Discalaimer at the begining.

With out my wonderful beta Serialgal this chapter would not be possible. Thank you so much.

To all who have reviewed thank you to you!

-999-555-111-777-333-

The next morning when Charlie woke up he was definitely not feeling like himself. He felt odd, disconnected, as if he was having an out-of-body experience. He wanted to be distant from everyone, and didn't know what he was going to do to get through the day. Although his ankle was much better, he figured he could use it as an excuse, and stay behind when the others left for whatever they had planned. He could hang around the cabin and finish the analysis he was doing for the LAPD.

'Yeah, that is exactly what I'll do,' he thought as he hobbled over to the window to open the curtain with an exaggerated limp, in case anyone was watching. As he pulled the curtains back, his heart constricted. It was pouring, and from the looks of the ground; it must have been raining at least two hours. Worse yet, from the way it was raining and the sky looked, there was no hope of the deluge ending any time soon. That meant they would all be in the cabin all day - on top of him. He felt a surge of claustrophobia.

'Great, what am I going to do now?' he was thinking as he felt a large hand drop on his shoulder.

"Hey, man, what are you thinking about?" asked Colby as he headed past him, towards the kitchen.

"Hey, uh, nothing. I was just thinking that looks like it's getting really bad out there; looks like it has been raining a while," said Charlie, pushing himself to make conversation as he followed Colby into the kitchen.

"Yeah, David and I were thinking the same thing," stated Colby as he went to fill the coffee pot with water.

"What was I thinking?" asked David as he walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and bent down and grabbed some orange juice.

"Nasty weather," responded Colby.

David grunted, and as he stood up with the carton and turned to the cupboard, he spoke to Charlie. "Hey, how's the ankle?"

Colby turned around at that and just looked at David and Charlie. "Oh, man, I am sorry - I completely forgot about that," he said.

Charlie, uncomfortable with the attention, tried not to squirm. He felt his gut tighten inexplicably. "Thanks for asking." He tried to grin and it came out more like a grimace. "It's a little sore, but I think I will live to see another day." He finally managed a weak smile, and tried to keep it there as Robin, Don, Larry, and Alan trooped in, filling the moderately sized kitchen. Charlie felt the claustrophobia ratchet up a notch.

"Well, looks like we are all in for today. That rain has no intentions on letting up from the looks of it," stated Alan as he walked over to Charlie. "Son, how are you feeling? You look a little peaked. How's the ankle?" He stood in front of Charlie, as if daring him to lie in his face.

"Dad, good grief, I am fine," said Charlie, as he looked at the entire group gawking at him. He suddenly had to get out of there. "Guys, trust me, I am fine," he repeated, a little too emphatically, as he started through the kitchen back into the living room. "I am going to find Amita see if she wants some breakfast."

As he walked away from them they all turned back around went back to what they were doing, except for Don, who stared, eyes narrowed, at his brother's back as Charlie hobbled from the kitchen towards his and Amita's room. Almost immediately, Charlie returned with Amita, who looked more than a little tired.

"Hey, Amita, you okay?"

Amita shot an uncertain glance toward Charlie as he sidled back toward the door, as if getting ready to bolt. "Yes – just need some coffee."

"And how about you, Eppes? You seem a little spaced out there," teased Robin gently. She appeared to be well rested herself, her long brown hair loosely tied in a ponytail. She set a cup of coffee in front of her lover, and Don gave her an appreciative glance.

"Yeah, I'm fine - just thinking about what we are going to do to entertain ourselves today," Don said as he looked at her, his admiring look deepening as he took in her blue jeans and little baby doll blouse. He tore his gaze away and looked back at Charlie, who was limping back out of the room, and he frowned a little, as he took a sip of his coffee.

…..

As breakfast ended, the group found themselves lounging around the engaged in light conversations.

Nikki noticed Amita sitting by herself just staring out the window. "Amita." Nikki spoke quietly so as not to startle the other woman.

Amita looked up in surprise. "Nikki, what's up?"

Nikki shifted from one foot the other, slightly uncomfortable, but plowed ahead. "I just was wondering – well, you know – you seem a little quiet today. I wanted to make sure you were okay and to let you know that if you need... well… if you need anything, even it is someone just to
listen - I guess I'm here. That's all."

Amita's expression softened. "Thanks, Nikki."

Nikki hesitated a moment, but when it became clear that Amita wasn't going to offer anything more, she nodded and strolled away.

Just then, the lights began to flicker. There was rumbling sound and they all looked up apprehensively as a big flash lit the sky outside, followed immediately by a loud clap of thunder which meant the storm was on top of the cabin. Another flash; and the next thing they knew they were plunged into darkness.

The sky outside was so gloomy, the interior of the cabin was nearly too dark to see. Alan sighed. "Well, I think I'm going to make a dash for the shed, and get some firewood," he said. "A fire will give us a little light."

"I'll help you," said David, getting to his feet.

"I can help, too," said Charlie. He felt as though he were crawling inside, and the prospect of getting out of the cabin, even in the pouring rain, seemed appealing.

Don snorted. "Charlie, don't be ridiculous. You can barely walk." He looked at Alan and David. "I can help, too."

Robin cheerfully headed for the kitchen, in search of candles. "Now this is camping," she said.