Chapter 11: Gathering Intel
NCIS, and, specifically, Team Gibbs of the MCRT, were ordered to back off the investigations into the murders of Jackie Vance and Eli David. Ziva and Tim McGee started digging for information off the radar from a seedy apartment. Tony was brought into the search when he followed Ziva to the apartment one night.
Orli Elbaz, the new Director of Mossad, had told NCIS that Bodnar was the leader of a group of rogue Mossad agents. Information that McGee and Ziva turned up determined that Ilan Bodnar had acted alone and that the other supposedly rogue agents were, in fact, still active Mossad with no connections to Bodnar, other than being sent to eliminate him.
The "post elevator us" was put on the back burner as Tony, Tim and Ziva gathered information and sought to avenge the deaths. Intel gathered pointed to Bodnar being in Rome. Gibbs was set to send Ziva to Rome with Tony as her backup, until Ziva mentioned her theory to the team only.
Eli had told her to amass diamonds that could be converted to cash easily, especially in the diamond markets in Berlin. That way, if needed, she could go underground without a trace. Ziva believed that Eli would have given the same advice to Ilan. She wanted to head to Berlin to find him. Gibbs told her to take Tony with her.
In Berlin, the pair gathered more information from Adam Eschel, and from a phone call to Ziva's computer from Bodnar. All signs pointed to an exchange involving diamonds at a dance club. Tony and Ziva went back to their hotel room to rest before going to the club.
Shared moments in the hotel room, a very domestic couple's moment, and some time cuddling on the bed were snippets of the time they had previously spent as "post elevator us." Ziva was so focused on getting Ilan to pay for the murders of Eli and Jackie that she closed herself off to Tony somewhat.
At the club, the pair danced to surveille the room, and when Tony told Ziva to relax, she let herself gaze into his eyes. It was as if just the two of them were in the room, in their own world. The case and the reason for being at the club were temporarily forgotten. Their connection was still as strong as ever, although it had taken on a very low priority since things went so terribly wrong. It gave Tony hope that when this was finally resolved, he and Ziva could get back to the "post-elevator us." Ziva also felt that exacting her revenge on Ilan would clear her heart to fully love Tony and move forward with their relationship.
Neither could foresee the hell that was about to break loose, not just in one place, but in almost every aspect of their lives as they currently knew them. Even the one thing that they would have been certain to remain unchanged would be affected.
A/N TBC in the next works in the set... Watch for 'Berlin' and "Aftermath'...