Stripes
The coffee had been ineffective and sleep had triumphed over wakefulness. As he let his body be shut down his boss was watching him. 10 hours strait work at his desk and 5 hours in the field and now Gibbs saw Tony sleeping on his desk in a state of pure peacefulness.
When Gibbs had moved on Ziva approached him next. She looked down tenderly at him. He had taken on all this for her. Now she felt so useless. She was forbidden from field work by Tony and she knew McGee would be rejoicing the serenity of being alone in this almost freezing weather.
"Tony?" she whispered and shook her head. "Why don't you just stop fighting it."
"Because the fight is worth the prize." he muttered.
"You are awake." she sighed.
"Who could sleep with you and Gibbs googling at me." he yawned and pulled himself up.
"I believe the term is ogling." Ziva said narrowing her eyes at him as he stretched.
Tony stopped and looked up at her with a half surprised and half happy look in his face "Ah, the student becomes the master."
She tried not to look too proud of herself as she sat on the end of his desk, chewing on the end of her pen absently.
"So McgGoo sit rep?" Tony asked as he opened up his draw to search for his tooth brush.
McGee blinked at him several times with the appearance of a dishevelled tortoise then he mentally shook himself and started blabbering "The truck was abandoned and the agent tailing them lost the men after they slashed his tires."
"Ah yes how's our young agent taking failure?" Tony asked as he now began to rummage for a clean shirt.
"Um hard. It wasn't his fault." McGee replied looking a little bemused as he watched Tony brush his teeth. Tony waved his hand, urging McGee to continue.
"Ziva tried to kill her tail." He continued.
"Yes thank you McGee." Ziva interrupted And Tony looked at her humorously.
"Ziva he is in charge of this case. I had to tell him."
Tony swilled out his mouth and spun round to face McGee. "Good call probie. Continue."
"Abby has some luck with the fragments you guys thought may be stained glass. She wants to see us ASAP."
Gibbs walked in to the room. And Tony half grinned to himself.
"Gibbs, what you got?" he asked. He was in charge after all.
"The van Tony saw is down stairs. It is going to be hard to trace an owner without plates. I have been with Abby down there and she found more stain glass fragments in there. She wants to see you."
Tony nodded at Gibbs and began to unbutton his shirt. "Vance wants to see you boss. He needs you to help him confirm to daddy David that Ziva is completely safe with me- I mean us."
"You're the boss?" Gibbs commented as a half question.
"Yeah but Director David hates us both. Me more." Tony grinned at
Ziva who was not denying these claims.
Gibbs smiled a bit and headed up stairs. Tony pulled off his shirt and picked up the new one.
"Probie go down to the basement, play around with the truck. Sweep it all over."
Once McGee had left and Tony had buttoned his shirt Ziva asked Tony her pressing question.
"Do I get to do anything?" she asked grumpily.
"Yes. You get to come to glass city. Aka Abbys lab with me. " he announced as he stood up and shook life back in to his legs.
She followed him to the elevator and watched him roll up his cuffs.
"How did you sleep?" he asked as he adjusted his neck line.
"Good. Thanks for the notes."
"I only left one."
"You left two. One was scrunched up." Ziva smiled at him and reached in to her pocket and showed him the wrinkled note.
'You look peaceful when you sleep.'
He scowled down at the note with his nose wrinkled. "Corny."
"The second was almost bitter in comparison." She laughed "What was it? Call me when you wake up. Agent following you'"
"Yeah well I was trying to prevent you from killing an agent. Obviously it only half worked." Tony sighed as the elevator made its usual 'ding' as they arrived at the lab. They walked through the door way to find Abby amongst a pile of evidence boxes on the floor.
"Oh Tony, Finally you're here!" she called as she rifled through a box.
"What you got Abbs?" he asked in a Gibbs impression.
"Har har. I have yellow stained glass in both a mystery van and a crime scene. I ran it against normal stained glass and it has been exposed to fuels on one side regularly and none on the other side." Abby left her rummaging and advanced on her computer.
"I am running irregularities in the fuels. I am thinking this may be stained glass from a church? I am finding differences in the making of the glass to see if I can pin point a location. But by now I can safely say both the fragments are from the same place."
"So you're looking for irregularities in both the chemicals and the glass?" Ziva asked. "Nice multi-tasking."
Abby nodded and looked at Tony with a hard stare. "Can I help you anymore?"
"Let me know as soon as you get anything." Tony said urgently. "I think I know where the glass came from. Ziva with me."
The rushed from Abby's lab at a fast pace. Ziva smiled at Abby in thanks and dashed out after him.
"What are you thinking?" Ziva asked Tony once she caught up with him.
"The building that baldy killed our civilian produced some kind of chemical."
"Tony we can't go tramping back there now. We have already pissed off metro for getting in their jurisdiction, now the FBI is getting involved."
"Yeah I know. Gibbs already briefed me. I have 24 hours before I have to hand over to the FBI."
"Why didn't you tell Abby? Or McGee?"
"Because I can do this." Tony said determinedly. "I am going to save you Ziva. I have to."
She blushed in surprise at his words but kept on walking anyway not wanting him to know that his words had touched her. They reached the parking lot and Tony hurried to the car.
"You don't have to save me Tony." She finally said as they clambered in to the car.
"I am afraid I do. I am not arguing my point now." He said as he started up the car.
She opened her mouth ready to retaliate but decided not to. He got his work done better when he was determined.
Ten minutes later Tony pulled the car up by the building they had been lurking at the night before last. A metro car was parked nearby and Ziva and Tony walked their distance from it as they walked up the steps and towards the spinning doors. Once at the front desk Tony pulled out his ID and tapped it on the desk to get the receptionists attention.
"Hey, I'm special agent DiNozzo. This is my sidekick AGENT Zee-vah David." he pronounced her first name slowly which made Ziva grin.
"Are you here about the murder? I thought Metro police had taken control of the investigation."
"Yes but the victim was still killed on base which gives NCIS a bit of leeway." Ziva smiled at the woman sarcastically.
"Yeah, what she said. We are here about the murder in a way." Tony clicked his tong and glanced around. "Is there anyone of higher rank we can talk to?"
"Sure. What are you inquiry's regarding?"
"Head of production. We want to know what kind of chemical distributing you do." He replied. The woman nodded and dialed a number and held up her sharp nailed finger, instructing them to wait.
Tony turned his back on the receptionist and beckoned Ziva towards him so he could whisper to her. "Ziva. I've got a job for you. Scout around and try and find any broken windows away from the crime scene or any stained glass. If there is none check the surrounding area. Don't leave this building without me."
She nodded and strolled off toward the elevators. He turned back, facing a boring breeding from the head of production.
After 15 minutes of stealthy investigation, Ziva grew bored of the skulking and decided to find some building plans. So she rode the elevator back down to the ground floor and approached the desk which a new receptionist was standing at.
"Hello can you tell me where I can find any building plans?" she flashed her badge at the woman "It's all part of the murder investigation."
This lady did not ask questions or beat around the bush, she simply instructed Ziva to visit level two, where she would find a reliable floor plan. So Ziva followed the instructions and went up stairs to collect the plans. After 5 minutes of flicking through papers she found a promising sign. A small infirmary, for job related cuts and bruises. Next to this small square was a mini chapel. She checked the floor number and set down the papers.
"Excuse me?" she tried to gain the attention of the man at the records desk. Once he looked up she continued "Could you tell me if the chapel is still in use?"
"No ma'am. We are currently renovating it. It has no purpose anymore." he answered
"So it is visited regularly?" Ziva asked urgently, reaching for her phone.
"Not really. The builders are off for the holidays." he mumbled
Ziva nodded at him and hit speed dial.
"DiNozzo."
"Tony," she sighed "There is unused chapel up stairs. There is probably stained glass in there. I am going to check it out."
"Ugh Ziva, I am still in my meeting, can't you wait."
"No. You'll take too long." she hung up and turned off her phone.
Ziva rode the elevator up to the relevant floor and as the doors opened. She felt something eery in her surroundings. She moved forwards out of the elevator and in to the plastic covered construction area. She reached forwards slowly and pulled back the nearest part of plastic and then jumped and gasped at what she found.
Tony swore under his breath as Ziva hung up on him. He pocketed his phone and turned back to the man he had been listening to.
"Agent DiNozzo I can get you small separate samples of our products but it is going to take time."
Tony clicked his tong impatiently. He needed to compare the chemicals on the glass to the glass here. Ziva had gone up to the constructions now. She may have found something. He would have to join her. He opened his mouth to make his excuses to the dreary man in front of him when something red on the wall caught his eye. A wire?
Tony stood and pushed past the confused man by him and examined the wall. The red wire lay under a thin layer of plaster and as he traced the bulge of it he found it travelled from the top of the wall down to the bottom.
He pulled out his phone and hit his second speed dial.
"Gib-"
Tony interrupted him "Boss you need to come to the chemical distributors. The whole building is wired."
"On my way. Get Ziva."
Tony quickly hung up and hurried out of the room. He ran to the reception and called to the receptionist to evacuate the building. He knew it wouldn't do much, if the facility blew, the chemicals would spread and cause water works contamination.
In to the elevator and pumping the up button, Tony ground his teeth impatiently. Hoping Ziva wasn't in danger.
Screens covered the first room. Security footage. Of her. At the crime scene. In the reception with Tony, reading the plans.
In the next rooms floor was covered with wires and cables all leading up to the floor above. The building was wired to blow. And the person blowing it was the person after her. Ziva pulled out her gun and looked at the roof. They must be there.
She took the stairs this time. The elevator didn't go to the top. She hurried up the stairs with her gun in her hand and poked her head up so she could see the room where she saw a strangely familiar figure, standing before a controller in the partly empty room. Ready to blow up the building. Ziva's jaw dropped as she recognised the person.
:3 suspense?