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aleo_70Author:
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aleo_70 Rating: PG 13+
Genre: Gen
Characters: Don, Charlie, Alan, team
Challenge: Clue Challenge #7, January 2010. Prompts: Who? - Don. What? - Drugs. Where? - Warehouse.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real places and organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.
Spoilers: Checkmate, Primacy, Two Daughters, The Fifth Man, Backscatter
Warnings: violence, drug references
Word count this chapter: 2242
Word count total: ~24,300
Summary: A criminal's attempt to throw Special Agent Don Eppes off his case threatens to send the agent down a dark path.
CHAPTER THREE
-100-1111-1110-
Barely able to contain his fury Don could only watch as his brother shouted and screamed in terror. He could only stand by helplessly as the struggles increased ten-fold as the sedative was injected and finally could only witness Charlie succumb and fall unconscious. There was one thought consuming him at the moment, the people who did this to his brother would be dead if he got his hands on them. He wanted desperately to get his hands on them.
“Boss?” Nikki said hesitantly. The anger surrounding him was palpable making her hesitant to intrude upon his thoughts as there was more than a hint of danger.
“Find them.” He rasped out, not even looking at his people, he had eyes for only one man. Charlie grounded him and he was able to hold onto his honour and duty but only by a thread. His voice dropped to an even more dangerous growl. “Get them but don’t let me near them.”
“We’ll get them, Don.” David promised. He had a hand up as if to touch his boss on the shoulder in reassurance but he allowed it to drop knowing that it was the last thing Don wanted at the moment.
David saw the pinched expressions on Colby’s and Nikki’s faces as they nodded in agreement. They were angry just like he was but they couldn’t match the depth of emotion that was rolling off Don in almost visible waves. In that moment David knew that Don was dangerously close to the edge, far closer than he’d ever got after Megan was taken. David knew that his was a man who right at that moment would give everything for revenge. While he felt no sympathy for those that had done this to his boss and Charlie he understood he was going to have to work to keep them safe from Don if they crossed paths once they were caught. A rebellious part of him wanted to fail in that duty but he wasn’t going to allow that to happen. Don would be destroyed; the entire Eppes family would be destroyed if he let that happen.
“We won’t stop until we do.” David added. “Just look after your brother.”
Nodding at the team David led them away, sparing a quick glance back as they went through the doors to see Don move forward as if in a kind of daze towards his unconscious brother.
Don didn’t acknowledge David’s response to his order, or see the team leave. His focus was on one thing only now that his team were on the hunt. Gingerly he moved forward, trying not to jar his broken ribs or shoulder, until he stood at his brother’s side as the doctor resumed his examination. Charlie still moved slightly as the drugs resisted the sedative but the sedative was winning the battle as his movements became weaker and less frequent.
“I think you were right about the drugs.” The man finally said. He twisted Charlie’s right arm slightly against the restraint of the cuffs and showed the bruises inside the elbow. “Looks like he was injected with something, either several times or with more than one drug by someone that didn’t much care how they did it.”
Don nodded shortly, remembering all too clearly the phone call. “They told me they’d given him something.”
“Did they tell you what?” The doctor asked hopefully, it would save a whole lot of lead time if they knew what they were working against.
“No.”
“Alright, I’ll get a full workup. Until then I think we’ll keep him sedated and restrained.” The doctor stepped back and nodded at some orderlies that had arrived with a special bed. This one was of sturdier construction than the standard hospital bed and was purpose fitted with heavy, padded leather straps. As the new gurney was wheeled in and the orderlies set to work transferring Charlie from the ambulance stretcher the Doctor gently led the agent aside. “You are able to sign the paperwork?”
Don’s bandaged right wrist throbbed with pain and he couldn’t lift his arm but he was able to hold a pen well enough to fill out and then sign the consent forms once he had a table to place his arm on. Every movement hurt but he drove himself on, Charlie’s care urgent and more important than his own welfare. Interrupted briefly by an orderly chasing the keys to the handcuffs he painfully worked his way through the stack. When he got to the last form he hesitated, not sure if it was something he should really sign just yet. The implications of the form scared him far more than Charlie pointing his gun at him and working himself up to pulling the trigger. It was authorisation for Charlie to be taken into the mental health unit, to be held as a secure patient.
“He’s not ill, Doctor.” Don objected. He didn’t want to do this to Charlie, for Charlie to have this stain on his history.
“At this stage, no.” The doctor agreed then started to explain. “We don’t know what he’s been given, what the mix will do to him in the future. But that’s not the reason for the form. The unit is better able to care for a violent patient.”
Wincing against his headache Don shook his head at that. “He’s not violent. He’s drugged and frightened.”
Doctors were known for their diplomacy and tact and this one was no different. He held up a placating hand and gave Don a moment before explaining his reasoning. “Agent Eppes, I understand he is your brother, but given what he has done to you, given the way he has presented here we have to treat him as if he is. At least until the drugs wear off or we can counter them. The staff up there are experienced at this type of problem, their unit doesn’t just deal with the mentally ill. He needs the care they can give him. He needs the security of that unit for his own safety.”
Looking at it all rationally he knew the doctor was right, they had no alternatives if they were to do the right thing by Charlie. However rational thought was difficult for him at the moment. Don’s teeth creaked as he ground them together. He couldn’t see the form in front of him, all he could see was red as his fist tightened around the pen and pain spiked through his wrist. Never in his life had he been so furious, so completely ready to murder. He found himself absurdly grateful that his gun was gone, held as evidence, if he’d still had it on him now he wasn’t sure what he might have done, how his anger may have found an outlet. What these drug dealers had done-
“Don?”
The familiar voice cut through the haze and he somehow brought himself under some semblance of control. The relief that someone else could take on this responsibility washed over him like a brief shot of ice-water.
“Dad,” Don started, barely holding his emotions in check as he swung abruptly from anger towards tears. “Dad, they want me to commit Charlie.”
Alan stepped forward and introduced himself to the doctor. “Alan Eppes. These boys are my sons. Where’s Charlie?” He’d seen Donny was hurt but he knew where the priority lay at the moment, experience had long since taught him that his eldest boy would not accept help until his brother was seen to.
“We have him sedated,” The doctor started, leading Alan over to the alcove where the orderlies had finished their task and a deeply unconscious Charlie now lay completely still in restraints.
Don let his father go, he couldn’t bring himself to hear it again just as he couldn’t bring himself to sign the form. He knew he wasn’t the one for this, Charlie needed a cool head on his side. Don was so angry he could barely think straight let alone sign such a crucial document. He sighed then staggered as his broken rib stabbed at him when he tried to take a full breath back in. That set off the pain in his shoulder and then his back from where he’d been pummelled but he managed to bite off the moan that threatened to escape. He’d been beaten before but Charlie had really done a number on him. The drugs had given his younger brother incredible strength to go with the paranoia, strength that had made restraining him difficult, needing all three of his agents to manage it. Alone he’d had no chance and had borne the brunt of his brother’s drug-fuelled frenzy, having been the target of Charlie’s fear. That was not the worst of it, the taunting phone call still rang in his ears reminding him that this was something that had been maliciously planned.
An attentive nurse noticed his discomfort and in a gentle but no-nonsense manner steered him over to an empty bed that already had his name written on the board above it. He was meant to be a patient but he’d had more important things to worry about than himself, now with their father here to look after Charlie he could allow the attention. The nurse got him up and helped support him as he lay back. This time a sound did escape him as his bruised back came into contact with the ER bed, the thin gel padding not nearly enough. Unfortunately his rib wouldn’t allow him to lay any other way so he managed a pained smile at the nurse’s concerned look and tried to relax his body. She had started taking a first round of observations by the time Alan appeared from behind the drawn curtain around Charlie.
Don watched almost numbly as their father went to the desk and signed the final form. Alan quickly leafed through the other forms before handing them off to the waiting nurse at the counter. He stood for a moment, gathering himself before turning away and coming across to see his eldest.
“Donny, it will be alright.” His father reassured him, a hand resting on his left shoulder a moment or so later. “The doctor explained, the paper doesn’t commit Charlie, just admits him to the ward.”
“But it said-“ Don objected.
“That part’s been struck through. He’s not being committed, just treated. They’ll give him the best of care.” Alan explained. That’s why he’d checked the other forms his eldest had signed, for Don to have missed that he couldn’t be thinking too clearly. Everything else had been in order thankfully. Desperate to know how his boys came to be in this state he opened his mouth to ask but quickly changed his mind as he saw the pain Don was trying hard to conceal. David had told him both of his sons had been attacked, that was painfully obvious now but the details would have to wait. The doctor appeared at his shoulder. “We need to get you looked at now, son. Then you can tell me what this is about.”
“But-“ Don objected again.
“Son, let the doctor work.”
Given little option and having already surrendered to his father’s guidance he settled back and answered the doctor’s questions. He saw his father twitch as he gasped in pain at the doctor’s probing hands but otherwise there was no reaction beyond the sympathy and worry that was plain on his face. The separation as he was wheeled to X-ray was almost physically painful and part of him wanted to let go, to slide into comforting darkness but his anger sustained him throughout the process and he was soon returned to the ER. A nurse was waiting and he had to force himself not to shy away from the needle she held, he knew it would help him but he couldn’t help thinking about what needles had done to his brother. He took as deep a breath as he dared when she finished and tried to relax, the pain reliever would kick in soon.
Alan couldn’t wait any longer, stepping up to stand next to him as the nurse left. “Alright, Don. Tell me what happened.”
Don looked to the now vacant alcove that had held his younger brother, as he’d been wheeled back he’d seen the orderlies taking Charlie away. A surge of emotion caught him and it took him a moment to gather his thoughts enough to answer his father’s question.
“He tried to kill me.” Don started, his throat closing and making the words difficult to say. “Charlie was going to kill me.”
Alan’s eyes widened in shock. He’d not expected anything like what Don was telling him but he knew it had to be true if he was saying it. This was far more than just his sons being attacked as David had briefly explained on the phone. Now he struggled to form words. “What? Why? How?”
“They took him. Called me to come get him.” It was easier in short, clipped, sentences. “They drugged him, made him paranoid. He flipped out.”
“Whoa, there.” Alan had got himself back under control after his initial shock and needed to slow his son down. The point form explanation may have worked for Don or his team but it didn’t work for him. “Please, son. Tell me the full story. When did this happen? Who took him?”
Next Chapter - here
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no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2010 15:34 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2010 18:58 (UTC)An experiment to go more for emotion than just action.
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 16:07 (UTC)I can go to bed now...
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 18:59 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2010 22:20 (UTC)I don't think I agree with you there. I've always felt that this was the one area where Alan, and Margaret, were really lacking with Don. Alan more so than Margaret perhaps.
no subject
Date: 12 Mar 2010 07:33 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Mar 2010 18:24 (UTC)Not to mention all of tension that's clearly still there about the choices Don made. And, in the second to last episode, the way Alan reacted when Don saw his old water gun. To me that signals the clear and heavy tension there was between Don and his family (which goes along with Charlie's comment this season about how there was him and his parents and then there was Don, who seemed to be so different), which does not add up to support in my mind.
I believe that they're now closer than they ever were when the boys were young. But that's IMHO.
no subject
Date: 12 Mar 2010 21:30 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2010 17:54 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2010 19:11 (UTC)I also obsess over Don, it is very unusual for me to have so much time spent on another character even if it is Charlie. But it is pretty much Don POV from here on in.
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 19:18 (UTC)And I'm happy to hear it'll be Don POV ;D Feed my obsession, thanks! Maybe have him suck on a coffee stirrer or 38 *hides in the gutter*
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 19:26 (UTC)90%+ of my stuff is Don POV, I just mix it up occasionally.
*sigh* Unfortunately no sucking on coffee stirrers or losing his shirt in this one. One day I'll finish the one where the baddie makes him strip to his boxers. Stay tuned but don't hold your breath!
PS: Castiel looks so cute in your icon.
no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2010 19:56 (UTC)And Don in his boxers? I'm going to have to check that out whether finished or not!
Also, Cas really IS cute, isn't he? I loved this icon so much. And hello fellow supernatural fan! :D
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Date: 12 Mar 2010 07:36 (UTC)I did take his shirt off in 'Hunted' however, which is posted.
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Date: 12 Mar 2010 13:13 (UTC)And I understand. I usually don't post until I'm all finished either. That's why my "unfinished folder" is so big...*facepalm*
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Date: 12 Mar 2010 21:43 (UTC)http://valeriev84.livejournal.com/40708.html
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Date: 13 Mar 2010 00:57 (UTC)I need to get Maja (ffn and lj: windscryer) to post her boxer fics if she hasn't already. We had a really long discussion about Don and Charlie in their boxers and two fics spawned from it. I'm not sure if she posted them yet. I'll have to link you when she does though, they're fantastic.
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 19:57 (UTC)Looking forward to more. :)
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Date: 12 Mar 2010 07:38 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2010 21:55 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Mar 2010 07:38 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2010 22:21 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Mar 2010 07:40 (UTC)Don's POV of the attack up next.
no subject
Date: 13 Mar 2010 08:23 (UTC)that must have been a shock, to arrive at the hospital, finding Charlie in restraints and Don still on his feet despite he shouldn't be.
Gosh, how furious Don is.... it's the only thing that keeps him going. That's going to be a hard drop if you ask me.... when he comes down from that.
Glad Alan is there, he needs to take care of Don. And Charlie. But let the doctors handle that . I really hope Alan sees who needs him most now.
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Date: 27 May 2010 22:27 (UTC)This fic is breaking my heart...
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Date: 28 May 2010 00:50 (UTC)