Holes 2: Both Sides of the Wall, Part 15: Waiting
Title: Holes 2: Both Sides of the Wall (15/?)
Chapter List
Fandom: NUMB3RS
Pairing/characters: Charlie Eppes/OMC
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Charlie has very particular needs - and unexpectedly finds someone who meets them. He has no idea that the other man has dark motives of his own.
[ Direct sequel to Holes]
Part 15: Waiting
José struggles to deal with what he did.
Word Count: 763
Notes/Warnings: Anonymous sex, rough sex, BDSM
Beta: Yes, thanks.
Part 15: Waiting--
José got home that night after the club feeling shaky and ill. He got drunk, something he never did. The next morning his hangover was so bad that he called in sick. He also never did that. His wife was concerned, but he told her he couldn't talk about it yet.
The day after that he went back to work and spent most of the day staring at the tracking app that said that Eppes had gone home that night and not left his house since. He wondered what Eppes was doing and if his whipped back had healed yet.
A few days later, José finally talked to his wife. He told her that he'd done some things while undercover that he wasn't sure how to live with. That was the truth, though he left out any details. She wasn't surprised - she said that she'd suspected something was wrong for a while. His wife was an amazing woman and he didn't deserve her. He did lie to her in saying that he was seeing a therapist about the issues. He had a previous working relationship with one of the Agency's many therapists and he would make an appointment to see her… soon.
José told his wife he needed some time to himself and he moved out of his house temporarily, finding a small quiet apartment. A few times a day, he would let himself pull up the tracking app on his phone. The tracker was still on Eppes' car, and José wasn't surprised to see that Eppes only returned to the club once. He had probably been looking for him, though José wasn't sure what Eppes wanted with him. More help with his math?
José sat in his empty apartment, feeling shattered. He had been so sure, so goddamned sure about Eppes. His self-confidence was gone, his marriage was probably gone, and even his desire to do anything but eat, sleep, and do the bare minimum at work was gone.
He replayed every moment that he had spent with Eppes, from the initial encounter to the explosive conclusion. He grew aroused again, just thinking about it, and jerked off on the couch, his hand digging into his own thigh. He was alternately horrified by how he'd treated Eppes and glad that he had. Both of them had gotten something that they desired at a deep, primal level and it had helped Eppes after all.
It hadn't taken much work to find out what Eppes was talking about with the missing boy. The kidnapping of a son of a Nevada scientist had been a big case, with international and security implications that brought in many agencies. It had been going on for months before the FBI LA field office had abruptly solved it, three days after José's last encounter with Eppes. Then, a while later, José had found that Eppes was going to publish some sort of ground-breaking math paper that had even Agency analysts buzzing. José was perversely proud of the part he played in both the solved case and the math.
'Perverse' being the operative word.
José stared at the ceiling and pondered if he'd ever be able to enjoy normal sex again. Sex that was about love and connection and not about brutalizing the person in front of him until they both exploded. He had no idea why Eppes would enjoy such sex, and no idea why he would enjoy it either. He was afraid to talk to a therapist and find out.
He knew he'd see Eppes again, it was inevitable unless he quit the NSA. He wondered if there was any chance Eppes wouldn't recognize him, and if he did, what they would say to each other. They had probably only exchanged a handful of words in the many times they'd been together, and most of those had been commands by José.
He could easily track Eppes down, even without using the tracker on his car, and talk to him. But then there was little José could say to explain himself. The day he talked to Eppes, the day Eppes realized who he was and how he always managed to be at the club when Eppes was, was probably José's last day at the NSA. He deserved it, for many reasons, but he didn't look forward to it. Until he had met Eppes, the Agency had been his dream job. Now he could barely focus and even his hands-off boss was starting to notice.
He drifted through his days and waited, until the unescapable finally happened.
Eppes found him.