Go West young man

Chapter 5

AN: see part one for disclaimers. Apparently I should label my Gibbs as OOC.

Three hours later Tony and Gibbs were going through security at the airport. Gibbs had argued against Tony joining him but he couldn’t convince the younger man to stay behind. Instead Tony had quickly and efficiently arranged their travel while Gibbs packed their bags. He called the director and arranged for some time off, explaining that there had been a death in the family. Tony fortunately was still on sick leave so there was no need to give details as to why they both needed time off.

While they waited for the plane to board, they called both Ducky and Abby to let them know their plans. Gibbs also passed the names of his nephew and his nephew’s mentor to Abby to see what she could dig up. With her assurance that any info she found would be sent to Tony’s PDA by the time they arrived in LA, they boarded the plane and settled in for the ride.

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Giles quietly snuck back into Xander’s hospital room with a plastic bag tucked under his arm. He felt a little foolish sneaking the bag of goodies past the nurses but he was sure they wouldn’t approve. His quietness proved to be unnecessary as he found Xander awake, sitting up in bed, poking at the meal in front of him.

Giles couldn’t help but laugh at the disgusted look on the boy’s battered face. He had seen Xander look less revolted when dealing with demon guts, fish monsters and Bezoar eggs than with the food in front of him.

“How can they call this food? I mean, she told me this was lunch but nothing here appears to be edible.” Xander poked at the unidentifiable blob masquerading as food on his plate. “In fact I think I’ve seen demon guts that look tastier than this!”

Giles chuckled again. “Good to see you in a better mood. How are you feeling?”

“Hungry and sore but getting better. Real food would definitely help the healing process.” Xander pushed the tray of hospital food away from him as Giles sat in the chair next to the bed,

“Given some of the things I’ve seen you eat, I doubt you would know good food if it bit you on the nose.”

“Well, I know enough to know that it’s not supposed to bite you on the nose.” Xander grinned.

“Ah, the wisdom of youth. Luckily, I have been forced to eat hospital food a time or two in my day so I thought ahead. I figured you would be ready for some comfort food right about now.” With that Giles handed the bag to Xander. “Just don’t let the nurses catch you.”

Xander reach into the bag and pulled out a box of snack cakes. “Twinkies! The food of the gods!! Giles, you are my hero!” Xander ripped into the box and quickly stuffed one in his mouth. “So good!! Thank you!”

“You’re most welcome.”

“Did you get a hold of my uncle?” Xander mumbled with a mouth full of Twinkies.

“Yes. He said that you are more than welcome to stay with him for the summer. He’s on his way here now.”

“Really? Wow. I kind of thought it was a shot in the dark. I mean, I don’t even remember meeting the guy. Mom talked about him once in a while, usually around the holidays but never when dad was around.”

“He seemed like a stern fellow but he was quite concerned about you. He asked for details about the attack and about what the police were doing.”

Xander giggled at that thought. “What did you tell him?”

“I left out most of the details. I told him that some things were best discussed in person. I did explain that the local police leave much to be desired. He introduced himself as Special Agent Gibbs so he’s obviously in some sort of law enforcement.”

“The only thing that mom ever mentioned was that he was in the marines and he fought in the first Gulf war.”

“Well you’ll be able to ask him yourself in a few hours.”

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Gibbs grimaced as he sipped the coffee he picked up in LAX. They had enjoyed a luxurious plane from DC in first class. He didn’t even want to know how Tony had managed it or how much it had cost. There would be time to worry about that later.

He and Tony were waiting for their connecting flight to Sunnydale. Tony had his PDA in one hand and he was holding his phone to his ear with the other. “Thanks Abbs. You want to talk to Gibbs?” After a moment he passed the phone to Jethro and began reading the information that she had sent them.

“Hey Gibbs! How is sunny California?”

“Too bright. Were you able to dig anything up?”

“Well, Rupert Giles is a British national. He’s been living in Sunnydale, California as the high school librarian for the last two years. Before that he was a researcher at the British museum in London. Seems like an odd career move but I couldn’t find anything else about it. He had a bit of a rebellious youth but has been clean ever since. Alexander Harris is your typical High school student. His grades aren’t the greatest but his standardised test results tell a different story. He’s been mentioned in a few police reports but always as a witness. That police department is a mess Gibbs. There are so many incomplete files and investigations that just seem to stop without any results.”

“Well,” Gibbs took the opportunity to speak while Abby took a breath. “Mr. Giles did say that the Sunnydale PD weren’t very good. I’m sure it’s all part of what was better said in person.”

“Just watch your back Gibbs. There is something seriously hinky about this place. I have a bad feeling about this. I’m going to keep digging and see what else I could find.”

“Thanks again Abby. We’ll call you again when we know more. Could you let Ducky know what’s going on?”

“Sure thing Boss man. What about Kate and Tim? You know they’ll ask when you don’t show up on Monday. I know Tony’s not supposed to be back yet. But you know Kate”

“It’s okay Abby. Just tell her it was a family emergency and that I’ll explain everything when I get back.” Gibbs hung up the phone and handed it back to Tony.

“There are some seriously weird inconsistencies about this place Boss. They’ve got enough cemeteries for a city three times the size. Tonnes of missing person and strange injuries reported. And the police don’t seem to care. I just don’t get it.” Tony shook his head in disbelief.

“Well, the mystery will have to wait until we get there.” With that their flight was called and they were one step closer to Sunnydale.





AN: next chapter Gibbs brings the hammer down!!


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Another AN: totally unrelated to this fic but I missed the chance to see Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk perform at the Edmonton Fringe festival last night. They were the surprise guest stars in Die-Nasty an improve show. And I’m planning to go on Friday but they probably won’t be there again. Grrrr