So I ran out of time and there is a distinct lack of Gibbs/Tony chat in this chapter. Sorry about that. On the bright side that means in the NEXT chapter we can jump directly into mushy bonding moments/angry "you were on this alone" moments/"no I'm not jealous of Tobias, he's a stupid head" moments. Do a happy dance!
As for this chapter the question of "How could Ziva be so stupid?" is answered. I told you I had a plan! You may like it, you may not. Enjoy either way.
*Random note of Renee babbling. Ignore and go on to the story if you like. I hope you have a nice Saturday!*
Guys. Guys. I can't… I can't handle… Oh my goodness (Deep breathing) My boyfriend asked for my ring size and then his mom said some interesting things and Oh my goodness. Does this mean I'm going to be proposed to? Does this mean I'm getting jewelry because that's cool too, no one's ever given me jewelry before but what if it's the "marry me" kind of jewelry? Because I could say yes because I love him but Oh my goodness. Do you know what happens after people get engaged? They plan a wedding! Cake samples and color coordinated napkins and I don't have any money! And then after you get married you're married! And there's in-laws and christmas dinners and family gatherings and oh I hate family gatherings, I don't even go to my own unless it's just my parents and nieces and he has so much family and what if I can't keep up the whole nice impression thing? I can't be a good person all the time! I like to take my shoes off too much for that! And then eventually you have children and it's impossible not to screw up children in some way or another, I mean I have amazing parents and I am royally messed up! What if I permanently scar my hypothetical children because I'm a terrible parent and let them ride their bikes after dark? That's bad now right? I rode my bike after dark! I'm okay! And there's finding a house and mortgage payments and college debt and I want to get my masters but I also wanted to travel and I'm only 22 and I love him very much and he loves me and we've been together years and I could be getting married!
Chapter 10? I think? I'm going to have a nice lie down and do some deep breathing exercises. Um. I hope you enjoy.
~Renee
McGee ran from the director's office, hitting the end call button with more force than was necessary. "Damn it Tony, answer the phone."
He rounded the corner of the stairs sharply but pulled himself up short when he saw Ziva slipping down the hall with her phone clutched close. He narrowed his eyes.
Ziva.
Something here wasn't adding up and it was leading right back to her. She wasn't stupid. Giving information about your partner, even basic information, to a complete stranger was unheard of. Foolish. And out of character. Ziva had issues with Tony but she wouldn't set out to purposely sabotage him. Would she?
He pulled his shoulders back and hurried after her.
It was late, after eleven, he didn't know what she was still doing here. Why she had been been back here in the first place. No one had let her know Gibbs was back. She just wasn't there and Gibbs had worried but no one had called her. Word could have traveled through the grape vine but that quickly?
Why had she come back?
She disappeared down the stairs and waved to the security guard as she stepped out the door.
Tim kept a quick pace after her and saw her open her phone, dialing a number from memory rather than one in her contact.
"Did it work?… that's what I thought. Loyalty is one of his more predictable traits."
No. Oh no. This has to be a mistake. Please. Don't tell me this was planned. No.
"No, it's best if I stay out of it from here, playing the fool is difficult enough and I didn't get the chance to finish-… Of course, father will meet you next week."
She closed the phone and the stiffened, but she did not move or turn to face him. "I can explain McGee."
He felt his hand drift towards his waist, reassuring himself of his weapon's presence. She had sold out Tony. She knew about his undercover. She broken the ultimate rule number one.
Tony was in danger and it was her fault.
"I doubt it Ziva."
She turned around, her hands up placatingly but there was no regret in her eyes. "It's not what you think."
"It's not? Are you sure? Because I think whoever Tony's been watching has a relationship with your father and Tony's mission threatened that. Am I wrong?"
Ziva's gaze stayed focused but her lips twisted slightly.
"Tim-"
He pulled his gun from his holster and leveled it on her. "No. No, I think you have a lot of explaining to do."
"Agent McGee?"
Tim glanced over and saw Agent Fornell standing a few feet away, his eyes darting between him and Ziva, his own hand drifting towards his weapon.
"Tim? What's happening? Why..." Jimmy trailed off from his spot all but hiding behind Fornell. His eyes widened as he put the pieces together. "No. Ziva?"
Tim didn't waver in his position but looked to the FBI agent beseechingly. "Fornell. Tell me you know where Tony is. Tell me he's okay."
Tobias' eyes narrowed and Tim felt a drop in temperature. "I can't. He's missing."
Xxx
He hadn't been blindfolded. The windows hadn't been tinted. There was not a single effort to disguise their destination.
That was never a good sign.
The house was non-descript. A two-story with white siding, curtained windows, and a shingled roof. Nothing worrying at all.
It was the other houses that were causing concern.
Tony eyed the neighboring buildings with cautious curiosity. No cars in the driveways. No lights in the windows. No silhouettes of parents fetching their children a glass of water or young lovers dashing up the stairs.
Everything was empty.
The front door opened and Tony walked into the opening with confidence. He didn't know what he did wrong, how he blew his cover, but whatever it was it had no bearing on Gibbs. His one focus was to get the older man out of here in one piece. The rest was his shit to clean up.
He stepped into the living room and Benoit was sitting on a black couch, his cream linen suit standing in stark difference of the seat.
"Anthony!"
The man was smiling, his arms opened wide.
Tony hesitated and the man behind him gave him a harsh push forward, propelling him into Benoit's arms. He stiffened as they tightened around him, crushing his chest and causing his already stressed lungs to complain.
Benoit leaned away, his hands gripping Tony's shoulders.
"So happy you could join us."
Tony dipped his head. "Wouldn't have missed it."
Benoit pulled him back to the couch and settled on the cushion, patting the seat next to him.
He crossed his legs and leaned towards Tony like he was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen.
"So, I feel we have things to discuss."
Tony smiled without showing his teeth and nodded. "Yes, we do. But there's someone I want to speak to first."
Benoit laughed. "Oh yes, your friend. Jeth-ro." He stretched the name out, exploring its syllables with an interest that raised the hackles on Tony's neck. "He's quite comfortable where he is."
Tony shook his head and leaned away from Benoit. "No, I don't think so. I'm not doing or discussing anything until I see him. This is-"
"Between you and I? Oh but it isn't Agent DiNozzo." Benoit's smile remained but his voice chilled. "You see, this is between you, me… and my daughter. You, in essence, held her hostage with your lies. It will take her time to move on from this. To heal. As I see it, holding a dear friend of yours is only fair."
So that's how it's going to go.
Tony sucked in his cheeks and ideas flashed in front of his eyes. Different plays, different cons because in the end wasn't that what this was? One dangerous con man baiting another? Two very elaborate lies covered in truth. A caring and protective father secretly moving weapons across national boundaries, funding his own private war. An in-love and supportive man quietly trying to singlehandedly bring down the weapons empire by incidentally destroying a girl's entire life.
Was one of them really worse than the other?
Tony debated with himself, the truth warring with the lies he had to spin. He was so sick of lying. So damn tired of having to be someone else.
He knew that he was trapped. Benoit knew enough to go after Gibbs, even though they had done nothing but fight since he came back. If anything, if he had been watching, he should have gone after Tobias. They hadn't been friends long but they were much closer than anyone else he had. Going after Gibbs didn't make sense. And it was a remarkable coincidence that Benoit would discover who he is the same day Gibbs arrived. He had to have been aware of him, people watching his daughter, even Jeanne's own stories would have alerted him to his presence. He would have checked him out before now.
But his cover was strong. Deep.
So how did he know to go after Gibbs?
Someone would have had to tell him about their previous relationship. The almost father-son bond they shared had been obvious before he left but now they were like strangers. No one now would have placed it. Someone from before had to have planted the seed.
It's the only thing that made sense.
Who-
"You can not deny your relationship. You came without a single question or demand of proof when you were told we had him." Benoit drawled, confident he had cornered the younger man.
Tony sucked in a breath, pulling himself back into the conversation.
"I'm not denying our friendship. You aren't stupid enough for that. But coming here had nothing to do with any relationship. It's what any decent person would do."
"And you see yourself as decent?"
The truth dropped from his lips before he could consider another avenue.
"Not in the slightest."
Benoit fell into silence for a moment, eyeing him up and down while Tony remained impassive. "You are a most peculiar man."
"A sad strange little man." Tony murmured.
Benoit blinked, obviously confused.
Focus Tony. Focus.
Tony leaned forward. "What do you want, Benoit?"
The man's smile vanished. Games were over then. They both knew who held the cards. Benoit had Gibbs and that alone was an Ace in the hole.
But Tony.
Tony had three months of loving someone he knew he could never have. Of risking his life and no one knowing. Of watching his friends turn on him.
Tony had three months of breaking himself into little pieces and putting them back together into someone he didn't recognize.
He was angry.
And he wasn't folding that easily.
Xxx
Ziva sat in interrogation silently. She stared at the mirrored glass with apathy, oblivious of the storming emotions on the other side.
"How the hell did no one know her father had ties to Benoit?"
Tim shuffled through the papers again. "It's not on anyone's list, not on yours, ours, the only thing I can find is a line from the CIA saying they crossed paths about a decade ago. Mossad was keeping this as close to the chest as possible."
Tobias crossed his arms in front of his chest. "So what, Benoit finds out someone is seeing his daughter, mentions it to some contacts to make sure everything is kosher?"
Tim nodded. "He knew Ziva worked in the area and asked her to check it out, she watches a date, realizes it's Tony."
Fornell dragged a hand down his face. "So if she says nothing, allows him to continue, Benoit is shut down and daddy's under table weapons vanish. And choosing between Mossad and Tony? That probably didn't invite much hesitation. She gives up Tony, but knows this could still come back to her and maybe she feels some regret. This leads to her casually mentioning meeting Tony's girlfriend's father. She probably wasn't counting on you putting the pieces together so quickly though. More than likely she would have spun a story about knowing Jeanne and her family, done something to make it less suspicious, but the chance never came. Damn, this is a mess." Tobias dropped his head down, staring at the floor, his eyebrows furrowing. "Wait. Didn't you say she mentioned something about loyalty and Tony? Have we made any progress on that?"
Tim shook his head. "No. I don't know what she meant, I can't find any context for it. And I can't figure out why Tony would have gone with Benoit so easily to begin with. He knew you were in the other room, there was nothing stopping him from taking down whoever came to get him."
"Oh there were a couple things. I doubt Tony could take much of anyone right now. But why didn't he do something to get me? What would have..." He leaned his head back and stared at McGee. "Has anyone seen Gibbs?"
Xxx
"It doesn't matter what you do. The director of NCIS knows, has passed this information onto the FBI, and whatever deal you thought you had with the CIA? Well there's only so much they can sweep under the rug once the FBI gets involved. They tend to make things messy."
Tony quirked a grin and watched Benoit's eye twitch. Really though, he had little to lose, and if he was bluffing this much, he might as well go for broke. "You're stuck Benoit. You can kill me, but it's too late to keep me quiet."
Benoit shook his head, trying to regain his footing. When did he lose control of the room?
"What do they know? That you spent time with my daughter? She knows nothing about all of this. Nothing. There was no evidence passed on."
Tony's grin stretched. "Are you sure? How often did Jeanne drop things off in your Washington office? Papers, packages, little inconsequential things any international business man would need. Nothing suspicious there. But when she takes her boyfriend with her, the trained federal agent, so many things come to light. And then he disappears the night he meets his mark? So many questions. Your empire is a Jenga tower René, and no matter which piece you pull, it's going to fall."
The man's face turned pink with suppressed emotion and there was a brief breath of time where Tony wondered if he was going to throttle him right there on the sofa. The moment passed though and his expression smoothed.
Tony could see Benoit run his tongue over his teeth and nod slowly.
"All right Agent DiNozzo. I see we are at… what is the American term? A crossroads?" He waved an arm and the large silent man stepped forward again, pulling Tony from the couch.
"You will join your friend while I decide what the best course of action is from here."
The man showed Tony up the stairs and to a room with a cross looking gentleman in front of it. His left eye was purple and starting swell. Tony fought down a smile as the man stepped away but it vanished when the guns were pulled out. Tony tensed and braced for conflict as the door was pulled open.
Gibbs was directly on the other side, standing and staring, but taking no action to break out. The man with the black eye gripped his gun tighter and Tony was shoved unceremoniously into the room, the door slamming behind him.
The two men looked at each other for a moment, until the click of the lock caused Tony to flinch. His nerves were wound so tight.
He shook his head and smiled cheekily at his former boss.
"Hey Gibbs."
Gibbs nodded his head once. "DiNozzo."
Tony walking past him to the only window, subtly scanning Gibbs as he walked by. He didn't appear injured. Tony tapped his knuckles against the glass. The answering thud answered his question. They weren't getting out that way.
"Have a nice trip?" he asked, sliding his hands over the wall.
Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. "Oh yes. Very pleasant. I'm assuming you can tell me why we're here?"
Tony turned back and studied the door with interest. Looks like that was the only way out. He licked his lips and took a deep breath.
"I'll do my best."
Xxx
"Abby! Stop! You can't help them if you're arrested for murder!"
McGee had his arms wrapped around the scientists chest, trying to keep her from charging into the interrogation room.
She swatted at him, smacking him upside the head.
"Let me go Timmy! She sent Gibbs to a crazy psycho weapons dealer and I'm going to-"
"And Tony."
Abby paused and looked over at the FBI agent. "What?"
Tobias crossed his arms, his eyes glinting dangerously. "She sent Tony there too, in fact, the only reason he's there is because he was trying to save Gibbs. So maybe he should matter too."
Abby stopped fighting and turned her wrath on Fornell. "I care about Tony!"
"Then you should start acting like it. If the only reason you want to help is to save Gibbs than you can leave. The FBI can handle it on their own."
Abby opened her mouth but thought better of it. She elbowed McGee in the gut, causing him to gasp and let go.
She stepped up to Tobias and poked a finger up to his face. "Tony is my friend too. And if you think I'm going to let the FBI handle this than you're out of your mind."
She stormed down the hall and McGee sighed with relief. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it. If there's one thing I've noticed about you NCIS people, you can never resist the chance to show up the FBI."
McGee grimaced. "Yeah, we tend to have a bit of a problem with you guys… Tony doesn't though." he finished thoughtfully.
Tobias sighed and followed Abby, wisely keeping his thoughts to himself.
Xxx
"I'm sorry Gibbs. It just seems too big to be a coincidence." He spun on one foot, clenching his fists. "It could be though. I thought I had everything covered but, damn it, maybe I screwed up somewhere." He pushed his hands through unruly hair and stared up at the ceiling.
Gibbs growled low in his throat and shook his head. "No Tony. You were right the first time. You were screwed over, but you didn't screw up."
Tony sighed and pressed a hand against his temple, feeling some relief that at least he didn't have to deal with Gibbs' blame as well.
Gibbs blinked, something playing just on the edge of his memory as he watched Tony massage the side of his head. "You okay?"
Tony looked at him from the corner of his eyes. There was concern there, yes, but not the all encompassing worry that used to flood Gibbs' voice every time he so much as sneezed. It was something he had never been able to fully hide, not from him. The team would hear a gruff "buck up" but Tony? Tony would hear concern and hot soup and warm blankets and the order to just stay with him all wrapped up in the simple question.
And it wasn't there.
He didn't remember.
Tony barked a laugh and shook his head. "Just a headache. I'm fine."
Gibbs frowned, feeling something wrong with the situation but letting it go. Of course there was something wrong with the situation. They were being held hostage after someone gave up Tony's undercover assignment. Things couldn't get much more wrong.
That's all it was.
Wasn't it?