Telling Gibbs
Chapter 2.
Following telling Gibbs about their relationship, while Gibbs team were just finishing off on a case they got a new one, then a few days later as they were still on theirs, Gibbs team picked up another case. Even though the crime scenes were so very different, once the body had got back to the Navy Yard again and Ducky had done the autopsy it was to find that both victim's had been killed in the same way, so when they reported this to Vance he told them that both teams were to work the case together.
After a few twist and turns they started to hone in on their victim's killer, with them being Navy and the information they were getting through they were thinking that it may be a civilian trial, because of it being the wife that had done it, but then as Cheri and McGee were going through bank records again, just in case they had missed something, she found some payments going off to a gunnery sergeant in the marines. Through Tony and Bishop's research, they managed to find out that the wife and he were having an affair, and had been for a very long time due to the man being a trainer on the local base. When they went off to find him though it was to be told that he had gone AWOL and another team had been investigating where he had gone, so Vance let them then take over on the search for him, while they then had plans to bring in the wife, but she had disappeared as well.
A day later after they had been making inquiries into where Stewart Barber could be another gunnery sergeant came forward to tell them that Jennifer Wilkes had been using him by making him think that she was in love with him, but she hadn't been really because all she had been after was someone to kill her husband and the person that was their second victim, as she had believed that her husband and this person had been having an affair together, the money she had been giving to him was his payoff for doing the job. At the time he had gone AWOL he had been thinking that Jennifer was going to be meeting him at the airport for them to make their escape, but she had never shown up. This witness Lee Ryland had agreed to be their witness in court, but he also handed his phone over to them saying that they could use it if they wanted to because in truth he had no clue as to where the two of them were supposed to have gone in making their escape, but he did have a text message from Stewart saying that he wasn't going to take the fall for Jennifer and he had disappeared off on his own accord.
When they traced from where the text message had been sent from it had been from the airport, while McGee and Abby had been doing that there had been a couple of reported sightings of Jennifer, so Gibb, Tony and Simon from Cheri and Tony's team had gone to follow up with one of them, while Bishop, Cheri and Jo again from Tony's team had gone off to follow up with the other sighting.
It was of course at the sighting Bishop, Cheri and Jo had gone to that had proved to be the right one. That place as it turned out was one that Jennifer had known very well, because as Bishop and Cheri had given chase as Jennifer had gone running off when she had seen them coming, they had told Jo to go round the other way and try to head her off, but there was an alleyway that they hadn't seen and even though Bishop and Cheri saw her go down there, they knew that Jo wouldn't get there in time to help. In the end though they did manage to cut her off, as they got more familiar with the alleyway and Jo had finally joined them, as Cheri split off from them and had gone into the part of the alleyway that led to a dead end and she just hoped that Bishop and Jo could get her to come that way and she could then trick her into going the way of the dead end.
The plan did work, but Cheri did end up with a smack to the face and an elbow in the ribs during the takedown of Jennifer, but she does end up throwing Jennifer to the ground and sits on her as she unceremoniously gets the cuffs on her, yelling at her to stop squirming when Jennifer starts screaming that the cuffs are too tight and her arms are getting pulled out of their sockets. With feeling a bit winded as she and Bishop get her up from the ground to take her to the car, she allows Bishop and Jo to take Jennifer while she gets her breath back for a few minutes.
Of course by the time she does get herself back to the car again, Bishop has reported that they have got her and are heading back to the Navy Yard with her, so she walks out of the alley holding her side that's hurting the most, it's for the car with Gibbs, Tony and Simon in to come racing in to join them. Having seen her holding herself as soon as the car screeches to a halt it's Gibbs and Tony that are straight out of it and heading towards her.
Gibbs is the first one that gets to her and he notices where her cheek is red from the smack, but with the way he gently tilts her head to look it then pulls on her ribs and she hisses in pain, with that Gibbs asks her what happened and she explains, so he tells her that she's going to see Ducky as soon as they get back to check her out. After then having a look at Jennifer in the car and seeing Tony's temper just boiling under the surface, he then tells Bishop and Jo to go his car and ride back with Simon, as they will drive her back to the Yard. He then gets in the back of car while making Tony drive, and Cheri finds herself trying not to grin too much with feeling tension in the car from Tony because of Jennifer hurting his girlfriend, plus the looks that he keeps giving the woman as he drives, but also with the sneaky smiles he lets slip out at her. As well as the glares that Gibbs keeps giving Jennifer each time she turns around, as she opens her mouth to say something, and seeing his glare the mouth soon snaps shut again.
As Ducky had just finished his examination of Cheri, she was just doing up her shirt once again as Tony and Gibbs walked into autopsy, her attention was drawn to it being them as Gibbs said: "How is she Duck?" To which Ducky explained that she was fine and that there were no broken bones, all she needed to do was have some ice on her cheek, but he didn't think that the hit had been hard enough to cause any bruising it would probably just be tender for a couple of days or so. Her ribs, on the other hand, were most certainly bruised on the right side and she would just need some rest and not do anything too strenuous that might make them hurt all the more or do more damage. With the look that Ducky gave both Tony and Cheri, they guessed that Ducky somehow knew about them as they knew what he was getting at.
With that Gibbs told Tony to go and see Abby and McGee to see what they had got with the phone, while Cheri could have the pleasure of helping him with the interrogation of Jennifer, he also added to Tony that if they found out what was on the phone then he was to come to observation, and tell them when they came out what the news if any was.
To start off with Jennifer was determined to keep quiet and not say anything to them, so after getting a slight handle on what she was up to, Cheri slowly began to stay quiet and let Gibbs do all the talking, while she just stared back at Jennifer, then when she saw the very slight reaction on Jennifer's face when he produced the crime scene photo's of both of the victims, she began once again on the questions. As she finally said, "So you're trying in not so many words not to tell us, that all this is down to Stewart deciding to take this action into his own hands, and that you had nothing to do with it?"
As Jennifer just shrugged her shoulders she then carried on with "Well all we want to know Jennifer is how much you do know about all of this, because we have got the money trail from you to him, unless you want to show us that you were lending him some money or something along that line, otherwise we're going to be thinking that it's some kind of pay off for him to murder both of these men."
After another pause of silence she turned to Gibbs and he just did a very subtle nod to her so she then added that if Jennifer didn't want to do anything to prove her guilt or innocence then they were just going to go and speak to some witnesses again and go and talk to her friends and neighbors to see if they would tell them some more, so that they could bring charges against her. She then gave her, her own version of the Gibbs death stare, before she began clearing away everything that had come out of the file, got up and said "Come on let's go, Gibbs, I don't think that she's going to be telling us anything, she can just sit in holding until we've got more to ask her about and who knows we may find out a lot more so that we can get more charges on top of the murder charge."
With that she got up and marched to the door with giving Jennifer one more look, she had just got the door open as Gibbs had got up and was just putting the chair under the table, as Jennifer said: "All right, all right I will tell you everything." So Gibbs pulled both chairs back out again and Cheri was sitting by his side once again. Jennifer then proceeded to tell them both everything about the murders.
In observation where both of the teams were watching from, Tony laughed at the expression on everyone's faces, as Jennifer did finally start to spill her guts about everything, and seeing the look that McGee was giving him, put his hand on his shoulder as he said "It was the look she gave her McGee, believe you me if you are ever on the receiving end of one of the looks, you'd be confessing to whatever it was she wanted out of you, believe you me." He then walked out to meet Gibbs and Cheri in the hall.
As everyone walked up with Gibbs back to the bullpen Tony explained about the text coming from a phone at the airport, Abby was still checking the security camera footage that had been sent over, but he, Simon and Jo had been on the phones and the computers seeing if they could find something out about where Stewart could have gone to. They were waiting on confirmation, but it was looking like he had headed to Spain where his brother and family lived. So with that Gibbs told Tony and Cheri to go home and pack some bags, he would clear things with Vance, but as they were the most senior agents he wanted them to be the ones to go after him, plus he needed McGee to be there with Abby for anything technical that needed doing. They would then call them to let them know where they would be going as soon as they'd got the confirmation for them, and he would also get in touch with the nearest office so that they could have a team of agents helping them if need be.
The two of them did do just that, going to Tony's apartment first and then to Cheri's. It was as they were heading to the airport that they had a call from Gibbs and McGee saying that Vance had Ok'd it and had also said that he would deal with anything that came up extradition wise and things like that if it came up. Tickets were already waiting for them for Spain, plus they were given the name of the hotel that they would be staying in, once they had checked in there they were to go and meet an agent from the Rota office who would take them to where the family lived.
In the end, the stop off in Spain only ended up being short-lived, because when they got there and got to the family's house, no-one was in and they got told that the family had told the neighbors there that they were going to be spending a few days at their place in Marbella. A couple of agents from the Rota and European office had already gone down there and had been staking out the place and the reports from them were that the family were not there and there was no sign that they were going to be there. After then speaking to neighbours they had found out that the brother had been there getting things ready for the planned trip, but then he had had a call from his wife say that they needed to get back to the UK because her father who had been ill for a while had taken a turn for the worst and they needed to get back again.
With that even though there had been an agreed time for them both to do a check in through MTAC every day, they did one straight away so that McGee could be looking through things and checking for them if the story was true before they made a move to wherever it was they had gone. As things turned out it was true and McGee also found out that indeed Stewart was with them, while he'd been doing that Simon had also been checking out the father and had found out that he was currently in a hospice in Brighton, so with that they were then on their way to the UK, taking the agent with them that had joined them in Spain from the European office, but this time they were also more on the ball, because he sent all the details to agents at the London office who got onto things right away and sent agents straight down there to keep a watch on things.
This time they came so very close to getting Stewart, but it ended up being a long a few days, because when they joined the agents outside of the house there had as yet been no sightings of him, so they thought that he was either laying low and not coming out of the house or he was coming out of the back way once it had turned dark. For a couple of nights, the two agents had come down in separate cars and had posted themselves outside the front and back, but nothing had happened and no-one had come out of there, other than the brother, sister-in-law and the children.
In the end this time they got foiled by Stewart's brother Tim, but for doing it they did end up with him in custody. First of all because as they spotted Stewart out on the street and went after him, Tim got in the way of them and despite there warnings of if he didn't let them through then he would be charged for obstruction, he still didn't move, then because of the way and using her size to do it Cheri finally managed to barge her way through, meaning that the Tony and the other agents could get through and follow her, but by the time they got close to where Stewart had gone to it was in time to see him get into a cab and drive off. They then went back to where Tim had stopped them to find him on the ground cuffed with Tony and one of the other agents there, as Cherri got closer to them it was to also realize that Tony was rubbing his jaw from a punch that Tim had laid on him in the attempts to stop them going after Stewart, so now the charges on him included assault on a federal officer.
In the interrogation they did finally find out from Tim that the back up plan had been for Stewart to make his way to Naples, because out there he had got some contacts and those contacts included people that could get him false ID and he had also got some friends from the US that owned a boat, the plan was that as soon as they got the word that he was in Naples they would be leaving the US to meet him there and they would then be taking him somewhere where he would be out of the US jurisdiction, so that they then wouldn't be able to extradite him.
As soon as Tony and Cheri were out of interrogation again they were straight to MTAC with the information they had, Gibbs said that they would get working on who the people were that were going to be helping Stewart to try and see if they could intercept them before they left to go and help him. As they were then left with Vance, he told them to head straight for Naples, he would get the main office there involved and would get them on the hunt for him, even so, once they were there for this operation the two of them would remain in charge of the investigation. As they made their way to Naples if anything came up or they found Stewart, he would get Stan Burley to keep an eye on him and also sequester him from naval intelligence which is where he was now working in.
By the time they'd got to Naples and before they'd even had a chance with checking into seeing what the team had got while they had been traveling, they were called straight up to MTAC, it was Gibbs with the news that they had already got one of Stewart's friends in custody, while with help from the team in LA they had found out where he was and where the boat he was using to transport Stewart was, they were about to go and pick him up through what Hetty and the team had sorted out, while Bishop and Simon were currently on their way to LA so that they could bring him back for interrogation there in DC. For now with what they had got from the friend there, if the two of them were going to be going after Stewart then they would have to watch their sixes and make sure they went in there with a team, because it looked as though Stewart wasn't going to go down without a fight and he had managed to get hold of some illegal weapons already to defend himself.
When the call was over they then went back down to meet the team and got caught up with them, before one of the team then took them out to where in separate cars Burley and another agent were keeping an eye out on the place where Stewart was rumored to be. They hadn't got any confirmation for definite on it because there hadn't been a sighting of him, but everyone they had questioned and made inquiries too in the area had said he was definitely living there. So the team had been thinking it may be a possibility that he was waiting on the confirmation from one of his friends that they had left from LA in the boat and that they were on their way to come and get him. So with that, they decided that they would get the team together and get the plans of the building to plan a raid, seeing as Gibbs had warned them that there could be problems and a possible firefight on their hands if the rumor was true about him having got stored up with guns and other possible weapons. Once they had done that they would call Gibbs and see if there was a chance that he could get one of those friends to make a call or get out of them if it was going to be done by a call or text, even though more than likely it would be via a call because they would have said it could be down to a having to hear a voice kind of thing.
Through some technical wizardry on McGee's half they managed to get the person that they'd got in custody with them to record a message for Stewart, mostly because Gibbs hadn't trusted him to be able to do the actual call, without him then trying to warn Stewart about what was to happen, and in a way they were right because he did make an attempt at saying something about the feds beings after him. Through this program that McGee had they were then going to be able to make the call to Stewart themselves with the recording, but as the conversation went on he would be able to make it sound like a quick conversation would be, as they guessed that it would be kept short and sweet if Stewart did guess that they were after him.
On the day that they decided that they would go for it, McGee did the listening in on how the conversation was going via his computer, while Abby made an attempt on running a trace. As they thought the conversation was very short and sweet, but in the pause that Stewart left before he asked for the code word and the slight pause before that was given, it did give her enough time for them to be able to confirm that yes Stewart was in the building that they had been told he was in.
The plan then went into action and because of it being a second-floor apartment and only the one entrance via a front door, Tony went in first and Cherri bought up the rear of the extra agents they had. Stan was also outside with another couple of agents, just in case Stewart decided on doing a stupid thing and making an attempt to jump over the balcony, even though they guessed that if he did attempt that he would probably never make it, without ending up in hospital with injuries from the fall, the couldn't put it past him for making the attempt.
In the end, he just made an attempt at a standoff with them, before then just going flying at Tony, and even though the two men then ended up having a bit of a scrap, no-one was seriously injured, other than just a few minor cuts and bruises. In the end it was also thanks to Cherri that Tony got the upper hand as well, because Stewart had managed to get out of Tony's grip and had gone to stand up, with the way Stewart was more interested in attempting the escape, he didn't see her put her foot out just as he got up and as he took the step he tripped back over again and she just sat on him with another of the agents with his foot on his back so he then couldn't move at all, meaning Tony could then get in there and slap the cuffs onto him.
After that, they went back to the offices and put Stewart into holding, while they made their report to Vance via MTAC, while they were making the report a flight was booked for them all in a couple of hours and they could all come home once again. As the feed was cut Tony and Cherri just looked at each other, sighed and said in union "Home!" As they then made their tired and weary way back to the hotel to check out and get their stuff together.
Throughout the whole trip Tony and Cherri seemed to grow a lot more closer together both in their working relationship and their personal relationship, as they began to notice that more and more they were beginning to grow more in tune with one another, as it got to a point where one would get an idea in their head and the other would get the same one, ending up finishing what the other one was saying, or they were ending up being like Tony and Gibbs were by just looking at one another and knowing what they were thinking of and silently then acknowledging it to one another.
Even though they were also constantly on the move or how it felt like they were to them, they still did somehow make time for themselves and shut off work for the time being. Like the night they first arrived in Spain, Tony made sure that they shut off from work for the night and had taken her out to dinner, not only that he had also turned the romance on when they got back to the hotel and they had then shared a bath together in the big Jacuzzi bath that they had got in their room, before ending the night together perfectly.
Then in Brighton on the evening that they arrived there, again they went out for a romantic meal together, before going for a walk on the seafront as the sun was just setting, and then making the most of the romantic mood that the two of them were in as they got back to the hotel.
In Naples, Tony was of course in his element and Cherri found that she was finding it very sexy as he was bringing out his Italian side and speaking in Italian too, even if she was just as fluent in the language as well. Although because of the way they had ended up being so busy there, they really didn't get much chance of being together quite so much. Even if it meant they did end up breaking their rule of keeping things out of the office a couple of times when they found a quiet hidden corner where they could just share a quick kiss or a cuddle just to keep one another going.
As they had a couple of hours before their flight home they made the most of it by making love as they shared a shower together, and got their bags packed. As they also had a final quick meal in the hotel restaurant Tony took her hand and promised her that he would bring her back there one day, where they could enjoy it together properly. After saying it he had taken her hand, placed a light kiss to the back of her hand before saying quietly "I promise you bambina."
By the time they get back once again to DC they are tired and exhausted, but they know that they do still have the interrogation to do along with the paperwork, although the thing they are more than happy about is seeing Gibbs at the arrivals gate to pick them and their prisoner up.
When they get back to the Navy Yard again, the two of them have a little break before they are given the honors of doing Stewart's interrogation, who does end up folding quite quickly and admitting to his part in everything in his thinking that Jennifer was in love with him and that he had done it "All for love."
As the two of them were doing their paperwork and looking forward to just getting home and finding their bed, but also enjoying the feel of the teams around them as they did it, a call came down from Vance requesting that Tony and Cherri go to see him in his office, but only when the paperwork had been completed, because the two of them could go home straight away afterward, so that they then didn't have the rest of the paperwork to worry about.
With Tony is the first to finish he waited for Cherri to finish her reports, as he wanted them both to go up together, rather than him going up there ahead of her for her to then walk in second, although he didn't have to wait for long because she wasn't that far behind him in finishing everything. As she finished he got up and went over to give her is to sign off on and for him to do hers, because they had agreed to do that when they were made the team leaders, as they didn't think that it would look right if they signed off on their own paperwork, even if they hadn't got their personal relationship on top of it all. While with the rest of the team's paperwork they shared the sign off on that together. As they signed it off he then said quietly "You ready?" She then nodded and they then disappeared off upstairs together to Vance's office. Just before walking into the office where his secretary was, they squeezed hands for some reassurance to one another that everything would be ok. Even so, they did still take a deep breath each, as they walked in to find that the office door was already open for them just to walk in, with his secretary not being in the office.
As they got into the office Vance then shut the door behind them and then offered them a tea or coffee as he told them both to sit down. After making their coffee's he then sat down behind his desk and said: "First of all I'd like to thank you both for a job well done in getting our suspect and bringing him home." After their acknowledgment, he carried on "In the time that we began with you both being team leaders I have been watching you both and you both have done a good job and I commend you both for that, which now brings me to the reason why I wanted to see you both. If you are both happy to continue with this arrangement, then I would like to offer you both the job of being joint team leaders for your team permanently, due to the struggle that we have been having to get a team leader for you. Gibbs has agreed to this already as he agrees that it is time for you to be in charge of a team, he has also agreed to make McGee his new SFA if you do take this on. I have also agreed that we will extend both of your teams by one member, this team member for the both of your teams will be probies and they will both work on both teams alternately to get the experience from the both of you. At the end of that time, you will have the choice of keeping them or having new probies, but for this scheme to work both yourselves and Gibbs will have to work together on this, and of course, for your team, you will also need to find an SFA as well."
With that Tony looks at Cherri and she knows that he is going to be honest with Vance and tell him about their relationship, so she does a discreet nod of her head to him as he then says "I think Director that we should also be honest with you and admit that the two of us are together in a relationship, but we have done nothing to favor each other and we have kept the personal side of our relationship out of the office… I mean we have even made sure that we don't sign off on our own paperwork and have made sure that the other person does it instead."
Vance responds "I'm glad that you have been honest about this, but there are no policies in NCIS about agents dating each other, other than the rule about superiors and subordinates dating being frowned upon, but that is not happening with the two of you because you are and will be of the same rank."
So with that Tony then says "Ok, would it be possible for us to go away and discuss this, because if I'm honest I know that I'm so tired from all this chasing around that we've been doing and I know that we would both like a chance to recover from this, as well as get over the injuries and things we've picked up during this time, could we put in for some leave for a few days or a week, so that we can get some rest and also have a chance of talking about this?"
With that Vance then surprises them as he takes out the leave request forms and tells them that he will give them both a couple of weeks and for now he will keep their team and Gibbs team together, while they are away. His only expectation of them he would have is that if they do go away somewhere to make sure that they return before the Friday the weekend before they are due back at work to have a meeting about their decision over things, and then have a meeting with Gibbs included so that they all can go through files and things of their possible probies to join the team as soon as they can get them in. With that they agree and Vance then signs the leave request forms in front of them and then tells them not to worry about sending them to HR because he will also get that done for them, and with that he tells them to go and get packed up, along with shaking both of their hands as they are on their way out of the office.
As they pack up to leave, Gibbs is the only one left in the bullpen and with the look that he gives them both over the wall being one of expectation, after getting their all their bags together and leaving them for a moment on Cherri's desk Tony says "He's given us a couple of weeks leave so that we can get our thoughts together, as well as have a good rest and make sure we're fully recovered from everything."
So Gibbs replies "You two have done a very good job in the last few weeks, but Tony you have been more than capable of leading your own team for a long time now, and after the way the two of you have been together with everything you will both be very good leaders together, and I know that we will all be able to work together and work together in our teams if we need to at anytime." He pauses and then adds "Look if you two go away or something like that, but do want to talk about this, my door will always be open for you both, and when you both are ready for it there's also some steaks at home for you both with your names on them."
"Thanks, boss."
And with that all of them leave together to head home, at first with Tony's car having been left there at the Navy Yard when they left to go on the op, he decides that he's too tired to chance driving them back to whichever one they decide on, so they should call a cab, but Gibbs tells them that it won't matter if his car is there for one more night and offers them a lift instead.
When the two of them get back to Cherri's apartment, she says that she will do the washing the next day, so they call for takeout and have that before they fall into bed in each other's arms and quickly fall into an exhausted sleep.
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