Numb3rs fic: "Outside Looking In" (Charlie/Amita, OFC, rated PG)
I definitely did not think I was going to get this posted on time. But here it is! And I'm pretty happy with it. :-)
Title: Outside Looking In
Pairing/Characters: Charlie/Amita, OFC
Rating: PG
Summary: He knows how he gets.
Word Count: 300
Spoilers: 1x02 "Uncertainty Principle"
Warnings: none
Notes: Unbetaed, but thanks to mercilynn for taking a look at the first draft. Title from Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Prompts: Child / Backyard / Chalk for the numb3rs_het Summer Challenge
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, nor do I profit from their use here. This is only for fun.
In one part of his brain he can feel it taking him over, and it scares him, but when he looks at the chalk numbers on the board in front of him and feels the dust on his hands, sees it smeared nervously across the front of his jeans, he keeps flashing back to the chalk lining and curving around the shape of a dead body in the street, and he can't stop.
But he knows how he gets, that one conscious part of him is in high-alert, warning against obsession, and it almost distracts him for a moment as he starts to wonder about the duality of his consciousness and how he can be aware and yet not. Mostly, he's scared, because he knows how this story goes, he has played it out with his mother and his brother and he's seen the fear on their faces and that's the worst part.
He becomes aware of something outside of himself and the math, outside of the garage. He almost doesn't hear it at first, so lost and tied up inside himself, but it happens again and his hand slows and then stalls on the board, interrupted. Waiting. From outside he hears laughter, a small peal of delight, and it pierces his heart, the most perfect sound in the world.
"Go see Daddy?" Amita murmurs outside, and he's already turning around to look through the open door, to the sunsoaked grass his daughter is teetering on. She sees him and laughs again, making the chalk numbers fade into the background like so much dust, making him start to forget the exact sequence of the equation he's been focusing on for the last three hours. She takes a step forward, and he takes a step forward, and he finally breaks free.
Title: Outside Looking In
Pairing/Characters: Charlie/Amita, OFC
Rating: PG
Summary: He knows how he gets.
Word Count: 300
Spoilers: 1x02 "Uncertainty Principle"
Warnings: none
Notes: Unbetaed, but thanks to mercilynn for taking a look at the first draft. Title from Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Prompts: Child / Backyard / Chalk for the numb3rs_het Summer Challenge
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, nor do I profit from their use here. This is only for fun.
In one part of his brain he can feel it taking him over, and it scares him, but when he looks at the chalk numbers on the board in front of him and feels the dust on his hands, sees it smeared nervously across the front of his jeans, he keeps flashing back to the chalk lining and curving around the shape of a dead body in the street, and he can't stop.
But he knows how he gets, that one conscious part of him is in high-alert, warning against obsession, and it almost distracts him for a moment as he starts to wonder about the duality of his consciousness and how he can be aware and yet not. Mostly, he's scared, because he knows how this story goes, he has played it out with his mother and his brother and he's seen the fear on their faces and that's the worst part.
He becomes aware of something outside of himself and the math, outside of the garage. He almost doesn't hear it at first, so lost and tied up inside himself, but it happens again and his hand slows and then stalls on the board, interrupted. Waiting. From outside he hears laughter, a small peal of delight, and it pierces his heart, the most perfect sound in the world.
"Go see Daddy?" Amita murmurs outside, and he's already turning around to look through the open door, to the sunsoaked grass his daughter is teetering on. She sees him and laughs again, making the chalk numbers fade into the background like so much dust, making him start to forget the exact sequence of the equation he's been focusing on for the last three hours. She takes a step forward, and he takes a step forward, and he finally breaks free.