Chapter Text
Until the day he died, Hodgins would never meet another person like Zack Addy. Or at least he hoped he wouldn’t. Zack Addy was easily the most infuriating and irritating excuse for a human being Hodgins had ever had the misfortune of coming in contact with. The worst part was that he actually liked the kid. Yeah, that was really the worst part, because no matter what annoying shit he pulled Hodgins could never really bring himself to dislike the know-it-all.
“Dr. Hodgins. Dr. Brennen sent me to see if you had finished identifying the particulates found on the victims clothing.” Said a disembodied Zack voice from behind Hodgins. Hodgins rolled his eyes, looking away from his microscope.
“Well you can tell Dr. Brennen that no I have not, and that sending someone to bother me every fifteen minutes is not going to get it done any faster.” Hodgins said, only mildly irritated. Such behavior was not unusual for Dr. Brennen, and Hodgins held no real disdain for being bothered.
“I don’t believe that I should actually repeat that to her, but I’ll let her know you need more time.” Zack said, looking only slightly uncomfortable dealing with another human instead of the usual robots Hodgins only assumed he interacted with.
When Hodgins had first heard about Brennans new assistant he had been mildly interested in the prospect of a new intelligent mind running around the Jeffersonian. Perhaps it would be someone as beautiful as Angela, or maybe some young and fascinating genius who would make an excellent wingman. So when Zack had walked in a few weeks ago Hodgins had laughed at himself for shooting so high. Zack was smart, Hodgins would give him that, and so far he seemed like a guy Hodgins would be able to get along just fine with. Sure he wasn’t a beautiful lady or a suave guy, but he was charming in his own way. At least when he wasn’t talking like a mini-Brennen. That got real annoying real fast.
Zack had only been working at the Jeffersonian a month when Hodgins received a call in the middle of the night from Dr. Brennan. Something about an important investigation involving a missing child, and before Hodgins had time to argue he was being instructed to inform Zack and Angela that they were needed. Hodgins only spared a moment to wonder why he was the one delegated to calling in the troops, but found that doing it would be easier than questioning it anyways. The phone call the Angela was quick, though Angela grumbled a bit and said that was not the call she was hoping for, which had left Hodgins at a rather uncomfortable loss for words before Angela had told him she would be there soon and that she could hear him gaping like a fish over the phone. The call to Zack was less simple.
“Hey Zacky, glad your up,” Hodgins began and cut off Zack before he could state that he had not actually been up previously to receiving Hodgins call.
“Brennen needs us at the lab so get your ass in gear and meet us, there as soon as you can.” Hodgins continued as he jumped into his car and buckled himself in.
“Alright Dr. Hodgins but-“ Zack tried.
“No buts Z-man, I don’t make the rules just-“ Hodgins barreled on.
“You have to pick me up Hodgins.” Zack said firmly, something like either irritation or embarrassment in his voice, though Hodgins couldn’t tell over the phone.
“I don’t drive and it’s too late for any busses. Not to mention by the time I got there by bus I imagine the urgency of the situation would have been dissipated.” Zack said, his voice trailing of towards the end of his sentence as though her had moved away from his phone.
“Uh, alright, just text me your address and I’ll be there in a few. For the love of god don’t make me wait though.” Hodgins said and hung up the phone when he heard no objection from the other side. His phone beeped minutes later and he punched the address into his gps.
When he arrived Zack was standing on the sidewalk, hair slightly more disheveled than usual and the long sleeved shirt he was wearing under his t-shirt was inside out, but other than that he looked as put together as he ever did. Just as soon as Hodgins pulled over Zack had hopped in the passenger side, crutching a duffle on his lap and pulling on his seatbelt. It was dark enough that Hodgins couldn’t see the building from which he had come very well, but it was easy to see it was no five star establishment.
“Lookin’ good Z-man.” Hodgins said, laughing slightly as Zack shot him a look of confusion.
The car ride was short and filled with comfortable silence. It was around one when the duo arrived at the Jeffersonian, sleepy eyed and reluctantly ready to solve crime. There was an FBI agent at the lab talking to Dr. Brennan in hushed tones. His name was B something, Book? Boot? Something along those lines, all Hodgins knew for certain was that he already didn’t trush the guy as far as he could throw him. Though Hodgins didn’t think his muscles were anything to sneeze at, the prospect of throwing Mr. Tall-Dark-and Forehead was a frightening one indeed.
As they worked into the wee hours of the morning Hodgins often found his eyes wandering around the lab. Zack was beside Dr. Brennan, peering over the bones of a woman who had been trapped in her burning house as her child was kidnapped. At least that was the current hypothesis. The FBI guy was standing off to the side on the phone with someone, pacing about the room slightly. Angela was in her office running possible scenarios on the Angela-tron. Hodgins himself was trying to identify the particulates from under the victims fingernails, hoping they might lead them to whoever had taken the child and lit the victims house on fire.
The situation was no more or less macabre than it normally was, but it felt oddly right. Even though Hodgins had yet to ingest any coffee and Angela was not even wearing makeup, the group of people all worked well together. The latest addition of Zack seemed to fit comfortably in with the rest of them. Hell, even that FBI guy over in the corner seemed to fit in in his own suspicious way. Hodgins eyed Zack as the younger man gestured wildly to Dr. Brennan over something Hodgins couldn’t quite make out. Smilling slightly at the energy of Dr. Brennans assistant, Hodgins looked back to his work.
Ten hours and four cups of coffee later, Hodgins made his way out of the lab, eyes stinging from being held open against their will. Hodgins had pulled longer days and more unusual hours, but her generally had some warning beforehand. In this case he attributed his tiredness mainly to his bodys surprise at being forced to stay awake. Angela had gone home a few hours ago, and the FBI guys had been called away. Brennan was still inside in her office, but Hodgins was 99% sure she was a cyborg anyways. Zack was…
“Dr. Hodgins! Dr. Hodgins,” Zack began as he shuffled up beside him, only slightly winded from running across the parking garage to reach Hodgins.
“Would it be possible to get a ride back to my place from you? Dr. Brennan instructed me to get home as quickly as possible so that she won’t have to feel responsible for my obvious lack of sleep. The busses-“ Zack continued before being cut off by a wave of Hodgins hand.
“Yeah yeah, hop in. I’m tired to and I don’t want to spend the remainder of my free time chatting with you in a parking garage so come on.” Hodgins said with a sigh and a gesture towards his car. Hodgins could already feel the start of a friendship that was bound to be a major pain in his ass.