Maybe Then Someday
by
Numb3rsfan
Chapter Five: Because We Can
"AAAAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Charlie yelled; his back arching up as another painful muscle spasm tore through his body. He couldn't remember ever being in so much pain before; not even when he had gotten the flu as a youngster.
When the spasm ended Charlie felt his body relax against his binds. This was getting ridiculous. Where was Don? Why wasn't he here?
Charlie shook his head feeling warm tears...or was it sweat...rolling down his face. No, he reminded himself. Don not being here was a good thing; it meant he wasn't getting the same treatment. Don couldn't be put through this pain too, no matter the cost.
The hours seemed to blend together; one in to another. How long had be been there? Four hours...ten...more? Charlie couldn't remember but he was pretty sure it had been less than a day. The sound of a door creaking open caused Charlie to look towards the set of double doors that led in to the room he was in.
The hope that it was Don sneaking in was shattered when he saw the man who had drugged him in the first place enter in with yet even more IV's; these being a dark red IV bag and a bright yellow IV bag.
"Please...please stop this..." Charlie begged.
The man looked at him with practiced care; taking in Dr. Eppes appearance before he shook his head no.
"I am sorry Professor Eppes but I cannot. The treatment must proceed as planned. If the rest of the medication is not administered you will begin to convulse and your bodily organs will cease to function. Blood would come pouring out of your nose, ears...even your eyes. I don't think even you would want to die that way; alone and in terrible pain." the man replied.
That shut Charlie up. He didn't want to die but he didn't want to be turned in to some kind of freak either. If by some chance this 'treatment' worked, he would never be the same again. There would be no way he could just forget this thing ever happened!
"Why?" he asked, gritting his teeth as his body was wracked with yet another painful muscle spasm, "why go after me? Why not go straight for Don?"
The man took down the used, clear IV bag, unhooked it and threw it away before he said, "My employer put a contract on your head, that's why. He only really wants your brother out of the way but he also knows that if one brother is down then the other would stop at nothing to find or avenge him so he decided to kill two birds...excuse me...brothers, with one stone. Nab the weaker one first, allow the other to find him and then nab them both. Quite ingenious if you ask me."
He hooked up the red IV bag before completing the process with the other bag; removing the green IV bag and hooking up the yellow one.
"Your...employer must have deep connections if he was able to bribe a federal agent." Charlie surmised. Even though he was in tremendous pain he was doing his best to glean as much information as he could since it appeared as if the man was willing and ready to gloat now.
"Ah, you are referring to Special Agent Franklin yes? Well I must admit, Special Agent Franklin was just a means to an end; the best way to get you out of the house with no one asking questions. Besides my boss didn't hire him per say...I did. My boss only paid the fee for Franklin's services."
Charlie couldn't believe what he was hearing. Don's friend, Special Agent Franklin was no more than a gun for hire? Who the hell screened potential agents now a days? Whomever they were must have been behind the door when the brains were passed out!
Even with all of the info he had gathered, it was still impossible to know who had a personal vendetta against Don; not unless the scientist just up and gave Charlie a name.
"Let me guess...your boss is a...what...private investor? He'd have to be to be able to fund all of this." Charlie asked. It was a weak ploy but hopefully the scientist was dumb enough to be able to fall for it. Scientists were dumb...at least some right?
"Private investor my ass Professor. My boss is much more than that. Your brother arrested him two years ago for embezzling government funds; what your brother didn't know was that Mr. Moore is a very powerful man; able to manipulate the courts to release him. You may not know this but Mr. Moore vowed vengeance; and now he's going to get it." the scientist said.
Charlie closed his eyes. Moore...of course! Billionaire Ethan Moore had been a scientist working for the government in his younger years, then he had a 'medical breakthrough' that was almost immediately classified. Shortly later Don arrested him for the embezzlement of government funds in to an offshore account.
Snorting, Charlie asked, "And...how much did Ethan Moore have to pay you to do his dirty work for him?" He wanted to piss the scientist off but from the look on the man's face Charlie wasn't doing a very good job.
"Nothing, Professor Eppes. He didn't have to pay me anything. Ethan Moore is my father! I owe him everything; this is the least I could do for him!" the scientist replied.
Charlie opened his eyes with a start. This man was Ethan's son? That was impossible! Ethan was only in his 40's right?
"Ethan may look like he's in his 40's but do remember that he helped to invent the attributes. Don't think that darkness manipulation and portal creation are the only attribute out there. No my father is over 80 years old, with treatments he was able to slow down, even reverse the aging process." The scientist said.
Charlie shook his head. This was all impossible. Slowing down if not complete reversal of the aging process was not possible! It just couldn't be!
If it were even true then that would make this man...
"Joshua Moore...but...you can't be him! Joshua Moore was killed in a car accident when he was four years old!" Charlie said.
He remembered hearing the news report about Ethan Moore's son being killed when the car he and his mother had been in lost control and drove off of a bridge; bursting in to flames when it hit the bottom.
"Ah yes, you are referring to the crash. My father was in that car too...course the news reports don't say that. I was nearly dead when my father brought me to his lab on the insane chance that his attribute treatment would help heal me. The treatment worked. Besides rapid healing I also have power sensing; I know how many others there are like us." Joshua said.
Like us...the man had said 'like us.' Even though he tried to deny it Charlie could feel himself changing. It was an unwanted change but a change none the less.
Seeing the look in Charlie's eyes, Joshua nodded to him.
"That's right. I had hoped that the treatment would kill you; it being only marginally successful in over 200 trials but no it looks like your body chemistry is being rewritten and is accepting the treatment without any problems. Now only time will tell just what attributes you'll develop. I hope that it's darkness manipulation and portal creation but it's not up to me or you or my father. It's up to your body as to what powers you'll develop. But don't worry, I don't plan on letting things get that far. When your brother arrives I'll take him and preform the exact same procedure on him. My father wants to see him squirm." Joshua said.
"What...? Don...he's here?" Charlie asked, hopeful that it was true.
But when Joshua shook his head, Charlie's hopes once again fell.
"No he's not here but he is on his way. Agent Franklin texted me a moment ago letting me know that Don has figured out the location of the facility. He, Agent Franklin, Reeves, Granger and Sinclair are on their way as we speak."
Joshua watched Charlie strain at his bonds. To him it was clear that Charlie was in pain but there was nothing he could do about it.
"I know it hurts but it'll all be over shortly. I want your brother to see you before you die; see the look on your face as you slowly stop breathing." Joshua said.
He patted Charlie on the shoulder before he turned and left the room to prepare for Don's arrival. He needed to be ready before the FBI arrived because if he wasn't then there was a chance that the elder Eppes brother would rescue the Professor.
As he left the room he heard Charlie ask, "Why are you doing this?"
With a shrug of his shoulders Joshua could only reply, "Because we can." This was true; it was the only truth. Joshua was tormenting Charlie; changing him because he could, and soon Don would follow in his brother's footsteps.
NUMB3RSNUMB3RSNUMB3RSNUMB3RS
They were almost there, just three miles more to the facility. Don wasn't that much of a betting man but he was betting and inwardly hoping that Charlie was in there somewhere. He hoped that Charlie was still alive; a feeling in his heart told him that yes Charlie was indeed alive but his strength was failing.
Ever since they had been kids they had a brotherly bond; a type of connection that neither brother could explain. Growing up the connection; at least on Don's part was unwanted but now it's what Don relied on. It was the only thing he had to hold on to that told him that Charlie was still alive.
A buzzing in his pocket roused him out of his musings. Pulling his cellphone out of his pocket he pressed the talk button before putting the phone to his ear.
"Eppes." he said in to the receiver.
Don was only on the phone for a minute before he ended the call. Megan was looking at Don; a question mark written all over her face but instead of telling her who was on the phone, Don simply pulled the black Suburban over and got out. Behind them, David pulled his car to a stop, wondering what was going on as well.
"Don? What's up?" Colby asked. Colby was in the passenger seat of David's car, but he was the closest to Don's position.
Instead of answering the man, Don wrenched the passenger door of the Suburban open, grabbed hold of Agent Franklin's FBI jacket and dragged him out of the Suburban and on to the pavement.
"Hey man get off!" Marcus said, trying to wrench himself free from Don's grasp but when he saw Don point a 9 millimeter pistol in his face, Marcus instantly raised both hands. "Hey man...easy." he said.
When Megan, Colby and David saw Don point his weapon at Marcus, all three of them got out of their respective vehicles and approached Don, thinking that he was losing it.
"Don what are you doing?" David asked, his hand going to his own pistol. He didn't want to have to shoot his own boss but he would if he absolutely had to. David hoped that Don had a good reason for what he was doing, but he never imagined that Don would say what he was about to say.
"Guys, this man was the one who took Charlie in the first place! That phone call was from the labs. They matched your blood and DNA to that found on the wood chip!" Don said, anger clear in his voice.
Damn; so he had left some blood behind. Oh well, things weren't totally in the shitter yet.
"That doesn't prove anything!" Marcus shot back; instantly regretting it when Don pressed his pistol in to Marcus' head, forcing his head on to the pavement.
"It proves that you were there in his room! Evidence also says that no one else had been in there besides you and Charlie!" Don said. That part was a bald faced lie but no need to tell Marcus that.
Marcus was no longer an Agent, he was a suspect and that's how Don was going to treat him!
"So you have two choices now. Either you tell me straight up where my brother is or I blow your brains out right here and now...your choice pal!" Don said, putting even more pressure on Marcus' head.
Under normal circumstances Marcus, Megan, Colby and David knew that Don would never threaten or actually shoot a suspect unless he was armed, but Charlie was not a normal circumstance. They all knew how much Don cared for his brother and how much Don would protect him from anything.
Keeping one hand on the gun that was pressed to Marcus' head, Don used his other hand to remove the 9 millimeter pistol that was clipped to Marcus' belt, tossing it to Colby who was the closest to him.
"You wouldn't shoot me Eppes; you don't have it in you. Plus if you shoot me you'll never find out where your dear ol' brother is." Marcus said.
When he saw the fiery look Don gave him he instantly began to have serious doubts about that.
"WATCH ME!" Don yelled. In one swift movement he took the gun away from Marcus' face, using a foot to Marcus' throat to keep the man down. Taking aim, Don pointed the pistol to Marcus' right knee cap before he slowly began to pull the trigger.
"I'd tell him if I were you." Colby said, seeing the look on Don's face. David nodded his head as well; also noting Don's face.
"Yeah, trust me that man does not look stable." David said.
Marcus was inwardly and outwardly sweating. Don was going to shoot him...there was nothing else to it!
"Okay...okay...Charlie is there at the facility. I was going to take him out of state but the man who hired me told me to take him there instead." Marcus began. He was almost cut off by Don's quick question of, "Who hired you?"
Swallowing, Marcus kept his hands raised and his eyes on Don's face. It was clear that he wasn't going to get out of this; not by a long shot, and he didn't necessarily want a bullet to the face; least ways not by Don who was most obviously on the war path.
"Moore! Joshua Moore. He hired me to kidnap Charlie, that was it!" Marcus said.
Gritting his teeth, Don holstered his pistol before rolling Marcus on to his stomach, wrenching the man's hands, none too gently behind his back.
After cuffing the man, Don immediately called for back up before stuffing Marcus in to David's car. He needed his team with him when they invaded the facility but he had to leave at least one of them behind to guard Marcus.
"Go on Don, I'll stay with Marcus until back up arrives, then I'll join you at the facility." Megan said. Don nodded his thanks to her. He was grateful that she had so generously volunteered to remain behind with the prisoner.
"Okay, David and Colby you are with me, let's go!" Don said.
Turning he jumped back in to the Suburban, waiting only until both David and Colby were in before rocketing off towards the facility and his brother, leaving Megan to watch ex Special Agent Marcus Franklin.