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.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sometimes the deepest wounds and the darkest scars are where no one can see them.
Chapter End Notes:
WARNING: Some gory scenes.
Enjoy the story!!!
And, as always, please leave lots of reviews and/or comments. Thanks!! :)
Enjoy the story!!!
And, as always, please leave lots of reviews and/or comments. Thanks!! :)