Fic: On the Couch, Chapter 2/3 (Numb3rs, Don Eppes / Martin)
Title: On the Couch 2/3
Fandom: Numb3rs
Pair: Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
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On the Couch 1/3
The room was the same as it always was. A sleazy motel room. Don banged on the door, but it didn’t budge.
“Don’t you ever learn? You can’t get out.” Cooper grinned, his arms crossed across his chest. “You can’t get rid of me, no matter what you do. Just like that night.”
“Why do you keep doing this? Just go away.”
“Go where? I am gone. Six feet under.” The smirk turned into a chuckle. “You know why I’m here. Because I’m in your head. Because you`re mine. You can try to say otherwise but we both know the truth.”
“No.” Don tried to keep his breathing steady, but his heart was pounding in his ears. “You’re here because you did what you did, it had nothing to do with me.”
“It had everything to do with you. You didn’t even try to resist. You wanted it. I gotta admit I was little bit disappointed. Even your little brother had more fire in him.”
“Shut up.”
“That kid must be real firecracker in bed. I can still remember how he was riding Granger on their couch.”
“Shut up!”
“That was when I decided he would be even better catch. But you already know I’m not the only one who thinks that.”
“I don’t wanna hear.” Don pressed his hands against his ears.
“That goody-two-shoes you’re playing happy home with…. He can tell you he loves you, but that’s only half the truth. You’re just the second best. A back-up to make up for the guy he can’t get back. You don’t really believe he loves you, do you?”
“Shut up!” Don grabbed an ashtray from the nightstand and tossed it to the direction of Coopers head. It went through the grinning face and hit the wall. Little pieces of glass spread to the floor.
“That doesn’t work with a dead guy.”
“Go away. Just go to Hell or wherever you’re going.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Nobody else wants you. You think they do, but in reality…. They see you and they see my mark on you. They know who you belong to.”
That was the last straw. Don leaped at him, grabbing him by the throat. The skin didn’t even feel like skin, more like a wet sponge. The grin didn’t leave Cooper’s face as the finger pressed into the soggy flesh.
“Don, stop that!”
Don snapped awake. He looked down and saw Martin. The other man looked absolutely shocked. Don’s hand were still on his throat, pressing him against the mattress. He pulled away quickly.
“Sorry, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
“Yeah….” Martin took deep breaths, his hand moved instinctively to his throat. “What was that? A nightmare?”
“Yeah, I was…. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Martin snapped the nightlight on. “You wanna talk about it?”
“You were Cooper.”
“Okay….” He pulled the covers off and got out of the bed. “I’ll go make some coffee, you get the waffles from the freezer.”
“At two in the morning?”
“It seems pretty appropriate in this situation.”
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“Waffles?” Doctor Hendren raised her eyebrows.
“They helped.” Don admitted.
“So the dream was different this time?”
“Yeah.”
“You attacked Cooper.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good.”
“It is?”
“I told you that you’ll get a grip on your memories when you take control and stop avoiding them. You confronted Cooper in your dream, subconsciously facing the thing that epitomises your fears. When you challenge your fear you don’t fear it anymore.”
“So this was it? It’s over?”
“No, but this is a sign of progress.”
“Progress? I almost strangled Martin!”
“That was an accident. Sleeping people often do things like that. He wasn’t hurt, was he?”
“No.”
“Then stop whining and focus on the progress. Time for the next step.”
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“You switched shrinks?” Charlie wondered as he settled on the couch next to Don.
“Yeah, I haven’t been exactly honest lately.”
“About what?”
“Cooper. That’s why I went to see the new shrink.”
“Is it working?”
“I think so. Anyway…. She said the next step is apologising the people who were affected by the whole thing. Martin. And you.”
“Don, I thought we already settled this. I’m fine, you’re…. fine-ish.”
“Yeah, but I know you’ve been worried about me, and I haven’t really given you a reason to believe I can handle my things myself. And…. that’s partly true. The whole thing with Cooper kept haunting me and all other stuff weighted more heavily then should have. You got more than enough stuff on your plate without having to worry about me.”
“But I do worry about you. And you worry about me. And Martin worries about you. That’s how it goes.”
“Buddy, I’m trying to say I can’t control everything about my life and I can’t handle everything myself.” Don took a deep breath. “Really…. You of all people should know how hard it is for me to admit it.”
“Yeah, I know. I think I did the same mistake. Remember when you stayed in Colorado with Martin for few days and Colby and I flew back here?”
“Yeah.”
“I had a lot of stuff going on and…. I think it all just…. I collapsed. They took me in to the hospital in an ambulance.”
“You were in a hospital? Why the hell didn’t you tell me? Or Granger? I’ll kill him-”
“Don. He didn’t tell you because I asked him not to. And don’t tell him you know.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m working on it. I’m trying to keep my workload bearable, I let Colby take care of me. I complain about it, but I let him do it. The point is that I couldn`t handle everything myself and I don’t need to. And neither do you.”
Don leaned his head back against the couch cushions. “I think I can see some family traits right here….”
“Probably.” Charlie agreed.
TBC