kaylashay81 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kaylashay81) wrote2007-12-14 06:11 pm
kaylashay81) wrote2007-12-14 06:11 pm
Fic: All Tied Up (NCIS; BtVS)
Title: All Tied Up
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kaylashay81
Rating: FR13
Warnings: Pre-Slash
Disclaimer: I'm not Whedon or Bellesario, so I don't claim to own them.
Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer; NCIS
Timeline: Post-Chosen for BtVS; Between Seasons 1 & 2 for NCIS
Written For:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
slash_me_twice; Prompt #12 - Bound; Prompt Table Here
Written For:crossovers100; Prompt #1 - Beginnings; Prompt Table Here
Beta Reader:azraelz_angel (many thanks!!)
Note: Written forkatrinatoc
Crossposted:spn_btvs_ncis; ncis_slash; ncisfanfic; slash_me_twice
Series: The Navy Watcher Series
Summary: Tony awoke to find himself all tied up after trailing a murder suspect. At least he had some guy named Xander Harris there to keep him company.
August 2004
Tony’s first sensation as he regained consciousness was the pinprick tingles running through his arms and hands. He could tell without moving them, that his hands were bound behind his back. Giving a little tug, he added ‘tightly bound’ to his mental inventory.
Next came the coppery taste of his own blood in his mouth, reminding him of the punch to the face he received when he was last conscious. He was about to spit what he could out of his mouth, but stopped with the realization that he didn’t know where he was or who was around. With some trepidation, he cracked his eyes open.
He was in an open room, bare of any furniture that he could tell. The metal walls indicated he was likely in a warehouse of some sort. His feet were tied together in front of him and his back rested on one of the metal walls. As far as he could tell, he wasn’t tied to anything, which was promising for the chance of escaping.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” came a light male voice from his left hand side. “I was beginning to worry about you.”
Tony turned his head in the direction of the voice and winced at the pain that jumped through his face. He saw a man who was likely in his early to mid-twenties who was tied up just like he was. He took note of the eye patch over the guy’s left eye.
“What are you in for?” he jokingly asked, trying to keep calm and figure out how to get free.
“Was my usual self and got kidnapped by a hopefully soon to be ex-marine. Next time I’m not letting Riley tell me ‘hell no’ when I ask him if he can handle the ex-Initiative bad guys. I mean I know his life isn’t peachy right now, but he could have at least come to help. Just left me to fend for myself since Buffy decided she couldn’t be bothered by it and Giles is being all Giles-like and not leaving the library… and I’m going to shut up now. How about you?”
Tony noted the names he heard and the Initiative for future reference and tried to determine how much to tell his fellow captive. “I think I must have gotten caught by the same soon to be ex-marine. Look, I’m a federal agent and we’ll get out of here soon. I’ve got this boss who doesn’t like it when his people go missing.”
The black haired man snorted. “Sounds like he would get along great with Willow. She gets a little pissy when people try to mess with her friends. Xander Harris by the way.”
“Tony DiNozzo. I would shake your hand, but…” Tony trailed off and gave his shoulders a slight shrug. “This Willow, she wouldn’t happen to be a redhead would she?”
“Yeah…” Xander trailed off as he narrowed his eyes at Tony. “Hey! How’d you know that? You shouldn’t know that.”
“Calm down,” Tony said hastily hoping that whoever captured wasn’t close enough to hear the panicked voice. He was not looking forward to meeting them when they arrived to check on the prisoners. “I was just guessing ‘cause the Boss has a thing for redheads. Three ex-wives and they were all redheads.”
“Oh,” Xander said demurely. “Well, in that case we’re safe, Willow’s ‘gay now’, or should that be ‘lesbian now’?”
“Guess that would keep her safe. But he’ll probably still be drawn to her. It’s like a natural instinct for him.”
“So, what federal alphabet group do you work for? You don’t look serious enough for the FBI,” Xander questioned him.
Figuring it wouldn’t hurt for the younger man to know, Tony decided to talk while he tried to loosen the ropes around his wrists. “NCIS...”
“Naval Criminal Investigative Service to those in the know,” came an unfamiliar voice and both men jerked their heads up at the sound. “Glad to see you’re both awake.”
“I’d be glad too if I wasn’t tied up. Why don’t you come undo these ropes and then we’ll have a little chat,” Tony tried to deflect the man’s attention to himself. He would do his best to keep the possible civilian in this mess safe. It was his job.
“You’re just going to just sit there and keep your mouth shut. I need to have a little talk with Harris here,” the large brute of a man said as he walked over to crouch just out of the reach of Xander’s legs.
“What do you need to talk with me for? I’ve been told I’m not very good at talking. Well, talking and making sense that is. Sense is what you need right? So see, I don’t think I’m the one you need to talk to.”
“Oh, you’re just who I need to talk to. I need to know how close your friends are. See, I have a plan and I don’t want to be interrupted by that little blond bitch of Finn’s.”
“News flash, Buffy and Riley are so over it’s not even funny,” Xander said through a bit of laughter that contradicted what he said. “So what’s this big plan? World domination? Didn’t turn out so good for your Dr. Walsh. Figured those of you that we got out of there would have learned their lesson. Shows what I know.”
“I don’t need world domination. Just want my strength back. The government took away what Walsh gave me and I found a way to get it back.”
“A way that includes human sacrifice,” Xander deadpanned. “Why didn’t you just try steroids like the pros?”
Tony jerked his attention to Xander at the human sacrifice comment. Ducky had said that the bodies of the murdered petty officers had markings on them that indicated some kind of ritualistic act, but the way the two men were talking sounded like they both believed it was real.
“Steroids only take you so far,” the man said with a sneer. “Now tell me if the others know where to find you or have means of tracking you.”
“And if I don’t,” Xander said in a darker tone.
“Then I’ll just have to show you how much strength I’ve gained from the first two rites with a little demonstration on the agent over there. I’m sure he’ll get a kick out of it.”
Xander snapped his eye over to look at Tony. Tony just put a smile on his face hoping it was convincing enough to keep the other man quiet about whatever information he had that their captor wanted.
“Leave him out of this,” Xander said quietly. “He’s not in the know. If you want to use anyone as a punching bag, I’ve heard I make a good one. All the bad guys say so.”
“You’re friends must not of considered me a threat since they sent you. We gathered information on you back in Sunnydale. Did it on all of your little gang of misfits. You know what we found?”
“That I had a great fashion sense and a way with the ladies?” Xander quipped back and Tony had to give him credit for not caving in.
“That you were the weakest link, a non-entity compared to the others. I laughed when I saw they had sent you to check into what was happening.”
“Glad I could provide you with the comedy relief,” Xander said in a huff. Tony felt sorry for the guy being drug through the mud like that.
“I’ll ask you one more time before I have a little fun with the agent. Will they find you before tonight?”
“Nope. Like you said, I’m disposable. They won’t miss me until something breaks.”
“Don’t lie Harris,” the guy said as he stood up and walked over to Tony.
Tony prepared himself for whatever the other man was going to do. There was no way he could defend himself and he could only hope that it didn’t last too long.
“Could you go easy around the face? I have a date tonight and it probably wouldn’t make a good first impression.”
“I wouldn’t worry about your date tonight Agent DiNozzo. I’ve got some plans to keep both of you entertained. Now let’s see what we can do about making the left side of your mouth match the right side from our earlier introduction.”
The punch to his mouth sent him sideways into the hard floor. The concrete surface slammed into his shoulder and he wasn’t sure if that hurt worse than the punch had. He felt his eyes closing as conscious slipped away.
Tony slowly came to awareness when felt a light bumping against the top of his head. Then the pain in his face registered and he let out a low groan. He could hear Xander’s voice from somewhere above him, but the words weren’t quite registering.
“Tony? You with me? I’ve been knocked out enough to know that you need to wake up. Come on.”
Tony tried to move to sit up and then remembered he was tied up. He groaned again as he tried to roll himself to a sitting position. “Did you get the number of that bus? I think I want to sue.”
Xander snorted. “Joking is good. You alright? I don’t think he pulled his punch any and if he’s done what he said he’s done, then that punch had to pack a punch.”
Tony blinked wondering if it was his throbbing head or if Xander just wasn’t making sense. “Is our hospitable host gone?”
“For now,” Xander said as he slumped back against the wall. “He’ll be back soon I think. In time for the main performance.”
“What’s the main performance?” Tony asked with a grunt as he finally got upright.
“That would be where we are sacrificed to a demon lord in exchange for his increased physical abilities. The day’s never complete without a demonic ritual to perform.”
“I hope you are joking about that part. You know those things don’t really exist. He’ll just use that to fuel his power trip for killing us.”
“If you say so,” Xander said in a tone that told Tony he still believed the ritual was real. “You wouldn’t happen to have any super secret agent tricks up your sleeve that could get us out of here, would you?”
Tony’s mind finally focused on something he had forgotten all about. Gibbs would kill him if he knew he hadn’t thought of it right away. “Do you think you could get my belt undone?” he asked in a rushed voice.
“What?” Xander squeaked out. “Now’s not the time for that. Not that any time would be the time for that cause I’m not gay you know. I did ask Willow to gay me up once, but last I checked she hadn’t, so I’m sorry to dis-“
Tony cut him off before his head started hurting more from the babbling. “It wasn’t a proposition. I don’t swing that way. I’ve got a knife hidden on the underside of the belt. Thought that might help us get out of these ropes.”
“Oh,” Xander said with a blush. “Knife in belt. Check. Is that some kind of agent survival kit?”
“If you work for my Boss it is,” Tony said as he tried to scoot his body into a better position for Xander to work at his belt. “Rule number nine, never go anywhere without a knife.”
“Maybe we should add that one to our list,” Xander said as he tried to move his fingers into position without being able to see what he was doing.
“You have a list? Move a little your left and you should have the buckle,” Tony was trying to ignore the fingertips that were bumping against him in spots he’d rather they not.
“Yeah,” Xander grunted as he stretched his arm a little too much. “Scooby rule number one, don’t die.”
“Sounds like a good one,” Tony said. Then he winced when Xander lost his balanced and tipped back into him, his hands pushing right into Tony’s crotch. “Damn! Watch where you touch.”
“Sorry,” Xander ground out. “I’m not liking this any more than you are. There!”
Tony sighed in relief when Xander finally managed to pull the knife free. They worked in silence until Xander’s hands were finally cut loose and then they hastily undid all the other ropes.
Tony stood up and almost went back to floor as his head started to swim. Xander grabbed him before could slump and supported his weight. “Just got to find a way out of here and then get you to the hospital.”
“No hospitals. Don’ like ‘em,” Tony slurred out. He hoped that his head would straighten out in a few minutes, because he needed to be with it to get out of wherever they were being held.
“Neither of you are going to a hospital,” their captor spoke from the doorway. “Don’t know how the hell you got free, but you aren’t leaving here. It’s time to start and I need two sacrifices this time.”
“I don’t make a good sacrifice you know, so how about we postpone that.”
“I don’t think so,” he said out loud before mumbling a few incoherent words. Right after he stopped, a ring of candles lit up in the room and Tony and Xander were standing right in the middle.
“Looks like you’re already in place, how convenient. Shall we start?”
Tony stared wide-eyed at the lit candles and the smoke that was starting to rise in the circle they were within. “What the hell?”
“Think I was joking now,” Xander whispered to Tony. “We’ve got to get out of this circle and soon. Bad things will happen if we don’t.”
“You mean like that?” Tony asked as he pointed at a wispy shape that was forming out of the smoke.
“Yeah,” Xander said through clenched teeth. “That would be that demon lord we mentioned. Not good thing if we are still here when he’s not smoky anymore.”
“I’m getting that. What do you propose?”
“We have to take the big guy out. He’s controlling it and if we silence him, the demon can’t stay in this plane of existence.”
“If you say so,” Tony said with a slight shake to his voice. “I never thought I would say this, but I’m so going to need therapy after this is over.”
“Denial works too,” Xander said as he started to move toward the outer part of the circle in hopes of being able to break out of it.
“Don’t think all the repression in the world could block this out of my mind,” Tony said as he followed.
When they reached the smoky edge, they met with a wall of resistance. “Damn! It’s some kind of containment thing. We’re trapped in here with it.”
“So what? This like survival of the fittest?”
“Looks that way. You got anything bigger than that knife on you?”
“Nothing that’ll take that thing out,” Tony said in shock as he looked at the almost formed creature with armor plating for skin. “This is going to hurt a lot, isn’t it?”
“Probably. Hey, what’s that?”
Tony glanced in the direction Xander indicated and saw what he considered salvation. Gibbs was moving in through a side door to which the marine’s back was turned to. He was making hand motions that told Tony he had at least Kate with him, if not McGee too. Tony caught his eyes for a moment and with a few gestures hoped he told Gibbs what needed to happen.
“That would be my Boss, Leroy Jethro Gibbs,” Tony said with admiration showing through.
Xander looked at him in disbelief. “He’s actually named Leroy Jethro? And I thought Lavelle was bad.”
“Lavelle?” Tony questioned even as he was focused on Gibbs’ movements.
“Pretend you didn’t hear that,” Xander said hastily just as a voice shouted, “NCIS! Freeze!”
Tony squinted to see what was happening on the outside of the growing smoke ring. Both of them instinctively dropped to the floor when a shot rang out. Moments later the smoke, creature and candles simply vanished into wisps of air as if they were never there.
“DiNozzo? You alright?” the sharp voice was right next to them as they looked up into the blue eyes of their savior.
“Think so, Boss,” Tony said as he worked to stand up. “You get the bastard?”
“Yeah, he’s all Ducky’s now,” Gibbs said he took a visual accounting of his senior agent’s injuries. “You want to tell me what in the hell was going on in here?”
“I’m not sure you would believe me if I told you. Hell,” Tony said as he ran his hand through is hair and winced when the action reminded him of his hurt shoulder, “I don’t think I believe it. You should probably talk to this guy.”
“And you are?” Gibbs turned his attention to Xander.
“Xander Harris, International Watcher’s Council. If you’ve got a phone I could make a quick call with, I think we could get things cleared up here.”
Gibbs turned back to Tony with a questioning look. “He’s on our side, Boss,” Tony answered Gibbs’ unasked question and the older man thrust his phone into Xander’s hand.
An hour later, Tony was sitting at the back of an ambulance next to Xander. “So,” Tony drawled out, “he really was planning to use us as the final sacrifice to a demon lord to gain superhuman abilities?”
“Yeah, that’s the gist of it. It’s either that or he was doped up on PCP and thought we looked good tied up.”
“Somehow the first one sounds more plausible. I just don’t know how to write this up in the report.”
“I wouldn’t worry about the report. I think you and your team are going to get the ‘bump in the night’ lecture in return for being available to help us out if something from our jurisdiction crosses into yours again.”
“You do know we have a Goth forensic scientist who sleeps in a coffin don’t you?”
“No,” Xander smiled as he clapped a hand on Tony’s shoulder, “but she’ll fit right in.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Tony mumbled as they walked away from the building.
Author's Note:
Do you like Xander and Tony together and are eligible to vote in the TTH Crossing Over Awards? If so, go vote for Taste the Rainbow for Best Pairing (Same Sex) in the COA.
Author:
kaylashay81Rating: FR13
Warnings: Pre-Slash
Disclaimer: I'm not Whedon or Bellesario, so I don't claim to own them.
Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer; NCIS
Timeline: Post-Chosen for BtVS; Between Seasons 1 & 2 for NCIS
Written For:
slash_me_twice; Prompt #12 - Bound; Prompt Table HereWritten For:
crossovers100; Prompt #1 - Beginnings; Prompt Table HereBeta Reader:
azraelz_angel (many thanks!!)Note: Written for
katrinatocCrossposted:
spn_btvs_ncis; ncis_slash; ncisfanfic; slash_me_twiceSeries: The Navy Watcher Series
Summary: Tony awoke to find himself all tied up after trailing a murder suspect. At least he had some guy named Xander Harris there to keep him company.
August 2004
Tony’s first sensation as he regained consciousness was the pinprick tingles running through his arms and hands. He could tell without moving them, that his hands were bound behind his back. Giving a little tug, he added ‘tightly bound’ to his mental inventory.
Next came the coppery taste of his own blood in his mouth, reminding him of the punch to the face he received when he was last conscious. He was about to spit what he could out of his mouth, but stopped with the realization that he didn’t know where he was or who was around. With some trepidation, he cracked his eyes open.
He was in an open room, bare of any furniture that he could tell. The metal walls indicated he was likely in a warehouse of some sort. His feet were tied together in front of him and his back rested on one of the metal walls. As far as he could tell, he wasn’t tied to anything, which was promising for the chance of escaping.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” came a light male voice from his left hand side. “I was beginning to worry about you.”
Tony turned his head in the direction of the voice and winced at the pain that jumped through his face. He saw a man who was likely in his early to mid-twenties who was tied up just like he was. He took note of the eye patch over the guy’s left eye.
“What are you in for?” he jokingly asked, trying to keep calm and figure out how to get free.
“Was my usual self and got kidnapped by a hopefully soon to be ex-marine. Next time I’m not letting Riley tell me ‘hell no’ when I ask him if he can handle the ex-Initiative bad guys. I mean I know his life isn’t peachy right now, but he could have at least come to help. Just left me to fend for myself since Buffy decided she couldn’t be bothered by it and Giles is being all Giles-like and not leaving the library… and I’m going to shut up now. How about you?”
Tony noted the names he heard and the Initiative for future reference and tried to determine how much to tell his fellow captive. “I think I must have gotten caught by the same soon to be ex-marine. Look, I’m a federal agent and we’ll get out of here soon. I’ve got this boss who doesn’t like it when his people go missing.”
The black haired man snorted. “Sounds like he would get along great with Willow. She gets a little pissy when people try to mess with her friends. Xander Harris by the way.”
“Tony DiNozzo. I would shake your hand, but…” Tony trailed off and gave his shoulders a slight shrug. “This Willow, she wouldn’t happen to be a redhead would she?”
“Yeah…” Xander trailed off as he narrowed his eyes at Tony. “Hey! How’d you know that? You shouldn’t know that.”
“Calm down,” Tony said hastily hoping that whoever captured wasn’t close enough to hear the panicked voice. He was not looking forward to meeting them when they arrived to check on the prisoners. “I was just guessing ‘cause the Boss has a thing for redheads. Three ex-wives and they were all redheads.”
“Oh,” Xander said demurely. “Well, in that case we’re safe, Willow’s ‘gay now’, or should that be ‘lesbian now’?”
“Guess that would keep her safe. But he’ll probably still be drawn to her. It’s like a natural instinct for him.”
“So, what federal alphabet group do you work for? You don’t look serious enough for the FBI,” Xander questioned him.
Figuring it wouldn’t hurt for the younger man to know, Tony decided to talk while he tried to loosen the ropes around his wrists. “NCIS...”
“Naval Criminal Investigative Service to those in the know,” came an unfamiliar voice and both men jerked their heads up at the sound. “Glad to see you’re both awake.”
“I’d be glad too if I wasn’t tied up. Why don’t you come undo these ropes and then we’ll have a little chat,” Tony tried to deflect the man’s attention to himself. He would do his best to keep the possible civilian in this mess safe. It was his job.
“You’re just going to just sit there and keep your mouth shut. I need to have a little talk with Harris here,” the large brute of a man said as he walked over to crouch just out of the reach of Xander’s legs.
“What do you need to talk with me for? I’ve been told I’m not very good at talking. Well, talking and making sense that is. Sense is what you need right? So see, I don’t think I’m the one you need to talk to.”
“Oh, you’re just who I need to talk to. I need to know how close your friends are. See, I have a plan and I don’t want to be interrupted by that little blond bitch of Finn’s.”
“News flash, Buffy and Riley are so over it’s not even funny,” Xander said through a bit of laughter that contradicted what he said. “So what’s this big plan? World domination? Didn’t turn out so good for your Dr. Walsh. Figured those of you that we got out of there would have learned their lesson. Shows what I know.”
“I don’t need world domination. Just want my strength back. The government took away what Walsh gave me and I found a way to get it back.”
“A way that includes human sacrifice,” Xander deadpanned. “Why didn’t you just try steroids like the pros?”
Tony jerked his attention to Xander at the human sacrifice comment. Ducky had said that the bodies of the murdered petty officers had markings on them that indicated some kind of ritualistic act, but the way the two men were talking sounded like they both believed it was real.
“Steroids only take you so far,” the man said with a sneer. “Now tell me if the others know where to find you or have means of tracking you.”
“And if I don’t,” Xander said in a darker tone.
“Then I’ll just have to show you how much strength I’ve gained from the first two rites with a little demonstration on the agent over there. I’m sure he’ll get a kick out of it.”
Xander snapped his eye over to look at Tony. Tony just put a smile on his face hoping it was convincing enough to keep the other man quiet about whatever information he had that their captor wanted.
“Leave him out of this,” Xander said quietly. “He’s not in the know. If you want to use anyone as a punching bag, I’ve heard I make a good one. All the bad guys say so.”
“You’re friends must not of considered me a threat since they sent you. We gathered information on you back in Sunnydale. Did it on all of your little gang of misfits. You know what we found?”
“That I had a great fashion sense and a way with the ladies?” Xander quipped back and Tony had to give him credit for not caving in.
“That you were the weakest link, a non-entity compared to the others. I laughed when I saw they had sent you to check into what was happening.”
“Glad I could provide you with the comedy relief,” Xander said in a huff. Tony felt sorry for the guy being drug through the mud like that.
“I’ll ask you one more time before I have a little fun with the agent. Will they find you before tonight?”
“Nope. Like you said, I’m disposable. They won’t miss me until something breaks.”
“Don’t lie Harris,” the guy said as he stood up and walked over to Tony.
Tony prepared himself for whatever the other man was going to do. There was no way he could defend himself and he could only hope that it didn’t last too long.
“Could you go easy around the face? I have a date tonight and it probably wouldn’t make a good first impression.”
“I wouldn’t worry about your date tonight Agent DiNozzo. I’ve got some plans to keep both of you entertained. Now let’s see what we can do about making the left side of your mouth match the right side from our earlier introduction.”
The punch to his mouth sent him sideways into the hard floor. The concrete surface slammed into his shoulder and he wasn’t sure if that hurt worse than the punch had. He felt his eyes closing as conscious slipped away.
Tony slowly came to awareness when felt a light bumping against the top of his head. Then the pain in his face registered and he let out a low groan. He could hear Xander’s voice from somewhere above him, but the words weren’t quite registering.
“Tony? You with me? I’ve been knocked out enough to know that you need to wake up. Come on.”
Tony tried to move to sit up and then remembered he was tied up. He groaned again as he tried to roll himself to a sitting position. “Did you get the number of that bus? I think I want to sue.”
Xander snorted. “Joking is good. You alright? I don’t think he pulled his punch any and if he’s done what he said he’s done, then that punch had to pack a punch.”
Tony blinked wondering if it was his throbbing head or if Xander just wasn’t making sense. “Is our hospitable host gone?”
“For now,” Xander said as he slumped back against the wall. “He’ll be back soon I think. In time for the main performance.”
“What’s the main performance?” Tony asked with a grunt as he finally got upright.
“That would be where we are sacrificed to a demon lord in exchange for his increased physical abilities. The day’s never complete without a demonic ritual to perform.”
“I hope you are joking about that part. You know those things don’t really exist. He’ll just use that to fuel his power trip for killing us.”
“If you say so,” Xander said in a tone that told Tony he still believed the ritual was real. “You wouldn’t happen to have any super secret agent tricks up your sleeve that could get us out of here, would you?”
Tony’s mind finally focused on something he had forgotten all about. Gibbs would kill him if he knew he hadn’t thought of it right away. “Do you think you could get my belt undone?” he asked in a rushed voice.
“What?” Xander squeaked out. “Now’s not the time for that. Not that any time would be the time for that cause I’m not gay you know. I did ask Willow to gay me up once, but last I checked she hadn’t, so I’m sorry to dis-“
Tony cut him off before his head started hurting more from the babbling. “It wasn’t a proposition. I don’t swing that way. I’ve got a knife hidden on the underside of the belt. Thought that might help us get out of these ropes.”
“Oh,” Xander said with a blush. “Knife in belt. Check. Is that some kind of agent survival kit?”
“If you work for my Boss it is,” Tony said as he tried to scoot his body into a better position for Xander to work at his belt. “Rule number nine, never go anywhere without a knife.”
“Maybe we should add that one to our list,” Xander said as he tried to move his fingers into position without being able to see what he was doing.
“You have a list? Move a little your left and you should have the buckle,” Tony was trying to ignore the fingertips that were bumping against him in spots he’d rather they not.
“Yeah,” Xander grunted as he stretched his arm a little too much. “Scooby rule number one, don’t die.”
“Sounds like a good one,” Tony said. Then he winced when Xander lost his balanced and tipped back into him, his hands pushing right into Tony’s crotch. “Damn! Watch where you touch.”
“Sorry,” Xander ground out. “I’m not liking this any more than you are. There!”
Tony sighed in relief when Xander finally managed to pull the knife free. They worked in silence until Xander’s hands were finally cut loose and then they hastily undid all the other ropes.
Tony stood up and almost went back to floor as his head started to swim. Xander grabbed him before could slump and supported his weight. “Just got to find a way out of here and then get you to the hospital.”
“No hospitals. Don’ like ‘em,” Tony slurred out. He hoped that his head would straighten out in a few minutes, because he needed to be with it to get out of wherever they were being held.
“Neither of you are going to a hospital,” their captor spoke from the doorway. “Don’t know how the hell you got free, but you aren’t leaving here. It’s time to start and I need two sacrifices this time.”
“I don’t make a good sacrifice you know, so how about we postpone that.”
“I don’t think so,” he said out loud before mumbling a few incoherent words. Right after he stopped, a ring of candles lit up in the room and Tony and Xander were standing right in the middle.
“Looks like you’re already in place, how convenient. Shall we start?”
Tony stared wide-eyed at the lit candles and the smoke that was starting to rise in the circle they were within. “What the hell?”
“Think I was joking now,” Xander whispered to Tony. “We’ve got to get out of this circle and soon. Bad things will happen if we don’t.”
“You mean like that?” Tony asked as he pointed at a wispy shape that was forming out of the smoke.
“Yeah,” Xander said through clenched teeth. “That would be that demon lord we mentioned. Not good thing if we are still here when he’s not smoky anymore.”
“I’m getting that. What do you propose?”
“We have to take the big guy out. He’s controlling it and if we silence him, the demon can’t stay in this plane of existence.”
“If you say so,” Tony said with a slight shake to his voice. “I never thought I would say this, but I’m so going to need therapy after this is over.”
“Denial works too,” Xander said as he started to move toward the outer part of the circle in hopes of being able to break out of it.
“Don’t think all the repression in the world could block this out of my mind,” Tony said as he followed.
When they reached the smoky edge, they met with a wall of resistance. “Damn! It’s some kind of containment thing. We’re trapped in here with it.”
“So what? This like survival of the fittest?”
“Looks that way. You got anything bigger than that knife on you?”
“Nothing that’ll take that thing out,” Tony said in shock as he looked at the almost formed creature with armor plating for skin. “This is going to hurt a lot, isn’t it?”
“Probably. Hey, what’s that?”
Tony glanced in the direction Xander indicated and saw what he considered salvation. Gibbs was moving in through a side door to which the marine’s back was turned to. He was making hand motions that told Tony he had at least Kate with him, if not McGee too. Tony caught his eyes for a moment and with a few gestures hoped he told Gibbs what needed to happen.
“That would be my Boss, Leroy Jethro Gibbs,” Tony said with admiration showing through.
Xander looked at him in disbelief. “He’s actually named Leroy Jethro? And I thought Lavelle was bad.”
“Lavelle?” Tony questioned even as he was focused on Gibbs’ movements.
“Pretend you didn’t hear that,” Xander said hastily just as a voice shouted, “NCIS! Freeze!”
Tony squinted to see what was happening on the outside of the growing smoke ring. Both of them instinctively dropped to the floor when a shot rang out. Moments later the smoke, creature and candles simply vanished into wisps of air as if they were never there.
“DiNozzo? You alright?” the sharp voice was right next to them as they looked up into the blue eyes of their savior.
“Think so, Boss,” Tony said as he worked to stand up. “You get the bastard?”
“Yeah, he’s all Ducky’s now,” Gibbs said he took a visual accounting of his senior agent’s injuries. “You want to tell me what in the hell was going on in here?”
“I’m not sure you would believe me if I told you. Hell,” Tony said as he ran his hand through is hair and winced when the action reminded him of his hurt shoulder, “I don’t think I believe it. You should probably talk to this guy.”
“And you are?” Gibbs turned his attention to Xander.
“Xander Harris, International Watcher’s Council. If you’ve got a phone I could make a quick call with, I think we could get things cleared up here.”
Gibbs turned back to Tony with a questioning look. “He’s on our side, Boss,” Tony answered Gibbs’ unasked question and the older man thrust his phone into Xander’s hand.
An hour later, Tony was sitting at the back of an ambulance next to Xander. “So,” Tony drawled out, “he really was planning to use us as the final sacrifice to a demon lord to gain superhuman abilities?”
“Yeah, that’s the gist of it. It’s either that or he was doped up on PCP and thought we looked good tied up.”
“Somehow the first one sounds more plausible. I just don’t know how to write this up in the report.”
“I wouldn’t worry about the report. I think you and your team are going to get the ‘bump in the night’ lecture in return for being available to help us out if something from our jurisdiction crosses into yours again.”
“You do know we have a Goth forensic scientist who sleeps in a coffin don’t you?”
“No,” Xander smiled as he clapped a hand on Tony’s shoulder, “but she’ll fit right in.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Tony mumbled as they walked away from the building.
Author's Note:
Do you like Xander and Tony together and are eligible to vote in the TTH Crossing Over Awards? If so, go vote for Taste the Rainbow for Best Pairing (Same Sex) in the COA.