(Most characters belong to the Perception universe)
PERCEPTION
Chapter 1
As he stood in front of the classroom to begin his lecture, Daniel immediately had the students' attention when he held up a red balloon.
"What is it about the allure of a balloon?" he asked as he displayed the balloon for everyone to see, "The second I held this up, I could see the effect it had on some of you. Some of you were surprised, but from most of you, I caught an extra sparkle in your eye, perhaps even a little more curve in your mouth, right?" he questioned, as random chuckling could be heard, "so can anyone tell me why it is that we have a positive visceral reaction to this simple 11 inch round latex item?"
Sara raised his hand, "I think it's because balloons are usually displayed at happy events, like carnivals and birthday parties?"
Daniel looked pleased, "Yes! Anyone else?"
Dani added, "Balloons are bright and colorful and bring back childhood memories?"
"Bingo!" agreed Daniel, as he went on with his lecture, "The fact is, balloons are associated with the good times in our lives. They symbolize the emotion of joy for us!"
Someone yelled out, "How about it being the condoms for the soul?"
Laughter from the classroom erupted.
"Very poetic, Mr. Stern, although I COULD have said it better myself!" Daniel jested as more laughter could be heard. When it died down, Daniel continued.
"Balloons are almost magical. It's seemingly light for its size and because of that, it can do something we can't. It can..." he suddenly let go of the balloon, "...even defy gravity!"
All the students' heads looked up at once as they watched the balloon drift up to the ceiling and then turned their attention back to Daniel, spellbound by his demonstration.
"But there's another way to look at a balloon," Daniel explained, "It can be used to symbolize something on a deeper level," he reached down behind his desk and this time produced a different balloon, a black one, to which the classroom oooohed over its dark appearance.
"Imagine" Daniel proceeded, holding up this new balloon for all to see, "that this is your head and you've been in a wonderful relationship. Suddenly your world comes crashing down when you hear the two words everyone has dreaded since the beginning of time..."
"I'm broke?" Lewicki volunteered an answer from the side of his room as the class laughed.
"Even worse than that," Daniel smiled as he held a pin in his other hand, "let's just say these two awful words have inspired a million weepy songs and a trillion empathetic tweets..."
The entire class seemed to lean forward in unison.
Looking about, Daniel paused to add suspense, still holding onto the balloon.
"The dreaded words are...'It's over'..." he announced while at the same time sticking the pin into the balloon, causing everyone to jump when the balloon popped.
POP!
After the rupturing noise, the class became quiet.
"Most people think when you are heartbroken, it is the heart that feels it the most," Daniel stated, "but in reality, it is the head, or more precisely, the brain, that suffers the most. As we had discussed earlier, during the good times of a relationship, your brain is flooded with dopamine, a feel-good chemical that lights up your noodle's reward centers. No, not THAT noodle, THIS noodle!"
He pointed to his head as the class chuckled.
"However, when you experience heartbreak," continued Daniel, "your brain seems to pop and then it pumps out a stress hormone called cortisol. In your emotional state, your brain sends an overabundance of blood to your muscles, causing them to tense up, ostensibly so your body will still be able to perform any quick movements or actions. However, most of the time, you're not trying to outrun a bullet, or leap off a tall building, so you won't require being overdosed with this cortisol. Therefore your body is suddenly plagued with swollen muscles that can lead to headaches, a stiff neck, and that awful falling sensation in the pit of your stomach, " he put his hand dramatically over his heart, "and thus ...the arrival of heartache."
Nadia raised her hand.
"So it's like an addict who is going through withdrawal pain," she pointed out.
"Precisely!" Daniel nodded, "and that is because your body had been previously addicted to the dopamine."
"So how do get our brain back on track to help get over the latest break-up?" Doug asked.
"I'm not here to solve your social problems, Mr. Moore," Daniel said in jest as the class again chuckled, "but I'll just simply end this part of the lecture by saying that it's been proven that time, indeed, heals all wounds. Another point to help remedy your heartache might be that you could fall in love again. Chapter 6 in your textbook continues the contributions that dopamines make..."
.
After the lecture, Daniel watched as the students paraded out.
Actually, he was looking beyond them, in deep thought.
It has been three years since Agent Kate Moretti first walked back into his life and changed it forever. And in working complex criminal cases together with her, she had managed to make his hold on reality stronger than his delusions.
That's the good news.
The frustrating news is that because they had to work closely on these cases, he found himself becoming more attracted to her. Besides being beautiful and an excellent agent, Kate is intelligent, witty and at times adorable; qualities Daniel found appealing. The total package. Unfortunately, Donnie Ryan saw her that way, too.
And now they were back together.
Not only together, but engaged.
Of course, Daniel would never begrudge Kate her happiness. She deserved it. Donnie was a great guy, although Daniel wasn't sure if Donnie would be there for the long run. But it wasn't his to judge, anyway.
"Doc?" Lewicki broke into his thoughts, "You okay? You sorta look out of it."
Daniel hadn't realized that Max had remained in the classroom.
"What?"
It took a second for Daniel to recover, "I'm fine, Lewicki," he tried to assure him as he busied himself by packing his papers into his briefcase.
He thought that would be the end of their conversation, but h e should have known better. Max could almost read him like a book.
"Really?" Max looked at him suspiciously, "You sure don't look it...you've been so distracted lately. What's up with you?"
At first Daniel figured he would give some random answer just to end the conversation. But Lewicki had been his faithful assistant for sometime now and Daniel trusted him whole-heartedly, although he would never tell Max that.
"I've been doing some thinking," Daniel told him, "and I've come to the conclusion that it's time I move forward."
He now closed the clasped on his briefcase, hoping he had said enough.
But of course that statement only piqued Max's curiosity.
"What the hell does that mean, Doc?"
Daniel took a deep breath in and then expelled it, hoping what he will say next will be the last of the subject.
"Meaning I'm going to concentrate all my efforts on teaching for the University, which is actually my real job, and quit playing consultant with the FBI."
Max looked completely shocked.
"You're kidding, right? Doc! I can't believe-"
Daniel lifted his hand to silence him.
"I'm tired and I've said enough, Lewicki," he told him as he grabbed onto his briefcase and placed it on his side, "and right now I need to head over to my office to grade some papers. I'll see you later at home."
He couldn't wait to get out of there.
Lewicki knew how stubborn and private Daniel could be. He had improved a lot since Max came to work for him, but he still had a long way to go.
"Okay, sure, Doc," Lewicki, "but don't think this is the end of our conversation."
"Signed, sealed and delivered, it's the end, Lewicki," Daniel said wearily as he walked out of the classroom by himself.
It seemed like he could breathe again once he got out to the hallway.
Lecturing about the effects of heartbreak on the brain today had been harder than he thought it was going to be. At first he speculated that it was because of what previously happened between him and Miranda in Paris. Their break off had been rather sudden. But even now, he knew it was for the best. And although he had cared for her a lot, he didn't feel the 'pop' in his head that he had described in his lecture .
No, he only felt that way with one person and she was getting married.
The only thing he could do right now to stop that feeling was to stop seeing her. Which meant he would also have to stop working with her. After all, didn't he say one remedy to heartache was to allow time to heal all wounds?
He certainly hope so.
Reaching his office, he turned the knob and opened the door.
Light spilled into the dark wooden interior of his office, blinding him for a second. When his eyes adjusted, he felt he couldn't breathe when he saw Kate Moretti stand up from his visitor's chair, a slight smile plastered on her face.
Her shy smile couldn't hide the inherent strength Daniel knew she possessed. She was wearing a simple dark pants suit with a white collar blouse. Such garments were worn to professionalism for a federal agent, but on her, the effect only brought out her femininity.
For a split second their gazes held longer than necessary.
"Daniel," she greeted him, trying to make it sound light, "I'm sorry I hadn't been around for awhile. Work has been keeping me very busy."
"Kate," his heartbeat rapidly outpaced his ability to think.
So instead he became busy, placing his briefcase on his desk, anything to keep from telling her that it was time they said their goodbyes.
"No that's fine," he assured her, "I've been busy myself. My classes are overcrowded, more than usual. So why are you here today?"
"I need your help again," Kate said pleasantly, "We've just successfully recovered the victim of a kidnap and arrested the kidnappers. The problem is, we also suspect one of the family members of being involved with the kidnapping and I was wondering if you would come down to headquarters and give us your read on this person of interest relative. I'll drive you there myself and I'll even take you out to dinner afterwards as a way to thank you," she stated, her eyes lit up with excitement.
He wanted to believe her enthusiasm was due to not seeing him for a time, but it was probably more due to the possibility of her closing the case with his help.
Kate didn't understand why this meeting made her feel slightly uncomfortable. Just because she hadn't seen Daniel for awhile, why was it that she was taking notice of his tousled hair, his close-shaven whiskers? That she felt slightly light-headed as she stood across from him?
When Daniel didn't answer immediately, she became slightly alarmed at his look of unease.
"Daniel?" she questioned, "Why are you looking at me that way?"
Even though he knew what he must do, he hadn't expected to end their partnership, their friendship today.
It was too soon.
But, unfortunately, today came up and slapped him in the face.
"Kate," he forced himself to choke out the last part, "we need to talk."
.
.
(A/N: I'm not sure if the last few episodes of the Perception series will ever show Daniel and Kate getting together, so I've done it for them. If my story veers away from the show's storyline, then this is merely my version of how I wished it would happen, intermixed with an intriguing mystery) :D
And it's great being back!
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