Hey Guys. This is the first Hodges/Simms story I've published. It's a song-fic that I got the idea for while grocery shopping and listening to music. Please let me know what you think, with a review. It only takes a second.
-Peace y'all. RawPotato
I have no ownership rights to the characters of the CBS porduction 'CSI', nor to the song 'Hot N Cold' as sung by Katy Perry. No infringement is meant, but this did amuse me, so please let it be what it is. This story is fictional, and any similarity to any persons living or dead, is merely conicedental.
David Hodges was most definitely going to be the most valuable assist the Las Vegas Crime Lab had. He'd finally find the piece of evidence that would put away a serial killer for the rest of his life. They had been chasing him for over four months, each and every kill of his having left no evidence behind. Slowly, but surely that had collected evidence, but nothing that was conclusive. Most, circumstantial, but this, this same trace of ink from the wound track, this was compelling.
Holding the piece of paper tightly in his hands, he ran by the DNA lab, the tox lab, the fingerprint lab and the AV lab on the way to Catherine's office. They had all looked at him as he jogged past. The only one that he looked at was Wendy, but even that was fleeting. This was huge, and every second he shaved would bring him closer to glory. Oh, and of course catch the most notorious serial killer the state of Nevada had ever had. The papers he would write, the publishing he would get, the television interviews. He would be famous. Famous and finally, the rest of the lab would have to recognize his true value. He was David Hodges, crime fighter.
Knocking on her open door, he didn't wait for her to tell him to enter, glory couldn't wait. "Catherine. I've done it."
"Done what Hodges?" Her voice held its usual discernment whenever she spoke to him, and she looked at him over the rims of her glasses.
"Broken the case!" He said triumphantly.
"Excuse me." She looked at him more fully.
"We've figured out that the murder weapon was a pen right?" He continued excitedly.
" Well, actually that was Nick and Greg. Along with Wendy and Archie." She removed her glasses and stood. Staring at him with a quizzical look on her face.
"Whatever. The point is the trace from the wound track was ink." He looked at her, hoping that she would fully understand the implications of what he was saying.
"So?" Her voice took on its annoyed tone.
"Pen ink!"
"Obviously." Her voice sounded bored now. She sat back down, breaking eye contact with him, and looking back to her paper work. "I don't see how this, in any way breaks the case."
"Not just any pen ink. Iron gall ink. Carbon dating, which by the way, I did on my own time, shows that the ink was at least 90 years old. Probably from a specialty calligraphy pen!" The papers in his hand shook with an excitement he hadn't felt in a long, long while.
"That is big Hodges. But how does this lead us to a suspect?" She stood up again, and looked at him. He glasses still in her hand.
"I've done a little research. The only place you can get this kind of ink, is online." Holding out the papers he'd printed off for her. "Sites, and contact info for the two distributors in the continental US."
"I'll tell Brass." She took the papers from him, and left the office. Her sudden absence left him confused, and disoriented because she left without praising him, or acknowledging him in any positive way.
He left behind her, and walked slowly back to his lad. The sweet haven of the Trace Lab, his machines, his GCMS, his safe, clean lab. Now, he didn't know what to do. There was no pile beside his desk, nothing sitting on his in-tray. He sighed, buttoning up his lab coat, and pulling out his paper work. Paper work it would be.
He had just settled down to his pile, when four people walked into his lab.
"What the hell just went on there?" He knew it was Wendy talking before he looked. Her voice carried specific physical responses into his body. It had been this way for some time, and the soft, angry tones of her smooth alto voice. Like a cold glass of whiskey to him. Intoxicating, and oh so bad for him.
"What do you mean?" He looked up and came face to face with Wendy, Henry, Archie and Mandy. The back lines of the LVPD crime lab. The true warriors. Of whom, he considered himself leader.
"Well, Miss Simms, I just so happened to solve our case." He tried his best not to sound conceited. He tried his best, but was sure he failed, judging by the looks on his co-workers face. It wasn't his fault that they didn't realise that he was smarter than them.
"Yeah, but you couldn't have done it if I hadn't pushed that trace to you. If Archie hadn't seen the sample in the pictures. You didn't do anything!" Her voice rose in volume with every word, and it scared him a little bit. The others behind her, all had the same look on her face, the same defensive stance, all towering over him as he continued sitting down. "Did you give us any credit? Any at all?"
"Not... really." His voice was small even to himself. Though he knew that they had helped him, he didn't think the things that mattered to him, mattered to them.
"You know what Hodges. You truly are crazy. And a kiss-ass, and UGGG!"
"What?" He was confused now.
"You are so... flippant. One day it's all 'We all did it, it was a team effort.' The next it's all 'Hodges, Hodges, Hodges. Me, Me, Me.' I don't care if you get something right. Just decide which way you are going to act, and act that way."
David didn't know what to say. He didn't ever recall sharing the credit, unless credit was due. Even then, he couldn't remember sharing any such credit. They were all just staring at him now. He wasn't sure what they wanted from him. Then, deciding that they couldn't just stand there, staring at him, he opened his mouth to say something, but the upbeat, pop/rock tones of a song started playing. He looked around, away from his four friends, searching for the source of music in the lab. Looking back to them he noticed that a drastic change had taken over them, and Wendy started to sing.
You change your mind,
Like a girl changes clothes
Yeah you, PMS like a bitch,
I would know
He recognised the words, the beat, but she couldn't place it. It was odd that though they suddenly no longer wearing what they had been moments before. Now they were all, Archie and Henry included, wearing what looked to be beat up wedding dresses. Wendy seemed to be the bride. Her dress was more flamboyant, and ruined than the others. Her veil was torn right in half, and her face looked as though she had been crying, mascara running down her cheeks.
Mandy, Archie and Henry, were all wearing somewhat sluttier, and dirtier dresses, though the makeup they were wearing was running as well.
And you, over-think
Always speak cryptically
I should know,
That you're no good for me
Now he was confused. Was she still talking, sorry singing, about him taking all the credit for the case breaking? He knew that he had been very bad in his actions towards her. They had flirted numerous times. He'd taken a head butt to the face and a broken nose for her, yet he couldn't commit to her. He'd tried to keep his feelings at bay. But sometimes, he couldn't help himself. He just felt the need to get closer to her. But the song she was singing to him, or rather at him, he was sure that he wasn't doing a very good of hiding those feelings.
Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
We fight, we break up
We kiss, we make up
Now he was definitely sure he had no idea what she was talking about, and he was also very scared. Somehow, they had gotten bats, and learned some very complicated choreography, and were dancing around his lab, tromping up and down over his tables. Swinging their bats very dangerously around him.
You! Archie, Mandy and Henry joined in the singing, harmonizing with Wendy.
You don't really want to stay, no
You! It scared him a little that they were singing and dancing.
But you don't really want to go-oh
He got up, and started to back up slowly. Heading for the door. The fact that they were still singing and dancing, and following him at the same time. He couldn't help but think that this might be a very bad dream. Or a really strange nightmare. Either way, now they weren't the only ones singing and dancing. Nick, Sara, Catherine and Ray had joined them. Again, they were all wearing ruined wedding attire and dancing with bats and running make-up.
You're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down
They were in the waiting room. Now, all eight of them dancing and swinging heavy aluminum bats.
"Guys... what's... uh, what's going on here?" His voice sounded small and insignificant even to himself, and it was loudly drowned out by Wendy singing again.
We used to be
Just like twins, so in sync
The same energy
Now's a dead battery
He blinked and suddenly the lab turned into a night club. The bats and the tattered wedding gowns were gone. The running mascara was gone. Everything about them changed. The only way he could describe how they were dressed now, was a badly conceived science fiction scene straight out of a B-rated horror film. Standing up he took a better look at his surroundings, and noticed that they were still in the lab, except that it had changed into a rowdy night club.
Suspects in prison scrubs and handcuffs were dancing with armed police officers. They gang of eight that had previously dressed for a dead wedding, were now on stage, working out more complicated choreography.
Used to laugh (used to laugh)
Bout nothing (bout nothing)
Now your plain (now your plain)
Boring (boring)
Again, Wendy was singing the lead, her bug sunglasses covering half her face, while the rest of the team sang back up for her. It was odd, he thought that they sounded very good together, and cocked his head to the side, to get a better listen. If he tried, he could pick out the individual tones of each of them.
I should know (I should know) you're not gonna change (change)
He wanted to argue with her. To let her know that he could change. That he would change, if only she would stop this singing and get him out of this nightmare.
Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
We fight, we break up
We kiss, we make up
"Wendy!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. He doubted that she could hear him. There was a throng of dancing prisoners and officers between her and him, and besides that the decibel level in the room was deafening. "Stop singing and listen."
You!
You don't really want to stay, no (woah)
You!
But you don't really want to go-oh (ohhh)
"No, I do want to stay. I'll share credit with you." His throat his was getting hoarse with all the yelling he was doing. Though he noticed that his efforts were of no avail, as they just kept singing and dancing as if he wasn't doing anything at all.
You're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no (no!)
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down (you're down!)
It was this that spurred him on. He pressed himself away from the wall, and started moving towards the stage. This nightmare was getting really strange, as more and more people were pressing onto the space in front of him, blocking him from reaching Wendy and the other techs, to let them know that he would share credit with them. That he would tell them that he had nothing really at all to do with it, if they would just let him out of this.
Someone call the doctor
Got a case of a love bi-polar
Stuck on a roller coaster
Can't get it off this ride
You change your mind
Like a girl changes clothes
Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down
He finally pressed his way to the stage, and jumped on it. They didn't stop singing or dancing as he tried to talk to them. "Wendy!" He shouted. She finally turned to him, but kept singing. "Wendy, talk to me." Instead of talking, she kept singing, but she also slapped him in the face. He grabbed his cheek and looked back to her.
"Wendy?" She slapped him again, and this time when he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the labs night club.
"Hodges... are you okay?" He stood quickly and looked around. He was sitting in his lab, holding the papers that he was sure he'd given to Catherine already.
"Wendy?" He looked her up and down, thankful that she wasn't wearing a ruined wedding dress or sci-fi slut outfit any more. 'What's going on?"
She looked at him, concerned etched all over her face. "I don't know. You were standing here, staring into space." She placed her fingers on his forehead, and looked him in the eyes. "Are you okay? You feel a little warm." His heart sped up, at her touch and the look on her face.
"I dunno. Whatever. Come with me." He reached up and grabbed her hand, and pulled her behind him. He stopped at every lab and told them all them all to follow him. Unconsciously he kept hold of Wendy's hand in his, as they made their way through the lab towards Catherine's office, to tell her what they had found. Though he found this eerie considering what had just happened to him, he knocked again, crumpling the papers he held in his hand.
"Come in." He ushered the four of them in ahead of him and spoke from the background, looking at all of them, then finally at Catherine he smiled.
"Catherine. We've broken the case." She stood up, and in a weird scenario of false de javu, took of her glasses and looked at them.
"What have you got guys?" The rest of them all looked confused, and finally all eyes came to rest on his. The hand clutching the papers, he held out to Catherin, but he didn't let go of Wendy's hand, feared that if he did, he wouldn't be able to grab hold of it again. That she wouldn't let him.
"Well we've learned that the murder weapon is a pen right?" She nodded, a look of understanding crossing her face. "Well, Henry found minute traces of iron when he ran his tox panel, on all the victims. No explanation. Archie saw some trace in pictures in the wound tract, Wendy kicked it to me, and this is what we've got." He handed her the papers, and she looked over them, the other four just staring at him, quizzical looks on their faces.
"What is this Hodges?" Catherine looked at him again, and he smiled, knowing that this case was coming together, all because they were a team.
"Iron gall ink. Popular in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries. Actually iron gall ink is what the constitution, the original constitution, was written with."
"So?"
"So, carbon dating puts our ink at least 90 years old. The only place that you can get this ink, and the calligraphy pens probably, is online. The things I just gave you is contact information for the two distributors on the continental United States." He could see the excitement on the other techs faces, and the same excitement coming into Catherine's.
"I'll get these to Brass." They all filed out of her office and watched as she walked towards Brass' office. They stood in the hall, and all looked at him.
"What was that about?" Archie was the first to speak, and he was looking at him as if he had grown a third head.
"Yeah, you, like never share credit over anything." Henry added his input, and also looked at him as if a second head was placed on his shoulders.
Mandy was next, and she also looked at him as if he was weird. "Yeah, and besides, I've had nothing to do with this case. There have been no fingerprints what-so-ever."
David looked at Wendy, she was the last person to speak, but she was just looking at him, the same look of concern etched on her face as she had when she'd checked his face.
"What?" He asked, his voice faltering. "We all helped with this."
"I didn't." Mandy held up her hand. "So I'm going to go." David watched as she turned and walked back to her lab. Archie and Henry just shook their heads and walked off, back towards their labs.
"What?" He was now left alone with Wendy, and they were still holding hands. He looked down at their joined hands and smiled.
"Are you okay?" Her voice was low, and she leaned in close to him, and looked him squarely in the eyes. He looked back into hers, and swallowed dryly. Standing this close to her, and looking into her deeply brown, chocolate eyes was making him uncomfortable, and also causing his temperature to rise. "This is the first time that you've done this."
"Well, things change." He looked at her and noticed that she was still holding his hand. The longer that she kept hold of his hand, his confidence was bolstered.
"Hey, is your plasma TV and blu-ray player still operational?" He asked, opening that she would remember the last, and only, time that she had asked him to her house.
"What?" She looked confused then, obviously understanding crossed her features and she offered him a small smile. "Yes. Astro Quest is also still available."
"Uhh, can I still come over? I'll spring for pizza too."
She squeezed his hand, and he smiled awkwardly, feeling a little giddy, but also incredibly nervous.
"Okay Hodges. Astro Quest marathon and pizza it is. It's a date."
She let go of his hand, and he swallowed again, and watched her walk back to her lab. Nervous and terribly, terribly scared at what he had just agreed to. A date with Wendy was something that he feared. But that he had wanted for a long time.
"Okay... Yeah." He turned back towards his lab and his paper work. "A date it is... then."
Safely back in his lab he buttoned his coat, and was just about to start some work when Ray walked in carrying a large brown bag.
"Hello David. Looks to be a busy night for you."
He looked across the hall and into Wendy's DNA lab where Greg was dropping off something for her.
"Yes Ray. Yes it does." Though he wasn't talking about the pile of work in front of him.