Chapter Two
Six Months Later
It took two months for Tony to get over being shot in the gut. Fornell babied him and even forced him to stay in his Arlington, VA house, which was nice. He enjoyed Emily, who now called him her big brother. Four days back on the job and they pulled him from Fornell Team and threw him into a haphazard undercover op to catch someone selling a nuclear suitcase. It was ill conceived, not thought out well enough and ended up after two and half months with one undercover agent dead, tortured in front of Tony, and Tony in the hospital from gunshot wound in the thigh after beating beaten to the point he had three broken ribs and a broken left wrist.
It took six weeks to overcome this hospital stay and wound. Tomorrow he was due back to work on Monday and back on Fornell's Team, which was back where he wanted to be. Tony decided to celebrate his return to Fornell and work by going to a new jazz club at the U Street Corridor section of DC. Dressed in a pair of jeans, a black Hugo Boss dress shirt, a black Armani blazer, and black cashmere coat, he grabbed his Glock, FBI badge and ID, and keys to his black 2011 Ford Mustang GT.
When Tony got to the club, a jazz quartet was on the stage playing La Ronde Suite. As he headed for the bar to sit on a stool and nurse a few drinks for the night while listening to the music, he scanned the tables. It didn't take long for him to see Gibbs' MCRT along with a raven haired Goth dressed like something out of anime. As his eyes fell on Agent David, who was in a skirt and silk shirt, he assumed they were out on some kind of double dating. In his last four years in Iraq and Afghanistan, he did no dating though he did manage to hook up with a succession of nurses, female soldiers, and female TV reporters. It was getting to the point that he was starting to think relationships were beyond his ability to comprehend. But if he could comprehend one, He hoped she looked like Agent David. Taking his cashmere overcoat off, he placed it a stool next to him then turned and looked at one of the three bartenders the long bar had.
"Give me a Dewar's 12 on the rocks," he said.
"Top shelf," the bartender smiled.
Tony put a hundred dollar bill on the bartender. When that one was used up with tips and drinks, he'd put another. Quartet finished one song and went in Django next. He had to admit that they were a talented quartet. Closing his eyes, Tony sipped his drink and got lost in the music for a few moments. It had been a long few moments. He'd seen Tommy Freeman tortured with pliers and a hammer, which was a sight he'd never forget no matter how much he drank. After that, he was beaten until he thought he was going to tell them everything they wanted to know, but an FBI SWAT team came bursting into the warehouse. The Chechen who was going to sell the Nuke suitcase shot him in the thigh aiming for his femoral artery just missing it because Tony moved his leg at the last second.
"I owe you a drink," the accented voice said to him.
He opened his eyes and saw Ziva David standing beside him.
"You don't owe me anything," he told her.
"You saved my life. I have never felt so useless as I felt that day in the field. It was very unlike me," she said then she noticed that he was looking at her as if he didn't understand what she was talking about. "I never got to thank you for what you did."
Tony looked at her. She was beautiful with eyes that a man could lose himself in and hair he wanted to bury his hands in, and she felt embarrassingly obligated to him because she had a bad day during a firefight. But she was here on a date and he didn't make moves on other guys' dates.
"Don't need to say thanks. I did what needed to be done," he smiled.
"You don't strike me as humble," she said.
"I'm not forthright or always honest, either. I'm no boy scout," he said then turned in his stool so he faced his drink.
He picked up his drink and down the rest of the contents of the glass.
"I did not mean to insult you," Ziva said.
"You didn't insult me, Agent David," Tony said. "You should go back to your date."
She looked at him oddly. Date? Stan or McGee as her date? Even if Gibbs didn't have a rule 12, she'd never date either of them. They weren't her type.
"Hey, you giving the beautiful lady a hard time," a deep male voice said.
Tony looked over his left shoulder to see a large African American man who was built like a NFL linebacker, and he had to be six feet four inches on top of that a. He was in a nice suit, a minor little detail Tony tended to notice.
"No concern here for you, junior," Tony said to him. "There has to be a third world country somewhere you could liberate."
"I hate smart asses," he stated.
"You have a low bar for hatred," smiled Tony.
Ziva was surprised at how Agent DiNozzo seemed to goad the man into a confrontation instead of calm things down. It was odd behavior for an FBI agent. All the other ones she had met seemed follow some sort of rulebook when in situations like this.
"You don't want to piss me off, fuckhead," the man said to Tony.
"That's Special Agent Fuckhead, Junior," Tony said coldly then he turned in his seat and stared at the man.
His green eyes seemed to darken and Ziva suddenly feared for the life of the civilian.
"I have had a fucking tough few months. Between watching a fellow FBI agent get tortured to death with pliers and ballpeen hammer, I then spent six weeks on medical leave. I'm in no mood for some muscle head trying to impress a beautiful woman by using me," he growled.
He pushed the remainder of his hundred-dollar bill towards the bartender then stood her straight making sure he got every bit of his six feet two inches. Now that he was eye to eye with the man, he saw the guy no longer wanted a fight or to impress anyone. Tony grabbed his cashmere overcoat then strode out towards the exit.
Ziva stood their confused for a moment then decided she needed to talk to Agent DiNozzo. She caught up with him just outside of the club. It was a cold early November night and she wished she had her overcoat on.
"Agent DiNozzo," she yelled.
He turned to look at her. For a moment, he wished he'd been charming that evening instead of in a bad mood, but he was carrying too much bitterness around over the last op.
"Yes, Agent David," he said.
"I merely wanted to come up to you and talk. I never got a chance to thank you before," she said.
She was starting to slightly shiver and her nipples were erect form the cold. Tony wasn't sure if she was five feet six or seven tall, but he knew that he was dangerously attracted to her. He knew what he was about to do was a good idea but he could help himself. In one quick motion, he brought his right hand behind her back and his left hand behind her neck tilting her face up towards his face then he captured her lips with his own. For moment, she fought him then she responded. She devoured his mouth as much as he devoured hers and their tongues were suddenly wrestling for dominance. As unexpectedly as he kissed her, he let go off her and stepped him.
Both of them were breathing heavily and staring at each other like predators in heat. He smiled. It was sincere and she no longer noticed the cold.
"You're welcome, Agent David," he said then turned and walked away.
Ziva stood there for a moment until the heat within her died down and the cold air chilled her again. She wasn't about to follow him because she didn't pursue she was pursued. As he disappeared across a street, she turned around and walked back into the club wondering if she'd ever see him again.
TWO ROADS
In a black Ermenegildo Zegna suit with a light blue shirt and black tie with his black cashmere overcoat, Tony came strolling into the Hoover building late. Fornell was seated at his desk with a smile on his face smiling as Tony walked past Special Agent Ron Sacks and Special Agent Alicia Ruiz desks.
"Hey, boss," he said.
"DiNutso," he said.
Tony knew he was in trouble with Fornell these days when he reverted to calling him DiNutso.
"Okay, give me the bad news," Tony said.
"You missed Emily this weekend and she was upset," Fornell said.
Tony snuck into his chair feeling like crap.
"Diane dropped her by and she kept asking me where Tony was," said Fornell.
"You should have called me," he said.
"I did but you didn't answer," Fornell said.
Tony pulled out his smartphone and dialed voicemail. He had three messages from Fornell. Unfortunately, he had spent the weekend getting drunk after the jazz club.
"What was her name?" asked Fornell.
"A bottle or two of Dewar's 12," Tony told him.
Fornell suddenly became serious.
"Are you still having nightmares?" asked Fornell.
Tony nodded yes.
"You want to see a psychologist?" asked Fornell.
"Seen her and I've been cleared for duty," he said.
"Okay, but you and I have to talk later," Fornell said.
"Sure, boss," said Tony.
"Sacks, Ruiz, grab a car and DiNozzo and I will head off together. We have a briefing at Homeland Security," said Fornell.
The former St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Anacostia was now the headquarters for Homeland Security, including Us Coast Guard, Secret Service, TSA, HIS, FEMA, INS, Customs, and several other agencies. Sacks, Ruiz, Fornell, and Tony were directed to a small auditorium that fit some thirty people where agents and officers from most government agencies were gathered for a briefing.
Standing on the stage was the Deputy Director of Homeland Security Thomas Murrow. He was joined by several other men in suits. As Fornell and Tony settled into their seats, Murrow began to speak.
"We have a serious situation. Two weeks ago in Afghanistan, a US Marine sniper went rogue. His name is Gunnery Sgt. Malchiah Shahi. He killed two fellow Marines and is now in the US. Right now he is public enemy number one," said Murrow.
Murrow stepped aside and let a grey haired man with glasses and an air of academic stepped forward.
"Shahi was a sleeper. His family came to the country with one express reason and that was to raise him to enter the Marines and become a sniper. Once he was proficient, enough he was active by The Islamic Jihad. What we have here is a human weapon trained to elude those pursuing him and take out his targets one by one. Besides the two Marines in Afghanistan, he has killed a Captain in Quantico and Senatorial aide. We are sure he has more important targets than these," he spoke.
Fornell sighed, while Tony sat up in his seat. This was going to a major operation hunting down and stopping the sniper before he killed any further.
"We want to breakup in teams," Tom Murrow retook the microphone, "based on experience skills and records. Director of NCIS Leon Vance has agreed to oversee the first team, which will consist of Agent Gibbs' MCR Team and Agent Fornell's team will make that team up. After this briefing, your team leaders will be given packets with photos and history of Shahi. Ladies and gentlemen, I can't emphasis enough that this man needs to be found and stopped."
Tony looked over at his mentor to see him taking his right hand and rubbing his face in frustration. He looked at Tony.
"I'm going to have to tell Diane that I can't take Emily until he find this bastard," Fornell said.
"We'll get him, Tobias," Tony said. "How about we meet with Gibbs and his team then you and I take Emily out for dinner tonight at her favorite place."
"You really up to Chuck E. Cheese, DiNozzo?" asked Fornell.
"Sure. I'll stand at the basketball game and win her enough tickets so she can pick out anything she wants," he said.
"I'll give her a call once we are done here," smiled Fornell.
TWO ROADS
Fornell and his team arrived at NCIS headquarters to meet with Vance and Gibbs' Team. As they walked through the third floor towards Gibbs' bullpen, Tony started to feel apprehensive about seeing Agent David again. As they turned into the bullpen, he stayed back, while Gibbs and Fornell immediately started talking shop.
"We should integrate our teams, Tobias, into teams that can act independently," Gibbs said as he sat at his desk.
"I agree, Jethro," Fornell said. "I think I know your team better than you know mine."
"Probably," smiled Gibbs.
"Burley and Ruiz, you're a team. Keep it in your pants Burley and Ruiz, don't fall for his good looks," said Fornell.
The attractive Latina FBI agent blushed.
"McGee, Sacks, you're a team," said Gibbs.
"That leave David and DiNozzo, I guess that leaves two," Fornell rolled his eyes. "Try and work together and try to keep the mayhem down to a reasonable amount."
Tony looked over at Ziva and she at him. He attempted a smile and she rolled her eyes at him then turned her head.