NCIS Drabble: Let the Circle Remain Unbroken, PG-13, Gen
Title: Let the Circle Remain Unbroken
Author: Cuke
Characters: Jimmy Palmer, Donald 'Ducky' Mallard, OMC
Challenge: ncis_drabble's #275 - Circle
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 500
Spoilers: general spoilers thru the end of season eight
Warnings: This here, Kids, is a horror story.
Summary: Jimmy and Ducky have a rough day at work.
Author's Note: this is a nod to one of the very first fanfic's I ever read - a DS9 story that I cannot remember the title or author of (lol) or I'd give it its proper due. Anyone have a guess?
Jimmy Palmer had learned to love the sound of Dr. Mallard's voice - the soft, calming tenor with which he was often lulled into a sense of camaraderie with the older ME. It was such a constant presence that he was startled the day it was cut off mid-sentence. Concerned, he turned back towards the occupied autopsy table, “Doctor -?” on his lips.
Only, the sight that greeted him - their previously dead guest now fastened around the other man's throat, sucking greedily for all he was worth as the ME's eyes bulged in horror - caused him to lose his grip on the surgical tray, tools scattering across the floor.
Vampire! As impossible as he knew it to be it was the first thing that ran through his head as he reached down and grabbed the nearest weapon he found, a scalpel, and ran straight that the thing attacking his mentor. A backhand of superior strength threw him across the room, and he landed with a strangled cry.
Pain shot through every inch of his body. Jimmy was not one to find himself in extreme situations, but even he knew he had to act fast, to isolate the damage. He turned to his left and saw what he'd been looking for: the emergency quarantine button. It would seal autopsy, allowing no one in or out. Without hesitation, his hand slapped against the device, before he was pushing off the wall, hurling himself into the doctor's office and slamming the door behind him.
The click of the lock echoed in his ears with utter finality. He knew he'd just sealed both fates.
The phone was ringing and lights were flashing, but Jimmy couldn't focus on that right now as he scoured the office for anything - anything at all - that might be of use. Unbidden, Breena's face flashed before his eyes, as angelic and happy as she'd been the night be proposed. He was never going to meet her at the end of the aisle or hold her hand in the delivery room. Was it too much to ask for some garlic? Salt! Did that protect against vampires, or was it witches?
It was worth a shot. With shaking limbs, he poured generous amounts of table salt on the floor, forming a circle where he stood. When he finished, he finally dared to look back into the main room. Everything was cast in an unnatural illumination, emergency lights flickering. He couldn't see Dr. Mallard from his vantage point. His relief made him feel even more the coward; the other man could be gasping his dying breath and Jimmy was tucked away, worrying about prolonging his own life.
And then there was silence. The phone just stopped ringing, the banging from outside the outer autopsy doors he hadn't even noticed cut off, and Palmer stopped breathing. Of its own accord, the office door slid open and the intruder - Corpse! Murderer! Vampire! - drifted inside...
...and stepped over the salt.
Now with a shiny new Author's Note: http://cuke11.livejournal.com/12031.html