Hardison has been working practically around the clock trying to find any information on Tara. I've been sleeping on the couch in Nate's apartment, I want to be there if he finds anything. Best he can find is that Tara ran to the FBI training facility on the Quantico Marine Base in Maryland. What her ties are to the FBI, no one is very clear about. I knew that she had some FBI training, we've discussed her bullying techniques when it comes to things like searches and questioning. Apparently she told the rest of the team that she was a code breaker for the FBI as well. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around Tara batting for the other team, so to speak. I've known her since she was in her early 20's. She certainly was not in law enforcement when I first knew her. The only time we've been out of touch for more than a couple of months is that two years between my leaving her in Italy and then running into her again in Paris. I am pretty sure she was playing for my team then too, she told me she was there to steal a book. I'm starting to question everything she's told me. It's not like either of us has a history of telling the truth about anything. I just really want to talk to her. I just need to know that she's OK.
Hardison has hit a wall. "There's nothing out there" he mumbles. "There's always something. Always. But there's nothing." I get up from my place on the couch and stand behind him with my hands on his shoulders. "It's OK Alec. It's Tara. It's like trying to find us, if we don't want to be found. I'm amazed that you were able to track her as well as you have. At least it's something." He rubs his eyes. "I get it Sophie. I do. I just really wanted to find her for you. I wanted to give you that." I kiss him on the cheek. "You've given me so much more than I ever expected. I really appreciate it. Really." "Yeah?" he asks? "Yeah" I tell him with another kiss on the cheek. "Let's take a break. I could use some coffee and some, uh, gummy worms." He laughs. "Frogs. Gummy frogs. Don't anyone around here ever listen?" I take his hand and lead him out of the apartment and into the sunshine.
Hardison and I come back several hours later with a big bag of gummy frogs and a box of donuts. Parker meets us at the door and takes the donuts with a squeal. "I am SO hungry" she announces as she disappears toward the kitchen. "Hey woman" Hardison calls as he starts to follow her. "No taking bites out of all of them." "Then how am I supposed to know what I like?" she calls back. The rest of the conversation is lost to me as they head around the corner.
I look towards the couch and I see Eliot sitting there. He is staring at the images Hardison left up on the big screen, pictures of Tara. I sit next to him and look at the photos. He doesn't move his eyes as he says quietly, "I have an idea." My heart skips a beat. I try to stay calm as I ask "tell me." He brings his blue eyes to mine. "I know a guy." "A guy? Like Quint?" He laughs. "No. Not like Quint. This guy's a good guy. He's in DC. He might have the connections." "Ok" I say softly. "Let's go find your guy."
Eliot puts his hand on my leg. "Sophie. I'm not sure that's a good idea." "What do you mean?" I ask. "Well, it's a long shot. I don't want you to get your hopes up. And you should be here if Tara calls." "First of all, Eliot, my hopes are up. They have to be. Without hope I have nothing." He smiles softly. "You really love her don't you?" My eyes fill with tears. "I think I do Eliot." "I know Sophie" he says quietly. "I know." "Now you go home and try to get some sleep. It's a long drive to DC. I'll call you in the morning." I lean towards him and give him a warm kiss. "Thank you Eliot. Thank you for everything." He tips a pretend hat and smiles.
I peek out the window. It isn't light yet, it's bloody 5 am! I can make out the bright orange Charger parked at the curb. I stumble out of the building and into the passenger seat of the car. Eliot grunts and hands me a take out cup of tea and a questionable sort of Danish wrapped in plastic. I take the tea and throw the rest in the back. He grunts again. "Buckle up!" "It's going to be a bumpy ride?" I smile at him. He starts to smile then catches himself with another grunt. He turns on his iPod and tunes it to a country song. He puts his hand on mine. I close my eyes and sleep, feeling better than I have in weeks.
About 3 hours later, I am awakened by a poke in the arm. "Sophie. Get up. Potty break and are you hungry?" I look around. I don't see a restaurant of any sort. "Eat?" "Yeah he says. Just grab something in the store" he gestures towards the Gas Station's store. "You've got to be kidding me" I mumble as I get out of the car. "What?" "Nothing".
I grab a bottle of water and the least disgusting looking thing I could find, a bag of crisps. Eliot adds an energy drink and a bag of greasy hot food. I wrinkle my nose at him as we get back in the car. "That smells horrible!" He grabs an unidentified bite and tells me "It's not that bad." I shake my head. "Eliot you are an amazing chef and you have a very sophisticated palate." He looks at me. "And you eat that?" I continue. He pops another bite into his mouth with a smile.
I try to close my eyes again but Eliot is in the mood to talk. "Sooo…You and Tara. You've known her a long time?" "You know this Eliot and you're not good at small talk so just ask what you want to ask." "Ok" he says. "Nate doesn't know that you and Tara are uh…" "Having sex?" "Well yeah" he says, somewhat relieved by my bluntness. "No Nate doesn't know. Hardison, pretty sure but Nate, no. You won't..?" "Me? No way. None of my business. Unless it starts to affect the business." "And is it affecting the business?" I ask. He gives me a hard look. "Yeah Sophie. It's affecting the business. Look at us, on some asinine rescue operation to get Tara from the FBI. A detail that she has neglected to tell any of us about. Seemingly perfectly happy to hide there and not call anyone, so yeah, it's affecting the business." "I know" I say quietly.
Eliot is quiet for a few minutes, letting me stew in the significance of what he's telling me. When he starts talking again, his manner is soft. "Here's the thing Sophie. I believe in true love. I don't believe everyone finds it but, when you do, you have to hold on to it, no matter what." I sit quietly, staring at my hands in my lap. I'm not entirely sure what he's trying to say to me. "I don't know what the deal is with you and Tara, and God knows I don't get you and Nate, but Sophie, I see the way you look at her." "It's not like that Eliot" I say quietly. "The Hell it isn't!" he says. "No. Tara and I. There's a lot of history there. Twenty years. We're not all that good together. I mean, we enjoy each other's company but beyond that, it, well it's complicated." He reaches over and takes one of my hands in his. "It always is Sophie. That's what makes it worth fighting for." I lean my head back and close my eyes. He stays quiet for about 15 minutes, just holding my hand. Finally, he quietly says "Love Sophie. It's the only thing that really matters. When you have it, you have to hold tight to it and never let go. Just think about it." "I will Eliot. Thanks." I say. He squeezes my hand but has no more words for me.
We ride for another hour before either of us speak again. "We're coming into DC. You want to find a place to crash? I can drop you before I go see my friend if you want." "No. I need to be there." "Yeah I figured you'd say that" he says as he pulls up to a military looking guardhouse at a large fenced property. I try to see beyond the fence as Eliot engages in a heated discussion with the kid in the guardhouse. Finally the kid makes a phone call and begrudgingly raises the arm and Eliot drives on to the property. "Is this Quantico?" I ask. "Navy yard." He corrects me. "My buddy works for NCIS." I give him a questioning look. "Navy cop." "Oh. I thought you were Army." "I was but special ops, sometimes we crossed paths. Gibbs was the best damn sniper in the biz." "And he's going to help us how?" "Navy, Marines. Same thing." "I didn't know that" I say as he parks the car. I'm still not clear how a Navy cop is going to help us find Tara but I trust Eliot.
"I don't suppose you're going to stay in the car?" he asks. I shake my head. "Yeah. C'mon then. You're gonna like Gibbs." "He anything like you?" He just smiles. He takes my hand and leads me into the NCIS building.
I find myself standing in front of a series of desks inside a large room. Some areas are walled off with cubicle dividers and each section has a series of desks. Monitors and screens are all over the walls, tuned to a variety of news channels. Three of the four desks in front of us are occupied. At one, a nice looking young man is leaning back in his chair with his feet on his desk. Next to him sits another young man, much more intense looking. He reminds me of Hardison for some reason. At the third is a gorgeous woman with long dark hair and an exotic look.
The first guy pulls his feet off the desk and jumps to his feet self consiously. He ignores Eliot and holds his hand out to me. "Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo" he announces. The other gentleman rolls his eyes. The gesture is not lost on the Very Special Agent who introduces him as Agent McGeek. "Its actually McGee. Timothy McGee." I pull my hand away from DiNozzo and offer it to McGee who takes it with a smile. "Sophie Devereaux. Nice to meet you Agent Timothy McGee." He blushes and throws a look at DiNozzo who snorts and looks away.
All of this is lost on Eliot who is staring at the woman with his mouth open. "Can I help you?" she asks in an accent so muddled that I can't quite figure it out. "Uh, um, Agent Gibbs?" Eliot manages to squeak out. "I'll get him" the woman answers in her funny accent. I catch just a bit of middle eastern in her accent this time, possibly Hebrew. DiNozzo is watching with a smile on his face. "Oh no. I'll get him" he says. "You stay here."
Eliot and the woman are still staring at each other. Finally Eliot finds his voice. "Ziva? Ziva David?" "Eliot Spenser" she answers. "What the Hell are you doing here?" he asks her. "I could ask the same" She says. "yeah." He says. "My career took a bit of a turn." "You could say the same for me" she says. "So you're not Moussad anymore?" She smiles. "NCIS". "You still fight?" he asks. "We should spar." She answers with a smile. "Yeah. I'd like that." He says. I think they're going to throw down right there when the tension is broken by a very good looking older man.
"Eliot Spenser!" he says. "How the Hell are you?" I shake my head. For someone who supposedly lives in the shadows, a lot of people seem to know all about Eliot. Gibbs turns to me and I take his hand as Eliot introduces me. Gibbs' eyes are ice blue, not unlike Tara's. They're smiling at me but underneath I can see a great mind and a great deal of sadness. Under different circumstances, Jethro Gibbs is a man I would like to get to know better. For now though, he and Eliot have business to do.
DiNozzo is hovering over Gibbs' shoulder while McGee and Ziva are just staring, waiting for some sort of clue about why we are here. Gibbs pulls Eliot away and to an office upstairs. Ziva gets up and takes my hand, "c'mon Hon, let's go get some tea." I nod and let her lead me away. With a quick glance back, I see DiNozzo standing still, clearly at a loss as to which couple he should follow. As Ziva leads me around the corner, I can hear McGee laughing and teasing the poor guy.
Ziva takes me to a kitchen area. She pushes me towards a chair and makes a couple of cups of tea. While she's working, I watch her carefully. I heard Eliot ask her if she was Moussad. That would fit the Hebrew accent I hear in her voice. It also explains the things I read on her face. She's young, mid 30's maybe, but she's seen and done a great deal. She's pleasant but guarded on the surface but, just underneath, I sense a great strength and a great anger. Ziva David is not someone I would want to run into on a job. Now though, she's acting friendly and caring. I don't mean to tell her anything about me or Tara but when she asks, I find myself spilling parts of our story from when we met in Italy to our current situation. There aren't many people I feel like I can tell my story to. I instinctively trust Ziva to keep my secrets. She may be a dangerous woman but she also has a great understanding of the human condition. I suppose that when you hold someone's life in your hands, you learn to appreciate their unique stories. We sit and talk for over an hour before Gibbs and Eliot come to find us, followed closely by DiNozzo and another woman, tall and dark haired with an interesting mix of black clothes and leather collars. She introduces herself as Abby and waits patiently for some sort of introduction. I give her my hand and name while Eliot barely manages a grunt.
"C'mon Sophie." He says. "It's time to go." I give him a questioning look but he's not giving me any more information. I make my goodbyes and follow him out to the car. "Eliot, what's going on?" He shrugs. "Gibbs will do what he can. We need to find a place to stay then we're going to a BBQ." "What?" I ask but he's done talking. We drive in silence to the edge of the city where he pulls into a questionable looking motel parking lot. I wrinkle my nose at the choice but he just glares at me. "Keeping a low profile." He mutters. "Yeah just us and the bedbugs" I reply but he ignores me.
Eliot checks in and comes back to get the bags. As we enter the room he tells me "all they have is a room with one king. I'll sleep on the floor." I shrug. "That's silly. I think we can control ourselves for one night." Eliot smiles. "I don't know Soph. I'm pretty hard to resist" he says flexing his chest. I give him a snort and we both laugh. "Thank you Eliot" I say. "Any time Soph" he says with a smile.
Back in the car, Eliot follows directions on his phone to a small ranch style home in a suburban neighbourhood just outside the city. He parks in the drive and walks me to the front door which he opens without knocking. He calls out Gibbs' name and is answered from 'down the stairs'. We head down into the basement where we find Gibbs working on some sort of large wooden project. He hands a chisel to Eliot and goes to a cabinet where he pulls out a bottle of Scotch and 4 jelly jar glasses. He fills all of them, handing one to me and one to Eliot and leaving one on the workbench. They both take a swig and then go to work on the wood. I take a sip of my drink. I'm amazed at the level of communication that they have without saying a word. I think that maybe there is more to their story than Eliot let on.
Ten minutes pass while the men work wordlessly and I quietly sip my drink. I hear the door upstairs open and close and then footsteps on the stairs. Neither Gibbs nor Eliot act as if they heard anything although I am sure that they did. The newcomer is an older gentleman, probably around Gibbs' age but shorter and with a lot less hair. He picks up the remaining glass of Scotch and takes a sip before joining me in watching the others work.
Gibbs finally puts down his tools and picks up his glass. Eliot follows suit. They turn toward the newcomer standing next to me. Gibbs introduces him as Tobias Fornell then introduces Eliot and me. Fornell takes Eliot's hand then stops and looks back at Gibbs. "Spencer? Eliot Spencer?" Eliot nods. "The Eliot Spencer who has been on the FBI's most wanted for years?" Eliot smiles as Fornell turns his attention to me. "And Sophie Devereaux? Gibbs do you know who these people are?" Gibbs smiles. "They're friends Tobias." "Yeah. I figured" Fornell says as he takes my hand.
"So I suppose I was invited here for a reason besides arresting two of the FBI's most wanted." Fornell asks. "Well yeah" Gibbs tells him. "We need your help finding someone. A woman." "And how am I going to help you with that?" "She's FBI" Eliot says. "Or at least she used to be. We think the FBI is holding her at Quantico." Fornell thinks for a minute. "No that doesn't sound like us." He says. I'm tired of all of the monkeying around and get right to the point. "Tara Cole" I say. The three men turn and look at me. "OK. Say I know the name" Fornell asks again. It's just between me and him now. Eliot and Gibbs have done the work to get us here. It's time to get to business.
"We know she's here Agent Fornell." "Tobias" he says. "OK. Tobias. I don't know what her present or past ties with the FBI are, she's never been exactly clear about that. I do know though, that when the shit went down in California, she ran straight here. To you." "Ok" he says. "I do know her. I might even know where she is. What I can't do is tell you anything about what she has done or might be doing here." "So she's still FBI?" Eliot asks. "No" Fornells answers. "Not exactly." "Then what?" I ask. "I can't tell you that either. But she's safe. I know that much." I narrow my eyes at him. "You won't be offended if I don't exactly believe you? I want to see for myself. I want to talk to her." "I'm sorry Ms. Devereaux. I don't think that I'm going to be able to help you."
Gibbs puts his empty glass down on the workbench. "Will you excuse us for a second?" he asks as he takes Fornell's elbow and leads him to the back of the basement for a conversation. I look at Eliot and he gives me half a smile. He's gone above and beyond for me here and I know I will never be able to thank him properly. I smile back. He knows.
Gibbs walks Fornell back to us and pours everyone another drink. Finally Fornell speaks again. "Ok. I get it. I will do what I can. Just know that if anything hinky goes down and Ms Cole or we feel the situation is unsafe, we'll pull the plug." Eliot grunts. "I'll keep her safe. That's my job. It's what I do." Fornell looks at him sideways. "I know what you do Spenser. And you're damn lucky that Jethro here won't let me run you in." Eliot glares at him. "I can take care of Tara. She's one of us. My team. My family." "Yeah well you're not the family she ran to is she?" I can see the color rising in Eliot's cheeks. I step in to intervene. "She was scared Tobias. Whatever it was, she was terrified. I'm sure her thinking was to keep us out of it. To keep us safe. She took it all on herself, whatever it was, but she forgot that we're stronger together. We take care of our own."
Fornell sighs and finishes his drink. He pulls out a piece of paper and a pen. He scribbles something on the paper and hands it to Gibbs. "Tomorrow. Noon. Be there." I hold out my hand then change my mind and give him a hug. "Thank you Tobias."
Eliot has managed to calm himself and asks Gibbs, "Did I hear something about steaks?" Gibbs smiles. "In the kitchen." Eliot finishes his drink and heads upstairs to see what he has to work with. We follow and soon after the doorbell rings. Ziva rushes in to give me a hug and hear what we've learned. McGee, DiNozzo, Abby and an older gentleman that I haven't met yet are here too. Ziva introduces me to Ducky and he and I have a good time sharing stories about our homeland. The food is amazing and the company entertaining and by the time Eliot and I leave, I am feeling good about the trip and looking forward to seeing Tara in the morning.
Eliot, of course, is a perfect gentleman. He wraps me up in the blankets on the hotel bed and holds me until I fall asleep. It's been too many weeks since I felt this safe and confident and I sleep through the night for the first time in a long time.
I wake early. I'm am a bundle of nerves and I am sure about to drive Eliot crazy. "It's OK Sophie. Try to sit down and relax." I give him a smile. "I can't Eliot. I just need to see her. I just need to know that she's OK. She can stay here if she wants. I just need to know…" He wraps his arms around me and holds me still. "I know Sophie. I know."
Gibbs arrives with Ziva to take us to the meeting place. I climb in the backseat and Ziva takes my hand and asks how I'm doing. We talked about languages the day before and we try to find one that Gibbs and Eliot don't know. Eliot is fluent in Arabic and Russian. Gibbs speaks Russian. We whittle it down to Spanish and Hebrew, both of which Ziva is comfortable in. It was pointed out to me one time by a Hebrew speaker that "I don't have a 'hccchhh' sound in my language making my Hebrew just a little bit off. We decide on Spanish for now earning scowls from the two men in the front. We quietly chat about our teams and our work. Ziva is not surprised to hear that I'm a grifter. "I have a gift for seeing these things" she tells me. "I also know that one can be a good person, even after the things we have done." I smile at her. Under difference circumstances, Ziva would have made a great team.
We wait in the car in a deserted area under a bridge. If this were an episode of Law and Order, there would be a body lying somewhere nearby. Another car pulls up, nose to nose with ours. Gibbs gets out and he and Fornell meet in the middle to talk. As he was getting out of the car, I could see Fornell gesturing firmly at someone in the back seat. Eliot looks back at me and gives me a similar lecture. Stay in the car. Keep my head down. Don't do anything stupid. I give him a dirty look. He ignores me and looks at Ziva. She nods and opens her door while unsnapping her gun holster. Eliot scowls at her then points for her to go around the area on her side and he will clear on his. They both go off, leaving me alone in the car.
I am just about to the point of swearing and going to find out for myself what is going on when I see the back door of the other car open. A long tan leg slips out followed by a slip of blonde hair. Tara! I am out of the car in a flash. She sees me and moves towards me with a big smile. Before any of the guys can stop us, we're together in the middle, no longer protected by the safety of the cars. Fornell turns on Tara, yelling at her to go back while Eliot starts gesturing at me to get down. I grab Tara's hand and pull into the backseat of our car. Satisfied that we're safe, the guys go back to talking. Eliot and Ziva join them giving me and Tara some time alone to talk. Or whatever.
Inside the car, Tara is very subdued. I am all over her, pulling her tight, asking questions between teary kisses. "Sophie stop" she begs, trying to catch her breath. I am practically on her lap now. "Tara. I can't. I was so worried. I am so happy you're OK." "I'm Ok Soph. I'm OK. How did you find me anyway? " "Hardison" I mumble trying to kiss her again. "Damn" she says, "I should have expected that. I hope no one else was able to follow me." "No" I tell her. "No one do what Hardison do" I say in a perfect imitation of his voice. She laughs and relaxes a bit and finally lets me kiss her. "Mmm you feel good" she says. "I missed you". I push her away. "Yeah Tara. What the bloody hell was up with that. Dumping me and taking off like you did?" She lowers her eyes. "I was scared Soph. I didn't know what to do." "Well you could have come back to us. We could have protected you." She shakes her head. "No I couldn't take that chance. Not with your lives." "So what was it then? Who was out to get you? Why did you run to the FBI?"
Tara runs her fingers through her hair and sighs. "I told you I've done things." I interrupt her. "We've all done things Tara. Some of us have done some really bad things." She nods, "I know Soph. It's just, well, I can't really explain." "Try." "I'm sorry Sophie. I really am." That's it. Final word. I know better than to keep asking.
The others come back to the car. Ziva slides in next to me, putting me in the middle between her and Tara. Gibbs and Eliot sit in the front seats while Fornell leans in over Gibbs so he can be part of the conversation. He speaks more to Tara than to the rest of us.
"Spencer here tells me that the Hilton connection to the original theft has been taken care of." "Yeah" Eliot adds. Nate and I took care of that last week. It was a straight up insurance scam." "Then why? What?" I try to ask the question again. Fornell fills in the rest. "As you know, Ms. Cole has done some work for us in the past." I look at Tara and mouth "FBI?" She nods slightly. Fornell continues "There are some who are not able to forgive and forget. We're pretty sure we know who it was that teamed up with the Hilton clan, steal the item then take care of Ms. Cole all at one time. "It was a hit?" Eliot asks incredulously. "Something like that yeah." "And has the threat been taken care of?" Eliot asks again. Fornell sighs. "We think so." "You think?" I can hear the anger in Eliot's voice. "We know. We think we know we know. Enough that I am somewhat comfortable with Ms. Cole traveling with you, assuming you are all they say you are." "More" I add before Eliot has a chance to respond with the insult I am sure he is working on. "And if that's what Ms. Cole wants." We all turn to look at Tara. She squirms and looks around, trying to read the faces of the men talking to her. Finally she takes my hand. "I think it's time I go home."