"Amita: the Anthology" (summer quote challenge entry)
Title: “Amita: the Anthology”
Author: Keenir.
Characters: Amita Ramanujan, Charles Eppes, Don Eppes, David Sinclair, Colby Granger.
Pairings: Charlie/Amita - mild in some, faint in others.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 965
Spoilers: Harvest.
Challenge: We are born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society. - Judith Martin (Miss Manners)
Author’s Note: the trickiest word there, it turns out, is “civilized.”
Overarching Summary: We are all civilized in different ways, and through different means, and civilization touches us all - whether we welcome it or not.
Disclaimer: I own none of the canon characters, nor their canon backgrounds. I own only the original characters and the AU and AH versions of them.
Note: While AU and AH are sometimes used interchangeably, there’s something of a difference to them, though little to none in-so-far as the contents of this post are affected. Alternate Universe generally changes something in the design of the universe itself - ie, if California was an island. Alternate History tends to look at the smaller scale - ie, what if India had broken from England and joined the Axis in World War Two?
Contents:
1. * Amita didn’t learn Tamil
Summary: Her thoughts during the episode ‘Harvest.’
2. * India joins Japan in the Axis
Summary: Charlie faces one outcome of history, and it’s the girl of his dreams.
3. * India discovers Europe & establishes a Raj
Summary: Charlie and Don know what keeps them balanced in a world where their country is at the disadvantage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Date: during Harvest.
POV: Amita’s.
She’s using words so familiar - exactly the sort of words I’ve heard my grandmother use. She, my grandmother, wanted to teach me, said all good Tamil girls {ie me} need to know how to speak.
I can’t talk to this girl, no matter how much I want to help. I never let my grandmother teach me - I’d thought it would hold me back. I had by that point already decided I wanted to become a mathematician, wasn’t that a sufficiently complex language to master?
I kept up with the girls in school and my neighborhood, I met and won Charlie, and…
And what I thought would’ve been an anchorstone, now it would’ve been a life preserver to this girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Date: 13 September 2005
This timeline had no Al Qaeda, no 9-11; instead, it had a homegrown group: the Tigers.
The elevator doors opened and out came Charlie. “What’re you doing here?” Don asked him.
“I got here as soon as I could,” Charlie said.
“Well who called you?”
“Colby. Said I should know about this, and that it was better I find out sooner rather than later - what sooner rather than find out what later?”
I need to sit that guy down and remind him of the ground rules here. “Chuck -“
“My projections worked, right?” Charlie asked. “You found the member of the Tigers who did it?” The latest rash of attacks’ve been pretty mathematically complex in their geographic layout. “The formula I showed -“
“Yeah, yes they did. And we caught the person responsible for the arsons.”
“Well that’s great.”
Don made a face, and didn’t get rid of it fast enough to elude his brother.
“Why?” Charlie asked. “Who is it? Larry? It’s Larry?” I knew he was wary of Big Brother-type of things, but to arsonize government buildings? Well, I suppose we should be thankful he only went after buildings the government had moved out of. But why would Larry be helping the Tigers?
“It’s not Larry.”
“Is it dad?” remembering Don and their dad having a heated exchange of words over the role of government.
“Not Dad.”
“Then who?”
Don leaned over and whispered it in Chuck’s ear, not wanting to see his brother’s jaw drop.
**
In the interrogation room, David was talking to her. “Look, I know how it can be -“
Amita snorted.
“You think it was easy for me?” Sinclair asked. “You think they just jumped at the chance to give a gun and a badge to a black man from New York?”
“You can work here,” she replied. “Aside from being arrested like this, there’s no way for me to so much as be here.”
“So you can’t work for the federal government, so what?”
“So what?” Amita repeated. Ticking the points off on the fingers of her good hand, “I can’t get tenure no matter how hard I work, I can’t work in a news agency, I can’t make more than a certain amount of money, I can’t -“ And all of that since her people were let out of the internment camps.
“Why not think of the positives?” David asked, echoing words that he’d heard growing up, words that had left an impact in him. “You’re a smart girl - brilliant’s the word I usually hear about you.”
“I’m not surprised I have a file.” I’m Tamil, but to you lot, I’m just like the Sikhs and Parsis.
“Actually, I hear about you from Charlie Eppes when he -“
Amita backed up, back pressed against her chair. Throat feeling suddenly thick, “Charlie informs on me?”
“What? No! He’s our advisor when a case involves heavy-duty math.” And David wasn’t sure if this was a good time to tell Miss Ramanujan that he suspected Charlie had a crush on her. “I’m pretty sure he also doesn’t know that you’re a member of the Tigers.”
Amita shrugged, trying to look indifferent to that particular possibility, telling herself that I always knew my time at the College was going to be limited. “Like I said, I didn’t have much in the way of options, so when they offered me a place -“
“You took it.”
I joined because my grandmother died in police custody - and they arrested her because all Indians look alike. But to Agent Sinclair’s statement, “Like the Black Panthers,” she said.
David smiled. “The Panthers started out violent, but now they’re political organizers and a charity organization.”
Amita sighed. “Civil Rights clearly work wonders.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Time - 20th Century
Things might’ve been different if Europe had encountered and predominated over India, rather than vice versa; but it is by far too late for that. Centuries too late.
“You sure about this?” Charlie asked Don who was helping adjust the fit on Charlie’s rented suit.
“Oh kal’ yes,” Don said. Government employee or not, even he hadn’t been immune to picking up euroslang as a kid. “I mean, Amita sees you in this, and her parents’ll stop hemming and hawing about your suitability for their daughter.”
“You’re sure?”
“Have I ever lied to you?”
“No. I’m sorry; it’s just…”
“Remember when Mom used to tell us the story of Esther, bro?” Don asked.
“Yeah, I do.” One of Mom’s favorite readings.
“Some people fear losing their history when they try to fit in in other places.” It’s been going on since long before that Sinhalese crew made landfall on the Portugese coast. Since long before Esther. “But not us.”
“Because we’ve had to be in two worlds already.” And we know what it’s like to lose people who go whole-hog into the other society.
Don nodded.
“I won’t forget, Don,” Charlie promised. Purim, the festivals, and, most of all, the Torah.
“I know you won’t, bro.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The end
Author: Keenir.
Characters: Amita Ramanujan, Charles Eppes, Don Eppes, David Sinclair, Colby Granger.
Pairings: Charlie/Amita - mild in some, faint in others.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 965
Spoilers: Harvest.
Challenge: We are born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society. - Judith Martin (Miss Manners)
Author’s Note: the trickiest word there, it turns out, is “civilized.”
Overarching Summary: We are all civilized in different ways, and through different means, and civilization touches us all - whether we welcome it or not.
Disclaimer: I own none of the canon characters, nor their canon backgrounds. I own only the original characters and the AU and AH versions of them.
Note: While AU and AH are sometimes used interchangeably, there’s something of a difference to them, though little to none in-so-far as the contents of this post are affected. Alternate Universe generally changes something in the design of the universe itself - ie, if California was an island. Alternate History tends to look at the smaller scale - ie, what if India had broken from England and joined the Axis in World War Two?
Contents:
1. * Amita didn’t learn Tamil
Summary: Her thoughts during the episode ‘Harvest.’
2. * India joins Japan in the Axis
Summary: Charlie faces one outcome of history, and it’s the girl of his dreams.
3. * India discovers Europe & establishes a Raj
Summary: Charlie and Don know what keeps them balanced in a world where their country is at the disadvantage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Date: during Harvest.
POV: Amita’s.
She’s using words so familiar - exactly the sort of words I’ve heard my grandmother use. She, my grandmother, wanted to teach me, said all good Tamil girls {ie me} need to know how to speak.
I can’t talk to this girl, no matter how much I want to help. I never let my grandmother teach me - I’d thought it would hold me back. I had by that point already decided I wanted to become a mathematician, wasn’t that a sufficiently complex language to master?
I kept up with the girls in school and my neighborhood, I met and won Charlie, and…
And what I thought would’ve been an anchorstone, now it would’ve been a life preserver to this girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Date: 13 September 2005
This timeline had no Al Qaeda, no 9-11; instead, it had a homegrown group: the Tigers.
The elevator doors opened and out came Charlie. “What’re you doing here?” Don asked him.
“I got here as soon as I could,” Charlie said.
“Well who called you?”
“Colby. Said I should know about this, and that it was better I find out sooner rather than later - what sooner rather than find out what later?”
I need to sit that guy down and remind him of the ground rules here. “Chuck -“
“My projections worked, right?” Charlie asked. “You found the member of the Tigers who did it?” The latest rash of attacks’ve been pretty mathematically complex in their geographic layout. “The formula I showed -“
“Yeah, yes they did. And we caught the person responsible for the arsons.”
“Well that’s great.”
Don made a face, and didn’t get rid of it fast enough to elude his brother.
“Why?” Charlie asked. “Who is it? Larry? It’s Larry?” I knew he was wary of Big Brother-type of things, but to arsonize government buildings? Well, I suppose we should be thankful he only went after buildings the government had moved out of. But why would Larry be helping the Tigers?
“It’s not Larry.”
“Is it dad?” remembering Don and their dad having a heated exchange of words over the role of government.
“Not Dad.”
“Then who?”
Don leaned over and whispered it in Chuck’s ear, not wanting to see his brother’s jaw drop.
**
In the interrogation room, David was talking to her. “Look, I know how it can be -“
Amita snorted.
“You think it was easy for me?” Sinclair asked. “You think they just jumped at the chance to give a gun and a badge to a black man from New York?”
“You can work here,” she replied. “Aside from being arrested like this, there’s no way for me to so much as be here.”
“So you can’t work for the federal government, so what?”
“So what?” Amita repeated. Ticking the points off on the fingers of her good hand, “I can’t get tenure no matter how hard I work, I can’t work in a news agency, I can’t make more than a certain amount of money, I can’t -“ And all of that since her people were let out of the internment camps.
“Why not think of the positives?” David asked, echoing words that he’d heard growing up, words that had left an impact in him. “You’re a smart girl - brilliant’s the word I usually hear about you.”
“I’m not surprised I have a file.” I’m Tamil, but to you lot, I’m just like the Sikhs and Parsis.
“Actually, I hear about you from Charlie Eppes when he -“
Amita backed up, back pressed against her chair. Throat feeling suddenly thick, “Charlie informs on me?”
“What? No! He’s our advisor when a case involves heavy-duty math.” And David wasn’t sure if this was a good time to tell Miss Ramanujan that he suspected Charlie had a crush on her. “I’m pretty sure he also doesn’t know that you’re a member of the Tigers.”
Amita shrugged, trying to look indifferent to that particular possibility, telling herself that I always knew my time at the College was going to be limited. “Like I said, I didn’t have much in the way of options, so when they offered me a place -“
“You took it.”
I joined because my grandmother died in police custody - and they arrested her because all Indians look alike. But to Agent Sinclair’s statement, “Like the Black Panthers,” she said.
David smiled. “The Panthers started out violent, but now they’re political organizers and a charity organization.”
Amita sighed. “Civil Rights clearly work wonders.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Time - 20th Century
Things might’ve been different if Europe had encountered and predominated over India, rather than vice versa; but it is by far too late for that. Centuries too late.
“You sure about this?” Charlie asked Don who was helping adjust the fit on Charlie’s rented suit.
“Oh kal’ yes,” Don said. Government employee or not, even he hadn’t been immune to picking up euroslang as a kid. “I mean, Amita sees you in this, and her parents’ll stop hemming and hawing about your suitability for their daughter.”
“You’re sure?”
“Have I ever lied to you?”
“No. I’m sorry; it’s just…”
“Remember when Mom used to tell us the story of Esther, bro?” Don asked.
“Yeah, I do.” One of Mom’s favorite readings.
“Some people fear losing their history when they try to fit in in other places.” It’s been going on since long before that Sinhalese crew made landfall on the Portugese coast. Since long before Esther. “But not us.”
“Because we’ve had to be in two worlds already.” And we know what it’s like to lose people who go whole-hog into the other society.
Don nodded.
“I won’t forget, Don,” Charlie promised. Purim, the festivals, and, most of all, the Torah.
“I know you won’t, bro.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The end