Chapter 26

Don had brought a pile of clothes over on Sunday, ostensibly to do laundry, but having clean clothes in the house gave him a good reason to stay. On Tuesday morning, he was up and dressed before dawn. The hearing was going to chew up a good part of the day, and he had some things to take care of concerning the new case before it started. At least that's what he told himself. The fact that he was up early had nothing to do with the fact that he had heard his brother cry out during the night, and his sleep had been fitful since he had gotten up to check on him. It also had nothing to do with the fact that he would be seeing Edgerton for the first time since the incident in the hospital. Nothing at all; he just had work to do.

He tried to be as quiet as he could in the bathroom, and when he emerged, the house was still dark and silent. He crept downstairs, congratulating himself, getting all the way to the sofa before he saw movement. His heart jumped; then he saw the silhouette of curls against the faint dawn dimness coming in through the window.

"Charlie?"

The head turned toward him. "Yeah."

Don crept toward the sofa, feeling for an empty spot, and sat next to his brother. "You scared the crap out of me."

A soft chuckle came from the silhouette. "Sorry."

Don regarded him for a moment. The light was slowly amplifying, and he was beginning to make out features. The eyes were an enigma, as yet. "How long have you been here?"

"I don't know, a couple hours maybe. Couldn't sleep."

Don was silent for a minute. "I heard you last night. Bad dream?"

"Yeah. I'm starting to get feeling back in my toe, and every once in a while I get a sharp pain. I guess it registered in my subconscious – I dreamed I was-," he paused, his voice a little unsteady, "– you know-," He took a deep breath. "Anyway, it woke me up, and I got to thinking about today." He glanced at Don; he could start to make out his brother's face, and he looked down at his hands. "Sorry if I woke you."

"Aw, Charlie, it's alright." Don looked at his brother searchingly. "You know it would be a good idea if you talked to someone about all of this. I thought I'd be the last one to admit it, but it does help."

A small grin played on Charlie's face. "Yeah, I know." He looked up, the smile tempered by a look of earnestness. "I talked to someone Friday night. He helped a lot." He held his brother's eyes, and Don smiled back softly.

He stood, squeezing Charlie's shoulder. "I have to get in there. I'll let you know how it goes."

He was halfway to the door when Charlie's voice stopped him.

"Donnie?"

Don turned. "Yeah, Charlie."

Charlie looked at him a moment, his mouth open to speak; a strange expression on his face. He closed his mouth, and the expression vanished. "Never mind."

Don stared at him a moment, but when nothing else came, he turned. "Okay, buddy. See you later." He let himself softly out into the growing dawn.

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The hearing was held at the L.A. office, partly due to the fact that many of the agents testifying were from there, and partly due to fact that L.A. was a convenient place for the director to fly in and out of. There was a large conference room with state-of-the-art equipment that was only used for high level meetings, particularly if they had to communicate with Washington, and it was selected for the hearing. The director attended, and so did Assistant Director Merrick, but it was presided over by the Bureau's version of internal control, which was headed by Special Agent Matthews.

They pulled agents in one at a time to testify. They were allowed to sit in on the proceedings, but only after their testimony. The practice was geared toward making sure that each deposition was not swayed by previous testimony, but the fact that all participants could listen afterward was for the express purpose of keeping the proceedings honest. No one was likely to lie with their colleagues in the room. Don had already been interviewed, and he sat with Agents Reeves and Sinclair, listening as Colby finished. Edgerton had been questioned first, and he sat on the other side of the room, face impassive, eyes expressionless.

Don had not heard his testimony, and wondered grimly how truthful Edgerton had been. He had felt a surge of unbridled anger at seeing him again, but as he sat through the hearing, his anger was reluctantly tempered by empathy. No agent ever wanted to be on the receiving end of one of these investigations, especially not an agent like Edgerton, who had made his work his life, and whose performance was legendary. In spite of himself, Don felt a grudging sympathy for him; any of them could make a mistake in judgment on any given day, and find themselves in the same position.

He steeled himself to the thought. There really were no excuses. The man had made that mistake with a defenseless consultant, who happened to be his brother. He set his jaw, his eyes cold, as Colby finished and stepped down. They had to be nearly done, Don thought.

Matthews consulted the paperwork in front of him, and spoke to the agent stationed at the door. "I now call Dr. Charles Eppes."

Don's mouth dropped open, and he felt the other agents' eyes on him. He recovered with an effort and shut his mouth, fixing Matthews with a sharp glare. He had purposely asked that Charlie be kept out of this, and Matthews had agreed to interview Charlie privately, outside of the hearing. Matthews caught his glance and addressed the room. "Let it be noted for the record that Dr. Eppes was a consultant on this case, and agreed to testify at this hearing of his own accord." Don frowned. Why would Charlie have declined the chance to interview privately?

Heads swiveled as Charlie stepped into the room. He was now walking without a cane, but still had a slight limp, that was becoming less noticeable with each passing day. He had been eating better the past few days, Don knew, but he was still pale and extremely thin. His jacket hung on him, and that and his youthful appearance gave the odd impression of a boy playing dress-up in his father's suit. He glanced at Don, his expression a bit tense, but his eyes steady, as he stepped up to the chair.

The testimony proceeded. Matthews had a few perfunctory questions concerning Charlie's earlier involvement in the case, but as he reached the portion concerning Charlie's trip alone with Edgerton, the questioning became more pointed.

Matthews reviewed his notes. "It's my understanding that the morning you were released from the hospital, Agent Edgerton approached you with a request that you accompany him back on the trail."

Charlie spoke calmly. "That's correct."

"There have been allegations that Agent Edgerton did not represent himself truthfully, and that he coerced you into going with him. Can you comment on that?"

Charlie eyed him coolly, and sidestepped the question. "Regardless of how Agent Edgerton represented it, I knew exactly what I was getting into." Don's jaw dropped, and he looked at Megan, who looked back at him with the same astonishment. Charlie continued. "I can see how others may have made that assumption, but the fact was; I understood the situation. By that time, I had already had two run-ins with Mansour. No one knew the risks better than I did."

The reality was, Charlie reflected, that he had known the risks, but he had still let himself be swayed. The fact that he allowed someone to influence his actions by using his desire to please his brother was partially his own fault.

Matthews looked at him thoughtfully. "And you feel comfortable that Agent Edgerton was looking out for your well-being."

Charlie directed his gaze at Ian, who returned it with a slight frown. "Absolutely comfortable."

Don had managed to get control over his facial expressions, but he was squirming uncomfortably in his seat. Granted, this was not a trial, so Charlie's statements were not perjury. If Charlie had some new understanding of what happened, what he was saying now was probably even truthful. He could not for the life of him understand why Charlie was doing this, however.

Matthews continued. "And yet you ended up being attacked again. Did you feel that you were intentionally put in that situation?"

"No. It is clear to me that happened as a result of Edgerton proactively investigating something suspicious. His attention was diverted when the attack occurred, but that was because he was doing exactly what he should have been doing, investigation. It was unfortunate, but not intentional."

'Unfortunate?' thought Don. 'Jesus, Charlie, that's the understatement of the year.'

Matthews eyed him. "And do you feel that Agent Edgerton took appropriate action after the attack?"

Charlie paused. This was the toughest question. For all of the others, he had managed to give a truthful response. If he hadn't thought those things at the time, he thought them now.

He answered Matthews, speaking slowly. "I think Agent Edgerton made the best decision he could at the time. There was little time to react and another life was in the balance. I can understand why he made the decision he did."

Matthews saw around his careful wording. "Would you have made that decision yourself, had you been in his position?"

Charlie paused, looking at Edgerton. "No," he said finally. "But I'm a math professor, not an FBI agent. I would probably make a lot of wrong decisions if I were faced with having to make split second calls in the field. Who am I to say what is or is not a wrong call?" He waited while Matthews consulted his notes again. He could feel everyone's eyes on him; the cool stare of the Director, the perturbed look from his brother, and Edgerton's expressionless gaze, and he felt a bit of sweat trickle down his neck.

Matthews finally looked up. "I take it from your responses that you are considering no legal action against the Bureau or against Agent Edgerton over this matter, and will not consider such action in the future. Would that be a correct statement?"

Charlie quirked an eyebrow at him. "I believe that my contract would prohibit me from doing so, regardless of whether I wanted to or not."

Matthews regarded him levelly. "Please answer the question."

"Your statement would be correct. I would not consider legal action."

"Very well, I have no further questions. Director, Assistant Director, you have an opportunity to comment or question." Much to Charlie's relief, both the Director and Merrick declined. Matthews announced, "I consider this hearing closed. Agent Edgerton, you will remain on administrative leave pending our decision."

Edgerton nodded, and the group rose, shuffling for the door. Charlie was one of the last out, and as he got through the door, he could see his brother and the other agents standing at the end of the hall. He sensed, rather than heard, the presence beside him, and he looked up to see Edgerton next to him. Ian waited until the hallway cleared a bit, looking at Charlie with a bemused expression. "Why did you do that?" he asked quietly.

Charlie looked at him thoughtfully, his brow puckered slightly. "I know you guys have to make decisions every day, tough ones. I get the luxury of having the time to analyze things before I make an evaluation. I realize that some of your decisions are judgment calls, and there is room for error." He shrugged, and his eyes held Ian's. "There's the fact that you saved my life on more than one occasion. But most of all, I guess I just hope that if Don ever finds himself in a position where he made a bad call, that someone would give him the benefit of the doubt."

Ian stared at him. He lived in a world with consequences, there were no breaks; he normally didn't give them, and he surely couldn't remember anyone giving him one before. To imagine that a person would not be vindictive after what Charlie had gone through was a completely foreign concept. Prior to this, if Ian had been asked to describe Charlie, 'strong' was not a word that would have come to mind. Today, though, that was exactly what he saw radiating from the brown eyes regarding him; quiet strength. He felt suddenly humbled by the slight man in front of him, and words failed him. "Thank you," he said simply, and Charlie nodded soberly, with a hint of compassion in his eyes.

Charlie turned and limped down the hallway, and joined his brother, who regarded him thoughtfully. "What are his chances?" asked Charlie.

"After what you just did, probably pretty good," said Don, his face an odd mixture of puzzlement and admiration. "The fact that they didn't make a decision on the spot in this case is probably a good sign." He looked at Charlie, perplexed, and then down the hallway at Edgerton. Don's own inclination was still to charge down the hall and punch the man's face in. "I can't say that I would have done that – why did you?"

Charlie looked up at his brother and smiled. "I had my reasons."

Edgerton stood staring, rooted to the spot after Charlie walked away. He saw the Eppes brothers talking, and then saw Don put his arm around his brother as they turned away down the hall. He felt a twinge of something – a longing for something he had never had, and he knew with certainty that there walked two of the luckiest men on the planet. He straightened, and his face became expressionless once again, his dark eyes unreadable, as he turned the other direction and walked silently down the hall.

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