He didn't quite know how they got on this topic during the bi-weekly SFA debrief/gossip meeting. Well, that's a lie... he knew exactly how they got onto this topic.
One of Miller's junior agents (Balboa's team) was accused of armed burglary and second degree murder. When the FBI came to arrest him, without presenting any solid evidence besides 'he's the only one in the area we could identify and he can't provide a suitable alibi', Balboa tried to fight it, to protect his agent, knowing full well that he didn't do anything that he was accused of.
And how did Jenny Shepard respond as the Director of NCIS?
"I've promised the FBI our full cooperation, and you will stay out of their way as they run their investigation."
It was a line all the investigative teams heard far too often when something happened and one of her agents was wrongly accused by an FBI who couldn't seem to figure out how to run a proper investigation.
Miller sighed. "Thanks again, for your help, Tony. I don't think we ever would have seen Alex again if it weren't for you guys helping us out and investigating properly." Tony just nodded, and went to say something, but was cut off.
"His team wouldn't have had to intervene on his behalf if the Director actually cared about us." Sanders snorted, disgusted.
"Ain't that the truth." Tony sighed, downing the coffee in front of him. "Me, McGee, Ziva... the only one of my team she hasn't thrown to the wolves is the Boss, and she and him had some sort of thing going when they worked in Europe together." He didn't know details, and he honestly didn't want to. All he knew was the betrayal he saw in Gibbs eyes at times when he looked at her, and the way she tended to play on his emotions and their past history together.
"That's only because none of the other agencies would dare mess with Gibbs." Was the general consensus around the room. Everyone chuckled quietly for a moment at the mere thought of somebody trying to
"Besides, she messes around with him in much worse ways then throwing him under the bus." They were all skilled and experienced investigators, they'd all done their time undercover over the years, or been in the military, they knew how to read people. They all saw the way she played with him sometimes, and they saw how Gibbs knew it, too. He still let her get away with it at times, though, when nobody else was going to be involved or when the agency wouldn't take a hit.
"My junior agents are terrified of her." Sanders admitted. "They find the line and stay ten feet away from it in the hopes that they're not the next ones to be falsely accused and thrown to the wolves."
"Nobody on my team will trust her to watch our backs." Another SFA said, shaking his head. And trust was everything in a law enforcement setting. Especially once you start going up the chain of command.
"The way she treats the agents under her, you would never know she was trained by Gibbs." Simpson commented, and they all had to agree.
"Gibbs leaves no man behind. If somebody he cares about is accused of something, he will find out the truth of the matter, especially if he knows them to be innocent." Tony murmured.
"Gibbs wouldn't use others in their personal vendetta's, either. He would just go after whoever was stupid enough to get on his radar himself." Miller snorted suddenly.
As the Senior Field Agents, they were responsible for making sure their teams training was up-to-date, that their team leads lives were kept as paperwork free as possible, that they provided a needed buffer between their team leads and general office politics, that discipline on the team was handled appropriately (often without the team lead even knowing about it), they liaised with the other teams, and that they knew everything that was going on within the agency that their team leads might someday need to know about. It was often joked about within the Navy Yard HQ that the SFA's were the most well-informed agents in the whole agency. They knew things that went on that the Director probably didn't even know about.
As such, they all knew almost the moment Tony was assigned to seducing Jeanne Benoit. They were the ones that made sure Tony didn't implode on himself while Gibbs was gone and he was essentially working four jobs, and that he didn't let the stress get to him of being a long term undercover, let alone an undercover with that kind of assignment.
None of them said anything, though. The SFA's were entrusted with highly classified intel on a regular basis, they knew how to keep their mouths shut. Instead they quietly made sure that McGee picked up on the SFA job quickly, and in general made sure Tony's life was as easy as possible, even if he technically wasn't one of them anymore. McGee never had really grown into the role as much as he liked to believe he had, it didn't help that he refused to let Tony really show him the ropes or tell him how things were as an SFA.
When the full truth of what was going on in the shadows during that op came out... needless to say NCIS almost had a rebellion on it's hands.
"Please don't say anything like that when Gibbs is in hearing range." Tony groaned. "I hate it when he goes lone-wolf on me... I always have to scramble to keep up and make sure he's covered." Both physically and with HR or the Director.
"Better you than me. I don't envy you working for him... he's a hard guy."
Tony grinned. "He has his moments." Gibbs didn't show that he cared often, but Tony knew he did. Which was why he went lone-wolf so often, to protect his agents from the fall-out of his actions. If they didn't know what was going on, they couldn't get in trouble. The problem with that theory, of course, was that Tony wasn't about to let him just go off.
"But, still, Tony. Are you ever going to do something about the way she treated you, with that whole vendetta?"
Tony sighed. "At this point, would there be any point to it?" He asked, and they all fell silent. They all knew Director Shepard was dying. Even if she was investigated, the most that would be done would be her dismissal. If she wasn't dying, then she might be charged with actual crimes, but... what would be the point to charge a woman who might not even live to make it to the end of the trial?
"It would ensure the next Director is placed under tighter scrutiny to avoid a situation like what Shepard has caused with her inactions over the years. It would ensure that the next Director knows that the people in this agency don't trust the Director's seat. It would make him less likely to repeat her mistakes." Miller pointed out. Although, they all liked Vance well enough anyway, they knew that he cared about and protected those under him to the best of his abilities.
"Besides, SecNav is just waiting on your word to do something officially, anyway." And, of course, as the SFA on the MCRT unit, Tony was unofficially the lead SFA. They followed his lead, he was their spokesperson when they as a group had concerns to be brought to the Director or higher, like the Secretary of the Navy.
Tony sighed. "I'll think about it, ok?" Because something did need to be done, especially if junior agents were terrified of getting on the bad side of the other agencies, afraid that they were going to be abandoned to their undeserved fates. Especially if she wasn't trusted as a whole.
When Gibbs arrived for work, Tony pulled him aside, in full view of the rest of the SFA's, and explained the situation with Jenny, and made sure his boss knew that the SecNav had already been called.
Gibbs cursed quietly. "I knew things were bad, but I didn't know they were this bad." He said quietly. "You guys do what you need to do." He gave them all his blessing, not that they were really looking for it.
Tony nodded and walked up the stairs with the rest of the SFA's behind him.
She was going to regret playing with the lives and careers of those she was supposed to be protecting.
