Summary: Coming home should be a happy occasion, but only if you survive the trip. Lots of Don angst and Charlie, well you know how it's always fun to hurt Charlie, right?

Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or any of the characters they belong to CBS. But if I did the show would still be on TV.

A/N: Had this on my computer for a while, but only now found the time to finalize it and upload. It's a complete story that's three chapters long. Thanks to June for the help.

Coming Home by wenwalke

Chapter One

Don sat in his living room a small smile on his face, lost in thought. It was already six months since Charlie and Amita had left for Cambridge. The time had gone so fast and yet Don thought that it would never end. Six months was a long time to not see his brother, although at one time they hadn't seen each other for months and not felt anything. But that had all changed and now he couldn't wait for Charlie to come home. The smile increased in size at the thought of seeing Charlie soon.

Looking out the window, Don sighed. He was up at 4 a.m. so he could call Charlie to confirm their arrival time the next day. Their plan was to stop over in New York so Amita could visit an old friend from her college days.

Running his fingers through his hair, Don continued his line of thought. It had only taken a week for him to realise just how much he missed his brother. When Charlie lost his clearance, Don couldn't discuss cases with him. He'd missed Charlie then too, but he'd been able to see Charlie and talk about other things, whereas now, thousands of miles separated them and that made a big difference.

With another sigh Don dialled Charlie's number and listened to the now familiar clicks as the call was routed to England. Even though they'd spoken numerous times during the last six months, he still missed talking face to face. There was an eight hour time difference which necessitated the early raising. Don wanted to catch Charlie before they left for the airport.

Hearing his brother's voice say hello brought back Don's smile. "Hey Buddy, are you all ready for your flight?"

"Yeah Don, we're leaving for the airport in about five minutes. Our flight leaves at 4:05 p.m. our time and arrives at LAX at 7:05 p.m. your time. Hang on a minute Don." Don could hear someone talking in the background and waited for Charlie to come back on the line.

Charlie turned as Amita came in the door to the house they'd rented. "Charlie the limousine the University sent is here." She smiled, seeing Charlie was on the phone and knowing by the smile on his face he was talking to Don.

"Okay Amita, I'm just confirming our flight with Don. Have the driver load the bags. I'll be right there." Turning Amita went back out thinking that it would be good to be home.

Charlie put the phone back to his ear. "Sorry about that Don. Amita was just telling me the limousine has arrived. We're on British Airways flight 269 non stop from Heathrow to LAX." He knew this information would provoke a question.

Sitting up straight and frowning Don asked. "Last time we spoke you were going to stop over in New York. What changed Charlie?"

"I know Don, but we managed to book on this flight at the last minute and decided we're too excited about finally coming home to stop off anywhere." If Charlie were to admit the truth, he couldn't wait to be home and see Don and his dad again. They'd become so close over the last six years since his mother died, that he really missed them. While both Charlie and Amita had enjoyed teaching at Cambridge, they were both anxious to be home in LA.

"We're hoping that travelling first class on British Airways will be more comfortable so we can sleep. An eleven hour flight can be very long if you don't sleep at least part of the way." Charlie carried on his explanation with a secretive smile on his face.

"Wow, I can imagine what it costs to travel first class. Good for you Charlie." Don smiled to himself. He knew that Charlie was not short of money, but he also knew that his brother didn't like to spend more than was necessary. Truthfully, Don was a little surprised that Charlie would put out the money for first class, when business class would've done. Settling back in his chair Don waited for Charlie to carry on.

"I want Amita to be as comfortable as possible, so the extra expense will be worth it." Charlie was smiling to himself now. He was finding it hard not to let slip the secret he and Amita were holding until they could tell Alan and Don in person. Although he suspected that Don had already figured out that Amita was pregnant.

"Well, I know dad has been going crazy getting the house ready for you. He's really looking forward to you coming home. So am I Charlie. I can't wait until 7:05. Dad and I will both be there waiting for you." Don was smiling so much his face hurt. He was sure he could guess what Charlie was trying not to tell him, but it didn't matter right now. He was going to see his little brother again in just over 14 hours.

"I'll see you tonight Don," Charlie said quietly.

"Tonight Charlie. Bye." Don hung up and turned to go back into the bedroom. Robin had been asleep when he got up, but as he crept back in, she rolled over and looked at him.

"So, how's Charlie? When do they get in?" Smiling, Robin sat up and waited for Don to get back into bed. She then snuggled in next to him.

"They changed flights and are arriving today at 7:05 this evening. Can you make it or is the Thompson case going to keep you busy?" Don brushed Robin's hair behind her ear and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"I'll make it Don. I know how important this is to you and Alan." Leaning up, she kissed him full on the lips. "Now go back to sleep, we have to be up in another hour."

Don arrived at the FBI offices at his normal time of 9 o'clock. Since his promotion six months ago, he didn't have to be there all hours of the day and night. That was the job of the three teams over which he was now Supervisory Agent.

He couldn't stop smiling thinking, about the fact that by the end of the day Charlie would be home. As he settled himself in his chair, Liz Warner knocked on the open door and walked in. Liz was making a good team leader, as he'd known she would. After David left for his new position in Washington, Don promoted Liz and never regretted it.

"Morning Boss, you're looking happy today." Liz sat in the chair across the desk from Don and put down the file folder she was carrying.

"Yeah Liz, today is the day Charlie and Amita come home. My wedding is only a little over two weeks away, so today is a good day." Looking at Liz, Don's smile faltered. She'd stopped smiling right after he told her that Charlie and Amita were coming home today. Something was up.

"They're flying in from England today? I thought they were stopping over in New York?" Liz was now frowning and nervously fiddling with the folder on the desk.

"Their plans changed. They managed to get a direct flight and decided not to stop over." Seeing the worried look that appeared on Liz's face, Don continued, "What's up Liz?"

"Don, you better look at this." Liz handed Don the folder. "That came in two hours ago from the British Security Service, MI5. I called Larry in to see if he could narrow down possible targets, but he has nothing yet." Sitting back in her chair she waited for Don's reaction to the file contents.

Taking the file from Liz, Don opened it and started reading. He hadn't got far when he looked up and said, "Go check on Larry. Tell him we need him to work fast, as Charlie and Amita will be on one of those flights."

Liz got up and left and Don went back to the file. Running his hand through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck, he continued to read the file.

MI5 had uncovered a terrorist plot to hijack an international flight, divert it to another airport in Northern California and hold the plane and passengers for ransom. They had only learned that it was to be a direct flight to Los Angeles after several planes had already left, and Don saw Charlie's flight number on that list.

Homeland Security was notified immediately, and they'd alerted the FBI to help coordinate efforts to stop the hijacking. Extra security was in place in England on all flights that had not already left for Los Angeles, but so far, everyone on those flights checked out clean.

Don put the file on his desk and sat back to think. Why today? This was to be a happy day. Now it looked like people might die, and Charlie and Amita could be among the casualties.

Charlie sat in the first class lounge at London's Heathrow airport and waited for their flight to be called. Amita was curled up with her head on his lap, sleeping. He'd told her that wasn't a good idea if she wanted to sleep on the plane, but she'd said she was tired now and would still be tired enough to sleep during the flight.

Their flight was called a few minutes later, so Charlie gently woke Amita and they made their way onto the plane. A flight attendant showed them to their seats and Amita immediately sank down and was almost asleep again.

"Amita are you alright?" Charlie was worried by Amita's apparent lack of energy, but having no experience with pregnant women, didn't know if this was normal or not.

"I'm fine Charlie. Stop worrying." Leaning over she took his hand. "This is not unexpected right now. I've seen enough family members in my condition to know what to expect. Did you cave and tell Don when you were talking to him?"

"Almost. It's so hard to keep this a secret. Much worse than when we kept our engagement a secret." Amita smiled. She knew how hard it had been for Charlie. He'd really wanted to tell Don and Alan about the engagement, but she hadn't wanted to announce anything until after her parents had given their permission. "I think Don's guessed though," Charlie continued. "He always seems to know when I'm hiding something and figures out what it is."

"We'll be home in a little over eleven hours Charlie. You can tell them as soon as you see them if you want." Amita leaned over and hugged Charlie then settled back into her seat.

Getting up, Charlie knelt next to Amita and gave her a kiss. "I love you. You always know what I want before I do, don't you?" Amita smiled and settled herself more comfortably in her seat and fastened her seatbelt. "It's my job to know what you want, or need Charlie."

Charlie returned to his own seat and also fastened his seatbelt. "I hope we leave on time," he said.

The plane left only a few minutes late and for ten hours the flight was uneventful. Charlie and Amita slept most of the way, except when meals were served. The in-flight movie was one they'd seen, and although Charlie read a math journal for a while, sleep made the time go quicker.

Then, an hour out of LAX, gunfire erupted in the economy section of the plane.

Charlie knew from working with several different agencies that there would be two Air Marshalls on the plane; one in economy and one in first class. As two armed men stormed into the first class section, Charlie guessed that the Air Marshall in economy must be dead.

The plane was now making a rapid descent to a lower level and Charlie guessed that no bullets had gone through the plane's outer shell or they would be experiencing decompression. The pilots were taking no chances though in case more shots were fired.

Whoever the Air Marshall in first class was, he wisely decided to wait before trying anything. Looking at the man in the seat in front of them, Charlie guessed he was the Air Marshall, judging by his reaction to the situation.

One terrorist positioned himself so that he could see everyone, while the other got on the phone to the pilots. "Open the door or we'll kill more of your passengers," he demanded.

From where Charlie was seated, he could see that whatever the pilot replied did not make the terrorist very happy. "There are already a number of dead passengers, and the Air Marshall. Now you've just killed two of your crew." With that, he nodded to the other terrorist, who immediately shot the two stewards standing by the galley in first class.

Amita clutched Charlie's hand as other passengers screamed. "Shut up or you will be next!" yelled the terrorist who had fired. The screams stopped, but a few passengers could still be heard crying quietly.

The first terrorist spoke into the phone again. "Open the door now!" Again the terrorist didn't get the answer he was looking for. This time he turned his gun on the door and emptied the clip into it, but to no avail. The door still wouldn't open, and Charlie knew that the pilots were under strict orders never to open the door to terrorists, no matter what happened in the cabin.

Charlie had undone their seatbelts and pulled Amita into his seat with him, putting her on the side away from the terrorists. After the first terrorist had replaced the clip in his gun, he turned to face the passengers and Charlie knew he was going to start shooting them out of frustration. As the gunfire erupted, he pushed Amita to the floor and covered her with his body to protect her as best he could.

A/N: Well that's the first chapter. I'll try and post the next one soon. Please review, after all that's what helps an author want to write and upload to this site.