Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. I do not claim to own the plot concepts of "NCIS: Navel Criminal Investigative Service," The Mercy Thompson's Series, or The Alpha and OmegaSeries. "NCIS: Navel Criminal Investigative Service" was created by Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill. Both The Mercy Thompson's Series and The Alpha and OmegaSeries were written and are owned by Patricia Briggs. As all works mentioned within my story are clearly accredited here I expect to remain free of all plagiaristic directed allegations. I will not be making money through this work; therefore, there is no copyright infringement intended. This work is purely and only meant to be a practice for me, and to learn what others may think of my work.

Also, in regards to any pictures that I may put up on my page, they will be, to the best of my ability and knowledge, cited either within this introduction or at the end of the current posted fiction to avoid any plagiarism. In regards to any quotes not related to "NCIS: Navel Criminal Investigative Service" or The Mercy Thompson's Series and The Alpha and Omega Series, as such quotes are already assumed to be appropriately accredited by the above comment, that I may use, they will also be properly attributed, to the best of my ability and knowledge, with the author's name following the quote to avoid any plagiarism.

Also, as I have posted a warning in the "Author's Notes" in regards to language, content, photography, and artistic creation, I do notcondone nor accept any inappropriate conduct, in all meanings of the words, presented on my page by others although I do reserve the right to use any such language and excreta, when appropriate, within my own fiction, but be assured that all such uses, including sexual content, will not be posted without due warning. (Do as I say, not as I do! :P Hahaha!)

Second to last, if one chooses to ignore this disclaimer through dismissal or failing to read it, I am not liable for the resulting consequences if there are any, and while it is my understanding that keeps their website pages safe, in all meanings of the word, I advise common sense to be exercised, and up hold that all explorations by others of the website pages are done with the understanding and acknowledgement that I am not responsible for any such breaches of this understanding.

Lastly, below are WARNINGS and information, which are in the "Story Information" section, and you should READ THEM! I uphold that I am not responsible if you fail to do so.

"Crying Moon"

Genres: Supernatural, Fiction, Slash, Romance, and Drama

Rating: Mature Audience

Warnings: Language, Homosexual Relationship, Explicit Sex, Death of Minor Character, and Violence.

Spoilers: All of NCIS, but major spoilers for episodes "Patriot Down" and "Rule Fifty-one." Minor spoilers for all of Briggs's works, nothing but character names, positions, identities. Won't ruin the book to read this story. Don't worry if you don't know much about King Arthur; I screwed too much with the story for it to matter.

Title: "Crying Moon"

Current Length: Chapters 1��"6

Status: To Be Continued

Genres: Supernatural, Fiction, Slash, Romance, and Drama

Author: Dragonborn88

Rating: Mature Audience

Warnings: Language, Homosexual Relationship, Explicit Sex, Death of Minor Character, and Violence.

Advisement: While the relationship between the characters Jethro Gibbs and Tony DiNozzo is the main focus of this story, there are two more major plot concepts, each one exclusively relating to either Gibbs or Tony. Therefore, while there is a considerable amount of drama taking place within the story, the main concern of the plot still lies with the relationship aspect, so don't start reading this unless you're okay with that.

Based On: "NCIS: Navel Criminal Investigative Service," "The Legend of King Arthur and His Knights", The Mercy Thompson's Series and The Alpha and Omega Series By Patricia Briggs.

My Concepts: The concept of there being a D.C. Lunar Pack and their pack members. The concept of the character Drystan's mortal enemy, Aedth Afagdu, is also mine. Also, the Arthurian characters interjected into the story are very little like the ones found in novels as their backgrounds are greatly altered. I may claim ownership over them due to the fact the story of "King Arthur and His Knights" is a legend and no one and claim exclusive ownership over the plot concept, especially since I have not pulled from any written source still copyrighted…They are mine to toy with…Muhahaha…

"NCIS" Characters': Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Anthony (Tony) DiNozzo (Drystan), Ziva David, Timothy McGee, Dr. Donald Mallard (Ducky), Jimmy Palmer, Director Leon Vance, Abigail Sciuto (Abby or Abs), Mike Franks, Jackson Gibbs, Paloma Reynosa, Alejandro Rivera.

"The Legend of King Arthur and His Knights" Characters: King Arthur, Sir Tristan, Lady Isolde of Ireland.

The Mercy Thompson Series Characters: Bran Cornick (The Marrok), Charles Cornick, and Nemane (The Carrion Crow).

The Alpha and Omega Series Characters: Charles Cornick, and Anna Latham Cornick.

My Characters: Drystan (means 'Tristan' in Welsh), Esyllt (means 'Isolde' in Welsh), Aedth Afagdu (first name means 'fire or flame' and the last name means 'dark river,' both are Gaelic in origin), and Greiven (Hispanic origin).

Spoilers: All of NCIS, but major spoilers for episodes "Patriot Down" and "Rule Fifty-one." Minor spoilers for all of Briggs's works, nothing but character names, positions, identities. Won't ruin the book to read this story. Don't worry if you don't know much about King Arthur; I screwed too much with the story for it to matter.

Chapter One

“The Lamenting Of Lovers”

"We listened for a voice crying in the wilderness. And we heard the jubilation of wolves!” ~ Durwood L. Allen



His cry echoed over the valley laden with thick dark green woodland and through his heart as the moon shone brightly down on him. Its soft light carried by the wind, which brushed the moon through his silver fur like a lover’s caress. Their’s was not a love of passion, but of admiration. He lifted his head to call once more to his love, and her golden light turned his silver-blue eyes into sparkling ice as he sung to her while the wind swept up from behind him to carry his song to her, the lovers’ messenger.

His eyes shot open as he gasped a breath of air laced with the scent of the house and humanity as he was thrown into consciousness. The scent of the forest rained down around him from the dream mixing with realty in an almost painful way. He couldn’t help the impulse or the need to clench his eyes shut in the vain hope that he could bring the dream back, but no…there was only now; the crushing present drenched in the heavy stench of humanity. Too long had he lived surrounded by buildings. Too long had he lived too far from the reach of the forest. Too long had it been since the last time he had run free under the loving light of the full moon. The spell that held him to the world of humanity was weakening and failing painfully slow. He knew there would be consequences for his desperate attempt to stay near his mate; a mate that had no idea he was even loved, but since when did things one does for love ever make sense?

He opened green eyes, the color of his beloved forest, to gaze emptily at the bleach white ceiling of his apartment. Slowly, he sat up; the plain linen sheet falling down to reveal tan muscular arms and abs. Sighing, he ran a hand through his brownish-blond hair before reaching over to his side table to pick up the phone.

After gazing at the phone silently for several moments, he typed in a number with more than a little reluctance. Lifting the phone to his ear with the motion that would leave one wondering if the phone weighed several pounds, he waited for an answer while hoping there wouldn’t be one.

“Hello?...” A heavily accented Welsh voice floated over the phone. When the resigned man did nothing but sigh into the cell, the other man on the phone lost his patience and continued, “Drystan? Why are you calling at four in the mourning?” Someone who didn’t know the man might think it was a patient being the voice belong to, but he knew better.

“Bran…” He sighed, “Bran, I’m in a bit of a bind. I need your help, old friend.”

Drystan could almost see his friend’s frown when he heard him reply in a more serious tone, “What do you need? Are you alright?”

“I am for the moment, but I’m afraid that I’m going to be feeling the backlash of a particular spell very soon now, and I’m not sure I can control it…I don’t suppose you would be willing to come to D.C. for a little while.” He said with a wince.

“I do hope that you are jesting with me, but somehow I get the sense that’s wishful thinking.” Bran commented dryly.

“I don’t think that traveling is an option right now. I’m afraid that I don’t have the control to make it to you, and if I loose control, you’re the only one strong enough to kill me.” Drystan rubbed his eyes in exhaustion as he spoke.

“That bad, huh?”

“That bad…So will you help me?”

“Of course. Do you think you can hold out until I get there?”

“If nothing big happens, I should be fine. I call to let you know if that changes. You might want to put the local pack on alert incase I loose it before then.”

“I doubt that will be necessary, old friend. There is a reason why your name is legend, but…better safe than sorry. I’ll talk to you soon.” Bran hung up without waiting for a response.

“Thank you, my friend. I hope that you are right.” He said while looking at the disconnected phone sadly.

Pushing back the white sheets, he rose, revealing well toned legs and light blue boxers. Walking to the window, he found himself lost, deep in thought at the realization he may soon have to leave this life like he had left all the others. Leaning up against the window, his gaze once again returned to the phone in his hand right before it began to ring.

“DiNozzo.” He respond grudgingly after several rings.

“Agent DiNozzo, we have a new case for your team. It’s high priority. You need to get your team to the sight immediately. The address and details have been emailed to you.”

“It’s not my team. It’s Gibb’s team, and do you guys just call me so you can avoid having to wake him up and deal with the repercussions?”

“Sir. I don’t know what you mean. Sir.”

“Uh huh, sure.”

“Sir, If that is all?”

“Yeah, go ahead and get back to work.”

As he flipped the phone closed with a shake of his head, his eyes lit on the partially formed moon. It only took a moment for the wolf inside him to surge to the front with a growl of desire for freedom. With his hand pressed roughly to his face in a pointless effort to push the beginning of the transformation back into human shape, he struggled to gain control over his wolf, which roared, full of defiance, inside him.

Several minutes later he looked up once more, fully human, although he carefully avoided looking at the moon. Muttering curses he quickly got dressed and grabbed his gear before making the call to his boss.

“Hel…looo?” Questioned a gruff, slurred voice.

“Boss. Did I wake you up?”

“What do you think, DiNozzo?”

“Yeah…Sorry Boss, but we have a new a case. I sent the address and details to your phone.”

There was grunt from the other line before, “I’ll meet you there, DiNozzo. Wake up the rest of the team.”

“You got it, Boss.” He replied barely managing to keep the growl out of his voice. The moon’s soft light was surrounding him as he walked to his car causing the wolf to once again waken in response. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Two

“The Hunter, The Prey, and The Wolf”

"The caribou feeds the wolf, but it is the wolf who keeps the caribou strong."
~ Keewation (Inuit) proverb

The crime scene was in a secluded area outside of Norfolk Navel Base. It was his first crime scene since coming back from Mexico after unsuccessfully trying to follow Reynosa’s brother. He had been forced to leave after Franks nearly died in a trap that was set for the both of them. He probably could’ve stayed and ended it then, but if he had, someone might have figured out the truth; they might have found out what he really was.

Shaking his head, he returned his focus to the gruesome crime scene. The victim was an older man who had been beaten then shot in the torso while wearing a silver star and no ID. No one had any idea as to who the victim was before they were sent out, but he could only be happy that he was the first one to arrive at the scene.

He knew the moment he looked at the victim that it was Gibbs’s father. Special care seemed to have been taken by the killer, so that the victim would be easily identifiable for the ones intended to find the body. It was a gruesome scene laden with blood and gore that he would not soon forget, and for a moment he couldn’t move; he couldn’t do anything but stare in open horror. Horror at what had happen to Gibbs’s father, and horror at the fact that his wolf was so out of control that he couldn’t help but become hungry at the sight of the meat lying before him, but then, of course it was right when he was thinking about food, he heard the rumble of an engine and the distinct sound of Gibbs’s car screeching to a halt.

He turned with a small prayer that his abnormal silver-blue eyes, proof that his wolf was in ascendance, would not be noticed in the overbearing darkness that this night seemed to hold, and rushed to intercept his boss.

“Boss…Boss…GIBBS!” He shouted to get his boss’s attention on to him and away from what he was about to see. Running up to Gibbs, he tired to quickly find the words to say, but were there words for this? Briefly, he thought about knocking him out as it would be easier for both of them, but Gibbs would never forgive him for trying to protect him in that way. “Boss, I want you to let me take this one.” He tried to sound calm, and hoped that somehow he would be able to soothe him when he began to break apart.

“What the hell are you talking about, DiNozzo. Incase you’ve forgotten, I’m the boss not you.” He raised his eyebrows at Tony even as he felt the dread of something terribly wrong deep in his gut. He could not deny the serious and determined look in Tony’s eye.

“I know you are the boss, Boss, but today you are going to let me lead this case while you go back home.” He made an effort to sound firm and put some of the wolf’s power into it, for all the good it did.

“What the hell are you talking about, Tony? What happened? Who is it? Get the hell out of my way.” As he became more agitated, he tried to push past DiNozzo, but found himself held in a firm not-to-be-denied grasp. Unfortunately, that did not stop him from seeing over Tony’s shoulder to who had been murdered.

A great cry of anguish rose up from Gibbs while he simultaneously slumped in Tony’s arms and reached for his father. He felt Tony close his arms around him tighter, and mummer soothing words into his ear. Then, without even realizing it, he found himself being picked up and held within those arms as they carried him to the trunk of his car where they released him to sit down.

Gibbs reached out and grabbed hold of Tony as though he could somehow anchor himself to the time before they received the call that brought them the horrific scene, “Tony…To…ny…That was…my…m…y…d…ad.” He gasped out as tears he wasn’t aware of rolled down his cheeks.

Unable to help himself, he warped Gibbs in another tight embrace while making sure that Gibbs’s face was concealed by his body, “Yeah, Jethro, that was your dad.” He rubbed his hands up and down Gibbs’s back as he sobbed into his chest. “Shhhhhhh…It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.” He shook his head at McGee and Ziva, who had started to come over to them, and gestured towards the crime scene, telling them to get started. “I’m going to catch the bastard who did this, and they aren’t getting any jail time.” In fact, he was thinking that he might just let his wolf out to play for a little while. He already had the killer’s scent, and ripping her body to pieces was more than worth the punishment for breaking The Marrok’s rules.

He felt Gibbs push against him for release, which he compromised with by loosening his grip enough that Gibbs could lean back and look at him, “I’m okay now, Tony. You can let me go. We have a job to do.” He couldn’t know that tears were still running freely down his cheeks.

“No. I have a job to do. Ziva and McGee have a job to do, but you have to go back home and try to rest.” He eyed Gibbs waiting for the explosion his words would cause.

“Don’t you give me that crap. I am handling this investigation. I don’t give a damn what the rule book says. Do you hear me, DiNozzo?” His glare was a little less effective than usual do to the tears and sorrow that filled his eyes.

He stepped back, allowing his boss to slide off the trunk of the car, “I hear you, Boss.”

Gibbs looked up at him and gave a slight nod, “Good.” And began to walk by Tony.

Gibbs was already falling when he heard DiNozzo say, “I just don’t care.” And realized he had been struck at the base of his neck.

Gibbs collapsed, limp and unconscious, in his arms. Gibb’s weakened state caused the wolf inside him to roar in fury for what had been done to Gibbs and his loved one. Silver-blue eyed, he lifted Gibbs into his arms and carried him to the passenger’s side of the car. A sympathetic navel officer opened the car door for him.

He nodded his thanks to the officer, gently placed Gibbs in the car, and strapped him in before closing the door and heading over to his team. Walking up to the others, he turned his attention to McGee, “McGee, you’re in charge. I want you to double and triple check everything. Make sure you spread out and check the perimeter too, and tell Ducky when he gets here that I’m going to want the autopsy results as soon as possible. Do not screw this up. Understand? Can you handle this?”

“Yeah, Boss…I…I mean Tony. I got it; don’t worry about it, but…um…what are you going to do?”

“I’m taking Gibbs home.” He said with as little emotion as he could manage.

“Is he going to be alright?” Ziva asked concern threading through her voice as she gazed at the car where Gibbs lay.

“He’s strong. He’ll be okay. Just focus on catching the bastard who did this. I’ll call you later for an update.” Without another word, he turned away from his worried teammates and stalked back to the car. Getting in, he took a moment to breathe in the silence of the car and clamp down his raging wolf, which was steadily becoming more and more pissed off. He only realized his mistake the moment Gibbs's distinct scent flowed into him mixed with the bitter sweet scent of the man’s sorrow. The wolf reared in rage at the scent of the sorrow, causing him to spend even more time calming the beast down. Glancing at Gibbs to make sure the marine was still out cold, he found himself trying to resist the urge to stroke his tear stained cheek. Huffing a breath in frustration, he started the car and headed towards Gibbs’s home.

Chapter Three

“Bitter Truth”

“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack."
~ Rudyard Kipling


After parking the car, he carried Gibbs up to the door as he was still, thankfully, out cold. He paused at the door and sighed, for while he knew the door was unlocked, he would still have to use his magic to open the door in order to get inside without putting Gibbs down. Such magic was not easy to use with his wolf pacing and growling unhappily inside him. With another sigh the door handle turned and with a swoosh of air the door swung inward.

After kicking the door closed, he carried Gibbs up to his bedroom, and laid him down as gently as he could while hoping it would be awhile before he had to deal with an awake and, more than likely, extremely pissed off Gibbs. After a moment’s hesitation, he swiftly and carefully removed all of Gibbs’s clothing save for the man’s boxers.

Tenderly, he once again lifted a helpless Gibbs into his arms, and, using his magic, turned down the sheets, so he could lay him between the soft covers. With more care than was probably necessary, he sat softly down on the bed.

After watching him for several minutes, he gave into his urge, and reached over to brush the silver hair on Gibbs’s forehead. He let his fingertips drift, feather-light, over Gibb’s face, and was slightly surprised when Gibbs turned his still slumbering face towards the touch.

His insides clenched, and the wolf howled deep within him. Removing his hand, he clenched his fist in irritation. He was no longer sure he could keep his wolf under control, not with Gibbs in this state, and not while both he and his wolf longed to hunt down and destroy the one who had murdered Jackson Gibbs, the father of the man before him. However, he could also not willing die or leave until he had the murder in his claws and between his teeth.

Standing, he went to look blindly out the window in Gibbs’s bedroom. His soul was in conflict. His desires verses what he knew he had to do were ripping him to pieces from the inside out. He was only partly a man; a creature who could reason and if necessary, occasionally ignore what it wanted for what had to be done, but the wolf part was not so logical. It wanted what it wanted, and it would not be denied. Ever since he had joined NCIS, the wolf had raged against the man for what it desired. It was only the spell and his iron control that kept the beast from winning. He was several millennia old, and he felt like a teenager.

He didn’t know how long he had stood lost in thought, but when a groan from behind him brought him back to his senses, the sun was well over the horizon. He turned to see Gibbs pressing a hand to his head and heard his gruff slurred voice exclaim, “What the hell happened?...Ugh…I feel like crap.” Gibbs began to struggle to sit up. “Damn it. Why the hell can’t I remember last night? I didn’t drink that much.”

Suppressing a slight smile touched with sorrow, he went to Gibbs and placed his hands under his arms to help him sit up. It seemed to take Gibbs a second to register what was happening, but when he did, his blue eyes shot up and connected with forest green ones.

“Tony? What the hell are you doing in my room?” Growled an indigent Gibbs.

“You don’t remember?” He frowned with concern.

“Remember? Remember wha…” There was a moment when a look of horror flashed over Gibbs’s face only to be replaced with one of pure agony. “Shit…no, no, no, noooo…That…that wasn’t real. It had to be a dream.” Tears had once more begun to flow down his face.

“I’m so sorry, Gibbs.” He reached out to comfort him only to be roughly shoved away.

“No! Damn it. It’s a lie.” Gibbs glared up at him in furious defiance, fists clenched.

“Gibbs.” He said gently. “It’s not a lie. It happened, but I’m here for you, and so are the others. It’s going to be okay.”

He watched as Gibbs’s face faded from anger to shock to utter sorrow, and felt a bit of his own heart being torn. Gibbs buried his face in his hands as sobs racked his body. Tony reached over to once again offer Gibbs comfort, but was, once again, rejected when Gibbs recoiled from his touch.

“Leave…get out of here. Just leave me alone for awhile.” Gibbs growled out from the safety of his hands.

“I’m not leaving you alone. Not right now.”

“Tony, please…I need to be alone right now.” It didn’t sound right to hear Gibbs beg, but the oddity of it did not make him back down.

“No, you don’t.”

“Please! Tony! Can’t you understand I just don’t want you to see me like this?”

He sat back down on the bed causing Gibbs to gasp with surprise. Leaning forward, he took Gibbs into his arms despite his continued protests. “I understand, but do you understand that me seeing you like this won’t change anything? It’s okay to lean on me, you know? How many times do I have to tell you I’m here for you?”

His words took the fight right out of the other man, and Gibbs went slack against him before fisting his hands into his old friend’s shirt. “I feel lost, Tony. We were just starting to get to know each other again.” Gibbs sobbed out another breath before continuing, “It hurts, Tony…Shit…It really hurts.” Gibbs buried himself deeper into his friend’s shirt.

Gibbs’s words renewed the wolf’s hunger for the hunt, invoking another internal fight, which he quickly resolved. “I know, but it will ease. And you still have loved ones who are here for you. Lean on us. We will carry as much of the weight as we can.” He tightened his hold and said, “You are not alone.”

“I know…I know…” Gibbs sobbed into his shoulder.

For a long time, they sat that way. One man crying uncontrollably into the embrace of the other. Finally, he pushed Gibbs back and out of his hold. After carefully wiping the tears from Gibbs’s face and handing him several tissues from the side table, he grasped Gibbs’s shoulders and said, “You need to get some sleep. You’re exhausted.”

“I can’t, Tony.” Gibbs struggled to get free of his hold, so he could get out of bed. “I need to catch the bastard who did this and return the favor.”

He sighed inwardly at the stubbornness of the man before him even if he could understand it. Placing the wolf’s power, who was more than willing to help the hurting man before them, in his voice he spoke with the obsolete authority Gibbs hadn’t known he possessed, and the power made his voice grow thick and heavy, “You are going to sleep now. Sleep, Jethro…Sleep…”

Even as Gibbs’s eyes were closing, he protested, “No, I can’t…Have to…get…” And once more he found himself looking at vulnerable Gibbs, which could twist his heart and make his wolf growl with something other than aggression. Shoving the wolf back and out of the way, he gently pushed Gibbs back down under the covers.

He was watching Gibbs from his post by the window when he heard a car drive up, and, a moment later, a knock on the door. The car was not one he knew his team drove, so he went down swiftly and opened the door ready for an attack.

He paused and stared somewhat surprised, “Bran…You make good time, old friend.”

Chapter Four

“The Thorned Chains of Madness and Time”

“Wolves are not our brothers; they are not our subordinates, either. They are another nation, caught up just like us in the complex web of time and life.”
~ Henry Beston


He had forgotten that Bran, a blond, short, geeky looking man one might mistake for a teenager who none the less command a wealth of power and strength, had the annoying ability to keep track of all the wolves in his territory that he knew about. It the pissed the wolf off, being reminded of that through Bran finding him at a house he knew nothing about, for he was as dominant if not more than Bran, and that meant that only Bran’s and his absolute control allowed them to stand before one another without trying to kill the other. “It’s been awhile. Come in.” He stepped aside as they both did their best to avoid each other’s gaze, which would prompt a bloody and deadly fight in his current condition.

“How are you holding out?” Bran asked as he walked into the living room and sat down on the couch by the fireplace.

“Not well.” It was pointless to lie to another wolf; they can smell the lie. “Some things have happened since I called you.”

Bran’s eyes narrowed, “What things?”

He shoved his hand through his hair before rubbing the back of his neck in apprehension, “It’s hard to explain…”

If it were possible, Bran’s eyes narrowed further. “Try.” He said dryly.

“Well, besides the spell wearing off, I…”

Bran interrupted him when he asked, “Spell? You mean the spell that makes you, in effect, human?”

“Yeah. You know, it’s one of my personal best if I do say so myself. It makes the werewolf the spell is casted on so human that the werewolf will even heal at a human rate, of course there are some side effects like not having the super strength and smell, but…”

“Drystan! What else beside the spell is giving you trouble?” Bran asked with exasperation.

“Sorry…You know, you remind me of my current boss.” Bran raised his eyebrows at him. “Yeah…Sorry. What can I say? I like acting out this new personality I invented. Anyway, the problem starts and ends with my wolf.”

Bran frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“My wolf did something similar to what yours did with Leah, only mine took his time.” He flashed a humorless smile at the ruler of North American werewolves.

“It choose a mate for you?” Bran's surprise evident in his voice.

“Yes, and the one the wolf choose is facing a difficult time to say the least as his loved one was murdered.” He rubbed his face; his exhaustion seeping back into him at the memory.

Little escaped The Marrok’s notice, and what he heard had his eyebrows flying up to meet his hairline. “ ‘His’ loved one’? Your new mate is a HE?” Bran shouted the last word with disbelief on his face.

He winced at the trouble his slip had caused. There were very few gay wolves for a reason, and the reason being that most of them had been killed by the straight wolves. Wolves, who can smell arousal, don’t like it when another male wolf starts smelling that way because of them, but since The Marrok had never been one for prejudices, he assumed the shock he saw on Bran’s face was due to him knowing his last mate, who was female. “Yeah…He…I guess the wolf wanted someone who would be able to better protect themselves, and let me tell you, this guy has no problem in that area.”

Bran shook his head as he tried to wrap his mind around the whole idea. “Okay, okay…Let’s put aside the wolf for a moment.” Bran looked up at him without meeting his eyes, and said with all seriousness, “What about you, Drystan? How do you feel? I mean after Esyllt, I never thought you would ever truly love anyone again.”

He sighed and old sorrow surfaced in eyes for a moment before sinking back into the depths of his soul once more. “So did I, my old friend. So did I…But things change and time moves on.” Smiling slightly he continued, “His name is Jethro… Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and he’s one hell of a stubborn man…But I would die for him…and I…I love him.” He breathed out the last words as if he were afraid to admit them.

Bran hesitated because he feared he already knew the answer to what he was about to ask, “What about the man your wolf choose? How does he feel about all of this?”

He looked up at Bran, bewildered. “He doesn’t know anything. Not that I’m a werewolf. And not that I love him.”

Bran surged to his feet with the blinding speed of a wolf. A move that was, in hindsight, probably not a good idea with an unstable wolf in the room. “Why the HELL not?” Bran roared before realizing that the other wolf was growling and digging hands that were beginning to turn to claws into the couch. Bran quickly sat back down. “Sorry, sorry, but you need to talk to him. It’s no wonder your wolf is losing it.”

“I can’t talk to him. It would be pointless. Besides the fact that this is hardly the time as the man just lost his father, there are the small facts that he’s a marine, NCIS agent, and he’s had four wives. Now, you tell me…Does that sound like a gay man to you?” He asked with the wave of a hand and some sarcasm.

“Well…” Replied a very clam and laid back Bran, who was enjoying seeing his old friend so near hysterics over a possible lover. “It sounds like women aren’t working out too well for him. Who knows? Maybe he’ll welcome a change of venue.” As he spoke, his smile grew.

“You bastard. You’re enjoying this!” He accused with astonishment.

“Well, yes. It’s amusing to watch you struggle a little. After all, it is a rather rare occurrence.” Bran’s smile softened and faded as he continued in a more serious tone, “I know you’re afraid of being rejected by him not only because you’re afraid of what his reaction will be to finding out you’re a werewolf, but also because of the whole homosexual situation; however, if you want to regain control of your wolf, you need to tell this Gibbs person that you love him.”

He was about to reply when they both shot to their feet after they heard a sharp intake of breath from the direction of the stairs. Turning, he saw Gibbs standing at the top of the stairs with a mixture of shock and what seemed to be horror on his face.

“Gibbs!…I…I…Damn it!” He cursed and shoved his hand through his hair, at a loss as what to say.

“Oh my…Well this isn’t good. But I must say that the man moves quite silently for a human.” Bran said, impressed.

“ ‘Human’?...Who the hell are you?” Gibbs asked gruffly after a moment with only a slight shake to his voice.

“My name is Bran. Bran Cornick, and it is a pleasure to meet you.” Bran said while he acknowledged the agent with a slight incline of his head.

“DiNozzo?” Gibbs asked apprehensively. Apparently, Gibbs was more concerned about the stranger in his home than the information that said stranger revealed.

“He’s okay, Boss.” Gibbs visibly relaxed a fraction, but did not move from his position at the top of the stairs.

Bran turned an inquisitive look on his old friend, and asked with some amusement, “ ‘Boss’? You call him boss?”

“Yes, it’s part of my cover here. Besides, I rather like it.” He smiled mischievously at Bran.

“ ‘Cover’? What the hell is going on here, DiNozzo? Explain, damn it.” Gibbs demanded with more than a little frustration.

“Perhaps it would be easier to have this conversation when we are all down here? If you don’t mind?” Bran smiled knowingly at the other man when all Gibbs did in reply was grunt and walk calmly down the stairs to sit on the couch beside Bran’s old friend and rather far away from where Bran was perched on the arm of a chair, giving Bran the air of a harmless teenager.

“Well?” Gibbs said after a few moments of silence had passed between them. “Is someone going to tell me what’s going on?” He turned his head to look purposefully at the man beside him, but he was silent; contemplating what to say while the fear of the consequence of this conversation danced in the back of his mind.

Bran looked at his distraught friend and decided to help him out. “Where would you like us to begin, Gibbs?”

“How about you start at who you are and why you’re here?” Gibbs demanded, for he still did not trust the man. There was something about him that made Gibbs believe that he was more dangerous than he appeared, and until he figured out why, everything else could wait.

“Hmmm…Will to know who I am you must first know who the man beside you is.” Bran replied mystically.

Gibbs gave him an annoyed, incredulous look while snapping out, “What?”

“I am a werewolf and so is he.” The man Gibbs called DiNozzo bluntly stated as fast as he could without looking at Gibbs.

“You’re a what? Damn it, DiNozzo! I want the truth, not an excerpt from one of your damned movies.” Growled Gibbs while glaring hard at the other man. “Now, you had damn well better tell me the truth.”

“Today, DiNozzo!” Continued Gibbs when he received only silence.

Briefly, silver-blue flashed into his eyes, but was only seen by Bran, who remained silent. With a sigh, he stood up and began to shed his cloths to the bewilderment of Gibbs. “It is easier to just show you the truth than to tell you.”

“You try’n to say you’re a striper or something, Tony?”

He sneered at Gibbs as he finished undressing. “Very funny, Boss. But no, what I am trying to tell you is this…” Then without another word he began to change. Thanks to the fact that he had not been fully human before he was changed into a werewolf, but rather what might be called a sorcerer in the modern age, he could change much more quickly than other werewolves. Where it might take an average werewolf fifteen minutes to change, it only took him about three, but, unfortunately, it still hurt like a bitch.

As he changed, he watched Gibbs and saw as his mouth widen in shock as muscle and bone were reshaped, skin replaced with silver fur, and green eyes altered to silver-blue. He watched until the pain forced his eyes close. After his front paws touched the ground, he slowly looked up to where Gibbs still sat opened mouth.

“Tha…that…is just not possible.” Gibbs shook his head in disbelief at the sight before him.

“It is possible. The man you know as Tony is a werewolf…among other things.” Bran muttered the last three words, and they seemed to go unnoticed by Gibbs.

Gibbs frowned then slowly got up and walked the few steps toward the silver wolf before him. He knelt down, looked into the wolf’s eyes and sea met ice. “Tony? Is that really you?”

When he received a quickly dipped head and a soft bark as an answer, Gibbs fell back and sat down hard on the wooden floor. “Holy shit.” He breathed.

The wolf couldn’t blame the man. After all, he had just changed from a man to an impossibly large wolf that reached up to the man’s midriff. Not to mention the fact that is fur was not exactly normal either as his silver fur shimmered with an unearthly glow, almost as if the moon had been imprisoned within the depths of the wolf’s fur. The wolf sighed at the mess the whole thing was turning into before looking expectantly at Bran.

Bran nodded his head slightly in response before turning his attention to Gibbs. “Now do you believe we’re werewolves, or would you like me to change as well?”

Gibbs’s head shot up and his eyes fixated on Bran before he gasped out, “God, no. Just…just stay human. Better yet, Tony, you change back.”

Bran shook his head to the request even as the silver wolf whined at Gibbs. “He cannot. The change is quite excruciating. It will be at least a couple of more minutes before he can bare another one.”

Gibbs looked up at Bran in surprise before looking back at the wolf. “It hurts him?” He asked in a smaller voice than the wolf would’ve liked, for the wolf promptly rubbed his head against Gibbs’s chest in order to reassure him.

“The change is painful for all of us. Part of the price we pay, I suppose.” Replied Bran as he hid a knowing smile.

“The price you pay for what? What does it mean to be a werewolf? Is like the books or Tony’s movies?” Gibbs asked without taking his eyes off the wolf, a hand absently buried within the supernaturally soft fur.

“There are some things that are, well, mostly right. But the main affects you should beware of are increased strength, sight, smell, hearing, agility, and speed. Also, besides him being able to turn into an unnaturally large wolf, he is neigh impossible to kill due to the rapid regenerative powers that we possess. However, the main difference is that he is immortal and will never age so long as he lives.” Bran eyed Gibbs, waiting to see what his reaction would be.

“Immortal? Tony is immortal?” Suddenly his sea blue eyes sharpened. “Wait. How long has DiNozzo been a werewolf?” Gibbs looked piercingly at the wolf, who merely cocked his head inquiringly to the side, for a moment before turning his hard look on Bran.

“Hmmm…You’re rather good.” Bran said appreciatively before turning his gaze to the wolf. “Well, Drystan? Would you like to tell him, or would you rather I inform him of your age?” Bran raised a brow as the wolf began to turn human once more.

After he was fully human, his clothes, which he had thrown on the floor, vanished to reappear on his body. Gibbs watched the whole process wide eyed, but proved that his mind was still working when he asked with a frown, “Drystan? Why did he call you Drystan?”

“It was the name I used when I knew him back in the day although he is saying it in Welsh. The English version is Tristan.”

“Tristan?” Gibbs felt his gut clench in uneasiness as he continued, “Just how old are you, DiNozzo.” Gibbs's frown deepened as he grudgingly corrected himself. “I mean Tristan.”

Bran raised his eyebrows in mild surprise as his old friend, uncharacteristically, in regards to the man that he knew so long ago, responded to the human’s words hesitantly, “You can call me Tony. I like that name.” Then, taking a deep breath, which he released in a sigh as he said somewhat despondently, “I’m over six thousand years old.”

Tony watched as Gibbs blinked once then twice before he shouted at the top of his lungs, “You’re WHAT!”

Tony looked down and managed to look a little sheepish as he tapped his two index fingertips together while replying rather unnecessarily, “Over six thousand years old…”

“Tony.” Said an exasperated Gibbs. “How is that even possible?”

Sighing once more Tony said, “I don’t really know what to tell you Gibbs expect the facts...I’m the oldest of my kind. No one has lived to be my age. It’s just not done. I probably wouldn’t have accomplished it, but I have more…abilities…than the average wolf, and I haven’t lived in a pack for almost four thousand years.”

Gibbs surprised him when he frowned and choose to focus his questions not on the obscurely mentioned “abilities” but rather on…“A pack?” Tony suspected he would hear of it later when Gibbs was sure he would get a satisfactory answer.

“Werewolves are like real wolves in many ways. One of those ways being that we tend to live in packs. There is an alpha wolf who rules over and protects all the other wolves in the pack. There aren’t many wolves who choose to lone wolf it like me because lone wolves don’t have the support of the pack, which can offer healing, companionship, and an immortal family, which becomes more important as we grow older and all of our human friends and loved ones die.”

Bran nodded in agreement, “Pack is important, but it is not for some wolves. Drystan has been a lone wolf for a very long time, and is too stubborn and too dominant to become apart of a pack.”

Gibbs huffed out a breath in frustration, for it felt like he was in a different world and lacking in the control and knowledge that he prized so highly, “Too dominant?” he huffed. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It the reason most wolves don’t live very long despite being immortal.” Tony explained patiently if not somewhat cryptically. He continued in more detail when Gibbs gave him his infamous stare. “Two equally dominant wolves cannot live in the same territory. If two equally dominant wolves come into contact with each other, they will most likely end up fighting to the death. It is one of the reasons that alphas exist; they keep the battles to a minimum…most of the time anyway.” He shrugged before continuing. “It is our dominance that forces less dominant wolves to back down and obey us, but two equally dominant wolves in the same room is like two kings fighting to rule the same country, only the wolves tear each other apart instead of having other people fight for them…That make sense, Gibbs?” Tony said while cocking his head inquisitively in a wolfish manner.

“Yeah. Sure. Sounds screwed up if you ask me.” Tony grinned at the response as Gibbs heaved himself off the floor and got to his feet. “Frankly, I don’t care about you being a wolf although I’ll admit I didn’t see that one coming, and it’ll take some getting used to. The thing that matters is you’re one of my best agents, and I know you’ll always have my six.” Gibbs paused then glowered at Tony. “But don’t think for a second I’m letting you off the hook.” Gibbs walked over to Tony and slapped him upside the back of his head, a moved which deeply surprised and shocked Bran. After all, it’s not everyday that a werewolf lets himself be struck.

Gibbs was practically glowering as he continued. “I’m not happy that ya hid it from me. Ya should’ve told me, Tony.” Gibbs’s eyes softened. “But I understand why ya did it.” Tony’s eyes widened at Gibbs’s words. “What I do care about is what your friend there said earlier…” When Tony just frowned in confusion, he continued. “The part about you being in love with me.”

Tony knew his face had turned white then bright red as he tried to manage a response, “Boss, I…I…” Huffing out a breath, he shoved his hand once more through his hair. “Gibbs, what you have to understand is that I’ve been alone a very long time. And that time and loneliness eats at a person’s sanity, so my wolf tried to save mine and decided that you would be a good mate for me.”

Gibbs just stared at him blankly, so Tony tried to simplify it. “My wolf is like a separate spirit from mine while still being part of my soul. I don’t know how to say it expect we are one but two. Before I met you, I was wandering, looking for a place to die.” Surprise and horror lit into Gibbs’s face causing Tony to chuckle grimly. “I keep telling you, Gibbs, I am very old, and I had become very tried as well. However, my wolf did not and does not share my sentiments, and decided that I had been too long without a mate. The moment you crossed our paths my wolf decided you would be the prefect mate. The wolf thought that you might be strong enough to bring me back to life, so to speak.” Gibbs frowned causing Tony to smile slightly. “I know what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong. It’s true that at first I was pissed at my wolf. I won’t lie to you. Not only was my wolf trying to keep me from dying, but he also choose a male as a mate.” Tony’s smile suddenly grew into the one of the bright foolish ones that Gibbs was so familiar with. “However, as I came to know you, there was little else I could do besides love you.”

Silence followed Tony’s long confession until at last Gibbs finally spoke, “I’ll be honest with you, Tony. I don’t know how I feel about…” He waved a hand, at a loss for words. “About all of that. I’ve never considered it. But what I want to know is what will happen if I reject you.”

Tony felt his heart sink in his chest, but he managed to smile although it was an empty one, devoid of emotion, “Don’t worry about it, Gibbs.”

“Damn it, DiNozzo. That is not what I asked.” He snapped.

“He’ll die.” Said Bran, drawling attention back to him as the other two seemed to have forgotten his existence.

“Bran! Damn it. Why the hell did you tell him that?” Tony asked with fury and the wolf’s growl in his voice.

“It makes little difference whether he knows or not.” He said to Tony before turning his attention to Gibbs, who had grown pale and silent. “You cannot lie to him and tell him you except him when you don’t. He would be able to smell the lie, and I doubt he would forgive you for the attempted pity. If you do not think you can love him, tell him. He has lived a long time, and unlike you humans we can except death for the release that it is. Now, what say you, human?” As he spoke, Bran had shed the feeling of innocence and now emanated power and danger befitting a predator.

Gibbs backed away from Bran without even realizing it. “I…I don’t know. I just don’t know.” He muttered and closed his eyes in frustration and fear for Tony.

He opened them once more when he felt a gentle and familiar hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright, Jethro.” Tony said softly with a tender smile that was for him alone. “I understand, but I hope you will forgive me for this.”

“For wha…” Gibbs didn’t get to finish his question as his head was firmly and suddenly grasped by one hand while another griped his waist and lips pressed against his. It took only a moment for Tony’s tongue to slide into his mouth to caresses the inside in a way that caused his knees to buckle.

He didn’t know how long the kiss lasted, or when he had closed his eyes and completely surrendered to Tony, going slack in his arms. He just knew that he had never been kissed quite like that. When they parted, he was gasping from lack of air and from the desire suddenly growing in his stomach. Tony reluctantly released him causing him to almost fall from weakened knees.

Tony sighed and rubbed the back of his head, “Sorry, Boss. I’ll be out of here in a sec. I’ll send Ziva over to check on you a little later, and I’ll be out of the city by tonight.” Tony turned away from Gibbs, who’s mind was still trying to catch up, before suddenly pausing, “Oh, and I want you to know, I know who killed your father, and they’ll be dead before the morn…Goodbye, Gibbs.” He looked partly over his shoulder, but stopped before he could see Gibbs’s face, and instead looked up at Bran, who nodded sadly.

Side by side, they walked to the door, only to pause when they heard Gibbs mummer quietly, “Wait…”

Turning they saw a bleak look colored by a spot of hope. “How do you know who killed my father?” Had they been human, they would’ve been unable to hear Gibbs’s question.

Tony tapped his nose. “Came across her scent when I was in Mexico. It was pretty fresh at the crime scene, so it shouldn’t take to much time to hunt her down.”

Gibbs’s head shot up, “Her?”

Tony nodded. He knew the sex of the killer was all Gibbs would need to figure out who murder his father. “Yeah, her. The Mexican drug cartel woman.”

Rage and guilt flashed over Gibbs’s face before vanishing behind his marine visage. “Are you really going to kill her?” The Tony that he knew had always had extreme faith in the law although there were times, like when Ari killed Kate, that he, like Gibbs, was willing to bend the rules…into a pretzel. Some things were not forgivable, and some things only death could settle.

“Yeah. I’m going to kill her, and don’t worry I’ll make it painful.” A wolfish grin matched by a predatorily gleam in his eyes darkened his face.

“Idiot!” Gibbs snapped to the surprise of both the wolves. “What if they manage to link it back to you?”

“Gibbs.” Tony said as if he were speaking to a mentally challenged person. “For one thing, I’m leaving, and I’m pretty damn good at disappearing.” Gibbs knew that. It was one of the reasons Tony made such a good undercover agent; he could blend into any group. “But the main reason no one will ever find out who really killed her is…” The predator in him seeped into his face and changed his eyes to silver-blue ice as he said in a low growl, “because she’s going to be mauled by wolves.”

Gibbs frowned. “That’s not like you, Tony.”

Tony smiled without humor, “You’re forgetting something. I’m a wolf, and the spell that his been suppressing my killing rage and instinct is wearing off.” He paused, sorrow briefly clouded his face. “I have lived a long time, Gibbs, and I have killed many people…Sometimes it was in the name of war, or justice, or vengeance, or anger, or sometimes even madness…I have lived a long time.” He said once more with exhaustion in every inch of his being. “Too long…” He wasn’t looking at Gibbs anymore, but somewhere far away.

Suddenly, Gibbs was furious. “Bullshit!” He spat, startling Tony back into the present. “That’s bullshit, Tony! Stop it. Just stop it! Stop saying you want to die.” Gibbs shook his head and threw up his arms in rage. “What? You think that I haven’t been through enough loosing my father; you want me to loose my best friend too?” Gibbs had no idea that fresh tears were staining his face as he ranted at Tony.

Tony felt his heart break a little more, and he spoke softly with a sorrow laden voice, “Gibbs, I…”

He was interrupted by Bran who snapped, “This isn’t about you, you selfish human.” Tony stared at Bran, for it was rare for the usually collected wolf to loose it. “He cannot help dying. Try to wrap your minuscule intelligence around the situation. He is gradually becoming insane as he can no longer placate his wolf, which a mate could do, so he has no choice other than to die or risk going mad, which would result in many deaths. And just so you know, the older a wolf is, the more dangerous and powerful they become. His extreme age coupled with the fact that it is nigh impossible for him to be slain makes him a danger to all those who happen to be near him. When he looses control, he won’t just kill a couple of people; he’ll destroy hundreds if not stopped. He has no choice but to die since you refuse to open your pathetic heart to him.”

“Bran!” Growled Tony. “That is enough. You’re pissing me off.” He warned, for his wolf truly did not like the way Bran was speaking to the man chosen as their mate. “We should go now before my wolf decides to try and eat you.” Bran turned to look at Tony. Both of them had their wolves in their eyes, yet they managed to hold back on the bloodshed. Huffing out a breath, Bran turned and stormed out the front door, leaving it wide open.

“Wait!” Cried Gibbs gruffly at Tony’s retreating form. “Tony, I didn’t know…I didn’t understand. Don’t go.”

Tony just smiled, love for the other man making his eye shine. “Gibbs, what will happen to me is not your fault. Please, don’t worry about me.” Then in a more playful tone than he felt, Tony continued, “Adios, mi amigo.” Tony raised his hand in farewell before turning to head out the open door.

Tony was stopped from reaching the door by strong arms around his midriff. “I don’t want you to leave. Can’t ya hear or smell or whatever the hell it is ya do to tell the truth?”

Tony just sighed, his eyes on the sky as he did his best to restrain himself. “I sense the truth of your words, Gibbs, but they aren’t enough. The only way for me to be able to remain here and stay sane at the same time is for me to mate, and I will not and cannot ask that of you when you are unwilling. Now, please do not make this any harder than it already is, and let me go.”

“No.” He replied stubbornly. “When you kissed me, I felt something I had never felt before.” He paused and took another breath as hope began to grow in Tony. “I don’t know if I love you because I have never tried. Give me a chance. Please, Tony, don’t leave me. Not now. I…I need you…I need to know that you will be there on my six like always…Please stay.”

Much to Gibbs’s annoyance, Bran had come to stand near them having remained on the porch. “It’s too late, human. There isn’t time for you to take to fall in love. Drystan must be either be dead or mated before the next full moon, which is in three days.”

Gibbs’s face became overridden with shock and horror at Bran’s words. “Now, human, release him. We still have a hunt to complete before Drystan can die.”

Tony closed his eyes in the face of the reality in front of him before opening his eyes and saying in a flat tone, “He’s right, Gibbs. Let me go.”

Tony was mildly surprised when Gibbs wrenched him backwards and pointlessly pinned him against the wall. “I don’t accept that.” He growled.

Tony easily released himself from Gibbs’s hold, which caused Gibbs’s eyes to widen in astonishment. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what you accept.”

Pushing himself off the wall, Tony almost fell over when Gibbs asked, “What does it take to mate?”

“Wha…what?” Tony sputtered.

“You heard me, DiNozzo.” Gibbs was rapidly turning red.

“Hmmm…I really am beginning to like you, human.” Bran said with renewed admiration before answering his question. “You have to mate with him, and bind your souls together.”

Gibbs blinked. “What?”

Bran raised his brows in question as Tony just stared in disbelief at the unfolding scene. “I sort of expected the sex thing.” Gibbs clarified. “But what do you mean by ‘bind our souls together?’”

Bran smiled cunningly, “You have to submit your soul and heart to him. Usually, it takes pack magic, but Drystan has both the skills and powers to create such a bond on his own. However, this bond will allow him to read your thoughts, know your feelings, and perhaps more. I can’t be certain as to what exactly as each bond forms differently, but the point is that this would be one way unless you decide to one day turn wolf because such abilities are beyond the capabilities of a human.”

Gibbs’s surprised countenance turned to one of determination as he rashly said, “I’ll do it.”

“Gibbs!” Tony exclaimed. “I already told you, I am not going to force you into this or accept this as an attempt to save me. It’s not your fau…”

“Tony!” Gibbs interrupted while staring hard at Tony. “I know you would die for me, but do you think I would do anything less for you?”

“Of course not.” He replied without hesitation. “But this isn’t the same as taking a bullet for a comrade. Do you really understand what you’re agreeing to?”

“Tony, would you do any different if our positions were reverse?” Gibbs asked with steel lining his voice.

“That’s not the point, and it’s hardly rele…”

“Tony!” Gibbs snapped with impatience.

Sighing, Tony shoved a hand through his hair. “No, of course not.” He replied with great reluctance. “I would do anything for you.”

“Then let me do this for you.” Gibbs paused before raising his eyes to Tony’s.

Tony smiled with love in his eyes, but he said, “No. I love you, Gibbs. I will not do this unless you feel the same, and we both know that you don’t…You can’t save me, Jethro. Not this time.”

“Damn it, Tony!” Gibbs shouted. “I will love you. Give me time.” When Tony turned his face away, Gibbs felt panic rise in his chest. “I’m begging you, Tony. Please…” Gibbs took a deep breath, and moment to wish they were alone. “Let me be your mate.” He said in a low gruff voice as his face turned bright red.

Bran smiled at the heartfelt words as well as at the marine’s embarrassment, and told his old friend in Welsh, “Mae'n amlwg y dyn wrth ei fodd i chi hyd yn oed os nad yw'n gwybod eto ei hun. Cymerwch ef fel eich ffrind.” (It is clear the man loves you even if he doesn't know it yet himself. Take him as your mate.)

Tony glanced at Bran before looking intently at Gibbs, who was beginning to hate the Welsh wolf. At last, he shook his head before saying, “I hope you know what you’re getting into. Very well, if you are willing to become my mate, who am I to refuse?” Tony smiled at the relief that flooded Gibbs’s face.

Bran smiled, “Yr wyf yn fodlon i chi, hen ffrind.” (I am happy for you, old friend.) With a wave of his hand, he turned to leave, but stopped to pause for a moment. “When you called me, I sent for Anna just in case, and despite your mate being what he is, I think I still send her over.” Tony nodded his head in agreement without looking at Bran. “She should be here in a day or so. I’ll be in touch.” And with that, he was gone.

Chapter Five

“Making Room”

"I've always said that the best wolf habitat resides in the human heart. You have to leave a little space for them to live." ~ Ed Bangs


Gibbs was sitting on the couch in deep thought while Tony sat perched on the top edge of the sofa staring and waiting with a predator’s practiced patience.

“What now, Tony?” Gibbs asked as he slowly raised his head to see his future mate.

“What do you mean?” Tony cocked his head to the right making him resemble the predator he could change forms into even more.

Gibbs paused at the sight before saying, “I mean, how long do we really have until you loose it? Your annoying friend didn’t know the truth, right? He just assumed.”

Tony grinned, showing his teeth and making Gibbs somewhat uneasy. No, it was clear that they didn’t have very much time at all. “Not sure. I can tell you my wolf won’t calm down right now. It is taking all of my will to keep him under control.”

“Then we should go ahead and do this.” Gibbs tried to say causally.

“Please, stop.” Tony said while baring his teeth and digging his hands into the couch.

“Stop? Stop what, DiNozzo? We’re gonna do this. I’m not going to let you die.” Gibbs said, sounding more sure of himself as he went.

“I can smell your fear.” Tony bit out. “It’s pissing the wolf off. He…I don’t like knowing I’m the cause of that fear.”

Gibbs looked at him, astonished. “I’m not afraid.” And before Tony could correct him, he said, “I’m a little nervous, but I am not afraid, Tony.” Gibbs unleashed his trademark glare on Tony. “I’m a marine. We don’t get scared.”

For some reason, that statement really pissed Tony off. “Really?” Was all he said before he called on speed far surpassing human capabilities. He flew off the back of the couch, grabbed Gibbs, threw him on the floor, and pressed his teeth up against Gibbs’s neck. Taking a deep breath of the man’s scent and speaking with a low growl in his voice, he said, “Somehow, I don’t believe you. All I smell right now is the stench of fear. Is it because you know I could’ve already killed you before you so much as blinked? Or is it because your regretting the decision you made, and now wish to let me die? Hmmm…? Which is it?”

Gibbs took a breath to try and calm himself down. Tony had moved at such a blinding speed. One moment he was there on the couch, and the next he had Gibbs pinned to the floor. Not a happy experience for a marine who could still, at times, feel the echo of war. “I’m not afraid for me, Tony. I’m scared for you. Obviously, your control is weakening.” Gibbs said with some sarcasm as he turned his face, so he could look at Tony. More seriously, he added, “I want to help you, no matter the cost.”

With a frustrated growl, Tony sat up, and would’ve gotten off of Gibbs, but the other man had a hold of his shirt with one hand and an arm with the other. “You said you loved me, right?” When Tony nodded, he continued, “Then make love to me. Now.”

Tony smiled humorously down at him. “You don’t have to push yourself for me, Gibbs.”

“Damn it, Tony.” Gibbs growled. “I’m not pushing myself…And the name’s Jethro.” As Tony’s eyebrows raised in surprise, Gibbs moved on to a question that he really wanted an answer to. “But before we do this, Tony, what’s your real name?”

Tony sat back in surprise before he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, “I don’t really remember.” He admitted.

Gibbs snorted in disbelief. “How can you not remember your own name?”

“It was over six thousand years ago, Jethro, and I made an effort to forget. There are some creatures in this world who can do very…unpleasant things with a person’s true name. It’s better if I just let it disappear. Besides, the name Anthony is very important to me, and like hearing you call me by it.”

“Alright. Look, I know we’re already in position, so to speak, but do ya’ mind if we do the next part in the bed?” There was only a slight blush on his face this time as he purposefully looked into Tony’s eyes.

Tony gracefully stood while swooping Gibbs up into a carrying hold. “Sure, Jethro. If that’s what you want.”

“What I want is for you to put me down. Damn it, Tony. I can walk, ya know.” Gibbs growled.

“I know you can, but right now it would be better if you let me carry you.” He said with the wolf in his eyes as he swiftly carried Gibbs up the stairs and into the bedroom where he laid him gently down on the bed. Hunger apparent in his eyes. “If you don’t take your clothes off right now, they won’t be wearable tomorrow.” He growled deep in his throat with the wolf blazing in his eyes.

Gibbs shuddered uncontrollably at the heat he saw in the ice colored eyes, but began to remove his clothes. Shrugging out of his shirt, he heard Tony growl, “Faster.” He threw his shirt off to the side in response and quickly stepped out of his pants and boxers.

Standing naked before Tony, he looked expectantly at him. “Well?” He asked with more bravo than he felt. “Aren’t ya gonna get undressed too?”

“Hmmm…eventually, but first I going to enjoy myself a little. An appetizer, if you will.” He smiled predatorily as he stroked Gibbs’s arms up and down before roughly pushing the other man back onto the bed and removing his own shirt in the same swift motion.

As Tony straddled him, Gibbs raised an eyebrow. “You don’t really think that you’re going to be on top, do you?” Gibbs asked incredulously.

Tony ran his hands over Gibbs’s bare chest, lightly stroking the other man’s nipples, making him gasp lightly. Leaning down, Tony brushed his lips over Gibbs's, electing a soft moan from him. “Uhmmm…Do you not want to be on the bottom?” Gibbs managed to glare at him for a second before stifling another moan as hands wandered down from his chest. “If you want the top, you’ll have to fight for it, mi amor.” Tony whispered in his ear, lapsing into his favored language, Spanish, and making Gibbs shudder with the sudden brush of air.

Tony was exploring him as if he had all the time in the world, and as if Gibbs was the most fascinating treasure he had ever come across. Slowly, like a hunter coxing fire from the embers, Gibbs felt himself being consumed by the burning passion of silver-blue eyes. If ever ice could turn to fire, it would do so in this man’s eyes. Gibbs had never know himself to be this sensitive before. Four wives and never had Gibbs been touched this way before. Every touch drew a gasp or a moan from him. There was nothing he could do to stop it, not that he wanted to.

When Gibbs met the silver-blue eyes, he realized how much all of this seemed like some sort of fairy tale, yet he found himself impossibly entranced by the wonder of it. Wolf or man, he was his, to enjoy, to admire, and perhaps, to love. With the fading light of the day dancing into the room to play over his immortal lover’s skin, he found it all too easy to believe in magic.

His breath began to shudder out of him as his lover began to torment him with the skill of years beyond count. He watched as, with a wolfish grin, his lover lowered his mouth to his skin to feast from it, forcing him to cry out in surprise from the degree of heat that surrounded him, and moan when Tony made his way, nibbling as he went, up from his chest to his neck and finally back to his lips. Tony brushed his lips across Gibbs’s closed eyes, cheeks, and forehead before making his way once more to Gibbs's lips. Each soft touch was a glowing ember, which provoked more heat from the fire that was building within him.

Burying his hands in his lover’s hair, he gasped out, “Damn…ahhhh…you’re really good at this…ahhhh…”

“Uhmmm…so are you, Jethro. I’ve never tasted the like of you.” Blazing ice met depthless ocean before lips crushed together and time slid away. The growing need to cease his slow exploration and simply ravish his silver haired lover was mounting within him, but he pushed it aside for a greater desire; the yearning to see his lover shiver uncontrollably as he called his name out to him, but, of course, there was only so long any man could hold out, wolf or no.

Gibbs couldn’t move. All he could do was hold on to his lover. He could only see him, those silver-blue eyes, for there was only him. In that moment, nothing else mattered. What spell had been cast over him? He didn’t know, and he didn’t care, not when all he felt was pleasure and love.

The next moment took all thought from him as he felt slick fingers glide into him. Crying out his lover’s name, he arched back into the bed with his eyes clenched shut as his senses were overwhelmed, lost in a bliss he had never known before. The strokes he felt from within had him crying his lover’s name out again and again as he clung desperately to Tony’s back with his fingers digging in.

Why had he never seen the love Tony had for him? Why had he ever been hesitant? Nothing could or would ever match what he felt now. When it came to love there was no man or woman, only passion and need.

Lost in bliss, he had no idea that he was calling out Tony’s name over and over again while demanding more from Tony, who was more than willing to accede to his wish.

Striping off the rest of his clothes, Tony lowered his lips to his silver haired lover to lose himself in a dance as old as time and older than he. Listening to his lover’s gasps, moans, and cries, he was filled with tenderness, love, and the desire to be able to hold on to him forever. Running his hand down his lover’s leg while he poured his heart into the kiss, he felt the shadow of sorrow in knowing that forever was not an option when it came to mortals. Briefly, he marveled at the magic and power of love. It could create life or destroy it forever, and he couldn’t help but wondered if the eventual loss of his silver haired lover, would wound him greater than the loss of his Esyllt, and break him completely, but, ah, it was surly worth it.

Removing his fingers, he heard Gibbs groan at the loss, and smiled slyly before lowering his head to whisper in Gibb’s ear, “Jethro, take a deep breath, now, and try to relax.”

Lost in ecstasy, Gibbs could only cry out as he was filled utterly by his silver-blue eyed love. He felt the enchantment of it all, the magic was more than he could ever imagine or hope to feel again, and even when the ache and their need drove at them, it still remained tender.

At his lover’s command, Gibbs opened his eyes, so they could connect with one another, and in that moment he felt them being surround by something he couldn’t name, but it reached into his very soul.

“You are mine, now.” He heard Tony mummer with a deep sex laden voice into his ear before he arched his back as Tony pushed himself deeper within him and cried out once more, flying with that final release.

He had a moment to register Tony burring his face into his neck before sleep took him to dream of wolves running free in a vast forest, hunting, hunting for something…or someone.

Chapter Six

“The Silver Beast”

"We humans fear the beast within the wolf because we do not understand the beast within ourselves."
~ Gerald Hausman


The almost full moon had risen well into the sky when Tony had woken and carefully disentangled himself from his mortal lover. Without waking Gibbs, he got out of the bed and grabbing his cell phone, left the room to stand in the hallway.

He looked with disgust at the cell phone for a moment before punching a number into the machine. After a moment, someone answered.

“What?” Snapped an irritated feminine voice.

“Hello? It’s me, Drystan.” He replied, hiding his own annoyance at the less than friendly greeting.

“Drystan? It’s been…a long time.” The voice finished after a moments pause.

“Yeah, I know. Look, I’m calling to collect on a debt left unpaid. You interested?”

“Perhaps. What did you have in mind?” The woman’s voice had changed into an intrigued almost sultry drawl.

Rolling his eyes at the woman’s antics, he replied, “Meet me downtown in twenty minutes at the old café shop, you know the one. We’ll discuss things there.” Like many major cities, D.C. had a several different restaurants and bars, which were hidden from humans, and catered only to the supernatural. Said café shop was one such place that woman’s kind were particularly fond of as one of their own ran it.

“Fine.” Said the woman in a snappish tone before hanging up. Apparently, she wasn’t pleased to have to go out in the middle of the night.

Shaking his head in exasperation, he paused to look back at the room where his lover slept. Using his magic to cover himself in some fresh clothes, he quickly and quietly left the house to meet with a very dangerous being.

He was sitting at a table in the café shop when a woman, who looked to be in her early forties with brown hair tied up into a tight bun wearing a long black trench coat with a red scarf and black high heeled boots while she carried a walking stick for blind eyes hidden under dark glasses, walked into the shop. Despite the amount of other…beings in the café, he didn’t bother saying anything to get her attention. She could see better than most humans despite the uselessness of her eyes.

He looked up at her as she sat down at the table. “Hello, Nemane. Been awhile.” Nemane was a very powerful and deadly creature called a fae, beings with long life spans and terrible abilities. They hid their true monstrous forms under a glamour, which gave them the appearance of humanity. The collective group of fae were ruled by the tyrannical hands of the Gray Lords, a small group of the most powerful and long lived of all the fae. Even the most bloody and goriest of “The Brother’s Grimm’s” fairy tales, barley touched on the truth. Usually, their hunger for blood and war far outweighed even that of a wolf’s, but Nemane, the Carrion Crow and one of the Gray Lords, wasn’t too bad, generally…on a good a day.

“Yes, I believe it’s been some centuries, by the human’s track of time.” She paused to offer him a smile that would rival that of any wolf’s. “Now, what am I doing here?” She asked bluntly.

“Always to the point.” He muttered knowing full well she could still hear him. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Oh?” She asked, drawing her eyebrows up over the rim of her dark glasses.

Tony sighed. Talking to the fae was like trying to solve the riddles of a sphinx, one false step and a poor unsuspecting wolf could find themselves ripped to pieces. Raising his hand in invite, he said with some resentment, “If you look into my mind, I’ll show you who I want you to bring justice to.”

Nemane lifted a deceptively delicate hand to his before delving into the wolf’s mind, which was so well protected all she was able to see was a name and a hard looking Hispanic woman with blonde hair.

Removing her hand, she asked was a raised brow clearly visible, “To deliver justice, I need to know what she did.”

Tony’s eyes flashed silver-blue as he grounded out, “She is drenched in the blood of others. Both her hands and her blood is soiled.” Ignoring Nemane’s exasperated sigh, he continued, “Her father brutally murdered the wife and small girl-child of a marine while he was at war, and while the marine returned and soaked his hands in the blood of vengeance by hunting the killer down and slaying him, this woman” He spat the word out as if it were a curse. “decided to color her own hands red by painting them with the marine’s father’s blood and threatening to do the same to all those he cares about.” Looking up to the fae who was known for her somewhat merciful part in wars, he finished, “I ask you, end this useless human war and visit her with your fierce judgment, and I will hold a debt repaid. What say you, fae?”

“I’m quite fond of children, especially little girls. It greaves me somewhat that this was done. So be it, I shall force her to pay for the crimes of her family as well as her own.” Then with a predator’s smile, she asked, “Any requests?”

His eyes narrowed darkly and the wolf peaked out as he said in a low voice, “I don’t care what you do so long as it involves much pain and ends with death.”

Nemane nodded, and as she stood up, she said, “Very well. It shall be done, and in exchange the debt held paid.”

When he nodded in answer, she turned to leave but paused. Without turning back towards him she said, “I like you Drystan, for a wolf that is. Therefore; I will tell you something else without asking for payment in return.” She paused to smile slyly. “He knows you’re alive, Drystan. It is only a matter of time before he comes for you. Be wary, old wolf, the night holds no haven for you.” Then, without waiting for a reply, she left him with the dark thoughts her words provoked.

It was nearing midnight by the time he returned and found himself sitting on the couch with the cell phone once more in his hand. He was only wearing boxers incase Gibbs woke up again; he didn’t want him to know that he had left the house. Gathering his wits and his old demeanor by shoving away the years the events of the day had brought back to him, he called Ziva.

After a few rings, there was an answer. “Special Agent David, NCIS.” A heavily accented, sleep deprived Israeli slurred.

“Ziva. It’s Tony. What’ve you got?” Tony said jumping right to the main point. It had been about two days since he had left them to their jobs, so they had better already have the name of the killer and be in the process of bringing her in. He knew it wouldn’t matter if they caught her first. The fae would still see justice done.

“Tony?” He could almost see Ziva shake herself alert. “The killer is a woman by the name of Paloma Reynosa, daughter of Pedro Hernandez, the man Gibbs slew, and head of a Mexican drug cartel. Her prints were all over the place, but the real kicker is that one of Gibbs’s silver stars was found on the…victim. Her prints were all over that as well, and, before you ask, we already checked out Mr. Gibbs’s store and home, but the point is I think that she wanted Gibbs to know who was responsible.”

“Ya think, Ziva?” He said somewhat harshly, but hearing all of that really pissed him and his wolf off. She was lucky he wasn’t growling. “Where is she?”

He was certain Ziva was wincing as she replied, “We haven’t found her yet. We sent out her picture on a wanted poster, so she cannot get into Mexico legally, but, Tony, I’m afraid she is already in Mexico, and if that’s true…” She trailed off letting the words go unspoken but not unknown.

“I know, Ziva. I know.” He said with a much softer voice. “Just do everything that you can. Contact your sources in Mexico and see what they know. I’m having a friend come over to stay with Gibbs, so I’ll be in tomorrow.”

“A friend?” Ziva asked, but before he had to reply, he heard Abby’s voice in the background.

“Are you talking to Tony?” She cried. “Ask him how Gibbs is. Can we see him? Does he need anything? Is he…”

Ziva cut her off with exasperation laced into her voice, “Abby. Abby! Just hold your donkeys and I will ask him.”

“It’s horses, Ziva.” Tony corrected automatically.

“What?” She said, coming close to shouting into the phone.

“The colloquialism is ‘hold your horses.’” He said with growing amusement despite the whole situation. In times of darkness, it is always good to be able to laugh at the small things.

He heard her huff in frustration into the phone. “I hate American colloquialisms.”

“Ziva!” Abby whined.

“Right, right. How is Gibbs and does he need anything?”

Stifling a laugh, he managed to reply, “He’s Gibbs. He’ll be fine, and I’ll let you know if he needs anything. Tell Abby she can swing by in a day or so, but, for now, I think he needs time to himself.” Shaking his head, he continued in a much more serious tone, “Ziva, let me know the moment you find anything, alright?”

“Yes, yes, of course. Oh! McGee wanted me to tell you to tell Gibbs that none of us are going home ’till we catch this bitch.”

“I let him know, but I’m sure he’s already aware. Talk to you later, Ziva.”

“Shalom.” She replied before they both hung up.

Laying his cell phone on the table in front of him he asked without looking up, “What are you doing up, Jethro? It’s the middle of the night.”

He heard the steps creak as Gibbs descended the rest of the way down. Coming to stand in front of him Gibbs replied, “I could ask the same of you. What did Ziva have to say?”

Tony gazed calmly up at him. “The team and her are up to speed. They found your father’s murder’s prints at the crime scene. Ziva sent out a wanted poster, but chances are the bitch is already back in Mexico.”

Rage contorted Gibb’s features, “Damn it!” He yelled. “Damn it. I’m not letting this bitch get away with killing my father.” Gibbs rounded on Tony. “I thought you said that you were going to kill her.” He snapped in frustration and anger.

“When I was planning on dying, yeah, I was going to kill her.” At Gibbs’s confused look, he clarified, “The law of The Marrok, the ruler of the wolves here in North America for both lone wolves and pack, is that no human be killed under any circumstances save if it’s accidental with few exceptions. They really frown on the whole hunting humans thing, and the plenty for defying that law is death.”

Gibbs visibly paled. “You were going to kill her then use that as an accuse to die yourself?”

Tony smiled grimly. “That was the plan, but since you decided to help me live, I was forced to get more creative.”

Gibbs frowned. “What do ya’ mean?”

Tony’s smile morphed into the predator’s as he replied, “There are a lot of powerful creatures in this world that lurk in the shadows besides the wolves. I simply informed one who is partial to delivering justice what exactly this woman and her family had done. What happens to her now is a result of her own actions.”

Gibbs’s frown deepened. “What exactly is going to happen to her?” He asked with some caution.

Tony shrugged, “No idea. Pretty sure it’s going to end in death though. The creature I sent after her isn’t big on letting her victims continue to breathe.”

Gibbs stared at Tony in disbelief. “You sent a supernatural assassin after her? What if it somehow gets traced back to you?”

Tony scuffed. “Did you hear yourself? There’s no way in hell it will ever be traced back to me. And give me some credit, would you? And I didn’t send an assassin after her, supernatural or otherwise.”

“But ya’ said…”

Tony interrupted him, shaking his head, “What I sent after her was justice and perhaps a little vengeance, but mostly justice.”

Gibbs glared his confusion at Tony, who tried to explain. “The concept of assassins is a human one, Jethro. I’m a wolf. All we believe in is justice, power, and vengeance. For us killing the murder of a family or pack member is just a way of balancing things out, an appropriate reaction to a cause. The creature that went after her will only use her power to make your father’s murder face what she has done, and because of the degree of her crimes, that will most likely end with her death.”

Tony could sense the whirl of unnamable emotions that were flying within Gibbs. “Jethro, it’s alright to be confused. It’s alright to be angry at me for doing something like this. It’s alright to take solace in the woman’s fate. It’s alright to not know whether this is right or wrong, but most importantly it’s alright to be sad.”

Gibbs’s head shot up as his eyes met Tony’s. “How do you…?” He trailed off as comprehension lit his face.

“Yes, that’s right. We’re mated and bonded now. I can sense your every emotion, and I could hear your every thought if I wanted to.”

“ ‘If’ you wanted to?” Gibbs queried with some suspicions.

“I can’t block out your emotions, and the Heaven’s only know what else will develop as a result of our bond, but I can block out your thoughts. I won’t listen to them unless you want me to.” Tony smiled slyly at Gibbs.

Skepticism lined Gibbs’s face as replied sarcastically, “Uh, huh. Right.”

Tony got up and walked up to Gibbs. “Alright.” He said with a soft smile. “I might use it here and there when you’re being particularly secretive.” Tony’s eyes turned serious as he raised his hands to rub Gibbs’s shoulders. “Right now though let me use our bond to ease your pain.”

When Gibbs only eyed him, he continued, “I know you’re hurting, mi amor. I am here for you.” He took Gibbs into a willing embrace, guiding him down to sit on the couch with him.

Gibbs let Tony hold him close, but said, “Tony, I…” He trailed off, unable to finish what he wanted to say. It was not easy to be open after years of wearing a mask.

Tony tightened his hold. “It’s alright, Jethro. You don’t have to say anything.”

He looked up a Tony for a moment before nodding, and tucking his head comfortably on Tony’s chest.

When Gibbs woke, dawn was beginning to filter through the windows, and he found himself laying with his head in Tony’s lap. Tony’s hand was running softly through his hair, and he was surprised to find that it comforted him to wake like this.

He was just thinking that he could get use it when he heard Tony chuckle. “Could you really?”

Gibbs glared up at Tony. “I thought you said something about staying out of my head last night.”

Tony bent down and kissed his forehead, surprising Gibbs when he found that he not only liked the gesture but needed the tenderness as well. “Sorry, mi amor. Must of slipped my mind.” He was smiling as gazed down on Gibbs.

Gibbs scuffed in disbelief, which only had Tony smiling all the more. “You might want to get dressed before it gets any later. A friend of mine should be arriving soon.” Tony said while his hand still ran through Gibbs’s hair.

Gibbs sat up and stared at Tony. “A friend? What friend?”

“Her name is Anna.”

“Her?” Gibbs started.

“Yes, and no she’s not an old girlfriend of mine. In fact, she happens to be happily married.” Tony grinned sheepishly at Gibbs. “She should be here soon, so if you want to…” Tony raised his eyebrows and gestured towards Gibbs, who was mostly naked save for the boxers that he had thrown on and the blanket that Tony had pulled over him.

Gibbs got up and headed toward his bedroom before pausing half way up the stairs. “What about you?”

Tony raised his eyebrows and stood up. “Me?” He asked raising his hands in question before dark colored jeans and a light blue t-shirt flowed over his body even his hair seemed to magically order itself.

Gibbs snorted in disgust as he turned to make his way upstairs. “Show off.” He grumbled. “I’m getting a shower. Fix some coffee, would ya?” Causing Tony to chuckle as he went to do as he was asked.

Sometime later, Gibbs was in the kitchen drinking coffee and talking to Tony when they both heard a slight knock on the door. As Tony went to answer it, Gibbs followed him.

Opening the door, Tony revealed a slight muscular woman with short brown hair and pale complexion standing next to a young looking Hispanic with curly dark hair and skin, and almost six feet tall, who kept his eyes trained on the floor.

“Anna!” Tony said happily as grabbed her up in a hug.

“Hey, Drystan. It’s been too long.” She was grinning at him as he stood back, so she and the other man could enter the house. “This Greiven. He’s a submissive from the D.C. Lunar Pack.” When Tony frowned, Anna smiled in amusement. “Sorry, love. It’s not that Charles doesn’t trust you to keep me safe, but he ran into Nemane on her way down to Mexico, and decided to add to the protection.”

Tony winced at the mention of Nemane. “Don’t tell me, he has all three packs in Virginia on alert.” He said with visible displeasure.

“Alright, I won’t tell you.” Turning, she eyed Gibbs. “Oh! This is your new mate, isn’t it? I can smell you all over him.” She raised her eyebrows in a playful manner before teasing, “Hmmm…The bond smells rather fresh.” She pushed at Tony as he shook his head in dismay, and Gibbs turned a bright red color. “He’s cute! Good going, Mr. Knight. Looks like you still got it.”

“Please, please stop, Anna.” Tony begged. “And I would appreciate it if you called me Tony while you’re here. No need to drag up anymore old ghost with teeth.”

“Sure, no problem, Tony. Just tell me where we sleep, and I’ll get settled.”

He pointed up the stairs. “If you take the stairs and turn to the right, there is a guest room that you can have. Greiven, you got the couch.” Tony said with a small sadistic grin.

Anna was just about to head upstairs when Gibbs’s voice rang out. “Hold it. Why the hell are they staying here?”

Anna looked Gibbs a moment before looking up at Tony with surprise. “You didn’t tell him?”

“No. If I did, he would have made a run for it before you even got here. Thought this way would be easier.” He said with a growing grin in the face of Gibbs’s kindling rage.

“What the hell are you talking about, DiNozzo?” Gibbs half growled, half roared.

“Anna is what we wolves like to call an Omega. They have the power to control a raging wolf no matter how dominate without provoking any fights. Her kind is very rare among the wolves.”

He was interrupted when Anna cut in, “But apparently we aren’t so rare among the humans.” She said as she eyed Gibbs.

Tony flashed his teeth at her in warning before he continued, “As a favor to me, Bran sent her down here. She going to be staying with us to help with my wolf, but she has also agreed to make sure you stay here while I’m at work.”

“What? You think some woman is going to keep from the office when that bitch is still out there. No! Don’t give me that look, DiNozzo. I don’t give a damn if about your monster friend. I going to work, and don’t think that I’ll forgive you if you try to knock me out again.” He glared at Tony using the best of his infamous trademark.

Tony looked Anna then back at Gibbs breaking out in an open grin. “Jethro, she’s not just someone; she’s a werewolf who is more than capable of kicking your ass. Don’t piss her off.” Tony glanced at Anna and other wolf. “He is my mate, Anna.” He said gravely, staring her down; a clear challenge of dominance between wolves and while she did not have the same instincts other wolves had being an Omega wolf, she acquiesced to the unspoken demand for submissiveness by training her eyes on the far wall and by baring her throat to him. “If any harm comes to him while under your care, then may Heaven help you little wolf because nothing else will be able to save you.”

Gibbs stared, momentarily shocked at the sight of seeing Tony turn so serious and act somewhat cruel to woman. “Tony, that’s a bit much. Don’t ya’ think? I can protect myself, ya know?”

It was the woman who answered, “No. You are his mate. We wolves are very different from humans when it comes to mating. We bond not only our hearts to our partner but or souls as well. When our loved one hurts, so too do we, and when our loved one dies, we feel the death as well. Some wolves can still feel their mates’ souls even after centuries have passed. You cannot imagine the agony of it. It’s enough to drive some wolves mad. So you see? I understand the need for him to threaten me although it is unnecessary. I will protect him or die trying.” She vowed while looking at Tony’s chest in order to avoid eye contact.

Gibbs, who had been rendered momentarily speechless, growled, “Protect me? Protect me from what? Somehow, I get the feeling that you’re not referring to bitch who murdered my…my dad. You not telling me something, DiNozzo?”

“Nothing that can’t wait until after work, Jethro. That reminds me…I’m going to be late to work. I’ll see you tonight. Have fun Jethro.” Grinning, he turned and grabbed his bag and his keys from the hallway before heading for the door.

He heard Gibbs start to follow him declaring, “You aren’t going anywhere without me, Tony.” Only to be grabbed by very strong female arms from behind.

“Yes, I am.” With a wave of his hand, Tony left, closing the door behind him.

Walking away from the house, he heard Gibbs struggle futilely against the hold while shouting, “Damn it, Tony! Get back here. Woman, let me go right now, damn it.”

Smiling somewhat sadistically, he made his way to his car to head to work while knowing that Gibbs would spend the day trying to escape the house. He laughed at the thought, for he knew that Anna would be impossible for the marine to escape from.

The moment Tony walked into the bullpen, he was swamped by questions from Abby.

“Tony!” She cried. “How’s the Bossman? I thought for sure he would be with you. How did you get him to stay at home? ’Cause he would never ever stay at home willing when there was a murder on the loose, especially since the murder killed his father.” There was a pause followed by a deep in take of breath and a horrified look. “Oh no. He’s okay, isn’t he? He’s not hurt, right? He didn’t go after the killer on his own, right? Because that would be really dangerous.”

Tony grabbed her shoulders and said, “Abby!” He knew she could go on forever if she wasn’t stopped before she hit mid stream. “Take a breath. Gibbs is fine, or he will be once we catch the bitch. He’s not here because I left a few friends of mine with him to keep him at the house. There is no way he will slip past them. He’s not going to go after the killer alone, and he won’t be coming here. Okay, Abby? That about cover it?”

Abby nodded her head somewhat sheepishly before Toney looked at the others and said, “Okay, what have we got?”

Ziva was the first to answer, “I got in touch with some of my contacts who were in the area that the bitch is known to frequent.” Paloma Reynosa, the woman who murdered Gibbs’s father, had gone from her name to just bitch as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and then again, perhaps it was. “One of them confirmed her presence.” Ziva had a look of fury on her face at the thought that the woman might be able to escape from this.

“What’s the possibility of an extradition?” Tony asked jarring Ziva out of her, more than likely, murderous thoughts.

Ziva looked up, surprise flashing over her face. She hadn’t thought of that as a possibility. After all, her country usually just sent in covert assassins when their target fled the country.

It was Abby who spoke up, “It should be fairly simple to get an extradition. She practically signed her name, and the military connections to the case should make it all the easier.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, hearing the unspoken word, “But…?” He drawled.

Abby winced, “But…She has a lot of connections to the Mexican government thanks to her brother, and there’s nothing we can do about it because we would have to prove, absolutely, that she was his brother as well as the fact that he is involved with the Cartel, and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how next to impossible that will be with both of them being in Mexico now.”

“So what?” Cried Ziva in rage. “She just gets away with it?”

Tony raised his eyebrows and gave her a smug look, “Please, Ziva. Who do you think we are?” Looking at the rest of the team, he nodded. “Good work, all of you. Just let me handle the next part.” Without another word, he turned away from his team and headed for MTAC, where he knew the Director would be.

As he climbed the steps, he heard them ask what exactly he planned to do, but he ignored them. A little mystery was good for them.

Entering MTAC, he walked into the dimly lit room to come to a stop next to the Director, who was standing in front of the large screen. “DiNozzo, how’s Special Agent Gibbs holding out? Is he out there trying to take over the case?” He was blunt, but he sounded somewhat exasperated due to the battle he was expecting to have to fight.

Tony flashed him an incredulous look. “With respect, Director Vance, do you really think that I would be in here if he was out there?”

The Director looked at him without emotion before turning back to watch the screen, which was displaying some poor dust riddled village in the middle of nowhere as tanks trooped down a dirt path too small for them. “Good point.” He said dryly.

“I left some friends with him to make sure he stays at home.” Tony was looking at the screen as well now though he was sure there was no way the Director missed his smug tone and look when he glanced over to look at him with barely concealed shock.

“How long do you think they will be able to hold him off?”

Tony’s smug smile broadened. “He won’t be here for the rest of the case unless you want him to be. Trust me. He won’t be escaping from them. I’ll put money on it. Gibbs would have to be even better than Steve McQueen in the ‘Great Escape’ to get away from the people I have watching him.”

After a moment, the Director shook his head. “I don’t know why, but I believe you, DiNozzo. The problem is the ending of the case, though. As it stands, she could get away with this.”

“About that, I have an idea.” He said somewhat apprehensively.

“Oh? Care to share, or is this one of those ideas I don’t want to know about?” he said with a raised eyebrow.

“Well…Our problem is that she is in Mexico, and we don’t have any jurisdiction there…”

“No kidding.” Said the Director dryly.

Tony barely managed to not roll his eyes in response, “Go with me here. If our problem is that she is in Mexico, then we just have to get her to come to us.”

The Director raised an eyebrow and took out the toothpick he was forever chewing on, giving Tony his full attention. “And how to do you propose we do that?”

Tony grinned, “Simple, we make it…unhealthy for her to stay.”

The Director smiled in appreciation. “Oh…You do have your moments, DiNozzo.”

Tony frowned at the backhanded compliment. “Uhm…Thanks…I think.”

The Director was back to gazing at the screen as smugly as if he had thought of the plan himself. “Your in charge, Agent DiNozzo. See to it that this situation is handled appropriately. And I’m sure you are already aware of this, but, as this case involves one of our own, failure is not an option, especially since Agent Gibbs can be a loose cannon in situations like this.” His voice went dryer as he continued and was like the Sierra when he ended. No one had any illusions as to what Gibbs would do if the woman escaped capture.

Tony nodded in affirmation. “Understood, Director. I’ll take care of it.” With that, he turned and left MTAC to unleash a plan he had been working on since he had spoken to the fae.

Had anyone seen his face as he walked out of MTAC, they would have wonder who he really was as his eyes had darkened with only a slit of silver glow, turning his usual jovial forest green eyes into shadow stained blades, which steeped into the rest of his face making it glow as a feral grin, bespeaking to the wolf inside him, spread across his face like blood on a blade.

Chapter Seven

“The Vengeance Of Wolves”

“We have doomed the Wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be.. the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer.. which is, in reality no more than a reflexed image of ourselves." ~ Farely Mowat


He was deep in thought as drove home. He had had Ziva call her contacts in Mexico to begin sitting up the trap. He had also managed to get in touch with Franks, and while he was still recovering from being shot, he had assured Tony that a couple of bullet wounds did not affect his ability to get in contact with a few people, thank you very much. The man was frighteningly like Gibbs in that he did not take kindly to someone doubting his strength. Tony was pretty sure that if they had been having the conversation face to face, Franks would have tried to shoot him on principle alone.

Shaking his head, he put Franks to the side to deal with later. He was more concerned what Gibbs would do when he found out that he had called several of his contacts in the Navy as well as a few NCIS agents working Special Ops on his behalf in order to lay the finishing touches on his net. He hoped that Gibbs wouldn’t be too upset that he had told these people what had happened in order to insure their aid, but he was pretty sure that he was hoping in vain.

As he pulled up in front of Gibbs’s house and turned off the engine, he took a moment to reign his wolf in. It would not do to enter an enclosed space containing two other wolves and his mate for all that they were a submissive and Omega wolf. It was best not borrow trouble, and with the hunt for the murderous bitch becoming more intense, it was growing harder and harder to keep his wolf under control while it prowled inside him anxious to chase, to feed, to hunt…to destroy.

Walking up to the house, he could clearly hear signs of his lover’s frustration and anger as well as Anna’s amusement.

“You might as well give up. It’s almost 10 o’clock. Even if you do escape, they will probably be heading home.” Anna’s laughter laced voice floated through the door.

“Like hell, woman! There is no way any of them would go home when the case involves one of our own. Just goes to show how little you know.” The sneer was clearly visible in Gibbs’s voice. “Now, let me go and stop getting in my way.”

Anna laughed, “You can glare at me all you want. You’re still not getting out of this house. And you shouldn’t struggle so much. Even if you do get loose, I’ll just rebind you. A pointless exercise.” Tony shook his head at that. Apparently, Anna had grown weary of hunting Gibbs down and opted to simply tie him up.

Gibbs was muttering dark curses under his breath when Anna spoke again, “Relax, your knight in shining armor is here.”

Tony sighed and moved to open the door as he heard Gibbs’s baffled response, “What are you tal…”

Tony walked in and moved into the living room where Gibbs was tied to a chair with an excessive amount of rope while Anna lounged on couch with Greiven sitting meekly beside her.

Tony managed a “Hey, mi amor.” Before busting out laughing at the sight before him, which only served to infuriate Gibbs further.

“Don’t you ‘hey’ me! And shut the hell up!” Gibbs roared. “You let me out of these ropes right now, damn it, and while your at it, make your little hellion go away.”

Tony snorted at the term ‘hellion’ before managing to get himself under a semblance of control. Turning to Anna and Greiven, he asked, “Would guys mind going out and taking a walk for a little while?”

Anna smiled up at him, clearly still as amused by the situation as he was. “Sure. How long do you want us gone?”

Tony smiled back appreciatively at her. “Maybe half an hour tops. Just take your time.”

Anna nodded before gracefully rising from the couch. She tapped Greiven on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s give the love birds some time to work things out in private.” Tony shook his head. That was Anna, the declarer of obvious things meant to be left unsaid.

Gibbs was glaring at Anna as she and Greiven made to leave. “Don’t call me a love bird.” He growled.

Anna just raised her hand in farewell before saying, with some amusement, “Sure thing…Love bird.”

Gibbs glared at her retreating form. His body langue making it clear that if he was not tied up, he would be busy tackling her. Tony did his best to hide his amusement, and when he heard the door close, he moved over to Gibbs to begin untying him.

“Never, ever leave me alone with her again.” Gibbs demanded, rage making his voice turn deep and gravely.

Tony just looked up into his lover’s rage colored face and smiled, “I can’t promise that, mi amor. I need you to stay away from the office right now. You know the rules about investigating a case with personal connections.”

“Don’t give me that shit, Tony.” Gibbs growled as he began trying to liberate his right arm having just had his left freed.

Tony sighed, stopped what he was doing, and reached up to cup Gibbs’s face in his hands. It was a gesture that managed to defeat all the rage that had been swirling and kindling within him since the moment Tony had left that morning.

Startled by the power of Tony’s gentle touch, Gibbs focused all his attention on Tony, and left his bonds alone. “I know you still aren’t sure how you feel about me, but I need you to trust me. She is not going to get away with this.” Tony shook his head, stopping Gibbs when he would have spoken. “I think you already know that the pain won’t lessen or diminish even if you are the one to catch her. Please, Jethro. I’m begging you to trust me.” Tony leaned forward and placed his forehead gently against Gibbs’s without relinquishing his hold on his lover’s face.

Gibbs clenched his eyes shut as powerful emotions threatened to overwhelm him. “I do trust you, Tony. I do. I swear it. I just…” He grounded his teeth together and huffed out a breath. “I feel so…so…helpless. I want to do something, anything. I need to do something.” Tony pulled back, so he could look his lover in the eye. “It’s torture just staying here and doing nothing.”

“I know.” Tony’s eyes darkened with old memories before lightening once more as grim memories were dragged beneath the surface of his mind. “Believe me, mi amor, I do understand.” He smiled weakly at Gibbs. “But I need you to find something else to do.” Tony quickly continued before Gibbs could interrupt him. “I brought some cold cases home with me. Work on those, just for a little while.” Tony’s green eyes sharpened, and he looked forcefully into Gibbs’s eyes. “I will end this soon. Try to be patient. Please, mi amor… for me.”

Gibbs looked into Tony’s eyes and could not deny the truth he saw within. “Alright.” He nodded in agreement. “I’ll try although I can’t promise that I’ll be exactly pleasant to live with.”

Tony smiled, “I think I can manage it.” Leaning down, he took Gibbs’s mouth in his own. Although Gibbs was somewhat surprised by the action, he readily opened his mouth and surrendered to Tony as he was plundered with a gentleness that had him trembling.

Reaching up, Gibbs buried his hands into the coat that Tony had yet to take off. A soft moan escaped him as one of Tony’s hands moved to the back of his head to deepen the kiss while the other roamed down his back in soft tantalizing circular strokes.

He didn’t even register that he was free of the ropes Anna had tied him with until Tony had scooped him up off the chair to hold him in a tight embrace.

Gibbs gasped, breaking the kiss, as Tony pressed his leg between Gibbs’s own. Panting, he looked up at Tony, who was smiling slyly. “How…How did I get free?” He gasped.

Tony cocked his head to the side in that very wolfish manner, and answered. “Magic. My magic to be specific. Don’t tell me you preferred the bonds.” Tony grinned as Gibbs blushed a deep red color.

“That’s not it. I was only curi…” Gibbs gasped out a breath as Tony gripped and roughly squeezed his backside. He tightened his grip on Tony’s coat to keep from falling due to weakened knees before raising his head and looking up into Tony’s face, which caused him to pant all the more.

“If you’re thinking about something, then I must not be doing this right.” Tony roughly pulled Gibbs against his body while making sure his leg pressed all the harder against Gibbs, causing his startled lover to cry out. Swallowing Gibbs’s cry, he began to kiss him anew, and when he was sure Gibbs was completely absorbed by the kiss, he moved his hand stealthily down and within Gibbs’s pants to thrust his finger deep inside him.

Gibbs was lost within the kiss. He thought he would never be able to understand how Tony, a man, could have him gasping and moaning while feeling things he had never felt before. He knew that all of his wives combined could not accomplish what Tony was having no trouble doing. Even with Shannon, it hadn’t been like this.

Although he was slowly drowning in the passionate plundering of his mouth, he was still vaguely aware of Tony’s leg grinding against him, causing him to, at times, gasp and moan into his lover’s mouth. However, he was completely taken by surprise when he felt Tony thrust into him. Breaking the kiss and crying out, he buried his head into Tony’s jacket as he struggled not to come then and there. Gasping and panting harshly, he moaned in protest when Tony gripped his chin with his free hand and forced Gibbs to once more surrender access to his mouth.

“Wait…” Gibbs panted into Tony’s mouth. “Wait…I’m…close to…” Gibbs cried out again as Tony placed another finger within him while stroking his sweet spot at the same time. Gibbs knew the only thing keeping him on his feet was Tony as he began to see stars fluttering into his vision.

“Shhhh…” Tony crooned, his voice filtering through the haze that was slowly beginning to consume Gibbs. He belatedly realized that he had yet to come, and wonder if there was something wrong with him until Tony’s voice registered once more. “Relax. You won’t come until I let you.”

Forcing himself into a semi-conscious state of mind, he managed to gasp out, “Wha…What do…” Before he could finish his question; however, Tony had him crying out even louder than before as another finger joined the intrusion of the others, all while that certain spot within him was being gently messaged. Whimpering, he tightened his hold on his lover’s jacket to something beyond that of a death grip.

He heard Tony chuckle softly before saying, “I can use our mate bond to prolong your pleasure.” Gibbs didn’t know whether to be delighted at that or horrified. “I love seeing you like this. Without any control. Completely mine.”

Tony’s words had him shuddering uncontrollably, which caused him to feel the movement all the more within him, which had him gasping and trembling in turn.

Gibbs felt the caress of wind on his skin and had a moment to wonder how that was possible before he was shoved back onto his bed…completely naked. When the hell had that happened?

Tony laughed at his shocked and confused face before saying, “Magic, mi amor. It comes in handy every now and then.”

“Seems like an abuse of power if you ask me.” Gibbs grumbled before sitting up and gasping from Tony’s touch as he stroked Gibbs’s entrance.

“Lay back, mi amor. I want to try something.” Unable to deny him, Gibbs laid back on the bed. Only to gasp and bury his hands within the sheets when felt something…something that was not Tony enter him.

“What are you doing?” He managed to breathe. He had a second to see Tony’s sly smile before his mouth was once again being ravished.

He nearly screamed in pleasure and shock as his body bucked in reaction when he felt the sudden vibrations within him. Gasping, he looked up in shock at Tony.

Tony grinned, “Relax and enjoy it, mi amor.”

There was little else he could do as he no longer seemed to be able to speak. He gasped and cried out as Tony explored his body with mouth and hands, leaving Gibbs’s more sensitive areas to whatever he had placed within him.

While lavishing Gibbs nipples in a way that had him twisting and trembling on the bed beneath him, Tony reached between his legs and sharply twisted something, which made the vibrations grow even more intense within him, causing Gibbs to cry out and arc back, thrusting his head deep within the pillows as he tried to deal with the increase of stimulation.

“No…mo…re” Gibbs huffed out. “Ju…st…yo…u….Damn…Try’n…to kill…me…?” Gibbs breathed, barely even making sense, but he knew Tony understood him because he nodded, and a moment later the vibrations stopped.

Tony lifted a hand to stroke his face gently before placing a chaste kiss on his lips, which was oddly inmate. “I love you.” He whispered, and then Tony was filling him while Gibbs clung to his strong back and cried out his lover’s name in relief as that final blissful release shuddered through him.

Gibbs woke to a warm body and fingers brushing tenderly through his hair. He sighed in contentment when he realized that his head was laying on Tony’s chest and the soft rhythm that was playing in his ear was his lover’s heart. He sighed again when he felt Tony’s lips brush the top of his head.

“Good morning, mi amor. Did you sleep well?” Gibbs looked up into his lover’s face and noticed the faint light of dawn streaming through the windows.

Frowning Gibbs asked, “Sleep? How is it dawn already? I don’t remember falling asleep.”

Tony grinned smugly at him. “Probably because you didn’t fall asleep. You passed out right after we finished.”

Gibbs blushed, but shook his head and said, “I still don’t see how it could be dawn. I’ve never slept through the night before.”

Tony smiled sadly at him. “I know, mi amor, but I hope to amend that. I’m glad you slept so well for a change, and in your own bed instead of on that damn boat of yours.” Tony once more leaned down to brush his lips over Gibbs’s forehead.

Gibbs didn’t say anything, but instead wrapped his arms tightly around Tony and buried his face in his chest. After a long few minutes, he decided to voice the questions that were once again echoing in his mind. “Tony?”

“Yes, mi amor?” He sounded resigned as if he knew what was coming.

“We need to talk. I need you to answer some questions for me.”

Tony’s hand began to softly stroke his back in a gesture that was probably meant to comfort both of them. “You may ask me anything, mi amor. I will never lie to you, and while I may ask you if you can wait for an answer, I will never hide anything from you. What do you want to know first?”

Gibbs was momentarily shocked and touched by Tony’s declaration, but quickly recovered. “Alright. First question, why is it none of the other wolves I have met seem to have magic like you do?”

Tony smiled. “Trying to start small, huh? Okay then. Well let’s see, I guess it’s because I wasn’t human when I was changed.”

There was a moment of silence before Gibbs sat up quickly to stare at Tony in shock. “What? What the hell does that mean? If you weren’t human, what the hell were you?”

Tony flinched visibly, and Gibbs couldn’t help but feel a little a guilty due to his reaction; however, he didn’t get a chance to apologize, for Tony continued and said, “There is no word for what I am anymore. My people are long dead. Some would try and call me a sorcerer, but now that means someone who is possessed by a demon, and I am not.” Tony took a moment to try and smile at Gibbs, and only partially succeeded. “Others would try to name me a witch, but they are not immortal, and I was born so. Some have even tried to insist that I am a fae, but that hardly even comes close to the truth.” Tony paused and his eyes took on a far way look. “I met a woman once who came close to the truth when she proclaimed I was a descendent of the old Elvin race.” He smiled, genuinely this time, and said, “Yes, I know what you are thinking, and no I am not and was never an ‘Elf Lord,’ and if you ever call me that, I will make it so you can’t speak for a week.” Tony shook his head. “No don’t look at me like that, and I mean what I say. I’ll make a spell just for you.” Tony chuckled a little when he saw the smirk that had appeared on Gibbs’s face slide off before saying in a more serious tone, “But no, really, I suppose the best description of what I am is the word ‘guardian.’”

Gibbs cocked his head in imitation of Tony, and asked, “What do you mean, and how can your people be dead if you were born an immortal?”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to know? It’s a long tale, and I’m not sure I have the time to tell it all before I have to leave for work.”

Gibbs frowned at the mention of work before shaking his head. “I guess not now, but perhaps tonight?” When Tony nodded in answer, he continued. “But what I would like to know now is who or what I seemingly need protection from because I know that Anna and you were not talking about Reynosa yesterday.”

Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes, but before Gibbs could question him again, he began to speak, “I have lived a very long time.” Tony cocked a crooked smile. “I know you’re probably tired of hearing that, but my long life is the cause of so much.” Tony shook his head as if shaking off too many memories like a dog shakes off water. “A long time ago, I’m not sure how long ago, I met a man in the midst of a war.” He shook his head as Gibbs opened his mouth. “No, I don’t know which war it was. I have been in too many. They all surge together.” Tony shrugged his shoulders in a careless gesture that belied his feelings. “One war or a hundred, they all look the same in the end.” He flapped a hand in a dismissive gesture. “The point is that we met in war. He was a werewolf not so different from me. We ended up growing close. We would even often refer to each other as brothers. I don’t think I need to tell you the bonds war can form between men.” As Gibbs shook his head in agreement, Tony raised his own head to gaze at the ceiling, his hands never ceasing their exploration of Gibbs’s back. “But shit happens. He was captured by the enemy while I managed to escape. They were very interested as to why they couldn’t seem to kill him, and back then the methods were rather crude in their attempt to find out why. Eventually, they pushed him too far, and he lost it. He killed them all and escaped.” Tony paused, and Gibbs could see a look of pain flash over his face. “I searched for him. Gods, I looked everywhere for him, but I couldn’t…” Tony shook his head. “He must have been their prisoner for at least a year. What they put him through caused him to go mad, and when he escaped and found me, he made it clear that he would never forgive me for what happened to him.”

Gibbs startled and raised an eyebrow. “Forgive you? But it wasn’t your fault, and you searched for him.”

Tony smiled humorlessly. “But it was my fault.” Gibbs opened his mouth to protest, but Tony cut him off. “No. You can’t tell me you would feel any differently if our situations were reversed. I failed him. When he found me after he escaped, I knew he was insane. I knew he was no longer the man I knew, but I…” Tony sighed in dismay and frustration, and threw his head back to once more gaze at ceiling. “I should of killed him then and there. I knew the dangers of a mad wolf, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Despite everything, he was still my brother...” Tony trailed off, lost in the thoughts of a time long ago.

After a few minutes went by in silence, Gibbs broke it and asked softly, “What happened after that?”

Tony stirred from his thought and looked at Gibbs. “He became my shadow. He swore he would torture me as he had been. For centuries he chased me, and no matter where I would flee to he would find me, eventually.”

Gibbs stared at him in disbelief. “And you just let him? You let him haunt you like that?”

Tony smiled sorrowfully. “Many wolves, especially the old ones, believe that forming bonds makes us weak and vulnerable.” Tony shrugged. “Perhaps they are right because I simply couldn’t bring myself to kill him until…”

“Until?” Gibbs prodded.

“Until he murdered the woman I loved.”

Gibbs stared, horrorstruck, at Tony. “After that day…After I was forced to burry her, to hold her broken body in my arms,” Tony bit out the words in rage filled voice, which quickly changed to sorrow. “I swore I would kill him if only to prevent the tragedy from happening again.” A grim, predatorily smile graced Tony’s lips. “I think he was shocked when I found him soon after and nearly ripped him to pieces, but he managed to escape me. Ever since then, we’ve been playing a deadly game of tag. I’m guessing he’s resurfacing now because he somehow found out about you.” Gibbs raised an eyebrow. “I have no doubt that he will try and kill you, so that’s why you have wolves guarding and protecting you while I’m not here.”

“I can protect myself, Tony.” Gibbs ventured.

“NO!” Tony nearly yelled the word, causing Gibbs to jump despite himself. “You cannot defend yourself against this man, Jethro. He is nigh on two thousand years old, and powerful in his own right. When we fight, it damn near takes all that I am to win, to come out alive.” Tony sat up and gripped Gibbs’s face firmly but gently in his hands. “Promise me. Promise me you will let Anna, me, and the other wolves protect you.”

“Tony, I…”

Tony gave Gibbs a small firm shake. “Promise me! I think it would break me to lose you. I cannot, I will not lose another mate to him. Promise me, Jethro.”

“I promise, Tony.” Gibbs vowed softly.

Tony looked him in the eyes for a moment to gauge his sincerity before nodding with satisfaction at what he saw. “Good.” He pressed a gentle kiss to his lovers lips. “I love you, Jethro. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Gibbs smiled at Tony, which rapidly turned into a rather grumpy frown when Tony said, “Now, I guess I should get ready for work. Work on some cold cases today. I know you hate them, but” Tony grinned. “they should keep you from getting tied up again.”

“That is not amusing Tony.” Gibbs growled.

Tony had gotten out of the bed and was about to head into the bathroom for a shower when Gibbs’s words had him turning and ruffling his lover’s hair playfully. “Yes, it is.” Tony laughed and disappeared into the bathroom before Gibbs could slap him upside the head.

Gibbs waited until Tony closed the bathroom door before he let a genuinely happy smile play over his face. He lay back on the bed in contentment. How long had it been since he felt like this? His body was sated and his mind was…Thoughts swirled within him. He never would have thought that Tony had felt a pain of loss similar to his own. Only, unlike himself, he had yet to achieve his revenge. Gibbs shook his head. No, that was wrong. Tony wasn’t like him. Maybe he had been seeking vengeance in the beginning, but Gibbs didn’t think that was what was driving Tony anymore. Tony seemed more driven by the need to protect others from his deranged one time comrade than to kill him for revenge’s sake.

Protect others? Protect him…It was a novel experience to be protected, and Gibbs couldn’t say that he hated it. In fact, it warmed him to know that Tony was watching over him. Gibbs took a moment to wonder at that. He had never felt this way before, safe...needing to feel safe. This was the second time they had made love, and he couldn’t call it anything but that. The word ‘sex’ didn’t fit the passion and emotions that were apart of what they did. Gibbs snorted. Hell, he had let Tony have the top both times now, and it had felt so good that he wasn’t sure he wanted to have the top anymore. He belatedly realized that he couldn’t imagine doing it with someone else after this. He knew it wouldn’t be the same. Making love with Tony was like flying, filled with moments that took his breath away mixed with moments of simple marvel. Gibbs paled and suddenly sat up. He loved him. He loved Tony, and the thought terrified him because he realized the love he had for Tony was as great, if not somewhat different, as the love he had had for Shannon.

Gibbs forced himself to breathe. Tony was immortal and a werewolf to boot, not to mention something else that could be just as powerful and make him that much harder to kill. Gibbs’s breath hitched as remembered Tony telling him that he would die without obtaining a mate, and in the conversation they had just had Tony told him that when he fought against his one time friend, there were times that he just barely made it out alive. Gibbs clenched his fists together and rubbed them roughly over his face. Tony could die. No. No. NO! What if he lost him? No…He could not go through that again. He could not risk loving Tony, and yet…Tony proclaimed love to him as easily as taking a breath. Who knew how much, how many loved ones Tony lost over the years, and still he was willing to chance loving him, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a human, who could die so much more easily than him. What then did that say about him? Gibbs had only lost Shannon and Kelly, but Tony…Tony had probably lost so many more…

Gibbs clenched his eyes shut and gripped his knees, curling into a protective ball while he tried to reign in his emotions. Should he tell Tony about his feelings? No. He could not, not yet anyway. Gibbs forced himself to relax and stretched out on the bed, so Tony wouldn’t worry when he came out from the bathroom; however, it did little good.

When Tony walked out of the bathroom, he was fully dressed and ready for work although his hair was still a little wet from the shower. He took one look at Gibbs’s forced relaxed posture and sighed.

“It’s no good, mi amor. I can sense your emotions, remember?” Tony smiled apologetically.

Gibbs visibly paled and sat up once more, foregoing his act. “Don’t worry. I wasn’t reading your thoughts. I simply felt your emotions.”

“Tony, I…” Gibbs tried to explain, but he could find the words. Hell, he wasn’t sure the words even existed.

Tony shook his head. “Don’t.” He said as he reached down to place a hand softly on Gibbs’s cheek. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. Just know that I’m here for you.”

Overcome by Tony’s words, Gibbs choked out, “How can you love me knowing I will die one day while you live on? How can you…”

Surprised by Gibbs’s words, Tony quickly sat down on the bed and took his lover into his arms, squeezing him gently. “Shhhhh…” He crooned, and Gibbs realized with horror that he was now crying silently into Tony’s shirt. How many times did that make? He was a Marine, damn it! Not some child who cried at every damn thing.

Gibbs felt lips press tenderly to his head. “Jertho, it was never a choice, loving you. I simply do, and I am old enough, and would like to think wise enough, to know better than to try and deny it. That heart wants what the heart wants, mi amor.”

Gibbs bit the inside of his mouth as he worked up the guts to say what he knew he needed to. “Tony, I…I…Damn it!” He jerked roughly back, forcing Tony to loosen his hold, which allowed Gibbs to look his lover in the eye. “I love you.” He declared, throwing the words out of his mouth as fast as he could as if he were afraid that they would be sucked back in.

Tony smiled and moved his hand up to Gibbs’s face before leaning down to steal a breath taking kiss. “I love you too, Jethro.”

Tony leaned back and caressed his mate’s face before saying, “Why don’t you get a shower, and then come down and get something to eat.” Tony grinned. “Anna must of made the coffee already. I can smell your coffee from here.”

Gibbs raised disbelieving eyebrows. “Really? I can’t smell anything.”

Tony smiled slyly. “You wouldn’t. Werewolves have enhanced smell and hearing. I could’ve sworn I told you all this before.”

“Perhaps you were distracting me at the time?” Gibbs smiled softly before suddenly growing pale as the smile sidle off his face. “Wait a minute. Can you hear them down stairs?”

Tony struggled to conceal the grin that wanted to spread across his face. He knew his mate was beginning to put two and two together, and what his reaction would be upon figuring out what it equaled. “Well, yeah.” He said innocently. “That’s the thing with being a werewolf. I hear them as clearly as if I was down in the kitchen.”

If it were possible, then Gibbs grew even paler. “But then…then…” Gibbs stammered uncharacteristically; he was not at all pleased with the conclusion that he had reached. “That means that they heard everything last night and this morning…Oh…SHIT!” Gibbs cursed passionately, and Tony couldn’t help it anymore as he began to grin like a con artist celebrating the millions he just stole. It wasn’t often Tony could see the mixture of horror and extreme embarrassment tinged with a little anger on Gibbs’s face. In fact, he was pretty sure he had never seen such a play of emotions on Gibbs’s countenance before. He wished he had a camera.

Gibbs glared up at him before standing and getting in Tony’s face. “Why the HELL didn’t you tell me? I’m not shy, but I sure as hell didn’t want to put on a show for people I barely know!”

Tony calmly raised an intrigued eyebrow; he was still enjoying Gibbs reaction too much to just come out with the truth. “Does that mean you would be fine with an audience you did know? Didn’t know you had a kinky side, Boss.” Tony drawled.

Gibbs turned a deep shade of red in rage. “DINOZZO!” He roared.

Tony sensed the punch Gibbs loosed at him and caught it, grinning. “Calm down, mi amor.”

“I will NOT calm down!” Gibbs was one of the few people who could make the words ‘calm down’ into a curse. As it was, Tony was forced to catch another punch from Gibbs. Although Tony had both of Gibbs’s fists trapped, he wasn’t foolish enough to believe that Gibbs was out of ammo; he still had his legs.

Deciding he should probably tell Gibbs the truth before he remembered he was still able to kick Tony, he quickly said, “Amor, listen to me. They didn’t hear a thing. I used my magic to put a barrier to prevent them from sensing anything although I doubt they have any illusions as to what we did.” Tony said dryly.

Gibbs blinked. “Barrier?” He asked as if it were a foreign concept.

“Yes.” Said Tony as if he were speaking to a mentally challenge person. “A barrier. Now, will you please stop trying to beat me up?”

Gibbs blushed before saying sheepishly, “Yeah, sorry.” Tony released him somewhat cautiously, and was glad he did as he was forced to quickly duck from a renewed punch.

“You still should’ve told me sooner instead of enjoying my reaction, jackass.” Gibbs was a little pissed he’d missed his mark, but he supposed it couldn’t be helped, what with his lover not being human and all. “I’m going to take a shower. See ya down stairs, jackass.” His last words making it clear that while he was willing to forgive Tony, he still hadn’t yet.

Tony only smirked. “Sure, mi amor. Take your time.”

Only after he heard Tony close the door did he allow himself to smile. He loved it when Tony called him ‘mi amor.’ It made him want to think up his own pet name for Tony. Maybe ‘wolfie’? No, but it should have something to do with wolves. After all, it seemed only fitting.

Chapter Eight

“War and Blood”

"Now the hungry lion roars, And the wolf behowls the moon."
~ Shakespeare, A Midsummer-Night's Dream, v.1.379


As Tony had left that morning, Gibbs couldn’t help but feel uneasy. His gut told him something was going to go down today, and it wouldn’t be a good ‘something.’ He knew better than to tell Tony about it. His lover would just tell him not to worry, and he supposed he shouldn’t, Tony was a werewolf, after all, but he even though he knew Tony could take care of himself, he couldn’t make that feeling go away in his gut.

Tony’s thoughts were occupied with a thousand different things. He sensed blood on the horizon, provoking hunger while bestirring his wolf to prowl within him. Tony and his wolf were in agreement, something was coming. He couldn’t help but wonder if his one time comrade had finally made it into the state. Was he being hunted? The wolf roared with fury inside him. No one, nothing hunted him. He was the predator. It would be him who ended it all as he sunk his teeth into the jugular of the fool who thought to stalk him, hunt him.

His eyes turned to silver-blue ice, and his hands tightened on the steering wheel, forcing it to creak and moan under the strain. Tony forced himself to calm down before he broke the wheel or left it oddly bent, which would be hard to explain to his mechanic.

Tony was just loosening his grip on the wheel when it hit him. The car slammed into the passenger side, roaring out of a side street to barrel into him. His car was thrown off the road, flipping, until it settled in the wooded area that ran parallel to the lightly traveled street.

Although his head had been smashed hard against the steering wheel, as if it was taking its revenge for the earlier abuse he had dealt it, he quickly ripped off his seatbelt, kicked the windshield out, and climbed out of the wrecked car using all of the superhuman speed available to him, only to be rammed into by a supernaturally strong body.

The force of the body ramming into his had them both rolling for several feet on the ground with Tony’s attacker savagely snapping at the soft flesh on his neck and chest. Trying, almost desperately, to kill him as soon as possible. Tony could feel the other wolf begin to change as they rolled down the wooded hill occasionally smashing into trees as they went, altering their fall with painful force.

Tony held him back with hands that were beginning to change into claws, grunting when their fall finally ceased at the bottom of a long and too damn tree riddled hill. Tensing his muscles, Tony thrust his attacker back with all the force he could muster from the awkward position, but it was all he needed as attacker went flying back to slam into a tree. Hitting the tree and then the ground, Tony’s attacker roared, a sound more animal than human.

Tony was already beginning to change. There was no way he could hold off the wolf when they were being attacked. With his face beginning to elongate to accommodate razor sharp teeth, he growled roughly with a barely human voice, “Who the hell are you? You’re not Aedth, but you carry his sent on you…” He paused, cocked his head then snarled. “He’s here?”

The other wolf was a little further along in to the change as his cloths were beginning to rip under the pressure of his expanding muscles. “Like I’d tell you. Won’t matter. Gonna die.” The attacker’s voice was growing less and less human as he spoke until Tony suspected he could no longer speak at all.

It looked like the other wolf thought that the battle wouldn’t start until one of the managed to finish their change, but Tony had news for him. The older a wolf was the more powerful and dangerous that age made him, and Tony’s extreme age allowed him to attack before finishing his change. It was a dangerous way to fight. The pain was so extreme it could make even a wolf pass out or in Tony’s case loose all semblance of control, but he decided it would be worth it to punish the fool who thought he could kill him.

With a defining roar, Tony lunged forward, teeth bared, claws unsheathed, to savage the startled wolf in front of him. He was better than Tony thought as, after a moment’s hesitation, he lunged right back, striking out with deadly claws. The claws of his new enemy racked down Tony’s chest, drawling blood but no sound. All wolves were taught to fight silently for a dozen different reasons. Even pain that was equivalent to swimming in lava, would not make Tony utter a sound. Instead, in retaliation, Tony’s head snaked out and his teeth clapped down on his enemy’s left should with a sinking crunch, drawling a stifled whimper from the wolf before him. However, it seemed the wound was not enough to stop the wolf, for, without warning, Tony was suddenly being thrown back. The force and suddenness of throw had blood spraying everywhere as Tony took a good chuck of his enemy’s flesh with him.

As Tony hit the ground, he allowed the change to finish taking over his body just in time for the other wolf to throw himself on top of Tony, trying to tear at his soft underbelly. Tony roared in rage as claws and teeth sunk into his body.

With a great show of force, Tony pushed himself up and flipped the other wolf on to his back. He struck faster than the other wolf could even blink, and buried his teeth into the wolf’s neck. After taking a moment to savor the taste of victory and blood, he jerked his head up while his teeth were still buried in the other wolf’s throat, and relieved him of his head, assuring that the enemy wolf would not be getting up ever again.

Tony stepped back from the dead wolf’s body as he struggled to gain control over his wolf, which really wanted to finish the job by eating, gorging on the body, the meat, in front of him.

Stumbling back from the bloody scene and gaining control over his very pissed off wolf, he began the painful, almost excruciating, process of the change. It was not at all fun to change while wounded. The human form just wasn’t as capable as the wolf’s when it came to recovering from battle, but a wolf couldn’t use a phone and do what needed to be done.

Gasping as he finished changing, he focused on finding his phone in order to keep the wolf within him from focusing on the meal before them. After discovering it among the torn shreds of his pants, he quickly called the witch he kept on speed dial. At least one witch was on almost every other supernatural creature’s speed dial. They were the ones who got called when a particularly bloody mess needed cleaning up…and a body needed disposing of.

His witch was a pain in the ass to deal with and cost more than he made in a century, which was usually a sufficient enough reason to keep him from needing her. When she finely answered the phone, she made it clear that she was less than pleased at being called out so early in the morning, but she grudgingly assured him that the cars, body, and blood would be taken care of and no one would be the wiser as to what had taken place, forensics or no.

He magicked some jeans on, but forewent the t-shirt, so if anyone saw him, they would only have to wonder about all the blood instead of having to add a naked man into the mix. He painfully made his way back up the hill as blood dripped to the ground, a promise of the battle to come.

After managing to make it to the SUV of the other wolf, he looked in it for some sort of clue, but it was infuriatingly empty. He slammed his fist into the other car in frustration before having to lean up against it in exhaustion.

He was on the edge of passing out, and, wolf or no wolf, loose enough blood and you inevitably black out. He was gasping as he struggled with a more complicated form of the spell that had taken Gibbs and himself to his mate’s bedroom just the other night. He could only pray he had enough power to make it all the way. He could only guess what some hapless human’s reaction would be if a half dead bloody body popped out of nowhere.

He finished the spell just as the edges of his vision were beginning to darken, but then he was flying through space, only to reappear in the middle of his mate’s living room. As he vaguely felt his body slam into something hard, he wondered at what his mate’s reaction would be. Gods, it had to be a shocker. It wasn’t everyday the bloody body of one’s mate pops into the middle of your living room.

Tony groaned as shouting reached his ears. He had no desire to scare his mate, especially after what had happened to his father only a few days ago, but he needed Anna’s power to quell his wolf and keep him from going on a murderous rampage. He could only hope that his mate would forgive him for the memories his condition was bound to make resurface.


PLEASE REVIEW AND/OR LEAVE COMMENTS!!!


I'LL PUT THE NEXT CHAPTER UP LATER TODAY...

Chapter Nine

“The Pain of a Mate”

"The gaze of the wolf reaches into our soul."
~ Barry Lopez


Gibbs was sitting at the kitchen table reviewing a pile of cold cases with Anna sitting across from him reading a book, and Greiven lounging in the living room when he heard the usually quiet wolf cry out in shock followed by a crash and moan. Anna was out of her seat and in the living room far faster than Gibbs could manage, but he wasn’t far behind her. However, what he saw there had him frozen in the entryway to the living room, and Gibbs could almost see the ice that locked him place.

Tony, his lover, was laying on the broken remnants of his coffee table. Blood was everywhere, or it seemed like it was everywhere. His lover skin was marred and torn with gashes, which covered his face, limbs, chest, and even his neck.

Sound ceased to exist as Gibbs’s first thought was that the impossible had happened; Tony had been killed. Then he was gone, back at that bloody crime scene with yellow tape caging the body of the man who had raised him. In that instant, he felt cursed, for anyone who got too near his heart seemed to die painfully and prematurely.

He was on the edge of passing out, of succumbing to the darkness that seemed to shadow him as if it were some demon feeding off his pain, but then he heard a moan and saw movement from the body laying haphazardly on a floor covered with the broken remnants of an old coffee table, and with that Tony had saved him yet again, for he could somehow breathe as the world once more came into focus. Perhaps, Tony really was strong enough to survive this curse, which seemed to plague him mercilessly.

Regaining control over his body and his senses, he rushed to move to Tony’s side, but Anna was already moving him off the floor and on to the couch. How could such a small woman carry so much without any real effort?

Although Gibbs had regained enough control over himself to be able to move to kneel beside the couch, which now bore his wounded lover, he still couldn’t speak, so it was Anna who voiced the question, “What the hell happened?”

Tony slightly leaned over the side of the couch and coughed up some blood, which was a sight that caused Gibbs to tremble uncontrollably with worry, before saying, “Attacked…another wolf…” The words provoked more bloody coughs, and Gibbs found himself squeezing part his lover’s leg that was undamaged as he struggled to remain in control of himself. His lover had been attacked, and he had not been there to back him up, to have his six as Tony was always doing for him even when he didn’t want him.
The worry consuming Gibbs, making him forget the importance of finding out what happened, had him opening his mouth to tell Tony not to talk, to rest; however, Anna would not cease her questioning.

“Is there a body? Where did it happen?” Anna demanded.

Gibbs growled a growl worthy of any wolf. “Shut up, damn it. Easy off, Anna. He’s…He’s…” Worry and fear leaked into his voice as he found he was unable to finish the sentence and voice what he saw before him.

“He’ll be fine. He’s a wolf. The information is far more important right now, so be quiet and let him answer, or I’ll ask Greiven to escort you out of the room.” Anna said mercilessly with the wolf in her voice and eyes, changing from brown to blue, displaying her own fear and agitation over what was happening.

A growl echoed the angry words she had directed at Gibbs, and she winced as she realized she had just threatened the mate of a wounded wolf in front of him. “Sorry, sorry, Tony, but you need to tell me what happened.”

Tony visibly paused and fought to get himself under control. “Don’t worry…called witch…clean.” He forced out the words between the blood he was coughing up.

As Gibbs listened to harsh, unforgiving, coughs and watched the dark red blood flow his lover’s body and mouth, his gut clenched as it hit him all over again. He could’ve died. He really could’ve died. Hell, he still could die if the blood was any indicator.

“Did you win? Who attacked you?” Anna continued, more softly now.

Tony frowned for a second as if he couldn’t remember, but then he said, “Won… Aedth…” Anna gasped and paled, but Tony slowly shook his head as much as he could manage. “No…oth…wol…not Adeth…but…” Gibbs frowned. Who the hell was Adeth? However, all of Gibbs thoughts were once more overcome by worry and fear as Tony began to cough up blood even harder. Greiven took off his shirt and used it to keep the blood from going everywhere. None of the wolves seemed concerned about the blood that was coursing out of Tony’s wounds although Gibbs did think that the blood might be thinning, and Tony had told him that wolves heal very rapidly; however, he couldn’t help hating that he was forced to trust these strangers, these other wolves, when it came to his lover’s health.

Anna patted Tony’s arm where it was devoid of injury, stopping him from continuing to try and talk. “Okay, okay. We understand just rest now.” Anna moved to step back, but stopped when her arm was grabbed in a surprisingly strong grip.

“Protect him…from…” Tony struggled to breathe around the coughing and blood.

Anna smiled and nodded. She knew that Tony was trying to tell her to keep his mate safe from not only the impending threat but from him as well. “Don’t worry we will keep him safe. Now, I have to call the local pack, so…” Anna needed the pack’s doctor to look at him to see what needed to be done. It was a bitch if something like a bone healed wrong and had to be rebroken.

Anna was cutoff when Tony roared, “NO!” With more force and power than he should have been capable of, startling all who were in the room.

“But…”

“No…Duck…”

Anna frowned in confusion. “Duck?” Why’d he want a duck? Was he hungry?

Gibbs blinked as he realized what Tony was trying to say. He pushed Anna out of the way and moved up from the end of the couch to where his lover’s head was resting. “You mean, you want us to call Ducky not the pack?” He asked, and grinned in triumph when his lover nodded in affirmation.

“Trust…” Gibbs put his hand over Tony’s mouth to keep him from talking. “I understand. I’ll call and explain everything to him. Just rest.” Gibbs moved to go to the landline phone when Tony grabbed his arm, but didn’t say anything. His gut clenched as he looked at the hand which held him in place, but he nodded and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket instead.

Anna was frowning as he opened his phone and pressed a speed dial number. “Who are you calling?” Gibbs was more than pleased that he knew something she didn’t. After finding out thing after thing about his lover, he was glad to know something she did not, this woman who seemed all too familiar with his love.

Without answering her, he lifted the phone to his ear to summon Ducky to his house. It was a short conversation. He would have the long one when Ducky got to his home. Belatedly, he realized he should call the others, but he didn’t know if he should tell them anything yet. Finally coming to a decision, he called McGee, and told him Tony would be late due to following up on a lead. He ended up hanging up on a very confused McGee, who couldn’t figure out why Tony wouldn’t just call him directly.

After ending the conversation with McGee, Gibbs could hear Anna tell Greiven to go out and buy some stakes. He heard the door close as Greiven left, and Anna walked back into the living room. “Why tell him to get stakes? It’s not like Tony can eat after what happened to him.”

Anna raised her eyebrows. “Oh? Talking now, are we?”

Gibbs unleashed his glare and targeted her with it, but she only sighed. “I know it looks bad, but it isn’t. This won’t have him down for longer than a few hours, and he is going to need a lot of meat to finish healing.” Anna waved a hand toward the door Greiven had just left from. “Hence, the steaks.”

“Isn’t bad?” Gibbs looked at Anna with a mixture of anger and disbelief. “He’s hasn’t stopped coughing up blood! He can’t talk! And you’re saying it’s not bad?” Gibbs’s fury was clear in his voice.

Anna was unmoved, for while she felt badly for the human, she could not help but be annoyed by his ignorance. “Yes, I am. I suspect the reason for all the blood is a rib puncturing his lung. Once your doctor…It was a doctor whom you called over here, correct?” Gibbs nodded at her questioning look. “Once he confirms it or finds out what is really causing him to cough up blood, it should be easily fixed. The rest is simple dressings.” Anna paused and looked over at Tony, taking care not to meet his eyes. “I am impressed that your mate is able to hold off the change for so long, though.” She said to Gibbs as she study Tony.

Before Gibbs could ask what she was talking about, there was a brief knock on the door before Ducky, Dr. Mallard, walked in without waiting for a reply. Ducky took one look at the scene before him and while all he saw was a very wounded Tony and a Gibbs with his hand buried in Tony’s blood stained hair, as he overlooked Anna completely, it was enough to have him sputtering two words. “Good God.”

As Ducky stood there in shock, Gibbs got up and walked over to him despite protests from Tony that made his heart ache. “Now, Duck, I know this looks bad…”

“Looks bad?” Thundered the formidable doctor, interrupting him, and sounding eerily like Gibbs had earlier. “What in God’s name is wrong with you, Jethro? Why haven’t you taken the poor boy to the hospital? Why…”

“Ducky!” Gibbs effectively cutoff his friend’s interrogation. “I can’t take him to the hospital.”

Ducky looked at him as if he were going mad, and Gibbs couldn’t help but muse that he probably was. After all, his mate was a werewolf, who was seemingly badly wounded because another werewolf attacked him.

Ducky’s fury laced, incredulous words jerked Gibbs from his thoughts. “Good Lord, why not?”

“Look Ducky, there’s no easy way to say this, so…Tony is a werewolf.” Gibbs winced. It sounded bad out loud even to him. You couldn’t tell people about this without being shoved into a white room with a tight fitting white jacket forced on you. Tony was right, they had to be shown. Gibbs just hoped that he could get Ducky to believe him in time without Anna or Tony having to put on a show.

Ducky glowered at Gibbs, absolutely livid. “Have you taken leave of your senses, Leroy?” Gibbs winced, more forcefully this time. Ducky only ever called him ‘Leroy’ when he was beyond pissed at him, for he knew Gibbs hated his first name with a passion.

“Duck, I know it sounds like I’m crazy, but for Tony’s sake you have to believe me. Please, Ducky. I’m begging you.” That got his old friend’s attention. Gibbs never begged, ever.

Ducky still looked pissed and more than a little hesitant, but he asked, “What do you need me to do?”

Remembering Anna’s words, he said, “Find out what’s making him cough blood.”

Ducky looked at Gibbs for a moment, assessing him, before hurrying over to Tony. Anna was already standing on the other side of the couch as if waiting for something.

“Dear God, the poor boy looks absolutely horrible.” Ducky declared upon seeing Tony up close. However, he quickly recovered from his shock and got to work.

Taking a cloth out, he wiped away some of the blood in order to get a better look at his chest. Ducky was momentarily startled when Anna placed her hands on Tony’s shoulders, but said nothing, focusing instead on his wounded friend.

Taking out his stethoscope, he listened to Tony’s chest for a few moments before saying, “The boy needs to go to the hospital and have surgery immediately. One of his ribs seems to have punctured a lung.”

Anna nodded. “As I thought. Greiven.” Greiven had quietly returned during the doctor’s examination. “Come hold the humans back and out of the way.” Anna ordered, gesturing with her hands.

Gibbs had a moment to voice a confused, “What?” before both he and Ducky were being restrained by the rather silent werewolf.

“I say. What do you think you’re doing? Release me at once!” Ducky declared. Gibbs; however, didn’t bother. He knew from personal experience how strong and how well Greiven obeyed his orders, not that it stopped Gibbs from being supremely pissed.

Taking a knife from her belt and coming around to the front of the couch, Anna leaned over Tony. “Drystan. This is gonna hurt like a bitch, but I need you to stay still, understand?” When Tony nodded, she began to cut into his chest over the area she had seen the doctor hover.

“What the hell are you doing?” Gibbs who had been resigned to his fate, began to fight his restrainer.

Anna ignored the outraged protests coming from the two human men behind her, and eyed Tony. “Here we go, Drystan. Do me a favor and try not to kill me?” Tony smiled with bloody lips at her before Anna’s actions had him gripping the couch and roaring in agony.

Anna had reached, with werewolf speed, into Tony’s chest and ripped out the offending rib. Werewolf medical techniques were nothing if not crude.

Gibbs cried out in shock and horror as he watched the gruesome process, helpless to stop it, before Anna finally finished and placed her hands on Tony’s shoulders to help keep him down on the couch as he rode out the last of the agonizing pain.

To Gibbs’s disbelief, he heard his lover speak appreciatively towards Anna, “Thanks.” Tony rasped.

“Welcome. That the only major problem?” Anna asked as she tried to appraise the rest of his body.

“Yeah, seems like.” Tony spat blood into the trashcan that had been moved into the room. “Man, I’ve had that happen to me more than a few dozen times at least, and I still can’t get used to it.” Wincing, he continued. “Hurts like a bitch.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “Wimp.” She said somewhat playfully, for she momentarily forgot, lost in the playful banter, how sensitive dominant wolves were about their strength and letting others see it.

Tony glared at her, causing her to drop her eyes. “You’re still alive, right?” He snarled. Meaning, Tony hadn’t let the pain cause his wolf to take over. A difficult feat even for the strongest, most controlled wolves.

Satisfied Anna had learned her lesson, Tony let the matter drop and moaned. “Oh, damn. I need to change before I loose it.” Tony raised his eyes to his mates,’ who was watching, with morbid fascination, as the wounds on Tony’s body began to heal as skin slowly puckered and melded back together. “I know that probably freaked you out a little, but I want you to know I’m going to be fine. I won’t leave you. Werewolf medical techniques are just a little…errrr…medieval.” Anna snorted. “Listen to me, Jethro. I want you to listen to Anna. Do what she says, please.” When Gibbs said nothing, he continued more urgently. “Amor!” He shouted, startling Gibbs from the thoughts Tony’s words had provoked. It had warmed and comforted him to hear Tony say that he would not leave him. “I need your word, mi amor.”

Gibbs looked less than pleased, but nodded. He would not argue with Tony when he was clearly in so much pain. “I promise you, Tony.” Tony nodded, satisfied, before rolling of the couch, his cloths vanishing as he went, and beginning to change, much to Ducky’s continued and renewed shock.

As Gibbs watched, he became surprised when the change seemed to take longer than it had the first time. “Why is it taking so long?” He asked Anna, worried when it had been longer than a few minutes.

Anna was watching the man on the floor turn into a large silver wolf with startling silver-blue eyes that seemed to pierce straight through her when Gibbs’s question jolted her back into the present, there was something about the silver wolf that seemed…unearthly, almost divine.

Ignoring Gibbs’s question, she said, with urgency, “You two need to go in the kitchen. It’s not a good idea for you humans to be in here while his wolf is in control.” But a growl from behind Anna had her ceasing her movement toward the humans and turning slowly, in an effort to remain non-threatening, to face the fully changed werewolf, who was coming toward them slowly and with a slight, almost indiscernible, limp.

Had Anna smelled anything hostile in his scent, she knew she would have ended up on the ground fighting with the silver beast for her life in order to keep the humans safe, but, as it stood, she knew any action she took would only throw the situation into chaos. There was something about the silver wolf that seemed to bespeak to a tightly contained madness. It was somewhat disconcerting, for while she was still avoiding the wolf’s eyes, she could feel the power that radiated behind them. She knew without having to look into those silver-blue eyes that meeting them with her own would be nothing like the time she had looked into The Marrok’s eyes when madness had been controlling him. No, looking into Drystan’s eyes would be far worse, and she did not think even her power would be able to save her from the consequences of even a brief meeting.

It did not surprise her to see the silver wolf rub his head up against his mate’s leg, for even a crazed wolf, won’t harm his mate. However, it did shock her to see the other human receive similar affection if not in a somewhat different manner. Only after staring at the scene for several minutes, did she realize that the other human was apart of the silver wolf’s pack. She had heard tales of lone wolves who were unable to be content in a pack of wolves, so instead had formed a pack consisting of humans. Having lived her entire ‘werewolf life’ in a pack of wolves, even if one of those packs had brutally abused her, it was still a shock to see one consisting of humans for the first time.

Anna shook her head, relieved by the wolf’s behavior towards the humans, and smiled before focusing on the two humans as she was still doing her best to avoid the silver wolf’s eyes. Gibbs was keeping the doctor on his feet with a strong hold while trying to comfort his mate at the same time. It wasn’t working out too well.

Anna was careful to gentle her movements as she gestured towards the couch. “Perhaps you two should sit down. It would be better for Tony if you did. He won’t relax until you do.”

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at her. “The whole living room is covered in blood and…” Gibbs shuddered as his eyes took in the bloody scene. His living room looked like one of their more gory crime scenes, and he could not help the sickening feeling that came with the knowledge it was because of Tony’s injuries that made it that way. “And it’s a mess.” He finished not wanting to voice his thoughts.

Gibbs’s lover cocked his head and eyed the room with silver-blue ice as if trying to make the room submit. Gibbs blinked in surprise when it seemed the room did just that, for one moment he was looking at a bloody and trashed room and the next it looked as it always had even the little coffee table he kept in the room was fixed.

Gibbs found himself being pushed and nudged towards the couch along with Ducky, whom he was still trying to keep on his feet, by his silver wolf. His…Wasn’t that something? Since when had he started thinking of Tony as his?

Thrusting thoughts out of his mind to be dealt with later, Gibbs carefully lowered Ducky to the couch before sitting down himself. After he had settled, his lover jumped up on to the couch, causing it to dip and creak with his weight, and gently placed his front paws and head into his lap, which Gibbs happily accepted although he was surprised by how heavy his lover was in this form.

Gibbs buried his hands into the soft silver fur while being mindful of wounds that he could see were still slowly healing. His actions bespeaking of his efforts to try and reassure himself that Tony would be okay, that he was alive. He felt his lover’s head sift to the side then the presence of a warm wet tongue on his hand.

Gibbs looked down at his lover and smiled. “You’re not reading my mind again are you?” He asked playfully. He really couldn’t care less if Tony read his mind anymore. He was just happy Tony was alive to do it.

His question earned him another lick and a gentle nudge, which placed his hand back on Tony’s head. Gibbs felt his gut clench once more as the feeling of being loved and needed warmed him. Tony always knew exactly what he needed even when Gibbs wasn’t sure.

Relaxing with the seeming assurance that Tony would be alright, he looked beside him, and, judging by the pale demeanor of his old friend, decided it was time to worry about him.

“Duck? Ya okay?” Gibbs leaned out over the couch and turned his head trying to get a clear view of his friend’s face without disrupting the wolf on his lap.

Greiven had disappeared momentary to return with a glass of water, which he silently pushed into the doctor’s hands, releasing his own hold on the glass only after the doctor’s hands clenched it reflexively.

Gibbs saw his friend tighten his hold on the glass in his hand to that of a death grip, and decided that he needed to snap Ducky out of it, fast. “DUCK!” He said demandingly. “Are you okay?”

The grip loosened slightly on the glass as Ducky slowly shook his head from side to side. “No, Jethro.” Ducky’s voice was heavily accented with the lit of England as replied somewhat angrily. “I am not alright. Would you care to explain to me why Anthony is now in the shape of a wolf?” While Ducky phrased it as a question, it was clear that he meant it to be anything but.

Gibbs sighed. If his own experience was anything to go by, this would take some time.



PLEASE LEAVE PLENTY OF REVIEWS AND/OR COMMENTS!!!

THEY ALWAYS MAKE ME WRITE FASTER. :)

Chapter Ten

“The Passion in Comfort”

"Wolves may feature in our myths, our history and our dreams, but they have their own future, their own loves, and their own dreams to fulfill."
~ Anthony Miles



It took over an hour to fill Ducky in on the details, and at some point Tony had heaved himself off Gibbs and off the couch in order to dig into the raw stakes Anna had been continuously placing on his plate. Raw stakes, Gibbs couldn’t help but shudder as he saw the blood lining his lover’s mouth, and he had to have eaten at least six of them already, yet he showed no sign of slowing down.

Ducky had questioned both him and Anna, something Gibbs was reluctant to do, about how much he was eating after just having a lung punctured and…something…errr…removed from inside him, and it had been she who had informed both of them that a werewolf need a lot of food to survive, and when wounded, the rawer the meat was, the more it helped the wolf heal.

Ducky had questioned him and Anna about why and who had attacked Tony, but Anna refused to answer saying Ducky should just ask Tony when he was back in human form. Gibbs had agreed to this while pretending he knew exactly what happened, for while he had his ideas, he couldn’t be sure, and the comment about Aedth still made little sense to him, not that he was going to let anyone save Tony know that.

When Ducky realized he would get no more information about the attack, he switched tactics to medical based questions, which Anna was forced to answer while Gibbs did his best not to listen to some of the things that he really didn’t think he needed to know.

“Well…” Ducky stood up slowly, both due to his age and not wanting to startle the wolf laying at his friend’s feet, apparently having finished his meal…thirteen raw stakes later. “I believe I’ve had about all the information I am able to process for the moment.”

Ducky took a chance and glanced down at the silver wolf while doing his best not to challenge him by looking at the floor next to the wolf more than the actual wolf. “I must admit I am wondering why you had me called rather than someone who was already aware of the situation. Would I be correct in assuming that you consider me part of your pack?”

Ducky’s question surprised Gibbs. He hadn’t thought of it that way, but it made sense. Maybe Tony thought of the team as his pack.

The silver wolf regally raised his head off the front of his paws and leveled silver-blue eyes at the doctor before nodding with a single dip of his head while never letting his piercing eyes leave the doctor’s face.

The doctor nodded once in answer, and said quite seriously, “I am honored.” After a pause, in which the doctor seemed to be assessing the health of the wolf, he turned to Gibbs. “Jethro, you and I will talk later about different matters.” When Gibbs merely raised a questioning eyebrow, he continued, “Do not think that I was death to everything that transpired. I may have been in shock, but it did not impair my hearing.”

Gibbs frowned as he tried to figure out what the doctor was talking about. He paled as he remembered Tony calling him ‘amor,’ not to mention how they had been acting toward one another.

“Duck…I ca…”

Gibbs was cutoff as Ducky shook his head. “Later, Jethro, and you need not worry, for I will hold you to it.” With a nod of his head, Ducky turned to go only to stop briefly to say, “Call me if anything changes.”

With a regal half bow in Anna’s direction Ducky said, “My dear, it was a pleasure to meet you.” Anna grinned, not because she found the bow amusing, as Ducky thought, but because she could smell the lie on the polite human, who pointedly ignored Greiven as he walked out of the house.

Gibbs smiled. Apparently the strange wolves would not be easily forgiven by his old friend. He looked down at Tony when he heard him utter what Gibbs could only describe as a wolf chuckle.

As they heard the door shut, Anna spoke to Tony without turning around to look at him, “I will call the Alpha of the D.C. Lunar pack, and let him know what happened.” Tony barked softly in agreement before Anna went on into more dangerous waters.

“Perhaps, you should go and change back into a human.” Anna more asked than stated as she discreetly eyed the silver wolf. “It would be nice if the rest of your team didn’t end up here wondering where you are.”

The silver wolf seemed to consider her a moment before nodding and standing to make his way to the bedroom upstairs; however, Gibbs was not pleased. Tony was still wounded, and Gibbs could hold off the team if he had to.

“Tony, wait. Don’t you think you’re pushing it? You’re still hurt. I can hold off the team for you. Just rest.” Tony ignored Gibbs’s words and climbed the stairs, forcing Gibbs to follow.

“Damn it.” Gibbs muttered as he followed the silver wolf into the bedroom and slammed the door. He knew Tony was hurting despite him walking and acting as if he wasn’t. It pissed him off to watch Tony begin to change because he knew that hurt him even more. Did Tony not trust him to handle things for a few freakin’ hours?

Tony was gasping as he finished the change, and would have fallen to the floor had Gibbs not caught him.

“You see?” Gibbs growled angrily. “You should have trusted me, and rested.”

Tony looked at Gibbs inquisitively. “What are you talking about? I didn’t change because of the team, or because I didn’t trust you. I changed for you.”

Gibbs’s eyebrows rose to meet his hairline. “Why?”

Tony smiled. “Because, mi amor, you’re hurting worse than I am right now, and I can’t talk to you as a wolf.”

Impossibly touched, Gibbs closed his eyes to keep tears from spilling out once more. He had done enough crying to hold him over for a couple of years. “Tony…I…” What? What could he say to that?

“You shouldn’t have hurt yourself because of me.” Gibbs said at last as he looked away from Tony.

“If not for you, then who?” Gibbs felt his gut clench almost painfully as those words took him close to the edge and to tears once more. Was there something in the freakin’ air? He usually had better control over himself than this.

“Besides, it’s just a couple of scratches. Nothing that won’t heal.” Gibbs could hear the laughter in his lover’s voice and it pissed him off.

“Just a few scratches?” Gibbs turned to glower at Tony. “You almost died! No. Don’t try and tell me otherwise. I just saw you having one of your freakin’ ribs ripped out!” Gibbs was deeply pleased when he saw Tony wince. “And then you go and change! Damn it, Tony. You’re making me cry again, and I hate that.” Gibbs rubbed roughly at his face as tears streamed unbidden, and he could feel the fight go out of him. What the hell was wrong with him? He was a Marine, damn it. He was seriously beginning to think someone had slipped him something.

He felt Tony’s arms encircle him, and drawl him into a tight embrace as his head was tucked into Tony’s shoulder. “Do you feel better, mi amor?”

Gibbs huffed out a half laugh when he realized Tony had provoked him into ranting. “No.” He said stubbornly, and then, in a much quieter voice, he said, “I can’t loose you, Tony. Not you too.”

Arms moved to tighten and hold Gibbs even harder. “And you never will, mi amor.”

A single sob managed to escape him before he said, with half of his regular force, “You can’t promise that. I wanted to think that, with you being immortal, I wouldn’t have to worry about loosing you, but today proved me wrong.”

Tony released Gibbs from his embrace and leaned back, so he could take his mate’s face in his hands. “I can promise that. I will never leave you.” Gibbs tried to pull free of Tony’s hold, but Tony refused to let go of Gibbs’s face, refused to let Gibbs hide his tears from him, and instead looked his mate right in the eye, so Gibbs would see the honesty in them. Then Tony’s lips were on his, sealing the promise. It was a slow, gentle kiss that took Gibbs’s breath away as he relished the sensation of Tony’s tongue exploring his mouth.

He loved that about Tony’s kisses. They always made him feel like Tony would take all the time there was in the world just to explore him, just to make him feel good.

Gibbs was gasping as Tony broke the kiss to nip, none to gently, at Gibbs’s nose.

Startled, Gibbs jerked back, but was held in place by Tony’s hold. “Why’d ya do that?”

“Nipping the nose is what wolves do to their young when they have done something wrong.”

“I did something wrong?” Gibbs asked incredulously and a little offensively.

Undeterred, Tony responded, “Yes…Never doubt me, mi amor, never. I will always be here for you, no matter what.”

After wiping away Gibbs’s tears with his thumb, Tony continued and explained, “The only reason that wolf was able to do so much damage was because the spell that makes me, in affect, human is still wearing off.”

Tony eyed Gibbs carefully, and Gibbs could tell he was considering whether or not to tell him something, so he said. “What? Just tell me.”

Tony sighed. “The wolf I fought was very young and no doubt meant to test me.”

“Was he sent by your one time friend?” Gibbs asked.

“Yes, I think he was. I doubt he thought his pet cub would actually be able to kill me. He probably just sent the young wolf as a warning.” Gibbs wondered if Tony knew he was clenching and unclenching his fists.

“So your one time friend’s name is…?” Gibbs left it to Tony to fill it in. Part of him was wondering if Tony would be honest with him, or try to protect him.

“Aedth, Aedth Afagdu.” Tony grinned at the look he saw on Gibbs’s face. “No, amor. It will do you no good. Werewolves, old ones, like he and I rarely tell anyone our true name.”

Gibbs gave him a frustrated look, but Tony just shrugged. “Names have power. For beings like myself, they are best forgotten, but none of this is what I wanted to tell you.”

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, and Tony laughed. “Not that I mind you knowing, mi amor, but what I wanted you to know is that the fight I was in earlier is nothing like a fight between two old wolves.”

Tony could see the tension sliding back into his mate, and hated himself for being the reason. “In truth, I was not lying when I said they were mere scratches, for the wounds I have now are likely nothing to the ones I will receive when I face him.”

Gibbs had paled and was trembling. “Damn, Tony. I thought you were trying to comfort me.”

Tony took Gibbs’s chin in his hand, and forced Gibbs to look at him. “No. I am telling you the truth, all of it. I will not hide from you, not my mate. I may want to protect you. I may want to lock you up somewhere, and keep you safe from anything and everything, but more than that I want you to be happy and able to trust me. You deserve the truth, and the truth is I am telling you this not because I think I’m going to die, but because I think I’m going to live. I just need you to be prepared for what you will see.”

Tony tightened his grip on Gibbs’s chin and said forcefully, “Don’t you dare think, for even a second, that I would leave you, that I may have died.” Tears were running down Gibbs’s face as the full force of what Tony was saying hit him. “Because I’m telling you, right now, it’s not possible, no matter what anyone else may say.”

Tony gave Gibbs a little shake and asked, “Do you understand me?”

“Yes.” Gibbs sobbed. “I understand. You will not leave me.”

Tony nodded and released Gibbs’s face. “Damn straight.”

Gibbs had a brief second to see Tony grin, and hear him say, “Now…I will comfort you.” Then Tony’s lips were crushing against his, and he found himself being pushed towards the bathroom.

“I need a bath.” Tony said roughly, with the wolf in his eyes, when he broke the kiss for a moment. “And the heat will do you good.”

“But…” Gibbs gasped and was cutoff as his mouth was once again being devoured. It was not hard to believe his lover was a wolf when he felt like he was being slowing consumed.

He could hear Tony turn the water on in the shower, and feel the brush of air on his skin that let him know Tony had magicked his clothing off. Tony did all this without pausing from his meal of Gibbs’s mouth.

He let Gibbs breathe for a moment as he roughly pushed him into the shower, stepping in and closing the door behind them.

Gibbs’s fought for the air to be able to speak before Tony could once more take over his mouth.

Gibbs was gasping as he quickly asked, “What about work?...The others will wonder…”

Fingers pressed against his lips and ceased his words. “It will wait. They will wait. You will not wait, and neither will I.”

Gibbs gasped as he felt his gut clench and desire flame within him. “Damn, Tony. Your words do wild things to me.” He gasped out; his voice rough with desire as it burned from his loins up into his throat.

Tony grinned a cunning, knowing smile. “I am aware, mi amor…” Tony brushed his lips over Gibbs’s, electing a small moan from him. “It’s just the way I like it.” Tony purred in his ear.

“Now…” Tony trailed his mouth down Gibbs’s slick chest as water rained down on them. “Give into me.” Gibbs cried out as Tony bit down gently but forcefully on his nipple.

Gibbs buried his hands into Tony’s hair, desperate to hold on to something, and pressed his head back and into the shower wall as the world swam away from him, leaving only Tony and…sensations.

“Let go, mi amor.” Tony’s voice was surrounding him, covering him like a warm blanket even as it resounded deep within him. “Let everything go. ”

Gibbs nodded, more reflexively than consciously, before crying out once more as he felt warm slick heat slide into him. Lips crushed against his, and his mouth was invaded as he felt that slick heat begin to move, forcing him break the kiss as he arched up and against Tony as cries of pleasure shuddered out of him while his sweet spot was deeply messaged.

Gibbs felt heat slide along his length, and could not figure out if it was desire, water, or his lover although he ceased to care as another finger pressed itself inside of him while Tony’s tongue lavished his chest at the same time.

Gibbs was moaning and gasping as he half demanded, half begged, “Enough…need you…” Gibbs cried out as another finger joined the others, provoking more heat from inside him. It was as if there was a fire being stoked within him, and it was too much heat for him to handle.

Gibbs just barely heard Tony reply in a wolf laden voice, “You have me.” Gibbs couldn’t help but shudder and moan as his lover’s rough voice hummed through him.

What was it about Tony? He could spark so much heat within Gibbs without having to really even try, and, more than that, Gibbs couldn’t help but show Tony the side of him that existed under his mask. Was it magic or love? Perhaps, it was both.

“Not like this…” Gibbs flexed his iron will as he heaved his head off of the shower wall to look his lover in the eye. “I need you…” He panted with great emphasis on the word ‘you’. He knew Tony understood him the first time, but was enjoying making him work for it. The sly smile that spread on Tony’s face was proof enough of Gibbs’s theory.

He whimpered as he felt Tony’s fingers withdrawal from him and gasped, crying out his lover’s name as Tony entered him once more, and filled him entirely.

Tony had one hand buried in his mate’s hair and another firmly squeezing his mate’s bottom. He was the only thing still holding Gibbs up, keeping him from falling as Gibbs dug his fingers almost painfully into Tony’s back.

It only took a couple of minutes before Tony had them both sailing on that final release; his mate crying his name and declarations of love in way that made him never want to let go.


HOW WAS THAT?

PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS!!! YES, I'M BEGGING...

THE MORE I GET, THE SOONER YOU GET YOUR CHAPTERS!!

THANKS...

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE CHAPTER!

Chapter Eleven

“Torn Veil”

“It's like holding a wolf by the ears, ... You don't want to hold it, but you don't want to let it go.” ~ Jeremy Lewis


For Tony, getting out of the house was hell. His chest was aching from the rib that was still trying to regenerate although, mercifully, the flesh wound had closed; however, the real problem was that Gibbs didn’t trust that something else wouldn’t happen, and made him promise to take one of the wolves with him. He compromised by having Greiven drive him to the office before heading back to the house to guard his mate.

It was a compromise that had pissed Gibbs off even if he had eventually agreed. Tony couldn’t blame him. He knew his mate was still terrified Tony would be attacked and killed, and while Tony had no doubt that he would be attacked, he wished Gibbs had a little more faith in him when it came to the killing thing. After all, he had been playing this game of cat and mouse with Aedth for more than a few centuries, and he wasn’t dead yet.

Tony shook his head as he entered the bullpen, trying to end his thoughts before they went on to Aedth slaying his past mate, Esllot, and the fear of the same thing happening to Gibbs. No, it couldn’t happen to Gibbs. He could take care of himself, and Tony had left powerful guards that would be hard to fight for a number of reason, but the main one being it was very hard for other wolves to harm an Omega or a submissive. They were precious, rare, and every instinct a wolf had screamed to protect them.

Tony was saved from thoughts of what might happen if his enemy did managed to make it pass them by McGee’s voice, which was mixed with a sort of strained anxiousness and respite at the same time.

“Tony!” He cried, relief evident in his voice. “Where in the world have you been?

Tony raised an eyebrow calmly. “I thought Gibbs told you I was following a lead.”

“Yeah, but all morning?” McGee asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, McGee. All morning. You got a problem with that?” Tony’s voice heavily laden with sarcasm.

Tony sounded so much like Gibbs that McGee couldn’t stop the reflexive gulp. “No, Boss, no problem.”

“Good.” Tony sat down at his desk and turned his computer on while looking around. “What have we got so far, Probie, and where is Ziva?”

“Ziva with Abby. They’re working on verifying the information that we just got out of Mexico.”

Tony looked up surprised, which quickly turned into irritation. “Well, McGee?” He demanded when McGee neglected to elaborate.

“Sorry…We got word out of Mexico about an half an hour ago that Paloma Reynosa murdered her brother, Alejandro Rivera, along with several other high ranking drug cartel members. The rumor is she is still alive, but fled into the wilderness.”

Tony nodded, pleased with the news, and not at all surprised. After all, Nemane rarely did anything small. “Good. Even if she does manage to get out of Mexico alive, she’ll have the entire cartel hunting after her sorry ass.”

“Yeah, but we still don’t know if it’s true or not. She could be using our own trap against us to get us to lower our guard. I mean, I’m not doubting Ziva’s sources or ours for that matter, but it seems a little fishy that she would kill her own family when the murder of her father is why she is hunting Gibbs.” McGee said somewhat apprehensively with concern lining his face.

Tony nodded in agreement although he doubted that was the case due to the fae he had unleashed. “Yeah, it’s a possibility, but you have to remember, Probie, she’s a psychopath. What she does is hardly going to make sense to us.” Tony said with a frown as if disappointed McGee hadn’t thought of this.

Before McGee could respond, a seriously pissed off voice from above snapped out, “Agent DiNozzo! My office, now.”

Tony’s head snapped up with bight silver-blue in his eyes, but Vance was already stalking back to his office. His overconfident posture bestirring the rage of the wolf within Tony.

Still looking up, Tony closed his eyes and took a moment to reign his wolf back under control. With his wolf barely caged, he climbed up to the Director’s office, using a deliberately slow and controlled pace, reminiscent of the patient predator fighting within him for control. It was never a good idea to order a dominant werewolf around and then invite him into an enclosed space.

Walking into the Director’s office, he turned to close the door in a very precise manner as he tried to buy more time in order to get better control of his wolf. Instead, he only succeeded in noticeably deforming the door.

Tony turned to face the Director, who was sitting behind his desk frowning at him with either displeasure or confusion, if he had seen what Tony had done to the door handle, he didn’t acknowledge it. As Tony moved to stand in front of the desk, he wondered what the chances were of him leaving this office with his secret intact. With his limited control, he could not allow the Director to continue to treat him in such a manner, for it wouldn’t be a matter of ‘maybe’ killing him, but when.

“Where the hell were you this morning?” Snapped the Director, oblivious to the danger he was in.

“I’m sure McGee told you. I was following a lead.” Tony growled out with his teeth clenched.

“Which I might have believed if it was you who told McGee that and not Gibbs.” Vance glared at Tony, who was glaring right back, and Vance was disconcerted to realize that Tony’s glare was making him want to blanch and look away. Only years of training held his eyes in place when every instinct in him was screaming at him to stop staring Tony in the eyes.

Tony was barely holding the growl in his throat back. Wolves don’t like to be challenged, and the more dominant a wolf is the more likely the challenger will end up with a set of fangs lodged in their throat, and Tony was as dominant as they come. He knew he had to do something fast, or else he would have to try and explain to his co-workers why he killed their boss.

Tony, making the only split second decision he could think of, growled out, “What do you know about project ‘Shadow World.’” Inwardly, Tony was rolling his eyes as a brief moment of amusement rolled through him although it did nothing for the rage still roaring within him. However, he couldn’t help but think what it was with the CIA and horrible code names. First ‘the frog’ for an arms dealer, like a frog is gonna scare anyone, and now ‘Shadow World.’” Humans, couldn’t they could try a little harder?

“‘Shadow World?’” Vance voice was considerably quieter, but no less demanding. “How the hell do you know about that?” Tony was now reasonably sure that Vance’s frown was now one of concern and confusion.

“I guess you could say that I came across it…or more like it came across me.” Tony shrugged.

Vance frowned and said with frustration lining his voice, “And what the hell does that mean, Agent DiNozzo?”

Tony cocked his head, and Vance could’ve sworn he saw Tony’s eyes flash something akin to blue; suddenly Vance had an idea as to how Tony heard of this highly classified project.

Tony was unable to speak without the wolf being clearly discernable in his voice, so he remained silent and waited for Vance to put two and two together.

“Are you…” Vance couldn’t help but hesitate. The question he was about to ask would have Tony questioning his sanity if he was just fishing and really knew nothing about project ‘Shadow World.’ “Are you human?” Vance threw the question out before he could decided to lock it within him and feign ignorance.

He knew it was the right question when Tony smiled predatorily, showing his teeth and making Vance shudder. “Very good question, Director.” Then after a moment’s pause, he answered as his predator’s smile grew wickedly on his face, “No. I am not human.”

Trembling, as Vance began to understand the true scope of the situation he was in; he asked, “What are you then?”

“The closest classification humans have of me is a werewolf.”

Oh, SHIT! The protocol for werewolves written in the files for project ‘Shadow World’ flew through his head, and Vance quickly looked to the floor while showing his neck at the same time. Vance belatedly realized that he had challenged Tony not only while they were alone, but in front of people as well. Why the hell wasn’t he dead? For that matter, why hadn’t he been killed along time ago? Why wasn’t Gibbs dead? From what he understood, werewolves did not tolerate challenges of any kind, and Vance wasn’t stupid enough to believe the predator in front of him was one of the submissives of his kind. No, there was more to this situation than met the eye.

Tentatively and feeling like he was pressing his luck, Vance asked, “Why am I still alive? Why are any of us still alive?”

Tony had already considered what to tell Vance if the need arose, so he didn’t even have to pause as he said, “There are ways, magical, ways to suppress the wolf and make us, for the most part human, but it does not last and has a considerable price attached to it, a price that I am now paying as it is beginning to wear off. It would be better if you treated me like any other werewolf with limited control from now on.”

Vance blinked, “From now on? You think you are staying?” Vance winced as he realized what he had said, and how he had said it. Tact wasn’t something that he usually needed to employ with his subordinates.

Tony’s upper lip curled up in a snarl as a low growl of barely contained rage made itself know.

“Sorry, sorry…That didn’t come out right. All I meant, was that I thought you would want to leave rather than errr…letting the others find out. After all, Gibbs will have to be told, and perhaps your other teammates as well…And…No offense, but I doubt the government will allow you to continue working for us when they find out.”

The last sentence had Tony going from frowning with rage and displeasure to laughing out loud. “Director, I think the only thing they will care about is you and the others finding out, not that they can stop me from telling anyone.”

“What do you mean?”

“They already know what I am. Have for awhile. I’m on their ‘Red List.’ You know…Their ‘leave alone for various reasons list.’” Tony rolled his eyes and raised his hands while bending his index and middle fingers in exasperation and annoyance.

“Then how do you know about the project?”

“Please.” Tony drawled while waving a dismissive hand. “All the wolves, hell, all the supernatural creatures know about their stupid project.”

Vance raised an eyebrow in disbelief while still carefully avoiding eye contact. “I find that hard to believe, DiNozzo.” Vance paused as a thoughtful look flashed over his face. “Wait, is DiNozzo even your name?”

“No. On the list they have me down as Drystan. Ya have any buddies with high level clearance? They can check it for ya since your not likely to believe anyone I direct you to.”

“I do know one guy, but he’s not all that forthcoming.”

“What’s his name?”

Vance winced. Shit…How was he supposed to handle this? Who knew what Tony would do to him if he refused to answer, and, from what he remembered, werewolves could tell if someone was lying to them, and not many people survived the experience.

As he waged an inner war with himself, he caught a glimpse of Tony’s face. He was smiling hungrily like he was just waiting for Vance to try and hide his contact’s name from him.

Swallowing harshly at the hungry look, he decided a name was not worth his life. “His name is Michael Slay.”

Tony’s eyebrows rose and a brief flash of recognition went over his face. Tony rubbed a hand over his chin thoughtfully before nodding and letting a small knowing smile brush his lips.

“I am…” Tony paused as he tired to come up with the right word to use. “ I am familiar with him.” Tony continued slightly stressing the word familiar, and giving Vance a bad feeling. “Go ahead and call him. It would probably be best not to mention that I work at NCIS. I believe they revoked his clearance to know my whereabouts.” He grinned wolfishly at Vance, causing the other man to blanch slightly at the predator he saw within the other man.

“Why did they revoke his clearance?” Vance asked cautiously, for he was sure he would not like the answer.

Tony’s grin widened, exposing his teeth like any good predator. Vance took a step back unconsciously. “There was a little fiasco back in England several decades ago that was mostly his fault.” Tony laughed low and roughly at the memory. It was back in the days when governments were still just learning about the supernatural, and they thought that they could just go around kidnapping his and other races to study. It was only after he had destroyed most of a countryside in both rage and defense that they realized some of the things which walked in the shadows of the night were better left alone; thus, the red list had been created. Michael; however, had to be forced to leave, for he had been unwilling to give up the fight. Against his will, Tony couldn’t help but admire such determination.

The overwhelming memories of a past long dead morphed Tony’s face, which had taken on a shadowed look with eyes that clearly bespoke of a man with bloodlust. He was only brought out of his recollections and back to himself when he heard Vance hit his desk, having backed up into it.

Tony took a breath, and his features turned less murderous although he knew the damage had been done. He doubted Vance would ever forget seeing a small piece of the monster that lay within him.

Growing tried of the situation, Tony gestured to the phone on Vance’s desk. “Why don’t you go ahead and call him, so we can get this over with?”

Vance raised an eyebrow, but went over to the phone. He didn’t really like the idea of calling his contact with Tony in the room as his contact would not be pleased that someone else…no scratch that, something else knew of his existence. However, Vance was not foolish enough to try and demand that Tony leave.

“You don’t have to tell him I’m here. You can just vaguely say you ran into me or heard of me.” Tony paused and offered a wolfish grin. “Yes, I think that would be for the best.”

Vance cringed inwardly at his situation. How the hell had this happened? What happened to the times where everything was normal, and he actually felt like the boss in his own office.

Grudgingly, Vance picked up the phone and dialed with his back to Tony as he was doing his best to forget the other man’s presence, and, at the very least, pretend that he was doing this of his own free will.

“Hello? Who is this?” Came a vastly impatient voice.

“Slay? It’s Vance from NCIS.” Vance was trying to speak with the authority of his position in his voice and not like he had an agitated and possibly irate werewolf breathing down his neck.

“Vance…Leon Vance? Haven’t heard from you in years.” Slay’s voice was rough and laced with suspicion.

“I know it’s been awhile. How you’ve been?” Vance asked somewhat conversationally.

“Let’s cut the chit chat. Why did you call me? What do you need?” Slay said harshly.

Vance sighed. There was a reason why they had not talked in several years; the man had the manners of pissed off hyena. “I need know anything you know about a…umm…person named Drystan.”

There was a noticeably long pause before Slay roared, “DRYSTAN! Why the hell do you what to know about him? Have you seen him? Is he in DC?”

Vance paused, slightly taken back by his rather obsessive attitude and decided to go with Tony’s plan. “No, but someone mentioned him to me, and I would like to know what I am dealing with if I ever come in contact with him.”

“Damn.” Slay muttered clearly disappointed. After a few moments of passionate cursing, he answered Vance as if there had been no interruption, “Drystan is extremely dangerous and extremely powerful. No government is willing to go after him. Bunch of rat bastard cowards if you ask me.” Slay growled out in distaste, and continued to mutter several more incomprehensible curses.

Vance felt himself pale at this new information. “Yes, but what is he, and how should I deal with him?”

“Deal? You don’t deal with him. If you see him, then you run in the other direction. He is classified as a werewolf, but the truth is we don’t know what the hell he is. Among his own kind, he seems to be revered as something akin to a God. Among them he is know as the Lord of the Night or something to that effect. Listen, even other creatures like the fae and the vampires give this guy a wide berth. He is not someone to screw around with, and he’s damn near impossible to kill. Trust me, I should know.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Vance cautiously as he was still very much aware of Tony standing behind him.

“I mean, nothing seems to take this guy down. Other werewolves are affected and can even be killed with silver, but not this guy. It just pisses him off. I’ve seen him tear through a whole special forces unit without so much as breaking a sweat. He’s survived explosions, gunfire, and chemical attacks. I’m telling you, you can’t kill the bastard! He’s like a cockroach. A very deadly cockroach. Here’s my advice, stay away from him.” There was a sharp click where Vance realized Slay had hung up. Shit, that left him back to being in a room with a pissed off wolf, who was apparently the equivalent of a super wolf…He was so going to die.

Vance was still facing the window as he was too afraid to turn around, so it was Tony who spoke first. “Well, now you know who I am, or mostly who I am. Slay tends to exaggerate a bit.”

Vane slowly turned around, “Exaggerate? Are you saying you can be killed?”

Tony grinned wolfishly, “Not by a mere mortal anyway, and even if there was a way to kill me, do you really think I would tell you?”

Vance shook his head while his eyes were trained on the floor. Somehow, he couldn’t help that his fear seemed to be getting the better of him. He felt this tremendous pressure coming from Tony that he was simply wilting under. “So…” He asked, desperate to bring this all to an end, whatever end it might be. “What now?”

Tony raised his eyebrows, “Now? Now, you swear to never speak of my…err…other side ever again to anyone. You swear to tell no one what you have learned about me today because I will know the instant you do, and, I assure you, I will kill you. Also, it would probably be best if you are more careful when addressing me, or I might kill you by accident.” Vance eyes shot up and widen at what he saw Tony’s face before he quickly looked away again. “Yes, my control is a little shot right now. Probably a good idea, to be on the safe side, for you to just strive to avoid me altogether.”

Vance took a breath. He really didn’t want to push his luck with the monster that was currently alone in the room with him, but he felt duty bound to ask, “What about the others? Your not going to hurt anyone, are you? I mean, I surprised you have killed Gibbs already.”

Tony merely raised his eyebrows. “Kill him? Why would I kill my pack? Gibbs and my other teammates are my pack, and I won’t harm them.” Vance could of sworn that Tony sounded slightly insulted, but, really, after what he just heard it wouldn’t surprise Vance if he heard Tony threaten to kill them all.

Vance tried to suppress a chill that ran down his back when he saw Tony smile, showing his teeth once more. It was almost as if Tony could read his mi… “No, I would never threaten them. You on the other hand…I don’t believe either of us has ever feigned to like the other, so why start now?” Tony waved a hand absently before leveling silver-blue eyes back on Vance. “No, Director. While I think it is admirable to try and look after your people even after all you have learned, they’re my people now, and it is your own skin you should think of guarding.” Tony’s eyes which had narrowed as his voice lowered suddenly became light as he grinned with true amusement, and said, “Besides, Gibbs, along with Ducky, already knows everything.”

Vance’s eyes widened in shock, “WHAT? Why?”

“Why did I tell him? Because I trust him with the truth, both of them.” Tony said with amusement as he enjoyed the other man’s shocked reaction.

Vance frowned, “But I thought that the laws of your…umm…kind wouldn’t allow you to tell humans the truth.”

Tony’s humor faded, “Don’t try to figure out the ways of my people. It would be…unwise, to say the least. We value our secrets, and you already know far too much as it is.”

Vance blanched and, subconsciously, backed up a step, but he asked, “So, what now?”

Tony blinked, “Now? Oh yeah, that reminds me there won’t be any need to worry about Paloma Reynosa anymore, but I still want you to give Gibbs two more days off, maybe more. He doesn’t need the stress of the job to contend with right now. Also, an old friend of mine has come to town, so I may end up needing some time off as well.” Tony moved to leave without waiting for a reply from Vance before stopping suddenly, “Oh, and don’t worry about the others. I haven’t told McGee, Ziva, or Abby, about me, but I will soon. After all, if they know about me, it should make things less dangerous.” And with that Tony walked out of Vance’s office.

Chapter Twelve

“New Worlds”

"Only a mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf." ~ Aldo Leopold



Tony was just passing MTAC and about to head down the stairs when his phone rang. He paused at the foot of the stairs, pulled out his cell phone, and saw a number with a 777 area code.

Sighing as he truly did not feel like talking to a fae at the moment, he flipped the phone open, “Hello?” He grumbled into the phone.

“Well, don’t you sound lovely? What is it about wolves and horrible manners?” Came a sultry voice.

“Nemane.” Tony growled. “What do you want?”

“Is that anyway to talk to someone who just did you a rather large favor?” The woman mock pouted.

“Nemane!” Snapped Tony with more of the wolf in his voice than he meant to allow.

“Oh, alright. Don’t get your fur in a twist.” Her voice turning somewhat dry and loosing much of its seductive sound. “Your lady is dead, just as requested.”

“She’s not my lady.” Growled Tony.

“Yes, yes. Would you like to know what happened?”

“I already know she slew her brother and several other cartel members.”

“Yes, she did. Rather brilliant idea, don’t you think.” The ancient fae sound almost like an excited child as she spoke of blood and death. “I had her see visions of enemies in all of them.” She sighed happily, “You have to love the humans. Madness is by the far easiest to implant in them. Any other creature and it takes forever to make them believe the illusions are real, but humans…ahh…mere seconds and they’re at each others throat.”

“Nemane…” Tony half growled, half sighed in exasperation.

“What?...Oh, right. As I was saying, terrified she ran off into the wilderness. She was absolutely convinced that monsters were chasing her…Poor girl.” The fae laughed menacingly before continuing. “She was in such a rush that she didn’t see the cliff in front of her.” The fae giggled like a mischievous child, and when she stopped, Tony had no trouble visualize the murderous smile that was in the fae’s voice as she said, “It took her hours to die.”

Perhaps if the spell making Tony seem human hadn’t been failing at an alarming rate, he would have felt some horror or sympathy at what the fae had said, but Tony was almost fully a werewolf again; he felt nothing but a sense of satisfaction. He was not human. He was a predator, an animal, and, for his kind, vengeance was bloody. Anyone who dared to harm his mate or pack members deserved a long and horrible death. Karma’s a bitch, after all.

Tony barely managed to hide his own murderous smile as he replied to the fae, “Well done. I hold your debt to me fulfilled.” Tony knew better than to thank the fae, for to thank the fae is to sign one’s life over to them in the form of unwilling servitude.

“I don’t need your praise, wolf.” Nemane snarled, spitting out the word ‘wolf’ as though it were a curse. Before Tony could offer his own retort, he heard a sharp click, signifying the end of the phone conversation.

Sighing, Tony snapped his phone shut and moved to lean over the bars to look down at the bullpen and mull over all his new thoughts. Ever since he had left the Director’s office, the thought of whether or not to tell his teammates the truth about himself kept circling in the back of his mind. He knew he would have to tell them eventually, but the question was whether he should just go ahead and get it over with, or if he should keep trying to put off the inevitable.

He sighed and rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. Surly he was old enough to know the pointlessness of procrastination. The wolf growled in agreement within him. The wolf warned him that, despite Tony’s other teammates being considered pack by both the wolf and Tony, it wouldn’t tolerate anymore disrespect.

Sighing, resigned to his fate, Tony pushed away from the bars and headed downstairs. He decided he would gather his team in autopsy as Ducky already knew what he was. Besides, with Vance knowing what he was now, he no longer needed to be concerned with the conversation being video taped.

Stopping in front of McGee’s desk, he told him to tell Abby and Ziva to meet them in autopsy before heading up there himself to give Ducky a heads up.

As he stepped off the elevator, he paused and allowed himself a moment of trepidation. He couldn’t help but think what would happen if they hated him, or worse, feared him. He thought of them as his pack, his family, and the thought of them being afraid of him or hating him tore at his heart. It never mattered how many centuries went by, this was always the hardest part.

Pushing aside his anxieties, he walked into autopsy. Ducky looked up from his desk where he was having a cup of tea, and raised his eyebrows in question while being careful not to look Tony in the eye.

“Anthony. What can I do for you, my boy?” Surprise lacing the old doctor’s voice.

Tony smiled. That was Ducky. He could always count on him to continue treating him as he always had while still managing to appease his wolf with the proper etiquette. In that moment, he felt an immeasurable amount of gratitude towards his old friend. “Thank you, Ducky.”

“For what, my boy?” He inquired.

Tony shook his head, a smile still lingering on his lips. “Never mind. I came up here to tell you I’ve asked the others to gather here.”

Ducky looked up in astonishment, briefly allowing their eyes to meet before looking away once more, “Am I to assume that you are going to tell the others your secret?”

Tony nodded, “Yes, I think it is about time. The spell that was allowing me to appear human has almost completely failed. And it doesn’t seem right they don’t know the truth about me since I just told Vance.”

Now that got the doctor’s attention. Never would the old doctor have guessed that Tony would be willing tell the Director anything. He was well aware how the Director and Tony viewed each other. “W…What? Why?” Ducky uncharacteristically stuttered due to his shock.

Tony smiled somewhat sardonically, “It was tell him or kill him. The guy was yanking on every wolf instinct that I have.” Tony shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as he continued. “Besides the government already knows what I am and that I work here. I just don’t think that Vance was ever cleared to know.”

Ducky stared at him in open shock, “The government…our government knows? My dear boy, how is that even possible? I mean to say, I would have thought that they…” Ducky trailed off as his mind turned to things he didn’t want to consider possible of the government, but what was still a sad truth.

Tony’s smile was genuine this time in the face of his friend’s worry, “When you have my reputation and power, people, including governments, tend to treat you with a certain amount of respect and leave you alone; letting you do what you want…Up to a point of course. But they leave me alone for the most part.”

Ducky shook his head at the whole situation. He thought he was doing well for someone who had just had the whole way they viewed the world overturned. “Well, I suppose that’s a relief.”

Ducky opened his mouth to say more, but was cut off when the doors to autopsy slide open to admit Abby trailed by Ziva and McGee. Tony, who had turned to watch their entry, turned back to Ducky without a word of greeting to the others, “What about Palmer?” He asked, having momentarily forgotten about his autopsy gremlin.

Ducky shook his head, “He’s off cataloging our supplies. I will inform him of everything at a later time. Why don’t you begin?”

Ziva frowned at the exchange, “Begin what? What’s going on?” She demanded.

“Yeah, Tony. You’ve been acting kind of weird lately.” McGee stated with concern and more than a little apprehension.

“Tony, this isn’t like you. Spill! Is it about the Bossman? He’s okay, right?” Abby demanded to know as she bounced on her platform shoes, black pigtails flopping like bunny ears, in a way that was reminiscent of a hipper active twelve year old.

“No, this isn’t about Gibbs, and he’s fine, Abbs, or he will be.” Tony said while shaking his head. “This is actually about me and something that I’ve been keeping from you all for a long time now. Gibbs and Ducky recently found out, and I thought that it was time you guys know the truth as well.”

Abby frowned in concern when Tony paused. “Tony! What’s wrong? This really isn’t like you. You’re starting to scare me!”

“Yeah, Tony. Stop pouring it for dramatic effect.” Ziva demanded irritably.

“It’s ‘milking it,’ Ziva. And I agree, Tony. You’re starting to worry me.” McGee exclaimed with a slight tremor in his voice.

Tony couldn’t help the little smile that peaked out at the others. He enjoyed riling them up although he felt he probably wouldn’t like how this would end; he was still holding onto some hope, though. “Alright, alright.” He said hold his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m just going to come out and tell you the truth since I don’t really have any idea how to be gentle about this, soooo…” Tony took a moment to steal a breath before saying, “I’m a werewolf.”

There was a long pause before Abby ended it by stomping her foot and exclaiming, rather disapprovingly, “Tony! I can’t believed you called us up here to make fun! Plus, you just broke Abby’s rule one. Never lie to Abby!” She stomped over to him before he could say anything, and punched him rather forcibly in the arm.

“Ow, Abby!” Tony mocked rubbed his arm, for it hadn’t really hurt. “I’m not joking or lying to you, Abby.” Tony paused and looked her in the eye, so she would know he wasn’t kidding before adding, “I’m being completely serious.”

Abby stared at him for a moment before going wide eyed and bouncy once more, “Oh my God! Oh my God! You’re werewolf! That’s soooo cool, Tony! Oh, can you change into a wolf, pretty pleaseeeee?”

Tony laughed at her reaction and scoped her up in a big hug. He knew, out of all of them, that Abby was the most likely to be okay with it, but it was still a relief to see with his own eyes. “Thanks, Abbs.” He couldn’t resist whispering to her. She smiled her understanding at him when he released her from his hug.

Taking a moment, Tony eyed the others carefully. He could see the quiet disbelieving look on McGee’s face, which he would remedy when acquiesced to Abby’s request, but what surprised him the most was the look on Ziva’s face. There wasn’t any disbelief, rather she seemed to be trying to decided whether or not he was a threat while taking care not to look him in the eye. He puzzled that a moment before he remembered her Mossad background. Of course she would have come across his kind before although he doubted any of those encounters were of a friendly nature.
He caught her eye for a moment and said, “I think of all of you as my pack, Ziva. No harm to you or yours.”

Ziva’s eye’s widen for a moment before she nodded her head once in acceptance.

McGee had watched the interaction between Ziva and Tony as well as Ducky’s apparent calm acceptance of the whole situation. Was he missing something? Where they all just screwing with him? They were taking it too far if that was the case because there was no way Tony could be a werewolf. “Come on, guys? You don’t seriously believe him, do you? I mean this is just some big joke on me, right?” When no one said anything, McGee began to wonder if his coworkers and friends were truly sane.

“McGee, I know that this is hard to believe without any proof, so I’m going to transform for all of you.” Tony ignored Abby’s shout of glee. “If you guys have any questions, you can ask Ducky. He has most of the answers now. Is that okay, Ducky?”

“Of course, my dear boy although I am not quite as confident of my new found knowledge.” Ducky said with a small smile while he kept one eye on Timothy. He had a feeling he would be needing smelling salts for the poor boy before this was all over with.

Tony grinned at the doctor before jerking his head in Ziva’s direction. “I have a feeling Ziva can fill in any blank spots.”

Everyone turned to look at Ziva, but she just smiled calmly, giving nothing away. Abby opened her mouth to question her when Tony began to strip off his clothes, effectively distracting her.

“Ohhh…I didn’t know we would get a show too.” Abby said teasingly.

Tony smiled slyly at her. “You’re going to get a show, just not the one you expect.” His eyes grew serious as he stepped out of his pants. “The change can be gruesome. It’s not usually so bad for me, but I’ve already changed several times today, so it’s anyone’s guess as to how this one turns out.” Tony informed them, neglecting to mention the attack, which he knew would prompt a whole lot more questions from Abby than he thought they were ready for.

“Oh, and no matter what, do not touch me once I’ve begun to change. Wait until I let you.” Abby nodded although she was also frowning in concern and confusion.

Taking a breath, Tony began to change before another word could be said. It wasn’t as long as his last one, but it wasn’t as short as it usually was, either, and the pain from his still healing ribs nearly had him blacking out although he managed to conceal his pain from the others.

He was panting from the effort of the change when he looked up at the others. Abby was in awe even Ziva seemed a little wonder struck, but McGee was as white as a sheet and swaying where he stood.

Ducky rushed over to him and pushed him into his office chair, which he happened to be standing near. Pushing McGee’s head between his legs, Ducky instructed him to breath, something that he seemed to forgotten to do.

Shaking his head at McGee’s weak nature, he turned to see Abby approaching him hopefully. Even his wolf was amused when Ziva reached out an arm to stop her earning a patented glare from the Goth. Tony bowed his head and took a step forward to let both woman know it was okay to approach him.

Abby wrenched her arm away from Ziva before stepping close and holding a hopeful hand out to Tony. When he nudged the offered hand with his head, Abby buried both of hers into his fur. “Oh, wow, Tony! You’re so beautiful, and your really, really soft.” She said in awe filled voice, which quickly turned slightly more manic as she spoke. “You don’t look anything like those old horror films where the guy is basically just really hairy. You look like a real wolf although there some major differences cause your freaking huge, and it looks like your muscle and skeletal structure is unusual too. And your fur is glowing; I think your fur is freaking glowing! That’s so awesome! Oh, Tony, you got to let me run some tests. Not a whole lot of them, I promise I’ll keep it down to at least twenty, okay maybe twenty-five or…” Abby cut off when Tony began shaking his head fiercely. “Oh, come on, Tony. Pleaseeee?” When Tony continued to shake his head, Abby began to pout a little although she did not remove her hands from his fur.

Ziva, smiling from Abby’s antics, walked slowly up to Tony making sure he could see her approach. “Tony, may I?” When Tony bowed his head in answer, Ziva buried her hand in the fur that rested on his shoulder. Tony was so large she didn’t even have to bend over.

“How can this be possible? I mean this shouldn’t be possible, right?” Came McGee’s muffled, horse voice from where he sat by Ducky, who was keeping McGee from falling out of the chair with a sure hand on his shoulder.

“I’m afraid it’s quite possible, my dear boy.” Ducky tried to soothe.

“Yeah, McGee. I keep telling you that you need to keep an open mind. Why are you freaking out anyway?” Abby demanded.

“Why am I freaking out? Tony’s a FREAK’N wolf! The question should be why aren’t any of you freaking out?” McGee’s voice had gone high pitched and hectic.

“It’s still Tony.” Abby said indigently. “So he can change into a wolf, so what? He still your friend, McGee.”

Ducky patted McGee’s back comfortingly and said, “If it makes you feel any better, I lost my composure to some extent when I first found out as well, but Abigail is right Timothy. He still the Anthony we love and know, just a bit more complex than any of us realized.”

“‘A bit’, Ducky?” McGee questioned right over Abby’s demand for Ducky to not call her Abigail. “What about you Ziva? How come you seem to be fine with all of this?” McGee’s seemed to be gaining some self-control back as his voice was steadying.

“I have told all of you before. I am familiar with supernatural creatures. Mossad training leaves its students blind to very little, McGee. Tony is not the first werewolf I have jogged across although he is the first I’ve seen to behave in this manner.”

“It’s ‘run across,’ Ziva, and what do you mean?” Asked an exhausted McGee.

Ziva was more than hesitant with her answer, but after a quick glance at Tony, she replied cautiously, “Most of the werewolves that I have met were vicious, horrible creatures that needed to be put down.” She quickly continued when she heard Tony begin to growl softly. “Although I have come to know that not all werewolves are like that, and many can function quite well among humans so long as they have a pack. What I am really curious about is why I haven’t picked up on it sooner. Tony shows none of the characteristics I have learned to associate with werewolves.”

“Ah, I believe I can shed light on that conundrum if I may.” Ducky asserted. When Ziva nodded in curiosity, Ducky informed the others of the spell Tony had placed on himself as well as what the side effects of it failing were. He also went on to tell them about the werewolf protocol, which he had only recently learned. “Now, I do believe that’s everything that I know.” Ducky concluded.

Ziva looked thoughtfully at Tony while still avoiding his eyes, “Well, that does explain some things.” Looking up at Ducky, Ziva continued, “Thanks, Ducky.”

Abby; however, wore a deep frown on her face. “What about Toothpick?” Asked Abby rather suddenly if not franticly. “Tony just changed in front of the security cameras. Oh, my God. There going to take Tony away and do awful things to him, and it’s all my fault. I never should have asked you to change, Tony. I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you and poison Toothpick for you. Maybe if I hurry and get to the tapes I can erase everything before anyone sees them, but Ziva is going to have to help me kill Toothpick, and…”

“Abigail! My dear girl, take a breath before you asphyxiate, and you really should call the Director by his proper name.” Ducky admonished.

“Ducky! There’s no time for any of that. I have to get back to my lab and cook up a poison while erasing the tapes.” Abby replied at break neck speed, making it hard to translate what she was saying.

“You will do no such thing. None of that is necessary. Anthony has already informed me that Director Vance is well aware of his condition and is in no position to do anything about it.” Ducky assured them all. He could see that it was rapidly becoming a concern for Ziva and McGee too. It seemed that despite McGee initial reaction, he still cared a great deal about his friend and wanted to protect him.

“What heck does that mean?” They all simultaneously shot back at him, forcing Ducky to smile as they reminded him of siblings.

“It means he is safe although I do think it would be a good idea for you to remove this event from the tapes, Abigail. No need to risk it falling into the wrong hands.”

“On it, Duckman, and don’t call me Abigail, please Ducky.” Abby called as she left with black pig tails bopping.

Ducky looked at McGee, who had regained his color although he still seemed to be wrapping his head around everything, “Perhaps you should go with her, Timothy. Abigail does tend to get carried away, as it were.”

McGee nodded and stood to leave, “Right, Ducky. I’ll make sure she doesn’t try and poison Vance.” He turned to leave before pausing and looking back at Tony while avoiding his eyes with easy practice. “We’ll talk later?” When Tony nodded in affirmation, he nodded back before leaving to manage the chaos that was Abby.

“Ziva, do go after them and make sure Abby doesn’t kill McGee.” Ducky said with mild exasperation.

Ziva smiled knowingly, “Of course, Doctor.” And left without a backward glance.

Ducky turned his focus on Anthony, “And how are you my dear boy? I can’t imagine so many changes while being injured is good for you.”

Tony’s response was to change once more. After he was finished and had magicked his clothes back on, Tony reassured the now very concerned Doctor by saying, “I fine, Ducky. It actually takes quite a bit to kill me, and even more to get me down.” Tony smiled reassuringly at Ducky.

“If your certain. You probably know more than me in this matter anyhow, but do be careful, and try and take it easy for a little while.” Ducky said not entirely convinced, but willing to let it go.

“I’ll try, Ducky.” Tony smiled at his friend’s concern. It was nice to be worried about.

“Are you leaving to check on Gibbs?” Ducky asked, surprising Tony.

“Yeah. I thought I would. Told Vance to give us a few days off. It’s not like we don’t have the time.” Tony said with a shrug belying what he had done to get said time off.

Ducky smiled widely, very pleased. “That’s wonderful. The two of you need to relax, Anthony.”

“I know, Ducky, but I mean it’s us were talking about.” Tony grinned and wiggled an eyebrow.

“Quite right. Why, I haven’t met anyone quite as stubborn as you and Jethro since I was in Africa. I believe the year was…”

“Ducky!” Tony cut him off. “Perhaps another time.”

“Oh, yes, of course. You two enjoy each other, now.” Ducky said by way of farewell, making Tony stop in his tracks and stare at the doctor. “Come now, Anthony. I’m old not dead.” This caused Tony to laugh and wave farewell as he left autopsy to head home to Jethro.



SORRY ABOUT THE GAP BETWEEN POSTINGS. WHAT CAN I SAY? LIFE'S A BITCH.

NEXT CHAPTER WILL FOCUS MAINLY ON GIBBS AND TONY. GIBBS IS GOING TO MEET A PACK OF WOLVES! CHAOS ENSUES... ;)