Thank you for the positive feedback in Chapter 1; I really appreciate the comments!
On to Chapter 2... I prefer shorter fanfic chapters (1,500-2,000 words) otherwise as both an author and a reader, I start to go a little cross eyed... But my aim is to post frequently so that it doesn't feel too disjointed.
"Yes Tony, I think we will."
No one spoke for a long minute. It was no surprise when Tony broke the silence with a joke.
"Boy makes you wonder if they really intended for us to keep quiet, huh?" He sighed, moving to lean beside Ziva and taking the jar of bourbon from her hands. She shook her head.
"No, Vance does not know about my 'assignment.' It came down directly from Secretary Jarvis, with strict instructions to tell no one. Especially the Director."
Tony considered that for a moment. "Hmpfh, interesting. Vance certainly seemed surprised and more than a little pissed when Jarvis called me in and gave me this," he tapped the folder with his finger. "Seems like the new SecNav is calling the shots without any input from Vance."
"Doesn't mean I'm not gonna kick his ass for using my team as pawns again," Gibbs said angrily, pushing off from his seat and pacing the small space.
"What do they want to know about EJ?" Ziva asked, pulling the file towards her and flipping thru the documents.
"Claim that someone is stealing classified information, and they think it's her."
Ziva raised an eyebrow. "Sounds familiar. EJ doesn't have a long lost sister-slash-daughter being held hostage somewhere does she?"
Tony rolled his eyes and Gibbs glared at her. Ziva shrugged innocently. "What? You have to admit that we have been in this situation before." Tony caught the double meaning in her words but didn't say anything.
"You believe it DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, pausing in his track through the wood shavings littering the floor.
Tony drained the last of the bourbon and handed the empty glass back to Ziva. "I believe that she's been lying about a lot of things," he said carefully, not willing to make accusations before he had more time to think things through. "But I haven't seen any indication that she's selling national secrets to the highest bidder."
Gibbs lanced him with a piercing stare. "That your opinion as her coworker or her boyfriend?"
Tony's eyes narrowed as he remembered the unfinished conversation in this basement a few months earlier. He responded with a biting tone he had never before used with the boss. "That's my observation as a seasoned and well trained federal investigator. Any other bullshit questions you want to get out of the way right now?"
Gibbs studied him for another moment and then nodded, satisfied. Tony knew it was the closest thing to an apology he'd get, but he also recognized that Gibbs trusted his judgement and wouldn't question his opinion again.
"How's Ray fit into all of this?" Tony asked, mirroring Ziva's actions and riffling through the second file.
"Vance asked me to reopen a line of communication as soon as Cobb scratched Ray's cell number into that car door. He instructed me to go to Ray's hotel and keep an eye on him, but we all know how that turned out." Tony winced at the still-sharp memory of Cobb's complacent smile, bloody hands raised in surrender.
"But then after Cobb was killed, the new Secretary called and ordered me to keep up the charade with Ray. He demanded I meet him at a secure location to discuss a joint undercover op. He made sure it was during Mike's funeral so everyone else would be otherwise occupied," she added bitterly.
"Joint with who?"
"CIA," Ziva responded, her lips pressing together in an even tighter line. "Jarvis took the liberty of lending me out. It would seem I am 'uniquely positioned' to help the CIA, given my personal relationship with Ray. I spoke to Director Austin on the phone." Gibbs swore, kicking the table leg at this revelation.
"Work with him before, boss?" Tony prodded, unable to hide his grin.
"Austin's been around since I got transferred to DC. Makes Kort look like a CIA saint."
"Great!" Ziva said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I so look forward to meeting him in person. In any case, he told me Ray participated in the Operation Frankenstein mess and that he may have been skimming money from the program."
Tony's brow furrowed at this. "Ray told me that Kort was the one stealing money, and not from Frankenstein but from an even more secret faction of the program."
The other two gaped at him.
"Why in the hell would Cruz tell you that?" Gibbs questioned, finally moving to sit back down on his stool.
"When we were looking for Ziva," Tony said, trying to ignore the heavy feel of her gaze on him. "It was his way of trying to help."
"You were saying you don't believe the charges, Ziver," Gibbs prodded.
Ziva chewed her bottom lip. "I do not trust my judgement with Ray right now, Gibbs. I was wrong about him before and need more time to investigate so I don't make another blender."
"Blunder," Tony corrected automatically, deep in his own thought. "So we've got EJ accused of stealing and selling classified information and Ray accused of skimming money off of an uber secret government mercenary program. I mean, these things gotta be related. And did they really trust us NOT to compare notes? Maybe they do want us to unofficially work together?"
Gibbs broke from his own reverie, shaking his head. "Or they are lying; using you and trying to compartmentalize the truth so you don't see the big picture. Jarvis is an overconfident, ass-kissing politician. He doesn't have investigative or field experience. He probably read a file and saw two agents with a strong background in undercover work. And he obviously didn't ask Leon for any input, or he would have realized his mistake in using my team like this." The other two heard the protective edge to his words.
"So what do we do now?" Ziva asked the room at large. "I mean, we have to follow orders."
"The HELL you do!" Gibbs said, his angry eyes moving steadily between the two. "You both have too much experience with undercover assignments mixing with your personal lives. I for one am not eager for a rerun of any of that. I can tell Vance you're not doing it."
"But if we don't, then who will?" Tony pressed. "We are both perfectly positioned to investigate. And I can't speak for Ziva," his gazed flickered to his partner, "but I learned my lesson with Jeanne and won't be repeating those mistakes."
Ziva nodded. "We can handle it, Gibbs. And we have an obligation to get to the real truth; not just the conclusion that Jarvis or Austin wants."
The older man continued to stare at the two determined faces before him. He trusted them, but his gut was telling him that this one was gonna be ugly. "Okay. But you both better be damn sure you're willing to do what it takes and deal with the fall out. God only knows what we'll uncover in this mess."
Tony gave a grim smile as they all stood up, the decision now made. "So what now? Do we tell anyone else?"
Gibbs sighed. "We're stretching rule 4 as it is, but we're gonna need McGee on this one. But considering we're basically committing treason here, that's as wide as the circle gets."
Next chapter will be up soon and includes my first shot at writing McGee...for some reason I have found him the most difficult.
Please leave a quick note and let me know what you think!