A/N: This story is set right after Angels and Devils. It started off to be about Charlie and Amita, but morphed into being about Don and Robin as well. Please review. I would like to thank my friend June for helping me again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or any of the characters. However the plot and any mistakes are mine.

Summary: Amita says no, which has severe consequences for Robin.

Love and Consequences

By: wenwalke

Chapter 1

"You know I love you so much." Charlie said.

"I love you too." Amita replied.

Getting down on one knee Charlie asked. "Amita, will you marry me?"

Charlie was so sure that Amita would say "yes" that her actual reply was almost lost on him.

"Charlie, I can't, not right now."

Getting back to his feet Charlie looked bewildered. "Why not, did I do something wrong? I can propose again in a more romantic setting if that's what you want."

"No Charlie, it's not the setting, or the way you proposed. I just can't marry you right now."

"I don't understand? You just said that you loved me." Charlie was starting to feel desperate, he had been so sure, now he was feeling lost.

"Please Charlie, just leave it, I don't want to argue with you. I have to go." Charlie watched as she disappeared around a corner of the building. He sank to the ground and leaned back against a tree. He sat there a long time running different equations in his head to try and figure out why Amita had rejected him.

It was early morning when the rain finally drove Charlie to go home. The house was quiet. Don's SUV was in the driveway but he and his dad were upstairs asleep. Not wanting to see or talk to anyone, Charlie crept up the stairs to his room.

When Don got up, he stuck his head in the door to Charlie's room, but Charlie pretended to be asleep.

Charlie finally got out of bed when he heard Don, then Alan leave. The first thing he did was call Amita, but the call went directly to voicemail.

The day wore on and Amita still would not take his calls. By late afternoon Larry had heard stories from a number of students about Charlie snapping at everyone. Larry first tried to reach Amita to see if she knew what was wrong with Charlie. Not being able to reach her he decided to face Charlie head on and went to his office.

"Charles, tell me what's wrong. Your students are worried about you. Has something happened?"

"Leave me alone Larry. I don't want to talk to you or anyone else right now."

"You really should talk to someone Charles. What about talking to Amita?"

"No! I don't want to talk to anyone. Now go away and leave me alone."

Larry was so surprised by the force of Charlie's last statement he actually took a step back. Turning, Larry left Charlie's office and immediately went to his own and called Alan.

"Alan. It's Larry. Do you have any idea what's wrong with Charles? He has been snapping at everyone all day and just about threw me out of his office when I asked what was wrong."

"No Larry, I didn't see Charlie this morning. He was still asleep when I left. I'll see what I can find out tonight when he comes home."

"Alright Alan, let me know what you discover." With that Larry hung up and went in search of Amita.

It didn't take Larry long to find out that Amita had not been seen on campus all day. She was still not answering her phone. Larry went to Amita's apartment, but there was no answer when he buzzed.

Charlie knew that he should not have yelled at Larry but he couldn't seem to stop himself. He'd finally worked out that Amita had turned him down because of the trauma of her kidnapping. He thought maybe she just needed time to sort things out. This made him feel somewhat better, so he packed up his laptop and went home.

Alan was waiting for him as soon as he entered the Craftsman. "Charlie what's wrong? Larry called, said you were snapping at everyone all day."

"It's nothing Dad. I'm going out to the garage. Let me know when dinners ready." Charlie headed towards the kitchen he did not want to get into a discussion with his dad right now.

"Wait. I want you to tell me what's wrong. You can't keep it inside, that's not healthy," Alan said as he followed Charlie into the kitchen.

"I don't want to talk about it dad, leave it alone." Charlie slammed the door behind him as he left the house.

Alan was concerned. He thought he might know what the problem was. He'd seen the ring box in Charlie's dresser draw when he was putting his socks away. It had been there for over two weeks as far as he knew, but this afternoon it was gone. Amita couldn't have said no. Alan knew that she loved Charlie, so why would she say no. Then it came to him. The kidnapping, it had to be. He really hoped that Charlie and Amita would work this out soon, or Charlie would be impossible to live with.

When Charlie came in for dinner he hardly spoke, ate very little, then got in his car and left. Charlie was thankful that Alan had dropped his earlier questions.

Alan watched Charlie leave. He'd decided to wait a day or so to see if Charlie and Amita could work things out.

Charlie was going to Amita's, he had a key, but he didn't want to just let himself in. He knocked on the door, but Amita didn't answer. Frustrated Charlie decided to let himself in after all.

Amita was not there. Charlie looked around and realised that some of Amita's clothes were gone. How was he going to solve this if Amita was not around?

Charlie leaned against the door jamb. He couldn't go home and face his dad, and Don might be there, which would make things worse. Charlie could never keep anything from Don for too long. Don had a way of knowing when Charlie was in trouble and usually managed to make Charlie talk. So he went to CalSci and slept on the couch in his office.

The next two days were difficult. Amita had taken a leave of absence from teaching and Charlie still had no idea were she was. He had tried to find her but couldn't. He thought about asking Don for help, but wasn't ready to do that just yet. Something had to happen soon or he was sure he would explode.

On the second day after Amita disappeared Don went to Charlie's office for help on a new case his team had just been assigned. As soon as he walked in the door Don knew something was wrong. "What's up buddy?"

"Nothing. What do you want?" Charlie growled.

"Nice greeting, have you been working on that?" Don asked sarcastically. "I came to ask for your help with a new fraud case, but I think I'll have Larry or Amita look at it."

"Fine, you do that. I'm too busy with my work here at the moment anyway." Charlie knew what he was saying would only anger Don, but at that moment he didn't care.

"Listen, whatever you problem is, don't take it out on me. I don't need your crap." Don stormed out of Charlie's office.

Charlie knew that he hadn't been fair to Don and should have confided in him about Amita.

Don was still mad at Charlie later that day when Alan called.

"Don, I'm worried about Charlie. I think Amita turned down his proposal and he can't handle it. Also, Amita's been gone for over two days. Larry's been trying to find her, which means Charlie can't either."

"Listen dad. Charlie's a big boy. He'll work things out with Amita eventually. I don't have time for this right now. There's a drug dealer, Ralph Watson, who escaped from custody this afternoon. Robin convicted him. He'd threatened to come after Robin if he ever got out, so I need to be here with Robin, not babysitting Charlie. The Assistant Director assigned the case to my team led by David. I'm on leave as of fifteen minutes ago, orders from the AD."

"Ok Don. Look after Robin. I'm sorry I bothered you." Alan tried to keep the hurt out of his voice. "Bye Don."

"Bye dad, I'll talk to you later." Don had heard the hurt in Alan's voice and was instantly sorry he'd snapped.

Later that evening Don told Robin about Amita leaving and his conversation with Alan. It had been bothering him all afternoon. He knew Charlie would need help, but he didn't want to leave Robin. She was starting to mean more to him than any women ever had and he didn't want to lose her.

But Robin had other ideas about what Don should be doing.

"Don, you have to go help Charlie find Amita. If Alan is right and Amita turned him down he'll need your support. Tomorrow, I want you to go talk to Charlie and offer to help him find Amita. We have to get them together so they can work this out."

"No Robin, I'm staying here with you until LAPD catch Watson." Don had a bad feeling about Watson.

Robin signed and said. "Don, I have two LAPD officers as bodyguards. They follow me everywhere. Your team is on Watson's trail. Nothing is going to happen."