Random days

Kobayashi
Maru was a very happy cat.

Currently,
he was being petted by one Riley Adams, who knelt before his bed and softly
cooed,

“My aren’t
you the prettiest little fuzzy-wuzzy cat in the world? And so brave! I pet your
poppa is mighty proud of you, ain’t he? You wittle cuddly-wuddly kitty-cat!”

Said
‘poppa’, who happened to be Hodges, would have usually snorted and rolled his
eyes at the infantil jibberish the CSI ll poured over the cat.

Instead, he
merely growled,

“Quit the
baby-talk. He’s three years old and all grown up. And he’s perfectly capable of
understanding the human language.”

Riley gave
the trace tech a sceptical look.

“Well,
sometimes I’m not even sure you understand the human language. Then
again, if it stayed with you for so long, maybe there‘s something about you
that people don’t see.”

Hodges
didn’t even raise for the bait, but begann to search Maru’s travel bag for the
cat’s pills.

Ever since
he had found his little friend, he had made it a point to bring his pet with
him for work.

Of course,
this had at first raised quite a lot of arguments and rejections; a live animal
in a crime lab? Indiscussable!

It wasn’t
until Hodges had pointed out that Kobayashi was basically immobile and needed
his medication and change of bandages on a regular, frequent pattern by
doctor’s orders that Catherine even bothered reconsidering it. Finally, after
much forth and fro Kobayashi was finally admitted a corner in the locker room,
much to everybody’s delight and David’s relief.

And so
Kobayashi Maru became the CSIs’ mascot.

“Hodges,
got a mo..ment…”

Greg
trailed off, more than a little bewildered.

Hodges
stood there, looking just about ready to leap across the table to safety, eyes
wide and startled.

“Damn,
Sanders, don’t you ever knock?” he snapped, clutching his chest.

The blond
merely looked about in confusion.

“Yes, well,
sorry I exist”, he muttered, as he closed the door and walked over to where the
trace tech stood.

Ever since
the funeral Hodges had become more and more paranoid; jumping at shadows and
constantly glancing over his shoulder.

On the
other hand, he was also more pensive and less snarky, what kind of made up for
his nervousness.

Still, Greg
missed the old arrogant, cynical, witty, if not macchavellian Hodges that would
stride down the hall as if the crime lab was his own. Which it was in a way;
who else could have convinced both supervisors and Ecklie to keep his
pet in the locker room while on shift? Or at all?

Leaning
against the examination table, Greg asked,

“What’s
bugging you, Dave?”

Eyes, blue
and cold as glacier ice, rested on him in utter frustration.

“Haven’t we
been at this point already? Or are you already suffering the first stages of
Alzheimer’s?”

Greg
grinned at that. Perhaps not all hope was forlorn.

“Nah, not
really. It’s just..well..” The blond fidgeted, then mumbled,

“I –I just
wanted to..apologize, y’know? For..what I said –about your hamster and stuff. I
–I didn’t mean to-“

David waved
him off.

“Greg.
Greg. Just..forget it, ok? It doesn’t matter, okay?”

The younger
man gave a timid, relieved smile.

“Okay.”

Nick was
worried.

Of course,
being assistant supervisor brought a truckload of new responsibilities and
queries, but that was not it.

He was far
more troubled by the state of his trace tech’s mind than the upcoming budget
meeting.

Blending
into the wall, he watched as David carefully picked up the slightly protesting
Kobayashi, removed the eye patch and gently padded the wounded eye with a
small, pre-doused tissue which he then threw in a waiting refusal bag.

Next were
the casts around Maru’s leg and paw; they had been replaced by supporters, but
since Maru always busied himself with trying to chew them off, Hodges had to
restrap them every so often.

“Hold still
Maru, we’re almost done.”

Nick
blinked; he had never known that Hodges’ voice could hold such a ..tender
quality.

Carefully,
the blue-eyed man checked the cat’s split ear for any signs of infection, then
placed Maru back into his basket and stroked the cat’s fur a few times before
taking off his examination gloves, raising and stretching himself.

“So, what
d’ you wanted from me?” he asked aloud, and Nick started.

He looked
around, to see if anyone else was present, but then caught Hodges glance over
his shoulder at him.

“Uh, well,
Catherine asked me to ask you when..how long the cat’s gonna stay here”, he
lied, noticing how well David’s jeans fit him.

“Not that I
got anything against him. Actually, I really like him. A lot”, he added and
smiled.

And was
rewarded with one of Hodges’ rare, soft smirks.

“Yeah, and
he’s got quite a knack for you, too.” Nick crossed his arms, curious.

“How can
you tell?”

Hodges
snorted.

“Simple:
you’re the only one, aside of me, he actually tries to get up and hobble over
to greet. Normally, when anyone else comes in, he just lays there like a king
and waits to be fed and spoiled rotten.” Nick cocked a brow.

“Sounds
like someone else I know”, he grinned. Hodges merely sniffled indigantly.

“I will
have you that I am not spoiled, but have a very refined taste. There is
a difference.”

“Fine. I’ll
take you up on the challenge. Dinner at Rosemary’s, say eight thirty?”

David
blinked, slightly baffled.

“Are you
…asking me out?” The Texan shrugged.

“Hey,
you’re the one bragging about his superior sense of smell and taste, so I
thought I’d give you the chance to proof it.”

Huffing,
Hodges scratched the back of his neck.

“Well, I
dunno, I don’t think we can take Maru along for the ride.”

Nick let
out an exasperated sigh.

“Fine. Then
we’ll ..just order in and go to my place. Or yours. Whatever’s best for the
little guy.”

For a
second, fear flashed through Hodges’ eyes, as if he had had a terrible vision.
Vehemently he shook his head and crossed his arms.

“I don’t
think that’s a good idea. He still needs to be treated and looked after,
especially now, that his paw has almost healed. He might just rip off his
bandages and stuff and-“

“David,
David, it’s ok. You don’t have to make up excuses if you don’t want to got out
with me!”

The elder
man hesitated, then dropped one hand to his side.

“It’s not
that I don’t want to, Nick. But I –can’t:”

“What?
Because of your cat? I told you, he wouldn’t-” Hodges shook his head, halting
his protest.

“No, it has
nothing to do with you or Maru or –I just can’t.”

The Texan
gave the trace tech a sceptical look… and then his CSI instincts kicked in.

Something
was very wrong here, and it had nothing to do with Hodges’ late mother or
injured cat.

“David, are
you in trouble?” One hand rubbed over a grayed temple, as Hodges replied,

“Sort of.
But this has nothing to do with the CSI, so I’d rather you guys just –keep out
of it.”

Taking one
step towards the distraught man, Nick offered,

“Dave, we
just want to help you, whatever it is. I-“

“I know you
mean well, but this is a very private matter, and I’d rather you stay out of
this. For your own sakes.”

Nick moved
his mouth, blue caught brown -and the CSI nodded.

“Fine. Ok.
If that’s how you want to handle it… fine by me.”

Hodges
nodded tiredly, then trudged past the stocky brunet.

In the
door, he paused, turned around and added,

“And Nick?
Thanks. Again.”

Nick merely
glared at the trace tech’s retreating back, hands on hips, and grumbled,

“Yeah,
right.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

*sigh * It’s so hard for our blue-eyed trace tech to
ask for help, doesn’t it? Anyways, on we go; next chapter should be up by
Saturday. Toodle-pip!