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Unavoidable Truths	By : ataraxis Category: M through R > NUMB3RS Views: 6483 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own NUMB3RS, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
A/N: This chapter is very much A/U and no longer follows the regular Numb3rs season. This chapter is how I wanted to see things go between Amita and Charlie. Thanks goes to Separatrix for prodding me and helping me with ideas for the chapter. Also, she has helped beta read the chapter. You rock dear!

Unavoidable Truths - Chapter 11
Charlie didn't have a lot to say on the car ride to the restaurant at first, his mind absorbed with concern over leaving Don in pain. Even though Don had told him to go, a large part of him had wanted to stay and take care of his older brother. But as the miles passed by, he tried to refocus his attention on his date and with that in mind he recalled how Amita had said she had met with their department's Dean before coming to get him.
"How did your meeting with Millie go?"
Amita turned her head briefly to look at Charlie when he asked his question, then she turned her attention back to the road. "It went quite well. She said that if I stayed, that there was several boards and committees she thought I could join and have input on. I hadn't wanted to tell her I was willing to accept the position right away, so I gave the impression that I was still contemplating the position with Harvard. It could work to my advantage."
"That's great. I'm sure whatever committees she has her eye on will do wonders for your career and look great on your CV." Charlie shifted in his seat, trying to think of what else to ask or say. Then thought about the movie they were scheduled to see after their dinner. "So who recommended this movie we're going to see? Fanaa, I think you said it was."
"Oh, it was a from a friend of a cousin, who had worked on the set of the film. They had nothing but praise for the film, and since not much else is playing at the moment that I thought would interest either of us, it was literally the only choice. You don't mind seeing this film with me, do you?" She cast him a concerned look. He could see a frown forming on her face. It caused his stomach to tighten up with panic. They'd not even gotten to the restaurant yet and already things weren't going well on their date.
"No, I'm sure I'll enjoy it. I'll have you there to help me with any cultural difference I'm sure I'll not understand." He reached over and grasped Amita's hand and gave it a quick squeeze of reassurance. He thought for a moment that he should leave his hand over hers as a romantic gesture, but then decided that she'd probably need it free to drive and let it go. He settled back in his seat and watched the scenery pass by. He looked at the people lining the sidewalks with quick glances and calculated the rough estimated ratio of people who looked relatively young and dressed in cool summer wear to those who looked older and were dressed more conservatively. He liked doing random observations of people when he was outside of class. He felt it kept him in touch with the world, the physical here and now, in some manner.
The silence between Amita and himself wasn't strained, but it wasn't a totally comfortable one -- too much in the way of expectations and anticipations were hanging over their heads. A lot was riding on this date and Charlie felt the pressure keenly. If it went well, Amita would in all likelihood stay and if it didn't... Hello, Harvard. Of course, if it didn't, he'd be relieved if she left and took the sense of defeat and suspense with her. Not mind you, that he wanted to have this date fail. Of course, he didn't. Even with all the doubts he'd been having the last few days, he still wanted things to work well with the two of them. They'd been at the very least close friends the last two years.
Before he could churn up his doubts and make himself yet more tense, they finally arrived at the restaurant. He undid his seat belt one-handed, clumsily and exited the car as gracefully as he could with what the injury would allow him. They walked side-by-side into the crowded restaurant and he watched as Amita inquired about their reservation.
It wasn't too terribly difficult to discern what the hostess's words would be -- busy and they'd have to wait in the bar before their table became available. There were two stools at the end of the bar close to the eating area just made available as they walked in, and Amita rushed forward to secure them, while Charlie took a more leisurely and safe route to get there, avoiding any and all potential obstacles that might jar his arm. He reached her side maybe a minute later, and when he looked closely at her expression, he wondered what could have made such a beautiful woman show a face of such distaste; he followed her line of sight to see what had been the cause. What he saw caused his breath to leave his body.
Before him, seated at the table along the edge of the dining area, were two men who were truly absorbed in each other. In the first glance, he saw that they were holding hands and the hands lay to the side of the dinners. And with the second glance, he saw that they looked so much like Don and himself, it was almost uncanny in their resemblance. Charlie's heart raced as he watched the man who looked very much like himself, lean over, touch the side of the Don look-a-like's mouth and brush a speck of food away with the softest touch and then to see a tongue peek out and touch the tip of the the thumb as if to grab a taste of the helpful appendage. His breath caught again at the simple, but erotic gesture. For a second he actually envisioned that it was Don and himself at the table, if... If only they weren't... His cock stirred at the sight of these two men in a loving relationship and his panic decided to kick in at the traitorous messages his brain was receiving from his body. His mind blanked then as he tried to deny what he was feeling. There were no ifs in this situation. They were brothers and nothing else would change that.
He blinked and swiftly brought his focus back to Amita, who was still looking at the two men with disgust. He reached out to touch her arm, and draw her attention away from the gay couple. "Amita. Amita." He repeated her name again with a stronger voice, which finally made her look away.
"Can you believe some people?" she asked in a strident voice, the volume of it pitched just slightly higher than Charlie was comfortable with. Charlie looked around, to check and see that they weren't making a spectacle of themselves.
Charlie leaned in a bit closer, and in a voice lowered just for her ears alone said, "Amita, please. Don't make a scene. Okay?"
"Oh, and what they're doing isn't making a scene as well?"
Charlie couldn't believe her response and he had to argue with her reasonings, "How is it any different from a traditional couple? One who holds hands and shows their love for one another by using gestures of affection. Do you think that's distasteful?"
He saw her flinch as if she had been struck. "I just... I was raised in a traditional Hindu household, Charlie." As if that answer said it all. Part of it did to be sure, but he looked at her and thought how hypocritical she was being. She herself had chosen to not follow tradition and was willing to date him, and yet it was okay to just pick and choose what's right and wrong from her upbringing to suit her own needs. But he bit his tongue and held his thoughts for the moment, but he would make sure to revisit them sometime in the near future. She could hide behind tradition all she wanted, but he saw it for what it truly was.
"We're here to have dinner, and they looked like they would be done soon. Let's just order something to drink, and try to relax and talk about something... like the case. Alright?"
He watched for a moment to see the indecision written on Amita's face. Then the tension eased from her body and she turned her back to the dining area and faced the bar. "Fine. Can you have something alcoholic while you are taking your medication?"
"No, doctor's orders. Poor Don, he was craving a beer last night and had to stick with water or a soda instead. I want something with a bit more taste than water, so I'll just have an iced tea with lemon, if you'd be so kind when you order."
The minute Amita's attention was captured with the bartender, Charlie briefly flicked his glance back at the couple and his heart clenched at the scene he saw. The two men had such an intense look of love to their faces, and their whole attitudes were such that their world consisted of the two of them alone-- everything else had faded into the background.
Looking back, Charlie had decided that the entire date was a failure from start to finish. It hadn't helped that when they were actually called to be seated, they were led to the very table the two men had been at. This caused Amita to ask for another table, but the waitress firmly said they were booked solid and that no other tables would be available for a while. Amita looked as if she might just turn away and leave, but Charlie grasped her arm and told her to sit.
"You're taking your traditions, Amita, just a bit too far. Give it a rest and let it go. Ignore who was here before us and focus on us. We're here together for a date, just like you wanted."
Amita, totally absorbed in herself and her righteous indignation, totally missed the inflection Charlie had placed on the last few words of his statement. He watched as she took a deep breath and tried to relax once more. Charlie tried to participate in the conversation after that, but every so often, his mind would slip back to the two men who had been sitting here and to looking at Amita with a very analytical eye. He hadn't had any idea that she was homophobic, but then again they hadn't come into contact with many gay couples in their last two years of working together, if any. That led to thinking about Don. Don had admitted that he was now bisexual after a lifetime of having thought himself solely as hetero. What would Amita say if she knew that Don now had homosexual leanings? He shuddered to think of the possible repercussions, especially if he couldn't get her to see how her prejudices were detrimental to her being a teacher.
Amita tried to carry the date as much as possible. But by the time dinner was over, Charlie could see she was about to throw up her hands in defeat. "Charlie, what is the matter with you? You've not been here all evening, it's like your mind is a million miles away."
Charlie sighed and debated with himself about telling her at least a part of what had been bothering him the last few days. He realized that he needed to be honest with her to a point if he was to salvage anything from this evening and their friendship. "You were right last week, when I had pushed you about us getting together -- having you stay or the possibility of my going with you to Harvard. You had said that it wasn't about you, and that it was about me. And that your leaving to go to Harvard had nothing to do with me, and everything to do with your goals and ambitions.
"The thought of you going away... It made you slightly unattainable and therefore more desirable, which as you know means that I wanted to make you mine. It wasn't logical to think like that and over the weekend my doubts sprang up. So when you came to me and said you wanted to try again, that you'd changed your mind, I was hesitant. And that made me feel like a first class heel. So I thought I'd give us both a fair chance and I just..." Here the words ran out for Charlie. They would only lead to the topic of homophobia and how Amita had to learn to cope better if she wanted to get far in her role as a professor, and that really wasn't something he wanted to get into right now.
The look on her face at that moment was resigned. "You realized that it wasn't going to work after all." She sighed and then reached across the table and squeezed his good hand in reassurance. "I'm glad you were honest with me, Charlie. As much as it pains me to hear it, I had hoped that things would be okay for us. I do care for you and I am certain I could love you, but I think ... with what you've just said, that we'll be better off as just friends and colleagues."
Charlie turned his hand over and clasped her hand before she could remove it. "Does that mean you'll still be staying and not going away to Harvard?"
Amita nodded and smiled. "Millie did present an awfully appealing job package if I were to stay. The perk, of course, is that I'd be able to continue to work with many wonderful minds in the mathematics field, and be able to call those talented people my friends. Besides, where else would I get the challenge of helping the FBI solve difficult and puzzling cases?"
For a brief second, the thought of having her working with him and Don to help the FBI left him unsettled. He knew that he wasn't being logical on this, because Don would probably never come out to his friends and family. And if he did, he would never tell them the reason behind the change in his sexual orientation. He let his fears go for the moment. "That's terrific, Amita. I'm so glad you're staying. I've always enjoyed working with you and I hadn't really wanted to see that stop. I just... I feel bad that I've led you on these last few days."
"Charlie, stop it. You made an honest effort to make us work, and I'm glad you were able to come forward now before things between us went too far. We're good, okay. Don't worry about things."
They both sat in silence for a bit and for the first time that evening, it was actually quite comfortable. The air had been somewhat cleared and there was no longer any sense of anticipation hanging over them.
"So did you still want to go see that movie?" she asked.
The look on Charlie's face was comical and honest and Amita laughed. Before, he was being polite to his date when he had said he was fine with it, when he honestly hadn't been. But now that they were back to being friends, Charlie could let was he was really thinking show.
"I'll take that as a no. How about I drop you back at home, and I go to the movie at a later time with some other friends?"
Charlie was happy and ambivalent about returning home so soon. Happy that he'd get the chance to spend the remainder of the evening with Don, yet he didn't look forward to discussing the reason the date had terminated so early. Should he tell Don, warn him about Amita's homophobia? Would it even be an issue to Don. Don had said he had no desire to act on his new found sexuality.
Don... Don... Thoughts of Don had totally taken over Charlie's mind and he tried to replace them with something else, but what flashed through was the scene again of the two men that looked so much like the two brothers. Charlie had initially blanked out the reaction of what the image of the two men had done for him physically, but he couldn't ignore it anymore. The thought of him and Don together, it aroused him. And hard on the heels of that thought came the stark realization that he was well and truly sexually attracted to Don.
TBC
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Unavoidable Truths