Warnings: Spoilers for "Judgment Day"
A/N: Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday! Enjoy!
Leah snuggled Copper close to her, watching as Tony packed a bag. She noticed that he slide a knife into his pocket. He already had his SIG and his back-up gun... why they heck did he need a knife too? "Tony... do you always carry a knife?"
Tony looked at her and smiled, softly. "Rule nine—never go anywhere without a knife. It's saved my ass a few times, bella." He zipped his bag up and went to pet Copper behind the ears. "Take care of her boy, okay? Keep her safe for me."
Copper yapped and licked Tony's hand. Tony ruffled the dog's ears and then leaned over, pressing his lips to Leah's in a heated kiss. Pulling back he wiped the tears from her eyes. "FBI has tracked her to California. She's far from here... she's isn't coming after you. It should only take Tobias, Gibbs, and myself a few days to find her, arrest her, and bring her back to Washington."
"Why do you think she's running?" Leah asked. "And I'm not scared she's coming after me... I have Copper to protect me. I'm worried about her hurting you."
"Don't know why she's running," Tony answered, "and don't worry about me. I have my SIG to protect me."
Leah forced a smile on her face, trying to cover up the fact that she was extremely worried about him leaving. She didn't like the idea of Tony going with Tobias and Gibbs to track down Jenny. She'd much rather the three of them leave this for someone else to do... "You'll call me once you get to Los Angles?"
Tony stroked her cheek with his thumb and kissed her one more time. "Promise. I'll call you once I get to Los Angles."
Sitting in traffic, on a California freeway in the front seat of red Ford Mustang was not the worst thing in the world, Tony decided. No, the worst thing was sitting in the traffic, on a California freeway with Gibbs and Fornell.
The trio of federal agents had managed to track Jenny Shepard to William Decker's funeral, and then to Decker's girlfriend's house... and finally caught up with the girlfriend herself on a beach south of L.A. She had been drinking heavily, apparently, and taken a header off the boardwalk. Gibbs didn't believe for one second that she had died accidently and both Tony and Fornell were trying to use their pull with the FBI to get access to the investigation but the LAPD wasn't budging. They were ruling it an accidental death and case closed...
Gibbs was getting agitated behind the wheel. Tony was wishing that he had offered to drive. Since Decker's name had been mentioned Gibbs had been traveling down memory lane. Apparently Decker had worked some dangerous undercover operation with Gibbs and Jenny back in the day and that the retired agent had some diner out in the middle of the desert—his insurance policy Gibbs had said.
Now, the three agents were certain that Jenny was headed out there, on some kind of quest to finish something that probably had been started years and years ago by Decker and Gibbs, and possibly Jenny herself.
Two hours of sitting in traffic later and Gibbs had the Mustang flying along the highway out to the Mojave Desert. Tony was glad he had worn a lightweight button down shirt with his jeans, he would have been sweating like crazy underneath the hot sun. And with the dust kicking up in his face... he was going to need three showers back at the hotel room when they did finally catch up with Jenny, cuff her, and bring her back to L.A.
"You're running on E, Jethro," Tobias snapped from the back. "We're still thirty miles from that damn diner!"
"I got another fifteen before I need to stop, Tobias!" Gibbs shouted back, pressing even harder down on the gas pedal.
Tony gripped his door handle for dear life, his knuckles turning white. "Gibbs!" he shouted as the speedy car flew along the pavement. "I'm getting married in two months! I really don't think my fiancée is going to appreciate it if you end up getting my guts plastered all over Route 66!"
Gibbs glared at him as the wind whipped his hair back. For a second Tony felt like making some kind of joke about how tough he looked with the wind in his hair... but he held back when he saw the icy blue glare at him. "DiNozzo! I know what I'm doing! Do you want her getting away again?"
"No! I just want to be all in one piece when we do catch up with her!"
"You'll be in one piece! Trust me, DiNozzo!"
"Boss, I do trust you! But I know your driving record..."
The Mustang's engine revved as Gibbs pushed it even harder. Tony didn't want to look to see how fast they were going... he'd estimate at least a hundred... and fifteen terrifying miles later, Gibbs was pulling into a run down, old, in the middle of nowhere gas station. Tony felt like falling out of the car and kissing the ground but he knew that he had to survive another fifteen miles before that could happen. Tobias threw him some money and told him to go inside to get some snacks and Gatorade.
He passed a guy on a motorcycle and watched as a large black Suburban pulled out of the station. Tony stepped inside and found the snacks and Gatorade—and grabbed a map, just incase the two stubborn old Feds he was with got lost and they needed one.
Climbing back into the passenger seat, Tony buckled his seat belt and found the door handle, gripping it for dear life just before the Mustang peeled out of the gas station. Dear Lord, if we don't become road kill it will be a miracle.
All thoughts of becoming road kill quickly faded when Gibbs pulled the Mustang up to the diner and that same, large black Suburban was sitting out front.
"Jethro," Fornell said from the backseat. "That truck was at the gas station."
"Be on the lookout," Gibbs said, throwing the car into park. He grabbed his weapon and got out.
Tony didn't want to make a movie reference at this point, not a loud at least—but he couldn't get the image of C-3PO out of his head, crying in a metallic voice panic, I have a bad feeling about this! His gut was tight even before he saw the bullet holes in the door and windows of the abandoned diner.
Gibbs entered first. There were two dead gunmen near him, blood everywhere. He wasn't going to guess what had happened here. If Jenny had been here, she was a good shot, he'd seen her in action before. "Tony..."
He slipped past Gibbs and into the diner, sweeping his weapon while his eyes swept the room. Tony saw more blood, more bullet holes—and two more shooters. "Two more shooters, Gibbs. Both dead." He didn't need to go check their pulses... and they had clean, clear shots through the front of their skulls. There was no rise and fall of their chests and the amount of blood... his eyes caught her reflection in the pool of blood on the floor. Swallowing he holstered his weapon. "Gibbs, Fornell... it's Jenny."
Jenny was surrounded by blood, her weapon still in her hand. Her face was turned towards them and there was an almost serene look on it. She had known she was going to die out here... she had accepted her fate...
Tony felt for a pulse even though he knew there wasn't going to be one. Standing up he looked at Gibbs sorrowfully. Despite what had happened with the Frog, with Jenny pushing the former NCIS agent from the agency, he knew that Gibbs still cared for her. "I'm sorry..."
"DiNozzo." Gibbs snapped, cutting him off. "She knew what she was getting into. There was no other way for it to end."
"So," Fornell said, looking around at the mess, "what do we do now?"
"We start finding out how this entire thing happened," Gibbs snapped, putting his gun back in it's holster.
Fornell looked at Tony, saw the worry in the younger man's eyes. "And how do you suggest we do that?"
Gibbs glanced at Jenny's body. "Are you familiar with Decker, Tony?"
"Only the things you told me, Gibbs."
"Call McGee. Ask him to email you Decker's file—ASAP."
Tony watched as Gibbs stormed out of the diner, leaving the two FBI agents standing there. "What a mess," Tony mumbled, looking around.
Fornell sighed. "She had no other way out, the cancer was either going to kill her, or prison would."
"I guess. But if this had something to do with Decker and Gibbs and those undercover missions... why not call Gibbs?"
"She was protecting him."
"From what?" Tony sighed, just as they heard the Mustang start up and speed off. Rushing to the door, Tony watched as Gibbs drove away, leaving them at the diner. "Great! I know that Gibbs' driving might kill us, but now we have no way back to L.A!"
Fornell looked outside briefly, before his phone went off. It was Gibbs. "Jethro what the hell? You trying to punish us for our wiseass comments about your driving?"
Gibbs didn't joke back. "I called the local FBI office. They're heading out your way to assist in the investigation."
"And what are you doing?"
"Following a hunch."
McGee was surprised when he hung up the phone after talking with Tony. "That was odd."
Langer looked up. "What was odd?"
"Tony asked for an old NCIS file, had the number and everything," McGee said typing it into the search parameters. William Decker's name flashed on the screen. "Uh-oh."
"This does not sound good," Ziva said, getting up from her chair. "What is it McGee?"
He frowned and brought the information up on the plasma screen. "Remember that retired agent that Gibbs sent an arrangement of flowers for to Los Angles for his funeral? The one that Ducky ruled a suicide? Turns out... Tony wants his file."
She looked between the two men, worried. "Why would Tony want a file on a dead NCIS agent?" she asked, chewing the inside of her cheek. It had been several weeks since she had seen Tony. He had not been by. If the FBI needed something from them it was usually Fornell or Sacks that showed up. And McGee never mentioned seeing Tony either, except once, after he had taken in the German Shepard that Abby had named Jethro... they had met so their dogs could have what they were calling a doggie play date. "Do you think this has something to do with why Jenny ran?"
McGee shrugged his shoulders and emailed the files to Tony. "Maybe. I think she saw the writing on the wall... her case was going to trial and well, she wouldn't have lasted long in prison..."
Langer let out a puff of air. "Or the cancer would have gotten her first. Either way... she knew her days were limited. There was some unfinished business she needed to take care of, so she fled..."
"You two make it sound like she is dead," Ziva snapped.
"Because she is Officer David," Vance announced, stepping into the bullpen. "I just got off the phone with Agent DiNozzo myself. Jennifer Shepard was shot to death in a shoot out at an abandoned diner in the Mojave Desert. I've assured the FBI that they are going to have NCIS' fullest cooperation with their investigation into this, are we clear?"
Ziva, McGee, and Langer nodded their heads. Vance sighed and nodded back. "Good. Let's get to work. McGee, make sure that Agent DiNozzo has all information pertaining to William Decker, Ziva speak with Jenny's lawyer... Langer... find Gibbs."
McGee stopped what he was working, noticed that Ziva had stopped halfway to her desk when Langer asked, "Gibbs is missing, sir?"
Vance set his jaw. "According to Agent DiNozzo he fled he crime scene like a bat out of hell. Find out why."
Langer sighed. "That isn't going to be easy, sir."
The Director just smiled, slightly at him before walking away. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, but he knew that his agents could get the job done.
