A/N: This is the last chapter. Told you the story would be short! The title of this chapter is taken from the Kipling poem If... Thanks for all the reviews and I am sorry that I haven't had time to reply but with 2 stories on the go, it's been a bit hectic!

Don stood in the van, staring at the hand set of his phone, unable to speak for a moment as the enormity of what the sniper asked him to do hit him. He couldn't hear anything except the pounding of blood in his ears, the words kept repeating themselves in his head over and over; who dies today? Your agent or your brother? Nausea swept over him and for a brief moment the room swam out of focus. Then, as the shock subsided, it was replaced with anger. He pulled himself together and looked at the stunned faces of the people in the van, his gaze brushing past each one of them until it found the face he was searching for. Charlie was still sat at his lap top, his pale face framed by his curls. The two brothers looked at each other for a moment and then Don turned to face the rest of the team. It was Liz that spoke up first.

"The guy has to be crazy" she said to the room in general. Don ran his hand through his hair.

"How much time do we have?" he asked.

"Nine minutes and thirteen seconds" the technician replied, then seeing the look on Don's face added rather sheepishly "I set a stop watch when the guy said we had ten minutes" and he pointed to a small digital read out above one of the monitors that was counting down. Don nodded in approval.

"Good thinking" he said. "OK, we have nine minutes to come up with a plan and execute it." He didn't even mention the bargain that the sniper wanted to make and Charlie was quick to point this out.

"Don, if I don't go out there, he's going to kill Colby." He gestured towards the image of Colby on the screen. The FBI agent was still lying on his back, recovering from the last bullet his jacket had taken.

"Listen buddy, no-one is going anywhere." Don replied lightly, trying to brush off the idea that Charlie would replace Colby out in the plaza. "We can work this out."

"Work this out? There are only eight minutes left!" Charlie protested, pointing at the clock.

"And we're wasting them arguing. There is no way that you are going out there Charlie, no way." Don switched his attention to David, effectively signalling the end of the debate with his brother. Sinclair had been watching the exchange with interest. He felt that he was close to both Charlie and Colby; hell, he had Charlie had been through so much together, but after what had happened to Colby at the hands of Lancer, he had sworn never to let his partner down again. He trusted his boss, which went without saying, but deep down he was afraid that Don's unquestioning loyalty and love for his brother would leave mean that Colby would not be leaving the plaza alive today.

At that moment the head of the tactical unit popped his head round the doorway of the van. It was Tim King, the head of the ERT and a familiar face to the team; one that both Don and David trusted. Sinclair felt a rush of hope at the sight of the ERT Perhaps now, there would be some action that would get his partner out of there.

"I heard about this over the wire and requested it" King said, stepping into the van. "What's the situation?" Don filled him in as fast as he could, painfully aware that every second counted. King said nothing, absorbing the information as fast as he could, nodding to show that he understood what he was being told. He waited until Eppes had finished and then put a large roll of paper on the table and flattened it out. It was a plan of the plaza.

"We picked this up on the way through. From what I understand, Granger is here" He pointed at an open space on the diagram. "We could attempt an insertion from this side. It will provide enough cover for a small team with shields until we reach this point. After that we will be out in the open. I doubt we can move fast enough to get to Granger before the sniper spots us and finishes it."

"So, what you saying is, that there is no way to get Granger out of there." David snapped as he watched what seemed like the only chance to get Colby out evaporate.

"I'm saying that this guy picked his spot very, very carefully. It's almost perfect. He knew that there would be no way we could get shielded people in and out before he could fire."

"So, so what, we can't get Colby out?" Charlie asked, his face pale. Don scowled at him briefly.

"Charlie, we know what we're doing, OK buddy?"

"Five minutes left" Nikki noted. Don looked at the faces of the people around him. He knew that they were looking to him to save their friend. His mind raced as he tried to think of a new angle. Something they hadn't tried yet. The phone beeped. Don snatched it up and opened it, maybe the sniper was about to offer a last minute lifeline.

"Eppes"

"Agent Eppes, tell your boy out there to get to his feet." Don nodded at David who frowned and then turned to speak into his microphone. The caller continued.

"We're nearly at the end now Eppes. My name is Peter Issacs. Do you remember me? Probably not." The voice was no longer gloating, it was sharp and angry. " Eight years ago, you led a raid on and you shot my baby brother dead. Simon Issacs. That was his name. He was twenty one. Just a baby really. I went to prison for seven years and for seven years you were the only thing on my mind. You and revenge. I want you to understand why I am doing this today. You took the only decent thing that was in my life from me. I want you to know how that feels." Nikki span round and started to type frantically into one of the computers, searching the FBI database for information on the names.

"That works on the assumption that I'll send Charlie out there." Don replied, trying to stay calm.

"What? And sacrifice an FBI agent, one of your own people?"

"No one will die today." Nikki had flipped the computer screen round so that Don could read the information that she had found. "I do remember you and your brother. The Issac Brothers. The bank in Burbank, right? As I recall, your brother had already shot dead a security guard and was threatening to kill a young woman. I also remember that he shot first and that you fled the scene and left him to die. You want someone, take me. I'm the one that you want to punish."

"And be punished you will, as you live with the consequences of the decision that you make today." The phone line went dead again. Don slammed the small grey rectangle on the shelf and then hung his head, his mind racing, desperate to find a way through the mess.

"Edgerton just called, he's set himself up on the third floor of one of the buildings across from where we think the sniper might be" Nikki said as she hung up her own phone. "He's gonna try and spot the guy through his rifle. He's hoping for a flash of sunlight on his scope or something."

"OK, Ok, that's something." Don replied trying to inject some enthusiasm into his voice. "Listen, we're running out of time. I'm gonna go out there. If I offer myself he may leave Colby alone." The van erupted as various people voiced their protests. Don ignored them as he started to prepare to walk into the plaza.

"Hey, where's Charlie?" Don asked, looking round the van, unable to locate the familiar curly head. He popped his head out of the door and scanned the immediate area but there was still no sign. "Charlie?" he called. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked round.

"Hey! Has anyone seen Charlie?" there were lots of shrugs. Don's heart started to pound and he had a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Suddenly, his phone rang, he span round and grabbed it off the shelf. He flipped it open and almost spat "What" into the mouth piece.

"Don, it's me" It was Charlie.

"Charlie where are you?" he went back to the door and looked around at the FBI people who were milling around but there was still no sign of his brother.

"Don, we're out of time. As talented an agent as you are, even you can't do anything in less than two minutes and I can't leave Colby out there." Don lifted his head and squinted against the sun. Just on the edge of the plaza he could make out the familiar shape of his brother. He stepped out of the van into the bright Californian sunshine, speaking rapidly into his phone as he walked.

"Charlie, come back!"

"I'm sorry Don, but what type of person would I be if I let Colby die out there today just to save my own neck? I know you well enough to know that you would rather put yourself out there than anyone else and I can't live with that on my conscience. Look, this way, none of this is your fault. You need to remember that, you need remember that you tried to stop me, but it was me that made the choice. I've made the choice. Tell Dad and Amita that I love them and I'm sorry but I had to do this. I love you, Donny." The phone went dead. Don looked at it for a second and then threw it on the floor. Running towards the plaza he yelled at the top of his voice.

"Charlie, CHARLIE! Don't you do this! Charlie, NO!" his voice bounced off the buildings as he raced towards his brother. Suddenly there were hands holding him back, stopping him from getting any closer to the plaza. Sinclair was talking to him, his voice getting louder and louder as he tried to get through to his boss.

"Don, Don, you go out there, he'll shoot you too!"

Don seemed deaf to the pleas of his friends, he was close enough now to see Charlie, his little brother turned and smiled at him, raising a hand slightly in a half wave, and then carried on walking into the plaza, his hands held above his head in the universal sign of surrender. Don thrashed and lashed out at the hands that held him.

"Charlie, NO, god, NO! Let me go, CHARLIE!"

Charlie closed his eyes and tried to block out the sound of his brother's impassioned cries. He was so surprised that he felt so calm. He would have thought that he would have been more frightened than this but in fact he felt a strange serenity wash over him. He could see Colby. The FBI agent was still on his feet as ordered by the gun man, although he was swaying a little as the sun beat down on him. As Charlie came into his sight, Granger turned his head. Charlie could see that Colby was at the limits of his endurance. He had been out in the direct sun for hours with no shelter or water, in a heavy Kevlar jacket and had been forced to adopt stress positions for most of the time. Charlie got some comfort from the thought that it was Colby's life that he was saving – so long as the sniper kept his word. Of all the team, apart from Don, he felt closest to Colby and had sought his advice and counsel on more than one occasion. He had always admired Colby's selflessness.

"Hey Whiz Kid, what you doing out here? As tanning salons go, this one leaves a lot to be desired." Colby joked weakly. Then he frowned. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, you know" Charlie said evasively.

Colby stood for a moment thinking. Then he frowned and straightened up.

"This better not be what I think it is. Charlie, I don't have the energy for this. Go back. For God's sake go back"

"Why?" Charlie asked simply.

"Why? 'cos I'm telling you to, cos I was here first, cos I'm only one stupid FBI agent, easily replaced, whereas you are unique and a damn sight more important than me! This is no time to be a hero, man." Colby staggered a little and then regained his balance. He bent down and put his hands on his knees to steady himself

"That's not true." Charlie replied quietly to the top of his friend's head. "There will be others, other people. There are always other people." He cocked his head to one side " I've always admired that about you and Don and David, the fact that you will always stand up for what is right, always do the right thing no matter what." He paused and looked away. " I couldn't live with myself knowing that you – my, my friend - had died to save me." He closed his eyes again briefly, letting his consciousness focus on the sounds in the plaza rather than what was about to happen. He could hear a number of different sounds, Granger was still protesting about Charlie's presence in the plaza, birds in the plaza trees and far off in the distance he could hear Don yelling. His phone rang, thankfully drowning out the sounds of his brother's anguished cries. He didn't even open his eyes as he flipped the phone open. Lifting it to his ear, he heard a voice.

"Your death today is the fault of your brother. I wanted you to know that. It's his fault." And with that the line went dead.

Charlie let his arm drift back down to his side, his eyes still closed. He smiled. I don't blame you, Donny,. he thought, then he heard a shot ring out across the plaza. He felt something hard hit him, although to his surprise there was no pain, and he crashed to the floor.

The sound echoed across the plaza and out onto the street where the FBI were stationed. Don went limp as he heard the shot, the arms that had held him back, now cradling him as he slid to the ground. For a brief moment the world went white and then it swam back into focus. He started to scramble to his feet, one name repeating itself in his head over and over again "Charlie".

Don shook his head a little and then he began running. He felt like he was running through syrup, he just couldn't get his feet to move fast enough. In his earpiece he heard Edgerton saying something but he couldn't focus on the words. As he came into the square, he could see two shapes sprawled on the ground. He sped up and as he reached the inert figures he slid onto the ground as if he were stealing a base, ignoring the pain as the concrete ground rubbed away the flesh on an exposed ankle and elbow. Colby was lying onto top of his baby brother. David and the others, who had been only seconds behind their boss grabbed Granger and rolled him onto his back. Don looked at Charlie his face so still and calm. Don grabbed his brother and pulled him so that his head was cradled on Don's lap. Don's eyes searched frantically up and down Charlie's body but he couldn't see any sign of gunshot trauma on his head or otherwise. All of a sudden, Charlie gasped and his eyes flew open. His arms began to flail around until he realised that Don was holding him and then they gripped his brother's arms. He sucked in lungfuls of air, replacing the air that had been knocked out of him when he hit the floor.

"Charlie, Charlie! Are you OK?" Don ran his hands up and down Charlie's chest and back, checking for blood. Charlie nodded.

"Just a little winded. What happened? Oh my God, is Colby OK? He didn't shoot me, he must have shot Colby. Oh God!" Charlie struggled in Don's arms trying to see his friend. Don hugged his brother tighter and looked across at his colleagues, steeling himself for the sight of Colby's corpse.

The others were tearing at Colby's vest, pulling the heavy black material off him. Don tried to shield Charlie from it; he knew that they were pulling the vest off to start CPR. God Colby, I'm so sorry. He tried to hug Charlie closer but the younger man pushed him off and scrambled to his hands and knees, crawling across to Colby to get a better look at his stricken friend. Don raced after him; it seemed that the nightmare was never ending. Charlie had survived but one of his agents, someone he was responsible for and someone he counted as a friend was dying only a few feet away.

"We need water!" David and Liz shouted together. Don knelt to side of his friend and co worker. Colby was lying on the floor, agony etched onto his face. Don couldn't see where the bullet wound was, then he realised - there wasn't one. As the others started to pour water over Granger's head and chest to try to cool him down, Don finally focussed on what the voice in his ear was saying.

"Sniper is down, repeat sniper is down." It was Edgerton's voice on the radio. Don pressed the talk button on his own radio.

"Copy that" he said.

"At last! Oh, the area is clear by the way. Not that it is important now. I'm on my way down. Edgerton out." Don let go of his radio and rubbed his face with both hands. A medic rushed past him and knelt at Colby's side, diagnosing hyperthermia pretty quickly. Cool packs were placed under Colby and in his armpits, neck and on his body and a drip was set up to help him re-hydrate.

"How is he?" Don asked as the medic handed the IV bag to Sinclair to hold.

"He's OK, dehydrated and suffering from heat exhaustion but once we have him colled down he'll be fine. We'll transfer him to UCLA and they can take a proper look at him there but as far as I can see he's gonna be OK."

"Hear that buddy? You're gonna be just fine." David asked. Colby nodded and lay his head back on the pillow the medic had placed on the ground for him.

"How's Charlie?" he asked. Don sat down on the floor next to him.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" He said and gestured towards an anxious Charlie who was being given a once over by another paramedic. As soon as he was given the all clear, Charlie rushed over to be with Colby and Don.

"Colby, you, you saved me." Charlie stuttered. "You threw yourself in front of me. The bullet would have gone through you, not me."

"Charlie," Colby rasped. "I told you that there was no way that I was gonna let you take the hit for me."

"Ah listen to you two." Ian Edgerton walked over to them, a grin on his face, his case carrying his rifle slung over his shoulder. "The only person who was in any real danger was the sniper and he got what he deserved."

"What happened?" David asked, still holding the IV bag.

"I settled down in a window that gave me a good all over view of the buildings on this side of the plaza. I knew that as the sun was changing position, it would cast more light onto the buildings. I was hoping for a reflection from his scope or something and whaddya know, I got lucky. Nice bright flash of light as he lined you up in his sights gave me just what I needed." Ian explained trying to be casual about the amazing feat of marksmanship he had just pulled off.

"Is he dead?" Charlie asked

"Most people don't survive a bullet to the head."

Don stood up and shook Edgerton's hand.

"I don't know what to say, I can't thank you enough" Ian said nothing for a moment, he knew that Don was not usually one for outwards bursts of emotion so he allowed the man his moment before replying.

"Hey, any excuse to get some practice in" he joked, trying to lighten the mood. Don nodded and then turned back to Charlie. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Colby being helped onto a stretcher.

"What do you think you were doing? I told you not to go. I told you that we would get this sorted. He called you, I saw you answer the phone. What did he say?" Don demanded. Charlie shrugged. "He just said goodbye" he replied. Don narrowed his eyes, he was usually a good judge of when someone was lying and he knew that his brother was lying to him now, however, the look on his face persuaded him not to push the issue. He changed back to his originally tack.

"How could you disobey my orders like that?" Don asked. Charlie looked Don straight in the eye as he spoke.

"What type of person would I be if I had let Colby die today? How would I live with that? How could you expect me to live like that?" Charlie paused and looked at the floor. "All my life Don, I've watched you do the right thing, no matter what it cost you. Do you think that that is something that doesn't rub off of someone? Something that I wouldn't aspire to be? You always keep your head, even when everyone else around you is lost and scared. I saw that today, the decisions that you were being asked to make were unfair and I didn't think it was right that you should have to live with the consequences- that I or Colby had died today because of a choice that you made. So I decided to make the choice. I did the dirty work." Don looked at his little brother for a moment and then wordlessly wrapped his arms round him and hugged him. The two men stood like that for a moment, not saying anything; then at last Don pulled away.

"You do know that if you had gotten your ass shot off today, Dad would have killed me"

"Yeah, I kinda guessed. He can be so grumpy about that sort of thing." Charlie joked back. "You know, Colby is surprisingly heavy when he is lying on top of you."

Don laughed; the brothers wrapped an arm round the other's shoulders and followed Colby out of the plaza and into the FBI cars that were waiting round the corner.