Note: First off,the season premiere was awesome. Less Tiva than i had hoped, but i'll live. Anyway, back to the story, this is the next chapter, obviously, and...thats about it. Mainly just filler about the plot. And some very subtle Tiva in the very beginning, if you can find it. But there will be more in later chapters. I promise. Kinda. and of course, i probably won't be able to update for another week, but if i do, it will be a really short chapter. my bad, but i just don't have enough time. And one more thing, review!! I only have 8...it's very depressing...but whatever, I'll live. One of the characters might not, but i will. mwuhahaha. and for the record, means like, time has passed i guess...idk. read and enjoy. and hopefully review.
Finding a Needle
Tony cracked open an eyelid. He instantly registered two things. First off, it was morning; he'd been here all night. Again. Second, he was splayed over his desk with his jacket pillowing his head. Strangely he did not remember taking it off, but that wasn't really important.
He eventually came to the internal decision to return to sleep and had once again closed his eyes when suddenly a familiar female voice woke him.
"Comfortable DiNozzo?" His head shot up as he whirled around in his chair coming face to face with a smug Ziva who was leaning on the wall behind his desk.
"Not anymore." He grumbled. "Has anyone ever told you that you have serious personal space issues?" She flashed him a grin and moved slightly forward.
"Yes, but they didn't mind for very long."
"Let me guess, old boyfriends?"
"Targets." She laughed at his expression and returned to her own desk.
"Whatever," Tony replied cooly after composing himself. "Just make sure you have something for Gibbs."
"And make sure you have it now." Gibbs added as he came into view, steaming coffee in hand. Both of his agents quickly stood up and rushed over to him, each determined to present their own information first.
"Well boss, good morning to you too. I bet you're wondering what we found?" Gibbs met him with a blank stare giving Ziva the opportunity she was looking for.
"The man Director Vance helped put away is named Robert Stenner. He was sentenced to fifteen to twenty-five years and sent to the Maryland Correctional city."
"Get him." He turned to leave but stopped when he realized the other two hadn't moved. "Waiting for something?"
"Um..." Ziva trailed off, wondering how exactly to explain their current situation.
"He was transferred." Tony interrupted.
"To where DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked impatiently.
"That's not important, mainly because he was transferred again. All in all, Stenner has been moved shuffled between prisons almost continuously for the around fifteen years. He finally ended up in Baltimore correctional facility."
"I don't care how many times he was transferred, I just want him here, now."
"I called a buddy of mine there already boss. Stenner never arrived there. The paper work did, but he didn't. The warden told everyone to let it go. Who ever this guy was, some one very high up on the food chain made sure he never stayed in one place long enough to get close to anyone."
Gibbs stared at them both for a few seconds.
"Where is he now?" He asked slowly as if that would change the answer. Tony and Ziva glanced at each other.
"We...we do not know Gibbs." Ziva finally answered.
"Right now, he could be literally anywhere. Lost in the system, free, even in another country. There's no way to know."
"To find him now would be like finding a needle in a stick stack."
"Needle in a haystack, Ziva." Tony quietly whispered to her.
"I don't care what the hell it's buried in, I just want you to find that damn needle!" Gibbs yelled as he stormed away.
"That went well." Tony observed. Ziva rolled her eyes.
"Shut up."
McGee walked into the bullpen whistling. He grinned at the evident exhaustion of his teammates.
"You guys been here all night?"
"Yeah, where were you McTardy? I left you a message telling you to get the hell over here."
"Um, I was at home. Sleeping." Ziva stared at him in shock.
"You were sleeping and doing nothing while we were working our asses off? If Gibbs does not kill you I most certainly will."
"Not if I get him first Zee-vah."
"Ah-ah-ah, not so fast you guys. I never said I didn't do anything there." McGee interrupted.
"Yeah, you said you went home and slept. That counts as doing something, technically, just nothing productive." Tony countered.
"Okay...that actually makes sense. But in this case, I did do something, I found out where Robert Stenner is. Was. Could be." He paused thoughtfully. "May be."
Tony shook his head in surprise.
"I'm shocked by the certainty there probie. But you might as well spit it out. I'm clinging to your every word here. Especially considering Ziva has been failing miserably so far."
"Hey!" The assassin in question interjected.
"Well, I did get your message about how Stenner has basically disappeared. Eventually, I got to thinking-"
"That's always a good thing." McGee glared at the other man.
"I took the liberty of assuming he's not in the system-"
"I"m going to stop you right there, McGee. You know how much the boss hates random assumptions."
"Almost as much as I hate you not getting me results DiNozzo. Continue." Gibbs motioned towards McGee.
"Right boss, so, I dug up some quick background on Stenner instead of just trying to track him down. Both his parents are dead, and the only address he ever listed was a houseboat down in the marina."
"That's really great probie. You found out he had a houseboat more than fifteen years ago. Morning well spent."
"I'm not done yet. The only other thing he had to his name is-was a storage space. He never gave back the key. I'm assuming that if Stenner is our guy, and if he just was released or escaped from prison, that storage space is the only place he has left to go. "
Gibbs nodded.
"Good work McGee." He said and then turned to the other two. "Tony, Ziva, check it out. And this time, get the address from him before he leaves"
"Boss." McGee added quickly and Gibbs turned around. "One more thing that I thought was strange. I checked with the Harvard, Vance and Stenner were apparently vary close. I thought you should know."
"Good work...Tim, good work." Gibbs donned a thoughtful expression before heading away.
"McGee is burning the haystack to find the needle." Ziva whispered to Tony as they watched McGee sit down in his desk with an extremely satisfied expression.
"I...that's really the worst mix of metaphors I ever heard." She shrugged in response.
The pair quickly got the address of the old storage facility from McGee and headed towards the elevator.
"So we are going to a storage space that our suspect may have used once, years ago, because he may have escaped or been released and may have kidnapped the director of an armed federal agency?" Ziva began.
"Yeah, that sounds about right. You forgot about the part about some one very important trying to keep him under the radar for reasons unknown." Tony added.
"It could be worse I suppose."
"Oh yeah, you could be driving."