Aug 1 - Abby Normal
Title: Abby Normal
Author: Grundy (jerseyfabulous)
Rating: FR13
Crossover: NCIS
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Abby is doing her best to keep calm. It's not exactly working.
Word Count: 1027
Note: Starting out with a follow-up to A Family Affair.
Abby had given up trying not to pace half an hour ago.
She didn’t know where she was, except ‘somewhere your brother can be taken care of’. That was all Buffy had told her before they’d… transported him. Them. Her included. Because whoever these people were, at least they understood that family was important. And maybe recognized when things were not negotiable.
So they’d taken her with them. She just didn’t know how they’d done it. Or where she was.
It wasn’t a hospital. It was nothing like a hospital.
And yet… the people hovering around Xander were definitely helping him. She could tell. He was looking healthier already.
The people who had talked to her - who were, after those first few confusing minutes not Buffy or ‘Will’, who were both in the room with her brother Xander - did not seem at all fazed to have a very worked up goth appear out of thin air.
Out of thin air. Because that was exactly what they had done. It went against everything she’d believed in all her life. Science. Fact. Things she could prove or disprove in her lab. Not standing in a hospital room one minute and somewhere else totally the next.
She threw the stress ball. Again. She’d kept count. Fifty-six throws. This one made fifty-seven.
That was one of the things the way too calm people had done. They’d handed her a stress ball that had an angry vampire face on it complete with cute little fangs, told her which walls it was okay to throw it against if squeezing wasn’t enough for her, and left her to it.
She watched through the observation window. (What sort of medical facility had observation windows?)
Buffy was standing back, out of the way, while the woman she’d called Will and another woman moved around Xander, who was looking more alert with every passing moment. That couldn’t be good, with all his injuries - alert meant the painkillers he’d been given were working their way out of his system, and the pain would be coming back full force.
Why would they do that to him?
The door opened, and the woman who had no name gave her a Look.
“You can come in now if you’re not going to be a problem,” she said.
Her tone reminded Abby of Ziva when she’d been not quite threatening someone.
“She’s not going to be a problem,” Buffy announced firmly from behind Ms. Nameless. “And even if she was, I’m not going anywhere.”
Abby edged into her brother’s room without making any commitments.
Will gave them both a slight smile.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” she said. “Riley would probably appreciate an update.”
“Gibbs probably wants one, too,” Abby offered quietly.
Gibbs!
He must be freaking out unless they’d told him where she was. But if they’d told him where she was, they should have told her where she was, too!
Xander, to her immense surprise, sat up.
He gave her a curious, almost evaluating look.
“So this is my sister,” he mused.
“My name is Abby,” Abby replied automatically.
She looked over at Buffy.
“Not that I’m complaining, but aren’t you taking a lot on faith here? I could be anybody.”
“You’re Abigail Sciuto, NCIS forensic scientist, and Xander’s biological brother,” Buffy replied smoothly. “That part we know. If there’s more you want to tell us, we’re listening.”
Abby blinked.
How did they know that? Oh, wait - they knew the Army goon who’d showed up in Xander’s hospital room. So they could have found all that out from him. Except for the biological brother part. But if they had anyone skilled with computers, it wouldn’t be the first time her lab has been hacked…
She turned to Xander.
“Where did you grow up?” she asked.
“Sunnydale, California,” he replied with a grin. “Great little town, at least until the massive sinkhole.”
“New Orleans,” Abby volunteered. “Besides my parents and my brother Luca, there’s a huge extended family. Mom”
Xander’s smile turned a little forced.
“It was just me and my parents - my biological parents, as far as we know.”
He hesitated.
“I know I’m adopted,” Abby clarified. “We have another brother, Kyle, who was adopted by a different family. He works in the DC area, too.”
Xander nodded, looking somewhat surprised.
Abby wanted to ask, but she didn’t want to be rude.
Xander sighed.
“The surprise here is less than me having siblings than my parents having given them up,” he said haltingly. “They… weren’t really that responsible in general.”
A snort from Buffy’s general direction indicated that Xander might be understating the case.
Abby wasn’t sure what to say, but this was her brother.
“You’re always welcome to come home with me for Thanksgiving,” she offered.
Xander smiled, and she was sure that had been the right thing.
“I don’t know, you could always join us for Turkey Day,” Xander replied, his previous awkwardness dissipating in an instant. “It’s one of the good holidays hereabouts. Buffy handles the turkey and everyone else makes something. Except Faith, because her cooking is actually more terrifying than Dawn’s.”
“We’ll figure out the plans closer to the day,” Abby decided. “I have more pressing questions right now.”
“If those questions include ‘how did we get here’ and ‘how is Xander better’ maybe they could wait a little bit longer,” Buffy broke in, her tone making it clear it was a suggestion to be accepted, not a question.
Xander didn’t have to ask.
“I think those answers will go down a little easier with your forensic scientist sister if we have Willow on hand,” Buffy said wryly.
“You think it’s going to take her more than a few minutes to get back?” Xander protested.
Buffy snorted again.
“Please. The way the standoff in your sick room was going, it’s going to take her half an hour just to soothe the raised hackles. I don’t think Mr. Gibbs was very happy with us, and that was before we pulled our own special version of the quick getaway.”
Abby snickered. Describing Gibbs as ‘not very happy with them’ was the biggest understatement she’d heard all day.
Author: Grundy (jerseyfabulous)
Rating: FR13
Crossover: NCIS
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Abby is doing her best to keep calm. It's not exactly working.
Word Count: 1027
Note: Starting out with a follow-up to A Family Affair.
Abby had given up trying not to pace half an hour ago.
She didn’t know where she was, except ‘somewhere your brother can be taken care of’. That was all Buffy had told her before they’d… transported him. Them. Her included. Because whoever these people were, at least they understood that family was important. And maybe recognized when things were not negotiable.
So they’d taken her with them. She just didn’t know how they’d done it. Or where she was.
It wasn’t a hospital. It was nothing like a hospital.
And yet… the people hovering around Xander were definitely helping him. She could tell. He was looking healthier already.
The people who had talked to her - who were, after those first few confusing minutes not Buffy or ‘Will’, who were both in the room with her brother Xander - did not seem at all fazed to have a very worked up goth appear out of thin air.
Out of thin air. Because that was exactly what they had done. It went against everything she’d believed in all her life. Science. Fact. Things she could prove or disprove in her lab. Not standing in a hospital room one minute and somewhere else totally the next.
She threw the stress ball. Again. She’d kept count. Fifty-six throws. This one made fifty-seven.
That was one of the things the way too calm people had done. They’d handed her a stress ball that had an angry vampire face on it complete with cute little fangs, told her which walls it was okay to throw it against if squeezing wasn’t enough for her, and left her to it.
She watched through the observation window. (What sort of medical facility had observation windows?)
Buffy was standing back, out of the way, while the woman she’d called Will and another woman moved around Xander, who was looking more alert with every passing moment. That couldn’t be good, with all his injuries - alert meant the painkillers he’d been given were working their way out of his system, and the pain would be coming back full force.
Why would they do that to him?
The door opened, and the woman who had no name gave her a Look.
“You can come in now if you’re not going to be a problem,” she said.
Her tone reminded Abby of Ziva when she’d been not quite threatening someone.
“She’s not going to be a problem,” Buffy announced firmly from behind Ms. Nameless. “And even if she was, I’m not going anywhere.”
Abby edged into her brother’s room without making any commitments.
Will gave them both a slight smile.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” she said. “Riley would probably appreciate an update.”
“Gibbs probably wants one, too,” Abby offered quietly.
Gibbs!
He must be freaking out unless they’d told him where she was. But if they’d told him where she was, they should have told her where she was, too!
Xander, to her immense surprise, sat up.
He gave her a curious, almost evaluating look.
“So this is my sister,” he mused.
“My name is Abby,” Abby replied automatically.
She looked over at Buffy.
“Not that I’m complaining, but aren’t you taking a lot on faith here? I could be anybody.”
“You’re Abigail Sciuto, NCIS forensic scientist, and Xander’s biological brother,” Buffy replied smoothly. “That part we know. If there’s more you want to tell us, we’re listening.”
Abby blinked.
How did they know that? Oh, wait - they knew the Army goon who’d showed up in Xander’s hospital room. So they could have found all that out from him. Except for the biological brother part. But if they had anyone skilled with computers, it wouldn’t be the first time her lab has been hacked…
She turned to Xander.
“Where did you grow up?” she asked.
“Sunnydale, California,” he replied with a grin. “Great little town, at least until the massive sinkhole.”
“New Orleans,” Abby volunteered. “Besides my parents and my brother Luca, there’s a huge extended family. Mom”
Xander’s smile turned a little forced.
“It was just me and my parents - my biological parents, as far as we know.”
He hesitated.
“I know I’m adopted,” Abby clarified. “We have another brother, Kyle, who was adopted by a different family. He works in the DC area, too.”
Xander nodded, looking somewhat surprised.
Abby wanted to ask, but she didn’t want to be rude.
Xander sighed.
“The surprise here is less than me having siblings than my parents having given them up,” he said haltingly. “They… weren’t really that responsible in general.”
A snort from Buffy’s general direction indicated that Xander might be understating the case.
Abby wasn’t sure what to say, but this was her brother.
“You’re always welcome to come home with me for Thanksgiving,” she offered.
Xander smiled, and she was sure that had been the right thing.
“I don’t know, you could always join us for Turkey Day,” Xander replied, his previous awkwardness dissipating in an instant. “It’s one of the good holidays hereabouts. Buffy handles the turkey and everyone else makes something. Except Faith, because her cooking is actually more terrifying than Dawn’s.”
“We’ll figure out the plans closer to the day,” Abby decided. “I have more pressing questions right now.”
“If those questions include ‘how did we get here’ and ‘how is Xander better’ maybe they could wait a little bit longer,” Buffy broke in, her tone making it clear it was a suggestion to be accepted, not a question.
Xander didn’t have to ask.
“I think those answers will go down a little easier with your forensic scientist sister if we have Willow on hand,” Buffy said wryly.
“You think it’s going to take her more than a few minutes to get back?” Xander protested.
Buffy snorted again.
“Please. The way the standoff in your sick room was going, it’s going to take her half an hour just to soothe the raised hackles. I don’t think Mr. Gibbs was very happy with us, and that was before we pulled our own special version of the quick getaway.”
Abby snickered. Describing Gibbs as ‘not very happy with them’ was the biggest understatement she’d heard all day.