Fic: Adagio for the Moon (Chapter 9/12) [NCIS 'Were!Verse]
Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six |
Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight
Chapter Word Count: 1,458
Author's Note: So, I'm crossing over my two Were!Verses a bit earlier than planned, but I doubt y'all care, right? I'm just gonna go with that assumption. Anyways, on to the fic.
Gibbs walked into the bullpen the next morning to find three empty desks. Given that Tony, Ziva, and Tim were normally at work by this hour, Gibbs was surprised not to see any of them. The rumble of a sleepy purr coming from the general direction of Tony's desk caught Gibbs' attention, so he went over to investigate.
Tony lay behind his desk, sleeping soundly. At some point in the night he had Shifted to his Were form- that of an Eurasian Lynx -something that tended to happen to any Were if they were dreaming or in a deep sleep. Gibbs took in the sight of his High Beta for a moment and then sighed. As much as Tony probably needed the rest, unfortunately, Gibbs would have to wake him up. They needed to get to work.
'DiNozzo, wake up!'
At the sound of Gibbs' barked order, Tony woke up, scrambling to his feet before he was even fully awake.
~I'm up, Boss!~ Tony yelped, his mental voice coming in strong over the Pack Bond he and the rest of the team shared. Out of the corner of his eye, Gibbs saw Ziva poke her head over the top of her desk, he black fur ruffled from sleep. When she saw that nothing immediately important was going on, the panther-that-was-Ziva ducked back behind her desk. A few unpleasantly organic sounds later, Ziva was getting to her feet, fully human and mostly awake. The clothes that she had been wearing the previous day were rumpled, but she tugged the wrinkles out the best she could. They all kept spare clothes in the locker room; if they had time, Ziva, Tony, and Tim could change their clothes before they headed out.
'Where's McGee?' Gibbs asked, noticing that Tim hadn't responded to his wake-up call.
'He had gone down to Abby's lab the last time we saw him,' Ziva replied. 'He is probably still there.'
'I didn't see him come back upstairs,' Tony added after Shifting back to human.
'Well, go get him,' Gibbs said. 'I got a call on my way in here. We have another victim, and this time, they're alive.'
---
After finding Tim in Abby's lab- the two had been curled up together on Abby's futon mattress, with Abby using Tim as a pillow -the team headed out to the Reston Hospital Center, where the latest victim, a Marine Lieutenant, was being cared for. Gibbs sent Tim and Tony to talk to the Lieutenant's doctor, as well as to gather her personal effects and the envelope and then get them to Abby. Ziva and Gibbs went up to the Lieutenant's room, only to find that the strawberry-blonde woman already had two visitors.
The Lieutenant was dozing, with the adjustable bed she was lying on inclined at a comfortable angle, while her two visitors- both men, and both Weres -sat on chairs nearby, talking quietly to one another as they sat there. When Gibbs and Ziva walked into the room after showing the security guard outside the door their credentials, the two men fell silent, watching the newcomers with wary eyes.
'Can we help you?' the lankier of the two asked after glancing at his companion.
'We are Agents David and Gibbs , NCIS,' Ziva said, producing her badge once again and showing it to the men. 'Who are you?'
'I'm Major Evan Lorne, and this is my mate, Doctor David Parrish, Ma'am,' the other man said, getting to his feet. 'Laura- Lieutenant Cadman -is part of our Pack.'
At the mention of her name and the sound of a familiar voice, Laura stirred, a soft curse escaping her before she managed to open her eyes. She blinked a few times to clear the sleep from her eyes, and then made a soft noise of surprise at the sight of David and Evan. Completely ignoring the fact that Gibbs and Ziva were there as well, Laura spoke, her voice slightly raspy as she did so.
'What're you two doing here?' she asked, turning her her head to keep track of David, who had got up from his chair and headed over to her bedside, taking her IV-free hand gently in both of his.
'We didn't have anywhere else to be, Laura, and Landry was busy enough worrying over Sheppard's team to bother with not letting us come,' David explained. Laura furrowed her brow, looking confused, but David shook his head. 'I'll tell you later. Anyways, we caught a ride with Caldwell, so we got here in record time. Coughlin and Reed are back at the mountain, since it didn't make much sense for all of us to come.'
'I am sorry to interrupt you, but we need to ask Lieutenant Cadman a few questions,' Ziva said. 'If you would wait outside, this will not take long.'
Laura turned her head at the sound of Ziva's voice, a mildly muzzy smile passing across her face when she saw her.
'She reminds me of Teyla,' she told David, who smiled in amusement at his packmate.
'David and I will be right outside if you need us, Laura. If you need us, just call, okay?' Evan said, beckoning for David to follow him outside. With one last gentle squeeze of Laura's hand, David accompanied Evan out of the room, leaving the door cracked open as they left. Gibbs and Ziva moved closer to the bed. Ziva taking out her notebook and pen, prepared to write down whatever Laura had to say.
'Let's start with how you got involved in all of this,' Gibbs said, getting straight to the point. 'Start from the beginning, and do the best you can.'
Laura nodded, shifting a bit to get more comfortable before starting with her testimony.
'I was transferred to Quantico a month ago, after my old base... well, I suppose you can say it got downsized. Anyways, I was told that I should take part in this project that was supposedly meant to test how different kinds of Weres handled stressful situations. I thought it would involve a few stress tests, maybe an endurance test or two.'
'Obviously, that wasn't the case,' Gibbs commented. Laura smiled wryly.
'Obviously. Two weeks after last month's full moon, I was told to report to Bethesda, which made sense. I mean, where else would you want to do medical tests like that? Once I got there, I was taken to a room and given a shot.' Laura frowned slightly, annoyance making her bite briefly at her lower lip, but then she continued on. 'I don't really remember much after that until I woke up in the van. It's all a big blur.'
'Van?' Ziva asked.
'Yeah, van,' Laura affirmed, rubbing absentmindedly at the back of her neck with her free hand. 'There were four guys there; none of them were Weres or any kind of preternatural, which I thought was weird. One of them put an envelope in my pocket and told me to start running. It wasn't until after I started moving that I realized I must've been enchanted, because I sure as hell couldn't stop. Well, not until I passed out, at least. You know the rest.'
'Did you see the face of the man who gave you the envelope?' Gibbs inquired. 'Did anyone say his name?'
'I might've heard someone say “Jonas,” but it was dark enough that I couldn't quite make out who they were looking at. I did get a good look at the guy's face, though, and I definitely remember his scent,' Laura told him, yawning as the machines next to her bed doled out another regulated dose of pain and sleep medicines.
'We'll set you up with a sketch artist,' Gibbs told her. Laura nodded, and then seemed to remember something.
'Hey, Evan's a really good artist, and he's already here. Maybe he could help.'
Ziva glanced at Gibbs, wondering if he would take Laura up on her offer, and then mentally sighed. Gibbs had that look in his eyes that told the ex-Mossad agent he would do anything to get this case closed as soon as possible so that nobody else would get hurt or die. Well, they could always bring in a sketch artist affiliated with NCIS at a later date to verify the sketch Evan would make. Regardless, it couldn't hurt to try.
'Go get him, Agent David.'
Ziva nodded and went over to the door, poking her head outside to see Evan and David sitting in one of the small waiting rooms nearby. 'Major... Lorne, was it? We need your help with something. Would you come in here, please?'
Evan and David exchanged looks once more, and then Evan got up.
'How can I help?'
Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight
Chapter Word Count: 1,458
Author's Note: So, I'm crossing over my two Were!Verses a bit earlier than planned, but I doubt y'all care, right? I'm just gonna go with that assumption. Anyways, on to the fic.
Gibbs walked into the bullpen the next morning to find three empty desks. Given that Tony, Ziva, and Tim were normally at work by this hour, Gibbs was surprised not to see any of them. The rumble of a sleepy purr coming from the general direction of Tony's desk caught Gibbs' attention, so he went over to investigate.
Tony lay behind his desk, sleeping soundly. At some point in the night he had Shifted to his Were form- that of an Eurasian Lynx -something that tended to happen to any Were if they were dreaming or in a deep sleep. Gibbs took in the sight of his High Beta for a moment and then sighed. As much as Tony probably needed the rest, unfortunately, Gibbs would have to wake him up. They needed to get to work.
'DiNozzo, wake up!'
At the sound of Gibbs' barked order, Tony woke up, scrambling to his feet before he was even fully awake.
~I'm up, Boss!~ Tony yelped, his mental voice coming in strong over the Pack Bond he and the rest of the team shared. Out of the corner of his eye, Gibbs saw Ziva poke her head over the top of her desk, he black fur ruffled from sleep. When she saw that nothing immediately important was going on, the panther-that-was-Ziva ducked back behind her desk. A few unpleasantly organic sounds later, Ziva was getting to her feet, fully human and mostly awake. The clothes that she had been wearing the previous day were rumpled, but she tugged the wrinkles out the best she could. They all kept spare clothes in the locker room; if they had time, Ziva, Tony, and Tim could change their clothes before they headed out.
'Where's McGee?' Gibbs asked, noticing that Tim hadn't responded to his wake-up call.
'He had gone down to Abby's lab the last time we saw him,' Ziva replied. 'He is probably still there.'
'I didn't see him come back upstairs,' Tony added after Shifting back to human.
'Well, go get him,' Gibbs said. 'I got a call on my way in here. We have another victim, and this time, they're alive.'
---
After finding Tim in Abby's lab- the two had been curled up together on Abby's futon mattress, with Abby using Tim as a pillow -the team headed out to the Reston Hospital Center, where the latest victim, a Marine Lieutenant, was being cared for. Gibbs sent Tim and Tony to talk to the Lieutenant's doctor, as well as to gather her personal effects and the envelope and then get them to Abby. Ziva and Gibbs went up to the Lieutenant's room, only to find that the strawberry-blonde woman already had two visitors.
The Lieutenant was dozing, with the adjustable bed she was lying on inclined at a comfortable angle, while her two visitors- both men, and both Weres -sat on chairs nearby, talking quietly to one another as they sat there. When Gibbs and Ziva walked into the room after showing the security guard outside the door their credentials, the two men fell silent, watching the newcomers with wary eyes.
'Can we help you?' the lankier of the two asked after glancing at his companion.
'We are Agents David and Gibbs , NCIS,' Ziva said, producing her badge once again and showing it to the men. 'Who are you?'
'I'm Major Evan Lorne, and this is my mate, Doctor David Parrish, Ma'am,' the other man said, getting to his feet. 'Laura- Lieutenant Cadman -is part of our Pack.'
At the mention of her name and the sound of a familiar voice, Laura stirred, a soft curse escaping her before she managed to open her eyes. She blinked a few times to clear the sleep from her eyes, and then made a soft noise of surprise at the sight of David and Evan. Completely ignoring the fact that Gibbs and Ziva were there as well, Laura spoke, her voice slightly raspy as she did so.
'What're you two doing here?' she asked, turning her her head to keep track of David, who had got up from his chair and headed over to her bedside, taking her IV-free hand gently in both of his.
'We didn't have anywhere else to be, Laura, and Landry was busy enough worrying over Sheppard's team to bother with not letting us come,' David explained. Laura furrowed her brow, looking confused, but David shook his head. 'I'll tell you later. Anyways, we caught a ride with Caldwell, so we got here in record time. Coughlin and Reed are back at the mountain, since it didn't make much sense for all of us to come.'
'I am sorry to interrupt you, but we need to ask Lieutenant Cadman a few questions,' Ziva said. 'If you would wait outside, this will not take long.'
Laura turned her head at the sound of Ziva's voice, a mildly muzzy smile passing across her face when she saw her.
'She reminds me of Teyla,' she told David, who smiled in amusement at his packmate.
'David and I will be right outside if you need us, Laura. If you need us, just call, okay?' Evan said, beckoning for David to follow him outside. With one last gentle squeeze of Laura's hand, David accompanied Evan out of the room, leaving the door cracked open as they left. Gibbs and Ziva moved closer to the bed. Ziva taking out her notebook and pen, prepared to write down whatever Laura had to say.
'Let's start with how you got involved in all of this,' Gibbs said, getting straight to the point. 'Start from the beginning, and do the best you can.'
Laura nodded, shifting a bit to get more comfortable before starting with her testimony.
'I was transferred to Quantico a month ago, after my old base... well, I suppose you can say it got downsized. Anyways, I was told that I should take part in this project that was supposedly meant to test how different kinds of Weres handled stressful situations. I thought it would involve a few stress tests, maybe an endurance test or two.'
'Obviously, that wasn't the case,' Gibbs commented. Laura smiled wryly.
'Obviously. Two weeks after last month's full moon, I was told to report to Bethesda, which made sense. I mean, where else would you want to do medical tests like that? Once I got there, I was taken to a room and given a shot.' Laura frowned slightly, annoyance making her bite briefly at her lower lip, but then she continued on. 'I don't really remember much after that until I woke up in the van. It's all a big blur.'
'Van?' Ziva asked.
'Yeah, van,' Laura affirmed, rubbing absentmindedly at the back of her neck with her free hand. 'There were four guys there; none of them were Weres or any kind of preternatural, which I thought was weird. One of them put an envelope in my pocket and told me to start running. It wasn't until after I started moving that I realized I must've been enchanted, because I sure as hell couldn't stop. Well, not until I passed out, at least. You know the rest.'
'Did you see the face of the man who gave you the envelope?' Gibbs inquired. 'Did anyone say his name?'
'I might've heard someone say “Jonas,” but it was dark enough that I couldn't quite make out who they were looking at. I did get a good look at the guy's face, though, and I definitely remember his scent,' Laura told him, yawning as the machines next to her bed doled out another regulated dose of pain and sleep medicines.
'We'll set you up with a sketch artist,' Gibbs told her. Laura nodded, and then seemed to remember something.
'Hey, Evan's a really good artist, and he's already here. Maybe he could help.'
Ziva glanced at Gibbs, wondering if he would take Laura up on her offer, and then mentally sighed. Gibbs had that look in his eyes that told the ex-Mossad agent he would do anything to get this case closed as soon as possible so that nobody else would get hurt or die. Well, they could always bring in a sketch artist affiliated with NCIS at a later date to verify the sketch Evan would make. Regardless, it couldn't hurt to try.
'Go get him, Agent David.'
Ziva nodded and went over to the door, poking her head outside to see Evan and David sitting in one of the small waiting rooms nearby. 'Major... Lorne, was it? We need your help with something. Would you come in here, please?'
Evan and David exchanged looks once more, and then Evan got up.
'How can I help?'