Acknowledgements:

Omi as always
The BTN8rs - with apologies
The Numb3rs dot org crew - since I did the whole alphabet inspired by their challenge

Disclaimers:

"A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend" - Willow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I do not own any Numb3rs characters nor do I have any rights to
anything related to the TV show Numb3rs. I plead fair use and claim
only my own writing and characters.

Don hated walking home from grade school with Charlie.

He was already embarrassed by how many grades his little brother had skipped so far and if he skipped any more Don was afraid they'd end up in the same grade. He already got teased for being the dumb brother and the last thing he needed was his annoying brainiac brother in his actual classes with him.

Yet they walked home together from school every day, per their mother's orders. Don walked in front, making no effort to slow his pace to accommodate Charlie's much shorter legs, with Charlie at least twenty feet behind because Don didn't want to be seen walking with him.

Once they got to their block, Don would begrudgingly let him catch up so their mother wouldn't see that he wasn't actually walking with Charlie at all.

He stopped just before the street corner and adjusted his backpack. He turned around to tell Charlie to hurry up and froze when he saw the sidewalk behind him was empty.

A flood of adrenaline sent Don's heart racing. Charlie was always there.

Without thinking, he dropped his pack and ran full speed back the way he came, calling out his brother's name and scanning the area desperately searching for a sign of him.

He turned the corner leading to the school and saw a man standing beside an open car door.

"Charlie!" he yelled.

"Donny!" came back a muted cry.

Don pushed himself to run faster and yelled at the man. "Hey!"

The man turned around to see who was coming and Charlie bolted away from the car, slipping out of his backpack when the man grabbed the strap as he tried to get away.

With Charlie running away and Don running towards him, the man quickly got into the car and peeled away just as Don reached it.

Once the car left, Charlie ran up to Don, nearly knocking him over as he wrapped his arms tightly around his brother's waist.

"Donny! I was so scared. He tried to take me away!"

"It's okay, buddy." Still overwhelmed himself, Don just held on to his little brother.

They agreed not to tell their parents but Don dropped off an anonymous note at the principal's office the next morning including a description of the man and the car. They never saw that car or the man again.

From that point on Don let Charlie walk next to him to and from school.

And sometimes a little ahead.