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"I'll drive you to the plane," Tony offered his friend.
"Thanks Tony," Spencer said gratefully.
Gibbs eyes narrowed as Tim got up as well. "I'm going to head home too."
Tim had caught the bus in that morning and accepted a ride towards union station so he could take the train home.
"Well?" Tim asked as soon as they were in the car.
"Gibbs was on to us. He knew something was up with me being there," Spencer said. "I'm fairly sure he knew it was Ziva that I was interested in, and that the two of you were involved too, but he didn't step up to protect her from my profiling. I'm not sure whether he trusts her so implicitly that he's sure we won't find anything or he wants to know what her motivations are as much as we do. He's a hard man to read."
"And Abby?" Tim asked eagerly.
Spencer frowned knowing he was going to bring disappointment to his new friend. "Gibbs had most of her attention the entire time. She doesn't dislike Ziva or Jimmy she just doesn't really notice them on a personal level."
"Ducky and the autopsy gremlin?" Tony asked.
"Jimmy is nervous with all of you and he seems almost as scared of Ziva as he is of Gibbs, has she threatened him at some point?" Spencer asked.
"Not that I know of but he may have overheard her threatening to kill someone else with a paperclip, in they didn't stop annoying her," Tony said.
"Take her threat at least somewhat seriously, she is a killer. She isn't likely to harm you simply for harassing her but if she is still working for Mossad and she receives the order she would not hesitate to kill all of you. I very much doubt she killed Ari to save Gibbs life out of any affection for him. She was ordered to and I can only speculate why," Spencer warned.
"You think Boss knows that?" Tony asked anxiously.
"I'm not sure, he might have some suspicions but Gibbs isn't the sort to let suspicions lay, and he wouldn't have her on his team if he knew for certain. If it wasn't his own life that was saved he probably would have realised but being under fire does funny things to your perceptions of events," Spencer said. "He does trust Ziva though, and he must have a reason because he isn't the sort to form opinions on the orders of someone else, no matter who the director is to him he wouldn't trust Ziva just because she does."
"And Ducky, what did you think of him?" Tony asked.
"He partly reminds me of those characters in an Agatha Christie novel, that served in India and tell the most longwinded stories that everyone stops listening. But what people tend to forget is that those men were retired soldiers just as much as the regimented army type. He did serve in the army somehow, probably the medical corps, but he has seen action and he would recognise a soldier, or assassin. After all it was you who told me there's no such thing as an ex-marine. He is universally polite to everyone but I didn't discern any genuine affection for Ziva. He does feel genuine affection for everyone else on the team and is quite protective of you all. He thinks for himself, he wouldn't take Gibbs and the directors word for it that someone is trustworthy, and he's reserving judgement at present. I think you could trust him with your suspicions but he and Gibbs are closer to each other than to anyone else in the team."
"Jimmy's eager for you all to like him but it's Ducky's approval he values most. Unlike Abby he respects Gibbs rather than hero worships him, he is stronger than he seems under that shy awkward exterior, he would be capable of going against both Ducky and Gibbs if he feels they are in the wrong, but he'd need more than suspicions. He's also a terrible liar. I wouldn't include him in your suspicions at this time, he could not prevaricate and Ziva would instantly know he doesn't trust her," Spencer warned.
"Thanks for the ride, I'll see you in a week or two," Spencer said getting out.
"Thanks for the profiles," Tony replied.
"No problem I enjoyed it, it's good to have a better handle on the people you talk about when you're telling me about cases," Spencer said grinning.
"Were they like I described them?" Tony asked curiously, wanting to know that his intuitions of people were correct.
Spencer just smiled and left.
"Um… I think that might have been a no," Tim said hesitantly.
Tony chuckled ruefully, "Yeah!" he agreed.
"He's a good friend to do all this for you," Tim offered.
"He is, and he doesn't have many friends. He did mean it when he said he'd like you to come to a poetry reading with him and his new college friends. He wasn't just trying to set you up, he'd like to be your friend too," Tony said.
"His team seemed really close," Tim said.
"His new team, yeah they do but Spencer's only been with them a few weeks and he's still having trouble trusting them after what happened with his old team," Tony said. "I'm not going to break his confidence, but it's good to see him doing better."
-o0o-
"So how'd your sneak profiling go? Do they have a problem?" Jack Garrett asked as Spencer boarded the plane.
"Oh, I already knew they had a problem, they've got a Mossad liaison officer forced on their team inappropriately when they're the team that investigates terrorist threats involving the navy. What's more she's the Mossad Director David's daughter and her brother was recently revealed as a traitor, who killed the member of the team that Ziva is now replacing. He infiltrated Hamas and was either turned or was always planning to betray Israel. Ziva then shot him dead before he could be captured and questioned, supposedly to save Gibbs life but it could have been a setup," Spencer said worriedly.
"Sounds like a complete clusterfuck! What did Tony want your help with?" Matt asked.
"He wanted to know how the other members of the team felt about it and how they'd react if he asked them for help trying to prove she should not be trusted with sensitive information," Spencer replied. "She's been forced on the team by the director who apparently already knew her from before she was director, and Tony wants to know who'll support him if he makes a formal complaint to the Secretary of the Navy."
"Is he going to?" Garrett asked.
"He feels that Ziva David's a threat to naval security and he needs to report the problem, but Tim is the only person I could guarantee will support him and as you know support of a probationary agent isn't enough to go over the heads of two levels in the chain of command without serious consequences and he also wants to protect Tim and isn't sure which is the best way to go about it," Spencer said frowning. "He was hoping that I could find him someone else that would support him but from their profiles I couldn't pinpoint anyone."
"Is there anything we can do?" Monty asked.
"None of us have any clout with the Director of NCIS," Spencer said sighing.
"Do any of you have contacts that routinely work with Mossad who might be able to tell you more about Ziva?" Spencer asked. "I'm going to ask Garcia if she can look into her background a bit more, Tim's more than capable of doing it but Tony and I are worried how Ziva and his director would react if they catch him. I believe it's possible Ziva used to be Kidon."
"Ask around very quietly" Garrett ordered his team. "And Spencer, keep your eyes open and watch your back, if she's onto you then one more unexplained death in Manila would be far too easy to arrange. I'll have a word to our section chief that maybe someone ought to be keeping an eye on her and on NCIS's new director if she's making decisions like this and forcing them on her agents. If Ziva David's a threat to NCIS, she's a threat to national security."
"I also would like to know more about Director Shepherd, in particular why she trusts Ziva and why a man as resistant to change as Gibbs has accepted Ziva David on his team on nothing more than her say so. That's out of character from both what I've heard about him and what I saw tonight, and I feel the reason might be important," Spencer said thoughtfully.
-o0o-
"What the hell was last night about?" Gibbs asked Tony, cornering him in 'his office'.
"What do you mean. I thought it would be good for us all to have a night out and do some team bonding," Tony said. "It seemed to go quite well."
"And your profiler friend just happened to join us?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.
"You saw, he was out with his new team, and you have all wanted to meet him properly so it was a good opportunity to do that. He's on his way to Manila for god knows how long," Tony replied.
"Dr Reid was profiling all of us last night," Gibbs said.
"He does it to everyone, I expect it's a difficult skill to turn off," Tony offered.
"What are you up to Tony?" Gibbs demanded again.
"Are you really not at all concerned that the Mossad Director's daughter should have access to united states military and naval secrets?" Tony asked earnestly.
Gibbs face hardened. "I trust Ziva," he declared.
"Because she saved your life when she shot her brother. Have you considered she might have been acting on her father's orders that night. I'm sure Director David would not have wanted his son interrogated by the Americans for his actions. And her shooting him in front of you put Ziva into the position of trust with an American government agency, something that Director David had lost once we convinced the FBI that Ari wasn't infiltrating the Hamas cell to bring it down for them," Tony said laying his cards on the table. "Even if she is trustworthy, Ziva David has no investigative experience, and no knowledge of the American legal procedures we need to adhere to and little social skills in questioning without interrogating. She is a liability on the team even without the threat she poses to national security, and at the very least she needs to go to FLETC for training before being placed on an appropriate team as a probationary agent. To place her in a position of seniority over McGee is an insult to him. Tim's becoming a fine agent and he deserves more respect from you than that."
Gibbs growled. "She saved my life and her own life could be in danger of she goes back to Israel. Is it so wrong to want her kept safe."
"By all means keep her safe if you feel you need to, but do it somewhere she isn't going to have access to military secrets and intelligence. You of all people know how many of our cases involve sensitive information," Tony said angrily.
"Jen trusts her too DiNozzo and she's known her longer than we have," Gibbs said uncompromisingly.
"And that might have given me some reassurance if I had your history with the Director, but from where I'm sitting all I see is a new female Director trying hard to assert her authority over the agency and move a friend of hers into a position she can report back to her about the goings on at headquarters. She refuses to tell any of us why she trusts Ziva, and I think part of that is that she's feeling that she shouldn't have to explain herself to her agents because she's the Director. But she's wrong in this situation Gibbs, if she's wrong then Ziva is a risk not just to NCIS but naval and marine security worldwide," Tony tried to get Gibbs to see his point of view.
"Enough DiNozzo, back to work!" Gibbs ordered.
"Gibbs she's Kiddon, I don't trust her any further than I could pick her up and throw her, what's more I don't trust her to have my back in the field unless it fits in with her agenda and I don't trust her to have McGee's back either. You do remember exactly why we had a position empty for her to fill just as she wanted one? Her brother killed Kate!" Tony made one final attempt at getting Gibbs to at least question their new team mate's actions and motives.
This time Gibbs did slap him across the back of the head, in fact it was one of the hardest slaps he'd had in ages and Tony backed down and went back to his desk, shaking his head slightly at Tim.
-o0o-
"He wouldn't listen at all?" Tim asked dismayed as they went out to reinterview a witness.
"I even brought up Kate and how suspicious it was that Ziva's brother shot the person holding the position she wanted, and he shut me down," Tony said. "We are on our own in this one Tim."
"I have your back Tony, and Spencer does too," Tim reminded his SFA who was rapidly also becoming his friend.
"Thanks Tim but I want you to keep your head down, whatever you do don't make Ziva think that you could be her enemy or a threat to her job at NCIS," Tony said seriously.
-o0o-
Try as they might they couldn't find the proof that Ziva was actively acting against NCIS interests. Monty was able to dig up some buried intel about her history confirming that she had at one time worked as an assassin, though none of the targets he could attribute to her had been American. They also were able to get the details of her relationship with her brother and while unable to confirm whether the shooting in Gibbs basement was a set up, she had been under orders to take out her brother Ari before he could be caught and interrogated. It was standard practice for the assassination of any Mossad agent who went rogue to be carried out by their handler. A way of proving to the organisation that their duty was more important to them than any personal relationship they might have developed with the traitor. It was also standard practice for the handler to then be brought back to Israel and questioned extensively and watched carefully in case the rogue agent had not been working alone, which hadn't happened with Ziva because of the unique opportunity the NCIS director had given her.
Tony and Tim kept their heads down at work, working hard to try to teach Ziva the investigative techniques she should have known. She picked up the crime scene analysis well enough but Ziva still tended to threaten grievous bodily harm as an interrogation technique and missed a lot of the subtleties in the English language making her of little use in talking to suspects, or potential witnesses. There were a few more team bonding nights but Ziva tended to try to play one team member off against another excluding some in dinner parties or rumours.
"I'm sorry Tony, I had no idea she hadn't invited you," Tim said after one such night when the first thing Tony heard about the party was when everyone was raving about the food the next morning.
"That's okay, I caught up with Spence last night," Tony said grinning. "She's trying to split us up, make trouble between the two of us and between Gibbs and I, he was angry with me this morning when he spoke about dinner, and I have to think it was because he was told I was expected to go."
"Tim frowned, "Divide and conquer?" he asked. "What does she hope to achieve?"
"I don't know McFrowny. Maybe it's just a game to her," Tony replied.
"Should we let her think it's worked?" Tim asked.
Tony frowned. "Yeah, I need to be grumpy for the rest of the week, expect some pranking," he said. "Spence hates it when I prank people like that. I promised I'd stop."
"This is different, you're not pranking me exactly, you're using me to prank Ziva. Besides I intend to retaliate."
Tony laughed. "Bring it, McTrickster."
The next week at work Tim found frustrating, Tony had superglued his fingers to his keyboard again and played some other juvenile jokes while being harshly critical of everything Tim and Ziva did. Tony earned himself a few head-slaps for his behaviour, and some critical looks from Ducky, especially since neither Gibbs nor Ducky realised that Tony hadn't been invited to Ziva's dinner party, and was reacting to being left out.
Tim and Tony both caught a smug expression briefly cross Ziva's face when other people showed their frustration with Tony.
At the end of the week Tony showed up at Tim's with the younger agent's favourite takeaway and a bottle of white wine to make up for the harassment he'd dished out in order to allay Ziva's suspicions. Tim let him in and they cheerfully argued about what movie they wanted to watch, Tony stirring Tim when he realised they'd have to sit on the bed to watch.
"Were you serious about being ready to buy a condo?" Tony asked.
"Yeah, I spoke to a reputable loan broker and did the sums, I could go as high as $370,000 without the mortgage payments being more than I'm paying in rent now and with a little economising could stretch that to $385,000 for the perfect property."
"Then it's time to start looking, we need a sensational crime, something with lots of media attention given to the house or condo and a street front unique enough to be recognisable," Tony said. "But not a drug bust, there's too much risk that the wrong people might think there's something left behind."
"I don't think you can order up a crime like that," Tim said laughing.
"Get looking McGoogle. There might not be anything today but despite the drop in crime rates in the last decade there are still about 125 murders a year in the DC area. One has to fit the bill eventually," Tony said optimistically.
Tim laughed, "Way to be positive about a truly horrifying murder rate, Tony" he joked. He sat at his computer and looked at all the local news sights and online papers but didn't find anything. Setting himself a reminder to recheck weekly he shut down and they moved into the bedroom to watch the movie Tony had chosen.
-o0o-
Spencer returned from Manilla and took himself to a meeting of the Beltway clean cops, not because he felt himself struggling with his sobriety but in the hope of having an unofficial word with his sponsor. In fact, he hadn't even been tempted since changing team in spite of the fact he'd found himself surrounded by drugs on several occasions.
He was in luck, John was present and invited him to catch up over coffee.
"How are you enjoying the IRT?" John asked.
"I love the team and the opportunities to learn about the ins and outs of different cultures first hand, but I can't help but feel my profiling gifts were used more effectively in the BAU," Spencer replied.
"And being away from your support group for so long? Is it causing you any problems with your cravings?"
"No actually, I did tell Garrett about my abduction and its aftereffects so no doubt he's keeping an eye out for problems. I haven't had any cravings since changing teams even when I was surrounded by the product in Manilla but I thought I should call in and remind myself of why I need to remain vigilant," Spencer answered smiling.
"Very sensible," John said approvingly. "I did hear rumours of you trying to run an unsanctioned investigation."
Spencer flushed, "You mean looking into Ziva David?" he asked.
"Yes, she's a dangerous woman Spencer," John warned.
"A dangerous woman whose motivations in joining NCIS are suspicious and who my best friend is forced to depend on to have his back in the field. Naturally I'm concerned. Her new position also gives her access to a large amount of top secret naval and marine intelligence," Spencer said.
"Spencer is this investigation backed by one of your other employers?" John asked. "While I believe your concerns are valid, the Bureau is not in a position to intervene."
Spencer took the hint. "I've not had time for much consulting work recently, but we have some down time. I will think the NSA might have some work waiting for me."
"That sounds like a fine idea, Spencer," John said approvingly.
-o0o-
Early next morning, Spencer called Garrett at home asking for a personal day.
"Of course Spencer, is there anything I can help with?" Jack Garrett asked concerned.
"No thanks Garrett I'm perfectly fine, I just received some advice about the problem I was concerned with before we left for Manilla and want some time to check in with some other sources. Sources which will likely be more agreeable if I can reciprocate somewhat."
"So, you're taking a personal day to offer your services elsewhere? No wonder you rang me at home," Jack asked amused.
"I was reminded that my current concerns fall better under the purview of some of the other agencies than they do the bureau," Spencer replied, deliberately vaguely.
"Well I wish you the best of luck and I'll see you Monday. Stay safe and don't take any unnecessary risks. Don't hesitate to call if I can do anything," Jack replied.
"I won't, my cell will be off but I'll text you a number I can be reached on. Have a good weekend," Spencer said before disconnecting.
-o0o-
Garrett ran into Hotch at the firing range, and they engaged in a friendly competition, which Hotch won.
"Loser buys the coffee," Jack offered.
"Philz?" Hotch asked.
"I see Dr Reid has corrupted you too," Jack said amused.
"How's he doing?" Hotch asked.
"He fits into my team very well and is beginning to open up a little. He actually asked for our help with an issue his friend is having," Jack said.
"His friend Tony's new team mate?" Hotch asked.
"He's asked for your help too? Were you the one who told him that it wasn't a bureau problem?"
"No, why?" Hotch asked frowning.
"He took a personal day to go out prostituting his services to one of his other employers in return for assistance," Garret said frowning.
"He regularly consults for the NSA and CIA, he might find more information from them. They might also have the power to intervene if they do find something. Don't worry too much, Reid's too bright to let them take advantage of him, he has clearly defined limits in what he is prepared to do for the CIA and he won't overstep them even for this situation," Hotch said. "He's been running circles around them for far longer than you'd expect."
Jack laughed, "I can picture that, it is easy to underestimate him. He constantly astounds me how he's able to manipulate our targets into giving up the information he needs."
Hotch laughed too, "I'd like to think Reid and I have become friends but sometimes I think even now we only see what he lets us see."
"He's been a real asset to my team, I would be willing to argue for an extra agent to be permanently allocated to my team if he wanted to stay at the end of Seger's sabbatical," Jack said.
"If that's what he wants then I'll approve the transfer, but to be honest we could really use him back. He is missed by all of us. He's made his peace with JJ and made an overture to Garcia," Hotch replied.
"You think he's working his way towards re-establishing a working relationship with each of your team before he returns to the BAU?" Jack asked. "I must admit we will all be disappointed to lose him."
"I'm hoping he is, for my sake at least. He does seem happier and less anxious lately so if he decides he wants to stay with your team I will be happy for him," Hotch replied.
"One perk of having him on my team temporarily is that I've become more popular than I've ever been before. Every time I'm in the office I have unit chiefs wanting to buy me lunch and pump me for information on how to entice Dr Reid into working for their departments. White Collar, Cryptography and Counter terrorism have been the most insistent but I even had lunch with Katie last week. Hell, I think some of them would sack their own brother or sister to make an opening for him," Jack said, only half joking.
Hotch laughed, "They didn't bother me with it so much recently, I didn't think anyone could ever imagine him wanting to leave the BAU. If he does come to you for advice, don't try to steer him towards Katie, I know he could do a lot of good there but he can't forget anything he sees. The images he'd have to deal with constantly in that unit would destroy him."
"There's a real downside to that brain of his, isn't there. I hadn't been aware of it until he'd been with us a couple of cases," Jack said sombrely.
"There is, I think it took a lot longer for us to realise it. And then longer to realise that Gideon was training the profiler in him but wasn't helping him on an emotional level, for all that the two of them seemed so close," Hotch said sighing. "He was so young and enthusiastic, determined to save the world one unsub at a time and Gideon made full use of it. Pushed him into being a better profiler quicker than anyone else could but I still wonder of it was worth the cost in spite of the number of extra people he has saved."
A/N: Thank you to knuckles 8, ahowell1993, Reader Ethiriel, Criminal Minds Queen, DS2010, Guest, Guest, mother oracle, Village-Mystic, leahk80, Rori Potter, serenityselena, Guest, tlcroft, eutopia23, Tholten, kega009, draggah7, kurai bara, Izabela75, IndiaLover, puzzlingnerd57, blackpearl123, Leif Campbell, lillypad101, Ambeth, Lily Van Lycan, Jenifael09, RogueGuardian, kedacat, lean238, Red Night Moon Sky, lilabet, Meiko47, SnowyOwl-17, Eclipse1977, Alexa-Ray, pekhet, djmonk, MadLAB, Peetato1989, LumeAzure, mle-austin, Nachtfrost Yuu and PasserbySir for your support.