My Darling Sweetheart

Warning: Nothing.

A/N: SURPRISE! A bonus chapter from yours truly. Surprising, I know. Honestly, this is more as a "congrats you made out of that bullshit without becoming a stain on the pavement or gaining any criminal record" kind of thing. What happened was long story short, the electricity company suddenly shut off the electricity just out of the blue. When we asked around, they said it's because the contract is done, which was confusing because we were sure we were given a one year contract. So after hours and almost days of being bounced around back and fourth from number to number (Japan has the most complicated system, istg) we finally found a new company to issue a new electrical contract. In the meantime, me and my roommate was holed up in a hotel somewhere, so close to losing our sanities (too much shit happened to summarize in one so I'm giving you the gist). But honestly, I was very close to either hunting down the agent that help us make our contract or just straight up jumping off the nearest cliff.

Anyways, it's been a very eventful few days and now I'm back at home with electricity, gas (hopefully soon), and no money (ouch!). But on the bright side, I got my writing groove back (only because the alternative was committing murder and I would rather not deal with that just yet). So yeah, that's all from me (you'll still be getting a new chapter on Monday, don't you worry about that). I hope you guys have a nice day!

"What the hell happened?" Don blurted out as soon as he saw his entire team on the hospital beds. All of them in various states of mummified wrappings.

Megan, who was the one with the least amount of wrappings and bandages, glared at him in annoyance. "Where were you? You just upped and left us! We've been trying to call you for an hour and you didn't answer." Although she sounded pissed, there was another underlying tone, one of worry. Are you okay?

Don had to fight his instinct to stiffen at that, opting to keep his expression more neutral. "I just remembered something I had to do" he replied, although he made sure to send out his own hidden message. I'm fine, don't ask. He hoped that for once, Megan wouldn't call him out on that.

She didn't, although the look on her face told him that she caught it. "Well it better be important" she huffed.

Don softened a bit at that, feeling guilty at the fact that he had been ignoring his team. "It was" he replied, his tone holding no hint of heat or defensiveness that one might've expected from him. Then his eyes turned to look at David and Colby, who were both wrapped up in far more bandages than Megan. "So…how did this happen?"

David rubbed his face, looking tired and haggard. "I don't know Don. One minute we were going back, the next minute, a car appeared out of nowhere right in front of us. I tried to hit the brakes but it was too late to stop."

Colby shook his head in confusion at that. "None of us saw that car coming," he said. "You know how much of a careful driver David is Don, there was no way he missed something. I don't think this is an accident."

Don felt his heart drop to the floor at that. Colby was right, David was the most careful driver in the whole office. He would've never missed something so large and vital, especially one that could harm others. And considering the revelations he's been having lately, Don had a feeling that this was connected.

"You're right Colby, it's not" a voice spoke up behind them, sounding rushed. Looking back, Don could see Charlie, pen and notebook in hand, panting slightly from rushing through the halls. "I just got back from the accident scene and did some calculations."

"And? What did you find?"

"Judging by the angle of the cars, the speed, and other factors that I know you guys don't want me to get into right now, I can say with a hundred percent certainty that this accident was staged."

Don felt his knees weaken, but he fought to stay up. He couldn't afford to collapse now, not when it was his mess that caused this in the first place. "You…you sure about that?" he croaked out.

Charlie nodded. "I ran the numbers again and again, flipping between equations. The results still say the same thing."

Don let out a sigh, rubbing his face in exhaustion before he straightened himself once more. "Alright, I'm going to call for backup to guard you guys, just in case this was a targeted hit. No one leaves this room, including you Charlie" he ordered, glaring at everyone. "I'm going to call someone to come and pick Dad up too, just in case."

"Don, if this is targeted then you're possibly on the list as well" Megan said sternly, glaring at him. "Or do you think you're too invincible to be protected?"

Don flinched at that, the accusation hitting him harder than he would've expected. "I think we've all seen from past months how far from invincible I am" he replied tonelessly, causing Megan to shift from anger to worry and even a little guilt.

"Don, I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

"Save it" Don snapped, unwilling to drag out even more buried memories. But at her guilty expression, he calmed down a bit. "Look, if you're so worried about me, I'll make sure to stay in the FBI building, surrounded by agents the entire day. Hell, I'll even agree to an escort back here once I'm done dealing with all the paperwork."

"You'd really agree to all that?" David asked, uncertain. Don would've snorted if it weren't so serious. I'm not that bad…am I?

"What can I say?" he shrugged, "I'm a changed man." Everyone in the room exchanged looks of disbelief and skepticism. Ouch! Looks like I am…

"I don't know what's scarier, Don agreeing to being tailed or him actually learning his lesson for once" Colby said, earning a heatless glare from Don.

"Shut up" he growled, crumpling up the receipt he kept from this morning and tossing it to Colby's head.

"Hey! Injured person here" Colby shot him a mock glare, the receipt bouncing harmlessly off his head.

"I'm well aware," Don replied, grinning widely. "And trust me, you're about to be even more injured if you keep it up."

"That's workplace abuse Don. Should I call HR on you?" David spoke up this time, smiling.

Don fake shuddered. "I think I'd rather take my chances being someone else's moving target practice rather than dealing with HR."

"I mean…if you were Charlie's target practice, I don't think you'd need to worry about not surviving too much" Megan said, the guilt dissipating from her face, but still slightly there.

"Hey!" Charlie shouted. "I'll have you know, I got good marks for that."

Don reached over to ruffle Charlie's hair, chuckling amusedly. "That's on the range with stationary targets a few feet in front of you, Chuck. Moving targets in unpredictable areas are much different. Or do I need to remind you how well you did when we had that water gun fight two weeks ago as your class demonstration?"

Charlie let out an indignant squawk at that, swatting Don's hand away from him. "Water and bullets are two different projectiles with different properties. I was more used to the heavier and faster bullets compared to the lighter and less accurate water."

"Sure…keep up your excuses little brother" he teased, elbowing Charlie lightly. "I'll still be here, ready to kick your ass when your head gets too big."

Charlie frowned, shaking his head in exasperation. "You're the worst, you know that?"

Don shot him a teasing grin, ruffling his hair once more which earned another swat. "Of course, why would I be doing this?"

"I hate you" Charlie growled, crossing his arms petulantly.

"I love you too little brother" he replied, chuckling slightly. Looking down at his watch, he realized that it was getting late. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I need to get some things in order. I should be back by five."

Megan nodded. "Alright, update us so we're sure you didn't get bumped off."

Don rolled his eyes at that, "I will. Try not to die without me here."

"I think it's the other way around" David shot back, grinning. Don shook his head, smiling in amusement before leaving the hospital room, thinking about what he should do once he was back. First, I need to really determine if this is Baker's doing or not. He couldn't really base everything on gut instincts alone. He needed solid evidence. He has been wrong in the past after all, what's to say he's not wrong this time?

God…please let me be wrong.

The anxious feeling that he's been feeling since this entire thing started hasn't dissipated, not even when he parked his car in the FBI parking lot where his safety is almost guaranteed. It's fine, everything is going to be fine, he thought to himself, digging his nails into his palms in an effort to calm himself down. It's just a coincidence, nothing more, nothing less. There's no need to make a mountain out of a mo- his thoughts were abruptly cut when he reached his floor, his heart leaping to his throat.

There was a nondescript box on his desk.

Don could feel himself sweat even more, his breaths coming out in shallow huffs. Suddenly, the walls all feel suffocating, like they were slowly closing in on him despite being inanimate objects. He could feel tears slowly building up in his eyes, threatening to spill over in both fear and frustration. No…please no…

"Hey Eppes, you okay?" an older agent asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. Don flinched, blinking slowly to try and force those tears away.

"I'm…I'm fine" he mumbled, his eyes never straying away from the box.

"Oh that? That came for you just a few minutes earlier."

"Thanks for the info" he replied tonelessly. Understanding that Don wanted to be alone, the agent stepped back, going to where his team was.

Don stared at the blank box, digging his fingers into his palms even further, not caring if he accidentally hurt himself. Please…please tell me I'm wrong. He was aware of the staring that he was getting, his face probably looked somewhere between shell shock and eerie blankness. Knowing that he needed to at least pretend to be fine, he stiffly walked towards his desk, taking slow and small steps so that he could delay the inevitable. But, even with that, it felt like he reached his desk too fast.

The box on the desk had a menacing aura surrounding it, like coming near it would suck the life out of him. He felt invisible hands wrap around his chest, constricting his breathing. A small gust of wind felt like lips brushing against his ear, a mocking gesture of love and devotion. If he slipped, just a little bit, he could barely hear Baker's voice whispering to him once more.

"I will never stop coming after you."

Stop…

"I will chase you to the ends of the earth."

Damnit! Enough!

"Nothing, not even heavenly intervention will stop me from coming after you."

Leave me alone!

"I will hunt you forever until you're mine or we're both dead."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he screamed, hands grabbing both sides of his head in an effort to block out the mental voice, not realizing that he's been saying his thoughts out loud.

"Eppes? You-"

"I'm fine!" he snapped, glaring harshly at the agent that asked. The agent shrunk back, fear flashing across his face. Don felt slightly guilty at that, knowing that the agent was only trying to help. But the fear that was starting to claw at his chest was too much for him to forget. So he just sent everyone around the room his sharpest glare before looking back at the box. Something about this looks familiar…Is it the fact that it's a black box? Those are common. Or maybe it's the silver ribbon around it. The size of it feels off though. Looks more like a ri-

Oh…fuck…

Don realized where he's seen this box before. As if on command, a rush of memories flooded him.

Baker holstered his gun then walked away for a moment, grabbing something from a bag that Don didn't even notice was there. When he came back, he held a black box in his hands with a silver bow, his grin wide. "Now I wanted to mail this little gift to you, but I think that this is a much better setting". He looked around fondly at everyone, "This is the culmination of my hard work after all. Would it not be appropriate for me to share my love for you with your family?"

He felt his knees weaken to the point where he had to grab onto his desk for support. The box was definitely smaller than the original, but still menacing nonetheless. Please don't tell me…the ring that was forced on Don had disappeared from the crime scene, most likely stolen by Baker himself at some point. Just open the damn thing Eppes! You won't know if you don't open it!

Don took a deep breath at that, flexing his hands as they slowly hovered over to the tiny thing. Steeling his nerves, he gritted his teeth, looking away as he opened the lid. After a few seconds passed where he felt like the thing wasn't going to explode into a million pieces, he opened his eyes to take a peek. When he saw the contents, his legs gave up immediately as he collapsed, landing on his chair with a hard thud. "No…no…this can't be happening…" he muttered, horrified.

There inside the box was a single bitten off apple piece. Don had a feeling that this piece would fit perfectly with the bitten out apple in the crime scene. Stuck to the roof of the lid though was a letter, one written in a similar scrawl to the one found in the crime scene. Unlike that one though, this one doesn't contain lines from books. Instead, it contained five words that almost sent Don over the edge:

I've come back for you.

A/N: Ooooooof, should've listened to your gut instinct Donnie. Also, I know I said that this chapter would be the one where you would probably scream "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING DON?" but it turns out that Don related shenanigans are going to start from the next chapter so...have fun with that!