Disclaimer: Anything recognisable isn't mine, it's CBS'. Enjoy anyway.
dollydarwloo: I know what you mean about Megan. She's not exactly my favourite, but apparently she was there when Speed was hired, so she's gonna be a big part of the fic. Hopefully that doesn't put you off too much.
Chapter two: In which Alexx adopts Speed as a third child, and Speed explains why he's in Miami. And Speed gets hazed.
A/N: Speed's hazing based on one of my favourite autopsies. "Y'all are acting like microwaving a head is perfectly normal! *pause* Okay, okay, in the name of science, let's go!" Or something like that. And I have no idea how promotions work within MDPD, so the process is probably way off. Ah well. Story time!
Stumbling into the house at 9pm, Speed just wanted to sleep. It was the Friday of his first week with the Miami-Dade Crime Lab, and although he loved it, he was exhausted. He and Avari were staying with Dr Woods, a very nice lady, but with three infants in the house no one was getting much sleep. He willed himself to make it through one more day, as he was rostered for Sunday off. He could get some sleep then. Maybe.
He nodded to Alexx and Denis in the living room, before heading to the spare room he and Avari occupied. The baby was currently sleeping after the motorbike ride home, much to his relief. He gently placed her in the drawer which was her make-shift bed and kissed the top of her head. Despite how tired he was, he stood for several minutes watching his daughter sleeping. It had become a ritual whenever he managed to get her to sleep, seeming to find a little serenity in the tiny form at rest.
Shaking himself, Speed dropped his clothes to the floor and crawled into bed, and was asleep himself within minutes.
-DLG-
In the living room, Alexx rested her head against her husband's shoulder as they watched a sappy movie. With all the destruction and sadness she saw at work, she could never bring herself to put on the news at night. Normally she would be happily crying at the movie about now, but tonight she couldn't concentrate. She was worried about the newest member of the team.
Denis looked down and sighed. He knew that something was bothering his wife, and knew that she wasn't enjoying the movie. He turned it off, then turned to face her.
"Okay Darling, spill. What's got you so distracted?"
Alexx smiled briefly, before glancing toward Speed's room.
"Timmy. I can't help wondering why he's raising that girl all alone. I know he loves her, but a girl needs a momma. And that boy could use some help." Denis nodded. Taking care of Janie when she'd first been born had been difficult enough with the two of them. He couldn't imagine going it alone.
"If it bothers you so much, ask him. You've already half adopted him, and talking it out might be good for him too."
Alexx nodded, then stretched and yawned.
"Well, nothing I can do about it right now. How about we go to bed?"
Denis smiled and followed his wife. He loved her dearly... but her habit of adopting strays could drive him up the wall.
-DLG-
The next morning, Speed was woken promptly at 4:30 by Avari's crying. Dragging himself out of bed, he pulled on a pair of boxers before reaching for his baby.
"It's okay, Daddy's here. Daddy's not going anywhere without you," he smirked to himself. A year ago, he would have never thought he was capable of baby-talk. Now he regularly referred to himself as 'Daddy'. A lot could change in a year.
He quickly changed Avari's diaper, something else he'd gotten used to doing. She was still whimpering, so Speed picked her up and headed to the kitchen for a bottle.
Speed was only slightly surprised to see Alexx there, feeding her son as well. She still breast-fed him when they were at home, something Speed had grown accustomed to. It no longer made him glance hurriedly away, instead he just ignored it, moving around and preparing Avari's bottle. She had calmed somewhat, soothed by her father's presence.
In a few minutes, Speed was leaning against the counter, Avari happily feeding. Alexx decided to take the moment to talk, after tucking herself back in.
"Timmy, do you mind if I ask you a few things?"
Speed smiled to himself. He hadn't been called 'Timmy' since he was five, but it sounded right coming from Alexx. She treated everyone like one of her children, and it was comforting. He directed a one-shoulder shrug to her, which she took as a sign to continue.
"Well, I was just wondering... what happened to Avari's mother?"
Speed sighed. He'd known it would come up eventually, and truth be told, Alexx had waited longer than most people. He waited while Avari finished feeding, then sat down at the table, holding her against his shoulder and rubbing her back.
"Nothing happened to her. She's back in Syracuse, probably. Her dad's probably bought a chastity belt and locked her up in a tower, but she's fine." At the perplexed look Alexx was giving him, he decided to elaborate. "See, Amanda was my girlfriend for a few months in my final year of college. It ended because we really weren't compatible in the long run. Then she found out she was pregnant, and everything changed."
Avari burped and made a happy noise. Speed smiled down at her and brought her down to rest in his arms before continuing.
"We were both freaked. I mean, we'd taken precautions and everything, but I guess it wasn't enough. We knew we were no good together, so marriage was out. We'd probably have ended up killing each other in a year or two, or resenting the kid, and neither of us wanted that." Alexx nodded, glad that Speed had thought about things. "At first Amanda wanted to get an abortion. I don't know why, but I really balked at that. Just the thought of our child dying before it could live... I couldn't accept that. But Amanda was adamant that she didn't want a kid, she didn't want to deal with it, and that she wouldn't make a good mother.
"So I said I'd take her. If Amanda carried her to term and gave birth, I'd take the kid and raise it myself. She wouldn't have to have any input, though I wouldn't keep her out if she wanted to see it. We had the paperwork drawn up and made it all legal, and I took care of her during the pregnancy." Alexx waited, sensing that there was more to this than that.
"Amanda's parents seemed to accept our decision. They weren't happy about the pregnancy, but were willing to let me take the child and raise it. My parents, on the other hand, freaked completely. Gave me an ultimatum: Marry Amanda, or leave home. So I left." Speed couldn't look at Alexx for the last part, and stared resolutely at the baby in his arms, who was gradually going back to sleep. "My college tuition was all paid for, I was living in the dorms so that was okay, and my motorcycle was fully paid up. So I walked out. I refused to force Amanda into marriage just because my parents were prudes. We were doing okay. Then Amanda went into labour about an hour after I finished my last exam. It took a long time, and I wasn't allowed in the room with her.
"Then one of the nurses came out with a little bundle of blankets and handed her to me. Amanda never even held her, couldn't stand the sight of her, so she came straight to me." He ran a finger over Avari's face, smiling gently. "She just signed the birth certificate, naming her Avari Chloe Speedle, and sent her on her way."
He seemed to have finished, and Alexx shook her head sadly. Poor baby, she thought. She'll never know her grandparents or her momma.
"She's got you though," she whispered, looking at Speed. "And you'll never leave her, right?"
Speed smirked.
"Like I have a choice. Little buglit's not gonna let me forget about her, right Princess?" All he got in return was a sleep-filled sigh.
-DLG-
Later that day, Speed was at the lab with Jo, working on a perplexing case of what appeared to be murder-suicide. He was waiting for a couple of tests to finish, and Jo was matching and ruling out fingerprints. It was a long process, but he seemed to enjoy it. Andy then came into the room and clapped Speed on the back, nearly making him drop acid onto the table. The older man just smiled.
"Alexx has another DB. Go help her with the autopsy, Rookie, we've got things covered up here."
Speed just nodded and carefully put the chemicals away. He was usually messy, it was true, but when it came to dangerous chemicals he was quite particular in how the cupboard was arranged. Locking up, he headed down to Autopsy.
Once he'd left, Jo looked up, smiling.
"We finally have a head trauma?"
"Yup. Alexx already has the head off, I think she's gonna microwave it first." He smiled back at his friend. "Every rookie should get to see a head trauma."
-DLG-
An hour later, Speed wandered back into the lab. He'd realised when he went down that this was going to be some sort of hazing, and had steeled himself for whatever it was. Upon seeing Alexx microwaving a head, however, he nearly laughed. It was just too surreal to be true. The mouth had sparked, and they had retrieved a key which had been lodged at the back of the victim's throat.
Now, he was carrying the victim's skull as if it were a hand-puppet, and was pretending to have a conversation with it, just to unnerve his fellow CSIs. Then Megan and Horatio walked in, and he couldn't help himself. Holding up the skull dramatically, he intoned the famous line.
"Alas, poor Yorrick, for I knew him, Horatio."
-DLG-
Once safely in Megan's office, she and Horatio broke down in laughter. The sight of Andy and Jo both backing away from the young scientist warily as he performed Shakespearian speeches was just too much. At the time they'd just turned and walked away, but now they could admit that they found it funny.
After a few deep breaths, they both regained control, though Horatio still had a smile, and Megan snickered now and then.
"Well, now I know how to haze him," Horatio murmured. Megan raised an eyebrow, and he decided to elaborate. "I'm leaving 'The Complete Works of Sir Francis Bacon' in his locker."
Megan looked confused for a moment, then nodded. "The 'Was Shakespeare really Bacon' argument. Of course."
"Of course," Horatio replied, before handing over the paperwork he'd been sent over with. He had applied for a promotion to Lieutenant, and Megan had agreed to sponsor him. The only downside was that he'd most likely be leaving the bomb squad, but he felt it was time to move on. with a little luck, he'd be moving over to CSI.
-DLG-
Speed opened his locker half-asleep, then jolted awake. There was a book on the shelf in front of him that didn't belong there. He picked it up and let out a snort of laughter. Bacon. He flipped through it quickly, finding a particular quotation underlined. It seemed fitting for his current profession.
"If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties." Nodding to himself, Speed tucked the book into his backpack and turned to get Avari and head home.
No, not home, he quickly corrected himself. Alexx's home. I'll get a place of my own when I can afford it, and that will be home.
Next chapter: House-hunting with a baby in tow. Then jump forward a few months to meet Calleigh.