Gibbs looked down at Tony, stroking his hair. He’d just poured his heart out to Abby about his feelings for Tony and that was a completely foreign concept to him. He sighed, wondering what she’d think. “Mean it, Abbs. He does my soul good. And I all I need is Tony.”
Abby gave Gibbs an indulgent smile back. “That’s sweet. I’m kind of jealous. You’ve got Tony, and it’s obvious you’re head over heels for him. Me, I haven’t met anyone that I can love like that. There’s just so much that I can’t say.” It wasn’t fair, but it was her life. Abby had to accept that and had learned to live with it much to her dismay. “You might be stuck with me a long time. If I don’t find a mate, I may end up spending time with you for many years, maybe even forever.”
Gibbs sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t think for a moment that the lies are easy on me. Or even on him, Abbs. What he doesn’t know could kill him eventually and that is a burden I wear every day. Someone could use him to get to me. Never for a minute is this simple or something I take on lightly. The lies could tear us apart easily, probably will some day. The secrets…sure you noticed how much humans hate secrets,” he said with a small smirk that dissolved into sadness. “It was why Diane and I could never work. She had to have too many secrets.”
Gibbs regarded Abby with a gentle smile. “You are always welcomed in my home. You always have a place at my table.” It was something vampires said to their most trusted friends and family. He hoped she’d understand the significance of what he was saying.
Abby stifled a giggle at the formal statement, knowing how serious it was. “Thank you Gibbs. You’ve got a place in my coffin if you need it. I don’t have a table exactly, so I can only offer you a place to sleep. But if you wanted a spot in my coffin, I could probably swing a kitchen table for you too.”
He gave her a wink. “Never was much of one for coffins, didn’t even test drive yours when I was over there. I gather ancient brethren used them for atmosphere but since when have I been that much of a traditionalist? He crossed the room just to bleed off some of his nerves. He turned serious now. “I will protect you, Abbs. With my life. This is as serious a vow as I’m able to give you.”
He wanted to assure her that it would all be okay but they’d been here before, she’d been threatened in the past and he hadn’t been on the front lines with her, much as he’d wanted to be.
“I know that, and mine didn’t come out quite the way I meant it. Just meant that if you need a place, you have it. You don’t have to sleep in the coffin, I have a real bed too.” This only reaffirmed Abby’s decision to let Gibbs know what she was. She could feel his sincerity as easily as she could hear it in his voice. “If there is anything I can do to make things easier for you, I will. I look forward to having someone who I care about the way I do you, with me in the future.”
“Ah, Abbs, I know. Just wanted to make sure you knew that we weren’t just blood drinkers with no soul that sleep in coffins. If I do tell Tony some day, we’re going to have a lot of myths to crush as it is.”
He sighed, stretching. “Abbs, for a guy like me words don’t come easy and secrets last a lifetime. Having someone new who knows all of me now…that is worth its weight in gold. You’re making a very bad night bearable and you’re dong a great job distracting me.”
"That's what I'm here for, to make crappy things easier to take." Abby wouldn't have believed that Gibbs was just a soulless monster, she knew him well enough to know that wasn't the case at all. "You and I are good, Gibbs. You don't have to justify anything to me. I've got a plate at your table; you've got a pillow in my coffin. We're good."
“We’re good,” he echoed, giving her a tight hug. “But not everyone else out there is. The vamps I know are good but there are power games, struggles, things I don’t even choose to know about. And given your family’s struggles, they and you aren’t strangers to whatever evil is in your world. Hell, for all I know, we’re the rare ones, the anomalies.”
This was why he couldn’t bring Tony in; he couldn’t put Tony in more danger than he was to begin with. “Makes you miss fairy tales, huh?”
Abby laughed, not sure if he realized what had just come out of his mouth. “Gibbs, I never had fairy tales. I always had human tales. But fairies and dragons and everything else, that’s my life. You just never knew it.”
He arched a brow. “Dragons, huh? Sounds like a fantasy book. The ones about the kid with the mark on his head.”
He paused long, not sure how to explain this. “Angels? Ever hear of angels? Ever since I was turned, I’ve…wondered.” He’d hoped, more likely. For so long he’d been convinced that he was just a bullet away from being with his wife and daughter again and when Diane had taken that away from him, he’d spiraled downward. It was only work that had pulled him out, the Paris assignment and Jenny. But Jenny had never known about him, had died ignorant of what he was.
“Sometimes I’d see a flash of…something.” He shrugged and looked away, knowing how stupid he was being. “Must have given him too much of my blood if I’m talking like this.”
“Everyone knows Angels are real, Jethro. The people we love take care of us when they feel we are putting ourselves at risk. If you’ve seen something, it might be your imagination, but it could be one of your guardian angels. So Kelly and Shannon are probably watching out for you, waiting.” Gibbs had said that he was almost immortal, but could be killed. It might just take longer for him to join his family, but she had every faith that he’d get there some day. “They loved you, and of course they’d want to make sure that you were as safe as you could possibly be. Doesn’t have anything to do with how much blood you gave, but everything to do with how much your family loved you.”
“I want to believe that,” he said, admitting his vulnerability to her, opening himself up in a way he hadn’t to anyone beside Tony. “Gonna have to wait too damn long, Abbs.” He knew the team either knew or suspected he’d had a death wish and he supposed a big part of him still did, but it was tempered by the fact that it was so damn hard to die. Even the drowning had only slowed his biology a bit. It was why the CPR hadn’t worked, how he’d just awoken instead of choking and gasping and spitting up water.
“Saw them a couple of times, Abbs. Thought I did. Just wondered. Gonna be a long time.” Some days he was so damn torn between Tony and his former life. Didn’t mean he loved Tony any less, but Shannon had been his first everything, first girlfriend, first real adult kiss, first lover. The first person who ever understood him. And the only woman he’d ever love like that.
"Might be a long time, but they will be waiting for you. I don't think any angel wants to see their loved ones too soon. You've got a lot of life to live and a lot of people to love down here, who love you." Abby knew that most of her friends and the people she considered family would die long before she ever got old. It was the price she paid for being what she was. "I plan on keeping you around an awfully long time, so I'll thank Shannon and Kelly every day for helping to make you the man you are. The one who takes such good care of me, and brings me sweets to make me work faster. You were well trained, I'm sure Tony would agree with me."
He sighed, looking over at Tony and then back to Abby. “You gonna be around a long time?” he asked her quietly. “Because if I lose everyone else"including him"I’m gonna need someone who understands.” It was one of the things Gibbs had been struggling with. He couldn’t change Tony. He couldn’t force what had been done to him on to another, but he couldn’t lose another soulmate either. His soul"what was left of it"wouldn’t make it through. He’d self destruct.
He’d said too much about Shannon and Kelly already, he couldn’t keep opening himself up like that. Not even to Abby. Opening up made him vulnerable, and he couldn’t do that.
“A long time. I don’t know how long, assuming I make it through all of this.” She knew that Gibbs wouldn’t let her end up dead if he could help it. “I’ll be around a long time. We live a long natural life, although I can’t say that I won’t ever die. But if you give Tony a chance…” Abby wasn’t sure why Gibbs wouldn’t turn Tony, but it wasn’t any of her business. “I’m not planning on going anywhere anytime soon Gibbs. I promise.”
“Stay with me then. Cause when they’re all gone, I’m gonna need someone who remembers me as almost human.” Give Tony a chance? To…what? “I vowed I would never turn anyone. It was done to me, Abbs. Against my damn will. A misguided attempt to save my life when I didn’t want to be saved. I will never run the risk of turning him and him hating me for it. I’ve lost too much. I’m not going to lose him and have him hate me.
“If Tony is still around when he learns what I am, he can have someone else change him. But not me. Not even for him. I’ve done too much already and we don’t know what my blood is doing to him, what changes will happen, how I damaged him.”
From the little Gibbs knew, vampirism mutated the cells, like a hyper virus. Once the change started there was no turning back. He just had to hope that it hadn’t yet begun for Tony.
"You need to talk to him and ask him what he wants. Give him the time he needs to figure out what he wants. Although this whole discussion might just be a moot point. You did what I'm sure Diane did when she turned you. He was hurt; he was going to die. You offered him your blood. It's not something to be ashamed of, saving the life of the person you love." It was sweet in a dark, Goth kind of way. No wonder she was feeling so mushy.
"If you don't want to turn him, even if he wants that. Have Diane do it, or Fornell. Just don't let him believe you don't love him enough to turn him. He's going to need to know that you want him forever Gibbs. He's your mate, he needs to believe that you want him."
“I’m not forcing him into eternity, Abbs. I won’t do that to him. If and when he decides he wants that, he can do it.”
Then her words sank in. “Not that little an amount f blood, Abbs. Not…that little an amount of blood.” It couldn’t be that easy or there would be fanged wonders running all over the place. What if he had enacted the change?. The worry had been in the back of his mind all along but now it hit him right between them eyes and he started breathing harder and unevenly.
“I deliberately only gave him a little of my blood. Go on, you give him yours or your healing or something. Do it…” He blinked a few times, remembering. He’d been focused so hard on Tony. It had been only a little bit…hadn’t it? God, maybe it hadn’t been. Maybe he’d given Tony a lot more and been so in a zone he wasn’t concentrating.
“I love him too much to turn him, Abby. I don’t want him to have to live in the shadows and lie to everyone who matters. I don’t want him to have to control needs before he understands them.”
But the thought of having a mate at his side forever was so tantalizing. Even if he knew he couldn’t give in, the thought and the idea were heady. He took another shot of bourbon right from the bottle, wiping his mouth on his arm. He had iron will and self-control; he wasn’t this creature who acted without worrying about the consequences. And he’d be damned if he allowed himself to become that creature without a damn fight.
“I’ve got no doubt that you love him Gibbs.” Abby looked around, luckily finding a safety pin. She would give her blood, and another liberal dusting to hopefully protect Tony from Jethro Gibbs worst nightmare.
“Let me work a little of my magic. I don’t make any promises; this is taking me totally out of my element. I’ve never shared blood with anyone but you, and even that’s a new experience. I know some Goths like it, but in my line of work I know what you’re getting into doing that. But I’ll share with Tony, because I don’t want to lose either of you.”
“Let me watch. I want to know how you heal him, what your methods are. Call it professional curiosity. What can you do? Is it spells of some sort or…what? How do you heal him? At least by you helping to heal him, he has a shot to not become me, to become his own man.” Gibbs didn’t want that choice wrenched away. Gibbs never wanted Tony to lose his free will.
“I wasn’t given a choice, Abbs. I don’t want him to know but if he has to know, he has to choose on his own rather than me making that choice for him.”
"A lot of what I do is by touch. The transfer of dust, the removal of darkness from the person who is ill." Abby demonstrated, using her hands in a massage type motion. She lightly ran her hands over Tony's neck, flattening the skin that earlier had been jagged and raw. If she did her job right, there would be no scar. "It's always something I've been able to do. I don't think its magic, but it's a part of me. I'm giving Tony a little bit of me with every stroke. So if he wants to go Goth and wear pigtails, that's not my fault. I'm doing this to help him."
“Kind of like my saliva and blood do,” he remarked softly. “I could continue to heal him, Abby, but I jut don’t know if I’ll end up changing him against his will. Thanks for helping him out here. I’ll do anything reasonable to make sure he doesn’t scar.”
“There might be a slight pucker, but give me some time to work out the wrinkles. Fairy dust is like botox, except you can actually smile.” Abby continued to stroke, stopping for a moment to check her work before continuing. “I can do that, take out wrinkles that is. If I could tell the world I was a fairy princess and not get locked up, I could make a killing in the plastic surgery business.”
He gave her a slight smirk. “Wouldn’t mind looking a little younger. Think you could fix me?” He was teasing of course. Aging slowed but didn’t stop from the time he’d been turned. He’d known Diane maybe twenty years now and she’d only aged slightly, roughly five or six years, but she’d been born into what she was. For guys like Gibbs who had been changed after being a father and a husband, the aging was slowed only fractionally. He didn’t mind, wasn’t particularly vain but if Abby was going to offer, he wasn’t a fool.
"But you're so handsome, your lines make you look dignified. I guess if you want, I can do a little touch up. But Gibbs, you look good. You don't need drastic. Maybe get rid of the frown lines, firm up the chin a little. I can make you look like you came back from a very good vacation, and not change the basic essence that makes you The Silver Fox."
He gave her a smile. It was nice to know he still had it, though with a much younger lover that was affirmed regularly. “I look okay, huh? Not too much of…what is it Tony calls me? The green guy from the cartoon he likes. Shrek? The Ogre? Not ogre like then?” He shrugged, turning a bit more serious. “Couple years younger might stop the dad and son comparisons whenever I drag him someplace where we can be alone together. Get sick of people saying how nice it is that I took my son on a vacation. We don’t even look anything alike. Look at him…and then at me.”
He didn’t mean that disrespectfully, they were just very different looking men, both good looking in their own ways but…different. People weren’t prepared to see two good looking guys out together and think of them as a couple. It would never happen. They both didn’t “look the part” not that there was even a part. Gibbs had been around far too many years to think there was a bisexual “type”.
“You look great, considering I know how old you are. If you want a little smoother, I can do that for you. When things quiet down, and we have some time to work on it. I don’t want to make you look like an eighteen year old, and I could if I wasn’t completely focused on what I was doing.”
“And how old is that, Abbs? Late forties or ancient? I feel a hell of a lot older some days.” He regarded her, nodding slowly. “You guys learned too much from Jack, didn’t you? Wanted to continue to be a man of mystery.”
“Couple years wouldn’t be too bad though. Not too bad at all:”
"If I took you back to that age, you'd have to color your hair. And it's not as much fun as it sounds, Gibbs." She could probably come up with a glamour that would make Gibbs look eighteen again, for a weekend if he really wanted that. Just to see if he really did want to go back. But that would take a lot of explaining too. "If I de-age you too much, people will ask questions. I can do it in the future, but right now, I like you being my boss."
“Coloring my hair would be the least of my worries,” Gibbs replied. He didn’t want to go back, he hadn’t liked the stammering, self-conscious boy he’d been then and the only good things about that time had been Shannon and the Marines. “Nah, eighteen can get eighty-sixed, but forty-two wouldn’t be quite so bad.” He gave her a wink, hoping she knew that he was teasing. “The whole dad and son thing gets on our nerves, Abbs. That’s all.
He gave her a smirk. “But if you can make him a redhead for a few days, I could have a lot of fun with that, Abbs. A real lot of fun.” Damn, he was growling again. Yeah, he had no more defenses right now.
“Can do that. Without any hocus pocus too. If Tony doesn’t mind a little hair dye, and a week or so of color. Doesn’t have to be permanent, but long enough for you both to get your enjoyment out of it.”
“I could get a hell of a lot enjoyment out of that,” Gibbs grinned. “But I was thinking red all over, Abby.” She was a smart girl and could connect the dots without him drawing lines. “Could you do that with your hocus pocus. Eyebrows…everywhere. Not bright red but…”
He hated laying out his interest in redheads like that, even though he knew it was the worst kept secret. “Just wouldn’t mind seeing him like that, Abbs.”
“I’ll just keep my eyes closed while I do it.” She would be happy to indulge Gibbs’ red head kink, it was an easy glamourize and she was always looking to practice. “I think he’d look good in a nice auburn. I can’t quite see him in a red like mine now. But we’ll see what he has to say about it. I can do just about anything he might want.”
“No not that red, Abby. Just this side of reddish brown would be really nice.” He was starting to forget how to breathe. Talking to him meant Tony would know what Abby was, and Gibbs had no idea how Tony would deal with that. Not to mention the fact that he’d started a long-term relationship with a vampire. God only knew how Tony’d handle all of the shocks in store for him.
~*~
Tobias groaned, struggling against the bonds that held him in place. All he could do was look up at his wife, his strength and considerable will to live failing him.
“Our daughter…valuable, Diane. Very valuable, to others.” He couldn’t hold his head upright all of a sudden. “Call…Jethro. Tell him…bigger….than us. Protect…blood.”
“I’ll call Jethro as soon as I know you’re going to make it. Emily has a house full of guards, no one can get to her.” But Diane had never thought that anyone could get a jump on Toby either. What had Jethro gotten himself into? She would have to speak to her child and find out just what he was doing putting them all in danger.
“Call now. Drink…while you talk.” He wasn’t going to lose his blood brother. “Call him. Call brother. Now…”
“Drink now, and let me worry about Jethro. I would know if he was hurt or in trouble. He knows that if he needed me, all he would need to do was call. If I couldn’t go, I would send him aid. I need to take care of you right now though.”
She pressed her wrist against his mouth and he drank hungrily, his struggles weakening as her life force rushed into him. He groaned, moving eagerly against her arm, his need to merge with her growing.
Fornell moved his head back and looked at her, frustrated by both his sexual need and how much he needed to be with her. She’d never been more beautiful, her fangs delicate against her crimson mouth, her eyes gleaming, her pulse beating a rapid tattoo against her delicate throat. He wanted to fasten his mouth there and drink deeply from her.
“Mate,” he whispered, needing to establish that before drinking another drop of her sweet blood. “Mine…Diane. Mine.”
“Of course I’m yours, Tobias. It may have taken us longer than most to figure it out, but I have no intention of letting you go.” She had known with Jethro that they weren’t mates, but she had changed him because of what he would bring to their family. She fought her attraction to Tobias when she first met him, because mate or not, Jethro more than satisfied her needs. But Tobias Fornell had called to her, without ever saying a word.
Things would have worked out much better if she hadn’t had to hurt Jethro. But this time, she wouldn’t let her mate go. Especially not this way. “Drink, Toby, take more if you need it to get through this trauma. Then I’ll call Ducky, he’ll know what to do to get you out of these chains. Not that it isn’t sexy. Makes me think that I may need to upgrade part of the basement from a gym to a dungeon. You look good shackled.”
Toby groaned, licking, taking her essence in deeper. As his strength grew, his desire did as well and he was pressing himself against the chains in a vain attempt to get to her, his body aching and swollen. As he drank her deep, their thoughts merged and he saw the brief flash of regret that she’d hurt Jethro.
He lifted his head, looking into her eyes. “He forgives you, Diane. Jethro forgives you.” Tobias didn’t like the ideas of taking Ducky away from his elderly mother but he knew of all the people that they knew, Ducky could be trusted, so he closed his eyes, gathering his strength, pressing against the chains and rubbing his body over them in a vain attempt to get to Diane. He needed her more every moment.
Toby pulled his mouth away slowly, licking her wound closed with one swipe of his tongue. “Diane, I need you so badly at this moment.” He couldn’t reach for her, needed to touch her, to join with her but the damned chains were in the way and he was captive. And every moment they were out in the open and away from their daughter, the danger grew.
~*~
Timothy McGee closed his computer and stretched his back. He’d been forced to stay home tonight, the elfish guards outside his apartment not there only for show. As the second son to the ruling Elf court, he was a valuable asset, as he’d often been told. Halloween was not the day for him to go out, even if it meant Abby was alone and vulnerable. He’d placed a tracking device in her necklace and had been following her movements all night.
Why had she ended up at Gibbs’ house?
Even though Tim was no longer involved with Abby, he had his duty and there was genuine friendship between them. He hated that his safety had come before hers tonight and had no idea why she’d gone from the party to Gibbs’ place. Gibbs wasn’t dating her. She wasn’t even a redhead.
Tim growled, frustrated, and opened his door.
“You shall not pass,” the elder guard intoned in a deep voice.
“Yeah, got that, Ragnor. Who is watching Abby tonight?”
Ragnor shrugged. It wasn’t his pointy ears that were on the line if Abby got hurt.
“Yeah thanks. I’m screwed whatever I do. You warded my windows and back door; you guys are out here. How can I do my job with you guys here?”
A prickle of unease ran through Tim again. He’d been getting these unsettled feelings all night. “That’s enough. I know you’re with Gibbs, Abby, but I’m still worried.”
~*~
Jenny gave Ziva a look and shook her head. She had known Ziva would have a hard time dealing with her sudden arrival, but she hadn’t quite expected this.
"I didn't summon you, you summoned me, my friend. I suppose I didn't need the layer of skin you took, but I'll forgive you because you're correct. My dying did put a crimp in my plans, but I was working on a solution, although I hadn't come up with one. I was hoping the trip with me to California would help me get back into Tony's good graces so that I could try to make things up to him. You can see how well that worked."
Jenny was aware that not everything was right with her former team, but she didn't know specifics. "I just know that something big is going to happen. We're going to have to keep a special eye on the team, Ziva. I don't like how the pieces are all fitting together. Something evil is lurking just outside the field of vision, and we need to be aware of it. You are a warrior, they will need you to protect them."
“I am…how you say it? A spirit whisperer. I am no warrior against evil. You well know my weapons.” Ziva assumed that Jenny meant something evil of the paranormal sort. “I cannot even push the needy ghosts away. Not that you are needy. You are my friend. You are different,” she hastened to add. “But I am of little to no help where supernatural warfare is concerned. Speak with someone who can defend the team, Jenny. That someone is not myself, much as we ay both like it to be.”
“You do have that special talent, but you are a warrior, Ziva. You can fight those that most don’t believe in. You are trained in the art of seeing beyond the here and now. I’ve never seen someone who could fight like you. You may not know it, but you were sent here, to help in this fight. It has been brewing since before you arrived, but you are now in the middle of a war Ziva, and you need to help keep Jethro, Abby, Tony, Ducky, and Tim safe. They’ll try, but they need someone with your strength to succeed.”
“I can see spirits, noting more than that. How can that help trained NCIS agents? They are warriors of their own right, even Abby. Tell me what you feel I must do to help them, Jenny. But I do not understand and I do not have faith in this warrior hocus-pocus. I think you are under some illusion. That is not me, Jenny.”
Ziva stood and started pacing. “What wll you have me do? Tell me because I need guidance here my old friend.”
"You need to go to Jethro's, he's going to need you there. There is much that has happened this evening. Have faith, you are indeed a warrior, sent to care for the earth and its people. There is no one better for the job, as you have spent your life protecting those who could not protect themselves. Don't you find it odd, that a young girl who grew up wanting to dance with the worlds premier ballets, grew up to fight so gracefully, almost as if she were not aware of where her power comes from. You were born to a long line of warriors, and you will continue their fight."
“That was a child’s dream, Jenny. The fanciful ramblings of a little girl who saw war outside her front door on a daily basis. That was not my reality.” But Ziva knew she had grace, far more than anyone else on the team, even Gibbs who had deadly speed and his own sort of grace when in a combat situation.
“Tell me what happened this evening. Will you be coming along with me? To advise me? Is anyone harmed or hurt, Jenny? You are…how they say it? Causing me to fly deaf here.” Ziva looked at her friend, standing and going to her closet. “What should I bring? An overnight bag? What? How should I dress? What weapons? I need some more details here.”
“That was a child’s dream that you still hold dear.” Jenny knew her friend’s heart, and knew this was not her choice of career, but that she would do as she was told and trained. “Tony was injured, Abby was attacked. The whole team is needed, Ziva. Take your knives, your back ups, the gun I know you have that you use on your non-NCIS sanctioned missions. Bring whatever can’t be tied back to you. Wear something comfortable, that you can fight in.”
Ziva took in what was said and gasped at the news. “What happened to Tony and Abby? Who did this?”
Ziva ran into her bathroom and pulled her hair up quickly, running a brush over her teeth and smearing on deodorant. When she was done, she began “gearing up” as her American friends called it. Two knives went into ankle sheathes, her backup gun strapped to an ankle as well. After her cargoes were on, she attached a knife to the waistband then grabbed her non NCIS Glock before pulling on a shirt. Comfortable sturdy shoes were slipped on and she packed a knapsack with some essentials, a change of clothing, water, and protein bars.
“I think I am ready to go.”
~*~
Emily struggled in the man’s arms, kicking, trying to bite. Whatever was happening in her mouth was real scary and she needed her mommy and daddy.
“Calm down young lady, or you’re going to continue to hurt.” The young hybrid had struck out, but luckily her flailing didn’t hurt him. “Don’t you know what you are? A true princess, the first of her kind to survive. Your parents were remiss by not telling you. But I can show you a whole new world if you allow me. You, my princess, are going to be such a joy to keep with me. I may just refrain from killing you. You will someday make a marvelous partner. If you grow up as beautiful as your mother, you could be the future showpiece of my court.”
The words the man was saying scared her and her mouth felt funny too. “Be quiet. You hurt my friends and I don’t want to stay with you! I want my daddy to put you and your friends in jail and my mommy to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law!” She drew up as tall as she could. “I hate you and whatever you stand for. I am Emily Fornell and I am not your princess!”
"Oh, but you might be someday. You're just a child now, unable to understand just what power I hold, Princess Emily." The girl had spunk and if she survived would someday make a powerful ally. And he had every confidence that he could turn her to his side. Remove her from the love of her clan, and she could be easily molded. "I look forward to showing you just what power I do have. So much more than your parents could ever hope to gain."
The man was sending her creepy thoughts, of them controlling all sorts of people and winged and fanged beasts. “Stop it Just stop. I don’t want to know your power. I just want my family. Get the pictures out of my head!”
She bit down on his arm, making him bleed but then she sucked a little ‘cause the blood tasted good. Even though her mind was saying ‘eww’, she was drinking it. She pushed herself away, horrified and scared. “What did you do to me?”
“I did nothing to you. Your parents were remiss in not telling you the truth of your birth and life. But drink away, you need to keep your strength up to let this all play out, my princess.”
She couldn’t stop; she just kept lapping at his arm, hanging on even though she was crying. Emily was so very scared. What was wrong with her? Could her sickness be fixed? She wanted Mommy and Daddy to help her understand what this meant. People didn’t just drink blood.
~*~
Gibbs went silent, thinking about what would happen when Tony learned the full truth. He didn’t see that there was any way he could get beyond telling him. Sighing heavily, he looked at Abby.
“You realize he might get upset and emotional and pull away from both of us, right? We might start something he is completely unprepared for, Abby. Despite the persona, Tony is a traditionalist and this is going to throw him long and hard.”
“He might. I want to believe that he’s as open minded as I am. I didn’t get upset that he’s human, ya know.” Abby hoped that Tony would realize that they may be a different species, but they were still the people he’d come to know.
“I don’t know what he’s going to do. If he loves you, he’ll deal. If he doesn’t deal, we’ll handle it then. I’m not going to let you lose him because he’s being stupid any more than I’d let you lose him because of injury.”
“Most people are human, though, Abbs. We’ve come to expect that. They don’t expect us, only in movies and novels and when they dream about what they think doesn’t exist. And it isn’t a matter of him loving me enough or not loving me enough. It all depends on how he can adjust to his new reality.”
Gibbs knew and feared that Tony would reject him.
“It’s a good thing you feel for Tony then, who spends half of his time in a movie fantasy world. Unlike Ziva who would look for a logical reason for what you were. The only person who would handle this better than Tony, outside of me, is the resident Elf Lord, and all fantasy is good to Tim. But I just can’t see you two together. You and Ziva? Sure, although there would be a dominance fight to end all fights.” Abby wasn’t sure who she would put her money on. Ziva had a definitely Xena Warrior Princess vibe going on. But Gibbs had his vamp charm and his vamp speed and strength. It might just be an even match.
“But you and Ziva would make pretty babies. Scary as hell, but pretty.”
“Tony spends his time in a world where parents care about their children, where little boys aren’t left in hotel rooms alone, where he isn’t lonely. It is always going to be a hobby for him, Abbs, but I’ve pulled him out of that place with love and attention and affection. Tony only needs to be loved and wanted and needed. I do that for him, Abbs. I love him so damn much, as a friend and as a lover.”
“Gibbs, I love Tony the way he is too. And I understand why he is the way he is. I’m glad he’s got someone who can do that for him. He deserves to be happy, just as much as you do. And that you two can make each other happy. Well, it makes it just that much better.”
“He deserved every happiness, Abby. I don’t know the half of what they did to him, but the few things he lets slip out make me know it was criminal. And if I ever get his father in a room alone without Tony, all bets are off I’ll make that bastard pay for damaging my…Tony.”
He wasn’t prepared to throw around words like his love so indiscriminately. Not yet, not even with Abbs, who was now the only one who knew beside the two of them It would take some time for him to get comfortable with anyone knowing their secret. IT had made him feel much younger, knowing that he had a secret that nobody else in the world beside Tony shared. But it was time. It was time to let a few trusted friends in. They’d die for each other; they wouldn’t likely reject him or Tony.
“Well, I’m right there with you, but I won’t call him My Tony. Not that I disagree, but you’re a little possessive, and I don’t want to tick you off in any way. So your Tony, I’m cool with that. No tearing off my head got it?”
“I’m a hell of a lot possessive, Abbs, but for you I’ll share mine…my mate.” He nodded in appreciation of the man in the bed. “Yeah, my Tony. My Tony from head to toe, Abbs. Gonna be my Tony forever unless he wants to leave. I’m done…I’m ready to settle down with one person and he’s it.”
He’d been too hurt, too scarred to deal with the idea of losing Tony and then going out to find someone new. Or being lonely. Neither were options for him. “If it doesn’t work out for whatever reason, we’re both gonna need you.”
"I might need to borrow him, but I always promise to return him in better condition then I took him out. Not like tonight. But I promise to do better in the future. Tonight wasn't a normal night in my life." Abby knew there would be hell to pay if she broke Tony. Not that she would intentionally let that happen to begin with.
"Might want to let him know you've chosen him, and not tell him that I knew first. I know any woman would be upset by that, and I can only guess that Tony would be too. Four wives Gibbs, and you still don't know that?"
“He knows I chose him. He knows I love him, he knows, Abbs. He wouldn’t be here if he didn’t know that to the bottom of his soul. He doesn’t need the constant stream of words. When I say ‘I love you’, I mean it and he knows how important those words are. And I tell him, Abbs. I let him know. Never gonna make that mistake again. Never gonna take him for granted”
It had to be blood loss that was making him talk this openly. With Abbs, no less. This wasn’t him, wasn’t what he did,
“I think we both have to not take him for granted. I know I have, not intentionally to be horrible. But because he’s always there, and I guess I always thought he would be.” Tonight had been an eye opener, and she wouldn’t put Tony in that position again. “You’re cute when you’re talkative. It’s a good thing on you.”
“Yeah, it’s easy to believe that Tony will always be here, Abbs, but the moment he isn’t will damed near kill us.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “And like it or not, we came really close tonight. I think he’s out of danger, Abbs. Think so anyway,” he emphasized quietly. “I love him and if he doesn’t know that to the depths of his soul, I need to make him aware.”
"I'll leave you alone while you're doing that. Just give me a nod, and I'll disappear and you won’t even know I was there. If you're trying to plunder the depth of his soul, I think it's safe to say you don't need an audience."
“Oh you’ll know when to leave,” Gibbs assured. His thoughts wet back to the conversation about coworkers.
Ziva? That was..strange. “You think of me with McGee and Ziva? Ziva? Abby, that’s disturbing.” Ziva was a beautiful and capable woman but she was completely not his type. “Not interested in babies.” Actually he was, but it wasn’t as if Tony was going to carry a fanged wonder for them.
“Vampires don’t breed easily. Something about our makeup or the way our DNA changes. You’d have no shot of me and Ziva having kids.” He cocked his head. “What about you? You ever think of passing the bloodlines onward?”
“No, I don’t think of you with other people. Not really. Just trying to prove a point is all.” Gibbs could be so literal, but sometimes so clueless. “I am expected to spawn. I don’t know though. I’m not sure I want to do that to a child. Maybe someday, if I find the right guy, and decide it’s time for a mini-me. But as far as fairies go, I’m pretty young. No one would expect me to have children for quite a while now.”
“You could fantasize about me and anyone you want, Abbs. And if you ever need a papa for your mini you, you couldn’t get any better than my Tony here. You two would make great looking kids. You ever try that computer program on yourself? You and McGee or you and Palmer or even you and me? You guys were so fascinated with the images.” He’d been privately amused when they’d pulled up a child of him and Jen.
"Me and Palmer? I'd eat him for lunch, and you know it.”
“Not even after the moon faces he was giving you? And I heard about an incident in autopsy with you two and super glue. What is it with you and superglue anyway, Abbs?”
Abby pressed her lips together, rolling her eyes.
“McGee and I. That's complicated. I love him to death, but it doesn't mean I want to procreate with him.”
She loved McGee, that was a given, There had been an Abby and McGee even before he’d started working at the Navy Yard. “I wondered if you and McGee might make a go of it, but the next thing I knew he was the Elf Lord and attached to his computer games and his writing.”
And Gibbs knew Amy and McGregor didn’t have a happy ending in McGee’s book. Despite McGee’s protestations, the books were a reflection of how he felt about his co-workers.
“Anyway, I intentionally kept my picture out of that program." Abby was honored that Gibbs would want either him or Tony a mini me with her. Someday, if she got to the point of wanting a kid, she'd consider it. She couldn't think of a better person to share that with. He or Tony would both make great dads. "Someday I may come back and take you up on that offer. I don't see me finding a mate the way you have. And if you ever want to try, and don't mind sharing some time with me. I think if anyone could make that work, splitting custody with another human, it's me and you."
He didn’t really think she’d take him up on it but she was making him smile by saying so. “You may find a mate. Another fairy or something. Or someone as unique as you are. Doesn’t matter if they’re human. Never mattered to me, anyway. But you want to make it work, Abbs, I’d be honored.”
He smiled wistfully. “You do like older men and Ducky is always single, in case you’re interested. I know he’s significantly older than you, but he’s a gentleman down to the core, Abbs.”
But he was mortal and would die so much younger.
“Not looking for a fairy mate. My grandmother’s dream, but that’s a lot of pressure. I’m just looking for someone I can fall in love with. Not because of what I am and what I can bring to a marriage. Or what they can bring me. I want love for love.”
When she had first started at NCIS, Abby had the biggest crush on Ducky but he’d never showed any interest in her. She’d finally given up and accepted that he only wanted to be friends. “I love older men, but I’m pretty sure that’s one man who doesn’t realize I’m a woman. I’ve given up on getting a second look from him.”
She actually had been interested in Ducky? The use of “given up” was interesting. “Abbs, you have a thing for Duck? Cause I know he finds you…how did he put it?” Aesthetically and intellectually stimulating.” He wouldn’t mind seeing Duck with Abbs, at least then he’d know Abby was being loved the way she deserved to be.
"I'd like to think I could come up with something that would allow them to live. Because you're right, I do like older men. Although knowing that I'm aesthetically pleasing as well as being an intellectual, I guess that's more than just being friends."
Gibbs sighed. “Can you fall in love with someone knowing that you’re gonna outlive them by decades, Abbs? I’m having trouble with that one myself. Not the loving, but the reality of losing him and how hard that’ll be.
"I don't know how I'd really feel, knowing that I would outlive a partner. Is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all? I don't know the answer to that. But if I fell in love, hard and deeply in love, I think I could hold his hand and watch him wither away in front of me. If that was hisr choice. I would assist in any way to make sure he was as old and as comfortable as possible." Abby could say that, never having had to live through it.
“I know the answer,” Gibbs said in an emotion-roughened voice. “Yeah, but it hurts like hell. You have no idea, Abbs.” Seventeen years and he was still mourning Shannon and Kelly just as much as if they’d died a month ago. “Can you change someone? How are fairies made? Genetically, right? Born into it? Would your people allow you to marry a mortal?”
He doubted it. The little he knew about vampires told him that they were incredibly prideful and he assumed that extended to the other paranormals as well. “You should talk to Duck. He’s gonna find out about you someday soon and when he does maybe you owe it to him to explain in more detail. Give him the choice. He might be older but he’s in incredible health. And I know he’d treat ya right.”
He was done with the Ducky sales pitch, Abby was a smart girl and she’d make the right choice. He’d just kinda like if that choice was Ducky but he wouldn’t push too hard.
“Fairies are born, mates are chosen.” Abby knew that she wouldn’t be able to change her chosen mate into a fairy, but there might be other ways. She honestly had not looked into it.
“I will talk to him. But just because you’d like us to be together doesn’t mean he’s interested Gibbs. Him thinking I’m pretty and smart doesn’t automatically mean he wants to sweep me of my feet and be anything more then we are.”
“Just feel him out, Abbs. If there was anyone in their lives who would understand, It’d be Duck. “That’s all I’m asking. I have a good feeling about the two of you together. Don’t ask me to explain it but…” He shrugged. “There’s a good feeling there, Abbs.”
"So your gut works for romantic relationships of others, but not yourself. That makes absolutely no sense." Abby would talk, she'd explain what she was but beyond that she expected very little. "You just want to play yenta for your friends, now that you're happy. I get that. But don't be disappointed if it doesn't change a thing."
“Play a what?” he asked, confused. “And my gut worked out fine for romantic relationships. I just didn’t listen when I was focused on not being lonely. When I was focused on just maybe it working out. When I was focused on being a dad again.”
Where the hell had that come from? He’d never admitted that was one of the reasons why he’d married, not to anyone except Ducky. And here he was telling Abby something so…well, intimate. In a night when he’s been shooting his mouth off to her at every turn.He sighed, staying silent for a couple of minutes before he looked at Abby again.
“Yeah, I’d love to be a father again. There. Said it.”
“A matchmaker, you’re a yenta. Got a feeling you won’t be happy until we’re all happily coupled up.”
Abby hadn’t expected Gibbs to admit he wanted to be a father again, not like that. She’d had no idea he’d been looking for that with all of his ex-wives.
“Place and time Gibbs. You want a baby; I have ovaries. It can be pretty simple if you think about it. You’ve got a crib and all the love in the world. Nine months in the inner Abby lab, and baby Gibbs could be loving on his or her two daddies.”
He gave her a sad, wistful smile and nodded. He couldn’t admit how tempted he was, despite the challenges with his DNA.
“We have a community, but I’m not real involved, though the one who changed me keeps a pretty close eye on things in this area. I don’t know how many of us there are, but I know most tend to be under the radar and not call attention to what they are.”
“You don’t need a community, you have us, Gibbs. You’ve adopted all of us, not even knowing what I am. You watch out for us and I always feel safer when I’m with you. But can I meet the ones you answer to? I’d like to talk shop with them. It might help figure out who was hunting me tonight. Can I trust them to not go running off and sell my identity? I’m afraid that if word gets out that I’m here, we’ll all be in big trouble.”
“Just one, Abby. And you can talk with her if I can get her to settle down enough. She’s pretty dangerous when pissed and this will really piss her off. This was clearly a vamp attack, either to get your attention or mine or ours. And…” Christ, he’d sent Fornell in.
“If it was a trap, I sent my blood brother in, Abbs. Do you have anyone out there who can check on him? I won’t have him hurt or killed in a fight he didn’t ask for.” A surge of adrenaline rushed through him and he was torn. Tony and Abby…or Toby.
“You got turned by a chick? You mean your jokes about your ex-wives being blood suckers weren’t just jokes?” It had to have been an ex-wife, she just couldn’t see one of the random girlfriends turning her boss. Well, unless it was Hollis Mann, but she was more barracuda than Vamp.
“I told you, I can take care of Tony if you have to leave. Or call her, and have her go after Fornell. If she’s dangerous, she should be able to take care of herself and him. Have him brought here, if there is anything I can do. I never thought I’d offer to dust Fornell, but if he needs it I’m the girl to do it. I have some books at my mother’s house, that might give me a better way of healing vampires and other worldly members of society. I’ll email and have her research for me. I don’t want to tell her too much, it’s been a fear that someday my past would catch up with me. I don’t want to worry her if it’s not happening.”
“I got turned by an ex, yeah. Diane Fornell.” Gibbs flipped his phone open and tried her but got her voicemail. “Di, Jethro. Get to Toby. See to Toby.” He dialed Toby’ number and shook his head, agitated, fangs lengthening, the air around him crackling with displaced energy. “I can’t leave my mate. I can’t. Not with my blood surging through him. The connection is too strong, it could kill him to have me leave right now.”
Now that the truth of the matter had hit him, he began pacing. “This could be a multi-pronged attack. We need to get everyone locally that has special abilities together. Do you know anyone else? All I know are Diane and Tobias, though she has a network.” He crossed to the window and stared out into the night, gripping the windowsill until his knuckles whitened.
~*~
“We almost there?” Jackson Gibbs shifted in the sedan, trying to get comfortable. A few hours ago, two nice NCIS agents had come to his door, telling him that Leroy had been badly injured in an accident. He’d called the hospital from their phones and there had been no update on his son’s condition.
He’d rushed to pack a bag and asked Violet, L.J.’s widow, to mind the store for him. He and his boy had just started mending fences and he wasn’t about to lose him now.
They’d been driving for over three hours, the two agents nearly silent though they called in regularly for updates. But Jack’s bad hip was starting to ache and if it was going to be much longer he’d need to stretch his legs, even for a moment.
"Just a little while longer, we'll be pulling into the facility shortly, Mr. Gibbs. I know how anxious you are to get to your son, but even being federal agents we need to obey speed laws."
Jack sighed. “We going to the Navy Yard or right to the hospital, boys?” These guys weren’t as talkative as Tim, and Ziva, and Tony had been. Oh, and Abby. He smirked at the memory of her.
“You didn’t say, how bad is my boy hurt.” He looked up as they slowed, pulling in to a residential neighborhood. “Can’t say I know much boys, but where’s the hospital?”
“We’re going to visit some friends of Gibbs first. They need to see you first. But don’t worry, Gibbs isn’t hurt too badly, he’ll be just fine. If you’re lucky, your son will do exactly what we want, and you won’t be hurt either.” The driver pulled up to a large home, and waited to be let in the gates. “We’ll let your son know you’re here shortly.”
“Won’t be hurt either?” Jack repeated, eyes sharpening. He swung his cane, but it was yanked out of his hands. “Who are you and what have you done with my boy?”
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