My Darling Sweetheart
Warning: Nothing, it's a safe chapter.
A/N: Heyyyy! There's not much in terms of life updates so here's a short author's note.
"Are you saying that my brother is a criminal?" Charlie seethed as he heard the orders that his brother's team sent out.
"Not a criminal, a rogue agent" Colby amended, although the flash of guilt that went through his face did nothing to hide his worries. "He hasn't passed the territory yet."
"But he's still there. Why did you guys say that he was a rogue agent? Why not just tell the truth, that he's in danger?"
"Well the first one is so that we can limit the resources he could use to track Baker down" Megan spoke as she walked in. "We're hoping to stall him as long as we possibly can, giving us the biggest possible chance to get to Baker first."
"And the second one?"
This time it was Colby who answered again, although he looked more reluctant to speak. "The second reason is to make sure that they would be more alert for him. Even if we said to detain him by any means necessary, if we still see him in a positive light, they'll hesitate."
"...you're doing this as revenge, aren't you?"
"A little bit" Megan replied, tossing a file onto her desk. "But you have to remember, your brother is running on instinct now. Judging by everything we've seen, he has nothing to lose. He'll do everything in his power to reach his end goal. He's dangerous, even if we know he won't hurt anyone."
"Don is…one of the best FBI agents that we've seen," David said, partly in awe but also partly in annoyance. "He's helped push many records within the Bureau with his skills. Now how do you think that the average agent will fare if he uses those skills against them?"
"He'll gain the upper hand" Charlie replied, albeit reluctantly.
Megan nodded. "Exactly. If people see Don as a friendly agent, even if we tell them that he's in danger and refuses to cooperate, they'll still give him leniency out of respect and camaraderie. But if we tell them that he's gone rogue, then whenever they do come across him, they'll use all available resources to make sure he stays imprisoned, at least until we get there."
"We can't give both him and Baker leeway in anything" Colby said as they all walked towards the war room. "And the only way to convince everyone to stop holding back is to treat him like a criminal."
"I understand where you're getting at. But, I still don't like it. I mean, what if they end up shooting him when he's trying to escape?"
"We did issue a warning saying that Don needs to be taken in alive for questioning, but that wouldn't account for trigger happy people on the field. The best that we can do is pray and hope that your brother's luck doesn't decide to run out."
"Oh! So you would rather get Don killed than let him escape safely?"
"Either way he's a dead man" David snapped, causing Charlie to step back in shock. David seemed to realize what he said because he apologized immediately after. "Charlie, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that."
"He's right though" Colby spoke up. "As much as it hurts, David's right. Either way you slice it, Don has a high chance of ending up dead. It just depends on what condition you want him in. You either want to get him shot while he's running away from us or have him murdered by Baker, when he's already in the hands of that psychopath. The choice is yours."
"Dammit! Don't make me choose that!" Charlie hissed, tears building up in his eyes.
Megan shot them both a look before coming closer, clearly trying to calm him down. "Look Charlie, we're sorry. We're just really stressed right now because of this situation. Don is our friend too, remember? We don't want to hurt him, but we also don't want to take any chances."
"Is there another, safer option?"
"The safest option is if we get him first" a voice spoke up from behind them, causing everyone to turn around. There, in the entryway was their saviours in the form of two tired and disgruntled fugitive recovery experts.
"Ian, Billy, glad you could make it" Megan said, instantly relaxing once they were there.
"Course. After everythin that happened, figured you'd need some help" Billy said, putting his bags down.
"Although, are you sure about the 'rogue agent' plan?" Ian asked, sitting down on one of the empty chairs.
"Well, blame Merrick for making that plan. We just thought that it sounded logical enough" Megan shrugged, clearly unhappy but still seeing the logic in that.
"As much as I hate to say it, I think that's the right move too" Ian said, looking around at them calmly, like they didn't just send his boyfriend to his possible doom.
"What? Why?" Charlie wasn't seeing how any of this could be good.
"I guess it's kind of ironic for me to say this, but you guys are forgetting to factor in Don as a person. You guys see him as just a vessel for skills, but you're forgetting to see him and his traits and how he would react."
Megan's eyes brightened. "You're right! That means that this is our safest move, as bad as it may be."
"What are you talking about?" Charlie hissed, starting to get impatient. Colby, David, and Billy were also looking just as confused as he was. Is this what it feels like to be out of the loop when it comes to plans? Charlie would have to apologize to Don once this is all over.
That is, if he ends up getting his brother back.
"The last thing Don wants to do in this situation is hurt anyone else or have anyone else see him as the bad guy. So, on the off chance that he's cornered with guns on him by one of our guys, what do you think he'll do?"
"Surrender?"
Megan beamed at him, "exactly. Don would surrender. He wouldn't fight back. He'd let them take him and find a way to escape then."
"Your brother is a fighter, but he's also logical. He knows that that's the best thing he could do in that situation. He knows that too many things can go wrong in a situation like that and he's not going to risk it. He has a mission to finish after all. No matter what happens, he's not going to fight us."
Charlie allowed himself to relax just a fraction at that. They were right, as much as he hates to admit that. Don would rather shoot himself than hurt another law enforcement officer. Too many things could go wrong if he tried to escape right then and there. Too many uncertain outcomes and uncontrollable factors.
"I guess I never realized how dangerous my brother could be until now, where we're treating him like a criminal," Charlie muttered, hugging himself for comfort.
"Don hides that side of himself from everyone" Megan says, squeezing his shoulder. "I guess it's something that we don't realize either, until it's turned on us."
"So…do you two have any idea where he could be heading?"
Ian and Billy both shake their heads. "We have ideas, but nothin concrete" Billy said.
"I thought you guys were the best in the business" Colby scoffed.
"We are" Ian hissed, his eyes narrowing at that unspoken challenge. "But Don is too and that's what makes it hard."
"He knows all the tips and tricks that we use to hunt people, so that's useless. He knows about strategies and can predict our moves. Not to mention the fact that his tactical training is almost second to none. All of that coupled with the fact that he's been in the game for far too long and you're looking at one of the worst people to hunt when they're on the run. Could take months or even years to find, and that's usually because they made a mistake."
"So what? You saying we're boned?" Colby asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not really. While it's hard to find a weak point with him, we can find a weak point in his target."
That caused everyone's eyes to light up in understanding. "Baker, he's the key," David said.
"Bingo," Billy replied, looking proud. "We find the man, we'll end up finding Don."
"But how do we do that? We don't even know where he is" David gestured towards the map that was sitting on the table. "He could be anywhere."
"Well we're not looking for him per se…more like we're looking into his history" Megan spoke up, leaning on the table as she did. "Something in his past triggered him and caused him to change. If we find that, we could also find the root of why he's obsessed with Don."
"We find that, we can exploit that to finally get him" Colby finished. "Sounds like a tall order."
"You saying you're giving up, Granger?" she asked, smiling.
"Hell no" he replied, grinning.
"How about you Charlie, are you in?" David asked, looking at him. Everyone else in the room turned to stare at him questioningly. Charlie knew that whatever answer he gave, they'll honour it. But for him, there clearly was only one answer to the question.
"Definitely."
A/N: So...that's why they decided to turn Don into a rogue agent. Not their best plan, but it's the most optimal one there. Now...what will Don's move be?