woah that was a lot of reviews! thank you so much, keep it up! lol. Just forgot to say thank you to Rinne for the excellent betaing of both Blackout and Insanity and all those other little ones - hope you can find a better writer to beta :) and to Abby-88 for the beating of this story - you people make me look good
Ziva and McGee watched as covertly as possible as Gibbs stared at the elevator doors. Occasionally they would be caught watching him and would be glared at but then a second later Gibbs gaze would go back to the doors. No-one knew why Fornell would want to speak to Tony privately and it was driving Gibbs nuts. He finished the last of his coffee, crumpled the paper cup with a tight angry fist and then threw it in the trash. He stood up, making McGee jump slightly and then walked purposefully to the elevator. He began pacing back and forth in front of the doors and both Ziva and McGee knew that he wouldn't leave until he had answers.
"What do you think is going on?" McGee asked Ziva.
Ziva looked up at McGee and shrugged. "We'll know when we need to know," she answered.
"Aren't you even a little bit curious?"
Ziva narrowed her eyes. "Yes."
"And?" McGee prompted.
"And you're distracting me from my work, almost like a certain pain in the ass who sits opposite me," McGee immediately looked offended and Ziva smiled.
"What's this about Fornell?" Tony asked as soon as elevator doors closed. Fornell held up a hand to silence Tony. He turned to the wall and flicked the emergency stop button, sending the elevator into darkness and stopping it in it's tracks.
"Woah," Tony breathed "Déjà vu," He whispered. Fornell turned back to Tony, ignoring his mutterings.
"This is about a terror cell buying weapons from the US."
"Ok, but why are you talking to me about this and not Gibbs?" Tony questioned.
"You have a connection to the perps we're trying to catch," Fornell answered.
Tony's eyebrows shot up "I do?"
"We believe a large shipment of arms will be leaving the US sometime in the next fortnight. We've checked with all the shipping companies and all but one are clean."
"And that one is?"
Fornell paused before answering "DiNozzo Enterprises."
Tony's normally sunny disposition turned cloudy "Funny, sounded like you're accusing my father of selling guns to terrorists"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
"No."
"DiNozzo," Fornell spoke more forcefully. This is why he didn't like working with other agencies.
"No! No no! My father may not have ever won father-of-the-year but he's not a criminal. He's a business man"
Fornell shrugged "All business men are criminals."
Tony shook his head vehemently "I don't believe you, he wouldn't do that. He ships electronics, he doesn't even ship Swiss army knifes let alone AK47's!"
"Whether you like it or not, your father is involved in this."
Tony paced back and forth in the tiny space before slipping down the wall and crouching on the floor. After a second he looked up at Fornell, "So why involve me in this?"
"We want someone on the inside."
Tony laughed flatly, "I don't believe this is happening."
"All we want you to do is go home, snoop around and send us what you find. We need to stop those guns getting to Bin Laden DiNozzo, you're the only one who can successfully infiltrate DiNozzo Enterprises without anyone being suspicious."
Tony stood up "I haven't spoken to my father in five years and I haven't seen him in nearly ten. You expect me to just turn up on the doorstep and hope my father will welcome me home with open arms?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I expect you to do."
Five minutes later the door opened and Gibbs was greeted by a solemn looking NCIS agent and the ever stoic FBI agent. Tony turned to Fornell and pointed sharply at his chest.
"I'll do this Fornell, only to prove you wrong," Tony stepped out of the elevator and pushed passed Gibbs mumbling something about needing fresh air. Gibbs let him go, instead he stepped into the elevator.
"Time for you to let me in Fornell," he said before the elevator doors closed.