I don't own any of them. It's too bad really since if I owned them Leverage would still be on the air.
"Damnit Hardison!" Eliot grabbed the hacker and nodded at Parker to follow where he led. He was seething. It had been such a simple task… Waltz into Washington DC to deliver some recovered electronic data that would have compromised a federal judge and waltz out. Who could have ever predicted that Sophie would run into someone from her past, and that Nate would have been arrested trying to get between Sophie and the federal agent who had recognized her. Eliot had been one moment from wading into the fray when he noticed the man's partner standing nearby. He had recognized the woman immediately. Any hitter in the business would recognize a Mossad assassin on site, and Eliot had definitely crossed paths with Ziva David in his previous life. He knew that any attempt on his part to interfere would end up with someone being killed, and Eliot definitely didn't want it to be him. In self-defense he had grabbed Parker and Hardison and retreated to a safe distance to try and plan some kind of escape route for Nate and Sophie.
"We can't leave them behind!" Hardison almost squeaked in indignation. He was nervous, and the tone of his voice was a dead giveaway.
Eliot took a deep breath and tried to be reasonable when he replied. "We're not leaving them behind. We've got to plan some kind of escape. We got any way to track them?"
"Yeah man. I can track them." Hardison calmed down immediately and opened the small laptop he always carried. "It looks like they're headed… oh lord… to the Washington Navy Yard."
Eliot swore under his breath and looked at both Parker and Hardison before saying, "Well, come on let's go."
Sophie gasped as she was escorted into the small room and "seated" in the chair by the woman who had accompanied Detective DiNozzo. She tried a placating smile at the man seated across the table. "Detective DiNozzo."
Tony DiNozzo cocked his head to one side and stared at Sophie. He had recognized her as soon as he had passed her in the street. It was one of the traits he had inherited from his father… he never forgot a beautiful woman, and Sophie Devereaux was a stunning woman. Tony could see that she was nervous, so he gave a small smirk and interrupted her, "It's Special Agent DiNozzo now Ms. Devereaux. So… what are you doing in Washington? Still grifting?"
Sophie shot an uneasy glance at the woman standing by the door before looking at Tony again. She took a deep breath and tried again. "I'm sorry, Special Agent DiNozzo. It was such a surprise to run into you here. When did you make the move from Philadelphia to Washington?"
"You know my boss is in the next room with your accomplice. I suspect McGee has already gotten his I.D. Why don't you make this a bit easier on yourself and just answer my question."
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Was the only thing Sophie said before Tony stood and walked out of the room. Sophie then watched the dark haired woman settle herself by the door.
Tony walked in the next room to find Gibbs and McGee watching. "Hey Boss… McGeek."
Gibbs took a sip of his ever present cup of coffee and asked. "Who's the woman?"
"Her name is Sophie Devereaux or at least that was the name she was going by when I met her oh… about 15 years ago in Philly. I was working undercover and she was attempting to grift my target. Who's her accomplice?"
McGee glanced at the screen in front of him and read, "Nathan Ford. He used to be an insurance investigator at IYS Insurance. It looks like his son died a few years ago, he quit his job, and then he moved to the other side and started working with a team of thieves. He did a few months in jail but dropped off the radar."
Gibbs nodded at Tony to follow him into the room. Tony stood by the door while Gibbs sat across from the handcuffed man. "You know it's against the law to take a swing at a federal agent, right Mr. Ford?"
Nate had been assessing and cataloging everything since he had seen Sophie be accosted by the man he now knew was a fed. He had been glad that Eliot had taken Parker and Hardison to a safe distance to keep them from getting grabbed. He could tell that the man next to him was not someone he could bullshit and get away with it, so he decided to go with truth. It was something about the eyes. Nate knew instinctively that Special Agent Gibbs was someone he could level with.
"I didn't mean to take a swing at your man. It was a simple misunderstanding. Sophie is a part of my team, and we were in Washington to deliver something we were contracted to obtain."
Gibbs looked intrigued at this. "Who contracted you and what were you after?"
"I can show you easier than I can tell you. I can say that what we recovered could have had an impact on national security." Nate paused for a minute then said, "Eliot, bring Hardison and Parker here please."
Eliot and Hardison stared at each other for a full second before they both said simultaneously, "What the hell!"
Parker tugged on both their arms and motioned towards the entrance to the Navy Yard. "I'm not sure about this, but Nate and Sophie need us."
Hardison nodded in agreement and looked at Eliot. Eliot was staring at the building and appeared to be deep in thought. "Nate, we're coming in, but if I see one pair of handcuffs coming at me then all bets are off."
Nate sat back in his chair and looked at Gibbs and DiNozzo. "My team is on its way in. They had nothing whatsoever to do with what happened between me and Agent DiNozzo. Please remember that."
Gibbs smirked and stood up. "DiNozzo, bring Mr. Ford with us. I'll get Ziva to bring Ms. Devereaux as well. We'll take this to the bullpen." Gibbs paused then gave Nate a very stern glare. "If you're screwing with me I'll make you regret it."
It only took 5 more minutes for the agent Gibbs sent to meet Eliot, Parker and Hardison to bring them to the bullpen. Eliot immediately began to look for exit points. He also made note of each agent in the room and whether or not they were wearing their side arm.
Ziva looked at the new-comers with interest. The man with long hair and blue-eyes was very familiar. She gave him a long, slow stare and said, "I know you."
Eliot nodded. "Yes ma'am you do. We've met several times. I think the last time was about three years ago in Tel Aviv."
Nate motioned with his handcuffed hands to Hardison. "Hardison, show Agent Gibbs what we found. I think he'll find it very interesting."
Hardison's fingers began to dance across his laptop and seconds later he had hacked the feed into the plasmas. The images that filled the screen made the senior agent almost choke on his coffee. There stood a federal judge dressed in leather and holding a whip next to a scantily-clad bound woman.
"We were contracted by the judge to retrieve these from someone who was blackmailing him. We managed to retrieve this as well as additional information about other people being blackmailed by this same ring. I think I saw a couple of congressmen and possibly some other power players from Capitol Hill. If we give you this file then you let us walk out of here. Hardison has the electronic information on the blackmailer. You can go after him and save some people their money and their dignity."
Gibbs looked at DiNozzo who had been looking through the information in the file folder Parker had handed to him. He looked up and noticed Gibbs was waiting for his reaction. "Boss, this is the real deal. I think I saw the director of the FBI in here. Since I'm the one he tried to assault I say let them go. I don't want to press charges."
Gibbs nodded in agreement and motioned for Tony to throw his handcuff keys over. Once he reached out and snagged them he unlocked the handcuffs. He also motioned for Ziva to let Sophie go as well.
"You're free to go, Mr. Ford. Stay out of trouble."
Tony walked over to Sophie and put a hand on her arm. "Ms. Deverauex, I'm glad to see that you've turned over a new leaf. Take care of yourself."
Sophie looked at the special agent and took a moment to remember the young detective who had actually risked his cover to warn her to stay away from her mark. She put her hand over his for a moment and said, "Be safe Agent DiNozzo… and thank you."
Gibbs and his team walked to the outside door with Nate and company and watched them head outside into the bright sunlight. Once they had disappeared he turned to his team and said, "McGee, take this flash-drive do-hickey to Abby and see what else you can get from it. DiNozzo, you and Ziva head over to see the judge. Let him know we have his information and are investigating."
"What are you going to do, Boss?"
"I'm calling Fornell. I think he needs to know his director may be compromised. Well… what are you three waiting for? Get to work! We've got a case to solve…"
fin