Chapter 8 Late August 2024
The three members of Operation Silver Fox were laying out plans and strategies in the DiNozzo home office. Ziva tossed out the idea of setting up a fake safe house to lure Gibbs and his team out.
"We'd need more of us," Tony stated emphatically. "There are five, or maybe even more, of them and only three of us with Leon still with De and the kids. Gotta admit I was surprised he chose to stay; gotta be tough having an arm and a leg in a cast."
Tim studied the tentative plan they'd outlined to detain Gibbs and his gang by luring them out; he liked the idea, but agreed with Tony that they would need more people on their team. "I think I can get Diamond back on my team," he said, thinking aloud. "He's a good kid; got a good instinct."
"Yes, I was impressed with him when your team investigated the bouncy house incident at your house," Ziva nodded her agreement. "I cannot believe that was almost five months ago…"
"I want a team, two or three who have had agent training, have firearms certs, but not necessarily field agents," Tony started laying out his idea. "At least one more for Tim's team besides Diamond."
Ziva looked up from her doodling, something she did when thinking, "I will volunteer for sniper duty."
"Are you sure, Ziva?" Tony locked gazes with his wife.
She nodded without hesitation, "He tried to harm my babies; the man I once looked at as a father figure no longer exists. If things get ugly, you want someone who can take him out with a single shot and do it by surprise. I am the perfect person for the job; my Mossad training may have been a long time ago, but I can still get the kill."
Tim shook his head, when had it turned to talk of taking down their former boss with a single shot. "I just… I still have a hard time… processing that Gibbs, the man we all looked up to, GIBBS…"
~Vigilante~
Near Capon Bridge, West Virginia
"Unka Leon, you gots owies," Arianna was seated in Vance's lap in his wheelchair. "But you gots wheels like An' De." She handed him her story book, "Please read story?"
Delilah watched her niece snuggle into Leon's chest; the littlest DiNozzo had grown quite attached to the former NCIS director. She suspected that his return to living in the safe house with them had a lot to do with the child's fondness for her uncle.
The other four were playing a board game at the table in the kitchen; De was relieved that the kids were for the most part resilient when it came to the incident with Gibbs. Tali sometimes sought out her aunt to talk about that morning. Oddly enough, Tali wasn't concerned for herself; her biggest worry was that she 'failed' her sisters. When De pressed her, Tali admitted she felt that she should have protected her sisters from seeing Gibbs shoot Leon and from being scared. 'I promised Ima and Daddy,' she elaborated.
When the team had arrived to move the families to a new safe house, De had to explain to the children that they could only take a few things with them. Tali had immediately grabbed Kelev, her now well-worn stuffed dog that had been with her for most of her life. The kids had very little time to stuff treasured toys or books, a few pieces of clothing, and their tablets into a backpack for the trip out in the armored vehicle.
When the caravan of SUVs arrived at the old grain farm outside of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, the adults all shook their heads. Whatever was supposed to be at the farm for living arrangements was not what was actually there; a two bedroom single-wide mobile home that had seen better days sat on a small pad. There was no way five kids and an adult in a wheelchair were going to live there.
While one agent went back towards town to get a cell signal, De had suggested to the other two agents that they circle back to West Virginia. Her reasoning had been simple; if Gibbs thought he had compromised the safe house, he would also reason that the family group would be moved elsewhere. The absolute last place he would look for them would be the old safe house. SecNav approved the plan and the lone SUV turned back south into West Virginia.
De rolled out onto the porch where Leon was already situated where his favorite chair had been. He looked pensive, she noted.
"Penny for your thoughts," she quipped.
He sighed, "Five months, Delilah… I thought it would be over and closed case by now. I feel like I've let you and the kids down."
"Hey, you didn't have to come back with us, but you chose to do so. I for one really appreciate that. I know the kids are very happy to have you here. Arianna especially; she has become quite attached to you," De replied.
"She is a part of the reason I did return."
"I know."
~Vigilante~
At NCIS
"Thanks for coming in and for expressing an interest in joining my team," Tony shook hands with the young man opposite him. "I'll be in touch within the week with my decision." The agent exited the conference room as Tony gathered his files and notes from face to face interviews with the possible agents to join his new temporary team. The one who had just left, Matthew Harrison, had really impressed the senior agent. Two others stood out, but he would sleep on his decision and run it by Ziva before making the final choices. She'd observed the interviews via closed circuit monitoring.
Tim had Alden Diamond back within twenty four hours of making his request to Director Cole. He was also interviewing candidates for adding a third person to his team. The three former teammates of the MCRT had agreed to sort out the choices together back at the DiNozzo house.
Tim followed Tony's Cadillac to Queenstown; they stopped to pick up a large pizza and a six-pack of beer in town. Once at the house, Ziva suggested that they eat dinner, and then relax for the evening, postponing reviewing the candidates until morning.
"We have been busy all day, from 0700 until 1900; we need to give ourselves a break, yes?" She wanted to resolve the case as quickly as the other two, but one thing all of her years on the run had taught her was to make time for self and to recharge.
"You can stay here tonight, Probie; guest room is all yours," Tony added. "You even have your own bathroom and sitting area. Bed's comfy too."
Tim cocked an eyebrow, "Oh? Ziva kick you out of your own bed?"
Tony chuckled, "Never… we had to try out that bed after we bought it…"
"Oh, god, you did…" Tim inwardly groaned; how was he supposed to sleep in that bed now that he knew that his former teammates had sex there?
In the morning, the three arose early; Ziva made omelets for breakfast and Tony kept the coffee pot full as they started the day. Tim had tossed a bit but sheer exhaustion took over and he actually slept quite well. He watched the DiNozzos as they moved about the kitchen; hands on, sharing kisses, and lingering gazes. He figured they had spent time on pursuits other than sleep in their room.
"Did you sleep well, Tim?" Ziva placed a plate of food in front of him as she spoke.
"Yes I did, Ziva; rather well, I might add. Tony was right; that bed is comfortable. And this food looks delicious, thank you," he picked up his fork and dug in.
Tony and Ziva joined him with plates of food, and the three ate in companionable silence. From the smiles and looks the other two gave each other, Tim suspected a game of 'footsie' going on opposite him. Those two never changed, and he always seemed to get in the middle of it.
"So, um, how do you want to, um, go about this review of candidates?" Tim asked the other two, noting that they were conversing with their eyes as usual.
"Well, McBrother, I think first we should all shower and get dressed," Tony's eyes were still locked with Ziva's. "Then we meet in the office and present our choices to the others along with the reasons for choosing that person. What do ya say?"
Tim grinned, "Get a room you two!"
An hour later the three were sitting around the make-shift conference table, files and notes spread across its top. Tim presented his top two candidates, explaining his thought process to the other two.
"It's going to be a tough choice," he added.
Ziva skimmed the files, images, and Tim's interview notes, "Which one felt right? You know, gut instinct."
"Charlene Allison, goes by Charlie," Tim responded without a second thought. The behavioral analyst turned agent had been easy to converse with, had been observant and detail-oriented, and had a skill-set they could use with the psychology background.
"Great, you got your new team member," Tony grinned. "Now I gotta pick three for my team. Of the seven I interviewed, three stood out for various reasons. I don't have any ranking system for the top three, so I'll give them to you in alphabetical order. The last kid, Matthew Harrison, may not be an obvious choice, but he made an impression. He is an evidence cataloger by his job classification, but he brings so much more. He's been trained through FLET-C, has a very high rating in firearms, and has an eye for detail. Seems to be a fast learner, so we can definitely train him for what we need.
"Second choice is Anna Philip; she has degrees in mathematics, cybersecurity analysis, and life sciences. A bit of a geek, but she has outstanding scores in firearms training, and practices regularly. Calm, level-headed, analyzes a situation quickly, and is easy-going. She is a network administrator by job title, but her skills go way beyond that.
"Third up is Samantha – Sam- Thomas, a communications specialist in MTAC. She has excellent scores in firearms, knows four languages, including ASL, and can set up a secure communications system in half a day or less. High praise from her supervisor; she was the one who found the breach in the main computer network at NCIS last year."
Ziva shuffled the pages of the three files, reading over her husband's notes, "What criteria are you using, Tony?"
"I want people who are highly proficient in firearms, who can learn quickly, who can think independently when called on, and who are generally not known out in the field," he summarized his top qualifications. "I want people who Gibbs doesn't know; that way he can't try to psych them out."
"Gentlemen, I think we have your teams," Ziva handed the files to the two men. "I am keeping this one, if you don't mind. He may be someone I can train for sniper detail." She held up a folder from Tim's pile. Harland Manning was a retired Coast Guard enlisted who trained as a sniper; he joined NCIS four years prior as a file clerk for Human Resources.
~Vigilante~
"I don't freaking get it man," Nick Torres complained to Briggs. "McGee brings Diamond back on the team, but not me. He refused to make me SFA after Bishop was shot; what's he got against me?"
The two were on their way with Gibbs and Langston to their 'job' at an anti-government rally in Ohio. The group's leaders promoted an anarchist state, advocating for abolishment of all police and law enforcement agencies, and stirred up trouble where there was none. The Governor of Ohio had tried to shut them down without success. One of his aides contacted Gibbs to arrange for tonight's 'job.' The panel truck they rented was filled with communications devices, sniper weapons, silencers, rounds of ammo, and protective gear. Gibbs and Langston drove Gibbs' truck to the Cincinnati airport and rented an SUV for two days. They met Milham at the exit by Baggage Claim at the terminal.
"Maybe he's pissed 'cause you been using all your comp time?" Hampstead suggested. "You have been off more than you've been at NCIS for the past two months."
"They owe me that time; I still got another month of comp time coming to me," the NCIS agent added. "I freakin' hate my new assignment; who the hell wants to be the one to clean and inspect gear turned in by agents after it has been used for a case or in the field?"
"Damn brother, that is a sucky job."
The five vigilantes set up their individual sniper nests at various spots where the rally was to be held later that day.
"I want everyone in place by 1700; gates open at 1900, we take 'em down when all six of the leaders are on the stage. Make sure you know which one is your designated target. Any questions?" Gibbs barked orders at his team of snipers.
At precisely 1923, all six of the group's leaders were lined up on the stage; as the crowd watched, five of the six fell to the stage floor. The top leader fell soon after from a single shot to the head just as his five top advisors and area coordinators had died.
By 1933, the five were in their vehicles headed south to go back to DC.
~Vigilante~
Near South Hill, Virginia
"I like it," Ziva commented on the safe house property that would be used for the set-up to lure Gibbs and his band out. The house had been on the roster of safe houses for twenty five years, so he would surely know of its location. She had selected several possible positions on the property for setting up her sniper's nest.
Tony liked the open area around the house; no places for Gibbs' gang to hide and take potshots at his team or Tim's team. They could see the group of vigilantes approaching the house from inside, setting the trap. He handed SecNav the list of fire power he wanted on hand; she nodded and pocketed the list.
"So what's next?" the woman asked the three team leaders of Operation Silver Fox.
"We plant the seed, and then wait," Tony replied. "The hardest part of all; hurry up and wait."