Warnings: Spoilers for S10, all grammatical errors are my own (if you see one, PM me!)
A/N: Hello everyone! Here is chapter 2! Enjoy! Thank you for all the kind words and support! If i didn't respond to you, I apologize, life has been hectic the last few days!
It was well after one in the morning when Tony stepped off the elevator, dressed now in a casual tee shirt and jeans, and headed towards his desk. It wasn't an uncommon site to see the SFA walk back in well after the day had ended to do work. He always joked that he did his best work at night. However, Tony hadn't been planning on returning to NCIS that evening. It was just that his conversation with Leah Dawson in the elevator that afternoon was bothering him. Someone is conning you.
Tony flipped his computer on. He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and gently laid it down on his desk. He glanced around the empty bullpen wondering what his team was up to at that moment. Normally, this thought never crossed his mind. Damn you, Leah.
He sat down at his desk and stared at his screen for a long time before he finally opened a search window and typed in her name. Tony immediately was treated with a screen of information on his NSA foe. His team was up against one of the NSA's best and brightest. She was quite the analyst, responsible for helping counterterrorism units thwart multiple threats. Her father was a Navy admiral, her mother an heiress to a vast fortune; she came from money just like he did. Her academic history was not so different from his own, private school taught, went to college on a sports scholarship—field hockey for her. It startled him slightly that their paths to Washington had been very similar.
She knew what she was doing, and Leah did her job well. That meant it didn't bode well for the team. Tony had his suspicions that Ziva was hunting Bodnar behind their backs, up until today he had just kind of ignored it. He should have known better but he had been ignoring things that Ziva or Gibbs did for years now. No one had taken any offense to it—until that afternoon.
Was she, right? Did Leah have something on his team that could send them to jail? Tony knew she must have, because she would not have ventured over to NCIS to inform them that the NSA was aware someone was illegally tracking Bodnar.
He could no longer deny it, could he? No, Tony concluded, you can't deny it anymore. Collapsing back against his chair, he rubbed his hands over his face. He decided that it was time he launched a little investigation of his own—including keeping tabs on a certain NSA analyst.
Leah was finding it difficult to complete Morrow's orders when he was constantly demanded updates and meetings with her. It had been a few weeks since she had traveled over to NCIS on his request and she had been over at Homeland Security more than she had spent in her office or her car going over her intel.
She had been there so frequently that the security officers knew her name, one even knew her birthday—he flirted with her every time she came by if he was on duty, despite her efforts to suggest that she was not interested in a relationship. Today had been no different when she went through the metal detector, he once again tried to get her number. She turned him down. He's not as attractive as Agent DiNozzo…
Even though she had felt a spark between them, she knew it would be an incredibly bad idea to date him, and besides, she wasn't sure she entirely trusted him. Leah was, after all, investigating his team. With this thought in mind, she knocked on Director Morrow's door.
"Miss Dawson," Tom Morrow said, with a faint smile as she entered his office, "come in, have a seat."
"I'm sorry I'm late," Leah said, noticing another man sitting at Morrow's desk. "Traffic."
"Don't worry about it. Secretary Jarvis and I were just catching up," Morrow replied, holding a chair out for her. "Clayton is a little worried about your operation."
Leah sat down and eyed the Secretary of the Navy, cautiously. "Mister Secretary, I can assure that my operation is completely legally."
Jarvis smiled, wistfully. "I'm not really worried about the legality of your operation, Miss Dawson. I'm worried how this is going to reflect on my agency and the Navy. We covered up quite a bit for the CIA when Eli David and Jackie Vance were murdered; I don't want this to come back to bite us in the ass."
She shifted, anxiously. "Mister Secretary, you should be aware that someone at NCIS is ignoring the orders of Homeland Security to stay out of the Bodnar investigation. If it is revealed that it is Director Vance or Agent David—then I'm not sure how positively that is going to reflect on NCIS."
Morrow pursed his lips. "They've been warned they're under investigation, Clayton. Any more involvement at this point could result in criminal charges."
"Has the activity stopped?" Jarvis questioned. "I assume you have NCIS under surveillance."
"Yes, I haven't picked up anything since I went over there a few weeks ago," Leah replied.
"Sounds like they heeded your warning."
"Or they are just getting smarter."
Jarvis chuckled. He tended to believe the latter, but he wasn't going to admit that to her. "Let's talk about something else; I know you were pulled from the trail of Benham Parsa. My sources tell me that the deaths of Eli David and Arash Kazmi are closely tied to him. What do you say?"
Leah glanced at Morrow. She hadn't even discussed her theories about Parsa being involved with the Director of Homeland Security. "I haven't been able to find out the connection; we know that Parsa was in contact with Bodnar, but for reasons why, we haven't figured out yet." Maybe if you people would stop meeting with me every other day I could solve that puzzle.
"And the CIA?" Jarvis pressed. "What was their involvement?"
"Pardon?" Leah questioned.
"My sources inform me that the CIA is involved as well," Jarvis replied. "It wasn't a very well-kept secret that they were displeased with Eli David as head of Mossad."
"Wait," Leah said, sounding a bit startled, "are you suggesting that the CIA was involved in the deaths of David, Kazmi, and Jackie Vance?"
Jarvis clenched his jaw. "I'm suggesting, Miss Dawson, that things are not always as they appear. It wouldn't be the first time that the CIA has been involved in some shady business."
Leah wasn't going to deny that. She knew enough shady business in Washington to make even a hardened vet's skin crawl, but still, she couldn't come out and admit that there was a possibility that the CIA was involved in those assassinations. It seemed a little too Hollywood movie to her than real life. "So far, my investigation has not uncovered an shady business by the CIA."
Morrow cleared his throat. "We're doing our best, Clayton, to make sure NCIS keeps their hands clean in this investigation, however, you know how difficult Agent Gibbs can be."
"I also know how difficult Agent David can be," Jarvis responded. "I read up on all of them before I started the job."
"You're not concerned that they're a team of loose cannons?" Leah questioned, eyebrows raised. "Clearly, you're worried about their actions reflecing poorly on you."
Jarvis smiled and chuckled. "Your father warned me you were a pistol, Miss Dawson."
Leah frowned. "That's just my father's polite way of saying I'm a pain in the ass."
Morrow took a deep breath just as his phone rang. "Miss Dawson, you're free to go. Keep me updated."
She knew when she had outstayed her welcome. Slowly, Leah got to her feet and proceeded out of the office. It could have gone a lot worse, she concluded. However, she wasn't sure that Jarivs was fond of her working on this investigation. He seemed anxious that she was going to uncover something that was going to expose NCIS.
Maybe that's what those agents needed, because apparently, they thought they were above the law. Well, she was there to tell them that they were not. It was obvious that they weren't used to playing by the rules and that their bosses seemed willing to glance in the other direction if it meant the job got done. The problem was, this job had international consequences.
Her nerves were already frayed from the meeting with Jarvis, that by the time she made it back outside and saw who was leaning against her car, she cursed. You've got to be kidding me!
Tony DiNozzo grinned at her, the corners of his eyes creasing underneath a pair of expensive sunglasses. "Figured I'd find you here."
Leah clutched her keys. "What do you want?" she snapped.
"Just keeping a watchful eye on my enemies," he responded, still smiling.
"I am not your enemy," Leah argued, feeling slightly uncomfortable under his gaze. Why did he have to look so sexy in the pricey suit?
Tony pushed off her car and took a step towards her. "You're not? You've been awfully busy digging up information about my team, meeting with Homeland Security behind our backs. That seems like something an enemy would do."
Leah rocked back on her heels for a second. Breathe, she told herself, just breathe. "If you think my actions are threatening to you or your team, then maybe you should ask yourself—what don't I want her to find out? If you had nothing to hide, Agent DiNozzo, you wouldn't feel so threatened by me."
He took his sunglasses off, green eyes piercing, causing a heat to rush to her skin. "Let's get something clear—I don't feel threatened by you."
She became aware that he had a very strong, slightly imposing presence. "Sure about that? You're the one keeping tabs on me."
"I like to know what I'm up against."
"Do you now?"
Tony cocked a sly grin. "You have a naughty mind, Miss Dawson."
Leah swallowed. She wasn't one to normally like playing the flirting game, but with him, it was different. "I'm not all sweet and innocent."
His grin grew. "No, I never suspected that you were."
She could tell he was enjoying this, even if he didn't trust her. "Should I expect you to start showing up out of nowhere, now?"
"Do I make you nervous?"
"No, but you are annoying me."
"Good. Then I'm doing my job."
"Am I free to go?"
Tony stepped aside and silently allowed her to get into her car.
Leah shoved the key into the lock and twisted furiously.
He chuckled. "You know that's not good for the car."
She glared at him. Yanking the door open and got inside. "Good bye, Agent DiNozzo," she snapped, slamming the door shut. Leah quickly started her little Volvo up and sped off, catching a quick glimpse at him in the rearview mirror. Damn him and his sexiness.
"Where have you been?" Ziva questioned Tony when he finally returned to the bullpen. "You have been gone over an hour."
"I had something that I needed to take care of," Tony responded, not bothering to make eye contact with her.
Ziva looked over at McGee, who simply shrugged his shoulders. The junior agent was never interested in what was going on in Tony's personal life, if it didn't impact NCIS. She was concerned though. The senior field agent had been rather withdrawn for the last few weeks. He had been disappearing for hours at a time and no one, other than her, seemed concerned about that. "Is everything alright?"
Tony glanced up then and managed to muster a fake smile. "Yeah. Everything is peachy. Why are you so curious? Are you worried about me Zee-vah?"
She clenched her fists under her desk. "Yes. You are sneaking around, keeping secrets from us. What happened to the post-elevator us?"
"I don't know," Tony snapped. "You tell me."
"What is that supposed to me?" Ziva countered, angrily. "Are you suggesting I am keeping something from you?"
Tony glared at her. It wasn't surprising that she had the audacity to deny that she was hiding the fact that she was looking for Bodnar on the side. He'd been digging around himself into it since Leah Dawson showed up and what he'd uncovered—well he couldn't deny it anymore. Ziva was conducting her own search and sooner or later Homeland Security was going to march off that elevator and put her in cuffs. Didn't she care that she could spend the rest of her days in jail? "I don't know—are you, Ziva?"
Ziva glanced, anxiously at McGee, who was intently watching the exchange. She then stared Tony, straight in the eye, and said, "No. I am not keeping anything from you."
He slammed the desk drawer, that he kept his gun and badge in, shut. Tony sat down at his computer and booted it up. "So," he said, tightly, "I guess we're fine."
She didn't appear to feel that way. "I thought we were a team."
"We are," Tony said.
"If we were, you would not be hiding the fact that you having been sneaking around to see Leah Dawson," Ziva hissed.
Tony's eyebrows shot up. He knew she was spying on him. He'd felt it in his gut that last few days. "Are you jealous that I might be fraternizing with the enemy?"
Ziva narrowed her eyes. "She is dangerous. You should be careful."
He chuckled, low in his throat. "She isn't any more dangerous than you are, Ziva."
She shifted, face tight with jealousy and anger. "I am not trying to throw our team in jail!"
"Neither is Leah," Tony spat, getting angry.
"Are you joking? She was here just a few weeks ago, threatening…" Ziva sighed, hotly.
"Yeah, I was there," Tony nearly shouted, glaring. "She's doing her job; to find Ilan Bodnar. We have a missing husband to find, so I suggest you stick to yours, okay?"
Ziva knew that the argument was over. He didn't deny that he was meeting up with the NSA analyst, but he had not really confirmed it either. All she knew was that Tony was keeping a small notebook of Leah Dawson's movements in the center drawer of his desk, which, didn't offer many clues. Angrily she stood, mumbled that she was going to get coffee, grabbed her wallet, and stomped out of the bullpen.
Tony quietly went back to work. At first he had been watching Leah to prove her wrong, that his teammates were not ignoring the orders of Homeland Security, however, after weeks of finding out his own intel, he knew otherwise. He didn't entirely trust Leah Dawson; she was after all NSA and he certainly wasn't sure what her endgame was—however, he did trust her to do her job. Right now, with all the secrets being kept between the team, her job appeared to be locking up the MCRT.
