I don't own NCIS or any of the characters from the show. That's too bad for me. If you want to know a bit more about Eve Dupree then read Trouble Rides A Fast Horse. Okay, I had a few requests for a sequel, and my muse decided that Tony and Eve needed another play date. So, here they are. There is just no telling what kind of trouble these two are going to get into…
Avoiding the Rocks
Siren song refers to an appeal that is hard to resist but that, if heeded, will lead to a bad result.
Gibbs was definitely going to kill him this time.
How had he managed to get himself involved in yet another mess with the CIA? It definitely had something to do with the woman sitting across from him in the bar. When he saw her sitting at the table with a cigarette in hand it should have been a dead giveaway that something was going on; he probably should have known better, but he had never been able to resist her siren song.
It had been six months since he had awakened in the silence of his apartment to find her sitting in the living room like she'd never left. Six months spent exploring whatever it was that had tied them together in the first place. It hadn't been easy. His job involved long hours and stress, and he never knew exactly what it was she was doing from one day to the next. He knew that she had spent incredibly long hours at Langley every day, and that was the extent of it.
When he had received it earlier that day, he hadn't thought twice about the text message to meet her at their favorite blues bar. They often went there after work to drink, dance and decompress, but this time, something was definitely up.
She was wearing that black, low cut, slinky dress and the stiletto heels that always made him want to beg. Hell, she knew it; she had a way of knowing exactly how to play him like a finely tuned instrument. Then again, that did go both ways. No matter where the CIA sent her, she kept coming back to him after each assignment. They had some incomprehensible tie to each other; it had bound them together during their first mission, and kept them coming back to each other now. It wasn't love; it was something more complicated that neither really wanted to define. They just enjoyed the fireworks that went along with whatever it was.
She had quit smoking six months ago, so when he saw her sitting at the table blowing contemplative smoke rings towards the ceiling it should have been enough to send alarm bells ringing in his head. Unfortunately, where Eve Dupree was concerned Tony knew that his judgment wasn't always as sound as it could be.
He sat across the table from her and waited patiently. He knew eventually she would tell him whatever it was that was on her mind. The more time they spent together the better he had gotten at reading exactly what was going on inside that head of hers. He didn't have long to wait. She finally reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope, sliding it across the table to him.
"What's going on here, Eve?" He indicated the cigarette rather than the envelope that he had yet to open. "I thought you quit."
She gave him an amused smile and just shrugged her shoulder casually. "I did, for a while."
"Are you going to tell me what's in the envelope?"
"Tony, just open the damn thing. It's self explanatory."
He took a sip from his martini then turned his attention to the envelope. Opening it he found new documents for Anthony DiSalvo. "What's this for?"
"I've got to go back to Ciudad Del Este. My arms dealer is back from Italy, and I want to get him this time. I'm going in undercover, and I need someone with me. I don't trust Kort, not for this. Besides, he made too many enemies the last time he worked an arms dealer." She stopped short of mentioning the name Rene Benoit, knowing that was still a sore spot with him. "What do you think? It's a three day operation. You're taking leave next week. We go in, get this done, and get out. No problem."
Tony looked unconvinced. He remembered what had happened the last time he'd gone undercover with her. They'd both almost gotten killed multiple times. Then again, it would be an adventure.
"Come on, it'll be fun, Tony. The two of us back in the tropics on the CIA's dime; what could be better?" She reached across the table and grabbed his hand, rubbing her thumb across his palm suggestively.
"How about that week in Miami we planned?"
"Tony, this is three days then we'll go to Miami. I promise."
"You don't make promises, remember?"
"I really hate it when you throw my own words back in my face. I promise, okay? What could possibly go wrong?" She leaned back in her chair and toyed with the small diamond pendant he had given to her for her last birthday.
He thought about all of the possible scenarios, several which included one or both of them dying. He also weighed Gibbs' response to his further involvement with the CIA. It was on his lips to refuse, but then he found himself saying, "Okay, I'll do it. You're right; it'll be fun. Tony and Eve DiSalvo, it kind of reminds me of Bonnie and Clyde."
She smiled and gave him a look that had his pulse racing. He stood and held out his hand to pull her from her chair and said, "Come on, let's go home."
The next morning at NCIS Tony found himself being called into MTAC with both Director Vance and Gibbs. When he entered the room he found a four-way video conference between NCIS, the SecNav's office, the CIA and General Hamilton Dupree's offices in the Pentagon. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but Gibbs did not look happy. Tony finally leaned over to him and asked in a whisper, "What's going on here"
Gibbs turned his ice blue eyes towards his Senior Field Agent and said just as quietly, "Why don't you tell me?"
Before Tony could reply Vance said, "We're all here. Will someone explain what this operation has to do with NCIS and why you want to borrow my agent?"
The General leaned forward, "Good mornin', Gentlemen. Tony, how're you doing, Son?"
"I'm good, Ham, just curious about what's going on here."
Director John Maxwell motioned for Eve to step up beside him then said, "Agent Dupree has been tracking an Italian Arms Dealer who goes by the code name Apollo. He's been doing business in Ciudad Del Este. We have solid Intel that he's got his eye on the new software being used for our cruise missile systems. This makes this operation fall partially under NCIS' jurisdiction. Our Intel tells us that Apollo is going to be in the TBA for three days next week. Agent Dupree is going in to pick up the target; I would like Agent DiNozzo to go in undercover with her as her back-up."
Gibbs scowled in frustration. He was getting damn tired of random agencies borrowing his Senior Field Agent. "DiNozzo is on my team. Just what are we supposed to do while he's off in South America?"
The SecNav inclined his head to the side and answered, "Special Agent Gibbs, I appreciate your dilemma, that's why we're sending your team along as back up for this operation. I am assigning your team to this project; you leave Monday morning at 0600. Your team is off rotation until this assignment is completed."
Tony could feel Gibbs' eyes boring into him. He'd been right the previous night. Gibbs was definitely going to kill him.
Gibbs sat brooding at his desk, drinking his coffee at an alarming rate. He couldn't believe this. Tony was going in undercover again, with Eve Dupree again. This was getting ridiculous, same song, different dance. He had to admit that Tony had seemed happier since she had returned to Washington. Although, he hadn't seen as much of his second in command since she'd reentered the picture. From the familiar way General Dupree had spoken, he assumed that Tony had been spending time with her family. Gibbs admitted it, he was a bit jealous. He considered Tony his de facto son, and it hurt him just a bit that he might have found another family to spend time with. Really though, what did he expect? Did he expect for Tony to never settle down?
His was distracted by the arrival of McGee and Ziva to the bullpen. They looked at Gibbs with trepidation; he was drinking his coffee as if his life depended on it. They had taken an early lunch and discussed the upcoming mission. They agreed that something was definitely hinky about it, but they were excited at the prospect of going to Paraguay. Ziva knew that she would see some of her Mossad colleagues, and she was happy about that. She was worried about working with Eve Dupree again. The last time had almost cost Tony his life. As far as she was concerned Agent Dupree was nothing but trouble.
Tony was settled at his desk working through his back log of paperwork in anticipation of his departure on Saturday morning. He and Eve were going in a couple of days early to get established in the city and to make contact with her local Asset. He was excited about the idea of the mission, but kept thinking about the previous night. Eve liked to play games; it was part of her allure, but sometimes he wished that she'd take a desk job for a change. Knowing her as he did, he realized that the possibility was highly unlikely.
Tony and Eve met for lunch at a small café near the Navy Yard. He sat down in the chair across from her and promptly asked, "Did you know about that little meeting when you asked me to do this?"
"If I had, do you think I would have asked you about it last night? Give me a bit of credit. That little meeting was my Father's idea. I told him about the mission early this morning, and he didn't like the idea of the two of us going to the TBA without back-up."
Tony flashed a grin. "Ham is a wise man. He knows you better than you think."
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You are a bad influence on him. He's gotten over protective the last six months."
"Someone has to protect you. You keep taking on these dangerous assignments, so obviously I'm not doing a very good job of it."
She reached out and put her hand on his cheek and gave him an intense stare, locking her emerald green eyes with his jade ones. "You saved my life. No one has ever done a better job of looking after me. Let's face it, Tony; I'm not exactly low maintenance."
"Yeah, ya think?" He laughed and broke the seriousness of the mood.
She chuckled softly and picked up her menu.
The night before he was to leave for Paraguay Tony picked up a pizza and a six pack and made his way down the staircase to Gibbs' basement. He found his boss silently working on the boat. He sat on the bottom step and opened a beer and waited for Gibbs to say something. Finally after a long silence broken only with the sound of Gibbs sanding the boat he said, "Eve came to me last night with this assignment. I agreed to go with her before I knew you were going in as back-up, but I'm really glad you and the rest of the team are going to be there to watch our sixes."
Gibbs turned from the boat, and, ignoring the beer, went straight for the bourbon. "What am I going to do with you? I don't know what it is about this girl, but when it comes to her you have no common sense. You were going to go to the TBA without back up? When you were on leave so it'd be a week before anyone knew if you were missing? Tony, where's your head at?"
Tony hung his head a bit and replied, "I know, Boss. I was going to tell you, but we got called into that meeting in MTAC before I got the chance."
Gibbs nodded and took a deep breath to control his blood pressure. Getting angry at Tony would only exacerbate a bad situation. "DiNozzo, I want you to be careful. We'll be there on Monday morning, and I expect a full sit rep from you as soon as we're on the ground."
"Of course, Boss. Hey, do you want some of this pizza?"
Gibbs laughed and reached for the pizza box. The two men spent the remainder of the evening in companionable silence while Gibbs continued to work on the boat.
Early Monday afternoon Gibbs, Ziva and McGee finally made their way to the designated safe house to meet Tony and Eve. They arrived to find it completely empty. Gibbs began to feel a churning in his gut when he called Tony's cell phone and the call went directly to voicemail. They settled in to wait, thinking that he would saunter in soon and have some excuse as to why he wasn't there to meet them. Finally after a couple of hours Gibbs' cell phone rang loudly. "Yeah, Gibbs."
"Boss." Tony was whispering, and Gibbs could barely hear what he was saying.
"Why aren't you here with my sit rep, DiNozzo?"
"I've got kind of a situation here, Boss. I can't really talk."
"You better start by explaining to me what kind of situation you've got going on there."
"Apollo got here a day early. We've been tracking him through the city to find out who his contact is. We're holed up waiting for him to make a move. Get McGee to trace this call and get over here. I'm afraid we're going to need some back-up before this is over with. I've gotta go. I'll see you soon."
Gibbs motioned for McGee to get his laptop out and start a trace on the phone call. "Tony, you sit tight. We'll be there ASAP. Don't make a move until I get there."
"I'll try." Gibbs swore loudly as the phone went dead in his hand.
"Grab your gear. DiNozzo's in trouble again."