Sammy – 2
Drug dealing scum bags were a favourite of team Gibbs. They like the undercover work and the closing off of the drug rings, sometimes internationally based. Now they had found the loading containers with connections to Pia – Leva the real exciting work could start. Hours of satellite time was being used by McGee and Sammy's electronic steak out of a suspected supplier's storage unit.
MTAC was dark and cool as Sammy and McGee sat watching the comings and goings of the suspected dealer.
"I think this is solid enough." Sammy said as she handed McGee the popcorn, not taking her eyes off the moving people shaped silhouettes on the screen.
"Yeah," McGee sighed "It's just the more time we spend in here the more time Tony and Ziva Get to slave away chasing other leads by hand." McGee sighed smugly
"And the more we wait, the more deals go down." Sammy rolled her eyes and stood up. "Better tell Gibbs."
McGee agreed grudging and checked his watched as he stood and stretched.
"Do you think he will still be here?" Sammy asked also noticing the lateness of the hour.
"Gibbs? He won't rest until we catch a dirt bag."
Sammy laughed as they left "Something's never change."
Back in the squad room, Tony and Ziva were both tired and still on the phone with stacks of files in front of them, they were running down the near 100 people whose finger point matched the one they had dusted from the crime scene. Tony was waiting on hold while Ziva was getting aggressive
"Can you just tell me if he was clocked on that night?" She asked with her teeth gritted. "Okay, yes! Thank you!"
She slammed her phone down and closed her last file in relief. "That's all of them Gibbs."
Gibbs sighed and nodded, rubbing his hair in fatigue.
"Okay, thank you." Tony smirked as he hung up his phone. "Boss, found something!"
Ziva growled at him "Why did you find him and I did not?"
He flashed a cheeky grin and snapped up a photo of a man. "Mark Johnson, Dishonourably discharged May 2008, didn't show for work on the night of our first murder. Suspect."
"He is a frequent visitor of the storage unit." McGee added as he and Sammy rounded the corner.
"Should we bring him in Gibbs?" Sammy asked, making her way to her desk.
"No. Go home, get some sleep all of you. We're going to bust tomorrow."
McGee and Tony both hissed "Yes!" and Ziva sighed in relief, Sammy looked a little un-easy.
"Who are you sending in?" McGee asked. They knew it was out of Gibbs, Tony and Ziva. McGee was needed in surveillance and Sammy was too junior to go.
Gibbs looked from McGee to Tony to Ziva, his lip curled. Ziva grinned; she loved to play the undercover dealer.
"No Boss!" Tony exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly. He shot Ziva a desperate look. They both knew this would happen once they got involved. He was too close to this.
"Your problem DiNozzo." Gibbs approached his senior field agent giving him a stern look.
"She isn't going in Gibbs. It is too risky. Send me." Tony looked Gibbs in his eye harshly.
"Tony! Don't be stupid! I've done much worse." Ziva hissed angrily she was angry he was being so openly upset about this. Gibbs would certainly suspect foul play.
"Ziva-"
Gibbs interrupted Tony "You go then."
"No Gibbs-" Ziva frowned at Tony's satisfied expression
"ENOUGH!" Gibbs yelled over the arguing. "Tony is going under cover; Ziva will be his back up. McGee and Sammy will assist!" He slapped Tony's head and left the bullpen leaving an icy silence.
Sammy and McGee stood awkwardly looking from Ziva to Tony who were staring at each other. Ziva collected her things and left in a flash. Tony swore under his breath and grabbed his bag as he went running after her.
Sammy exhaled and turned to McGee with a quizzical expression.
"Are you sure they never?" She began.
"No, no I don't think I am…" McGee felt confused. He needed some answers. "Look I will see you tomorrow, I gotta see Abby."
She nodded and they departed, both thinking about the next day.
"Abs?" McGee walked in to the lit up lab and looked around for Abby. She at her desk closing down her computers. He feet were on the desk and she had ear buds in as she nodded to her iPods music. She spotted him and pulled out the skull shaped head phones.
"Hey Timmy what's up?" She asked with an Abby smile
"Abby what do you know about Tony and Ziva?" He asked cutting strait to the chase.
Abby's stomach flipped "What- What do you know." She had her guilty Abby face on and she bit her lip.
"Tony just flipped out and told Gibbs he couldn't put Ziva undercover." McGee said looking suspiciously at Abby's entwining hands.
"Well that would make sense considering they are dating!" Abby gasped and smacked her hands to her mouth. "Why did I say that? I promised myself I wouldn't tell anyone what I saw!" she mumbled
"What! Abby WHAT?" McGee was dumbstruck "How? What? When?" He stuttered and fell down in to the nearest spinning chair.
"The night before we met Sammy, I was by the doors waiting for my cab-"
"Why were you taking a cab?" McGee asked
"Not the time Timmy!" She yelled, pulling her pigtails. "I saw them leaving, holding hands! And yes it was defiantly them!"
"Oh my god!" McGee held his head his draw dropped in surprise. "I knew something…"
"I know, I know, I know!" Abby dropped her feet and clapped her hands nervously.
"Does Gibbs know? He is going to kill them for breaking rule number 12!" McGee groaned
Abby stood up and pushed McGee's chair to the wall threateningly. "He isn't going to find out. If there is a secret I am keeping from him it's this one. We are not messing this up for Tony and Ziva!"
"Okay, okay! Abbs!" McGee rubbed his face feeling like a good night sleep. "What are we going to do anyway?"
"Nothing, for now." Abby looked unsure and tapped her fingers together, returning to her seat. "We have to wait for them to tell him, I know them and they won't lie to him forever."
McGee nodded then stood to leave. "I have to go, we are busting the drug ring tomorrow."
Abby nodded "Wait up, I'll come with ya'" The two left quietly, taking the elevator up and out.
Tony unlocked Ziva's door quietly and slipped inside her apartment, he searched every room to try and find her but she wasn't there. So where was she? There was only a few places she would be on a school night. He sighed and left making sure he locked the door behind him, he pondered on her whereabouts as he drove back home. His apartment wasn't far, he hurried up to his door and went to unlock it. It was already unlocked. He put his hand on his gun and quietly turned the door handle and slipped in. He quickly looked around and spotted Ziva on the couch. She had obviously broken in.
"Well now you have got Gibbs suspicious." She hummed, keeping her eyes on her knife. "You never reacted that way before; I have been undercover many times."
Tony sighed and joined her on the couch "I know its weird right."
She nodded and stayed silent. He looked at her and put his hand over her shoulders.
"Ziva, I am sorry I over reacted." He whispered just load enough for her to hear him. She rolled her eyes and shuffled closer to him so she could lie on him.
"No I think it's nice." She sighed "You've never done it before."
"Because it's different now," He stroked her hair "Do you really thing Gibbs suspects?"
"Maybe, Probably, Defiantly." She joked and he exhaled. "I don't think I can lie to Gibbs. It was hard enough lying to Probie."
Ziva nodded sleepily against his chest.
"Tired?" He asked as he heard her yawn.
"Yes, we should get some sleep if you are going undercover tomorrow." She sat up and stretched "I am sure we can make you a reasonable drug dealer." She flicked his ear and stood up. Tony watched her leave the room and laid his head back on the couch, dreading his ever looming confrontation with Gibbs.
Ziva left early that morning, before Tony woke up she wanted to run before she had to watch Tony's back for the rest of the day. She beat the usual track along the path that ran through the park. It was a mere stone throw from her apartment; it was the time of year when the cold days were in the same amount as the warmer ones. Today was so bitingly cold that Ziva pulled her long sleeves over her hands to protect them from the chill of the morning air. The sky she ran under was crisp light blue and cloudless, promising zero rainfall. As her feet hit the pavement rhythmically she ran through the plan of attack she had formulated the previous day to make sure Tony would not be harmed. The plan was relatively fool proof, Sammy and McGee had scoured that maze like underground space under the buildings they were targeting, mostly empty with only a portion used for storage and most of the others for water container storage.
As she finished her second lap around the park she took a break for a drink, as she paused as she felt her mobile ring at her hip.
"David?"
"Yeah hi, this is your friendly neighbourhood stalker. I am calling to request you hurry up and beat me to work because I am leaving soon."
"Soon? For you that's ten minutes, Do not worry I will get there before you." She snorted as her eyes rolled
"We'll see, love you."
She jolted like she always did when he said things like that; she bit her lip "I love you too." She smiled to herself and flipped her phone shut.
Tony was determined to beat Ziva to work for once, he knew she had a long run and that gave him an advantage, as he had hung up he rushed to leave not even stopping once. He reached the office in record time. This race was mainly his way of keeping hauntingly worried thoughts about the day from leaking in to his mind. That was just his way of coping. He glanced around the squad room to check that he had won, she was nowhere in sight, he hadn't beaten McGee though, he was sitting at his desk tapping away at his key board.
"Morning Proboscises." Tony greeted, feeling slightly smug at his victory, McGee merely grinned to himself in response.
"Big, big day." He licked his lips and stored his gun and badge "How's my alias?"
"Almost done." McGee replied his eyes on his monitor.
Tony turned to his own screen and tapped the start button. He pulled out his mobile and started to draft a message to Ziva,
Beat ya!
Seconds later the phone beeped
Really?
He looked at it in confusion. Then jumped almost a foot in the air when he heard a voice behind him
"Actually I won."
He spluttered and tried to regain his composure. "Ziva!" He growled as he spotted her hanging over the half-wall behind his desk.
"I am observing you… Tony." She grinned teasingly.
He exhaled a few times grumpily as she walked around to her own desk
"At least you dressed half appropriately." She commented at the leather jacket and jeans he had picked up, with a bit of work she could make him look convincing enough.
He nodded satisfactorily and relaxed again as they all waited for Gibbs.
"Where is our newest Probie?" Tony asked as he leaned forward to look at Sammy's empty desk. McGee shrugged, he seemed to know most about her.
"You two are pretty friendly, aren't you?" Ziva asked trying and failing to be subtle
McGee bowed his head with a grin as he knew this would pop up. "Yeah I suppose, we have a lot in common."
"Thinking about making a move once she is reassigned McRomeo?" Tony asked with a wink
"I am not sure her boyfriend would like that." McGee replied coldly
Both Tony and Ziva winced.
"Oh harsh." Tony grit his teeth
"Yeah sorry McGee." Ziva snickered
He nodded and went back to his typing, the other two exchanging knowing looks.
Meanwhile, outside a small diner, Samantha and Gibbs sat in the bleak cold sun sipping piping coffee.
"Wow, Dad was right, you do have your coffee strong." Samantha exhaled as she lowered her drink. "What's the plan for today?" she was excited
"Boring for you, Tony and Ziva are on mobile-frogman duties and you will be with McGee on surveillance duties. You are their eyes and they your ears." Gibbs replied
Sammy nodded with a small smile slash grimace of anticipation.
"Should we get going?" she asked, eager to get to work and earn that simple letter of reference which was all important to her. Gibbs nodded and stood with her, they headed to his car and climbed in, grateful for the warm air of the heating system.
Tony hated wearing earwigs; they literally buried in to his ear so he thought it would never come out and made voices sound like they were right behind him. It was annoying. Ziva was coming through his hair as she sat behind him on a table, the team minus Gibbs were prepping in the basement, they had a live video feet running to Abby as she sat in her lab making sure she hadn't missed anything in her findings. McGee was sitting in the open surveillance truck doing sound checks, Sammy was watching, taking it all in. Ziva added the finishing touch to Tony's hair then jumped off the desk and backed up so she could look at him.
"Verdict?" He asked, spreading his arms
"Alright, needs something." She tapped her knife against her chin thoughtfully then approached him again. She slashed parts of his jeans, leaving light scratches over them, making him look scruffy.
"Hey!" He was tempted to Gibbs slap her "Those were good jeans!"
She pointed her knife at his chin and closed in as he tried to back off "Do you think a few scratches on your jeans will make the difference between living and being killed because it will."
"Alrigh, alright." He took her elbows to try and restrain her from clipping him with the boot knife.
She nodded in satisfaction and then retreated to get her sound checked.
"Testing Tony Testing." A voice boomed through his ears causing his ears to ring after.
"Probie!" Tony winced and shuddered.
"Sorry." The voice was regulated and like normal. He gave McGee the thumbs up. Everything was ready.
Tony was driving his alias car and Ziva sat in the back. Gibbs was tailing in his own car while Sammy and McGee rode in the surveillance truck. They all drove to a point 200 meters away from the storage point and met up there. Gibbs went closer on foot through the bushes and on to a foothill on the perimeter where he had a good view of the building and most of the windows; there he set up his sniping point. Ziva and Tony continued in the car while the surveillance truck parked in the shadows with their eyes on the hacked security screens and live recordings. Once Tony reached the building pulled out his tapped phone as planned and dialled the number they had gotten from the victims contact list. The number had been traced to a burn phone located in the area.
After a few seconds trill he was greeted with a grunt on the other end of "What?"
"James Gray's cut. I'm collecting the last of what he paid for." Tony cut to the point
"Gray? I thought he was dead." The voice on the other end was defiantly a males and it sounded rough and disgruntled.
"Yeah he is. You didn't think you could just keep his last cut did ya." Tony was bluffing dangerously, they were only assuming this was the case because the withdrawals on Gray's records outweighed the amount he had.
"Alright. You can have the rest if you can collect by sundown." said the grunted voice "If you are who you say, you'll know where to find us."
The constant beeping indicated that the receiver had hung up. Tony also shut his phone and gritted his teeth for action. He turned back and nodded at Ziva, they had to wait a few minutes to make it convincing. They had parked under a tree and the light was dappled. Tony ran through his alias again while Ziva cleaned off her gun and climbed in to the front seat.
"Plugged in? Don't want you going off on me." He checked his sleeve mic.
"I've got your back Tony." She mumbled distractedly as she groomed her knife against her pinkie.
"Well you better." He gave her a Tony smile that he reserved just for her.
"Ready Foxtrot? Going in soon."
"Gotcha Mother ship." Tony enjoyed the code names
"In position Polar bear?"
"Reading loud and clear, mother ship." Gibbs grunted
Tony opened the door then reconsidered and leaned back to Ziva.
"See you." He whispered and silently kissed her so no one could hear, then he left the car and walked towards the entrance.
Ugh I am tired now. Sorry my gaps are so big I am working on a few projects and juggling school and life all at the same time. I was only going to split this in two but now it's three. Might do a valentine's day if you're lucky. Lots of Love.