Strong Reasons
Strong reasons make strong actions.
William Shakespeare.
Part One
Chapter One
The man was wearing Gino Valentinto gray stripe, Italian worsted Merino wool, vested suit with linen white shirt and black silk tie, as he sat alone at a table in the Aqua Restaurant and Lounge in Beverly Hills. His light brown, almost sandy, hair was combed back and held in place by product and his ocean green eyes had a hint of amusement behind them as he seemed to notice everything in the room. She had him targeted as their potential gun dealer. They were told that The Gent liked expensive clothes, was around forty years old, and handsome. She needed to be sure about him, so she started to walk over to his table.
He noticed her right away. She was attractive enough to be a model, not a runway model, but more like sports wear or swimsuits, maybe Victoria Secret. it wasn't her black TSE Jason Wu dobby shift dress with her rich, long brunette hair flowing about her face, which made her stand out in a crowd lounge full of Los Angeles women trying to be attractive. She stood out because aura of toughness mixed with vulnerability and sensuousness, which hung around her like a perfume. He then noticed she had one brown and one blue eye, which added somehow to her attractiveness. As she got closer he put her age around twenty-nine, oh, so young.
"Do you mind if I sit with you?" she asked.
He lifted his Highland Park 25 year old single malt scotch and took a sip.
"Please, go right ahead," he said.
He was supposed to be seen and noticed and nothing got you noticed more than having a drink with a beautiful woman.
"What are you drinking?" she asked.
"Highland Park," he answered.
She reached over and gently stroked his hand holding the snifter of scotch then took the glass from him and sampled it.
"Delicious," she said.
She handed him his glass back.
"My name is Nikki," she said.
"Alexander," he replied. "Can I get you a glass of your own?"
"I'd like that," she said.
"Come on you aren't falling for his Mr. Charming bullshit act," said Deeks in the ear piece in her ear.
She smiled at Alexander, as he raised his hand and motioned to the waiter to bring her a drink. In a matter of moments the waiter places a drink in front of her then disappeared. She took a sip then smiled.
"What brings you to LA?" she asked.
"Business," he smiled.
"Really. I love a businessman. So, where are you from, Alexander?" she asked.
"Here and there. I don't tend to stay in one place for too long," he answered.
"Gary Grant is evasive," said Deeks. "I think he's our man, Kens."
"Get him somewhere were we can take him down, Kens," added Callen in her ear.
"Where are you staying?" she asked.
"I have a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel," he said.
"I always wanted to see the inside of one of those bungalows. I've heard so much about them," she smiled seductively.
"Nikki, are you trying to seduce me?" he asked with a grin.
"Is it working?" she asked.
"Does someone as beautiful as you really need to ask?" he said, which made her blush slightly.
"Now I really want to see the inside of one of those bungalows," she said.
Alexander downed his scotch then watched as she did the same. He took out a money clip and dropped a hundred dollar bill on the table then they headed out.
His car and driver were waiting for him outside. The driver let them off at the side of the hotel near the bungalows. Alexander got out first then walked around and let Kensi out of the Lincoln Town Car. He offered her his right hand, as she got out of the car and then she stumbled slightly, as her four inch high heel caught on the sidewalk. She fell rather gracefully into his arms, which allowed her to feel the gun he kept in a shoulder holster. Holding her tightly, so as to keep her from falling, he then did something he didn't expect to do and neither did she: he kissed her.
It was a soft, gentle kiss, but Kensi found herself wanting more. She deepened the kiss and he responded devouring her mouth. It was obvious there was chemistry between them. Damn it, he has to be a gun dealer.
The kiss continued until finally she moaned and he stepped back from the kiss. "I can't believe you tongued him," Deeks said into her ear.
It was then that Hanna and Callen came screeching up behind the Town Car in a 2010 red Challenger. They had their Sig Sauers out and pointed at Alexander and the driver.
"Federal Agents, freeze," yelled Callen.
Kensi pushed Alexander away. She noticed that he had a big grin on his face like he found everything amusing.
"Calm down, Callen, right? That's your name, isn't it?" Alexander said.
"Who are you?" asked Callen, his instincts telling him that they didn't have their man.
"Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS," he said with a smile.
"You work with Gibbs," said Callen.
"Yeah, I did," Tony said using the past tense.
He looked at the two agents. Callen with his way too short for Tony's style haircut and permanent five day growth of bread and the large, muscular African American ex-Seal Hanna, who both knew Gibbs which made Tony feel somewhat trusting of them.
Another car, a GTO, pulled up and a shaggy blond haired agent with stubble and a beach bum feel got out of the car.
"You okay, Kens" he inquired.
"Yeah, Deeks," said Kensi, as she kept her eyes on Agent DiNozzo.
"ID?" barked Hanna.
"Undercover, no ID. Take me back to OSP and either Director Vance or Deputy Director Garrison can tell you who I am," said Tony then he looked at Kensi. "I apologize, Agent..."
"Kensi Blye," she said.
"I was trying to establish my cover as a player, so I left the lounger with the most beautiful woman in it. Please, forgive me," he said.
"Yeah, sure," she shrugged it off, though she was having trouble shrugging off his kiss.
"Hey, Tony, do I have go with you?" the driver of the Town Car asked.
"No, Sonny. Go home to Janet and thanks for the ride tonight," he said.
"You know I owe you from those days in Baltimore, Tony. Any time," he said then got into the car and drive away.
"Where's your backup?" asked Hanna.
"Ask Deputy Director Garrison that question," said Tony.
"Only if I have to," said Hanna.
"DiNozzo, you can drive with us," said Callen, who then looked at Kensi. "See you back at OSP."
"Yeah, sure," she said as she watched Tony get into the backseat of the Challenger then Callen and Hanna get in and it screeched off.
"He's too old for you," said Deeks as he walked up beside his partner.
"Shut up, Deeks," she responded.
"Hey, it's just an observation," he said with a smirk, which he hoped hid his jealousy.
"Let's go," she barked.
She admitted that she had father issues, which sometimes led to her finding older men attractive, but somehow she didn't think of this Agent DiNozzo as an older man. There was just something different about him. Then again his kiss still lingered on her lips.
NCIS
Back in OSP Ops Hettie along with Nell and Eric and listened to the whole op and watched part of it on CCTV, which Eric had hacked into. Hettie, who was small in stature at well under five foot tall, was held in great esteem by everyone in the intel, counterintelligence, and counterterrorism business, except by Owen Garrison. He seemed to think of her as an anachronism that should be in retirement, so when she heard his name she knew that Garrison was running an op in her territory without telling her. It was a stupid and dangerous think to do.
"Shall I get as much as I can on this Special Agent DiNozzo, Hettie," asked the elfin cute and equally height challenged Nell Jones.
"Don't worry," said Hettie, "I can manage."
With her arms behind her she strolled out of ops and down the stairs to her officer area. Callen's team was not only her number Special Projects Team, but one that she was very fond of. Garrison's arrogance could have put them in danger, but more importantly she had the feeling that he had already placed in danger this Agent DiNozzo. She sat down at her desk then turned on her computer. Besides NCIS, she wanted to check what NSA, CIA, FBI, Mossad, and whoever else she needed to check by backdooring into their network thought of this Anthony DiNozzo.
By the time the number SP Team got there, Hettie had already read enough about Anthony DiNozzo to like him. She had the feeling more research would merely make her like him more.
"Hettie, this is...," Callen began to introduce DiNozzo.
"Henrietta Lang," smiled Tony.
"Mr. DiNozzo, you have done your research," said Hettie. "I prefer Hettie to Henrietta."
She offered him her hand to shake.
"I prefer Tony to Anthony," he took her hand, bent at the waist and kissed it.
Kensi and Deeks arrived in time to see Tony kiss Hettie's hand.
"Oh, this guy is too much," said Deeks.
Hettie smiled and offered him a seat on one of her chairs.
"An antique chair. Victorian, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yes, it is," she smiled. "You know antiques."
"When my father sold his Long Island home to pay taxes recently, I ended up with several storage units filled with my mother's antique furniture. I haven't gotten around to selling them yet," he said.
"I'd love to see what you have," she said.
"Next time you're in DC you can browse as much as you like," said Tony.
"Oh, Anthony, that would be lovely," she said.
Callen and Hanna watched Hettie's and Tony's exchange and were caught somewhere in between amused and confused. She took to DiNozzo like she knew and trusted him for years.
"Now explain to me how Garrison has corralled into work an op alone," she said.
"It's not the first time I've done this for NCIS," he said, "though it might be the most dangerous."
Tony thought about his meeting with Vance and Garrison several months ago which got him involved in this undercover op.
He walked into Vance's officer after being called there. Deputy Director Garrison and Director Vance sat at the conference table. Vance motioned him to sit.
"Agent DiNozzo, I want to start by saying this is not my idea," said Vance.
"No, this is SecNav Jarvis' idea and mine," said Garrison.
Tony sat down and looked at Garrison.
"Under Director Shepard you spend seven months seducing an arm's dealer's daughter during which time the CIA was able to take over his business. Some say Rene Benoit's concern for his daughter led to him lowering his defenses and allowing the CIA in," said Garrison.
"I'm glad I could help," growled Tony.
"For Jarvis you spent several months dealing with a mole problem," said Garrison. "You work on your won without backup well."
"Only when I have to," said Tony.
"We have a new assignment for you. It's long term and it involves you being out on the edge by yourself. SecNav and I want you to establish yourself as an arm's dealer named The Gent," he said.
"Why?"
"In order to develop a reputation in the hopes of luring a terrorist to you to do a deal," said Garrison. "Once your rep is made, you will let it be known that you have unmanned drones to sell. We believe that Abdul Sharif will be one of the first to offer to buy these drones. We want him," said Garrison.
"Why no backup? Why out on the edge by myself?" asked Tony.
"Because you will be under great scrutiny. You background we can make airtight and waterproof, but if they watch your 24/7 they are bound to see you backup," said Garrison.
"Better to risk me and my life then the op, right?" asked Tony.
Garrison smiled.
"You'll have access to one million dollars as your seed money to get you started in the arms game. Every deal you make keep a record of so we can deal with the buyers later," said Garrison. "Do what you have to sell this."
"What if I say no?" said Tony.
"Agent Gibbs and Mexico. We know about that," said Garrison. "Miss Scuito hid the evidence, we know about that."
"Are you threatening them?" asked Tony.
"Agent David's citizenship can be revoked," said Garrison.
Tony's stomach turned and he looked at Vance, who looked like a man who wanted to rip Garrison's head off, but he couldn't. Garrison must have something on him, too, thought Tony.
"What do you want me to do?" asked Tony.
"Cut ties with your team so they aren't tempted to look for you then we will start this op," said Garrison.
Hettie, Callen, Hanna, Kensi, and Deeks stared at him for a moment. The man was caught in quicksand and sinking and those who would help him weren't throwing him a rope but bricks.
"I take it you shouldn't be telling us about this. Why are you?" Hettie asked.
"You have a reputation for secrecy and your team will only get in my way unless I let you know," said Tony.
"So, you really are The Gent?" asked Callen.
Tony took a flash drive out of his pocket and tossed it to Callen.
"Every transaction I've made from a white supremacist group I sold M4s to in Tennessee to a Basque separatist group I sold C-4 in Tuscany. Enjoy the reading, but please, if you start taking them down, do it quietly. I'd like to survive this op in one piece," said Tony.
"This is," Hettie paused, "reprehensible. How long have you been under?"
"Six months. I've been a busy boy," he said then leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands. He was tired. Months of making like one of the men he would normally put behind bars were weighing on him. And without backup and with the knowledge of how he hurt his friends, his family, he was worn out.
Kensi looked at him and her heart broke. This was one of the good guys and he was forced into a bad deal. They had to do something for him. She looked at the faces of her teammates and saw that they felt sorry for him. There had to be something they could do.
Hettie looked at the agent in front of her and knew she had to help him. She liked him. She needed to help him.
"Where are you staying?" she asked.
"Presidential bungalow at the Beverly Hills hotel," he answered.
"Sheik Ali Ibn Talib is letting me stay there. I sold him four dozen PDWs," he said.
"You have been busy," said Callen.
"What is The Gent's name?" asked Hanna.
"Alexander Paddington," said Tony.
"Paddington, as in Paddington bear," chuckled Deeks.
"No, Paddington as in my mother's family name," Tony corrected him.
Kensi elbowed Deeks in the ribs for his comment then she found herself thinking once again about the kiss she shared with DiNozzo.
NCIS
It had been six months since DiNozzo went undercover, six months of feeling guilty over how his agent was treated and tossed into an op without anyone to watch his back. Vance was fed up. Once DiNozzo took the job, Vance was kept out of the loop, which even furthered humiliated him. He parked his car in front of Gibbs' house, got out and walked up the front steps and into the house.
Even though it was one in the morning, he heard Gibbs down in his basement at work. Vance opened the basement door and headed down into the basement.
"Leon, why do I have the pleasure?" said Gibbs.
He was dressed in jeans and a NIS grey sweat shirt. Looking at Vance, he noticed the Director was still in his suit.
"We need to talk about DiNozzo," said Vance.
Gibbs grimaced at the name. He thought of about the last time he was Tony. It was in Abby's lab.
"You are a hypocrite, Gibbs. You have you fucking rules but you never keep them yourself. Always work as a team. You never work as a team," he yelled at Tony.
"Tony, don't say that to Gibbs," said Abby.
"Haven't you protected him enough, Abby, by losing a report on how he murdered someone," barked Tony.
"DiNozzo, what brought this on?" yelled Gibbs.
Just then Ziva walked in looking for Tony because she knew he was upset. She noticed Abby was in tears and Gibbs ready to kill.
"Damn it, Gibbs, couldn't you at least let someone else do your dirty work for you rather than a hero worshipping Goth," he growled.
"Tony, don't...," Ziva started to speak.
"Oh, good. Here's another hero worshipper. She also kneels at the altar of Gibbs," he cut Ziva off.
"Tony," she said softly.
"Rule 12 has worked out for her. Instead of having a relationship with me, she managed to have one after another with fucking assassins and assholes who kill innocent women," he said.
"Tony, don't or I'll...," Ziva started to yell.
"What?" he cut her off. "You'll revert to form, knock me on my ass, and threaten to shoot me. Shut up and listen," he growled at her.
Suddenly, Ziva remembered Tel Aviv after Tony killed Michael. There he was with a broken clavicle and she knocked him to the ground and stuck a gun to his knee then to his chest and threatened him. She shut up.
"Always your way, Gibbs. We have to worship you and do as you say. Well, I'm fed up with it. Get a new fucking dog to kick around. I'm done with you and with anyone who fucking has anything to do with you," he said coldly.
Turning to leave, Ziva throw a right to his jaw hitting him hard enough to stagger him and drawn some blood. Tony smiled.
"Yeah, worshipping at the altar of Gibbs. Have fun with him, girls," he said then stormed out.
"What about DiNozzo?" he said with a hint of sadness. He picked up his coffee mug with bourbon in it and took a sip.
"He forced to break off with you and your team. He's working an undercover op for Jarvis and Garrison," Vance said getting it out there quickly.
"Forced? Forced how?" asked Gibbs.
"Garrison found out about what you did in Mexico all those years ago. He threatened you and Abby then he threatened Ziva's citizenship. Tony took the op without argument," said Vance. "The man has been undercover for six months with backup, playing without a net."
Gibbs suddenly threw his mug up against the wall: "Damn it!"
"Yeah, damn it," said Vance.
"Why didn't you stop it?" growled Vance.
"They had something on me, too," he said. "I forced it agreement with them. But I can't take it any longer. This op is designed for DiNozzo to either succeed or be killed. They are treating him like an expendable pawn."
"You mean to tell me he has thrown his life away for us," growled Gibbs.
"Without hesitation," said Vance.
"I need to do something about this, Leon," said Gibbs.
"I agree, but we have to do it carefully," said Vance.
"I also need to let Ziva and Abby in on this," he said.
"It's your call, Gibbs. Your call," said Vance.
Gibbs looked at the man and hoped Leon Vance didn't see how torn up inside he was right now. He didn't trust his gut about Tony, but instead let his ego be in control. He knew something was off, but the man had hurt Abby and Ziva so callously that he didn't pursue it. He let Tony walk away and didn't do a damn thing about.
"Be here tomorrow at six after work Leon. I'll have them and McGee here. We can get started figuring out how to help Tony then," said Gibbs.
"I'll be here," said Vance, who then turned and walked back up the stairs leaving Gibbs to wallow in guilt and anger.