Title: Wrecked
Author: Roth
Rating: T
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I do not own the idea, characters, nor concept of Numb3rs.
Summary: This is kind of a missing scene type story for the episode Breaking Point. It is similar to the story shattered that I wrote, but this one is from Charlie's POV.
Note: So...that's it people. I hope you enjoy both this story and all my other stories I have posted. Feel free to review or yell or do whatever. I bid you all adue. PS: I will still be reading stories, so no one else stop writing for Numb3rs. I need entertainment.
Wrecked
Chapter IV: Overlook
"Making a wrong decision is understandable. Refusing to search continually for learning is not." Philip
I knew that despite what I kept telling everyone I was not "fine." I didn't need my jumping at the sound of the dropped book or my, for lack of a better word, "freak out" at the house to tell me that. All this aside, I still had no idea why Colby had driven up to this parking lot.
"What are we doing here?" I asked, rubbing my arm as I walked over to look out at the city below.
Colby took a second to respond as he too went to look at the city. "When I was being held on that freighter, and they had me handcuffed, and Lancer was sticking me with needles, there was one thing that kept me going, and that was knowing that my team was coming for me." He stood up on the concrete divider to get a better look at the city. "No matter how screwed up things had gotten that you and David and Megan and Don were working hard, and you were gonna come through that door."
I'd never heard any of this before, but Colby was far from done. He stepped down from the divider and turned toward me. "The thing is Bonnie Parks, she doesn't have a team. She's got nobody. And she's locked up, handcuffed, in the dark, I don't know what. But what I do know is that I wanna be the one who comes through that door for her."
I suddenly knew why Colby had brought me out here, but I also knew that I couldn't help. I started shaking my head. "I wanna help you, but I-I-I cannot control what's going on in my head. You don't understand."
It was Colby's turn to shake his head. "No. Now that's the thing, Charlie." He sat down on the guardrail. "I do understand, cause I went through this exact same thing when I first saw combat in Afghanistan. You have to talk about the attack. Every detail, every memory, every thought that went through your head when it was happening. You-You can't keep it all locked inside your head. You can't just keep going around telling everybody that you're fine."
I looked down at my feet; I never really thought it would be Colby who could relate to me about what happened. "Well, obviously I'm not fine."
"That's why you've got to do something about it." He got up and walked toward me. "It doesn't matter how scared you were." I looked at him from the corner of my eye. "It doesn't matter if you wet your pants, man." He pointed to the empty space all around. "There's nobody out here that's gonna hear it." Suddenly, this all made sense.
For a moment, I didn't respond, and Colby almost looked like he thought his plan had failed. Then, I decided it was time. "I-I was just...driving..."
I told Colby everything. Like he said, every detail, memory, and thought. From when the truck first hit my car to thinking I wouldn't see any of my family and friends again, and he just listened. When I was finally finished, I felt drained, but at the same, I felt better than I had since it happened. A few minutes after I was done, Colby asked me if I was ready to go back. I nodded; I suddenly had control over my head again.
Finem