Aug. 7 - A Family Affair
Title: A Family Affair
Author: Grundy (jerseyfabulous)
Rating: FR13
Crossover: NCIS
Disclaimer: All belongs to Whedon & Bellisarius. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Things get a little tense in Xander's hospital room.
Word Count: 1060
Note: mmooch's NCIS shorts inspired me to revisit Someone To Watch Over Him and The Cavalry from Fic A Day 2014.
Gibbs frowned.
The stand-off in their John Doe’s hospital room was at a stalemate. Neither he nor Colonel Finn was willing to back down.
He didn’t know what Finn’s motivation was, because the guy was definitely not his, NCIS had full access to not only IAFIS and CODIS, but secure DOD databases with the identification data for all four branches- including personnel on classified assignment. They needed to be able to identify the body of any servicemember, regardless of whether that person had been on duty that could be revealed publicly or not.
But the man was Abby’s biological brother, so Gibbs wasn’t about to let her down by allowing some other agency to move him to an undisclosed location before she’d gotten to talk to him, particularly not when the guy was lucky to still be breathing.
“I don’t care what he was doing, Colonel,” Gibbs told the man. “You can look at him all you want. But he’s not going anywhere.”
Finn gave him an angry look, but Gibbs moved to allow him close enough to get a more accurate read on John Doe’s condition.
Gibbs took the opportunity to check on Abby. With DiNozzo right outside, no one else was getting in the room, and Harris wasn’t in any state to be moved yet.
“Anything I should know, Abbs?” he asked quietly.
“His name’s Xander Harris,” Abby whispered, sounding on the verge of tears. “Don’t let them take him away.”
“I don’t know how much we can do here, Abby,” he told her.
He couldn’t sugarcoat it. He was playing a weak hand, and it seemed like the other side had better cards, or at least more information.
“I promised Xander’s emergency contact I wouldn’t leave until someone got here for him,” she said, this time purposefully loud enough for Finn to hear.
Finn sighed.
“Special Agent Gibbs,” he began.
That was when the door opened. DiNozzo could be heard in the hall arguing with another man, but it was a woman who walked in, a diminutive blonde in designer shoes and an outfit that though low-key still screamed ‘expensive taste’ to the practiced eye of a federal investigator with three ex-wives.
Her eyes swept the room in a spot assessment, and it was clear she wasn’t happy when she turned to Finn.
“Riley, why is there such a crowd in here?” she demanded tightly.
“I promised Xander I’d stay,” Abby piped up instantly, her voice and stance making it clear that was non-negotiable.
“Ev’body… calm.”
John Doe had chosen that moment to drift back into consciousness, and his first words were a bid to keep a tense situation from getting worse.
---Xander had been working hard on ‘properly awake’ since Abby had told him someone was on their way, so he was actually pretty aware of the current situation.
He knew that things were close to out of hand between whoever Abby’s backup was, Riley, and now Buffy. He could also hear other people - sounded like Graham and Willow, along with a guy and a girl he didn’t recognize - arguing somewhere farther away than his marshmallow kingdom.
Normally he would have loved to have two wonderful women standing next to his bed arguing over who got to have him, but he would have preferred to be healthy and clear-headed for the event. Also, he would have preferred that one of them not be Buffy, because he’d put that lingering teenage crush to rest forever.
This was the point at which he would usually intervene in a situation to keep things from getting worse, but unfortunately his drug-induced torpor was making that difficult.
It also wasn’t helping his artificial calm to see that Gibbs was armed in a hospital, which probably meant that whoever else was with him was too.
“Everybody calm down,” was what he’d tried for.
He was pretty sure some of it got lost in translation, but at least it got everyone’s attention.
---“It’s ok, Xander,” the mystery woman said reassuringly. “We’ll have you out of here in just a few minutes, although it might take a little longer to work the fuzzy-wuzzies out of your system.”
Abby caught Gibbs’ pointed glance at Colonel Finn, but from the Army officer’s attitude, she was certain this woman wasn’t delusional. Besides, she’d recognized her voice.
“Do you understand how injured he is?” Abby demanded anxiously. “His chart is right there. And I know you care. I could hear it on the phone.”
“Ah, you’re Abby,” the woman said, ignoring the rest of the room as unimportant. “I’m Buffy.”
“Ok, so now that we’re on a first name basis, can I catch you up on his injuries?” Abby asked hopefully. “So you understand why it’s not safe to move him yet? I’m positive the ICU staff will not be down with that plan.”
She could not let anything else happen to her brother, not when she could prevent it. And not when she’d only just found him.
“Abby, I really appreciate your concern, especially for someone you don’t know all that well-”
“He’s my brother!” Abby blurted out, trying not to wring her hands.
She didn’t care if it was something she shouldn’t have said in front of non-NCIS personnel, because the way she’d found out was problematic even though it wasn’t like that was the point of what she’d been doing running his DNA when he was a crime victim and she’s the crime lab technician and they had been desperate to find out who he was because someone would be missing him and…
---
Buffy sighed.
Things had just gotten a heck of a lot more complicated, and not because she could see that Abby’s babble mode was a lot more intense than Willow’s.
“Alright, Abby can stay,” she announced. “The rest of you, out! I need Will in here getting him ready for transport.”
“No, Abby cannot stay-” the NCIS man began, but Buffy was at the end of her patience.
---
That was as far as Gibbs got before he found himself being physically maneuvered out of the room by Buffy the five foot three blonde. It was no consolation whatsoever that Finn had walked out of his own volition.
A red-head not much taller than Buffy slipped into the room, and shut the door firmly behind her - with Abby on the wrong side of it.
Author: Grundy (jerseyfabulous)
Rating: FR13
Crossover: NCIS
Disclaimer: All belongs to Whedon & Bellisarius. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Things get a little tense in Xander's hospital room.
Word Count: 1060
Note: mmooch's NCIS shorts inspired me to revisit Someone To Watch Over Him and The Cavalry from Fic A Day 2014.
Gibbs frowned.
The stand-off in their John Doe’s hospital room was at a stalemate. Neither he nor Colonel Finn was willing to back down.
He didn’t know what Finn’s motivation was, because the guy was definitely not his, NCIS had full access to not only IAFIS and CODIS, but secure DOD databases with the identification data for all four branches- including personnel on classified assignment. They needed to be able to identify the body of any servicemember, regardless of whether that person had been on duty that could be revealed publicly or not.
But the man was Abby’s biological brother, so Gibbs wasn’t about to let her down by allowing some other agency to move him to an undisclosed location before she’d gotten to talk to him, particularly not when the guy was lucky to still be breathing.
“I don’t care what he was doing, Colonel,” Gibbs told the man. “You can look at him all you want. But he’s not going anywhere.”
Finn gave him an angry look, but Gibbs moved to allow him close enough to get a more accurate read on John Doe’s condition.
Gibbs took the opportunity to check on Abby. With DiNozzo right outside, no one else was getting in the room, and Harris wasn’t in any state to be moved yet.
“Anything I should know, Abbs?” he asked quietly.
“His name’s Xander Harris,” Abby whispered, sounding on the verge of tears. “Don’t let them take him away.”
“I don’t know how much we can do here, Abby,” he told her.
He couldn’t sugarcoat it. He was playing a weak hand, and it seemed like the other side had better cards, or at least more information.
“I promised Xander’s emergency contact I wouldn’t leave until someone got here for him,” she said, this time purposefully loud enough for Finn to hear.
Finn sighed.
“Special Agent Gibbs,” he began.
That was when the door opened. DiNozzo could be heard in the hall arguing with another man, but it was a woman who walked in, a diminutive blonde in designer shoes and an outfit that though low-key still screamed ‘expensive taste’ to the practiced eye of a federal investigator with three ex-wives.
Her eyes swept the room in a spot assessment, and it was clear she wasn’t happy when she turned to Finn.
“Riley, why is there such a crowd in here?” she demanded tightly.
“I promised Xander I’d stay,” Abby piped up instantly, her voice and stance making it clear that was non-negotiable.
“Ev’body… calm.”
John Doe had chosen that moment to drift back into consciousness, and his first words were a bid to keep a tense situation from getting worse.
---Xander had been working hard on ‘properly awake’ since Abby had told him someone was on their way, so he was actually pretty aware of the current situation.
He knew that things were close to out of hand between whoever Abby’s backup was, Riley, and now Buffy. He could also hear other people - sounded like Graham and Willow, along with a guy and a girl he didn’t recognize - arguing somewhere farther away than his marshmallow kingdom.
Normally he would have loved to have two wonderful women standing next to his bed arguing over who got to have him, but he would have preferred to be healthy and clear-headed for the event. Also, he would have preferred that one of them not be Buffy, because he’d put that lingering teenage crush to rest forever.
This was the point at which he would usually intervene in a situation to keep things from getting worse, but unfortunately his drug-induced torpor was making that difficult.
It also wasn’t helping his artificial calm to see that Gibbs was armed in a hospital, which probably meant that whoever else was with him was too.
“Everybody calm down,” was what he’d tried for.
He was pretty sure some of it got lost in translation, but at least it got everyone’s attention.
---“It’s ok, Xander,” the mystery woman said reassuringly. “We’ll have you out of here in just a few minutes, although it might take a little longer to work the fuzzy-wuzzies out of your system.”
Abby caught Gibbs’ pointed glance at Colonel Finn, but from the Army officer’s attitude, she was certain this woman wasn’t delusional. Besides, she’d recognized her voice.
“Do you understand how injured he is?” Abby demanded anxiously. “His chart is right there. And I know you care. I could hear it on the phone.”
“Ah, you’re Abby,” the woman said, ignoring the rest of the room as unimportant. “I’m Buffy.”
“Ok, so now that we’re on a first name basis, can I catch you up on his injuries?” Abby asked hopefully. “So you understand why it’s not safe to move him yet? I’m positive the ICU staff will not be down with that plan.”
She could not let anything else happen to her brother, not when she could prevent it. And not when she’d only just found him.
“Abby, I really appreciate your concern, especially for someone you don’t know all that well-”
“He’s my brother!” Abby blurted out, trying not to wring her hands.
She didn’t care if it was something she shouldn’t have said in front of non-NCIS personnel, because the way she’d found out was problematic even though it wasn’t like that was the point of what she’d been doing running his DNA when he was a crime victim and she’s the crime lab technician and they had been desperate to find out who he was because someone would be missing him and…
---
Buffy sighed.
Things had just gotten a heck of a lot more complicated, and not because she could see that Abby’s babble mode was a lot more intense than Willow’s.
“Alright, Abby can stay,” she announced. “The rest of you, out! I need Will in here getting him ready for transport.”
“No, Abby cannot stay-” the NCIS man began, but Buffy was at the end of her patience.
---
That was as far as Gibbs got before he found himself being physically maneuvered out of the room by Buffy the five foot three blonde. It was no consolation whatsoever that Finn had walked out of his own volition.
A red-head not much taller than Buffy slipped into the room, and shut the door firmly behind her - with Abby on the wrong side of it.