FIC: In a Mirror, Darkly: Chapter 2/?
This fic was written for the Angst vs Schmoop Challenge at numb3rswriteoff. After you’ve read the fic, please rate it by voting in the poll located here. (Your vote will be anonymous.) Rate the fic on a scale of 1 - 10 (10 being the best) using the following criteria: how well the fic fit the prompt (decision), how angsty the fic was, and how well you enjoyed the fic. When you’re done, please check out the other challenge fic at numb3rswriteoff. Thank you!
Title: In a Mirror, Darkly: Chapter 2
Author: Valerie Vancollie (valeriev84 [at] hotmail.com)
Characters: Charlie, Don
Pairings: brief canon mentions of Charlie/Amita & Don/Robin
Rating: 15
Summary: There was a certain irony to the situation, that the brother who was a federal agent had been abducted to be used as leverage against the brother who was an applied mathematics professor at a highly respected college.
Betas: aleo_70 & fredbassett
Spoilers: Uncertainty Principle, Vector, Man Hunt, Dark Matter, Finders Keepers, Breaking Point, Black Swan, When Worlds Collide, The Decoy Effect, The Fifth Man, Greatest Hits, Angels and Devils
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Numb3rs characters, items or situations. I only lay claim to the original aspects of the fic.
Part I: Charlie: NSA
Chapter 2:
Sunday, 19:41
Dr. Charles Eppes' Office, CalSci
"Dr. Eppes?"
The voice followed by a touch of a hand to his arm caused Charlie to jump sharply. He whirled around and reached up to jerk the headphones from his head as he saw Banner standing before him, looking sheepish.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but you missed all of my earlier attempts to catch your attention."
"No, that's okay," Charlie stated, feeling his heart rate start to slow down once more. "It's my fault. I tend to turn my music up quite loud when I work, making it hard for people to alert me to their presence. My brother keeps telling me I should turn it down, but it helps me concentrate."
A funny expression crossed Banner's face that Charlie couldn't quite decipher, but he figured the NSA agent was probably agreeing with his brother. It wasn't his fault that the music helped him focus, it just did. He'd tried to figure it out once, but had been forced to conclude that he couldn't explain it, it just helped so he used it.
"I assume you're here to see where I'm at?" Charlie continued, reaching down to put the iPod on pause.
"Yes, have you managed to crack either the encryption or the system yet?"
"No, sorry, it's proving to be far trickier than I originally thought."
"Why?"
"Well, for one, it appears to be the work of several different mathematicians instead of just one as I'd suspected at first," Charlie explained.
"And this makes a difference how?"
"It means that there are more things I need to consider. If it was all the work of one individual, then I'd be able to eliminate certain options based on his, or her, way of thinking. Different people will use different techniques to achieve the same goal and extrapolating from what they did in the early parts of the work I've looked at, I'd be able to predict what they'd be more likely to have done at later points."
"And this isn't possible with multiple people?"
"Not as easily, no. If I can tell which of the mathematicians designed a particular part of the programming, then I can still apply this method, but that requires that I can see enough of their work to reliably figure out which one of them coded the particular section in question."
"Okay," Banner said, thinking about this for a moment as his eyes glanced at the chalk covered boards. "Do you have any idea how long it might take you now that you're aware of this added difficulty?"
"A few more days, I'm afraid," Charlie responded apologetically.
"Days?"
"Yes, this really is quite a complicated piece of work. Whatever is on that computer you found is definitely considered to be extremely important to the owner as he went to a lot of effort to ensure that it was securely protected."
"What's wrong?" Banner demanded, effortlessly reading the uneasiness Charlie was feeling despite his uncertainty as to whether or not he should bring up the issue.
"It's just that... well, I, that is to say, there are certain, uh, issues in the coding," Charlie began hesitantly, wondering what the best way was to broach the topic and his growing suspicions as to just who some of the mathematicians involved were.
Not to mention the myriad of implications if he was correct.
Charlie knew that if he was right there would be significant repercussions for the mathematicians involved and thus he was hesitant to bring it up. On the other hand, however, if the person in question really was working for an organization being investigated by the NSA, then they really did have to be stopped. He was just wary of turning such federal attention on a colleague without been a hundred percent sure that he was right. He'd seen first hand how a federal agency was likely to respond to even the suspicion of this type of activity.
"What do you mean?" Banner inquired sharply, his eyes snapping to Charlie's face even as he stiffened.
"Just that parts of it seem almost- familiar," Charlie explained, pausing briefly to find the right word. "Like they were written by someone I've come across before, someone who wouldn't be aiding anyone seeking to steal classified information from the NSA."
"How about you let us be the judge of that? I assume you know whose work this reminds you of?"
"No," Charlie refused point blank, squaring his shoulders for the argument he was sure would come.
"Look, Charlie, I told you on Thursday that we're investigating internal leaks within the Agency," Banner began, forced patience in his tone and bearing. "We don't yet know how far this treachery goes. For all we know it extends into the academic world as well via consultants who have been bribed or otherwise convinced to aid this group we're tracking."
"Now you're just reaching."
"Why? Because you don't think any of your colleagues would betray their country? Traitors come in all guises."
"I will not help you perform a witch hunt within Academia!"
"Dr. Eppes, the NSA does not conduct witch hunts. We do, however, track down traitors who reveal confidential information to our enemies. Some of the information that has been leaked has already resulted in the deaths of our soldiers abroad and many more lives are at stake, including those of law enforcement officers across the country who are put in jeopardy due to the advanced intel being received by our enemies who wish to strike on our soil."
Charlie felt a frisson of fear lance through him at those words, but he tried to shove it aside, determined not to let Banner distract him with that type of tactic. "And how exactly do you prevent that type of search from devolving into a witch hunt?"
"By following the evidence."
"I can't help you with this without further guarantees," Charlie argued stubbornly, his instincts screaming too loudly to be ignored.
"Dr. Eppes-" Banner stated wearily.
"Look, if what you're saying is true, then you won't mind if I check it to make sure the proper precautions have been put into place."
"As I told you at the beginning, this is a classified project, I would think you'd have learned what that means," Banner stated.
Charlie's expression darkened at the reference, but the jab only fueled his determination. "I wasn't planning on involving anyone without the proper clearance, I was merely going to call Bob- Bob Thompkins- he did always tell me it was better to check and be sure than to make a mistake."
With that, Charlie turned towards his desk and began looking for his cell. He was sure he'd put it here somewhere, but over the course of the intervening time, he had moved papers and exams and he'd spread out the papers the NSA had given him, not to mention the other junk that had somehow migrated into his workspace. Entropy at work.
Just as he found his cell and started to look up Bob's number, a Polaroid was dropped onto the desk in front of him and Charlie froze in horror. The picture was taken in what appeared to be a basement from the concrete floor and wall that was visible in the background. It was what was in the foreground, however, that drew and held his attention. It was Don. A battered and bloody Don, tied to a chair and gagged, but it was undeniably him. Charlie's heart leapt into his throat and his eyes widened in disbelief at the sight. The photo was so entirely unexpected and its contents so mind-boggling that he could do nothing but gawk at it as Banner reached over and took his cell from his suddenly nerveless fingers.
"I assume we understand each other," Banner said as he turned off the cell and dropped it onto the desk.
"Huh? What?" Charlie said before his mind finally turned back on and the pieces clicked together, causing him to pale. "This isn't something for the NSA, is it?"
"Not too quick for a genius, are you?"
"Leave Don out of this!" Charlie demanded, feeling as if the rug had been pulled out from under him as he realized that Don had been kidnapped and hurt because of him.
There was a certain irony to the situation, that the brother who was a federal agent had been abducted to be used as leverage against the brother who was an applied mathematics professor at a highly respected college, but at the moment Charlie completely ignored it, too horrified to witness what had been done to his brother because of him and his work. Although he couldn't quite make out all of the injuries on his torso, the blood staining his once baby blue dress shirt indicated that there were injuries there in addition to the bruises along his arms and on his face. There was blood dripping from a cut above Don's left eye and more from another cut on his lower lip. His left eye appeared puffy and the surrounding skin darker than the right one, indicating the beginnings of a possible black eye.
"I'm afraid it's already far too late for that, Charlie," Banner stated, a self-satisfied smile on his face. "Your brother remains with us until you've given us what we want."
"He's a federal agent!" Charlie argued, hoping to make the other man see logic, surely he of all people should know the significance of that.
"Yes, which means that in abducting and assaulting him, we've already committed two very serious felonies, so it would really be in his best interest that you do exactly what I tell you to or he won't survive this."
Charlie's breath caught in his throat and his blood turned to ice in his veins at the statement. No! They wouldn't, they wouldn't dare! Killing a federal agent was an automatic death penalty. The logic merely served to distract him for a few precious moments before the emotions swamped him and he stumbled back into his chair as his legs gave out.
Donny!
The mere thought of them killing his brother because of this was enough to nearly make him vomit and he struggled to overcome the impulse. With a shaking hand, he reached out and picked up the Polaroid, needing to feel that it was real and not some horrible figment of his imagination. His eyes were drawn back to each of the visible injuries in turn and the restraints used to control his big brother, to make him helpless for whatever they wanted to do to him. Like this, Don would be completely unable to defend himself- to prevent them from doing anything to him... to prevent them from killing him.
"Y- you wouldn't," Charlie retorted desperately, wincing at how weak and rough his voice sounded.
"Oh, no, trust me, Dr. Eppes, we will," Banner refuted, stepping in close and shoving a second photo at him, this one a close-up of Don's face with a gun pressed hard enough against his temple to create a ring of white skin around the muzzle.
The NSA agent laughed at the inarticulate noise of horror Charlie made, before he leaned in even closer and whispered into his ear.
"Though, just between you and me, I wouldn't count on him being quite so lucky as to get such a clean death. The man holding the gun on Agent Eppes here really doesn't like FBI agents very much at all. And you never know, if you take too long, he may just be unable to resist hurting your big brother some more. There are many places one can put a bullet without causing a life threatening injury."
"No! You leave him alone."
Banner merely stepped back and shrugged. "Like I said, he really doesn't like Feds much. We've already had to stop him from hurting Agent Eppes any worse. Tick, tock, little brother, time's running out on your big brother's life. What will it be?"
"I-," Charlie began, his voice failing him as he was unable to tear his eyes from the barrel of the gun pushed so harshly against Don's temple.
'Statistically, you're dead now. You understand what that means? A man aimed a gun at your head and fired. The fact that you survived is an anomaly, and it's unlikely to be the outcome of a second such encounter.'
Charlie swallowed thickly as his own words came back to haunt him. They weren't an exact match for the situation, but it was close enough. If the man holding the gun now were to pull the trigger, they would be prophetic as there was absolutely no room for error. There was not a single chance his brother would survive.
Well, not really now, at least he hoped the man wasn't still holding the gun on his brother! The meaning remained, though. Trussed up as he was, it didn't matter if the man was currently holding the gun to Don's head or not as Don would be completely unable to stop him from bringing it to bear again any time the man wished to do so.
The mere thought of Don being helpless sent another wave of horror through Charlie. Don was never helpless, he was always either in control or fighting tooth and nail to get in control. To see him restrained was nearly worse than seeing the gun held to his head, nearly.
He was so absorbed in the photo and it's implications that Charlie completely forgot about the other man in the room with him until Banner grabbed hold of his chin and jerked his head upwards so their eyes met. Instead of the friendly or professional gaze he was used to, the NSA agent's eyes were now instead a cold, hard blue, like glittering chips of ice. He shivered as the unrelenting gaze bore into him. How could he ever have thought of this man, if not as a friend, then as a friendly acquaintance? How had he been so horribly deceived by him?
"I'm waiting, Dr. Eppes," Banner stated politely, though his voice contained an edge of impatience. "This is your brother we're talking about here, surely it can't be that hard of a decision to make. Unless you don't much care for him?"
"No! Of course I care for him!" Charlie retorted sharply, the suggestion enraging him.
Sure, he and Don had not always been close, but he had never wished ill on his older brother. Well, not really. Yes, he'd wanted to hurt him at times, wished to do it occasionally if only to make Don pay more attention to him or to stop treating him like a little brat, but that was merely frustration and anger speaking. He'd never really wanted to see his brother harmed.
Too late, Charlie realized that he'd just played right into Banner's hands. He didn't need to see the triumphant smile cross the other man's face to know they now knew for certain that threatening Don would elicit a good reaction from him. How could he have been so stupid? Well, not that it really made all that much difference, he reasoned, trying desperately not to give into the numbers that wanted to rush in and numb his mind to the horrible situation he so suddenly found himself in. His earlier reactions to the two photos would already have been more than enough of a response to tell Banner all he needed to know.
If, indeed, they'd needed any verification at all. They seemed to be well enough informed already of the relationship between himself and Don. Not to mention that they must have done a certain amount of research into his older brother ahead of time as well to have successfully kidnapped him. Don was nothing if not excellent at what he did and he didn't make an easy target, so they must have planned the abduction very carefully and known what to expect from him in order to carry it out successfully.
"Then I take it you'll comply with our requests?" Banner pushed, sounding for all the world like they were merely discussing a business transaction instead of torture, coercion and potential murder.
"Yes, I'll do it, just don't hurt Don anymore," Charlie replied, knowing that his brother would be disappointed in him.
Don would urge him to resist, to not comply with Banner and the others working with him as he still didn't know the specifics of what he was working on. He still didn't have the first clue what information the encryption and security program protected, the options were nearly limitless in this day of electronic expansion where everything from banking to government agencies used computer transactions to conduct business.
The problem was that Charlie couldn't do it. He couldn't simply sit back and refuse to do the math for them when his big brother's very life hung in the balance. He just wasn't that strong and he knew it. If doing what Banner wanted meant that Don would be set free, then he had no option but to do exactly that.
At least he hoped he could. It had been a bitter pill to swallow, but Charlie had finally been forced to admit that his brother was right when he said that he didn't deal well with emotional pressure. Give him an impossible deadline or a challenging problem and he was all over it, breaking it down logically and resolving the situation in the most rational manner possible. But as soon as emotions got involved, his coping mechanisms seemed to break down and in such a way that he wasn't even aware of their doing so at the time. Well, until recently, anyway.
With Amita, he'd known, but that was such an extreme example that he really couldn't be certain that he'd realize he was compromised in a less stressful case. He desperately hoped so, but Charlie knew that in the past he'd always been so certain of himself, so sure he was still acting rationally, that he was embarrassed to even think about how he'd acted.
So, would he be able to focus on the damned problem now, knowing what had been done to Don? Knowing what his brother could be going through even now? It had been so excruciatingly difficult to focus enough on the low level math he'd needed to perform when Amita had been taken that he really wasn't sure whether he could concentrate long enough on this formidable task that they wanted him to do.
The question was whether the knowledge that Don's very life hung in the balance would be enough to overcome his natural instinct to hide himself in the safe world mathematics represented or enough to launch him out of it to concentrate on the issue at hand. At the present, he simply didn't know as it was all still too much. His whole world had been turned upside down so suddenly that he was still flailing about, desperately attempting to come to terms with what had happened and all of the implications thereof.
Chapter 3
Title: In a Mirror, Darkly: Chapter 2
Author: Valerie Vancollie (valeriev84 [at] hotmail.com)
Characters: Charlie, Don
Pairings: brief canon mentions of Charlie/Amita & Don/Robin
Rating: 15
Summary: There was a certain irony to the situation, that the brother who was a federal agent had been abducted to be used as leverage against the brother who was an applied mathematics professor at a highly respected college.
Betas: aleo_70 & fredbassett
Spoilers: Uncertainty Principle, Vector, Man Hunt, Dark Matter, Finders Keepers, Breaking Point, Black Swan, When Worlds Collide, The Decoy Effect, The Fifth Man, Greatest Hits, Angels and Devils
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Numb3rs characters, items or situations. I only lay claim to the original aspects of the fic.
Part I: Charlie: NSA
Chapter 2:
Sunday, 19:41
Dr. Charles Eppes' Office, CalSci
"Dr. Eppes?"
The voice followed by a touch of a hand to his arm caused Charlie to jump sharply. He whirled around and reached up to jerk the headphones from his head as he saw Banner standing before him, looking sheepish.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but you missed all of my earlier attempts to catch your attention."
"No, that's okay," Charlie stated, feeling his heart rate start to slow down once more. "It's my fault. I tend to turn my music up quite loud when I work, making it hard for people to alert me to their presence. My brother keeps telling me I should turn it down, but it helps me concentrate."
A funny expression crossed Banner's face that Charlie couldn't quite decipher, but he figured the NSA agent was probably agreeing with his brother. It wasn't his fault that the music helped him focus, it just did. He'd tried to figure it out once, but had been forced to conclude that he couldn't explain it, it just helped so he used it.
"I assume you're here to see where I'm at?" Charlie continued, reaching down to put the iPod on pause.
"Yes, have you managed to crack either the encryption or the system yet?"
"No, sorry, it's proving to be far trickier than I originally thought."
"Why?"
"Well, for one, it appears to be the work of several different mathematicians instead of just one as I'd suspected at first," Charlie explained.
"And this makes a difference how?"
"It means that there are more things I need to consider. If it was all the work of one individual, then I'd be able to eliminate certain options based on his, or her, way of thinking. Different people will use different techniques to achieve the same goal and extrapolating from what they did in the early parts of the work I've looked at, I'd be able to predict what they'd be more likely to have done at later points."
"And this isn't possible with multiple people?"
"Not as easily, no. If I can tell which of the mathematicians designed a particular part of the programming, then I can still apply this method, but that requires that I can see enough of their work to reliably figure out which one of them coded the particular section in question."
"Okay," Banner said, thinking about this for a moment as his eyes glanced at the chalk covered boards. "Do you have any idea how long it might take you now that you're aware of this added difficulty?"
"A few more days, I'm afraid," Charlie responded apologetically.
"Days?"
"Yes, this really is quite a complicated piece of work. Whatever is on that computer you found is definitely considered to be extremely important to the owner as he went to a lot of effort to ensure that it was securely protected."
"What's wrong?" Banner demanded, effortlessly reading the uneasiness Charlie was feeling despite his uncertainty as to whether or not he should bring up the issue.
"It's just that... well, I, that is to say, there are certain, uh, issues in the coding," Charlie began hesitantly, wondering what the best way was to broach the topic and his growing suspicions as to just who some of the mathematicians involved were.
Not to mention the myriad of implications if he was correct.
Charlie knew that if he was right there would be significant repercussions for the mathematicians involved and thus he was hesitant to bring it up. On the other hand, however, if the person in question really was working for an organization being investigated by the NSA, then they really did have to be stopped. He was just wary of turning such federal attention on a colleague without been a hundred percent sure that he was right. He'd seen first hand how a federal agency was likely to respond to even the suspicion of this type of activity.
"What do you mean?" Banner inquired sharply, his eyes snapping to Charlie's face even as he stiffened.
"Just that parts of it seem almost- familiar," Charlie explained, pausing briefly to find the right word. "Like they were written by someone I've come across before, someone who wouldn't be aiding anyone seeking to steal classified information from the NSA."
"How about you let us be the judge of that? I assume you know whose work this reminds you of?"
"No," Charlie refused point blank, squaring his shoulders for the argument he was sure would come.
"Look, Charlie, I told you on Thursday that we're investigating internal leaks within the Agency," Banner began, forced patience in his tone and bearing. "We don't yet know how far this treachery goes. For all we know it extends into the academic world as well via consultants who have been bribed or otherwise convinced to aid this group we're tracking."
"Now you're just reaching."
"Why? Because you don't think any of your colleagues would betray their country? Traitors come in all guises."
"I will not help you perform a witch hunt within Academia!"
"Dr. Eppes, the NSA does not conduct witch hunts. We do, however, track down traitors who reveal confidential information to our enemies. Some of the information that has been leaked has already resulted in the deaths of our soldiers abroad and many more lives are at stake, including those of law enforcement officers across the country who are put in jeopardy due to the advanced intel being received by our enemies who wish to strike on our soil."
Charlie felt a frisson of fear lance through him at those words, but he tried to shove it aside, determined not to let Banner distract him with that type of tactic. "And how exactly do you prevent that type of search from devolving into a witch hunt?"
"By following the evidence."
"I can't help you with this without further guarantees," Charlie argued stubbornly, his instincts screaming too loudly to be ignored.
"Dr. Eppes-" Banner stated wearily.
"Look, if what you're saying is true, then you won't mind if I check it to make sure the proper precautions have been put into place."
"As I told you at the beginning, this is a classified project, I would think you'd have learned what that means," Banner stated.
Charlie's expression darkened at the reference, but the jab only fueled his determination. "I wasn't planning on involving anyone without the proper clearance, I was merely going to call Bob- Bob Thompkins- he did always tell me it was better to check and be sure than to make a mistake."
With that, Charlie turned towards his desk and began looking for his cell. He was sure he'd put it here somewhere, but over the course of the intervening time, he had moved papers and exams and he'd spread out the papers the NSA had given him, not to mention the other junk that had somehow migrated into his workspace. Entropy at work.
Just as he found his cell and started to look up Bob's number, a Polaroid was dropped onto the desk in front of him and Charlie froze in horror. The picture was taken in what appeared to be a basement from the concrete floor and wall that was visible in the background. It was what was in the foreground, however, that drew and held his attention. It was Don. A battered and bloody Don, tied to a chair and gagged, but it was undeniably him. Charlie's heart leapt into his throat and his eyes widened in disbelief at the sight. The photo was so entirely unexpected and its contents so mind-boggling that he could do nothing but gawk at it as Banner reached over and took his cell from his suddenly nerveless fingers.
"I assume we understand each other," Banner said as he turned off the cell and dropped it onto the desk.
"Huh? What?" Charlie said before his mind finally turned back on and the pieces clicked together, causing him to pale. "This isn't something for the NSA, is it?"
"Not too quick for a genius, are you?"
"Leave Don out of this!" Charlie demanded, feeling as if the rug had been pulled out from under him as he realized that Don had been kidnapped and hurt because of him.
There was a certain irony to the situation, that the brother who was a federal agent had been abducted to be used as leverage against the brother who was an applied mathematics professor at a highly respected college, but at the moment Charlie completely ignored it, too horrified to witness what had been done to his brother because of him and his work. Although he couldn't quite make out all of the injuries on his torso, the blood staining his once baby blue dress shirt indicated that there were injuries there in addition to the bruises along his arms and on his face. There was blood dripping from a cut above Don's left eye and more from another cut on his lower lip. His left eye appeared puffy and the surrounding skin darker than the right one, indicating the beginnings of a possible black eye.
"I'm afraid it's already far too late for that, Charlie," Banner stated, a self-satisfied smile on his face. "Your brother remains with us until you've given us what we want."
"He's a federal agent!" Charlie argued, hoping to make the other man see logic, surely he of all people should know the significance of that.
"Yes, which means that in abducting and assaulting him, we've already committed two very serious felonies, so it would really be in his best interest that you do exactly what I tell you to or he won't survive this."
Charlie's breath caught in his throat and his blood turned to ice in his veins at the statement. No! They wouldn't, they wouldn't dare! Killing a federal agent was an automatic death penalty. The logic merely served to distract him for a few precious moments before the emotions swamped him and he stumbled back into his chair as his legs gave out.
Donny!
The mere thought of them killing his brother because of this was enough to nearly make him vomit and he struggled to overcome the impulse. With a shaking hand, he reached out and picked up the Polaroid, needing to feel that it was real and not some horrible figment of his imagination. His eyes were drawn back to each of the visible injuries in turn and the restraints used to control his big brother, to make him helpless for whatever they wanted to do to him. Like this, Don would be completely unable to defend himself- to prevent them from doing anything to him... to prevent them from killing him.
"Y- you wouldn't," Charlie retorted desperately, wincing at how weak and rough his voice sounded.
"Oh, no, trust me, Dr. Eppes, we will," Banner refuted, stepping in close and shoving a second photo at him, this one a close-up of Don's face with a gun pressed hard enough against his temple to create a ring of white skin around the muzzle.
The NSA agent laughed at the inarticulate noise of horror Charlie made, before he leaned in even closer and whispered into his ear.
"Though, just between you and me, I wouldn't count on him being quite so lucky as to get such a clean death. The man holding the gun on Agent Eppes here really doesn't like FBI agents very much at all. And you never know, if you take too long, he may just be unable to resist hurting your big brother some more. There are many places one can put a bullet without causing a life threatening injury."
"No! You leave him alone."
Banner merely stepped back and shrugged. "Like I said, he really doesn't like Feds much. We've already had to stop him from hurting Agent Eppes any worse. Tick, tock, little brother, time's running out on your big brother's life. What will it be?"
"I-," Charlie began, his voice failing him as he was unable to tear his eyes from the barrel of the gun pushed so harshly against Don's temple.
'Statistically, you're dead now. You understand what that means? A man aimed a gun at your head and fired. The fact that you survived is an anomaly, and it's unlikely to be the outcome of a second such encounter.'
Charlie swallowed thickly as his own words came back to haunt him. They weren't an exact match for the situation, but it was close enough. If the man holding the gun now were to pull the trigger, they would be prophetic as there was absolutely no room for error. There was not a single chance his brother would survive.
Well, not really now, at least he hoped the man wasn't still holding the gun on his brother! The meaning remained, though. Trussed up as he was, it didn't matter if the man was currently holding the gun to Don's head or not as Don would be completely unable to stop him from bringing it to bear again any time the man wished to do so.
The mere thought of Don being helpless sent another wave of horror through Charlie. Don was never helpless, he was always either in control or fighting tooth and nail to get in control. To see him restrained was nearly worse than seeing the gun held to his head, nearly.
He was so absorbed in the photo and it's implications that Charlie completely forgot about the other man in the room with him until Banner grabbed hold of his chin and jerked his head upwards so their eyes met. Instead of the friendly or professional gaze he was used to, the NSA agent's eyes were now instead a cold, hard blue, like glittering chips of ice. He shivered as the unrelenting gaze bore into him. How could he ever have thought of this man, if not as a friend, then as a friendly acquaintance? How had he been so horribly deceived by him?
"I'm waiting, Dr. Eppes," Banner stated politely, though his voice contained an edge of impatience. "This is your brother we're talking about here, surely it can't be that hard of a decision to make. Unless you don't much care for him?"
"No! Of course I care for him!" Charlie retorted sharply, the suggestion enraging him.
Sure, he and Don had not always been close, but he had never wished ill on his older brother. Well, not really. Yes, he'd wanted to hurt him at times, wished to do it occasionally if only to make Don pay more attention to him or to stop treating him like a little brat, but that was merely frustration and anger speaking. He'd never really wanted to see his brother harmed.
Too late, Charlie realized that he'd just played right into Banner's hands. He didn't need to see the triumphant smile cross the other man's face to know they now knew for certain that threatening Don would elicit a good reaction from him. How could he have been so stupid? Well, not that it really made all that much difference, he reasoned, trying desperately not to give into the numbers that wanted to rush in and numb his mind to the horrible situation he so suddenly found himself in. His earlier reactions to the two photos would already have been more than enough of a response to tell Banner all he needed to know.
If, indeed, they'd needed any verification at all. They seemed to be well enough informed already of the relationship between himself and Don. Not to mention that they must have done a certain amount of research into his older brother ahead of time as well to have successfully kidnapped him. Don was nothing if not excellent at what he did and he didn't make an easy target, so they must have planned the abduction very carefully and known what to expect from him in order to carry it out successfully.
"Then I take it you'll comply with our requests?" Banner pushed, sounding for all the world like they were merely discussing a business transaction instead of torture, coercion and potential murder.
"Yes, I'll do it, just don't hurt Don anymore," Charlie replied, knowing that his brother would be disappointed in him.
Don would urge him to resist, to not comply with Banner and the others working with him as he still didn't know the specifics of what he was working on. He still didn't have the first clue what information the encryption and security program protected, the options were nearly limitless in this day of electronic expansion where everything from banking to government agencies used computer transactions to conduct business.
The problem was that Charlie couldn't do it. He couldn't simply sit back and refuse to do the math for them when his big brother's very life hung in the balance. He just wasn't that strong and he knew it. If doing what Banner wanted meant that Don would be set free, then he had no option but to do exactly that.
At least he hoped he could. It had been a bitter pill to swallow, but Charlie had finally been forced to admit that his brother was right when he said that he didn't deal well with emotional pressure. Give him an impossible deadline or a challenging problem and he was all over it, breaking it down logically and resolving the situation in the most rational manner possible. But as soon as emotions got involved, his coping mechanisms seemed to break down and in such a way that he wasn't even aware of their doing so at the time. Well, until recently, anyway.
With Amita, he'd known, but that was such an extreme example that he really couldn't be certain that he'd realize he was compromised in a less stressful case. He desperately hoped so, but Charlie knew that in the past he'd always been so certain of himself, so sure he was still acting rationally, that he was embarrassed to even think about how he'd acted.
So, would he be able to focus on the damned problem now, knowing what had been done to Don? Knowing what his brother could be going through even now? It had been so excruciatingly difficult to focus enough on the low level math he'd needed to perform when Amita had been taken that he really wasn't sure whether he could concentrate long enough on this formidable task that they wanted him to do.
The question was whether the knowledge that Don's very life hung in the balance would be enough to overcome his natural instinct to hide himself in the safe world mathematics represented or enough to launch him out of it to concentrate on the issue at hand. At the present, he simply didn't know as it was all still too much. His whole world had been turned upside down so suddenly that he was still flailing about, desperately attempting to come to terms with what had happened and all of the implications thereof.
Chapter 3