A/N: Final Chapter! And here endeth my first fanfiction. Thanks to all the authors out there keeping the numb3rs universe alive! It has been fun :)
Don was at a loss at how to help Charlie. He had tried everything from being a comforting presence to his younger brother to yelling at Charlie to pull himself together. Even though the brotherly side of Don was still mad at Ian for how things had transpired in DC, shortly after getting back to LA, Don had thought about calling Ian. He did honestly care about the sniper, and his gut was wrenched every time he thought about Ian's niece. Don ultimately decided against it. Ian had made it abundantly clear he wanted to be left alone.
Don knew Ian hadn't meant to be cruel to Charlie, but he had done a number on him. Though Don couldn't hold it against Ian no matter how much he wanted to place the blame for Charlie's pain on his shoulders. Ian had done exactly what they had asked him to do, fill them in. And Ian had come through with flying colors.
Charlie was forced to confront the consequence of his action. Isn't that what Don had wanted in the first place? To make Charlie understand that he didn't know everything and that if he continued to charge ahead as though he did it could end up costing someone?
It was, and Ian had seized the moment to do what Don couldn't have done, educate Charlie. But Don had never wanted it to come with the pain. And he surely hadn't wanted the price of such education to have come at Ian's expense. Don hoped that when he was ready, Ian would reach out, but Don knew there was a chance they would never hear from the famed sniper again.
His little brother's rose covered glasses had been shattered. A professor, someone who was supposed to help the world, was ready to sell it out to a terrorist. Charlie's grand gesture of helping starving people at his own risk had ended up being for nothing. In fact, lives had been shattered, and Charlie didn't know how to process it all.
The first week of their return had been the worst by far. Alan had known the second they entered the craftsman that something was wrong. Charlie had scrambled up the stairs past his father, slamming the door to his room.
Alan pestered Don for answers that Don couldn't give. Don didn't want to risk any more trouble for his family by telling his dad classified information. He settled on telling his father that the information Charlie had sent to Pakistan had caused more problems than they thought and Charlie was upset that the research hadn't been able to help anyone.
Alan knew Don wasn't giving him a straight answer and kept pushing. Much like his two boys, Alan was relentless in his pursuit of answers. "Dad, I can't tell you anymore than what I have okay?"
"Come on Donny, I know when your trying to pull the wool over my eyes, I may be old but I'm not stupid. Charlie's upset and I want to know why."
"Dammit dad you need to drop this one alright. Charlie's going to be fine, I just…I'll take care of it okay." The finality of Don's tone thankfully stopped his father. As much as Alan wanted to know what was causing his youngest so much pain, he could see Don was hurting as well.
Colby and David hadn't been much better. The look on Don's face told them that the trip to DC hadn't gone well, and Charlie had stopped showing up at the bureau. Don had given them pretty much the same response he had given his dad but for different reasons. It wasn't his story to tell. Ian deserved his privacy and Charlie needed time.
That didn't stop Colby or David from trying to reach the youngest Eppes. When their inquiries were met with silence, they had cornered Don in the conference room.
"Come on Don, aren't you always saying we're a team? Well how are we suppose to function as a team if you won't tell us what's going on? Colby was standing with his arms crossed staring down his boss. "Well?"
Don grew agitated at being put on the spot by Colby and headed toward the door. "Don't pull that interrogation crap with me Colby, I mean it."
David stepped in front of Don, blocking his escape. Don threw up his hands in annoyance. Don should have known better to think that they would just let it go. They had come to love Charlie like he was their own brother. "Really David?"
"He's right Don, call it an intervention if you want, I don't care, but when two of our team members are down, you better believe we are going to figure out what's going on and be there for them."
The two agents watched as their boss's agitation and irritability broke down into pure exhaustion. From the range of emotion on Don's face, they knew it was going to be bad, but when Don told them the whole story they still had a hard time taking it all in.
"aww man, Charlie's got to be really wiggin out right now" said Colby.
""He's barely talking to anyone" mumbled Don. "I'm at a complete loss guys, I don't know how to get through to him."
"You might not be able to Don. When shit went down in Afghanistan, I had to work through it on my own. But knowing I had my family to fall back on, that made the difference."
David nodded at that. "You'll be there for him Don, so will Alan, so will Amita. You know Colby and I aren't going anywhere. I have no doubt the Eppes brothers are going to get through this."
It all came to a head the Friday after their return from DC. Don was sitting in the bullpen when his phone went off. "Yeah Dad, what's up?"
"Don you need to come home. Charlie hasn't come out of his room and the door is locked, he's not answering me and I'm worried."
Don made it to the house in record time and bounded up the stairs. He had found his dad outside of Charlie's room knocking softly, worry all over his face. "Come on now Charlie, open up, this isn't funny." Don moved his Dad out of the way and banged on the door. "Charlie open this door right now, I mean it."
Don panicked when they got no response from Charlie. He threw his entire body weight into the door, breaking it free from the lock. Don's eyes adjusted to the dark and quickly spotted Charlie sitting on the floor, sobbing quietly in the corner.
Looking up at the intrusion Charlie cried out "What have I done Don? How could I have been so stupid? 28 years old Don, 28! And another agent is gone, a Navy Seal's career is over. What did I do it for? I'm so sorry Don… I'm so sorry."
Don motioned for his father to stay back, not wanting to overwhelm Charlie more than he already was. There were papers strewn all over the room. Math problems that were half finished, as though Charlie had been trying to jump start his brain or distract himself but couldn't follow through.
"Oh buddy." Don stared at Charlie. He had seen behavior like this from Charlie only twice before. Once, when mom had died. The other, when Don had been stabbed.
Charlie's eyes were hollow and his face was gaunt. The food Charlie had been taking to his room each night since their return lay untouched on the table. Don sunk to the floor next to his brother. As soon as his hand had rested on Charlie's shoulder, the younger man had let out a strangled sob and turned into Don.
Don pulled Charlie tight, wishing to whatever God was listening to take away the pain. Seeing that Don had the situation in hand, Alan headed back down the stairs.
Charlie rested his head in Don's lap, tears continued to stream out. Don leaned against the wall, running his hands through Charlie's curls as Charlie's chest heaved and his hands dug into Don's arms as if holding on for dear life. No further words were spoken between the two that night. There wasn't a need. Don would sit there are long as Charlie needed, and Charlie knew it.
The next few days Don felt as though he were moving through sludge. Charlie had pulled himself together enough in the second week to attend to his lectures under the watchful eye of Amita and Larry. Don kept waiting for another phone call that never came.
Even though Charlie was back at school, Don didn't bring any FBI matter to his attention. He wasn't sure where Charlie stood with wanting to get back involved with Don's work. Charlie was back on his feet and moving in a good direction and Don wasn't going to mess with that.
Don told himself he would be okay with whatever Charlie decided to do. His team had managed before Charlie, and they could do so again. Despite all of the reservations about Charlie working with him that had been brought up as a result of this whole mess, Don knew he'd miss his kid brother if he didn't come back to consult for the bureau. And the bureau would be missing a valuable asset in its arsenal.
Colby and David inquired as to whether Charlie would be returning and all Don could do was shrug. The answer to the question had come in the third week when the agents were huddled around a map in the conference room. Colby was sticking pins in the map, marking off where several robberies had taken place.
"I don't know Don" said David. "I mean this looks like a completely random list of targets to me."
The agents' heads whipped around when they heard a voice behind them. "Have I really been gone so long that I have to remind you about randomness David?"
Charlie stood in the back of the conference room looking better than Don had seen him in weeks. Both Colby and David broke into huge grins at the sight of the professor.
"My bad Charlie" said David as he gave Charlie a big hug. Colby had hugged Charlie so tight that he had lifted him off the ground. "Good to see you too guys" Charlie said with a bemused look on his face.
"Hey buddy, long time no see." Don couldn't keep the grin off his face seeing his brother back in the FBI headquarters. "What brings you here."
"Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure thing kid." Don walked Charlie out of the conference room and to his desk. "What's up?"
Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He pulled up a text message explaining "I got this from Ian this morning." Don immediately took the phone. The message simply read: She's gone. Make it count.
Don looked into his brother's face, searching for some sign as to how Charlie was handling the news. "I'm okay Don."
Charlie slipped the phone back into his pocket. He didn't look up at Don and seemed to struggle to get the right words out. "What I came here today was to say, I mean, what I want to say is this…Isabel wanted to make her work mean something, she wanted to help. She can't do than anymore Don. But I can."
Charlie stood up straighter and looked Don in the eye. "Can I come back?"
"Yeah Charlie" whopped David. Don turned to see both David and Colby's heads popping out from the conference room door.
Don broke into a huge grin as he grabbed his brother into a bear hug. "Of course you can buddy, you didn't even need to ask."
-End-