Door Opens, Door Shuts
Summary: When one of the Eppes is lost, the rest of them, with a little help, will stop at nothing to save them. AU Preseries
A/N: The idea just hit me suddenly. And because there's never enough brotherly bonding (or preseries stuff), I had to do it this way. :) Enjoy!
Silence for a moment in a gray room.
Door opens, door shuts, chair squeals against tile floor.
"Hi there, kid."
"Hi."
"My name's Jacob. Do you know why you're here?"
"'Cause my brother's missing."
"That's right. Do you understand what happened to your brother?"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Then you know that what happened isn't your fault."
"Yeah."
"But you don't believe it."
"Yeah."
"You miss your brother?"
"Yeah."
"You know we're doing everything we can to find him."
"Yeah."
"Your parents are on their way here. They'll be here soon. Do you need anything until they get here?"
"Yeah."
"What do you need, kid?"
A shrug.
A sigh, chair squeals again, door opens, door shuts.
"Where's my son?"
"Mr. Eppes, I'm Jacob Call. We're doing everything we can. I promise, we'll get him back safe."
"When you find the bastard that did this, I'll -"
"Mr. Eppes, calm down. I can't imagine what you're going through right now, but your other son? He needs you."
"Where is he?"
"He's in there."
"That's an interrogation room. Why the hell is my son in an interrogation room?"
"Sir, relax. He's fine. We just wanted to put him somewhere that he could be alone."
"He doesn't need to be alone. He needs his father."
"Mr. Eppes, you can see him in a minute. I just need to know where your wife is."
"Margaret... She's... I don't know. She's around here somewhere. She might still be in the car."
"Then you don't know."
"No. To be honest, I have no clue. Now let me see my son."
Door opens -
"Mr. Eppes."
"What?"
"We're going to find your son. I promise."
- Door shuts.
"Mrs. Eppes? Are you out here?"
...
"Mrs. Eppes? Is that you?"
Tears fall on hard concrete.
"I... I'm sorry. I -"
"No, Mrs. Eppes, you're fine. It's alright."
"You're that FBI agent. The one who came to the house."
"Yes. You remember me? Jacob Call."
"Yes. I... Where's my baby?"
"Your -"
"Never mind. Where's Alan?"
"He's upstairs. With your son."
"Oh God. My baby. I need to be up there."
"Okay. Calm down, Mrs. Eppes, I'll take you up there."
"Thank you."
"Anytime. It's my job."
Door opens, door shuts.
Door opens, door shuts.
"Sanders, please tell me you have something."
"Actually..."
"If that isn't a good 'actually', I'll kill you."
A chuckle.
"Don't worry, Boss. We think we've got a lock on where the last ransom call came from."
"What? Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Relax Boss. I just did."
"Did you tell the Eppes?"
"No sir. Not yet."
"Well, get someone on it. We've got work to do. Let's go."
Jacket slips over fabric of shirt.
Door opens, door shuts.
"FBI, open up!"
Silence.
"Okay, on my count. One.. Two.. Three!"
Door slams open -
"FBI!"
"Freeze!"
"Don't move!"
Silence.
"Move over, Sanders. I'll take this one."
"Got it Boss."
Positions adjust.
"Get down on the ground, interlace your fingers behind your head. All of you. Now- Hey! No moving!"
A muffled scream.
"One wrong move, and the kid dies. Put your guns on the ground, and slide them over to me."
Shared glances.
Guns slide across concrete.
"Good. Now close the door."
- Door slams shut.
"HE WHAT?!"
"Sir, Mr. Eppes, please. Calm down."
"I want my son back!"
"I know, I'm sorry sir. Agent Call and his group were forced to surrender. If they hadn't your son would have died. Try to understand. Agent Call had to react in a way that would protect everyone from harm, including your son and his agents."
"That doesn't make it right."
"I know. I'm sorry Mr. Eppes. We're sending in another team. They're about five minutes away from the warehouse where your son is being held. They're going to get him out. I promise."
"Yeah? You promise? That's what your boss said. I'm going back to be with my son and my wife."
Door opens, door slams shut.
"Look, I'm sure we can work something out."
"Shut up! Didn't I tell you the kid would die if you made a mistake?"
"You said -"
"I know what I said! Shut up!"
"My people -"
"Your people will die right after the kid if you don't shut up!"
"Okay, okay, just calm down."
Whispers.
"What're we gonna do, Boss?"
"I'm thinking, Sanders."
"We gotta save that kid."
"I said, I'm thinking, Sanders."
"Sorry Boss."
"I know. I'm sorry Sanders. But I promised the Eppes we would -"
Door slams open -
"FBI!"
"Get down on the ground! Don't move!"
"Stay back! I'll kill the kid if you -"
BOOM!
Body falls to ground, strong arms catch boy before he hits ground.
"It's okay, I got you, kid. It's alright. You're okay."
"I..."
"What is it, kid?"
"I want my mom."
"Okay. C'mon. I'll take you to her. It's gonna be okay."
- Door shuts.
"Donnie!" Margaret Eppes yelled, running to her oldest son. She embraced him, pulling him as close as she could.
"Oh my baby. I was so scared. I love you. I love you so much..."
Charlie stood with Alan, watching the exchange almost fearfully as Don pulled away from his mother.
"Dad," he whispered.
"Oh, Donnie." Alan wrapped his arms around Don. "You're okay, son."
After the two broke apart, Don turned to his brother.
Charlie stared doubtfully Don. "You're not gonna disappear or anything, are you?"
Don smiled a little. "No, buddy. I'm right here."
Charlie sighed. "Good."
Alan smiled and turned to FBI Special Agent Jacob Call.
"Thank you so much," he said.
Call smiled back at the Eppes father. "Don't worry about it Mr. Eppes -"
"Alan. After everything you've done for us, it's Alan."
Call's smile grew. "Don't worry about it Alan. It's my job."
"And you do a fine good job of it," Alan said. Margaret came up next to him and nodded, then she turned to her son.
"Donnie, what do you say?"
Don looked up at Call. He came closer, so that they were standing relatively close.
"Thank you, Agent Call," he said quietly.
A warmth spread slowly in Call's eyes. "Don't worry about it, kid. I'm glad I could help."
Then Don surprised everyone by suddenly hugging Call. For a moment, the FBI agent just stood there, stunned. But then he hugged the boy back, and everyone in the room smiled.
An hour later, after Don had given his statement, the Eppes left.
Door opens, door shuts.
Jacob Call,
I'm not sure if you remember me, but when I was eight, you pretty much saved my life. Even though you've retired, I wanted you to know that your work hasn't been forgotten. As much as my parents hate it, I joined the FBI. Thanks for all that you did. It's because of you that I joined the FBI. My mom says she hopes you're happy, in both senses of the phrase.
Thank you,
Don Eppes
Jacob Call, now retired, married, and happy, sat back, and smiled at the card in his hand.
Card opens, card shuts.
A/N: There you have it! And, just to make myself happy, I've set a new personal record for longest fic. I just beat my old record by making this one seven pages, instead of "Kill's" six pages. Hope you liked it. Review!
Off to take over the world,
Crazy Girl