HAUNTED PAST, BLESSED FUTURE
A/N-Here be the next installment of a story honoring my Bestie in Tabby-ship, LifelessApril. Hope this makes you smile, finally able to hear your OWN voice for a character instead of someone else's! Please go read her other stories - LOVE 'em!
And now, let's join…
CHAPTER 2
Gibbs had been keeping an eye on the clock while Hanson was out. If he was going to be forced to use her, she'd damned well follow his instructions to the letter. Thirty-seven minutes. He figured he was being generous, giving her ten extra minutes for traffic. Two more minutes now, and he could write her up.
Just as he was pulling up an insubordination report form, the elevator dinged. "Uh…boss?" Looking up at his SFA, Gibbs looked where Tony nodded. Standing just outside the elevator doors was the CO Hanson had been sent to bring in, looking bedraggled and embarrassed.
"That's Officer Marston, the CO, boss."
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Ya' think, DiNozzo?" He stood and motioned the man over, confused when the man almost fell over before he started toward the bullpen.
Ziva looked behind the man and around the floor. "But where is Agent Hanson?"
All the agents looked around from their desks, then gaped when the CO appeared in front of them, hands cuffed in front of him with a plastic zip tie. That wasn't what shocked them. They were shocked because there was a leather dog leash hooked to the zip tie. And holding the other end of the leash - in his mouth, not attached to his collar - was Hanson's dog. With a strong tug, the dog pulled the suspect over to Gibbs. With a K-9 flourish, Roo spit the leash out into Gibbs' lap. Then, with a stare first at Gibbs, and a glare with a curled up lip for the suspect, the dog sauntered over to Hanson's desk, pulled out the lower drawer of the desk with paw and teeth, dipped his head in and came out with exactly one large dog biscuit in his jaws. With a 'humph,' the dog settled on his dog bed to enjoy his treat.
Like everyone else in the bullpen, Gibbs was momentarily stunned. He stood and unhooked the leash from the zip tie. "McGee…."
Said agent jumped up. "Take Officer Marston to interrogation." McGee took the CO by the elbow and escorted him out of the bullpen.
"DiNozzo…."
"Find Agent Hanson, bring her back here ASAP. On it, boss." Tony stood, making his way to the elevator as he watched Gibbs walk to Hanson's desk and drop the leash on top.
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Saving himself some time and running around, Tony went to the motor pool first. They would have been the first in the building to see Hanson arrive. He walked to the desk. "Hey Michaels," he greeted one of the regular mechanics. "You see Hanson come in?" He leaned on the desk casually.
The grease monkey checked a log on the computer. "Naw, wasn't me, Tony…..Brady checked her in. Hang on a sec, I'll get him up here for ya'. Hey Dave!" the mechanic yelled behind him. "Where's Brady?"
A mechanic yelled back, "Doin' laundry. Last car came in a little dirty. I'll send him up." A few minutes later, another mechanic came up, carrying an NCIS agent's jacket. "Agent left this in the car. Send it up to her, will ya', Michaels?"
"Sure, Brady. Hey, Agent DiNozzo needs to talk to you."
"Oh, hey Tony. Didn't see you there. Well then, here. You can take this up." He handed the jacket to Tony. "Hanson's with you guys, right?"
Taking the jacket, Tony noticed some blood on the sleeve. Great, their suspect was bleeding. "Yeah, thanks. What happened to the car?"
Brady shrugged matter-of-factly. "Just needed some cleaning. Blood on the seat."
Even better, Tony thought sarcastically. That damned dog had bitten their 'guest.' He pulled out his phone and called upstairs. "Yeah boss. Motor pool says there was blood on the seats. You might want to check Marston over." As he hung up, the mechanic interrupted.
"Oh it wasn't the guy in cuffs that was bleeding. It was Agent Hanson." As Tony's phone began to ring - Gibbs - the mechanic continued, "she said she was going to see Dr. Mallard. Yeah, there was blood all over the front seat, man," he said as Tony took off for the elevator.
"Yeah, boss. I know it wasn't the CO. On my way to Ducky's now."
Tony walked into Autopsy as Ducky was taping a wad of gauze bandage on Hanson's side. He stopped short. With Hanson's back to him, Tony cold see some healing cuts on her back and one particular healing bruise that looked suspiciously like a shoeprint on her shoulder blade. Jeez, who knew Homeland Security was that dangerous?
He startled back to the present when Hanson gingerly lowered her arm as Ducky doled out after-care instructions.
"Now, you know the drill, my dear. Keep them dry and covered. And should one let go, right back to me, and I'll fix it for you." Ducky handed her a pill bottle. "I don't know why I'm bothering, but that is going to start to throb when the anesthetic wears off. These will help with the pain, but won't hinder your thinking."
April smiled as she slid carefully off the exam table. "This," she gestured delicately to the wound on her side, "is a piece of cake. This, I can handle." She gathered her things, turned, and saw Tony. The smile left her face and she became all business again. "If you check the log in the motor pool, you'll see I was back in the allotted time, Agent DiNozzo." April turned back to the M.E. "Thanks, Doctor, for patching me up. Saved me a trip to the ER." She grabbed the bottle of pills and pushed her way past Tony, never making eye contact. "Thanks for the warning that Marston hates women," she snipped, hopping on the elevator.
Tony watched her go, his feelings conflicted. On the one hand, he's concerned that an agent was hurt out in the field. The man in him was concerned that a woman was injured. But the Team Gibbs part of him didn't want to care that Hanson had been hurt. She wasn't even an NCIS agent, For God's sake. Why should he care?
"What happened?" he asked Ducky, trying not to appear too curious.
Ducky continued cleaning his equipment. He was quite up-to-date on Agent Hanson's medical background, but he'd promised her he wouldn't divulge anything to her team mates. "It would appear that Agent Hanson ended up on the wrong end of a knife, whilst apprehending a possible suspect."
"Yeah, saw that. How'd it happen?"
"I'm sure it will all be in her field report." Ducky chuckled lightly. "It should make for some interesting reading, from what I understand. I so would have liked to have seen that K-9 partner of hers at work. You know that mastiffs, like Agent Hanson's, have been used as guardians in Britain for centuries. In fact, there's one that stands out…."
Tony rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Duck. You know I can't go back to Gibbs with nothing," he pleaded. "Give me something."
Ducky sighed. Yes, he knew well that Jethro was not an easy boss to please. Which is really one of the reasons Hanson ended up injured today. "While she is an NCIS agent, I am Agent Hanson's doctor, just as I am yours, Anthony, and therefore I shall not divulge her medical issues - if any - just as I would not divulge yours." He sighed again at the raised eyebrows from Tony. "It's quite obvious that Agent Hanson sustained a moderately deep, six-inch slash with a knife whilst in the process of apprehending a person of interest in your latest case. A CO with violent tendencies toward women in positions of power in his background. Thank God she had that dog with her for back-up." He hoped Tony got the emphasis on Hanson's back-up being a dog, not an agent of the human variety. "I know it wasn't your call to send her out alone, Anthony. But I also know that you did nothing to stop it." Tony was quiet as Ducky walked around putting things away, still talking.
"I don't know what you all have against Agent Hanson. She's an extremely capable agent. Intelligent, quite proficient with technology, high marks on the shooting range. Quite the diversified training." Ducky chuckled. "Well, she has to be, working for Homeland Security. Their numbers are even smaller than ours." He stopped in front of Tony. "I know Jethro doesn't want to hear - or believe- it, but one Agent Hanson with dog…..could easily replace Timothy, Ziva, and yourself." The older man smiled slightly when Tony paled. "And possibly Jethro, too. But rest assured, that's not why she's here." He gave the younger man a sympathetic look. "Oh, Anthony. I know you are all wary of new people joining your little family. But she's only here to finish healing, to ease back into the job after being on leave for so long." Looking up at Tony, Ducky grimaced and turned to walk away. "Believe me, Agent Hanson wants to be here even less than you all want her here."
That bit of information startled Tony. She didn't want to be here? Who wouldn't want to be here? "Wait…she doesn't….really? What….how come….why doesn't she want to be here?" He was conflicted again - confused and affronted at the same time. The medical examiner continued about his business, pretending he hadn't heard Tony. "Ducky…? Why doesn't she want to be here?….Duck? Ducky?" Tony sighed and left autopsy. This was going to bother him now. He'd have to do some investigating…. Appears he'd ended up with Hanson on his mind, after all. He pushed the button in the elevator for the bullpen a little rougher than usual, hating the extra work he just made for himself.
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A/N - Dear April, I'm sorry it's a shorty, but you gave me a nice boost (not to mention a story about me! Go read it, ya'll!) and made me feel good, so I wanted to give you a little something back. Thanks for being so sweet!
A/N 2-Please, please, please, please REVIEW! C'mon, just click that little blue button…..it will make my smile even brighter, I promise! Thanks, friends! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!
