Day 3 - I Scratch Your Back
Title: I Scratch Your Back
Author: Grundy (jerseyfabulous)
Rating: FR7
Crossover: NCIS
Disclaimer: No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Buffy comes to him with an offer Gibbs can't refuse. Set in the One Good Day verse.
Word Count: 745
Author's Note: Sorry to go with such a short one so early in Fic A Day, but my muse is not terribly cooperative today- everything else I started either didn't work or took a turn to dark and less than happy places.
Gibbs considered going for his rifle when he realized he wasn’t the only one in the basement. Then he decided it was too much trouble. If whoever had just walked in had bad intentions, he’d be dead before he reached it anyway.
It had been a long day, and he really just wanted to do a little work on the boat before turning in. So much for that plan. He wondered which of his many enemies- or his few friends- it was.
The person who stepped into the light wasn’t one he recognized. Short, blonde, should have read harmless. But his gut was screaming that she was anything but.
“I’m guessing you already know my name. Want to tell me yours?” he says.
She smiles and leans back against the workbench.
“You mean you don’t recognize me? I thought Dawn and Abby would have mentioned me once or twice.”
He smiles, because now he knows who she is.
“What,” he says, giving her his best ‘aw, come on!’ look. “You expect me to know you from one mention?”
She smirks, and waits, completely unfooled.
“Buffy Summers,” he says, dipping his head in what he would absolutely refuse to call a show of respect if anyone asked, although that’s what it is. “What brings you to my basement?”
Buffy frowns.
“A threat.”
Before his hackles can rise too far, she elaborates.
“The work Abby’s been doing for us really is helping. The database is growing by leaps and bounds. It’s making our response time faster, and our people safer. So I guess it’s understandable that there are some who would love to throw a wrench in that.”
He only needs to think on it for a second.
“Those people think Abby’s the weakest link.”
She nods, looking aggravated by it. He understands why- she’s not the type that likes to sit back and wait for trouble to come to her. She’d much rather go find it and kill it first.
“I’m like you, Agent Gibbs,” she says.
“Yeah? How’s that?” he asks, though he suspects what the answer will be.
“I like to keep my people safe,” she replies, and she lets a little bit of whatever it is that drives her into her face. It’s like flipping a switch- the sunny California girl is gone, replaced by something that his lizard brain recognizes instinctively as predator. “But Abby’s not mine, at least not just mine. So I’m going to have to trust you to watch her back for a little while.”
He’s silent for a minute. It’s not a big ask- he watches out for Abby anyway- but in another way, it is. Summer doesn’t trust easily.
“While you do what?” Gibbs enquires. This time he is sure of the answer, even before she says it.
“While I do what I do best- find demon, kill demon, buy shoes.”
Ok, that last part he hadn’t expected.
“Buy shoes?”
She grins, hopping up to sit on the workbench kicking her booted feet playfully.
“It’s a little known fact that an occupational hazard of slaying demons is the ruin of one’s fashionable footwear,” she tells him airily. “So I get a shoe allowance these days.”
“Do I get something in return for helping you out with this problem?” he asks.
It’s not like he’ll say no- it’s Abby after all- but dealing with demons is above his pay grade, and not something he or his team trained for.
“Besides my eternal gratitude, you mean?” she says wryly. “You keep Abby safe for the next week or two while I track down the boneheaded demon clan who didn’t get the memo that going after my people just makes me mad, and I’ll give up some of those job titles you’ve been dying to know.”
He raises an eyebrow. He has no idea how she’s aware that he’s been trying to figure out the titles of the people he’s met from her organization- though he probably shouldn’t be surprised, Abby isn’t good with secrecy unless it’s a necessity- but it would be nice to hear. He decides to press his luck.
“Can I get one in advance, as a gesture of good faith?”
She smirks.
“That’s reasonable. Next time you see my sister, ask her why she’s designated the Head Hostage.”
While he’s slightly taken aback by the implications of that, he’s sure of one thing.
“Yeah. I’ll make sure to stand at a safe distance when I do.”
Author: Grundy (jerseyfabulous)
Rating: FR7
Crossover: NCIS
Disclaimer: No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Buffy comes to him with an offer Gibbs can't refuse. Set in the One Good Day verse.
Word Count: 745
Author's Note: Sorry to go with such a short one so early in Fic A Day, but my muse is not terribly cooperative today- everything else I started either didn't work or took a turn to dark and less than happy places.
Gibbs considered going for his rifle when he realized he wasn’t the only one in the basement. Then he decided it was too much trouble. If whoever had just walked in had bad intentions, he’d be dead before he reached it anyway.
It had been a long day, and he really just wanted to do a little work on the boat before turning in. So much for that plan. He wondered which of his many enemies- or his few friends- it was.
The person who stepped into the light wasn’t one he recognized. Short, blonde, should have read harmless. But his gut was screaming that she was anything but.
“I’m guessing you already know my name. Want to tell me yours?” he says.
She smiles and leans back against the workbench.
“You mean you don’t recognize me? I thought Dawn and Abby would have mentioned me once or twice.”
He smiles, because now he knows who she is.
“What,” he says, giving her his best ‘aw, come on!’ look. “You expect me to know you from one mention?”
She smirks, and waits, completely unfooled.
“Buffy Summers,” he says, dipping his head in what he would absolutely refuse to call a show of respect if anyone asked, although that’s what it is. “What brings you to my basement?”
Buffy frowns.
“A threat.”
Before his hackles can rise too far, she elaborates.
“The work Abby’s been doing for us really is helping. The database is growing by leaps and bounds. It’s making our response time faster, and our people safer. So I guess it’s understandable that there are some who would love to throw a wrench in that.”
He only needs to think on it for a second.
“Those people think Abby’s the weakest link.”
She nods, looking aggravated by it. He understands why- she’s not the type that likes to sit back and wait for trouble to come to her. She’d much rather go find it and kill it first.
“I’m like you, Agent Gibbs,” she says.
“Yeah? How’s that?” he asks, though he suspects what the answer will be.
“I like to keep my people safe,” she replies, and she lets a little bit of whatever it is that drives her into her face. It’s like flipping a switch- the sunny California girl is gone, replaced by something that his lizard brain recognizes instinctively as predator. “But Abby’s not mine, at least not just mine. So I’m going to have to trust you to watch her back for a little while.”
He’s silent for a minute. It’s not a big ask- he watches out for Abby anyway- but in another way, it is. Summer doesn’t trust easily.
“While you do what?” Gibbs enquires. This time he is sure of the answer, even before she says it.
“While I do what I do best- find demon, kill demon, buy shoes.”
Ok, that last part he hadn’t expected.
“Buy shoes?”
She grins, hopping up to sit on the workbench kicking her booted feet playfully.
“It’s a little known fact that an occupational hazard of slaying demons is the ruin of one’s fashionable footwear,” she tells him airily. “So I get a shoe allowance these days.”
“Do I get something in return for helping you out with this problem?” he asks.
It’s not like he’ll say no- it’s Abby after all- but dealing with demons is above his pay grade, and not something he or his team trained for.
“Besides my eternal gratitude, you mean?” she says wryly. “You keep Abby safe for the next week or two while I track down the boneheaded demon clan who didn’t get the memo that going after my people just makes me mad, and I’ll give up some of those job titles you’ve been dying to know.”
He raises an eyebrow. He has no idea how she’s aware that he’s been trying to figure out the titles of the people he’s met from her organization- though he probably shouldn’t be surprised, Abby isn’t good with secrecy unless it’s a necessity- but it would be nice to hear. He decides to press his luck.
“Can I get one in advance, as a gesture of good faith?”
She smirks.
“That’s reasonable. Next time you see my sister, ask her why she’s designated the Head Hostage.”
While he’s slightly taken aback by the implications of that, he’s sure of one thing.
“Yeah. I’ll make sure to stand at a safe distance when I do.”