Prompt 2

[umbralillium.livejournal.com]

Title: Carry On My Wayward Son
Fandom: Numb3rs
Prompt: #2, Mens rea, guilty mind
Warnings: Mentions of violence, loosely fits the prompt.
Rating: Light R
Summary: Each time they were too late, it took Don a little longer to pull himself out of the quagmire of guilt and exhaustion.
Notes: Anyone who is familiar with my Numb3rs stories might be a little confused. Cassandra is an original character I created; in the series I originally created her for, she’s legally deaf. I have pulled her into a few other universes and in those universes, she can hear. This particular story occurs in my Precious Moments universe. Yes, it’s official; Cass falls in love with Don there, too. Anyways, all newcomers need to know is that Cassandra is an original character and Don is Charlie’s older brother and an FBI agent.
Lyrics and title are from Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas.

Reworked version here

Comments

[smwright.livejournal.com]

The emotion in this story is clearly very real. Cassandra's worry for Don and Don's commitment to his work are both illustrated powerfully. I felt for each of them deeply.

There are a couple of places where I felt like the need to describe the scene (i.e., "Don obligingly moved up the couch until his head was on the pillow that had fallen down to lay on the cushion Cassandra had been sitting on, he also turned to face the room, his back braced against the back of the deep, denim upholstered couch.") was a little cumbersome. This is a really evocative piece, and I didn't want to be distracted on the couple of occasions when it happened. Just my two cents, and others may easily disagree.

The characters are wonderful, and I'd like to read more of them! Thanks for sharing them here!