Deck The Hall

Chapter 12

The Green Room had hot and cold drinks machines, and a snack dispenser; it also had enough seating for a sixty piece orchestra, so they went there. Marieke van Hoorn and the Landys joined them, and as word got round, so did anyone who didn't have a job to do, as life in the Concert Hall got back to normal.

Josh had got under Tony's left arm; being a few inches shorter he was a perfect fit to support his friend as they made their way back down the corridor. Anne-Marie went the other side and put her arm round him. Nadia, after squeezing his good shoulder and giving him a long, heartfelt look, backed off. Tony smiled at her, gently, not the usual lusty grin. They understood each other: it was fun to flirt, but no more. Tony had always known that his rational view of the tiny blonde was the right one; simply a good woman that he was proud to know.

Her view was as it had always been; a hot man was to be admired, but nothing on this Earth would prise her from her husband and flock. She was sad that the hot man, her friend, and his friends, had been hurt, and that by someone she had liked in her past who had gone so far to the bad; but it could have been worse, and maybe the churches would get their precious things back. Maybe the courage of the priest, so many years ago, would be rewarded at last.

As they all sank into the comfortable, navy-blue chairs and sofas of the Green Room, she burst out, "Now, Tony, tell me, where is the gold?"

A few people repeated the word, and Alan Hagen said, "What? The windfall is gold?" He held his hands up. "No… wait, wait, wait. Can we start at the beginning?" Tony looked at Nadia hopefully; she began the story.

"Eighteen years ago a young man in my country stole many valuable objects that had been entrusted to his family by the church, for protection from the communists…." She explained about the backpacking tour, the war and the rescue, and the theft of the already stolen gold by Eddie, then she looked at Tony.

"We're not sure of the exact sequence after that," he said wearily, "But it then seems as if Burns stole the gold from Eddie, who stole it from Radek, who stole it from his family. Crazy or what? Burns knew where the gold was; Eddie wanted it back. He'd been biding his time, doing research on places the band had been; we reckon that Burns wouldn't tell him anything, and Eddie killed him. Neither Burns nor Eddie knew that waiting in the wings biding his time, was Radek, now calling himself Ray Miles, naturalised American, and now a very good drummer."

"I suppose he might have done that in order to join the Burns band one day," the other drummer, Zeke said thoughtfully.

Alan Hagen put in, "We've changed drummers a few times over the years, I wondered why he'd not auditioned before, and he said he'd heard about the farewell tour, and hadn't wanted to join until he knew Burns was leaving."

He was surprised when Tony drawled, "Really?" and gave him a huge grin. The Senior Field Agent continued, "Now that's interesting. Radek thinks Eddie knows where the gold is, and tries to force him to tell, he doesn't know, but Radek doesn't believe him, and kills him in fourteen years worth of nasty tempered frustration. This next bit is pure speculation, I've no other explanation for why Radek was looking for the USB – Eddie must have told him it existed, but I don't know why he didn't simply look on the computer."

"It could be that he'd just bought that lap-top and hadn't uploaded yet," Tim said helpfully, and Tony gave him a tired but pleased smile.

"I never thought of that," he said honestly.

"My field, not yours, Tony. Anyway, you've just thought of something. I know that look."

"Just had a suspicion confirmed. You and I got attacked cuz the Yeti –"

"The Yeti?" Josh asked.

"If you'd been attacked by him, Josh, you'd know where that name came from," Tim told him.

Tony nodded. "He didn't find it, Gibbs and the rest of the team did; after that, with what Nadia told us about the gold, we figured out who we were dealing with. That's it, really."

"Tony!" Nadia's voice went up in exasperation. "Where is the gold?"

"Eddie thought it was still on one of the ships, or in one of the places ashore that the band visited. If it had been smuggled into the States in the band equipment, say, Burns would have been living in luxury ever since. So, let's start with the ships."

"Less risky," Gibbs said, "If you'd hidden it ashore you might never get back there."

"Or someone else might find its hiding place," Ziva said.

Gibbs took it a stage further. "But you'd try to get it home with you, so something made him leave it hidden on a ship somewhere. Also risky, but he might not have had a choice."

"So we have Burns arranging a farewell tour of the ships he's played on, and the Yeti wanting to go along," Tony said. "Alan, you're the only one who was with the band at that time; did anything unusual happen?"

The pianist thought for a while. "I remember the refugees being brought on board the Kearsarge," he said slowly, "but I don't recall any of the band having anything to do with them… I don't know about Eddie. I hadn't made the connection between Salvatore and the kid who sang with us on that ship. He was part of the ship's company, so he didn't come with us when we left. I do remember we left in a hurry; we were roused one morning to find that all our band equipment was being put on a plane, and we had thirty minutes to join it. The Kearsarge was going into a possible combat zone, so we had to leave at once."

Nadia said eagerly, "We had to leave too. We were flown to Naples the same morning!"

Tony leaned back in his seat with a grin like the Cheshire Cat. They could almost see the cream round his mouth. "You have no idea how glad I am that it was the first ship on the list," he said. "We don't have to consider all the others. Fantastic. So… let's assume," he continued happily, "that the loot hasn't already been discovered and quietly appropriated by the government… the conundrum we set the present Captain of the Kearsarge is, where could you hide a large heavy rucksack in under thirty minutes, where it could lie undisturbed for fourteen years?"

"That'd be impossible," a member of the Burns band said.

"Not necessarily," a colleague answered him. He looked at Tony. "In my other life I'm an Electrician's Mate – I can think of wiring ducts and ventilation shafts that would never be opened except in a major refit. Not so difficult to access either, but no-one would bother."

They all fell silent for a while to consider this, and finally, Gibbs said, "Let's get the Navy playing Hide and Seek, then. I'll talk to the Director. Nice work, everyone." He flipped his phone.

Nadia looked at Tony with shining eyes. "If it is possible, I would like to be the one to return the treasures," she breathed excitedly. "Will and I would go… I would visit my village…"

"I hope so, darlin'," he said. "That would be good…" For a moment, he lost himself in the excited buzz of conversation, letting it wash over him, but not concentrating on any particular thing. He didn't know how long he sat like that, his eyes falling shut, until he felt someone sitting down on the sofa alongside him, and Gibbs' voice said his name quietly. His eyes snapped open "Boss?"

The blue eyes regarded him steadily. "You said you stopped to listen when you heard the crash?"

"Yeah. That's right."

"Ziva didn't mention it when I asked her what happened. Said you both went up the stairs and got jumped."

Tony hadn't realised that the Boss had already spoken to Ziva. He tried a spot of hasty damage repair. "Well… maybe that's what happened, Boss. I mean… I was kind of out of it for a while."

"Y'saying you got hit over the head, DiNozzo? Didn't think so. If you'd gone up the stairs together, you could have backed each other. So that's not what happened."

"Boss…" Tony shook his head in frustration. "Don't –"

"Do anything? You think I should not do anything, Tony?" The team leader's voice was still soft, but the tone didn't allow for any nonsense. "Did you tell her to wait?"

Tony squared his shoulders. He'd cover for the crazy ninja, but it wasn't that he couldn't lie to Gibbs; he wouldn't. "Yes. I shouldn't have looked away… I was looking towards the stairs, trying to work out what had happened to you. I shouldn't have left it so long…"

"She shouldn't have gone without you. That's what happened, isn't it."

"Boss… my case. Let me handle it. Please?"

Gibbs thought for a long, long moment. "OK," he said finally. "If you're not happy when you're done, you will tell me." The green eyes gave him a hard, painful look. Gibbs still didn't raise his voice. "Ziva's failure to do as she was told could have got you killed tonight."

"Or her," his second in command said.

Gibbs stood up, and held his hand out. "Come on," he said. "Bethesda. Ducky's already taken McGee and Ziva. I told her it was your order to get herself checked." He pulled Tony carefully to his feet.

"That's fine," the younger man told him. "It's what I would have said."


Tim's shin wasn't cracked, neither were Gibbs' knees. Ziva's ribs were fine; they kept Tony longer just as he'd feared, prodding and x-raying and poking until he was ready to bite. Finally, they told him what he already knew; he had two broken ribs which were strapped just fine, no need to do anything. His shoulder dislocation had been correctly reduced and immobilised; they suggested anti-inflammatory medication, and referred him to his own doctor. When he escaped, he found only Ziva waiting, looking slightly mutinous.

"Ducky has gone to attend to the removal of Eddie Salvatore's remains," she said stiffly. "Gibbs has driven McGee home. He told me to remain here and wait since you cannot drive."

"But you came here with Ducky and McGee."

"That is true. Ducky drove my car. But I assure you I am perfectly well, and able to drive myself, and you."

They walked out to the car in silence, and Tony didn't speak until Ziva was about to switch the ignition on, then he said softly, "Wait." He shifted awkwardly in his seat to face her. She lifted her chin and waited. And was taken aback by his question.

"Have I, at any point in this investigation, treated you with disrespect?"

"No, you have not."

"If Gibbs had asked you to wait, would you have done so?"

"Yes," Ziva said uncertainly, "he is the team leader."

Tony nodded. "If McGee had asked you to wait, would you have done?"

Ziva's eyes widened as she realised what she was being asked. But she couldn't answer less than honestly. "Yes," she faltered. She had no idea how to handle this quiet, humourless, emotionless DiNozzo.

"You'd do it unhesitatingly, and then find out why."

"Yes."

"Explain to me why you wouldn't do it for me. Tell me what was going through your mind." His face was pale with fatigue, his voice still quiet and level; only his eyes burned. She didn't know what to say.

"I… I looked up and saw him… I thought I must do something…"

"Like tell me? I looked up; your gun was back in its holster, Ziva. Gibbs doesn't know that bit. Can you imagine how I felt? Seeing the danger you'd put yourself in? Which you wouldn't have done if we'd stayed together? You thought you could take him on, and I'd warned you that you couldn't. So, you ignored both my warning and my instructions -"

"So you told Gibbs, and he left me to drive you so you could –"

There was a tiny flare of the anger he felt, but it was quickly extinguished. There was a bite in his voice but it was still soft. "You may think I'm a fool, Ziva –" she turned her face until it was all shadows and hollows in the dim light; don't think how beautiful she is… you can't… "But Gibbs isn't, any more than I'm a sneak. You gave him one account of what happened; I gave him another, not knowing what you'd said. I actually tried to cover, but as I told you, he's not a fool. He did however agree to let me deal with it, unless I wasn't, I quote, happy when I was done."

"Then I am in your hands," she snapped. She could not sweeten it, although she wanted to. She was wrong; there was no denying it to herself, let alone him. She had deliberately ignored an instruction from a superior, and had left herself, and him, in danger because of it. Putting an injured man in the position of having to come to her rescue was not something she had ever thought she'd do. And it was so crazy, she knew if it had been anyone else but him, she would not have done it. "I did not ignore your warning, Tony…"

"Yes, you did."

"I –"

"You didn't believe it. You wanted to prove me wrong." She looked at him, and registered the pain in his eyes for the first time, and was at a loss for words. "Have I given you cause not to respect me? As an agent, I mean? As a team member? As someone you work with? You're entitled to think what you like of me on a personal level, but do you doubt me professionally?"

"No! Of course not! Tony, how could you think that?"

He looked down at the awkward looking bulge of the arm strapped to his body under his clothes, as he answered.

"Well… because all day I've been telling you how well you were doing, or giving you a nod when I couldn't say anything. I've done my best – hell, I am always doing my best – to ensure that your probation is as short as possible. And all day, when we were with others, you carried out my instructions above and beyond the letter, just as a good agent should for the case leader. But as soon as there were no witnesses, your actions told a different story."

He sighed. "Ziva, if your opinion of me is this bad, have you considered what it means for the team?" She opened her mouth, but he spoke again before she could. "There's one more thing. With only an injured man to back you up, your actions today could have got you killed. I – we've already lost you once." He subsided into his seat, and shook his head. "I'm done," he said. "Drive me home, please."

Ziva reached for the ignition, and her hand fell away again. She looked at him, really looked, for the first time since the unkind remark she'd been regretting ever since she made it. He was running on empty, had been for hours. A cold feeling crept up from her stomach, and made her shiver. Now she knew why Gibbs had eased him off her lap earlier; he didn't think her fit to tend Tony if she was prepared to lie about him. Hot tears began to spill down her cheeks, shocking her. She never cried. His hand came under her chin.

"Don't."

"I could have got you killed."

He shrugged. "Well…"

Now she turned his word back on him. "Don't!" she cried fiercely. "Don't say better you than me! Don't think that!" She wiped tears away furiously. "I did believe you! I didn't believe me! I could not think I could not beat someone! I could not be weak! I could not appear weak to others! I have to be able to do my job – to prove that I can do it!"

"But… isn't that what we've been trying to tell you all day? That you are doing a good job?"

Ziva scrubbed at another tear. "And then the moment I'm left to decide for myself, my pride takes over! I ruined everything I tried to do – it is not like me!"

"Hey, sometimes it is. You're strong, and confident, and proud, and –"

"Stubborn and self-willed." She sighed. "I know."

Tony tried, awkwardly to reach for a handkerchief from his back pocket, but all that flew out was a rubber glove. He laughed, and brushed another tear away from her cheek with his thumb. She was so glad to hear that laugh. She held his hand against her cheek, and said sadly, "I am sorry, Tony." And that was all it needed. He struggled to lean forward, and when he could get no further, he beckoned. She leaned across and he kissed her cheek lightly. "Trust me, sweetcheeks, it can't happen again," he said seriously.

"I know."

"And if you trust me, it won't."

AN: That's as much Tiva as you'll get from me, folks. Until it happens in the show, I don't believe it's ever going to happen!