Last Second Save

Title: Last Second Save
Author: myredturtle
Fandom: NCIS/Teen Wolf
Characters: Tony DiNozzo, Derek Hale, Kate Argent, OMC
Rating: T (for violence and icky kissing) no pairing (but after they meet, Tony and Peter totally bang. Not in this story, though, sadly.)
Word Count: 983
Warnings: No beta. Canon level violence. Brief portrayal of canon predator kissing underage victim. Minor character death.
Note: I’m moving NCIS episode ‘Chained’ to a month after the air date, which makes it mid-January 2005. Also, other liberties are taken with both Teen Wolf and NCIS canon, and USA law enforcement procedures. I don’t care. It’s staying that way.

 

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For all that he played the clown at work, in truth, Tony DiNozzo was as much of a work-a-holic as his hard-assed boss. So being forced to take leave after his eventful undercover op was galling.

To be fair, it wasn’t all Gibb’s fault. Ducky had ‘suggested’ to the Director that ‘the dear boy’ needed a break after ‘his traumatic experience’. Gibbs Just hadn’t fought the decision.

“Take the time, DiNozzo,” was Gibbs’ response to Tony’s complaints. “It’s only two weeks. Now get out of here, I don’t want to see your face again before February.”

Which all led to him, Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, watching high school basketball in some out-of-the-way town in southern California. Although, Kyle had mentioned that if it was summer, they’d be watching lacrosse.

Thank heaven for small mercies.

Okay, so maybe he was being a bit unfair. The game itself wasn’t anything particularly special, but one kid on the home team very definitely was. The kid was young, but clearly star material.

“That’s Derek Hale,” Kyle said at half time. “We’re all pretty confident he’ll be going pro. If you want, I can introduce you later? He’d probably be interested in any advice you can give him.”

“All right,” Tony agreed as the second half began. It was something to do, anyway.

v^v^v

Apparently, Kyle had really settled into small town life. They couldn’t go three steps before they were stopped by curious townsfolk. Then introductions had to be made, and invitations gently rebuffed.

Kyle, the bastard, was doing this on purpose.

Tony had asked his buddy – and his wife Sarah, of course – to keep his status as a federal agent quiet for the duration of this visit. Tony just did not feel like answering the same prurient questions over and over again, not when one of them was inevitably about his kill-count.

Which meant that when people inevitably asked what he did for a living, Kyle had a great time painting him as some kind of rich playboy. Why a rich playboy would be spending time in a town like this didn’t seem to be a question anyone felt the need to ask.

Tony plastered on his smarmiest smile and plotted his revenge against one of his oldest friends.

Finally, they made their way out into the brisk afternoon breeze.

“Hopefully Derek hasn’t left yet,” Kyle remarked as they made their way over to the parking lot. “I wasn’t expecting you to be quite that popular. Sarah and I sure as hell didn’t get that kind of reaction when we moved here!”

“It’s like you’ve forgotten how irresistible I am,” Tony replied, eyebrows going up as they turned a corner and he saw the kid they were looking for, back against a car, kissing a smoking hot blonde.

“Damn,” Kyle muttered. “That is one fine lady.”

“Jocks get all the play,” Tony agreed absently, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

There was something not quite right. Tony had spent a lot of time observing the female form, and the woman in front of him didn’t strike him as a teenager at all.

That impression was only confirmed when she and Hale stopped kissing, and he saw her face. Hell no, that particular lady was considerably older than the teen she’d just been playing tonsil-hockey with.

“Hey, Derek!” Kyle called out, apparently not bothered by the sight. “I want to introduce you to my buddy here!”

At first, Hale looked reluctant to let go of his partner. He smiled as she whispered something in his ear, and then watched adoringly as she stepped away.

“Must dash,” she said, her voice low and sultry. “I’ll let you boys talk about boring sports without me.”

Tony gave her an exaggerated once-over, playboy smile at full force. “What a pity,” he said. “I’m sure you could have added quite a lot to the conversation. My name’s Tony, and you are?”

“Leaving,” she said, and with a careless wave got into a nearly new, black, SUV with tinted windows, and drove off.

Ignoring Hale’s scowl, Tony took note of the plate details. There was something seriously wrong here. Cradle-robbing-blonde was gorgeous, stacked, full of confidence. Going by the ride she wasn’t short of cash. What the hell was she doing courting a prison sentence?

Tony could think of several reasons why a woman like that would be after a kid Hale’s age, and none of them were good. What’s more, the way she’d extricated herself from the situation without giving any personal information whatsoever spoke of practice.

Shit.

Hopefully, Abby was bored and would be willing to help him out. This whole situation reeked like month-old unwashed gym socks. For now, he had a teenager to placate. Luckily, he’d once been Hale’s age.

“Man, you are so lucky!” he said admiringly. “She’s really into you, isn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Hale replied with a goofy smile, showing off two front teeth that were slightly too big for the rest of his mouth. “She’s awesome, right? I can’t believe she’s in love with me!”

Neither could Tony. Fuck, this was going to be a mess.

v^v^v

Five days later

He was almost too late. The information he’d gathered on the Argent’s and their frequent proximity to death had been highly concerning. Unfortunately, with no evidence and no open investigation, there was nothing he could take to local law enforcement.

He’d finally decided to lay his concerns before Hale’s parent’s, and following Kyle’s directions, made his way out to their house in the early evening.

Just in time to catch Kate Argent in the act.

The smell of accelerant was strong in the air. He had no backup.

Rather than surrender when he identified himself as a Federal Agent, Kate Argent ducked down and reached inside her jacket. When her hand came back out holding a revolver, Tony shot her.

He fucking hated fire.