Sorry for the delay. Busiest time of year for me with deadlines and paperwork but it's so good to be almost clear of it and be able to come here and play with these characters. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Chalk hung in the air creating a fog around Charlie that made him seem ethereal. Music played in the background and he kind of danced between paperwork on the table and the chalkboard. As he stood there staring at the board with the end of the chalk holder gently tapping at his mouth, Amita quietly entered the room.
"Alan just left."
Charlie looked around at Amita finally and placed the chalk on the table with a sigh. "You think I should have gone?"
"No, but Alan does." Amita moved closer to Charlie and examined some of his findings on the board.
Charlie sat down at his desk and looked up at his work. "Dad. He does what he does best and…"
"…you do what you do. Still," Amita pointed to the chalkboard, "doesn't look like you've made much progress."
Charlie picked up a manila folder and closed it placing it on a pile with the rest of them. "No, Liz gave me some of the updated Field case files so it's a start."
"Are you sure you should be doing that? I mean couldn't she, couldn't you, get in a lot of trouble?"
Charlie stood up. He was slightly angered by the comment but quickly realized what Amita was doing. "Neither Liz nor I care about the trouble. We care about Don. Besides I have made progress. Sort of."
Amita cocked her head and looked back to the board. She pointed at some numbers off to the left. "This. But that's just…"
"I know, it's what I've already said, but now it's saying it clearer. Don went somewhere that evening and it wasn't to the desert outside San Diego. Mathematically he could not have walked back from there, at least not in the condition he was in. Not…and still be alive. No. And with no eyewitnesses, no positive ID's on hitchhikers or anything it's just… That piece of data it just doesn't fit. I've been running around trying to see how it fits and it just doesn't. Maybe that piece of data is wrong."
Amita looked to Charlie with concern. Seeing was believing but how do you convince people what you saw was wrong? "Charlie, you saw the car yourself. How can it be wrong?"
"I don't know. But I trust my math more than I do my eyes."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Easy. Thanks Liz. Can you…" Alan gestured towards Charlie's car.
Liz took a bag and keys from Alan. "Sure thing. You sure you gonna be OK…alone?"
"Ha ha Agent Warner, just remember who signs your paychecks." Don adjusted himself in the wheelchair so that the exit would cause the least amount of pain to his already throbbing ribs.
"Oh now suddenly he remembers. Seems a little convenient doesn't it Alan? The way it comes and goes when he wants it."
Alan smiled back at Liz as she continued to open the car doors ready for Don's trip home. "I've always found it convenient. At least I know they've given me the right son to take home, no mix-ups there."
Don began to stand up with Alan's help and Liz rushed round to help from the other side. She almost thought she could feel the heat of his embarrassment at needing help radiating through his clothes.
"Easy I said." Alan gently lowered Don into the seat and pulled his legs inside as Don reached for his ribs, closing his eyes as he did so. A few worried glances were all Alan gave as he watched his son in pain. Both the mind and the body were pretending to be better than they actually were, but Alan took comfort in the fact they were trying.
"I'm fine now. Just get me outta here."
Liz looked over to Alan and nodded. She lowered herself into the back seat and thought about what Charlie had said to her yesterday. She'd been feeling the same way as he had, isolated from the team, a little in the dark. Only, Charlie felt like the rest of the team also weren't listening to him. To be fair, what he was saying didn't make a lick of sense to an agent who was trained to deal with facts. Telling her to ignore the fact that Don's car was found in San Diego seemed counter-intuitive. But one thing he did say made sense – that Don walking from San Diego was impossible. He was right and yet he was wrong. She was sure there was a mathematical expression for just that state of being. Maybe more Larry's arena. Anyway she agreed with Charlie that she'd gently prod Don about what he remembered, especially about the Field case.
It had been mere minutes from talking to Charlie that David informed her she was now also working on Don's case and that they were looking at any links between Don's and the Field case as a way of solving both. She knew they'd listened to Charlie, but she also knew that a theory was fine for science but meant nothing to an FBI case. Someone knew something about what happened to Don. Somehow his car, and his blood, ended up outside San Diego and somehow he made it out of there alive, with no tracks to suggest he walked. If it hadn't of been Don, it sure would have been one hell of a mystery to solve. As it was, it was typical to think that if Don was injured, it sure would be anything but normal.
"You need help with your seatbelt?" Alan's comment broke through Liz's thoughts. She noticed Don was clumsily moving the strap around and adjusting the tautness of it.
"Nah." Came the reply from the grumpy patient but that didn't stop him playing with it.
"Here." From the back seat Liz handed over a cushion to Don. "Put it under the strap. Should stop it digging into your ribs."
"Thanks." Came the reply, followed by a faint smile from his eyes.
"All set then. Let's ditch this one horse town eh."
Don rested his head back onto the seat and closed his eyes. He hated it when anyone else drove. At least his dad was reliable, unlike Charlie, but this was still going to be an overly cautious, and more importantly, slow, ride home. He wasn't looking forward to it.
Liz noticed what he was doing but she wasn't going to let him get off this lightly. After the way he'd treated her when she was injured, she was getting some payback time. Besides, once he made it home he could escape. As it was now between her and Alan, this was perhaps the best opportunity they had for grilling him for info.
"Remember anything new today Don? I mean now that you haven't got all those drugs making you fuzzy?"
Don answered without opening his eyes. "You on the clock or off?"
"Donnie don't be rude, after all she's done to help you today."
Don opened one eye and gave his father a glare. He swore he could see a faint smirk on his face. "Which reminds me. Where's Charlie? I mean this is his car and yet where is the little genius. Not that I don't appreciate your help Liz, just a little strange is all."
"Nice deflection of subject there. I think we're dealing with a pro at avoiding questions Alan. Where does he get that from?"
"Definitely his mother. I always said lawyers don't study they're born like that. Manipulative…"
"Yeah yeah. Keep it up and I'll join Larry in that monastery with a vow of silence."
"And you think we'd notice the difference?" Alan turned on the windscreen wipers as a light rain began to fall.
"Ha ha. You know it hurts to laugh. You gonna be this funny all the way home?"
"Seriously Don. Your case is going nowhere. You're our best shot." Liz's serious tone changed the atmosphere in the car.
"You can't solve everything Liz. You know that. Heck Charlie knows that but damned if anyone can stop him. So how much did he pay you to grill me on the car ride home?"
Don was good, but she knew him too, it was a pretty safe bet he was clued on to everything that was going on and she knew how to play him. "Certainly can't solve anything if you avoid it, that's for sure. But you conveniently forget that's how you dealt with seeing me injured, I'm on to you now, you're not doing me over twice."
"Nice. A domestic AND in front of my dad. Gotta love this."
"She's right Donnie. You can't avoid this. How much have you forgotten and how much don't you want to remember."
Don shook his head and regretted the movement. He winced and used that as a sign for his dad and Liz that conversation was over. You don't wanna know.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"You seen file Q345? I can't seem to find it." Colby looked across to David who was going through CCTV footage of the streets around the abattoir. None of the roads were close and he didn't really know what he was looking for, but he was looking nonetheless.
"Not there? I don't know man. Ask Megan."
Colby turned and looked across to Megan's desk. She'd heard David's response and pulled her glasses down as she stared back at Colby. "Don't ask me. Liz'll know why don't you call her. If she survived the car ride."
David chuckled to himself at Megan's comment. "Man this is just going nowhere." He leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms.
"Here, you can help me with this." Megan stood up and landed a couple of files on David and Colby's desk.
"What is this?" Colby asked as he reached for one of the files,
"All the statements we took in relation to the Field case. Liz has labelled them pertinent or not but if Charlie is right and Don's disappearance is connected then we need to re-evaluate them."
"Oh come on. Liz has already gone through them. How 'bout we go out and question Field's colleagues again." David rubbed a hand over his forehead and looked at all the reports inside the folders and sighed.
"Would love you too but Liz has already done that too. She's been covering all the bases while we were looking for Don." Megan sat on the edge of Colby's desk and stared at the cast on his leg.
"So we're just going around in circles here." Colby frowned as he noticed Megan staring at his leg.
"Yup. I'm going over the tech reports and seeing if I can think outside the box to connect any of this stuff." Megan was still staring at Colby's leg.
"Ok. So what's the deal?" Colby asked.
"What's the deal with what?" Came Megan's reply.
"Why are you staring at my leg?"
Megan smiled and finally looked up from Colby's leg. "I was just wondering who Celine was." She tapped her finger against the only autograph Colby had collected on his cast and walked off before he could answer. She swore she could feel the heat from Colby blushing at her back.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Don opened his eyes and brought a hand up to his head to massage his temple. Damn. He forgot about the bandage on his head. Forget a lot these days Eppes. He couldn't be sure but he reckoned that he'd been given some peace and quiet for a couple of hours to sleep on the couch. And what pure bliss it was. No nurses, no questions, just himself. Charlie had briefly said hello and had something to eat when he'd first arrived back but then quickly disappeared into the garage.
Don looked around and listened. His dad must have either gone out or be outside because he couldn't hear the usual pottering. Peeling his aching body off the couch Don took a moment to steady himself as the sound of blood rushed through his ears as soon as he was upright. He felt weak and foolish, and…afraid. He shook off that thought and bore the pain that his head dealt him in protestation. Get it together man.
A few unsteady steps and he was at the dining table thankful of the opportunity to catch his breathe. It was too quiet and now his brain was starting to function without so many drugs he wasn't particularly keen on having to be alone with it. Charlie, I can help Charlie.
It was the longest walk ever but he finally made it to the garage where his instincts were right. Charlie was zipping back and forth with headphones drowning out his aural connection to the planet earth. Don took his unnoticed entrance as an opportunity to catch his breath. He didn't want Charlie to see him so weak, it would just give him more reason to be concerned and the last thing he wanted was Charlie worried about him. Less so for Charlie's sake and more for his own - when Charlie worried, he pried and right now Don wanted to shut up shop.
"Charlie."
Chalk dropped to the floor haphazardly and Don smiled at the slight scare he'd given his brother. "Sorry, just me. Not used to having me around huh. I'll change that."
Charlie removed his headset placing it among reams of paperwork cluttering his desk. "Not even funny. Don't you want me to solve this case for you?"
Don's smile faded. "No, not at all. I want my brother to talk to me like I am still his brother though."
"As opposed to talk to you like what?"
"I don't know. Another problem to solve. Another case. Another excuse to disconnect. A victim."
"A victim? You're the FBI guy. I'm doing what I do, at least let me do that. I want to help. I want to help you." Then under his breath he added. "Seems like I'm the only one who does."
"What? Come off it Charlie. You don't need to do this," he stood up and tried to pretend he wasn't feeling slightly lightheaded as he tapped the chalkboard, "to help me. I'd prefer it if you talked to me. Or played scrabble with me." Don's smile was kind of lost in the woozy grimace he was displaying.
Charlie led his brother back to the sofa and sat him down. "First of all. Scrabble's missing a piece. And second of all you can talk about talking. I'm not going to provide you with conversation when I know there won't be a reciprocation."
Charlie stared down at the pale figure of his brother. He stared at the redness that crept out from under the bandage on his head. Stared at his hands and feet that were worn down by whatever it was happened to him. He stared at his eyes which never really focused on anything in the room, let alone himself. Charlie looked down at his brother and sighed. He had to help Don, whether Don liked it or not.
"Whether I like it or not huh?"
Charlie flinched at the thought that perhaps he was now thinking aloud.
"You're an open book Chuck. I know what you're doing."
"No you don't. Nobody does."
"Of course I do…"
Charlie turned around and grabbed at the chalk on his desk. He seemingly ignored Don and went back to the chalkboard. "No you don't Don. You don't know what it's like to have a big brother. You don't know what it's like to have spent years growing up not knowing him and terrified something bad would happen to him so you'd never get a chance to get to know him. You don't have a brother who insists of blocking attempts at help when it concerns him because he thinks he shouldn't burden people."
It had been quite a speech and he'd managed to calculate two rows of figures during the course of it. Finally Charlie stopped and he turned to look at his brother. Don was slumped in the sofa staring at his feet.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"
"Nah buddy, it's fine. You're right."
"I am?"
Don smiled at that and looked up at Charlie. "Well maybe just a little. Look, I appreciate the hell out of the fact you do this. I really do. I couldn't ask for a better person to be on my side. And you're my brother." Don swallowed, took a breath and continued. "I get it Charlie. I really do. I'd probably do the same if I was in your shoes but you gotta understand I don't want this. I desperately do NOT want this."
Charlie's eyes filled with confusion as he let Don's words soak in. It was barely a whisper, but Charlie managed to bleat out his question. "But why? I don't get it."
Once again he placed his chalk down and he walked across to the sofa collapsing into its worn springs next to Don. He simply looked across waiting for his brother to answer.
"I don't expect you to get it Charlie. Like you said, you're not FBI. You think finding out what happened will help me. Maybe you're right but I'm terrified buddy."
"What?"
"Yeah. I'm terrified that you'll find out I did something bad, or wrong or…"
"Don you'd never…"
"No hear me out Charlie. This isn't a case to me. This is something that happened to me. I'm the victim. See, I'm trained to stop these sort of things happening but what good am I as an agent if I can't stop something like this happening to myself?"
Charlie began to interrupt again but Don raised his hand to signal he wasn't finished.
"What if you find out I crossed a line Charlie? What would happen if you found out I did something wrong and then all this happened because of it…"
"Don, that raid was not your fault. You didn't cross any lines."
"I've crossed them before when I've been backed into a corner. I'm capable."
"Well I don't believe that."
"Charlie, get this. If you get nothing else, get this. If I DID cross a line, if I did do something I regret, the last person I want to have to live with that burden for me is you. I'd do anything to protect my family. You're like me. You would too. I can't ask you to do this. I can't ask you to stop. But please do stop for me Charlie. That's the best way you can protect me. By letting this go."
"