”When someone says a place it haunted: Don't go in!”
-
For the second time ever Abby climbed the stairs leading to Tony's apartment. The first time she had come to yell at him. This time, she was quite prepared to let him yell at her.
She didn't like to admit it, but maybe she hadn't dealt with the whole thing as well as she had pretended. Maybe it had freaked her out a bit more than she'd let on. Maybe, she'd ducked and covered behind her science. Maybe there was no maybe about it. Another thing there was no maybe about was the fact that she owed Tony an apology. So here she was, all trembling smile and fiddling hands and yeah, she'd put on the dress that got that really interesting reaction out of him once, because she had a feeling she'd need all the advantages she could get.
It HAD struck her that possibly this wasn't the most opportune moment to be visiting a werewolf, it being early morning after the night of the full moon and all, but she really needed the apologizing over and done with. She hated when Tony was mad at her. It made her feel like she'd kicked a puppy. Cub, she reminded herself sternly. Kicked a cub. She took a deep breath, and did a last minute inventory of her pockets, reassuring herself that the handfuls of silver charms were still there, just in case. She was reasonably sure he wasn't furry in there. Anymore, at least. Better safe than sorry, though.
The whole him-staying-in-one-shape thing bothered her. She'd checked his schedule – he WAS out of the office most full moons (always the one in august), but there were several times she could remember him working long into the nights under Gibbs' watchful eye. So how did he do it? In-depth questioning of Horry hadn't really led to anything. His older wolf acquaintances had alluded to something that kept the change back, but they'd been very secretive about it. All he could say for sure was that they seemed strangely ambivalent about whatever it was – both a blessing and a curse, he supposed. Mostly a curse. As far as he could tell it was used as a very last resort. Abby didn't like the sound of that, didn't like the sound of that at all.
She knocked.
After a full minute of silence she knocked again. Then she tried the door. It opened silently. A dozen horror movie scenarios ran through her head before she hesitantly stepped inside. ”Tony?”
-
It was one of those breathtaking sunrises that really made you appreciate pollution. The honey blond girl sat on the wet grass in the puddle of her skirts, watching it. The messy haired boy was making clumsy braids in her hair, tongue sticking out in concentration.
She broke the silence. ”My brother will adore this one, I'm sure of it...you were perfect, darling boy!”
”Yeah?” Torn between giddy excitement at her praise, and dark unreasonable jealousy – he would do anything for her, give her anything, why wasn't that enough? Her brother didn't do any of that, now did he! No. Yet every other word out of her mouth was about him. The bastard. Smooth, slick, handsome bastard...
”Yes.” She leaned up to kiss him. ”I couldn't do it without you.”
-
So far, Tony had not jumped out at her from a dark corner, furry or otherwise, which, in a way, was kind of disappointing. Abby cheered up by reminding herself that she still had the master bedroom and bath to check, so there was a chance of scary ambushes yet. Then she reminded herself that a lack of scary ambushes as such wasn't really a bad thing. Then she told herself to stop stalling, and opened the bathroom door.
She paused. ”Huh. This is anticlimactic.”
-
Someone was poking him. He had very strong objections against getting poked. He would have voiced them, too, but he was still in the slurred, numb, is-this-my-bodypart stage, and felt that his rhetoric wouldn't be terribly effective. He went with a generic, off the rack groan, hoping that would get his point across.
Apparently not.
”Tony?” Poke. ”Tony, are you okay?”
Abby. What's Abby doing here? He forced his eyes to open – no mean feat, that, even if he did say so himself – and yes, there she was, looking concerned, and ready to poke. He figured she'd probably not gotten any better at deciphering groans in the last minute and a half, which meant he'd better try for actual syllables. You can do it, Anthony! Been talking for ages, now. Literally.
”Uhn.” Oh, VERY impressive, DiNozzo. Shock the lady with your eloquence, go right ahead. It took a heroic effort, but he managed to turn over onto his back and prop himself up against the tub. Sometimes he astounded even himself. ”'M fine.” Abby didn't look convinced. ”'S'jus...side effects,” he added, nodding with the same lack of grace as a rag doll.
”I thought you didn't get hangovers,” she smirked. ”At least that's what you told me last time we went clubbing.”
”I don't. S'not a hangover.” His body was still excruciatingly slow and unresponsive. He hated this part. And the puking part. And pretty much all the other parts, too. Except maybe the not sprouting fur in the office part.
”If you say so, Tony. Want me to get you some aspirin?”
”No.” His mouth felt unwieldy. ”There's...medicine cabinet. Brown glass bottle.”
She found it quickly, twisted the little glass stopper loose and gave the contents a suspicious sniff. ”What's this? And what am I supposed to do with it?”
”Atropine.” He deliberated a moment. He'd already dosed himself right after getting Ziva out the door, but most of that would have returned the same way it came quite early on in the night, as testified by the fact that he was still running in slow-mo. He decided he wouldn't just have words with his provider...there would be a lecture. With gestures. And possibly exploded diagrams. ”And y'put seven drops in a glass of water-”
”Atropine? I'm not giving you atropine. Tony, why do you have atropine? It's not good for you! And your eyes are pretty enough already!”
He gave her his best well-DUH look. ”I have atropine,” Tony explained patiently, enunciating as clearly as he could, ”because it's an antidote for aconite.” He waited for the coin to drop.
”Why would you need...?” Ka-ching. ”Oh. OH! Hey, that means-!”
”Yeah,” he replied, with the sigh of the long-suffering, ”J.K. Rowling got it least part right. Wolfsbane does subdue the wolf. Now please?” A glass was pressed to his lips. He swallowed as fast as he could, grimacing at the horrible taste. Then he leaned back to wait for his heart to speed up again. ”Don't see why you're so hung up on Remus Lupin, anyway. Thought Snape was more your type.”
Abby stuck her tongue out at him. ”Well, I didn't think you'd go for Malfoy, but...I guess you just never know.”
-
”So,” Tony said, pulling the thick wool blanket closer around himself, ”what are you doing here?”
They had migrated from the bathroom floor to the living room couch. Tony had been shivering violently by the time he was coordinated enough to move – his body bothering to notice how cold it was as his circulation went back to normal – and now he was wrapped up like a mummy on the rich leather, with his head in Abby's lap.
”I wanted to tell you I was sorry...for, you know...going psycho scientist on you.”
”I knew you were a psycho scientist when I told you.” He smiled slightly, then yawned.
”Yeah,” she bit her lip, ”but I broke my promise. And I was a pain in the ass. And I'm sorry. And I'm really really not happy with myself at all. I've been a horrible friend, haven't I?”
”Abby...” He wriggled around to free his right hand, then reached up to tug on one of her pigtails affectionately. ”Yes, you pissed me off thoroughly by talking to someone about me, but I understand why you did it. You wouldn't be you if you didn't want all the answers. Yes, you were a pain in the ass. I've been a pain in the ass to you too. And if I had been more accommodating and given you more information, you probably wouldn't have broken your promise to begin with. And what'shisface...Horry - I still can't believe someone's actually called that – seems safe enough, but you need to understand, there are people out there who hunt people like me. And people like you, for accepting people like me as something more than monsters. They are smart and they are ruthless. You have to be careful, Abs. I forgive you for telling Horry, but please don't tell anyone else, and don't tell him anything more. Especially not about the wolfsbane. Hunters know it can hurt us, but they don't know we can make use of it. It has to stay that way. Okay?”
”Okay.” She met his eyes, solemnly, looked deep into dilated pupils. ”I don't know how to promise now...I'm not trustworthy anymore. I've already broken my promise once, even if I thought it didn't count.”
”You didn't have all the facts. And that was my fault. I trust you, Abby. Okay?”
Abby nodded, hesitantly. ”Okay. I won't let you down again. I promise.” She took a deep breath, and pulled herself together, back to normal, cheerful Abby. ”By the way, that was a very mature speech, Tony.”
He rewarded her quip with one of his megawatt smiles. ”Well...upside of aconite poisoning, I suppose. You spend the night feeling like crap with a totally clear head. Good for introspection. Hey...you're wearing my favourite dress!”
”I know. It's meant as part of the apology.”
”Good part. Very good part.”
-
To be continued.
Author's Chapter Notes:
in which Abby is a horror movie heroine.
Chapter End Notes:
well, it seems i have become slow. sorry about that. here's a new bite sized chapter for you.