Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and review!

So…Tony knows Fornell? He gets pissed off with Fornell and so does Gibbs…why won't anyone tell him about Philly? A witness comes forward, but can Tony protect her?


"Agent?" Sam asked, sending his partner a curious look; Tony had never said anything to him about knowing an FBI Agent well enough to credit his current facial expression of confusion and suspicion.

"Agent Fornell, FBI," the man offered his hand as an introduction, but he gave no further explanation as he perched himself on the end of a desk, arms folded in front of him as he gave everyone else a quick, calculating look-over.

Sam rolled his eyes; it seemed the FBI had their very own version of Agent Gibbs. He had managed to get Gibbs past the frosty, jurisdictional pissing match stage but now he had two different agencies to contend with, and what was worse this guy had some unknown connection to his partner.

Sam had always hated being in the dark; it was why he left the military all those years ago. Soldiers were only ever given limited intel related to a specific Spec. Op. and they never got the whole picture; working cases he didn't always get the whole picture either, but he was always prepared to work for it.

He was sure that Tony wouldn't hide anything vital from him, but he was also sure that whatever it was that linked his partner to the FBI Agent was important; the difference between the two was small, but there was a difference.

Tony seemed to spend so much time and effort keeping people at arms length and wearing a mask to the world while disguising the fact that that was exactly what he was doing. There were more than likely several important events in his life that made him act that way, and no doubt more often than not he would hide those away too, underneath a mask of indifference and frat boy humour.

The important events in the kid's life would without a doubt explain the 'why' and the 'when' but Sam also knew that it was precisely because they were of a personal nature that Tony would forever try to bury them.

Sam believed that the vital things in the kid's life were things like him joining the Academy, the fact that he would take a bullet for just about anyone, that he would go to any lengths to protect those he cared about. His sense of right and wrong, his morality and his need for justice over revenge and a good snapshot on the ten o'clock news were vital aspects of Tony's life.

All these things and many more defined the way Tony interacted with the world and its inhabitants; they had an impact not only on his young partner, but on the people around him and that was what made them vital rather than important. It was vital that Sam knew who his partner was and how he'd react out on the streets and off them.

Sam did not know how this Agent Fornell would react in any situation.

Sam had not known how Agent Gibbs and his team would react either and now his partner was suffering through the effects of a concussion.

"Well," he sighed, shaking his head and resigned to the fact that Baltimore PD was about to be lumped with more Federal Agents. "I hope your agents are better trained than his," he nodded his head in Gibbs' direction; God he couldn't cope with another Nixon!

Fornell offered a tight smile and Sam had to wonder just how much the man actually exercised those muscles; more than Gibbs he hoped.

"Yes," he stated dryly, "I'd noticed Agent Nixon's absence; congratulations Jethro, how many agents have you managed to run off now?" A narrowing of the eyes was the only response Gibbs gave. "You will only have to suffer through myself and one more agent," he promised.

"Agent Batista," a young woman moved forward and shook Sam's hands. She was very pretty and Sam knew that if he'd noticed Tony certainly would have. He saw the way DiNozzo's eyes quickly roamed over the female Agent's body and he had to suppress rolling his eyes; he hoped his partner could keep his hands to himself, at least until after the case was resolved!

"Detective DiNozzo," Tony quickly offered his hand along with his most charming of smiles, the shock of seeing Fornell in another of his PD's temporarily replaced by a young and very shapely beauty with big, brown eyes and a thick Baltimore accent. He'd been in Baltimore for nearly two years and he'd never laid eyes on her; he thought that was more than a little unfair.

"Agent Batista works for our Organised Crime Unit here in our Baltimore field office," Fornell informed everyone, trying hard not to roll his eyes at the Detective's flirting; he'd been that way in Philadelphia too. "I'm afraid that Baltimore PD is overstepping," he said in a tone that didn't hold the slightest bit of remorse at all despite his words.

"That's bullshit, man," Brewster interrupted. First DiNozzo and his partner and those assholes from DC and now the fucking FBI was trying to move in on his case; he and Vargas had spent too much time and effort to just throw all this away into the hands of some smug agent! "We've been working this case for months, no way are you taking it out from under us, you…"

"Hey," Vargas interrupted quietly, trying to rein his partner in. He wasn't happy about the Feds trying to take the case either, but he would be even less happy if IA started sniffing around after his partner unleashed all his anger and frustration on the Agent's nose! "Come on, man, calm down, ok?"

Brewster took a few deep breaths and stepped back, sending his partner a quick, appreciative glance for stopping a potential explosion on his part.

"No one will be kicking you off the case," Fornell promised, not the slightest bit fazed by the open hostility. "The FBI wants Radoslav, but more than that they want who he answers to and it's not as simple as looking through every back alley in Baltimore; Interpol is involved with this one. This is an international problem and this particular trafficking ring is an international one.

"We're cooperating not only with Interpol but a whole host of other organisations as well, primarily SOCA in the UK; Radoslav and his friends have several connections there too. Think of us as your liaisons," he ended with a smile that held no warmth.

"We're working on a case where so far the evidence points to the fact that Radoslav killed three people; are you asking us to…to just ignore that so you can hook a bigger fish?" Tony asked incredulously.

"Not ignore it," Fornell shrugged indifferently. "You could hold off on acting on that evidence though. We're looking for cold, hard evidence to shut this ring down permanently, not just to sever one arm of this organisation."

Tony shook his head in disbelief. "This guy executed two US citizens and brutally murdered a woman…hell, a girl really; he could pack up and disappear…we could lose him!" he was shouting now, but he didn't care.

"I know the risks, Detective DiNozzo," Fornell stated firmly with narrowing eyes, "And I don't like it either but my orders from the Director are very clear; I'm to stop you and NCIS from interfering with an ongoing international investigation. There are more lives at stake, and, like it or not, those are more important than the lives that have already been taken."

Tony shook his head with disgust and stepped into the FBI Agent's personal space. "You know me, Fornell," he hissed in the man's ear. "You know I'm not going to let this…this animal get away with it! You remember Philly? Cos I sure as hell do, and no way am I ever letting the Brass use me like that again and let the bad guy go!" With that he quickly marched out of the room, eager to be away from people before he hit someone.

Sam heard the mention of Philly and automatically knew why his partner was so upset; it had taken Tony a long time to trust him with that story, a story that went a long way towards explaining the man's fervent hunt for justice over revenge and his seemingly inherent mistrust of the higher echelons.

He shot the FBI Agent a dirty look before leaving the room to search for his partner; no doubt some time in the Department's gym with the punch bag would be in order in the near future before some poor, unsuspecting soul set off Tony's short fuse. The kid did have a temper, and a short one at that, but he tended to internalise everything to the point that Sam worried about an implosion of epic proportions; the fact that Tony rarely let it explode made the explosions all the more impressive.


Gibbs' eyes followed the young Detective as he left the room; not only did DiNozzo know Fornell of all people, but by the sounds of it there was a link to Philadelphia; could this be the reason behind his sudden promotion?

He'd heard the city's name hissed with pure venom, but he hadn't been able to pick out anything more than that except for DiNozzo's expression; the young Detective had looked angry…more than angry!

"Tobias," Gibbs nodded towards a quieter corner of the office; Fornell quirked an eyebrow but followed his NCIS counterpart regardless.

"Jethro," Fornell said as an acknowledgment to go ahead.

"What do you know about DiNozzo and Philadelphia?" he asked. Gibbs had never seen much point in beating around the bush and he'd never been less than direct with Fornell over the years.

"Well, well," Fornell started with a smile, "I never thought I'd see the day where the great Leroy Jethro Gibbs doesn't know something that I do."

"Cut the crap, Fornell!" Gibbs hissed, trying to keep the conversation between just the two of them. "If you know something about DiNozzo, something that I should know considering it's my ass on the line with him and his partner as my back-up out in the field, then you had better tell me."


Sam knew where Tony would be; whenever the kid needed to get away from people he would go to the roof; very few people ever went up there as many chose to hang around the busier helipad and smoke cigarettes in a huddled group, exchanging gossip from the various different departments. Tony's chosen spot was a quiet section of the roof away from prying eyes and received a nice breeze coming in off the Atlantic.

The 22nd Precinct was not one of the taller buildings in Baltimore, but it still managed a reasonable panorama; the view showed the Patapsco River flowed into the harbour and whole hours could be wasted watching the huge cargo ships come and go. It was a particularly busy part of the city and it was easy to lose yourself in the daily routines that went on below.

"You alright?" Sam asked quietly, expecting the ever present 'fine.'

"No," Tony replied hoarsely, surprising himself as much as his partner with his honesty. "If Radoslav even suspects that we've got him in our sights he'll disappear, they always do; he's going to get away with murdering three people because the FBI wants to catch a bigger fish!"

"It's a possibility," Sam agreed. "But you've got to agree that shutting down the whole trafficking ring would be a good thing."

"Of course I think it would be a good thing…hell, it would be a great thing," Tony argued, turning anguished eyes towards his partner. "But if shutting it down means making a deal with someone like Radoslav, if it means letting that son of a bitch get away with it…then no, I don't think it is a good thing!"

Sam sighed, after all, what could he say? He'd been a cop for too many years to be fooled into believing that the bad guys they caught all went to prison for their crimes.

Some of them got off because of a lack of evidence, or because witnesses were too scared to come forward or they simply disappeared. Sometimes he saw criminals walk because of technicalities, such as incorrectly gathered evidence or a rookie's failure to recite the Miranda Rights perfectly. The worst times, however, were when the police themselves let the bad guys go.

There were some crimes, especially those relating to organised crime, where deals were offered and sometimes taken because law enforcement was more interested in cutting off the head of the beast rather than take it down one limb at a time.

He'd seen a child murderer serve a pathetic three years behind bars because the guy had offered the DA damning information on his Cartel boss. He'd seen a guy caught with a huge shipment of heroin get out on bail the very same day as his arrest because he'd offered up the location of his employer's safe-house, full of incriminating drugs, guns and blood money.

"Tony," he tried, "I know how much you like to catch the bad guy, and I also know that you know that it isn't always possible, but I can promise you this, we are going to get Radoslav with or without the FBI's assistance. Understand, kid?"

Tony turned his eyes once again towards his partner; he should have known that Sam would feel the same way as he did about the possibility of Radoslav walking away from justice. He nodded and sent his partner a grateful smile.

It was far from his usual mega-watt smile, Sam thought, but it was better than nothing. "Come on then," he said, "Let's get what information we can from the FBI before we go after Radoslav. I'm pretty sure we can get Brewster and Vargas to help; they would much rather help us than the Feds because no matter how much they hate us they'll always hate the Feds more."

Tony laughed despite the slight pain it caused his still fragile head, already envisaging Brewster's reaction.

Then he frowned.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, noticing his partner's expression.

"Something's bugging me," Tony confessed. "Fornell worked with me in Philadelphia, and so he's got to know that I'm not going to take this one lying down; he's got to know that I'm going to go after Radoslav no matter what anyone else tells me this time."

"He should know that," Sam agreed, "But you're not exactly…predictable at the best of times, kid. I know you pretty well by now, so I can hazard a pretty good guess at where you'll end up after you go off on one of your tangents, but even after nearly two years I'm rarely ever one hundred percent correct."

"Also, there's another thing," Tony continued, choosing to ignore his partner's rather acute explanation. "He works in DC, so why's he here? He came to Philly because there was a political link to Washington, but NCIS is here because of a political link they have…because of Jennings' father. There's no reason why Fornell, of all people, should be here."


"Jethro," Fornell said quietly, "I can't say that I know DiNozzo any better than you do; he's rather difficult to know, as I'm sure you've discovered by now. I assume you've already dug up his personnel file…"

"Yeah," Gibbs interrupted. "But there's nothing in there to explain how he made the jump from an officer in Vice to a detective in Homicide; maybe you could enlighten me."

"I'd rather not," Fornell said casually, not in the slightest bit affected by the murderous glare his NCIS counterpart was sending his way. "I'm sure you'll find out eventually, but I'm not going to be the one to open that particular can of worms; DiNozzo is not the only one who would like to forget that case.

"However, I can assure you that DiNozzo is highly capable at his job; I wouldn't have offered him a job if I thought otherwise."

"You offered DiNozzo a job?" Gibbs asked incredulously; he couldn't picture it. DiNozzo had been more than a little hostile towards the FBI Agent about the possibility of stepping back from Radoslav, and he'd not seen Fornell acting all too friendly either; the man even refused to call him DiNozzo, preferring to call him by the more Italian sounding 'DiNutso.'

"What can I say…" Fornell shrugged. "He impressed me."

Gibbs didn't know what else to say; it was obvious Fornell wasn't going to tell him what he wanted to know anytime soon. "You do know that he's not going to stop investigating Radoslav; I might not know him all that well but I do know that."

Fornell smiled.

"You already knew that," Gibbs quickly deduced.

"I already knew that," Fornell admitted. "It was why I agreed to act as the liaison for the Hoover Building; I have no desire to let Radoslav walk either. Unlike my Director I'm not particularly bothered by who this case ends up implicating; I made that mistake once before and I have no intention of doing it again. Finding out that DiNozzo was working the case just made my decision all the easier; two wrongs righted, so to speak."

Gibbs' mind was buzzing; whatever happened in Philadelphia was obviously pretty serious and it sounded more and more like a cover up. That Fornell had offered DiNozzo a job made him believe that he was right about the young Detective; there was definitely a lot more to him than originally meets the eye.

Fornell and he frequently disagreed on many different topics; his ex-wife was just one of them. However, he could not deny Fornell's professionalism; if the man had thought that DiNozzo was worth offering a job to then there was obviously a very good reason for it. Maybe before the case was over, he would understand it all too.


"Come on, Brewster," Sam pleaded. "You can even take all the credit if you want, we don't care about that; we just want to see Radoslav go down. We can pool our information; you tell us what you know about Club Abër and we'll tell you what we found out about Radoslav and the warehouse."

"What about the Feds?" Vargas asked quietly, and Tony could tell that he was thinking about it.

"Screw the FBI," Tony said with passion. "This is our city and these scum bags can't be allowed to get away with it. If Fornell and the rest of them down in DC want to chase down the big guns then that is up to them, but I want Radoslav; he's going down for those murders and you can plug him and his associates with whatever it is you've got and then the girls he's got in that club can hopefully go free…be safe."

"You think it will be that easy?" Brewster asked incredulously. "We've got some photos of some of the clientele that go to Club Abër; we've got a Senator's aide, a couple of high-end officials from the Mayor's office and one or two higher-ups from our own Police Department, not to mention a couple of big-wigs from DC."

"Is McTavish on any of those photos?" Tony asked calmly, knowing that there was no way in hell his Chief would be on any of them.

"No, of course not," Brewster argued with certainty.

"Are you or your partner on them?" Tony asked again, too calmly.

"You think we'd do that?" Brewster spat, taking a menacing step towards the young Detective.

"No, I don't," Tony confessed with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "So if you're not protecting our Chief, and you're not protecting yourself or your partner, then why the hell do you care who those photos implicate?"

"We don't," Vargas admitted quietly, now aware that Tony hadn't been baiting them but merely trying to prove a point. "But there are some people that…we'd be making waves, DiNozzo…tsunami size waves that could mess with our careers, and we'd be grassing on fellow cops; you don't think we'd stop and think about all that before we jump right in?"

"Of course you'd think about it, you'd be idiots if you didn't think twice; you'd be even bigger idiots if you cover for these guys, cops or not. They're soliciting sex from young girls who've been brought to this country illegally, probably under the guise of a nice job, like modelling or working with children…whatever it was that brought them here I'm pretty certain that they never wanted this!" he gestured towards a picture of their battered Jane Doe he had in a file.

"No cop worth his badge would accept this…think that this was something that they should let slide because there's another cop involved down the line…a dirty cop!" Tony spat out the word 'dirty' with as much contempt as he could muster. "No one should get away with this, cop or not; he could be the President of the United States…hell he could be the goddamn Pope and I'd still haul his ass off to jail. The law is for everyone to follow, and that includes cops."

Vargas and Brewster took a moment to absorb this before turning to each other; over five years of working as partners enabled them an ability to say a lot without actually opening their mouths.

Finally they both nodded.

"Yes!" Tony punched the air with enthusiasm. He didn't know what the two Vice Detectives had, but if it helped them take down Radoslav and all those involved in the illegal sex trade that was run out of Club Abër's basement…then so much the better.

"Brewster, Vargas, thanks," Sam nodded solemnly to them both. "We really appreciate this."

"Yeah," grumbled Brewster. "Look, we'll hand over copies of the information we've got and we'll take whatever you've got, but we're not going to work alongside those Feds from DC, the FBI or NCIS; we can swap information, and you had better take us on the bust at Club Abër, but that's as far as our co-operation is going to go, ok?"

"Ok," both Tony and Sam agreed after a brief, shared glance.

"Shared credit?" Vargas offered. "We don't really care about the credit…not really; we just didn't want to see months of our hard work disappear down the drain."

Tony nodded and Sam agreed vocally, "Shared credit."

"I'll go get copies of what we have; you got a lot of reading ahead of you," Vargas warned.

"I always liked a good crime story," Tony grinned, rubbing his hands together in eager anticipation.


"Detective DiNozzo," Fornell greeted the young man as he re-entered the office.

"So," Tony started, leaning against his desk, arms folded in a protective posture against his chest. "What interest does DC have in this case?" He looked around and saw that while Agent Batista was nowhere to be seen all of Gibbs' people seemed to be present.

The Gothic Forensic Specialist was slurping down a Red Bull, her hunt for a 'Caff-Pow' clearly unsuccessful. Doctor Mallard and Vivian Blackadder were going over the autopsy results on the three victims, evidently searching for something they might have missed or deemed unimportant the first time. Gibbs was standing near to Fornell and the two looked as though they had been sharing an important conversation when he came into the office.

"Straight to the point, as always DiNozzo," Fornell said with complete indifference. "As I'm sure you've already guessed there are those in the Hoover Building that feel that there could be some facts that might arise with this case that would be better left in the dark."

"You mean there are some higher ups in DC who have done something they shouldn't have done and now they want to cover it up," Tony surmised succinctly.

"Pretty much," Fornell agreed with a shrug.

"And because you did such a wonderful job in Philadelphia they thought they'd send you along for this one too," Tony pointed out with force.

"That is why they sent me," Fornell agreed once again, "But that's not why I decided to come."

Tony said nothing but narrowed his eyes in suspicion; quick glance at his partner showed him that Sam was prepared to listen to what the man had to say. Oddly enough, Gibbs sent him a brief but encouraging nod too; what did the NCIS Agent know that he didn't?

"Like you, DiNozzo," Fornell started, sitting himself down in an empty chair and making himself comfortable, "I could never condone what happened in Philadelphia and I certainly did not like the fact that one too many people didn't see the justice that they deserved

"Regardless, I did the job my Director gave me and yes…I did it well. I cannot honestly say, however, that my decision to follow my Director's orders has not haunted me; I regret that my decision pushed you into a corner and forced you into a position where you would have to go against your own basic principles, but there was no other way to ensure your own silence on the issue.

"I agreed to this assignment because I hoped that I could atone for my mistakes in Philadelphia; when I discovered that you were one of the lead Detectives I was even more determined to make sure that there would not be another miscarriage of justice that you or I would be forced to put our names to. Is that a satisfactory enough explanation?"

Tony didn't say anything immediately, trying to absorb it all. He didn't know Fornell at all but he did know that the man would never usually apologise; the fact that this was out of character meant the man was actually being sincere or he was hiding something else. Tony's head hurt; he was still feeling too many side effects of his concussion to think all that clearly.

"It'll do for now," Tony said with a forced even tone as he stepped closer to the FBI Agent before quietly continuing. "No matter how you end up playing this one, I will not go along with another cover-up. There are very few cops in Baltimore that I care all that much about, and those that I do give a damn about are nothing like my old partner; you're going to need to dig deeper for leverage this time.

"If you screw me over again Fornell, I swear to God I will make sure you regret it," Tony guaranteed, and Fornell didn't even need to see the glint in his eyes to know the young Detective was serious.

"I have no intention of screwing you over, DiNozzo," Fornell promised, holding his hands in front of him as a small gesture of surrender. "We'll have to be careful around Batista because I'm not yet sure what her orders are, but we will get Radoslav and then we'll work on the rest of the trafficking ring."

"We'll see," Tony said, not ready to place too much trust in the man just yet. "Now, show us what information you have; if we're going to get anywhere on this case we're going to need evidence, so let's see what you've got."


"Detective DiNozzo?" asked a timid voice. Tony looked up from the files from the FBI he'd been reading for the past couple of hours to see a very dishevelled looking Téa Kadare. "They killed Nadia!" she cried with a heavy accent, thick with tears.

Tony immediately got up from his desk and gently ushered Téa to sit down, wrapping his jacket around her small, shivering frame. He saw that she had a hand shaped bruise around one of her wrists, and though she had tried to use make-up to cover it up, he could see the slightly puffy, darker skin tone around one of her eyes.

"She was…there was a man; he hit her…hard," Téa swallowed back her tears to try and tell the Detective her tale. "She tried to protect herself, but he was too strong; he beat her, he raped her and then he told Goran that she had fought back at him.

"Goran was so angry, so scary. He brought all the girls together, told them that we should have learnt by now that we can do nothing unless he tells us we can. He started to hit her and he just wouldn't stop; the other girls were all so scared of Goran and his men, but Nadia is…was my best friend here.

"She Serbian but she spoke English well; most of the girls can only speak a little English. I tried to stop him…I tried to save her but Pasha, one of Goran's men, he hit me, and then he held my arm so tightly I thought he was going to break it." She started crying freely now, "He made me watch…watch as Goran beat her to death; Goran said that worse was waiting for us if we tried anything without his permission."

Gibbs had seen the fragile looking Albanian enter the office and watched as she looked around before heading straight to DiNozzo's desk. He saw the gentle way the young Detective handled the upset woman…girl, really. He could see the discolouring on her arm and the way she hugged her ribs carefully but protectively; something had obviously happened.

He briefly felt a surge of hope that whatever it was that had happened was enough to make Téa change her mind and help them catch Radoslav, but he quickly felt disgusted with himself; she had obviously been badly hurt, and who knew what other horrors she had been forced to live though.

He quietly walked towards her, careful to do so at an angle where she would see him coming so that he wouldn't startle her. He wasn't sure what he could do; violence towards women made him more than a little angry and the last thing the poor girl needed was to see that anger.

He shared a brief glance with DiNozzo, glad to see that his facial expression was one he could read this time; he could see the pity he felt for Téa, the anger at the situation, and the determination to catch Radoslav and put him behind bars until the end of his days.

He gave the young Detective a quick nod, hoping to convey that he too felt the same way and that he would support him with the questioning if he was needed. He wasn't used to taking a back seat in interviews, but Téa had come to see DiNozzo; she had come to the Police Department, to the 22nd Precinct, to the Homicide Department, and she had looked for Tony.

Clearly she felt that she could trust DiNozzo, and Gibbs found himself silently agreeing, believing that very little could stand between the Detective and his determination to catch Radoslav and bring him to justice, no matter what the consequences were. 'Yes,' Gibbs thought, 'Téa Kadare has chosen wisely on who to put her trust in.'

Tony did indeed catch Gibbs' nod, and read the same mix of anger, compassion and resolve there; he already knew that he and Sam felt the same way about the case…knew that they were prepared to follow the case through to the end in spite of personal consequences.

Nevertheless, it was nice to know that they had friendly company from at least one of the Federal Agencies. Gibbs seemed to be one of those agents who would carry on with what he believed to be the right course of action regardless of what anyone else might order him to do. They would definitely need that attitude for this case!

Tony still couldn't figure out Fornell's angle and whether or not he was telling the truth; Philadelphia had been a hard lesson and he wasn't sure he could ever trust the FBI Agent fully after that. However, he knew that Fornell would come along on the ride whatever happened; he'd just have to keep a wary eye on him and make sure he kept his word.

The quiet, desperate sobbing had calmed down and Tony placed a gentle hand on the young woman's shoulder, feeling completely powerless but wanting her to feel as though she wasn't alone…that she had someone she could trust.

"Teresa Kastrioti," Téa said as she wiped her eyes on a tissue Tony had silently handed her. "The girl in the alley…that was her name…Teresa Kastrioti. She was Albanian too; she worked at the club before we arrived there; she told us what we should do when Goran and the other men were watching and how we could make it easier...how we could survive. She was nice and she was Albanian so we could talk together; she was from home, you know?"

Tony nodded sympathetically although he couldn't say he did know, not really; Long Island held too many bad memories for him to want to search out fellow Islanders and reminisce.

"She was from Dibër, like me. We lived on different sides of Drini I Zi, the Black River, but still…she was from home and I could always talk to her when I was missing my family and my country. It was her own brother who sold her to Goran's friends; can you imagine that? Her own brother…"

Tony could not imagine that and he really didn't want to; he'd seen people do desperate things to survive, to protect themselves or their families, but he didn't think that selling someone off as though they were some kind of commodity could be something that could ever be forgiven by anyone.

"Do you know why they killed her?" Tony asked quietly, not wanting to upset her, but knowing that they would need a strong motive.

Téa nodded slowly, still scared that she was endangering herself by talking to the police but also aware that she didn't have many other options. "Did you mean what you said the other day? Could you really protect me?"

"Yes," Tony nodded fervently, desperate for her to trust him and help them catch Radoslav. "I can call the US Marshall's Office right now if you want."

Téa stayed quiet for a moment, considering. "What about my family? Goran and his friends…they took me from my village and said they could get me a good job in America; they said that I could help to support my family. These men…they know where I live; that is why I can't go home, but what if they go after my family?"

Tony signed and rubbed his eyes; why could things never be simple? "I don't know," he said honestly. "I can't help you there. I could talk to some guys I know in Immigration, see if we could get them flown over here, given citizenship, move in with you maybe, but I can't promise you anything."

Téa nodded her head sadly, afraid that that would be the answer.

"Téa, we really need your help; we're trying to catch Radoslav for the three murders, but we've got the FBI, NCIS, Interpol and a whole host of other agencies trying to close down this ring for good…trying to make sure that no more girls have to go through what you've been through."

"Yes," she nodded slowly, the tears flowing once again as she allowed her fear of the situation to overwhelm her once again; she really didn't have a lot of options. "I will help you."


There you go, finally…please let me know what you think!

I know Fornell may seem to be a bit OOC in this chapter, but just as I'm trying to explain a reason for Tony's staunch belief in and loyalty towards Gibbs, I thought that I could also put in an explanation on why Tony doesn't seem to trust Fornell too much, despite the fact that Fornell doesn't seem to mind him one way or the other. Besides, I think Fornell is essentially one of the good 'good guys' and so making up for a past mistake doesn't seem too far out there for me.

IA – Internal Affairs. The police of the police, who try to make sure all members of law enforcement are on the up and up.

SOCA – Serious Organised Crime Agency.

DA – District Attorney.

They finally have a witness, but they will need more proof, so the various teams work together on gathering enough evidence to get a warrant for Club Abër. Abby gets a little more friendly with Tony and she is determined to find out what happened in Philadelphia…and everyone knows not to mess with a determined Abby!