Pairing: Charlie/Amita (happy sigh - nerd love rules!)

Spoilers: Counterfeit Reality, Sabotage (I adored that episode!) and a reference to Uncertainty Principle

Disclaimer: Everyone on Numb3rs belongs to the Scotts and a bunch of other people who aren't me. Thank heavens for fanfic.

Unsolvable Equations
by Gatekeeper

Amita's head was bent over her notebook, focused on the math problem she dissected with such skill across the page. Charlie hated to interrupt her, but knew that if he didn't do it now he never would. "I ..." He took a deep breath, made himself push ahead. "I thought you'd want to know how the counterfeit case turned out."

Amita froze, her heart skipping erratically for a second at the highly unexpected sound of Charlie's voice above her. He'd been so careful to avoid her lately ... "Charlie." Despite a stern mental reminder to be careful, she couldn't keep the pleasure out of her voice as she looked up at him - she'd missed him so much more than she'd been willing to admit to herself. "Where did you find the message?" Quietly Amita slid her bag off the bench to the ground in front of her, hoping Charlie would accept the unspoken invitation.

Thankfully, he did. "It was in the watermark." It wasn't until she'd moved the bag that Charlie realized just how much he'd wanted her to, the chance to stay that close to her somehow easing to his heart. "As I'd theorized, the flaws were intentional. Isolated and read edge on, they gave us the address of where she was being held." He grinned, unable to help himself. "You solved the case."

Amita's cheeks reddened slightly, a little unnerved at how much the comment pleased her. "All I did was make a suggestion."

"An important one. I'd already attempted to analyze the flaws using every method I could think of - without your insight, I may not have found the key within the deadline." He'd always thought better with her, a fact he had not truly realized until his self-imposed exile of the last few weeks. Now, though, it was one of the few factors that gave him hope. "I ... need that insight again. If you'd be willing."

Amita's brows furrowed, unsure of what was going on. What math would make him so hesitant? "Of course."

Charlie took another deep breath. "I've ... been wrestling with a problem for the last few weeks," he said finally. "I've exhausted my own resources attempting to find a solution, but the only one I was able to come up with has proven ... fatally incomplete. I have to try again."

She tensed, remembering his all too recent experience with P vs. NP. Intellectually, she'd known why it was important to him, but in her heart she'd been terrified. "Some problems weren't meant to be solved, Charlie," she said softly. "It's no one's fault."

He turned to her, suddenly fiercely intense. "That's not an option." Trying to go back to a life without Amita, knowing she was out there ... it had been like all the even numbers had suddenly been wiped from existence. The memory of the sheer incompleteness that had been left behind still staggered him - he would do anything he could not to go back to that. "I have to solve this, Amita." The edge of desperation in his voice was clear even to him.

"Ah." So it was like that, then. But he'd asked for her, in some small way even needed her. What choice did she have but to follow? "Tell me about the problem." Her voice was gentle, and she fought the urge to brush a lock of dark hair away from his face.

Charlie felt the pull of Amita's eyes, wanted to let himself get lost in them. With her, he was never too odd or confusing or different. He was just ... happy. "A ... company wants to do something specific and rather ... drastic with the bulk of their current capital. If the risk proves successful, the results would be ..." There was no word sufficient to describe her. He wasn't even sure an equation could do it. "Breathtaking. Life altering."

Amita could feel her own breath catch at the passion in Charlie's voice. The thought of maybe, just maybe, having it directed at her ... It was a sad thing, being the only woman in the world who could be wooed by risk assessment. "But ..."

"The venture has a very slim chance of success. And if it fails ..." He swallowed, tore his gaze away from hers. "The consequences would be massive."

"Okay." Amita watched him, trying to read what was really going on. No specifics could simply mean the project was classified, but ... he looked so lost, too much so to be explained by the problem he'd just described to her. "From what you've told me, the simplest solution appears to be for the company to avoid taking the risk." She spoke carefully, gently. His heart was softer than anyone seemed to realize, and somehow it had gotten involved in all this. The last thing she wanted was to see him hurt.

"That was my initial assessment as well." Still, he flinched at her agreement, even now afraid that they had been right. "But I forgot to factor in how merely an awareness of the risk would ..." He struggled for words, never his strong suite. "...alter the situation. Full rejection of the possibility, after knowing of its existence, would lead to some of the same consequences that would follow an attempt and failure."

Amita tried to visualize the numbers that would be involved in a situation like the one Charlie had described, failing utterly. "I ..." She shook her head regretfully. "I don't have enough information, Charlie." Her hand slid over the top of his, held it, hoping that he would take her comfort even if she couldn't offer her wisdom. "I wouldn't even know where to start. I'm so sorry."

Charlie stared down at their connected hands, surprised at the wild sense of resolve that he could feel growing in him. Some equations you had to give up as unsolvable, accept that certain principles were beyond the understanding of mere mortals.

But not this. No matter what it took.

He took a deep breath, eyes meeting hers. "And ... if you had more information?"

The world seemed to pause, waiting. "Maybe," Amita said finally, still not sure what she was agreeing to.

Then his lips touched hers, determined and hesitant all at the same moment, and everything else instantly vanished. She was lost for a second, astonished and completely unprepared, and Charlie had firmly intended to pull away as soon as the contact was made. She had everything, now - the next decision would have to be hers.

But their hearts had been ready even when their minds hadn't been, and neither had to decide anything as the touch became a press that neither had any will or desire to break. Shock and hesitation melted away as lips fit together perfectly, opening just enough to let each other in. The fingers of their joined hands slid together as they gently tasted each other, finally exploring past the minds they already knew so well. They felt pulled into each other, into this single, connected moment more perfect than any equation.

When they finally separated, Amita stared at Charlie in wonder. "I was the risk?" Her voice was a breath, no more than she could manage, as the words he'd used to describe her filtered back through her mind. Breathtaking. Life-altering. There had been so much need.

He was hers, just like she had always been his.

All Charlie was capable of was a nod. His mind, his heart, his entire being was focused only on her, waiting for her answer.

It came when Amita's face broke into a heart-stopping smile, and the joy that suddenly surged through Charlie came out in his responding grin. He felt like dancing, if only he knew how.

She leaned in close, breath tickling the edge of his ear. "You drastically overestimated the possibility of failure," she whispered, the words catching just a little.

He leaned his cheek against hers, knowing his own voice was thick with emotion. "Good thing I have you to watch me, then."

And, for a moment, there was absolutely nothing else to know.