Title: All This Time
Chapter: Prologue
Characters/Pairings: Tony/Ziva, McGee/Ziva
Spoilers/Warning: R
Summary: "He wants to scream at her until his voice is raw; to shake her and make her understand the depth of her betrayal..." - Tony/Ziva/McGee love triangle
Disclaimer: NCIS and all it's characters belong to CBS and Donald Bellsario.
Author's Note: The original idea behind this was a humorous one-shot wherein McGee writes a new book in the Deep Six series and, because Tony had been an ass to him, he killed off Agent Tommy and Officer Lisa ran into Agent McGregor's arms for comfort. But as I started writing I really wanted to explore that idea with the actual characters and thus this was born. Now, this is just a bit of a teaser. I wanted to get it out here to see if anyone would be interested or if I'm just wasting my time. Let me know.
When they floor begins to tremble, Tony knows he's in for trouble.
He'd been lying on the couch in the latest in a long series of safe houses, attempting to catch some sleep before his team was set to deploy yet again. It had been two years since he'd taken this undercover op and, not for the first time, he was beginning to regret his decision. Well, it hadn't really been as much of a decision as it had been an order passed down directly from SecNav. An inter-agency collaboration intended to flush out a highly dangerous terrorist ring. Originally, the whole mission was to only take a few weeks. He would get in, get out, and everyone would believe he'd finally taken that Tahitian vacation he'd always wanted. But then the leader of the mission (a high ranking CIA operative) had been killed, Tony had manned up and taken control, and a few weeks had suddenly turned into a couple of years.
"Sir." Agent John Landers is his team's techie. There's not a single system or password the man hasn't been able to hack since the op started and, honestly, without him they'd all be dead at this point.
"What is it Landers?" Tony asks, exasperated. Why did the bad guys always have to attack just as he was finally starting to relax?
"Safe house has been compromised," Landers informs him. "Camera spotted a team of eight on foot."
"Obviously." Tony gestures to the glass on the coffee table that is now vibrating against the smooth surface. "Why is the house shaking?"
"That would be the tanks, Sir."
Tony shoots him a look that clearly says 'you have got to be kidding me' and Landers shrugs. The first time their safe house had been attacked all hell had broken loose. However, as time progressed and the number of compromised safe houses began stacking up, escaping trained terrorists had become something of a routine for the four operatives.
"Round up Beckett and Rodriguez and meet me in the kitchen," Tony instructs as he swings his legs over the arm of the couch and onto the floor.
He takes a deep breath before pushing off the couch and then scoops up his backpack as he strides into the kitchen. Omar Beckett, their weapons expert, is already there, grinning from ear to ear as he clicks the magazine for his 9mm in place and starts taking inventory of his current weaponry. Tony's come to realize Beckett gets off on gun fights and explosions and he's pretty sure the man has some sort of death wish, but there's no one else on this team he'd rather have watching his six and everyone knows it.
"Heard they got tanks," Beckett says excitedly as Tony begins rifling through his bag.
"You heard right," Tony says to him and smiles when his hands close over the object he'd been looking through his pack for. He traces his index finger over the glossy picture and sighs softly. Whenever something big goes down, such as current events, Tony makes sure to take out the picture and whisper a quick 'goodbye, I love you' just in case this is really, truly the last time he'll be able to. When he's finished with his ritual he places the picture back into his bag and looks over at Beckett. "What are you looking at?"
"You're so sweet Bossman," Beckett says with a smirk. "Almost gives me a toothache."
"Shut up," Tony mumbles as Landers enters the kitchen with Rodriguez in tow. "Landers, status?"
"Twenty meters out," Landers says, eyeing the thermal detection in his hands. "Looks like they're regrouping."
"Let me know the second they move," Tony tells him and turns to Rodriguez. Andrea Rodriguez is gorgeous, smart, and is just about the absolute last person on the Earth Tony would ever want to piss off. However, she's also the only one on the team he's ever talked to about his life prior to this damn mission and without her to vent his frustrations to, he'd probably have gone crazy by now.
"Doors are rigged," Rodriguez says bluntly.
"Good. Landers?"
"On the move and coming in quickly, Sir," Landers says as his eyes scan the device in his hands. "Fifteen meters. Ten. Five. Two meters out."
"Alright ladies," Tony says just as the front door explodes open maelstrom of fire and smoke. "Let's lock and load."
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