Discovery – Part Seven by Ladyholder

Reading Time:
8 Minutes

Art by Polaris

“Hey, Abs,” Tony called as he pushed open the door to Forensics.

“Hey Tony,” Abby murmured. She looked up from one of her machines and blinked at him before she waved one hand at him. “Stay there and give me five minutes.”

“Sure,” Tony agreed. He stood back against the door and pulled his BlackBerry out. He’d recently gotten a news app he actually liked, and there was always something to read on there. Opening the app, he thumbed over to the sports section to see what Ohio State was up to.

“Thanks, Tony,” Abby said several minutes later. Tony glanced up and smiled. The machine she’d been working on was blinking and whirring, and Abby was pulling her gloves off as she stared at him. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to let you know, the Littlefield case has been decided,” Tony said as he turned his BlackBerry off and slipped it into his pocket. When her breath hitched, he walked over to her and held his hands out to her. “Brown was found guilty on all charges by the jury, and the judge confirmed the sentence.”

“They did it then?” Abby asked quietly. Her hands were gripping his firmly, and he was very aware of the strength in them. The woman bowled with nuns and built houses for fun, and that meant she had a hell of a grip. If he had still been human, he’d be worrying about her breaking his hands. “He’s dead?”

“Yes,” Tony confirmed. “I stayed to make sure.”

Abby was quiet for several minutes, and Tony let her process. He let his senses wrap around her to monitor her vitals to make sure she didn’t freak out. Abby was a good friend, and he enjoyed her company during the times they hung around together after work.

“He’s never going to hurt anyone else,” Abby said finally. “That’s good. It sucks that his death is the only way to deal with him, though.”

“Shifters are dangerous, Abby. And Brown had proven that he killed for pleasure. There was no way to keep him behind bars and keep the prisoners and guards safe. Or even to keep him safe because he’d have to be locked into a metal box that he’d never get out of,” Tony explained.

“I know,” Abby said.

“But it doesn’t mean you liked what had to be done,” Tony said, finishing the thought. “I don’t know, anyone in law enforcement who is happy with it.”

“Right,” Abby said. She took a deep breath before squeezing his hands once and letting go. “Who carried it out?”

“In cases like this, the Regional Alpha is requested to assist. So, the Regional Alpha and their Left Hand were called on to carry out the sentence,” Tony explained. He took a deep breath, and the scent of Abby’s shock hit his senses. “Abby, what about that bothers you?”

“1 know you’re using your wolfiness to keep an eye on me, but… Would you be asked to do this?” Abby asked.

“No. I’m not the Regional Alpha, and I’m not going to be,” Tony said. “Are you okay with me doing that?”

“You can’t stop doing it, right?” Abby asked. She paused before waving her hands when he opened his mouth. “Never mind, I remember. Humans excrete pheromones that are influenced by our moods and health, and you can smell them. And since people do it without conscious control, there’s no way you can avoid it. It’s okay if you keep sniffing me.”

“Well, I honestly try not to sniff a lot of people at that level,” Tony said with a smile. “I mean, I can’t stop breathing and don’t want to try, but I try not to pay attention.”

“But you pay attention to me,” Abby said. She stared at him for several seconds before she grinned and bounced lightly on the balls of her feet. “Tony, why are you paying so much attention to me?”

“You mean beyond the fact that you’re my coworker?” Tony asked. At her nod, he sighed, “Because you’re a good friend and I worry.”

“Just a friend?”

Tony eyed the bouncing goth and huffed. “Are you angling to try to be Pack?”

Abby squeaked once as her eyes went wide before she gave another bounce. “Can I be?”

“I have a human in my pack,” Tony said. He eyed her before smiling. “Adding another person would be something I need to make sure that the rest of my pack is good with, because I’m not going to force anyone new down their throats. So, you’ll be getting an invite to my home to formally meet my pack.”

“Excellent!” Abby said. She reached out and gave him a big hug. Tony wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “I hope they like me.”

“Abs, you’ve met all of my pack before,” Tony reminded her. “They all like you.”

“Thanks, Tony. I like them too,” Abby said. She leaned into him for several seconds before giving him a final squeeze and stepping back. “Okay. We’re at work, and I have a lot of evidence that needs to be processed. You need to go do whatever it is that you’ve got going. Now, shoo!”

Tony laughed softly and nodded. “Okay. Email me if you have any issues with what happened today.”

“I will. Shoo!”

Tony wandered into Autopsy and smiled at Gerald when he waved at him. “Good afternoon, Gerald.”

“Afternoon, Tony! How’s it going?” Gerald called.

“Good. Is Ducky in?” Tony asked.

“I am, dear boy,” Ducky said as he walked out of his office. “What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to let you know the trial is done,” Tony said. “Brown was declared guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence has been carried out.”

“Ah. Well, that’s not a surprise,” Ducky said. He reached back into his office to pick up a teacup and sipped from it. “Thank you for letting us know.”

“You’re welcome, Ducky,” Tony said with a nod. “1 did want to talk to you about something else, not entirely work-related though.”

“Ah. Would it be what I heard you talking about to our dear Abby?” Ducky asked after taking another sip of his tea.

“Yes,” Tony confirmed. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”

Ducky hummed softly under his breath before he cocked his head to the side. “Well, now. I can understand Abby, but why me?”

“Because you’re my friend, first and foremost,” Tony said bluntly. “And in all the time I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you with a Pack. I offered before, and I wanted to offer again. You know we would love to have you and your mom in our Pack.”

“Oh, my dear boy,” Ducky sighed. “I have a pack. It’s actually quite large for a family pack.”

“Ducky?” Tony asked. He frowned as he stared at the older man and tried to slot the new information into place with what he knew about him. Which, now that he was thinking about it, wasn’t as much as he’d originally thought. “When did you come over to the US?”

“I came over in 1946,” Ducky said with a small smile.

“Long time to hold onto the accent,” Tony mused. “I’m going to take a stab in the dark here. I don’t know your age, but the stories have given me some hints… You served in WWII for the British, and somewhere along the way, you fell in love with an American Nurse and came over here with her after WWII. From there, I’m going to guess that family Pack you mentioned is made up of your children?”

“Very good, Tony,” Ducky said with a smirk before taking a final sip of his tea. “Your guesses are very close.”

“Okay then,” Tony said. “I’m going to guess again that one of your children is the Alpha of your family Pack?”

“My eldest son, yes. I need to introduce you two, I think,” Ducky said with a smile. He held his teacup up and rocked it back and forth. “One moment while I refresh my tea.”

Tony nodded once and glanced over at Gerald. “And you?”

“Utterly human and I’m not in a Pack at all,” Gerald said cheerfully. “I wasn’t interested in being part of Ducky’s Pack.”

“And if I invite you into mine?” Tony asked. “I mean, I would want you to learn about who we are and what we’re like, so you don’t need to answer now. But I would like you to consider it.”

“Ducky?” Gerald asked. When the older man walked out of his office, Gerald waved a hand at Tony. “What do you think?”

“Tony is a very conscientious Alpha. He’d take very good care of you.”

“Would I need to take the bite?” Gerald asked.

“No. But I would like to confirm if you’d be good with taking the bite in case of serious injury,” Tony said. He frowned at him and cocked his head to the side. “I need to make sure that Abby thinks about that as well.”

“I’m good with getting the bite if I’m injured. I know that it’s a chance we take when we go out, no matter how well a site is cleared, things still happen,” Gerald said with a shrug. “And I’d like to start getting to know your Pack.”

“Thank you. I’ll warn my Pack what I’m planning and let them know I’m bringing some new people in,” Tony said.

“Will you ask Jethro?” Ducky asked.

“No,” Tony said bluntly. “I did that a while ago, and he’s not interested. I’m not going to press unless there’s no other choice.”

“Good idea,” Gerald said.

“Very good idea,” Ducky concurred.

“I do have them occasionally,” Tony said. He held out a hand to Gerald and shook it when the other man took it. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Thank you, lad,” Ducky said. Tony walked out and notched his hearing up slightly as the door to Autopsy closed. He wanted to hear what else Ducky had to say. “He’s very serious about his offer, my boy. And I’ve heard nothing bad about his Pack. Honestly, his Pack, while small, is full of competent people who make waves in subtle and far-reaching ways. You’ll fit in very well.”

“That sounds promising,” Gerald said with what sounded like a smile.

“Yes. Also, Tony likes to feed his Pack very well, so you’re going to thoroughly enjoy the wooing process,” Ducky promised.

Tony mentally preened at Ducky’s words. All of it was true, and his Pack was awesome. Competent, pretty, and accomplished. All good words regarding his Pack. He was very proud of them.

Right.

Now that he’d gotten the enjoyable offers out of the way, he needed to get back to work. Well. Tony checked his watch and shrugged. He needed to check in with Gibbs and then call it a day. Because Ducky was right. He had a Pack to feed and a Mate to impress.