Hi Everyone,

It's been a really long time since I published a fanfiction, I hope I still know how to do this! This story isn't exactly "new" for me, as I started the first draft in 2015. Last year, I decided to give it another go and I had a lot of fun finishing it. Therefore I hope you'll have a lot of fun reading it too!

Spoilers: This story is set just after Ziva David left NCIS (S11 E02: Past, Present, and Future). I don't take in account what happened in the series after that event. As there have been many seasons (and many Tiva developments) since, let's just say that this is a fun AU.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, I don't earn any money with this story, I'm just enjoying playing with the characters.

Playlist: Every chapter is inspired by a song. For this chapter, it's The Prodigy - Breathe. Check out my profile for more details!

I hope you enjoy!

Temples of Gold

Chapter 1: Breathe With Me

Anthony DiNozzo had already puked twice, and it wasn't even nine o'clock in the morning.

He had woken up with a furious hangover, result of the previous evening's drinking with Abby. The forensic scientist had decided that it was time for Tony to stop feeling sad about Ziva leaving the team. Her solution had been spending the entire evening in a sports bar drinking shots and cocktails while chatting up college girls. It should have been his thing, and he did really try to enjoy it, but the whole night had made him feel more depressed than ever. Somewhere between his third tequila and his fifth beer, he had realised that he was not that type of guy anymore.

This epiphany, however, had not prevented the stomach overturning and the terrible headache that had assaulted him as soon as he had open his eyes in the morning. Two paracetamols and a dash of peptobismol later, he had downed his coffee and had noticed that his tie was stained with toothpaste. Grumbling, he had changed, realised that his new tie didn't go with his suit, changed the suit, bumped his toe on a leg of his bed, cursed, searched for his keys everywhere, found them in the microwave, cursed again. And then he had glanced at his watch and had seen that he was very late.

In short, he wanted to go back to bed.

To add to his misfortune, it took him ten minutes before he found an empty spot in the Navy Yard car park, coincidentally next to Gibbs' car. His boss was getting out just as he pulled and waved at him. At least Gibbs could not reproach his tardiness, since he was late too. It was very un-Gibbs but Tony had noticed that lately Gibbs was not really himself. Since Ziva had left, actually. Tony knew that he was not the only one who missed her and he also knew that Gibbs had spent numerous evenings in his basement carving wood and drinking bourbon. With a little luck, Gibbs was as hungover as him and would take things easy today.

Tony rolled his window down, ready to greet him, but Gibbs spoke first.

'Is that what you call being on time, DiNozzo?'

Tony smiled and remove his sunglasses, hoping that his ultra-secret foundation had concealed most of the dark circles under his eyes.

'Good morning boss,' he said, too cheerful for his own ears.

Gibbs silently stared at him for a few seconds until Tony felt obligated to add, 'Isn't it a fine morning?'

'How many tequilas did you have last night, DiNozzo?' replied Gibbs.

Tony pulled a face. 'How did you…'

'Abby.'

Tony sighed and unfastened his seatbelt, ready to jump out to start what would certainly be an awful day, when a sudden beeping sound resonated in his car.

'What the hell is that?' he yelled to cover the loud noise.

Gibbs frowned and put his head through the window to try to locate the source of the noise.

'It sounds like it's coming from your seat.'

It was enough to make Tony want to exit the damn car, but Gibbs stopped him with a wave. Trusting his boss' instincts, Tony stayed still while Gibbs inspected the car. He first kneeled to look under it, then turned around and inspected the empty passenger seat. Then he came back next to him and announced, 'I'm going to open the door. Don't move.'

Tony nodded. He held his breath when the door opened with a thud, and was startled when the beeping suddenly stopped. Gibbs frowned and kneeled to examine something at the base of the seat.

'What is it boss?'

Gibbs, stone-faced, didn't reply immediately. Instead, he stood up and opened the door that was directly behind Tony. He kneeled again and Tony heard him inhale sharply.

'Boss?' he called again.

Gibbs came back next to him and met his eyes. 'Alright DiNozzo, we have a problem. There's a bomb in your car.'

'You're joking, right?' asked Tony, even though he knew that Gibbs was never joking.

'It looks like there's a pressure sensor directly under your seat. The bomb was probably activated when you sat down.'

Tony swallow hard, then guessed, 'So if I get up… it will blow us up?'

'Looks like it. That's why there was an alarm.'

'So, the guy who planted the bomb wanted to let me known that I was going to die?'

'I don't know DiNozzo,' replied Gibbs, deep in his thoughts.

He went around the car and stopped behind the trunk. 'The explosives and detonator must be in here, there's not enough room under your seat.'

'Impossible boss, I opened the trunk before getting in to put my bag in. There was nothing unusual!'

Gibbs opened the trunk himself and assessed that indeed there was nothing out of the ordinary.

'Maybe under the backseats?'

Gibbs closed the trunk carefully and came back behind him. 'Do they come off?' he asked.

'How do I know? It's a new car! The old one was smashed by Bodnar and I've barely used this one since I came back from Israel!'

If this car blew up, his reputation as "car destroyer" would be even worse. Assuming of course he would survive this last feat of bad luck. A noise at the back indicated that Gibbs had found the lever lifting the backseats. Seconds later, Tony heard a curse.

'There's enough C-4 in there to destroy half the parking lot', said Gibbs. 'And there's a timer.'

'How long?'

'Eight minutes.'

Tony tried to contain the panic that surged at these words. 'Can you dismantle it?'

'Not in eight minutes, no!'

Dead. Tony was dead. He knew he shouldn't have gotten out of bed today!

'Boss, what do we do?'

Gibbs didn't reply immediately. He grabbed his cell phone and hit the auto-dial. 'Stay still,' he ordered DiNozzo.

'Good advice boss, since there is a BOMB UNDER MY ASS!'

Gibbs ignored him and concentrated on the phone. After the fourth ring, Director Vance replied and Gibbs put him on speaker.

'Vance'

'Leon, we've got a problem.'

'AN EXPLODING PROBLEM!'

'Calm down DiNozzo,' barked Gibbs.

He explained the situation to the Director in a few words. On the other side of the line, Tony heard Leon call his assistant.

'I'll get the bomb disposal unit on the scene,' Vance assured.

'We don't have the time Leon, there's a timer on the bomb, it's set off to explode in… seven minutes and twelve seconds!'

'Can you disarm it yourself?' asked Vance with a grim voice, as if he knew the answer already.

'No.'

There was a silence on the other end of the line, then Vance ordered 'Get out of there Gibbs. EOD will arrive soon. There's no need to… add more work for them.'

Tony understood that the Director was not counting on him making it alive. He grabbed his head in his hands.

'I'm going to die in a parking lot!'

Gibbs shook his shoulder, forcing him to stop and shouted angrily, 'NOBODY IS DYING HERE TODAY!'

Suddenly, a feminine voice interrupted them.

'Excuse me… you seem to be in trouble, maybe I can help?'

The woman, a tall redhead, was wearing a tan suit, with mid-sized heels, and she was carrying a binder. Tony had never seen her before. Even though since Ziva he was not interested in any woman, he would still have noticed her model-like figure.

'Unless you can disarm a bomb, no you can't help us!'

'Where is the bomb?' asked the woman. Tony noticed that she didn't look scared. 'Linked to the ignition? In the trunk? Under the seat?'

Tony nodded vigorously to the last question. They woman got closer to the car.

'What kind of explosives?'

'Who are you?' asked Gibbs.

'Lieutenant Alexandra Bell. I was a Navy EOD until last month when I was discharged after my third tour in Afghanistan.'

'There's a countdown under the backseats on top of a mountain of C-4 bricks,' Gibbs explained. 'There's a pressure sensor under the driver seat and an alarm rang when DiNozzo removed his seatbelt'.

Lt. Bell frowned. 'An alarm and a countdown? Looks like someone wants to send you a message. How long have we got?'

Gibbs glanced at the countdown. 'Six minutes and twenty seconds.'

Bell pulled her skirt above her knee in a very un-elegant way and kneeled next to Gibbs. 'Do you have a torch?'

Gibbs handed her the small torch he always kept on his keychain. She took a long look at the device, then went around the back door and examined the detonator.

'There's a pressure device, but it's impossible to know if it's working. I think if it was very sensitive it would have exploded while driving. It might just have been the activation tool. When you sat on the bomb, you activated it. Now, if you get up, it will probably explode. And if you don't get up, in five minutes and thirty seconds you're toast.'

'Great pep talk, Missy!' shouted Tony. He didn't need a bomb specialist to know that he was screwed, thank you very much.

Gibbs asked, 'Is there a way to disarm it?'

The woman took another look at the device. 'Disarm, no. Trick the pressure sensor, maybe. But we might also die trying.'

'All the same for me,' declared Tony. 'But I cannot ask you to risk your life for me.'

Gibbs simply shrugged, and Tony knew that nothing would make him back off. Lt. Bell stared at them for a few seconds, then smirked. 'Oh well, I'm a decorated ex-Navy, better not disappoint right?'

'You don't have to do this,' argued Gibbs.

Bell's voice was firm when she declared, 'But I'm doing it anyway. Now, I need tools! Do you have a jack in the trunk?'

'I think so,' replied Tony.

Gibbs stood up as fast as his knees allowed him and ran around the car, to open the trunk. 'Yeah, there's one here.'

Bell explained. 'Here's what we gonna do. We are going to trick the pressure sensor. We'll use the jack between the seat and the roof to keep applying pressure on the seat so that you'll be able to get out.'

Gibbs came back next to them with the flashy red jack. 'It's a big one but it won't reach the roof.'

'Then we need to find something to place in between. We just need it to maintain the pressure long enough for… what is your name?' she asked him matter-of-factly.

'Tony.'

'The jack just needs to hold until Tony can get out of the car.'

Gibbs seemed to consider the plan, then nodded: 'It might work'

'It's going to work! Now find me a plank or a metal bar or something similar.'

Lt. Bell had this sort of natural authority that made Gibbs listen to her and run back to his own car where undoubtedly there would be tons of wood scraps. Bell turned to Tony.

'OK, now you, soldier…'

'I'm not a soldier!' protested Tony.

'You're sitting on a bomb, you are as close to war as anyone can be! I'm going to place the jack between your legs, then we'll put something between the jack and the roof. It's an hydraulic jack so you'll need to pump to apply the pressure. Got it?'

'How am I going to get out?'

'Do you like gymnastics?'

Tony didn't have time to ask if she was serious of not. Gibbs was coming back with several sturdy wood planks. Bell stuck the jack between his legs, as far as possible from him so that he would have enough space to disentangle himself, then she and Gibbs chose the sturdiest beam of wood and placed it on top of the jack. In this position, Tony was the only one who could access the pump of the jack, so he started pumping frantically.

'Two minutes!' warned him Gibbs.

'Not helping, boss!'

The leather of the seat was cracking under the jack, which he supposed was a good sign. Finally, he felt a strong resistance in the pump, sign that the pressure applied was enough.

'I think it's good now…' murmured Bell. 'But use the passenger's side to get out. You can't risk hitting the pump by mistake.'

'One minute!' pressed Gibbs.

'OK you two, you get out!' barked Tony while jiggling on his seat.

'DiNozzo…'

'Out! I'm right behind you!'

Tony tilted on his side and grabbed the passenger door handle. He pulled himself as strongly as he could to free the leg that was on the other side of the jack. The gear lever was painfully pressing on his side but he ignored it and jiggled more, while Bell and Gibbs were moving backwards. Finally, his leg was free and he opened frantically the passenger door. He slipped outside and fell on the ground. He knew there were only a few seconds left, so he picked himself up and sprinted away.

The detonation blasted only moments afterwards. He felt the wave of the explosion push him head first to the floor and roughly hit the pavement. Suddenly, everything went black.

—

Gibbs and Lt. Bell only had the time to take cover behind a SUV when Tony's car exploded. There was a chain reaction and soon the fire spread to the nearby cars in the parking lot, including Gibbs'.

'DiNozzo!' shouted Jethro.

But all he could hear in response was a persistent high pitched noise. He tentatively rose on his knees and tried to see where was Tony. Through the thick smoke, he managed to spot a dark shape on the ground.

'Bell! With me!' he shouted, completely ignoring the fact that Lt. Bell was not part of his team and that she didn't need to risk her life even more than she already did. But the woman was a Marine, and she followed his orders without any discussion. Together, they ran towards Tony, grabbed him and dragged him as far away from the burning cars as possible.

Finally, they both let Tony go and Gibbs collapsed on the floor, panting. He saw that Tony was still unconscious.

'DiNozzo! Wake up!'

The sound of his own voice was weird to his ears, like it was coming from inside a fish tank. He had survived a certain number of explosions in his career and was no stranger to their effects on his body. And he knew that would only be temporary. Lt. Bell had too collapsed sitting one the ground, pressing her hands on her temple. A trickle of blood was running from her ears to her neck. The explosion had probably damaged her eardrums.

'Wake up!' shouted again Jethro, without any more success. He took the pulse of his senior field agent and was relieved to notice that there was one. DiNozzo was probably just knocked out. He looked around and saw that the first ambulance, probably called by Leon, was pulling in the navy yard. He waved at them, while Bell was grabbing her head with a wince.

The first paramedic coming out of the ambulance kneeled next to Tony while the second one examined him, in search of shrapnels or other physical damages.

More people arrived: police, paramedics, bomb squad, members of NCIS who had probably heard the explosion. Someone helped him stand up and he was slowly taken to the back of the ambulance to be more thoroughly examined. A glance at Bell reassured him: she too was able to walk with the assistance of a policeman and she didn't look seriously injured. Tony, however, was still lying on the ground, surrounded by several paramedics. A stretcher was brought and the paramedics carried Tony towards a second ambulance. They drove away before Gibbs could ask how his senior field agent was doing.

Vance entered his field of vision and Jethro saw him talking to one of the paramedics who had stayed behind. Then he walked towards him.

'How is DiNozzo?' asked Jethro immediately.

Vance's lips moved but Jethro could not understand what he was saying. The Director seemed to understand his difficulty and spoke louder. 'HE'S OK!'

'Where are they bringing him?'

'GEORGE WASHINGTON HOSPITAL!'

'I'm going there.'

'YOU WILL BUT NOT NOW'

Gibbs nodded, while the paramedic who was taking care of him disinfected a small cut on his cheek. Leon left to take care of the situation, while the police was closing the navy yard. Jethro tried to get up to help but the paramedic held him firmly on his seat. Grumbling, he remained seated, waiting for the man to finish attending to his wounds. Slowly, the piercing sounds that was buzzing in his ears retroceded.

In the nearby ambulance, the paramedic who was busy with Lt. Bell seemed satisfied and let her stand up. The redhead woman waved at him and walked slowly towards him.

'How is your friend?' she asked.

Gibbs noticed that his earring was better, even though he still heard the annoying whistling sound. 'They say he'll be fine.'

'I'm glad.'

'He would have died without you.'

She didn't reply and readjusted her skirt. She didn't seem to care that it was probably ruined. She was young, probably McGee's age, but her features were those of an experienced soldier.

'So… what were you doing here anyway?' asked Gibbs, intrigued.

'I was supposed to have an interview with Director Vance.'

'What for?'

'Joining the MTAC team. As I said, I was a Navy EOD, and your director is looking for someone with my experience to do tactical analysis. I was afraid it would be boring but… I guess I was wrong.'

They stayed silent for a long time after that. Jethro was thinking about his senior field agent and how he got close to dying. It had been a month since Ziva had officially resigned and his team was barely recovering from her departure. In these circumstances, Tony's death would have been unbearable.

Gibbs was not a sentimental man and life had taught him that getting attached to people was dangerous. Worse, a weakness. However, he couldn't help it. He had loved Ziva like his own daughter. He had watched her grow, evolve, question herself and become an amazing woman. Now that she was gone, he was missing her badly. And he cared as much for DiNozzo, even if he liked to show it less. Since Ziva had left, Tony - and his team - was broken. It was like they were all waiting for her to return even if he knew from their phone conversation that she had made an irrevocable decision. She was not going to come back. It was time for them to move on.

He cleared his throat, and turned to Bell:

'Lieutenant.'

'Please. Call me Alex. I'm not Navy anymore, remember?'

'Alex… how do you feel about becoming a NCIS field agent?'

—

It had been three days since the explosion and Tony dreaded his return to the office. He had taken a cab because he was still not allowed to drive after his concussion generated by the explosion. Technically, he was not allowed to work either but he was turning crazy, alone in his flat after he had been discharged from the hospital. Abby had brought him food, hugs and chats, but he was aching to go back to work and see more familiar faces. McGee had brought a "Get Well Soon" card signed by everyone and had told him that the whole team was working on the bomb that had almost killed him.

Tony wanted to work on it too! Even if his head was sometimes still throbbing with pain and the scar on his forehead was still showing the stitches. He would have done anything to prevent his mind from running between Ziva and who the hell wanted him dead. The two matters were starting to collapse in his brain and last night he had dreamt that it was Ziva who had planted the bomb, and that she was accusing him of not doing more to keep her in his life. He had tried to tell her that he had just respected her wish. She had yelled that he should have known better, that if he really loved her he should have fought more. When he had woken up, guilt and pain had made him run to his bathroom and miserably throw up.

As he exited the elevator into the bullpen, he tried to hide his stress with a fake smile.

'Tony! You're back!'

Abby threw herself in his arms.

'Hey, slow down Abby, I'm still convalescing.'

She immediately disentangled herself from him with a guilty look on her face. 'I'm so sorry Tony, are you alright? Do you want to sit down? Water? I'll bring you water!'

'I just want to get out of the elevator,' he said with a smile. This time a real one. Abby's concern made him happy.

The forensic scientist moved out of the way and grabbed his arm to lead him to his desk, chatting all along the way. 'They are not here yet, McGee texted me to say that they had a lead very early this morning, something to do with the C-4 in your car, but they should be back by now. Oh Tony, I'm so glad to see you here! We missed you!'

'It was only three days Abby, and you came to see me yesterday.'

'Yes but it's not the same! The energy in this whole room is disturbed when you are not here! It's empty, cold and sad! And we can't take more sadness after Z…'

She interrupted herself a second too late. He continued for her '… after Ziva left.'

She looked miserable. 'Sorry.'

Tony sat down heavily on his chair and look up to her. 'Don't be. You were her friend too, you have the right to miss her.'

Abby was about to reply something when the elevator's bell rang and Gibbs came out, looking extremely unhappy.

'How did it go?' asked the forensic scientist.

McGee, who was right behind Gibbs, replied instead, 'A complete waste of time. There was nothing to be found and no link to our case.'

'You'll do better next time!' said Abby.

Gibbs stopped in front of Tony's desk and frowned. 'What are you doing here DiNozzo? I thought you were supposed to rest for a whole week!'

'I got bored at home, plus I heard that you guys were yearning for my friendly face,' he added with a smirk at Abby.

'Yeah, right,' McGee snorted.

'Don't deny it, McConcern, you missed me!'

'I saw you yesterday!' protested his colleague.

Tony tilted his head at Abby and fake-sighed. 'See, what did I just say?'

Abby's laugh was interrupted by Gibbs. 'You should go home, DiNozzo.'

'I'm fine, boss. I promise. I'll just stay at my desk and I'll be silent.'

'That is never gonna happen,' chuckled McGee.

Suddenly, Tony saw that there was someone else behind Gibbs. He tilted his head and recognised the woman who had saved his life. She looked very different. She was not wearing the posh outfit in which he had seen her last time, but baggy jeans and an NCIS hoodie.

'Hey,' he called her out. 'Didn't see you there.'

She looked slightly embarrassed but greeted him nicely. 'Hello Tony. I'm glad to see you.'

'Thanks… hum… Sorry, what was your name again?'

'Alex Bell.'

He pointed at his own head and explained, 'Concussion, memory is a little fuzzy! Why are you here?'

Tony noticed the look that she gave Gibbs, as she was asking him to reply. She turned away and went to sit behind Ziva's desk. Confused, Tony focused on Gibbs.

'What is she doing here, boss?'

Gibbs inhaled deeply but didn't reply. Tony could feel that the atmosphere of the room had changed, as though everyone was expecting a storm.

'Boss?' he asked again, while behind Gibbs he could see Bell put her backpack in Ziva's drawer.

Everyone was still silent and suddenly, he understood. Bell behind Ziva's desk. Bell in the elevator with the rest of the team. All of Ziva's belongings gone. They had replaced her. Just like that.

'Boss.' This time it was not a question but a warning.

'Let's go and talk somewhere else,' proposed Gibbs.

'I'm not going anywhere! Tell me!' he almost shouted.

From the corner of his eye, he could see all the agents in the squad room pretending not to pay attention to what was happening there.

'Agent Bell is our new probationary agent.'

Furious, Tony stood up, not paying attention to the throbbing that was back between his temples.

'You cannot do that, boss! Not without asking me first!'

Tony knew that he was yelling at his boss and didn't care. His rage was too big to be contained and he couldn't stop expressing it.

'Asking… your permission?' Gibbs' tone was dangerous, warning him to back off, but Tony couldn't care less.

'Yes!'

'We needed someone to replace Ziva. I made the decision.'

It was enough to make Tony lose control. 'You cannot replace Ziva so fast! She might change her mind, she might come back. She's not dead, Gibbs! SHE. IS. NOT. KATE!'

Suddenly he couldn't go on. It was too hard. His head was too painful and he wanted to throw up again. He turned his back to Gibbs and walked away, determined to take his anger out on something else. Preferably a punching ball.

'DiNozzo!' called Gibbs in his back.

Tony stopped, but didn't turn.

'I know that Ziva is not dead, but she is not coming back.'

'You're wrong. You are all wrong!' replied Tony with a strangled voice. And he jogged out of the room.

His steps led him to the men's bathroom, fortunately empty at this early hour of the day. He walked to the sink and splashed cold water on his face, trying to push the nausea away. His heart was beating fast and he could feel the pressure of the blood behind his temples.

In all these years at NCIS, he had never spoken to Gibbs like that. Even when he was furious, he had always trusted that his mentor was making the right decision. This time, however, Gibbs was making a mistake. Hiring a perfect stranger, giving her Ziva's desk, all that behind Tony's back while he was recovering. It was a lie. It was a betrayal.

And worse of all, Tony had thought that the one person who would actually understand how he felt was Gibbs. His mentor had spoken to Ziva, he had certainly heard how lost and confused she was. He could not have believed that she was going to forget them - forget him - so easily. Gibbs was supposed to know how to read people, for Christ's sake!

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and he barked, 'Go away!'

The door opened nevertheless. He turned, expecting McGee because Abby would not go into the men's toilets and Gibbs would be too furious to speak with him right now. But Alex Bell stood in the doorway. 'May I come in?'

'It's the men's bathroom,' replied Tony.

She shrugged, entered the room and closed the door behind her.

'Listen, I know I'm the last person you probably want to talk to right now, but I think I might be able to help.'

'And how's that?' snickered Tony.

'First by saying that Gibbs was really concerned about you when you almost died. I saw it. He cares about you enormously.'

'No offence, but you don't know him - or me. I appreciate what you did for me, I really do, but you have no idea what you're in the middle of.'

She seemed to consider what to tell him next, then she added, 'Do you still love her? The woman whose desk I'm occupying.'

'Temporarily occupying. Yes, I do.'

'Then I probably understand what you're going through more than you think. I have been there. I am still there, actually.'

'What do you mean?'

'The man that I love… He is far away. I don't think I'll see him again. I begged him, begged him until my voice cracked, but some things cannot be. I miss him everyday, and I would go berserk if someone was trying to take his place.'

Tony didn't know what to reply to that. He had been nothing but confrontational since the beginning of this conversation and was starting to feel ashamed of his behaviour.

'I want you to know,' added Bell, 'that I am never going to replace her.'

Deep inside, he knew that. Nobody could take Ziva's place, not in NCIS, not in his heart. Whether Bell was in the team or not would not change that.

She continued, 'I just want the opportunity to prove to you that I can be a valuable colleague. And maybe one day a friend. Do you think you can manage that?'

He sighed. This woman had saved his life and she was not responsible for this whole mess. He felt obligated to give her a chance. That didn't mean that he was not furious with Gibbs anymore, but he should not take it out on her.

With a nod, he agreed. 'I suppose I can.'

'Good.'

There was a silence. Bell's presence was appeasing. She was probably a few years younger than he was but she was so calm and peaceful that he felt much better.

'I'm sorry that I acted as a jerk.'

'You were hurt. You don't need to apologise. Not to me anyway.'

He knew she was talking about Gibbs but Tony could not bring himself to think about his boss right now. Instead, he just held his hand in front of him and asked, 'Partners?'

She smiled and shook his hand in return. 'Partners!'

She was going to add something when McGee came hurtling in the bathroom.

'Tony! You need to come to MTAC!' he said, before stopping when he noticed Bell. 'Hey, that's the men's bathroom.'

Bell raised an eyebrow and smirked. 'Really? I didn't notice.'

McGee opened his mouth to reply but Tony cut him, 'Why do I need to go to MTAC?'

His friend seemed to remember the reason he came in the bathroom in the first place and told him 'Benham Parsa just claimed he was the one who put a bomb in your car!'

—

Jethro raised an eyebrow when his senior field agent entered the room, followed by his new recruit and McGee, but Tony didn't meet his eyes. He was still probably angry, but there was no time for that now. Gibbs brought back his gaze on the giant screen of MTAC, where Benham Parsa was still talking.

'… It is time that NCIS learn to mind their own business. This goes far above you and, as you were able to see, I can reach you anywhere. If you don't stop meddling, there will be consequences.'

The Parsa on screen was not much different from the picture that Tobias Fornell had shown them during the summer and that was now hanging on their Most Wanted wall. He looked like a well groomed businessman, far from the image that most people had of a terrorist. But Jethro knew that appearances could be deceiving and this man, as well dressed as he was, was nothing but a common mass murderer.

'Is this a threat?' asked Vance, who was standing right next to him.

'A peace offering,' smiled Parsa. 'I promise to leave you and your agents alone if you promise to return the favour.'

'We don't negotiate with terrorists,' said Jethro.

'You are saying so, but my experience of your country taught me otherwise. Regardless, I am not a terrorist. I am a businessman, agent Gibbs.'

Jethro was losing patience. 'Your business is to kill innocent people to make money in rebuilding infrastructures destroyed by your own bombs. Sounds terrorist to me.'

A flash of hatred crossed Parsa's face when he replied. 'And what about a country that sends drones above villages and kills no less innocent people? What should you call it?'

Jethro was going to reply vivaciously but Vance raised his hand and stopped him. He was right, of course. Gibbs should not enter the man's mind game.

'How can we be sure that you will not come after us if we stop investigating you?' asked the Director with a clear doubt in his voice.

'You can't, but you can be sure of one thing: if you don't stop pursuing me, I will end all of you. And just to make sure that you get me, and that you are aware that you cannot hide anywhere, I have left a little surprise in your new recruit's car. Hello, Probatory Agent Bell!'

Everyone turned to the redhead, who looked terrified. 'How do you know me?'

'I have a particular interest in this team that you have just joined.'

'What do you mean, a surprise in my car?'

Parsa smiled and held up what seemed to be a mobile phone for them to see. 'Let's just remember that I could have done this at any time, including when you thought you were safe driving it. But today I chose to show mercy.' And he pressed one of the keys on the phone.

MTAC was completely isolated from the outside world but phones started ringing a few seconds later. Quickly, a tech answered.

'There was another explosion in the parking lot. No one was injured but a car was destroyed.'

'My car?' cried out Bell. 'You son of a bitch!'

On the screen, Parsa laughed. 'I like this new one! She's fierce! It's like Ziva David never left!'

The words that came out of Tony's mouth were definitely not stolen from a PG-rating movie. However, Jethro could see that Parsa was not at all scared by these empty threats.

'Now that you believe me when I say that I can reach you anywhere, here are my conditions. You will stop coming after me. You will not communicate any of this to other agencies such as FBI, CIA or NSA. And you will stop interfering with my followers.'

'The Brotherhood of Doubt?' whispered McGee next to him. 'I thought we got all of them, boss?'

His agent was not talking low enough and it was Parsa who replied, 'No, you didn't Agent McGee. My followers are many and they are out there, watching you.'

McGee gulped and didn't reply.

'And what if we don't play ball?' asked Gibbs.

'Then I will kill every last one of your precious agents, Gibbs, and I will keep you for last.'

'Not if we kill you first,' spat Tony.

'Try that, Agent DiNozzo, and I will personally track down Ziva David wherever she is now and send her your regards while I end her life.'

McGee had to physically restrain Tony at these words.

'And if we stop coming after you?' said Vance, trying to ease the tension.

'Then I promise I will stop leaving bombs in your agents' cars.' He paused and watched them with a smile. 'Think carefully. This is your only chance to live a long and happy life. Disobey, and you will suffer the consequences.'

He bended forward, extended his arm and the connexion was cut.

'Can we locate him?' asked immediately Vance to the techs. They shook their heads. Parsa was too smart for that. God, how Gibbs hated smart terrorists!

'Boss, what do we do?' asked McGee. Gibbs noticed that his agent didn't ask the director but him. He knew that if he asked his team to take the insane risk to keep on poking Parsa's nest, they would do it. The fools would follow him to the grave and that was out of the question.

'You heard him, McGee. We stand down.'

Vance added, 'I suggest you start collecting all the evidence related to this case and lock them downstairs.'

McGee and Bell nodded and exited the room, but Tony stood where he was. 'BOSS!'

Jethro knew that Tony was going to protest, probably as vehemently as he had before and this time in front of their superior which was not a good things, so he replied, coldly, 'This is an order, DiNozzo.' Tony still looked like he wanted to protest, so Gibbs added 'NOW!'

His senior agent turned around and walked away. Vance addressed the two techs sitting on the side and ordered them to go too, which told Jethro that he was somehow in trouble.

'Problem with DiNozzo?'

'He's not taking Ziva's replacement too well.'

'I told you it was too soon,' commented Vance.

They had had this exact discussion two days ago, when Gibbs interfered to get Bell hired. Leon was reluctant to let an untrained agent take the spot in his team but Gibbs had managed to convince him that Bell was more than qualified to assist them. Moreover, she was eager to learn the job and she was strong enough to be good at it. The only real question mark had been Tony and unfortunately on this point Jethro had been too optimistic.

'Maybe you were right this time, Leon' sighed Jethro. He was exhausted of this tension.

'Now, what are we going to do about Benham Parsa? We can't let him operate freely but we can't let him threaten our personnel.'

'I'll work the case. Alone.'

Vance sighed, as though he was dreading that exact reply. He moved closer to him and lowered his voice.

'I don't need to tell you to be extremely vigilant, Gibbs. No one can know what you are doing.'

'No one will.'

'If Parsa learns what you are doing…'

'You'll communicate that I went rogue and you'll place my team under protection so he'll only be able to come after me.'

'Are you ready to be a bait if it comes to it?'

Jethro didn't hesitate. He had put his team in an impossible situation when he had gone to Iran, leaving them at the mercy of the Brotherhood of Doubt. He would not make the same mistake twice.

'I would do anything to protect them.'

—

Alexandra Bell entered her flat with a relieved sigh. She threw her keys in the purple bowl near the door and removed her NCIS jacket and her cap. A couple of hours after the whole ordeal in MTAC, they had been called on a hit and run in Quantico and she had felt chilled to the bone all afternoon. Washington in November was way too cold for her. She was definitely not used to that weather anymore after months spent in Afghanistan.

She removed her boots and walked to her bedroom. A shower would warm her up and relieve the tension that had inhabited her since Parsa's call.

One hour later she was drying her hair when her laptop, open on top of her chest of drawers emitted a beep. She froze, put her hair dryer and brush aside, and grabbed the computer.

A popup window appeared in the middle of the screen with a button giving her an encrypted access to a private video chat. She accepted the chat request and inhaled deeply when Benham Parsa appeared in front of her.

'Good evening, my love.'

Benham Parsa had noticed her immediately, in a seedy bar in a seedy corner of Kabul. She had spent a whole afternoon getting drunk, throwing up, and drinking again. As a woman and as an American, this was more than risky behaviour. This was suicide. Which was exactly what she had wanted to do after receiving the letter announcing that her estranged parents had died. She had sought death that day, but Benham had struck up a conversation. He had talked about his own parents's deaths, had consoled her, had made her see that life was worth living. It hadn't taken much more for her to fall in love.

'I've missed you, Annie,' he added with a smile.

Benham had never called her by her real name. He had always called her Annie, as in "little orphan Annie". He always had this special way of pronouncing it that sent a chill down her spine.

'I've missed you too,' she replied, blushing in spite of herself.

'Did everything go according to plan?'

Straight to business. Benham was like that, dedicated to his lifelong goal, absolutely faithful to it. She was always going to come second, even if they hadn't seen each other since she had come back to the US. She understood and accepted it.

'Gibbs hired me in the team as you had predicted. Saving DiNozzo's life helped me earn everyone's trust.'

'And about our little show today?'

'They all bought it. I need a new car, though.'

'I'm sure they'll do everything to get a brand new one for the talented new recruit.'

She sincerely hoped so because she really didn't want to take a cab every day to work. However, she admitted that rigging her own car and detonating it during the meeting was genius. Nobody would suspect her now that she was an alleged victim.

'There's one thing, though. Vance had us leave the room but he kept Gibbs behind.'

'Do you think they are plotting against us?'

'If what you told me about Gibbs is true, there's no way he will stand down and let you be free.'

'It doesn't matter,' Benham replied. 'Gibbs will soon be too busy to worry about me.'

'I still don't like it.'

'Trust me, my love, Leroy Jethro Gibbs is the least of your concerns. How long will it take you to get everything ready?' asked Benham.

She felt another chill bury itself inside of her. The task that was awaiting her was huge, but she knew she could do it. For Benham. For their love. For their mission.

'Two months,' she replied.

'Good. In two months I'll be back in Washington. Then we'll destroy NCIS once and for all.'

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this first chapter, please leave a comment! Next chapter: let's see how Ziva is doing, shall we?

Loufoca