The next morning Tony had a throbbing headache; he had tossed and turned all night, dreaming alternatively from Jeanne to Ellie. He didn't like it he decided to have another shower to wash away his tiredness; he climbed in and washed quickly. He got dressed and headed out of his front door, ready for the day. Little did he know how wrong his day was going to go.
Squad room:
Tony had been sitting at his desk for about an hour when he suddenly started to smell lemons. He lifted his nose and started sniffing the air,
"What are you doing Tony?" Ziva asked him. He stood up and continued to sniff upwards.
"Do you smell that?" he asked her. Walking towards her desk sniffing as he did so. As he approached her she glowered at him, he stopped seeing the dangerous look in her eye.
"What is it that you smell Tony?" she asked him as she picked up a paperclip and started to fiddle with it.
"Lemons. Is that you?" he asked her. Ziva crinkled her nose.
"No. I do not like the smell of lemons I prefer strawberries." Tony nodded and walked towards McGee's desk, sniffing. He stopped just in front of him and raised an eyebrow,
"McGoo? Something you want to tell me?" McGee stared at him,
"No! It isn't me. I think it might be Alex. Since she started I've noticed a very lemony smell coming from her desk. It's nice and refreshing. Are you telling me you've only just noticed?" he asked Tony. Tony shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to sniff around the partition and sure enough the smell was definitely stronger around Alex's desk.
"Where is probie number two?" he asked McGee. McGee looked at him in worry,
"She's been here all morning. She just walked past you before, she got called up to see the director and Gibbs." Tony frowned; he hadn't seen her all morning.
"Are you ok Tony?" Ziva asked him wondering over to stand beside McGee. Tony open and closed his mouth looking for a suitable answer, "Has something happened between you and Alex Tony?" Ziva asked him scrutinising his face. He snapped his head towards her,
"No. What makes you think that Zeevah?" he asked her. McGee and Ziva shared a look.
"Well you seem very preoccupied this morning and now all of a sudden you are obsessed with the smell of lemons. A scent that we have all noticed since Alex started here but you have only just discovered it. Straight after she walked past you no less." Tony looked confused,
"Alex smells like lemons?" he asked. They nodded at him. "Since when?" he asked to no one in particular and not actually expecting an answer he went back to his desk.
"Tony do you have a crush on Alex?" Ziva asked him. He had to answer this very carefully or Ziva would be on to him.
"Pssh. No what makes you think that Zeevah?" he asked her as he clicked away on his keyboard.
"You are always around at her house, you playfully hit her all the time, you always have to touch her in someway and now with the lemons. There is also the fact that you keep calling her Ellie. What is going on Tony?" she asked him. She was in foreign ground now; she had to know how he felt about the new girl. "If this was the playground, you would be pushing her over and pulling her hair by now." Tony rolled his eyes at her and said,
"So because I've been around at her house a couple of times and that I have to touch her you two think I have a school yard crush on her?" they nodded. "Well you're so, so very wrong. We're just friends."
Director's office:
Alex had walked past Tony's desk without actually looking at him; he had barely spoken all morning. So when she got the phone call to come upstairs she had jumped at the chance, she felt like McGee and Ziva were watching her. She took a breath and knocked on the door.
"Come in." she heard come filtering through the door. Alex pushed open the door with a smile, "Ah." Jenny Shepard said smiling. "Have a seat. We need to talk to you." Alex sat down and looked between the director and Gibbs.
"Something wrong Director?" she asked worriedly.
"No. You have done exceptional work here in a short time. We need to talk to you about Tony and a special undercover assignment."
"Tony?" she asked, "What about him?" Gibbs smiled at her,
"Its nothing really but its more of a precautionary measure. Just in case if you will. How much do you know about Tony?" he asked.
"Not a lot. Just what he tells me. Which isn't a lot. Why?" she dodging the question and Gibbs knew it.
"Has he ever spoken to you about a woman Jeanne?" Jenny asked her. Alex shook her head.
"Last year Tony was undercover and he got to involved. Now the woman that Tony was seeing was the daughter of French arms dealer. It was my op that I was running on a need to know basis. Needless to say it came back to bite me on the ass. Now her name has come up in connection with your recent case. The last time she was here she accused Tony of murder and that didn't go down well with Tony. We have reason to believe that Jeanne asked him to choose between NCIS and her. Now as you can see Tony chose NCIS. Our fear is that if she asks him again he will leave. Your mission would be to bring him home where he belongs. Now we're not saying that he will leave but he might. Would you be willing to go undercover to bring him home?" Jenny asked the young agent. Alex thought this over,
"Why me?" she asked them.
"You're new. We could say that NCIS wasn't working out for you. We would set up a whole new identity, apartment and job for you. You would run off your own timetable. You would have to get close to Jeanne's brother Michael and then after that keep an eye on DiNozzo and get him home." Alex nodded in understanding. She took a deep breath,
"So when is this meant to happen? Am I to remain out of sight while she is here?" she asked them.
"Yes you would. You'll just sit at your desk doing paperwork for the time she is here. Just make sure that she doesn't see you. We're going to go pick her up now. We just needed to know that you would be willing to go get him. So this could start at anytime. When you go home tonight, pack a bag and just be ready to roll when we give the signal." Alex nodded. "Right. Lets go." Gibbs headed towards the door and Alex followed when the Director stopped her,
"You will have my direct line both here and at home. If you feel like your cover has been blown you pull yourself out and call me. I will pass on any pertinent information to Gibbs. Do you have any questions?" she asked her.
"Yes. Do I have to sleep with Michael?"
"Probably. If you want to retain your cover. Do you have a problem with that?" Alex shrugged her shoulders,
"Guess I'll just have to survive. I had better go." Alex left the office, her head swirling with the possible ways of getting out sleeping with someone. Her head was still in the clouds when she walked past Tony's desk. She briefly glanced at him and saw that he looked like he had been punched in the stomach. So he knows who they're going after she thought to herself. She carried on towards her desk and sat down.
"McGee, Ziva you're with me. Alex you have your orders." He placed a stack of papers on her desk and nodded at her. She smiled and started.
"What about me boss?" she heard Tony asking.
"You stay here Tony. We don't want any kind of fuss from any potential lawyers about conflict of interest." She heard Tony sitting back down and the elevator doors closing.
Twenty minutes later:
Alex was waiting for Tony to make his move. She knew he couldn't sit still and he would be curious about why she had also been left behind. She was typing away when she saw the flimsy partition shift under his weight,
"What is it Tony?" she asked him. He breathed in heavily and let it out slowly.
"I was just wondering do you swim in lemons?" he asked her. She turned to look at him in astonishment.
"Do I swim in lemons? No. I wash in shower gel that smells like lemons and I have lemon body butter as well as lemon bubble bath. Why?" she asked him.
"Hm. I've just never noticed how strong the smell was before. So why lemons?" he asked her.
"I like the smell. It's refreshing. What's with the twenty questions?" she asked him starting to get annoyed. He raised an eyebrow at her,
"Why are you getting annoyed? You don't normally." Alex fidgeted in her seat, he was right but after last night things had clearly changed, they had both lied to the other about their feelings. Obviously Tony was very adept at it. Now his answers or lack of answers from their previous q and a sessions made sense.
"Who was she?" Alex asked him studying his face,
"Who?" he asked her uncomfortable with where this conversation was going.
"Jeanne. Who was she to you?" Alex asked him. When he didn't answer she decided to push the issue, "Did you love her? Are you still in love with her?" Tony stood up straight and headed towards his desk Alex hot on his heels. "Are you going to answer me?" she asked him.
"No. I'm not. This has nothing to do with you," he muttered. She narrowed her eyes at him but before she could say anything she heard the elevator doors open and she hurried back to her desk.
An hour later:
McGee and Ziva were talking as they headed towards the bullpen.
"She had all of the right answers. But she was definitely hiding something." Ziva muttered.
"But we have let her go. There's no physical evidence that connects her to the crime." McGee stated. He was about to say more when Jeanne stopped in front of Tony's desk. He looked up,
"Can I help you?" he asked her coldly. From her seat Alex shivered, she had never heard Tony speak that way to anyone.
"I wish to apologise. I was hurt and angry and I wanted to hurt you the same way you hurt me Tony." Tony didn't say anything. "Will you walk me to my car?" she asked him. Tony stood up and nodded. They walked to the elevator in silence.
Outside:
"Tony I want to offer you one more chance. I know I don't deserve but neither do you." Jeanne looked at him as he looked at his feet. "I would of course have conditions." Tony looked up at this,
"Such as?" he asked her. The longer he stayed in her company the more he felt his old feelings rushing back to him. Hitting him like a sledgehammer.
"No movies, no cell phone, no talking to anyone here and no going outside without my say so. Until I can trust you again. You will go to every dinner without complaint. Every black tie event and you will get along with Michael. Would you be able to do that Tony?" Tony looked up at her mortified,
"You're actually going to ban sunshine?" he asked her. Jeanne nodded.
"Yes. I'll call you in a week." She walked away from him with a confidence that he had never seen in her before.
A/N:
Now we're getting to the point lol. Will he go or will he stay at NCIS? Please R & R. It would be much appreciated.
