Title: I dream of Bunnies
Author: WriterKos
Rating: FR15
Parings: none
Characters: McGee, Jethro the dog, and the whole gang
Genres: Drama, Casefile, Crossover
Warnings: Cuteness overdose
Summary: An accident brings a new member to the McGee's household, a new companion for Jethro the dog and a twenty-five year old secret to the Navy Yard. Crossover with the Dean Koontz novel 'The Watchers'.
Chapter 1: Crossroads
In Dog's heaven there will be plenty of bunnies to chase, bones to chew and shoes to destroy. - Kos
Saturday
Somewhere along Sligo Creek Parkway, Silver Spring Area just outside DC.
10:47 pm
She knew she was in trouble. The crash had been swift; a blitz attack that had blindsided their defenses and left her friend dead and she incapacitated. There was no way they could have stopped the car once it T-boned theirs in that intersection. It drove straight through the red light, killing instantly the driver, erasing the light behind those smiling brown eyes.
The anguished cry and the surprised look in Janice's eyes would always haunt her as her last concern had been her safety. Her hands instinctively went to the side in a vain effort to protect her from impact, despite the seatbelt that in theory should keep her secure.
Escape had been the first thought to cross her mind. But desertion wasn't an instinct bred into her family, so she whimpered and touched gently the lifeless hand that for so long touched her with kindness whenever thunder rolled and hurt her ears.
But now that comforting touch was gone. She was on her own. She struggled with the belt that held her prisoner. The scent of fuel started to become overwhelming and the danger of an explosion started to worry her troubled mind.
Finally free, she whimpered as the extent of her injuries became known: glass shards had somehow embedded into her skin with the impact, making tiny cuts that were now bleeding profusely; her seatbelt had been awkwardly positioned, having snagged on one of her limbs and resulting in a snap from one of her bones, thus rendering said limb useless.
Another driving-by car stopped to observe the crash, their occupants stepping out and coming closer to the wreck to check if there were any survivors.
"There's no way someone could have survived this, dude." One onlooker muttered as he approached with careful steps the mess of metal, aware of the sharp scent of fuel mixed with the metallic scent of fresh blood in the air.
Before they reached their car she jumped out of the wreckage through the broken window, whimpering as she supported her weight on the broken limb. Her other limbs shook with shock, making each step true agony.
She heard the approaching steps of the curious onlookers and dragged her sorry ass away from the crash, leaving a trail of droplets of blood as she crawled on the asphalt towards the grass on the shoulder of the road.
NCIS NCIS NCIS
"Hey, can you hear me, ma'am?" One of the onlookers knelt close to the overturned car and looked inside, finding only lifeless brown eyes staring at him, the irregular angle of the driver's neck showing the cause of death.
"This one is dead. Check the other car." He shouted to his colleague, who ran to the other mess of scrap metal and, after peeking inside, found the same lifeless eyes staring at him. He stood up and looked at his friend, shaking his head sadly.
Gray eyes turned back to the sedan, seeing the seatbelt fastened on the passenger seat and droplets of blood on it, but no sign of a body anywhere on sight. Curious, he went around the wreck and found the broken window and a small trail of blood leaving it towards the grass a few steps away.
He followed it and took his cell phone out of his pocket, turning it on and using the light to illuminate the area in front of himself.
"Is anybody out there?"
His phone light was faint but enough to be captured by two yellow pupils staring straight at him. Growling was heard, immediately making him become alert to the imminent threat. He took a step back and stared at the animal before him, who raised its hackles and barked ferociously, before breaking into a run towards the night despite the blood and the broken paw.
"What was that?" His colleague ran to his side, just to watch as the animal disappeared behind some crates a few yards away.
His friend shrugged, his mind not worried about it anymore. "It's just a dog. Have you called 911? We have to report the accident."
"Yeah, I did. They will be here in a couple of minutes."
"What a mess, man. The chick in the sedan was cool. Pity the accident broke her neck."
"Man, only you would check out a dead chick."
"I'm not dead, man. She might be, but I bet she was a foxy lady while alive."
They chuckled, despite the horrific accident that had just sowed two lives, the existence of the dog forgotten. Once the emergency responders arrived, they wouldn't even mention it to them as they considered it unimportant, a fact that completely slipped from their minds.
After all, it was just a dog.
Or so they thought.
NCIS NCIS NCIS
Sunday
Big Sur Area, California
Residence of Samuel 'Travis' Spencer Hyatt
4:55 am
The sharp ringing of the phone cut the night and woke the two slumbering people on the bed. The woman just moaned and rolled to the other side, covering her head with a pillow while the man groaned as he rolled on his back, his hand blindly seeking the offending piece of technology which dared to interrupt his slumber.
"Someone better be dead," Travis said in a scratchy voice, his eyes squinting to check the time on red numbers blinking at him from the bedside table.
"You might just have your wish fulfilled," Lemuel Jackson, ex-NSA agent and now a happy retiree in Florida, said in a don't-mess-with-me voice, leftover trait from his days working as a government agent. His words immediately woke Travis up, who turned the bedside light on and silently shook his wife's shoulder trying to wake her up.
"What's wrong?" Nora muttered as Travis mouthed Lemuel for her.
His attention back on the phone in his hands, Travis asked dreading for the answer yet to come, "Who?"
"Janice."
Travis closed his eyes deeply feeling the loss of one of the members of their motley crew. "How?"
"Car accident a couple of hours ago just outside DC. I was listed as her next of kin. Janice had no family to speak of but still it took a while for them to find my number and notify me."
"What about…"
"That's where things get complicated."
"What are you talking about?"
"We've lost a dam, Travis."
Travis breathing hitched, as that was one of their greatest fears and the beginning of one of their worst nightmares.
"There was no mention of a dog with Janice in the car and nobody reported seeing it at the accident site. I'm catching the first flight out to check it out." Lemuel sighed loudly. "We've lost Freckles, Travis. And her litter."
"Damn."
- tbc -