Author's Note: Hi everybody! And here we are...one more fanfic from me. This is going to be a short story and I am not going to be updating as fast as I have in the past - but I also won't be letting this story languish in never-never updateland either. I'm bad and I haven't had a beta reader check this out but I think this chapter at least is fairly clean.
Also, this story picks up circa now (Spring 2014) in NCIS. Many months after Ziva left the team and asked Tony to go. I am using actual cannon plot threads and expanding on them. If parts sound convoluted.. remember I used bits that have already been on the show so blame them! LOL. I tried to tailor this story to fit with what has actually been done on NCIS. (It wasn't easy!).
I dedicate this story to all of you as a thank you for your wonderful feedback in the past! Hope you enjoy!
"Was that Trent Kort?" Tony sneered up at the doorway to Vance's office as he returned with a falafel lunch for him and McGee.
"Yup," McGee nodded before he took the greasy paper bag from Tony. "He said to say hi to you."
Tony rolled his eyes as he took a seat at his desk. "Bossman up there getting the skinny from the one-eyed spy?"
"Nope," McGee took a swig from his soda, "He and Bishop went out to arrest Lt. Dawson for smuggling that fake designer stuff."
"I wonder if his prison mates are going to start asking him for fashion tips?" Tony shrugged and bit into his falafel.
"You know," McGee poured a bit more sauce onto his falafel, "Bishop is going to have to do the ROI for this case since she and Gibbs are the arresting officers."
Tony glanced over at McGee and smiled broadly, "Meaning we get to call it an early day. I like the way your mind works, Probie."
"We might even make it out before they get back," McGee commented. "Abby did want a rematch at Zombie Kill. She still can't believe you beat her."
"She does realize I am a trained Federal Agent, right?" Tony raised an eyebrow at McGee.
"Well..." McGee glanced over at Tony, "you know, Abby and her will to beat us both."
"Ok," Tony nodded. "We'll sneak out before Bishop whines about the ROI's and I'll bring the pizza from Giuseppe's."
Tony craned his neck to look up the stairs, "What do you think Kort is here to discuss?"
"Who knows with him," McGee's eyes followed Tony's to look at the stairs. "Probably wants to use NCIS agents as CIA mind control experiments."
"I wouldn't put it past him..." Tony trailed off before returning to his food. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as Kort's mere presence in the building rubbed all the wrong spots.
He polished off his falafel, wiped his hands and grinned at McGee as he took off for the men's room. Tony had to admit he was curious about Kort and sidestepped the men's room for a ride up the elevator to MTAC. He knew Kort was in Vance's office but Jamie was the top floor's gossip and if anyone knew what was going on Jamie, the MTAC operator, did.
And as he suspected, Jamie had the dish. Kort had come by to update Vance on joint NCIS/CIA ops in Bahrain. Not as exciting as Tony had thought it would be.
Tony stepped onto the elevator again and wandered to the men's room finally. His mind drifted to tonight's game briefly before drifting back to what...who it always drifted to. Instead of thinking about strategy to beat Abby again he remembered a certain ninja's shamelessness about walking into the men's room. There wasn't a corner of this building that didn't remind him of her and that was one of the reasons that most days he simply preferred to be at the office.
Today would be an exception. It'd be nice to leave a bit early and stick Bishop with the paperwork.
Tony finished up and started to wash his hands with the new sandalwood scented hand soap someone had the bright idea to get for NCIS when low and behold Kort stepped in and joined him at the sink.
"If it isn't the Dread Pirate Kort," Tony smirked as he ripped paper from the dispenser, "Give my regards to Jack Sparrow."
"Hey," Kort called, "got a question for you, DiNozzo."
Tony stopped and turned from the door to face Kort, "I am afraid I can't give you hair styling tips. It's a loss cause, Kort, best to embrace the shine." He then turned to leave and placed his hand on the handle.
"Do you care about David?" Kort asked bluntly.
Tony was rooted in place as Ziva's name spilled from Kort's lips. The cool metal handle he gripped suddenly turned ice cold. He turned back to face the shorter man with hard accusation in his stare, "What do you know?" he demanded.
Kort glanced at the door and Tony locked it quickly, "I said what do you know?" Tony asked again as he approached Kort.
"I know I shouldn't be telling you this and I know that I owe her," Kort stood his ground, "she saved my ass a couple of times," he paused, "recently."
"Saved your ass?" Tony narrowed his eyes, "She is supposed to be finding her peace; so what the hell are you saying? That she is ... working?"
"Did you really buy that Ziva David was so broken that she had to do a trek to Tibet?" Kort rolled his eyes up at Tony. "It was the only excuse she could think of to get you to...to go."
"Where the hell is she?" Tony's jaw clenched. Tension coiled in his body as it also mixed with fear. Fear that Ziva was in something she couldn't handle alone...fear that the CIA had anything to do with her. "What the hell is going on?"
"You didn't answer the question," Kort challenged, "Am I going to spill the beans so you can sleep well at night knowing the mystery of Ziva David or are you going to man up and help?"
"Know this Kort," Tony spoke low, his voice hard as he hovered over Kort, "I would give my life for Ziva without thought. She asked me to go. I didn't want to leave her. I would have stayed in Israel if she hadn't asked for time."
That moment on that damn airport tarmac rushed back into his mind's eye. She said all the right things to maneuver him onto that plane. She needed her space, time to heal, time to sort through what she wanted for her life. Tony's first instinct had been to argue with her but in the end he got on that plane; and since it felt like the biggest mistake of his life.
Kort stared at him for a long moments. He was obviously assessing Tony's reactions.
"I love her," Tony declared, "know that."
Kort nodded, clearly convinced, "I don't have much time," he said as he glanced at the door. "My reason for being here today was complete BS and after I tell you this there is nothing else I can do."
"I have an entire team that will protect her," Tony assured.
"No," Kort shook his head, "they can't know. You aren't supposed to know. It would just unleash a hell we don't want right now. This mission that she is on; it is not just about our lives or hers."
"What is it?" Tony took a step back.
"When you told her to go to ground in Israel because of Parsa and the attack on the team she wound up at her father's secret safe house," Kort started.
"Yes, I know," Tony nodded, "we sent people to find her. Does this trace back to Parsa in some way?"
"It has nothing to do with Parsa or those events. They were just the catalyst for Ziva entering that house," Kort continued. "Eli left her something there. A journal. A journal that explained a hell of alot about what led to his death. Believe it or not DiNozzo," he smirked, "Even the CIA hasn't uncovered all of Mossad's secrets.
"She is still trying to avenge her father's death?" Tony's heart clenched.
"It's more than that," Kort glanced around, clearly out of habit, "CIA refers to this as the Nemesis Op. The people behind Eli's death, behind Bodnar are protecting a terrorist plan that has been in play for a decade. The peace that Eli was trying to broker with Iran jeopardized this plan...so they took him and Kazmi out."
"Wait a minute," Tony peered at Kort, "how do you know all of this?"
"Ziva came to the CIA with the information," Kort confirmed Tony's suspicion, "she came through me. I became her point person for this op. She simply didn't want to get you or the team caught up in this mess."
"So why are you suddenly telling me all of this?" Tony's tone accused, "why isn't CIA protecting her?"
"We can't outright," Kort answered, "if it gets out that we are working with her or that she is in contact with us or you guys then they'll likely set off whatever it is they have planted here in DC. That is what this is all about."
Kort rolled his shoulders and glanced at the door one more time, "There is a splinter group with Al Qaeda principles, Iranian backing among other things. Kazmi wanted to gut them and destroy their attack. An attack that they focused here in DC. Selling them out to Eli would prove to Eli that Kazmi was serious about this peace."
"What kind of attack?" Tony pressed.
"Something bigger than 9/11," Kort explained. "But we don't know the details. That is what Ziva is trying to find out. Eli explained this to her through the journal. But we don't have all the details except that it is centered in DC and may involve a Broken Arrow."
"So you have Ziva out there by herself looking for a loose nuke?" Tony said incredulously.
"We aren't sure it is a nuke but it is a good guess," Kort affirmed. "The people behind the terror op don't believe Ziva knows all of these details. They think she broke away from you and NCIS in order to avenge Eli. That this is a continuation of the Bodnar hunt."
"How did she sell that?" Tony tried to control the anger coursing through his veins.
"Her resignation from NCIS and Bodnar's death sold it. They think she is hunting them because Bodnar was sloppy and said something to her before he died. If it comes out she has had CIA or NCIS help then they'll know she is better informed than they think. And we are afraid they'll activate their plan before we have a chance to diffuse anything. Thousands...more could die, DiNozzo, know that. She is doing this...all of this... to prevent those deaths."
"Why come clean now, Kort?" Tony asked through gritted teeth.
"I think that she is done," Kort gave a quick nod. "She has managed to avoid them so far but she is being hunted ruthlessly. She has taken out a number of their group. They didn't want to tip their hand at first but now they think she is getting too close. The information Morrow gave Vance during the whole Parsa thing was overlapping information. Parsa wasn't after her beyond hurting the Navy and taking out a few NCIS agents. The threat came from this terrorist group."
"If CIA knew this at the time," Tony was practically yelling then lowered his voice, "why not share with us? We were in a position to protect her!" he spat.
"They didn't want her protected, DiNozzo," Kort stated flatly. "This is not just a bunch of crazy terrorist's from the Middle East and the Iranians but looks like there might be Russian involvement too. There are afraid of what Kazmi told Eli and if Eli passed the information to Ziva. CIA is using her and she is fully aware of it."
Tony wanted to strangle Kort but instead took a step back, "She's a pawn."
"She is a very dangerous pawn but yes," Kort confirmed. "This decade long plan is more than the sand dwellers cobbling some IED and sticking them in potted plants around the city. It means this attack is some type of failsafe. A failsafe that certain government concerns put in place. A way to destabilize the US while they do what they want elsewhere."
Kort paced away from the wall then faced Tony, "She has been tossed around some and is in no real shape... she is intercepting some type of shipment tonight. Ziva thinks it'll be the answer to what type of attack they have planned. CIA isn't sure and doesn't want to back her and blow her cover. They are going to let her die so they can covertly follow the shipment. But if there was someone there who could pull her out? Keep her off the grid...they'd be saving her life."
"Where is she going to be?"