Chapter 5 – The man stands alone.

Tony arrived and was fast to explain, "The cavalry won't be joining us. This is our case, but we will have outside support. Teams (FBI and NCIS) are being arranges as I speak. Gibbs is putting up a fake-news storyline in NCIS chatter web. Well, maybe not Gibbs, he'll need help (all smiled) FBI has lead for a ghost response. Ducky, Abby, you will be helping from your respective labs. Gibbs prefers having you in a safe environment and I agree."

Abby immediately went to speak but Ducky explained, "Abby, we do not have investigators or spy training. We would just be a nuisance or a person to protect. I suggest you gather every piece of evidence you can get your hands on, get it to your lab and help them with what you do best. I'll do the same."

Abby signed that she understood but wasn't a happy camper.

Sharon was holding up her hand and Tony knew she needed some 'catching up'.

"Sorry Sharon, I need to prepare this team for what's next. Stay with me, please. When I'm finished, I'll personally read you in. If Ziva is right, we don't have much time before our 'couple' returns."

Turning towards all, Tony continued. "We have reasons to believe that Eyal and Quinn will be joining us soon. He purposely kept Quinn away giving us the time to pick up on his bread crumbs. His medical file was the last crumb for us to get. Ziva is sure that when we accessed it, he could ressurface."

Sharon spoke, "Know you and I will talk later, but how did you come up with that possible outcome with only a dark spot in Eyal's wrist?"

Tony smiled, "You're right, it's not all related to that dark spot. Good old investigating on my part! Quinn has an emergency protocol with NCIS which she didn't activate. My input; we have four women here. I know two and their perfumes. Sharon, you're not wearing any. Since you've been hitting on Officer Lavin, had you brought some with you … well! That leaves Special Agent Quinn. Had Abby go through her room and my girl found a bottle of that special and expensive perfume. Knowing Eyal, Ziva and I came to the same conclusion; he was hitting on Quinn. Tim read us in on what you and Ducky had found. We, well more Ziva, came up with a theory, that is ... what I'll read you in later, Sharon. People listen up, we need to be very careful and put everything we touched as it was. Abby, Quinn's room put it back together, undo the Humpy Dumpty-style work. Tim, make a backup of our cells' Sim cards and put them back in storage. Erase any links or thing-a-ma-jig that could trace us looking into Mossad's matrix or Sharon's searching Eyal's medical exams. Yes, McILoveMyCell, yours must go back. Ziva, while I read in our MI-6 friend, you're in charge of operations. Gibbs will surely call, take this burner phone. No offense Tim, but…"

"None taken Tony. I'll admit; I'm in way over my head and I'm not a spy, Ziva is … well was."

Ziva smiled, "Once a spy, always a spy. Thanks for understanding Tim."

Tony playfully put his hands on Sharon's shoulders and guided her towards the cafeteria.

Sharon asked, "You're taking me to the cafeteria, you think we could be bugged and what you just said was an act?"

"No, we are not bugged, FBI scanned us and our rooms more than one, already. Going to the cafeteria because I need a damn coffee!"

Being a perfect gentleman, he pulled her chair, asked what she wanted and went to purchase it.

"OK Sharon, tell those ears of yours to be good little girls and not shut off on me till I tell them they can. And not a word out of that talkative mouth of yours. Those are the rules, you ready to abide by them?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Yes, you don't agree; leave with Abby and Ducky and help us from the Navy yard. Personally, I'd prefer having you by my side. Sharon, you have experience we don't. Eyal might be at a higher level, but he's sidelined so to speak. You and Ziva will be our beacons in this case."

"Tony, you're capable of handling this case. Quinn having that perfume … didn't even cross my mind."

"Hey, that's what I do; investigate. What I don't and now might need to; follow my gut and act on it–right or wrong; constantly look over my shoulders for bad asses; imagine the impossible and prepare for the worst. Funny, and never tell Ziva this, I like the added adrenaline it gives. Lately, I found myself getting more and more bored by case work. Don't get me wrong; I love my work, it's just that…"

"You're an adrenaline junky. I always said, 'you don't become a spy, you were born one.' Gibbs and Ziva are. I don't know you, but Gibbs does. He didn't up this team's mandate and put you in charge on a gut's feeling. He knew you were ready and had what it took. He, well, isn't ready (mentally and physically) to go down that road again. It's demanding, I won't hide that from you, but if what you're facing now is 'exciting'; you are one of us Special Agent Dinozzo."

"Thanks for painting my profile … you're dead on! Now, you need some 'fill-in-the-blanks'. Listen up Missy, it's a - tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday's situation!"

Sharon face scrounged, "Ah no, not another John Wayne admirer. My father loves those old cowboy movies. Personally, my favorite quote from him is 'Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway'."

"Yes, who doesn't like the 'DUKE'! Keep that quote, I have a funny feeling we are going to need it. Sharon, that dark spot on Eyal's wrist brought us back to another mission and a previous brush-in with terrorism, internal affairs and spooks. It was a group called the 'Phantom Eight'. A special force put up to stop acts of terrorism before they happened. The eight had a microchip implanted in their wrist that let them into a secure Watcher database and disposed of many other 'gadgets'. Imagine the information that was on those chips. One of the groups decided that it would be very lucrative to offer those valuable chips to the highest bitter."

"Let me guess, he killed his teammates for the chips."

'Yes, there's more to the story, but you don't need to know the whole case. Just this; Ziva was set up with the same kind of microchip by Mossad. With her connaissances of the potential of those small objects, she made Gibbs realized he needed to seek help from the CIA to help us with the Phantom Eight."

"Let me guess; CIA were the 'implanters'!"

"Yes! We had our faults, they had theirs, but that mission is of no importance. The point Eyal wanted us to zoom in on was the microchip. The Mossad implanted 6 of their officers with such chips. Three of them are dead and two (Ziva and Ilan) had them surgically removed. Eyal was one of the six and today, Ziva realized he still has his. She can't explain why, after Eli's death, he held on to such a dangerous 'keepsake'. He's the one that talked her into cutting ties from her father by removing her microchip. Sharon, if Ziva is right, Eyal is at the mercy of the enemy. Mossad added a twist to their microchips; paired with a cell phone, it has enough 'bomb' power to blow this building and others. A Mossad version of a spy's suicide pill! Fun stuff they play with at the Mossad! OK, back to the case; Ziva's guessing the only reason Eyal didn't tell them to go f_ck themselves, isolate himself and order them to push the damn button is that they are holding something or somebody valuable. A person had to give them the code to reactivate that chip. Eli, from Ziva's knowledge, was the only one who had those codes. Each officer had their set of codes to turn it off and on at their convenience. Plus, those NEW badass phantoms are surely targeting sensitive information of the Navy or/and FBI and have targeted Eyal to be their ponzy (he's their best chance at a quick return on their investment). Those chips are not only Watchers of databases … they can gobble one up in seconds when the proper codes are entered and the chip is at the right place at the right time. It's also a very sophisticated password cracker. From the Chip to the Cell right into the hands of the Criminal! We know those chips don't carry two way cameras. In a nutshell, we might have ears on us but no eyes. Luckily Ziva kept her device as a reminder of her old life. Abby will be taking it apart in her safe place; NCIS's lab. That intel will, we hope, keep us one step ahead of whoever is behind this scheme!"

"Oh, I'm fitting in pieces of the puzzle as you speak. Eyal, when he met up with me early this morning, made sure I 'got' that smell for us to know Quinn was implicated in some way. Do you think she went rogue?"

"Can't say. The perfume is expensive and not something a Special Agent could buy on her/our salary, but it could have been a gift or she saved up. I personally think she is not willfully implicated. Eyal maybe wanted us to know that he was taking her out of the line of fire or using her as a shield. Tim is drilling down on Quinn's affairs. Sharon, that is Tim's strong suit. He can find a byte in a terabyte!

"Good one … the new version of a needle in a hay stack. I'll use that one, if you don't mind."

Smiling Tony said, "It isn't mine. Ziva has a problem with our idioms and she sometimes betters them! Back to the case… We think Eyal is playing along, all the while giving us the means to work the problem. FBI is read-in and will monitor all radio frequencies around our quarters, but they have orders to leave us do the ground work. We cannot show that we are on to them."

"How did Eyal know we'd get to his medical exam last?"

"Because he knows the Dem Dry Bones song…! Frankly, I don't know, my dear! Ziva assures me the man is very methodical. He knowingly left puzzle pieces in a specific order and played with our past experiences and strong suits. Look, as I see it, they messed with the wrong man! He's a genius."

"They had to get the code from somebody and Eli David is dead … well I hope!"

"Ziva assured me he is. She even took an oat, she never did that, so I believe her."

"Eyal coming back to three specific NCIS cases, something is telling me there are more clues for us to get. Why those three? Ziva and he must have discussed (not going into sensitive intel) many more. I have a feeling he knows who 'they' are. It's an inside job, Tony! We need to study those three cases more carefully. A person close to Mossad or Eyal gave away that code. Is Ziva's sure Eli David was the only one who knew of the codes, it's a person close to Mossad and or Eyal."

"Yes, maybe Eli would have trusted Ilan Borden enough to share them, but they are both dead. Ilan might have had time to sell the codes to the highest bitter but very improbable since only one (Eyal's) was left. If and that's a big if, he knew Eyal still had his. Sharon, it's a classified case, but Ilan had a more lucrative plan on his drawing board! Let me just say; diamonds are not only a girl's best friend! Funny... you and Ziva came up with exactly the same conclusions. You two are scaring the hell out of me, what are you, twins?!"

Tony saw Sharon's expression changing as she said, "He did his part, now it's up to us. His hands are tied, his window of opportunity just closed."

Sharon, with her eyes, signaled to Tony that their on-the-spot couple was approaching. Quinn was the first to speak.

"Tony, I'm sorry for our 'no-show'. Eyal's wound became infected, he didn't trust the medics on base, so I got him to a 'Mossad approved' doctor. Hope you haven't called the FBI and Navy in a search party? I didn't have time to warn you of our escapade and since I confiscated your cells…"

Tony answered, "In normal circumstances I would have, but have problems of my own! Well, more NCIS has a problem. Abby and Ducky are needed on the home front. We have five incoming dead soldiers that can't be identified, well six but he has proper ID. Ducky and Abby are the King and Queen for that kind of work. We don't leave Navy families waiting, I didn't have any say in … tried but Quinn, we will be short three persons/students; Abby, Ducky and Palmer will not be joining us. Sorry. Know this training is important, but seems field work is not a priority when it comes to fallen soldiers."

Smiling Quinn replied, "Don't fret, I work for the Navy, remember? Heard of the deadly attack on our chatter, they will not go public till all bodies are ID. I agree; families of the fallen should be our priority. Sharon, Eyal, can you adjust your simulations accordingly?"

Sharon winced, "Well, I for one, need a person in the lab. Quinn, you know my simulation protocol. You could take over and I'll be 'Abby'."

"That I can do! See Tony, it won't be a problem. You OK with Sharon working the situation instead of supervising it?

"If she keeps her 'protocol' to herself!"

Quinn dawned a teacher's face and said, "I'll be supervising, promise she won't cheat!"

Sharon went fishing, "Eyal, what does a Mossad doctor have that an American doesn't."

Sharon wanted to kick herself. This morning when Eyal had said, 'Something is not right', he meant with his leg. A ploy and she had missed it. She now remembered him slightly touching that leg. 'Damn, if I hadn't been smitten by the man I would have done my job, and saved all some valuable time. Welby when are you going to learn!

Eyal startled her as he bent down to her ears and whispered, "To answer your question; my trust and they get the job done right the first time. Such a wound is only a finger away from infection… Mossad doctors know how to properly handle an open wound, not so for the FBI's medical team!"

She was about to mouth off that he was the one, on his X-ray, holding his legs with his hand and fingers but a little something hit her … again. 'Damn, that Tony is good, I'm staying stuck to this guy for some time. Don't know how he did it but every time I get in a certain mood and want to shoot my mouth off, I remember him pressing my shoulder and have time to tell my mouth to shut up!' Instead she chose to say,

"Still think you're capsizing on the paranoid side, but it's your opinion and you have a right to it. What pisses me off is that because of it, we're going to have one hell of an afternoon trying to squeeze in four hours of training into two! That's my take on the situation."

Quinn spoke, "Agent Welby that should not be any of your concern since you are not implicated in Officer Lavin's simulation. But come to think, I'm in the mood to give you something to be pissed about. Tony considers Sharon as your Abby as of now. She's yours to deal with."

Sharon went to argue but Tony squeezed her shoulder and whispered, "Another word and it's back to England with a Mister Beam style report card! That should 'piss off' the proper people at your agency, Officer Welby. Now like a good officer and as we say in America, 'Gather your gear, you were just demoted to 'student' level!"

Sharon and Eyal couldn't help but break out into laughter. Quinn had to keep herself in check for her not to do the same.

They 'gathered their gear' while Quinn talked to Tony.

"Tony, we were warned we'd have our hands full with Officer Welby. I only have to say one word and Chief Jackson will pull her out."

"Quinn, she a handful, I'll admit, but I'd like to keep her on. Think I can get through to her even help her with her problems. If needed, I'll ask for you to deal with her and MI-6. We OK?"

Quinn shot him a daring smile, "Tony, a bleeding heart, that I would never have thought!"

"It's also personal. She seems to know how to push Ziva's buttons and I'm liking seeing our Ninja warrior squirm a bit!"

"Well, they do come from similar backgrounds. Tony be careful, spies can play very dangerous mind games. I don't want Ziva hurt in any way. The girl has been through enough."

"Alex, I know… I was there! I would never let anything bad happen to Ziva. That you have my word."

"And you are still sticking to 'Ziva and I are not a couple' rhetoric! You two will be forced to smell the roses at some point!"

"And who says Sharon is not the thorn that could do it for Ziva!"

Quinn's eyes grew round and big as she whispered, "Tony Dinozzo, did you just admit having feelings for one Ziva David."

"I've smelled the roses some time ago, she's not ready yet. Quinn, this stays between you and I, please."

"Trust me, matters of the heart must never be discussed by any other than those concerned. I wish you the best in convincing Ziva that you two are made for each other!"

Tony put on his best smart Alex smirk, "You think?"

"I know … now go do your leader of the pack role! I'll do mine … better late than never. Tony, I'm truly sorry, being late is not my style. Eyal is … well … the man is … "

"Quinn, I know. Like Sharon he has his quirks … our Ziva has also. A spy life is not a walk in the park!"

"Tony, you are heading in that direction with this team. You sure they are up to it?"

"No, don't even know if I'm up to it, but I'm ready to give it my best. Plus, NCIS is not a spy agency. We'll be taking short walks into their world and that for me is, at this time in my life and career, just what I need. Give it your best or worst, I need to see what this team is made of!"

Sharon rapidly joined Ziva and Tim. Abby and Ducky had left.

Ziva asked, "See Eyal and Quinn are back. Damn, I had hoped I was wrong in my conclusions! Eyal is held hostage before our own eyes and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it! Sharon, he saved me from some bad situations, I will not be able to live with myself if I can't return the favor!"

Sharon reasoned Ziva, "Ziva, you are doing great. Eyal is still walking meaning 'they' don't know that we are on to them. Your intel about that microchip is a lifesaver. What Abby will get out of it might very well save Eyal's life. Tony brilliantly warned Eyal that we were onto him by mentioning the fake-news of the death of 6 Navy officers and only one having being ID (refering to the 6 Mossad Officers that were implanted the microchips and only one still 'active'), Eyal knows we are doing something. It's an inside job, a rogue Mossad or a friend; Ziva, that is your conclusion. You are our lead in this case. We need to outplay the Joker, somebody is holding an ace in his hand and maybe doesn't know it. Look, let's go over the bits of data of these three cases. The cases might be unrelated in themselves but at one point it will come together to make up a picture we know as intelligence gathering. Remember your spy training 101, Ms. David!"

"I remember. The holder of that ace card is a person close to Eyal and worse, he knows him/her, that I'm sure of."

"Yes, by what Tony told me, there is no other possibility. Give me a rapid recap of those three cases."

Sharon looked at Tim, he was mesmerized by his computer screen. She asked Ziva, "Is he always like that?"

Laughing, Ziva said, "Yes, Tim is not your average investigator. He's a MIT tech major!"

In a whispering voice, Sharon replied, "MIT, he' a nerd?"

Tim answered, "Yes, Sharon I'm a nerd! This 'nerd' just excluded Quinn from the bad column. She won the perfume at an NCIS charity gala. Now, how can I help you girls with my nerdy talents?"

Sharon winced, "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"You didn't, Tony has done worst many times. Back to the case, how can I help?"

"Well, those files are they in digital format?"

"Done by yours truly. Yes, they are."

"Well, Mr. Nerd, it didn't dawn on you to pull them up and search for words, lines, actions that are similar in all three cases?"

Tim's face went down a notch. "Why didn't I think of that!"

And that's how Tony found his three agents; mesmerize by a computer screen.

"Great, just what I need, three MIT graduates! Time to put away your toys, kids. Daddy has some nasty friends for you to play with!"

As they turned, by their faces, Tony knew something was up, "Out with it, fast. Quinn can't suspect we are working a double shift. She'll come looking for you if you don't show up on the firing squad."

Tim spoke, the girls seemed to be holding back tears.

"Tony, we triangulated the three cases Eyal brought up. We were trying to find some other clues. The first case, Ziva remembered having Eyal in stitches when she explained what was your role in the Civil War re-enactments; You were your father's Little Poo Boy. The second case; Ziva lost her father at Eyal's brother's hands. That was known to all at Mossad. The third case the Phantom Eight, also implicated one Harper Dearing and him seeking vengeance over the fact that the Navy didn't repair faulty wiring on a ship, the U.S.S. Brandywine that his son was serving on. It was not directly related to the microchips, but it was there. Again, Ziva didn't divulge classified information, the man was on the Most wanted list of many agencies. Tony, there's a recurring theme; Father and Son / Father and Daughter / Brother versus Brother and the word Danger in all cases. Ziva was fast to narrow who the possible leak was. Tony, it's Eyal's son. Eyal was using the microchip to secretly communicate his locations to his son–Avi Lavin. A way to secretly keep in touch with his son without his mother knowing."

"Whoa, you can't be sure …"

Ziva spoke, "I couldn't call Avi, I would have choked. Sharon speaks fluent Hebrew and she passed herself off as a Mossad spy. She went fishing and caught a shark. The boy has no knowledge that he gave away his father. He thought for sure he was dealing with a spy and was proud of being able to help his dad. He gave them what they wanted, code and all! Sharon explained that we needed his phone to cut all trace that 'Mossad' called him. She added that he should get himself a new one (an upgrade!) for his mother not to notice his was missing. Sharon arranged for one of her assets to buy him a phone and trade it for his. We will have it by tomorrow. We sent it to Abby. Avi was exited to 'play spy', the boy fell into the game and was more than willing to help. Except for the fact that it was a man that contacted Avi, he can't tell us more."

Tony was skeptical, "Eyal is a professional and a paranoid Mossad. There had to be a code of some sort between the two. His son is 15 from what Ziva told me. He's not a kid and knows his father lives a dangerous life. He would not have given away his father's lifeline on the word of a supposed Mossad Agent on a phone!"

"There is a code, and I am the guardian of it. I have very specific instructions if something ever happened to Eyal. Seems somebody else knew of it. I swear I did not speak to any one of that father-son code. Eyal and I are the only ones. Well, that's what I thought. Sharon now knows of it because I needed to reassure myself that Avi was not the one responsible for his father's present situation. Sadly, he is, but the boy doesn't know it! How can I put on a straight face and look at Eyal? He must think I'm responsible for the leak."

Tony shook the eerie feeling that chilled his blood as he realized he had to step into a leader's role and no error would be accepted.

"Ziva, if there is one thing I've learned is that you are loyal. You were ready to die because you had the crazy impression that you had let your father down and failed at the last mission he gave you… Eyal knows you would die to protect his secret and son. The fact that he trusted you to work this case is proof the man doesn't hold you responsible for his predicament. Ziva, Sharon I need the Ninja Warriors, not the emotional females. Think you can give me an Oscar performance. That's the only way we are going to have a chance at nailing this spy mission or case, call it as you like. I need you girls to get on top of this!"

Tim gave Tony a thumb's up as Ziva spoke, "Tony, you just said the words I needed to hear. You are right; Eyal would never have trusted me if he thought I was the stool. Thanks."

She approached Tony and gave him a lover's kiss, startling Tony, Tim and Sharon!

To be continued!

Again, thanks for the reviews. And to the guess reader who lost interest after the second chapter; I will try to simplify my story. You are right, too many characters. I was trying to get a feeling of what it is presently like for the writers in season 14. Came to the conclusions that there is no way they can write in so many characters and give them decent lines. I do not consider myself a writer by all means, but I did try to see if I could give all a decent part and it just confused readers. Hope, as I will do with my story line, NCIS's writers do the same.