Hi everyone, so this is chapter two of my "Tiva Down Under" story. Hope you enjoy it. :)

Chapter Two

Tony sat at his desk. He was watching Ziva carefully as she read something on her computer. Their talk the other day had made him slightly uncomfortable, especially when Palmer had interrupted. It being in the men's room had also added to the feeling of uncomfortableness. Why did she always choose to wait until he went to the men's room to talk? He wondered.

"Dinozzo! What are you doing?" Gibbs said. He was sitting at his desk next to Ziva's. Tony hadn't even noticed him come in.

"Uh, nothing boss. Just, uh…" Tony was stumped. Need an excuse, need an excuse. Nada.

"I need you to run a trace on this number, 6-1-0-4-5-5-3-2-9-0-2-3," Gibbs was reading the number off the sheet in front of him.

"That's an Australian number." Tony said.

"Yeah, and?"

"On it boss," came Tony's reply. Running the number through the trace program Tony took an opportunity to look at Ziva again. Now flipping through crime scene photos she seemed like the old Ziva again. But then again, there was the way she used to toy with Tony, teasing him about women, movies, food, anything really that just wasn't there. She didn't tease him anymore. The knowledge of this absence made it impossible to think of her as the old Ziva. Because she wasn't anymore. She had changed.

The ding on his computer sounded and Tony looked back at it. Using the special controller, he put the trace results up onto the television screen. Gibbs and Ziva both rose to join him and look at the results.

"Petty Officer Hughes definitely called this number," Ziva said. Gibbs said nothing but returned to his desk and came back with another piece of paper.

"What does it mean boss?" Tony asked.

"It means I am going to need to find a contact in Australia. Ziva? You know anyone?" Gibbs asked.

Ziva frowned remembering. "That is in Melbourne, yes?" Gibbs nodded. "Then no, I know no-one in that area. I have one contact in Darwin but he would have nothing to do with this, or know anything about Petty Officer Hughes. Is this important Gibbs?"

Gibbs sighed before answering. "Yeah, it is. It means that our Petty Officer here was into a lot more than football and the navy."


Director Leon Vance liked his office. It had a good view over a park, comfy chairs and its own bar. He, like the previous director before him, didn't like however when Gibbs burst into the room. One, it almost always made him flinch. Two, he could swear that Gibbs noticed it every time that he did. And three, it usually meant bad news.

Like now, for instance, Vance had just returned from MTAC and had only just settled down into his chair when in burst Gibbs like a cyclone from hell. From what Vance could tell Gibbs needed to send someone to Australia. Vance was confused. Australia? Sure, he had been in MTAC all afternoon talking with the NCIS team in Los Angeles but surely he hadn't missed that much? Apparently he had.

"Why is it exactly you need to send two agents to Australia?" Vance asked moving his toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other.

"Petty Officer Hughes was into drugs and his murder may be linked to several overseas in Australia," Gibbs said.

"Right. I get that. But do you really need to send two agents over there? Or any at all? Can't you just talk with the Australian Federal Police via MTAC?" Vance disliked the idea of sending two agents overseas with so little to go on. Vance hated wasting tax-payers money when he had to pay for some of it as well.

"The AFP aren't the most helpful of people from past experience, it would be better to have someone there that could oversee their investigation and continue our own," Gibbs replied. He was up to something, Vance could feel it.

"And just who exactly would you be planning on sending?" Vance asked the tell-all question.

"Agents Dinozzo and David." Gibbs said. His face showed nothing of his plan but Vance saw beneath the skin. Tony and Ziva.


Melbourne international airport was unusually packed for three in the morning. Tony and Ziva had arrived in Australia two hours earlier; it had taken them that long to clear customs, even after flashing their badges.

"The Aussies sure do like their customs officials," Tony said putting on a fake Australian accent.

"I hope that you are not going to talk like that the entire trip, Dinozzo," Ziva said. They stood at the taxi bay awaiting their ride. Surprisingly, Tony had more bags than Ziva did. Spotting their ride, a blue and white police Ford, the partners picked up their bags.

"Hey, you two must be Agents David and Dinozzo," the driver of the vehicle pronounced Ziva's surname like the man's name David.

"Its David, actually," Ziva put an emphasis on the 'i'. "No thank you, I think I can manage with these. Dinozzo however may need some help with his bags."

"Sorry about that miss. You're staying at the Langham but we, uh, didn't know that there were going to be two of you," the driver said.

Tony and Ziva looked up from putting their bags in the boot of the car. "You didn't?" Ziva asked.

"No ma'am. We were told to book one room only so that's what we did. They have this big bike race on in the city too so the hotel'll be booked solid. Hope you don't mind too much," the second policeman said.

"Budget cuts, I hate them," Tony said. This was going to be a long week.