Chapter 7: Case Work

Holy crap! I never thought I'd get so many reviews! I know it's not a lot compared to some stories, but it's a lot for me! Thank you guys for sticking with my ramblings this whole time, and giving me things to work with (eg. things you want answered). This is basically a chapter that kind gets the case out of the way a little bit; the case will probably not interfere with Chapter 8 (because it will be filled with Tiva moments instead) and will be completly out of the picture by Chapter 9/10... unless I decide to ya know, scrap the entire story and delete everything... ;) jks. Please R&R!

"Who's this?" Gibbs asks, looking over at Mark. Tony releases his wrist and goes to answer.

"Oh, this is Mark…" Tony states before realizing he doesn't know Mark's last name.

"Ringfield, Mark Ringfield… sir." Mark interjects as he sits up straighter. Gibbs walks up to him and the silver-haired agent steals a glance at Ziva. She pulls the key to the handcuffs from her pocket, reaches over and unlocks the metal restraints before pocketing both the cuffs and the key again.
Mark rubs his wrists and then runs a hand through his hair for the second time.
The room goes silent once more and Gibbs turns to the two agents behind him.

"Not even three hours inside, and you two screw over the entire Op?" Gibbs' face turns stony. Tony peeks at Ziva from the corner of his eye; she's looking at the ground, finding her dusty shoes more interesting. "We needed information about one thing. One. Thing!" Gibb raises his voice for a split second before calming himself again.

"Ya know, I knew Josh a bit. Don't know much about that Walter guy she was talking about earlier though…I could help," Mark speaks up and points at Ziva when he says 'she'.

"You help us, maybe we can cut a deal," Gibbs looks back at Mark.

"We have a main warehouse about twelve miles from here. There's a bunch of us that get our supplies from there. We buy fairly low, sell high…"

"Regular business men aren't we?" Tony says as he watches the last cop car pull out from the motel, right behind the ambulance holding Chris's body inside. He's changed from the baggy street clothes into better fitting jeans and an NCIS jacket matching Ziva's. Gibbs ignores Tony and pushes for Mark to continue.

"Chris and I, we got there late once and bumped into Josh. We'd heard about him making it big somewhere by the docks and Chris wanted in. He asked Josh where he was getting all the business but he didn't tell him. I guess at the time it was a good idea; you know, not wanting to sell out all your customers to someone else." Mark stops, scratches his chin and continues from there. "We'd seen him around a few time after that, said he was losing trades and he blamed Chris for it. Accused him of following him to the docks. Chris didn't do it though, we were at the motel that same week, never left my sight."

"It is a little late to try and save Chris here, Mark." Ziva informs the man still sitting against the headboard of the hotel bed. Mark nods and tries a different route.

"Chris told me that he heard Josh talking about a new guys he'd met. Said he'd bought out everything Josh had on him, double what he paid to get it in the first place too."

"He got a name?" Gibbs asks, wanting a short answer. Mark shakes his head, sees the disappointed look on Gibbs' face and quickly tries to save himself.

"No, but that's where that Walter guy comes in. I heard Josh telling the buyer that he was gonna get a mutual friend to help transport it. Said they needed someone they both trusted to get the job gone."

"And that friend was Walter…" Tony pulls out his cell and dials McGee. "McGee, where are you?"

"At NCIS with Ducky and Palmer. Gibbs said he had it under control there so I came back here instead."

"Oh, well we have a lead. Try and track all calls, e-mails and anything else that Joshua Mills and Walter Bernard see if they had any close friends in common. Send me the results when you get 'em, okay?"

"Sure thing." The two agents hang up.

NCIS*NCIS*NCIS

"Ziver, take Mr. Ringfield back to NCIS. DiNozzo, go with her." Tony tenses.

"What about our stuff back at the motel? I can stay and load it all back up I really—" The Italian explains looking for an excuse not to be stuck in an awkward silence.

"I've already called in a couple techs. They'll pack it up; take it to NCIS along with that beat up old car you got out there, Tony. Shit bucket if you ask me." Gibbs mumbles the last part to himself as he looks out the window at the small blue car.

The ex-Mossad agent walks Mark to the front of the hotel, making sure the cuffs weren't visible at first glance, not wanting to worry any guests. Once outside, Tony opens the back door of Gibb's SUV and Ziva lets Mark get in. She walks to the passenger seat, buckles herself in and waits for Tony to start the engine.
As Tony slides into the driver's seat, he chuckles lightly.

"What is so funny, Tony?"

"Nothing, it's just you usually fight me for the keys." DiNozzo waggles the set of car keys in the air between them. Ziva turns to face the front.

"I have got a headache." The smile on Tony's face fades and he starts the car. They drive for only seconds when Mark speaks up.

NCIS*NCIS*NCIS

"So… you're… Ziver?" Ziva turns to face the back seats.

"It is Ziva. Gibbs just calls me that as fun."

"'For'. It's 'for fun', Zi." Ziva squints at Tony slightly annoyed that he's still correcting her.

"And you are… Tony?" Mark continues. Tony nods, still watching the road. "Not Kyle?" The Italian shakes his head. "Heh, you guys sure are creative when coming up with covers, aren't you?" Mark sits back and looks out the window, glad he's made nice with the agents. The air is thick in the SUV, no one speaks for some time but Tony continuously chances a look at his girlfriend.
Does she still even see me as her boyfriend?

He feels the need to stop the car and actually face the facts on this one. So he does. In the middle of town, Tony slows the black vehicle and pulls off to the shoulder of the road.

"Tony, why are you stopping?" Ziva raises her head from her hand propped up on the car door.

"Did I do something?" Tony asks quickly as he pulls the key from the ignition.

"What?"

"Did I do something to make you mad at me?" Ziva takes a deep breath when she understands what Tony is talking about.

"Now is really not—"

"Ziva," Tony's eyes zero in on the Israeli. He was going to talk about this now weather Ziva wanted to or not. It probably wasn't the best idea; with him being stuck in an enclosed space, if she goes off, he's dead.

"I…" Ziva whispers. "I… do not want to go… Tony." Ziva looks up at Tony, her eyes slightly glazed over in unshed tears.

"Go where?" Tony shifts in his seat. Cars pass by at high speed and Mark tries to make himself invisible.

"…back." Ziva looks away and starts picking at her nail beds. "I hate it there, Tony. Gibbs, he will tell Vance and he will tell Eli… He will know about us and I will have to go." Tony shuts his eyes and leans back against the seat, understanding more in the last few seconds then he had in days. He takes in a deep breath and then looks back over to Ziva. Her lip is quivering slightly and she's looking back at her nails again.

Ziva was right, now was not a good time to be talking about this.