Chapter 3: Decisions

Tony stood at the large picture window in his new apartment, taking in the clearing skies and spectacular sunset that was a welcome departure from the persistent rain of his first few days in Seattle. Beer bottle in hand, he settled into the cozy seating area by the large windows, chairs strategically placed to take advantage of the panoramic views of downtown and the surrounding waterways. While he missed his longtime residence in DC, he certainly had no complaints about this view and the more spacious, nicely furnished apartment the task force had arranged for him to use. It was his until he got his bearings on the task force and decided if he wanted a different arrangement.

For now, he appreciated the chance to wind down and reflect on the hectic routine of his first few days here. Joanna had introduced him to the other federal agency heads on the small task force. He'd received briefings on the ongoing progress of the various units' counter terrorism investigative and intelligence work, both in the US and at principal overseas CIA offices. He'd been afforded the opportunity to review personnel jackets of the principle players on the task force and was impressed with the quality and skill sets of the small but diverse group.

Hiding in plain sight, the task force operated out of a nondescript building which by all outward appearances was a warehouse with office space. The building housed "Sentinel Security Systems", which they also called "S3" for short. S3 was actually a CIA front set up specifically to cover the existence of the task force and the fact that the building was full of federal agents.

Tony was pleasantly surprised at how well equipped and funded the small task force seemed to be. It was something that couldn't always be counted on at NCIS, compared to larger federal agencies such as the CIA, FBI, and even Homeland Security. The task force field and investigative agents were outfitted by a well-equipped armory and supported with sufficient tactical gear. They even had a small pool of vehicles, including mobile surveillance vans in a garage next door. The task force also had an impressive communications center that while smaller in scale, rivaled the NCIS LA Office of Special Projects Ops center and MTAC at NCIS HQ in capability. Smiling, he thought fondly of McGee for a moment and how he would be in techno-geek heaven in the the comm center.

With what free time he'd had, Tony did a bit of exploring around the city. While he found Seattle appealing so far, Tony was hesitant to say he was liked it enough to lay down roots here. One thing he could say, and that was he hadn't realized how oppressive and toxic working with Gibbs had become until he left DC. Although he still felt pangs of regret over how things turned out, leaving that behind was more of a relief than he expected. He'd needed a fresh start somewhere and this was as good a place as any for the time being.

Right now, Tony had a job to do and decisions to make. The task force was chomping at the bit to get him onboard. He'd asked Joanna and the others for a few hours to weigh his options and they'd agreed, but now she would be stopping by soon to discuss his role on the task force.

That had to be settled before he and Joanna headed to Shanghai to coordinate with local intelligence analysts. Joanna had been pleased to learn of his ongoing studies in Chinese Mandarin and the local dialect used in Shanghai, and felt he'd be an asset in their efforts there. Tony sat and allowed his thoughts to wander ahead until pulled from his reverie by a soft knocking at the door.

Tony opened the door and waved Joanna in as she smiled in greeting. Tony grabbed two beers, handed one over, and they each took a chair by the window.

"So Tony," Joanna began, coming right to the point, "what are you thinking?"

"First things first," Tony replied. "How do the agency leads feel about the issues I raised?" Tony asked with an air of hesitation that Joanna caught straight away.

"Let me put your mind at ease, Tony. Everyone was impressed with your assessment and recommendations. You gave us exactly what we wanted and frankly, what we needed." Joanna let that settle a moment, and then continued.

"There's never been a task force quite like this one. You are a fresh set of eyes able to assess what we're doing from an investigative standpoint. Having worked with the other agencies represented, you're unique in that you already have an understanding of how each of them work, not just the experience you bring from NCIS. Trust me; what you relayed about our strengths and limitations was well-received."

Tony tipped his head in acknowledgement of her words and took a sip of his beer. Even though he trusted Joanna, he was far too jaded from past experience to do so implicitly. While his first impressions of them were favorable, he sure as hell wasn't going to blindly trust leads from other federal agencies that he didn't know and hadn't worked with. They were going to have to earn it.

"That's good to hear," Tony said while giving her a skeptical look. "What changes are they willing to make?"

"They agree to implement any reasonable changes you can justify and you've already done so in some cases. What are your primary concerns?" Joanna asked.

Tony considered what he'd learned for a moment and replied. "You don't have a forensics lab on site for one. I've made some inquiries about the lab at the FBI regional office here in Seattle. They're well equipped and it's a good solution if resource sharing can be worked out by the task force."

Joanna nodded thoughtfully. "Good idea, Tony. Anything else?"

"The disconnect between field investigative agents and the intel analysts. You've got intel people from the CIA, which inherently isolates itself, and investigators from other agencies and backgrounds that aren't used to collaborating. They're all working in a vacuum and someone needs to coordinate and focus their efforts. Each unit needs ongoing input from the other in order to be effective," Tony explained.

Joanna nodded in agreement. "I thought that would be the case, but wanted to be sure. I talked to them about that and we discussed a solution we'd like propose to you."

Tony was again pleasantly surprised at the vote of confidence and appreciated the other leads' willingness to be receptive to his suggestions. It was a welcome and refreshing change from his last year or so at NCIS.

"I'm all ears Joanna," he said. "What's the proposal?"

"We propose to realign some intel analysts and imbed them with the investigative teams. A supervisory agent will oversee and coordinate their work, and liaise with the overseas units as well." Joanna paused and looked at Tony expectantly. "This is by no means your only option, but we'd like you to consider that position."

Tony considered that for a moment. The realignment made good sense; it's what he would have done. He wondered how much flexibility he'd be given in a role like that.

"You do understand I'm not a desk jockey, right?" Tony asked. "I'm an investigator and a field agent. I'm not looking for a role that prevents me from working in the field." Tony said.

"I think you'll find you have a lot more latitude here, Tony." Joanna replied. "I expect you could both coordinate and float between the teams, working in the field as needed. You just need to decide which agency you want to join. So…CIA?" Joanna asked, giving him a crooked smile.

Tony chuckled. "No offense Joanna, but having dealt with the likes of Trent Kort and Ray Cruz, I can't see myself actually joining the CIA."

"None taken." Joanna said as she smiled wryly. "You had something else in mind then?"

"Well, like I said…I'm an investigator at heart. Out of all the options we've discussed previously, there's really only one good fit…" Tony's voice trailed off.

Joanna watched him and raised an eyebrow inquiringly, wondering what the reluctance to continue was about.

Tony shook his head and glanced down for a moment. Then he looked up and grinned, amusement showing plainly in his green eyes. "I am never gonna hear the end of this if Fornell gets wind of it, but I think the FBI is the best fit for me."

Joanna was unable to stop a burst of laughter at that revelation. Recovering her composure she said with a smile, "So, FBI it is then. What about Gibbs finding out?"

She watched the previous good humor fade from Tony's demeanor as he replied. "Gibbs is nowhere near getting on the list of people that I would worry about finding out," he replied tonelessly. Joanna realized she stepped in it a bit, and that Gibbs must still be a sore point with Tony.

Joanna would make a point to steer clear of that topic going forward unless Tony brought it up himself. He was right though. It wasn't Gibbs they really needed to worry about. "Understood. It does bring up another point you need to consider," she said.

"What's that?" Tony asked, confusion creeping into his expression.

"Remember, The Calling has been targeting people involved in their takedown last year. I'm known to them but you aren't…at least as far as we can ascertain. That could change."

"Believe me, I haven't forgotten that," Tony said bitterly. "It is partly why I'm here. What's your point?"

"My point is we'd like to prevent them finding out about you if at all possible."

"How do you propose to do that?" he asked.

"We'd like you to consider joining the task force under an assumed name." Joanna said. "We're prepared to create an alternate identity and back story that mirrors your own. Your real personnel file will be sealed to prevent disclosure. Anyone looking for Tony DiNozzo will find that he's dropped off the radar." Joanna paused then said, "That means your former coworkers as well." She looked at Tony meaningfully and continued, "So you need to be very careful with how you go about contacting them."

"You want me to work on a Federal task force of all places, under an assumed name for an indeterminate amount of time?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"You've done it before; more than once," Joanna reasoned. "The Calling is the main priority of the task force as they seem to be more firmly established and they've actively targeted the CIA. Hopefully, we can dismantle them again sooner rather than later, and do away with the need for an assumed name."

"Whether or not I can do it isn't at issue here." Tony replied tersely. "The issue is whether I should."

"Tony, we need every advantage we can get here," Joanna urged. "This will give us one, and keep you safer to boot. I think you should do it, Tony," she pressed.

Tony sighed in irritation, knowing Joanna had a point. It would not only hide his identity from The Calling, it would hopefully make it harder for them to target his friends and family as well.

"Alright," he conceded. "I don't like it, but I'll do it. Only as long as I have to, and no longer," Tony warned.

"If it helps, I think it's the right thing to do for the time being." Joanna said.

"We'll see," Tony said doubtfully. "One more condition…I get to pick the name," he said with a smirk. "Let's get your fellow spooks working on it, because I'm going to need identification squared away before we can travel, or do much of anything else."

"Already working on it Tony; just waiting on the go from you to proceed." Joanna replied. "Now that we have it, we'll work to get everything ready for you by Monday." Joanna rose to leave. "We're using the DC office for this to minimize the number of people here "in the know". I'll check in to make sure we can make that happen, and I'll call you when we're ready for the name. Until then, enjoy the down time. We've got a busy week in store."

"Oh, I think I have enough to keep me busy for a day or two," Tony said as he inclined his head toward the moving boxes stacked along one wall.

"I'll leave you to it then," Joanna said as she moved toward the door.

Tony let her out and locked the door behind her. Leaning back against the door for a moment, he muttered to himself, "That's not exactly what I had in mind when I decided I needed a fresh start."

Looking toward the boxes he'd been mostly ignoring since they were delivered earlier in the week, he sighed and set about opening a few to decide where to begin. If nothing else, he could at least finish settling in and make the apartment a little more comfortable.

He'd been putting things away for a few hours when Joanna called to go over particulars of his identity and discuss the name he would be using. "Call me Nick," he said. He spelled out the full name for her, then began to explain the origin of the name he'd chosen to use.

Next up: Back to DC. The MCRT has had a bit more trying of a week than Tony has.