Author's Note: Hey guys, thanks for all the reviews. This chapter would have been up sooner, but took me longer to think about what scenes I wanted to use/write first. Anyway, today's my birthday...I turned 23...and because I'm such a geek and an old soul that makes me 63 years old, lmao. Don't laugh too much...I'm being dead serious with you all. Anyway, only geeks write chapters for their fics on their birthday...so three freaking cheers for me, huh? WEE! WEE! WEE! (or any other form of cheers would do-but wee wee wee tickles me in places I'll keep to myself. Alrighty, way too much honey I must have put in my tea...so while I calm myself down (and make a pit stop at the bathroom), you guys read the new chapter and hopefully you all will enjoy yourselves. Later Days-GEEK (Sabrina)

Chapter 30: The Spy Who Loved Me

Tony lies awake inside his cell. It is small and it is stuffy; poor air circulation due to the creaky air conditioner he passed by on the way inside. There are no windows; this is the worst cell in the history of all cells he is sure. There is no need for any means of shut-eye because the late morning is approaching-and so are his punishments.

If Jeanne could see him now she would probably spit in his face; scratch his eyes out and dig out a few clumps of his hair. Her free ticket to bring him pain; hoping it would make her feel better after all the rotten things he did to her. A few swift kicks to his groin, through metal bars; the perfect way to make him fall to his knees while he is trapped on the inside.

It is now that Tony wishes for someone to be there. Someone to give him the impression that there is beauty on the outside-in this cold world. A person to follow him through the mud in times like these…a person that will stand by him and never have any doubts about the decisions he had made.

He fought against it as best as he could; the grip he held on his weapon made imprints in his hand long before he pulled the trigger. He never intended to face Ziva's father nor kill him right in front of her.

He smirks at the twisted scenario that plays back in his head; her father on the verge of being murdered and all she wanted was a way out-her determination solely on finding Gibbs and McGee.

He wants to applaud her on her guts, but she is not there for him to see. He is alone; tucked away in a cell that could possibly be the last down the line. He stands, then paces. He tries to find comfort in the ticking of the clock on his wrist, but the quick ticks echo loudly in the hallow cell-making him feel a type of chill and dampness that causes his throat to grow tight.

He wants to hear someone speak; he needs human contact-but they will not let him have any visitors until instructions are discussed between NCIS and Mossad.

…Until the rest of his life is decided for him.

With his keys in his hands, he opens his front door to embark on a mission that the hospital doctors instructed he stay away from-at least until a couple of weeks. Finding his car parked at the beginning of his driveway, from the house down to the street, he reaches for his cell phone; he has a need to speak to someone that needs conversation as much as he does, and begins to look for the saved number in his contacts.

A single dry leaf swirls around him in the light breeze, indicating that summer will soon reach its end and the rustic colors of the fall will soon take up residence.

"Jethro!" Turning around from the shouting of his name, he squints in an unfriendly-like manner at Agent Fornell. "I need to speak to you."

"I'm not workin'." He rasps while shutting his phone; suddenly his doctors orders mean something.

"Oh yeah? Where you heading, then?" Fornell gives him a narrow look. "I would advise you come with me."

"There's plenty of people around here for ya to harass-some of them might even grow to like ya, Fornell."

"Cut the crap, Gibbs-this is serious." He throws a look over his shoulders; checking the parameter.

Clearing his throat, Gibbs places his car keys back into his pockets. "I'm listenin', Tobias."

"NCIS is in hot water-"

"Gee, really Tobias?" Gibbs cracks.

Fornell gives him a beady look and continues. "Now you know me, Gibbs-I like to see you suffer every once in a blue moon, I even like to regulate the water every now and again, but this is one time where I can't really do that-and that makes me nervous."

"This about DiNozzo?"

"It's about the team. Your team…FBI was put on investigation."

Gibbs rolls his eyes and looks at the sky. "I should have known…while I was fighting for my life, I should have known if I made it through, I'd still be forced to look at your face."

Fornell smirks. "Considering the others that work alongside me, you should be glad its my face you're forced to look at." He waits for Gibbs to speak, but he chooses not to. "I don't like this anymore than you do, Jethro."

"Then why bother?" Gibbs shakes his head. "What happened has nothing to do with the FBI. Now Internal Affairs-sure, I can see them comin' down to investigate foul play-but the Feds? Nah…they shouldn't be on my turf."

"Michael Rivkin sound familiar?" He sees him flinch and gives him a few seconds to gather his thoughts. "Figured he would."

"Mossad's got nothing to do with FBI." Gibbs states.

"They do when one of their own had been one of our own."

Gibbs stops himself from turning around and looks deeply at Fornell. "You're telling me that Michael Rivkin…former Mossad…worked for the FBI?"

"As his wife, Ziva David, worked for the CIA at one time." Fornell adds more to the story, causing Gibbs to grow tense in his shoulders and neck. "See Gibbs, I know these things. This is why I'm standing in your driveway."

"Is that so?" He cocks an eyebrow.

"Well it sure as hell isn't for the faint smell of your precious daisies."

Sighing, Gibbs reaches for his keys again. "You gonna let me drive myself or do you want to make me look bad in front of the rest of the classroom?"

"You can drive yourself, but don't think for a moment about skippin' town."

"I love when you give me ideas, Tobias."

Smirking, Gibbs turns around and climbs inside his car. Once Fornell disappears into his own car, his smirk falls as does his stomach.

The interrogation room is just as anyone can remember. It is simple and well-air conditioned; the perfect icebox for a hot summer day and the worst nightmare for any winter day. The metal table sits perfect with its sturdy legs flat against the ground. The usual two chairs in the room are accompanied by four others; more seats for more people that are to be drilled until they crack under pressure.

The stakes are high on this Federal board game. Each Agent will have the opportunity to make their own moves and suffer their own consequences.

Jenny Shepard pins her shoulders back as she looks intently through the two-way mirror. The future of her most trusted team teeters on one hell of a rickety fence; so weathered and warn from the trouble paths that constantly ran through it.

A soft click makes her flinch, but she does not turn herself around to face her wise friend. The scent of his old-fashioned cologne invades her nostrils and sets her mind at ease if only for a brief moment or two.

"There isn't a need for you, Ducky." She speaks easily; wanting to set him free without insulting him. "Your judgment isn't required."

He approaches her from behind, still keeping his lips tight and closed.

"…Tony's been requested to go first…" She provides information she is certain that he seeks. "…Ziva second…Gibbs third…McGee forth…"

"What about our dear Abigail?"

"Off the hook this time." She turns her head to the side and smiles sadly. "…no way for her to be a part of this equation."

"And yourself, Director?" He questions, then walks around to her other side; her back still facing him.

"I am only allowed to oversee this interrogation." The chill to her tone makes him a bit uneasy. "Mossad and FBI run this show…everyone else follows in their footsteps."

"Does Jethro know about this?"

She waits for a moment; using the silence to gather her strength.

"Time will tell." She tells him.

Fornell instructs him to sit as an unfamiliar face for Mossad stares him down. The temperature rises, causing the coolness in the air to diminish. Sweat forms on his brow; not a single thought of drumming away to an air guitar crosses his mind as he clasps his hands properly in front of him.

"I am to understand that you understand your reason for being here, Agent DiNozzo." Fornell states.

"Understood." Tony clarifies.

"I am also to understand that I am obligated to tell you that interrogation is being recorded." He begins to walk around the tiny space inside the room; wanting his first question to be the golden ticket to getting the golden answer. "Now, Agent DiNozzo, would you like to tell myself, Agent Doron Miriam, and all our friends at NCIS why you took it upon yourself to murder the Director of Mossad?"

Tony sighs; a tiny and twisted smile escapes his lips uncontrollably.

"Answer the question, Agent DiNozzo."

"No. No, his death wasn't a plan."

"I never said it was."

"Then why on earth would I take it upon myself to kill the man?" His words fire past his lips. "A person just doesn't wake up one morning and declare vengeance on a man they hardly know."

"It isn't hard to believe. Things like that happen everyday."

"Gee Fornell, I don't consider myself an 'everyday' type of guy, then." He inhales. "Next question."

"I'll make that call, Agent DiNozzo."

His eyebrows slant from the middle outward, causing his usual bright eyes to darken. "You're not going to get the satisfaction of twisting the truth." Tony steadies himself; hands flat on the table and the soles of his shoes pressed against the hard floor. "Yes, I fired a gun and with a bullet, I murdered Director David-but nothing had ever been planned."

"Then why were you in Tel Aviv?"

"To try and get Ziva back to the states."

"Why not just pick up a phone." Fornell's shoulders stiffen slightly. "Let me rephrase that question. Why hadn't you gone to Hong Kong instead?"

"I wasn't aware of her whereabouts."

"So you just assumed Tel Aviv would be the place to find her."

"Seems pretty logical to me, Fornell." Tony admits. "Many people choose to return home when the place they try to call home denies them entry or permanent residence."

"Ziva David isn't just 'people'. She's former Mossad, former NCIS…former CIA…Former member of the SDU…" He raises an eyebrow. "Former lover?"

Behind the thin sheet of glass Director Shepard holds her breath as Agent Fornell's unanswered question lingers in the air.

The personal relationships of her Agents have nothing to do with her nor does she judge them on their specimen choices, but any non-professional relationship between the Italian and the Israeli will complicate their troubles on another level entirely.

Ducky watches steadily; his own breath being held.

"I excuse the question." Tony tries for calmness in the tone of his voice. "I excuse your stupidity, Fornell."

"It's a logical question, Agent DiNozzo…I suggest you answer it before you complicate this matter."

"I find it hard to believe things could get anymore complicated."

"They can and they will." His voice stern. "Answer the question."

Nervously, Tony runs his hand along the back of his head. "Ya know I was to call a lawyer first thing in the morning, but I figured, nah, it'd be a waste of effort and money on my part…"

"Things suddenly change for you, Agent DiNozzo?"

"Well…when the FBI decides to stick a prick in my face, I don't see how things could not." He forces a smile.

"Wanna call a lawyer, Agent DiNozzo?" Fornell waits; a teasing smile on his lips. "There's a whole phonebook full of them."

Tony pushes his back against the back of the chair, hoping to get some sort of comfort for the first time since entering the interrogation room.

"What'll it be, Agent DiNozzo?"

"No." He says quickly, but quietly. "I haven't done anything wrong. I don't need a lawyer."

"So you will continue to defend yourself?"

"Don't see any reason I shouldn't."

Agent Miriam slams his fists on the table; creating a series of chilling echoes that can even be heard by the Director and Ducky on the opposite end of the two-way mirror.

"Enough of this garbage!" He roars. "Where are your relations to Ziva David?"

Fornell looks slightly frightened at the outburst, but soon settles himself down and waits for Tony to answer.

"So we're tag-teaming now?" Tony wonders. "Where's my team-mate?"

"Answer…the question…Agent DiNozzo." Agent Miriam is shaking with anger.

"Former co-worker; current friend." Tony lifts an eyebrow. "That enough?"

"You tell nothing, but lies!" He hisses.

"Yeah, okay…I'm lying." Tony shrugs. "Ya got me, buddy."

Fornell smirks at Tony's usual roundabout with sarcasm, but Agent Miriam's eyes begin to tear from staring Tony in the face. "Co-worker, friend…these kinds of people would not allow themselves to travel outside of the country; Ziva would not have allowed you to come unless-"

"That's why I took it upon myself." Tony manages to say. "That's why I asked for time off, I got on a plane, and I went to Tel Aviv. I did it on my own-"

"Because you two are lovers-"

"Because she's important to me." Tony corrects him. "…and I'd like to think I'm just as important to her."

"I gotta say, Agent DiNozzo, things were easier before knowledge of what you just offered to tell us." Fornell mentions.

"Either I tell you the truth or you two convince yourselves that Ziva and I are seeing each other."

Agent Miriam spins around and slowly walks around the table. Agent Fornell does the same until he is right back in the center of the room and the table.

"So let me get this straight…you're telling the both of us that the only reason why you flew to Tel Aviv had been because you wanted to reconnect with an old friend, possibly bring her back, possibly more…"

"The bit at the end; the twisted part, no. No, that I won't agree to." Tony speaks firmly.

"I'll try and remember that." Fornell tosses at him. "Proceeding into the reality that the Director of Mossad and Michael Rivkin are dead because…of you."

"I didn't kill Michael Rivkin." Tony shakes his head. "Ziva did."

"Making your girlfriend take what's rightfully hers, aye, Agent DiNozzo?" Fornell grins.

"She's not my girlfriend." A slight growl escapes him. "…and it isn't how you think. Michael found us during our pursuit for Gibbs and McGee. Ziva and I, we hadn't a choice. Either we protected each other and ourselves, or you'd have four dead bodies on your hands instead of two."

"Remind me to rate this Romantic Drama when I get a chance."

"THIS ISN'T A GODDAMN JOKE, FORNELL!"

Tony pushes back on the chair as he shoots out of his chair. The chair falls on its back and slides slightly away from him. With fever in his eyes, he hovers over the desk with two round fists forcing themselves into the hard surface.

Fornell pauses and watches the angered man before him. Looking past his shoulders, he notices Agent Miriam continue to pace, but slower this time, as he watches Tony carefully.

"I never thought there was anything funny about this, Agent DiNozzo." He speaks easily. "…but we've got a problem on our hands." He waits to see if Tony will find his seat again, but he does not. "You're the prime suspect in this whole ordeal."

Tony's shoulders fall a smidge, but he keeps his guard way up.

"Now you say you spoke to Director Shepard, and you requested some time off so you could go to Tel Aviv and find Ziva, because you assumed she had been living there-"

"Wait…just wait…" He sighs. "I was told she was there…until I got there."

Fornell squints. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I spoke with a friend of hers while in DC…on the phone…that's the only reason why I decided to go ahead with what I wanted to do…with what I did. he told me he could help me find her, but I did not know she wasn't living in Tel Aviv until I arrived there."

"Who is this 'friend'?"

"Lior…I don't know his last name." Tony's shoulders grow heavier, causing them to fall even more. "He's dead…one of the bodies from the warehouse." Huffing, Tony rubs his brow. "Listen, I know this looks bad…I know this sounds bad, but the occurrence of events happened for a reason I or Ziva can not be held responsible for. I couldn't predict this…I wouldn't ever predict this."

Fornell looks at him and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Oh dear…" Ducky whispers as his hand falls gently on one of her shoulders.

Director Shepard hangs her head low; ashamed.

"I ruined his life, Ducky." She pauses. "I should have never let him go through with it."

"He would have traveled to Tel Aviv regardless of your approval or not…" His gaze returns to the glass; watching as Agent Fornell and Agent Miriam exit the interrogation room. "The young lad has taken after his team leader, you know…"

"I could shoot Jethro for instilling his stubbornness into his team."

Ducky raises an eyebrow charmingly. "Or congratulate him on shaping them to go for what they think is right."

"Tony's act of righteousness has brought him closer to imprisonment than any one of his half-witted ideas."

"You mustn't be negative, Jenny."

She covers the hand laying on her shoulder, "…but I must be honest."