A/N: My first (very short) story here, hope you like it.
Charlie stood in front of the mirror. His face was still dripping with the water he had splashed onto it earlier and his hands were clutching the edges of the metal sink.
Tired eyes were looking at him from his own reflection, judging him with their worried gleam.
The man shook his head at the image inside the glass.
"I can't."
He felt old. And even with all the experience age had rewarded him with, he sensed he was about to make a terrible mistake – against his better knowledge.
Charlie blamed his weak mind and his body for betraying him with responses he would have thought long behind him. Age and wisdom couldn't reason with that, they couldn't fight it. And he couldn't fight himself in that way.
This loss of control wasn't anything he was familiar with. It was like an enemy that had hit him with a surprise attack. It had sneaked up on him and if he just would have been more careful he could have avoided being caught in its web.
His breath fogged upon the glass as he leaned in closer to hold his own gaze as if he was trying to convince himself - the same way he always tried to convince others.
"I shouldn't."
He knew that he could still change his mind if he could just gain the upper hand in this fight with the stranger in the mirror. He didn't knew this side of himself. And he wasn't sure what scared him more – this new side itself or the fact that it was so new to him when he had lived long enough to get used to something just like it.
But he hadn't been able to withstand the temptation when he should have stood his ground. It reminded him that even with all the years of military training, of active duty, with all the times he had killed people or 'disabled' robots, he was still human – and he was just one man. He had weaknesses and since he hadn't known about this particular flaw of his, it made him much weaker and vulnerable.
But even knowing that he should stop right now before it was too late – if only for his own sake – he felt his fortifications crumble, rendered useless by an assault from within their own walls.
Charlie looked down into the sink, already sure he would finally admit defeat, but not yet ready to hiss the white flag before all defenses had been teared down.
"I mustn't."
He knew all the reasons why this was a very bad idea. He had listed and counted them in his head before so many times already, he could probably recite them in his sleep. But all the right reasons just didn't seem to outweigh the wrong motivation.
And when the door behind him opened to reveal a familiar figure watching him, the intense stare visible in the mirror, Charlie knew there was no turning back for he had heeded the siren's call.
He didn't even need to hear his name to know that the other man was saying it in his mind. Over and over again, impatiently like it was his nature. And while the mirror-image gave him one last disappointed glance, Charlie gladly gave in to the reassuring smile that tempted him when he finally turned around to follow Dan's lead to the bedroom.