DiNozzo squirmed in McGee's arms on the way to the motel where they were staying while they were in Salem. Something about this situation was strange. Okay, everything about the situation was so far off the weirdness charts that one would need a map and a compass to find them again, but McGee's reaction was strange nonetheless.
Not only had McGee not been shocked by the sight of him being turned into a cat, he had almost acted as if it were normal. The thing he'd seemed most upset about was the fact that the book had been lost.
"Okay, give me everything you can about the person who took the book." McGee said as he opened his laptop in front of him and opened a Word document.
The letters on the keys seemed to swim before him, but he finally processed what his feline eyes which had skewed everything and appeared to be focused more on movement than anything were seeing. Uncertainly, he reached for the W and pressed down on it.
wwwwwwwhhhhhaaaattt tthe hell mcgeek he typed after a bit of effort, the shift key seemingly beyond him for the moment, as his body was centered around an entirely different center of gravity and trying to use the shift key had him practically standing on the laptop's keyboard.
"It's a long story that we frankly don't have time to go into. We need to find that book and fast before some really bad things happen. Things that are far far worse than being turned into a cat." McGee said from by the phone, the receiver in one hand, and his finger jabbing a five.
He glared at the Probie, demanding answers with every fibre of his being, but despite his best glare, no answers were forthcoming. The Probie kept dialing, ignoring the glare that was drilling into his back.
"Emily, I'm in Salem right now." McGee said into the phone when whoever he was calling picked up. "No, it wasn't by choice... No, the Sanderson sisters haven't come back to life... I'm currently safe, but everyone is in danger by this point... We ran into some warlocks and DiNozzo got turned into a cat, but aside from that, the rest of the team is safe... No, the reason I'm calling you is to tell you to hide because I lost The Book... I took it from the warlocks, and lost it while Gibbs was being loaded onto an ambulance. No, it's not that bad, he was just knocked out, he'll be fine in a day or two..."
who's emily he typed when the Probie finally hung up.
"My sister." McGee replied.
your sister's name is sarah he typed.
"It was originally Emily, before we were...adopted by the McGees." McGee replied.
That threw him for a bit of a loop. According to everything he'd heard, McProbie wasn't adopted.
part of the long story he typed.
"Yes." McGee said with a sigh. Part of the reason he didn't get along with his "father" was because on some level, the man knew he wasn't really his son, and it made him unsure of how to deal with the interloper that all of his other instincts that were borne from the memories he'd been given were screaming was his. Emily, lovable little Emily who had been of a more adoptable age and whom just about everyone who met her could love hadn't had such problems with their new parents, as they had been more accepting of her as she was a child rather than a nearly grown young man.
&!&!&!&!&
As Ziva sat beside the bed where Gibbs was being kept overnight for observation, she frowned. McGee's behavior after the events of the afternoon had been rather unusual to say the least. Rather than helping the local law enforcement out in the search for DiNozzo who'd gone missing, the young agent had gone back to the motel carrying a cat that he'd picked up somewhere. This was highly unusual for the young man who would normally do everything in his power to help out a member of the team, and would normally stop at nothing to get them back should they go missing.
Instead of running around Salem or at the very least hacking into any and every database that might contain information on the three men that McGee had shot after they'd attacked Gibbs and somehow been responsible for DiNozzo's inexplicable disappearance, McGee was by all accounts hanging around his motel room playing with the cat that he had found.
When Gibbs was well enough to be discharged from the hospital, she would be having words with the man. You did not abandon a comrade in need, no matter how many pranks they pulled on you over the years, and how many names they called you.
&!&!&!&
Back in McGee's motel room, McGee swore as he read what Tony had typed. Apparently, that cop that he'd spotted hanging around nearby as Gibbs was being loaded into the ambulance had taken the book and had attempted to take DiNozzo as well. DiNozzo hadn't been able to read the name on her uniform, so he didn't have a name to go with what little he could remember seeing since he couldn't rely on the vague description that had been all Tony could give because he hadn't yet gotten used to his feline senses. All he really knew to look for was a female officer who may or may not have actually been a police officer with brown hair.
Noticing that Tony looked tired, he scratched him behind the ear as a reward for trying as hard as he had and said "You should get some sleep. You're going to need more of it now you're a cat.". As if that had been the permission that he'd been waiting for, Tony went over to the other side of the bed, curled up into a ball, and fell asleep within seconds of doing so.
Though he was tempted, McGee refrained from petting him. He'd never be able to live that down if...when DiNozzo was returned to normal.
