Divergence/Convergence

Disclaimer: All characters property of CBS, not mine, alas.

Final chapter. I know some of you were hoping for much more but I want to end it at this point because the transition from old life to new was the storyline. I wanted to show Tony's divergence from his old life and colleagues, from being in a rut, to converging with an exciting future and the love of his life. I may in future do a sequel but I'm still working on the Aftermath sequel (yes, 4 years later; I intend to get that finished). Your support, reviews, etc. are really appreciated.

I've now seen the season finale and without giving away too much, I'd just like to say that this household is firmly in the "No body, not dead" camp. While it's likely that this character probably is dead and my husband has teased me about being in denial, I'm a little sceptical without definitive proof. I'm sure there'll be a fic along those lines from me soon enough, once I've seen "Family First" again!

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Chapter 6: First Day

Hardly any time seemed to have passed before Monday morning rolled around and Tony's first alarm blared from beside his bed. Without emerging from under the light covers, he stuck an arm out and slapped haphazardly at things on his bedside table until he made contact with his target and silenced it. Sunlight was already streaming into the room – he had failed to lower the blinds the previous night and had not properly closed the curtains – and he let out a groan. Two more hours minimum would have been ideal, but they weren't an option so he rolled out of bed and stumbled to the shower. Today was his first day in his new job and he did not want to be late.

Before long he had showered, dressed and eaten breakfast; grabbing his keys, ID, weapon and a few other things he thought he might need, he set off for the offices of Israel's NCIS office. The traffic was light, for which he was grateful, and he soon found himself at work with half an hour to spare. He felt a little thrill run through his body as he spied his own personal parking space, a sign on the wall above it with his name on it. That was definitely something he could get used to having. There were two other cars in the small garage and he wondered who they belonged to.

After turning off the engine, he sat in the car for a minute, mentally preparing himself for the new job and new people. And maybe perhaps savouring having his very own marked parking space. There would be some serious gloating to McGee about that.

The time caught his eye, snapping him out of his reverie; he checked his hair and face in the visor mirror and exited the car, as smoothly and suavely as James Bond. Nobody was around to notice, but it didn't bother him: he was At One with Bond. He retrieved his bag from the footwell of the passenger seat, locked the car and headed to the lift that would take him above ground to the office. When the automatic doors opened he stepped into a small foyer with pale blue walls and dark blue lino, the NCIS logo on the wall adjacent to a reception desk, behind which sat a man of around Tony's age. The man straightened in his seat the moment he saw Tony. "ID, please." His tone was warm but brisk, an East Coast accent clear.

Tony had anticipated this request so he showed his badge immediately. "I'm the new head agent. Tony DiNozzo."

The man examined the ID and nodded in satisfaction. "So you are." He pointed to a set of double doors to his left. "I'll buzz you through, Agent DiNozzo."

"Thanks." Tony waited for the buzzer and then pushed the doors open, striding through. The corridor was windowless but short; he turned a corner and went through another set of doors, into a room about a third of the size of the squadroom in DC. The walls were an identical shade of pumpkin orange – the agency really had a thing about that colour – and in front of him was the Most Wanted wall with the same faces staring back at him.

One man, who looked to be in his mid-thirties and Middle Eastern, raised his head as Tony stepped into the room and smiled. "You must be the new guy," he said, voice heavily-accented, similar to Ziva and Adam's, getting to his feet and moving towards Tony.

"And you must be Benjamin Gavriel, Shin Bet Liaison Officer," replied Tony, holding out his hand.

"You have done your homework. Please call me Ben." He accepted the hand.

"Need to know who's working for me."

"But of course. Alice and Ryan will be here later – they have gone to obtain the recording from the break-in on Saturday. You know about that?"

"Yeah, Vance emailed me about it, told me not to come in for it." Alice and Ryan, Tony knew, were Special Agents Alice Jessop and Probationary Agent Ryan Carpenter. "Where's my desk?"

Ben gestured to him to follow, so Tony did, and led him past the two blocks of desks to an area with a larger desk, three computers and a big board. "You should have everything you need here. I shall leave you to settle." He strode back to his desk and computers.

Putting down his bag, Tony got behind his desk and sat down on the very comfortable chair – not quite as fancy as the Director's, but definitely more luxurious than the standard-issue ones he has spent the last fifteen years sitting in. On the desk were three files – the current cases. Though Tony knew of each, Vance's email had not gone into detail so he read through the files to get himself up to speed before his agents arrived.

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By the time six o'clock came round, Tony had met everyone and felt thoroughly settled in. Ben was there to ensure NCIS stayed within its jurisdiction and to keep the agency in the loop on Israeli security matters whilst assisting with investigations; it was a far more genuinely liaising role than Ziva's had ever been. Alice, daughter of an FLDS escapee and an efficient redhead in her late thirties, with an Israeli husband who was a professor in Middle East history – whose class Ziva had taken the previous term – oversaw her team of Carpenter and Jack Whitstable. Carpenter was young, bubbly and keen, having only arrived from FLETC three months ago, via six months in Rota; Whitstable was an older man around the same age as Gibbs and Pride, quiet and stoic, who had joined NCIS after fourteen years in the Navy.

The other team was the one Tony would be directly leading. It consisted of Nicola Rowntree, a former Chicago cop who had wanted to broaden her horizons and who was also the office's version of McGee with less awkwardness, and Sam Kingston, a burly black New Yorker whose wife was in the Navy. Gavriel floated between the two teams as needed.

An update email sent to Vance, Tony shut down his computer and gathered up his belongings. Noticing this, Nicola raised her head. "You off?"

"Promised my girlfriend I'd cook dinner," explained Tony. He didn't want them to know yet who he was seeing, when the relationship was so new and all the Tel Aviv staff knowing of her.

"See you tomorrow, then, Boss."

"Goodnight." Tony strode out of the squadroom and took his phone out of his pocket to call Ziva, who answered on the third ring. "I'm just leaving work," he told her. "You got the assignment done?"

"Yes, although I think perhaps I did not explain my points very well –"

"You'll have aced it, I'm sure," he cut in, not wanting to let her fret about something she could no longer do anything about (and was probably nigh on perfect anyway). "You did sleep last night, right?"

"Yes, Tony, I slept. For six whole hours. Do you need me to pick up anything for dinner?"

"I've got everything. See you at my place?"

"Absolutely. Goodbye for now." She hung up.

With a bounce to his stride now, Tony made his way to his car and then headed back to his apartment to get dinner ready. As he drove, he considered the recent changes in his life and how he felt about them. Things were extremely different compared to two months earlier and he couldn't deny that a lot of it had been terrifying, but he decided, as he parked his car, that it had been well and truly worth it, and it had been just what he had needed.

It had definitely been the right decision and having Ziva back in his life was the icing on the cake – more than he could have hoped for, if he was honest. For the first time in a long time, Tony DiNozzo was content and happy.

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~fin~