Sunday, 1748, NCIS Headquarters

Gibbs went down to autopsy and found DiNozzo listening with glazed attention to one of Ducky's stories while Ducky worked on a corpse. They both looked up when Gibbs entered, and Tony's eyes lightened slightly. "We ready to go?"

"Yup. Come on, DiNozzo."

The younger man rose obediently. Gibbs stepped back to let him pass through the doors ahead of him and raised an eyebrow at Ducky, wanting to get his judgment of DiNozzo's mood. The elderly medical examiner gave him a worried look, and Gibbs grimaced in response. He followed DiNozzo out and into the elevator. "You know, you're going to have to see McGee sooner or later."

"I'm not avoiding McGee," DiNozzo said airily. "Why would I avoid McGee?"

"I don't know, but you sure seem to be."

"I just didn't want to offend Ducky."

"Right." McGee was on the mezzanine talking to Director Shepard, so DiNozzo skated again. The longer it took, the worse the tension was going to get. McGee hadn't noticed as of yet, but if this kept up, he was bound to.

DiNozzo pretended to fall asleep in the truck on the way to the hotel, and Gibbs didn't disturb his charade. Now was not the time to initiate an in-depth conversation, not if he wanted DiNozzo to actually get some rest. It would be hard enough for him to go to bed at six in the evening. Gibbs didn't need to get him worked up ahead of time.

When they arrived at the hotel, Gibbs parked the car out of the way on the curving front driveway. When the engine turned off, DiNozzo 'woke up' artistically, and Gibbs snorted. "You know, DiNozzo, when you really wake up from a nap, you don't do that stretching and yawning thing."

"I don't?" DiNozzo asked, tilting his head disingenuously. "I thought I just did."

Gibbs rolled his eyes and got out of the car. They crossed to the hotel and went inside. Gibbs asked at the desk for Jeanne Benoit's room.

The clerk called up the name on her computer, then looked up with a practiced smile. "Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo?" she asked.

"Yeah," Gibbs said.

"Dr. Benoit has asked that you be shown to her suite." She beckoned and a young man walked up. "Ricky, please take Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo to 2114."

"If you gentlemen will follow me," Ricky said, bowing slightly and turning to lead them towards an elevator. He slotted a key card into a reader marked For 20th Floor & Above. DiNozzo leaned against the back wall of the elevator, clearly nearing the end of his resources. Gibbs was glad they were almost to the end of their trip. The elevator stopped and the doors opened on an attractively furnished hallway. When they stepped out, Gibbs noticed that there was a second concierge desk up here. Evidently, the people who could pay for this floor merited extra services. Unusually, DiNozzo didn't seem to register anything as they walked down the hall to room 2114.

Ricky opened the door and ushered them into a space that, apart from the lack of a kitchen, looked more like a high end apartment than a hotel room. They entered on a short hallway that took a sharp left turn, then let into a well appointed living area. There was a desk under one of the large windows, a sofa flanked by two elegant chairs faced an armoire that undoubtedly concealed an entertainment center. There were the ubiquitous cards describing available services, but there were also fresh flowers and a fruit basket. A small wet bar took up one corner of the front room, and a trio of suitcases were piled tidily behind the sofa. DiNozzo made straight for one of the chairs and sank into it while Ricky stood waiting with an ingratiating smile and an outstretched hand. Gibbs shook it and sent him on his way.

Leaving DiNozzo sitting in the living room, Gibbs took a quick look through the whole space. Each bedroom had its own separate bathroom, and there was a half bath off the living room. Flat screen TVs hung on the walls of both bedrooms, and there was more than adequate closet and dresser space for the occupants to make an extended stay in comfort. A spacious private balcony with a table and chairs opened off the main room.

Gibbs turned back the covers on the bed in the smaller of the two bedrooms, then went back to DiNozzo. "Come on, DiNozzo."

The younger man turned his head and looked up at him. He appeared to have already checked out. "Yeah, boss?" he asked automatically. Gibbs got him to his feet and walked him into the bedroom where he bullied him into stripping to his boxers and getting into bed. It was a measure of just how tired he was that he didn't raise more than a token objection. Gibbs made sure the curtains were drawn against the fading light, turned off the lamps, left DiNozzo's cell phone on the bedside table and shut the door behind him. Then he settled down with a newspaper to wait for Jeanne and Ziva to arrive.

Ten minutes later, the door opened and Ricky walked in pushing a baggage trolley that contained both DiNozzo's duffel bags and a garment bag hanging from its rail. Jeanne and Ziva entered after, each laden only with her own bag. Jeanne took the garment bag off the rack herself and then she seemed to notice the closed bedroom door. She walked through into the other bedroom and hung up the garment bag, then returned to tip Ricky on his way out.

"Tony is asleep already?" Ziva asked quietly.

"He was asleep on his feet in the elevator," Gibbs said, rising to his feet. He pulled out his card and held it out towards Jeanne. "Call me if he needs anything," he said with quiet emphasis.

"Of course, Agent Gibbs," she said. "Will you be by later on?"

"I'll call you," he replied. "Ziva, let's go."

Ziva followed him out and, for a wonder, they got an elevator car alone on the way down. "Why are you permitting this?" she asked, her voice just on the angry side of neutral.

"Not a lot of options," Gibbs said. "And DiNozzo's a grown up. If he's okay with it, I can't stop him."

"You could," Ziva replied. "If you told him not to, he would –"

Anger surged in him. "Whose side are you on?" he demanded, turning on her. She stared up at him, eyes wide. "You keep talking like that, especially if you do it where the FBI can hear you, and you win Harris's case for him."

She blinked at him, then nodded. "I am sorry. I did not think. I am just concerned about the closeness that is developing again between the two of them. At this time, it could destroy him if she turned out not to be what she seems."

"Do you have reason to believe that she's not?"

Ziva grimaced, and shrugged very slightly. "I do not."

"What does your gut say?"

She didn't speak immediately. The elevator doors opened to let a couple of strangers aboard, then the doors closed again, and they resumed the trip down to the lobby. He followed her out to where she had parked her car just behind his. When she reached the driver's door, she stopped and turned. "My gut says that she is sincere, and that she wants to help. But even assuming that is true, she could still do great damage if she does not handle things well."

Gibbs nodded slowly. "True enough, but then so could any of us."

"You mean the team?" Ziva asked, and he nodded. "Yes, well, I know the team. I trust them. I do not know if I trust her."

Gibbs shrugged. "In the end, it was DiNozzo's decision, but I can tell you one thing." Ziva raised her eyebrows. "I really don't want him alone at the moment, and we've got work to do. Work he doesn't need to witness."

Ziva tilted her head as if considering his words. "I understand. I do not like it, but I understand."

"Good. See you at the office."

Gibbs started to climb into his car, then had a sudden realization that he'd forgotten an important piece to safeguarding Tony and headed back into the hotel. Five more minutes wouldn't make much difference.

Monday, 0831, Chalmers Hotel, Washington DC

Tony awoke to an unfamiliar ring tone. He opened his eyes and blinked at the comforter. Right, new cell phone because his was in evidence. They were probably dissecting his list of calls as he lay sleeping. He squinted at the time on the beside alarm clock. Or maybe not. He reached over and grabbed the phone, flipping it open automatically.

"DiNozzo," he said blearily.

"Tony, it's so good to hear your voice. You sound sleepy, did I wake you up?"

Tony sat up straight in bed. "Brody?" he exclaimed. "How did you get this number?"

"Do you know where I am?"

"In some kind of holding for the FBI, right?" Tony devoutly hoped that was where he was, and not outside the door.

"You've got to tell them to let me out, Tony," Brody said, his voice soft and persuasive. "I don't belong in jail, you know that."

Tony blinked. "You cracked my head open, you hired some thugs to try and rape me, and you raped me yourself repeatedly for weeks. Where do you think you should be?"

"I should be beside you in that bed," Brody replied huskily. "With my hands on your ass, showing you who you belong to. I want to put my fingers ins –"

Tony threw the phone across the room where it broke against the base of the dresser. He got up off the bed, but there he stalled. His hands were shaking, and he couldn't think what to do. The door opened, and Jeanne said, "I heard a noise. Is –" She broke off and hurried to his side. "Tony, what's wrong?"

"Brody . . . he called." He gestured vaguely in the direction of the damaged cell phone.

"What?" Jeanne looked over at the shattered phone. "What did he want?"

"Phone sex," Tony said, feeling numb. "I need to call Fornell."

"Do you have his number?"

"It's probably . . . in my phone," he said, looking down at the scattered pieces. His brain was stuck in neutral. He couldn't focus on anything that made sense.

Jeanne walked up and put her hands on his face, making him look at her. "Go take a shower. We'll call him when you get out."

Tony nodded. "A shower . . . sounds good."

Jeanne watched Tony walk into the bathroom and glared at the phone on the floor. She went out into the living room of the suite, pulling Tony's bedroom door partially closed before she picked up her own cell phone. There were a few new numbers in her speed dial these days. She pressed seven, then send. It rang once, then a gruff voice answered, "Gibbs."

Her emotions got the better of her, and she spoke more angrily than she'd intended. "Agent Gibbs, I thought that man was supposed to be in custody."

"What?" Gibbs exclaimed, sounding alarmed. "You're not saying he's there?"

"No, but he just called Tony on his cell phone."

"He did what?" Gibbs demanded. "What did he want?"

"According to Tony, he wanted phone sex," Jeanne snapped. "How the hell is he free to do that? What kind of idiots are in charge of him?"

"I'll find out. Check to see if there was a callback number."

Jeanne grimaced. "I can't. The phone is now in multiple pieces."

"What?"

"I think Tony threw it," she said.

"Where is he now?"

"Taking a shower. He seemed alarmingly blank, but he wanted to call Agent Fornell to tell him about the call, only it appears that Agent Fornell's number is in his phone."

"Which you can't look at because it's in pieces."

"Exactly."

"I'll call Fornell – or actually I don't have to. They're here." A click told her he'd disconnected, and she made a face. He seemed to do that a lot.

Monday, 0844, NCIS Headquarters

Gibbs closed his phone and gazed with narrowed eyes at Fornell and Glick, who stood talking quietly in front of the elevator. "McGee?" he said quietly.

McGee looked up instantly. "Yeah, Boss?" he asked.

"Go to Room 2114 of the Chalmers Hotel and pick up DiNozzo's cell phone." McGee started gearing up immediately. "Oh, and you might want to get him another since I gather this one's been destroyed. Just tell the clerks that no one is to be told the number unless they ask me directly."

"Yes, Boss," McGee said. He left the squad room with decent haste.

Gibbs glanced over and saw that Fornell had left Glick alone in front of the elevator, heading off towards the coffee machines. He strode across to her. She gave him a cool, professional smile, no doubt preparatory to something like 'good morning,' but he didn't give her a chance. "Tell me, Gigi," he said sarcastically, and her eyes widened. "What is Harris doing calling DiNozzo? Exactly who do you have watching him?"

Agent Glick stared at him blankly for a moment, then she shook her head. "Detective Harris is in holding. He couldn't possibly have called Agent DiNozzo."

"Well, he did," Gibbs said. "Apparently he was after phone sex. I want an answer to just how he made that phone call and how he got DiNozzo's cell phone number. That was a newly issued phone, not many people had that number."

Fornell walked up. "What's up, Gibbs?"

"He says that Harris made a call to Agent DiNozzo," Glick replied. "One moment, Agent Gibbs." She drew aside, opening her phone and making a call.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at her, watching. "If I find out she gave him that number, even inadvertently –"

"She didn't," Fornell said.

"Well, I can count the people who had that number on one hand, Tobias. You and she are two of them, I'm the third, whoever issued it to him in IT is the fourth, and DiNozzo is the fifth. That limits the pool of options a bit. I'm going to assume that you didn't give it to him, I know I didn't give it to him, and DiNozzo certainly didn't. That leaves our IT staff and her." He jutted his chin out towards Glick.

"Are you crazy?" Glick demanded at that moment. "You gave an accused rapist and stalker unmonitored access to a phone?" She was silent for a moment. "I don't give a damn whether he's a cop or the pope. You don't do that, for his own protection if for no other reason." She listened, her eyes narrowing. "Well, he made use of that opportunity to call someone he shouldn't have, so congratulations. You just enabled him to further attack our victim, and you didn't even get a recording of the call. Now it's he said/he said again, and I'm getting damned tired of that."

Gibbs believed in her frustration, which made it seem unlikely that she'd given Harris the number. He took off in McGee's wake. The youngest of his agents was still talking to Josh in IT. Gibbs came to a stop beside him. "Who has access to these phone numbers?" he asked.

Josh knit his brows. "Anyone who has access to the database they're stored in," he said. "That would be me, Sheila and Marcie. And, of course, anyone the phone's user has told."

"I meant the database," Gibbs said. "Are Sheila and Marcie here?"

"Marcie's on the Wednesday through Sunday schedule, so no, but Sheila's here."

"Did either of you give Agent DiNozzo's new cell number to anyone?"

Josh blinked at him and glanced at McGee. "I just issued the new phone a minute ago," he said. "I don't understand."

"The new phone that was issued yesterday," Gibbs said in a clipped voice.

"Yesterday?" Josh repeated. He looked at his computer screen. "Why does he need a new one today if he got one yesterday?"

Gibbs drew closer to the man, looming over him. "Did someone give the number out?"

"Sheila?" Josh called, looking warily up at Gibbs. A young woman in jeans and a button front shirt came out of the store room. "Did you give anyone Agent DiNozzo's cell phone number today?"

"Yeah," she said. "A cop called, said he was working a case with DiNozzo, and asked for his cell."

"You, come with me," Gibbs ordered. "McGee, you got the phone yet?"

"I do," McGee replied.

"Then why are you still here?" McGee didn't even try to answer, he just fled. Gibbs fixed Josh with a stern look. "No one gives DiNozzo's new number out without checking with me first. Got that?" Josh nodded. "Make sure Marcie understands it, too."

Gibbs stalked off, an uncertain shadow behind him. He could sense her nerves, but he wasn't interested in allaying them. "Sir?"

"Don't call me sir," he replied shortly. "I work for a living."

"Agent . . . Gibbs?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

Gibbs turned on her, and she backed up to avoid running into him. "You gave DiNozzo's cell phone number to a man who's been stalking him, that's what. The FBI will be wanting to talk to you."

"The FBI?" she repeated.

"Now." She trailed him back to the squad room. "Agent Fornell, Agent Glick, this is Sheila . . ."

"Ackleton," she supplied. "Sheila Ackleton."

"Sheila gave DiNozzo's cell number to a cop who called this morning, so we've got that half of the equation solved."

"And Agent Parker allowed Harris access to a phone for approximately twenty minutes last evening and twenty this morning, as a courtesy to a fellow law enforcement officer," she said.

"I didn't give the number to anyone named Harris," Ackleton said, and Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "His name was Carvaggio. Paul Carvaggio."

"Chief of Harris's district," Gibbs growled. "Can you pull records for the phone Harris used?" Glick looked uncertain. "Never mind, I'll have Abby do it." Leaving them, he stalked over to his desk and picked up the phone. "Abby, run the records on DiNozzo's new cell phone for today, then get the records for the number that called him this morning."

"On it, bossman. Is –"

Gibbs hung up and turned to find Fornell standing straight in front of him. "What, Tobias?"

"Have you forgotten that you and your team are not supposed to be on this case?"

Gibbs glowered at him. "Just since he made his claims, the bastard has physically attacked DiNozzo, and now he's called him. Anyone who still believes Harris is a victim in this situation has his head so far up his ass that he'll never find it again."

"That's as may be, Agent Gibbs," Agent Glick said. "But your team needs to stay off this case altogether."

"I might, if I believed the people investigating it were getting the job done," Gibbs replied.

"The phone number got out via NCIS," Glick said.

"To a serving police officer," Gibbs snapped. "I'll have a bone to pick with him later, but the fact is, she didn't give it to Harris, she gave it to an assistant chief of police. Your people let Harris make phone calls at will."

"Twenty minutes last night and twenty minutes this morning," she retorted.

"More than long enough to cause trouble," Gibbs shot back.

"Enough!" Jen said, and Gibbs clamped his jaws shut. "What's going on here?"

"Agent DiNozzo allegedly received a call from Harris this morning," Glick said.

"Exactly what about that was alleged?" Gibbs demanded. "The call? Or the fact that Harris tried to have sex with DiNozzo over the phone?"

"He did what?" Jen asked, her eyes snapping. "Do we know what the call consisted of? Surely if he made the call from the Federal building, it was monitored or recorded."

Glick had the grace to look embarrassed. "No. He made some excuse about calling a lawyer."

Jen set her teeth. "Has anyone asked DiNozzo what he said?"

"No," Gibbs replied. "I was going to go check on him after I made a stop at District Three headquarters."

"Gibbs," Fornell said warningly.

"What, Fornell? That bastard made it possible for Harris to harass DiNozzo."

"And we'll handle it." Fornell walked up to him, using his own tactic against him, though it was a little hard for Fornell to loom at him. Still, he did a surprisingly good job of it. "I will handle Carvaggio," Fornell said sternly.

Gibbs took a deep breath and nodded curtly. "Fine. Handle him." His desk phone rang. "Gibbs."

Abby's voice was anxious. "The only number that's ever called Tony's phone is the FBI, but it's a general number. McGee might be able to trace it down more closely. Gibbs, what's going on?"

"Tell you later." He hung up and looked at Jen. "Abby traced the only call DiNozzo received to the FBI."

"I have someone talking to Harris about his phone calls last night and this morning right now," Agent Glick said. "In the meantime, I have a few more questions for Miss Sciuto about the website she found."

Gibbs let Jen handle getting Glick down to Abby. Ziva walked up carrying three cups of coffee. "Where is McGee?" she asked. Gibbs took a cup of coffee and went to sit down. He wanted to shoot someone, but he wasn't supposed to work the only case he had. He passionately wished that Brody Harris would fall off the face of the planet and leave DiNozzo alone.