Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by the writers, producers, et al of the television shows 'NCIS' and 'Supernatural'. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, internet persona, or other being, living or dead, is completely coincidental and unintentional unless otherwise noted.
A/N: As you may have caught from the disclaimer and/or the category in which this particular fic is posted, this is a crossover between NCIS and Supernatural. It is, by necessity, AU to both series – as many of you are already aware, I hold little love for the Angels-and-the-Apocalypse direction SPN took (there were a billion other ways to run the series, but I acknowledge that this is just my opinion and as such matters little to anyone but me), and since I wanted to write a tale prior to that whole arc of SPN, I needed to select a starting point before the beginning of season four. I also didn't want to have to deal with Dean's Dumbassery (a.k.a. 'The Deal'), so that meant a starting point prior to the end of season two. So, this goes AU for SPN partway through season two – just after 2.07 (The Usual Suspects) to be specific.
Now, on my DVD box, it says that SPN 2.07 aired on 01/09/2006, but I believe this to be a typo since the episodes just before and after were both in November – the 'corrected' date I'm running with is 11/09/2006. Since I'm using this date as my starting point, this puts the start of my story between NCIS episodes 4.07 (Sandblast) and 4.08 (Once a Hero). Since both series are a little lax in providing fans with actual dates, I decided to open this story a few hours after the ending of SPN 2.07, which I figure would place it roughly on Monday, November 13, 2006.
Though I'm writing this as though no episodes after SPN 2.07 and NCIS 4.07 have aired, I wrote it keeping the histories as shown in later episodes in mind – meaning that though I may not mention as much, any preseries information provided in episodes that aired after my selected starting point remains true in this tale (for example, how Tony and Gibbs met, as revealed in NCIS 8.22 (Baltimore), or the fact that Sam and Dean once attended Truman High, as shown in SPN 4.13 (After School Special)).
Enough with my blathering, on with the story!
Haunted
Mawher's Medicine
"You've been with us for six months now, Mikel." Dr. Andrews adjusted his reading glasses and sat aside the file-folder containing Mikel's information. He peered over his lenses at the man in question.
Mikel lounged in the chair across the desk from the doctor and shrugged. "Seems longer," he said. The man's dark hair was nearly long enough to pull into a ponytail and made him seem paler than he actually was. The dark circles under his eyes told the psychiatrist a story all their own.
"Still not sleeping well?" Dr. Andrews asked.
Mawher shrugged again, the motion nearly unnoticeable under the pale blue scrub-top and sickly green bathrobe he wore. "I don't like the new meds."
"Bad dreams or insomnia?"
"More of the former," Mikel admitted. "But some nights…"
"Then it's probably the imipramine." The doctor turned part of his attention to his computer. "We already tried sertraline and paroxetine."
"I know. The first made me sick." Mawher shivered a little. "The second didn't do anything."
Dr. Andrews nodded in agreement. "I recall, and I must apologize yet again for the difficulties we're having in evening out your medications, Mikel."
"Don't sweat it, doc. I know you're doing your best." Mikel, as always, seemed unconcerned with the pharmacological side of his therapy.
"Thank you, Mikel," the doctor replied. He typed for a moment on his computer, then refocused his attention on his patient. "I'm switching you to amphiltreptozine, effective immediately."
"Don't know that one, doc." Mikel actually managed to show interest at the new medication.
"It was just cleared by the FDA last month," Dr. Andrews explained. "It's a tricyclic, much like imipramine, but the only reported side-effects during the clinical trials were fatigue-related."
"You mean the only side-effects that weren't psychosomatic," Mawher shot the psychiatrist a little smirk.
Dr. Andrews nodded. "Exactly, Mikel. The rest of the reported side-effects were similar to, and the same frequency of, those reported by the ones taking placebos." Mikel's smirk grew a little with the confirmation of his assumption. "The nurse will be here in a few moments with your medications," Andrews said. "Before she arrives, however, would you care to explain just why Miguel found numerous sketches hidden under your bed?"
Mawher shifted uncomfortably in his chair, pulling his legs in and crossing his arms over his chest. "Would you believe it was extra-credit for art-therapy?"
Dr. Andrews shook his head. "Not when they are all recognizably Abigail Sciuto." He sighed. "I thought we were past this, Mikel." After a long moment of uncomfortable silence, the doctor continued. "If she loved you like you wished she did, wouldn't she have come to visit you?"
"She works a lot," was Mikel's rather weak reply.
"Be that as it may, we are only a half-hour's drive from DC. She could easily come visit on one of her days off, yet she hasn't. Barring that, there hasn't been any attempted communication on her part since you got here – no letters or packages, no emails, not even a postcard. Doesn't that tell you anything?"
Mikel frowned. "Only that she's been really busy."
The nurse arrived before further discussion could take place. She handed Mawher a small plastic cup containing his medications and a slightly larger Dixie-cup of water. Mikel took a moment to stare at the contents of the med-cup. Diazepam, zuclopenthixol, and the new one – amphiltreptozine. The new pill was round, only slightly bigger than an aspirin, and a pale yellow color. He downed the lot with a gulp of the tepid water the nurse had brought. After checking to make sure the pills had actually been swallowed, the nurse left. Mikel tossed the empty cups in the trash bin next to Dr. Andrews' desk.
"You were saying, Mikel?" Dr. Andrews prompted.
"About what?" Mawher cleared his throat. It felt like one of the pills had stuck halfway down.
"About Miss Sciuto, Mikel, and how she's initiated absolutely no contact during your tenure here," the doctor replied. Mikel didn't reply, he simply stared at the surface of the desk. "Look, Mikel – I know you're a smart guy. The IQ test you were given during your first week here proves it. You're smart enough to draw the appropriate conclusions from the existing facts. Why do you persist in lying to yourself?"
Mikel's throat felt like that stuck pill had grown to twice its original size. He worked up as much spit as he could and swallowed hard. "I'm not lying, not to myself and not to anyone else!" his voice was forceful, but not shouting – he'd learned the hard way that shouting didn't do him any good, not when there were two burly orderlies armed with hypos of strong tranquilizers just outside the door.
Dr. Andrews shook his head. "Come on, Mikel. You're smarter than this and we both know it."
Mawher felt as though that damn stuck pill was growing larger by the moment. He coughed and swallowed again, before reaching up to rub at the juncture of his neck to his chest, right over where it felt stuck. He swallowed again. "Maybe –" his voice had taken on a strangled, rasping quality.
"What's wrong?" the psychiatrist asked, realizing that it wasn't simply an emotional reaction his patient was displaying.
Mawher tried to clear his throat again, but only a fraction of the needed air made it through. "Can't…"
The doctor sprang to his feet and hurried around his desk, calling for the orderlies outside.
"Can't… Can't breathe…" Mikel gasped through the pinprick passage in his airway. Though this was true, and was obviously his most-pressing concern at the moment, he could also hear a high-pitched ringing in his ears overlaid with the rapid thrum of his own pulse, and his vision was tunneling in. He held onto consciousness long enough to hear Dr. Andrews call for help and mention 'anaphylactic shock' before everything started slipping away from him.
Just before blackness claimed him, he hoped that maybe this would show Abby just how much he meant to her.
A/N2: With the exception of 'amphiltreptozine' (which I pulled out of the dark recesses of my imagination), all the medications are real – I researched for hours to get this teaser chapter to read 'real'. I hope y'all appreciate the effort!
Please remember to review and let me know what you think!