Chapter Eleven
"David, you have the file Staff Sergeant Barton," Gibbs barked as came into the bullpen while leading Tony by his elbow.
He led Tony to his old desk and left him there allowing him to find his way from there. Of course, Tony had more than one morning found his way to his desk with his eyes closed, especially after Saki bombing.
"Yes, Gibbs, I have it," she said.
"And?" he prompted her.
"It appears he made the one mistake in his career and was dishonorably discharged for it," she said. "Other than he is an exemplary marine."
Gibbs walked over to McGee's desk and placed the flash drives down on the desk and looked at him.
"Decode these, we need to know what the hell is on them," he said.
"Yes, boss," said McGee.
"David, Ford. Go to Barton's place and search it," Gibbs ordered even though he knew that Tony and Simms had searched it already.
"Search warrant?" Ziva asked.
"I'll call one in and should have it for you by the time you get there. This may involve terrorism," Gibbs said. "Where is this Billy Simms?"
Ziva and Ford got their weapons and hustled out of the bullpen to the elevator.
"Right here," he walked into the bullpen with a slight hitch in his walk and carrying a coffee.
Gibbs took a quick appraisal of him: "Alright, marine, can you still run?"
"Every morning three miles, a seven minute mile, chief," he said.
Gibbs smiled. He was a marine: "I was a gunny, marine."
"Okay, gunny," he said.
"Okay, you need to qualify at the range, so you can carry a weapon and since I expect you to have DiNozzo's six, I'll expect you to carry a weapon," said Gibbs.
"I just might have gotten us a job, Billy," Tony said sitting at his desk.
"Oh," he replied.
"I'll arrange some time on the range for you, marine," Gibbs said.
"Ooohrah," said Billy.
"Once a marine always a marine," said Gibbs.
"What do you want me to do, Gibbs?" asked Tony.
"Sit tight for now. I'll have something for you soon, DiNozzo. It seems we have to check up to you and Simms," said Gibbs.
"Hey, boss, do you mind if I take these down to Abby's computer?" McGee said.
"Go," he said and McGee hustled off.
"I need a coffee. I'll be back," said Gibbs who then walked out of the bullpen leaving just Billy and Tony.
"Okay, everyone is gone and we are still here," said Billy.
"Get used to it," smiled Tony.
NCIS
Ford and Ziva had returned from the apartment with bags of evidence. Tony was alone in the bullpen and seated at his old desk with his i-Pod on and listening to a book on tape. This had become his way of dealing with situations when he was getting bored. Just seeing him there brought a smile to Ziva's face. He looked happy.
"Ford, bring the evidence to Abby," she said.
Ford took the bags and left. Ziva stealthily made her way to Tony and was about to touch his cheek, when Tony's right hand came up and grabbed her right wrist. He pulled the earbuds out of his ears with his left hand.
"Buck has ruined all my fun with you. I must talk to him," Ziva said.
"I won't put up a fight if you try to kiss me, though," Tony said.
Ziva leaned into him and first licked his lips before kissing him. He smiled as he left her tongue caress his lips then she captured his lips with her own.
"Not at work," growled Gibbs as he entered with Billy.
Ziva quickly backed away.
"She was taking advantage of a blind guy, Gibbs. It wasn't my fault," said Tony.
"Taking advantage of you my ass," said Gibbs.
"Sorry, Gibbs. It won't happen again," said Ziva.
"Yes, it will," Gibbs sighed.
"Hey, Tony, I qualified easily on the range. I guess all that marine training was good for something. Now Gibbs is going to help me get gun permit," said Billy.
"Hey, I wonder if I could qualify," smiled Tony. "All you have to do is point me in the right direction."
"Very funny, DiNozzo," Gibbs growled, though a smile formed on his lips. "Has McGee cracked the code yet?"
"He hasn't called me yet, Gibbs. I've been forgotten about here in the bullpen," Tony said.
"No one has forgotten about you, Ahuvi," said Ziva.
"I liked it better when you two fought," remarked Gibbs.
Gibbs picked up the phone and called Abby's lab.
"Abby, what can I do you for?" she answered.
"Put McGee on," Gibbs said.
"No, sugar, Gibster. My feelings are hurt," she said.
"Okay. Abby, put McGee on before I head slap him," he said.
"Yeah, boss," answered McGee after a short delay.
"Code. Flash drives. Information," Gibbs said.
"Still working on it, boss," he said.
"Work faster," Gibbs hung up.
He looked at DiNozzo sitting doing nothing and Ziva glancing over looking at DiNozzo. Ziva's need to be with him right now radiated off of her, which Gibbs found disconcerting. He then noticed Simms sitting in a chair in front of Tony's desk looking more than a little bored.
"Marine, go home," he ordered then he looked at Ziva. "David, take DiNozzo home and bring him back with you tomorrow. And, DiNozzo, bring your laptop tomorrow so you can work on your own."
"Thank you, Gibbs," said Ziva.
"You're a mensch, boss," said Tony.
Ziva walked over to escort Tony to the elevator. As he got up he grabbed her by the waist, drew her close and kissed her with everything he had.
"DiNozzo, what did I tell you about that?" growled Gibbs.
"You wouldn't hurt the disabled, Gibbs," he said causing Ziva to giggle.
"Get out of here," Gibbs said.
"Going, Gibbs," said Ziva, as she led Tony away.
Gibbs took the flask, which was a gift from Shannon and Kelly, lifted it as a toast to Ziva and Tony then took a swig of bourbon.
NCIS
Ziva couldn't help herself. When they got home, she enticed him into their bedroom and made love. She needed to touch him, feel his heat, his skin, and be with him, and he didn't put up a fight. She was the reason he was handling what happened to him better than expected. He needed her. Afterwards they ordered pizza, a food group she was trying to wean him from. It was delivered and then ate in their robes.
"I have an appointment to see the house in Potomac," she said. "I'll put in a bid if I like it as much as I think I will."
"Excellent," he said. "Who is going with you?"
"Jimmy," she answered. "It appears he is searching for a house for Breena and himself and he knows something about houses."
"Jimmy, the autopsy Gremlin, comes up big. I definitely owe him," he said as he bit in his sausage, pepperoni and extra cheese slice.
"Are you sure about this? I do not want to force you into anything you do not want to do," she said. "I would understand if you wanted to keep the status quo."
"Zi, I want a house with you," he said.
"So, I am not forcing you into anything, yes?" she said.
"No, you're not," he smiled.
"I do not want to force anything, Tony," Ziva said.
"Same here," Tony said.
"You are not forcing me into anything," she said.
"So, you want to get married?" he smiled.
Ziva took a bit of her slice of pizza then she realized what he had just said. Tony had proposed marriage to her. Was she hearing things? No, she correctly heard him. He wanted to marry her.
"Ahuvi, did you just ask me to marry you?" Ziva asked him just make be clear.
"As long as I'm not forcing you into it, I thought it might be a good idea. You see I can't imagine meeting anyone I'd rather live my life with than you. If you haven't noticed, I'm crazy about you Ziva David," he said.
Ziva dropped her slice on her plate on the coffee table then took his slice and dropped it on his plate. She then climbed into his lap and kissed him. He could feel the warmth flowing through her body as she undid her robe then his robe so that they skin was touching.
"Is this a yes?" he asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"I need to buy you a ring," he said.
"Yes," she said.
"I love you," he said.
"Yes," she said kissed him.
NCIS
Bringing his laptop into work with him, Tony and Ziva came into work in a sublimely good mood, even though they were running late for work. Billy was already there and Gibbs was in full growl as he let Ford know that he wanted to go down to Abby's lab and drag McGee up to the bullpen with two readable flash drives. Ford whizzed past Ziva and Tony. She led him to his old desk and then she turned to face the wrath of Gibbs.
"Why are you so late?" he barked.
"Tony proposed to me last night and I said yes. I got carried away this morning when I thought about the fact we are getting married," she said while looking straight into the eyes of Gibbs.
Tony waited for the storm and fury of Gibbs to wash over them, but it didn't come. Ziva was surprised to see him smiled then he walked over and gave a warm hug.
"Congratulations, Ziva," he said.
"Thank you, Abba," she said softly.
He kissed the top of her head then walked over to Tony's desk. Even though he couldn't see Tony felt Gibbs' eyes trained on him.
"The stare doesn't work anymore with me, Gibbs," said Tony with a smile.
"You know how I feel about her, Tony," said Gibbs.
"She is like a daughter to you," he said.
"And you know how I feel about you," said Gibbs.
"I don't suck," smirked Tony.
"I wouldn't say that," smiled Gibbs. "Take care of her."
"We will take care of each other," said Ziva.
"Good," he said. "I need a coffee."
Gibbs left them with Billy staring at them.
"Congratulations, Tony and Ziva," said Billy.
"Thanks, Billy," said Tony.
"You are invited to the wedding whenever it is," said Ziva.
"Good. Maybe I'll have re-mastered dancing by then," he laughed.
"Jesus, that reminds me, Zi, we are going to have to practice dancing," Tony said.
"We can do that," she smiled.
NCIS
McGee had finally broke the code. One flash drive had information about two of Manny Esteban's selling drugs for terrorists so that they could raise money to continue their war on the world. It was enough to open up an investigation into Manny and his relationship with the Afghanistan based Muslim Jihad.
It appeared that from his notes Barton was appalled when he found where the drugs came from and what was being done with the Muslim Jihads half of the drug money. He wanted to get more information on future shipments so that they could be stopped. Barton really was a good marine.
The second flash had information about Mike Macaluso, Jr. was in the process of retaking lost territory and lost reputation. He was doing this with bribes and payoffs to some Baltimore cops as well as selling guns to Muslim Jihad to raise money for his family's comeback. Again there was enough evidence to start an investigation.
After hear all of this Gibbs stood up and looked over at Tony and Simms: "You are right. Barton is probably dead somewhere. God knows if we'll be able to recover the body, but we can make sure his effect isn't wasted. DiNozzo, you're coming with me to speak to Vance."
"This is a mess, boss," said Tony.
"And we are going to clean it up," said Gibbs.
NCIS
Vance sat with a smile on his face. DiNozzo had brought them a goldmine which he was going to mine until he had Esteban, Macaluso, and the Muslim Jihad. He slid a badge down to Gibbs.
"Give that to DiNozzo," he said.
Gibbs handed it to Tony. For a moment felt what it was then his face lit up with a smile.
"You are reinstated as an agent with access to the field, but not a field agent. I am working with the Marine Corp to have Simms reinstated into the marines then transferred to Marine CID and assigned to Anthony DiNozzo as his driver and assistant," said Vance. "SecNav has given me the okay to test my crime scene analyst position. I'll be ordering specialized equipment for you and setting up an area for you and Simms."
"The area beside the bullpen is still empty," said Gibbs.
"I'll look at it," said Vance. "You don't take unnecessary chances, DiNozzo. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," said Tony.
"You can start going into the field once we have Simms taken care of," said Vance.
"Yes, sir," said Tony. "And thank you, sir."
"You'll work with Gibbs MCRT on this one. In the future you'll work with teams throughout the system when they need, excuse the expression, a fresh set of eyes to look at a case," said Vance. "Now nail this Esteban and Macaluso and get me enough to send Seal Team six after Muslim Jihad."
"We're on it, Leon," said Gibbs.
"I expect this to be a long one, Gibbs, so overtime and anything else you need consider Okayed," said Vance.
"Alright, Leon," said Gibbs then he reached for Tony's elbow. "Let's get to work, DiNozzo."
A rush went through both men. Gibbs had feared he'd never work with Tony again, as Tony feared he'd never work with Gibbs. Now they were back together and it felt right.