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ncisficathonI have to start with apologies, to both Spoony and the challenge mods, because the fic is not done.
RL got in the ways a bit, but then this one got away from me. There's about 10,000 words beyond this section in beta... and a few more words beyond that. I'll be done before the pinch-hitting period is over.
Title: Ligers and Tigons and Tony, Oh My
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
justhuman
Written for:spoonyriffic
Prompt: Tony/Gibbs - Supernatural (the genre, not the show) - a series of strange killings in DC leave our favorite NCIS team puzzled, and soon it is revealed that there is something more nefarious behind it all. First Time fic. Rating between R or NC-17, whichever is best for the fic.
Archive: Please ask
Genre: teamfic, adventure, romance
Pairings: Gibbs/DiNozzo, mentions of canon pairings and maybe a surprise
Rating: NC-17 overall, PG this section
Disclaimer: CBS
Word Count: 7667, this part
Summary: While working a case, Tony runs into a problem with potentially deadly consequences. Now it's up to the team to do what they do best and investigate until they find a solution.
Setting: Post-S6 with spoilers through Aliyah
A/N: Many thanks to the betas that stepped up with thoughtful comments and invaluable advice -media_junkie, tejas, jane_davitt, margarks, and Sisyphus_rolling
Part 1 - Harvest Moon
Saturday, September 5, 2009, 8:15pm
"Special Agent Gibbs, a moment of your time please." Director Vance turned down the corridor to his office, not waiting for a reply.
Gibbs didn't acknowledge the request, but followed anyway, shutting the director's door behind him. "I don't have much to report on our current investigation."
"That's not why I asked you in here. It seems that Special Projects has had some contact with an old friend, Ziva David."
Momentarily, Gibbs felt his heart go into his throat, but pushed it right back down. It would be easy to complain about how the events in May had spiraled out of control and shouldn't have happened. The truth was that the groundwork for May had been laid by Ziva's choices almost a year earlier. "What is she up to in Los Angeles?"
"Our team there is not certain, which is why I was contacted. From what they can see, she's running undercover Mossad operatives."
Gibbs shook his head and let his disappointment and sarcasm out in his voice. "They must be mistaken, because our allies would never conduct operations on US soil without telling us."
Vance let a half smile cross his lips. "Of course. What Special Projects is really concerned with is that the operation they're seeing is a front for something more."
"Ziva's much too smart to stick with an ineffective pattern."
"Gibbs, I don't doubt the loyalty of your team, but I'm concerned there might be some blind spots where Ziva is concerned. I need you to talk to them, find out what recent contact they may have had."
"See if they've naively passed on information they shouldn't have?" He could feel himself bristling. "My team is better than that, Leon."
"But you'll ask them anyway," Vance said, as he sat at his desk and opened a folder.
"I'll find out what contact they've had. I'm assuming that I can pass on your concerns about that?"
Vance looked up. "Discreetly." He turned over a page. "Tell me, how is Agent Yates working with the rest of your team."
"She a good fit. She gets along with the team, they get along with her. Cassie's an excellent agent; Pacci trained her right," Gibbs said.
"But?"
"The only one of those I have is that you're giving her to us for six months and then shipping her off to sea."
"It's her choice, Gibbs. She's got the talent to be fast-tracked and unlike some others, she wants to be."
The familiar rebuke was there. That Gibbs somehow didn't have the right to assemble the best team possible to solve cases. That he should cut McGee and DiNozzo free to advance their own careers. "Like you said, everyone makes their own choices. I'd like to get back to my case, Director."
"I'm not standing in your way."
*
"Do you know what a mule is, McGee?" Abby slammed her palm against, her lab bench. The violence of the gesture made Tony blink and take a half step back in the lab doorway - all the better to eavesdrop.
McGee went into his full on patronizing scholar tone. "All I know for sure is that it's some kind of ass-"
"Some kind of ass? I'll tell you about the only kind of ass I know-"
"Why don't you tell me," Gibbs said, coming out of nowhere and stepping past Tony into the lab. Tony couldn't help the rush of adrenaline that came every time the boss snuck up on him. It was a mixture of wonder, envy, and a healthy dose of sexual attraction - not the kind of sexual attraction that happened in a bar; not the kind of lust that rends the heart and led to sonnets and other kinds of emo poetry. No, it was the kind that burned because it would never be returned; the kind that fueled daydreams and one-handed action in the-
"You gonna just stand there, DiNozzo, or you going to fill me in?"
Tony almost blurted what he was thinking and then his brain overtook his mouth. "Abby was asking McGee if he knew what an ass was."
"A mule," Abby corrected.
"A mule has an ass for a father and a horse for a mother. But I can see based on the company you're keeping why the conversation is fixed on asses," Gibbs said.
Tony looked at McGee, and McGee looked at Tony. Tim opened his mouth first, but Gibbs was already talking.
"Abby, what does this have to do with our two dead bodies?"
"I was trying to explain to McGee that our victim wasn't killed by a liger."
"A what?" Gibbs frowned.
McGee jumped in. "See, that's what I was saying, Boss. She's starting to investigate mythical-"
"A liger has a lion for the mommy and a tiger for a daddy," Tony said.
Everyone looked at him.
"Vegas. I was with some buddies and we went to see Siegfried and Roy-" Tony cut himself off when he heard the words come out of his mouth. Clearing his throat, he continued, "We were drunk."
"Abby!" Gibbs said.
"Tony is actually close, but what he described is a tigon - tiger dad, lion mom. A liger is the opposite, lion dad and tiger mom. Both rare animal kingdom crosses, like a mule. And none of them - mules, lions, tigers, ligers, or tigons - is responsible for the bites and scratches on our victims."
Tony wanted to say something. McGee was clearly biting his tongue and ready to explode. Gibbs asked, "Abby, is there a reason to assume that any of those animals might be involved-"
"No! But that's the entire problem." Abby's fingers flew across the keyboard and the computer began flashing through a matching routine at dizzying speeds. All sorts of animals were one by one given some low percentage chance of matching the wounds.
"It's not dogs, cats, wolves, raccoons, black bears, grizzly bears, gators, skunks, ferrets, ground hogs, rabbits or any other kind of animal native to North America. I've also gone through all the pets, exotic, legal, and illegal. If I get a possible match on bite, I'm not even close on claws. Speaking of mythical, I'm about to declare our attacker a sasquatch or a yeti!"
"Abby," Gibbs laid a hand on her shoulder, gently pushed her down into a lab chair and slid a Caff-Pow in front of her. "You're going to figure it out."
"Actually, I tend to agree with Abby," Ducky's voice said from the video screen.
Gibbs frowned. "You think it's mythical?"
"I know it's late Jethro, but no, I think that these wounds were meant to look like they were caused by an animal."
"Not far off considering how ripped apart they were," Cassie said, from Ducky's monitor. Ducky was in a tux, and Cassie was wearing a white, cocktail length dress embellished with simple black flowers. It was elegant, not fancy.
"Special Agent Yates!" Tony said. "That is quite the handsome change from the windbreaker and cap I usually see you in. Not what I'd have chosen for assisting with an autopsy."
Ducky ran a hand over his jacket lapel. "Jordan, Dr. Hampton that is, was called out of town, and Cassandra graciously agreed to accompany me a charity event.
"A little late for dinner, isn't it?" McGee asked.
Abby cocked her head. "The night's just getting started."
"Yes, but this event is a Harvest Moon celebration, and the organizers have planned accordingly to give the best viewing to la luna. Although it isn't quite the harvest moon yet. Usually it does occur in September, but officially it should occur on the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox-"
"It's going to be the equinox, by the time I get my report," Gibbs interrupted.
"Of course. I think the animal in question is one that we are all too familiar with. I'll need more time, but I can come up with a psychological profile of our man," Ducky said.
"DiNozzo, report!"
"Private First Class Christian Chaves, 19, single. Fit reps gave him good but not outstanding marks. It was clean otherwise. He was attached to a logistics squadron out of Quantico. He, along with most of his unit, lived on base and was out on leave two nights ago. He spent his at a local dive near the base, but never made it back to his bunk, because he was brutally murdered in an alley three blocks from the bar. Found by a local woman..." Tony snapped his fingers.
"Mrs. Flores, while she was feeding the neighborhood strays," McGee filled in.
"The cat lady. I saw the way you two bonded, McGee." McGee let out a breath and looked like he was going to say something, but Tony kept talking. "PFC Chaves was out with half the base. We interviewed his unit, but no obvious suspects."
"McGee!"
Tim jumped in where Tony left off. " PFC Charles Edens, twenty-two, single, also from Chaves' unit, also a clean Fit Rep. Last night he was killed in a training area within Quantico. Much like Chaves, his body was torn apart by what looked like a vicious animal."
"And the same animal," Ducky said.
Abby nodded. "I was able to match the wound patterns. I don't know what claws they were, but they were definitely the same claws. Same with the bite marks."
"Since we don't believe in coincidence," Cassie began.
"Did I call on you, short timer?" Gibbs asked.
"I'm told I have initiative," Cassie said. "You've got me for the next three months, Gibbs."
"When they ship you to an island in the middle of nowhere - Agent Afloat, not as glamorous as it sounds," Tony said. Looking back on his own experience, he could honestly say that performing the port threat assessments and interfacing with the local teams was invaluable experience. Being the only cop in a floating city of 5000 was something he never wanted to repeat. He had already told Cassie all that, and was about to tell her again when he caught the look that Gibbs was giving him. "I'm done now, Boss."
"Yates!"
Cassie picked up the story. "When we found Chaves, it had originally looked like a crime of opportunity - a sick crime but not a directed one. Finding Edens on base changed all that, and we began to look for broader connections. We re-interviewed the unit members and a good chunk of their division. Still no leads. Currently their unit is confined to quarters."
Both McGee and Gibbs' phones rang at once. The language on both sides was cursory enough that Tony couldn't follow. After Gibbs hung up, McGee jumped in.
"Boss, it was Mrs. Flores, again. She says she's seeing things moving in the alley. I told her we'd check it out."
"We've got another dead marine at Quantico, same unit, same MO. Ducky, sorry to do this to you-"
"Gearing up, Jethro."
"McGee, check out the Flores residence. Your choice, Yates or Di-"
"Cassie!" McGee said.
"That was quick, Probie," Tony said, as he narrowed his eyes and took a step towards McGee. "I'm getting the sense that you like her more than me."
McGee's face creased into a disbelieving frown. "I do."
"I'll be ready in two," Cassie said.
Tony wanted to shake his head in disappointment. After all this time, McGee still didn't know how to go along with the joke. That reply of his almost sounded like it was serious.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs said from the doorway.
It was like a siren call - a really scary siren. "On your six, Boss!"
*
"Finn! Slow down or you're going to find out how annoying it is to change a flat on this thing." Tony relaxed a little as the crime scene truck slowed down on the bumpy dirt road. On their way out of the building, they had grabbed two probies working the night shift. With their own team split, they were going to need some extra hands to control the crime scene.
Normally Tony would have never let Finn have the keys, but he was in the midst of pounding on the laptop, pulling up maps of base. Tony stabbed the close button again when the zoom got out of control. There was a reason that this was McGee's job. Finn kept glancing at him like he was terrified. Tony smiled, because that meant he was doing his job.
Tony wasn't smiling as much when Finn slammed on the breaks to avoid hitting the sedan that Gibbs was driving. Before Tony could say anything, Finn scrambled out and headed to the back. Abandoning the laptop in favor of a camera, he got out of the truck and laughed as Morris, the other probie, passed. Morris was looking a little green after his drive with Gibbs.
Gibbs was already shouting orders at the MPs who were guarding the scene. Joining Gibbs, they stepped passed the guards and walked up to the body. Tony held up a flashlight to make sure they didn't trample any trace evidence on the way.
"Definitely the same MO, but this one's naked," Tony said and took several shots of the victim's body.
"Yeah, that's a little different." Gibbs shined the flashlight down near the victim's head. "There's part of a blood trail here."
Tony adjusted the zoom and took several shots where Gibbs was pointing his flashlight. The last shot was ruined as a big black shoe entered the frame.
"Morris, what the hell do you think you're doing?" shouted Gibbs. Then he grabbed the evidence markers from the gape-mouthed young man.
"I got it, Boss." Tony grabbed Morris by the sleeve and pulled him back a couple of steps. "Let's get your big feet out of the evidence." Tony shined his flashlight on the blood splatter that Gibbs was marking. When he turned back, Tony could see Palmer and Ducky making their way to the body with Finn in tow.
Leading Morris, Tony snagged Finn and walked them both back to the marines guarding the area. "I know you guys are anxious to get into the action, but the thing that's more important than gathering evidence is not destroying it.
"I'm sorry, Agent DiNozzo. I didn't mean-"
"Morris, don't apologize. It's a sign of weakness." Both of the probies stood a little straighter. God, Tony loved channeling Gibbs.
"Agent Gibbs looked-"
"Agent Gibbs, always looks like that, Morris. You two are going to get your shot at this crime scene, but what I need you to do now is secure it and interview everyone that's standing around gawking. Finn, you get me the ones that found the body. Write down everything that people claim they saw."
"Morris, now that you've seen what blood on grass looks like, go get some tape and posts and start roping off the perimeter the marines set up." Tony grabbed his arm. "You make sure you shine some light on every blade of grass before you put your size tens down." Morris nodded.
"You can't fully process a crime scene like this in the dark. I hope you two brought some coffee, because you'll probably be babysitting it tonight to keep the curiosity seekers out. Tomorrow, we'll all be back, bagging and tagging every leaf and twig."
Without waiting for an acknowledgement he turned around and headed back towards the body. After about twenty paces, he couldn't help himself and turned to see that the probies were scurrying to rope off the scene. Tony jogged back to the body and resumed taking photos.
While he worked, he kept an eye on the probies. Morris didn't take a step without pointing a flashlight. Tony couldn't hear any of Finn's interviews but he was writing down a hell of a lot. They were going to have to sift through a list of what everyone had for chow and what they had been watching on TV.
By the time he had photographed the scene and the victim, Gibbs had come back from marking the blood spatters.
"TOD?" Gibbs asked.
"Not more than two hours and I don't think I have tell you the preliminary cause of death."
Tony snapped another picture of the victim's face.
"Here as well, Anthony, " Ducky said, pointing to a series of slashing wounds on the victim's leg.
Tony frowned. "Ducky is it just me or are those wounds-"
"Smaller. Yes, I noticed as well."
"Duck, you better not be telling me that we've got two of these lunatics," Gibbs said. He had out a pad and was sketching the scene, using a laser to get measurements to landmarks around the body.
"I need to do more detailed measurements." Ducky sighed, shaking his head. "It's probable that the killer is using specialized weapons to give the appearance of an animal attack. They may even be made out of animal claws."
Tony squatted down, taking a closer look. "Why switch weapons?"
Gibbs joined him. "Maybe the other set became damaged?"
"Possibly, but it may also be part of a larger psychological profile. Something else is bothering me." Ducky probed one of the wounds with a gloved finger.
"What?" Gibbs leaned closer, obviously trying to see what Ducky was seeing.
"The force needed to make these wounds and the wounds on the previous victims. It should take more strength than even a large man could muster."
Gibbs' phone rang and he stood, walking off to answer it. Tony watched him move towards the edge of the woods that surrounded the field they were in. He liked moments like this where he could watch Gibbs and not have the same kind of scrutiny returned.
"Tony, if you have all of your pictures, Mr. Palmer and I will begin the process of bringing Private Worland home."
Reluctantly, Tony dragged himself back to the matters at hand. "Yeah, I've got everything here."
Gibbs closed his phone, and Tony walked up to him. "That was McGee. Turns out that Mrs. Flores wasn't seeing ghosts."
"The killer went back to her neighborhood?"
"No," Gibbs said. "Apparently the local teens thought that the power tools in the garage would get them some decent cash. The local LEOs are hauling them in. I told Cassie and McGee to tag along and interview the kids."
Tony nodded. "They could have been casing the place and might have seen something two nights ago. I've got all my pictures; I'll start a perimeter search. Do you want me to take one of the probies?" Looking back towards the truck, they both saw the probies doing exactly what Tony had told them to do.
"Those two are lucky to be alive the way they nearly stomped all over my crime scene. There's too much to sift through in the dark. We're going to end up doing this again in the morning; they can help then. In the meantime, they can spend the night making sure nothing gets tampered with."
Tony smiled because he had got it right. A thank you would have been nice, but he had learned not to expect such things.
With a tap on the Tony's shoulder Gibbs said, "You're riding back with me. I've got to talk to you about Ziva."
At the mention of her name, Tony was knocked right out of his happy space. "Is she ok?"
"Apparently," Gibbs said. "Rumor has it she's running agents in Los Angeles."
"Agents?" Tony said, already knowing he wasn't going to like what he heard.
"Mossad," Gibbs confirmed.
Tony bit his lip and looked up at the moon. Crazy shit happened during the full moon; he knew that from his cop days. "Deja vu, this is how we met her, right?"
"And how we parted from her."
Tony could feel Gibbs eyes boring into him. "Yeah, I was a little involved in that."
"You defended yourself, and she should have never been backing up Rivkin when she was working with us. Ziva made her choice about where she wanted to be. Have you had any contact with her since we left Israel?"
"No," Tony said. He had wanted to talk to her, see if they could work through everything that happened and put their friendship back together. "I left a couple of phone messages and sent an e-mail or two. I never got an answer."
Gibbs nodded and pointed towards the woods. "We'll do the perimeter search together. You go that way, and I'll meet you on the other side of the field."
Tony wanted to hear more about the Ziva situation, but that would have to wait. He turned on his flashlight and started walking.
The crowd was about 30 yards away, back with the probies. Ducky and Palmer were just making their way to the van with the body. Tony turned the other way and headed for the woods. Spotlights, the moon and flashlights just weren't enough in terrain like this, but you never knew what important piece of evidence was deteriorating in the air and dew.
It was an odd reflection of light that caught his attention. As Tony bent down, he found himself looking at what might be a footprint or animal track in the mud. Gibbs would know if it was human, dog, or llama, but shouting for him now would only rile the crowd. He dropped an evidence marker and snapped a picture. He'd see if he could find another before calling Gibbs over.
Moving into the woods, Tony scanned the ground and wondered how much stuff he was missing - flattened grass or broken twigs. He'd just spotted a second print when something hit him like an Abrams tank. Before he could push it off, something tore into his leg, as he pulled out his weapon. There was gunfire and screaming; Tony realized that it was his own.
*** Sunday, September 6, 2009
"Tony?"
Tony blinked against the sunlight streaming into the room, and then blinked again when his eyes wouldn't focus. "Boss?"
"You're okay, now. We got you to the hospital. The doctors gave you something to sleep while they worked on you."
Tony shifted and immediately regretted it. There was a knife in his right leg, or at least it felt that way.
"Hey, stay still."
"Did they consider pain killers? Tell me you got it, whatever it was." Tony winced.
"Ducky's going to have to sort the hardware, but I counted six entry wounds. We got her."
"Her? Boss, I've worked with tough chicks before and had my ass kicked by them. But what happened out there-"
"Tony, I saw," Gibbs said. There was sympathy in his tone. Tony almost never heard it. It must have been bad.
"She was Marine Sergeant Jennifer Nestor."
Tony shook his head, "From the same squad as the victims. Tell me that she was at least Special Forces."
"Ducky doesn't know where she got the strength either, but Abby finally got a match on the claw wounds."
"She had six-inch claws?"
"She had three-inch claws; we found them next to her body. Ducky has no idea how she attached them to her fingers, or installed the false fangs into her mouth, but I'm sure he'll figure it out." Gibbs tossed a set of pictures onto Tony's chest. Naked woman, claws, fangs, it was all a little surreal. Her skin was bruised and scratched like she'd been running through the woods that way. There was blood on her mouth.
"Did she bite me?" he asked.
"Bit and clawed," Gibbs picked up the photos. "They gave you a tetanus shot."
"What about a rabies shot," Tony grumbled.
"Doctors say you'll live. I'm going to take you home, and Abby said she'd come by and bring you dinner.
Tony heard 'home' and his mouth went on automatic. "I'm not gonna run a marathon this week, but I could still come into the office-"
"DiNozzo!"
Tony looked up into Gibbs eyes and immediately glanced to the side. It was obvious who was going to get his way, and the funny thing was that it never seemed to bother Tony.
"You're gonna do what the doctors say, and take a few days off. You did good out there; don't make me headslap you."
Did good? He felt an immediate rush at the rare compliment, but by the time it was done, the events of the evening had run through his head. "I did good? Boss, I got jumped by the bad guy."
"You corralled those probies before I had to do the extra paperwork that comes with killing them. Besides, do you remember the six entry wounds?"
Tony nodded.
"I only fired two shots."
*
"Abs, enough, please." Tony was on his couch, sitting in a sea of pillows.
"I just want you to be comfortable. Besides, Gibbs told me to take care of you."
"Gibbs told you to make sure I followed doctor's orders and kept my ass planted on the sofa."
"Yes. Well, technically yes. Tony, he was concerned-"
The look he gave her must have been really good because she actually paused.
"He does care, Tony."
"If you cared, there would be pizza." He craned his neck, trying to look behind her. The smell had hit him as soon as she had walked through the door. "Tell me there's pepperoni."
Abby perked up and grabbed the box. "I went for something more substantial. It's half buffalo chicken and half chicken marsala."
Tony balked. "On a pizza?"
"Don't be such a purist. You like all those things and what could be better than to have them on one convenient serving package?" She pulled out a slice, dripping with cheese and covered with chunks of chicken.
Tony forgot why he was arguing and took it from her hand. The first bite was too hot, but somehow pure bliss.
"See?"
"Fine. You win. Now sit down and let's start the movie."
"It's a Wonderful Life? she asked.
"Abby, it's September. School's starting again, and I managed to play hooky today. We have that cinematic masterpiece, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.."
"You do know how to pick them, even if you weren't playing hooky today." Abby bit her lip. "On a completely different note, did Gibbs ask you about Ziva?"
Tony let his head flop back on the sofa cushions. "Yeah. I haven't heard from her since she left. You?"
"I e-mailed her early on, but she didn't reply. Then we found out that she had been a prisoner in Africa. I tried again and she replied." Abby shrugged. "We talked about how everyone was doing, but she was kind of distant."
"Hey, Abby," Tony said softly and pulled her down next to him. They had all been trying so hard to move past the events, that they had all almost forgotten what a big part of the team she had been. Bringing all that up, hurt.
"Tony, I had kinda hoped. She's not coming back, is she?"
"No, I really don't think so."
*
Tony woke up with a dull ache in his gut - so much for exotic pizza. Abby was sleeping against his side, so he shifted slowly, trying not to wake her. A sharp pain ran up his leg, and he groaned.
With more urgency, Tony levered himself up slowly and then rattled the coffee table as a spasm of pain wracked his body. Every piece of clothing felt like it was strangling him, and the apartment was a billion degrees. He pulled off his shirt.
"Tony? Are you okay? Let me help you." Abby started to get up.
He tried waving her off, but it probably looked unconvincing as he doubled up over the table. "I'll be okay, I just need to go spend some quality time in the reading room."
"Tony, what's wrong with your hand?''
Tony looked down and saw her fingers next to his. Not unexpectedly, his hands were larger, but when he focused, he realized they were even bigger than expected. The real worrying part was the excess hair and claws.
All at once, Tony couldn't decide what was worse, the pain or the feeling of starvation.
*
"Abby!"
Gibbs came through the front door and immediately drew his weapon as the wreckage came into focus. Abby was sitting with her back against the wall, arms wrapped around a shredded couch cushion and a gun shaking in her hands. Across the way was a huge pile of blond-brown fur twitching on the ground and making pitiful noises.
"Good Lord," Ducky said from behind him. McGee and Cassie were making their own sounds of disbelief.
"Gibbs," Abby squeaked.
Two other guns were on the animal, so he holstered his own and went to her, keeping an eye on the thing across the room. Gibbs put a hand on her shoulder and took the gun from her hands. It wasn't NCIS standard issue, probably DiNozzo's 6 o'clock. There was no powder residue on her hands, so she probably hadn't fired.
"I'm here Abby; it's going to be all right."
"Abby," Tim said from the bedroom door. "Where's Tony?"
Abby just stared at him for a moment.
"It's going to be okay. Where's Tony?" Gibbs asked as he gave her shoulder a squeeze.
She looked at them one by one and finally pointed at the creature. "That's Tony." Pulling away from Gibbs, she stood up, her fingers moving nervously.
"We were watching movies on the couch, and I fell asleep. I heard Tony bumping around. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, so I got up to help him. That's when I noticed that he was changing."
"Changing?" Cassie said. "Abby, you can't be telling us that Tony stood up and turned into, into... that."
"Yes," Abby nodded. "Yes, I can!"
Ducky moved to the creature, brushing past Cassie and McGee. "Abby, did he fall unconscious?"
"I'm betting not." While they had been talking, Gibbs had a chance to get a good look around the apartment -the signs of a struggle were clear. The big screen TV was cracked and was lying on the floor next to the remains of a lamp. Tables were knocked over; DVDs were strewn amongst stray pieces of clothing.
Abby shook her head and sat on the sofa arm. "While I was talking to him, I could see the hair growing out of his skin and the claws were sliding out of his fingers just like something out of a horror movie. I didn't know what to do or what to think, then he screamed and his whole face began to reshape itself."
She picked up something from the debris on the floor. "Then he was down on all fours and obviously not man-shaped anymore. I tried to talk to him but he was growling and, oh my grandmother, all I could see was teeth. He charged me."
"Abby, did he hurt you?" McGee asked.
"I threw whatever I could at him - the remote, the lamp, whatever. When I hit him with the pizza, he actually stopped for a second and looked at it, looked at me. Then he started eating it, but kept inching closer. It looked like he was having the appetizer before the main meal. I was running out of things at hand to throw and then I found this in my pocket." She held out a brown plastic bottle. Gibbs passed it to Ducky.
"Are these the painkillers that Tony brought home from the hospital?" Ducky asked, taking the bottle and trying to make out what was left of the label.
"Yeah, I opened the bottle and threw all of them on top of the pizza." Warily she took one step towards the creature on the floor and then stopped. "You know Tony; he just ate." McGee moved next to Abby and in that silent way they communicated, she slipped into his arms and he began to stroke her back.
"He ate all of them?" Ducky asked.
Abby nodded. "Most of them at least - I wasn't in a position to count. It didn't stop him." Abby pointed to a couch cushion she had been holding. There were claw shaped rents in the fabric. "I was trying to get away, and he finally collapsed."
"Cassie, could you hand me my bag?" Ducky asked
Gibbs stepped closer to Abby, ready to move if the animal did. "Abby, I know you're not lying to us, but this is..." Gibbs had a lot of words in his head, but he figured most of them would have upset Abby.
"He'll need medical attention to start with," Ducky said, leaning forward with a stethoscope.
"Ducky," Gibbs said.
Ducky lifted his head with a questioning look.
"And he may need to be restrained for his own safety and everyone else's," Gibbs said.
"Jethro, he swallowed what should have been a serious overdose," Ducky said.
"Oh my god," Abby murmured and buried her face in Tim's chest.
"Abby, don't you dare," Gibbs barked. "He was dangerous and you protected yourself. Tony would have been pissed at you if you hadn't." He turned his eyes on the twitching body. "Duck, don't tell me you know the full effect those pills are going to have in the state he's in."
"Very well, but I do need to examine him." He pulled out another set of exam gloves and passed them to Gibbs. "I think that we should consider him as highly infectious." Ducky lifted a furred hand. "These claws are just like our young sergeant's."
"I think we should consider that he's a werewolf," Abby said.
Cassie sighed, shaking her head. "I was kind of hoping that we weren't going to go there."
"I know, but look at the evidence." Abby pointed at Tony
"There is no such thing as werewolves," Tim said.
"All of our murders happened on the nights of the full moon. Tonight one of those nights and just..." She waved a hand and slapped it against her thigh. "Look at him!"
"Okay," Tim said, stepping back from her just as easily as he had stepped next to her. "First off, the full moon happens for a passing moment of time and if you want to stretch it, then it happens for one evening, not the adjacent nights."
Gibbs frowned. "Not arguing with the astrophysics, but I've spent a fair amount of time at sea, McGee. Tides are high during the full moon and the days around it."
"See," Abby said.
"If it was that kind of effect, then we should also have had attacks during the new moon - tides are high then, too," McGee said.
"He's not wrong, but it's not like another idea that makes sense is coming to mind," Cassie said.
"I don't know how the moon may or may not be playing into this, but Abby may be on the right track," Ducky said.
"He's a werewolf?" Gibbs said, not able to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
"Jethro, much of world mythology is built on stories attempting to explain extreme natural phenomenon. I don't believe in werewolves anymore than any of the rest of you. I can certainly believe that in some more primitive era, that human beings encountering this would not have arrived at a scientifically sound conclusion," Ducky said. He lifted the clawed hand again.
Gibbs squatted down to take a closer look. "That's a human hand, not a dog's paw. Or at least more human than canine."
"So this could be the source of werewolf legends," Tim said. "It's a good theory, but that body, uhm victim-"
"Tony! It's Tony," Abby jumped in.
"Abby, I'm not pretending that I understand this, but he's at least one and a half Tony's size," Cassie said.
"The fur is contributing to that," Ducky said, pushing aside the hairs to get closer to the skin. "On top of that, his whole body also appears swollen. It's making his face look misshapen, but that-" Ducky leaned back.
Gibbs looked, and despite the fur and swollen flesh, he knew. "It's Tony." He shook his head. How the hell were they supposed to help him? What were they supposed to do against something so bizarrely supernatural?
Over the years, Gibbs had lost track of the number of people he had lost. He could see every last face in his head and remember the ones he had buried just as easily as the ones shot in front of him, or the ones that had bled out in his arms. Here there was no enemy to retaliate against. Whatever it was going to take was something that he had never been asked to give before.
That was Tony down there, someone he owed his life to and someone who deserved people fighting for him. Gibbs was prepared to do that. How to proceed was another issue. Then the answer was obvious.
.
"Print him." Gibbs stood up, ignoring the startled movement of his team. "Print him, draw his blood, check his DNA. We're investigators; this is what we do. We gather the evidence and sort it until it makes sense."
"He should be in a hospital," Ducky said.
Gibbs wasn't the only one that sucked in a breath.
"Ducky," Abby said. "He'd become someone's guinea pig."
"He is quite the medical zebra," Ducky said, nodding his head.
"Zebra? Isn't one animal reference enough in this discussion?" Gibbs asked.
McGee stepped in. "Medical zebra, Boss. Doctors are taught that if you hear hoof beats that it's probably a horse, but every once in a while-"
"It's a zebra," Gibbs finished.
"Timothy is correct, Jethro, and so is Abby. If we take him to a hospital, he will become someone's journal article."
Gibbs nodded, watching Tony's twitching form. "Duck, can we handle this on our own?"
Ducky looked thoughtfully down at his patient. "For the moment we can, but I'm going to have to borrow a few things. My equipment has notable gaps in devices meant to keep people alive. In the meantime, we should start by getting him into a bed, if only to spare my back."
"And we should restrain him," Gibbs said.
"Gibbs," Abby said.
He went over, running his hand over her shoulder and down her arm. "We're going to take care of him, but whatever he's got made him attack you. It's the same idea as an addict so hyped up on drugs that they seem superhuman."
"Gibbs, Palmer, myself, we all handled Sgt. Nestor's body last night. Tony was the only one scratched and bitten. We must take extreme precautions that does not happen again. Handcuffs, which is probably all we have, will end up doing more damage if he begins struggling," Ducky said.
Abby nodded. "I can help with that."
"You have medical restraints?" Tim asked doubtfully.
Abby smiled wickedly at him. "Tim, I have resources, and you should be the last person I should have to explain that to."
McGee went scarlet, Ducky and Cassie chuckled. Gibbs could only stare at Tony and wonder how they were going to fix this.
***Monday, September 7, 2009
Tony woke up and reluctantly opened his eyes. He moved to run a hand through his hair, but it didn't reach. His fingers had also stopped moving.
"Tony, it's okay."
He turned his head and saw Abby standing next to a video camera. Then he looked down. He was naked except for a sheet over his waist and legs, but they were tied too. Perhaps the most disturbing thing, more disturbing than being tied down, naked and videotaped, was the fake fur all over the bed. His hands were in some kind of leather mittens held closed with padlocks - new winner on the scale of weird.
"I don't know if okay is the term I'd pick out. Abby, didn't we have a talk once about, uhm, situations like this-"
"Really."
Tony's eyes moved instantly to the bedroom door where Gibbs leaning in the doorframe. For a brief moment he wondered if the boss had tied him up and immediately recognized the danger in that line of thought and began running basketball stats in his head to compensate.
"I remember, it was right after Tony arrived from Baltimore. He was new and cute, but don't worry, Gibbs, rule #12 was never in jeopardy," Abby said, running her fingers through Tony's hair.
"Never?" Tony looked up at her. Then he remembered the company and cleared his throat. "Uh, never, Boss." Tony smiled and found he couldn't sit up. "Can someone untie me and then tell me what's going on around here?"
"Our patient seems to be in good spirits, I see."
"Ducky, you're here, too?" Tony was getting a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Rabies, it's rabies, isn't it?"
"No, it is not rabies. I think we're ready to dispense with the restraints."
"Not rabies, dispensing with restraints good," Tony said. "And we needed the restraints because..."
"What do you remember about last night?" Gibbs was next to him, unlocking a padlock and freeing his hand from the leather, only to find it was wrapped in a couple of his socks.
"Abby came over and brought me a pizza that was delicious going down, but in the end evil."
Abby paused in the midst of unlocking the other hand. "It was only evil if you consider the calories and fat content."
Tony shook his hand to encourage her to finish the job because he was feeling increasingly agitated. "It was evil because I woke up with one hell of a case of indigestion."
Abby pulled off the leather glove and glanced at Gibbs, who glanced back.
"What happened next?" Gibbs asked.
Tony didn't like any of this and wanted to get up. Ducky had removed one leg restraint and was working on the second.
"DiNozzo!"
"Boss!" He needed to answer because the boss demanded it. He thought about it and came up blank. Not exactly blank, but nothing that made any sense. "I - I'm not sure. I was hurting, but I was hungry. Really hungry, like I was gonna die if I didn't get a steak. Did I finish the pizza?" Tony moved to push the socks off his hands, but Gibbs stopped him.
"Abby, show him," Gibbs said.
She nodded and picked up a remote. The video camera was wired to the bedroom TV. Since Ducky had freed his legs, Tony pushed himself up. On the screen was a picture of a bear or some other big hairy beast tied to a bed.
"Hey, that room looks like..." Tony's face fell as he glanced around the room and at his companions. Finally, he looked at the screen to see fur flying and the bear-thing slowly giving way to something more human shaped. His eyes fell to the mattress and the stray hair that seemed to be everywhere.
Every once in a while, one of his team mates shifted into the frame, trying and failing to get closer do the thrashing animal. Then it stopped. Gibbs was the first in the picture, brushing away hair, and revealing the face.
"I'm gonna be sick." Tony pushed himself out of bed. Gibbs had a hand on him at once, walking him to the bathroom. His hands were still in the socks. He moved one towards his mouth so he could pull it off with his teeth, but Gibbs interceded, taking off three socks, one by one. The last one came off with a pile of fur and five dagger sharp claws.
"Abby and I went out to a club and someone slipped me a some GHB or something. Then Abby brought me home, but decided to teach me a lesson about excess partying or flirting or something, right. Right!?"
"Anthony," Ducky said from the bathroom door. Abby was right next to him and beyond them he could see McGee and Cassie holding a paper coffee cups and boxes of donuts.
"No. That was a fake. That wasn't me, because this isn't..." None of them had to say anything because it was written all over their faces. This was somehow real.
"It's gonna be okay, Tony," Abby said. He doubted that a lot.
Gibbs didn't say anything to him, just put a hand on his neck and gave him a squeeze.
"We're going to figure it out," Cassie said.
McGee was holding out a pair of boxers. "We're with you."
Tony looked at the boxers and then looked down. Naked, right. He didn't feel his face go red until he glanced at Abby, and she winked at him. He grabbed a towel and then the shorts. Then he looked at Abby again, something flashing through his mind. "What happened last night?"
"That's not important right now; we can get to that," Gibbs said.
"It's going to be fine," Abby added, but she didn't look fine.
"Yes, why don't we get you into the shower and have some breakfast," Ducky said.
"You attacked Abby."
Tony locked eyes with McGee and knew he was telling the truth - the only one of them telling the truth. "That is not okay," he whispered.
There was nowhere to run away when Abby threw her arms around him. He was still trying to hold the towel, so she just pinned his arms as she squeezed. "I don't have a scratch, I swear."
"Still not okay," Tony said. "Wait, how did you stop that thing, that, that me?"
"Drugged pizza," she said looking up at him.
This was as far from fine as things could get as far as Tony was concerned. Everything was written clearly on Abby's face. She didn't want him to be upset. Fat chance of that, but it was Abby, and it wasn't like any of them had the strength to fight her long term.
He pulled an arm out and wrapped it around her. "Told you the pizza was evil."
Continued - Part 2
RL got in the ways a bit, but then this one got away from me. There's about 10,000 words beyond this section in beta... and a few more words beyond that. I'll be done before the pinch-hitting period is over.
Title: Ligers and Tigons and Tony, Oh My
Author:
justhumanWritten for:
spoonyrifficPrompt: Tony/Gibbs - Supernatural (the genre, not the show) - a series of strange killings in DC leave our favorite NCIS team puzzled, and soon it is revealed that there is something more nefarious behind it all. First Time fic. Rating between R or NC-17, whichever is best for the fic.
Archive: Please ask
Genre: teamfic, adventure, romance
Pairings: Gibbs/DiNozzo, mentions of canon pairings and maybe a surprise
Rating: NC-17 overall, PG this section
Disclaimer: CBS
Word Count: 7667, this part
Summary: While working a case, Tony runs into a problem with potentially deadly consequences. Now it's up to the team to do what they do best and investigate until they find a solution.
Setting: Post-S6 with spoilers through Aliyah
A/N: Many thanks to the betas that stepped up with thoughtful comments and invaluable advice -
media_junkie, tejas, jane_davitt, margarks, and Sisyphus_rollingPart 1 - Harvest Moon
Saturday, September 5, 2009, 8:15pm
"Special Agent Gibbs, a moment of your time please." Director Vance turned down the corridor to his office, not waiting for a reply.
Gibbs didn't acknowledge the request, but followed anyway, shutting the director's door behind him. "I don't have much to report on our current investigation."
"That's not why I asked you in here. It seems that Special Projects has had some contact with an old friend, Ziva David."
Momentarily, Gibbs felt his heart go into his throat, but pushed it right back down. It would be easy to complain about how the events in May had spiraled out of control and shouldn't have happened. The truth was that the groundwork for May had been laid by Ziva's choices almost a year earlier. "What is she up to in Los Angeles?"
"Our team there is not certain, which is why I was contacted. From what they can see, she's running undercover Mossad operatives."
Gibbs shook his head and let his disappointment and sarcasm out in his voice. "They must be mistaken, because our allies would never conduct operations on US soil without telling us."
Vance let a half smile cross his lips. "Of course. What Special Projects is really concerned with is that the operation they're seeing is a front for something more."
"Ziva's much too smart to stick with an ineffective pattern."
"Gibbs, I don't doubt the loyalty of your team, but I'm concerned there might be some blind spots where Ziva is concerned. I need you to talk to them, find out what recent contact they may have had."
"See if they've naively passed on information they shouldn't have?" He could feel himself bristling. "My team is better than that, Leon."
"But you'll ask them anyway," Vance said, as he sat at his desk and opened a folder.
"I'll find out what contact they've had. I'm assuming that I can pass on your concerns about that?"
Vance looked up. "Discreetly." He turned over a page. "Tell me, how is Agent Yates working with the rest of your team."
"She a good fit. She gets along with the team, they get along with her. Cassie's an excellent agent; Pacci trained her right," Gibbs said.
"But?"
"The only one of those I have is that you're giving her to us for six months and then shipping her off to sea."
"It's her choice, Gibbs. She's got the talent to be fast-tracked and unlike some others, she wants to be."
The familiar rebuke was there. That Gibbs somehow didn't have the right to assemble the best team possible to solve cases. That he should cut McGee and DiNozzo free to advance their own careers. "Like you said, everyone makes their own choices. I'd like to get back to my case, Director."
"I'm not standing in your way."
*
"Do you know what a mule is, McGee?" Abby slammed her palm against, her lab bench. The violence of the gesture made Tony blink and take a half step back in the lab doorway - all the better to eavesdrop.
McGee went into his full on patronizing scholar tone. "All I know for sure is that it's some kind of ass-"
"Some kind of ass? I'll tell you about the only kind of ass I know-"
"Why don't you tell me," Gibbs said, coming out of nowhere and stepping past Tony into the lab. Tony couldn't help the rush of adrenaline that came every time the boss snuck up on him. It was a mixture of wonder, envy, and a healthy dose of sexual attraction - not the kind of sexual attraction that happened in a bar; not the kind of lust that rends the heart and led to sonnets and other kinds of emo poetry. No, it was the kind that burned because it would never be returned; the kind that fueled daydreams and one-handed action in the-
"You gonna just stand there, DiNozzo, or you going to fill me in?"
Tony almost blurted what he was thinking and then his brain overtook his mouth. "Abby was asking McGee if he knew what an ass was."
"A mule," Abby corrected.
"A mule has an ass for a father and a horse for a mother. But I can see based on the company you're keeping why the conversation is fixed on asses," Gibbs said.
Tony looked at McGee, and McGee looked at Tony. Tim opened his mouth first, but Gibbs was already talking.
"Abby, what does this have to do with our two dead bodies?"
"I was trying to explain to McGee that our victim wasn't killed by a liger."
"A what?" Gibbs frowned.
McGee jumped in. "See, that's what I was saying, Boss. She's starting to investigate mythical-"
"A liger has a lion for the mommy and a tiger for a daddy," Tony said.
Everyone looked at him.
"Vegas. I was with some buddies and we went to see Siegfried and Roy-" Tony cut himself off when he heard the words come out of his mouth. Clearing his throat, he continued, "We were drunk."
"Abby!" Gibbs said.
"Tony is actually close, but what he described is a tigon - tiger dad, lion mom. A liger is the opposite, lion dad and tiger mom. Both rare animal kingdom crosses, like a mule. And none of them - mules, lions, tigers, ligers, or tigons - is responsible for the bites and scratches on our victims."
Tony wanted to say something. McGee was clearly biting his tongue and ready to explode. Gibbs asked, "Abby, is there a reason to assume that any of those animals might be involved-"
"No! But that's the entire problem." Abby's fingers flew across the keyboard and the computer began flashing through a matching routine at dizzying speeds. All sorts of animals were one by one given some low percentage chance of matching the wounds.
"It's not dogs, cats, wolves, raccoons, black bears, grizzly bears, gators, skunks, ferrets, ground hogs, rabbits or any other kind of animal native to North America. I've also gone through all the pets, exotic, legal, and illegal. If I get a possible match on bite, I'm not even close on claws. Speaking of mythical, I'm about to declare our attacker a sasquatch or a yeti!"
"Abby," Gibbs laid a hand on her shoulder, gently pushed her down into a lab chair and slid a Caff-Pow in front of her. "You're going to figure it out."
"Actually, I tend to agree with Abby," Ducky's voice said from the video screen.
Gibbs frowned. "You think it's mythical?"
"I know it's late Jethro, but no, I think that these wounds were meant to look like they were caused by an animal."
"Not far off considering how ripped apart they were," Cassie said, from Ducky's monitor. Ducky was in a tux, and Cassie was wearing a white, cocktail length dress embellished with simple black flowers. It was elegant, not fancy.
"Special Agent Yates!" Tony said. "That is quite the handsome change from the windbreaker and cap I usually see you in. Not what I'd have chosen for assisting with an autopsy."
Ducky ran a hand over his jacket lapel. "Jordan, Dr. Hampton that is, was called out of town, and Cassandra graciously agreed to accompany me a charity event.
"A little late for dinner, isn't it?" McGee asked.
Abby cocked her head. "The night's just getting started."
"Yes, but this event is a Harvest Moon celebration, and the organizers have planned accordingly to give the best viewing to la luna. Although it isn't quite the harvest moon yet. Usually it does occur in September, but officially it should occur on the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox-"
"It's going to be the equinox, by the time I get my report," Gibbs interrupted.
"Of course. I think the animal in question is one that we are all too familiar with. I'll need more time, but I can come up with a psychological profile of our man," Ducky said.
"DiNozzo, report!"
"Private First Class Christian Chaves, 19, single. Fit reps gave him good but not outstanding marks. It was clean otherwise. He was attached to a logistics squadron out of Quantico. He, along with most of his unit, lived on base and was out on leave two nights ago. He spent his at a local dive near the base, but never made it back to his bunk, because he was brutally murdered in an alley three blocks from the bar. Found by a local woman..." Tony snapped his fingers.
"Mrs. Flores, while she was feeding the neighborhood strays," McGee filled in.
"The cat lady. I saw the way you two bonded, McGee." McGee let out a breath and looked like he was going to say something, but Tony kept talking. "PFC Chaves was out with half the base. We interviewed his unit, but no obvious suspects."
"McGee!"
Tim jumped in where Tony left off. " PFC Charles Edens, twenty-two, single, also from Chaves' unit, also a clean Fit Rep. Last night he was killed in a training area within Quantico. Much like Chaves, his body was torn apart by what looked like a vicious animal."
"And the same animal," Ducky said.
Abby nodded. "I was able to match the wound patterns. I don't know what claws they were, but they were definitely the same claws. Same with the bite marks."
"Since we don't believe in coincidence," Cassie began.
"Did I call on you, short timer?" Gibbs asked.
"I'm told I have initiative," Cassie said. "You've got me for the next three months, Gibbs."
"When they ship you to an island in the middle of nowhere - Agent Afloat, not as glamorous as it sounds," Tony said. Looking back on his own experience, he could honestly say that performing the port threat assessments and interfacing with the local teams was invaluable experience. Being the only cop in a floating city of 5000 was something he never wanted to repeat. He had already told Cassie all that, and was about to tell her again when he caught the look that Gibbs was giving him. "I'm done now, Boss."
"Yates!"
Cassie picked up the story. "When we found Chaves, it had originally looked like a crime of opportunity - a sick crime but not a directed one. Finding Edens on base changed all that, and we began to look for broader connections. We re-interviewed the unit members and a good chunk of their division. Still no leads. Currently their unit is confined to quarters."
Both McGee and Gibbs' phones rang at once. The language on both sides was cursory enough that Tony couldn't follow. After Gibbs hung up, McGee jumped in.
"Boss, it was Mrs. Flores, again. She says she's seeing things moving in the alley. I told her we'd check it out."
"We've got another dead marine at Quantico, same unit, same MO. Ducky, sorry to do this to you-"
"Gearing up, Jethro."
"McGee, check out the Flores residence. Your choice, Yates or Di-"
"Cassie!" McGee said.
"That was quick, Probie," Tony said, as he narrowed his eyes and took a step towards McGee. "I'm getting the sense that you like her more than me."
McGee's face creased into a disbelieving frown. "I do."
"I'll be ready in two," Cassie said.
Tony wanted to shake his head in disappointment. After all this time, McGee still didn't know how to go along with the joke. That reply of his almost sounded like it was serious.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs said from the doorway.
It was like a siren call - a really scary siren. "On your six, Boss!"
*
"Finn! Slow down or you're going to find out how annoying it is to change a flat on this thing." Tony relaxed a little as the crime scene truck slowed down on the bumpy dirt road. On their way out of the building, they had grabbed two probies working the night shift. With their own team split, they were going to need some extra hands to control the crime scene.
Normally Tony would have never let Finn have the keys, but he was in the midst of pounding on the laptop, pulling up maps of base. Tony stabbed the close button again when the zoom got out of control. There was a reason that this was McGee's job. Finn kept glancing at him like he was terrified. Tony smiled, because that meant he was doing his job.
Tony wasn't smiling as much when Finn slammed on the breaks to avoid hitting the sedan that Gibbs was driving. Before Tony could say anything, Finn scrambled out and headed to the back. Abandoning the laptop in favor of a camera, he got out of the truck and laughed as Morris, the other probie, passed. Morris was looking a little green after his drive with Gibbs.
Gibbs was already shouting orders at the MPs who were guarding the scene. Joining Gibbs, they stepped passed the guards and walked up to the body. Tony held up a flashlight to make sure they didn't trample any trace evidence on the way.
"Definitely the same MO, but this one's naked," Tony said and took several shots of the victim's body.
"Yeah, that's a little different." Gibbs shined the flashlight down near the victim's head. "There's part of a blood trail here."
Tony adjusted the zoom and took several shots where Gibbs was pointing his flashlight. The last shot was ruined as a big black shoe entered the frame.
"Morris, what the hell do you think you're doing?" shouted Gibbs. Then he grabbed the evidence markers from the gape-mouthed young man.
"I got it, Boss." Tony grabbed Morris by the sleeve and pulled him back a couple of steps. "Let's get your big feet out of the evidence." Tony shined his flashlight on the blood splatter that Gibbs was marking. When he turned back, Tony could see Palmer and Ducky making their way to the body with Finn in tow.
Leading Morris, Tony snagged Finn and walked them both back to the marines guarding the area. "I know you guys are anxious to get into the action, but the thing that's more important than gathering evidence is not destroying it.
"I'm sorry, Agent DiNozzo. I didn't mean-"
"Morris, don't apologize. It's a sign of weakness." Both of the probies stood a little straighter. God, Tony loved channeling Gibbs.
"Agent Gibbs looked-"
"Agent Gibbs, always looks like that, Morris. You two are going to get your shot at this crime scene, but what I need you to do now is secure it and interview everyone that's standing around gawking. Finn, you get me the ones that found the body. Write down everything that people claim they saw."
"Morris, now that you've seen what blood on grass looks like, go get some tape and posts and start roping off the perimeter the marines set up." Tony grabbed his arm. "You make sure you shine some light on every blade of grass before you put your size tens down." Morris nodded.
"You can't fully process a crime scene like this in the dark. I hope you two brought some coffee, because you'll probably be babysitting it tonight to keep the curiosity seekers out. Tomorrow, we'll all be back, bagging and tagging every leaf and twig."
Without waiting for an acknowledgement he turned around and headed back towards the body. After about twenty paces, he couldn't help himself and turned to see that the probies were scurrying to rope off the scene. Tony jogged back to the body and resumed taking photos.
While he worked, he kept an eye on the probies. Morris didn't take a step without pointing a flashlight. Tony couldn't hear any of Finn's interviews but he was writing down a hell of a lot. They were going to have to sift through a list of what everyone had for chow and what they had been watching on TV.
By the time he had photographed the scene and the victim, Gibbs had come back from marking the blood spatters.
"TOD?" Gibbs asked.
"Not more than two hours and I don't think I have tell you the preliminary cause of death."
Tony snapped another picture of the victim's face.
"Here as well, Anthony, " Ducky said, pointing to a series of slashing wounds on the victim's leg.
Tony frowned. "Ducky is it just me or are those wounds-"
"Smaller. Yes, I noticed as well."
"Duck, you better not be telling me that we've got two of these lunatics," Gibbs said. He had out a pad and was sketching the scene, using a laser to get measurements to landmarks around the body.
"I need to do more detailed measurements." Ducky sighed, shaking his head. "It's probable that the killer is using specialized weapons to give the appearance of an animal attack. They may even be made out of animal claws."
Tony squatted down, taking a closer look. "Why switch weapons?"
Gibbs joined him. "Maybe the other set became damaged?"
"Possibly, but it may also be part of a larger psychological profile. Something else is bothering me." Ducky probed one of the wounds with a gloved finger.
"What?" Gibbs leaned closer, obviously trying to see what Ducky was seeing.
"The force needed to make these wounds and the wounds on the previous victims. It should take more strength than even a large man could muster."
Gibbs' phone rang and he stood, walking off to answer it. Tony watched him move towards the edge of the woods that surrounded the field they were in. He liked moments like this where he could watch Gibbs and not have the same kind of scrutiny returned.
"Tony, if you have all of your pictures, Mr. Palmer and I will begin the process of bringing Private Worland home."
Reluctantly, Tony dragged himself back to the matters at hand. "Yeah, I've got everything here."
Gibbs closed his phone, and Tony walked up to him. "That was McGee. Turns out that Mrs. Flores wasn't seeing ghosts."
"The killer went back to her neighborhood?"
"No," Gibbs said. "Apparently the local teens thought that the power tools in the garage would get them some decent cash. The local LEOs are hauling them in. I told Cassie and McGee to tag along and interview the kids."
Tony nodded. "They could have been casing the place and might have seen something two nights ago. I've got all my pictures; I'll start a perimeter search. Do you want me to take one of the probies?" Looking back towards the truck, they both saw the probies doing exactly what Tony had told them to do.
"Those two are lucky to be alive the way they nearly stomped all over my crime scene. There's too much to sift through in the dark. We're going to end up doing this again in the morning; they can help then. In the meantime, they can spend the night making sure nothing gets tampered with."
Tony smiled because he had got it right. A thank you would have been nice, but he had learned not to expect such things.
With a tap on the Tony's shoulder Gibbs said, "You're riding back with me. I've got to talk to you about Ziva."
At the mention of her name, Tony was knocked right out of his happy space. "Is she ok?"
"Apparently," Gibbs said. "Rumor has it she's running agents in Los Angeles."
"Agents?" Tony said, already knowing he wasn't going to like what he heard.
"Mossad," Gibbs confirmed.
Tony bit his lip and looked up at the moon. Crazy shit happened during the full moon; he knew that from his cop days. "Deja vu, this is how we met her, right?"
"And how we parted from her."
Tony could feel Gibbs eyes boring into him. "Yeah, I was a little involved in that."
"You defended yourself, and she should have never been backing up Rivkin when she was working with us. Ziva made her choice about where she wanted to be. Have you had any contact with her since we left Israel?"
"No," Tony said. He had wanted to talk to her, see if they could work through everything that happened and put their friendship back together. "I left a couple of phone messages and sent an e-mail or two. I never got an answer."
Gibbs nodded and pointed towards the woods. "We'll do the perimeter search together. You go that way, and I'll meet you on the other side of the field."
Tony wanted to hear more about the Ziva situation, but that would have to wait. He turned on his flashlight and started walking.
The crowd was about 30 yards away, back with the probies. Ducky and Palmer were just making their way to the van with the body. Tony turned the other way and headed for the woods. Spotlights, the moon and flashlights just weren't enough in terrain like this, but you never knew what important piece of evidence was deteriorating in the air and dew.
It was an odd reflection of light that caught his attention. As Tony bent down, he found himself looking at what might be a footprint or animal track in the mud. Gibbs would know if it was human, dog, or llama, but shouting for him now would only rile the crowd. He dropped an evidence marker and snapped a picture. He'd see if he could find another before calling Gibbs over.
Moving into the woods, Tony scanned the ground and wondered how much stuff he was missing - flattened grass or broken twigs. He'd just spotted a second print when something hit him like an Abrams tank. Before he could push it off, something tore into his leg, as he pulled out his weapon. There was gunfire and screaming; Tony realized that it was his own.
*** Sunday, September 6, 2009
"Tony?"
Tony blinked against the sunlight streaming into the room, and then blinked again when his eyes wouldn't focus. "Boss?"
"You're okay, now. We got you to the hospital. The doctors gave you something to sleep while they worked on you."
Tony shifted and immediately regretted it. There was a knife in his right leg, or at least it felt that way.
"Hey, stay still."
"Did they consider pain killers? Tell me you got it, whatever it was." Tony winced.
"Ducky's going to have to sort the hardware, but I counted six entry wounds. We got her."
"Her? Boss, I've worked with tough chicks before and had my ass kicked by them. But what happened out there-"
"Tony, I saw," Gibbs said. There was sympathy in his tone. Tony almost never heard it. It must have been bad.
"She was Marine Sergeant Jennifer Nestor."
Tony shook his head, "From the same squad as the victims. Tell me that she was at least Special Forces."
"Ducky doesn't know where she got the strength either, but Abby finally got a match on the claw wounds."
"She had six-inch claws?"
"She had three-inch claws; we found them next to her body. Ducky has no idea how she attached them to her fingers, or installed the false fangs into her mouth, but I'm sure he'll figure it out." Gibbs tossed a set of pictures onto Tony's chest. Naked woman, claws, fangs, it was all a little surreal. Her skin was bruised and scratched like she'd been running through the woods that way. There was blood on her mouth.
"Did she bite me?" he asked.
"Bit and clawed," Gibbs picked up the photos. "They gave you a tetanus shot."
"What about a rabies shot," Tony grumbled.
"Doctors say you'll live. I'm going to take you home, and Abby said she'd come by and bring you dinner.
Tony heard 'home' and his mouth went on automatic. "I'm not gonna run a marathon this week, but I could still come into the office-"
"DiNozzo!"
Tony looked up into Gibbs eyes and immediately glanced to the side. It was obvious who was going to get his way, and the funny thing was that it never seemed to bother Tony.
"You're gonna do what the doctors say, and take a few days off. You did good out there; don't make me headslap you."
Did good? He felt an immediate rush at the rare compliment, but by the time it was done, the events of the evening had run through his head. "I did good? Boss, I got jumped by the bad guy."
"You corralled those probies before I had to do the extra paperwork that comes with killing them. Besides, do you remember the six entry wounds?"
Tony nodded.
"I only fired two shots."
*
"Abs, enough, please." Tony was on his couch, sitting in a sea of pillows.
"I just want you to be comfortable. Besides, Gibbs told me to take care of you."
"Gibbs told you to make sure I followed doctor's orders and kept my ass planted on the sofa."
"Yes. Well, technically yes. Tony, he was concerned-"
The look he gave her must have been really good because she actually paused.
"He does care, Tony."
"If you cared, there would be pizza." He craned his neck, trying to look behind her. The smell had hit him as soon as she had walked through the door. "Tell me there's pepperoni."
Abby perked up and grabbed the box. "I went for something more substantial. It's half buffalo chicken and half chicken marsala."
Tony balked. "On a pizza?"
"Don't be such a purist. You like all those things and what could be better than to have them on one convenient serving package?" She pulled out a slice, dripping with cheese and covered with chunks of chicken.
Tony forgot why he was arguing and took it from her hand. The first bite was too hot, but somehow pure bliss.
"See?"
"Fine. You win. Now sit down and let's start the movie."
"It's a Wonderful Life? she asked.
"Abby, it's September. School's starting again, and I managed to play hooky today. We have that cinematic masterpiece, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.."
"You do know how to pick them, even if you weren't playing hooky today." Abby bit her lip. "On a completely different note, did Gibbs ask you about Ziva?"
Tony let his head flop back on the sofa cushions. "Yeah. I haven't heard from her since she left. You?"
"I e-mailed her early on, but she didn't reply. Then we found out that she had been a prisoner in Africa. I tried again and she replied." Abby shrugged. "We talked about how everyone was doing, but she was kind of distant."
"Hey, Abby," Tony said softly and pulled her down next to him. They had all been trying so hard to move past the events, that they had all almost forgotten what a big part of the team she had been. Bringing all that up, hurt.
"Tony, I had kinda hoped. She's not coming back, is she?"
"No, I really don't think so."
*
Tony woke up with a dull ache in his gut - so much for exotic pizza. Abby was sleeping against his side, so he shifted slowly, trying not to wake her. A sharp pain ran up his leg, and he groaned.
With more urgency, Tony levered himself up slowly and then rattled the coffee table as a spasm of pain wracked his body. Every piece of clothing felt like it was strangling him, and the apartment was a billion degrees. He pulled off his shirt.
"Tony? Are you okay? Let me help you." Abby started to get up.
He tried waving her off, but it probably looked unconvincing as he doubled up over the table. "I'll be okay, I just need to go spend some quality time in the reading room."
"Tony, what's wrong with your hand?''
Tony looked down and saw her fingers next to his. Not unexpectedly, his hands were larger, but when he focused, he realized they were even bigger than expected. The real worrying part was the excess hair and claws.
All at once, Tony couldn't decide what was worse, the pain or the feeling of starvation.
*
"Abby!"
Gibbs came through the front door and immediately drew his weapon as the wreckage came into focus. Abby was sitting with her back against the wall, arms wrapped around a shredded couch cushion and a gun shaking in her hands. Across the way was a huge pile of blond-brown fur twitching on the ground and making pitiful noises.
"Good Lord," Ducky said from behind him. McGee and Cassie were making their own sounds of disbelief.
"Gibbs," Abby squeaked.
Two other guns were on the animal, so he holstered his own and went to her, keeping an eye on the thing across the room. Gibbs put a hand on her shoulder and took the gun from her hands. It wasn't NCIS standard issue, probably DiNozzo's 6 o'clock. There was no powder residue on her hands, so she probably hadn't fired.
"I'm here Abby; it's going to be all right."
"Abby," Tim said from the bedroom door. "Where's Tony?"
Abby just stared at him for a moment.
"It's going to be okay. Where's Tony?" Gibbs asked as he gave her shoulder a squeeze.
She looked at them one by one and finally pointed at the creature. "That's Tony." Pulling away from Gibbs, she stood up, her fingers moving nervously.
"We were watching movies on the couch, and I fell asleep. I heard Tony bumping around. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, so I got up to help him. That's when I noticed that he was changing."
"Changing?" Cassie said. "Abby, you can't be telling us that Tony stood up and turned into, into... that."
"Yes," Abby nodded. "Yes, I can!"
Ducky moved to the creature, brushing past Cassie and McGee. "Abby, did he fall unconscious?"
"I'm betting not." While they had been talking, Gibbs had a chance to get a good look around the apartment -the signs of a struggle were clear. The big screen TV was cracked and was lying on the floor next to the remains of a lamp. Tables were knocked over; DVDs were strewn amongst stray pieces of clothing.
Abby shook her head and sat on the sofa arm. "While I was talking to him, I could see the hair growing out of his skin and the claws were sliding out of his fingers just like something out of a horror movie. I didn't know what to do or what to think, then he screamed and his whole face began to reshape itself."
She picked up something from the debris on the floor. "Then he was down on all fours and obviously not man-shaped anymore. I tried to talk to him but he was growling and, oh my grandmother, all I could see was teeth. He charged me."
"Abby, did he hurt you?" McGee asked.
"I threw whatever I could at him - the remote, the lamp, whatever. When I hit him with the pizza, he actually stopped for a second and looked at it, looked at me. Then he started eating it, but kept inching closer. It looked like he was having the appetizer before the main meal. I was running out of things at hand to throw and then I found this in my pocket." She held out a brown plastic bottle. Gibbs passed it to Ducky.
"Are these the painkillers that Tony brought home from the hospital?" Ducky asked, taking the bottle and trying to make out what was left of the label.
"Yeah, I opened the bottle and threw all of them on top of the pizza." Warily she took one step towards the creature on the floor and then stopped. "You know Tony; he just ate." McGee moved next to Abby and in that silent way they communicated, she slipped into his arms and he began to stroke her back.
"He ate all of them?" Ducky asked.
Abby nodded. "Most of them at least - I wasn't in a position to count. It didn't stop him." Abby pointed to a couch cushion she had been holding. There were claw shaped rents in the fabric. "I was trying to get away, and he finally collapsed."
"Cassie, could you hand me my bag?" Ducky asked
Gibbs stepped closer to Abby, ready to move if the animal did. "Abby, I know you're not lying to us, but this is..." Gibbs had a lot of words in his head, but he figured most of them would have upset Abby.
"He'll need medical attention to start with," Ducky said, leaning forward with a stethoscope.
"Ducky," Gibbs said.
Ducky lifted his head with a questioning look.
"And he may need to be restrained for his own safety and everyone else's," Gibbs said.
"Jethro, he swallowed what should have been a serious overdose," Ducky said.
"Oh my god," Abby murmured and buried her face in Tim's chest.
"Abby, don't you dare," Gibbs barked. "He was dangerous and you protected yourself. Tony would have been pissed at you if you hadn't." He turned his eyes on the twitching body. "Duck, don't tell me you know the full effect those pills are going to have in the state he's in."
"Very well, but I do need to examine him." He pulled out another set of exam gloves and passed them to Gibbs. "I think that we should consider him as highly infectious." Ducky lifted a furred hand. "These claws are just like our young sergeant's."
"I think we should consider that he's a werewolf," Abby said.
Cassie sighed, shaking her head. "I was kind of hoping that we weren't going to go there."
"I know, but look at the evidence." Abby pointed at Tony
"There is no such thing as werewolves," Tim said.
"All of our murders happened on the nights of the full moon. Tonight one of those nights and just..." She waved a hand and slapped it against her thigh. "Look at him!"
"Okay," Tim said, stepping back from her just as easily as he had stepped next to her. "First off, the full moon happens for a passing moment of time and if you want to stretch it, then it happens for one evening, not the adjacent nights."
Gibbs frowned. "Not arguing with the astrophysics, but I've spent a fair amount of time at sea, McGee. Tides are high during the full moon and the days around it."
"See," Abby said.
"If it was that kind of effect, then we should also have had attacks during the new moon - tides are high then, too," McGee said.
"He's not wrong, but it's not like another idea that makes sense is coming to mind," Cassie said.
"I don't know how the moon may or may not be playing into this, but Abby may be on the right track," Ducky said.
"He's a werewolf?" Gibbs said, not able to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
"Jethro, much of world mythology is built on stories attempting to explain extreme natural phenomenon. I don't believe in werewolves anymore than any of the rest of you. I can certainly believe that in some more primitive era, that human beings encountering this would not have arrived at a scientifically sound conclusion," Ducky said. He lifted the clawed hand again.
Gibbs squatted down to take a closer look. "That's a human hand, not a dog's paw. Or at least more human than canine."
"So this could be the source of werewolf legends," Tim said. "It's a good theory, but that body, uhm victim-"
"Tony! It's Tony," Abby jumped in.
"Abby, I'm not pretending that I understand this, but he's at least one and a half Tony's size," Cassie said.
"The fur is contributing to that," Ducky said, pushing aside the hairs to get closer to the skin. "On top of that, his whole body also appears swollen. It's making his face look misshapen, but that-" Ducky leaned back.
Gibbs looked, and despite the fur and swollen flesh, he knew. "It's Tony." He shook his head. How the hell were they supposed to help him? What were they supposed to do against something so bizarrely supernatural?
Over the years, Gibbs had lost track of the number of people he had lost. He could see every last face in his head and remember the ones he had buried just as easily as the ones shot in front of him, or the ones that had bled out in his arms. Here there was no enemy to retaliate against. Whatever it was going to take was something that he had never been asked to give before.
That was Tony down there, someone he owed his life to and someone who deserved people fighting for him. Gibbs was prepared to do that. How to proceed was another issue. Then the answer was obvious.
.
"Print him." Gibbs stood up, ignoring the startled movement of his team. "Print him, draw his blood, check his DNA. We're investigators; this is what we do. We gather the evidence and sort it until it makes sense."
"He should be in a hospital," Ducky said.
Gibbs wasn't the only one that sucked in a breath.
"Ducky," Abby said. "He'd become someone's guinea pig."
"He is quite the medical zebra," Ducky said, nodding his head.
"Zebra? Isn't one animal reference enough in this discussion?" Gibbs asked.
McGee stepped in. "Medical zebra, Boss. Doctors are taught that if you hear hoof beats that it's probably a horse, but every once in a while-"
"It's a zebra," Gibbs finished.
"Timothy is correct, Jethro, and so is Abby. If we take him to a hospital, he will become someone's journal article."
Gibbs nodded, watching Tony's twitching form. "Duck, can we handle this on our own?"
Ducky looked thoughtfully down at his patient. "For the moment we can, but I'm going to have to borrow a few things. My equipment has notable gaps in devices meant to keep people alive. In the meantime, we should start by getting him into a bed, if only to spare my back."
"And we should restrain him," Gibbs said.
"Gibbs," Abby said.
He went over, running his hand over her shoulder and down her arm. "We're going to take care of him, but whatever he's got made him attack you. It's the same idea as an addict so hyped up on drugs that they seem superhuman."
"Gibbs, Palmer, myself, we all handled Sgt. Nestor's body last night. Tony was the only one scratched and bitten. We must take extreme precautions that does not happen again. Handcuffs, which is probably all we have, will end up doing more damage if he begins struggling," Ducky said.
Abby nodded. "I can help with that."
"You have medical restraints?" Tim asked doubtfully.
Abby smiled wickedly at him. "Tim, I have resources, and you should be the last person I should have to explain that to."
McGee went scarlet, Ducky and Cassie chuckled. Gibbs could only stare at Tony and wonder how they were going to fix this.
***Monday, September 7, 2009
Tony woke up and reluctantly opened his eyes. He moved to run a hand through his hair, but it didn't reach. His fingers had also stopped moving.
"Tony, it's okay."
He turned his head and saw Abby standing next to a video camera. Then he looked down. He was naked except for a sheet over his waist and legs, but they were tied too. Perhaps the most disturbing thing, more disturbing than being tied down, naked and videotaped, was the fake fur all over the bed. His hands were in some kind of leather mittens held closed with padlocks - new winner on the scale of weird.
"I don't know if okay is the term I'd pick out. Abby, didn't we have a talk once about, uhm, situations like this-"
"Really."
Tony's eyes moved instantly to the bedroom door where Gibbs leaning in the doorframe. For a brief moment he wondered if the boss had tied him up and immediately recognized the danger in that line of thought and began running basketball stats in his head to compensate.
"I remember, it was right after Tony arrived from Baltimore. He was new and cute, but don't worry, Gibbs, rule #12 was never in jeopardy," Abby said, running her fingers through Tony's hair.
"Never?" Tony looked up at her. Then he remembered the company and cleared his throat. "Uh, never, Boss." Tony smiled and found he couldn't sit up. "Can someone untie me and then tell me what's going on around here?"
"Our patient seems to be in good spirits, I see."
"Ducky, you're here, too?" Tony was getting a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Rabies, it's rabies, isn't it?"
"No, it is not rabies. I think we're ready to dispense with the restraints."
"Not rabies, dispensing with restraints good," Tony said. "And we needed the restraints because..."
"What do you remember about last night?" Gibbs was next to him, unlocking a padlock and freeing his hand from the leather, only to find it was wrapped in a couple of his socks.
"Abby came over and brought me a pizza that was delicious going down, but in the end evil."
Abby paused in the midst of unlocking the other hand. "It was only evil if you consider the calories and fat content."
Tony shook his hand to encourage her to finish the job because he was feeling increasingly agitated. "It was evil because I woke up with one hell of a case of indigestion."
Abby pulled off the leather glove and glanced at Gibbs, who glanced back.
"What happened next?" Gibbs asked.
Tony didn't like any of this and wanted to get up. Ducky had removed one leg restraint and was working on the second.
"DiNozzo!"
"Boss!" He needed to answer because the boss demanded it. He thought about it and came up blank. Not exactly blank, but nothing that made any sense. "I - I'm not sure. I was hurting, but I was hungry. Really hungry, like I was gonna die if I didn't get a steak. Did I finish the pizza?" Tony moved to push the socks off his hands, but Gibbs stopped him.
"Abby, show him," Gibbs said.
She nodded and picked up a remote. The video camera was wired to the bedroom TV. Since Ducky had freed his legs, Tony pushed himself up. On the screen was a picture of a bear or some other big hairy beast tied to a bed.
"Hey, that room looks like..." Tony's face fell as he glanced around the room and at his companions. Finally, he looked at the screen to see fur flying and the bear-thing slowly giving way to something more human shaped. His eyes fell to the mattress and the stray hair that seemed to be everywhere.
Every once in a while, one of his team mates shifted into the frame, trying and failing to get closer do the thrashing animal. Then it stopped. Gibbs was the first in the picture, brushing away hair, and revealing the face.
"I'm gonna be sick." Tony pushed himself out of bed. Gibbs had a hand on him at once, walking him to the bathroom. His hands were still in the socks. He moved one towards his mouth so he could pull it off with his teeth, but Gibbs interceded, taking off three socks, one by one. The last one came off with a pile of fur and five dagger sharp claws.
"Abby and I went out to a club and someone slipped me a some GHB or something. Then Abby brought me home, but decided to teach me a lesson about excess partying or flirting or something, right. Right!?"
"Anthony," Ducky said from the bathroom door. Abby was right next to him and beyond them he could see McGee and Cassie holding a paper coffee cups and boxes of donuts.
"No. That was a fake. That wasn't me, because this isn't..." None of them had to say anything because it was written all over their faces. This was somehow real.
"It's gonna be okay, Tony," Abby said. He doubted that a lot.
Gibbs didn't say anything to him, just put a hand on his neck and gave him a squeeze.
"We're going to figure it out," Cassie said.
McGee was holding out a pair of boxers. "We're with you."
Tony looked at the boxers and then looked down. Naked, right. He didn't feel his face go red until he glanced at Abby, and she winked at him. He grabbed a towel and then the shorts. Then he looked at Abby again, something flashing through his mind. "What happened last night?"
"That's not important right now; we can get to that," Gibbs said.
"It's going to be fine," Abby added, but she didn't look fine.
"Yes, why don't we get you into the shower and have some breakfast," Ducky said.
"You attacked Abby."
Tony locked eyes with McGee and knew he was telling the truth - the only one of them telling the truth. "That is not okay," he whispered.
There was nowhere to run away when Abby threw her arms around him. He was still trying to hold the towel, so she just pinned his arms as she squeezed. "I don't have a scratch, I swear."
"Still not okay," Tony said. "Wait, how did you stop that thing, that, that me?"
"Drugged pizza," she said looking up at him.
This was as far from fine as things could get as far as Tony was concerned. Everything was written clearly on Abby's face. She didn't want him to be upset. Fat chance of that, but it was Abby, and it wasn't like any of them had the strength to fight her long term.
He pulled an arm out and wrapped it around her. "Told you the pizza was evil."
Continued - Part 2
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