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.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Vengeance is a deadly beast. It cares not who or what gets in its way as long as it can feast upon its intended meal in the end, bloody though its claws may be.
Chapter End Notes:
This chapter introduces the fae.
Enjoy...
Reviews please. No, I will not stop begging. ;)
Enjoy...
Reviews please. No, I will not stop begging. ;)