Hank's Day Out
Author: Chadini
Pairing: None really. Hodges, Grissom and Hank.
Rating: T for language I suppose.
Words: 1,381
Summary: If Grissom and Sara ever do have a baby, Hodges will not be on their list of available babysitters.
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine and if CBS wants to come after me, they can hook up with the Columbia Records and Tapes guy. He has been after my ass for years. (That line gleaned from Reality Bites – one of my favorites movies of all time – and it is so very true.)
A/N: This is just a fluffy little piece that I know would never happen in real life. It is just a little more fun at Hodges' expense.
The prompt for this story is LV Metro Event Code 404A 911 Disconnect.
"Hank! C'mon…Hank!" Hodges shouted as he anxiously ran down Grissom's empty, dimly lit street, looking for one very devious boxer.
"Shit," Hodges muttered to himself as he stopped on the sidewalk to catch his breath. Looking around, gasping for air, he decided that as soon as he found Hank safe and sound, he was going to look into getting a gym membership. Hodges always thought he was in pretty decent shape, but apparently not as good as Hank.
As Hodges started to walk up Grissom's driveway towards the front door, there was only one thought running through his mind – how is his boss going to take this? It's a safe assumption that he's going to be upset. It would make when Grissom found him sitting behind his desk, with his magnifying glasses on, examining dead bees seem like a sunny day. Maybe upset is putting it too lightly.
Grissom is going to be pissed.
Ever since he got the call from Grissom that the normal dog walker was unable to take Hank out, Hodges was on cloud 9. He eagerly volunteered to take over while Grissom was stuck at a scene with the rest of the team in Pahrump. Even though Grissom gave him a list of "dos and don'ts" a mile long, Hodges had been looking forward to it. He was going to be able to go inside Grissom's house and see how his mentor lives. How Grissom and Saralived. So many questions to be answered. Are their books alphabetized by title, subject or author? What color are the walls? The all-important what 's in the refrigerator?
He may have been a little too excited; otherwise he would have paid more attention when he opened the front door. Hodges was under the mistaken assumption that Hank was a small dog, maybe a beagle, not a monster – a monster that proceeded to knock him on his ass as he ran him over out the door to freedom.
When Hank knocked him to the ground, Hodges sat frozen, not sure what to do for a moment. Did he really get knocked over by a mammoth dog? Yes. Is said dog now barreling down the street? Yes. After assessing the seriousness of the situation, Hodges got to his feet and tried to run after the pooch, sprinting down the street, chasing him across the neighbor's yards and through some bushes until he lost sight of the dog. Hank zigged, Hodges zagged and Hank was gone.
Which brings him to his current dilemma.
What was he going to do now? He couldn't call Grissom and tell him he lost his beloved pet. Defeated, Hodges started to walk back to the Grissom house. He decided that he would go inside, look for a leash (which would be helpful when he finally found the dog) and maybe some doggie treats. His cat, Kobayashi Maru, would always come when he shook the container of kitty treats, maybe Hank would be the same way. He was desperate at this point, and willing to try any trick in the book to get Hank back.
Walking into the house, he tried to suppress the overwhelming urge to explore. He kept telling himself, "find Hank first, and snoop later." Hodges looked around for a moment and found Hank's leash on the kitchen counter. He folded it up and shoved it in his back pocket for later, when he found the great adventurer. Searching the kitchen for the doggie treats, he found them in the dog-shaped cookie jar by the sink. Hodges couldn't help but to smile, knowing that the cookie jar didn't come from Grissom, that cookie jar, that barked when you opened it, had to be a Sara touch. He grabbed a few of the biscuits out of it and tried to think like a CSI.
It had been almost an hour and as far as he knew, the dog could have missed Grissom so much that he was halfway to Pahrump by now. He had heard those ridiculous stories of dogs following their masters across the country, traveling for weeks to be reunited with their loved ones. Becoming a little panicked by that thought, Hodges decided to go back out, armed with the leash and a pocket full of dog cookies to look for Hank.
Stepping outside, he started towards the street, thinking about whom could he call to help him out. As much as he hated to admit it, if he didn't find Hank soon, he was going to need help. He thought about calling the CSIs, but then decided that the guys would never let him live it down and Catherine would inflict bodily harm, so they were out. Wendy? No, she was still miffed about his board game prototype. Henry? His grandmother is in town and he got sucked into some doubles shuffleboard tournament with her, so he was out as well. Archie? Archie! Maybe Hank had one of those GPS chips in his neck or collar and Archie could pinpoint where he was. That brought a bright smile to his face. Maybe things were starting to look up.
By the time Hodges made it out to the sidewalk, he noticed Hank trotting down the middle of street, about 6 houses down, without a care in the world. Relieved, Hodges walked out to the street to meet Hank. Then, in a flash of headlights and screech of tires he heard a sickening thud.
Oh, God.
No. No. No. no.
Hodges started running towards Hank and the car that hit him. The driver jumped out of his car and went over to the still dog; driver was apologizing up and down, swearing that the dog came out of nowhere. Strangely, to Hodges, the driver sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher "Waah waah waa waa waah." Completely oblivious to the driver or anything else
for that matter, Hodges pulled out his cell and dialed 911.
As if on cue, Hank started to stir and with a whimper, he slowly thumped his tail on the pavement. Hank tried to get up and Hodges, so excited that the crisis appeared to be over, closed his phone and tried to help Hank to his feet.
Thankfully, it seemed Hank was only stunned and was probably more scared than hurt.
After he was sure that both Hank and Hodges were going to be ok, the driver got back into his car and drove off, leaving a stunned dog and a stunned Hodges in the street. Hodges knew he should probably get insurance information or something, but he was just so happy to see that Hank was ok; he just wanted to get the dog home.
His phone started ringing, but he was in the middle of trying to pick up Hank, so he ignored it. Hank, who is much heavier than Hodges anticipated just looked at Hodges as he grunted and groaned trying to lift him. After a few minutes of unpleasant sounds and expletives, Hodges decided that Hank was well enough to walk.
When they got back to the house, Hank went immediately to his dog bed and curled up. As Hodges turned to close the door, he saw Brass coming up the walk.
"Hodges! What's going on here?" Brass practically shouted.
"Huh? Uh…what do you mean?" Hodges stammered. Surely Brass couldn't know about Hank's escape.
"Hodges, we are here for the 404A," Brass said, trying to remain calm.
It was at that point that Hodges noticed the fleet of police cars and officers outside.
"You're here for the what?" Hodges asked, completely confused and more than a little frightened.
"911 disconnect. 404A is a 911 disconnect. A call was received by dispatch from your cell. Dispatch tried to call you back but you didn't pick up and after what happened with Sara…" Brass trailed off. He was torn between wanting to strangle Hodges for scaring everyone and hug him for being ok, although he was leaning towards strangling him.
"Oh." Hodges groaned.
"Oh!? Oh?! That is all you have to say?" Brass bellowed, on the verge of completely losing his cool. "What the hell happened here?" he demanded.
Sighing, "Well, you see…" Hodges started, knowing that after this, he would never be asked to dog sit again. For anyone. Ever.
Thanks for reading!