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Obsession

Disclaimer: See Prologue

A/N: A special thank you to everyone that has reviewed. Until I posted my first story, I never realized how important the reviews were to the author. Your reviews are the only way that we can tell if we have succeeded in our attempt to write a good story and I truly appreciate each and everyone of them.

Sun Tsu - The Art of War

Attack where they are not prepared, go out to where they do not expect.

Chapter 19:

Charlie burst through the door, excitement hastening his footsteps.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." he called out as he slid his bag to the floor and set the box of roses on the foyer table. He spared a glance at the dining room as he shrugged out of his blazer and his eyes brightened at the sight of the festive decorations.

"Dad, this look's great ." he called out again as he picked up the rose box and strode toward the dining room.

"You must have worked--." he stopped in mid-sentence and with a sudden in-take of breath, his exuberant mood changed to one of alarm as he stepped into the room.

Charlie stared at the masked man holding the gun to his brother's head and his line of thought failed him. He didn't even notice when the rose box fell from his nerveless fingers, scattering it's delicate contents across the floor. His dark eyes clouded with fear and swallowing hard he stammered. "What…what's going on here?" No one answered, and all was hushed and still around the table.

Charlie spun around at the sound of approaching footsteps and stepped backwards, bumping into a chair, as the two masked gunmen stepped into the room, both of them pointing automatic pistols in his direction. Stunned, he turned back to the gunman sitting beside of Don.

"What do you want?" he tried again, fighting to keep his voice steady.

A quiet sob escaped Amita and his eyes drifted toward her. His heart sank as he saw the tears running down her cheeks and suddenly afraid that she had been hurt, he moved instinctively toward her. He had only taken a few steps forward when a cold voice stopped him.

"Stay where you are Professor, or your brother dies."

Charlie eyes widened in fear as he whirled around to face the gunman. The voice, there was something familiar about that voice. His heart pounded in his chest but he stayed where he was and his brow creased with worry as he stared at the gunman's hand, terrified that at any moment he might squeeze the trigger.

He forced his eyes from the gun to his brother's face and saw a mixture of fear and anger within his brown eyes. The young man's gaze drifted to his father and surprise crossed his own features when he stared into Alan's frightened eyes and found tears glistening on his lashes.

Charlie gazed around the table. Larry's eyes were wide with fear and disbelief and he could tell that his friend was trying to deal with the situation on some higher level. Megan's expression seemed to mirror that of his brother's , although he could see a hint of tears around the corners of her eyes. Charlie felt his knees weaken when he looked at the woman he loved. Arms taped to her chair, she looked back at him with tears flowing freely down her cheeks . Her eyes held such a profound look of loss in them that they took his breath away.

Charlie glanced back and forth at the silent and somber face of the people that meant more to him than life itself and his heart sank even lower at the realization that in a split second he could lose them all. The gunman moved and Charlie's eyes snapped back to watch him. Silently, afraid that even the slightest sound might cost him his brother's life, he warily watched the man stand up and walk toward him.

Bashere casually lowered the gun and laid it on the table. He rose from his chair and approached the young man, deliberately crushing the roses beneath his feet. Purposely grinding the rosebuds that he stepped on with the heel of shoe and ripping the fragile petals to shreds. Charlie's note lay among the scattered roses on the floor and he stopped to pick it up. Bashere didn't stop again until he was standing directly in front of the young man. He opened the note and read the message that had been intended for Amita and then watched the Professor's face closely as he said.

"This is so very touching Dr. Eppes." he said with a sneer. "However, at this point, I fear it would only bring her more heartache if she were allowed to read it." he paused and his mouth turned upward in a smile. " After all, she may have your heart and soul….but your mind and body belong to me."

Slowly he shredded the note into pieces and let them fall to the floor where they joined the remnants of the crushed roses.

Charlie felt as though everything was moving in slow-motion as he watched the pieces of his note float to the floor. He shook his head, looking bewildered, still trying to comprehend what was happening, but as the last of the pieces hit the floor he slowly raised his head. Charlie's eyes flashed angrily as he identified the tall masked man standing in front of him.

"Nooooooooooooo!" he roared as recognition and rage flooded his senses.

To the surprise of everyone , Charlie's balled up fist hit Bashere squarely on the jaw with enough force to send him reeling backwards. The Frenchman saved himself from falling by catching hold of the table and steadying himself, causing the table to shake violently from his effort. Glasses and dishes collided and broke with loud crashes. One of the champagne glasses rolled and hit the floor adding the sound of shattering glass to the cacophony of sounds as Charlie struggled with Bashere's henchmen.

As soon as Charlie hit Bashere the two men behind him surged forward and grabbed his arms pinning them behind his back. But that didn't stop him, Charlie was so enraged that he continued to fight them. He kicked and screamed at them to let him go until Bashere strode forward in a furious rage himself and slapped him hard on the side of the face. His head snapped to the side and he would have fallen from the sheer force of the blow if the men weren't still holding him up. His face stung and his head was pounding from Bashere's attack. The throbbing in his head was so loud that he could barely hear his family and friends yelling for Bashere to stop. He squeezed his eyes shut in an effort to stop the throbbing and sagged against his two assailants until he could get his feet back under him.

The room suddenly went silent, during which Charlie pulled himself together and straightened up to look Bashere full in the face. The blow still stung but he refused to let the Frenchman see that he had hurt him.

Bashere rubbed his own jaw and silently studied the young man in front of him. The bright red print of his hand was clearly visible on Charlie's cheek but the dazed look from the blow had faded from his eyes. He hadn't intended to hurt him but he had lost his temper and it was only at the last minute that he had opened his hand instead of hitting him with his fist.

"Touche', my dear boy." He moved closer and Charlie tried to step back but was held in place by the man's cohorts. " It seems I might have underestimated you."

Charlie's moment of rage seemed to have past and now he just stood there silently, defiantly, facing a man that he had hoped he would never meet again.

"I killed the last man that touched me, Professor." he said , narrowing the space between them even further. "How do you think that I should punish you?" his voice had grown husky and he stretched out a hand to finger a curl that had fallen over the young man's left eye.

Charlie recoiled and gritted his teeth. "Kill me then and get it over it!" he shouted and his struggles became more desperate as Bashere's hand ran through his curls. "Don't touch me!" he hissed.

"Get your hands of him!" Don shouted at Bashere, struggling to loosen the tape that held him to the chair.

Alan cried out in alarm. "Let go of my son!" and then as an afterthought he added. "Charlie…no…don't anger him, he might hurt you again."

"I don't care!" his son retorted, terrified of the salacious look in Bashere's eyes. The man's face was much too close to his and he turned his head aside, recoiling from his touch.

Undaunted by the look of revulsion on the young man's face the Frenchman slid his hand to the back of Charlie's head and grabbed a handful of hair, forcing him to stay face to face with him.

A look of pure hatred crossed Charlie's face and he rasped. "I'd rather die than go with you!"

Bashere stared into Charlie's eyes and then reluctantly released his hold on the young man's curls but let his hand slide down to his shoulder.

"I have a proposition for you Professor." his hand caressed the young man's shoulder. "I will let everyone around this table live if you agree to come with me peacefully."

"Release him and step back." Bashere ordered his henchmen. "One of you go and watch the driveway, after all we don't want any surprise visitors." Both men immediately let go of Charlie's arms and moved away, one of them left to follow Bashere's orders.

The color drained from the young man's face as he stared into the man's eyes. Charlie swallowed and glanced at his family and friends, tied helplessly to their chairs, no way to defend themselves. How had it come to this? Ten minutes ago his life had limitless possibilities and now it was spiraling away from him, downward, into a dark abyss.

Bashere had a hand on each of his shoulders now and was slowly letting them slide down the length of his arms and back up again.

"Come with me peacefully and I will let them live." he said softly. "I will prove to you that I can be merciful but I warn you, fight me any further and I will kill them all." he paused to give him time to consider. "It will be your decision if they live or die. What is your answer?"

Charlie lowered his head, his mind desperately seeking a way out of this, cringing at the man's touch. Eventually, however, he could only come to one conclusion.

Sweat was forming on his lower lip as Charlie raised his head and once again stared into the cold eyes of Bashere. He had no choice, the man would surely kill his family and everyone that he cared about. The only way he could help them was to surrender his own life to a man that he despised. He could feel the bile rising in his throat at the thought of it.

A sudden spark of hope lit up his heart. There was a way out for his loved ones and for himself, just not one he would have chosen under any other circumstances. A two-step solution to this problem. The first step was to get this madman away from his family and the second step would be the final solution. Bashere would never have another reason to threaten the people that Charlie cared about again.

"Can I at least tell them good-bye?" he inquired softly, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

Bashere smiled. "I knew you would come to your senses. Very well, Professor., I will give you a few minutes to say your good-bye's but I will expect you to do as I say and come along quietly." he ran a finger along Charlie's red cheek. "Do we have a deal?"

"No….no, Charlie," Don called out. "Don't listen to him!"

He ignored his brother and continued to stare at Bashere., forcing himself to stand still and let the man touch him. "Yes-- yes--I'll do it."

"Good." he said , patting his shoulder one last time before he released him. " Oh, just one more thing," he twisted around to pick something up from the table, "put this on." When he turned back he was holding one of Charlie's tee shirts in his outstretched hand.

"What?"

The last few minutes had been an emotional roller-coaster for Charlie and disbelief now reflected in his brown eyes. He couldn't believe his ears, the man had to be certifiable. Charlie had no intention of undressing and becoming some sort of "boy-toy" for Bashere. The self defense course he had been taking with the FBI had given him some excellent side effects. According to Amita, he had trimmed and toned his muscles to the point where she would jokingly tell him that she couldn't let him out of her sight.

Anger and then defiance crossed his features. He stared Bashere in the eye and set his jaw as he refused. "No."

Bashere tilted his head slightly to the side and studied the young man. "I thought we had a deal. Perhaps I need to remind you of the stakes involved." he pulled a small pistol from his pocket and pointed it at Amita;s head.

"Wait! Okay! Fine….I'll do it!" he yelled as a surge of panic engulfed him. Charlie hastily unbuttoned his shirt and angrily shrugged out of it, letting it drop unceremoniously to the floor. Panting, he stretched out his hand toward the older man. "Give me the dam shirt!"

Bashere kept the gun pointed at Amita with one hand and slowly appraised the young man before releasing the shirt to him.

Flushed and embarrassed Charlie snatched it out of his hand and quickly donned the shirt. "Okay… now put the gun away." he desperately pleaded.

Bashere smiled at him and slid the gun back into his pocket. He turned to his cohort. "Watch him, let him say goodbye. I'm going in the next room and finalize our travel arrangements."

Charlie eyes were filled with hatred as he watched the man leave the room, a feeling of defilement ran through him and he shuddered. Pulling himself together he slowly walked toward Amita. He knelt down so he could embrace her and taking her face in his hands he gently pushed her hair back and wiped away her tears.

"Amita," he whispered. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry this happened. I promise I'll get you out of this." he kissed her lips. "I love you so much."

"Oh, Charlie." she whispered back. "This isn't your fault. I'm so scared for you--that man is insane."

He searched her eyes before he spoke again. "Mita, promise me…promise me that you'll find someone else….someday." he touched his forehead to hers as she shook her head no. "Please….I don't want you to live your life alone."

He kissed her on the lips, a long passionate kiss that he could savor and remember but as he started to pull back she pressed her lips harder against his, not wanting the contact to be broken, It took all of his strength to break away but he slowly pulled his lips from hers and stood up, forcing himself to turn away from her as she whispered his name over and over again.

Charlie stopped by Megan's chair and bent down to squeeze her hand. "Your friendship has meant a great deal to me." his eyes met hers. "I just wanted you to know that."

Her eyes were full of unshed tears as she answered. "I treasure your friendship Charlie…I always will."

He squeezed her hand again and moved around her chair to Larry's.

Larry spoke first. "Don't…I won't let you do this. Think, Charles, there must be a way out of this. We'll apply one of your equations and work this out…..ah…what about chaos theory….or "

"Larry."

"or…or…you can design one.."

Clearly distressed the older professor rambled on denying the possibility of the impending outcome of the evenings events. Charlie had only seem him act like this one other time and that had happened when Megan had been kidnapped a few years before. He didn't have much time and he couldn't let his friend continue to ramble on.

"Larry!" He admonished loudly.

Startled the older man stopped talking and sadly gazed at his dear friend.

"Charles…Charles…this can't be happening." he whispered.

The young man squeezed his shoulder and gave him a sad smile. "Thank you for everything….for being my teacher and my friend." he quietly responded as he turned away and his steps became heavier as he approached the two people that meant more to him than his own life.

He knelt down beside his father's chair and covered his hands with his own. Alan's eyes were filled with worry and fear for his youngest and his hands trembled slightly as he lost himself in his son's expressive eyes.

Charlie's voice was thick as he spoke. "Dad…I…ah….this is so hard." The young man ducked his head for a moment and took a shaky breath. Raising his head again he whispered. "I can't say goodbye…I don't want to go…but I don't have a choice" he paused to clear his throat. "Promise me that you'll move on with your life, you and Don…. and ….and could you help Amita, too.. I know I shouldn't ask this of you, and I'm sure it won't be an easy thing for you to do but please Dad, I need you to do this for me."

Alan's shoulders slumped and he answered in a quavering voice. "Charlie, your talking like I'll never see you again."

"Dad… please….there isn't much time." Charlie pleaded desperately.

Alan closed his eyes momentarily to gather himself at his son's urgent pleas. When he opened them again he tried to be more positive. "I will try son, but listen to me, you can't give up. Do you hear me Charlie? Don't you give up because we're not going too...we won't stop until we find you."

Charlie rose slowly to his feet and bent to hug his father, whispering in his ear "I love you Dad."

"Oh, my son, my dear son, my heart is breaking. I love you too Charlie." he whispered back .

The young man paused behind his brother's chair to collect himself before he turned the chair next to him around so that they could sit face to face. He didn't know how much time he had left so he had to hurry before it was too late.

Dismayed at the sight of the bruise forming on his brother's cheek the young man momentarily froze. Swallowing hard he looked around the table for a clean napkin and dipped it in Don's water glass. He gently wiped the blood from his brother's mouth and chin.

"I'm so sorry Don." he said softly.

"This isn't your fault Charlie, none of this is." his brother quickly retorted.

Don's anguished voice echoed through his mind as he twisted the napkin nervously in his hands. Charlie looked into his brother's worry-filled eyes and lost his thought for a moment. He had to put this in a way that no one else would know and still get it across to Don; he needed his approval if he was going to have the strength to carry out his decision. All his life he had yearned for the kind of relationship that he now shared with his brother; mutual respect for one another, love and true friendship. It just wasn't fair to have that taken from him now.

Sighing, he took a deep breath, and placed his hand on top of his brothers hand.

"Don, words can't express how important you are to me." A small smile started to form on his face as he added. "If I had time I might be able to come up with a mathematical expression to show you. I could call it the Don Eppes variation." This didn't quite get the reaction he was hoping for as a sad smile formed on his brother's face.

"Charlie…"

"No, Don please let me finish. Dad will need you more than ever now and you will need him too. If the two of you stay close, you'll be able to get through this." he paused and tried to swallow, only to realize how dry his throat had become.

He leaned closer and his voice lowered to almost a whisper. "Don, I need to know that you'll understand what I have to do." He tried to convey his meaning through his eyes. "Come on Don, I know you'll figure it out." he thought to himself. When Don didn't respond he tried again. "I need to know that you'll forgive me."

Don"s eyes widened and his face paled at his brother's words as he vaguely remembered a conversation the two of them had shared a few months after the kidnapping. " I decided to do the only logical thing considering the circumstances."

Don desperately tried to speed up his thought process, trying to recall exactly what his brother had told him. Suddenly, in a flash of memory it came back to him, Charlie had said if they hadn't found him in time he was "going to take himself out of the equation." That was it, " Oh, my God, he's going to kill himself!"

He recognized the look of resolve in his brother's eyes and knew that he would go through with it this time. In a near panic he began to plead with his younger brother, keeping his voice so low that only Charlie and his father could hear him.

A look of horror was spreading over Alan's features as he listened to his older son's panic stricken voice as he pleaded with Charlie, guessing all too clearly the content of their conversation.

"Charlie…no…don't do it." Don whispered desperately. "I'll find you-- I swear I will but you have to give me some time to find you. Please, Buddy, please say you'll give me time."

The cold voice of Bashere interrupted them.

"It's time to go Professor."

A shudder coursed through the young man's body as his shoulders sagged and his head bowed. Taking a deep breath he started to rise but as he began to pull his hand from his brothers, Don's fingers tightened it's hold on him and he wouldn't let go.

Charlie sadly looked into his brother's eyes and watched as a single tear worked it's way down his cheek He reached over with his free hand and gently wiped the tear away.

Don whispered frantically, "I understand….but please ….give me some time to find you before you….before…" his voice broke before he could say the words.

Relief and appreciation showed in Charlie's eyes as he heard the words that his heart needed to hear from his brother. A small smile touched his lips and as he reluctantly pulled his hand free he bent over and hugged him whispering "Thanks, I love you Donnie."

"I love you too, Buddy." Don whispered back, his voice breaking up with emotion..

Charlie straightened up and wiped away his own tears before he turned around to face Bashere.

"I'm ready" his sudden resolve lending strength to his voice.

On leaden legs he walked over to join a man that he had come to both fear and despise.

He straightened his shoulders and faced the man , no longer afraid, determined to follow through on his decision a the first opportunity.

Charlie's heart was racing as he fought to gain control of his emotions. He tried to be more stoic, like his brother and he clenched his jaw, causing the muscles in his cheek to twitch reflexively in response to the pressure. He had to stick his hands in his pockets to hide his balled up fists.

"You won't hurt them?" he asked anxiously.

Bashere stepped closer and Charlie tried not to flinch as he once again placed a hand on each of his shoulders.

"I told you that I wouldn't. After all, we need to establish some trust between us, do we not?"

Charlie swallowed, forcing himself to remain still and maintain eye contact with the man. After all, this was his fault, despite what Don had said and he knew that he would never forgive himself if something happened to one of them because of him. He didn't move when the man caressed his cheek, telling himself that he could do this long enough to get this madman away from his family; he would endure anything to keep them safe.

Bashere released him and stepped back. He pulled a small rectangular box from his pocket and opened it, revealing a vial and a syringe.

Charlie's took a step back, immediately recognizing what the box meant. His face became deathly pale and his heart quickened .

"What are you doing?" he asked, panic rising in his voice. "I said I would go with you, you don't need that!"

Bashere ignored him as he placed the case on the table and removed the syringe. He inserted the needle into the vial withdrawing a small amount of the liquid. He squirted a little of the liquid from the end of it and turned back toward the young professor.

"It's nothing to worry about, my dear boy, just a mild sedative to help you sleep for a little while."

Sheer panic showed in those expressive brown eyes now and he continued to back away, his wide eyes glued to the the syringe. His heart was pounding so loudly that he barely heard his brother's yells, Amita's screams or his father pleading voice asking for the man to stop. Bashere's henchmen once again grabbed him from behind but Charlie's terror lent him strength and he fought them. For a moment it looked as if Charlie's self-defense classes were going to pay off but he was no match for the two of them. They pushed him back against the wall and pinned his arms and legs to prevent any movement.

"No …no….don't do this…no drugs!." he gasped as one of the men held his arm out so Bashere could insert the needle. Desperately he called out to his brother. "Donnie….help…" his breathing had become so rapid that he could hardly get any words out. .

Charlie's heart filled with terror as he felt the liquid spread through his body. He fought it's effects as long as he could but as all conscious thought began to fade away and his vision began to blur the last thing that he saw was his brother struggling to get out of his chair, desperately calling out his name.

Despite his efforts to stay awake, his eyes fluttered and then closed as his body surrendered to the effects of the sedative.