AN: Just a little something now that Tony DiNozzo's last two episodes are coming up and previews are coming in. This is how I want it to go down. Also, I still haven't watched past when Ziva left, so if I fudge a few details about this case they're on and everything else, that's why. I kept up with episode summaries and spoilers, so some of it might sound familiar but don't expect it to be entirely canon. Especially since I'm not likely to finish this before MW's last episode airs.
Title is from a song by Seafret.
When I follow my heart
It leads me to you.
Do you think of me when you look to the sea?
One.
He really should have seen this coming.
He has been a federal agent for longer than junior high schoolers have been alive, and he has dealt with more terrorists, foreign and domestic, than he can count. Add to that the fact that Ziva David was a Mossad operative for years - more than that, she was part of the Kidon unit. Which meant she was an assassin. Although she rarely talked about her missions, he knew she was involved in some pretty crazy things.
So it should be no surprise that she had been involved in god-knows-what that has led a rogue MI6 agent to come after her now. Forget the fact that she hasn't been Mossad in years - he should have seen this coming from miles away.
Gibbs is interrogating a man who had been found snooping around Ziva's old apartment complex. The old lady, Gladys Miller, who had lived next door to Ziva for years was fond of Tony, despite his penchant for knocking on Ziva's door at all hours of the night. When Ziva had left for good, he had gone to the Gladys and had her promise to call him if she saw anything funny going on. He had done that partly because he felt he owed Gladys for some reason and partly because this was the only way he could think at the time to watch Ziva's six now that she was out of his life.
So Gladys, naturally suspicious of strangers lurking around, had called Tony, saying that a strange man had been hanging around for the last few days and had knocked on her door, asking about her former neighbor. Gladys, bless her heart, told the man she had no idea where her former neighbor had gone or when she left.
They are all on edge with Jacob Scott running around, killing former and current agents who had any sort of involvement in his past. Fornell is in the ICU, former director Tom Morrow dead. When Gladys called him out of the blue, his proverbial hackles had been raised and he and Gibbs had immediately driven out to the apartment complex that had once been so familiar to him.
They had quickly apprehended the nameless stranger, almost too easily. This led them to believe that he knew that Ziva no longer lived there but didn't know where she had gone. Once the man was in custody, Tony had knocked on Gladys' door to thank her and let her know that they caught the man. The wizened old woman had hugged him - Tony always had a way with the older ladies - and said, "You probably want to warn Ziva."
No kidding.
As Gibbs works on breaking the lurker, Tony, McGee, and Bishop watch from the observation room. Tony's brain is working overtime, formulating a plan to do exactly what Gladys had said. The main problem is that Tony has not seen Ziva in almost three years - not since he had walked away from her on that damned runway in Tel Aviv. Their communications were scant - he received yearly birthday and Christmas cards along with the occasional postcard. She never put a return address on the envelope - she even put the postcards in envelopes, like she didn't want anyone to know what she wrote to him. In return, since he had no idea where she was, he would send her instant messages, not knowing if she was even checking them. Maybe in her post-badge life, she never went on a computer. He just had no way to know.
So the plan - find Ziva, or rather, have the tech triumvirate of Abby, McGee, and Bishop find Ziva. Then Tony will go and warn her. It takes him way too long to come up with this two step plan and he considers that he might be panicking a little. What if the resident technology brain trust is unable to find her, or it's too late and she is lying lifeless somewhere? He tells himself to take it one step at a time, but he shifts back and forth like an antsy tennis player. At one point, he catches the other two look at him, then exchange a look, but they don't comment.
Gibbs intimidates the stranger, yelling at him suddenly, threatening him, smacking his hand down on the table. Only the most hardened criminals are immune to the Gibbs technique and this clown is not the toughest nut to crack. He gives his name - Joe Callahan - and says that he was tasked to find some woman named Ziva David. He had tracked her from Israel to DC, but then her trail had gone cold. He doesn't know who had hired him - of course - and he doesn't know why someone is looking for her. He is conveniently lacking in knowledge, meaning he really doesn't know anything or he is a really good actor.
"It could go either way. He seems like an idiot - I mean, knocking on old neighbors' doors? But Scott hasn't been exactly surrounding himself with morons. He might be a subcontractor who just happens to be a weak link, or he knows more than he's letting on," Bishop says, echoing Tony's thoughts. He and McGee nod in response.
They hear Gibbs growl one last time then get up and storm out of the interview room. The three agents rush to meet him in the hallway. "The bumbling, innocent private investigator is an act," he says shortly, confirming what they'd already worked out. Like a well oiled unit, they all head back to the bullpen.
"We need to warn Ziva," Tony says quickly, unable to sit at his desk like the younger agents. "If we can track her down, I can get her and we can bring her in to protective custody until we get Scott."
McGee looks at him. "Ziva? Protective custody? You think she's going to go for that?"
A flaw in his plan, yes, but Tony figures he will work something out to convince her. "She said she was going to let go of the badge, so maybe she's not a ninja anymore," he replies with a shrug.
McGee looks skeptical and Tony doesn't blame him. Once a ninja, always a ninja. But Tony isn't going to be able to rest until he knows she is safe, and he'll only know that if he is with her. "We need to find her first," he reminds the tech whiz.
"No need." Gibbs scribbles something on a piece of paper and hands it to Tony.
Tony squints to decipher Gibbs' handwriting. "Tel Aviv?"
"It's her address," Gibbs explains simply. The others gawk at him and he shrugs. "She gave me her address so we can reach her if something happened. Like this." Tony continues staring at him.
Tony blinks, processing this new bit of information. Gibbs knew where she was all this time? Why didn't Ziva tell him? They were partners for eight years, after all. Should he be hurt? He feels like he should be hurt. But it's Gibbs - it makes total sense that she would trust him with her address.
Gibbs sees him rooted to the ground and barks,"DiNozzo! Go home and pack. McGee will have your flight to Tel Aviv set for you by the time you get to the airport. Unless I need to send McGee instead."
That threat wakes him up. "Yes, boss," he says. He grabs his gear and dashes for the elevator.
In the elevator, he tries not to think about how in a few hours, he will be face to face with Ziva for the first time in more than two years. He pushes the wave of emotions aside, focusing on the task at hand. Go home, pack, go to airport, get on plane. Then he'll let himself think about it.