A/N: Progressing. Next chapter will see some action picking up, and um, Abby, who we forgot about.
Thanks for the reviews- pleeeease keep them coming, we'll love you forever.
Tony strolled into the delightfully non-descript building that masqueraded as a market and apartments behind Gibbs. The building was actually a CIA safe house that the CIA was not currently using, and they had ever so graciously (after much protest) lent the property to the NCIS and FBI fusion tour of 2010, as Tony had had taken to calling it.
"I read in the naval officers who are permanently stationed here," Tony said, continuing the narrative of his last two days to Gibbs, "And they understand they are not enduring DOD oversight, and that they should not say anything about my actual employer, the FBI, or Ziva."
He took a breath to keep talking, and was met with a swift slap to the back of the head. "Ow." Tony squeaked. "What was that for?"
"It's Lina Aperador, not Ziva." Gibbs replied. Tony rolled his eyes behind Gibb's back. He knew that, but he didn't like it. That was the cover her father has designed for her nine years ago and its how this Varnaz guy knew her, but she was his Ziva. He followed Gibbs into the control room where McGee was waiting for them. In the uniform of a Navy sailor.
Tony tried to remain calm and professional in front of Gibbs and the handful of FBI agents sitting around, but he couldn't do it. He burst out laughing, and only stopped when Gibbs slapped him again. He composed himself, but somehow the sight of McGee standing in front of him looking all indignant made it even funnier and another round of laughter escaped. As Gibbs shook his head and headed for his desk, Tony realized how badly he wished Ziva were there to witness McGee in uniform.
"Sorry Probie." Tony finally gasped, wiping a tear from his eye and willing himself not to start laughing again.
"It's not funny Tony," McGee said, "I…"
He was cut off by Gibbs. "McGee!" he bellowed, causing his junior agent to jump and practically dive for the desk he had been assigned. "I want everything you have on this Varnaz Terzian."
"Right boss. Well the name is Armenian, which is where he was born. His father owns the largest chemical production company in Armenia, and his mother was a French actress."
"And?" Gibbs prompted. McGee and Tony glanced at each other and Tony winced; Gibbs already sounded annoyed- definitely not a good sign this early in a case.
"And, uh, other than what we already know from Ziva, that's all I have boss. There's absolutely nothing in this guy's background to suggest he's anything other than a rich playboy."
"I checked with a buddy at Homeland, boss," Tony supplied, "Same story. This guy's good."
Gibbs shook his head. "Nobody is that good. Work with Ziva when she gets in. I want to know everyone this guy has ever talked to, passed on the street, or breathed on in the last nine years."
"Ziva goes by Lina here boss." Tony reminded him. Gibbs shot him a glare that definitely would have killed him if looks could. "Right, you know that, I'll stop helping." Tony said quickly, sinking into a chair. He watched Gibbs pound at his keyboard, and then he watched McGee pound at his, in a more frantic, less angry way than Gibbs.
Tony was just starting to get moody from boredom and too much energy when the sound of heels coming down the hall caused him to lift his head up and… "Fuck me." He murmured as Ziva entered the room in her usual way, sliding around the door and shutting it quietly behind her.
Tony met her gaze and kept his expression neutral as he flicked his eyes to her feet and took in her three inch heels, her tight white pants, and her turquoise top that seemed to be tight and loose in all the right places; it left her arms bare and more than a hint of cleavage exposed. His eyes made their way- after lingering on that cleavage- past her collar bone to the hair that spilled over her shoulders to finally meet her eyes.
She was smirking at him, daring him to say he didn't like it. Tony could tell she knew he was spellbound, and that usually meant he'd let her win, but he kept his expression neutral, hoping she'd take the bait and get closer to him. "Not bad, David." He said, shrugging.
Ziva's smirk deepened, and, thank you Jesus, Mary and Joseph, she made her way to the desk Tony was occupying. He spun his chair around so his back was to the computer, and grinned at her. She put her hands on the arms of his chair and leaned in close enough for Tony to smell her shampoo- and see right down her shirt. Ziva held her position like she was the cool one, like she was controlled, but she was so acutely aware of her proximity to his lips that the tingling in her stomach had spread to her toes.
If she moved a few inches toward him, their lips would practically be touching. Ziva realized with a start that she actually had moved toward him; her heart skipped a beat and her pulse quickened.
Tony stared back at her, his hands curling into fists. He was trying very hard to avoid all of the instincts in his body that were telling him to grab her hips and pull her onto his lap- immediately. Her poker face had dropped, and Tony thought he might actually win this round when she recovered and put one hand on his chest, using it to push herself back into an upright position. "Not bad indeed." She murmured.
"Whoa." Came McGee's voice from behind her. "How come you don't dress like that at home Ziva?" She turned around, a retort on the tip of her tongue. Instead she faltered and looked at Tony, who was starting to laugh again himself. The two of them went through several rounds of laughter before Ziva could choke out a reply to McGee through her hysterics.
"How come you do not dress like that at home, McGee?"
Gibbs left the building, annoyed. He set out on his search for coffee, thoughts tumbling around in his head. He had a nagging feeling about this case. Of course, that wasn't too unusual, especially with terrorists involved, but there was just something about this one that made him uneasy.
It was the underlying fear when the whole story unraveled, it would be something bigger than he and Fornell could control or stop. That and his increasing worry about Ziva. It was strange; of all of them, he usually worried about her the least, but she was holding something back. Gibbs was sure of it, and even more sure that finding out what she wasn't telling was the key to keeping her safe.
Of course, for all of their safety, they'd have to start working. Gibbs entered a café as soon as he smelled coffee and ordered the largest size they had. He was going to need it, especially if his team kept pissing him off this much.
Ever since he and Fornell had run into Tony and Ziva, Gibbs realized he had chosen to ignore the shift in their behavior. Their teasing was entirely flirtatious now; their bickering had turned into banter and even though he hadn't consciously acknowledged it until now, it wasn't surprising. Gibbs had known this would happen since Ziva's second week with the team. Eventually, they were going to figure out how good they were for each other, and stop hiding their feelings with their childish behavior and sexual innuendos.
He knew it was going to happen, and thankfully they'd given him five years to adjust to the idea, and he was basically okay with it. They would work it out, and Gibbs knew DiNozzo hadn't waited all this time just to screw it up. He just wished they didn't have to start working it out now. None of them were focused, and this case was serious.
Gibbs sighed, hoping head slapping was enough to get them in line and entered the building. He was heading up the back stairwell when voices floated down and met his ears.
"This is your fault," Tony was saying, "You would do well to work on your self control." Gibbs knew from his tone he was talking to Ziva.
"That is unexpected." She shot back. Gibbs could hear the smile in her voice. "I thought you had a thing for crazy Israeli chicks with impulse issues."
There was a pause as Tony chuckled. "Yea, you're right." There was another brief silence until Tony spoke again. "I've never seen you laugh like that before."
"We have never seen McGee in a Navy uniform before." She said with another giggle.
"I couldn't help but notice your uniform." Tony said. Gibbs rolled his eyes, recalling how his senior field agent noticed his partner's undercover attire with a full body stare that Ziva let go on for about three minutes.
Gibbs heard an exhale of air, and guessed Ziva was stretching, which never failed to get Tony's attention. "What do you think?" she asked, "Better than McGee's?"
"Much. You should wear that outfit every day."
Ziva laughed teasingly. "Oh trust me; you will want to see what else I brought."
Tony gave her a low whistle and Gibbs started climbing the stairs. He definitely didn't want to be down there if they took this any further.
"I love going undercover." He heard Tony say.
"Is that right, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, pausing on the landing in front of them. They were sitting side by side, close enough for their thighs to touch, and before they had turned their heads to look at him, they had been looking at each other. When he turned to address Gibbs, there was an expression on Tony's face even his boss had never seen.
"Have you two solved the case? Because if you haven't you better have a damn good reason for sitting around." Tony and Ziva looked at each other and shared a sheepish smile. "A reason I'd like to hear before my coffee gets cold." Gibbs demanded.
"Uh, well, we were having some trouble composing ourselves…" Ziva started.
"And Fornell kicked us out." Tony finished.
Gibbs smirked. "He put you on time out. Good work, Tobias."
"Time out?" Ziva echoed.
"Yea, it's what parents call it out when they make their kids sit and do nothing."
"And that's a punishment?"
"Uh huh."
"Explains a lot about this country." Gibbs rolled his eyes. This was unbelievable. They should have been scrambling to get back on his good side, not having a conversation like he wasn't even there. To their credit they seemed to realize this. Ziva slapped the back of her own head and then Tony's.
"Sorry Gibbs," she muttered, "We will get back to work."
Gibbs smiled and walked around them. "Not until your time out is over."
Tony rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The team (plus Fornell) was theorizing in their make shift squad room, which was proving to be a pretty good stand in for their actual squad room. McGee had even set up a plasma, which currently had Varnaz Terzian's picture on it.
Tony was studying Varnaz, who he was pretty sure Ziva had slept with during her Mossad op. She hadn't said anything about it; in fact she had been careful not to say much about him at all, which made Tony pretty sure she'd slept with him. He studied his face; the guy was good looking, but definitely not Ziva's type. Of course no one would ever think that he was Ziva's type either.
Tony wasn't jealous, exactly, since it was for a mission, but it definitely made him like this guy less, which was something, given what they suspected him of. But it wasn't the terrorist thing that was giving Tony pause; it was the Ziva thing. He had a bad feeling that wasn't subsiding that there was more to her relationship with this guy than she was letting on. As his mind wandered to Die Another Day, when the bad guy disguised himself as a rich playboy, as their friend Varnaz had done, something clicked.
"What if the weapons didn't matter?" he asked out loud.
"Interesting theory," Fornell said thoughtfully, "Where'd you get that one, DiNozzo?"
"James Bond." Tony answered matter of factly, causing Ziva to snort and stifle her laughter. She stood up and walked around her desk, leaning against it.
"Could have been a test run." Tony suggested.
"Yea, but they got caught." McGee said dubiously.
"It is still a good theory." Ziva said. "Especially considering they could have wanted the weapons to be found."
"Why would they want the weapons to be found?" McGee asked.
"When you find a carton filled with stolen automatic weapons, it kind of keeps you from looking for anything else." Tony supplied. He shared a glance with Ziva, who was nodding quickly.
"Exactly. Perhaps there was something else on the ship that was the true test."
"The ship is still in DC." Gibbs said. "McGee call the Director. Have him send a team down to go over every inch of that ship." McGee nodded and started dialing.
"You think they're right, Gibbs?" Fornell asked.
"It's a plausible theory, Tobias. And once we get to know more about this guy-" he jerked his thumb at the plasma- "We can determine the what and why and see if it matches up."
"And how do we get to know that guy?"
"I may have an answer to that." Ziva twisted to see where the familiar voice was coming from, and saw Agent Sacks.
"What the hell is here doing here?" Tony asked, rising from his chair.
"You have got to be kidding me." Ziva muttered. They moved to the middle of the room and Ziva crossed her arms over her chest.
"Agent Sacks was Fornell's choice for his senior agent on this case." Gibbs said.
"Is that a problem?" Fornell asked.
"Uh, yea," Tony shot back, "It is actually." Ziva nodded her agreement.
"Oh come on, DiNozzo." Sacks said.
"You accused us both of murder." Ziva said, glaring at him.
"With good reason!" Sacks exclaimed.
"Enough." Gibbs said sounding disgusted. "Work it out. Agent Sacks, you were saying?"
"We've been doing surveillance and recon since we got here. We know where Varnaz and his people hang out. Officer David, since you're the resident expert on this guy,"
"Agent." Tony interrupted. "She's Agent David now." Sacks rolled his eyes.
"Sorry, Agent David. Do you think we should send you to him or let word get out your back in town?" Ziva hesitated, and Gibbs answered for her.
"He'll come to her. Fornell and I need to talk. We're going for coffee. I want a plan by the time we get back."
McGee wandered over to where Tony, Ziva and Sacks were standing as their bosses left. "You think he'll catch on and seek you out, Ziva?" He asked. Sacks turned to her and looked her up and down.
"I know I would." He murmured. Ziva moved toward him, but Tony beat her there. He grabbed Sacks by the hand and pushed down hard on the sensitive pressure point near his thumb.
"You ever look at her like that again, and I will kill you." He said in his ear before striding past him and grabbing his chair. "Okay team. Campfire!"
Gibbs and Fornell returned twenty minutes later, and despite Gibb's demand that a plan be developed, they were expecting bloodshed. Or at least stony stares and angry silence, which explained the surprise Gibbs felt when they were sitting in a circle in the middle of the room.
"What the hell is that?" Fornell muttered to him.
"Campfire." Gibbs said simply.
"DiNozzo?" Fornell asked.
Gibbs nodded in confirmation. "DiNozzo."
"I think we got something boss." Tony said. He gave Sacks a large, slightly mocking grin. "Agent Sacks, since this was your initial idea, perhaps you would like to take the floor." Gibbs rolled his eyes at Fornell who shook his head at their agents.
"Thank you, Agent DiNozzo," Sacks said in his own slightly mocking tone, "We focused on the best way to draw Varnaz to Ziva, uh, Agent David. I was thinking we could send her and DiNozzo to one of the bars his friends hang out at. On a date. They sit around and flirt with each, word gets back, he seeks her out immediately." Gibbs and Fornell exchanged a glance.
"Jealousy is a powerful motivator." Fornell pointed out. Gibbs raised his eyebrows in agreement, and focused his gaze on Tony and Ziva.
"David. DiNozzo. Figure out how you're going to do this without blowing your covers. McGee, Sacks, find a place that we can survey, and work with the other agents to set up security. I want to do this tomorrow night."