Tony and the Moose

Chapter 6

AN: This was going to be the last chapter, honestly, but I decided to split it.

Tony stiffened, and then relaxed with a resigned sigh. No… he hadn't been thinking, even in the back of his mind, that it might be good to stay a while, in a nice small town that he liked the look of; maybe learn to fly, become a helipilot for the CNPS, maybe even put some pics of his own in the art gallery… Nooo, he hadn't thought any of that. Move on.

His bitter musings must have gone on for too long. "Sir -" barely polite, "I asked you a question."

Tony held his hands out from his sides a little, and turned slowly to face the voice. Ah… not as tall as me. Damn. Shorter guy, maybe feeling at a disadvantage, carrying, and about to find out he's made a silly mistake, which won't help his attitude.

"Anthony DiNozzo. From DC. Touring."

"Touring, eh? That includes terrorising a couple of kids? Not letting them leave?"

The barista had watched the kids tearing away in their sporty job, then turned to observe what was happening, and had been hovering anxiously, wondering how to intervene. He said quickly, "No, chief, that's not it. The kids had been messing up the shop, then they tried to leave without paying. This man just made them put the stuff back. It was the kids I called you about."

The cop looked embarrassed for a moment, but got back on his high horse PDQ. He instantly reminded Tony of Gibbs, and that just about knocked his germ of an idea on the head. "Are you carrying a side-arm, Mr DiNozzo?"

Huh… well, he supposed it was a good thing the air of fed still lingered around him. It had served him well in Michigan… and Wyoming. Had to end some time. Heck, he thought, at least he got my name right.

"No, Chief Franken." (see, I got your name right too, I can read!) "I'm licensed to in the USA, but since this is Canada, I'm not."

"Cop?"

"Fed. Field Agent."

The chief began to relax a little, until Tony added, "Retired."

"Retired? You're a bit young for that." Disbelief, exactly what Tony had expected.

"Medical grounds." He knew the officer could check up, and offered no more.

The moment when the cop realised there was no way out of eating humble pie was written all over his face. Tony felt his suppressed anger subside a little. Gibbs wouldn't have admitted a mistake, even to himself. The chief nodded, and said in a more conciliatory tone, "Helluva thing having to retire from a job like that early…. Look, I'm sorry. Made assumptions, I should have known better." He stuck out a hopeful hand, which Tony shook. He couldn't stay that angry, this man could manage the S word, he wasn't Gibbs. The sour taste was still there, but he tried not to show it.

"That's OK, Chief. I'd better be getting on my way." Fight or flight? Obvious. Get the hell out of Dodge. As he stepped out of the door, a FWD in CNPS colours, with yellow light flashing on top, went by fast, and still accelerating. He wasn't going to ask why he didn't go after the guy for driving like that, but the chief read his mind.

He said apologetically, "That's Tay. Only drives like that if there's an emergency."

Tony managed a smile, although he didn't want anything now but to get on his bike and go. Although he told himself he was being unreasonable, he felt as if someone had stomped on his dreams. Which was idiotic, since he hadn't known he even had those dreams until about ten minutes ago. He hadn't even had time to actually do the dreaming. Aaaand… apart from the assumption – blame the leathers if you don't want to blame a small-town cop without enough excitement in his life – stoppit, he was just doing his job.

As he unclipped his helmet from its catch, pausing in his internal rant, he wasn't happy to see that the chief had followed him to his bike. Look, just let it go. Let me go.

"D'you mind me asking, what brought you to Cubbin?"

"I need to be in the mountains, for my lungs' sake. Saw the 'Moose Valley' sign, wanted to take a look." And get something to eat. He glanced longingly at the cafe, but that, and the moose picture, wasn't going to happen now.

The policeman saw it. "Look, we got off to a bad start -" no, you did - "but Cubbin's a nice town. Good people." Implication: including me. " Why don't you stop and have a coffee? Catch a bite?" So – he'd seen him arrive, knew he hadn't had time to eat. The man was trying to make amends, but it wasn't the injustice of his 'welcome' that was really bothering Tony. This thing… this getting his hopes up and then having them flattened again was the story of his life, and he'd hoped he'd left it firmly behind in DC.

He shook his head sadly. "I think I should be going." He pulled his helmet on, rolled Destina backwards out of the parking slot, and moved off up the road. His stomach never said a word, it felt too heavy and sick to bother. He rode slowly, trying not to feel like he was cutting off his nose to spite his face, trying not to feel so hurt. He glanced in his rear mirror, and saw the chief and the barista watching him, then the cop turned away and begin to move back across the road to his HQ. He'd be looking him up right away, Tony knew. He'd find the terse official version, and if he tried to dig any deeper, well, good luck to him with that.

He'd only been travelling for about five minutes, when he saw a flash of yellow light among the trees ahead. Remembering that ranger truck, he slowed right down. He came to a halt at the end of a dirt road; only twenty yards down it the FWD stood, lights still flashing, engine running. The ranger, who didn't look like a terribly big guy, knelt beside it, struggling with something squirming on the ground. DiNozzo's rule – what? He couldn't remember, but it was the one about not standing by when someone needed help – urged him forwards; he dropped the stand, tore his helmet off, and ran over.

"D'you need a hand?"

The ranger looked up from the wriggling black bear cub that was yelling for its mom at the top of its lungs, and Tony was stunned to find himself regarded by a female face with classic bone structure, and intelligent dark brown eyes, that reminded him a lot of Hazel Mackie.

"Thank you," the ranger said. "I need to work quickly – will you hold her down?"

"Sure." He straddled the cub and held her shoulders, as the ranger pulled one foreleg out. A piece of baling twine was tangled round the paw, and was digging further in as the cub grew. The woman produced a thin knife, and forced it under the twine, which hurt the cub and made her yell even louder, but in a moment the string snapped, and the small animal's thrashings eased a bit.

The ranger grunted in relief, as she peeled the dirty, red twine away, and blood began to ooze sluggishly. "That's a blessing," she said. "Bleeding means the paw's still alive. I've been tracking this pair for two weeks, ever since this was first reported. Much longer, and she'd have chewed the paw off, or died of gangrene… I've had all the light aircraft pilots in the entire area on alert all this time, and fortunately, one just called me. There's a good chance for her now."

"I'm beginning to see why you need a pilot for that chopper."

The ranger gave him a surprised, delighted smile. "You've been talking to Pete Strongman."

"I have." A thought occurred to him. "You said pair..."

The woman pointed briefly. "Oh, yes. Over there. Got to be done before she wakes up." Tony looked where she pointed, and saw an adult black bear lying peacefully in the undergrowth, a red flash of dart sticking out of her neck. "We've got maybe five minutes - whoops – can you hold her other paw!"

Tony tried, as the ranger poured water over the wound; he felt a claw catch the heel of his thumb, but there wasn't time to think about that. After she'd cleaned the area, the ranger coated the whole wrist – he supposed that was what you'd call it – thoroughly with a thick goo that made him think of the gasket grease that mechanics used. "Done," she said breathlessly. "That'll protect it - she won't lick it off in a hurry. Give me one more minute?" Tony nodded, and as she jumped up and ran, Tony realised that his original estimate of her size had been on the generous side. She was under average height, maybe five foot three, and you could fit the whole of her into a pint pot.

I'm sitting on a bear cub, in the forest, with a First Nations woman who's – don't go there… intelligent and good looking and competent and interesting and hey! - in a town that just thought you were some sort of criminal - needs a pilot and isn't wearing a ring – don't go there! Just stay alert, that's a momma bear over there…

The ranger ran back with the dart she'd removed from momma, and said "That's fine… you can let her go now. Thanks for your help!" Tony let his weight off the cub, who ran with a limping gait back to the adult, and began nuzzling her hopefully.

The ranger picked up her dart gun and put it back in its case. She gathered up the water bottle and the pot of gunk and stowed everything in the back of the truck. "I need to sit here for a few minutes, just to make sure the mother wakes up ok," she said. "She's not likely to attack, but I'll sit in the cab anyway. Not that I'm not grateful, but you should probably get out of – oh, wait a minute – looks like cubby got you." She reached for his left hand, where his gauntlet was oozing blood from a small hole. When he took it off, he found a smallish puncture wound, still bleeding a little. "We should fix that," she said calmly.

"I'll be fine -"

"Maybe, but do you know how mucky bear claws are? I mean, are you up to date with your tetanus jabs? Look, get in the truck, we can't stop out here yacking!"

"OK, chief," Tony said, and gave in with a rueful smile.

She never told him until a long time later how that smile made her catch her breath. "My name's Tay," she said, as she shoved him towards the truck. "Get in, momma's moving back there!" She opened the passenger door, and threw some stuff off the seat into the back.

"Tony," he told her as they shut themselves in. "And yes, I am up to date. No-one's sticking an elephant needle in me! Hello, Tay."

Tay grinned broadly. "Hi, Tony."

The interior of the truck was clean, but cluttered. Nevertheless, Tay seemed to know where to find what she was looking for. She reached behind her seat, and pulled out something that looked like a doctor's bag. Tony looked at the contents curiously, and put two and two together. "You're a veterinarian," he said.

"That's right." Her eyes danced with mischievous humour. "I have a practice in the town. I rent a house with a surgery attached, you'll have passed it. One storey, wooden, dark green. Two dark red Adirondack chairs outside."

Crazy… I noticed them… another not coincidence… all it'll take is to see a moose sitting in one of those chairs for me to lose it completely. Not going to see it though, not going back to the town. But… don't you want to be around someone whose eyes shine like that… who has chairs – will you just stop it!

If Tay noticed the inner preoccupation she didn't let on. She laughed. "Tay Two-hats, they call me in the town. But hey, the two hats fit pretty well together. The area's pretty well behaved, doesn't need a full time ranger, and I have a partner to share the vet practice. Life's good."

You are gorgeous, stranger who stopped to help… what I want to do with you is absolutely unrepeatable… Stop it, Waawaatesi, you know it's just the last hoorah of your ageing body clock! But… his eyes… there's a lot of damage there… no, no – he's not one of your wounded animals in need of rescue. Get a grip.

She produced a cotton-wool pad, and put something on it that smelled thoroughly astringent. "It'll sting a bit."

"That's OK, I'm tough… sheesh!"

"Sorry. But it's effective – you can imagine what bear claws root around in."

"Oh yes – you don't need to tell me. We had a case a few years ago where we found a marine's dog-tags in a pile of bear scut. We had to fish them out, and take a sample of the poo."

He should have expected Tay's next remark, as she finished cleaning the puncture. "Did the bear kill him?" She put an adhesive dressing on the wound.

"No. It was murder; the body was left so we'd blame the bear."

She sighed. "It wouldn't make any difference for the poor damn' bear… the fact that it had tasted human flesh would be enough. It'd be hunted down and killed."

"Yeah… the ranger at the time told us that. I get it, but it still seemed unjust to me." His stomach chose that moment to growl fiercely, and he looked down at it accusingly, but the ranger wasn't fazed.

"Ow, me too," she said fervently. She squirmed around in her seat again, and dug out a lunch box from the back seat of the truck. "Here. Share. Be my guest, it's the least I can do."

"I don't want to take your food, especially if you're hungry. And if your job's as unpredictable as mine was, you never know when you'll get to eat again."

Tay chuckled. "Oh, that's OK." She reached across him to open the glove-box, and a shower of flapjacks, power bars and clownies fell out all over him. Seemed like that tiny frame took a lot of fuel. For a moment, she looked a bit nonplussed. "That wasn't meant to happen." Tony had the good manners not to make the observation that the under-dash compartment was as rammed as the rest of the vehicle. They both picked the snacks up and stowed them away again. "But see, I've got plenty. Have a sandwich. Local cheese and some of my mom's pickle. Every time I go up there, she sends me home with enough provender for a month."

"That's a good sort of mom to have." They ate in silence, not wanting to disturb the bear as she found her feet, got her bearings, and checked her cub over. She sniffed at the gunk dressing on her paw, but clearly found it unremarkable.

"That's good," Tay said. "I got some earth from an empty den in the Spring, to put in the dressing. This is the first time I've been able to test it."

"You make it yourself?"

"There's nothing on the market that'll do the trick. Industrial strength petroleum jelly, antiseptic, earth, and a bit of bear pee. Lovely." She chuckled again. That warm, earthy laugh… "I suppose it's a bit like how my forbears used to anoint themselves with the excrement of the animals they were going out to hunt."

Tony shook his head in wonderment. "I'm enthralled. You have to tell me more. I mean, who were your forbears? You're Native Canadian, right?"

"I'm a Native Cree." They watched as the bears waddled off into the forest. "I grew up near Prince George. Waawaatesi – Tay for short – Perrault."

"You drew the moose! In the Centre! I loved it -"

"So, you visited the art gallery. Oh – it was you talking to Jonas Franken as I went by. You really should have stopped there for something to eat, you know. Ben would have fed you way better than a packed lunch! What? What have I said?"

Tony grimaced, but he didn't think there was any resisting this small human hurricane. "I intended to..." He explained, glossing over the hurt, and confessing to having left town in a huff.

Tay heard him out, looking thoughtful, and then said calmly, "I think we need to talk, Tony."

"We do?"

"We do."

"Well… I did say I wanted to know more…."

"Yep, you did." She looked him straight in the eyes. "So do I." She picked up his gauntlet from the floor, and examined it. The inside of the palm was still wet with blood. "We can fix this in town. Look, get on that beautiful bike of yours, and I'll meet you back at Ben's for a coffee." She gestured at a thermos flask in the driver's door pocket. "That stuff's only – barely – fit for a ranger on duty."

"Tay, I can't go back into town."

"Of course you can. Get gone!"

Which was how Tony found himself pulling up in the same parking slot he'd just left, with the CNPS Chevy close behind him.

Ben turned around from loading his coffee machine, and his face lit up. "Hey – I'm glad you came back – I never got a chance to thank you!"

Tony smiled more easily than he felt. "No problem. Keeping me out of jail was all the thanks I needed." He held the door for Tay, thinking how he he seemed to be riding a helluva storm, at least inside himself. Buying Destina and leaving DC; the crest of a wave, for all the regrets he felt. His birthday; rescuing people, doing something helpful; such wise advice from Hazel and Tim. Seeing the sign for Moose Valley, and talking to the flying instructor. In between, the troughs; the fear of the unknown and the desperate wish to hole up in Vancouver; the cop, and the dashing of half-acknowledged dreams… why was he making such a fuss?

Well, the spirit journey had him back on the crest again, carried along by a small Cree tsunami… This is crazy. Go with the flow. No, can't lose control. I have to trust someone sometime. Damn it, Anthony, are you still afraid of the end of the journey? Yes… if there's a trough coming, it could be too deep to climb out of…

They got coffee, and the lemon drizzle cake that Tay recommended, and as Tony carried it over to a seat by the window, she stayed to have a word with Ben. As Tony, too warm now, indoors, shrugged out of his leather jacket, Tay hesitated for a moment, then picked up the bloody gauntlet and took it back over to Ben, who grinned, and took it into his kitchen.

Lord of all the winds, I was not expecting that! That smell of warm man and cologne… oh wow. Deep breath. Calm down. Waawaatesi, this is the man. All the years of not quite… not quite loving, not quite hoping, not quite trusting… this is him. What if he doesn't see it the same way?

Tony found himself sitting where he could see past the now tidy shop, through to the gallery, from whence the moose still regarded him mournfully. Tay turned to see what he was looking at, and smiled. "OK, Tony – you first."

o0o0o

By the time they'd sat there an hour, with other people coming and going, and Ben had topped up their coffee twice, they knew a lot about each other. Tony had calmed enough to explain about the spirit journey, and his failing lungs, and getting out of DC. He hadn't touched on how his lungs had got to that point though, or the hurt it had cost him. He wished she'd stop looking at him as if she knew, but knew that if she did stop, he'd want her to start again.

He'd learned that Tay had been born very prematurely, and at first they'd only called her little soul, as she hadn't been expected to live. But when they saw the fight she put up, how her flame flickered but grew brighter, they called her Waawaatesi: Firefly. "I guess I must have decided I wasn't born just to die again. I had a lucky, happy childhood, my parents made sacrifices to make sure I got a good education, they're wonderful people."

"When did you discover you have an empathic side? Come on, you know you have."

"Um… transparent or what? Well, I discovered I was good with animals when I was quite young. I cared about people too, but it was animals I wanted to work with. I went to the University of Northern British Columbia on a scholarship, but when I told my tutor I wanted to see a bit more of the world, he got me another scholarship to do the last two years of my studies in England. Like I said, I've been lucky! When I came home, I worked in various cities, learning the ropes of actually being a vet, but never really felt settled anywhere. Never met a man who rocked me down to my metatarsals..."

She'd seen the ranger post, and found her niche, and her contentment, not so far from where she'd grown up. "The wilderness, and all that's in it, is the heart and soul of this country, and I'm meant to protect it." She looked at him in that way he was getting used to, and he felt up on that crest again, facing a terrifying slide down a wall of black water. "Just as you were meant to protect good people from bad ones, and then you were meant to stop."

"I guess I've accepted that much."

"Some way. But any time you're ever needed to help or protect, you'll do it."

"Sure – like you'll risk the wrath of a momma bear, to help her cub."

Tay smiled. "Well… I know why I do what I do. You know what you've carefully avoided talking about – the whys and whats of your life. What brought you to your decisions and actions. No – you don't want to say, that's fine; but I can't unsee the pain I see in you, and I can see that you're a good man, who doesn't deserve the shit he's clearly been dealt."

Tony tried not to show how her words tugged at him. He shrugged ruefully. "Pobody's Nerfect, as they say." He paused momentarily to enjoy her laugh. "I mean, nobody's entitled to a shit-free life!"

"Fair comment. You'll take it for others, but you don't have to take it from anyone else. Not round here. No, don't say the chief – you can bet Jonas is kicking himself round his office right now. Take it from me, he's one of the good guys. This town's full of them."

They paused, as Ben, with perfect timing, brought the damaged gauntlet back, clean, dry, and with a tiny circle of leather glued over the puncture.

"My pleasure," he said, as Tony tried to thank him.

Tay beamed. "See?"

Tony did see, and a cold wave of fear swept over him. What if he was wrong?

I've got to move on.