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Looking for Love	By : IrenaAdler Category: M through R > NUMB3RS Views: 2208 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own NUMB3RS, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Part 17 � Retribution

For the next two weeks, Don healed, slept, cleaned his
apartment, did small jobs around Charlie�s house, and healed more.� With grim determination, he went back to
sleeping in his own bed.�

At first Charlie and his dad treated him like he was
fragile, but eventually things went back to normal.� They�d been given a glimpse of the true
darkness that Don had fallen into and were happy to move on. �Don himself felt more alive than he had before
The Chamber, so maybe there was some good in the whole mess after all.� Feeling alive meant feeling
angry, lonely and bereft.� But at least
he was feeling.� He began to learn how to
function inside this new Don.

When two weeks were up, Don went back to work.� By that time most of his body was back to functional,
though it would be another four weeks before the pins could come out of his
fingers.� At first, his team treated him
strange, looked at him sideways, and whispered in the halls.� Then the team got into a nasty hostage
situation and Don reacted normally, maybe even more normally than he would have
three weeks ago, and everyone loosened up.�

A month after Don was back at work, his team cornered
him.� The three agents looked determined.

�We�ve been very patient,� David said, �But you need to tell
us who did that to you.�

�Did what?�� Don
asked, stalling.

Colby made a scoffing sound and David said, �You know what.�

�Don,� Megan said, stepping forward and fixing him with her
best profiler stare.� �You might think
that you�re okay with what happened.�
That you somehow asked for it, deserved it, but that�s not true.� You were hurting emotionally and someone took
incredible advantage of you.�

�Someone who deserves to be drawn and quartered,� Colby
grumbled.

Megan made a shushing gesture towards Colby.� �Even if you�re not willing to acknowledge
that, we know it�s true.� We care about
you and some evil person did terrible things to you.� It may not be noble, but it�s completely
reasonable for us to want to � express to that person how we feel about it.�

�Beat the crap out of him,� David translated.

�Guys,� Don said uneasily.�
�It�s okay.��

Don had thought a lot about what to do about Channing.� He�d planned on looking him up and beating
the crap out of him himself, but he kept putting it off.� The truth was that while he was furious at
Channing, he was still afraid of him.�
Afraid that Channing would turn him back into that desperate, unfeeling,
passive animal that he had been.

�It�s not okay,� Colby snapped.

�What Colby means,� Megan said firmly, �is that we believe
that you need to confront this � person and find closure.�

�Closure,� David repeated, with a grim twist of his lips.

�I can put it in fancy Psychological terms if you want,�
Megan said, smiling slightly.

That phrase sent an unexpected jolt of pain through
Don.� Will had
said something extremely close to that when Don was trying to decide if he
should sleep in Will�s arms.� He
swallowed against the now familiar surge of sadness that thoughts of Will
brought.

�Don?� Megan asked, and her eyes were dark and angry like
he�d only seen a few times before.� �Let
us do this for us, for you.�

�I�ll think about it,� Don said and pushed past them.

He went to the bathroom and threw up.� He washed his face and stared at himself in
the mirror for a long time.� Closure, he thought, that�s what I need.� I�ll feel better after that.� I�ll stop thinking of Will.

Going back into the office, Don stopped by Megan�s
desk.� �Tonight after
work. �I�ll drive.�

Megan nodded quickly, her eyes flashing, then
asked him a question about the case they were working on.

That evening Don put off finishing work for as long as he
could.� Eventually his team tired of his
tactics and almost dragged him to the elevator.�
Don got into his car, waited for the other three to get in, then drove slowly to The Chamber.

He sat in the parking lot and looked at the building for a
long moment while the others waited in silence.�
The parking lot was less full than it had been when he was coming here
regularly.� Maybe the drug raid had
scared away some of the members.

Finally, Don unlocked his glove compartment and placed his
badge and gun inside.� He waited for the
other three to do the same then locked it again.� He climbed out of the car.� He walked to the door of The Chamber, his
team on his heels.� When he got to the
door, he held up a hand for them to wait outside.� They looked like they wanted to argue but
waited as Don pushed open the door to the building.

�Hi, Don,� said the familiar receptionist. ��Haven�t seen you for a
while!�

�Nope,� Don said and gripped his hands into fists.� �Is Channing here?�

The receptionist looked surprised then grim.� �We�ve cleaned things up a lot here,
Don.� We have a whole new management and
a whole new attitude.�

�Good,� Don snapped.�
�Now, is he here?�

�We�ve restricted certain members to a very limited scope of
activity under strict supervision��

�Is he here?�

The receptionist swallowed at the command in Don�s
voice.� �Yes, in his room.�

Don nodded, then went and opened up the door to the
outside.� The receptionist�s eyes widened
as David, Colby, and Megan came through the door.� He reached for the phone but hesitated.� He pulled his hand from the phone and pretended
to be busy at his desk.

Don pushed open the door and walked down the familiar
hall.� His chest felt constricted and
couldn�t take a full breath.� He stopped
when he realized that he was heading towards the locker room and turned a
different direction.�� He reached a door,
the door he�d only been through twice in his life but that he would always
remember, and placed his hand on it.

There was no noise from inside so Channing was probably
between �pieces of meat.�� Don took a
deep breath and pushed open the door.�

The room inside was exactly as Don remembered it, though the
blood had been cleaned from the floor and the apparatuses.� He felt the others come in behind him and
heard Megan gasp at the brutal utility of the place.�

When they shut the door behind them, the far door opened and
out stepped Channing.� He looked just
like the day that he�d had Don under his hands.�
Don went cold and hot and dizzy.

Channing stared at the four people in the room and turned
back to the door.�

�Not so fast,� Colby said, blocking the exit.� �We want to talk with you.�

�Channing,� Don said at last, his voice flat with the effort
to keep it from shaking.

Channing�s rabid eyes turned to Don and recognition
dawned.� �You �� He took a step towards Don and it took
everything Don had not to back away.� �One of my few failures.��
His voice was silky smooth, the voice that haunted Don�s dreams.

Reassessing the four of them, Channing smiled.� It was a frightening smile - pleased,
superior, anticipatory, predatory.� �I don�t usually do groups,� he said, then
looked at Megan, �Or women.� But I�ll
make an exception for you.��

Channing reached towards Don and Don grabbed his wrist.�

�Never again, you bastard,� Don snapped.� �I will never let you do that to me again.�

�But you wanted it,� Channing purred.� �You asked for it.�

�I didn�t know what the hell I was doing,� Don growled.� �I was sick and you took advantage of me.�

�Nonsense,� Channing said, �We were so close.�

�Close to what?� Death?�� Don said, anger fighting against the spell
that Channing�s voice was trying to weave over him.

�Death is only the ultimate surrender.��

�No, hurting and killing people is just how you get your
rocks off,� Don hissed.� �There�s no
greater calling here, you�re just a fucking psychopath and you�ve finally hurt
someone who will fight back.�

�Oh really?�� Channing smiled.� �Without me, you�ll never get what you need.�

Don let go of Channing�s wrist and smashed his fist into
Channing�s face.� Channing stumbled back,
his nose streaming blood.� Don followed
with a second punch and Channing fell back against the wall.

Channing touched his nose.�
He looked surprised � and offended.�
Don�s vision went red and then he was hitting and kicking Channing with
all the strength of his rage and pain. Channing curled up into a ball on the
floor.

�Don,� Colby shouted, pulling him back.� �You don�t want to kill him.�

Don struggled against Colby�s grip.� �Yes, I do,� he snarled.

�No,� Megan said, her voice steel.� �If you do, he wins.�

Don grimaced and turned away, pushing himself from
Colby.� Colby let him go, then he and David stepped in between Channing and Don.�

�We�ll take it from here,� Colby said.

�Megan, Don,� David said, his voice quiet and terrible.� �Wait out in the hall.�

I shouldn�t let them,
I shouldn�t �� Don nodded and headed out
the door.� Megan followed slowly, the
same battle on her face.

Don sat down in the hallway, his head in his hands.� He had confronted Channing and he hadn�t
folded, hadn�t turned passive and helpless.�
He felt Megan�s hand on his shoulder and reached for it.� They held hands and sat there in silence as
sounds came through the wall - screams, grunts, thuds.� From the look on her face, Megan probably
wanted to be in there too but Don was grateful for her presence here.

Finally the sounds faded, until all that was left was a
sobbing whimper.

The door opened and Colby came out first, looking a little
green but resolute.� David followed behind
him, buckling up his belt.� The
expression on David�s face was an awful mixture of satisfaction and disgust.� Both men were splashed with blood, their
knuckles raw.� David and Colby traded a
look of grim approval with Megan then Don and Megan stood up.�

�He�ll live,� Colby said. ��Though he may wish that he
doesn�t.�

Don pointed to a door a few doors down.� �There�s a bathroom to � clean up.�

David and Colby disappeared into the bathroom.� Megan looked at Don silently, like she was trying
to find something normal to say.� David
and Colby returned and Don said, his voice shaky,
�Let�s get out of here.�

The other three nodded and they walked down the hall with an
air of relief.� �

As they walked by the receptionist, Don said, �You�ll want
to call an ambulance.�� The
receptionist�s eyes widened and he reached for his phone.

They left the building and walked towards the car.� Don breathed in the fresh outside air and felt
lighter than he had in a while.� It was wrong, he shouldn�t delight in � whatever they�d done to
Channing.� But he did, and hoped Channing
would remember it for a very long time.

�How about we find a bar, team?� Don said, smiling.� �First round is on me.�

David, Colby and Megan looked at each other in silent
communication.� Then they seemed to
relax.� Relax in a way that Don realized
they hadn�t done since the day a month and a half ago when he showed them his
wounds.�

�Just as long as it�s not a Bud,� Megan said.� �I want at least a Heineken.�

�Microbrew,� David said cheerfully.� �Something very pricey.�

�You�ll get what I buy you and like it,� Don grinned.�

�Yes, boss,� Colby said meekly.

�But no Bud,� Megan insisted, and they all laughed.
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