Title: 2x2
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Nick/David
Warnings: Slash, mentions of man-sex but no pr0n. And excessive use of italics.

Crossover with Veronica's Closet, in which Wallace Langham (David Hodges) stars as Josh Blair, a coming-out-of-the-closet personal assistant to the main character.

It was the ominous words that came through the loud speaker system that David knew something was wrong. It sent a tingle down his spine, and his instincts (the very same that told him to leave LA before the shit hit the fan, and the very ones he ignored) told him to skip town before something turned his orderly life upside down. And though he liked to be a pain in other peoples' asses, he tried to avoid the same pain in his own derriere. Because, frankly, "David Hodges, please report to reception, you have a visitor" could not be a good thing. It had to be anything but a good thing.

Walking down the halls, he could feel the prickle of eyes on the back of his neck, each one more curious than the last. Head held high, and that irrefutable smirk plastered across his face, more for familiarity than true superiority, because like the rest of the poor masses, he was just as confused as they were. He almost wished Jacqui were at his side, just for the sheer power that the woman radiated. There was a reason that no one messed with Jacqui Franco.

As he walked closer to the reception lobby, the looks of shock morphed into a mixture of horror and abject fascination, and David wondered if Grissom brought some new and absolutely revolting bug specimen into the lab. Either that, or Sanders had streaked. And after that one time, David would rather see him in his eye-burning t-shirts than without. That had been a truly scarring day in the history of the lab.

It was only when he took his place next to a dumbstruck (so many insults, so little time) Nick Stokes in the doorway, did he see what - or who - had everyone freaked.

The man that had been conversing to a slack-jawed Judy (because even perpetually perky people could have the bejeezus scared out of them) turned to greet the trace technician that had been paged. Two identical grimaces passed between them as David Hodges greeted… David Hodges?

"Josh." David said coolly, as he greeted his twin. And besides the clothing and the fact that Josh Blair didn't look as worn as David Hodges did (David was very upset about that, by the way, because how in the hell could his brother manage to look almost a decade younger than him? It wasn't fair!), they were completely identical.

"David." Josh replied, using the same tone, as he gave his brother a quick glance to assess his brother's state. Not only was it an ingrained habit for working for a high-profile boss, but it also allowed for him to appeal to certain moods.

The showdown probably could have gone on indefinitely if it hadn't been for one Greg Sanders (who had just arrived to see who would be coming to call on his Davey Wavey) and his ever eloquent tongue that phrased the general thought processes of everyone in the surrounding area.

"Holy shit! There's two Hodges!"

Both men turned to him, identical looks of disdain crossing their features. At this point, David would have snarked about Greg's CSI observational skills, but after a while, not only did it get old, but he wanted Josh Blair to say what he came all the way to Vegas for and leave. There was a reason they lived in separate states, and being in the same vicinity was just begging for trouble.

Josh drew himself up to his full height, but it was the same as David's, so he couldn't hope for an intimidation factor. David, however, could pull off the billowing-labcoat-evil-scientist look very well, but it was somewhat disconcerting to be using it on a man who looked just like himself. It felt like his was some high-school girl practicing expressions in front of her vanity.

"I'm getting married." Josh began grudgingly. Even though the two volatile forces butted heads every time they were in the same room, it was clear that David was the alpha of the twins. "I would like you to be there."

Throwing up his hands and snorting like a crack-happy junkie, David turned around to head back to his lab. They have had this conversation before, and he didn't understand why his brother felt the need to come all the way to Vegas to hash it out where all of his snoopy co-workers could see. This was opening a can of worms that would probably get him fired when (not if, when) it came to blows.

"Da-vid! I'm not marrying her!"

David stopped, a smirk slowly crossing his features as he turned around.

"You're not marrying that bimbo?"

"No." The answer came sullenly, as if he knew where David's thoughts were headed. And to keep the gloating to a minimal, he handed David a beautifully decorated card, one that he knew Josh didn't pick out. Opening it up, he read the formal crap before looking at a picture of the happy couple tucked inside. Giving it a cursory look over, he met his brother's eye and his smirk went all out.

"Say it." He ordered, unable to bring himself to care about the gathered audience. Those were souls he could torture on a day-to-day basis. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity that he was going to savor.

Josh scowled, surly to David's arrogant smirk.

"You were right." He growled out, and if it was possible, David's smirk grew. He tucked the invitation into a pocket of his lab coat, unable to keep the patronizing tone out of his voice. "Now, Josh, what have we learned from this? Older brothers always know best."

If it had been just the two of them, he probably, most likely, would have hugged his brother, given him a manly clap on the back, and truly congratulated him. He would have grinned, really grinned, and rubbed the whole thing in like a true older brother. However, that would have been a moment between brothers and no one else, and seeing as they had gawkers, David settled for a more neutral expression.

"Of course I will, if only to add salt to the wound. Now scooch, I have work to do and you aren't helping."

Josh nodded, waved his hand in passing before exiting the lab. David wasn't too worried though, he figured they'd catch dinner some time before the younger twin left the city, and David could speak openly about the upcoming marriage. Because he knew Josh wouldn't have come all the way to Vegas just to give him his invitation.

And when the doors closed behind the man, it felt like a huge breath of air had been released. The chatter had started up again, and David wouldn't be surprised if the knowledge of his twin was already all over the lab. Giving an amused glance at Stokes and Sanders still stupefied expressions, he felt like the day had been a good one.

Later after shift, just as the sun was rising, he threw his keys down on the kitchen counter and flopped onto the couch. David wasn't really sure how much time had passed or if he had even fallen asleep before wandering hands jerked him from his doze. Opening one blue eye to meet Nick Stokes playful brown, he resisted the urge to grin. Stupid man, didn't Nick know what those smiles did to him?

"So, you have a twin?" The attempt at casual wasn't working, but David did give him points for trying.

"A twin, who is in fact, marrying some guy named Brian, and not some bimbo that you obviously don't like."

"Score one for the home team." David said in a dry tone, ignoring the fact that Nick had put his questionable CSI skills to use and most likely had snooped around until he found the invitation. David really couldn't blame the man for his unquenchable curiosity, just as he couldn't blame David for his unforgiving sarcasm.

"You never told me you had a twin."

Uh oh…

No, David did not just hear that tone. A few seconds stretched, and David groaned aloud, the not-so-tiny sarcastic portion of his soul began to die at the petulant tone. It was like he kicked a puppy, and no matter what Sara said, he did not go around hitting stupid, defenseless animals. One smack upside Greg's head did not mean she could go around and generalize!

"Adoption, what a concept." David said dryly, closing his eyes to avoid the majority of the onslaught. In the back of his mind, I Will Survive began to play relentlessly. "And, before you say anything, yes I was adopted, yes we were separated, and no, I didn't tell you because you never asked."

A few seconds of silence passed before Nick was suddenly on top of David like white on rice. Not that David was objecting to his boyfriend's lust-filled licks and kisses, because if a man like Nick Stokes wanted to throw themselves at a man like David Hodges, who was David to object? He was a bit surprised though, usually Nick was more of a cuddling-on-the-couch kinda man (God forbid anyone found out, though…), than a hey-lets-have-hot-man-sex-on-the-couch kinda man.

Again, David wasn't complaining.

It was only when the cells in their bodies began to scream for ATP that both men pulled away for some much loved oxygen. Nick had this loopy sort of grin on his face, and David was almost too afraid to ask, but Nick answered the unspoken question anyways.

"There were two of you."

It took almost a full five second to process that statement and all of its horrendous implications. A look of absolute horror crossed David's face and he shook his head slowly, as if to deny that the horrible sentence had ever crossed Nick's mouth.

"You did not just think about my brother right before sex, did you?" A moments pause, and David turned a bit green. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"David! There were two of you!" Nick proclaimed with a slight whine, as if God Himself had come down and promised eternal life. Which He has, but that's beside the point. "It was like two cherries on a sunday."

"Ugh, see if you get sex anytime soon." Because who would want to have sex with a man who most likely just thought up a possible threesome with your genetic clone? David may be many things, but he wasn't that twisted, and he decided that all these crazy cases were starting to get to Nick.

"Two, David, two!" Nick said, as if the tech hadn't caught on the first time. Which he had, and once was more than enough to scar him for the rest of his life, thank-you-very-much.

"Yes, I'm glad you can count." David grumbled back, mood thoroughly trashed and trying to escape the couch and his insane boyfriend. However, Nick's admittedly brawnier arms held him trapped and it looked like Nick had finally regained some coherency.

"I didn't say, 'David and Josh', I said, 'two of you'." His amusement rang true through the air.

"Yes, but that other 'me' was my brother, which makes it wrong on so many levels."

"Ye-es," Nick stressed, before pressing his body flush against David's, and continued innocently "But wouldn't you like two of me?"

Actually, that wouldn't be too bad. Because if one Nick Stokes was hot, what about two Nick Stokes? Wait. What?

Scowling and lying through his teeth, David watched Nick with wary eyes, trying to ignore broad, tanned hands that had begun to wander. "Just because you have some weird fetish doesn't mean I do too. And you couldn't handle two of me!"

And when Nick leaned down to worship David's mouth with his own, all of Hodges' previous thoughts flew right out the window and he couldn't remember what they had been arguing about in the first place. Later, however, when both of them were hot, sticky, and content, David made sure to remember that Nick was not to be invited to the wedding under any circumstances.

El fin.

I actually have never seen VC, but it wouldn't leave me alone so I did as much research as I could. That's why Josh really doesn't have much interaction besides the whole "I'm being a sulky little brother, leave me the hell alone". And I did want to write in why David was so smug, but it didn't flow as well, and so when Josh and David first met, one of the first things David said to him was that Josh was gay. It really didn't endear David to Josh, needless to say. I would so write that prequel, but that would mean I would actually have to know Josh's character…

Oh yeah, one last thing, Brian is an actual character from VC; he's the guy that help's Josh out of the closet in the last few episodes of the series.