FIC: In a Mirror, Darkly: Chapter 12/?
Title: In a Mirror, Darkly: Chapter 12
Author: Valerie Vancollie (valeriev84 [at] hotmail.com)
Characters: Don, Charlie, Alan, David, Colby, Nikki, (surprise)
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. Don Whump, Charlie Angst!
Betas: aleo_70 & fredbassett
Spoilers: Uncertainty Principle, Vector, Man Hunt, Protest, Dark Matter, Spree, Two Daughters, Brutus, Finders Keepers, One Hour, The Janus List, Breaking Point, Black Swan, When Worlds Collide, The Decoy Effect, Jack of All Trades, Arrow of Time, 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 III: Charlie: CalSci
Chapter 12:
Thursday, 06:39
Dr. Charles Eppes' Office, CalSci
What was this program designed to protect?
What was so important that it needed a system so elaborate, so complex, to protect it?
The questions ran through Charlie's mind yet again as he found indications that there was yet another layer of security under the fourth one he'd finally reached a few hours ago. It was really starting to bug him the deeper he got into the problem. Harvey, Maria and the other mathematicians involved had pulled out all the stops, using every trick they could think of to make what he was doing as difficult as possible. The data that lay behind all of this, safely locked away, had to be incredibly important to the NSA and he knew enough about how the Agency worked to know what that signified.
On top of all of that, Charlie just couldn't get his encounter with the man Banner worked with out of his head. The way he'd spoken of hurting Don, the sheer glee in his eyes at the mere thought of it... It nearly made him sick to think of it despite the fact that he'd already brought up everything he'd had in his stomach. The memory of him licking the blood- Don's blood- off the knife surfaced once more and Charlie froze, fighting with all he had not to start retching again. He succeeded but was sweaty, shaky and lightheaded from the effort and he stumbled back into his chair.
That man was going to kill his brother if Don was left with him much longer.
As much as Charlie didn't want to even acknowledge that thought, he knew it was true. If Don wasn't freed soon, he never would be. Not only did his impression of the man tell him that, but it was also a statistical fact. He'd done his utmost best not to think of all the stats he knew about crime in general and kidnapping in particular, but in the end his mind had done so anyway during yesterday's encounter. The results were not promising.
Reluctant as he was to consider disobeying Banner in a way that was sure to get Don killed instantly if discovered, Charlie knew he had to let Don's team know exactly what was going on. Given the complexity of the problem and the sheer genius of some of the math involved, he feared that there was a very good possibility that he wouldn't be able to hack it in time to satisfy Banner and those working with him. Either they'd decide the risk was getting too great with the FBI closing in on them, or the man he'd met yesterday would loose his patience and kill Don. Banner had said that the man was getting harder and harder to control, something which he could well imagine given what he'd seen first hand.
All of which left Charlie with the problem of how exactly he was going to inform David and the others of what was going on without alerting Banner to the fact that he was doing so. He was pretty sure that they had him under surveillance of some sort given how they'd known exactly when to tell him that they'd kidnapped Don and their other threats. Without surveillance, they'd also have no way of knowing who he told what and he didn't think they'd take that risk. Not after how they'd abducted Don well before they'd needed to. They seemed to like being prepared. From what he'd seen while consulting for the NSA, he assumed that they'd have utilized some of the miniature cameras the Agency had and placed them around his office.
The thought came to him suddenly and Charlie rushed over to the couch and grabbed his laptop. Those cameras he'd seen were wireless, which meant their signal was detectable if one knew how to look for it and he most definitely did. A few minutes later, he'd found three signals and discovered that the encryption on them was of far lesser quality than that of the problem he was currently working on. This he could crack in no time and then it would be child's play to route the live feed from the cameras through his computer before transmitting it beyond the office walls. Unfortunately it was the type of signal that was simply beamed out and not directed at any one location, but Charlie was kicking himself for not thinking to check it sooner. If it had been the former type, then he'd have dragged this out for a full four days beyond what was necessary.
Once he'd hacked into the signal, Charlie would be able to record a certain amount of time and then set that up on a repeating loop before broadcasting it instead of the live feed. Then Banner and the others would think he was here in his office, working on the problem, when he really wasn't. It would allow him to go somewhere and inform the others of what was going on.
As he worked on breaking into the signals, Charlie mentally debated what the best course of action was. He couldn't be sure that Banner and the others weren't watching his car or the building as well, so it was best if he left CalSci carefully, just in case. Luckily the math building was connected to the history building by an underground tunnel that the students often used when it was raining. That building was in turn connected to the psychology building by a covered passageway on the second floor. If he used those, he'd get a good way across campus without being seen and from there he could walk off campus and catch a cab to wherever he wanted to go.
Since he didn't want to be gone too long in case Banner or the other guy returned, Charlie decided it would be best if he headed straight for the FBI office. He could use one of the side entrances just in case the building was being watched but he doubted that it was as that would be quite risky. Still, if he was going to tell others about what was happening, he felt that he should also tell his father the truth. If for no other reason than to explain why he'd been so rude and uncaring both of the times he'd dropped by.
Charlie winced at the thought of last night's visit. Given that it had worked before, he'd used the same tactics he had on Monday and he was sure he'd hurt Dad quite a bit in doing so. The problem was, how to tell him to be there? His father didn't check his e-mails often and he didn't want to risk calling him as he couldn't be sure his phone was clean, not given that he'd allowed Banner to touch it Sunday evening. There was no telling what the agent might have done with it, so it was staying in the office, just in case. Oh, he'd just e-mail David, give him a heads up that he was coming and ask him to make sure his father was present.
Now that he had a plan decided upon, Charlie quickly set about implementing it, trying to think of anything that he might have forgotten or overlooked. He couldn't find anything, but butterflies filled his stomach nonetheless. He was really going to do this, really going to blatantly disobey Banner and risk Don's life in the process.
Despite that, the mental image of his brother was finally nodding at him in approval. Charlie only hoped he'd be able to see the real Don do that soon.
/
Thursday, 17:28
Violent Crimes Squad War Room A, LA FBI Office
Charlie couldn't quite believe that he was back in the FBI building so soon. His original plan had been to come over, explain the situation to his father and the team and then return to CalSci to be there should anyone come by. Instead, David had convinced him it was far better for everyone involved if he worked from the office instead. Not only would it be saver for him, but he'd have more resources at his disposal to work with once the Assistant Director decided on whether or not to contact the NSA about what was transpiring. They were hesitant to do so as there were clearly leaks within the Agency and they didn't want to risk word getting back to Banner or anyone who might be working with him.
Meanwhile, a team of agents would be keeping his office under constant surveillance, ready to intercept and arrest Banner or Frazer the moment they showed. Well, either that or follow them back to where they were keeping Don. It would depend on how they reacted to finding the office deserted.
So Charlie had returned to campus to show the agents the best way to his office and they'd helped him set things up so he could record some more footage to transmit that made it look like it was night for when it got dark. He'd then collected everything he needed, and probably a lot he didn't as he chose not to waste time sorting through all the papers, before returning to the office.
As he'd expected, the FBI wasn't going to allow him to continue trying to hack the NSA's security program and encryption, but he was allowed to examine what he'd done so far for further clues as to what it might protect. He'd also been given access to everything David and the team had uncovered as well as Frazer's full criminal record. He shuddered as he read the bit about George Frazer's death and the subsequent threats Darien had made against Don. From the sounds of it, what the man had chosen to do to Don so far was nothing compared to what he'd wanted to do back then.
To what he still might do.
The thought was enough to cause his stomach to heave and he only just managed to keep the food his father had forced him to eat down. If he was sick now, Charlie knew Dad, who was already hovering over him most of the time, wouldn't leave his side for the foreseeable future and then he'd get no work done at all. That was something he couldn't risk as he needed to be doing something to help his brother right now. The issues David, Colby and Nikki had raised when he'd informed them of what was really going on still stung. How had he not thought to ask for proof that the photos were recent? How had he simply taken that fact for granted? He was smarter than that!
Once again Charlie was confronted with the unpleasant realization that he wasn't nearly as rational or logical when he was confronted with an emotionally charged situation as he thought he was. Yes, he was far better than he used to be, but he was still a far cry from achieving his goal; from being where he always thought he was. This time was a perfect example. He'd believed that, being aware of his tendency to loose logic and reason in these situations, he'd been able to compensate adequately for those weaknesses. Obviously not.
First, he had failed to think of the fact that the Polaroids could have been taken at any point since Don's abduction and thus he'd not thought to ask for more concrete proof that his big brother was still alive at present. Second, he'd failed to think of the fact that the sudden appearance of a new shirt on his brother's frame in the fourth photo could be due to a desire on their part to hide the true extent of his brother's injuries from him. Third, he'd convinced himself he was better off dealing with the whole thing on his own instead of alerting the FBI immediately to the situation. Just how many times had he heard Don or another agent bemoan the fact that a kidnapping hadn't been reported right away?
If it turned out that Don had already been killed and there was a chance he could have been saved if he'd only acted rationally sooner...
"Hey, Charlie, do you have everything you need?" David inquired, entering the war room.
"Yeah, I think so, but I have a question."
"Yes?"
"It says here that Frazer threatened Don from the moment of his second arrest."
"He did, apparently he has always blamed Don for his brother's death despite the fact that they ambushed Don and his partner. Not altogether unusual for someone of his personality."
"But, if he made those threats, then why wasn't Don more careful knowing that he'd escaped again?" Charlie asked, anger growing within him as he thought of how little Don sometimes thought about his own safety. If this could have been prevented... "Didn't he think to take any precautions? Or didn't he consider the threat serious enough to warrant it?"
"Charlie, Don didn't know Frazer had escaped," David informed him, voice soothing.
"What? Why not? I thought agents were warned when those who'd threatened them broke out or were released."
"Normally they are. Something went wrong, though."
"What? How?"
"Apparently the need to alert Don was removed from Frazer's file before he escaped. They thought it had been a simple screw up on someone's part, but given what this group is up to, I suspect that it might have been done on purpose. I'd say they possess the ability to break into the prison records if they managed to orchestrate his escape."
"Why? To catch Don off-guard?"
"Yeah, that would be my guess."
"Then how did you learn about his escape?"
"Someone more familiar with the file realized it was missing. The head of Fugitive Recovery called the office himself when the error was discovered. He wanted to personally warn Don and apologize."
"But it was already too late," Charlie finished, the ringing of a cell interrupting his next thought.
"Sinclair," David said, answering his phone.
Charlie nearly snapped at him to tell them to call back before he realized that it could be something to do with Don.
"Agent Cooper? Sure, patch him through."
Cooper, wasn't that Don's old partner from Fugitive Recovery? Yes, it said so right here in the file; he'd been the one Don was covering when he shot George Frazer. What was he doing calling David? And now of all times? Had he perhaps heard of what had happened to Don and of Frazer's involvement?
"What!" David exclaimed, his eyes widening in disbelief and shock.
All thoughts abruptly fled Charlie's mind as fear gripped him. Had something happened to Don? Had someone found him or his-
No! Don wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead! Not now, after everything that had happened, after everything he'd done. If Don didn't make it because he'd waited too long to tell David and the others about what he knew...
Charlie wasn't sure he could live with that.
Chapter 13