5x5 Prompt: I Remain Haunted
Title: I Remain Haunted
Author: just_unravel
Prompt: #3 handbook
Characters: Danny Love, OC
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Do not own Agent Love, nor any thing else.
A/N: First venture into "The Inside" fanfic realm. Spoilers for "One is the Loneliest Number." Set some time after that episode. By the way, this is writer's block crap. Read at your own risk.
Her name was Susan. Sixteen years old; junior in high school. She got good grades, wrote for the school newspaper, never gave her teachers or parents any trouble. To the world, she was the perfect student, perfect daughter, perfect person. But the world didn't know her secret; she was dying inside.
"What's the point? We all die eventually. So, why not sooner than later?"
Susan's tape stood out in stark contrast to all the others Danny listened to that night. Sure, he was affected by all the stories he heard, but there was something different about Susan. Throughout her conversation with the hotline counselor, she remained calm, steady. There was never an emotional outburst, never a desperate cry for help. Instead, she participated in the conversation like a philosophy discussion, asking questions that didn't have answers.
When he first heard her call, he could not understand how someone so intelligent could contemplate suicide. What happened to this girl? She did not sound like someone suffering from years of abuse or doing this for attention. The counselor went by the handbook and tried to steer the conversation in trying to find some sort of catalytic event that triggered her to call the suicide hotline, but she maintained that her life was perfect.
"Is that the problem, then?" The counselor continued to press. "Is your life too perfect?"
"No," Susan brushed off the question. "Nothing is ever perfect, but it's not horrible either. It just is."
Danny wanted to talk to her directly. He knew it wouldn't be hard to track her down, especially with all the FBI technology at his disposal. But what would he say if he ever did find her? Even after listening to her tape countless times, he didn't have the answers to her questions.
Every day, he looked at death and destruction; he knew the darkest side of man. It was his job to protect people from all the sickos and deviants in the city. He was saving lives by stopping the people that ended them. But he could not come up with an answer to her simple question of life's meaning. What was the point?
If every day there is a new un-sub to catch, a new victim, what is the point of living in a world filled with that much evil?
Sometimes during the night, Danny will stay awake and remember Susan's level voice. And he knows, until he can find a point, she'll continue to haunt him.
Author: just_unravel
Prompt: #3 handbook
Characters: Danny Love, OC
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Do not own Agent Love, nor any thing else.
A/N: First venture into "The Inside" fanfic realm. Spoilers for "One is the Loneliest Number." Set some time after that episode. By the way, this is writer's block crap. Read at your own risk.
Her name was Susan. Sixteen years old; junior in high school. She got good grades, wrote for the school newspaper, never gave her teachers or parents any trouble. To the world, she was the perfect student, perfect daughter, perfect person. But the world didn't know her secret; she was dying inside.
"What's the point? We all die eventually. So, why not sooner than later?"
Susan's tape stood out in stark contrast to all the others Danny listened to that night. Sure, he was affected by all the stories he heard, but there was something different about Susan. Throughout her conversation with the hotline counselor, she remained calm, steady. There was never an emotional outburst, never a desperate cry for help. Instead, she participated in the conversation like a philosophy discussion, asking questions that didn't have answers.
When he first heard her call, he could not understand how someone so intelligent could contemplate suicide. What happened to this girl? She did not sound like someone suffering from years of abuse or doing this for attention. The counselor went by the handbook and tried to steer the conversation in trying to find some sort of catalytic event that triggered her to call the suicide hotline, but she maintained that her life was perfect.
"Is that the problem, then?" The counselor continued to press. "Is your life too perfect?"
"No," Susan brushed off the question. "Nothing is ever perfect, but it's not horrible either. It just is."
Danny wanted to talk to her directly. He knew it wouldn't be hard to track her down, especially with all the FBI technology at his disposal. But what would he say if he ever did find her? Even after listening to her tape countless times, he didn't have the answers to her questions.
Every day, he looked at death and destruction; he knew the darkest side of man. It was his job to protect people from all the sickos and deviants in the city. He was saving lives by stopping the people that ended them. But he could not come up with an answer to her simple question of life's meaning. What was the point?
If every day there is a new un-sub to catch, a new victim, what is the point of living in a world filled with that much evil?
Sometimes during the night, Danny will stay awake and remember Susan's level voice. And he knows, until he can find a point, she'll continue to haunt him.