A/N: Finally the next chapter!

Thanks again, for reading and reviewing my story.

A huge thank you to starfishyeti!

The stalker

by elessar73

*** 33. chapter : Back to life ***

Seven days had passed since Mary's last attack against Charlie. The young professor must have had more than just one guardian angel watching over him this time. He had come away with a stab wound in his shoulder and some minor cuts in his face. And though the shoulder wound was deep and painful no nerves or bones had been damaged. Charlie had lost a large amount of blood, but blood transfusions and a lot of rest had done their job. The cuts in his face would heal without scars with time. The mental damage was another thing, but all in all Charlie could consider himself a lucky man.

...

Don and his team were still processing the case. An expanded search for Paul Hold was finally successful. The agents had found the stabbed man dumped behind some trees in a secluded place on CalSci campus. Mary had done all she could to hide the corpse but she hadn't paid much attention to the other evidence. Due to DNA samples, fingerprints and bloodstains it was no problem for forensics to connect Mary Clark to the murder of Paul Hold. Obviously the man had fallen for her badly, never realizing that she was insane. The anonymous letter, found in Charlie's office, telling him; that he had an admirer on campus had been written by Hold. The forensic specialists were able to match the handwriting to him. His love of Mary and his determination to gain her had, in the end, cost him his life. The evidence found in Mary's apartment spoke for itself; Mary Clark was definitely Ronald Long and Edward Williams´murderer. Finally they could identify the first victim and inform his family and friends.

...

Four days after her lifesaving surgery Mary Clark was finally transferred to the hospital station of L.A. State Prison. She recovered well from her injuries but continued to refuse to talk. Mary was as silent as the grave. She was scheduled to be moved into a psychiatric ward where she was scheduled to undergo several test to evaluate her state of mind and to figure out if she was stable enough to stand trial and if she was criminally accountable.

In the meantime, Don's team had done a great job by uncovering large parts of Mary Clark´s past. Examination of cold case files was finally successful. Mary had lived with her mother Maria Sophia and her little brother, Mickey, in a small town in Idaho. Ten years ago Mary had disappeared without a trace. Neighbours had found Mickey Clark´s body in the backyard, his head smashed in and his whole face covered in blood. They immediately had called the police. The officers had found Maria Clark lying strangled on the sofa in the living-room. There was no sign of Mary. All investigations and the search for the young girl had hit a dead end. In the progress of the investigation neighbours had confessed that mother and daughter had got along pretty well. Now and then they´d had their differences, but nothing extraordinary. But when Mickey was born, everything changed. Mary was almost 14 years old then, a beautiful teenager, who needed the love and understanding of her mother to get through adolescence. But it all went wrong. Mickey had been a late pregnancy for Maria Clark and she had blossomed in her renewed role as a mother. She'd given all her attention, time and love to her little baby and had abandoned her daughter completely. Despite all that Mary had adored her little brother beyond words. But Mickey had had just eyes for his mother who´d apotheosized him. Witnesses had stated that mother and son had even ganged up on the girl, as far as a three-year-old toddler was able to do so. Mickey had just done what his mother had told him. He'd ignored his sister, had stayed away from her and in the end he really had hated her, just because his beloved mother had wanted it.

Don shuddered and wondered what had gone wrong in that family. He turned through the scales of the report till he found the family photo. He had looked at it so often in the last few days that he knew every detail by heart. But it still shocked him to his bones everytime he looked into the sparkling eyes of the dark, curly-haired little boy. Mickey Clark was the very image of Charlie at the age of three. With shaking hands he put the picture back in place and closed the folder. 'I nearly lost him to this maniac.' He shook his head to clear his thoughts. His team was still looking out for traces of Mary Clark. A teenager couldn't travel through this country without leaving a trail; there must be traces of her. They had to cover Mary's last ten years. And only god knew what they would find.

Megan entered the bullpen. She spied Don sitting at his desk staring unfocused into the air. The female agent cleared her throat.

"Hey Don, shouldn't you be at home? Wasn't Charlie released yesterday?" The young woman looked straight at her boss raising an inquiring eyebrow.

Don shrugged." Yeah, I just wanted to take another look at this one." He lifted the folder a little.

"Oh, Don, come on, you know the report by heart. We'll let you know when something new shows up." She laid her hand in a friendly way on his arm." So what is it?"

Don smirked; he could never hide a thing from Megan. "It's just, well I don't know." Don struggled with himself. "I was just thinking that we'll probably never find out what really happened and why."

"Yeah, maybe." Megan had noticed the sadness in Don's voice, but there wasn't much she could do to comfort him. She pulled her blond hair back and sat down on the edge of Don's desk.

"Well, Merrick called..."

Don raised his head and locked eyes with his agent.

"The district attorney has let him know that Mary is declared not criminally accountable. Dr. Sullivan, head of the "Sun Valley Clinic for mental disease" has given his report. The assessor believes that Clark had experienced a psychotic break in her childhood, which caused her mental disorder. Clark is absolutely focused on her brother Mickey. She sees him in almost every man with curls and wants to be loved by them. And when it didn't work out the way she planned it, she killed them; just like she killed her brother Mickey, I guess." Don gasped, he didn't need a degree to see that, reading the FBI-report was enough. Megan squeezed her eyes and continued. "Dr. Sullivan wants her to be moved to his clinic for further treatment. He thinks he can help her."

Don looked stunned. Somehow he had awaited this turn but now he couldn't deal with it. The assassin would get away with murder because of her childhood. Don knew he was being unfair, but he just didn´t care.

Megan read Don's thought in his eyes, which had darkened until they were almost black.

"We have to be patient, Don. The prognosis is that Clark will likely recover enough to stand trial."

"And then? What does it change, Megan? She's still the bitch who wanted to kill Charlie." Don shook his head in disbelief. "What should I tell him? Mary is crazy; she just didn't know what she was doing. And therefore she will never pay for the things she had done. Megan, she killed at least three people her in L.A. and we have no idea what she´s done in the last ten years. Maybe she killed her family too." Don had talked himself into rage.

Megan sighed. "Well, unfortunately it's the truth and I'm sure Charlie will understand."

"Damn, Megan. She nearly killed him. She was after him, three times he was close to death. What should he understand?"

"I know Don." Megan laid her arm around his shoulder. "Keep cool, okay? Merrick wants us to process the case further. He wants everything we can find out, he wants a waterproof case just in case."

Don nodded. "Just in case... great." A few minutes ago Don had been happy with the knowledge that Mary was out of his brother´s way no matter where and how. But now, the image of her sitting in a hospital and being pampered because her childhood had been so bad, didn't sit well with him.

Megan could see Don's struggle. "Don't worry, Don. No matter what she will never be free again. Charlie is safe."

Don looked her in the eyes. "You can bet on that."

A smile played around Megan's mouth. There he was again, the older overprotective brother. It really felt good to see that some things never changed.

"So how's Charlie doing?" Megan changed the subject.

Don couldn't stop a grin and his dark brown eyes lit up again.

"Considering the circumstances, pretty good. He's still messed up, but staying on the couch is already boring him - so Dad gave him some work to do."

Megan's smile grew at the news. " That's good and how's he dealing with the threat against him?" Megan knew that Charlie had the tendency to ignore critical situations and problems. He used to bury himself in the math. She wondered how he was taking it this time.

Don's smile faded a little and Megan feared for the worse.

"Well that's another matter, Megan. He always tries to keep his emotions at bay but I hope dad and I can talk him into seeing a therapist."

"That would be for the best. If you like I can work out a list of therapists for him. Charlie can take his pick; he can try more than one to find out who's the best one for him."

Don nodded in agreement. "That's good. I appreciate that, thanks."

Don rose to his feet dropping the file onto his desk. "I'm heading home."

Megan slipped from the desk and clapped Don's shoulder." Okay, and best wishes to Charlie and Alan. How about Colby, David and me stop by in a few days to check on Charlie ourselves?"

Don and Megan´s grins were trying to outshine each other. "Thanks, Megan."

Don waved good-bye and finally left the office. Megan sighed taking the file from Don's desk. They would keep processing Mary Clark's case. No way the woman would come through. If necessary they would turn every stone in the USA to find the smallest piece of evidence against her.

Pressing the file to her chest she walked to her desk. She placed the file in the first drawer always in reach. It was all she could do for now. Megan sat down and began to write out the list for Charlie.

TBC