes, it is not who I am but what I am that should concern you. I am a scientist for the Genesis Project; a now defunct government project that, through other scientists messed with people's genomes." The man said.
Charlie didn't like the sound of that. He didn't want any part of himself messed with; leastways not by this creepazoid!
Charlie watched the man turn and walk away from him, heading to a console that had several buttons on it. This totally wasn't happening...he wasn't here...he was in his bed, nice and warm...right?
The abrupt sound of a guitar filtering through some overhead speakers told Charlie that he wasn't at home and he certainly wasn't safe.
Swallowing his fear, Charlie tried to get up off of the metal gurney he was on but a clank where his wrist was, told him that getting up was going to be impossible. He was strapped down not only with the cloth straps of the gurney but some thick metal handcuffs as well.
"I'm afraid that your leaving this facility is out of the question for the moment." The man said as he came back in to view, bringing two IV bags and a 14 gauge needle to set up the IV drip with him. Charlie eyed the bags warily. One bag had a clear liquid in it; some type of water perhaps? But the other bag had a dark greenish liquid in it.
The man took out an alcohol swab, swabbing down a portion on Charlie's right hand.
"You'll feel a little prick," he said before pushing the needle in. The pain was intense, more so than any shot Charlie had ever had. Biting his lip to keep from yelling out, Charlie watched the man set up the IV before taping the two tubes down to Charlie's hand to make sure he didn't pull the needle out.
"Wh...what are you doing to me?" Charlie asked in a very shaky voice. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins because of what was happening, and that adrenaline was making him shaky; panicky and it scared him. His heart was racing in his chest as if it were going to explode and all Charlie wanted to do was get up and run.
The man in the lab coat looked at Charlie when he asked the question.
"You are an experiment my lad. We need to make sure it works when we seize your brother." he said.
What...his brother? What sort of thing had this man against Don? Charlie was becoming even more panicked at the mention of his brother. Whatever he had been given was going to be given to Don too? Not if he could help it!
"You still...didn't answer my question!" Charlie shot back, wanting the man to elaborate more. When they were rescued the doctor's were going to need as much information as possible about the drug or drugs in their systems.
"I simply want to give the two of you a gift. If it doesn't kill you two first you should develop Darkness Manipulation and Portal Creation over time. Course it's only a 2 percent probability that it will actually work. There's a 80 percent chance that you'll develop Leukemia instead though." The man said.
This guy was insane; totally insane! To Charlie it sounded as if he was out to get Don and he would be just a consequence; a statistic in whatever battle this was.
Shaking his head Charlie said, "You can't do this!" to which the man replied, "I can and currently am Professor. Don't worry though, you shouldn't feel anything for a good four hours, so enjoy it while you can. When the medication kicks in it will be very painful."
Charlie was close to losing it then. He was so very scared and he felt so alone. He hoped his brother was out looking for him but with so few clues how would he find him in time?
Feeling tears appear at the corner of his eyes, Charlie fought to keep them back not wanting his captor to have the pleasure of seeing him cry.
He would get through this; he had too...for Don's sake! He couldn't give up on his brother so easily...he couldn't...he wouldn't! Closing his eyes Charlie pictured his brother's smiling face. It gave him comfort and hope. He knew his brother was searching for him; he had to be.
"Don..." he whispered softly, "please find me."
NUMB3RSNUMB3RSNUMB3RSNUMB3RS
Don and his team pulled up to the Eppes abode and quickly got out; a team of techs also got out of the second black Suburban that parked right behind Don's black Suburban; Don having called in some techs to gather evidence and finger prints while he and his team would question his father.
"Donny!" Alan called, stepping on to the porch when he saw his son pull up. Ignoring the techs who squeezed past him, Alan waited until Don was right in front of him before breaking down. He was so scared for Charlie and it clearly showed.
Don, seeing how upset his father was, took Alan by the arm and led him inside, sitting him down in a sun bathed chair that set in the living room.
"Dad take it easy okay. From the top can you tell me what happened?" Don asked softly. He knew David, Colby and Megan were in the house as well, looking around and gathering evidence that would hopefully give them some clue as to where Charlie was.
Taking a deep breath Alan told Don everything; leaving nothing out. When he finished Don patted his father on the shoulder.
The news was unsettling for sure. It had appeared that Charlie had indeed been abducted but by who and why? How had be gotten in to the house unseen?
Meanwhile in Charlie's bedroom, techs had bagged the remains of Charlie's cellphone and his laptop while David and Colby also checked around. They checked everywhere including the bedroom window which they found was slightly ajar. A closer inspection of the window revealed a small sliver of wood that was coated in something that looked like blood.
"Whatcha think?" Colby asked, showing the piece of wood to David.
"Looks like blood." David acknowledged, snapping his fingers at a tech who produced a bag for the wood chip. After bagging it, David and Colby headed downstairs to check on Don. They found Don in the living room trying to reassure his father but it was obvious that Alan wasn't buying it.
Seeing his team Don walked over to them and asked in a soft voice, "Find anything?"
Colby shrugged and told Don about the wood chip; it being the only real piece of evidence so far. While there was hope that a sweep for fingerprints would tell them something, the likelihood that the fingerprints they would find would belong to either Alan, Don or Charlie was staggering.
"Don't worry Don we'll find Charlie, he's going to be alright." Megan said as she came down the stairs to rejoin the rest of them.
Don sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. Things like this didn't happen. Perps would never go after his brother; it would always be him that was placed in danger...not Charlie! Not Charlie!
"I know, I know we will, I just..." he paused, unable to finish the sentence; unable to voice his fears.
His single fear was that they would find Charlie but would arrive to late; finding only his dead corpse. That image scared Don. He had already lost his mother, he didn't want to lose his brother too. Not only that if Charlie died, Don had no idea how his father was going to cope.
Slipping back in to FBI mode, Don continued on with the investigation.