A/N: I seem to be on a role lately with these fics... inspiration just comes from nowhere! This is going to be a collection of song fics featuring everyone's favorite lab rat couple: Wendy and Hodges. Some will be light and fluffy, some won't... we'll just see where inspiration takes me.
This first fic features the song "So Close," recorded by Jon McLaughlin from the movie "Enchanted" (my favorite movie song ever). I have ideas for some songs, but I'd love to get your input on which songs I should use. If you have any suggestions, leave them in the reviews!
Disclaimer: CSI is the property of Paramount and Jerry Bruckheimer, and "So Close" is the property of Jon McLaughlin and Disney.
"And finally, here's to us lab rats, who are, without a doubt, some of the most intelligent people in the LVPD. Nay, in all of Clark County." David Hodges raised his beer bottle to the laughing guffaws and snorts of his fellow lab techs.
"Careful, Hodges," DNA tech Wendy Simms said with a snort. "Grissom hears you say that, you're out of a job."
"Last I checked, Grissom's not here, is he?" Hodges retorted snidely.
Mandy Webster giggled as she sipped her cosmopolitan. "I hear he has eyes and ears in every corner."
"I hear he can appear anywhere at any time," Henry Andrews joined in.
"I hear you finally dumped that Icelandic pen-pal, Henry," Hodges interrupted, glaring at the tox tech. "Maybe she finally figured out that you're not the six-foot, 180-pound stud she thought you were."
"Ouch," Henry winced. "That was kinda cruel."
"Aw, Henry." Wendy threw her arm around her colleague. "By now you should know that every time Hodges runs out of something intelligent to say, he sticks his foot in his mouth."
Hodges glared at her and sipped his beer. He desperately wanted to come back with some sort of sharp retort, but this was Wendy. She was right. Every time he ran out of something intelligent to say to her, he stuck his foot in his mouth. So he settled for casual flirting and banter with the pretty DNA tech.
His thoughts were interrupted by Wendy's deep brown eyes in front of his face. "Earth to Hodges," she said, waving her hand in front of his eyes. "You've got nothing?"
"I've decided I'm going to forgo any sharp, witty retort in favor of being the bigger man."
Wendy's jaw dropped. "Wow. That's amazing."
"Yeah," Mandy chimed in. "Our little Hodges is growing up. Didn't I tell you moving out of his mother's house would do wonders for him?"
"Mm-hmm. Baby steps." Wendy grinned at the scowling trace tech.
"Well, I have a toast to make," Archie Johnson said, raising his glass. "To breaking another case."
"Now that I'll drink to," Wendy said, raising her glass as well. The other techs clinked their glasses or bottles together and simultaneously took a drink. Within minutes, music pulsed from the speakers over their table.
"Oooh, I love this song!" Mandy shouted over the speakers. "Henry, come dance with me."
"What?! But I…" Henry didn't get to finish his sentence before Mandy dragged him out of his chair to the dance floor in the center of the large room.
Archie glanced over at Wendy. "Wanna dance?"
She grinned. "Of course." She took his proffered hand and let him guide her to the dance floor.
Hodges leaned back in his chair and stared at Wendy. Her hips moved in time with the beat. A grin graced her pretty face, and her eyes sparkled in the colored lights. He loved it when she smiled like that. Sometimes, when she would tease him about being such a geek, the joking sparkle in her eyes nearly knocked him to the floor. He had never thought he would fall so hard for someone… so hard, in fact, that he moved out of his mother's house so he could have at least a chance at a relationship with her.
Wendy's arms flowed easily above her head, waving to the rhythm of the drums. They had to be the most perfect arms Hodges had ever seen.
The beat built to a crescendo and then slowed to an easy waltz. Wendy hugged Archie quickly and thanked him for the dance. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she whipped around and came face to face with David Hodges. "Hey," he said, suddenly growing shy.
"Hey," she replied, furrowing her brow in confusion. She'd never seen Hodges like this, fidgeting with his collar, breathing heavily… "Is everything okay?" she asked. "You look a little tense."
"Tense?" Hodges' voice went up about an octave. "I'm not tense." He tentatively held out his hand. "Would you like to dance with me?" Unconsciously he caught his breath.
"Sure." Wendy's affirmation surprised them both. Did I really just agree to slow-dance with Hodges?
Did Wendy really just agree to slow-dance with me? Hodges let out a huge sigh of relief and hoped she wouldn't notice, only to catch his breath again as she stepped closer to him. "Go easy on me," he murmured. "I haven't done this in a while."
She laughed… a sound like angels in his ears. "No worries. It's like riding a bike." She slowly raised her left hand and gently placed it on his shoulder, ignoring the shiver she felt run down his spine. "Good. Now you put your right hand on my waist."
Hodges complied, swallowing hard as he hesitantly slipped his hand onto her waist. It felt great… like coming home. He reached out with his left hand and grasped her right one, holding the slim fingers ever so gently, but firmly. And when the music started, he felt like they were the only two people in the whole of Vegas.
You're in my arms, and all the world is calm
The music playing on for only two
So close together, and when I'm with you
So close to feeling alive.
Wendy's heart thumped against her chest as Hodges stepped forward with his right foot. She couldn't believe it. The snarky trace tech had a gentle, compassionate, even romantic side hidden beneath his superior comments and sarcastic remarks.
David Hodges had never felt so alive before. Ever. In his entire life. Even with that girl from college, the one he had thought he would marry. She never made him feel like this. If only it could last.
A life goes by, romantic dreams must die
So I bid mine goodbye, and never knew
So close was waiting, waiting here with you
And now forever I know, all that I wanted
To hold you so close
This was it. Hodges knew it right then and there. This was what he'd always wanted… to hold Wendy in his arms. Since the first day she'd shown up in the lab, with her deep brown eyes and a brain to rival his own, he'd known that he wanted her.
So close to reaching that famous happy end
Almost believing this was not pretend,
Now you're beside me, and look how far we've come
So far, we are so close
Hodges lifted his arm and spun Wendy around in a circle. A soft smile spread across her face as Hodges brought her back in, swaying with the three-four beat of the waltz. It couldn't last. She knew it, and she thought he knew it too. But, at least for a moment, they could pretend that their fairy-tale ending was closer than it seemed.
Oh, how could I face the faceless days
If I should lose you now?
We're so close to reaching that famous happy end
Almost believing this was not pretend
Let's go on dreaming, though we know we are
So close, so close and still so far.
As the song ended, Wendy pulled away from him, her eyes brimming over with moisture. "I'm sorry, Hodges," she whispered. "I can't."
"Can't what?" he asked, shoving his hands into his jeans pocket. Somehow he'd known that the moment couldn't last forever. She was Wendy. He was Hodges. It was that simple. He'd screwed it up too many times before in the past.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I just can't do this. I can't stay… confused. You… you keep doing this, Hodges. And I can't take it. I'm sorry."
"What if I prove it to you?"
"Prove what?"
"This." He gestured between them. "You and me."
She shook her head, her dark ponytail falling over her shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered again. With one last look at him, she ran to the table, grabbed her jacket and purse, and dashed out the door.
Hodges followed her out the door, ignoring Mandy's shouted "What the hell did you do?". He caught up with her at her car as she fumbled for her keys. "Wait, Wendy!" he shouted.
Wendy glanced up, tears running down her cheeks. "There's nothing to prove, Hodges," she said, finally dragging her keys from her purse. She opened the car door, just in time for Hodges to reach it and slam it shut again. "Let me go," she murmured.
"Not until you hear me out." Hodges stepped closer to her. "Look, I know I'm a jackass sometimes. I'm a brown-noser. But believe me, it's all to get you to notice me."
"Notice you?" Her eyes grew wide. "Hodges, don't you think I'd notice you anyway? Okay, when you're not being a total jerk, you're actually a really nice, intelligent guy that I'd love to get to know, but you won't let me. You hide behind all your defense mechanisms because you're afraid of getting hurt. Well, you know, I might actually like the real David Hodges, the one who's gentle and compassionate."
Hodges took a step closer to her, so that their faces were about six inches apart. He was so close to her, he could feel each of her exhaled breaths on his own lips. Finally, against her better judgment, she closed the distance between them, covering his mouth with her own in a gentle, chaste kiss. His hands traveled to her waist, holding it like he had when they danced. Wendy's arms snaked around his neck, deepening the kiss.
As the moment passed, Wendy pulled away and looked Hodges in the eye. "That shouldn't have happened." She shook her head and opened her car door again, her lips still tingling from the kiss. "I have to go," she muttered as she got into the car.
He grabbed the top of the door as she tried to pull it shut. "See you tomorrow?" he asked, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
Wendy chuckled and turned the ignition. Her car roared to life. "Only in your dreams, David Hodges." With that, she pulled the car door shut and burned rubber out of the parking lot.
For several minutes after she disappeared from sight, Hodges stood in the parking lot, his hands shoved into his pockets. He had liplocked with Wendy Simms. It was like a dream come true. He was so close. So close… but still so far.