Boomtown/Desperate Housewives: David & David, Part 3
Title: David and David
Fandoms: Boomtown, Desperate Housewives
Author: L.A.K. willos_world
Rating: PG
Summary: What happens when David McNorris meets Dave Williams? What is their connection? How much don’t we know about David Dash? What does it all mean for the residents of Wisteria Lane?
Part 3 of David and David: Mike wakes up in hospital and Andrea still doesn't know what she wants.
Disclaimer: Boomtown and Desperate Housewives are still not mine.
A/N: In the season 5 finale of Desperate Housewives, Mike was shown at the altar but it wasn't revealed who his bride was. Because season 6 doesn't air in several countries (including mine) until next year and not everyone likes spoilers, I've deliberately left her identity ambiguous.
The italicised quotes in Andrea's POV are from the Boomtown episode "Coyote". I've also put her in a pairing that was hinted at but never developed during the series.
Previously on David and David: Prologue | Mary Alice | David McNorris
MIKE DELFINO
“How much were those flowers?” “Why is that important?” “I just want to know how much you paid for them.” “What, so we’re measuring our worth by flowers now?” “Why are you here anyway?” “I care about him too.”
Ethereal voices swirled around Mike Delfino’s head. He was drowsy, floating, grappling for consciousness. Where am I? he wondered. Certainly not at home. Probably not heaven either, judging by those bickering angels in his sleep. He groaned.
“Look, he’s waking up.”
Mike dragged his eyes open at the familiar voice and tried to blink the faces of Susan and Katherine into focus. The room began swimming in front of him and Mike closed his eyes again, drawing in deep breaths. But even in his groggy state, the tension in the room was palpable. He sensed at least one of the women in the room could have been severely injured if he’d waited much longer to regain consciousness.
“Mike,” Katherine’s voice whispered, “Can you talk? How are you feeling?”
“Mm…a little…tired…dizzy,” Mike heard himself murmur as he slowly opened his eyes again.
“You're in the hospital.” Susan. “Do you remember what happened?”
Mike grimaced. “Mm…not much…I…uh…yeah…I think I… I was working… it was getting dark…” His frowned, shut his eyes, and tried to collect his thoughts...
As the sun began to set and dark clouds gathered in the skies above Fairview, Mike stifled a yawn. It had been a long day and the houses zooming past him were becoming a blur. But at least things were getting back to normal.
It seemed like an eternity since Mike had been at the airport, waiting for the plane that would take him and Katherine to Las Vegas to be married. His plans had rapidly changed when he realised his new best buddy Dave Williams was really David Dash, the man Mike and Susan had left widowed after a horrific car accident a few years earlier. When Mike lay down at night, that horrible moment came rushing back; jolting his heart, bathing him in cold sweat, and keeping him awake.
Sometimes when Mike was sitting on the couch, or working, or tending his garden, he found himself back at that intersection on the night Dave had almost succeeded in avenging the Dash family. Mike had desperately offered to take Susan and MJ’s place in Dave’s revenge plan, and so Dave had tried to kill him in a copycat car accident on the same road where Paige and Lila Dash had died. But both men survived. And with the smell of burnt rubber in the air and their son safe in their arms, Mike and Susan had shared an intense kiss by the roadside.
A couple of months later, he was all dolled up at Fairview Presbyterian Church. Take Two. Mike glanced down at the wedding band on his finger and wondered, not for the first time, if he’d made the right decision.
He pulled up at an old house on the outskirts of town. It looked rundown and abandoned; he shuddered to think what kind of faulty plumbing they’d have there. At least it was supposed to be his last job of the day.
He was about to knock on the door when he was interrupted by a voice from behind.
“Are you Mike Delfino?”
Startled, Mike spun around. There was a solidly built figure, perhaps about six feet tall, standing in front of him in a grey suit; his face obscured by a hat and sunglasses.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
Mike didn’t have time to blink before the other man’s fist slammed into his face.
He swore furiously and grabbed his nose, feeling hot blood pooling in his hand. “Who the hell are you?!”
The man responded with a boot to his gut.
Mike felt the steely concrete pressing against his face and the taste of blood in his mouth before another blow pounded into him and everything went black.
***
ANDREA LITTLE
Andrea scrolled through the new photos on her laptop and smiled. Ever the drama queen, even she had to admit it was nice being able to date someone openly instead of stealing each forbidden moment together during lunch or after work.
“How long have you and McNorris been sleeping together?”
But even now, her heart still missed a beat every time she recalled what Michael Hirsch had said to her the day they met.
“I read faces. I’m good at it, it’s a talent I have. I normally wouldn’t have said anything but we don’t have a lot of time and I wouldn’t want his obvious dislike of me to infect you.”
Feeling sick to her stomach and horribly exposed, she had managed to sound sufficiently contemptuous in her reply: “I think I’m capable of disliking you all on my own.”
Michael then admitted he had been bluffing about his flair for face reading and just wanted to see how Andrea would react. When the case had been wrapped up, he’d asked her out and now a few casual lunches had graduated into more intimate dinners, and a eventually a romantic getaway last weekend. But she was acutely aware of the wall she put up around herself to avoid making a commitment, and so was Michael.
Andrea rested her cursor on one of the photos. It was an intimate snap; Michael standing shirtless in the bathroom, his chin covered in shaving cream, pulling a hilarious cartoon face as he spotted her camera. Andrea sighed. They weren’t getting any younger and he didn’t deserve to put up with her continuously dragging her feet.
There was no logical reason for it; Michael was smart, passionate, stimulating, and nothing like her destructive alcoholic father. Surely this was the kind of guy she’d been waiting her whole life for.
She wondered what Michael would do if he knew how close to the mark he’d been about her relationship with David McNorris.
The doorbell rang, shaking Andrea from her reverie.
“I’ll be right there!” she called out, pushing the lid down.
The doorbell rang again impatiently.
Andrea rolled her eyes and opened the door. As if on cue, the neat golden hair, fiery blue eyes, and proud smirk were waiting for her. “David… what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you.” He flashed the winning smile that had melted her heart years ago. “And… I need your help.”
Andrea responded with a wry smile of her own and after a moment’s consideration, invited him in. She had pledged to always be his friend after all and, to his credit, he had managed to pack himself into rehab before he’d really killed someone. “You look good, David. So what’s this about?”
“My father paid me a visit earlier tonight,” he explained. “He told me he has cirrhosis and I have a half-brother.”
“What?”
“Yeah, his name is David Dash. Probably conceived somewhere between visits to the widow Dooley and Sharon Flanagan, though I’m sure Pop lost track of them all along the way. Grew up in the Boston area. I could have met him at baseball tryouts and not even known it. I was hoping you could help me locate him.”
Andrea winced slightly at the mention of Jack McNorris’ affairs, wondering what she had really meant to David. Had their first kiss been any more than a conquest for him? When Marian left him, had David begged Andrea to take him back because he wanted to be with her, or because he just wanted to screw something that moved? “What makes you think I can help you?” she asked.
“You’re a reporter with lots of connections,” he replied.
“You’re a lawyer and politician with lots of connections,” she pointed out.
David tried to blind her with his pearly whites again. Evidently he was counting himself back in the game, Andrea thought. “Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve been thinking about you a lot,” he said. He took a step towards her and gently slipped his fingers through her hair.
Andrea closed her eyes as his hand caressed her cheek. “David, please…”
“There won’t be all that sneaking around, jumping every time the phone rings or the wind blows,” he murmured. “Marian and I are finalising the divorce. And I’m sober now. I’m ready to start over with a clean slate.”
Andrea closed her hand around his and slowly moved it away. “I’m anything but a clean slate for you, David. And we’re not good for each other. And I have my own daddy issues.”
David clenched his jaw and turned away. “Damn it, I’m not your father, Andrea.”
Andrea could feel tears prickling her eyes and began to pace the room until she found herself at a safe distance. “I… I’m kind of seeing someone,” she said softly. “He’s probably the only guy I’ve ever had in my life who didn’t make me feel worse about myself.”
She glanced up to find David staring at her like he’d been punched in the mouth. “Well, I appreciate the honesty, Ms Little…”
“David-”
David held up his hand. “I shouldn’t have come here,” he said simply, and let himself out.
The door clicked shut. Andrea cursed fiercely to herself.
A few minutes later, she heard the key turn in the lock. She brushed her eyes with her hands, making sure they were dry, before turning around to greet Michael as he came through the door.
“Hey honey, how was your day?”
“Good…” Michael raised an eyebrow, shut the door behind him and made his way over to her. “But you’re not. What’s the matter, Andrea?”
As his hands touched her, she finally broke down, crying freely into his chest. Michael held her silently.
“I’m sorry,” Andrea whispered between sobs.
“It’s okay,” said Michael, “Why don’t you tell me about it?”
Andrea nodded but the words caught in her throat. Was it time to put her heart on the line and reveal all? She didn’t think Michael would judge her for an adulterous affair but what about misleading him? Did the affair even matter now? Wasn’t it a private issue between Andrea and David?
When she didn’t speak, Michael continued: “I saw David McNorris driving away from here before. Does this have anything to do with him?”
Andrea froze. Did he know? She slowly broke the hug and looked up. “He wants my help,” she said at last. She motioned for Michael to sit and took her place on the couch. “But maybe I should start at the beginning.”
Fandoms: Boomtown, Desperate Housewives
Author: L.A.K. willos_world
Rating: PG
Summary: What happens when David McNorris meets Dave Williams? What is their connection? How much don’t we know about David Dash? What does it all mean for the residents of Wisteria Lane?
Part 3 of David and David: Mike wakes up in hospital and Andrea still doesn't know what she wants.
Disclaimer: Boomtown and Desperate Housewives are still not mine.
A/N: In the season 5 finale of Desperate Housewives, Mike was shown at the altar but it wasn't revealed who his bride was. Because season 6 doesn't air in several countries (including mine) until next year and not everyone likes spoilers, I've deliberately left her identity ambiguous.
The italicised quotes in Andrea's POV are from the Boomtown episode "Coyote". I've also put her in a pairing that was hinted at but never developed during the series.
Previously on David and David: Prologue | Mary Alice | David McNorris
MIKE DELFINO
“How much were those flowers?” “Why is that important?” “I just want to know how much you paid for them.” “What, so we’re measuring our worth by flowers now?” “Why are you here anyway?” “I care about him too.”
Ethereal voices swirled around Mike Delfino’s head. He was drowsy, floating, grappling for consciousness. Where am I? he wondered. Certainly not at home. Probably not heaven either, judging by those bickering angels in his sleep. He groaned.
“Look, he’s waking up.”
Mike dragged his eyes open at the familiar voice and tried to blink the faces of Susan and Katherine into focus. The room began swimming in front of him and Mike closed his eyes again, drawing in deep breaths. But even in his groggy state, the tension in the room was palpable. He sensed at least one of the women in the room could have been severely injured if he’d waited much longer to regain consciousness.
“Mike,” Katherine’s voice whispered, “Can you talk? How are you feeling?”
“Mm…a little…tired…dizzy,” Mike heard himself murmur as he slowly opened his eyes again.
“You're in the hospital.” Susan. “Do you remember what happened?”
Mike grimaced. “Mm…not much…I…uh…yeah…I think I… I was working… it was getting dark…” His frowned, shut his eyes, and tried to collect his thoughts...
As the sun began to set and dark clouds gathered in the skies above Fairview, Mike stifled a yawn. It had been a long day and the houses zooming past him were becoming a blur. But at least things were getting back to normal.
It seemed like an eternity since Mike had been at the airport, waiting for the plane that would take him and Katherine to Las Vegas to be married. His plans had rapidly changed when he realised his new best buddy Dave Williams was really David Dash, the man Mike and Susan had left widowed after a horrific car accident a few years earlier. When Mike lay down at night, that horrible moment came rushing back; jolting his heart, bathing him in cold sweat, and keeping him awake.
Sometimes when Mike was sitting on the couch, or working, or tending his garden, he found himself back at that intersection on the night Dave had almost succeeded in avenging the Dash family. Mike had desperately offered to take Susan and MJ’s place in Dave’s revenge plan, and so Dave had tried to kill him in a copycat car accident on the same road where Paige and Lila Dash had died. But both men survived. And with the smell of burnt rubber in the air and their son safe in their arms, Mike and Susan had shared an intense kiss by the roadside.
A couple of months later, he was all dolled up at Fairview Presbyterian Church. Take Two. Mike glanced down at the wedding band on his finger and wondered, not for the first time, if he’d made the right decision.
He pulled up at an old house on the outskirts of town. It looked rundown and abandoned; he shuddered to think what kind of faulty plumbing they’d have there. At least it was supposed to be his last job of the day.
He was about to knock on the door when he was interrupted by a voice from behind.
“Are you Mike Delfino?”
Startled, Mike spun around. There was a solidly built figure, perhaps about six feet tall, standing in front of him in a grey suit; his face obscured by a hat and sunglasses.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
Mike didn’t have time to blink before the other man’s fist slammed into his face.
He swore furiously and grabbed his nose, feeling hot blood pooling in his hand. “Who the hell are you?!”
The man responded with a boot to his gut.
Mike felt the steely concrete pressing against his face and the taste of blood in his mouth before another blow pounded into him and everything went black.
***
ANDREA LITTLE
Andrea scrolled through the new photos on her laptop and smiled. Ever the drama queen, even she had to admit it was nice being able to date someone openly instead of stealing each forbidden moment together during lunch or after work.
“How long have you and McNorris been sleeping together?”
But even now, her heart still missed a beat every time she recalled what Michael Hirsch had said to her the day they met.
“I read faces. I’m good at it, it’s a talent I have. I normally wouldn’t have said anything but we don’t have a lot of time and I wouldn’t want his obvious dislike of me to infect you.”
Feeling sick to her stomach and horribly exposed, she had managed to sound sufficiently contemptuous in her reply: “I think I’m capable of disliking you all on my own.”
Michael then admitted he had been bluffing about his flair for face reading and just wanted to see how Andrea would react. When the case had been wrapped up, he’d asked her out and now a few casual lunches had graduated into more intimate dinners, and a eventually a romantic getaway last weekend. But she was acutely aware of the wall she put up around herself to avoid making a commitment, and so was Michael.
Andrea rested her cursor on one of the photos. It was an intimate snap; Michael standing shirtless in the bathroom, his chin covered in shaving cream, pulling a hilarious cartoon face as he spotted her camera. Andrea sighed. They weren’t getting any younger and he didn’t deserve to put up with her continuously dragging her feet.
There was no logical reason for it; Michael was smart, passionate, stimulating, and nothing like her destructive alcoholic father. Surely this was the kind of guy she’d been waiting her whole life for.
She wondered what Michael would do if he knew how close to the mark he’d been about her relationship with David McNorris.
The doorbell rang, shaking Andrea from her reverie.
“I’ll be right there!” she called out, pushing the lid down.
The doorbell rang again impatiently.
Andrea rolled her eyes and opened the door. As if on cue, the neat golden hair, fiery blue eyes, and proud smirk were waiting for her. “David… what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you.” He flashed the winning smile that had melted her heart years ago. “And… I need your help.”
Andrea responded with a wry smile of her own and after a moment’s consideration, invited him in. She had pledged to always be his friend after all and, to his credit, he had managed to pack himself into rehab before he’d really killed someone. “You look good, David. So what’s this about?”
“My father paid me a visit earlier tonight,” he explained. “He told me he has cirrhosis and I have a half-brother.”
“What?”
“Yeah, his name is David Dash. Probably conceived somewhere between visits to the widow Dooley and Sharon Flanagan, though I’m sure Pop lost track of them all along the way. Grew up in the Boston area. I could have met him at baseball tryouts and not even known it. I was hoping you could help me locate him.”
Andrea winced slightly at the mention of Jack McNorris’ affairs, wondering what she had really meant to David. Had their first kiss been any more than a conquest for him? When Marian left him, had David begged Andrea to take him back because he wanted to be with her, or because he just wanted to screw something that moved? “What makes you think I can help you?” she asked.
“You’re a reporter with lots of connections,” he replied.
“You’re a lawyer and politician with lots of connections,” she pointed out.
David tried to blind her with his pearly whites again. Evidently he was counting himself back in the game, Andrea thought. “Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve been thinking about you a lot,” he said. He took a step towards her and gently slipped his fingers through her hair.
Andrea closed her eyes as his hand caressed her cheek. “David, please…”
“There won’t be all that sneaking around, jumping every time the phone rings or the wind blows,” he murmured. “Marian and I are finalising the divorce. And I’m sober now. I’m ready to start over with a clean slate.”
Andrea closed her hand around his and slowly moved it away. “I’m anything but a clean slate for you, David. And we’re not good for each other. And I have my own daddy issues.”
David clenched his jaw and turned away. “Damn it, I’m not your father, Andrea.”
Andrea could feel tears prickling her eyes and began to pace the room until she found herself at a safe distance. “I… I’m kind of seeing someone,” she said softly. “He’s probably the only guy I’ve ever had in my life who didn’t make me feel worse about myself.”
She glanced up to find David staring at her like he’d been punched in the mouth. “Well, I appreciate the honesty, Ms Little…”
“David-”
David held up his hand. “I shouldn’t have come here,” he said simply, and let himself out.
The door clicked shut. Andrea cursed fiercely to herself.
A few minutes later, she heard the key turn in the lock. She brushed her eyes with her hands, making sure they were dry, before turning around to greet Michael as he came through the door.
“Hey honey, how was your day?”
“Good…” Michael raised an eyebrow, shut the door behind him and made his way over to her. “But you’re not. What’s the matter, Andrea?”
As his hands touched her, she finally broke down, crying freely into his chest. Michael held her silently.
“I’m sorry,” Andrea whispered between sobs.
“It’s okay,” said Michael, “Why don’t you tell me about it?”
Andrea nodded but the words caught in her throat. Was it time to put her heart on the line and reveal all? She didn’t think Michael would judge her for an adulterous affair but what about misleading him? Did the affair even matter now? Wasn’t it a private issue between Andrea and David?
When she didn’t speak, Michael continued: “I saw David McNorris driving away from here before. Does this have anything to do with him?”
Andrea froze. Did he know? She slowly broke the hug and looked up. “He wants my help,” she said at last. She motioned for Michael to sit and took her place on the couch. “But maybe I should start at the beginning.”