Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this fic…except for Neal, Dean, Haldon, Peters, Mr. Crocelli, Steven, Jeffery. If I DID own the characters (Uh, DPS ones, obviously!), I'd have Charlie all to myself! And the things we could do in that Indian cave! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA

"Hello?" A strange voice came over the phone.

"Um, yes. Hello. Is this Mr. Keating's residence?" Peters couldn't hide the nervousness in his voice.

"May I ask who's calling, please?"

"My name is David Peters and I'm a friend of Charlie Dalton's at Albany. Uh, I'm his roommate as well."

"Hold please." Peters sighed as the voice yelled. "John! Phone. Some kid about that Dalton kid."

"Hello? John Keating."

"Hi, Mr. Keating. I don't know if you'll remember me, but I'm Charlie Dalton's roommate at Albany…"

"Ah, yes. Mr. Peters is it?"

"Yes, Mr. Keating."

"How may I be of service to you, Mr. Peters?" Peters wondered how Mr. Keating could be so upbeat and calm.

"It's Charlie, sir. He's not acting like himself."

"What's wrong?" Mr. Keating's voice suddenly became soft and concerned.

"We had this assignment…well, it all really started with the letter he received from his oldest brother a couple weeks back and now this assignment. He's becoming withdrawn and more private."

"What did his brother say?"

Peters wiped a tear from his eye. "That he was never good enough and he was a mistake."

Mr. Keating sighed on the other end. "I'll be up as soon as I can."

"Mr. Keating?"

"Yes, Mr. Peters?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Peters hung up the phone and walked back to his room. As he opened the door, he was surprised to see Charlie jumping on his bed. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Charlie stopped jumping and sat down. "It's just been hard with…"

"Look, I don't know what happened, but you're not the same person you were when you started here." Peters sighed. "I know that letter was hard to read, but…"

"Ever lose someone really close to you, Peters? Someone you would have given your life for?"

Peters shrugged. "No."

"I can deal with the letter from my brother just fine. It's…" Charlie sighed. "That's far from the issue here."

"What is the issue?"

Charlie smiled. Talking with Peters was almost like talking to Knox. They had a discussion one night about the issue of women and love and Kris. With Knox, ever since that dinner at the Danbury's, every conversation that included women had to have Kris in it. "I don't want to talk about it, really, if you don't mind, Peters."

Peters shrugged again. "Okay."

Mr. Keating sat nervously in Mr. Crocelli's room. They both knew rules were being broken by his presence, but Mr. Keating didn't care. Charlie needed him and he needed to be there. "Gianni, tell Mr. Dalton I'll meet him at the cave tonight"

Mr. Crocelli smiled. "Will do." As Mr. Keating made it to the door, Mr. Crocelli turned around. "He okay, John?"

Mr. Keating faced his friend. "I don't know, Gianni. I don't know." He paused. "He seem any different to you?"

"He's a lot more withdrawn than he used to be. The past couple of weeks have had some sort of toll on him, John. No one knows what happened. Well, Peters knew something in order to call you up here."
Charlie made his way to the cave. "Mr. Keating?" He called.

"Nuwanda." Mr. Keating's joking tone put Charlie at instant ease. Mr. Keating sat on a stone, hands towards the fire to warm them up. "You have a lot of people here worried about you, Mr. Dalton." The tone became serious.

Charlie sat opposite of his former teacher and shrugged. "I know." He sighed heavily. "I thought that…I didn't realise…" His voice trailed off.

"Neil's death hit everyone hard, Charlie. I hear from Knox every now and again how about how hard of a time Todd's having."

"Who told you, Captain?"

"Your roommate, Mr. Peters. He found my number, I suppose, in your stuff and called. He worried enough about you to find someone for you to talk to. What's going on, Mr. Dalton?"

Charlie dug in his pocket and handed Mr. Keating a letter. "Here. Read this. This is the letter I got from my oldest brother, W.B."

Mr. Keating read the letter and felt his heart break. He looked at Charlie. "You mustn't believe this. You're not the disappointment here. You found your voice. You use your voice. It's your brother who is in danger for following others. Lemmings follow other lemmings to their death and so it is with people who follow others." Mr. Keating sighed. "You and Neil understood with an understanding far beyond your years what I was trying to teach. Each of you, in your own distinct ways, questioned authority and stood your ground. Each of you knew what you wanted from life and you were going to get it."

"Neil gave up too easily." Charlie wiped a tear.

"You won't, Mr. Dalton." Mr. Keating scooted closer. "I see the light in your eyes and you will make a difference. You will be the one that stands up and says 'I will not be ignored. I have a voice and not only do I know how to use it, I intend to.' You, Mr. Dalton, are the future of this country. You and all the young people in this nation. Don't forget that."