Hey, guys! First Graceland fic so go easy on me! :)

Warning: Minor language and mentions of suicide

Disclaimer: I do not own anything!

All she really wanted to do was sleep. Guarding a beloved, delicious pot of sauce with four devious men in the house was no easy task; it consisted of sleeping on the couch for three days with one eye open. However, said devious men were her men, and each one of them was in a turmoil tonight - and she'd be damned if she just went to sleep during it. Dark hair tousled and clad in her usual sweatpants and tank top, Charlie stepped out of her room.

The sound of running water met her ears as she began her descent down the stairs and warning bells went off in Charlie's head. Mike and Briggs had been home for at least forty-five minutes - plenty of time for Mike to have had finished the dishes already. Mike stood in front of the sink in the dimly lit kitchen, entire frame tense as he quite roughly scrubbed her sauce pot. Knowing damn well that he was a good enough agent to already know she was there, Charlie walked over and stood silently beside him. His eyebrows were furrowed with intense concentration, mouth pressed in to a firm line. The reddened skin of his hands was a sign of just how long he had been scrubbing the dish under the hot water. The plate of food she had saved him still sat untouched on the counter. Charlie peered down into the sink at her very much clean pot and then back up at Mike.

"Ya know, you're gonna scrub my best pot right outta existence if you keep that up." Charlie quipped lightheartedly.

Mike glanced over at her to acknowledge her comment but made neither a reply nor a change of facial expression.

The unshed tears glistening in the dim light did not go unnoticed by Charlie and she quickly reached past him and shut off the water. The entire house seemed to grow eerily still and quiet, the smell of dish soap filling the air. Mike turned around and rested his back against the counter with a sigh, crossing his arms and promptly staring at his seemingly interesting socks.

Charlie leaned up against the counter in a similar position. "Talk to me, Levi".

Mike sniffed and continued to avoid eye contact with her. "Bad night." he stated irritatingly simply, his voice rough with suppressed emotion.

Kid's been hangin' around Briggs too much, Charlie mused. "Coulda fooled me." Charlie remarked. "You do know that I disobeyed one of my great ancestors' rules and beat Jakes and Johnny off with a spatula to save you that plate of spaghetti over there, right? I'm hurt".

There was a long pause before Mike finally looked at her, "I'm sorry." he choked, running a hand through his hair.

Charlie figured he was apologizing not just to her and her neglected pasta. Her heart broke for the young agent. No one wanted to witness someone taking their own life, but, hell, that's the price you risked to pay, along with many other tragedies, when you handed your life over to the FBI. She remembered the first time she had lost someone on a case - she had spent four days holed up in her room with a bottle of Briggs' rum.

When Mike's heartbreaking face got to be too much for her, Charlie reached out towards him and pulled the kid into a hug. He clung to her immediately, burying his face into the crook of her neck.

"Shhh, it's all right, Mike." Charlie whispered as his hands clutched at the back of her shirt. They stood like that for several minutes, Charlie holding his shaking frame as he let it all out. Charlie softly shushed and caressed him, much like she'd done many-a-time before with the other agents in this house. Finally, Mike's soft sobs quieted down enough that Charlie felt it was safe to pull away from him. Mike's cheeks burned a soft pink at the embarrassment of the situation and he looked down once again.

"Hey," Charlie said, tapping his chin up so he would look at her, "we may be a little rough and disgruntled sometimes around here at Graceland, but you are never alone, Mike. We all need someone after a rough day." she reassured.

Mike smiled softly at her, true gratitude in his damp eyes. "Thank you, Charlie".

One down, three to go. The dishes were clean and Mike was on his way upstairs for a shower and a good sleep. Feeling that the rookie would be half all right now, Charlie began her search for Briggs.

She found him where she suspected, just a sign that she knew the brooding agent too well. He was outside on the beach, right on the edge of the water, jeans rolled up so the water could gently splash against his legs.

"Hey, Pauley." Charlie greeted, rolling up her sweatpants and sitting beside him.

"Hi, Chuck." Briggs replied. It didn't sound right, though. The gentle teasing that was always present with the nickname was absent.

Briggs chewed thoughtfully on his full lower lip, staring out at the dark water. The guilt was written all over his face, the constant responsibility that he felt for each and every agent that belonged to Graceland. This wasn't the first time Charlie had found him out here, avoiding sleep and worrying endlessly. That small crinkle that appeared on his forehead whenever he was brooding appeared and Charlie smiled to herself - it was kinda cute.

There was complete silence between the two of them for several minutes, but it wasn't awkward. The cool wind and the sound of the water was relaxing and they both needed it. Everyone teased Briggs about being so "Zen", but they all had an understanding of why he was like that. The rolling waves, the surfing, it all was his way of debriefing. If he didn't have the ocean, he probably wouldn't be able to deal with what he did.

Charlie reached down and began to trace patterns in the wet sand with a stick. "You do know that what happened with Mike wasn't your fault, right, Paul?" she threw out.

"Yeah, it was, Charlie." Briggs stated, turning to her. Starting an argument right away - so typical of the senior agent.

Charlie slapped his shin with the stick she had, "You're such an idiot, you know that?!" she reprimanded, Brooklyn accent thick.

"Ouch! What?!" Briggs exclaimed and reached down to rub his now stinging leg. His dark, angry eyes turned to her but his expression softened almost immediately. You couldn't be mad at Charlie, you just couldn't - especially after sauce night.

Charlie pointed her stick at him accusingly, yet her voice was gentler than it had been, "You need to stop blaming yourself for everything that happens to us. You had Mike's back today, all right? This was his mission - not yours. What he witnessed was terrible, yes, but that was Bello's fault, not yours. There was nothing you could do".

Briggs shook his head and ran his hand through his dark wavy hair, "That doesn't mean I can't feel for the kid, Charlie. I still remember the first death I witnessed - remember it like it was just yesterday. The helplessness you feel…the shock…the guilt…" he reminisced.

Charlie nodded, "I do, too. I do, too." she said softly. Reaching over, she rested her hand on Briggs' shoulder and rubbed it consolingly. "Hey, look at me." she gently demanded and his chocolate eyes looked up at her obediently. "I know taking the weight of the world is what you do, Paul, but you have to give it a rest once in a while, ok? We all feel for Mike after today, but all he needs right now is to have his friends around him." Charlie said, and Briggs nodded.

Satisfied, Charlie squeezed Briggs' arm once more and stood up to brush the sand from her sweatpants. "Get some sleep, Pauley." she ordered with a smile. Briggs returned the smile - that wide, warm smile that everyone loved - and nothing made her happier.

Charlie let herself into the house, wiping the sand from her feet before she made her way to Jakes' bedroom. It was late by now, but she knew he was still up - he was always up late after a particularly grueling day. She knocked, and with permission to enter, she made her way into the large room.

Dale was playing a very serious game of darts and throwing them just a little too harshly for Charlie. "Oy! Watch it!" Charlie screeched, narrowly missing a dart as she made her way over to him. Jakes let out a frustrated sigh and plopped down on the window seat beside her.

"So, how are you?" Charlie started. She pulled her legs up to her chest and draped her arms over her knees. She always loved Jakes' room, it was so "chill" and inviting. It was decorated simply, like a typical man's, but there was just something about it; just like when you were around Jakes, you were very relaxed and very much yourself.

"I'm freakin' fantastic." Jakes replied exaggeratedly, twirling a dart. Charlie let out a small laugh and nudged him with her foot.

"Johnny could've gotten us killed today, Charlie." he huffed. Charlie sighed, he certainly knew how to hold a grudge.

"But he didn't..." Charlie pointed out. Damn men in this house always saw the worst side of things.

"I told him. I told him that chick was crazy and he stayed the night anyway! He should've listened to me." Jakes exclaimed.

Charlie nodded in understanding, "What he did was stupid, yeah, but he's Johnny. We're gonna forgive him anyway." she said with a smirk. Truth be told, Charlie hadn't been thrilled at all with the idea of the two of them going undercover with that psycho lady. She didn't want anyone messing with her boys.

"Yeah, yeah." Jakes rolled his eyes. "I'm mad because he could've gotten himself into some serious trouble. Who knows what they could've done to that kid. Spent the whole night worrying about his stupid ass, and for a good reason. I'm gonna get gray hair because of all of you crazy people!" he exclaimed.

Charlie laughed and patted his leg, "That'll be a truly sad day, DJ. Now get some sleep. You have several nights' rest to catch up on." she said with a smile. She took the dart from his hands and shoved it into the bullseye on her way out. "Night, Jakes!" she shouted behind her.

"'Night, Charlie!"

Last but not least, Charlie knocked on Johnny's door across the hallway. "It's open." came a quiet reply - a little too quiet for her liking when it came to Johnny.

Charlie pushed the door open to reveal Johnny, sitting cross-legged and shirtless on his bed, head down as he concentrated on wiping off the remainder of his airbrushed tattoos. All of them had been too lazy (and too on edge) after the event at the farm that they hadn't helped remove all of the smudged tattoos.

"Hey, hon. Need help with that?" Charlie offered as she strolled in. No answer. "Hey, Tuturro. What's up?" she questioned as she made her way in to the bathroom attached to his room. She sighed to herself as she heard no reply and grabbed a few cotton pads and the rubbing alcohol. They never make it easy, she whined to herself.

"Why so quiet?" Charlie asked, coming back in with the items she needed. Johnny just looked down at his sheets and picked at a random frayed piece of fabric. "No reason'." he replied.

"Yeah, right," was Charlie's reply as she climbed up to sit facing him on the bed. Johnny looked up at her and she was surprised to see bruising on his jaw and cheek that she hadn't noticed earlier. Her mama bear instincts kicked in, causing her blood to boil at the sight. Charlie's eyes narrowed, "That psycho bitch do this to you?" she questioned as she tenderly touched the spot. Johnny nodded and winced, eliciting a soft apology from Charlie. "Yep." he replied nonchalantly. Charlie shook her head angrily, trying to shake off the homicidal thoughts she was having - no one laid a hand on her family and got away with it.

"You know what you did today was dangerous…" Charlie chided as she began to rub the alcohol on one of the tattoos.

"I know, Charlie, I know. And I'm sorry. Nearly got Jakes and Paige killed." Johnny replied. His tone sounded sincere - the kid had learned his lesson. She was sure Briggs, Jakes, and Paige had given him quite the talking to, so tonight, Charlie was just gonna let it go. Today had been a rough enough day on him, especially with memories of his brother brought up.

"You wanna talk about it?" Charlie offered, continuing to rub his skin clean of the ink. Johnny's gaze turned to his track pants and he shook his head. "Nah, I'm all right". His comedic relief and seemingly permanent happiness only lasted so long when it came to the end of a long day in the life of an FBI agent. He'd talk to her when he was ready - he always did. The silence was deafening after that exchange and Charlie decided to turn the conversation a little more light-hearted. "Good thing you talked me into those other tattoos, huh?" she teased.

Johnny smiled, accentuating the cheekbones everyone secretly envied. "I know, right?! I told you!" he exclaimed proudly and Charlie chuckled. The smiles she'd seen tonight, no matter how brief, lifted her spirits more than anyone could fathom.

"All right," Charlie said as she finished up the tattoo. "Ya good?" she asked.

Johnny stood up and examined himself in the mirror on the wall. "Yep, looks like that's all of 'em". Charlie stood up with him and straightened her tank top, "Hey, Johnny?" she began. Johnny's playful light brown eyes turned to her and they both grew serious. "There may have been some screw-ups here and there today, ya know, but everyone is home tonight and everyone is safe. That's all that matters now, all right?" she stated and Johnny nodded at this.

"Now come here!" she beckoned towards him to bend down for a hug, his tall six foot one frame dwarfing even her five foot six one. Charlie hugged him close and comforting, giving him a gentle squeeze. "All right, now get some sleep, baby." she said, issuing a stern order accompanied with a playful wink, and Johnny grinned. "Yes, ma'am!" he called after her.

Charlie felt extremely satisfied as she slid exhaustedly into her bed of soft sheets. It had been one helluva a day, but all in all, her friends were safe and everyone was in Graceland, where they were supposed to be. They may be a band of misfit toys, but they were gonna be all right. And with that, Charlie could sleep.

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading! Reviews would be forever cherished :)