WOW! Third chapter written today! I'm pretty impressed with myself. Enjoy!
"Tony, Ziva, come with me. Ducky's got the brute to look after him. We gotta find McGee," Gibbs growled. Adir drew away from Ducky's gentle hand and situated himself in front of the door. Weighing eight hundred pounds had its advantages; all four of them combined couldn't budge him if he didn't want to be budged. "Outta the way, mutt," Gibbs said, nudging Adir with his foot. Adir set his massive paw, which was as big as Gibbs's head, on the foot that had nudged him. Gibbs had some difficulty shaking the weight off without falling over.
Ziva stifled a chuckle and then came forward to try her luck. "Come, Adir, we have to find our friend. We can handle El Diablo." Her reassurances fell on deaf ears. Adir stayed firmly in place.
Adir found Tony's pack lying beside him; it was the pack with his clothes, badge, and gun were in. Delicately, he picked the pack up in his mouth and deposited it between his front paws. He was working on getting the zipper open when Tony's hand and arm came into view, trying to get the bag back. Adir was displeased. No one should stick their hand in front of a werewolf's muzzle without warning. Gently, but quickly, Adir caught Tony's wrist in his jaws. He did not bite hard enough to break the skin, but he sent a clear message. When Tony reeled back, Adir went back to the zipper. Damn zipper.
Finally, it was open. He turned the bag over, depositing all of Tony's possessions, plus his own. He fished around, pushing stuff around with his nose, before he finally found it: his badge. Pushing everything else aside with one swipe of a paw, he gently held his badge in his mouth, facing out so the other agents could see. He sat at attention: tail up, front paws shoulder width apart, ears perked, chest puffed out. After words he didn't move a muscle.
Gibbs was very confused. Tony was a little scared. Ziva and Ducky were thoughtful. Duck stepped forward. "Tim, dear boy, is that you?" the old M.D. asked. Adir did something very human: he nodded. Ziva gasped, Gibbs gaped, and Tony fainted.
"Duck, how'd you know?" Gibbs demanded, regarding the werewolf with suspicion.
Ducky smiled serenely. "He's very protective of you, is very intelligent, and honestly, Jethro, the salute was a dead give-away! Plus wolves just don't get that big, the only logical explanation is that Tim's a werewolf." Gibbs wanted to head slap himself. But he was somewhat disappointed in Tim. Yes, this was a HUGE secret, but the fact that Tim didn't trust them with it rubbed him the wrong way.
Ziva chuckled to herself. Tim, the shyest, sweetest member of the team, was the huge, scary-as-hell monster; oh, the irony! She reached inside her pack and dug out a chain. It was the type that often had dog tags strung on them, found around the necks of soldiers. "I knew I'd find a use for this somewhere…" she muttered. She held her hand out to McGee/Adir. "May I see your badge, McGee?" He gave a muffled woof and deposited the badge in her hand. She wrinkled her nose the slightest bit. Werewolf slobber. She strung the badge on, and then slipped it over Adir's head. Adir resumed his salute stance, showing off his badge. Gibbs couldn't help but grin.
About then, Tony came back around. He stared at Adir a bit, then thundered, "PROBIE BIT ME?" The whole room broke up laughing, even Adir barked in a laugh-like manner. Then everyone sobered and regarded the werewolf inquiringly. He stood and nudged Ziva's hand so she held it out in front of her. He then stepped close, almost pressing his nose to her palm, before shaking his head vigorously. Then he stepped back, leaning away from her. He nodded with finality.
Gibbs cocked his head to the side and demanded, "Do that again." Adir did it again. Gibbs sighed, "Of course!" He turned to Tony. "Evidently, it's a bad idea to stick your hand in front of a werewolf's mouth, Dinozzo. Who woulda thought?" He smirked. They couldn't tell, but Adir smirked too. Finally, one up on Dinozzo!
Suddenly a strange scratching noise reached Adir's ears. He perked up, and went closer to the wall opposite him, where the sound was coming from. His team/pack watched him curiously. Adir listened for a moment, trying to figure it out. Then his eyes got wide. He rushed back to the mess he made out of Tony's pack and tried to hastily repack it. The lack of opposable thumbs hindered him. Tony got the idea though, and picked up the slack.
"McGee? What is going on?" Ziva was, once again, concerned for her friend. He tugged her pant leg and motioned with his head to follow him. He led her to the wall and made a show of pressing his ear to the wall. She copied him and listened intently. Her eyes went wide. "Diablo's on the other side of the wall," she told the others, "He will get in here soon."
"You sure?" Tony was skeptical.
"Remember when McGee ripped the steel rail while in human form?"
"Oh, yeah… We're dead."
Adir came up behind the morbid agent, reared back onto his hind legs, and gently tapped the back of Tony's head with the pad of his right front paw. The other three couldn't help but grin, while Tony scowled at his teammate-turned-furry.
HAS BEEN ADOPTED BY WHITEKINGDOMANGEL! Please show her the same support you have shown me. Thank you.~Jessie Rose
