Warnings: Slight spoilers for Season 4, not Jenny friendly
A/N: Here is the next chapter. I still haven't figured out where exactly Tony is going to go, but all your feedback has been wonderful in helping me sort a few things out, so thank you!
snoopmary- Rene is deliciously evil, isn't he? I agree that Tony would make a great analyst, but I don't think he would enjoy it. To me, he's more of a hands on, action type of person and I think he would get bored rather quickly. I have three different scenarios in my head right now of how this plays out: to keep Tony quiet about Jenny violating who knows how many policies and laws, after she has been ousted from office Vance offers him a promotion and his own team, he moves to the FBI to head his own unit (team) or he goes to work for Tom Morrow, which after doing some research Tony could either be in the investigations branch (ICE) or the Secret Service.
Guest- Thank you for the feedback. Homeland is definitely one of the options I'm toying with.
mandy153- Tony and Leah getting married is definitely a possibility (I've already done it in another verse). Thanks for the feedback! I'm happy you are enjoying the story :)
Across the campus of George Washington University a bell rang out, signaling the hour.
Leah stepped out of the library after studying for a few hours, clutching books and carrying a backpack on one shoulder. She thought about going to grab a cup of coffee at the nearby cart but then decided she just wanted to go home. After the day she had, she thought it was best to just go home. She headed for the Metro station, nearly colliding with a man wearing a loose button down shirt and jeans. "I'm sorry, sir," she mumbled before going on her way.
He stepped in front of her again. "Miss Dawson?"
She looked up and saw his face, white hair long and messy, beard covering his face. "Yes. Can I… can I help you?"
"I'm looking for Tony DiNozzo…"
"Do you work for Rene?"
"No. I'm an old friend."
Leah glared at him slightly. "How did I know that?"
He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Fair question. I guess there really is no way for you to know. Have you seen Tony today?"
"Earlier. We had coffee. Can I go now?" Leah snapped, wanting to get away from him.
"Sure," he said, stepping aside.
Walking away, towards the Metro station she realized that he was watching her. Leah thought about calling Tony, to let him know that someone else was looking for him… No it's just a coincidence, she told herself. Little did she know that the man she had just left did not believe in coincidences.
One in the morning had never looked so good than when Tony unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped inside. Quietly closing the door—he didn't want to wake his neighbors after all—Tony locked up for the night and went to put his backpack down.
It had been a long Sunday, now Monday. Tony had tried to track the CIA agent down that had coughed up the information to Rene Benoit who he was. But, being the CIA they weren't necessarily cooperative and they told him they'd take care of it. Meanwhile, Tony was going to be sleeping with his gun that night. If there was one thing that Gibbs had taught him over the years it was to never trust the CIA.
What a mess, Tony thought, rubbing his tired face with his hands. Jenny had been right about one thing—he might not like where this was going to lead. If for one second he had known that it was going to lead to endangering Leah… he would have demanded that Jenny take him off the assignment immediately. What's done is done. His objective now was to make sure that Leah was safe, even if it meant putting her life above his own. And that started with marching into NCIS the following morning and telling Jenny that they had to back off, that the life of a civilian was now at stake…
He reached for his laptop and started it up. Even though it was late and he should be getting some much needed sleep, there was something that had to be done. He needed to understand Jenny Shepard's pathological need to see the arms' dealer taken down. Jenny's personal file had just popped up on his screen when someone knocked at his door.
Tony was weary with a visitor arriving at one in the morning and reached for his weapon. The gun firmly placed in his hand he went to answer it. But it wasn't anyone threatening at all—it was Leah, wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a navy blue hoodie.
"I…I couldn't sleep," she confessed, sheepishly.
"Did you walk here by yourself?" he asked. "Leah that's dangerous."
"Stop being so overprotective," Leah argued, and then glanced away. "I took a cab, okay?"
Tony put his weapon back into its holster and reached for her, pulling her into the apartment with him. He shut the door and latched the locks before he picked her up and carried her to his bedroom. Gently he laid her down on his bed, crawled in next to her, and wrapped her safely in his embrace. "What about now?"
Leah snuggled against him, her eyes sleepily starting to close. "What do you mean?"
He kissed her nose. "Can you sleep now?"
She smiled, lightly and drifted off. "Yes."
Tony watched as she fell asleep, as a peaceful, content look came over her face. He held her for a little while, to make sure she was sleeping, before he got out of the bed and went back to the living room to complete his work. Leah's safety was his top priority now and in order to keep her safe he needed to learn the complicated history between Jenny, Benoit and Jasper Shepard.
Abby had just fired up her babies when Tony showed up in her lab. She instantly latched onto him, squeezing him tightly. "Don't just disappear like that again! You had us all so worried when you stormed out of Director Shepard's office!"
Tony sighed, feeling bad that he hadn't bothered to call anyone on the team to let them know he really was okay. But he'd been of a one-track mind since Leah's life had been threatened. "Sorry, Abs," he whispered. "I need you to help me with something."
"Sure. What is it?" Abby asked, pulling back to look at him seriously. "Is everything okay?"
"Not sure yet. I need information on Jasper Shepard," Tony replied, in a hushed tone.
"Director Shepard's father? Hasn't he been dead for years?"
"Twelve to be exact. I need to know how he died. His Naval records just say that he passed twelve years ago."
Abby set her jaw and gave him a determined look. "I'll do my best detective work, Tony."
Tony smiled, sleepily at her. "Thanks, Abs. I knew I could count on you." He turned to go and then realized something. "Hey… your photographs of Gibbs are gone." Guess that means… "He decided to stay, huh?"
"It had nothing to do with your job performance, Tony!" Abby blurted, biting down on her lower lip. "You… you did the best you could! He knows that! And I bet… I bet Director Shepard knows that! You're a great agent but our team… it just wasn't whole without Gibbs."
"Abs, it's fine. Really. I've made my peace with it, getting there making my peace with Gibbs. But this team… this team has always been his. Even when he isn't around," Tony said with a shrug. "Who knows, maybe this will lead to something else for me."
She started to say something, but Tony didn't give her a chance. He asked her to find out what she could about Jasper Shepard and went upstairs. Ziva and McGee were not present in the bullpen, possibly sent off on a case while he was sneaking around behind everyone's back to dig up dirt on their boss—nice guy you are DiNozzo. He noticed a box of his things neatly placed on his old desk and Gibbs was seated at what no one referred to as Tony's desk while the former marine was away.
Tony licked his lips and stepped into the bullpen, passed Gibbs. "Hey, boss," he said, casually. He was a bit startled when Gibbs looked up, still sporting the longer hair, but he'd trimmed his beard into a mustache. It just wasn't Gibbs… "Welcome back."
Gibbs looked up from his paperwork, brow furrowed. He saw the dark circles underneath Tony's eyes and he had seen the skittish look in Leah's yesterday when he had tracked her down on campus. Something was going on and he just wasn't sure what yet. "McGee wanted me to tell you that he was careful with your things when he moved them."
"Probie, always looking out for me. You know… he really isn't a probie anymore boss," Tony pointed out. "Think the team really could use a new one."
"You had one—Lee," Gibbs said. "What was wrong with her?"
"She's a lawyer," Tony replied, shrugging.
"Boss… we got coffee," McGee announced, arriving in the bullpen, Ziva behind him carrying a bag of bagels. "Oh, Tony!" he gasped, realizing that he didn't have coffee for him. "I… I didn't know you were going to be here today!"
Gibbs got up from his seat and plucked his coffee out of the tray. He handed it to Tony. "He can have mine."
Tony made a little bit of a face. Gibbs liked his coffee black. But the boss was being nice to him, trying to mend fences so… maybe he would just have to suck it up. Suddenly a couple of packets of sugar and a creamer landed on his desk. "Oh… thanks boss."
McGee put the bag of bagels onto Tony's desk. "We did get extra bagels. Just… just incase you did show up."
Ziva eyed him, suspiciously. "Where were you yesterday?" she asked.
"Had something to take care of," Tony answered honestly. She looked like she was about to pursue it more when Gibbs shot her a look. Well, I did miss that…
Gibbs was satisfied that McGee and Ziva were done asking questions and he set them to work on a stack of cold cases. If they started to complain about it, well, he'd make sure that they were aware that there were other agencies out there or that he could send one of them back to Israel.
Everything had settled in the bullpen, the team was eating bagels and drinking coffee and quietly working on cold cases when Jenny appeared. Gibbs saw her first, the fire in her eyes, the glare that landed directly on Tony. He started to stand as she started to rip into the senior field agent, "Special Agent DiNozzo, I just had an interesting meeting with the CIA. Did you go to them with classified information?"
Tony swallowed, looking briefly at his partners and then Gibbs. The former marine grabbed her by the arm and reigned in her in, whispering in her ear, "Jen, maybe you should do this in your office?"
Jenny yanked her arm away and stormed up stairs. Tony, knowing that this was coming since yesterday got to his feet and started to follow her. "DiNozzo," Gibbs said, "you don't have to do this alone."
"No worries, boss," Tony assured him, "I can handle her."
He had seen her mad before. Tony was very much aware of her temper and when he stepped into her office, quietly closing the door behind him, he knew that he was in for the full wrath of it.
Jenny had her jaw clenched so tightly Tony thought it could snap at any moment. "I gave you clear instructions that no one—no one—was to know about your operation! How the hell did the CIA find out? And how the hell did they know who you were seeing!"
Tony leaned against the door. "Benoit is working for the CIA, Jenny. He confronted me yesterday. He knows. He knows my real identity. The CIA has someone on the inside, working with him that gave him the information. I went to the CIA yesterday to find out who that officer was. The game is up, Director. We have to pull out or people are going to get hurt. Is that what you want?"
"Cooperate with the CIA! Get them to turn Benoit over to us when they're done with him!" Jenny shouted.
"Using what as a bargaining chip?" Tony countered. "We have nothing that the CIA wants."
"You're smart! Think of something!"
"It doesn't work that way, Director."
Jenny's eyes became like daggers. He had seen a look like that once before—Gibbs hunting Ari. Tony suddenly realized how much trouble he was in, how much trouble he had gotten Leah in. She moved towards him, clenching her fists. "You find a way to fix this, Special Agent DiNozzo. That man is a murderer and deserves to rot in jail. And I will do everything in my power to make sure he gets there!"