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Who is David Hodges?	By : Fel5 Category: CSI > General Views: 1917 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of the related characters used in this story, nor do I make any profit of it, whatsoever.

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*scowls * I’m not happy with this chapter; I had the entire dialogue scripted out and polished in my head, but by the time I came back from work, it was but a jumbled mush of rubbish, so I had to start from scratch *sigh * Still I hope you like it; it’s the saddest chapter of the entire story. Bringing back a well-known character and some tears, this chapter will make you sob. Enjoy and please remember to R&R, thank you.

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To call a day nightime

She had been here, what, fifteen, twenty minutes?

And still she couldn’t make up her mind.

For the umpteenth time, her hand reached for the doorbell-and pulled back at the last instant.

Ok, now she was behaving stupid.

Then again, that was the very reason she had come here in the first place.

But what to say, what to do?

Would he even talk to her or just close the door in her face?

Well, she couldn’t have blame him for after what she’d done-

“Wendy?”

There it was, that familiar, cool tenor that always managed to send shivers up her spine and make her body tingle when it caught her unaware.

Slowly turning around, the brunette braced herself and faced the man she had somehow, somewhen, somewhat fallen for.

It had been three weeks, since she had last seen him, and David looked much better than then.

He was less tense, less nervous, had his hair spiked and combed in a rather fashionable, yet elegant manner and –oh God, how much she missed him.

“Hya, David.”

Her voice was but a brittle whisper borne on the wind, and David was at a loss what to do.

So he did the first thing that came to his mind; he opened his mouth and asked,

“What are you doing here?”

“Uhm, well, you know, everyone at the lab is worried about you, and, even though Nick keeps telling us that you’re doing well and, I thought I’d just, y’ know, come over to pay a visit and…” She was babbling, but couldn’t help herself.

It had taken her two hours to get down from her angry fit, another two days during which she had nursed her self-crimination and petty feelings before she had finally allowed herself to think the entire situation over rationally. It had taken her some days, to realize exactly how bad she had treated Hodges and how deeply she had wounded the already troubled man, but by the time she actually considered apologizing, David had already left the lab.

For the duration of the next two weeks, Wendy had tried to work up the courage to come to Nick’s house and say sorry.

So, here she stood, shivering in the cool evening breeze, tongue-tied and unsure of herself.

Inhaling deeply, the brunette clung to her rapidly waining bravity and muttered,

“It’s just, I’ve given the whole thing some thought and, I guess, I was-I treated you pretty bad, Ho-David. It was just, you know, all this time we were, like, I dunno, like almost an-an ..item, and then I suddenly had to find out you had this –whole other life going on and were married and…I guess I just –overreacted. I’m sorry. I really am. I never meant to hurt you…”

David shook his head, halting her explanation.

“It’s ok, I..I guess I shouldn’t have kept something like that from you. Fact is, I really left everything behind, when I moved to Vegas. As far as I’m concerned, I went to college, moved to LA, worked there for a while until I got fed up and came here. At least, that’s how it felt to me until..she showed up again.”

Wendy frowned in confusion.

“I thought you were transferred here because your supervisors didn’t wanted to put up with your attitude? At least that’s what Mandy told me you told Grissom.”

She could almost feel the trepidation building up behind his eyes. David swallowed hard and rasped,

“That was –the first excuse that came to mind. It was much easier for me to –play the snobby, self-centred, kiss-up bastard than to admit that I was scared witless of my ex-wife. Because that meant that I was running from my greatest fear instead of conquering it. I guess, that’s also the reason I never told you about her. Who likes to admit that he’s a coward?”

He gave that small, rueful smile that always sent butterflies scattering about her stomach. Pressing her lips together, she plucked the strand of hair dangling over her left cheek back behind her ear –a gesture that made her look incredibly young and fragile and brought a warm flicker to David’s eyes- then stuttered,

“Well, if your ex-wife is really so mean as you say –and, taking in fact that she blew up your car, I guess she is –I don’t think running away was cowardly. To me, it sounds like the only thing to do. At least, I know I’d done the same.”

They both chuckled a little, the old, awkward silence that always hung between them settling in, strangely comforting.

Wendy bit her lower lip.

“I’m really sorry. I mean it. And if, you know, once you think you could manage to –forgive me..I..I’d really like to invite you for dinner.”

And then she saw it.

Wendy knew, she had broken a couple of hearts over the years, but this was the very first time she witnessed a heartbreak up close.

David closed his eyes, swallowed with an almost pained expression, and when he opened his ice-blue orbs again, they were lined with unshed tears.

“I..I can’t do this anymore, Wendy. This up and down, back and for…I can’t take it. If I was twenty, I’d say heck yeah, but I’m too old for that. I don’t play that game anymore. I’m..I’m sorry, but..I can’t.”

She rose one hand as if to stop him.

“But- it’s just dinner and a movie! Come on, Hodges, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

The slightest of scowls, but still a scowl, marred his features.

“Yes, Wendy, it is. If you want to go out with me, because you -really like me, that’s ok. But don’t do it because you feel obligated or out of remorse or guilt.“

He paused for a split-second.

”Or pity.”

That stung. Before Wendy could interject, he stated calmly,

“Everybody deserves better than that. Even I do. Don’t you think so?”

On the brink of tears herself, Wendy exclaimed,

“But I’m not asking you out out of pity or anything! I‘d never do that to you or anybody, what do you take me for? I want to go out with you because I really li-“

One long, slender digit pressed gently against her lips, halting her protest.

Again, David smiled that soft, sad smile, and Wendy felt her knees buckle.

“I know that. And believe me, I am more than honoured by that fact. But, considering all the things that went down between us, and how I treated you…it would be unfair to just jump headalong into a..relationship. To either of us.”

His hand moved to cup the side of her face, the thumb tenderly brushing her cheek.

“Besides, if Debbie ever found out how..much you mean to me, she would hunt you down with all she got just to hurt me. And I won’t let that happen. I just can’t let her get to you, no matter what.”

Pearls, born out of hazel eyes, rolled over smooth, velvet skin, traveled down David’s palm and seeped into the sleeve of his blazer.

“I wish, I could tell you something else, Wendy. I really do. But, if losing you is the- only way to keep you safe, then I’ll gladly do it, because I couldn’t bear the thought of you getting hurt. Not if I can prevent it.”

One single, lonely tear ghosted over high cheekbones and down a pale complexion, halted at the jaw, shivering, trembling, glistening, before it fell on the cold, uncaring pavement.

Brown sought blue; eyes searching, connecting, speaking words beyond language, and finally understanding.

Wendy’s lips quivered, as she reached up und pressed David’s hand closer to her face, reveling in his cool touch against her skin. Slowly, unwillingly she dropped her hand and he too pulled back, reluctantly, still feeling the heat of her flesh burning in his palm.

She sniffled a little, then gave a choked, bitter laugh.

“Well, guess this is then, huh?” David half shrugged, half nodded.

“Yeah. I guess so. Wish it weren’t, though.”

The brunette took a couple of deep breaths, then glanced back at the elder man.

“Y’ know, if..once all this..is over I –well, I’d still like to have dinner with you. Just as friends.”

His eyes lit up just the tiniest bit at that.

“I’d like that.”

Two sets of curling, twitching lips, some meaningful, forlorn glances…

Wendy patted his shoulder.

“Goodbye, David. Take care of yourself, ‘kay?”

“Sure. You too.”

She stepped down the stairs and, walking down the small porch leading to Nick’s house, turned around and waved good-bye.

He rose one hand and returned the gesture, watching her as she hurried down the road to her waiting small blue convertible.

Wendy got in, started the engine and drove away, David following her with his eyes.

He still stood there, long after her Toyota Celica was out of sight.

When he got home that morning from work, he found the bar ravaged, empty bottles littering the floor and David sitting on the edge of his bed, fully dressed, cradling a cushion and crying for all it was worth.

He sat down next to him, asking, what had happened.

Instead of an answer, the anguished blue-eyed trace tech merely clung to his shirt, buried his face in the soft cloth and sobbed into the broad shoulder underneath.

Nick spent the better part of the day holding and comforting an entirely distraught David Hodges.

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*whew * There; not quite as I had planned it to be, but as good as it gets. *hands out paper hankies * I’m sorry, I’m sorry, there, there, I know I’m being cruel to our dear David, but it’s all for the better..well, sort of. I think. *cough * Next up; a phonecall, a cameo, some smiles and a heart-to-heart. Stay tuned!
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Who is David Hodges?

To call a day nightime