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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: 2232
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 NINE
-100-1111-1110-
“Are we understood, Don?” Doctor Adams asked after laying down the rules of the visit.
The events of the previous day were a distant memory, this was what he had been waiting and hoping for all week. He could enter the room, speak and interact with Charlie, if that meant he had to follow the doctor’s rules then that was what he would do. At the first sign that his brother was afraid of him he was to literally back away, give his brother space and see if he calmed. If not, then he was to leave the room without creating a scene which could be detrimental to Charlie’s recovery this far. The doctor didn’t think it would come to that given Charlie’s progress to date but she insisted on being prepared. “I got it.”
As per previous visits Alan entered the room alone, the doctor feeling that it was best to stick with the established routine before Don added himself to the equation. This was a delicate turning point, the doctor had been working with Charlie over the last week, undoing the damage that the drugs and the twisted whisperings of the Russians had wreaked on his psyche. The effects may have been expected to be temporary, Charlie’s normal mental state was relatively stable, or rather about as stable as could be expected for a highly driven genius, but the doctor held concerns about what deeper damage may have been caused by the sudden shift in his belief structure. Not to mention his extraordinarily out of character reaction, resorting to violence to the point of being a trigger pull away from killing his own brother. That, in and of itself, could have some lasting effect.
As he waited Don couldn’t help but think on how this had affected his own mental balance. It would not have has as much impact if it had been just some random goon that had gotten the drop on him but to his distress it had been Charlie that had attacked and almost killed him in that warehouse. Rendered helpless and held at the point of his own gun it hadn’t been anything that he’d done that had saved him from his brother’s drug induced murderous intent. The horror and fear he’d felt had all too quickly been consumed by anger that he’d directed at Yuri, anger that had driven him to the point of wanting to commit murder. It disturbed him how easily he’d gone there, how quickly he’d armed himself prepared to storm out of the house and hunt the Russian down. By some miracle he’d dragged himself back from that edge but the mere fact that he’d been there concerned him. He was more than ready now to spill all this to Bradford in the hope that he could come to terms with this darkest side of himself, lock it away and move on.
He wondered whether it was all worth it. Yuri’s case was simply one that had been assigned to his team by rotation, they’d finished their last investigation and the Russian gang had been next on the pile of waiting files. There had been nothing particularly special about the gang other than falling into their unit’s frame of reference and yet, for this almost randomly assigned case, he’d almost destroyed his family. There was no one to blame but himself, his normal determination to give one hundred percent to his job had him focusing on the case and grabbing at any resource he needed to resolve it. If that meant bringing Charlie in to work his magic with numbers then that was what he would do, and had done in this case without considering the consequences. His actions had exposed his brother to danger he’d not been trained or prepared to face, no matter what he thought. True, Charlie was his own man and had learnt much over the last few years and Don had been the first to defend the use of a mathematician to solve not only white collar crime but violent crimes as well. But Don was also the older brother, with all the duties that entailed. It was his job to look out for his younger sibling, to protect him from bullies and keep him out of trouble, not drag him into it.
All of which led to him standing here, almost hesitant to see his own brother who had been locked into a secure psychiatric ward because of his stubbornness. Risks he’d accepted for himself he had all but forced onto Charlie by failing to shield him as he should, allowing himself to be swayed by his brother’s enthusiasm to apply math to almost every conceivable problem. Crime was more than just an abstract expression that needed solving, crime had far more facets than most people realised, something that he should have been all too cognizant of. He couldn’t blame Yuri for this, this was something that he’d brought down on Charlie through his own blind drive to bring down the bad guy. Saving lives and getting drugs off the street were noble causes but not at the cost of his brother’s sanity as could so nearly have happened.
“Don?”
Don jerked out of his thoughts at his father’s voice. “Dad?”
“Your brother’s waiting.”
Mindful of the doctor’s warnings Don didn’t rush into the room as he wanted, instead he stepped across into the doorway. Charlie was sitting at a desk where he’d been working at a notebook when they’d arrived almost half an hour ago. The pen was still in his hand but was being turned over and over in the professor’s nervous grip. Their eyes met and Charlie stiffened slightly, the pen stilling in his grip for a moment before the hands resumed their twist and pull.
Taking the fact that his brother hadn’t shied away as a good sign Don took a cautious step forward into the room before stopping. “Hey, Buddy.”
Charlie pressed the cap back into place with an audible snap before dropping the pen to the desk. He stood and took his own careful step forward, much as he had two nights before despite not having the protection of a locked door between them. “Don?”
“Yes, Buddy. It’s me.”
“You’re hurt.”
“All on the mend, Buddy. Don’t worry about it. How are you?” It hurt to dance around like this but he had to take it cautiously.
Charlie took a step closer as he critically examined his older brother, taking in the sling and the still careful way Don held himself. “I did that to you.”
“It wasn’t your choice, they drugged you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. They attacked you, attacked me. None of this was your doing, Charlie. You hear me?”
“I, I tried to fight,” Charlie started slowly before the words tumbled out. “But then the voices came and I thought you were going to kill me. I can’t believe I listened to them, that I attacked you. I was going to kill you.” The last was almost a whisper.
“You were drugged Charlie, and scared.” Don explained, knowing that Charlie had already heard all of this but obviously needed to hear it again from him. He risked taking another step closer and put a light hand on his brother’s shoulder as he looked deeply into his eyes. “You knew something wasn’t right though, you couldn’t do it.”
Charlie stepped back shaking his head. He waved his hand at his notebooks. “I’ve been working on it, Don. The probability of you standing here now is so small as to be negligible. There was no reason for me to hesitate.”
“But you did and I’m right here. It doesn’t matter how many books you fill, nothing will change that.” Don thought it best not to raise yesterday’s episode, that negligible probability would be totally wiped out if Charlie knew what had happened.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. Yuri’s the one who did this and we got him, Buddy. It’s all good.” Approaching Charlie again he put his hand back on his shoulder and pulled him to him. “We’re good.”
This was not something they did very often but Don needed this and he was pretty sure Charlie needed it as well. He hugged him tighter and this time Charlie put his arms around him and hugged back. The tension he could feel in his brother’s body faded away and he lost track of how long they stood like that. Eventually though the pressure against his injuries intruded and he found himself easing away until Charlie finally released him.
He framed it this time as a question. “We good?”
Charlie nodded, hesitantly at first as if doubting himself before nodding again more emphatically. “We’re good.” He even managed a slight smile.
Remembering where he was Don turned to see the doctor watching from the window. He jerked his head slightly indicating that he wanted to speak to her. In response she entered the room.
“When can we take him home?” He’d already been through this but Charlie seemed perfectly fine and he hoped she might change her mind.
“We just need another day or two to be sure things are stable.” She stuck to her original timeframe. She softened the blow with a smile. “But I’m very pleased with your brother’s response today. I don’t see any problems that would force us to keep him any longer than that.”
“Does he have to stay in here?” Don demanded. “Can he go out to a normal ward?”
“It is best that he stays here.”
“But he doesn’t need to be kept locked up anymore.”
“He’s free to move around the unit, we’re not keeping him locked in during the day.” She explained.
“It’s alright, Don.” Charlie interrupted before it could develop into an argument. “I’ve been here a week, what’s another day or so?”
“If you’re sure, Buddy.”
“I’m sure. I’ll be fine.”
Don frowned slightly in surprise having been sure his brother couldn’t wait to be free. There had also been a flash of something in his brother’s eyes but it was gone almost before he noted it. “Wednesday, Charlie. We’re taking you home on Wednesday.”
-1100-1-10100-101-10010-
Charlie had been back home for a full week and had returned to CalSci to work even if his classes were still being supervised by others whilst he regained his stride. After a few days Don had insisted on returning to his own apartment, wanting to make things as normal as possible for his brother. He didn’t refuse the nightly invitations to dinner however, accepting his father’s lift every afternoon given the frustrating refusal of his doctor to clear him to drive.
He finally had his own session with Bradford, laying out everything without hesitation. Don had realised the risk to his career, admitting homicidal rage could have him pulled from the field for a long period of evaluation, but the need to get this off his chest weighed heavily. Bradford had barely needed to say anything, simply making a few points that had him fully accepting how he’d felt and how he’d reacted to those feelings, having been well on the way before seeing the psychiatrist. Given that Don had withstood serious temptation, holding himself back from taking that final step when the opportunity was literally laid at his feet, Bradford had no hesitation in signing off on his return to active duty from a psychological point of view. With his own emotional baggage finally dealt with and safely stowed he had a better insight into how his brother was doing.
That hint of something he’d seen in Charlie’s eyes back at the hospital bothered him and he started seeing it more frequently as the week progressed. The signs were small but it was becoming clear to Don that Charlie was afraid to be alone with him, appearing uncomfortable when their father would leave them in the lounge while he did the dishes or when Don would approach him alone in the garage. Don tried to draw him out but Charlie insisted everything was fine and would make the effort to relax but the tension remained. After giving it some thought he finally believed he figured out exactly what the problem was, interpreting the odd look as a combination of guilt and fear as he realised that Charlie didn’t trust himself to be alone with him.
As was normal for him when trying to come to terms with a difficult event, Charlie was showing signs of getting lost in his mind. Don had seen the boards in the garage, the figures on them changing daily as Charlie struggled to work out what he was feeling. The daily recalculations only confirmed what Don already knew, it wasn’t going to work. This was something that needed a more direct approach, something more akin to a smack upside the head. Charlie’s follow-up appointment with Doctor Adams was due within a few days but with his brother’s increasing avoidance and clearly increasing frustration if the cross-outs on the boards were an indicator, he decided to do something about it.
The inspiration came from his own experience, temptation laid out before him where he had the power to make his own choice. He knew that making the decision for yourself was always far more effective than being told what to do or feel.
Next Chapter - here
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no subject
Date: 17 Mar 2010 11:58 (UTC)One part to go? So it's safe for me to assume that Don's reading of Charlie is correct and that Charlie isn't going to try to kill Don in his sleep? *innocent look*
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Date: 17 Mar 2010 12:11 (UTC)LOL. I used the exact same terminology in my comment without having seen yours. Heeee.
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Date: 17 Mar 2010 12:29 (UTC)no subject
Date: 18 Mar 2010 11:13 (UTC)no subject
Date: 17 Mar 2010 12:09 (UTC)Right here I wanted to smack Don up the side of the head. He's said it was a routine case, he couldn't have predicted this. *shakes head at him*
Great chapter, and I'm looking forward to seeing Don laying out the temptation for Charlie.
Edit: And no, I hadn't seen the comment above threatening to smack Don up the side of the head. LOL.
no subject
Date: 18 Mar 2010 11:15 (UTC)no subject
Date: 17 Mar 2010 15:50 (UTC)no subject
Date: 18 Mar 2010 11:17 (UTC)*gazes at bunnies who simply stare back*
Ideas, bunnies! Gimme!
no subject
Date: 17 Mar 2010 19:17 (UTC)This section was great. Can't wait to see what Don does to get Charlie out of his funk, as it were. Not sure that's the right term, but I can't think of a better one.
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Date: 18 Mar 2010 11:18 (UTC)Bearing in mind that I am not a psychologist by any stretch of the imagination, lets see if it works...
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Date: 27 May 2010 23:02 (UTC)Lovely chapter...
no subject
Date: 28 May 2010 01:06 (UTC)