Stay - Wendy and Hodges

missyb

Victim
Hey all, I hope it's okay to post this here as a newbie, but I really wanted to share my first fanfic in, well, forever! It's the first time I've written Wedges, so it may not be entirely accurate, as I need to look at the episodes properly, but this is how I picture it (and I guess it's all subjective!).

I don't know if we have to rate them before including them in the text, but it's suitable for under 13's, nothing dirty or any swearing, just pure Wedges.

I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think - I'm drafting a second chapter as we speak :)

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STAY

He hated the hollow feeling in his legs, spreading up through his body and into his chest cavity. It must have been mere minutes since she had fled the locker room, tears in her eyes and what was he doing? Standing here like an idiot, waiting for an absolution. Wendy Simms wasn't going to return, not now, not ever. Hodges didn't blame her. She had pursued her dream and he should be happy for her; after all, she was a friend. A friend, he thought, his defences on alert. Why would she keep her Portland move so secret? Perching on the bench, he tried to relay the conversation through his head one more time, knowing that it wouldn't be the last time he did so.

He understood; really, he did. Wendy was probably more that correct in that he would have tried to make her stay. Hodges was used to coming last, trailing his metaphorical tail between his legs like an abandoned puppy. So in essence, he knew whatever attempts he made at persuading her that Vegas was the place to be would be useless. He may have given it one shot, one plead, one heartfelt beg for her to remain. In fact, he felt compelled to say something now, to chase her down the corridor and make some elaborate gesture that would prevent her from getting in the car and leaving the lab forever.

Somehow, his body didn't register the fight or flight instinct. He did neither, his fight was gone and his flight, he was sick of fleeing from anything remotely challenging. Her parting hug had sapped him of his emotional energy, funny considering mere weeks ago he was on a thrilling high after her lips locked with his over trace.

"Come on..." Henry was standing in the doorway, wearing the swimwear Hodges too was modelling. Henry knew. Henry had known for weeks and had kept it from him. Did he really blame Henry for Wendy leaving? He thought back to the date he was due to have, the scenarios that Wendy had conspired to prevent it and the ultimate reward. Wendy saw Henry as a friend, and he should respect that.

"Sure." He croaked, realising that the fugitive tears that had escaped his eyes earlier were probably evident.

It was too late now. Wendy was gone.


-----

Darkness felt strangely apt. The murder weapon had been discovered and Henry was riding on a wave of being the one to find it. Chatter and animation filtered through the doors to the lab and Hodges wished he could somehow shut his ears off from the incessant noise. Closing his eyes, he tried to imagine the embrace again. Soon, the emotions cruised through his body, and the ever present nerves in his stomach fluttered wildly.

Behind him, he heard footsteps approaching the lab.

Every response pulsed wildly, as he resisted the temptation to spin round, just in case. Instead, he focused on the element in front of him underneath the scope, and willed himself not to shake so vehemently.

“I'm busy.” Curt, and to the point, he threw his arm out, gesturing to the backlog of evidence ready to be analysed. He realised he was fooling no one and tried to breath shallowly, so he could hear whether the owner of the slightly squeaky shoes moved. A minute passed, and Hodges realised whoever it was, wasn't going to move without a conversation.

“Right...okay...If I get fired for not getting this piece of...whatever it is...ana-”

“David, shut up!”

He turned round, quicker than Wendy anticipated, boring his eyes into hers, trying to explore for an explanation, with a million questions, none of them uttered. “I'm sorry, you were just idly chatting and it was driving me crazy.”

In her hands was a box, and he could see a frame poking out of the top; a picture of Wendy and her mother. Her fingers were trembling, her face crimson, her eyes puffy.

“Are you okay?” He mentally cursed himself for such a trite question, but strangely nothing else felt apt. “I mean, saying goodbye sucks.”

“I've said goodbye to everyone,” Wendy whispered, barely audible. The commotion in the lab opposite didn't help, but in a selfish way Hodges was glad the majority of the team were assembled around the desk discussing the case. “I was about to leave.”

Hodges took tentative steps towards her, arms spread out.

“Let me take the box to your car, Wendy,” He realised his chivalry took her by surprise. “It must be heavy with all your trash.”

A small smile spread across her face as he lifted the box out of her arms. He was close enough to smell her once more, the beautiful scent of apples that she wore so well. So often, Hodges realised, he walked around the city dreaming of that aroma. The one time he passed someone who wore the same perfume, he stopped dead in the street. He wanted to gather her into an embrace one more, but it felt inappropriate. Hodges was perceptive enough to realise that when he went to kiss her in the locker room, she had pulled away. He wasn't going to risk the same rejection again.

“Thank you, I think...”

--------

They walked, muted except for the sound of their own footsteps, to Wendy's vehicle. Hodges, biting his tongue, had a million questions that required a million answers and then some, but held back. He realised it was impossible to tell what Wendy was thinking – the snatched glimpses he got of her forlorn face yielded nothing of note. Finally, they reached the final destination.

“Thank you, David,” Wendy spoke, weakly. “I really appreciate it.”

It could have meant anything, he thought. The box, the walk, the last goodness knows how many years.

“My pleasure,” He signalled her to open the car and when the trunk flew open, he placed the box carefully in the well. “I hope you have a safe journey.”

Minutes passed, an intense stare mounted between the two and Hodges had no expectations of what would happen next. He had a list as long as his arm of things he wanted to happen, but he knew it unlikely.

“David, I-” Wendy started, and paused.

“Wendy, don't make this more difficult – You've made your decision.” Catching his breath, he realised it sounded churlish. “I mean, you've made a brave decision.”

Wendy stood, hands in pockets, an inner defence building. Hodges wanted to take her arms, wrap them around his back and just exert his emotions into her body, an act of diffusion, almost.

“It's a stupid decision,” Brusquely, she replied, shoving her hands deeper. “But you know how much being in the field means to me.”

“And how much do I mean to you, Wendy?” Words caught in his throat and he instantly regretted it. “Don't answer that.”

“I can't answer it, even if I wanted too.”

The harsh lights of the parking lot highlighted the small tears forming in her eyes. “I promised myself I wouldn't get upset,” she said, sorrowfully. “My entire life revolved around this place, around these people, around you...”

Hodges was speechless, and void of answers. He watched as drops fell from her eyes and he saw her fighting. Finally, he opened his arms and Wendy fled, burying her head into his shoulder and sobbing as quietly as she could. He savoured her smell, the feeling of her hair against his cheek, the feeling of her body close to his. He wondered if she could feel his heart dancing the quick step and he wondered whether this would be the last time he would ever hold her.

“I'm sorry...” she said, muffled by his jumper. “I need to go David, I've got to finish packing the flat up.”

She pushed away, using her hands on his chest as leverage and dropped her right arm, briefly touching his hand as she made a move towards the car door. “Keep safe, David.”

“Wendy, I-” Stunned, he was silenced.

“I'll write, David. Technology, remember?”

Stepping in the car, she slowly lowered herself down into the seat and pulled the door shut, a shield forcing his emotions out into the open, exposed. She waved weakly, started the engine and pulled out of the space and into the darkness of Las Vegas.

“I'll miss you.”

Taking a deep breath, he made his way back into LVPD.
 
Second chapter!

-----

Wendy Simms managed to get no more than a couple of miles away from LVPD before the mist descended and she was no longer able to focus on driving. Looking for a vacant parking lot, she pulled her vehicle through the gate and sat with the stereo blasting on an even volume setting, something she had David Hodges to thank for.

The facts were clear, the reality was blurred. She had an opportunity to do something she had desired for a long time, yet her desires were skewered and fighting for the pole position. It was perverse that two of her strongest needs could create such friction, but Wendy was no fool; she realised a lot of things in life were far from easy and she was no stranger to challenging emotions.

Taking stock of the situation, she recognised the fact she was crying and hoped this wasn't a precedence for the future. Crying on the job would be a certain faux pas and all the kind words Catherine Willows had held for Wendy would be obsolete if she couldn't be seen to function adequately.

Fishing her cell from her back pocket, she glared at the time, pushing her mind for a SMS. The picture on the front was of her and Hodges at the convention, pulling stupid faces. It felt like a lifetime ago, and in terms of the escalation of her feelings, it more or less was. Wendy barely used her cell, but at the convention her cell camera was the only thing to hand. She had blue toothed it to Hodges and when she had popped round one evening to bring a DVD over, she realised he had it pinned to his corkboard next to his shopping list. She had pondered over that action many times over the last few months, but hadn't admitted in the dead of night she was usually found fawning over the picture too.

A headlight in the distance distracted her from her pursuit of self destruction and looking up, she realised she could see the illuminated parking lot. It was deserted, bar for herself and a rather beat up Chevy. Straining her red-rimmed eyes, she looked closely – the car was in idle and had been for the past five minutes, and she wondered whether a prospective deal was going to be struck with the owner of the car who had kerb crawled past the lot. She could see a figure in the passenger seat of the car, positioned in a pose not so dissimilar to her own about half a minute ago. Peering further, she felt her heart stop.

Blood splatter adorned the windscreen and Wendy realised the figure was slumped, injured or possibly dead. Flinching as she dialled Brass's cell, she wondered where the mystery car was.

"Wendy?" Brass barked, a tone of concern in his voice.

"Brass, you need to come to the parking lot behind the Nugget, we've got a possible 419"

"Where are you?" He queried, before dispatching police officers into the radio.

"In the lot itself, I was..er...composing myself," Bitterly true, Wendy thought. "I can see splatter on the windscreen"

"Wendy, remain in the car and lock all doors, you hear me?"

Agreeing, Brass confirmed officers were on their way and Wendy sighed with relief, hitting the internal locks and sinking back into her seat. She closed her eyes and wondered whether she would ever get to Portland.

Before she had a chance to evaluate the journey, the shattering of screen woke her from her daydream and her body was peppered with tiny fragments of glass. She had no time to comprehend what was happening until she was looking at a gun, centimetres from her face and a dark figure holding the weapon was screaming incoherently at her. Panic rendered her completely incapable of figuring a way out, but she could hear the sirens in the distance and tried to remain calm. The man was still yelling, nothing which she could decipher and she opened her mouth to try and encourage the man to release the gun.

The last thing she heard was the sound of gunfire echoing throughout her body, before the darkness embraced her in a deathly vice
 
Holy Cow! Ok, you can not stop there!!! Please oh please, add more soon. I really like to know how Hodges is going to handle news that Wendy as being shot. :bolian::bolian::devil:
 
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