Chapter 27

Tony said nothing until they pulled up to their destination where the Chief of Police had his office. Langston parked and opened his door. Tony sat where he was.

"Are you coming?"

Tony took a deep breath.

"Yeah."

He opened the door and followed Langston into the building. They walked back and were admitted to the main office.

"NCIS Agent Tony DiNozzo, this is Chief of Police Joseph Sander."

Chief Sander was sitting at his desk with an interesting expression on his face. Tony wondered if he should address it.

"Chief Sander, might I ask if you've heard about me before? Maybe from a Navy Captain?"

"As a matter of fact, Agent DiNozzo, I did. Just yesterday. Would you mind explaining how you knew?"

"I didn't know, but I suspected. A Captain Blaine, based in Norfolk."

"The very same."

Tony took a breath. "Sir, I know this is putting you in a bad position, but Captain Blaine was actually the subject of our investigation. We... Agent McGee and myself, believe that he has been coordinating a drug smuggling ring."

"May I ask why you think that?"

"Sir, I'd prefer to wait until Agent Gibbs arrives, but if you would like to contact NCIS Director Leon Vance, he can vouch for me."

I hope.

Sander seemed to be waiting for something more so Tony kept talking.

"I'm afraid I don't have any ID I can show you, and Agent McGee is currently in the hospital, recovering from being beaten by Ensign Thomas and someone else he was unable to identify."

"We just arrested Ensign Thomas tonight," Langston added.

"For what?"

"Attempted murder of Agent DiNozzo."

"Well, Agent DiNozzo, you're certainly right about one thing."

"What's that, sir?"

"You are putting me in a bad position. However, if what you say is true, I won't hold it against you."

Tony saw the faintest hint of a twinkle in his eye and felt a deep sense of relief.

"Is there anything you do feel like you could share with me at the moment?"

"I can give you the broad strokes of the investigation NCIS has been pursuing."

"Then, please do."

Tony leaned forward and began to explain what he could.

Hoping it was enough.

"We started investigating about a year ago when an Ensign in the Navy contacted us with claims that he knew of a drug smuggling ring in the Navy. He said it was big. We weren't sure we believed it but we were willing to meet with him. However, when we got to the designated meeting place, he was dead. Murdered via drug overdose."

"He gave you no details?" Chief Sander asked.

"None. But we had some suspicions of how big it might have been from the beginning when the NCIS team in Norfolk said his death was from natural causes. A full autopsy performed by the ME in DC showed his death due to drug overdose. Not natural no matter how you slice it."

"True."

Tony hesitated. He was worried about how much he could really tell Chief Sander and have him believe it.

"His commanding officer was Captain Blaine and at first, he was very involved in trying to solve the case of who killed Ensign Reyes, but he started interfering in our work and eventually, we decided that it was time for us to go undercover. Agent McGee and I did just that and spent more than a month gathering evidence, first that there was smuggling going on at all and second, who was involved. We found evidence that Captain Blaine was the one coordinating this smuggling and that he had a few hand-picked people, including Ensign Thomas, who were part of it."

Tony stopped. Chief Sander raised an eyebrow.

"Is that everything?"

"That's the broad strokes. Sir, could I ask you what Captain Blaine told you?"

Chief Sander sat back and considered him for a moment.

"He told me that he was worried about drugs being moved through the Navy and that there were people in NCIS who were facilitating it... including you, Agent DiNozzo. He said that there was plenty of evidence against you but that NCIS had closed ranks and wasn't allowing the charges to proceed. He hoped that I could do what NCIS wouldn't. Arrest you. He also spoke in support of Ensign Thomas... although that was before his arrest today."

Tony tamped down on a surprising surge of absolute fury those words called up in him. After everything he had put them through, to have Captain Blaine make those accusations, muddling the evidence that they had was nothing short of infuriating.

"Anything you would like to add, Agent DiNozzo?"

"I think, sir, that this is when I should encourage you to call NCIS and speak with Director Leon Vance."

Chief Sander raised both eyebrows.

"This will clear things up?"

"I sure hope so."

"All right. Give me the number."

For a moment, Tony panicked. Did he remember the number? He was frozen. His mind was jammed. He felt his heart rate skyrocket as he wondered if he could respond to this most basic of requests.

And then, the number was there and he calmed down. He took a breath and gave the number. Chief Sander dialed it and then waited.

"Hello, this is Chief of Police Joseph Sander from the LAPD in California. I'd like to speak to Director Vance, please. It's about an agent of his, DiNozzo is the name."

He listened and his gaze moved to Tony.

"Yes, I'm looking at him right now."

Tony swallowed nervously. He knew that Vance had been supportive of them before the operation, but what about now, nearly a year later? What if he believed Captain Blaine?

Chief Sander leaned over and put the phone on speaker.

"We can hear you now, Director Vance."

"Good. Agent DiNozzo?"

"Yes, sir," Tony said.

"How are you feeling?"

Tony swallowed again. "Hard to say, sir. I'm not sure I could adequately explain."

"Understood. Agent Gibbs and I are on our way to Los Angeles."

"Both of you?"

"Yes. In fact, we're about to board a flight. Agent McGee reported to Agent Gibbs that Ensign Thomas is there."

"And now in custody," Langston added.

"He's in custody?"

"Yes."

"Good. I hope you can keep him. He's wiggled his way out before."

"We'll keep that in mind," Chief Sander said. "About Agent DiNozzo."

"Yes?"

"Captain Blaine contacted me yesterday and implied that the guilty party in this situation is Agent DiNozzo, that I should make sure he was arrested at the first opportunity."

"Did he."

"Yes. Agent DiNozzo is now claiming that Captain Blaine is the culprit. You see the position this is placing me in."

"I do."

Tony was extremely tense. He didn't know what to expect from Vance. He never did.

"Well, I don't know if it will help you, but I can vouch for Agent DiNozzo's character. There's never been any question in my mind of his devotion to upholding the law. His methods are occasionally... unorthodox, but he is not one who crosses the line, and he's certainly not one who would be involved in smuggling and murder."

Tony had to keep himself from sighing with relief. He wasn't sure Vance had ever been so overtly complimentary.

"DiNozzo, where's McGee?"

"Hey, Boss," Tony said, feeling a welcome surge of more than relief at hearing (and recognizing) Gibbs' voice. "He's in the hospital, where he should have been before. He saved my life, Boss, but he's pretty rough."

"And you?"

"I've been better... I think."

"We'll be in LA in about six hours, Chief Sander. Would you like us to come straight to you?" Vance asked, taking over the conversation again.

"Yes, that would be nice."

"We can do that. Agent DiNozzo, would it be too much to ask for you to stay out of trouble for a while?"

"I wouldn't mind, Director," Tony said, fervently. "Actually, I was hoping I could get back to the hospital. I want to be there when Tim wakes up."

"Chief Sander, would that meet with your approval? I would even be fine if you wanted to have one of your people keeping an eye on Agent DiNozzo until we have a chance to discuss things."

"Detective Davis, would you mind?"

"Not at all, Chief."

"Good. Agent DiNozzo?"

"The more, the merrier," Tony said, trying to keep things light.

"Agent DiNozzo, we're going to need to talk as well."

"I understand, Director," Tony said. "I hope I can answer all your questions."

"I hope you can as well. Do you have anything else for me, Chief Sander?"

"No. That will be everything. Thank you for your time, Director Vance."

"You're welcome. I'll see you in a few hours. Good-bye."

"Good-bye."

Chief Sander hung up the phone and looked at Tony.

"I'm going to have to trust what you're saying for now, but I don't want you trying to get away from Davis."

"I don't have any intention," Tony said. "Besides, I can't leave my partner in the hospital like that."

"All right. I'll get in touch with the officers investigating what happened at the bar. Davis, take Agent DiNozzo back to the hospital."

"Yes, sir," Langston said.

Tony stood and started to leave.

"Agent DiNozzo."

"Yes?" he turned back.

"You'd better be the honest one in this situation. I don't like being lied to, and one of you must be doing just that."

"I'm not the one who's lying."

"All right."

Then, Tony left with Langston. When they got back into Langston's car, Tony could no longer suppress a long heartfelt sigh of relief. He let his head drop back against the seat.

"Tense, were you?"

Tony laughed a little. "Yeah, just a little. Like a bowstring."

"Well, Sander wouldn't have let you go if he didn't suspect you were the good guy. That's why he warned you about being honest. If you were lying, he'd be much more harsh simply because he misread you."

"I'm being honest."

"I believe you."

"You do?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because I think I'm pretty good at reading people and you aren't a liar in normal circumstances."

Tony found he could smile a little at that. "Well, thanks."

"You're welcome. But I will be doing my job and watching you."

"I don't plan on going anywhere."

"Good."

The drive back to the hospital was just as silent as the drive from it. Tony actually didn't really want to go back to the hospital. There was a large part of him that wanted to go back to the bar and play the piano for his usual shift, and he didn't know why that would be. He just knew that the feeling was there, along with a slight desire just to escape from all this chaos around him. As much as his life had sucked before, he found himself wishing he could have it back again. This was all so hard to manage at the moment. He wanted it to be easy.

And it just wasn't.

But he couldn't leave Tim alone at the hospital. So he would go back.

When they arrived, Langston parked and walked in with Tony. He didn't know if Dr. Bates would still be there, but he hoped he wasn't. He just wanted to go and sit by Tim and see if he could find some equilibrium in the midst of feeling like his life was spiraling out of control.

Dr. Bates was nowhere to be seen when Tony got to Tim's room. Good.

And Tim was still sleeping. Also good. He could just sit and be silent and unmoving. Just for a while.

He sat down beside the bed where Tim was sleeping and took another deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He knew it wouldn't be obvious that he wasn't calm, but he really wasn't calm.

"You okay here?" Langston asked softly.

"Yeah. Okay enough."

"All right. I'll be right outside the door with security. You have any problems, you let me know."

Tony nodded.

Langston left and Tim's room was silent.

"For some reason, I thought if I remembered... it would be easy, Tim," Tony said, in a whisper. "I didn't think it would be so hard."

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Then, he dropped his head into his hands.

"I don't know what to do."

The room was silent.