Disclaimer: I don't have anything to do with NCIS. I'm just playing in their sandbox.

Two Roads Diverged

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both:

And one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

The Road Untaken, Robert Frost

Prologue

YEAR: 2001

When a week ends with the loss of faith, then it can be considered a tough week. Danny Price was dirty and a Navy cop named Gibbs offered Baltimore Homicide Detective Anthony DiNozzo a new job. Yet, he wasn't sure, just as he was no longer sure if he should marry Wendy. There was something completely life changing about having your partner of two years turn out to be dirty that makes a man doubt the decisions he had made. When you trust a man with your life and he turns out to be a dirty cop, how can you trust yourself or the decisions you've made let alone anyone else's decisions or intentions?

"DiNutso," an all too familiar voice interrupted his reverie.

Tony turned away from him scotch and shifted himself on the barstool so that he was facing Special Agent Tobias Fornell in a cheap suit and raincoat coming his way. When Tony first met the man, he thought him toad-like in appearance but since he had gotten to know him better, he thought of Fornell as one of the few Fibbies that you could trust. Of course, that was before Danny.

"Yeah, Fornell, you looking for me or a drink?" he asked him.

"Both," he answered.

Fornell could smell the alcohol on his breath. There was only one reason for him to be visiting Baltimore right now and that was Det. DiNozzo. He knew DiNozzo wasn't thought of as a heavy drinker, so the man must be drowning something really painful. He liked the younger man, admired his moxie and his undercover and investigative skills. Any man who could take down the Macaluso Family single handedly deserved respect, but he also liked to tease him. He was the type of guy you felt comfortable trading insults with. But not today.

"You look like you just lost your best friend," Fornell said.

Tony's laugh had a hint of bitterness in it. This wasn't the DiNozzo he had come to vaguely know from working a couple of cases with. This guy didn't have any quick comebacks or eyes filled with life and amusement. Fornell sat down beside him and waved at the bartender then pointed to Tony's drink and put up two fingers. The bartender freshened Tony's drink with Glenlivet and then poured Fornell one on the rocks. Fornell put some money on the bar and looked at DiNozzo out of the corner of his eye.

"You looking for me, Fornell?" he asked.

"I thought I'd get a movie quote like: You looking at me," said Fornell.

"Not today. Today you get me without movies or jokes, Special Agent Fornell," said Tony.

"Call me Tobias," he said.

"'Kay then call me Tony," he said.

"I'm overseeing an investigation in DC. I need an undercover stud and I thought of you," he said.

"I'm not FBI and DC is outside my jurisdiction," smirked Tony.

"You could be FBI," countered Fornell.

"You offering me a job, Tobias?" asked Tony.

"Yup," he answered.

"You want me to become a Fibbie?" he laughed.

"You are a top homicide investigator with excellent undercover skills. Yeah, I want you for the FBI, Tony," said Fornell.

"I just had a Navy cop named Gibbs offer me a job. He seems like someone I can trust," said Tony.

Fornell looked at him and felt a flash of anger. It would be like Gibbs to find this diamond in the rough and pounce on him. He had an eye for talent. However, DiNozzo was not going to end up at NCIS if Fornell had anything to do with it.

"He's an ex-marine sniper. I know him well. He says you spell his name with two B's and the second B is for bastard. He's not lying about that. I guarantee if you take him up on the job he'll bark orders at you, work you like a dog and not even throw you a bone. Being FBI comes with a lot of perks, DiNutso, think about that," Fornell smiled.

"So, you want me, too," Tony said then took drink of his scotch.

"I'll guarantee you'll never be bored working at the Bureau and I'll have your back whenever you need someone to protect you or stand with you. I've had my eye on you for a couple of years. I want you, Tony," said Fornell.

"'Kay, Tobias, you convinced me. I hated going to a military academy as a kid anyway," Tony smiled. "How do I sign up with the FBI?"

"You meet me at the Hoover Building in DC tomorrow," smiled Fornell.

"I guess I should out my papers in because I'm going to be a Fed," Tony toasted.

"You've made the right choice, kid," said Fornell. "Now let's finish our drinks and you go home and get some sleep."

"And what are your plans, Tobias?" asked Tony.

"I got a date with my future wife who happens to be Gibbs ex-wife," Fornell said. "I told you I know him."

"I guess that you do," smiled Tony.

Chapter One

Year: 2009

Fornell walked into the NCIS with Sacks and another agent who Gibbs remembered from Baltimore some eight years earlier. If Sacks and Fornell wore dull five hundred dollar suits, the new agent wore a charcoal grey Italian designer suit that cost at least two grand, which made Gibbs smirk. This new agent's light brown hair had blond highlights in it form spending time under a strong sun and his skinned was tanned. Gibbs' grey blue eyes caught the green hazel eyes of Special Agent DiNozzo. He had wanted him for his team, but Fornell pilfered him then set him up on an eighteen-month undercover assignment where he took down a senator and a weapons dealer. Gibbs knew that DiNozzo worked off and on with Fornell after that until he disappeared off the radar four years ago. He always regretted letting this one get away because his gut told him he was a good one.

"Jethro, we need to talk," said Fornell.

Tony recognized the silver haired Special Agent. He looked at the other agents in the bullpen. There was a blond athletic looking guy with an easy smile, a thin above average height intelligent looking computer geek who barely looked up from his computer, and a dark haired, dark eyed tanned skinned beauty he placed from the Middle East.

"DiNozzo, isn't it?" Gibbs said to Tony ignoring Fornell.

"You remember me, Agent Gibbs. It must be my disarming smile that you remembered most," Tony smiled. It was his best movie star smile that he used when he was in trouble, wanted to impress someone, or wanted to seduce a woman.

Special Agent Ziva David, former Mossad officer, looked at this new FBI agent with interest. There was no doubt he was handsome and fit and he knew it, but there was something else about him. Beside the movie star smile and obvious charm, he had a quality that interested her, yet she couldn't put her finger on it.

"DiNozzo just rejoined my team after four year in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the FBI CNU as well as some classified joint ops with a few intel agencies," said Fornell proudly.

DiNozzo's reputation at the Bureau was as a top agent who didn't always follow the book and walked the fine line between brilliant agent and agent on the verge of being tossed out on his ass. He had almost as many citations and medals as he did official complaints. He also had Agent Fornell in his corner.

"The Crisis Negotiation Unit, I hear that's a tough job," said Agent Stan Burley, who was Gibbs' senior field agent.

"Even Mossad respects some of the work they do," Ziva said with a sniff.

Tony looked at Ziva and processed the accent and comment.

"Israeli and ex-Mossad. How come you are a special agent, sweet cheeks?" he asked her. A damn it she also hot, though she is looking at me as if I'm a potential suicide bomber.

"Special Agent Ziva David is the name not sweet cheeks. I was a liaison with Mossad and NCIS. Unfortunately, my face got plastered all over ZNN during a case involving Hamas. It ended my career at Mossad. I am now an American citizen," she said.

"Oh. I thought the Mossad was like the Mafia and the Catholic Church, once you were part of them, you were part of them until you died," Tony smiled.

"You'd know, DiNozzo," said Special Agent Sacks.

"Shut up, Slacks," smirked Tony.

"You two behave or I'll start treating you like kids," warned Fornell.

Fornell looked at his two agents: the steady and by the book Sacks and the brilliant and what book DiNozzo. It was some kind of cosmic joke that they both worked for him at the same time.

"What do you want, Fornell?" Gibbs asked.

"You have a dead marine named," he paused.

"Staff Sergeant James 'Jimbo' Hawk," Tony spoke up.

"He was shot twice in the back of the head gangland style," said Gibbs. "McGee is checking his financials and we were looking to talk to his buddy…"

"Staff Sergeant Ned Warner," said Fornell.

Tony watched as Gibbs actually growled at Fornell.

"How do you know about them?" Gibbs barked.

Fornell looked at Sacks, who sighed.

"Eduardo 'Eddie' Velez. We are after him for alleged selling drugs coming from Afghanistan," said Sacks.

"We want not only to catch Velez but his Afghanistan connection," said Fornell.

Ziva noticed that DiNozzo stood there with his hands in his pockets looking amused. He was starting to annoy her. She didn't know why but he got under her skin.

"You want in on our investigation, don't you, Tobias?" said Gibbs.

"You either let us in or we force ourselves into the investigation, Jethro," said Fornell.

"Boss, I found something. Under the name Richie Valens, Velez owns a farm in Virginia," said McGee, who finally pulled his nose out of his computer.

"David, DiNozzo, get the address from McGee and go check it out," barked Gibbs.

Fornell smiled: "Was that so hard, Jethro?"

"Your people better not screw things up," said Gibbs.

"Richie Valens. I wonder if he'll sing La Bamba for us," DiNozzo joked.

Ziva looked at him as if he was an idiot. He observed her in her cargo pants, brown safari short over a white tee shirt, as she grabbed his Sig Sauer and badge and attached them to her pants then put on her brown leather jacket. Tony guessed that her age was around twenty-eight or twenty-nine, a good ten years younger than he was. She glared at him with contempt.

"I will drive," she told him in a tone that said she would not listen to an argument.

"Yes, ma'am," he smirked.

"Do not call me, ma'am," she hissed.

"Wow, she's moody. I'm just trying to be polite," he said and followed her to the elevator.

Fornell looked at Gibbs: "I want him back in one piece. I have a lot invested him."

"Like what?" asked Gibbs.

"Emily loves him," said Fornell.

"By the looks of him you should feel lucky that your daughter is only eight," said Gibbs.

"He's not that bad, Jethro. He's got some issues but I trust him with my life and Emily's life," Fornell said.

"How about our shared ex-wife's life?" asked Gibbs. "You trust him with that."

"I like him too much to do that to him, Jethro" Fornell said.

Two Roads

The farm turned out to be in Holly Hills, Virginia, which was located over two hours outside of DC. It was a secluded verdant part of Virginia. After a few attempts to make conversation by Tony, the car die proceeded in relative quiet, as Tony found himself praying to God that he survived the driving skills of Agent David. As they got to the secluded location and drove up to a large historic stone manor, Tony had a bad feeling.

Ziva stopped the Challenger in front of the manor then she got out. Tony got out of the car more cautiously. He pulled his Glock 23 and kept it at his side. For some reason driving with DiNozzo and his snide comments about her driving had put Ziva in a bad mood. She wanted to get this over with quickly and drive his ass back to DC. Ziva approached the door, but before she got to it Tony noticed the glint of a weapon in window. These bastards are setting us up, thought Tony.

"David, watched out!" he yelled then grabbed her as the front door exploded from a shotgun blast.

Tony and Ziva ended up in the bushes out of the house. She was livid.

"Harah! I should have been expecting that," she growled.

"I guess having just come from Afghanistan I'm still in my paranoid mode," Tony remarked as he looked at their situation. "I don't know how many we are dealing with."

"Vests are in the trunk. We need to get to the car for better cover," she snarled.

Tony took out his smartphone and called Fornell.

"Speak DiNozzo," answered Fornell.

"Just been fired on. I'd say Velez is here and he doesn't want to talk," said Tony.

"I'll call the local LEOs and send them your way and Gibbs and I are on our way," Fornell hung up.

Tony put his smartphone away then got ready to start shooting.

"I'll cover for you and once you take cover then you can cover for me," he said.

She glared at him again for daring to give her orders but she took out her Sig Sauer and readied herself to make a run for the car. Nodding she took off. Tony stood up and started firing his Glock at the door and window in which he saw the glint. There was some return fire, but Ziva got to the car without much of a problem.

As she readied to cover him, Tony ejected his empty clip and put in a new one then he dove over the bushes and heard the a car starting up in the garage attached to the house. Suddenly, the garage door burst apart as a black SUV with four men in it drove through it.

Ziva saw this and did a roll over the hood of their car to take cover as the SUV careened to the right and towards them. The man in the passenger seat and the seat right behind him hand sidearms drawn and started firing. On instincts that had been hones in a war zone for four years trying to get hostages released from terrorists and more, Tony fired at the SUV as he ran towards Ziva. She was drawing too much of the fire so he ran up to her and hip checked her to the ground. The SUV screeched away.

"Ben zonah," she spat in Hebrew as she got up from the ground.

She glared at Tony who had placed his gun on the hood of the car and was now leaning on it with his two hands.

"Ani yiv-at lecha ba beitsim," she growled at him.

"I speak some Hebrew, Agent David," he said through gritted teeth.

Suddenly, he coughed. It was a wet, deep, painful cough then his knees buckled and he fell to the ground.

"DiNozzo!" she yelled and rushed over to him.

His white dress shirt was turning blood red in two spots. One was on his left side and an abdomen wound. Ziva attempted to apply pressure to both wounds with her hands, as she heard police sirens in the background.

"Ruined another good suit," he said in cough of pain.

"Why did you push me out of the way?" she asked him not able to hide the heat of anger in her words.

"You're too beautiful to get shot," he smiled.

This time it was a sincere smile and she also saw the smile in his green eyes, which held her captive for a few moments. He stared into her chocolate brown eyes.

"Usually I would have like the idea of your hands on me," he said in a strained voice then coughed again and passed out.

For some reason she felt a lump in her throat as she applied pressure on the wounds.

TWO ROADS

"What the hell happened to my agent?" demanded Fornell as he and Gibbs walked into the local area hospital's waiting room.

Ziva, who still had Tony's blood covering her hands and clothes, sat leaning forward with her elbows resting on her thighs. Her hair was no longer pulled back in a ponytail but was down and looking wild. She looked at Fornell with eyes filled with worry.

"I knocked on the door and they fired a shotgun, but Agent DiNozzo knocked me out of the way," she said.

"Is that when he got shot?" asked Fornell.

"No, that was the first time he saved my life. There were four of them. They escaped in a SUV. It was then that he was shot. He knocked me to the ground and took two bullet meant for me," she said.

"Jesus, DiNozzo, he can't help himself," said Fornell. "Since I've known him he was gotten injured more than any agent I ever met."

"Ziver, go wash up," Gibbs said gently to her. "You're scaring adults let alone children."

She looked at her bloodstained hands then got up and walked to Women's Room. Once she was in the bathroom, she stood in front of sink and scrubbed her hands trying to get the blood out leaving red foam in the sink. Slowly, she looked into the mirror. Why did he do that?

Returning to the waiting room, she saw Fornell and Gibbs speaking to the doctor. She walked up beside them.

"His side was a through and through but abdomen wound is more extensive. He'll make a full recovery but he'll be laid up at least two months," the doctor said.

"Well, it looks like I'll be on DiNozzo watch for a while," sighed Fornell.

"DiNozzo watch?" asked Gibbs.

"For reasons I don't want to explain, he's not real good at taking care of himself. He has problems sticking to doctor's orders or even staying in the damned hospital," said Fornell.

"Well, he better take care of himself. As I said the abdomen wound is serious," said the doctor.

"Can we see him?" asked Ziva.

"Not yet. He's in post-op ICU. It'll be twenty-fours before we move him," said the doctor.

Fornell looked at Gibbs and Ziva.

"Well, you two can leave. He's my responsibility," said Fornell.

Ziva looked disappointed but didn't say a word.

"Are you like this with all your agents, Tobias?" smiled Gibbs.

"I recruited him, Jethro. Hell, I'm even his damned next of kin and medical proxy," he said.

"Sounds like you adopted him, Tobias," Gibbs said.

"Maybe I have," smiled Fornell.