Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay!

Thanks to everyone who left a review!

All Errors are my own:( Sorry!

P4TH

EDITED 02/01/2014

Chapter Nine: Diet Mountain Dew

"…Diet Mountain Dew, baby, New York City
Never was there ever a girl so pretty
Do you think we'll be in love forever?
Do you think we'll be in love?

Diet Mountain Dew, baby, New York City
Never was there ever a girl so pretty
Do you think we'll be in love forever?
Do you think we'll be in love?

Baby, put on heart-shaped sunglasses
'Cause we going to take a ride
I'm not going to listen to what the past says
I've been waiting up all night

Take another drag, turn me to ashes
Ready for another lie?
Says he's going to teach me just what fast is
Say it's going to be all right

Hit me my darling tonight, I don't know why but I like it
Gotta get back to the wild
Give it up, give it up
Live it up, live it up…"

~ "Diet Mountain Dew" – Lana Del Rey

"Noor!" Gibbs called over the phone, "Report to me Noor!"

Screams could be heard and McGee held his breath waiting for her to answer. There was no way in hell that she could be dead. Things could not end like that. His mind began racing thinking of all the things he never got to say to her and his heart raced.

"This is Noor," she moaned in pain. Her voice sounded hoarse and her tone sounded confused.

"What happened?" Gibbs demanded.

"Car bomb," Poppy replied with a groan, "Ivankov is gone but I have the Sim card."

"We're sending an agent to you. We need to see what's on that card," Gibbs told her as he looked at one of the tech people in MTAC, "Find her."

"I'll be at a safe house," she answered, "I have to go."

She disconnected the line and Tim let out the breath that he had been holding. Poppy was alive and breathing. That was all that mattered.

"McGee!"

"Yeah boss?" Tim asked trying to focus on Gibbs not his relief that his wife was alright.

"Go and find Noor. Make sure you get the information off that SIM card."

McGee nodded and left quickly realizing Gibbs was giving him a private moment to talk to her without the prying eyes of anyone.

It was late when he entered the safe house. The lights were off and Tim automatically took out his gun out of his holster. He barely made it to the kitchen when he felt a gun pressed against the back of his head.

"Who are you?"

McGee put his gun down and felt relief flood his veins. Her voice sounded strained like she was trying to hide something but it was Poppy.

"It's Tim," he said turning around to look at her.

The lights were flipped on and she dropped the gun she had been carrying. McGee looked at her with worry. She was holding her side and it was blood stained.

"What happened?" he asked her worriedly grabbing a towel off the counter.

"Pipe bomb went off. It's nice to see you too," she replied sarcastically as she walked back towards the bathroom ignoring the towel he offered her.

"Do you need to go to the hospital?" he asked as he followed her, "I will take you there if you need to go."

Poppy turned around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "I don't have a fantastic experience with hospitals. Besides, I've been through worse. This is a cut. Nothing more."

"For a cut, that's a lot blood," McGee shot back as he continued to follow her to the bathroom.

"Why the hell are you here?" Poppy asked as she picked up the sterilized needle on the counter in the bathroom.

"Gibbs sent me to get you."

"Why didn't you let Tony come?"

"Because we have to talk," McGee said watching her shoulders stiffen.

"About?" Poppy asked as she lifted her shirt.

"Everything, we've made horrible mistakes Poppy but-"

"Horrible mistakes?!" Poppy nearly yelled at him as she turned on her heel to look at him, "You think that's what these past years have been? I will tell you what they have been! It's been torture! Agonizing torture! That's what it's been! Horrible mistakes, my ass."

"And I'm sorry for everything I did," McGee interjected, "I didn't know and I'm so sorry for hurting you, but I want to make-."

"Really? You're sorry?" she shot back as she slammed the needle down on the counter, "Jesus, Tim!"

"I am sorry. Please, let's just talk this through. Let's make this work because I don't want to lose you," McGee begged not knowing what else he could say to her that would bridge them together through the canyon they'd created.

"Lose me?" Poppy laughed bitterly, "Oh, Tim…you lost me a long time ago. You lost me the moment you accused me of cheating. You lost me the moment you never called back when I was in Germany. You lost me a long time ago."

"I'm sorry Poppy for those things. I wish that I could go back and change everything that happened. I truly do," he told her sincerely not knowing what else he could say that would fix things between them.

"Do you know what it's like to wake up in a hospital bed alone?" she asked him angrily, "I had just spent months being tortured and had five bullets in my chest. I woke up expecting you to be there and instead, I woke up to an empty room and learned that my husband thought that I'd run off with some guy. How in the hell do you justify that Tim? I love you and I married, what I thought was a good man, but now? I don't even know you! The Tim that I married would have never had done any of those things!"

"You're right and I-"

"Saying that you're sorry doesn't change anything Tim!"

"Then let me change things," he told her softly as he cupped her cheeks and wiped away a tear, "Let me make things right or at least try to. You once told me that nothing could break us apart. I won't let this break us apart either. "

"I slept with my contact," she told him softly, "Last night at the Roosevelt."

In that moment, McGee felt like someone had ripped the rug out from underneath him and he wondered if the flash of pain he felt was anything like the flash of pain Poppy felt seeing him with Crystal. He could choose to be angry with her but he knew that his anger wouldn't help the situation. He'd asked her for a divorce and she was free to make her own decisions. Besides, Poppy would call him on his own hypocrisy with Crystal if he became angry at her for sleeping with her contact.

"I-I-I don't have any right to be angry about that after what's happened with Crystal," he told her softly, "We've both hurt each other and I'm not going to hurt you anymore. That…isn't worth it."

Poppy jerked away from him and snorted, "How's the lovely cheerleader that turned informant anyways?"

"I'm not here to talk about her," McGee interjected, "I'm here to start fixing us and being with you no matter what. If we are going to split, which I don't want us too, I don't want it to be like this."

"Somehow, I don't believe that Tim," she whispered as she leaned on the sink, "I don't believe you anymore. Don't do this to me or us. I signed those divorce papers and that's the end of it. Don't make this anymore painful than it already is."

"So were done, just like that?" McGee asked her.

"Just like that," Poppy answered as she walked past him.

"Poppy," Tim called to her as she walked down the hall. She turned and looked at him with exhausted eyes and slumped shoulders.

"What?" she asked still holding the needle and thread.

"I'm not giving up on you that easily. I did that once and it was the worst mistake of my life. I won't let you walk away again," he told with a determined look on his face and in his heart.

Poppy gave him a sad smile, "I've already walked away Tim. You just haven't accepted that, yet."

She left him standing in the doorway before he could reply but he followed her anyway to the kitchen. He watched her turn on the gas stove and held the needle over the flame. Gibbs' words finally made sense to him at that moment. He had to prove to Poppy that he loved her and trusted her.

Saying those words weren't the same as the action of them. If he wanted to be with Poppy he had to prove to her that it wasn't just about spoken words but a true, deep seeded desire with his actions. He'd done enough thinking the night he'd learned the truth about the truth to know that he wanted to fix things. He wasn't going to let anyone stand in between them. People around them had manipulated them, torn them apart and used them for a greater cause. They'd suffered enough heart aches to last a lifetime and he didn't want them to suffer anymore.

"I can help with that," he told her as he walked towards her.

"I don't need your help with this Tim," Poppy snapped back, "I need you to figure out what the hell is on that Sim card that I risked getting blown up for."

Poppy was seated next to him at the kitchen table looking at his laptop. The Sim Card didn't have much on it but three different phone numbers.

"That one is Yuri Ezitka's number," Poppy told him as she pointed at one number, "The other two numbers must be the potential buyers. One number is from the Russian Federation and the other looks like it is Algerian. I think the Russian federation maybe…"

She trailed off and Tim looked at her curiously, "What are you thinking?"

"Sergei told me last night about Heritage meeting with the leader of the Hand, an organization that specializes in illegal weapon sales. That Russian ID number maybe the direct line to the head of that organization who is known as the Lady. We have nothing on her other than that code name. We may have just hit the jackpot this time. Can you tag that number and find out where it's at?"

McGee quickly traced the call and pulled up a map, "The cell phone that the number matches with is on and just outside of Naples. Poppy picked up the picture that Sergei had given her and handed it to McGee.

"Meet the second person that Heritage has been smuggling out of the country, the leader of the organization known as the Hand in Europe and Asia. She's invisible practically. No name, no face and this is the only picture we have of her."

"The question is how she fits in with all of this," McGee said, "Do you think Heritage is selling to her?"

"No, I think Heritage is working with her. Her organization is one of the biggest organizations involved with the selling of foreign secrets and illegal arms dealing. He may be using her to get contacts or sell through her. What can you find out about the second number?" she asked.

McGee began typing away on the computer he'd brought with him and within minutes he was frowning.

"You have that look. What's wrong?" Poppy said as she leaned over to look at the screen.

"That number was deactivated four days ago," Tim said, "Whoever had it got rid of it. It looks like it was a prepaid burn phone."

"We have the Lady of the Hand. That should be enough to get us to whoever burned that number. Is there anything else on that phone?"

"Let me check," he replied and the kitchen sunk into silence as Tim typed away on his laptop. Her phone buzzed and Poppy looked at the screen.

"Crystal has been taken care of," Poppy announced to him quietly and he stopped typing.

"What?" McGee asked confused.

"Don't get too attached to her. When she fulfilled her purpose, Heritage got rid of her," Poppy said.

"We can bring her in and give her protection in exchange for information," Tim reasoned, "Her loyalties can be bought."

Poppy slid her phone across the table to him, "Timothy, she's dead."

McGee looked at the picture of a dead Crystal. She was hanging from the ceiling of the warehouse where she'd been killed by her arms and her head was nearly severed from her body as a result of her throat being slit. McGee pushed the phone back to Poppy as he focused back on the screen of his computer.

"She didn't deserve that," he said quietly.

"She betrayed her country and spied on her own government," Poppy snapped back, "She got exactly what she deserved."

"No one deserves a violent death like that," McGee protested.

"We are the middle of one of the biggest intelligence breaches in the history of this country second only to Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames! That list contains the names of hundreds of agent who work for this country and are undercover! She worked with the men who stole that list! I'm on that list Timothy! My address! My name! Everything about me is on that list! What will happen when Heritage breaks the encryption? He will come after me and nowhere will be safe Tim for anyone," she told him, "She betrayed all of those men and women the moment she took the money and started spying on us. She deserves none of your sympathy!"

Tim looked up, "The woman I married would have never said that."

"The woman you married wasn't tortured for her country only to learn that her husband was sleeping with a woman who worked with the man who tortured her. Forgive me if I don't have sympathy for her, but I think I have every right to believe she got what she deserved," Poppy told him as she stood up and crossed her arms over her chest.

Tim stood up and walked to her. Poppy's shoulders were shaking as she hugged herself. His arms wrapped around her.

"We will get that list Poppy," he promised her softly as he held her close to him, "I swear to you we will."

Her arms tightened around his waist as she hugged him back and buried her face in chest. Tim closed his eyes and held her close. He wracked his mind trying to come up with the memory of the last time he'd held her like he was holding her. The last time he'd touched her in had been the night he'd slept with her but it wasn't loving or caring. No, the night he'd slept with her...that had been angry, almost violent sex. He'd wanted to punish her so much for everything, but even then he'd loved her too much to truly hurt her.

The laptop beeped and Poppy jerked away from him quickly, "What did you find?"

Ignoring the sharp feeling of rejection, Tim went to his laptop and stopped.

"Impossible," he mumbled as he sat down.

"What?"

"It's a bank code and another code," Tim said astonished at what he was looking at.

"It's a routing number," Poppy continued as she leaned over his shoulder, "That routing number is specific to the Swiss bank that Heritage was seen leaving. That's his bank code and password."

"I'll call Gibbs."

Gibbs had ordered them on the next flight to Zurich. Sitting on a long flight cramped into the small seats of coach wasn't McGee's fantasy. Poppy sat next to him with her eyes closed but he knew that she wasn't asleep. She'd called her contact on the way to the airport and even though the conversation had been one sided, something about hearing her talk to the man she'd had sex with hours ago made him feel an intense jealousy he'd never felt before.

"Relax," Poppy murmured, "I can feel your tension."

"This contact of yours we're meeting in Zurich…what's his…deal?" McGee asked trying not to sound jealous.

"His name is Sergei Ivankov. He works with Russian Intelligence. His father is former KGB."

"How does he contact you?"

Poppy gave a soft smile, "He knows I love classical books. He sends first and second editions of the classics with code in pages. When you hold up the pages to the lights, old Soviet codes are inked in specific pages. Break the code and I have the message but the only thing that changes between the books are the keys to breaking the codes in the pages. If we already used the codes that the US broke, the Soviet codes would literally be an open book to anyone."

"What do you do afterwards with the messages and books?" he asked looking at her.

Poppy smiled and turned her head to look at him, "A woman must always keep her secrets."

"So that means you'll never tell me," Tim concluded as he rested his head back and closed his eyes.

"If something happens to me then you'll know."

He opened his eyes and looked at her with surprise, "Nothing is going to happen to you."

Poppy gave him a gentle smile that made his heart nearly skip a beat, "We're playing a most dangerous game Tim. People die in this game. There is no do over. If something happens to me, you will know what to do. Just because I die doesn't mean that you stop hunting for the bad guys."

"Tell me more about Ivankov," Tim said changing the subject, "Is he the contact you slept with?"

"Don't ask question you don't want answers to Tim."

"So you did."

"It was one night. Nothing more, nothing less," Poppy told him as she looked away, "Our marriage is being dissolved. It doesn't matter what I do in bed with others. It's not your concern."

"You're my wife and therefore it is my concern."

"At this moment your concern should be on retrieving that goddamned list, not who my playmate was two days ago," she said sharply as she looked at him.

"This conversation isn't over with," Tim told her with his own sharpness.

"Yes it is. What I do with others isn't your concern."

"I beg to differ."

"Listen to me Elflord, I don't give a damn what you think about him or anything else for that matter. Our goal is to work with Sergei to get those lists back. Period. That means you're not allowed to say or do anything that goes beyond the realm of being professional with him," Poppy snapped back.

They stared at each other with narrowed eyes until a cell phone ring broke the tense air and McGee looked at his phone.

"Talk to me Abs," he said, "I've got about ten minutes till we begin landing…"

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