Numb3rs Fic: Iridescence, 9/10 - In Between (Charlie, PG) (Color: Grey)
Title: Iridescence, 9/10 - In Between
Word Count: 424.
Characters: Charlie, mention of Don.
Rating: PG.
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: None.
Summary: He places an entire pack of crayons on his desk at CalSci and for a moment, the theory he was working on seems to not mean anything anymore.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Numb3rs.
Betas: The fantastic twins_m0m.
Previous chapters: Find them here.
Color: Grey.
Previous chapter
Next chapter
Iridescence Series
In Between
Statistics don’t lie. The most common favorite color between black and white is the first one. He places an entire pack of crayons on his desk at CalSci and for a moment, the theory he was working on seems to not mean anything anymore.
Don is white, he is black. Charlie doesn’t deserve to represent any different color. While his brother does what he wants and takes as many risks as are needed, he remains in the shadows - focused on calculations, flows and symbols that always pull the strings from the background.
Sometimes he feels that he’s too scared, that he keeps too many thoughts and desires to himself. He can’t say how much he’d like to be like Don. It would be too embarrassing and besides, he has come too far already to suddenly decide to change.
But his only possibility to be closer to a different way of thinking is to leave his ivory tower for a while and work for the FBI. Whenever he can take his intellectual obsessions and bring them down to earth, to make them fit actual criminal patterns, he can tell himself that he is some sort of backup agent, not just a know-it-all whose knowledge has no meaningful purpose.
Even if it’s still not enough, it’s all he has. It’s not about increasing popularity, it’s not about getting people to be interested in his book. It’s about feeling similar to what Don is and what Don means to the world. Most teaching jobs don’t lead to discoveries that can be immediately used to help people, but catching a bad guy in the right moment, before he kills someone or takes something that doesn’t belong to him, that makes a difference.
And in the meantime, it helps Charlie and Don to get closer, to become friends more than partners.
When meditation finally reaches its end, Charlie rubs his palms and looks down at the crayons again. Black and white are still opposite colors. Maybe he could turn his thoughts into a practical matter and apply it to Don’s latest case…
He reaches down to grab one of the two crayons but stops in his way. Ironically, he lets himself smile and even laughs a bit. But he doesn’t pick the one he’s been thinking about.
He doesn’t need to choose between black and white. Considering what he’s done in his life so far, he’s more than that. He's not in the field yet. He's not in the shadows anymore. He’s fine with being grey - right in between.
Word Count: 424.
Characters: Charlie, mention of Don.
Rating: PG.
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: None.
Summary: He places an entire pack of crayons on his desk at CalSci and for a moment, the theory he was working on seems to not mean anything anymore.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Numb3rs.
Betas: The fantastic twins_m0m.
Previous chapters: Find them here.
Color: Grey.
Previous chapter
Next chapter
Iridescence Series
In Between
Statistics don’t lie. The most common favorite color between black and white is the first one. He places an entire pack of crayons on his desk at CalSci and for a moment, the theory he was working on seems to not mean anything anymore.
Don is white, he is black. Charlie doesn’t deserve to represent any different color. While his brother does what he wants and takes as many risks as are needed, he remains in the shadows - focused on calculations, flows and symbols that always pull the strings from the background.
Sometimes he feels that he’s too scared, that he keeps too many thoughts and desires to himself. He can’t say how much he’d like to be like Don. It would be too embarrassing and besides, he has come too far already to suddenly decide to change.
But his only possibility to be closer to a different way of thinking is to leave his ivory tower for a while and work for the FBI. Whenever he can take his intellectual obsessions and bring them down to earth, to make them fit actual criminal patterns, he can tell himself that he is some sort of backup agent, not just a know-it-all whose knowledge has no meaningful purpose.
Even if it’s still not enough, it’s all he has. It’s not about increasing popularity, it’s not about getting people to be interested in his book. It’s about feeling similar to what Don is and what Don means to the world. Most teaching jobs don’t lead to discoveries that can be immediately used to help people, but catching a bad guy in the right moment, before he kills someone or takes something that doesn’t belong to him, that makes a difference.
And in the meantime, it helps Charlie and Don to get closer, to become friends more than partners.
When meditation finally reaches its end, Charlie rubs his palms and looks down at the crayons again. Black and white are still opposite colors. Maybe he could turn his thoughts into a practical matter and apply it to Don’s latest case…
He reaches down to grab one of the two crayons but stops in his way. Ironically, he lets himself smile and even laughs a bit. But he doesn’t pick the one he’s been thinking about.
He doesn’t need to choose between black and white. Considering what he’s done in his life so far, he’s more than that. He's not in the field yet. He's not in the shadows anymore. He’s fine with being grey - right in between.