Trouble and Heartache
Author: Alexz Recoro
Summary: Tony's undercover assignment leads to trouble for him and the women he has slowly fallen in love with.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Feedback: Please read and review
AN: Umm, in 'Singled Out', does anyone remember the name of the case that Tony was working undercover on? I don't, so I'm going to make something up. Sorry if that bothers anyone, but I honestly can't remember the name, and nothing was said about it after that. Hopefully we'll get the story someday, but for now I'm using artistic license.
CHAPTER ONE
"Jenny, she's in trouble!"
"You can't know that Tony."
"There's a leak. I know that and you know that. That is the only way my cover could have gotten blown. We need to get her out of there!"
"Tony, she's not NCIS, she's FBI. I can't pull her out, even if I wanted to, which I do. All I can do is warn the FBI that you were made. They have to make the decision to pull her out."
"But she was the one who got me in! Jenny, they'll kill her!"
"I'm sorry Tony. But she was in the organization before you, it's possible that she can convince them that you fooled her as well as them. All we can do is hope that if there is trouble, she can call for help."
"My God." Tony fell down into the chair and put his face in his hands. Jenny felt horrible for her young agent. For two months now, Tony had been slowly infiltrating the Maltese Organization, a powerful crime syndicate that had ties to everything from drugs, to murder for hire, and even arms dealing. The FBI had an agent, Lakota 'Cody' Jackson, in place. When Cody had alert her superiors that the higher ups in the crime ring were starting to get their hooks into Navy contacts, the FBI had contacted NCIS and Jenny had assured them that she would put her best undercover agent on the job. Tony was that agent. Cody had got him in by claiming he was a childhood friend of her 'brother', who had died in prison. She claimed that Tony had done a stint in prison, and had gotten shived when he tried to protect her brother. Lucky for that story, Tony actually had been stabbed by an inmate while he was in Baltimore and had the scar to prove it. And thanks to the computer genius at the FBI and NCIS, he had a criminal record too.
From the first time he had meet Cody, Tony knew she was different. She was originally from New York, and had a thick accent that got thicker when she was agitated. She was tough, sarcastic, completely cool under pressure, and had a wicked sense of humor that could bring Tony to his knees with laughter. She had a black belt in several different schools of martial arts, and could outshoot anyone with any weapon, except Tony with a handgun. They had competitions all the time, and they most often ended in ties. They were also tied in the few times one or the other had won. To be honest, Cody had helped Tony become an even better shot because he competitive nature refused to let him lose to, as he teasingly called Cody, a 'fed' or 'feeb'.
With her long, curly dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, her smooth, pale skin and even the small sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose, Cody looked like a textbook definition of innocent. And her small frame (she was barely five foot, and weighed 110 soaking wet) only added to the illusion. But Tony knew she could knock a grown man off his feet with one right hook, and he found it amusing. She and Tony had got along famously from the first time they meet, because he hadn't tried to flirt with her. Instead, he had treated her like a friend and a colleague, and she respected that. After watching each other's back in several stage firefights with law enforcement, designed to raise Tony and Cody in the eyes of the higher up, Tony and Cody trusted each other with their lives, and had a healthy respect for the others abilities, as an investigator, an undercover agent and their abilities to stay cool under fire.
They were also becoming fast friends. More than one member of the Maltese Organization had suggested that they were dating, and they denied it, but did nothing to hide their friendship. The Organization, which encouraged it's members to forge friendship and relationships inside the Organization in order to keep people loyal to their friends, was pleased that two of it's rising stars were friends. Cody had even reported to Tony that some of the inner circle, the twelve highest people in the Organization, who ran it, had even encouraged her to marry Tony. After they had stopped laughing, Tony and Cody had gone over to her undercover apartment to plan their next move. They spent a lot of time with each other, and enjoyed verbally sparring with each other, especially Tony, because when she got agitated, her New York accent got so thick that no one could understand her. Their verbal battles of wits were legendary in the Organization, often leaving other member rolling with laughter, along with Cody and Tony.
Tony cared about Cody a lot. He knew that. But he had never realized how much he had cared about her until he realized that she might be in danger. My God, I think I've in love with her, he realized with a start as he sat slumped in a chair in front of the directors desk, his face in his hands, and his heart pounding at the thought of never seeing Cody smile at him, with her head tilted to the side and her blue eyes twinkling. Never again hearing her laugh, or feel her slip her tiny hand into his as they left the Organization's compound, the only sign that she had been tense or scared. Never again have her fall asleep against his shoulder in an Organization meeting, or invite him over to plan strategy and watch movies. Never again dance with her like they had a recent Organization party, holding her tight against him and hiding his face in her hair. Never again see her come running toward him and greet him with a hug. Never again see her eyes squint in concentration as she sighted up a target.
Just the thought of never hearing her voice again made him sweat. He couldn't bear the idea of never hearing her play the piano again, never being able to tease her about her taste in music (punk, heavy metal and emo), never again see her tattoo, a red duck with fangs, flames in his eyes, a mohawk and devil horns. Tony had laughed when he saw her tattoo for the first time, and he loved it. He knew that if he never saw her again, if she was killed, it would kill him and surely as if the Organization had put a bullet in his heart or brain.
"I'm sorry Tony." Jenny came around her desk and put her hand on his shoulder. "I know that you care about Agent Jackson, and I know that your friends."
"Oh God." Tony gasped, letting two tears slide down his face as he looked up at Jenny. "God help me Jenny, I love her. I love her and I can't do anything! She could be in pain right now, she could be dieing and praying that I'll come help her, she could be screaming for me right now and I can't do anything to help her!"
"Oh Tony." Jenny gasped, while inside she was jumping for joy that Tony had finally found someone who could look at him and see past his exterior to realize that there was a man worth loving buried beneath the player mask. "Go to your desk and try to do some work. That's all we can do. And you know that Cody will call you if she can. Your one of only three people who knows her code sequence and you are the one she trusts the most. She'll call if she can, if only to let you know that she's okay."
"All right." Tony wiped at his eyes, then stood up and smiled, and Jenny suddenly saw all his pain and worry disappear behind his mask. "See you later Jenny." He left the directors office, his mask and smile firmly in place, telling everyone 'Just fine, everythings just perfect, don't pay any attention to me'. But on the inside, his heart was pounding in pure terror and he felt like screaming. Please Cody, please call me! Oh, please, dear God, please. I'll never ask you for anything ever again as long as I live, just let her be okay! PLEASE!
He crossed the bullpen to his desk, ignoring Ziva and McGee as he did so. He knew that both of them were waiting for him to brag about why the director had wanted to see him and only him, but Tony simply wasn't in the mood to start his usual banter. He simply switched on his computer and started doing reports, losing himself in the precise and boring military language that usually had him bored and irritating Ziva within ten minutes. To tell the truth thought, ever since Gibbs came back Ziva and McGee just annoyed him. McGee was strutting around like he was the new 'Golden Boy' of NCIS and Ziva wasn't making it any easier by proceeding to walk all over Tony in her rush to fawn over Gibbs. She was also always just waiting somewhere to pounce and twist the knife in his back a little deeper, and Tony wanted to go down to the motor pool and have his head run over by a truck. But instead he just irritated Ziva until she was practically ready to run from the building at the end of the day. Then Tony could sit alone in the dark and empty bullpen and finish his paperwork.
But today, he needed the precise and boring language, the language that he could type in his sleep. And he needed that so that he could instead focus his thoughts on Cody, immerse his brain in memories of Cody, of the women he loved. He hoped desperately that she would live long enough for him to tell her. He had a feeling she knew and felt the same way, but of course they had never spoken about it, dancing around it and telling each other 'I love you' in a perfectly friendly way that really meant something different. They teased each other, but Tony didn't treat her like any other women in his life, because she wasn't like any of the other women in his life.
Tony could still remember the very first time she had every really smiled at him, with her head tilted to the side and her eyes twinkling.
"Tony, you're lucky I like you." Cody tilted her head to the right and grinned her lopsided grin at him, her eyes twinkling. Tony was convinced he had never seen anything as blue as her eyes right at that moment. And at that moment, his lungs forgot how to breathe, his knees lost their strength, and his heart tried to claw its way up his throat.
"I like you too Cody." He told her, smiling.
"Ahh, don't smile at me!"
"Why not?"
"Because your smile is way too sexy and you know how to use it. I should arrest you."
"For what?"
"Illegally acting sexy around a federal agent."
"What ever you say 'feeb'." Tony teased.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
And the first time she had ever slid her hand into his, the first time she had every admitted being scared.
"Tony, are you ready to go?"
"Sure Cody." Tony stood up and said his good byes to some of the lower rank Organization, who hide knowing smiles behind their hands. Tony ignored them.
"Cody, are you all right?" She was pale, and he knew that she'd had an intelligence gathering mission today, which was a huge risk. Obviously it had been a success because she was here and leaving, but Tony was still worried about her.
"I just have a migraine." She told him.
"Lets get you home then."
"Please."
As they were walking out the front door, Cody slid her tiny hand into his and laced their fingers together. He was surprised, but didn't betray it by even looking at her. He just squeezed her hand. She squeezed back so hard he almost winced. She maintained her grip all the way to the car. She released his hand to get into the passenger side, but as soon as he slid into the driver's seat and started the car, she had taken his hand again.
"Are you okay Cody?"
"I was scared today Tony. Really, really scared."
"I got you. Don't worry, I got you."
"Hold me tight Tony. Don't let me fall."
"I won't."
"Promise me Tony."
"I promise."
The first time she had ever fallan asleep on his shoulder.
Tony squirmed, trying to shake some life back into his arm. Cody, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder and caused his arm to fall asleep, wiggled closer to Tony, her head slipping off his arm and up against his neck.
"Tony." She mumbled, half asleep. "Stop squirming."
"My arms dead Cody. Come on, honey, you gotta wake up."
"No." She protested sleepily, turning her head so that her face was hidden in his neck and fell back asleep. She looked so sweet and innocent asleep that Tony didn't have the heart to wake her. Instead, he wrapped his arm, which was tingling now that Cody's weight was off it, around her shoulders and paid attention to the Organization meeting they were currently sitting in so that he could give her a full report as soon as she woke up, which he hoped would be before the meeting ended.
The first time she had ever trusted him enough to invite him over to her apartment.
"Hey Tony, are you busy tonight?"
"No."
"You want to come over?"
"Sure Cody."
By the time Tony got there, Cody was already dressed for bed in a pair of black pajama pants and a black tank top. Tony laughed at the scowl on her face.
"You took long enough."
"Miss me Cody?"
"Oh shut up and get in here."
"Oh, you did miss me."
"Damn it Tony, are you trying to get me to kill you?"
"What a way to go." Tony teased. He dashed past her into the apartment, laughing at the growl that escaped her as she slammed the door shut and bolted after him.
She jumped as he neared the couch, landing on his chest and causing him to land on his back on her couch, temporarily winded. She took advantage of this by grabbing a pillow and started hitting him with it.
"Hey!" Tony protested as soon as he got his breath back, and was able to free his arms to cover his head. "Assault of a government agent! Don't make me arrest you!"
"I'm a government agent too Tony."
"That just means I can defend myself." Tony snatched the pillow out of her hands and started hitting her with it. She laughed and threw up her hands to block his hits to her head. Dropping the pillow, Tony grabbed her wrists and pinned them to her hips.
Cody laughed. "Okay, okay, I surrender." Tony released her and she slid off of him. "You want to watch a movie?"
"Sure." Tony sighed inwardly. Most women didn't have a good movie collection. And by good, he meant divisive, not large. Cody was looking hers over, then smiled and pulled out a movie.
"I feel like an old movie. You like Vincent Price?" She asked. Tony sat up on the couch.
"I love Vincent Price."
"Cool, me too." Cody gave him a weird look. "You know, you're kind of young to know who Vincent Price is."
"Look who's talking." Tony teased. Cody was five years younger than him.
"Ouch, I deserved that."
She put the movie, which happened to be House on Haunted Hill, into the DVD player and rejoined him on the couch. Cuddled together under a fleece blanket, with the only light in the room coming from the TV screen, they discussed ideas and strategy, in between jumping at the creepy images displayed on the TV screen.
The first time they had danced, only two weeks ago.
"Come on Cody." Tony stood up and held out a hand to her. She looked at him like he had just grown a second and third head. He resisted the urge to look behind him to also check for a tail.
"Tony, have you lost your mind? I don't dance."
"Tonight, you do." He took both her hands and pulled her to her feet, admiring the way her blue and green dress highlighted and accentuated every curve of her body. He idly wondered where she was keeping her gun tonight, but knew that if he asked he'd be going home with a broken knee cap, courtesy of the small woman in front of him.
He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. She fit into his arms so perfectly that Tony never wanted her to leave. Relaxing slightly, Cody raised an arm and wrapped it around his neck, the other one resting on his chest and gripping his jacket in a death grip, like she was afraid she was going to fall and he was the only thing saving her. She hid her face in his chest, not wanting to see or sense anything by Tony. Tony buried his face in her hair, which he could only do because she was wearing heels tonight.
The first time she had ever ran and jumped into his arms.
"Hey DiNozzo, Jackson is looking for you." An agent stiffly informed him. Tony had agreed to meet Cody at the federal building today, in order to go over some evidence the FBI had recently collected. Tony was relived. He and Cody had been separated in the Organization for two weeks, and he was nervous without her there to watch his six, or him there to watch hers. As he headed down the hall to his office, he heard her yell his name.
"Tony!"
He looked up just in time to grab her as she barreled into him, hugging him around the neck so tight and pressing so close against him that it was entirely possible that it would take a surgical procedure to separate them.
"Tony, I need you back. I don't trust anyone but you." She whispered in his ear, just before pulling away from him. He reluctantly let her go. By the time her boss and the other agents rounded the corner, Cody and Tony were side by side, chatting like two professionals.
The first time they had ever competed in pistol shooting, which was also the first time he had ever called her a 'feeb'.
"I'm so going to kick your ass out here Tony." Cody jeered as they got ready to compete on the FBI's pistol range. Tony scoffed as he checked his weapon, just like Cody was doing.
"Yeah right. I was the best shot in my department before Gibbs got a hold of me, and he's an ex-Marine. They may be hard asses but they know how to shoot."
"Yeah, but you and Gibbs have never gone up against me."
"If I lose to a fed, Gibbs will die of embarrassment, after shooting me in the gut and watching me die a slow and painful death."
"Tony, I swear to God, I'm going to shoot you in the gut and watch you die a slow and painful death if you call me a 'fed.' one more time."
Tony grinned and winked at her. "Yeah, but then Gibbs would track you down, kick your ass and then allow you to rot in prison, if he didn't just shoot you. He's got this thing about being protective of his agents." He shrugged and holstered his weapon. "Besides, you know I love you."
"Ah, Tony." Cody bounded across the yard or so that separated them and hugged him. "I love you too." She pulled his gun out of his holster and shoved it into his hands. "Now let's shoot." She looked so excited, like a kid at Christmas.
"Sure, whatever feeb."
"TONY!"
The first time he had ever seen, or heard, her play the piano.
Cody didn't answer the door, but Tony knew she was home because he could faintly hear piano music through the door, so he opened the door with the spare key she had given him. The music became louder as he entered the apartment and shut the door silently, then made his way to the living room. Cody was sitting in front of the piano, eyes closed, no sheet music in front of her. She was just making it up, her fingers instantly and instinctively finding the notes that she needed to continue the slow, mysterious melody that she coaxed out of the instrument. Tony crossed the room and sat next to her on the piano bench. She wasn't surprised, she knew it was him. She also didn't stop playing, but she did turn her head toward him, open her eyes and smile at him.
"Hey Tony."
"Hey."
"Is it time to go already?"
"Nah, I'm early."
"Wow, that's a first. I may die from shock."
"Cute."
"I know."
"Modest too."
They sat for a few seconds, just listening to the melody that Cody continued to create.
"I didn't know you played."
"Well, now you do."
"You're very good. That song is making chills run down my spine."
"It's supposed to. I'm thinking of calling is 'Spine'."
"Really, you're excellent."
"Thanks Tony. Really."
The first time he had really examined her music collection, which gave him a whole new reason to tease her.
As Tony opened the door to Cody's apartment, he was almost knocked over the sear volume of the music that filled Cody's apartment. Cody looked up from lacing up her boots when he came into the living room and grinned.
"What the hell is this!?" Tony screamed over the music. Cody laughed and turned it down.
"It's a band called Wednesday 13. I love them."
"I vaguely heard a reference to Vincent Price."
"The song is called 'The Ghost of Vincent Price'."
"Oh." He wondered over to her CD collection as she returned to the couch to finish lacing her boots. "You know, you have the weirdest taste in music."
"I know."
"I mean, look at these. Panic at the Disco, My Chemical Romance, Wednesday 13, KISS, Poison, Guns and Roses, Horror Pops, Transplants, Misfits, Simple Plan, Mest, Aiden, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, HIM, Sum 41, even Evanescence."
"What can I say, I like what I like."
"Some of these would get you beat up by fans of the others."
"Please. I could take on anyone." She stood up and smiled. "Ready to go?"
"Ready when you are."
The very first time he saw her tattoo.
"You have a tattoo?" Tony stared at Cody is disbeilf, a grin spreading across his face.
"Yep." Cody carefully avoided looking at Tony. She knew what his next question would be, and he didn't disappoint.
"Can I see it?"
"You know Agent DiNozzo, that's a very personal question for one federal agent to be asking another federal agent."
"Don't call me 'Agent DiNozzo', Cody. I don't call you 'Agent Jackson'."
"No, but our bosses would probably prefer it if you did."
"The Organization wouldn't like it."
"You got that right." Cody said with a laugh. She tilted her head to the side and studied him, then sighed.
"Oh hell. Why not?" She lifted up the side of her shirt, and pulled the hem of her pants down slightly to bare her hip. Tony looked at it, studied it, and then burst out laughing. It was a red duck, with fangs, flames in his eyes, devil horns and even a mohawk.
"Cody, I love it. How'd you think of it?"
"Not sure. At the tattoo place they had a duck and a devil right next to each other. I was looking, saw them and just kind of merged them. The mohawk was my own little contribution."
"Well, it is different. Just like you."
"Aww, Tony, you're so sweet."
"Come on Tony, stop pouting." Ziva called across the bullpen. Tony looked up from his computer in surprise.
"What? I'm not pouting."
"Sure you are. McGee and I have been sitting here for two hours and we haven't heard a peep out of you. So, obviously, you had a fight with your girlfriend and are now pouting." Ziva blinked when cold rage replaced Tony's look of surprise and confusion.
"First of all Zi-va, my relationship with my girlfriend is absolutely none of your business. Second of all, I just don't have anything to say right now."
"That's impossible with you Tony. You're too juvenile to control that mouth of yours."
"And maybe I just don't feel like having you turn into harpy women on me while you butcher the English language, Zi-va, did you ever think of that?" Tony snapped back. He shoved his chair away from his desk and stalked over to the break room to get some coffee. He paced in the break room, needing a release from all this energy he had pent up inside. But the break room was too far away from his desk, so he grabbed his coffee and went back to his desk. Still needing a release, Tony set the coffee down on his desk and continued to pace behind his desk.
Ziva sighed after about five minutes and glared at him.
"What is wrong with you?"
"Why in the hell would I tell you anything?" Tony snarled back.
"Tony, sit down before I shoot you. You're annoying me and wearing out the carpet."
"Shut up Ziva, I'm not in the mood for you to walk all over me."
The phone on his desk ran just then and Tony leaped for it like it was a reprieve from execution.
"DiNozzo." He said, sounding brisk and professional. Ziva watched his face intently. The tension in his face increased as he listened, but there was also a faint light of hope in his eyes.
"Vincent Price." He all but whispered. Then the hope in his eyes died, only to be replaced with what Ziva could only describe as pure terror and all the color drained out of his face. "No." He whispered. Then he all but slammed the phone down and ran toward the stairs that lead to the Directors office like his shoes where on fire.
Obviously, Jenny was coming down to speak to someone, because she was halfway down the stairs when Tony got there.
"Jenny!" He burst out, too upset to remember himself.
"Tony, what is it?" Jenny asked. Then she took a good look at his face and all the color drained out of her face. "Oh no. Oh, God, please no."
"She's in trouble Jenny, big trouble. She just called me and gave the 911 code. The code that means she fears for her life and can't get out."
"And if she called you, it means she can't trust her team. Oh God."
"Jenny, we have to get her. We can't leave her there to die."
"Agreed." Jenny said instantly. She rushed down the stairs with Tony on her heels. "Agent Gibbs." She stopped in front of Gibbs desk. Gibbs looked up, and took one look at her face, and Tony's, both white with worry and terror and jumped to his feet.
"What is it?"
"We have an undercover operative in trouble. They phoned in the 911 code not five minutes ago. I need you to lead a NCIS team to go in and recover her."
"'Her'?"
"Special Agent Lakota Jackson. She's FBI."
"FBI? Why can't there rescue their own people?"
"She doesn't trust them, there's a leak." Tony burst out. "Please Gibbs, she's my partner. We have to get her out."
"Let's go." Gibbs said. He turned and barked at Ziva and McGee. "What are you staring out? Get your gear! You heard the Director; we have an undercover agent in trouble! Move!"
"I need more people." He said, looking at the Director. She nodded and pulled out her cell phone.
"I'll have every available team right behind you."
"Let's go." Gibbs repeated. "DiNozzo, you're with me, Ziva you're with McGee."
AN: You know the drill. Tell me what you think, and I'll continue.