David Hodges’ Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Nephew (a)
Title: David Hodges’ Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Nephew
By sexyspork
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: One-sided Nick/David hints
Spoilers: End of HBP with changes
Warning: Language, mentions of past adultery, mentions of past prostitution, mentions of child abuse/neglect, and beware of cheesy clichés and deus ex machina. ^___^
Summary: David’s nephew is staying with him, but that doesn’t mean they’ll get along.
Part a of part 2 of my Harry Potter crossover of a (not so) different kind. I made it too big so LJ is making me split it into two parts...
Part 1 can be found here
David Hodges, by nature, was not a family man. Hell, if he could barely get along with those of his own species on a day-to-day basis, it really shouldn’t be a surprise that he rarely was in a relationship, let alone in a relationship that could forge more permanent ties down the line.
So, sitting in the food court at the largest mall in Vegas on a Friday night, people really wouldn’t be shocked to note that he was questioning life and God in general. Because either he had the worst karma on earth (which wouldn’t be a surprise but that was more of a certain Texan’s domain) or whatever Power-That-Be was controlling his life at the moment had to be having the time of her life (only a woman could be cruel enough to put him through this).
Because sitting across from him was one sulky sixteen-year-old boy and David didn’t have a clue as how to deal with him.
To be honest, Harry probably didn’t know how to act around him either, and given what McGonagall had told him about his half-sister and her husband in that clipped, furious tone, he could understand why. Those two, whatever her name was and her pig of a husband, were incredibly screwed up. And if McGonagall hadn’t explained the situation to him, he’d be offended that the bitch had been chosen over him to take care of the boy (Min’s excuse was they hadn’t known that he existed and David decided it was to keep a closer watch on the boy, damn the consequences, because you couldn’t forge a weapon that was half a world away).
So far, they had been shopping for the brat because David refused to allow him to continue the whole “I’m an orphan, pity me!” look, and it was also a good ice-breaker between two males who hadn’t known the other existed five days earlier. It also gave David more time to figure out what to do with a boy that would be staying with him for the whole summer. Because Catherine may have a fall-back plan for her teenage daughter, but David really had no one and was quite in the dark.
So between several books, a couple of bags of clothing, some new glasses (because the only thing holding the old ones together was tape and prayers), David was wiped; figuratively, physically, and financially. He’d known kids were tough, but now he had a whole new level of respect for parents (not Catherine though, because that woman couldn’t raise a child to save her life).
So now they were sitting down to grab a bite to eat, and David was praying it’d draw the kid out of his self-imposed moody emo silence, because if there was one thing that David could not stand (aside from stupid people), it was emo teenagers. And as he was picking half-heartedly at whatever meal he’d gotten, David was still waiting for a sign from above that he was doing this whole “bonding thing” correctly.
And as if the PTB (the one that was screwing with his life) was listening, his sign appeared.
“Hey, Uncle Dave?” The soft, slightly less angry British voice of his nephew caught David’s attention, and he didn’t even notice the nick-name until it would be too late. The look of suspicion (the one that looked so familiar that it fucking hurt) was slowly fading, as was the anger and irritation. Sheepishness and embarrassment had taken their place, and David was simply exhausted just looking at all the emotions Harry was going through.
“Yes?” He ruthlessly squashed the flicker of hope before it could take root.
“I’m…thanks.”
David took a sip of his drink to hide his grin, maybe this parenting thing won’t be so bad, he couldn’t help but think.
“You’re welcome. Now finish your food, you’re as skinny as a rail and like hell I’m getting child services over here to investigate my skills as a guardian.”
Because if David was going to do this, he was going to do it right.
And for the rest of the weekend, and the beginning of the week, things went well. And when David looks back at this short period of time, he’d concede to the fact that things went a little too well, and that he should have been expecting the other shoe to drop. But he hadn’t, and so when the irritated looking homicide detective known as Jim Brass wandered into the trace lab, he had been caught unawares.
“Hey, Hodges.”
David turned from the microscope and an eyebrow quirked in a silent question. This was…odd. Although they knew each other in passing, there was no interaction between the two men who walked totally different circuits. And while David may work in the lab, Brass mainly dealt with the CSIs out in the field instead of mingling with lowly technicians.
“You got a kid by the name of ‘Harry Potter’ staying with you?”
A cold chill of foreboding raced down David’s spine, and an image of Harry laying out on one of Doc Robbins’ tables lodged itself in his mind.
“Yes. Is-” He swallowed convulsively and whispered, “Is he alright?”
“Yeah, the brat got in a fight in the nastier part of town; he was in a bar and was apparently trying to get a drink and broke one of my guy’s noses. He said your name a couple times, and I figured I’d check it out before deciding what to do.”
David closed his eyes in an attempt to gain control over his temper. Erupting like Vesuvius was not going to help, and all he really wanted to do was to wring his nephew’s neck. WHAT THE HELL HAD HE BEEN THINKING?!
Taking a deep breath through his nose and counting to ten in three different languages, David reopened his eyes to see curiosity flash through Brass’.
“He’s my nephew.” David ground out, jaw clenched and he knew his blood pressure was sky-rocketing. “And I suppose he wants me to pick him up?”
“He’s in the lobby, actually.” David was not surprised to see amusement flash through the jaded cops eyes, and the trace tech gave him a feral grin, one too full of teeth and anger.
David didn’t bother answering; he just walked out of his lab with a snickering detective not far behind him.
He walked through the halls as he normally would, but apparently human survival instincts were working overtime tonight because employees were scattering out of his way for their very lives. David wasn’t really paying attention to them though, so later on he would hear an amusing rendition from a Greg Sanders who lacked said survival inclinations and had been loitering in the hallways when David Hodges stormed past in all his furious glory.
But, at the moment, David was just trying to calm himself down enough so he didn’t kill the stupid boy the second he saw him, because he was feeling downright homicidal at the moment. McGonagall had left Harry in David’s possession for the sole reason that the boy would be safer. Wandering the streets of Vegas at night could not have been what she had in mind.
Stepping through the doors, David instantly took note of his sullen nephew sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair with two police officers standing on each side of him. Grinding his teeth together once more, David walked over slowly until he was standing in front of Harry. With a motion from Jim, both officers fled for their lives at the sight of the livid trace technician.
Harry tried to glare up at his uncle, but flinched as blue eyes bored into his very soul (Harry was insanely grateful, at this moment, that David was not a wizard because he was sure his uncle would have been very skilled at legimens). David crossed his arms in front of his chest, fingers digging so forcefully into his biceps that he knew he was going to have bruises to show for it later, but it was also the only thing that was stopping him from hitting the boy upside the head for being so stupid and reckless!
“When you came to live with me,” David’s voice wasn’t any higher than a whisper, and Brass had to strain his ears to hear him. “What were the two things that I said had to be obeyed no matter what?”
Harry sulked, slouching further into his chair, and mumbled, “To not break the law and to not leave the apartment when you were at work.”
“And what two rules, the only two rules, did you specifically break?”
“But it wasn’t my fault-” Harry began, only to be cut off quickly with a snarl from his uncle.
“We are not going to have this argument here, while I am at work.” David started, shifting from foot to foot to avoid the urge to pace. “I gave you a liberal amount of trust Harry, and you broke it. So there will be consequences. But at the moment you are going to sit here, and do nothing. You are not going to talk, walk, or do anything. The only reason you are allowed to breathe is because it is a biological necessity. And when I get off work, we are going to have a very long conversation about your liberties for the rest of the summer.”
Gesturing to the officer that was always on duty in the lobby, David gave Harry a chilling smile. “Do you see this nice gentleman? He’s going to be your babysitter until I’m done.”
“That’s not fair!”
“For every action, there is a reaction.” David said softly, “Now you have to deal with the consequences to what you’ve done.”
“Did your mum ever think of the consequences of sleeping with my grandfather? Because you must have been one hell of a mistake for a prostitute to make!”
David froze at the snide statement, and Harry continued to glare at him beneath black bangs. Fingers dug deeper into his skin until his knuckles turned white, and Brass shifted slightly behind him, the family feud no longer quite so amusing.
“We’re not having this conversation now.” And with that, David turned around to stalk back to his lair.
Jim Brass gave the sulky teen a look before heading off to his next assignment, refusing to get any more involved than he already was, while the poor officer who had been assigned the babysitting duty watched on in frozen horror at his new task. But there was going to be new rumors floating around the water cooler, that was to be sure…
Hours went by, and everyone continued to tip-toe around the trace lab like it was going to blow any minute. Word had already passed around the technicians, but the CSIs (being a whole different species) were only getting a glean or two until Brass had filled them in on the blow-up between Hodges and his nephew. So, of course, people began to pass the lobby for the simple sake of getting a glimpse of the boy while he was at the lab.
The Lab Rats, being the smart people that they are, deduced everything pretty quickly; from David’s behavior last week, his day-off on Friday, and the subsequent good moods he had been in the past few days. Jacqui, of course, had wanted to talk to David about the falling out with Harry, but Ronnie quickly persuaded her that it probably wasn’t the best time to do so (God bless Milky Ways). So for now, everything was still, like calm waters with turbulent depths.
And as the time passed, the red that David had been seeing slowly faded away until it was nothing but a distant memory. Sighing, and feeling so much older than he was, David was glad/depressed when the shift finally ended. Ignoring Jacqui’s concerned looks and Grissom’s speculative ones had been trying, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and ignore the rest of world.
Rubbing the back of his neck wearily, David walked towards the lobby only to see Harry curled up in his chair, sleeping fitfully. Watching him with sad blue eyes, David wondered if he had made the incorrect choice in his decision to take Harry in. He had known he wouldn’t make a good parent, but knew he could be better than his no-good half-sister. Here, people were arrested for less than what she did, yet she was walking around like she did absolutely nothing wrong.
Sighing slightly, David shook Harry’s shoulder to wake the teen. It was time to go home.
The drive back to his apartment was uncomfortably silent, as Harry was glaring half-heartedly out the window and David was just watching the road as he mentally went over the week, trying to figure out what he did wrong. The walk and elevator ride up to his apartment was even worse, and David was sure he was going to die of asphyxiation from all the pressure that was building around the two relatives.
He turned his key in the lock and the resounding click sounded like a gunshot that made them both jump slightly. Walking in and pausing in the middle of his living room just as the sun was peering into the window, David watched Harry out of the corner of his eye. The teen was on edge and angry and ready to lash out at anything that got too close. Running a hand through grey-streaked hair, David smiled wryly as he threw his keys on the counter.
“Go to bed. We’ll talk when I get up.”
Others might take this as a sign of weakness, as giving Harry a win that shouldn’t have been conceded. The way David saw it, however, they were both pissed and hurt, and if they talked now, things would go from bad to worse. At least sleep would give them a chance to cool down.
A few tense moments passed before Harry nodded jerkily, heading to his room and David knew the boy’s nightmares wouldn’t haunt him tonight as he probably was too exhausted. Walking to his own room at the end of the hall, David sat on the edge of his bed with his face in his hands.
He had thought he wasn’t going to sleep, but within moments, David fell into a restless slumber.
When David awoke, it was to the smells of a non-apology breakfast. Of course, he hadn’t known that until he walked groggily into his kitchen, blinking and rubbing his eyes as he tried to wake up. David’s sleep fogged brain took note of Harry’s tense jaw and icy green glare, and shut down until he got a cup or two of coffee into his system.
They ate scrambled eggs and bacon in silence, the scraping of forks against ceramic obscenely loud. When he finished, David sipped his coffee as he watched his nephew eat in brooding silence. The teenager looked at his half-eaten meal before throwing his utensil onto his plate irritably. David simply took another swallow of his drink before he set his mug down to gather up the dirty dishes.
David could feel Harry’s gaze burning into his back as he washed the dishes, but he ignored it at the moment. He had counted on Harry being a little less angry when he got up, but that plan was shot to hell. So now David was trying to figure out how to have the needed conversation without his nephew blowing up at him. Looking up into his reflection in the window over the sink, he smirked at himself. Ah, what the hell. Screw it.
Shaking his hands free of excess water, David was drying his hands on a small towel as he plopped back into his chair. Picking up his cooling mug and lounging like he owned the place (which he did), David grinned coldly into his coffee.
“This is how things are going to work from now on. When I leave for work at six, you are going to have a babysitter.” He ignored Harry’s furious exclamation of “What!”
“And the nights I can’t have someone watch you, you’ll come into work with me. You might even learn something.”
“You can’t do that!”
David fixed dark blue eyes onto his nephew. “I’ve been given guardianship of you for the rest of the summer. I’m not your friend, I am your parent, and I will treat you like the child you are if you misbehave.”
“You’re not my father.” Harry snarled, jumping up from his seat as his chair was thrown backwards. David ignored his nephew’s burst of temper and finished the last of his much needed caffeine boost.
“No, he’s dead. Get over it.”
David really should have anticipated it, but the fist flying towards him was totally unexpected and caught him unawares. His head snapped back from the force of the punch that caught his jaw as his cup was knocked from his grasp and shattered against the floor.
Both men froze, Harry from realization of his actions and David from the shock of it all. David turned his head slowly to watch his nephew, and was surprised to see the boy drawing in into himself. David was pissed, but a good hunk of it came from knowing it was his brother-in-laws fault that Harry was now expecting retaliation.
And that’s not to say David didn’t want to pop his ass, but even he knew Harry had to be dealt with in a…special manner. Because David would bet his life savings that the boy had never been given therapy, and had half a mind to set up an appointment for him with the LVCL’s psychologist.
Gritting his teeth together, David looked Harry in the eye. “You’re not the only person on the planet to have lost a parent. Every night I go to work, at least one case in my box involves a child loosing either a mother or father.”
David paused for a second, “I was regaled with stories of your strength and heroism from your teacher, but I have yet to see either of those traits. Grow up, Harry. You can’t be both a hero and a selfish bastard.”
Hey, he didn’t have to be nice about it. And personally, he would rather Harry be a selfish bastard than a hero, seeing as hero’s always were the first to die.
“I’m not the one who was a bastard, now was I, uncle?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
Green eyes hardened and David had no problem meeting them.
“I never asked to be a hero.”
David snorted, “Do you think I asked to be a bastard?”
“I don’t see much of a comparison.” Harry shot back.
“I didn’t ask for a lot of things, but I lived.”
“It’s not fair.” David swallowed hard at Harry’s heartbroken whisper.
“Life wasn’t fair when my mother died and left me alone when I was nine. Life screws us over, and we must learn to roll right back.”
“I didn’t know your mum died…”
David bit back bitter laughter. “And I didn’t have a father, as you so kindly keep pointing out…” He eyed his nephew for a moment, a dark smile twisting across his face. “So tell me, Harry, what’s worse? Never knowing your parents or knowing them and then loosing everything?”
The silence was heavy and weighed everything down.
David sighed, feeling like the world was resting on his shoulders. “Under my roof, you follow my rules. End of discussion.”
And it was.
The next few weeks were hellishly hard. Work was demanding but David considered himself lucky enough that no one really questioned the large bruise on his jaw other than give it a few curious looks. They probably just assumed he had said the wrong thing and pissed off the wrong person. Jacqui, of course, hadn’t asked but demanded, and David had given her a condensed version and she, surprisingly, had backed off for the time being.
Harry was no longer blowing up at him, but they no longer had that easy camaraderie that had been present in those first few days. Silences were long and tense, and Harry would always speak with either an angry or defensive note in his tone. And that made conversations, when they happened, short and stilted and harder than ever.
David did thank God for Mrs. Jacobs though, the only woman on earth who had been able to tame a young David Hodges before and after his mother’s death, and she was the only one David would turn to to watch his nephew. And seeing as she didn’t allow any of his crap when he had been young, he knew Harry was in good hands while he was working.
One night, however, the status quo changed.
David pulled the paper off his printer with a smirk, instantly breaking down the information, re-assimilating it, and then placing it in its correct category in his mind. He was so good, and couldn’t wait to share his brilliance with the world. Walking out of his lab, Jacqui appeared at his elbow with an easy grin.
“Going to Grissom?”
He nodded, “He told me to come find him as soon as I was done.”
Jacqui flashed some papers in his face. “He told me the same thing. It’s the cop-killer case.”
David had known that, and everyone from the cops to the CSI to the techs were on edge, because cop-killers made everyone jumpy. He mock-sighed to fill in the depressive atmosphere, “I remember the days when we made them come to us…”
“Should we hold their evidence hostage?” Jacqui asked, easily matching his mood, because she hated cases like these just as much as she hated the ones that involved children.
“And ask for a ransom in chocolate.”
Jacqui shot him an amused look as the rounded a corner towards the interrogation rooms. “I knew there was a reason I loved you.”
“Not for my good looks and intelligence? For shame!”
The fingerprints technician laughed easily, and the sight of a man arguing with Brass in the hall caught both Lab Rats attention.
“That’s the suspect,” Jacqui said softly as they both slowed down. Grissom and Nick were on either side of the homicide captain, but both techs knew better than to bother the Night Supervisor when he was with a suspect, because if he merely ripped into one of his CSI, what would he do to one of them?
But when the man grabbed Nick Stokes’ gun, David shoved Jacqui aside as the cops that had been looking for a chance to jump the suspect did so, and he knew techs had no place in something like this. The roar of a gunshot mingled with the shouts that had been filling the air and then everything abruptly went silent.
David was flying backwards, air whistling against his skin and it felt like he fell for an eternity. Landing hard on his back, David sucked in a breath as sounds shifted and were drowned out by the roaring in his ears, but he had no problem hearing Jacqui’s terrified scream of “DAVID!”
The pain hit him suddenly and David gasped out in agony, fighting to breathe as something was blocking his airways. Coughing and struggling to acquire much needed oxygen, blood spattered all over on Jacqui’s face and blouse as she crouched next to him. Her white shirt no longer quite as white as her face, and David prayed she wouldn’t hit him for ruining her favorite top. Nick Stokes panicked expression joined next to Jacqui’s, and that was the scene that sent David into darkness
By sexyspork
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: One-sided Nick/David hints
Spoilers: End of HBP with changes
Warning: Language, mentions of past adultery, mentions of past prostitution, mentions of child abuse/neglect, and beware of cheesy clichés and deus ex machina. ^___^
Summary: David’s nephew is staying with him, but that doesn’t mean they’ll get along.
Part a of part 2 of my Harry Potter crossover of a (not so) different kind. I made it too big so LJ is making me split it into two parts...
Part 1 can be found here
David Hodges, by nature, was not a family man. Hell, if he could barely get along with those of his own species on a day-to-day basis, it really shouldn’t be a surprise that he rarely was in a relationship, let alone in a relationship that could forge more permanent ties down the line.
So, sitting in the food court at the largest mall in Vegas on a Friday night, people really wouldn’t be shocked to note that he was questioning life and God in general. Because either he had the worst karma on earth (which wouldn’t be a surprise but that was more of a certain Texan’s domain) or whatever Power-That-Be was controlling his life at the moment had to be having the time of her life (only a woman could be cruel enough to put him through this).
Because sitting across from him was one sulky sixteen-year-old boy and David didn’t have a clue as how to deal with him.
To be honest, Harry probably didn’t know how to act around him either, and given what McGonagall had told him about his half-sister and her husband in that clipped, furious tone, he could understand why. Those two, whatever her name was and her pig of a husband, were incredibly screwed up. And if McGonagall hadn’t explained the situation to him, he’d be offended that the bitch had been chosen over him to take care of the boy (Min’s excuse was they hadn’t known that he existed and David decided it was to keep a closer watch on the boy, damn the consequences, because you couldn’t forge a weapon that was half a world away).
So far, they had been shopping for the brat because David refused to allow him to continue the whole “I’m an orphan, pity me!” look, and it was also a good ice-breaker between two males who hadn’t known the other existed five days earlier. It also gave David more time to figure out what to do with a boy that would be staying with him for the whole summer. Because Catherine may have a fall-back plan for her teenage daughter, but David really had no one and was quite in the dark.
So between several books, a couple of bags of clothing, some new glasses (because the only thing holding the old ones together was tape and prayers), David was wiped; figuratively, physically, and financially. He’d known kids were tough, but now he had a whole new level of respect for parents (not Catherine though, because that woman couldn’t raise a child to save her life).
So now they were sitting down to grab a bite to eat, and David was praying it’d draw the kid out of his self-imposed moody emo silence, because if there was one thing that David could not stand (aside from stupid people), it was emo teenagers. And as he was picking half-heartedly at whatever meal he’d gotten, David was still waiting for a sign from above that he was doing this whole “bonding thing” correctly.
And as if the PTB (the one that was screwing with his life) was listening, his sign appeared.
“Hey, Uncle Dave?” The soft, slightly less angry British voice of his nephew caught David’s attention, and he didn’t even notice the nick-name until it would be too late. The look of suspicion (the one that looked so familiar that it fucking hurt) was slowly fading, as was the anger and irritation. Sheepishness and embarrassment had taken their place, and David was simply exhausted just looking at all the emotions Harry was going through.
“Yes?” He ruthlessly squashed the flicker of hope before it could take root.
“I’m…thanks.”
David took a sip of his drink to hide his grin, maybe this parenting thing won’t be so bad, he couldn’t help but think.
“You’re welcome. Now finish your food, you’re as skinny as a rail and like hell I’m getting child services over here to investigate my skills as a guardian.”
Because if David was going to do this, he was going to do it right.
And for the rest of the weekend, and the beginning of the week, things went well. And when David looks back at this short period of time, he’d concede to the fact that things went a little too well, and that he should have been expecting the other shoe to drop. But he hadn’t, and so when the irritated looking homicide detective known as Jim Brass wandered into the trace lab, he had been caught unawares.
“Hey, Hodges.”
David turned from the microscope and an eyebrow quirked in a silent question. This was…odd. Although they knew each other in passing, there was no interaction between the two men who walked totally different circuits. And while David may work in the lab, Brass mainly dealt with the CSIs out in the field instead of mingling with lowly technicians.
“You got a kid by the name of ‘Harry Potter’ staying with you?”
A cold chill of foreboding raced down David’s spine, and an image of Harry laying out on one of Doc Robbins’ tables lodged itself in his mind.
“Yes. Is-” He swallowed convulsively and whispered, “Is he alright?”
“Yeah, the brat got in a fight in the nastier part of town; he was in a bar and was apparently trying to get a drink and broke one of my guy’s noses. He said your name a couple times, and I figured I’d check it out before deciding what to do.”
David closed his eyes in an attempt to gain control over his temper. Erupting like Vesuvius was not going to help, and all he really wanted to do was to wring his nephew’s neck. WHAT THE HELL HAD HE BEEN THINKING?!
Taking a deep breath through his nose and counting to ten in three different languages, David reopened his eyes to see curiosity flash through Brass’.
“He’s my nephew.” David ground out, jaw clenched and he knew his blood pressure was sky-rocketing. “And I suppose he wants me to pick him up?”
“He’s in the lobby, actually.” David was not surprised to see amusement flash through the jaded cops eyes, and the trace tech gave him a feral grin, one too full of teeth and anger.
David didn’t bother answering; he just walked out of his lab with a snickering detective not far behind him.
He walked through the halls as he normally would, but apparently human survival instincts were working overtime tonight because employees were scattering out of his way for their very lives. David wasn’t really paying attention to them though, so later on he would hear an amusing rendition from a Greg Sanders who lacked said survival inclinations and had been loitering in the hallways when David Hodges stormed past in all his furious glory.
But, at the moment, David was just trying to calm himself down enough so he didn’t kill the stupid boy the second he saw him, because he was feeling downright homicidal at the moment. McGonagall had left Harry in David’s possession for the sole reason that the boy would be safer. Wandering the streets of Vegas at night could not have been what she had in mind.
Stepping through the doors, David instantly took note of his sullen nephew sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair with two police officers standing on each side of him. Grinding his teeth together once more, David walked over slowly until he was standing in front of Harry. With a motion from Jim, both officers fled for their lives at the sight of the livid trace technician.
Harry tried to glare up at his uncle, but flinched as blue eyes bored into his very soul (Harry was insanely grateful, at this moment, that David was not a wizard because he was sure his uncle would have been very skilled at legimens). David crossed his arms in front of his chest, fingers digging so forcefully into his biceps that he knew he was going to have bruises to show for it later, but it was also the only thing that was stopping him from hitting the boy upside the head for being so stupid and reckless!
“When you came to live with me,” David’s voice wasn’t any higher than a whisper, and Brass had to strain his ears to hear him. “What were the two things that I said had to be obeyed no matter what?”
Harry sulked, slouching further into his chair, and mumbled, “To not break the law and to not leave the apartment when you were at work.”
“And what two rules, the only two rules, did you specifically break?”
“But it wasn’t my fault-” Harry began, only to be cut off quickly with a snarl from his uncle.
“We are not going to have this argument here, while I am at work.” David started, shifting from foot to foot to avoid the urge to pace. “I gave you a liberal amount of trust Harry, and you broke it. So there will be consequences. But at the moment you are going to sit here, and do nothing. You are not going to talk, walk, or do anything. The only reason you are allowed to breathe is because it is a biological necessity. And when I get off work, we are going to have a very long conversation about your liberties for the rest of the summer.”
Gesturing to the officer that was always on duty in the lobby, David gave Harry a chilling smile. “Do you see this nice gentleman? He’s going to be your babysitter until I’m done.”
“That’s not fair!”
“For every action, there is a reaction.” David said softly, “Now you have to deal with the consequences to what you’ve done.”
“Did your mum ever think of the consequences of sleeping with my grandfather? Because you must have been one hell of a mistake for a prostitute to make!”
David froze at the snide statement, and Harry continued to glare at him beneath black bangs. Fingers dug deeper into his skin until his knuckles turned white, and Brass shifted slightly behind him, the family feud no longer quite so amusing.
“We’re not having this conversation now.” And with that, David turned around to stalk back to his lair.
Jim Brass gave the sulky teen a look before heading off to his next assignment, refusing to get any more involved than he already was, while the poor officer who had been assigned the babysitting duty watched on in frozen horror at his new task. But there was going to be new rumors floating around the water cooler, that was to be sure…
Hours went by, and everyone continued to tip-toe around the trace lab like it was going to blow any minute. Word had already passed around the technicians, but the CSIs (being a whole different species) were only getting a glean or two until Brass had filled them in on the blow-up between Hodges and his nephew. So, of course, people began to pass the lobby for the simple sake of getting a glimpse of the boy while he was at the lab.
The Lab Rats, being the smart people that they are, deduced everything pretty quickly; from David’s behavior last week, his day-off on Friday, and the subsequent good moods he had been in the past few days. Jacqui, of course, had wanted to talk to David about the falling out with Harry, but Ronnie quickly persuaded her that it probably wasn’t the best time to do so (God bless Milky Ways). So for now, everything was still, like calm waters with turbulent depths.
And as the time passed, the red that David had been seeing slowly faded away until it was nothing but a distant memory. Sighing, and feeling so much older than he was, David was glad/depressed when the shift finally ended. Ignoring Jacqui’s concerned looks and Grissom’s speculative ones had been trying, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and ignore the rest of world.
Rubbing the back of his neck wearily, David walked towards the lobby only to see Harry curled up in his chair, sleeping fitfully. Watching him with sad blue eyes, David wondered if he had made the incorrect choice in his decision to take Harry in. He had known he wouldn’t make a good parent, but knew he could be better than his no-good half-sister. Here, people were arrested for less than what she did, yet she was walking around like she did absolutely nothing wrong.
Sighing slightly, David shook Harry’s shoulder to wake the teen. It was time to go home.
The drive back to his apartment was uncomfortably silent, as Harry was glaring half-heartedly out the window and David was just watching the road as he mentally went over the week, trying to figure out what he did wrong. The walk and elevator ride up to his apartment was even worse, and David was sure he was going to die of asphyxiation from all the pressure that was building around the two relatives.
He turned his key in the lock and the resounding click sounded like a gunshot that made them both jump slightly. Walking in and pausing in the middle of his living room just as the sun was peering into the window, David watched Harry out of the corner of his eye. The teen was on edge and angry and ready to lash out at anything that got too close. Running a hand through grey-streaked hair, David smiled wryly as he threw his keys on the counter.
“Go to bed. We’ll talk when I get up.”
Others might take this as a sign of weakness, as giving Harry a win that shouldn’t have been conceded. The way David saw it, however, they were both pissed and hurt, and if they talked now, things would go from bad to worse. At least sleep would give them a chance to cool down.
A few tense moments passed before Harry nodded jerkily, heading to his room and David knew the boy’s nightmares wouldn’t haunt him tonight as he probably was too exhausted. Walking to his own room at the end of the hall, David sat on the edge of his bed with his face in his hands.
He had thought he wasn’t going to sleep, but within moments, David fell into a restless slumber.
When David awoke, it was to the smells of a non-apology breakfast. Of course, he hadn’t known that until he walked groggily into his kitchen, blinking and rubbing his eyes as he tried to wake up. David’s sleep fogged brain took note of Harry’s tense jaw and icy green glare, and shut down until he got a cup or two of coffee into his system.
They ate scrambled eggs and bacon in silence, the scraping of forks against ceramic obscenely loud. When he finished, David sipped his coffee as he watched his nephew eat in brooding silence. The teenager looked at his half-eaten meal before throwing his utensil onto his plate irritably. David simply took another swallow of his drink before he set his mug down to gather up the dirty dishes.
David could feel Harry’s gaze burning into his back as he washed the dishes, but he ignored it at the moment. He had counted on Harry being a little less angry when he got up, but that plan was shot to hell. So now David was trying to figure out how to have the needed conversation without his nephew blowing up at him. Looking up into his reflection in the window over the sink, he smirked at himself. Ah, what the hell. Screw it.
Shaking his hands free of excess water, David was drying his hands on a small towel as he plopped back into his chair. Picking up his cooling mug and lounging like he owned the place (which he did), David grinned coldly into his coffee.
“This is how things are going to work from now on. When I leave for work at six, you are going to have a babysitter.” He ignored Harry’s furious exclamation of “What!”
“And the nights I can’t have someone watch you, you’ll come into work with me. You might even learn something.”
“You can’t do that!”
David fixed dark blue eyes onto his nephew. “I’ve been given guardianship of you for the rest of the summer. I’m not your friend, I am your parent, and I will treat you like the child you are if you misbehave.”
“You’re not my father.” Harry snarled, jumping up from his seat as his chair was thrown backwards. David ignored his nephew’s burst of temper and finished the last of his much needed caffeine boost.
“No, he’s dead. Get over it.”
David really should have anticipated it, but the fist flying towards him was totally unexpected and caught him unawares. His head snapped back from the force of the punch that caught his jaw as his cup was knocked from his grasp and shattered against the floor.
Both men froze, Harry from realization of his actions and David from the shock of it all. David turned his head slowly to watch his nephew, and was surprised to see the boy drawing in into himself. David was pissed, but a good hunk of it came from knowing it was his brother-in-laws fault that Harry was now expecting retaliation.
And that’s not to say David didn’t want to pop his ass, but even he knew Harry had to be dealt with in a…special manner. Because David would bet his life savings that the boy had never been given therapy, and had half a mind to set up an appointment for him with the LVCL’s psychologist.
Gritting his teeth together, David looked Harry in the eye. “You’re not the only person on the planet to have lost a parent. Every night I go to work, at least one case in my box involves a child loosing either a mother or father.”
David paused for a second, “I was regaled with stories of your strength and heroism from your teacher, but I have yet to see either of those traits. Grow up, Harry. You can’t be both a hero and a selfish bastard.”
Hey, he didn’t have to be nice about it. And personally, he would rather Harry be a selfish bastard than a hero, seeing as hero’s always were the first to die.
“I’m not the one who was a bastard, now was I, uncle?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
Green eyes hardened and David had no problem meeting them.
“I never asked to be a hero.”
David snorted, “Do you think I asked to be a bastard?”
“I don’t see much of a comparison.” Harry shot back.
“I didn’t ask for a lot of things, but I lived.”
“It’s not fair.” David swallowed hard at Harry’s heartbroken whisper.
“Life wasn’t fair when my mother died and left me alone when I was nine. Life screws us over, and we must learn to roll right back.”
“I didn’t know your mum died…”
David bit back bitter laughter. “And I didn’t have a father, as you so kindly keep pointing out…” He eyed his nephew for a moment, a dark smile twisting across his face. “So tell me, Harry, what’s worse? Never knowing your parents or knowing them and then loosing everything?”
The silence was heavy and weighed everything down.
David sighed, feeling like the world was resting on his shoulders. “Under my roof, you follow my rules. End of discussion.”
And it was.
The next few weeks were hellishly hard. Work was demanding but David considered himself lucky enough that no one really questioned the large bruise on his jaw other than give it a few curious looks. They probably just assumed he had said the wrong thing and pissed off the wrong person. Jacqui, of course, hadn’t asked but demanded, and David had given her a condensed version and she, surprisingly, had backed off for the time being.
Harry was no longer blowing up at him, but they no longer had that easy camaraderie that had been present in those first few days. Silences were long and tense, and Harry would always speak with either an angry or defensive note in his tone. And that made conversations, when they happened, short and stilted and harder than ever.
David did thank God for Mrs. Jacobs though, the only woman on earth who had been able to tame a young David Hodges before and after his mother’s death, and she was the only one David would turn to to watch his nephew. And seeing as she didn’t allow any of his crap when he had been young, he knew Harry was in good hands while he was working.
One night, however, the status quo changed.
David pulled the paper off his printer with a smirk, instantly breaking down the information, re-assimilating it, and then placing it in its correct category in his mind. He was so good, and couldn’t wait to share his brilliance with the world. Walking out of his lab, Jacqui appeared at his elbow with an easy grin.
“Going to Grissom?”
He nodded, “He told me to come find him as soon as I was done.”
Jacqui flashed some papers in his face. “He told me the same thing. It’s the cop-killer case.”
David had known that, and everyone from the cops to the CSI to the techs were on edge, because cop-killers made everyone jumpy. He mock-sighed to fill in the depressive atmosphere, “I remember the days when we made them come to us…”
“Should we hold their evidence hostage?” Jacqui asked, easily matching his mood, because she hated cases like these just as much as she hated the ones that involved children.
“And ask for a ransom in chocolate.”
Jacqui shot him an amused look as the rounded a corner towards the interrogation rooms. “I knew there was a reason I loved you.”
“Not for my good looks and intelligence? For shame!”
The fingerprints technician laughed easily, and the sight of a man arguing with Brass in the hall caught both Lab Rats attention.
“That’s the suspect,” Jacqui said softly as they both slowed down. Grissom and Nick were on either side of the homicide captain, but both techs knew better than to bother the Night Supervisor when he was with a suspect, because if he merely ripped into one of his CSI, what would he do to one of them?
But when the man grabbed Nick Stokes’ gun, David shoved Jacqui aside as the cops that had been looking for a chance to jump the suspect did so, and he knew techs had no place in something like this. The roar of a gunshot mingled with the shouts that had been filling the air and then everything abruptly went silent.
David was flying backwards, air whistling against his skin and it felt like he fell for an eternity. Landing hard on his back, David sucked in a breath as sounds shifted and were drowned out by the roaring in his ears, but he had no problem hearing Jacqui’s terrified scream of “DAVID!”
The pain hit him suddenly and David gasped out in agony, fighting to breathe as something was blocking his airways. Coughing and struggling to acquire much needed oxygen, blood spattered all over on Jacqui’s face and blouse as she crouched next to him. Her white shirt no longer quite as white as her face, and David prayed she wouldn’t hit him for ruining her favorite top. Nick Stokes panicked expression joined next to Jacqui’s, and that was the scene that sent David into darkness