AN: Thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts! It's amazing how good they are for self esteem!
Sorry for the long wait again. But my committee has my thesis now so I have a little more time :)
NCIS ≠ mine :(
Chapter 3
Tony and Ziva stood on the curb outside of the Mackenzie home. They locked eyes and pumped their fists three times. Tony came up with rock and Ziva with scissors. Tony grinned and Ziva sighed in exaggerated frustration.
Tony pointed at Ziva, "You tell her," he said with a smirk.
Ziva sighed again as they turned the house and walked up the steps.
"You always go for the stabby option," Tony teased. Ziva punched him in the arm in response. This was not the time to be irritating her. Tony rubbed his arm and scrunched his face in mock pain. Ziva ignored him and rang the door bell, sometimes he was such a baby.
As soon as the door started to open, they put on their game faces, serious for Tony and concerned for Ziva. The door opened to show the dark haired woman from big screen.
"Hello, how can I help you?" she asked.
"Hello, Kristen Mackenzie?" Ziva asked, Mrs. Mackenzie nodded so Ziva showed her badge, "I am Special Agent David and this is my partner Special Agent DiNozzo, NCIS."
Her face fell in shock and opened the door wider to let them in, "NCIS? Did something happen to Travis!"
"It might be best if you sit," Tony suggested. Kristen led them to the living room and sat down hard in a chair beside a play pen.
"Tell me," she pleaded.
"I'm sorry to inform you that your husband was found dead this morning," Ziva said as gently as possible, she hated this part of the job, stupid stabby scissors.
"Travis? NO!" Kristen cried and started sobbing into her hands.
"We are very sorry for your loss," Ziva said. Great, now she is crying harder. What are the other niceties said during these situations- "Is there someone we can contact for you to be with during this difficult time?"
Ziva looked over at Tony who gave her a little nod. Ziva exhaled the breath that she did not realise she had been holding. She had not messed up.
Kristen's crying was soon joined by cries from the play pen. When Kristen did not immediately go to her son, Ziva went to pick him up. Kristen looked up in surprise as Ziva cuddled the baby and told him that he would be alright.
"He needs you and you need him," Ziva said kindly as she passed the baby to his mother.
Having her son in her arms calmed the distraught widow. In a few minutes she had composed herself to ask, "What happened?"
"It appears that he was murdered," Tony answered and asked, "When was the last time you saw your husband Mrs. Mackenzie?"
"Yesterday morning," she replied into her son's head then looked up, "I knew something was wrong."
"Did something happen that suggested your husband's life was in danger?" Ziva asked. If the wife did not do it, then she might know who did.
"He didn't call last night and when I called him I found his phone in the kitchen," Kristen croaked out. Apparently forgetting to call led to her premonition.
"We'll need to collect that. Was it unusual for him to forget his phone?" Tony asked, watching the widow's face closely.
"He did it every once in a while, but if he was out late, he usually called," Kristen replied again talking into her son's head.
"Where was he supposed to be last night?" Tony asked. That was the real question.
"He was working on the base during the day and then was going out with his friends, if he drinks too much he stays with one of them," Kristen answered honestly. Apparently she had no idea about the other woman.
"Do you have contact information for any of his friends he would have been out with last night?" Ziva asked. The 'friends' should know something, if they exist.
"I don't think so. They're probably in his phone," she said and rose to get the cell phone. Tony and Ziva followed her and Ziva got out an evidence bag for the phone.
Once Kristen dropped the phone into the bag and Ziva started to label it Tony asked, "Where were you this morning?"
"I was home with the baby," she answered as she balanced her son on her hip.
"Can anyone confirm that?" Tony asked. That sounded harsh, but they needed to know.
"I-I don't know," she answered, in shock that quickly turned to anger, "Are you suggesting that I had something to do with this?"
"We just need to cover our bases Mrs. Mackenzie," Ziva replied, trying to calm the now angry widow, "Theses are standard questions. Can you think of anyone that might have wanted to hurt your husband?"
This seemed to appease her. She took a moment to think and answered, "No, he always got along well with everyone."
"How well do you know his friends?" Tony asked. Almost all victims' families thought there was no motive for their murder. Really it showed that they did not know the victim. Or that they were lying.
"I-I didn't really know them at all... he would go drinking with them but I was pregnant and then with the baby... I never got the chance," she answered, slightly flustered. It looked like she had not really known her husband and was now realizing it.
"Thank you for answering our questions Mrs. Mackenzie. If you can think of anything else please give us a call," Tony said, there was not much more to ask right now, "We'll contact you if we have any more questions so please stay in the area." As in we might bring you into interrogation.
oOoOo
"What do you think?" Tony asked once they were back in the car.
"I do not think that she knows anything," Ziva replied as she flicked her phone closed.
"She was convincing but I'm not writing her off yet," Tony said and started up the car.
Ziva scoffed at him, "You just want to be right about the wife."
"Women get irrational, get jealous and go crazy," Tony shot back.
In a flash, Ziva flicked out a knife and held it to Tony's neck.
"Pardon me?" she asked in a threatening tone.
"Whoa! Not helping your case," Tony chocked out.
Ziva realized what she was doing and sheathed the knife but continued glaring at him and grumbled, "Not all women are irrational, jealous or crazy."
"But you are definitely crazy," Tony said as he massaged his throat and pulled out onto the street.
Ziva's eyes flashed in anger but kept quite.
oOoOo
"Sorry," Ziva apologized after a few minutes of silence.
"Rule 6," Tony replied, "You haven't taken a knife to my throat in years. What's going on?"
"Why do you think all women are crazy?" Ziva asked in return.
"Women always interpret things the wrong way," Tony said with a sigh.
"Do you think I am crazy?" Ziva asked, looking down at her hands.
"Well when you have a knife to my throat," Tony replied and after a pause continued, "I don't think you're certifiable. You're... different anyone who has experienced half of what you have would be," he took his eyes off the road to look at her sad face, "Hey, you passed your psych eval in February. You're doing alright. Just keep it in your pants okay?"
Ziva smirked at that, "Thanks Tony."
oOoOo
After another period of silence, Tony said, "You know, you did good back there. You handled the baby well."
"It was not a big deal," Ziva replied. She would much rather deal with a baby than another hysterical women.
"Did better than I could," Tony said with a grin. DiNozzo with a baby, it would either be a disaster or amazing. Someday, the right childern will appriciate DiNozzo goofyness.
"Do not sell yourself little," Ziva told him with a small smile.
"Short, don't sell yourself short," Tony replied then changed the subject, "I think Probie collected a cell phone off the body this morning."
Ziva rose her eyebrows, "Two phones, two women." She had seen that before.
Tony nodded sheepishly, "Exactly. I wonder what Abby will find."
"If there is anything she will find it," Ziva paused and looked at the back of her shoulder, "Oh, can you swab me when we get back?"
"I'll swab you any time you want David," Tony replied with a teasing smile.
Ziva rolled her eyes, this was actually literal. "The baby drooled on me. The DNA might be useful. I cannot reach it unless I take off my shirt."
"That would be fine with me," Tony laughed, "Crack the case with drool? Stranger things have happened."
"Regardless, I want it off of me," Ziva replied, she did not want to spend the rest of the day with drool on her but if it could be useful it needed to be dealt with properly.
Tony glanced at the clock on the dash, "I hope we get to go home in good time tonight."
"When is the next time you will meet with Curly?" Ziva asked. He looked tiered, too many late nights and early mornings.
"Tomorrow evening, we're meeting at some dive to make it look like I'm hiring him for a job. I suppose I am," Tony replied.
"Will you get a chance to talk to Vance before that?" Ziva inquired, Curly's training needed to start as soon as possible.
Tony nodded, "I'll try to meet with him tomorrow morning. I hope he goes for it."
"A plan might help," Ziva replied.
"Right," Tony nodded some more, "So I need to teach him how to do surveillance, take photos, not compromise evidence that sort of thing."
"He will need a camera then," Ziva reminded him. Contacts need equipment, that is if they could be trusted with equipment.
"I could get him a phone with one," Tony replied and thought for a few moments, "I can get one from the Gibbs stash!" Tony concluded with a large grin.
Ziva smiled, that would be cost effective.
"How to follow someone might also be helpful. It's not like I can follow the agents I'm investigating!" Tony said still smiling.
"They are trained agents, they might notice," Ziva reminded him. He had no respect for coworkers' privacy or apparently observation skills.
"So he'll have to get good," Tony replied with a shrug and started to laugh, "We can get him to follow McGoo for practice!"
"He is more observant than that," Ziva said rolling her eyes.
"Wanna bet on it?" Tony asked a cheeky grin now on his face.
"How much?" Ziva asked raising an eyebrow. McGee was far more competent than Tony gave him credit for.
"Lunches for a week," Tony replied.
"Alright, once you have trained Curly, he will follow McGee for... three days. If McGee catches Curly or mentions being followed, you will buy me lunches for a week," Ziva suggested.
"And if McOblivious says nothing, you owe me. Deal?" Tony asked with a grin as he pulled into the parking lot of the NCIS building.
Ziva grinned back, "Deal." Tony will have to train Curly well if he is to be useful and there is nothing wrong with a little incentive. If McGee catches Curly then he should not be following more dangerous targets.
Tony parked and they shook hands on their bet. Tony got out of the car and headed to the entrance.
"Hey swab me!" Ziva shouted at him from the back of the car as she got out her crime scene kit.
Tony turned back, "Aye, aye Captain!"
oOoOo
They dropped the cell phone and drool off to Abby who was intrigued by the extra cell phone and excited about the drool. Upstairs, they exchanged updates with Gibbs and McGee who had found threatening emails form Mackenzie's brother in law, Milton and was being brought in.
While waiting for Milton, Tony and Ziva continued the background searches they had started before going to interview the wife and also started looking into the numbers and names Abby pulled from the first cell phone. McGee went to the lab to help Abby with the evidence or McOgle her as Tony put it.
oOoOo
Once Milton was brought in it was getting late and they headed to interrogation. After staring at Milton through the glass for several minutes, Gibbs went in leaving Tony and Ziva on the other side of the glass.
"Milton does not look too dangerous," Ziva said watching Milton who was a small man.
"No, but he's got balls, look at him staring down Gibbs," Tony said as Milton and Gibbs sized each other up.
"True," Ziva replied, still watching Milton closely.
Tony's phone buzzed, he opened it, read the screen, closed it with a sigh. This brought Ziva out of her contemplation of the suspect.
She turned to him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Tony scratched the back of his head and replied, "EJ wants to go out and we're not getting out of here any time soon." He paused for a moment to look at Ziva's face, "It's like now that she doesn't have any cases she's forgotten how much time they take."
Ziva nodded, Tony had been putting in more hours than usual lately.
"She's getting irritated about it," he concluded. EJ had not been read in and did not know where her boyfriend was going.
"She does not seem like the clingy type," Ziva said with a sympathetic frown. Of course EJ was not clingy she was suspicious, they both knew that. A suspicious nature comes with the job... unless you're McGee.
"I just hate disappointing her," he replied sadly, looking down. After everything he had been through, he hated lying to someone he cared about.
Ziva lifted his chin making him look at her, "It cannot be helped. Just make sure she knows you are alright." If EJ really cared about Tony, that was the important part. When it's all over, they can talk about it. For now, Tony needed to do his job.
"Thank you," Tony said, he had not told his girlfriend but he was glad he told his partner.
"You are not the only person who wants this case to end. I have dealt with far too many hysterical women today," Ziva said as they turned back to watch Gibbs question Milton.
There was a knock at the open door. Tony and Ziva turned to find a nervous probationary agent from another team.
"Umm, there's someone here to talk to you about your –uh- case," the junior agent sputtered out.
"Thanks," Tony said with a big smile.
Seeing that Tony was planning on tormenting the young agent, Ziva flashed him a glare and followed the probationary agent out.
He took Ziva to the conference room where she found a troubled looking red headed woman.
"I am Special Agent David, how can I help you?" Ziva asked as she sat down.
"My boyfriend Travis Mackenzie is missing!" the woman exclaimed.
"I'll be back in a moment," Ziva said with as straight a face as possible. Tony could interview this one.
AN: Ever had the characters do things that you had not planned on? That's totally what happened to me in this chapter. But I managed to get them back on track... I think. Anyways, thanks for reading :)
Thoughts, comments and questions are appreciated, as long as you don't tell me I suck... I have supervisors for that :P
Oh- One more thing, I think it might be a good idea for me to get a beta reader. I'm not really sure about the process but anyone interested?