Bury Your Dead:[part 1]
...
"What's this?" Tony asked curiously. Jeanne grinned up at him.
"My secret." She explained before sliding into the opened door. Tony paused, hearing the French greetings coming from inside. He knew who it was. Taking a breath, he slid into the limo, sitting next to Jeanne.
"Do this must be Anthony DiNardo." The older man questioned. Tony nodded tensely and jolted in surprise as Mr. Benoit pulled him in for a French air kiss as a greeting.
"Welcome to the family, Professor." The man hummed with a small knowing grin.
...
...
3rd Person POV:
"My father knows everything about you." Jeanne grinned, sitting beside her father in the limo, Tony sitting along diagonal from them stiffly.
"Only what my daughter tells me."
"And I tell him everything." Jeanne tacked on, her love for her father very evident. Tony laughed, easily, covering up how anxiuos he was.
"That's great." He commented, earning a pleased grin from Jeanne.
"So here we all are, on our way to um…..where exactly are we headed?" Tony inquired, looking to Mr. Benoit. The man stared back with a small smirk before shrugging and looking to his daughter.
"I don't know. Breakfast?" Jeanne nodded in agreement.
"A chance for us to get to know each other. I'm sure you have lots of questions. I know I do." The man added, still watching Tony who was trying to figure out how much was genuine and how much was almost code. Was his cover blown? Why wasn't he outing him to Jeanne?
"My apartment first, Papa. You wouldn't believe the night we've had. It was very frightening." Jeanne explained, gathering her father's attention. Tony slyly reached into his pants pocket to slip out a cellphone while his mark was distracted.
"Yes, your daughter is very impressive with a scalpel, Mr. Benoit." Tony complimented.
"Please, Renee." The older man corrected.
"You never told me you could shoot." Jeanne added, looking over at Tony thoughtfully.
"Well. I can't, clearly...because I missed." Tony pointed out, referring to the fact that he had shot the man in the shoulder. He didn't tell her that it was exactly where he had aimed.
"There was a shooting in the hospital?" Renee asked in mild concern, his eyes flickering between the two of them.
"It's a long story, Renee." Tony dismissed with a shrug.
"We have all weekend." The man countered. Tony grinned thinly.
"Well it's really more of Jeanne's long story than mine." He insisted, looking to his girlfriend to tell the story. As she did, Renee's attention went back to her. This allowed Tony to pull out his cell once more, pushing a call button before hanging up.
"There was this crazy young guy who tried to smuggle heroin into the country, and he got hit by a car. One of the bags in his stomach burst, but we didn't know until it was too late. And then…." Tony let out a silent sigh of relief as her pager had went off before he could mention the other person involved in their escapade. The two men watched as she read her text message.
"I forgot to sign the death certificate to release the body." She sighed tiredly.
"Sorry, Papa." Renee lifted his hand to get the attention of his driver.
"Henri, back to the hospital." He requested. The man nodded and began to find a place to turn the limo around.
"Well, I guess breakfast is gonna have to wait." Tony chuckled in mock disappointment.
"And all those intriguing questions." Renee countered with a hum.
...
...
At NCIS, Ziva lifted her head as the elevator opened up, only to run into McGee in the entranceway.
"What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" the two blurted out in sync.
"I asked first." Ziva insisted, eyeing him curiously.
"Well, technically Ziva, I think that if we were to put that to the test you'd find that it was too close to call." McGee countered. She tilted her head, pursing her lips pointedly as she stared him down.
"But since my parents raised a gentleman, and yours raised a killer, I was defragging my computers." McGee relented uncomfortably. Ziva stared at him a moment longer.
"Liar." She declared, pushing past him. McGee followed, no longer needing the elevator.
"Have you heard from Tony?" she asked, looking around the bullpen and finding him missing. McGee frowned from behind her.
"You came into the office on a Saturday morning because you're worried about Tony?" he asked skeptically. Ziva glared at the leftover food littering McGee's desk.
"You have been here all night." She pointed out.
"Is that a question or a statement?" McGee asked. Ziva turned to face him.
"Question." McGee tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.
"It sounded more like a statement." He pointed out.
"Demands an answer." Ziva insisted coolly.
"Yes, I was here all night." McGee admitted, holding her gaze. She took a step closer.
"Fragging the computers."
"Defragging." McGee corrected.
"You need to work on those inflections when you're asking a question." He added.
"For example, why are you worried about Tony?" Claire inquired, finally making her presence known. The two startled and looked over at the woman who was returning with coffee.
"How long have you been there?" McGee asked. Claire shot him a dull look.
"Long enough to know that Ziva is here looking for Tony. And that you still are a bad liar." She answered before turning back to the other woman.
"Now my question deserves an answer." Ziva pursed her lips at Claire's demanding tone.
"He was supposed to meet us as the bar last night. He did not arrive, did not call. He's not answering his home phone or his cell phone." She answered, worry seeping into her tone as she explained. Claire rose a brow at her thoroughness.
"He was with me for part of the night. And I didn't come to the bar either, yet you are not badgering me about my whereabouts." Claire shot back pointedly, frowning at Ziva who stiffened. McGee glanced between the two.
"Alright, then where were the two of you? Is it the reason you have a bandage on your right bicep?" Ziva asked, looking at the woman's arm pointedly. Claire glared at her in annoyance. At least her makeup job had been good enough to hide the bruising on her face.
"Are you ok?" McGee asked, concerned for her wellbeing. Claire sighed.
"I had an incident last night and needed a couple stitches. Tony was with me." She explained vaguely, her demeanor clearly indicating that she didn't want to elaborate. It would be mortifying to admit that she had laid into Tony over meeting his new girlfriend, which none of them had bothered to inform her about.
"Do either of you have the number to his second cell phone?" Ziva inquired, thoughtfully.
"The one he uses for his private calls?"
"Yes!"
"Nope." McGee told her, causing Ziva's grin to drop. She looked to Claire.
"I don't have it. Frankly I don't think it's any of our business what it is. If he's not answering then leave it at that." Ziva frowned as Claire brushed past them towards her desk. While turning, Ziva looked down and noticed similar takeout on Gibb's desk.
"Gibbs was here all night too." She murmured thoughtfully.
"Are we a team, McGee?" Ziva snipped, glaring at him angrily.
"And why are you here? Am I the only one not in on this?" she continued whirling on Claire.
"I just got here, I needed to finish some paperwork. Just we sometimes have side projects doesn't mean that we aren't a team." Claire insisted, becoming irritated with Ziva's nagging.
"Morning, Ziva…Claire. Nothing better to do on a Saturday morning?" Gibbs greeted casually, ignoring the heated stare that Ziva had on her face.
"Not really." Claire muttered behind her coffee.
"Teams to not have secrets, Gibbs." Ziva blurted, walking towards her boss who looked up casually.
"And if you do not tell me what you were both doing here last night…...McGee knows he will." She added knowingly. McGee would break faster than anyone. Claire rolled her eyes, shooting McGee a sympathetic frown.
"Ziva, we don't have to know every sorted detail about each other. If they had their own thing to do then they had their own thing. If it was important enough, they would tell us." Claire defended, unsure why Ziva was so testy this morning. It wasn't like she had her own secrets from them.
"Oh, like how Tony kept you out of the loop about having a girlfriend?" Ziva snipped. The bullpen went silent as the other two realized Ziva had blown the secret. Claire clenched her jaw.
"I know about her. And while it wasn't in the timeframe that I would have liked, it did happen. So back off and stay out of personal business." She practically growled. Ziva was starting to stick her nose where it didn't belong, and it was rubbing Claire the wrong way. Why did she care so damn much about Tony's every move?
"Why aren't you more concerned about what's going on here? You are Tony's closest friend and yet you do not worry. You did not even tell us that you were hurt." Ziva insisted. Gibbs shot Claire a curious look.
"I'm fine! I would have said something if it was serious. And the reason I am Tony's friends is because I know when to butt out. Sticking my nose into things just makes the situation worse. It may surprise you but on certain issues he likes his privacy more than most. I am not his keeper, he can do what he wants with his life. So, take the hint and butt out." Claire growled. The other three agents remained silent, as he voice had escalated throughout her explanation. Something was eating at her as well. Realizing she had drawn too much attention to herself.
"While you three figure this out, I'm refilling my coffee." She muttered sourly, already walking out of the bullpen.
...
...
Meanwhile with Tony...
The limo pulled up to the entrance of the hospital.
"Won't be long." Jeanne told them, hopping out of the vehicle. Tony practically launched himself out after her.
"I can come with you if you want." He insisted. Jeanne smiled soothingly and leaned to press a kiss to his cheek.
"No need, he won't bite." She whispered teasingly before walking off. Tony grinned thinly and looked down at his cell, seeing that Jenny had yet to pick up.
"Coffee?" Renee asked from the other side of the limo.
"Coffee would be great." Tony nodded, shutting the door and following the man towards the nearby café. He glanced back as the driver and bodyguard joined them.
"Good. While we wait, you can tell me how you stole my daughter's heart." Tony smiled, only for it to drop slightly once Mr. Benoit had turned his head.
...
...
Claire's POV:
Gibbs and McGee had caught Ziva and I up on the situation. The FBI had issued the polygraphs specifically for NCIS, all because the CIA was looking into the director. Something was going on in the upper ranks and Gibbs had asked McGee to hack into the CIA for answers all night. At least this answered some of our questions. However, it also opened up whole new ones.
"Why would the CIA come after the director?" Ziva inquired, asking the big question for both of us.
"You tell me." Gibbs asked pointedly. I thought for a moment before it dawned on me.
"They're protecting their asset. La Grenouille." McGee nodded in confirmation.
"Does the director know?" Ziva piped up.
"Know what?" the woman herself asked abruptly as she made her way into our little circle. All of us took a step back, not wanting to answer the question. Clearly she didn't know, and I wasn't keen on informing her. she was bringing this on herself with how obsessive she was about this arms dealer.
"That it's Saturday, and we are all here on our day off because we love our jobs." McGee answered unconvincingly.
"Except for Tony who is missing." Ziva quipped sourly. Again with Tony….I was getting sick of hearing his name. The fact that it was coming from her rubbed me the wrong way even more.
"Oh for the love of….get off that already." I snapped at her. Director Shepherd eyed us for a moment before turning to McGee.
"McGee, I want you to triangulate a cell number."
"Sure."
"202-555-0177" she listed out for him.
"DiNozzo in trouble?" Gibbs asked, walking over to watch the map that McGee was pulling up. Was that is undercover number?
"I knew it." Ziva muttered under her breath, looking over at me pointedly. I chose not to indulge her. Maybe she was wrong.
"The woman Tony has been seeing, Jeanne Benoit, is La Grenouille's daughter." My head shot up in shock. I knew the doctors name had rang a bell but in the heat of the moment I wasn't in a state of mind to process it. There was a lot of other things going on at the moment…..mainly getting shot and pushed around by some pimp. Apparently, I wasn't the only one in the dark about her identity. McGee, Ziva, and Gibbs stared at our boss incredulously.
"He's been on assignment?!" I asked in shock, able to find my voice. All the strange pieces from the past few months were starting to come together. He had been on assignment the whole time. That's what he didn't want to tell me. Why he broke it off with me. I hadn't been imagining his hesitation; hadn't misread the looks he kept giving me…..Or did I? Maybe it just started as an assignment but then developed into something else? Or maybe it all was just a ruse. I didn't exactly give him a chance to explain things at the hospital. I was too caught up with being mad at him and dumping all of my pent up emotions onto him. Was I in the wrong? Why didn't he tell me about any of this? The sound of Gibb's voice brought me out of my mental spiral.
"You did plan on telling us at some point?" he asked warily, already knowing the answer. Jenny shifted under his gaze and glanced around the room. No one was going to counter the question. We wanted the answer as well. After all, she had already hidden part of Tony's mission from us before.
"If it led us to her father, yes." She answered coolly.
"Yeah? Did it?" Gibbs pressed.
"I don't know."
"You wanna tell us what you do know, Director?" he snapped irritably.
"Tony just contacted me using his alias's cell. It was a prearranged signal used only in emergency if he thought his cover had been blown." She explained. I looked up at the screen waiting for the signal to come through.
"Why didn't he have any backup in this? He shouldn't be doing something this big by himself." I pointed out. The Director's jaw twitched.
"I am his backup."
"Then why is he alone?" I shot back irritably. She shouldn't be all the way across town right now, she should be out there finding him in person.
"Tony DiNardo. Cute." Ziva muttered, reading the name assigned to the phone. DiNardo? At least it was close enough not to forget.
"I want this fed to MTAC and I want satellite coverage." Jenny ordered before slipping away to head upstairs. McGee sat back down to send it off that direction.
"On its way." he muttered. As the GPS triangulated I frowned at the address. He was still at the hospital.
...
...
3rd Person POV:
Tony grinned at the barista when he paid for the coffee. He glanced over at Mr. Benoit as the man fixed his coffee to his liking. He still didn't know what the man was aware of and it was unnerving to say the least.
"So, what did Jeanne tell you about me?" her father finally spoke up, taking a sip from the cup.
"Oh, everything." Tony answered. The man hummed curiously.
"That you're the world's greatest dad." He elaborated. Mr. Benoit nodded.
"Children want to believe the best of their parents. I'm sure you believe your father is a good man, huh?" he inquired. Tony stared back thoughtfully, trying to be truthful in his answer. It made the lies easier to take.
"He was." Technically Tony thought he used to be…..now, he was a handful to deal with. The older man nodded and stepped away from the stand. Tony followed after him, keeping up the conversation.
"Still, love has a way of blinding us to the imperfections."
"It's still love." Tony pointed out.
"And we both love Jeanne." Mr. Benoit continued.
"Yes, we do." The older man paused and stepped in front of Tony to cut him off from the limo. Tony remained silent, watching warily.
"Are you going to break my daughter's heart?" Renee asked, narrowing his eyes at the man.
"No, sir, not if I can help it."
"Sometimes we lie to the people we love in order to protect them, true?" Tony's jaw clenched. Oh how that comment truly hit him, just maybe not in the way Mr. Benoit thought.
"You've lied to Jeanne?" he asked instead, not wanting to shy away from the challenge that was clearly being presented.
"Well, have you?" the question was turned back to him. Tony stared back stoically. Before he could come up with an answer, his eyes flitted over Renee's head and landed on their topic of conversation.
"Here she comes." Tony whispered, knowing he wouldn't want to continue this conversation in front of his daughter. Jeanne grinned, holding her hands out in tired triumph.
"Done! Now let's get out of here before they remember something else." She grinned as Tony wrapped his arms around her, swaying her gently. Renne examined them silently.
"I have to move my car, because…"
"They'll tow you for sure. They are murder around here." Jeanne agreed, smiling up at Tony.
"We wouldn't want that." Her father hummed with a weak grin. Tony nodded and his smile dropped as he walked across the street to his mustang. This would give him some time to make a phone call now that he was away from the man.
"Stay close. Wouldn't want to lose you." Mr. Benoit called.
"No chance of that." Tony called back with a grin as he unlocked his car.
...
...
Up in MTAC, Director Shepherd had the headset on as she ran her Op. Ziva and McGee were at the computer desk while Claire and Gibbs hung back in the theatre seats. Claire was on her cell, trying to get Tony to pick up his phone.
"He's on 22nd Street Northwest outside Monroe University Hospital." McGee told his boss. Claire stared at the screen, biting the inside of her cheek. Gibbs glanced over at her.
"Do you know anything about this?" he asked his agent quietly. Claire glanced at her boss, moving the speaker away from her mouth.
"We were there last night. But I don't know why he would still be there. I thought he and Jeanne left already." She admitted, conveying her worry to her boss. Gibbs nodded silently.
"He's on the move." Jenny announced.
"He must be in a car." McGee suggested, watching the marker move down the streets.
"How long until we get satellite coverage?" Director Shepherd inquired.
"At least 15 minutes. Or we could patch into D.C's traffic-cam system. See if we can locate hi on the traffic-cam management." McGee suggested, his eyes lighting up in thought.
"Do it." Gibbs commanded. Jenny turned to look at Claire who was now standing and pacing.
"Anything?" she asked.
"Still not answering." Claire informed her with a frown. Ziva perked up.
"Shall I try his undercover cell phone?" she suggested. Claire rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Put it on speaker." Their boss suggested, ignoring the looks between the other two women. The team listened as the call was sent to voicemail. They all glanced around in surprise as the beginning tune for Universal began playing. Claire chuckled wryly at Tony's humor.
'Hi, you've reached Professor Tony DiNardo. Leave a message and I will get back to you, I promise.' Tony's voice rang just over the soundtrack.
"His cover is teaching film online at American University." Jenny reluctantly answered the unspoken question.
"Tony, a teacher? No wonder he's been compromised. Whose bright idea what that?" Claire asked skeptically, McGee and Ziva grinning along with her. That was the last thing anyone would mistake Tony for.
"Mine." Jenny hissed in offense. Claire shook her head while the other two turned away in embarrassment.
"Well clearly you didn't know your agent well enough to come up with something believable. Would have kept him safer." She shot back stubbornly, unwilling to back down this time. Jenny had crossed a line and she knew Gibbs would have her back in this fight. A beat of uncomfortable silence hung in the room until a beeping from McGee's computer broke it.
"We're in." he alerted them.
"Bring it up on the screen." The director ordered, turning to look at the four traffic cams that were running.
"Got it. The car that's relaying the cellphone signal." McGee set it up so a marker appeared above an old green mustang.
"Tony's car." Ziva muttered. McGee quickly ran the plates.
"Tony DiNardo's car." he corrected.
"How deep is his cover?" Gibbs inquired from the back.
"Deep enough to withstand the sort of scrutiny that La Granouille can bring." Their boss shot back.
"You better hope so." He pointed out sternly. The team watched anxiously as they followed Tony's car over the various traffic cameras.
"West on Elm street." McGee called out. Claire narrowed her eyes at the sight, trying to see into the car. All she could see was a masculine profile.
"No one else is in the car with him." she pointed out. Director Shepherd pulled out her cell and speed dialed Tony's undercover number.
"He's turning. Traffic speed, no signs of duress." Ziva commented, frowning as they watched. Why did Tony call?
"His cellphone is still off." Jenny muttered.
"No one seems to be tailing him." Claire continued adding to the details.
"He's the one doing the tailing." Gibbs realized, standing up from his seat to walk closer.
"He's still on 29th." McGee muttered, reading off the directions. They all watched the car drive down the street…..until a large explosion took up most of the screen. Everyone jumped from their seats, helpless as they watched what was left of the car burn in the street.
"Tony!" Claire gasped in horror as her eyes remained glued to the scene. Her breathing began to speed up as she stepped back to sit in one of the theatre seats. While the others rushed around to call emergency services and grab their gear, Gibbs walked over towards her. Claire could barely focus on the fact that her boss had knelt down next to her.
"Hey….breathe…breathe." he told her sternly, setting a hand on her shoulder. However, Claire continued to take choppy breaths, unable to gain oxygen.
"Gibbs….I….I can't…..I just saw him hours ago…..I was so mad…." She babbled in between her hyperventilation.
"Claire…"
"I was horrible…..and now he's gone….I…" she continued, tears starting to leak out of the corner of her eyes. Gibbs frowned and reached out to smack the backside of her head hard. Claire yelped at the impact, holding her head in pain as she stared at the man in surprise.
"Get it together. I know what happened but I you can't shut down. If you can't handle it then you're going home…"
"No!" Claire shouted in alarm. She couldn't leave now! Gibbs stared at her hard, waiting for her to start slowing her breathing.
"Push it aside for now. We can't confirm it's Tony until we see a the body. Can you do this?" he asked her seriously, staring into her eyes for the answer. Claire sucked in a harsh breath, willing herself to compartmentalize how shattered she felt. She nodded.
"I need you to say it." Gibbs snapped, unwilling to let her leave unless she could do it. Claire opened her eyes, showing him that they had dulled. Her emotions were starting to lock away.
"Yes. I….I can do this. I have to."
