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ncisficathonTitle: Ligers and Tigons and Tony, Oh My (2/?)
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: 9755, 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.
Part 1
Part 2 - After the Harvest Moon
***Monday, September 7, 2009 - Full Moon, Day +2, Waning Gibbous
Tony came out of the bathroom and into the bedroom with towel around his hips. Gibbs was sitting on his bare mattress with a pile of clothes. There were things more important than 400 thread count sheets, but Tony asked anyway, "Are my sheets contaminated?"
"Ducky doesn't know for sure," Gibbs said as he stood up
Tony just looked at him. "For real?"
"The possibility exists, I'm told. We're supposed to treat you like you have mono."
"The kissing disease? Well it was unlikely that I was going to kiss McGee," Tony said.
A half-smile crossed Gibbs mouth, "I'm sure he'll be relieved. No sharing sodas or taking bites out of other people's lunches."
"I wouldn't..." There was nothing specifically accusing in the look that Gibbs gave him. He was just looking, and looking. "Okay, any other day, I might. For now on, if I'm going to...sample someone else's lunch, I'll sample the whole thing."
Yeah, that was a line of logic that wasn't going to score him points with his co-workers. "Abby, is she okay? I mean really okay, because there was the hugging, because Abby hugs, and we had dinner. I attacked-" Tony bit his lip. "Did I really attack her?"
"Hey," Gibbs took a couple of steps closer. "Abby is fine. Whatever this is, you can't breathe it out like the plague. A bunch of us touched Nestor's body, so it's not spread by casual contact either."
"I'm the one that got lucky."
"Get dressed. The rest of us have been working on a plan."
"Plans are good," Tony nodded. "A plan to do what exactly?"
"Keep you safe, keep everyone else safe and get you better."
"That's a tall plan, Boss." Too tall, Tony thought, but he also realized that he couldn't see more than a few minutes into the future. He wasn't holding out a lot of hope that this could possibly end well.
"Tony?" Ducky knocked lightly on the doorframe. "I just want to take a look at your leg injury."
"We're going to figure it out," Gibbs said and stepped out of the bedroom.
"Have a look." Tony sat on the bed and brought the leg up. For the first time he noticed that it didn't hurt any longer. In place of the large bandage covering bruises and stitches were sets of white scars - parallel lines that branded his thigh in several places.
"It is quite remarkable," Ducky said, shaking his head. "Your leg was hard to see last night."
"Because of the fur coat I had grown?" Tony asked. "Ziva did tell me I had a hairy butt."
Ducky gave him a sad smile. "If we could patent it, we would make a fortune on hair restoratives. In the meantime, I'm much more interested in the other restorative powers of your body. It should have taken weeks to fully heal and months for these scars to reach this state."
"So I'm invincible?"
"That is not the case, as you showed with Sgt. Nestor. It might begin to explain why it took six shots to bring her down. We're going to have to do tests to better define your current state. Once we do that, we'll be able to seek a cure."
"Yeah, Gibbs said as much. I'm having trouble believing that that's possible," Tony said.
Ducky stood up. "Tony, don't doubt us before we even get started." On his way out, Ducky closed the door. Moving on autopilot, Tony put on the clothes that had been laid out for him.
It all began to sink in the moment he saw the wreckage in his living room. Everyone on his team was gloved and straightening up or loading garbage bags with the previous night's food and unsalvageable items.
Any other day, he'd have been much more upset about the loss of the big screen TV, but what was weighing on him was the sheer destruction. The claw marks in the cushions really stood out. What would he have done to Abby, if she hadn't stopped him?
*
Tony didn't have much of a chance to dwell on it, because Gibbs had issued some orders and hustled them out. He helped carry the black bags to the dumpster while others went for lunch. Currently, Tony was sitting on Gibbs workbench with a Styrofoam clamshell full of his favorite burger and fries, or what was left of them. His guilt over any actions the previous night didn't change the fact that he had been starving.
"You call that science?"
"McGee, how dense are you? Herbalists knew that willow bark was a pain reliever before science decided to call it aspirin. Ducky knows I'm right," Abby said.
"Well, yes, but I think we should focus-" Ducky started.
"They also thought that witches floated and weighed the same as ducks," McGee snapped.
Tony glanced over at Gibbs. "I thought the weighed the same as a duck was just Monty Python being funny."
Something vaguely like sympathy passed through Gibbs' eyes, and then he whistled. "Hey!" Everyone immediately stopped talking, and turned their attention to Gibbs, who was leaning against his workbench. The others were seated in a variety of lawn furniture in a semi-circle, facing the workbench.
"Are we agreed that we're gonna help Tony without involving anyone or anything that would turn him into a guinea pig?" There were various nods and affirmative noises. "Let's start with what we know."
"Your boat is gone," Tony said. Everyone looked at him - technically Gibbs glared. "It's just that there's always been a boat. Don't tell me the rest of you aren't curious."
"Things change, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "Abby, report."
"Two nights ago, Tony was clawed and bitten by a murder suspect. Last night he turned into a werewolf." Abby, scrunched up her nose and continued. "Well, it was more wolfman than werewolf, but that's just my opinion based on legend."
"Wait!" Everyone turned to McGee. Despite the outburst he was looking self-conscious.
"Out with it, McGee," Gibbs said.
"Despite outward appearances, we don't know that Tony became a werewolf or any other form of mythical creature."
Ducky and Cassie were sitting between Abby and McGee. When Abby started to move, Gibbs reached out a hand and guided her back into her chair.
"Tim, we did not chain up a myth last night," Cassie said.
"No, we didn't. I wasn't trying to imply that we were having a mass hallucination, but we don't know what caused the changes in Tony. I think that before we start relying on legends and folklore..."
With arms folded across her chest, Abby stood up and walked right up to him. "McGee, what do I do for a living?"
"You're a forensic scientist - a very good one."
"So what makes you think-"
Tim folded his arms over his chest and glared down at her.
There was a long pause. Tony was feeling lost because usually he excelled with the one-liners at moments like these. Apparently dealing with the idea that he was something other than normal was weighing on him.
"Okay, maybe there was reason for you to think, but that does not mean that I was going to abandon science."
"Which means we chain Tony up tonight," McGee said.
Tony glanced at Gibbs and Ducky who were both looking fairly grim. Cassie was staring at her feet. He looked back at McGee and Abby, but they were focused on each other. "Hey, sorry. Don't mean to trouble you all with the fact that I'm in the room, but..." Tony waved a hand helplessly. "I'm in the room."
Abby spun around. "According to werewolf legends, the cycle should be over for this month. Three nights of the full moon, defined as the night before, the night of and, the night after." She wrung her hands. "But to be on the safe side we should test that out."
"So we chain up Tony," Tony said.
"Hey," Cassie came over and bumped her shoulder into his arm. "Abby and I will do it; give you a cheap thrill."
"You always know the right thing to say," Tony said and really tried to feel it for a minute.
"When?" Gibbs asked.
"Don't look at me," Tony said. "All I know was that Abby arrived around six. We both fell asleep when watching the movie."
"Abby called us at about 9:15," Cassie said. Then she glanced at Gibbs and gave a little eye roll. "That would be 21:15, Gunny."
"Don't worry, I still think you're teachable," Gibbs said.
Tony gave a little laugh. He could really use about ten million more of those, but Gibbs was looking at him. It was that look. "I've learned. You beat it in with every headslap."
"You haven't learned to not say the smart ass stuff out loud," Gibbs said
"Yeah, still working on that," Tony said.
"Boss," McGee said, as he thumbed his PDA. "I'm checking the Naval Observatory. Last night, sunset 19:32, moonrise 19:45, end of civilian twilight 19:59, nautical twilight 20:31, astronomical twilight 21:04."
"21:04," Abby said, wringing her hands. "It happened fast, but I was kind of in shock when things...stopped."
McGee took a step forward and Abby leaned on him. It was Abby and McGee, and it was what they did whether either of them knew it or not. Tony just wanted to bang his head into the wall, because he was the reason she needed that support. "Abby, I'm sorry," he murmured.
Abby rushed at him. Tony braced for the hug he was expecting only to be surprised when she slugged him on thigh.
"Ow! That was a nuggie!"
"Don't you dare be sorry. It was not you, Tony DiNozzo!"
That's what he got for momentarily thinking of her as a damsel in distress.
"She's right, Anthony," Ducky said. "It may have been your body, but whether it was chemical, electrical, or mystical, it was not you. Now someone remind me of the differences between the various twilights."
Finally something he knew. "I got this one, learned it on the Seahawk. Sunset is when the sun hits the horizon. Civilian is six degrees below the horizon - when you have to turn on your headlights. Nautical is twelve degrees below the horizon, when you can see ground objects but not in any detail. Astronomical is eighteen degrees -"
"When it's finally dark," Gibbs finished. "The sun is far enough below the horizon that it's not contributing to the night sky illumination."
"And the only light in the sky is the moon and the stars," McGee said.
"Switching sides, Tim?" Abby asked.
"Just documenting the facts. That difference of an hour and fifteen between moonrise and Abby's call, also means that the moon was higher in the sky, more visible," McGee said. "I'll need to look at the astronomical data from this morning, when Tony became Tony again."
"The stars, the moon, streetlights, lamps, and the big screen TV," Tony said. "My blinds are usually closed, so it's not like I saw anything."
"We're going to figure it out, Tony," Cassie said. "For now we gather the facts and plan around them."
Tim reached for his laptop. "Tonight, moonrise 20:09, astronomical twilight 21:02.
"Okay," Gibbs said. "Since we're playing it safe, 20:00 is our deadline for having DiNozzo locked up. It's 13:00 and we're going to need supplies."
"Are we going to be here, Boss?" Tony asked.
"Yes. We'll have a lot more options to secure you than at your apartment. Besides, you were noisy last night."
Tony thought of his landlord, who'd apparently gotten used to the quiet while he was an agent afloat. "Real noisy?"
"Yeah," McGee said. "You just reminded me. I went to shake the hair out of your sheets this morning, behind the building. I ran into your landlord."
"Please tell me you pretended to be a vagrant."
"He recognized me and started asking about what kind of party you had last night, then he saw the hair."
"No, no, no, no," Tony chanted.
"He apparently is really opposed to animals in the building."
"The term you're looking for is psychotic."
McGee nodded. "I tried to convince him that it was my dog and you didn't know I'd be bringing him."
Tony's chin fell to his chest. "How'd that work?"
"I don't think he was impressed," McGee said
*
Cassie turned down aisle 6 and Tony followed, "Did it scare you that Gibbs knew the contents of every aisle in the Home Depot?"
"If you had seen the boat, you'd be wondering why he didn't give the shelf and bin numbers," Tony said.
Various chains and ropes were on reels hanging in the middle of the aisle. Tony batted at the ends, making them swing. "Do you think we should go to some kind of industrial supply place?" Tony asked.
Cassie shrugged. "It's Sunday afternoon, our options are limited."
"If I might channel Gibbs for a moment, that's no excuse for doing sloppy work."
"I think what we're really hoping that Abby is right and that tonight is just an exercise in vigilance. Grab those bolt cutters, we're going to need them."
Tony dropped the tool in the cart. "I'm really hoping that it was a one time event or better yet, that it was some kind of B-grade movie."
Reaching past him, Cassie pulled a length of heavier chain down to inspect it. "Tony, if I hadn't been there, I wouldn't have believed it."
"That's just it, I suppose. I don't remember any of it, so how can I believe it? We've got some circumstantial evidence - items that could have been planted. I guess I don't have a good explanation for how quickly my leg healed. Hey," he smiled, "Unless I was in coma for the last month."
Cassie laughed. "I'd like you to calculate the odds of Gibbs letting you sleep for a month."
"With that in mind, it makes last night seem so much more plausible," Tony said, as he began loading heavy duty padlocks into the cart. "Cas, what did you see that made it real?"
Some customers turned down the aisle, and Cassie remained quiet as she selected some hooks and anchors. When they passed, she said, "It was undeniable that some kind of fight had happened when we came in, and that the hairy guy on the floor had something to do with it. It kind of looked like you." Cassie shrugged. "It looked a lot like you, but it wasn't until morning and all that hair fell out."
"I saw that on video tape," Tony said. "Can you tell me something else?"
"Sure."
"Why three pairs of socks on my hands?"
*
"Boss-" The next sound out of Tony's mouth was a mumble because Abby had popped another grape in his mouth. He spit it across, the basement. "Abby, I appreciate it, but the Roman emperor treatment is losing its appeal."
"Sorry-"
"It's after ten, are we in the clear yet?" He held up one of the leather mittens, which were connected to chains, leading to the new bolts installed in the wall. Tony was sitting on an old mattress, with sleeping kittens imprinted on it. He was guessing it was from a crib. One of his shredded couch cushions was behind his back. It was actually pretty comfortable for being chained in the Boss's basement.
Cassie and McGee looked up from laptops set up on the workbench. Ducky was seated at a desk with a pile of his blood results. When they were leaving his place, Abby had packed the insulated bag with blood tubes that had been drawn through the previous night and morning. Tony was never using that bag for lunch again. While Cassie and he had been shopping, Abby had gone to the lab and run the blood. McGee and the Boss had bonded over power tools.
Gibbs folded his knife and put down the piece of wood he had been shaving down. Just another night in the basement for the boss, Tony thought. He tried to figure out what the boss had been making. It looked like a wooden stake - was he expecting vampires?
"I think we've waited long enough. Duck?"
"I've been checking his blood pressure and temperature every twenty or minutes or so. I'm pleased to say he's completely average."
Tony opened his mouth to protest and immediately shut it again. Abby patted his arm. The others began to move around the basement. It was McGee that came with the keys. "Wait, where are my cheap thrills? You are not a cheap thrill, McGee."
"You're surprised that they chained you up and left you that way?"
The first thought that ran through his head was to make a comment about what an animal he was. That was not going to fly. He pulled off the leather mittens and socks, then he grabbed McGee's shirtfront and pulled him closer. "Thank you for telling me what happened last night - for insisting on this," Tony said in a low voice.
McGee was looking at him like he was trying to figure out if Tony was joking or not. Fair enough, Tony thought.
"Tim, I mean it."
"I can't let you hurt Abby or anyone else," McGee said.
"Next time you hold onto my weapon - better than using your own."
McGee stared at him with eyes too full of emotion and determination. It would have been melodramatic on anyone else. He nodded and got to work on the rest of the locks.
Next time. His own words weighed heavily upon him. McGee had moved back to the workbench and was packing up his laptop. "What happens next?"
Everything was suddenly quiet and they were all looking at him. Usually he liked that kind of attention. Usually.
"Are we sure that it's safe until next month or are we all going to start spending our evenings in Gibbs' basement?" Tony stood up and leaned against the wall. "If we're good now, do we all meet at the next full moon? Tomorrow's a holiday that we were all slated to be off for, but what happens when it's a school night? I guess I can't be absent, ever. It's going to put a crimp into planning dates..." Tony suddenly and unquestionably knew that he was fucked.
Someone was touching him. He never saw Gibbs move, but there he was, with a warm comforting hand squeezing his shoulder. It fixed nothing but made him feel a little less alone.
"Tony, we're going to figure it out."
***October 18, 2009 - New Moon
Abby lifted the fine wire frame of her sunglasses. "You need better tinting on your windshield."
Tony gave her a half-glance from his position in the driver's seat. "Abby, some of us like the sun." There had been small debate when he picked her up about which car they would take. Abby said that since she had mapped out the apartment-hunting route that they should go in her car. Tony had pointed out that he was too young to be the passenger in a hearse. She caved in when he agreed to let her navigate.
"I love my co-workers, but sometimes you're all just so weird. Oh! That reminds me. I have to double check the times, but we may have to chain you up during some new moons," Abby said. "See, sometimes moonrise is before morning twilight-"
"Abby, I sit next to McGee, who has spent the last two weeks generating moon tables-"
"Oh! We're here! Turn right!"
"This isn't an apartment building. Oh god, Abby."
"Tony!"
Tony turned into the parking lot as instructed. "Abby, you said you'd go apartment hunting with me. This is not apartment hunting!"
"I know; it's just a small detour. Really, there is an apartment to look at nearby."
He turned to her, piling doubt into his expression.
She looked at him guiltily. "About 20 miles away."
"Abby, besides being poked and prodded, I had one task for this month and that was to find a new place to live."
"But this is part of the scientific research for understanding your condition, controlling it, and finding a cure."
"Abby," Tony said very quietly and very seriously.
"Okay, it's part of the poking and prodding. But hey! We're doing this for you!" She folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes in the Abby approximation of stern.
"And I appreciate everything that everyone is doing. Hell, I think I appreciate this more than any other thing that anyone has ever done for me. But don't you think the pet store was eye-opening enough?" His voice had dropped an octave as he grabbed the steering wheel and remembered the incident.
"But it was puppies and kitties and other domesticated things; they breed the wildness out of them. They get freaked out by squeaky toys!"
"The puppies were doing cute puppy things. We showed up - I showed up - and they became a quivering heap of fear. They pushed the runt to the front so he could be the sacrifice to the vicious beast," Tony said, spreading his hands.
"Tony, it's just one data point and all those animals were-"
"Abby, that iguana that tried to tunnel out of his tank!" Then Tony remembered Cuba. "Maybe it had it coming - iguanas are the devil's spawn."
Abby opened her door, opened her parasol, and stepped out. He wasn't going to win this one.
Tony got out and joined her. "If an animal riot starts, I take no responsibility."
"It's just going to be a pleasant afternoon at the zoo, Tony."
They hadn't made it past the first five exhibits when two things became abundantly clear to Tony. One, it was exactly like the pet shop. It was different proximity for each type of animal, but they had their own individual freak out when he got near. Tony was kind of curious about why some animals sensed him from ten meters, but he had to be standing next to the bars with others. He didn't bring any of it up to Abby - she'd want to measure it.
The second thing that Tony noticed was that every human who happened to notice the agitation ultimately stared right at Abby and her parasol. He had known her for so long that he had forgotten the reaction of everyday folks to her black lipstick and spiked leather accessories. Today, she also had her head covered in miles of black lace that set off her red-striped knee socks and platform shoes. Little did they know which of the two of them was the real freak.
"Oh, caramel corn!" Abby said.
"You're only saying that to try and keep me in here for a little longer," Tony said.
"I have a specific test in mind."
Tony was hoping very much it didn't involve the petting section of the zoo. He bought a box of caramel corn and handed it to Abby and then asked for two chili-cheese dogs.
"Oh, you better only get one of those. I had breakfast a little while ago," Abby said.
Tony blinked and then smiled at the vendor. "Ah, you've got everything in the works, I'll just have to eat both of them."
Abby rolled her eyes.
Once they were on the move again, Tony asked, "What do you want to test?"
"The reaction of a large predator. A house cat can freak out over anything, but what about the big cats? More importantly, what about a creature that is the supreme top of his food chain, that eats everything he surveys?" Abby extended one gloved hand, making a sweeping motion over the path they were walking.
"I'm getting a bad feeling about this."
"It's probably what you're eating and how fast you're shoving it in your face."
Tony took a bigger bite and started talking. "It could be my last meal before I meet the predator that eats everything in his domain. What animal do you have in mind?"
Abby stopped gestured at one of the enclosures. "Behold, ursus maritimus, master of the ice - terror on both land and sea-"
"If it could fly then it would be just like a Marine. Heck, it sounds like Gibbs already."
"Yeah, it kind of does," Abby laughed and then her expression turned serious as she raised a finger into the air. "He is indeed from the snow of far-off Northern lands."
"Quoting the Marine Corp hymn, nice."
"Seals bark in out warnings for miles, caribou stampede in fear, salmon-" Abby paused, blinking. "I'm sure that salmon must do something to adequately convey their fear." She raised both arms, which was pretty dramatic considering the parasol. "Tony, I give you the polar bear."
The bear enclosure was a deep pit with high steep walls. In the center was a large pond with cement decks all around. The bears were frolicking, as much as one could accuse the supreme predator of the frozen north of frolicking. Abby slipped her hand into his arm and walked him to a spot along the wall. They were at least 300 meters away from the animals, but these were large carnivores and one couldn't expect to get as close as you could to a chimpanzee. More importantly, they were completely ignoring Tony and Abby.
For the first time in two weeks, Tony felt normal. There was something bigger, badder and furrier than him in the universe. "You know," Tony said, "This is good." He reached into the caramel corn and popped some into his mouth. "It's a nice day. I'm playing hooky from my homework, and I'm doing it with a hot chick." He smiled at her and she smiled back.
"I told you it was worth the side trip. We'll find the lions next," Abby said with a little bounce.
The wind whipped up and momentarily and shifted direction. The bears on solid ground paused. The ones in the water got out. Almost in unison, they turned to face Tony, opened their gaping jaws wide and bellowed a roar.
"Okay," Tony said, pulling Abby away from the wall and heading towards the main gate. "The good day is now over, and we're heading back to reality."
***September 22, 2009 - Waxing Crescent - Autumnal Equinox
Tony entered autopsy and did a quick check for Palmer. There had been some debate about whether to bring him in or not. He'd certainly proven himself, but Gibbs' rules about restricting information won out. Palmer was someone they could tap if they needed him. He spotted Ducky pouring a cup of tea.
"Are we clear, Ducky?"
Ducky opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small tool kit, "Yes, I've sent Mr. Palmer on an errand to Bethesda, which will afford us enough time to complete one of the more involved tests."
Tony closed his eyes tight, dreading whatever it was. Still, he took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeve. "What special thing do we have on the list today?"
Ducky slipped a thermometer into Tony's mouth and strapped on the BP cuff. "Silver."
"Hopefully not in the form of bullets," Tony mumbled.
Ducky held up a finger for quiet and placed his stethoscope under the cuff. A few seconds later the reading was done, and Ducky recorded both his blood pressure and BP. "No, not in the form of bullets. I have for you instead a burn cream."
"Burn cream?" Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, silver sulfadiazine. Silver is a well-known antibacterial agent. Silver nitrate drops were used for nearly a century on newborns to prevent eye infections that might lead to blindness. They've fallen out of favor to other antibacterial treatments, but there are still medicinal uses for silver. This burn cream is widely used on second and third degree burn patients. Ducky turned over Tony's hand and spread some of the material on his inner wrist.
"Hey, I just remembered that we may not have to do this," Tony said. "I've been wearing my St. Anthony medal, and it's silver." Tony loosened his tie and opened a couple of buttons.
"Ah, your namesake," Ducky said. He lifted the chain and pulled the medal out.
"St Anthony, patron saint of Portugal, fishermen, faith in the Blessed Sacrament, and pregnant women - but only in Brazil," Tony said.
"Tony, there's a red ring around your neck where the chain was laying." Ducky plucked at Tony's undershirt. "And there's a larger spot where the medal must have been laying."
Tony reflexively brought up a hand and scratched at his neck. "Yeah, it's been a little itchy, but that's no big deal, right?"
"Possibly," Ducky said with a frown. "There could be a base metal like nickel mixed in with the silver. Many people have nickel allergies and experience contact dermatitis."
"Contact what? Ducky, you said this stuff was to treat burn victims, right? It's not actually supposed to burn."
Ducky raise both eyebrows and used a tongue depressor to scrape off the cream. There was an angry red patch everywhere the cream had touched. "That would be contact dermatitis. Normally, I'd have you checked for a sulfa allergy, but between this and your medal..." Ducky said and dropped the stick into a bio-hazard container.
"This is not good," Tony said. He pulled the metal from around his neck and dropped it on Ducky's desk.
"This is interesting because unlike nickel, silver allergies are incredibly rare. You'll need to be aware of this for your work."
"It would be embarrassing if I busted a trailer trash bimbo and my hand caught on fire from touching her silver charm bracelet," Tony said, scratching at his arm.
"Oh stop," Ducky said and swatted his hand. "Go wash your wrist, and I'll find you an anti-histamine. Let's see how effective standard treatments are.
Shaking his head, Tony went over to the sink and washed his arm to the elbow. "Ducky, did I mention that St. Anthony was also the patron of the lost?"
*** October 2, 2009 - Full Moon -2 days, Waxing Gibbous
The entire month had been endless string of weirdness from Tony's perspective. He'd been dragged around, poked, prodded and stuck. For a short time Tony had been worried that he'd be sidelined; he shouldn't have worried. Because while the team was stealing time to work on him, Tony was busy doing their day jobs. He didn't start performing autopsies or matching fingerprints, but he was working double time on their case legwork.
The first challenge was sorting out the events surrounding their mauled bodies. The best they could piece together was that the third victim, Private Worland, was the original beast. He'd killed Chaves and Edens, who were found in some semblance of clothing. They didn't have any claws from Worland to match to wounds, but it seemed to fit. The morning of the last full moon, Nestor had reported to the infirmary with a nasty gash on her arm. She claimed that she snagged it on a fence. Worland's body was found without clothing, like Nestor's. They assumed that the two had gone after one another in wolf form, and Nestor had been the victor. Nestor wounded Tony, and the rest, as they say...
But there were still a lot of unanswered questions, like could you tell a werewolf from a normal person? Ducky and Abby had that one and were poring over post-mortem tests on all the bodies and adding that to the data from Tony's frequent blood donations.
Abby had branded Worland, Werewolf-0. Cassie had taken on the task to research him and see if she could figure out how he became the way he did. She was also researching various kinds of body armor. They all assumed that it was going to happen again and they needed to be prepared to deal with Tony in wolf form.
McGee was on folklore and documentation. After considerable arguing, Abby agreed to hand over the reins to McGee. He agreed to actually look into it and propose "tests" to better define Tony's condition. Tony had given up looking at the list, because while the three scientists were developing a clinical detachment, it was nothing but personal to him.
In the meantime, Tony and Gibbs carefully reviewed the evidence to make sure it fit the cover-up they constructed. They had all balked at the idea, but the end signed off on Sgt. Nestor being a serial killer. She was on her own in the world, no family to mourn or protest the findings. There wasn't anything fair or right about it, but it was either that or hand over the tapes of Tony's moonlit adventure.
"Come on, DiNozzo. Abby's lab."
Tony looked up from his computer screen and wondered how long he had been staring blankly. On autopilot, he followed Gibbs down into Abby's lab where Ducky and McGee were already waiting.
"Ducky, you go first," Gibbs said, before they were fully in the lab.
"Over the course of the last month, we've been monitoring Tony's physiological state. Other than needing to eliminate significant amounts of cholesterol from his diet, Tony is fine. More importantly, his state of health is steady."
"But not his blood work," Abby said. "I've been running the numbers and know that they're different, but I don't know what they mean."
"I'm afraid I'm not certain either, but Abby is right. There were some borderline readings immediately after last month's incident. They quickly fell into expected norms, but in the last few days there's been a shift. They're not so much out of the normal range, but out of Tony's normal range."
"What does that mean?" Tony blurted out.
"It's not completely clear, but if we're right to be expecting something at the full moon then these maybe precursors. Tell me, have you been feeling any different - tired, stronger, more energetic?"
"I feel great!" Tony said, puffing up a little. "I ran five miles the other day and matched my best college time."
Gibbs looked at him. "Matched the time from over a decade ago, when you were in constant training? When was the last time you did that?"
Tony looked at him and then at the others. "Great! Why does good news even have stink?"
"Tony!" Abby pointed at him. "We're working on it. These tests may lead us to something to prevent it or at the very least a way to predict it."
"Sorry." Tony murmured. "Speaking of predictions, are we set for the full moon?"
"Basement is set," Gibbs said.
"I thought we were leaning towards using Ducky's house, because it was more isolated from the neighbors," Cassie said with a frown.
"Yeah, that was before the animal sensitivity tests," Abby said, wrinkling her nose.
"I still have my Mother's corgis at home," Ducky said. "Tony had previously developed a rapport with the pack; however, when he stopped by, they did not respond well."
"Yeah," Tony said. "Contessa used to bring me her brush when I stopped by. She'd even wag her tail. Not so much the last time."
"Tyson, the biter, was particularly upset. I'm sure he wouldn't have done significant damage, but if he drew blood, we might have spread Tony's condition further," Ducky said.
"No one wants to see a were-corgi," Tony said.
"That wasn't all the research we put into practice," Gibbs said. "After Abby and Ducky figured out how much force was used in the previous attacks, McGee did some more math."
"Our chain and bolt system was not 100% guaranteed," McGee said. "There's a lot more cement and brick involved in the new system."
"As in, you're going to chain that to my feet and drop me in the Potomac?" Tony said, and then winced as Abby poked him in the arm.
"It's more like a cell. The one thing we didn't figure out was how to secure Tony enough so that Ducky can draw more blood during a change."
Tony closed his eyes tight. "I was unconscious last time, didn't you get enough then?"
"It was very helpful but you were heavily sedated. It would be good to get some unadulterated samples," Ducky said.
Cassie smiled. "I may have something that will help. I was watching the Discovery Channel and was inspired by the shark gear."
"Shark gear?" Tim's eyes lit up. "Did you order those chain mail suits they use to go diving with the sharks?"
"Not at twenty-three thousand dollars."
McGee and Abby went a little wide-eyed. Tony whistled, "At that price, I want an armored sports car."
"All those medieval knights were richer than an NCIS special agent. I did find some less expensive chain mail, like they use for medieval reenactments. Despite the costume sound that has, they're real steel. I also managed to find a used attack dog training suit - multiple layers of Kevlar," Cassie said.
"Used?" Gibbs lifted an eyebrow.
"I know. It's just the sleeve anyway. What we don't have is an effective way to test these. We're working on the assumption that even a scratch could become infected. I'm hoping that we can come up with a safe way to test the Kevlar to see if it can stop those teeth and claws."
Gibbs nodded. "I've got an idea for that."
"Chain mail, dungeon cells, all we're missing is the pitchforks and torches," Tony said. Everyone was quiet. "I'm sorry. I'm grateful, really, but in the last month I've been evicted, become everyone's favorite lab rat and Lon Chaney's younger, better looking brother." Tony held out his hands and then dropped them in resignation. "Well, maybe I could move my TV and DVD player into the cell and take care of one of my problems."
McGee winced and said, "Sorry, Tony."
"Give it up, McGee, I forgive you. Hell, I was kind of impressed with the way you lied to him. It was the right call - just wrong person to try it on," Tony said. "How were you supposed to know that my landlord would evict me for keeping an animal? Technically he's not evicting, me just doubling my rent. This is what I get for the flexibility of a month-to-month lease."
Abby rubbed his arm. "Any luck in the apartment hunt?"
"A lot of places don't take pets," Tony said. "I'm calling movers and storage places."
"You'll stay at my place," Gibbs said.
Tony looked at him. "Uhm, thanks, but no offense, I think I'd rather have a bit more than a cell in the basement or a couch."
Gibbs let out a breath. "You can have one of the spare rooms upstairs. If anyone asks, we'll tell them the truth. Your landlord went nuts and doubled the rent. You couldn't find anything on short notice."
"Thanks, Boss," Tony said.
"We'll talk about rent later."
The smile fell from Tony's face. "Yeah."
"I have a question about preparedness. I heard that there was an adverse reaction to silver?" Cassie asked.
"It seems to be a severe allergy," Ducky said. "Fortunately, it did respond to standard treatments. Since allergies can escalate, and we don't know what additional sensitivities may develop over the next few days, I'll be showing all of you how to use an Epipen should we run into anaphylactic shock."
"Our experience with Sgt. Nestor, showed that conventional bullets do an effective job."
"McGee!" Abby said with a note of pleading in her voice.
"Excellent point, who's bringing the guns?" Tony asked. There was another pause. "That wasn't sarcasm, people."
"There will be plenty of weapons in the room, and we even built in a sniper's perch, just in case."
Tim passed out some sheets of paper. "Beyond that I've compiled a list of shapeshifter traits for further testing. Particular items we should pay attention to are the timing of transformations, if they're associated with sunset or moonrise. Also..." Tim looked at Tony and then glanced away.
"Out with it, McGee," Tony snapped.
"Some legends report behavior changes while in human form in the day or so prior to transformation. Aggression for instance."
"Ah." Tony nodded. "That was just me being, you know-"
"We know," Gibbs said. "We know."
*
"This is it." Gibbs flipped on the light.
The room wasn't a bad size. There were the pieces of a white bed frame against one wall next to a stack of moving boxes. "Is that Strawberry Shortcake on the walls?" Tony asked, as he turned back to Gibbs.
Gibbs looked up at the walls and leaned one shoulder against the doorframe. His eyes were filled with something far away and painful. Gibbs swallowed. "Raspberry Rumtart."
It had been obvious before they stepped through the door whom the previous occupant had been. Now it hit Tony like a ton of bricks what that really meant. "There's the other room, the guest room. Maybe that would be a better place for me."
Gibbs shook his head. "This room's bigger. I packed up the stuff when I thought I was moving to Mexico. Time to move it out, maybe down to the basement."
"I could do that, Boss, if you really want me to," Tony said. "The other room or even the couch would be-"
Gibbs smiled, not a happy one, and shook his head again. "No one can give me back what I want, Tony. A lot of people have been telling me for years that I should move on." He swallowed hard and then lightly slapped the doorframe. "This needs a new coat of paint before you move in."
In his own marine way, Gibbs had just asked for his help. The fact that Gibbs had asked for help nearly floored him, but the fact that he asked it of Tony was a little overwhelming. "I'll be happy to take care of it, Boss."
Gibbs nodded. "You say that like a man that's never stripped wallpaper. Come on down to the basement, I'll show you the other accommodations."
Tony took a last look around. "I've been to strip clubs, stripped down, but can't say I've ever stripped wallpaper." He turned off the light and hurried down the stairs.
The basement didn't look much different to him. There was a new project in the middle of the room that wasn't looking particularly boat-like - too boxy. Other than that, there was a new workbench across from the stair, but he wasn't seeing chains and restraints. Where was Gibbs? Maybe it was the sawhorses, but the place somehow looked smaller. "Gibbs?"
A workbench on the far wall moved, revealing Gibbs in the doorway to a secret room. He gestured for Tony to come over. Tony stepped in, taking note of the heavy metal door; covered in pegboard to make it look like it was part of the bench. The room was built out of the same cinderblock as the rest of the basement walls. There was a bag of cement in one corner of the room. On the other side was a cell - three block walls and one made of iron bars.
"You built this?"
"Yup. McGee and Abby gave me a hand mixing the cement and setting the block." Gibbs moved over to the bars and tested how well they were set in their frame. "This was a bit harder. I thought we were going to have to weld something together, but McGee managed to find these on A-bay."
"E-bay." Tony said and then went on when Gibbs looked confused. "I think you meant E-bay, and isn't it interesting what you can find on the Internet? The workbench is a genius disguise."
Gibbs shrugged. "It wouldn't take long to map the dimensions and realize there was missing space, but it should fool the casual visitor."
"Do you get a lot of visitors down here?"
"You might be surprised," Gibbs said. "I figured Ducky could use the open space here to store medical equipment if he needs to. There's a slot in the bars to pass you food."
"Pizzas topped with sedatives? I suppose it's better than being shot."
"Tony," Gibbs put a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to take care of you."
"Maybe there's been too much of that already." Tony went and sat on the floor, back against the wall, running his fingers over the bars. "I think about Sgt. Nestor all the time. See, I think she knew Worland was the werewolf. When she changed she didn't go after an easy meal. She went after him. But once she got her man, there was no going back, so she opted for suicide-by-cop."
Gibbs squatted down in front of him. "None of us wanted to do that, Tony, and I don't think events played out the way you're describing them."
"Doesn't change the fact that she was a victim. No one asks for this," Tony said. "Gibbs, you've got to promise me that I'm the last victim."
"I already did." Gibbs hand was on his face, turning his head so they were looking each other in the eye. "None of us are ready to give up on you, but that doesn't matter if you already have."
Gibbs' hand on his face made it all come flooding back. The fingers and palm felt rough and hot and too intimate. The first time Tony had crashed at Gibbs', that was what it had been like. Tony had taken a cab back from the club because he was a little too wobbly to go it on his own. He'd brought some cold pizza to the basement. Just as he was about to accidentally dump it on the floor, Gibbs had reached out. Those hands had steadied him, held him up and walked him back upstairs. The calluses rubbed against his skin, making him feel alive.
In his buzzed state, kissing Gibbs had seemed like the only reasonable thing to do. Gibbs' only response was to head back to the basement, leaving Tony alone in the living room. There had been apologies the next morning with promises that there would never be a repeat performance. Gibbs had made sure of that by telling Tony to find another couch to crash on.
Strangely, Tony found that his career as an NCIS special agent hadn't ended the next day. Everything was normal at work. Down the road a couple of months, Gibbs had even relented and let Tony crash again when the boiler in his apartment building had needed repair. The second time, Tony had scrupulously stayed sober and kept a respectful distance.
Now in the basement, he found himself in the same position. Physically too close, emotionally too needy, too lonely, misreading friendship and concern for different things all together. He wanted this, like he always wanted it, and wasn't going to get it.
Tony didn't say the first or fifteenth thing that came to mind. Finally, he pulled his head away from the comforting hand and slid back up the wall. "Suck it up and move on?"
"That's one way to put it."
"No offense, but strange words coming from you. You know, based on the conversation we just had upstairs."
"Good to see you're paying attention. We're going to help each other out."
With a nod, Tony stepped into his home away from temporary home. A prison cell looked a lot like a prison cell. This one was about eight by eight. The room ran the length of the basement so there was another ten or twelve feet beyond the bars. In the cell there was new block where a window used to be. The other windows in the room had been painted black.
"Aren't the neighbors going to wonder about the windows?" Tony pointed up.
Gibbs shook his head. "These face the back yard and there's a thick set of bushes in front of them."
There was a slot at floor level, nothing that a grown man could crawl through. On the other side of the bars the slot led into a short tunnel of more steel and wire, nothing a dog could bite through. The same mattress and pillows were on the floor that they had used the previous month.
"McGee rigged up a camera so we can watch from the other part of the basement." Gibbs said and shifted a stack of blankets just outside the bars. "Abby thinks that in your furrier form, you'd only shred the blankets, but I figured that when you're you, you could reach through the bars, if you need to." Gibbs stopped and looked right at him. "Tony, we are not going to leave you alone."
"If dispatch calls, Gibbs-"
"We're going to figure something out," he said. "Take a look up on top in the back right corner."
Tony did as instructed. There looked to be an opening in the brick and some kind of cloth inside. It was just outside his reach.
"Look down now."
There was a brick cemented to the wall and floor. Stepping up on it, Tony was able to pull down the bag with his fingers. Inside was a change of clothes.
"The key to the cell is in the bottom of the bag," Gibbs said.
Tony's hand fumbled in the bag and produced the key. "Should you be showing me this?"
"Yes, because you're not a prisoner. These are all just safety precautions. If we can't be here when you've changed back, we don't want you trapped in here."
"Yeah, but what happens when I'm changed. Now I know where the key is."
Gibbs grabbed one of the bars and stretched back, letting it take his weight. "We figured you'd have a hard time with a key and those claws. That, and Abby says you won't know."
"Promise me you'll keep her out of here," Tony said.
Gibbs grabbed a folding table and stepped into the cell. As he worked the legs he said, "You know Abby - that's a promise I can't keep. Grab a couple of chairs, will you."
Reflexively, Tony did what he was told, bringing in a pair of folding chairs and set them up. "Are we going to play bridge or pinochle in the next..." Tony looked at his watch. "Next hour."
"Two nights before, so in theory we shouldn't have any real action. I think we can have some dinner and do whatever in here. If things start to happen, I'll be able to get out."
"But if werewolf theory is right, it should be a quite night. So it's just us?"
"Yeah. We'll have the whole team here on and off for the next couple of nights. I figured that you and I could enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts." The doorbell rang. "That'll be Chinese; I'll be right back. See if you can get something on the TV."
As Gibbs headed up the stairs, Tony stepped outside the room and noticed the basement TV was now on a cart with wires and boxes hanging from it. It was no doubt set up for the video system that McGee had set up. He didn't see a digital conversion box - it was a losing bet to think that Gibbs owned a digital TV. He turned it on anyway and his jaw nearly dropped when the sounds of ESPN filled the basement.
Tony turned his head as Gibbs came down the stairs. "Cable? You have cable."
"I think so. McGee was all whiney about the dial-in connection-"
"Do you mean dial-up?"
"DiNozzo, do you think that I haven't heard enough about the state of technology in my house from McGee and Abby in the last month?"
"Sorry, Boss." Tony said it with a grin because there was cable. He wasn't about to move into a suburban wasteland that had fallen into a time vortex. "Say, they didn't happen to bring another outlet upstairs, did they?"
Gibbs walked right past him, back into the cell. Tony pushed the TV-cart into the room but left it outside the cell; he didn't want to risk damaging this blessing if he changed.
"They wanted to punch holes in the side of the house, because that would be expedient. I made them leave the second line down here, so it could be run the right way through the walls," Gibbs said.
Tony came into the cell and helped unpack the food. He nodded. "That sounds...hard."
"Nah, I'll give you a hand if you want it upstairs."
*
The evening didn't suck. Tony kind of surprised himself with the thought. He was expecting extreme boredom or heightened sexual tension on his part. Well, there was some of that, but not at any kind of uncontrolled level. They'd flipped around through a couple of basketball games and the pennant races. Amazingly enough, Gibbs was good company. All of his previous fantasies about getting Gibbs alone didn't actually involve conversation.
Tony tipped another finger of bourbon into his paper cup. The alcohol had taken off the jittery edge he had been feeling earlier, but he was still feeling awake and alive.
Gibbs took the bottle and poured some more into his own cup. "It's close to midnight."
Tony blinked. "That late?" It had been a good evening. "Hey, I'm not a werewolf."
"I noticed," Gibbs said, as he sipped from his coffee mug. "Although I'm betting there are St. Bernards that would have had trouble keeping up with the amount of food you ate."
Tony looked at the decimation among the white cartons. Gibbs had had his fair share, but counting the containers, Tony realized that he had eaten twice what he normally would, even if he was starving. "This is probably one of those signs that Ducky wants to keep track of." Picking up the containers, he began cleaning up. "This is really going to happen, isn't it?"
"I think so," Gibbs said quietly. "You ready for tomorrow?"
"No, but that's not actually going to slow things down. I guess things are about to become much clearer." Tony dropped a plastic fork and crunched the paper bag in sudden frustration.
"How else are you were feeling?"
"Kind of like I don't want to be a mythical monster."
"Uh-huh. What about physical, emotional? Heightened senses, agitation, that kind of thing."
"How do I feel?" Tony stood up and began collecting the trash again. He had no idea how to answer that because he had been trying to put it all out of his mind. That was probably a cowardly thing since the people he was closest to were risking a hell of a lot.
"How do I feel?" Even he could tell it was more desperate than angry. "I feel like I drank a whole pot of Gibbs-style coffee and Abby's daily allowance of Caff-pow. I feel like I should go outside and run until I collapse."
Tony was walking around, running his hands over the cinder blocks and cement. "Then maybe after a ten minute nap, I'd like to go clubbing. I want to go clubbing, dance until my body dissolves in a puddle of sweat, or I find someone to take in the back." Tony could feel his heart pound and his head spin a little.
Gibbs stood up, and slowly closed the space between them. "And what would you do then?"
With a smile, Tony took a few steps further away. Was he actually going to have to say this? It would be all the better to show Gibbs. Well, actually no, that wouldn't be better; it would screw up so-
"Sex or murder? Or are they starting to look a lot alike?"
Tony's head snapped up and he glared at Gibbs. "What the hell? Why would you ask that?"
Gibbs just watched him, expressionless.
Tony was being interrogated, which was agitating - agitated was bad, wasn't it? With a deep breath he closed his eyes and tried to picture the club scene in his head. What was he thinking? Then he smiled. "The only screams I'm hearing in my head are because the sex is dirty, hot, fast, and anonymous."
Tony rolled his head, trying to release the tension. That was kind of a relief. "Gonna ask me girl or boy?"
Gibbs poured Tony another shot. "Nope. I know that you like variety."
"I was thinking boy," Tony said.
Gibbs sipped his bourbon. "Sharing the details is not-"
"I've met girls who would be interested in the kind of night I described, but they're harder to find than guys that interested in the same." Tony took a swig of the alcohol and winced as it burned down his throat. "You know, my dry spell with guys is much worse than my dry spell with girls. It's not that I like them less, but the whole anonymous part gets in the way of second dates."
Gibbs shook his head. "Didn't we have this discussion about dry spells; didn't I tell you to get over it?"
Tony lifted a hand and brought it down on his thigh. "Easier said than done, because on top of everything else, Ducky says I can't get some. Can't get some; can't get laid, no sex-"
"Tony! I got that part."
It sank in again to whom he was speaking. "Ducky cleared my saliva, so no one has to be paranoid about drinking from the same glass - at least in the middle of the month. I'm having my doubts right now. It hasn't been a priority to clear all bodily fluids."
"Ah," Gibbs nodded. "There's always-"
"Don't. Just don't tempt me. It's not worth infecting anyone else. I should just give up now and become a monk."
"It's not always going to be like this, Tony."
"Yeah, probably," Tony muttered because his brain was racing down a different path. "Do you think that I can still walk into a church?"
"You're going to give me whiplash if you keep changing subjects like that. Considering how many times your passport has been stamped over the last couple of decades, I'd be a lot more worried about the gay bars than the churches."
"Gibbs!" Tony shouted and winced at his own volume. He didn't know why the hell it was so suddenly important, but it was.
Gibbs sighed. "We'll add it to the list."
With a couple of deep breaths, Tony nodded. "Just please don't let Abby sic the bowling nuns on me."
Part 3
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: 9755, 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.
Part 1
Part 2 - After the Harvest Moon
***Monday, September 7, 2009 - Full Moon, Day +2, Waning Gibbous
Tony came out of the bathroom and into the bedroom with towel around his hips. Gibbs was sitting on his bare mattress with a pile of clothes. There were things more important than 400 thread count sheets, but Tony asked anyway, "Are my sheets contaminated?"
"Ducky doesn't know for sure," Gibbs said as he stood up
Tony just looked at him. "For real?"
"The possibility exists, I'm told. We're supposed to treat you like you have mono."
"The kissing disease? Well it was unlikely that I was going to kiss McGee," Tony said.
A half-smile crossed Gibbs mouth, "I'm sure he'll be relieved. No sharing sodas or taking bites out of other people's lunches."
"I wouldn't..." There was nothing specifically accusing in the look that Gibbs gave him. He was just looking, and looking. "Okay, any other day, I might. For now on, if I'm going to...sample someone else's lunch, I'll sample the whole thing."
Yeah, that was a line of logic that wasn't going to score him points with his co-workers. "Abby, is she okay? I mean really okay, because there was the hugging, because Abby hugs, and we had dinner. I attacked-" Tony bit his lip. "Did I really attack her?"
"Hey," Gibbs took a couple of steps closer. "Abby is fine. Whatever this is, you can't breathe it out like the plague. A bunch of us touched Nestor's body, so it's not spread by casual contact either."
"I'm the one that got lucky."
"Get dressed. The rest of us have been working on a plan."
"Plans are good," Tony nodded. "A plan to do what exactly?"
"Keep you safe, keep everyone else safe and get you better."
"That's a tall plan, Boss." Too tall, Tony thought, but he also realized that he couldn't see more than a few minutes into the future. He wasn't holding out a lot of hope that this could possibly end well.
"Tony?" Ducky knocked lightly on the doorframe. "I just want to take a look at your leg injury."
"We're going to figure it out," Gibbs said and stepped out of the bedroom.
"Have a look." Tony sat on the bed and brought the leg up. For the first time he noticed that it didn't hurt any longer. In place of the large bandage covering bruises and stitches were sets of white scars - parallel lines that branded his thigh in several places.
"It is quite remarkable," Ducky said, shaking his head. "Your leg was hard to see last night."
"Because of the fur coat I had grown?" Tony asked. "Ziva did tell me I had a hairy butt."
Ducky gave him a sad smile. "If we could patent it, we would make a fortune on hair restoratives. In the meantime, I'm much more interested in the other restorative powers of your body. It should have taken weeks to fully heal and months for these scars to reach this state."
"So I'm invincible?"
"That is not the case, as you showed with Sgt. Nestor. It might begin to explain why it took six shots to bring her down. We're going to have to do tests to better define your current state. Once we do that, we'll be able to seek a cure."
"Yeah, Gibbs said as much. I'm having trouble believing that that's possible," Tony said.
Ducky stood up. "Tony, don't doubt us before we even get started." On his way out, Ducky closed the door. Moving on autopilot, Tony put on the clothes that had been laid out for him.
It all began to sink in the moment he saw the wreckage in his living room. Everyone on his team was gloved and straightening up or loading garbage bags with the previous night's food and unsalvageable items.
Any other day, he'd have been much more upset about the loss of the big screen TV, but what was weighing on him was the sheer destruction. The claw marks in the cushions really stood out. What would he have done to Abby, if she hadn't stopped him?
*
Tony didn't have much of a chance to dwell on it, because Gibbs had issued some orders and hustled them out. He helped carry the black bags to the dumpster while others went for lunch. Currently, Tony was sitting on Gibbs workbench with a Styrofoam clamshell full of his favorite burger and fries, or what was left of them. His guilt over any actions the previous night didn't change the fact that he had been starving.
"You call that science?"
"McGee, how dense are you? Herbalists knew that willow bark was a pain reliever before science decided to call it aspirin. Ducky knows I'm right," Abby said.
"Well, yes, but I think we should focus-" Ducky started.
"They also thought that witches floated and weighed the same as ducks," McGee snapped.
Tony glanced over at Gibbs. "I thought the weighed the same as a duck was just Monty Python being funny."
Something vaguely like sympathy passed through Gibbs' eyes, and then he whistled. "Hey!" Everyone immediately stopped talking, and turned their attention to Gibbs, who was leaning against his workbench. The others were seated in a variety of lawn furniture in a semi-circle, facing the workbench.
"Are we agreed that we're gonna help Tony without involving anyone or anything that would turn him into a guinea pig?" There were various nods and affirmative noises. "Let's start with what we know."
"Your boat is gone," Tony said. Everyone looked at him - technically Gibbs glared. "It's just that there's always been a boat. Don't tell me the rest of you aren't curious."
"Things change, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "Abby, report."
"Two nights ago, Tony was clawed and bitten by a murder suspect. Last night he turned into a werewolf." Abby, scrunched up her nose and continued. "Well, it was more wolfman than werewolf, but that's just my opinion based on legend."
"Wait!" Everyone turned to McGee. Despite the outburst he was looking self-conscious.
"Out with it, McGee," Gibbs said.
"Despite outward appearances, we don't know that Tony became a werewolf or any other form of mythical creature."
Ducky and Cassie were sitting between Abby and McGee. When Abby started to move, Gibbs reached out a hand and guided her back into her chair.
"Tim, we did not chain up a myth last night," Cassie said.
"No, we didn't. I wasn't trying to imply that we were having a mass hallucination, but we don't know what caused the changes in Tony. I think that before we start relying on legends and folklore..."
With arms folded across her chest, Abby stood up and walked right up to him. "McGee, what do I do for a living?"
"You're a forensic scientist - a very good one."
"So what makes you think-"
Tim folded his arms over his chest and glared down at her.
There was a long pause. Tony was feeling lost because usually he excelled with the one-liners at moments like these. Apparently dealing with the idea that he was something other than normal was weighing on him.
"Okay, maybe there was reason for you to think, but that does not mean that I was going to abandon science."
"Which means we chain Tony up tonight," McGee said.
Tony glanced at Gibbs and Ducky who were both looking fairly grim. Cassie was staring at her feet. He looked back at McGee and Abby, but they were focused on each other. "Hey, sorry. Don't mean to trouble you all with the fact that I'm in the room, but..." Tony waved a hand helplessly. "I'm in the room."
Abby spun around. "According to werewolf legends, the cycle should be over for this month. Three nights of the full moon, defined as the night before, the night of and, the night after." She wrung her hands. "But to be on the safe side we should test that out."
"So we chain up Tony," Tony said.
"Hey," Cassie came over and bumped her shoulder into his arm. "Abby and I will do it; give you a cheap thrill."
"You always know the right thing to say," Tony said and really tried to feel it for a minute.
"When?" Gibbs asked.
"Don't look at me," Tony said. "All I know was that Abby arrived around six. We both fell asleep when watching the movie."
"Abby called us at about 9:15," Cassie said. Then she glanced at Gibbs and gave a little eye roll. "That would be 21:15, Gunny."
"Don't worry, I still think you're teachable," Gibbs said.
Tony gave a little laugh. He could really use about ten million more of those, but Gibbs was looking at him. It was that look. "I've learned. You beat it in with every headslap."
"You haven't learned to not say the smart ass stuff out loud," Gibbs said
"Yeah, still working on that," Tony said.
"Boss," McGee said, as he thumbed his PDA. "I'm checking the Naval Observatory. Last night, sunset 19:32, moonrise 19:45, end of civilian twilight 19:59, nautical twilight 20:31, astronomical twilight 21:04."
"21:04," Abby said, wringing her hands. "It happened fast, but I was kind of in shock when things...stopped."
McGee took a step forward and Abby leaned on him. It was Abby and McGee, and it was what they did whether either of them knew it or not. Tony just wanted to bang his head into the wall, because he was the reason she needed that support. "Abby, I'm sorry," he murmured.
Abby rushed at him. Tony braced for the hug he was expecting only to be surprised when she slugged him on thigh.
"Ow! That was a nuggie!"
"Don't you dare be sorry. It was not you, Tony DiNozzo!"
That's what he got for momentarily thinking of her as a damsel in distress.
"She's right, Anthony," Ducky said. "It may have been your body, but whether it was chemical, electrical, or mystical, it was not you. Now someone remind me of the differences between the various twilights."
Finally something he knew. "I got this one, learned it on the Seahawk. Sunset is when the sun hits the horizon. Civilian is six degrees below the horizon - when you have to turn on your headlights. Nautical is twelve degrees below the horizon, when you can see ground objects but not in any detail. Astronomical is eighteen degrees -"
"When it's finally dark," Gibbs finished. "The sun is far enough below the horizon that it's not contributing to the night sky illumination."
"And the only light in the sky is the moon and the stars," McGee said.
"Switching sides, Tim?" Abby asked.
"Just documenting the facts. That difference of an hour and fifteen between moonrise and Abby's call, also means that the moon was higher in the sky, more visible," McGee said. "I'll need to look at the astronomical data from this morning, when Tony became Tony again."
"The stars, the moon, streetlights, lamps, and the big screen TV," Tony said. "My blinds are usually closed, so it's not like I saw anything."
"We're going to figure it out, Tony," Cassie said. "For now we gather the facts and plan around them."
Tim reached for his laptop. "Tonight, moonrise 20:09, astronomical twilight 21:02.
"Okay," Gibbs said. "Since we're playing it safe, 20:00 is our deadline for having DiNozzo locked up. It's 13:00 and we're going to need supplies."
"Are we going to be here, Boss?" Tony asked.
"Yes. We'll have a lot more options to secure you than at your apartment. Besides, you were noisy last night."
Tony thought of his landlord, who'd apparently gotten used to the quiet while he was an agent afloat. "Real noisy?"
"Yeah," McGee said. "You just reminded me. I went to shake the hair out of your sheets this morning, behind the building. I ran into your landlord."
"Please tell me you pretended to be a vagrant."
"He recognized me and started asking about what kind of party you had last night, then he saw the hair."
"No, no, no, no," Tony chanted.
"He apparently is really opposed to animals in the building."
"The term you're looking for is psychotic."
McGee nodded. "I tried to convince him that it was my dog and you didn't know I'd be bringing him."
Tony's chin fell to his chest. "How'd that work?"
"I don't think he was impressed," McGee said
*
Cassie turned down aisle 6 and Tony followed, "Did it scare you that Gibbs knew the contents of every aisle in the Home Depot?"
"If you had seen the boat, you'd be wondering why he didn't give the shelf and bin numbers," Tony said.
Various chains and ropes were on reels hanging in the middle of the aisle. Tony batted at the ends, making them swing. "Do you think we should go to some kind of industrial supply place?" Tony asked.
Cassie shrugged. "It's Sunday afternoon, our options are limited."
"If I might channel Gibbs for a moment, that's no excuse for doing sloppy work."
"I think what we're really hoping that Abby is right and that tonight is just an exercise in vigilance. Grab those bolt cutters, we're going to need them."
Tony dropped the tool in the cart. "I'm really hoping that it was a one time event or better yet, that it was some kind of B-grade movie."
Reaching past him, Cassie pulled a length of heavier chain down to inspect it. "Tony, if I hadn't been there, I wouldn't have believed it."
"That's just it, I suppose. I don't remember any of it, so how can I believe it? We've got some circumstantial evidence - items that could have been planted. I guess I don't have a good explanation for how quickly my leg healed. Hey," he smiled, "Unless I was in coma for the last month."
Cassie laughed. "I'd like you to calculate the odds of Gibbs letting you sleep for a month."
"With that in mind, it makes last night seem so much more plausible," Tony said, as he began loading heavy duty padlocks into the cart. "Cas, what did you see that made it real?"
Some customers turned down the aisle, and Cassie remained quiet as she selected some hooks and anchors. When they passed, she said, "It was undeniable that some kind of fight had happened when we came in, and that the hairy guy on the floor had something to do with it. It kind of looked like you." Cassie shrugged. "It looked a lot like you, but it wasn't until morning and all that hair fell out."
"I saw that on video tape," Tony said. "Can you tell me something else?"
"Sure."
"Why three pairs of socks on my hands?"
*
"Boss-" The next sound out of Tony's mouth was a mumble because Abby had popped another grape in his mouth. He spit it across, the basement. "Abby, I appreciate it, but the Roman emperor treatment is losing its appeal."
"Sorry-"
"It's after ten, are we in the clear yet?" He held up one of the leather mittens, which were connected to chains, leading to the new bolts installed in the wall. Tony was sitting on an old mattress, with sleeping kittens imprinted on it. He was guessing it was from a crib. One of his shredded couch cushions was behind his back. It was actually pretty comfortable for being chained in the Boss's basement.
Cassie and McGee looked up from laptops set up on the workbench. Ducky was seated at a desk with a pile of his blood results. When they were leaving his place, Abby had packed the insulated bag with blood tubes that had been drawn through the previous night and morning. Tony was never using that bag for lunch again. While Cassie and he had been shopping, Abby had gone to the lab and run the blood. McGee and the Boss had bonded over power tools.
Gibbs folded his knife and put down the piece of wood he had been shaving down. Just another night in the basement for the boss, Tony thought. He tried to figure out what the boss had been making. It looked like a wooden stake - was he expecting vampires?
"I think we've waited long enough. Duck?"
"I've been checking his blood pressure and temperature every twenty or minutes or so. I'm pleased to say he's completely average."
Tony opened his mouth to protest and immediately shut it again. Abby patted his arm. The others began to move around the basement. It was McGee that came with the keys. "Wait, where are my cheap thrills? You are not a cheap thrill, McGee."
"You're surprised that they chained you up and left you that way?"
The first thought that ran through his head was to make a comment about what an animal he was. That was not going to fly. He pulled off the leather mittens and socks, then he grabbed McGee's shirtfront and pulled him closer. "Thank you for telling me what happened last night - for insisting on this," Tony said in a low voice.
McGee was looking at him like he was trying to figure out if Tony was joking or not. Fair enough, Tony thought.
"Tim, I mean it."
"I can't let you hurt Abby or anyone else," McGee said.
"Next time you hold onto my weapon - better than using your own."
McGee stared at him with eyes too full of emotion and determination. It would have been melodramatic on anyone else. He nodded and got to work on the rest of the locks.
Next time. His own words weighed heavily upon him. McGee had moved back to the workbench and was packing up his laptop. "What happens next?"
Everything was suddenly quiet and they were all looking at him. Usually he liked that kind of attention. Usually.
"Are we sure that it's safe until next month or are we all going to start spending our evenings in Gibbs' basement?" Tony stood up and leaned against the wall. "If we're good now, do we all meet at the next full moon? Tomorrow's a holiday that we were all slated to be off for, but what happens when it's a school night? I guess I can't be absent, ever. It's going to put a crimp into planning dates..." Tony suddenly and unquestionably knew that he was fucked.
Someone was touching him. He never saw Gibbs move, but there he was, with a warm comforting hand squeezing his shoulder. It fixed nothing but made him feel a little less alone.
"Tony, we're going to figure it out."
***October 18, 2009 - New Moon
Abby lifted the fine wire frame of her sunglasses. "You need better tinting on your windshield."
Tony gave her a half-glance from his position in the driver's seat. "Abby, some of us like the sun." There had been small debate when he picked her up about which car they would take. Abby said that since she had mapped out the apartment-hunting route that they should go in her car. Tony had pointed out that he was too young to be the passenger in a hearse. She caved in when he agreed to let her navigate.
"I love my co-workers, but sometimes you're all just so weird. Oh! That reminds me. I have to double check the times, but we may have to chain you up during some new moons," Abby said. "See, sometimes moonrise is before morning twilight-"
"Abby, I sit next to McGee, who has spent the last two weeks generating moon tables-"
"Oh! We're here! Turn right!"
"This isn't an apartment building. Oh god, Abby."
"Tony!"
Tony turned into the parking lot as instructed. "Abby, you said you'd go apartment hunting with me. This is not apartment hunting!"
"I know; it's just a small detour. Really, there is an apartment to look at nearby."
He turned to her, piling doubt into his expression.
She looked at him guiltily. "About 20 miles away."
"Abby, besides being poked and prodded, I had one task for this month and that was to find a new place to live."
"But this is part of the scientific research for understanding your condition, controlling it, and finding a cure."
"Abby," Tony said very quietly and very seriously.
"Okay, it's part of the poking and prodding. But hey! We're doing this for you!" She folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes in the Abby approximation of stern.
"And I appreciate everything that everyone is doing. Hell, I think I appreciate this more than any other thing that anyone has ever done for me. But don't you think the pet store was eye-opening enough?" His voice had dropped an octave as he grabbed the steering wheel and remembered the incident.
"But it was puppies and kitties and other domesticated things; they breed the wildness out of them. They get freaked out by squeaky toys!"
"The puppies were doing cute puppy things. We showed up - I showed up - and they became a quivering heap of fear. They pushed the runt to the front so he could be the sacrifice to the vicious beast," Tony said, spreading his hands.
"Tony, it's just one data point and all those animals were-"
"Abby, that iguana that tried to tunnel out of his tank!" Then Tony remembered Cuba. "Maybe it had it coming - iguanas are the devil's spawn."
Abby opened her door, opened her parasol, and stepped out. He wasn't going to win this one.
Tony got out and joined her. "If an animal riot starts, I take no responsibility."
"It's just going to be a pleasant afternoon at the zoo, Tony."
They hadn't made it past the first five exhibits when two things became abundantly clear to Tony. One, it was exactly like the pet shop. It was different proximity for each type of animal, but they had their own individual freak out when he got near. Tony was kind of curious about why some animals sensed him from ten meters, but he had to be standing next to the bars with others. He didn't bring any of it up to Abby - she'd want to measure it.
The second thing that Tony noticed was that every human who happened to notice the agitation ultimately stared right at Abby and her parasol. He had known her for so long that he had forgotten the reaction of everyday folks to her black lipstick and spiked leather accessories. Today, she also had her head covered in miles of black lace that set off her red-striped knee socks and platform shoes. Little did they know which of the two of them was the real freak.
"Oh, caramel corn!" Abby said.
"You're only saying that to try and keep me in here for a little longer," Tony said.
"I have a specific test in mind."
Tony was hoping very much it didn't involve the petting section of the zoo. He bought a box of caramel corn and handed it to Abby and then asked for two chili-cheese dogs.
"Oh, you better only get one of those. I had breakfast a little while ago," Abby said.
Tony blinked and then smiled at the vendor. "Ah, you've got everything in the works, I'll just have to eat both of them."
Abby rolled her eyes.
Once they were on the move again, Tony asked, "What do you want to test?"
"The reaction of a large predator. A house cat can freak out over anything, but what about the big cats? More importantly, what about a creature that is the supreme top of his food chain, that eats everything he surveys?" Abby extended one gloved hand, making a sweeping motion over the path they were walking.
"I'm getting a bad feeling about this."
"It's probably what you're eating and how fast you're shoving it in your face."
Tony took a bigger bite and started talking. "It could be my last meal before I meet the predator that eats everything in his domain. What animal do you have in mind?"
Abby stopped gestured at one of the enclosures. "Behold, ursus maritimus, master of the ice - terror on both land and sea-"
"If it could fly then it would be just like a Marine. Heck, it sounds like Gibbs already."
"Yeah, it kind of does," Abby laughed and then her expression turned serious as she raised a finger into the air. "He is indeed from the snow of far-off Northern lands."
"Quoting the Marine Corp hymn, nice."
"Seals bark in out warnings for miles, caribou stampede in fear, salmon-" Abby paused, blinking. "I'm sure that salmon must do something to adequately convey their fear." She raised both arms, which was pretty dramatic considering the parasol. "Tony, I give you the polar bear."
The bear enclosure was a deep pit with high steep walls. In the center was a large pond with cement decks all around. The bears were frolicking, as much as one could accuse the supreme predator of the frozen north of frolicking. Abby slipped her hand into his arm and walked him to a spot along the wall. They were at least 300 meters away from the animals, but these were large carnivores and one couldn't expect to get as close as you could to a chimpanzee. More importantly, they were completely ignoring Tony and Abby.
For the first time in two weeks, Tony felt normal. There was something bigger, badder and furrier than him in the universe. "You know," Tony said, "This is good." He reached into the caramel corn and popped some into his mouth. "It's a nice day. I'm playing hooky from my homework, and I'm doing it with a hot chick." He smiled at her and she smiled back.
"I told you it was worth the side trip. We'll find the lions next," Abby said with a little bounce.
The wind whipped up and momentarily and shifted direction. The bears on solid ground paused. The ones in the water got out. Almost in unison, they turned to face Tony, opened their gaping jaws wide and bellowed a roar.
"Okay," Tony said, pulling Abby away from the wall and heading towards the main gate. "The good day is now over, and we're heading back to reality."
***September 22, 2009 - Waxing Crescent - Autumnal Equinox
Tony entered autopsy and did a quick check for Palmer. There had been some debate about whether to bring him in or not. He'd certainly proven himself, but Gibbs' rules about restricting information won out. Palmer was someone they could tap if they needed him. He spotted Ducky pouring a cup of tea.
"Are we clear, Ducky?"
Ducky opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small tool kit, "Yes, I've sent Mr. Palmer on an errand to Bethesda, which will afford us enough time to complete one of the more involved tests."
Tony closed his eyes tight, dreading whatever it was. Still, he took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeve. "What special thing do we have on the list today?"
Ducky slipped a thermometer into Tony's mouth and strapped on the BP cuff. "Silver."
"Hopefully not in the form of bullets," Tony mumbled.
Ducky held up a finger for quiet and placed his stethoscope under the cuff. A few seconds later the reading was done, and Ducky recorded both his blood pressure and BP. "No, not in the form of bullets. I have for you instead a burn cream."
"Burn cream?" Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, silver sulfadiazine. Silver is a well-known antibacterial agent. Silver nitrate drops were used for nearly a century on newborns to prevent eye infections that might lead to blindness. They've fallen out of favor to other antibacterial treatments, but there are still medicinal uses for silver. This burn cream is widely used on second and third degree burn patients. Ducky turned over Tony's hand and spread some of the material on his inner wrist.
"Hey, I just remembered that we may not have to do this," Tony said. "I've been wearing my St. Anthony medal, and it's silver." Tony loosened his tie and opened a couple of buttons.
"Ah, your namesake," Ducky said. He lifted the chain and pulled the medal out.
"St Anthony, patron saint of Portugal, fishermen, faith in the Blessed Sacrament, and pregnant women - but only in Brazil," Tony said.
"Tony, there's a red ring around your neck where the chain was laying." Ducky plucked at Tony's undershirt. "And there's a larger spot where the medal must have been laying."
Tony reflexively brought up a hand and scratched at his neck. "Yeah, it's been a little itchy, but that's no big deal, right?"
"Possibly," Ducky said with a frown. "There could be a base metal like nickel mixed in with the silver. Many people have nickel allergies and experience contact dermatitis."
"Contact what? Ducky, you said this stuff was to treat burn victims, right? It's not actually supposed to burn."
Ducky raise both eyebrows and used a tongue depressor to scrape off the cream. There was an angry red patch everywhere the cream had touched. "That would be contact dermatitis. Normally, I'd have you checked for a sulfa allergy, but between this and your medal..." Ducky said and dropped the stick into a bio-hazard container.
"This is not good," Tony said. He pulled the metal from around his neck and dropped it on Ducky's desk.
"This is interesting because unlike nickel, silver allergies are incredibly rare. You'll need to be aware of this for your work."
"It would be embarrassing if I busted a trailer trash bimbo and my hand caught on fire from touching her silver charm bracelet," Tony said, scratching at his arm.
"Oh stop," Ducky said and swatted his hand. "Go wash your wrist, and I'll find you an anti-histamine. Let's see how effective standard treatments are.
Shaking his head, Tony went over to the sink and washed his arm to the elbow. "Ducky, did I mention that St. Anthony was also the patron of the lost?"
*** October 2, 2009 - Full Moon -2 days, Waxing Gibbous
The entire month had been endless string of weirdness from Tony's perspective. He'd been dragged around, poked, prodded and stuck. For a short time Tony had been worried that he'd be sidelined; he shouldn't have worried. Because while the team was stealing time to work on him, Tony was busy doing their day jobs. He didn't start performing autopsies or matching fingerprints, but he was working double time on their case legwork.
The first challenge was sorting out the events surrounding their mauled bodies. The best they could piece together was that the third victim, Private Worland, was the original beast. He'd killed Chaves and Edens, who were found in some semblance of clothing. They didn't have any claws from Worland to match to wounds, but it seemed to fit. The morning of the last full moon, Nestor had reported to the infirmary with a nasty gash on her arm. She claimed that she snagged it on a fence. Worland's body was found without clothing, like Nestor's. They assumed that the two had gone after one another in wolf form, and Nestor had been the victor. Nestor wounded Tony, and the rest, as they say...
But there were still a lot of unanswered questions, like could you tell a werewolf from a normal person? Ducky and Abby had that one and were poring over post-mortem tests on all the bodies and adding that to the data from Tony's frequent blood donations.
Abby had branded Worland, Werewolf-0. Cassie had taken on the task to research him and see if she could figure out how he became the way he did. She was also researching various kinds of body armor. They all assumed that it was going to happen again and they needed to be prepared to deal with Tony in wolf form.
McGee was on folklore and documentation. After considerable arguing, Abby agreed to hand over the reins to McGee. He agreed to actually look into it and propose "tests" to better define Tony's condition. Tony had given up looking at the list, because while the three scientists were developing a clinical detachment, it was nothing but personal to him.
In the meantime, Tony and Gibbs carefully reviewed the evidence to make sure it fit the cover-up they constructed. They had all balked at the idea, but the end signed off on Sgt. Nestor being a serial killer. She was on her own in the world, no family to mourn or protest the findings. There wasn't anything fair or right about it, but it was either that or hand over the tapes of Tony's moonlit adventure.
"Come on, DiNozzo. Abby's lab."
Tony looked up from his computer screen and wondered how long he had been staring blankly. On autopilot, he followed Gibbs down into Abby's lab where Ducky and McGee were already waiting.
"Ducky, you go first," Gibbs said, before they were fully in the lab.
"Over the course of the last month, we've been monitoring Tony's physiological state. Other than needing to eliminate significant amounts of cholesterol from his diet, Tony is fine. More importantly, his state of health is steady."
"But not his blood work," Abby said. "I've been running the numbers and know that they're different, but I don't know what they mean."
"I'm afraid I'm not certain either, but Abby is right. There were some borderline readings immediately after last month's incident. They quickly fell into expected norms, but in the last few days there's been a shift. They're not so much out of the normal range, but out of Tony's normal range."
"What does that mean?" Tony blurted out.
"It's not completely clear, but if we're right to be expecting something at the full moon then these maybe precursors. Tell me, have you been feeling any different - tired, stronger, more energetic?"
"I feel great!" Tony said, puffing up a little. "I ran five miles the other day and matched my best college time."
Gibbs looked at him. "Matched the time from over a decade ago, when you were in constant training? When was the last time you did that?"
Tony looked at him and then at the others. "Great! Why does good news even have stink?"
"Tony!" Abby pointed at him. "We're working on it. These tests may lead us to something to prevent it or at the very least a way to predict it."
"Sorry." Tony murmured. "Speaking of predictions, are we set for the full moon?"
"Basement is set," Gibbs said.
"I thought we were leaning towards using Ducky's house, because it was more isolated from the neighbors," Cassie said with a frown.
"Yeah, that was before the animal sensitivity tests," Abby said, wrinkling her nose.
"I still have my Mother's corgis at home," Ducky said. "Tony had previously developed a rapport with the pack; however, when he stopped by, they did not respond well."
"Yeah," Tony said. "Contessa used to bring me her brush when I stopped by. She'd even wag her tail. Not so much the last time."
"Tyson, the biter, was particularly upset. I'm sure he wouldn't have done significant damage, but if he drew blood, we might have spread Tony's condition further," Ducky said.
"No one wants to see a were-corgi," Tony said.
"That wasn't all the research we put into practice," Gibbs said. "After Abby and Ducky figured out how much force was used in the previous attacks, McGee did some more math."
"Our chain and bolt system was not 100% guaranteed," McGee said. "There's a lot more cement and brick involved in the new system."
"As in, you're going to chain that to my feet and drop me in the Potomac?" Tony said, and then winced as Abby poked him in the arm.
"It's more like a cell. The one thing we didn't figure out was how to secure Tony enough so that Ducky can draw more blood during a change."
Tony closed his eyes tight. "I was unconscious last time, didn't you get enough then?"
"It was very helpful but you were heavily sedated. It would be good to get some unadulterated samples," Ducky said.
Cassie smiled. "I may have something that will help. I was watching the Discovery Channel and was inspired by the shark gear."
"Shark gear?" Tim's eyes lit up. "Did you order those chain mail suits they use to go diving with the sharks?"
"Not at twenty-three thousand dollars."
McGee and Abby went a little wide-eyed. Tony whistled, "At that price, I want an armored sports car."
"All those medieval knights were richer than an NCIS special agent. I did find some less expensive chain mail, like they use for medieval reenactments. Despite the costume sound that has, they're real steel. I also managed to find a used attack dog training suit - multiple layers of Kevlar," Cassie said.
"Used?" Gibbs lifted an eyebrow.
"I know. It's just the sleeve anyway. What we don't have is an effective way to test these. We're working on the assumption that even a scratch could become infected. I'm hoping that we can come up with a safe way to test the Kevlar to see if it can stop those teeth and claws."
Gibbs nodded. "I've got an idea for that."
"Chain mail, dungeon cells, all we're missing is the pitchforks and torches," Tony said. Everyone was quiet. "I'm sorry. I'm grateful, really, but in the last month I've been evicted, become everyone's favorite lab rat and Lon Chaney's younger, better looking brother." Tony held out his hands and then dropped them in resignation. "Well, maybe I could move my TV and DVD player into the cell and take care of one of my problems."
McGee winced and said, "Sorry, Tony."
"Give it up, McGee, I forgive you. Hell, I was kind of impressed with the way you lied to him. It was the right call - just wrong person to try it on," Tony said. "How were you supposed to know that my landlord would evict me for keeping an animal? Technically he's not evicting, me just doubling my rent. This is what I get for the flexibility of a month-to-month lease."
Abby rubbed his arm. "Any luck in the apartment hunt?"
"A lot of places don't take pets," Tony said. "I'm calling movers and storage places."
"You'll stay at my place," Gibbs said.
Tony looked at him. "Uhm, thanks, but no offense, I think I'd rather have a bit more than a cell in the basement or a couch."
Gibbs let out a breath. "You can have one of the spare rooms upstairs. If anyone asks, we'll tell them the truth. Your landlord went nuts and doubled the rent. You couldn't find anything on short notice."
"Thanks, Boss," Tony said.
"We'll talk about rent later."
The smile fell from Tony's face. "Yeah."
"I have a question about preparedness. I heard that there was an adverse reaction to silver?" Cassie asked.
"It seems to be a severe allergy," Ducky said. "Fortunately, it did respond to standard treatments. Since allergies can escalate, and we don't know what additional sensitivities may develop over the next few days, I'll be showing all of you how to use an Epipen should we run into anaphylactic shock."
"Our experience with Sgt. Nestor, showed that conventional bullets do an effective job."
"McGee!" Abby said with a note of pleading in her voice.
"Excellent point, who's bringing the guns?" Tony asked. There was another pause. "That wasn't sarcasm, people."
"There will be plenty of weapons in the room, and we even built in a sniper's perch, just in case."
Tim passed out some sheets of paper. "Beyond that I've compiled a list of shapeshifter traits for further testing. Particular items we should pay attention to are the timing of transformations, if they're associated with sunset or moonrise. Also..." Tim looked at Tony and then glanced away.
"Out with it, McGee," Tony snapped.
"Some legends report behavior changes while in human form in the day or so prior to transformation. Aggression for instance."
"Ah." Tony nodded. "That was just me being, you know-"
"We know," Gibbs said. "We know."
*
"This is it." Gibbs flipped on the light.
The room wasn't a bad size. There were the pieces of a white bed frame against one wall next to a stack of moving boxes. "Is that Strawberry Shortcake on the walls?" Tony asked, as he turned back to Gibbs.
Gibbs looked up at the walls and leaned one shoulder against the doorframe. His eyes were filled with something far away and painful. Gibbs swallowed. "Raspberry Rumtart."
It had been obvious before they stepped through the door whom the previous occupant had been. Now it hit Tony like a ton of bricks what that really meant. "There's the other room, the guest room. Maybe that would be a better place for me."
Gibbs shook his head. "This room's bigger. I packed up the stuff when I thought I was moving to Mexico. Time to move it out, maybe down to the basement."
"I could do that, Boss, if you really want me to," Tony said. "The other room or even the couch would be-"
Gibbs smiled, not a happy one, and shook his head again. "No one can give me back what I want, Tony. A lot of people have been telling me for years that I should move on." He swallowed hard and then lightly slapped the doorframe. "This needs a new coat of paint before you move in."
In his own marine way, Gibbs had just asked for his help. The fact that Gibbs had asked for help nearly floored him, but the fact that he asked it of Tony was a little overwhelming. "I'll be happy to take care of it, Boss."
Gibbs nodded. "You say that like a man that's never stripped wallpaper. Come on down to the basement, I'll show you the other accommodations."
Tony took a last look around. "I've been to strip clubs, stripped down, but can't say I've ever stripped wallpaper." He turned off the light and hurried down the stairs.
The basement didn't look much different to him. There was a new project in the middle of the room that wasn't looking particularly boat-like - too boxy. Other than that, there was a new workbench across from the stair, but he wasn't seeing chains and restraints. Where was Gibbs? Maybe it was the sawhorses, but the place somehow looked smaller. "Gibbs?"
A workbench on the far wall moved, revealing Gibbs in the doorway to a secret room. He gestured for Tony to come over. Tony stepped in, taking note of the heavy metal door; covered in pegboard to make it look like it was part of the bench. The room was built out of the same cinderblock as the rest of the basement walls. There was a bag of cement in one corner of the room. On the other side was a cell - three block walls and one made of iron bars.
"You built this?"
"Yup. McGee and Abby gave me a hand mixing the cement and setting the block." Gibbs moved over to the bars and tested how well they were set in their frame. "This was a bit harder. I thought we were going to have to weld something together, but McGee managed to find these on A-bay."
"E-bay." Tony said and then went on when Gibbs looked confused. "I think you meant E-bay, and isn't it interesting what you can find on the Internet? The workbench is a genius disguise."
Gibbs shrugged. "It wouldn't take long to map the dimensions and realize there was missing space, but it should fool the casual visitor."
"Do you get a lot of visitors down here?"
"You might be surprised," Gibbs said. "I figured Ducky could use the open space here to store medical equipment if he needs to. There's a slot in the bars to pass you food."
"Pizzas topped with sedatives? I suppose it's better than being shot."
"Tony," Gibbs put a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to take care of you."
"Maybe there's been too much of that already." Tony went and sat on the floor, back against the wall, running his fingers over the bars. "I think about Sgt. Nestor all the time. See, I think she knew Worland was the werewolf. When she changed she didn't go after an easy meal. She went after him. But once she got her man, there was no going back, so she opted for suicide-by-cop."
Gibbs squatted down in front of him. "None of us wanted to do that, Tony, and I don't think events played out the way you're describing them."
"Doesn't change the fact that she was a victim. No one asks for this," Tony said. "Gibbs, you've got to promise me that I'm the last victim."
"I already did." Gibbs hand was on his face, turning his head so they were looking each other in the eye. "None of us are ready to give up on you, but that doesn't matter if you already have."
Gibbs' hand on his face made it all come flooding back. The fingers and palm felt rough and hot and too intimate. The first time Tony had crashed at Gibbs', that was what it had been like. Tony had taken a cab back from the club because he was a little too wobbly to go it on his own. He'd brought some cold pizza to the basement. Just as he was about to accidentally dump it on the floor, Gibbs had reached out. Those hands had steadied him, held him up and walked him back upstairs. The calluses rubbed against his skin, making him feel alive.
In his buzzed state, kissing Gibbs had seemed like the only reasonable thing to do. Gibbs' only response was to head back to the basement, leaving Tony alone in the living room. There had been apologies the next morning with promises that there would never be a repeat performance. Gibbs had made sure of that by telling Tony to find another couch to crash on.
Strangely, Tony found that his career as an NCIS special agent hadn't ended the next day. Everything was normal at work. Down the road a couple of months, Gibbs had even relented and let Tony crash again when the boiler in his apartment building had needed repair. The second time, Tony had scrupulously stayed sober and kept a respectful distance.
Now in the basement, he found himself in the same position. Physically too close, emotionally too needy, too lonely, misreading friendship and concern for different things all together. He wanted this, like he always wanted it, and wasn't going to get it.
Tony didn't say the first or fifteenth thing that came to mind. Finally, he pulled his head away from the comforting hand and slid back up the wall. "Suck it up and move on?"
"That's one way to put it."
"No offense, but strange words coming from you. You know, based on the conversation we just had upstairs."
"Good to see you're paying attention. We're going to help each other out."
With a nod, Tony stepped into his home away from temporary home. A prison cell looked a lot like a prison cell. This one was about eight by eight. The room ran the length of the basement so there was another ten or twelve feet beyond the bars. In the cell there was new block where a window used to be. The other windows in the room had been painted black.
"Aren't the neighbors going to wonder about the windows?" Tony pointed up.
Gibbs shook his head. "These face the back yard and there's a thick set of bushes in front of them."
There was a slot at floor level, nothing that a grown man could crawl through. On the other side of the bars the slot led into a short tunnel of more steel and wire, nothing a dog could bite through. The same mattress and pillows were on the floor that they had used the previous month.
"McGee rigged up a camera so we can watch from the other part of the basement." Gibbs said and shifted a stack of blankets just outside the bars. "Abby thinks that in your furrier form, you'd only shred the blankets, but I figured that when you're you, you could reach through the bars, if you need to." Gibbs stopped and looked right at him. "Tony, we are not going to leave you alone."
"If dispatch calls, Gibbs-"
"We're going to figure something out," he said. "Take a look up on top in the back right corner."
Tony did as instructed. There looked to be an opening in the brick and some kind of cloth inside. It was just outside his reach.
"Look down now."
There was a brick cemented to the wall and floor. Stepping up on it, Tony was able to pull down the bag with his fingers. Inside was a change of clothes.
"The key to the cell is in the bottom of the bag," Gibbs said.
Tony's hand fumbled in the bag and produced the key. "Should you be showing me this?"
"Yes, because you're not a prisoner. These are all just safety precautions. If we can't be here when you've changed back, we don't want you trapped in here."
"Yeah, but what happens when I'm changed. Now I know where the key is."
Gibbs grabbed one of the bars and stretched back, letting it take his weight. "We figured you'd have a hard time with a key and those claws. That, and Abby says you won't know."
"Promise me you'll keep her out of here," Tony said.
Gibbs grabbed a folding table and stepped into the cell. As he worked the legs he said, "You know Abby - that's a promise I can't keep. Grab a couple of chairs, will you."
Reflexively, Tony did what he was told, bringing in a pair of folding chairs and set them up. "Are we going to play bridge or pinochle in the next..." Tony looked at his watch. "Next hour."
"Two nights before, so in theory we shouldn't have any real action. I think we can have some dinner and do whatever in here. If things start to happen, I'll be able to get out."
"But if werewolf theory is right, it should be a quite night. So it's just us?"
"Yeah. We'll have the whole team here on and off for the next couple of nights. I figured that you and I could enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts." The doorbell rang. "That'll be Chinese; I'll be right back. See if you can get something on the TV."
As Gibbs headed up the stairs, Tony stepped outside the room and noticed the basement TV was now on a cart with wires and boxes hanging from it. It was no doubt set up for the video system that McGee had set up. He didn't see a digital conversion box - it was a losing bet to think that Gibbs owned a digital TV. He turned it on anyway and his jaw nearly dropped when the sounds of ESPN filled the basement.
Tony turned his head as Gibbs came down the stairs. "Cable? You have cable."
"I think so. McGee was all whiney about the dial-in connection-"
"Do you mean dial-up?"
"DiNozzo, do you think that I haven't heard enough about the state of technology in my house from McGee and Abby in the last month?"
"Sorry, Boss." Tony said it with a grin because there was cable. He wasn't about to move into a suburban wasteland that had fallen into a time vortex. "Say, they didn't happen to bring another outlet upstairs, did they?"
Gibbs walked right past him, back into the cell. Tony pushed the TV-cart into the room but left it outside the cell; he didn't want to risk damaging this blessing if he changed.
"They wanted to punch holes in the side of the house, because that would be expedient. I made them leave the second line down here, so it could be run the right way through the walls," Gibbs said.
Tony came into the cell and helped unpack the food. He nodded. "That sounds...hard."
"Nah, I'll give you a hand if you want it upstairs."
*
The evening didn't suck. Tony kind of surprised himself with the thought. He was expecting extreme boredom or heightened sexual tension on his part. Well, there was some of that, but not at any kind of uncontrolled level. They'd flipped around through a couple of basketball games and the pennant races. Amazingly enough, Gibbs was good company. All of his previous fantasies about getting Gibbs alone didn't actually involve conversation.
Tony tipped another finger of bourbon into his paper cup. The alcohol had taken off the jittery edge he had been feeling earlier, but he was still feeling awake and alive.
Gibbs took the bottle and poured some more into his own cup. "It's close to midnight."
Tony blinked. "That late?" It had been a good evening. "Hey, I'm not a werewolf."
"I noticed," Gibbs said, as he sipped from his coffee mug. "Although I'm betting there are St. Bernards that would have had trouble keeping up with the amount of food you ate."
Tony looked at the decimation among the white cartons. Gibbs had had his fair share, but counting the containers, Tony realized that he had eaten twice what he normally would, even if he was starving. "This is probably one of those signs that Ducky wants to keep track of." Picking up the containers, he began cleaning up. "This is really going to happen, isn't it?"
"I think so," Gibbs said quietly. "You ready for tomorrow?"
"No, but that's not actually going to slow things down. I guess things are about to become much clearer." Tony dropped a plastic fork and crunched the paper bag in sudden frustration.
"How else are you were feeling?"
"Kind of like I don't want to be a mythical monster."
"Uh-huh. What about physical, emotional? Heightened senses, agitation, that kind of thing."
"How do I feel?" Tony stood up and began collecting the trash again. He had no idea how to answer that because he had been trying to put it all out of his mind. That was probably a cowardly thing since the people he was closest to were risking a hell of a lot.
"How do I feel?" Even he could tell it was more desperate than angry. "I feel like I drank a whole pot of Gibbs-style coffee and Abby's daily allowance of Caff-pow. I feel like I should go outside and run until I collapse."
Tony was walking around, running his hands over the cinder blocks and cement. "Then maybe after a ten minute nap, I'd like to go clubbing. I want to go clubbing, dance until my body dissolves in a puddle of sweat, or I find someone to take in the back." Tony could feel his heart pound and his head spin a little.
Gibbs stood up, and slowly closed the space between them. "And what would you do then?"
With a smile, Tony took a few steps further away. Was he actually going to have to say this? It would be all the better to show Gibbs. Well, actually no, that wouldn't be better; it would screw up so-
"Sex or murder? Or are they starting to look a lot alike?"
Tony's head snapped up and he glared at Gibbs. "What the hell? Why would you ask that?"
Gibbs just watched him, expressionless.
Tony was being interrogated, which was agitating - agitated was bad, wasn't it? With a deep breath he closed his eyes and tried to picture the club scene in his head. What was he thinking? Then he smiled. "The only screams I'm hearing in my head are because the sex is dirty, hot, fast, and anonymous."
Tony rolled his head, trying to release the tension. That was kind of a relief. "Gonna ask me girl or boy?"
Gibbs poured Tony another shot. "Nope. I know that you like variety."
"I was thinking boy," Tony said.
Gibbs sipped his bourbon. "Sharing the details is not-"
"I've met girls who would be interested in the kind of night I described, but they're harder to find than guys that interested in the same." Tony took a swig of the alcohol and winced as it burned down his throat. "You know, my dry spell with guys is much worse than my dry spell with girls. It's not that I like them less, but the whole anonymous part gets in the way of second dates."
Gibbs shook his head. "Didn't we have this discussion about dry spells; didn't I tell you to get over it?"
Tony lifted a hand and brought it down on his thigh. "Easier said than done, because on top of everything else, Ducky says I can't get some. Can't get some; can't get laid, no sex-"
"Tony! I got that part."
It sank in again to whom he was speaking. "Ducky cleared my saliva, so no one has to be paranoid about drinking from the same glass - at least in the middle of the month. I'm having my doubts right now. It hasn't been a priority to clear all bodily fluids."
"Ah," Gibbs nodded. "There's always-"
"Don't. Just don't tempt me. It's not worth infecting anyone else. I should just give up now and become a monk."
"It's not always going to be like this, Tony."
"Yeah, probably," Tony muttered because his brain was racing down a different path. "Do you think that I can still walk into a church?"
"You're going to give me whiplash if you keep changing subjects like that. Considering how many times your passport has been stamped over the last couple of decades, I'd be a lot more worried about the gay bars than the churches."
"Gibbs!" Tony shouted and winced at his own volume. He didn't know why the hell it was so suddenly important, but it was.
Gibbs sighed. "We'll add it to the list."
With a couple of deep breaths, Tony nodded. "Just please don't let Abby sic the bowling nuns on me."
Part 3
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Date: 2009-09-15 03:25 am (UTC)Stupid landlord, doubling the rent like that! Poor Tony though - he can't be around animals. :-( All the voices are dead on - this reads like an episode. A really awesome episode with werewolf(man?)!Tony. Hee. I love that you're having each member of the team do their own thing to help research what Tony has, playing with their strengths - it has that team/family feel that's been missing on the show. I'm so happy that it's in this fic. *g* And the whole bit with Gibbs moving Tony into Kelly's room? It made me cry.
"We're going to help each other out."
Yes. Yes to this. *flails* That made me so happy inside! And I like that you added in the story of what went down that fateful night when Tony stayed over at Gibbs' that one time. Heh. :D
Overall - I can't wait for the next part! *bg*
no subject
Date: 2009-09-15 03:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-15 04:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-15 04:58 am (UTC)What she said! :-)
Plus, I love that you brought Cassie in to the team. :-)
And poor Tony at the zoo. He needed a hug then. And the moments between Gibbs and Tony... perfect!
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Date: 2009-09-15 04:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-16 12:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 11:28 am (UTC)Next part soon :-)
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Date: 2009-09-24 11:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 11:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 11:31 am (UTC)Glad you like the addition of Cassie. I was debating what to do with the empty chair and decided that if I had a familiar face I could at least fill it temporarily.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 11:41 am (UTC)Brilliant! More please?
Date: 2009-10-20 06:08 pm (UTC)Oh, I adore this!
I mean, I love a were!ncis fic anyway, but this is a great wee piece of writing. The characterisations are just right and the story just sucks you in immediately.
The zoo idea was a very Abby thing, the scientist in her wanting to test out wilder creature's reactions than just woobie puppies etc. (and I loved Tony's comment about the runt being pushed forward as a sacrifice - spot on).
The Home Depot scene wth Cassie was great too, the whole perusing of inadequate chains, kinda makes me think the both maybe got some odd looks on that shopping trip ;-)
It's a great mix of plot, humour, teamy goodness and so far angsty unrequited love. Keep up the excellent work.
I can't wait for more, which just goes to prove what a good fic writer you are, keeping us on tenterhooks!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-22 12:11 pm (UTC)Thanks for letting me know that you're enjoying the story :-D
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Date: 2009-10-22 12:11 pm (UTC)Sorry about the delayed reply and the delay in the next chapter. Next transformation coming soon
Re: Brilliant! More please?
Date: 2009-10-22 12:12 pm (UTC)I got delayed with a trip and another ficathon story, but next chapter will be out soon :-D
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 10:31 am (UTC)(The Strawberry Shortcake on the walls was so sad, but a really nice moment, my favourite out of a whole bunch of great moments.)
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 01:07 pm (UTC)