The phone rings and rings, and it eventually goes to voicemail. Tony sighs as he listens to Jeanne's outgoing message, not sure exactly what to say to her but understanding that it's his duty to close the gap after she reached out first. "Hi, Jeanne," he says carefully once the beep sounds. "This is Tony—um, Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, that is." Ziva filled him in during her hospital stay on the conversation she had with Jeanne, and Tony knows that Jeanne can't be exactly thrilled with him for lying to her. He really, really wishes that so much of that case had gone differently. "I got your email, and I'm, um, returning your call. This is my cell phone number that I'm calling from—you can reach me here or at my NCIS extension." He reads her out the NCIS number and the addition that'll direct her straight to his desk. "Anyway, hope everything is okay and I hope to hear back soon. Bye."
He thinks awkwardly that he should have said more to her, but what can he say in a single voicemail after so much deception and weeks of silence? What can he say to her when he knows he's hurt her by lying so much in the course of his investigation? He'd be furious if he was in her shoes, and while he knows that she's more naturally inclined to kindness than he is, even the sweetest people have limits.
Half an hour later, his cell phone rings, and he recognizes the number as Jeanne's. He takes a deep breath and lets it out before answering. "Hi, Jeanne." His voice is measured, cautious.
"Tony." Not surprisingly, Jeanne doesn't sound happy.
"Is everything okay?" he asks hesitantly in reply.
"What a stupid question," Jeanne snaps, making Tony wince. "What makes you think anything would be okay right now?"
"I deserve that." Tony sighs. "What can I do for you, Jeanne?"
"I need your help."
Partially relieved she didn't just call to yell at him and partially concerned about her, he nods to himself. "Of course, whatever I can do. What's going on?"
"It's my dad. He's been gone since… since you ended up at his warehouse."
Tony pinches the bridge of his nose with the hand not holding the phone. "I know. We haven't been able to track him down, either."
"Well, he called me last night. He sounded—he sounded scared, Tony." As she recounts this, Tony thinks that Jeanne sounds scared, too.
"What did he say to you?"
"Not much. The call only lasted… maybe twenty seconds. He was just calling to tell me that I need to be very careful, and that I need to trust Jenny Shepard. Who's Jenny Shepard?" She sounds less angry now that she's getting into what's going on, and that's a relief… sort of.
"Jenny Shepard is my boss's boss." Tony hesitates, but if there's anyone he owes honesty to these days, it's Jeanne. "She's the one who asked me to… get close to you. And I'm pretty sure she's not your dad's biggest fan."
"Why does he think I need to trust her, then?"
"I really don't know, Jeanne. We can protect you, have an agent stay with you until this gets sorted, but… I don't know Shepard's history with La Gre—uh, with your father." He pauses for a moment, thinking, then sighs. "Can you come to the Navy Yard? We have a guy who can do some tech magic on your phone and see if he can figure out where your dad was calling from."
"What, so you can go after him, guns blazing?" The anger is back, but this time, Tony recognizes it for what it is—it's fear more than anything else. It's lashing out.
"No. You might not believe this—and to be honest, I can't blame you for it—but we're the good guys. We don't just… kill people. At least people who aren't actively trying to kill us, anyway. And your dad may have kidnapped me, but at least he never put a gun to his head." Tony's full of pointless guilt over what happened—pointless because it doesn't change anything. As a consequence, he's willing to be a little extra generous about René Benoit on Jeanne's behalf. Personally, he's still pissed about being kidnapped, and he'll never forgive the man who shot Ziva. "Your dad does need to answer for his crimes, Jeanne, but we're not in the business of executing people. He'll get a trial like anyone else in this country."
Jeanne's silent for a minute before softly assenting. "Okay. But I'm holding you responsible for his safety, Tony Whoever-You-Are. Got it?"
Tony swallows back the answer he wants to give. "I can't make any promises. I learned that a long time ago, okay? But I'll do my best."
"And what if your best isn't good enough?" she challenges.
"Then you're free to hate me for the rest of your life." It's an answer that could sound flippant, but he says it softly, accepting that it is a possible outcome.
"Right. So long as that's settled."
Tony's not sure how to respond to that, so he doesn't try to. "So you'll come to NCIS? The sooner, the better."
"I'll come."
"Good. See you when you get here."
They murmur awkward goodbyes and Tony hangs up. "Boss!" he calls, heading to Gibbs' desk.
Gibbs looks up and waits with clear impatience rather than answering.
"Jeanne Benoit is on her way in. La Grenouille called her last night. She doesn't know where he is but she agreed to let McGee do some McMagic on her cell to see if we can't figure that out."
Gibbs nods. "Get McGee in here and then go update Shepard."
"Got it, boss." He heads down to Abby's lab (where he suspects McGee still is); on the way out, he passes Bax returning to her desk from a coffee run. She gives him a questioning look—he must look as unexcited as he feels—but he just shakes his head at her as he goes. He doesn't have time to bring the new girl up to speed.
It turns out that McGee is in Abby's lab as expected. The two are side-by-side, working on computer screens that are identical as far as Tony can tell. Whatever they're working on must not be too serious, though, because they're nudging one another and giggling as they do it. "What d'ya got, Abbs?" Tony asks in his best Gibbs impression, and it must not be too bad because both McGee and Abby whirl around, looking vaguely guilty (on Abby's part) and very guilty (on McGee's).
"Tony!" Abby scolds, holding up a threatening finger in Tony's direction. "You scared me!"
"What were you doing that you don't want Gibbs to know about?" Tony asks, pretending to be more nosy than he actually feels. He knows it's expected of him, and on a normal day, he'd be more than happy to taunt them about whatever secret they have, but this thing with Jeanne has him anxious and turned around.
"Nothing!" Abby says, immediate and unconvincing.
"Right," Tony says sarcastically, and then points at McGee, who until this point has been silent. "You. Need you upstairs."
"What's going on?" Tim asks, immediately abandoning whatever computer thing he was doing.
"La Grenouille, back to cause me problems again," Tony answers darkly, and he doesn't miss the way Abby and Tim exchange looks. It makes him feel uncharitable. "I'd get up there now before I decide Gibbs needs to hear about your little project," he snaps; he knows it doesn't matter that he has no idea what they were working on.
To his credit, McGee doesn't rise to the bait, instead simply saying "see you later, Abby" and leaving. Tony follows him out, but they head in different directions, Tim toward the bullpen and Tony up to Shepard's office.
"The director is in a meeting," Cynthia informs Tony when he walks in.
"Call her out of it," he answers shortly. "She's going to want to hear this."
"What's it about?" Cynthia challenges, used to dealing with pushy agents.
"Rene Benoit."
Tony can see by the way Cynthia's expression changes that she knows the significance of that name, even if she may not know all the details. "Wait a moment." She picks up her phone and hits a few buttons. "Director Shepard? Yes, I'm sorry, I know you said not to interrupt. Agent DiNozzo's here, though, and he says it's about Rene Benoit." A pause. "Yes. Okay. I'll do that." Then she looks back up at Tony. "Please wait here. She'll be with you in just a moment."
Tony nods, feeling impatient, and leans against the wall to wait. Within a few minutes, the director's door is opening and she's emerging, followed closely by SecNav. "Sir," Tony acknowledges quietly, straightening up and nodding.
"Special Agent," SecNav answers, heading for the outer door. "We'll talk later, Director?"
"I'll have my assistant call shortly to set up another meeting," Shepard agrees; Tony wanders into her office to give her the chance to finish with SecNav without an audience.
A few moments later, Shepard follows him in. "Sure, Tony, come on in," she comments dryly.
"Jeanne Benoit emailed me last night," Tony answers, ignoring the sarcasm. "I called her about it this morning and she told me that her father called her. He said to be careful—and more importantly, he told her to trust you."
"Trust me to do what?"
Tony shrugs. "He didn't say. Apparently it was a short call. But she's coming in to talk to us about it and to see if McGee can figure out where the call to her phone came in from."
"When is she coming?"
"She's on her way now."
Shepard nods and considers this for a long moment. "Keep me posted," she says finally. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to be there when you interview her—I can't be her favorite person right now."
"I'm not her favorite person, either," Tony points out, trying to keep blame out of his voice.
Shepard hears it anyway, though, and gives him a look he's not sure how to interpret. "Actually, on the subject, Tony… I understand why she called you, and I want you to continue to be her NCIS contact if she's comfortable with it—but other than that, I want you off this case."
"What?" Tony's surprised and offended by that. "What's the point in benching me?"
"You're too close to this. I don't want you jeopardizing yourself or anyone else by going into this with your eye on getting revenge… either for Ziva or for what was done to you."
"I'm too close to this?" Tony parrots furiously. "What about you? Do you think we haven't all guessed that you're on some personal revenge kick for something?"
He immediately sees in her face that he's crossed a serious line. "Stand down, DiNozzo," Shepard warns in a dangerous voice. "I don't know if you've noticed, but it says Director Shepard on my door out there. Director Shepard, not DiNozzo—it's not your place to question my judgment."
"Understood." Tony's voice is hard but neutral again; he may be pissed, but he's not eager to lose his job over his differences in opinion with his boss' boss.
"Go talk to Jeanne Benoit," Jenny commands, her voice under tight control again just like Tony's. "Have McGee or Baxter update me when she leaves."
"Understood," Tony repeats before turning on his heel and walking stiffly back down to the bullpen.
When he gets back, McGee is giving Bax the background on the investigation that happened before she arrived. Tony stands behind them, just out of sight to listen to what's being said. "We didn't get all the details, either," McGee is saying in a low voice. "I think Shepard wanted Tony to get this girl to fall in love with him so she'd tell him everything she knew, but Tony was already pretty much head over heels for Ziva."
"And Ziva's the one who sat at this desk before me?" Bax asks for clarification.
"Yep."
"The one in the picture behind DiNozzo's desk?"
"Yep."
"Hmm. Okay, so then what happened?"
"Well, turns out the daughter didn't know anything, or at least she didn't know much. Her dad—the arms dealer—found out, though, and had his guys take Tony hostage to get information out of him about what we knew," McGee shares.
"Was Tony okay?"
"Yeah. We tracked him to a warehouse in Baltimore and we got him out… but Ziva was hurt in the rescue. She almost died, actually. Pretty sure that has something to do with why she left."
"Enough gossiping, McChatty," Tony interrupts angrily, frustrated that his friend would speculate about things that don't concern him and that are still causing problems for Ziva. She doesn't deserve to be a topic of idle conversation—no, she should be here, helping with this current investigation.
"I wasn't gossiping, Tony," Tim retorts mildly, but he comes out from behind Bax's desk all the same. "Just giving Bax some background on the case before Jeanne Benoit gets here."
"Well, wrap it up, Elf Lord. She's here and you've got work to do." They all look up as Gibbs comes in from the elevator, Jeanne Benoit in tow.
She avoids Tony's eye, following Gibbs meekly until he gestures her toward McGee. "This is Special Agent Timothy McGee," he tells her, gruff as usual but not unkind. "He'll need your cell phone."
McGee gives a slightly awkward smile to Jeanne and gestures her toward his desk. "Here, have a seat." He pulls an extra chair over for her, waiting til she sits to go sit down himself. "I'm sure Tony told you, but if you give me your phone, I can run some diagnostics on it and see if we can find out where your dad was calling you from. It's really easy and it won't hurt your phone, I promise."
"I understand," Jeanne agrees softly.
Tony's been standing back, watching the proceedings with his hands in his pockets so he doesn't fidget, but when Jeanne glances his way again after handing Tim her phone, he realizes how creepy he must look. He strides to his desk, opening his email on his computer and trying to look like he's typing with a purpose. Not for the first time and not for the last, he wishes that Ziva was here… In addition to the usual reasons for missing her, she alone was included in the deception required by the case, and it would be nice to have someone to share the awkwardness with. He's sure he wouldn't be the only one receiving angry looks from Jeanne if they were both here.
Gibbs, as usual, seems unaffected by the uncomfortable air in the room, but so does Bax; Tony's starting to learn that very little phases her. He supposes it makes sense if she spends so much of her time around bombs.
She gets up and leaves for a minute or two, coming back with a glass of water. She pulls up a chair to sit next to Jeanne with a smile. "Here—drink this. You look like you could use it."
"Um, thanks," Jeanne answers, accepting the glass with an expression of bemusement on her face and taking a sip.
"I'm Bax. Sounds like you may know Tony, but we've never met. I'm new here."
"Saying I know Tony would be stretching it, but we've met, yes," Jeane replies cooly. Tony knows at once that her coldness is directed at him, not at Bax.
Bax still doesn't seem bothered, maybe realizing that, too. "He kind of screwed you over, didn't he?" she asks with an air of cheerfulness.
Tony throws her a dirty look before remembering that he's pretending not to pay attention to the conversation; Jeanne, on the other hand, laughs. "Maybe a little."
"This was a tough case on everyone, but it sounds like it was maybe hardest on you."
"You could say that again." Jeanne's smile to Bax is friendlier than any expression she's worn since walking in.
"You didn't have any idea what your dad was up to?" There's no accusation in the question.
"No. I wish I'd known, though."
"You couldn't have stopped him."
"How do you know?"
"Because my mother was a bomber. I tried to stop her a long time ago and figured out that I couldn't—well, I mean, I stopped her plot to blow up a building full of people, but I learned that I couldn't stop her from being who she wanted to be… whether that was who I wanted her to be or not."
Jeanne raises her eyebrows. "Where's your mom now?"
"In a prison where she belongs." Bax's voice is neutral, no more emotional than if she was discussing weather patterns.
"Do you ever visit her?"
Bax has a little smile on her face. "As often as I can. She's in Minnesota, though, so it's a bit of a drive. She's still my mom, though, you know?"
"Yeah," Jeanne says, her voice heavy with the weight of her agreement. "I know."
"Your dad is still your dad. And you're not a bad person for still caring what happens to him," Bax promises softly.
Jeanne opens her mouth to reply, but Tim awkwardly interrupts. "I'm finished with your phone now."
"Get a fix on La Grenouille's location?" Gibbs cuts in; Jeanne winces at the epithet, but no one seems to notice except Tony, who's having a hard time not watching her.
"No. Sorry, boss, I couldn't trace the call. It's a lot harder to do after the fact, sometimes impossible."
"Don't apologize, McGee." Gibbs stands and walks around his desk to stand on Jeanne's other side, studying her. "What can you tell us about that phone call?"
Jeanne shrugs helplessly. "He called from a number I didn't recognize. I'm a doctor and my cell phone is used alongside my pager to keep me in contact with the hospital when I'm on call, so I always answer calls no matter what number they're from. Anyway, my dad called late last night, when I was home alone. I didn't even have time to say much of anything to him, because he talked really quickly. Pretty much all he said was 'keep your head down and be careful, Jeanne. It's not safe. Trust Jenny Shepard.' Then I asked him where he was because he sounded really freaked out, and he didn't answer me. He just hung up. I tried to call him back and got a message that the phone was disconnected."
"That may be why I couldn't get anything on the call, boss," McGee interjects. "He hasn't turned his phone back on, and he may have destroyed it or taken the battery out."
"Did he try to reach you any other way?" Gibbs asks, ignoring McGee.
"Not that I know of."
"And do you know why he said it wasn't safe? Do you know about any specific threat to his life or yours?"
Jeanne purses her lips. "To be totally honest, I wasn't sure he didn't mean you guys… especially when Tony called me and mentioned that Jenny Shepard was his boss. Can't imagine why my dad would tell me to trust her if she was somehow involved in whatever's scaring him, though."
Gibbs shoots Tony a we'll-talk-about-this-later look, making him wince.
"Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary recently?" Gibbs continues. "Anyone who seemed like they might be following you or anything like that?"
Jeanne shakes her head.
"Okay. I'm going to have an agent stay with you for now while we look into this. You think of anything else and you call me, you got it? Me, not DiNozzo."
"Alright. But Agent Gibbs?"
Gibbs raises his eyebrow, waiting for an answer.
"Don't you hurt my dad."
Gibb's lips quirk up in a partial smile. "Won't if he doesn't make me, Jeanne."
Jeanne seems to accept that this is the best answer she's going to get to that request, because she nods and stands.
"DiNozzo. Walk her out and get Agent Moreno to follow her home. Tell him I'll contact him later to set up a detail rotation."
Tony purses his lips. "You sure you don't want Baxter on that, boss? She seems real friendly with Ms. Benoit. I wouldn't want to stand in the way of a couple of gal pals."
"I wouldn't mind," Bax agrees, smiling warmly at Jeanne—Jeanne, who is currently glaring at Tony.
"It wasn't a request, DiNozzo. See her out."
Tony sighs and gets to his feet, resigned. He hadn't really expected that one to work, anyway. "Jeanne, you ready?"
"I guess." She stiffly stands and approaches him. He holds out a hand toward the elevator, gesturing for her to walk on ahead so he can follow.
Once they're on the elevator, the awkward silence becomes nearly unbearable. Tony has the unstoppable urge to say something, but for once in his life, not a single damn word comes to mind.
The elevator dings and the doors open after the longest fifteen seconds of his life, and he steps out of the car with great relief. "Wait here for just a sec," he tells her with false confidence. "I'm going to call down Agent Moreno."
She nods and looks away, crossing her arms.
The call to the other agent is quick and painless, but he promises to be down in a few minutes that are sure to be uncomfortable… Tony can hardly leave Jeanne here by herself. He's got to say something, he thinks again as he slides his phone into his pocket.
What comes out of his mouth is something that neither of them expected. "If it helps," he shares quietly, "I didn't want to take that assignment because I didn't want to hurt you. I knew how it would end and it felt wrong. There was no one way around it, though."
"You knew I'd get hurt," Jeanne says, more fury in her voice again, "you knew it was wrong, and you accepted it anyway."
"Yes, I did," Tony agrees. "I didn't like it, but it needed to be done."
"Why me, though?" Jeanne snaps. "I know my dad did some shady things, but what did I ever do to any of you?"
"Absolutely nothing. That's why I didn't like the plan. But you have to understand… your dad has sold guns and bombs to insurgents in Afghanistan. He's sold them to North Korean operatives. He's armed members of the Russian mafia. The longer his arms empire stands, the more people die. Lots of people, Jeanne. Everyone from American soldiers to Siberian villagers, okay? We've been after him for years. Getting you involved wasn't a fun plan, it wasn't a nice one, but it's what we had to do after every other plan failed. And you know what? It worked. We got closer to him than we've been for a long time. We took out some of his men, people we know helped run his operation. So yes, I'm sorry for the hurt I caused you, but I can't take it back and I'm not sure I would if I was able to. This is bigger than you and me—surely you can see that!"
Tony finds himself getting a little angry, too, and he realizes for the first time that it's not all guilt churning inside his gut when he thinks of Jeanne. He's frustrated with her, too, irritated that her shortsightedness was and still is getting in the way of NCIS doing its job. Of course it sucks that she was pulled into this, but she's still defending the man who caused so many people so many problems.
Jeanne blinks at him for a few moments, and some of the anger leaves her face. "I'm sorry for what he did, too."
Tony sighs and half-smiles, shaking his head. "Like I said, it's not your fault. You didn't know what he was doing. Just… try not to hate me so much for doing my job, okay?"
"I don't hate you," Jeanne argues, more gentle now. "But can you blame me for being hurt? You lied to me when I thought we were friends."
"Of course I can't blame you. And Jeanne?"
"Yeah?"
"We were friends. Hope someday we might be again."
That makes Jeanne smile, much to Tony's surprise, and it gives him hope that maybe not all is lost here. "Hey, Tony, I meant to say this earlier, but… I'm sorry for what happened to Zena—um, Ziva, I mean, too. I'm glad she's okay now."
Tony nods and opens his mouth to reply, but then he pauses. "Did Gibbs tell you what happened?"
"No, why?"
"How'd you know what happened to Ziva? And me, for that matter?"
Jeanne looks a little confused. "I saw it on the news. I mean, your names weren't mentioned, but given how soon after Ziva came to talk to me that everything happened, it was pretty easy to figure out who the 'federal agent' and 'foreign liaison officer' were."
Tony considers this before nodding, accepting it. "So you didn't hear about any of it from René?"
Jeanne shakes her head. "I would have told you about it if I had. That phone call last night is the only contact I've had with him."
"Alright."
"Why, did you think I was hiding it from you?"
"Not on purpose, maybe, but people sometimes know more than they know they know, if that makes sense." He wants her to understand that he's not trying to accuse her. If they're ever going to rebuild their friendship—and he really hopes they can—then they need to be able to trust one another.
"I guess so."
Tony gives her a reassuring little smile. "You're going to be fine, okay? And look—here comes Special Agent Moreno," he adds as he sees his colleague exiting the nearby staircase. "Harvey Moreno, Jeanne Benoit. Jeanne Benoit, Harvey Moreno."
"Hello, Ms. Benoit. DiNozzo, I've got it from here."
Tony nods at the other man and then again at Jeanne. "Jeanne, Moreno'll keep you safe—nothing to worry about there. And you know how to reach me if you need me."
Jeanne nods back, glancing between Moreno and Tony for a moment. "Alright," she agrees finally. "Bye, Tony."
"Bye, Jeanne. Thanks for reaching out… it was the right thing to do."
Jeanne doesn't seem to know what to say to that, but she gives Tony a friendly enough wave as Moreno ushers her out the door. It's a start.
Later that night, Tony recounts the whole saga to Ziva when she calls him on the phone; it's quickly becoming a habit to talk to her at least a couple of times a week before bed. It tends to work out nicely, because with the difference in time zones, he's usually headed off to sleep around the time she's waking up in the morning. Tony finds that talking to Ziva before bed makes him sleep easier.
Tonight, though, something feels off. She's quiet as he explains what's going on with the La Grenouille case—usually, she interjects with her own opinions or insights (or just the occasional snarky comment) but tonight, she says nothing.
Tony finishes his story and pauses, waiting for an answer. "Ziva?" he finally prompts.
"I am sorry," she replies. "There is… not much I can say."
"Why not?"
"Because Israeli law forbids it." She's hedging her words, he can tell, and the why of it makes him suspicious.
"Israeli law wouldn't forbid you from talking about it unless Mossad was also working on this case," he points out.
Ziva lets out a sigh that clearly shows Tony that she regrets telling him about her obligation to keep quiet on Mossad affairs. "I cannot confirm that."
"You don't have to," Tony answers, feeling a little stung. "You know something, don't you?"
"I cannot confirm that, either."
He snorts in reply, frustrated. "You could, but you won't."
"No, Tony, I truly cannot," she replies, her inflection matching his. She's angry with him for pushing. "It is treason to reveal information without express permission to do so."
"Pretty sure I wasn't supposed to tell you anything about this case in the first place, but I did because I cared about you." The comparison isn't quite fair, but Tony isn't feeling particularly generous right now.
"Do not put that on me!" Ziva snaps. "You and I both know that you 'butt-dialed' me on purpose, not because you thought I should know but because it suited your own agenda!"
Tony almost hangs up on her then and there. "That's low, Ziva, and you know it. Are you saying you wish I hadn't done it?"
"I am saying that both of us are still in trouble because of that decision."
"Doesn't answer my question. Do you wish I hadn't?"
"That is not a fair question to which to demand an answer!"
"Answer the damn question, Ziva."
"No. I will not. And Tony, just because you were willing to break the rules does not mean that I can do so. Personal feelings are irrelevant."
"Yeah, because you're just gonna take what Daddy says lying down like you always do," Tony snarls.
He knows at once that for the second time today, he's crossed a big line, but he's frustrated enough not to care. This has been a day from hell from pretty much the beginning to the end, and Ziva certainly isn't going out of her way to make him feel better.
On her end, Ziva wrestles with the urge to simply hang up on her boyfriend. She has to believe, though, that he's speaking only out of frustration, not voicing what he genuinely thinks. If that isn't true, she might as well cut him out of her life entirely now—it would certainly uncomplicate her life quite a bit.
She lets the silence drag on for close to half a minute before replying. When she does, her voice is very tight, controlled. She's stepping once more behind the mask that hides her emotions. "I am going to hang up now," she informs Tony stonily. "I do not wish to speak with you when you are acting like this. Do not call me back—I will reach out to you when I am ready to talk again. Good night."
Then she does ring off, fuming.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but as several days go by without talking to Ziva, Tony only grows more and more angry with her. He understands her obligation to Mossad, especially where her father is concerned, but he thinks she should at least be able to talk Eli into combining whatever investigation that's happening in Israel with the one conducted by NCIS.
Days turn into a week with no contact, though, and with little progress on the La Grenouille case, Tony starts to feel… defeated. His frustration fades and he gets quieter and more reserved at work, making his team minorly concerned about him.
When Ziva finally calls him again, he's not sure how he's feeling. "Hello?" His voice is somewhat subdued.
"Tony?"
"Yes?"
"I was not sure from your voice if it was really you."
"It's me."
"Are you alright?"
Tony lets out a breath that's almost a silent laugh. "I thought you were supposed to be mad at me."
"I am."
"Then why—"
"Because the fact that I am angry does not mean that I do not care, Tony!"
Tony processes that as he hears Ziva take a deep breath, collecting herself.
"Alright," he agrees, totally sober again. "So what did you want to talk about?"
"Why do you think I have a specific subject in mind?"
Tony emits an almost-laugh again and speaks without heat. "Because you're still pissed at me, Ziva, but you called anyway. I'm not stupid."
Ziva is quiet for a moment, and Tony thinks about how much he's missed talking to her in the last week. "I made a decision, Tony," she answers softly.
"That sounds ominous."
"It is," Ziva agrees, a bit of a smile in her voice, "but not for you."
"What do you mean?"
"I made a decision about… who I am loyal to."
This time, Tony doesn't prompt Ziva, electing to wait for her to gather her thoughts instead.
"I have thought at length about what you said, and while I am still not happy with the way you spoke to me, I believe you may have a decent point. Breaking this specific Israeli law amounts to treason, it is true, but only if my breaking the law becomes known to others."
"What does that have to do with loyalty?"
"It has to do with loyalty because I realized that my… misguided since of loyalty to Eli is part of what was driving me to withhold information from you, yes? It was not simply about betraying Israel, it was about letting down my father again. Regardless, however, I finally reached the conclusion that it is safe to tell you, because you would not tell Eli of my misdeeds, no matter what they were—would you?"
"Of course I wouldn't, Ziva."
"And that is something I should have never questioned."
"It's alright. I shouldn't have thrown that line about Eli at you, either. I'm sorry—I didn't mean it. I was just frustrated," Tony admits, regret heavy in his tone.
"Please try not to do it again. It was difficult to get past the feeling that you thought I was like him. I am not like him."
"I know you're not," Tony assures her emphatically. "You're… I don't even know how I could describe you. He's the scum of the earth, if you ask me, a real Norman Bates. But you, Ziva, you're everything he's not. You're empathetic and kind, even if you usually keep that to yourself. You're the best person I know. The only thing you have in common with Eli is a last name and, I'm guessing, a high IQ."
"You really mean that?"
"I do."
"Thank you, Tony." She sounds so warm again, loving, and Tony feels something hard in his chest melt away.
"I'm sorry you needed the reassurance, though. I was just lashing out—I had no idea you'd take it to heart," Tony confesses.
"Perhaps I should not have. Oh, and Tony?"
"Mm?"
"I do not regret what you did. It may have made things harder for both of us, but what we have gained is more than worth it."
Tony grins. "I think so, too. Thanks, Z."
"Any time."
Unfortunately, though Tony's personal life has gotten better again, his professional one hasn't. They're still infuriatingly far off from catching La Grenouille once and for all, though he's gone curiously silent. All activity they can find has stopped since Tony's abduction, and any whispers they hear about the man himself turn up nothing new.
Ziva has promised to pass along anything relevant that she learns from Mossad, but all she really knows is that her organization is after the man, too. Her father is shutting her out of the investigation.
After another few weeks—roughly a month after Ziva's departure—they hesitantly tell Jeanne that they think she's in no danger at the present time. She agrees to stopping the protection detail, promising to call them if she hears anything new. Gibbs mutters later that he hopes they're not just being lulled into a false sense of security, and Tony agrees. Surely the other shoe will drop at some point.
For now, though, they have other things to focus on, other cases that have come and gone during the renewed La Grenouille investigation.