Disclaimer: Nope, sorry. I do not own Numb3rs or anything that goes with it.
A/N: Sorry this has taken so long to do. I have no idea how often I will be updating this.
I'd like to thank Curtisbrothersfan for the name of the story, SyberiaWinx for the main idea of the story, and a big thanks to stealthy290 for being my beta.
Oh and SyberiaWinx and I made a NUMB3RS site. If you'd like the address of it, just ask one of us and we'll send it to you.

Charlie grabbed his luggage in the busy airport. The air was stale in the area, full of people. He sighed as he turned and faced Larry.

Larry smiled slightly at his younger friend, "It wasn't that bad."

Charlie stared at Larry, trying to forget all the background noise, "I fell in the punch bowl."

"But it wasn't really your fault." Larry protested, moving out of the way for a young couple.

"I tripped over the train on Amita's wedding dress and then I fell into the bowl, thus making the punch go all over. All over Amita in her white, expensive, wedding dress." Charlie grumbled.

Larry scratched his head with his free hand, "I do see why you are dwelling on those few moments from the past."

"Charlie! Larry!" A familiar female voice rang out.

The two turned and saw Megan waiting for them across the airport lobby. They made their way to her as fast as they could.

"How was the flight?" She asked, huge smile on her face.

"Fine." Charlie answered, monotone.

"And the wedding?" Her smiled faded a bit.

Charlie sighed, "Fine."

Larry smiled at Megan, "Amita sends her regards."

Megan's smile grew a bit and nodded, "You two ready? The vehicle is just outside."

The three made their way to the airport's parking lot, so that Megan could drive them home after a long week.

--------

Charlie slowly opened the front door to his home. "I'm back," he stated to thin air.

Alan appeared suddenly from the other room with a smile, "Hi, Charlie."

Charlie smiled slightly, sadly.

"How was the wedding?"

"Pretty good." Charlie sighed, sitting down in a chair, "It was a small wedding, just close friends and family." He paused, "They are going to India for their honeymoon."

Alan nodded, following suit and sitting as well, "That's good to know." He paused, thinking of something to say, "Don is going to come for dinner tonight."

"And when is dinner?" Charlie asked hesitantly.

"'Bout an hour."

Charlie nodded. "Alright. I'm going out into the garage to work for a bit."

Alan watched quietly as his youngest son made his way through to the door leading to the garage. He sighed. He has missed having Charlie home when he was away for the wedding, but it seemed as if his son was still gone. And that made Alan worry.

About an hour later, Alan sent Don to go and fetch Charlie.

Don was glad that his brother was back, he had missed him. So he made his way to get his younger brother. He smiled when he opened the garage door and saw Charlie staring at the chalkboard with chalk in his hand. He walked towards the board slowly and hesitantly moved the chalk before it, his hand was hovering over the board.

"Not sure what to write?" Don asked, walking towards Charlie.

Charlie turned and smiled, "Don." He sighed and turned back to the chalkboard, "Well, I was just debating which method I wanted to use to solve this problem."

Don shook his head happily. "Can't help you with that." He paused. "Come on, time to eat."

Charlie put down his chalk and followed his older brother inside.

-------

"Chuck? Wake up Chuck."

Charlie opened his eyes and only saw darkness.

"Good of you to join to the living." An evil laughter sounded, "Why aren't you laughing with me Chuck? That's a funny joke, being as I'm dead."

Charlie blinked at the darkness. "If you're dead, then why are you still here?"

Tirry laughed again, "Honestly, you are really stupid for a genius. I'm here because you want me here."

"I do not want you here. I just want to forget you."

"But you can't forget me, because I'm not gone. I'll never be gone, Chuck."

Just then a blinding pain shot through Charlie. He screamed out in pain, "No! Stop it!"

"Have you missed that feeling? That feeling of helplessness, of vulnerability, of the power that goes through you when shocked with electricity?" Tirry asked, maliciously.

"This is only a dream." Charlie chanted to himself, "It's only a dream. I can't be hurt here. I can't be hurt here. It's only a dream."

"Dreams are real. They stick with us. You know that."

The pain went through him again.

-------

Alan woke up to hear screaming. He bolted upright and looked at his clock. The red numbers told him that it was just past one in the morning. He heard the scream again. It was Charlie's scream, and he sounded terrified. Alan quickly ran into his son's room and turned on the light.

Charlie blinked at the sudden light, he could feel his heart racing, he could feel the sweat roll down his body, he could hear himself panting. He looked around his room with his brown eyes and soon found his father's eyes.

Alan walked up to Charlie, "It's alright, Little One. It's alright. You just had a nightmare."

Charlie could feel himself shaking, remembering the nightmare.

Alan sat down next to Charlie on his bed, "Are you still having nightmares?" Alan paused and shook his head, "I mean, are you still having nightmares often?"

Charlie cleared his throat as he felt his heart rate fall, "At least once a week."

Alan cursed. "I didn't know that. This one was really bad?"

Charlie nodded silently.

"Want to talk about it?"

Charlie closed his eyes and shivered, remembering the dream. "No, thank you."

"Are you sure?"

After a length, Charlie answered, "I'm sure."

Alan left the room, shutting the door behind him. Getting more than worried. All day long Charlie had been acting like his mind was elsewhere and now he just had a nightmare. It seemed to be a very bad one, one that caused him to call out in his sleep. He knew that all he could do now was wait until Charlie wanted to talk about it.

Charlie on the other hand just sat in his room, with the light on. He closed his eyes thinking. Then deciding on it, he got up and took off his now wet shirt, if he was going to try and sleep again, he would need some dry clothes.

"But you can't forget me, because I'm not gone. I'll never be gone, Chuck."

Charlie shivered as he saw the pi symbol on his chest. He quickly put a shirt on, so that he didn't have to see that.

He sighed, knowing that Tirry was right. He would never be gone. As long as Charlie had scars, he would never be gone.

------

Alan smiled at Charlie as he came down the stairs with bed hair. "Went back to sleep?"

Charlie yawned while nodding, "Took a while though." He scratched his chin as he sat down.

"How about I fix us some french toast?" Alan offered, trying to hide his worry for his youngest son.

Charlie flashed a grin, "Sounds great. While you make that, I'm going to get ready."

"Ready? What for, son? It's Saturday. You don't have to teach a class today." Alan raised an eyebrow as he stood up, getting ready to make breakfast.

"I need to go to the library." Charlie answered, stretching his arms as he too, stood up.

Alan nodded and went to make some food for the two of them.

Charlie sighed as he made his way to the bathroom. He shaved as he let the shower water warm up. He shivered as he saw the scars on his body, the memory of the dream came back in full. He shook his head, trying to forget it. He could feel a tear roll down his cheek along with the water from the shower.

When he was done he opened the door and walked out, smelling the food right away. His stomach growled as he made his way into the dining room. "Smells great, dad." He flashed another smile.

"Thank you, Charlie." Alan sat two plates on the table. Alan let Charlie eat in peace for a length, then he spoke up, "How long are you planning to be at the library?"

Charlie shrugged as he swallowed a mouthful. "Not for sure dad. Why?"

"Dr. Roland wants to see you today. It is your first full day back since the wedding. So, you need to be here by one."

Charlie sighed, "Alright." He started eating again, but stopped when he noticed that his father was watching him, "Dad?"

"Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Charlie made eye contact, "You mean about the dream?" Alan nodded while Charlie shook his head, "Don't really want to talk about it."

Alan sighed, "You know you need to talk about it, right? Why have you been hiding the fact that you've been having nightmares at least once a week from me?"

"I wasn't hiding them."

"Yes you were. How many times have I asked you if you slept alright and you just told me that you had? That you had slept like a baby? How many times?"

Charlie took a drink from his glass of milk, thinking up an answer. "Well, in reality, babies often wake up in the night. So, in a way I wasn't really lying."

Alan threw his hands up in the air, "I don't know what I'm going to do with you." He got up and walked out of the room.

Charlie stared down at his half eaten food and pushed the plate away. He jumped when he heard Alan's voice yell at him through the closed door.

"I'm Going Out To The Garden. Make Sure You Take Your Medication Before You Leave."

-------

As Charlie walked up to the front desk, he couldn't believe what he was actually doing. He didn't really believe what the books would tell him, so why was he going to see what they said?

"Excuse me." Charlie said quietly to the woman behind the desk. She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Where are the books about dreams? The ones that tell you what dreams mean?"

The librarian sighed, "Elizabeth."

A young woman walked up. She was thin and pale with ice blue eyes. Her long, blonde hair was tied back in a plait. "Yes Mrs. Peterson?"

"This man here wants to know where the dream books are. Why don't you show him? I'm sure you know where they are. You're here enough." Her voice was stern, but quiet.

Elizabeth nodded and turned towards Charlie, smiling shyly, "Follow me."