This Leaving Thing
And now the twists begin lol. Wonder if Lester is going to get beat finally.
"That track on the phone work yet?" Tony asked, barging into the office. Tim and Ziva looked up in surprise.
"Who's..." Tim started.
"Ducky's there." Tony said, not even needing to be asked the full question. "Answer my question."
"Umm...well we've narrowed it down to a five mile radius so far." Tim said, looking at the large screen that showed a map with a red circle. "Somewhere in there."
"Somewhere in there?" Tony asked.
"Sorry but it was moving." Tim said. "Just be glad we got that much."
"I'll never be glad until this case on Randalls is closed for good." Tony said.
"DiNozzo, what are you doing here?" Gibbs asked, rounding the corner. Despite the question, he didn't seem surprised to find Tony standing in the office.
"The guy's trying to get to me." Tony said. "I need involved and he wouldn't expect me to leave Lila."
"No one would expect you to." Ziva said.
"Exactly." Tony said.
Eight Years Ago - Baltimore
"Dinny, knock it off." Lila whispered, trying not to laugh.
"Can't help it." Tony muttered. He used his arms which were wrapped around Lila from behind to pull her back against him as he kissed at her neck. Lila nearly dropped the files in her hands and lightly smacked one of his hands. "Hey, we just got back from a weekend with your family where I wasn't allowed to touch you at all because your dad was always around. I'm taking advantage of every opportunity I got right now."
"You're so hopeless." Lila said.
"You love it." Tony said. Lila grinned and slid the files into the cabinet. She was just glad they were in the one room that didn't have any windows into the main office area and they were alone. It wasn't as if it were some secret they were together now but there were rules. The had been together for a couple of months now and Tony felt a level of pride that not only had he been Lila's longest running partner for eighteen months but he had been her longest running boyfriend since finding out her fiancee was a criminal.
"Hey, Casanova, if we get in trouble, it's all your fault." Lila said. She closed the cabinet and leaned back against Tony. He grinned against her neck at finally winning.
They had gone to the beach with Lila's family. The previous visit had been when the news of them getting together had come out. That visit and this one both had Tony and Lila sleeping in separate rooms in separate levels of the house. Tony secretly missed having Lila's father trust him but he went along with it because he really did love the family.
The file room door was opened and they jumped apart as if they had been electrocuted. One of the office girls stood at the door. She looked a little embarrassed at walking in on but she also looked a little scared.
"Oh umm...sorry but uh...Miss Curtis...the umm...Pennsylvania state police are on the phone for you." The girl said. Tony looked from the girl to Lila.
"Okay." Lila said. She slipped out the room. Tony stood there for a minute after the office girl left before he walked over and went over to where his and Lila's desks were. He caught her just as she hung up the phone. One look at her and he knew what happened so he put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. For the first time since their initial disastrous weekend away, Lila broke down into tears.
Present
"Found something." Tim called out. The team had gone to the general area that the cell phone had been traced to and had searched around. They were in an open field now by a wooded area. Tony, Ziva and Gibbs all moved into the woods to join Tim.
"Dan's cell phone." Tony said, looking down at the objects in front of Tim. He frowned and crouched down. "And..a necklace."
"A necklace?" Ziva asked.
"Locket." Tony said, picking up the object. He opened the locket and looked in to find a picture of Lila and her two sisters. "Nicole's."
"Who's Nicole?" Tim asked.
"Lila's youngest sister." Tony said.
"I thought her family..." Ziva said.
"They are." Tony cut off, standing up. He had the locket clenched in his hand.
"Let's get that phone to Abby, hopefully she can get something off it." Gibbs said. Tim nodded and bagged the phone.
Eight Years Ago - Baltimore
Tony was glad he never brought up the topic of moving in together with Lila. Sure, he had wanted to, but in the week and a half since they had heard that her parents' house had blown up with her parents and sisters inside, Lila had completely withdrawn into herself. Tony had gone with her back to Pennsylvania to set up arrangements for a funeral and everything that had been found intact was to be sent to Baltimore. She hadn't let him help with anything although he secretly did take charge of a few things that needed doing. He was losing Lila to her anger and he knew it but she just wouldn't let him back close. She was bent on hunting down Lester Randalls now and Tony was worried about her.
He felt ashamed of himself when he had moments of thinking of just letting her do as she wanted. He couldn't believe he felt like that but the more time that passed, the closer he got to giving up. The feeling got stronger every time Lila would snap at him. Things had actually gotten so bad one time that she nearly ended up letting a criminal get away. The boss had not been impressed and Lila had ended up with a suspension while Tony was made to work with another person.
"DiNozzo, this is special agent Leroy Gethro Gibbs from NCIS." Tony looked up from some paper work he had going to find the boss standing in front of him with an older looking man with him.
"Uh, hi." Tony said, standing up. He shook Gibbs' hand "Anthony DiNozzo."
"Heard a lot about you DiNozzo." Gibbs said. "I'd like to talk to you about...advancement." Tony raised an eyebrow.
Present
"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs..." Abby's voice carried before she even came into sight. The team all looked up as the little goth girl rounded the corner looking overly excited.
"Tell us something good Abs." Gibbs said.
"We could use something good." Tony said. He still had the locket gripped in his hand. He had given it up for a few minutes for Abby to try and get something off it then had taken it right back.
"Well there was some hair on the phone that was definitely from Lester Randalls." Abby said. "He's slipping up, we could definitely get him nailed if we catch him."
"Any ideas on how to find him?" Tony asked.
"Uh...no." Abby said. "That's where my news ends. There's really only one person I can think of that would know."
"Who?" Ziva asked.
Eight Years Ago - Baltimore
"So...I sort of got offered a job." Tony said.
"Sort of?" Lila asked, moving around the kitchen of her apartment.
"Well...I mean...I don't know." Tony said. "It's at NCIS...in Washington."
"Wow." Lila said. Tony leaned in the doorway and watched her.
"The boss is taking you off the case for Randalls." He said. Lila paused then went back to doing what she was doing. "He said it's gotten too personal and he's worried about you."
"Everyone always worries about me." Lila said.
"This is different, Lila." Tony said. "This guy killed your first partner and now he's gone and taken your family." He moved into the kitchen and grabbed Lila's shoulders. She looked at his chest. "If you find this guy...Lila you're too damn sweet to let revenge take over you."
"Boss told you to talk me into accepting this, didn't he?" Lila asked. She shrugged his hands off and went to dishwasher to unload it. "You should accept."
"Huh?" Tony asked.
"The NCIS thing." Lila said.
"What?" Tony asked, frowning.
"You should accept the job for NCIS." Lila said. She straightened up and looked at him for the first time since he had walked through her front door. "That way...you'll be in Washington...and away from here."
"You want me to leave?" Tony asked. "After everything...you just want me to go? What happened to...nothing is going to split us up?" Lila looked away yet again. "So that's it? After everything, this is what's going to mess us up the most?"
"Tony please..." Lila said.
"What? What could you possibly say now to make any of this better?" Tony asked.
"Unless you leave, you're going to die, and I can't deal with one more person that I care about dying." Lila snapped. Tony paused and just stared at her. "He's going to come after you if...if he thinks we're...but if we're not anymore."
"Lila...I can't just leave you." Tony said.
"I...I have a plan." Lila said. "Please Tony. Please just...please take the job." She looked at him again and her eyes were begging. Tony sighed, knowing he really could never say no to her. Nodding slowly in acceptance, he crossed the kitchen to her and hugged her tightly.
"This Gibbs guy...he said he'd give me two days to think." Tony said. "So...we got tomorrow..." He didn't get to finish as Lila tilted her head up and kissed him. He returned the kiss, wondering if anything would work out for the better.
It would be their last together for God knew how long and they made a silent agreement to just enjoy it as they moved back towards the bedroom, shedding clothes on the way so that when they hit the bed, both were completely naked.
Present
"How do we get something out of an unconscious woman?" Ziva asked. She crossed her arms as she looked at Lila in the hospital bed.
"We don't." Gibbs said. "But he might." He nodded at Tony standing by the bed. His hand held Lila's hand, the locket between them. His eyes swept up and down her body repeatedly, unsure of what he should be looking for but looking nonetheless.
"Do you think she'll ever come out of this?" Ziva asked.
"I have high hopes for her." Ducky said. "She's strong. She put up with DiNozzo almost two years. Plus...he won't let her stay like this."
"It's been a while...if he won't let her, then why is she?" Ziva asked.
"Probably thinks it's safer for her to be unconscious right now." Gibbs said. Ziva nodded slowly. They watched Tony lean over and kiss Lila's forehead before sliding his hand from hers. "Well?"
"I think I know where he is." Tony said. He walked out of the room, making Gibbs and Ziva look at each other before following after him, leaving Ducky alone with the unconscious woman.
Oh so close to getting to the bottom of things. And will Lila wake up before or after the Lester Randalls confrontation?
