Drabble Series: Prisons of the Mind (Buck Winters, Oswald Kittner, PG-13)
Drabble Series: "Prisons of the Mind" (4 drabbles)
Characters: Buck Winters, Oswald Kittner.
Word Count: 3x100, 1x200.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: 5x11 - Arrow of Time.
Warnings: None.
Summary: There are prisons of the body and there are prisons of the mind.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything (characters, situations, etcetera) related to Numb3rs.
Written for: numb3rs100, Prompts #177 - Enemy, #179 - Truce, #40 - Loss and #105 - Prison.
Beta: The wonderful fredbassett, the fantastic twins_m0m and the great lillyg.
Prisons of the Mind
Enemy
He doesn’t say much. A loaded gun speaks louder than the voice of an angry man.
Breaking into this stupid store with his pals is part of the plan, because every plan has stages.
Stage one - getting out.
Stage two - asking for guns.
Stage three - being noticed.
Stage four - hunting the prey.
There’s no stage five. Someone like him, blinded by pain, can’t see beyond his final destination. Sometimes, he can’t even understand the past.
The screams of the innocent are just the echo of his own soul, ordering him to act.
Time is the enemy. It has to die.
Truce
He’s not made to face situations like this. He enjoys statistics, baseball and learning. He’s just a regular guy with a hobby.
Randomness doesn’t favor him. Among everyone, he’s the one who gets chosen.
“You, call 911,” the armed man demands. When Oswald hesitates, he gets the barrel of the gun against his forehead. “Do it or everyone’s dead!”
“Calm down, man, calm down!” Oswald reaches for his cell phone. Unexpectedly, his fingers don’t tremble. He’s the only savior. “I gotta tell them something...”
The criminal doesn’t blink as he introduces himself. “Buck Winters. That’s all they have to know.”
Loss
You can’t see it. You’re too blind to understand. You haven’t lost anyone.
Stop staring at me. My .50 caliber is fine. I’m fine. I’m not crazy.
It’s not about killing; it’s not about the adrenaline!
I really isn’t. Even if it doesn’t seem so.
I want my piece of justice, and justice is lying next to her - regaining a piece of my old soul.
So I take my gun and shoot. Because I do care.
I do care about her being too alone because of me.
I'm making the right decisions here. I’m the only one that sees this.
Prison
Buck misses his shot. There’s something there, in the way that guy stares at him without anger, without fear.
Hope and real bravery is what Buck misses from his life before jail, before the 250 years they’ve given him. He wishes he could go back, start over.
So he lowers his gun, steals some burritos and leaves. Without talking. Without hurting. The door bell announces that purchase time is over.
His steps in the pavement remind him of old trips with his long lost Crystal. He embraces her irresistible memory, keeping it close to his heart, and a strange revelation hits his mind like the delicious sound of his deadly shots. There are prisons of the body and there are prisons of the mind. It’s been a long time since he was hunted and interrogated and since he betrayed the love of his life.
That young man that remains inside the store, the one who must be announcing a fugitive’s name to the right authorities, represents everything Buck would like to be. Because they’re both young and full of potential.
But they’re different.
That guy’s got a future. There’s a good life for him out there.
For Buck, there’s not.
The End.
Characters: Buck Winters, Oswald Kittner.
Word Count: 3x100, 1x200.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: 5x11 - Arrow of Time.
Warnings: None.
Summary: There are prisons of the body and there are prisons of the mind.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything (characters, situations, etcetera) related to Numb3rs.
Written for: numb3rs100, Prompts #177 - Enemy, #179 - Truce, #40 - Loss and #105 - Prison.
Beta: The wonderful fredbassett, the fantastic twins_m0m and the great lillyg.
Prisons of the Mind
Enemy
He doesn’t say much. A loaded gun speaks louder than the voice of an angry man.
Breaking into this stupid store with his pals is part of the plan, because every plan has stages.
Stage one - getting out.
Stage two - asking for guns.
Stage three - being noticed.
Stage four - hunting the prey.
There’s no stage five. Someone like him, blinded by pain, can’t see beyond his final destination. Sometimes, he can’t even understand the past.
The screams of the innocent are just the echo of his own soul, ordering him to act.
Time is the enemy. It has to die.
Truce
He’s not made to face situations like this. He enjoys statistics, baseball and learning. He’s just a regular guy with a hobby.
Randomness doesn’t favor him. Among everyone, he’s the one who gets chosen.
“You, call 911,” the armed man demands. When Oswald hesitates, he gets the barrel of the gun against his forehead. “Do it or everyone’s dead!”
“Calm down, man, calm down!” Oswald reaches for his cell phone. Unexpectedly, his fingers don’t tremble. He’s the only savior. “I gotta tell them something...”
The criminal doesn’t blink as he introduces himself. “Buck Winters. That’s all they have to know.”
Loss
You can’t see it. You’re too blind to understand. You haven’t lost anyone.
Stop staring at me. My .50 caliber is fine. I’m fine. I’m not crazy.
It’s not about killing; it’s not about the adrenaline!
I really isn’t. Even if it doesn’t seem so.
I want my piece of justice, and justice is lying next to her - regaining a piece of my old soul.
So I take my gun and shoot. Because I do care.
I do care about her being too alone because of me.
I'm making the right decisions here. I’m the only one that sees this.
Prison
Buck misses his shot. There’s something there, in the way that guy stares at him without anger, without fear.
Hope and real bravery is what Buck misses from his life before jail, before the 250 years they’ve given him. He wishes he could go back, start over.
So he lowers his gun, steals some burritos and leaves. Without talking. Without hurting. The door bell announces that purchase time is over.
His steps in the pavement remind him of old trips with his long lost Crystal. He embraces her irresistible memory, keeping it close to his heart, and a strange revelation hits his mind like the delicious sound of his deadly shots. There are prisons of the body and there are prisons of the mind. It’s been a long time since he was hunted and interrogated and since he betrayed the love of his life.
That young man that remains inside the store, the one who must be announcing a fugitive’s name to the right authorities, represents everything Buck would like to be. Because they’re both young and full of potential.
But they’re different.
That guy’s got a future. There’s a good life for him out there.
For Buck, there’s not.
The End.