FICLET: Destination Unknown - Life
For grimorie who requested: Life - Charlie/Dani post finale
Destination Unknown
Charlie watches from the corner of the room, his eyes settled on Dani, though he sees everyone clearly. Mysteries solved and started and he’s not focused on blank walls or empty squares right now so much as the things he knows. He has three partners now - still Bobby. Always Bobby. Seever, tainted now with the brand of Rayborn’s touch, and Dani.
She got the all-clear form the doctor and insisted on giving her statement at the station. The players are all dead, so it’s her word against an easily traced trail of corruption. Charlie knows it’s like a hydra, more heads than he can count, two more growing for every one he cuts off. But he also knows eventually he’ll find who controls it, slice off the hand at the end of the leash.
“You think too much, Crews.”
They’re the first words she says to him, and he shrugs. It’s true, but it’s all he ever had to do for twelve years. He realizes they’re alone now, everyone else off somewhere, being held accountable for what he knows is all his fault. He thinks maybe he understands Rayborn and Dani’s father and the rest now. Letting someone else take the fall is easier than it should be.
“Yeah. I probably do.” He tilts his head. “You okay?”
“For the most part. He had pretty horrible taste in music.” She closes the distance between them. “You okay?”
“I’m not sure. I think I am.” He glances through the glass and the blinds, watching their world move by. He knows people are listening, watching, whispering. “You want to get out of here?”
Dani follows his gaze, and he wonders if she sees what he sees. Calls coming in, crimes being reported. The Captain is in his office, listening to the Chief of Police, probably being lectured on protocol and procedure, on rogue cops and romance. He thinks she probably does. She looks back at him. “I knew you’d come.”
“Because we’re partners?”
“Because you’re you.” Charlie smiles and reaches out, his fingers not quite touching her cheek or her jaw, though they move through the air next to them like a caress. Dani closes her eyes and sways forward. “Where would we go?”
He touches her then, his thumb grazing her lower lip. “Someplace else.”
Destination Unknown
Charlie watches from the corner of the room, his eyes settled on Dani, though he sees everyone clearly. Mysteries solved and started and he’s not focused on blank walls or empty squares right now so much as the things he knows. He has three partners now - still Bobby. Always Bobby. Seever, tainted now with the brand of Rayborn’s touch, and Dani.
She got the all-clear form the doctor and insisted on giving her statement at the station. The players are all dead, so it’s her word against an easily traced trail of corruption. Charlie knows it’s like a hydra, more heads than he can count, two more growing for every one he cuts off. But he also knows eventually he’ll find who controls it, slice off the hand at the end of the leash.
“You think too much, Crews.”
They’re the first words she says to him, and he shrugs. It’s true, but it’s all he ever had to do for twelve years. He realizes they’re alone now, everyone else off somewhere, being held accountable for what he knows is all his fault. He thinks maybe he understands Rayborn and Dani’s father and the rest now. Letting someone else take the fall is easier than it should be.
“Yeah. I probably do.” He tilts his head. “You okay?”
“For the most part. He had pretty horrible taste in music.” She closes the distance between them. “You okay?”
“I’m not sure. I think I am.” He glances through the glass and the blinds, watching their world move by. He knows people are listening, watching, whispering. “You want to get out of here?”
Dani follows his gaze, and he wonders if she sees what he sees. Calls coming in, crimes being reported. The Captain is in his office, listening to the Chief of Police, probably being lectured on protocol and procedure, on rogue cops and romance. He thinks she probably does. She looks back at him. “I knew you’d come.”
“Because we’re partners?”
“Because you’re you.” Charlie smiles and reaches out, his fingers not quite touching her cheek or her jaw, though they move through the air next to them like a caress. Dani closes her eyes and sways forward. “Where would we go?”
He touches her then, his thumb grazing her lower lip. “Someplace else.”