Title: Home Is Where The Heart Is.
Fandom: CSI/Numb3rs.
Pairing: Don/Charlie.
Author: Aiden.
Chapters: (1/?)
Ratings: FRAO.
Warnings: Slash, incest, angst, hurt/comfort.
Summary: Don couldn't go through this again, but their love was to strong.
Beta: SRS/Silvia *hugs* Thanks a bunches for all the help.
Author's note: This is my first back story.

Sitting in his office, Gil stared at the old and worn picture in his hand, smiling fondly at the memories it brought back.

"They grow up so fast," Nick said softly, leaning against the doorframe, knowing exactly whose picture Gil was looking at. Gil carried it with him everywhere, a reminder of the day the two cubs had come to live with them.

Gil looked up and sighed. "Yeah, they do."

"Well, it's good to have them back home again." Nick smiled at Gil.

Gil was silent for a moment, not sure if he agreed with Nick. "Yeah… maybe," he whispered.

"Come on, Gil. I'm sure they've gotten over their crush by now. It's been four years, you know," Nick said, walking over to the desk and sitting down across from Gil.

"Was it enough? I mean, you saw how Charlie was after Don left. He was miserable for months. He didn't talked to anyone, acted like some kind of robot. And who knows how Don felt," Gil mumbled.

"Gil, please don't do this to yourself. You made the right decision back then, it was the best thing for both of them." Nick tried to reassure him.

"Yeah. You're probably right," Gil said, giving a last, lingering look at the picture before putting it back into his wallet.

Nick grinned. "Actually, Larry hinted to me that our Charlie has his eye on one of his ex-students."

"He does? Who?" Gil asked curious.

"Remember that girl who came to visit him a week ago?" Nick asked him. "And Charlie insisted that they were just friends?"

Gil nodded. "Amita. Really? My boy is in love? That's great."

"Yeah, Charlie is all grown up," Nick grinned.

"I guess that means he is really over Don then," Gil mused.

Nick stood up and walked towards the door. "Yep, I guess he is."

~.~

Sitting in his room, Don mused about his brother, letting the familiar ache wash over him.

Did his father really think keeping them apart for so long would change his feelings towards his brother? Gil had been so wrong in assuming that distance would make a difference.

From the minute Don had laid eyes on Charlie across the living room, all of his feelings had come back to him in full force. When they'd shook hands for the first time in four years, Don had felt Charlie's touch all the way to his heart.

Only, now he had no idea what to do or how to act. Did Charlie even remember what they'd had? His brother had looked at him, eyes hooded, very little emotion or reaction on display.

Don wondered if he should have bothered coming back. If it hadn't been because he was tired of working Fugitive Recovery, he'd still be out there.. running from town to town, staying one step ahead of heartache.

For the longest time, he'd thought an affair with Coop was the answer, but his partnered had been a poor substitute. He'd never been in love with Coop; the blond had only been a convenient fuck.

Well, that was over now.. Coop was not the type to settle down – even if Don could have loved him. Smiling grimly, Don realized that Coop would have a new lover in no time. Don didn't fool himself; he was easily replaced.

In the end, it didn't really matter; his heart belonged to Charlie even if it was wrong or immoral. Even if he knew he couldn't act on his feelings, not again.

A knock on his bedroom door jerked him out of his musings. "Yeah, who's there?" he asked standing up.

"It's me, can I come in?" Charlie's voice came from the other side of the door.

Don sighed, not sure that letting his brother into his room was such a good idea. Resting his head on the door, he asked wearily, "What do you want, Charlie?"

"Can't we at least talk?"

Don heard the irritation in Charlie's voice. Taking a chance, he opened the door and stood back.

Looking his brother over, he tried to get them back to their sibling relationship, back to before it had gotten so complicated. "How have you been? Are you okay?" Don asked even though he knew that everything was far from okay.

Charlie stepped inside and gazed at Don, looking like a lost puppy. "No. You really got to ask? You should know that nothing has been okay since you left," he snarled as he slammed the door shut.

Before Don could respond, Charlie had him pinned against the wall, capturing his lips in a hard, demanding kiss. Charlie's tongue searched for Don's, desperate to experience his brother again after so many years apart.

Don tried to push him away. "We can't do this, Charlie, not again."

Charlie licked his lips, savoring a taste that was all Don. "Why not? I still love you," Charlie growled. "And don't you dare tell me that you don't still love me."

Don closed his eyes. "It's wrong, Charlie, we can't do this. This was exactly why dad made me leave you." Gazing at Charlie's beautiful face, he whispered, "I can't do that again. I can't lose you completely again. At least, now we can still see each other," Don whispered.

Charlie said softly, "Do you think I want to stay close to you if I'm not allowed to touch you, to make love to you? Don't ask that of me. If I can't have you as my mate, then I'm leaving for good this time."

Fear coursed through Don, making his stomach clench hard. "No, please don't go. I want to be able to see you and talk to you. I just think that being lovers is wrong – even though you know how much I still love you."

"Why is it wrong to love each other? What is so wrong with what we feel for one another?" Charlie paced back and forth, searching for something that would make Don see reason. "Sometimes love is stronger than a man's convictions," Charlie said, quoting one of his favourite author.

"Charlie," Don whispered.

"What? Why can't we love each other like we did before?" Charlie looked like he was close to tears.

Don looked away, he didn't have an answer. He wanted nothing more than to take his brother in his arms, but they couldn't do this again… they just couldn't. His heart couldn't take the heartache again.. Shaking his head, he whispered, "I can't."

Charlie grabbed Don's crotch, rubbing his fingers expertly over his jean-covered cock. He smiled when Don gasped, reacting to his touch and becoming hard. "You can't ignore this," he whispered. "I won't let you."

Don moaned, pushing his hips forward into Charlie's hand. His brother was right - he couldn't ignore this. Cupping the back of Charlie's head, he pulled him forward, starting to kiss him passionately. When they separated, Don licked his lips. "I missed this," he confessed.

"Yeah me, too," Charlie said, smiling. Leaning against Don's broad chest, he felt his brother's arms wrap around him.

Don sighed, thought back to the first time they declared their love for each other.

They'd been making out in Don's room when Gil had walked in, shocked and furious at what he'd discovered. Charlie had been home from Princeton and he'd been on vacation from the FBI.

At eighteen and twenty three, they'd been very much in love. A forbidden love actually, a love that could never be, but they couldn't deny their feelings for each other. It started as light touches, kissing in dark corners, making out in the stables at night in the protection of the darkness.

Then that fateful day that had happened. They'd been making out in Don's room, thinking that that Gil, Nick and Warrick where out of the house. They hadn't counted on the three males coming back early, and Gil looking for them. He would never forget the look on his father's face when he'd walked in the room, taking in his sons lying naked on the bed. His look of disgust and betrayal on Gil's face had been seared into Don's mind.

Gil hadn't uttered a word but his eyes had said it all. Their dad walked back out of the room, and Don felt the earth vanishing from under his feet. A few days later, Gil had called him into his office and told him that it would be best for Charlie if Don left and never came back. As much as it had pained him, Don had known it was coming, and he couldn't even disagree with his father's assessment.

When he'd returned to the FBI, he'd put in for an assignment in the Fugitive Recovery Unit, and effectively disappeared.

"What are you thinking about?" Charlie asked him, relishing the feel of Don's arms around him. "You're a million miles away."

Don looked at Charlie, his eyes solemn. "That leaving you was the stupidest thing I've ever done. I should never have disappeared the way I did."

Smiling slightly, Charlie glanced at Don's face, so dear to him. "You know, you didn't drop off the radar completely," Charlie teased. "I kept tracks of you through my contacts at the CIA and NSA."

"You did?" Don asked, smiling, knowing he was finally where he should have been all along. "I should have known you'd keep tabs on me." Leaning forward, he kissed his lover again. "Let's go to bed."

TBC.