Disclaimer: I don't own Perception.

Prompt #3: Routine - While it kept him sane, he longed for a challenge to spark his interest.

Words: 718


From his first steps, Daniel Pierce was an impulsive person by nature. Always going, always experiencing new things, never stopping to plan his day. He loved the randomness of an unplanned day, the excitement of a surprise, the knowledge that every day would bring something different from the next.

Then he was diagnosed, and it was like slamming an iron door shut. The doctors were very firm about limiting his new experiences. No spontaneity, no flights of fancy, no abrupt change in a set routine. Dr. Rosenthal gladly helped him outline a schedule and diet plan to limit stressful stimuli.

Being a cocky punk, Daniel deviated from his schedule once. It resulted in his heated argument with a wall that, thankfully, nobody noticed before he realized what was happening. That experience scared him straight and kept him obsessively fixated on following his routine. He went through medical school and almost four years of teaching this way.

Then one day, in the middle of his lecture, he turned around to look over the ever-changing faces of students who took his class either for actual credit or to say they sat in the same room as the famous Dr. Pierce, and noted a change. In the front row was an undergrad girl with long brown hair, and she had her hand up. When he indicated for her to speak, she not only asked a relevant question, but asked it in a way that showed she was eager to learn more.

When the class let out, for the first time in his teaching career, Daniel Pierce willingly consulted his class list to put a name to that face.

That's how Kate Moretti first disrupted his routine.


My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation ~ Arthur Conan Doyle


Daniel came to count on Kate to bring him in on cases. It became a routine of its own, erratic but still reliable. She'd walk into his classroom or his office or his home, a bright glint in her eye and a folder in hand, bearing a mystery.

Through her, Daniel was able to meet intriguing people, solve puzzling murders, and gain insights that his teaching position could not begin to grant him. He was helping people, and at the same time, he was helping himself. His hallucinations, while still present, were actually essential in assisting with his consulting work. Sometimes it was good to talk it out with yourself, literally.

Then she received a promotion. Quantico, Washington, D.C. The big time. It was what she always wanted, and Daniel wanted what was best for her. So he let her go without a fight, just a hug and a whispered "Good luck in the big leagues," in her ear.

It was only a matter of weeks after she left before lack of stimulation caused his hallucinations to increase. His work suffered as the lines between reality and delusion blurred, and he quickly spiraled out of control. After a tour in Rexford, he brought back Lewicki to keep his world from falling apart again.

That's when Daniel realized just how integral Kate Moretti had become to his sanity. And that's when he knew he had to learn to live without her.


Idle hands are the devil's playground ~ Lois Lowry


Having a routine was well and good on a regular day. Lewicki did his best to keep Daniel entertained with the most difficult crossword puzzles he could find, and usually that was enough. But having the same thing day in and day out, week after week and month after month, can make even the sanest of men go nuts.

So when Kate Moretti walked back into his life, Daniel eagerly welcomed the chaos that was to come. Even if letting her go had resulted in his break from reality, she was still the greatest source of puzzles and problems. And, truth be told, he missed going out on cases with her.

For her, he'd ditch his routine every time.


Life is nothing without a little chaos to make it interesting. ~ Amelia Atwater-Rhodes


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