Warnings: Spoilers for Season 4, earlier chapters of this story...
A/N: Here is some more for your Sunday afternoon reading pleasure! Enjoy!
E- Yes I think Ziva is finally getting the message that Tony and Leah are for real, but it probably won't be easy.
Jennifer Shepard had lost weight, her face slightly gaunt, skin pale. Her hair was all but gone and she covered the hair loss up with a wig similar in her former hairstyle and color. She wore a sharp pants suit and sat straight at the table.
Tony had not laid eyes on the former NCIS director since the day she had been led out of headquarters on charges. He took the stand in her Grand Jury hearing dressed in a gray Calvin Klein suit, black silk tie and mint green dress shirt that Leah told him brought out the color of his eyes. After he was sworn in, Tony straightened his suit and sat down. He had already gone over his testimony with Samuel Clark the day before, but he'd been in dozens of courtrooms before—he was more concerned for Leah taking the stand later that day...
"Mister DiNozzo... would you please state your name and occupation for the court," Clark began as he stood up.
"Anthony DiNozzo, senior FBI Agent," Tony replied, calmly.
"How long have you worked for the FBI, Special Agent DiNozzo?" Clark questioned.
"Almost seven months," Tony answered.
Clark buttoned the top button on his suit coat. "And previously, before that, you worked for Ms. Shepard at NCIS?"
Tony nodded. "Yes, I was the senior field agent on the Major Case Response Team."
"In the spring of last year, you were given that team with Agent Gibbs resignation, correct?"
"Correct."
"During that time did Ms. Shepard order you to seduce Jeanne Benoit to get closer to her father, Rene Benoit?"
"She did."
Clark glanced at the jury briefly. "In your own words, Agent DiNozzo, can you tell the jury what happened."
Tony set his jaw. "Ms. Shepard sent me to Paris that spring to track down Ms. Benoit. It turned out that Ms. Benoit was not in Paris at the time. I learned that Ms. Benoit was in a relationship with another man, engaged, and informed Ms. Shepard that seducing Ms. Benoit was not going to be the best approach."
"Were you uncomfortable with the thought of seducing a woman to gain information?" Clark asked, honestly.
"Somewhat," Tony answered just as honestly. "Commitment and women were not necessarily my forte back then."
"In Paris you met another woman, Leah Dawson," Clark stated, "Her father was Mr. Benoit's lawyer, was he not?"
"Yes. She was staying in the Benoit's home for the summer," Tony replied.
Clark stepped closer towards the stand. He knew that this was difficult for both Tony and Leah to talk about, a part of their relationship that didn't make sense to a lot of people, that their love had survived all the lies. "You mistakenly believed that Ms. Dawson was Ms. Benoit, did you not?"
Tony swallowed and nodded his head. "Yes. Quickly released my mistake. Ms. Dawson was the one to inform me that Ms. Benoit was in a relationship."
"Is it true that you suggested to Ms. Shepard that you continue to date Ms. Dawson to get information on Mr. Benoit?"
"Yes. I did suggest it."
"And Ms. Dawson didn't know you were a federal agent at this point?"
"No, she thought I was a professor at American University."
Clark looked at his opponent, Jenny's lawyer. "When did you inform Ms. Dawson that you were a federal agent?"
Tony took a deep breath, "Last fall, she was starting to get suspicious when I had to disappear in the middle of the night or vanish on weekends."
"And Ms. Shepard, was she happy about you revealing the truth?"
"No. She was not."
Clark went back to his table and found the hospital report for when Benoit's men had beaten up Tony. He held the report up to show the jury and the clerk, "This is a hospital report from the evening of December 11th, 2006. You were attacked and assaulted by two men outside of a movie theatre, men that worked for Mr. Benoit. This was to send you a message was it not?"
Tony clenched is fists against his thighs. "Yes. Ms. Shepard had me place a bug in Mr. Benoit's limo to track him. He found the bug and sent his men after me. They dragged me into an alley and beat me up."
"How did Mr. Benoit know it was you that put the bug there?"
"The CIA had informed him that I was investigating him."
"And Mr. Benoit was an informant for the CIA, correct?"
"Correct."
"Special Agent DiNozzo was Ms. Dawson with you that night?"
"Yes."
"Was Ms. Shepard aware that Ms. Dawson's life was in danger?"
Tony glared at Jenny across the courtroom. She looked away, quickly. "Yes, Ms. Shepard was aware. I told her that the CIA had made me, that Mr. Benoit was threatening Ms. Dawson and me. She didn't seem to care. She was only concerned about getting the Frog."
Jenny's lawyer looked incredulously at the judge, who waved her off. "Special Agent DiNozzo," the Judge warned him, "Please just answer the questions and try to refrain from any commentary."
Clark sighed and delved into his next line of questioning. "Will you please tell the court what happened on night of December 22nd?"
"I was approached by the CIA's operative on the inside and two of Benoit's men," Tony replied. "They searched me for weapons and a wire tap."
"You had a bit of an altercation with these men, did you not?"
"The CiA operative struck Ms. Dawson. I retaliated."
"Several weeks later, Ms. Dawson went to speak with Ms. Shepard. She was worried about your safety. Did Ms. Shepard show that same concern?"
"Ms. Shepard was angry that I had told Ms. Dawson the truth about who I was and what I did. She wanted me to end the relationship so we could continue to pursue Mr. Benoit."
Clark pursed his lips. "Did Ms. Shepard's behavior concern you Special Agent DiNozzo?"
Tony nodded. "Yes."
"You resigned from NCIS shortly after Ms. Dawson's visit. Why?"
"Ms. Shepard ordered an undercover operation up in Canada involving Mr. Benoit. I knew when he found out that he'd becoming after Ms. Dawson and I."
"You left your weapon and badge on Ms. Shepard's desk."
"Correct."
"And you fled to Italy? After your car exploded with two of Mr. Benoit's associates in it..."
"Yes."
Clark submitted the photographs of Tony's burned out Mustang. "These are photographs of Special Agent DiNozzo's car after the explosion. I was told that the CIA had orders to dispose of Special Agent DiNozzo at any cost. The cost was almost his life and that of Ms. Dawson. They would have been in the car if it were not for Mr. Benoit insisting on them getting into his limo. Special Agent DiNozzo, Mr. Benoit let you and Ms. Dawson go, if you promised that you would cease the investigation of him and perhaps disappear from Washington, is that right?"
Tony felt all the tension and stress from those days come flooding back, seeing the pictures of what had been left of his car. "Yes. Mr. Benoit let us go on good faith, he seemed rattled that the car had exploded, wondering if it was even an attempt at his own life."
"So, in other words, Agent DiNozzo, you had no reason to kill him?"
"No. I did not."
"Thank you, Special Agent DiNozzo, for your time," Clark said with a smile. He turned to his opponent and gestured, "He's your witness."
Riley Wells stood up. She was tall, slender, had high cheekbones and wore wire rimmed glasses low on the bridge of her nose. Her black pant suit made her look even taller as she approached Tony. "It was your NCIS registered weapon that killed Mr. Benoit, was it not?"
Tony nodded his head. "Yes. The bullet that was recovered from Mr. Benoit's body was from my weapon."
"Yet, you're claiming that you didn't kill him. Didn't the FBI arrest you for his murder?"
"They did."
"You spent a night in a holding cell. You were their first suspect."
"Is there a question you want me to answer?" Tony threw at her, hotly.
"Yes, did you kill Mr. Benoit?" Wells inquired.
Clark looked pissed as he stood up and directed his complaint towards the Judge. "Your honor, tell her to save this for a trial. This hearing is just to determine if this case is even going to trial."
Wells back off. "You're right, Mr. Clark. I'll hold those questions if we go to trial. Now, Special Agent DiNozzo, you say you had your concerns about Ms. Shepard, why didn't you bring them up to Secretary Davenport yourself? Why did you leave that job for Agent Gibbs?"
Tony glared at her. "I was worried about my job with NCIS. And to be honest, I never thought Ms. Shepard would let things get so out of control that I had to resign and flee the country."
"I'm glad you brought that up," Wells said. "You wasted a lot of resources when NCIS was investigating your death and then trying to find you..."
"Your honor!"
"Ms. Wells, please, get back on track."
"Was it of your opinion, Agent DiNozzo, that Ms. Shepard was not thinking clearly throughout the entire operation?"
"No... I do not think she was."
Wells smiled at him, sweetly. "Thank you, Agent DiNozzo."
Tony sighed as the Judge released him. He needed a cup of coffee and a hug from Leah. Thankfully she was standing outside the courtroom with a cup of Joe and was willing to give him a hug.
Leah pulled back, looking anxious. "I'm scared."
"You'll do fine," he promised her with kiss on her cheek.
"But what if I say the wrong thing and the Grand Jury decides not to send this to trial?" Leah asked, her eyes welling with tears.
"It's going to be fine."
"You'll be there, right?"
Tony would have promised he was going to be there but his phone buzzed in his pocket. Checking it out of habit, he noticed that Greg had sent him a text—Fornell is about to go postal on Agent Gibbs. We need you back ASAP. "Hold that thought... I might need to go back to Hoover Building to stop war breaking out between Gibbs and Fornell."
Leah looked at him angrily. "Anthony, the hell with them! They're grown men! They can figure it out! I need you! And I would like to think that I'm a little bit more important than a couple of grumpy old men!"
Greg, he quietly typed, I'm going to have to get back to you. Dealing with a nuclear meltdown myself over at the courthouse. Tony flipped his phone shut and placed it back into his pocket. He kissed her cheek again, "Okay, okay, I'll stay with you."
"Miss Dawson," the court bailiff said as he opened the door. "They're ready for you now."
"You're going to do fine, sweetheart," Tony assured her as he gave her hand a squeeze before returning to the courtroom to be there to support her.
Leah nervously watched as Clark rose from the table and headed towards her. She had been sworn in and prayed that this was not going to take too long. Even though her father was a lawyer, she had never actually spent a lot of time in a courtroom and she had never been on the stand before.
Clark could see how anxious was and broke the tension with a soft smile. "Good morning, Miss Dawson. Thank you for coming down. This shouldn't take too long, I only have a few questions for you." When she nodded her head, he continued, "You me Special Agent DiNozzo in Paris?"
"Yes, at a flower cart," Leah replied. "He bought me lilies."
"Did you know at the time that he was a United States Federal Agent?" Clark questioned.
"No. He told me that he was a professor at American University," Leah answered.
"He used an alias, correct?"
"Yes. Tony DiNardo."
Clark glanced briefly at Jenny. "Were you aware at the time that Agent DiNozzo's alias was created by Ms. Shepard for an undercover operation to catch Rene Benoit?"
Leah shook her head and swallowed, nervously. "No. I was not aware."
"When did you first become aware?"
"Shortly after I returned to Washington last fall. Agent DiNozzo told me the truth that he was a federal agent."
Clark paused for a moment, to give Leah a bit a breather. He knew that this was not easy for her, not second nature like it was for Tony—he knew that he could beat her over the head with all of these questions. "Miss Dawson, did you at any point, feel like your life was in danger because of Jenny Shepard's refusal to pull Agent DiNozzo out of the Op?"
Leah nodded her head and sheepishly answered, "Yes."
"You spoke to her yourself... do you think she knew what she was doing?"
"I think she knew what she wanted and didn't care who got hurt."
Clark smiled at her and thanked her, turning the witness over to Jenny's lawyer. Wells studied the young woman for a long moment before she stood and approached the stand, her shoe heels the only sound in the court room. "Miss Dawson," Wells started, "Your father was Mr. Benoit's lawyer..."
Leah looked at Tony nervously before replying. "Yes. He was."
"They were close friends?"
"Yes."
"So, it's safe to assume that, Mr. Benoit would not have hurt you," Wells replied.
Leah glared at her. "He forced Agent DiNozzo and I into his limo and told us that if we didn't disappear, that our lives would probably be over. Yes, I know he let us go because of my father... the first time... fortunately for us he never caught up to us a second time."
Wells took her outburst of anger and went with it. "So, really, Miss Dawson, we could be looking into you for murdering Mr. Benoit."
Clark snapped, loudly, his voice echoing off the walls, "Your honor!"
"No more questions," Wells said, smirking at Leah as she went back to her seat.
Leah was dismissed from the stand and as she passed Jenny, she saw he woman look at her, thoughtfully, but not with any remorse. She still thought what she had done was the right thing to do... Tony had been wise to leave NCIS or he might have ended up dead.
Tony looked up from his laptop and work to notice that the apartment was quiet. Getting up from the dining table, he peeked into the living room and saw that both Leah and Copper were fast asleep on the sofa after their jog.
He chuckled to himself and went to put a blanket around his fiancée, gently kissing her temple. It had been a rough day for her, having to take the stand and relive the uncertain months when Tony didn't know if Benoit was going to let him live or kill him. He was proud of her, she handled it like a professional, even if he knew that she was terrified of saying the wrong thing.
Rubbing Copper behind the ears, Tony headed back towards the table to finish his work. His cell rang and he fished it out of his pocket, noticing that it was Gibbs. "Hey, I see Tobias didn't kill you."
"Stop cracking jokes, DiNozzo," Gibbs snapped. "We have a problem. I just got off the phone with Jenny's lawyer. She's gone, Tony. Busted the ankle monitor and fled."
