A DISH BEST SERVED COLD

Terry watched unobtrusively as Charlie anxiously wrote, erased, and rewrote the same equation on the boards provided. Don had been missing for fourty-eight hours now and Charlie had been working for thirty-six. The extended period was already beginning to take effect. Despite the fact that Alan, who had remained in the office, physically took the eraser from his son and made him sleep an hour and a half, three times, or that Larry and Amita had come in and tried to distract his mind, he still pressed on. Terry watched, with a sisterly worry, as Charlie began to erase the board with a shaky hand, again.

The sudden, over-whelming feeling of guilt hit her as Charlie reached for the marker. The sound of it clattering on the floor sent a blow to her gut and her sense of responsibility took hold. As silent as a church mouse she walked up next to Charlie, bent down and grabbed the marker before he could reach for it. Instantly he stood up, staring at her accusingly.

"Could I have that back, Terry?" he said, pressingly.

"You need a break," she replied, pocketing the marker.

"I told Dad I'd take a break in an hour," he replied testily.

"It's been nearly two," Terry replied, her voice razor sharp. She herself had promised Alan she'd make sure Charlie took a break.

Charlie's eyes glazed over. Weakly he walked over to an open chair and collapsed in it. Exhausted with worry and sleep deprivation he hung his head into his hands. Terry felt the pain of sisterly worry mix in with the guilt of a friend. Quietly she pulled the other chair and sat in front of him.

"Hey," she tried, as cheerfully as she could, tapping him on the leg, "It's going to be alright, Charlie."

She watched him peer up at her for a second. His eyes were clouded in doubt. For a moment they just sat there. Charlie started to make a move, as though he wanted to talk when they heard the door open.

"Guys," David's head poked into the room. Terry noted the anxiousness in his voice, "The kidnapper's contacted us."

"How?" Terry replied, jumping into agent mode.

"Delivery man, dropped of a package adressed to this office. It contained a video tape," David replied, leading Terry and Charlie to another room.

"Where's the delivery man now?" Terry asked.

"Interrogation room. I have Malcolm and Wentz working on him."

"Good," Terry replied as the three of them walked into the room.

"You're just in time," an agent, whose name Terry didn't remember, replied.

Pushing in the video, he hit play. For a few seconds the screen fritzed and then went black. Suddenly the lights turned on and for a minute a picture of each kidnapped agent flashed on the screen. Terry's heart sank when Don's face appeared on the screen. Then the camera went black and the next image was off a masked man.

In a dark, deep voice he said, "Hello, to whomever is watching this. I'm sure by now, you've had or you will have this image and any preceding scanned, again and again. You'll search for fingerprints as well, as clues to the location itself through the tape. Now normally I'd tell you not to bother, but where's the fun in that. I'm just going to skip straight to the it is impossible for my demands to be met. I have what I want. In fact I'll give you a demonstration."

The camera went black. Then, as the light faded to on, the masked man, Don, and Edwards were visible.

"Alright, Don," the voice said, "Let's just see how well you listened. You've got many options to this one question. Would you be willing to forgive Edwards? Forgive him for refusing to forgive you? Would you be willing to rebuild your friendship," the man pulled out a gun, "Be careful how you answer."

Don didn't seem to think about it. Looking at Edwards he replied firmly, "Yes."

"Oops, wrong answer," the man said, and the sound of gunfire echoed.

Instantly Terry felt her stomach drop, but the tape wasn't over. The bullet hadn't hitEdwards. The kidnapper had intentionally missed.

"Would you like to try again?" he sneered.

Terry watched Don's face. She saw him calculating the angles. Trying to get into the kidnapper's mind. Trying to get an answer the man could take. With a sinking feeling she knew it was impossible. Whoever it was, he wouldn't be satisfied. She watched the glimmer of fear cross Don's eyes as he realized the same thing. Edward's life was completely in the madman's hands. It was his game and Don had no way to win.

"You're out of time, boy," the man interrupted.

Don stared at him. Refusing to risk giving an answer. It was the only move he calculated as safe. The madman smiled. Immediately the tape turned off and any connection they had with Don was gone. David and Terry looked at each other. They knew what they had to do.

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