Chances

Author: Dragon's Daughter 1980

Spoilers: Season 1

Pairing: Don/Terry

Disclaimer: CBS has ownership over Numb3rs. That being said, I'm just borrowing the cast for my own enjoyment and I promise to return all characters unharmed.

Author's Note: Thank you to all my readers and reviewers!


Mansfield Park
Pasadena, California
(8:39 PM, Local Time)

"My mom used to bring me here when Don and I were little," he told her, gently pushing a tree branch out of the way. He motioned for her to go first and followed after her. He smiled at the little gasp of surprise that escaped her as she stood at the water's edge.

"It's beautiful, Charlie," she whispered when he came to stand beside her.

"Yeah, it is," he agreed, standing next to her as the sun slowly sunk below the horizon, painting the evening sky a glorious mixed palette of indigo, sapphire, fire and rose over a sparkling lake. The lake wasn't very large, but enough for a few ducks to swim around in. The air was warm enough to be comfortable, but not sickeningly humid, a welcome relief from the earlier summer heat. The park was fairly quiet in their secluded corner and she felt safe and comfortable, with him standing there next to her, his arm around her waist, her head resting on his shoulder.

Suddenly his arm slipped away from her body and she turned to him, intent on asking him what was wrong, but the words faded on her lips when she saw his expression. His hands were trembling and sweating slightly as he took hers, but his voice was certain and steady.

"Amita," he said, looking into her eyes, "I don't know when I fell in love with you. But I did, and I held back, because I thought you were unreachable. And then, you stayed and I didn't know what to do, but I still loved you. We went on a few forgettable dates, danced around each other for so long… Do you remember that day in the lab?"

She nodded slowly; she remembered. It had happened during one of Don's cases. The two of them were in the computer lab, anxiously running one of his equations simultaneously with her computer algorithm in hopes of pinpointing the possible locations for a missing group of children being held hostage by a local street gang. It was late at night, around midnight, and both of them were tired after a very long day. When the program was done with its computations and the locations rattled off via phone to a very tense Don, the two academics fell to talking, too hyped-up on caffeine and too worried to sleep. But exhaustion eventually overtook the both of them and they fell asleep together on a couch in Charlie's office where they were discovered the next morning by a highly amused Larry. It had been one of the more embarrassing episodes in her relationship with Charlie, but she didn't regret that night one bit.

It turned out that a very tired math genius was also a very talkative, reflective one. He told her about how worried he was about Don, how he wasn't sure how to handle his father's girlfriend, how there were still days when he was tempted to retreat into his inner world and how he was ambivalent about his refusal to do so. She had reciprocated, telling him about her childhood, her family, her fears, her dreams and nearly everything in between. She had enjoyed falling asleep in his arms, curled up to his warmth, knowing that she had done something to help make the world a little better. Because of their involvement, the children had been successfully rescued and reunited with their parents without any fatalities.

"I watched you sleep, and I knew…" he released one hand to slip into his pocket, "I knew I could do that forever." When he took his hand out, he was holding a sparkling object in his hand.

"And I want to." Her breath caught and her hands were the ones that were shaking.

"Amita Ramanujan," Charlie asked gently, "will you marry me?"

"Yes," she whispered after a heartbeat of thought, joy surging through her. "Yes, I will." He grinned and slipped the gold ring onto her finger, the red ruby catching the sunlight, giving itself an inner glow. Her face was wet, but she didn't care as Charlie drew her close to kiss her.

It was by no means their first kiss, but it was breath-stealing and blissful eternity just the same. They broke apart, not for air, but in surprise at the sudden rumbling sound around them. A split second later, a light, but steady, summer rain began to fall. Amita couldn't help it, but she began to laugh and soon Charlie was chuckling too. The newly engaged couple made it back to the family home, soaked, but laughing with joy.


Residence of Charles and Alan Eppes
Pasadena, California
(7:36 PM, Local Time)

"So," he whispered to her, "What do you think?" He sat down next to her on the garden bench, watching the gathering of family, friends and colleagues swirling around them.

"I think," she replied, turning to him, her voice just as low, "that this is going very, very well. Our parents are getting along, my father hasn't issued any death threats against you, my mother approves as far as I can tell, my grandmother doesn't seem intent on smothering you, my siblings haven't pulled any pranks, none of our guests appear drunk, we haven't run out of food and I'm happy."

"That's good," he said, scooting closer to her body before putting an arm around her shoulders. "I wouldn't want any Romeo and Juliet drama here."

She laughed quietly and he smiled, "But what I was really asking about was them." He nodded toward his brother and his girlfriend, sitting together in a semi-secluded corner of the garden. The two of them were talking quietly; whether they were exchanging naughty remarks or discussing work was impossible to tell. "What do you think?"

"What?" she asked, not quite following his line of thought. "They're perfect for each other."

"What do you think of her as a possible sister-in-law?"

"I'd be thrilled," she replied honestly. "Your father will be happy that he's got both of his sons engaged and married, finally. But he's not going to move that quickly though, is he?" Her fiancé shrugged, "He hasn't said anything, but David told me that there's an office betting pool on the two of them."

"Please tell me you didn't enter."

"Nope," he shook his head, "I know better."

"Has he found out about it?" She began shifting her weight so that she was half-sitting, half lying in his lap and the rest of her body was curled up on the bench.

"No, not yet."

"You're not going to tell him, are you?" she asked, giving her fiancé a look that warned him to answer in the negative.

"No," he shook his head, his free hand slipping into one of hers, "I don't want to get David in trouble."

"Good." Her eyes settled on another blooming couple, "What about them?" She nodded toward the couple in question. His right hand began to play with her hair.

"Megan and Larry?" he asked in confirmation and she nodded, not looking at him, her hand pillowed against his arm. "Neither of them are saying a word, and trust me, we've both tried. Megan's just Megan and Larry…maybe you should try, after all, you're the one who got him to tell us about his date with her." The FBI agent in question laughed at something her date said. The quirky, but much beloved physics professor looked amused as well. The two of them had been going out steadily for several months now.

She shook her head, "Yeah, but he was nervous and he wanted to tell someone. We just happened to be around."

When he didn't say anything in reply, she assumed that he just didn't want to talk anymore, content to watch their guests interacting with each other, content to know that he was friend and family to so many. It reassured him, she knew, to know that there were people around him to pull him out of his inner world that he, at times, still inadvertently sank into. Soon, she would be his anchor, the one who would have the primary responsibility to keep him grounded, to love and cherish him without conditions for the rest of their lives and beyond. She didn't know if he knew she knew, but she had taken off her engagement ring the other day to keep it safe during an experiment and when she did, she had seen the infinity sign engraved under the ruby setting. She had grinned like a fool then, and just thinking about it now made her smile. It was so very him to declare his unequivocal feelings for her in that fashion.

"I love you, you know" he said suddenly. She looked up at him and smiled, "I know. I love you too."

"Good," he whispered, leaning down and capturing her lips in a quick kiss. They parted and smiled at the smothered laughter around them.

"Guess we're caught," she told him playfully.

"Hey, it's our engagement party," he pointed out, helping her stand, "we're allowed to kiss." He lowered his voice, "Your father's coming this way, should I run?"

She smiled and shook her head, "No. Just don't tell him we're living together."

"I'll remember that," he said, turning to his future in-laws. "Mr. Ramanujan…"