Hi! Back with a new Vignette. SPOILER ALERT! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!This is based on interviews in which Ziva will continue to be affected by the loss of her father and the need for revenge; the relationship between Tony and Ziva will continue to change (no actual comment as to where it will end up) and that Tony will come to an emotional crossroads toward the end of the season. This is my take on those words. Disclaimer: I own nothing, except any character I create.

Vignette Eleven: "Roads Taken" - Part One

NCIS- May 2013

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs strode into the bullpen, his third coffee of the day in his hand and it was only eight a.m. He slowed as he passed by the two empty desks.

He sat at his own and stared again at the empty chairs. He cocked his head, and frowned.

"McGee, you heard from DiNozzo or Ziva?" Gibbs glared at Tim.

Tim looked up and stared at the offending desks, as if by staring hard enough he could conjure up the current objects of Gibbs' attention.

"No, Boss. I guess they're running late." McGee looked back down at his work, not wanting to get tangled up in his co-worker's mess.

"Ya' think? Do you know something, McGee?" Gibbs stood up and stood in front of the Junior Agent's desk, his blue eyes cold.

"What? No, Boss! I haven't seen Tony or Ziva since we left work on Friday. I'll give Tony a call." Tim grabbed his phone and called Tony's cell. They heard a phone ringing, coming from Tony's desk.

"Uh…Boss?" McGee looked confused, and a little pale. Gibbs stared at Tony's desk, frowning. He pulled out his cell.

"Who are you calling, Boss?" McGee asked as Gibbs punched in the numbers.

His question was answered by a phone ringing from Ziva's desk. Gibbs slammed his phone shut and walked over to Ziva's desk and opened the drawer. McGee rushed over to Tony's desk and copied Gibbs' actions.

"Gibbs?" McGee held up Tony's badge, gun, ID and cell phone.

Gibbs looked at McGee with a sinking feeling in his gut. He pulled out the same items from Ziva's desk.

"I don't understand, what does this mean?" McGee looked at Gibbs, concerned.

Gibbs took a deep breath and startled Tim by the look of pain on his face. "What it means, Tim, is that Ziva has gone after Bodnar; without our help."

"But that would mean…" Tim couldn't say "off the grid", "rogue", "illegal" or all of the other adjectives that popped into his numbed brain. "But I don't see what this has to do with Tony."

"He went with her, Tim." Gibbs murmured quietly. He went and sat at his desk, trying to decide what to do first. He looked up at the Mezzanine, toward Vance's office. He would have to tell him, but he believed he owed it to Ziva and Tony to find out as much as he could before he made his report. Coming to a decision, he got up and grabbed his gun.

"McGee, with me." Tim looked startled and grabbed his stuff and ran after Gibbs.

Two Months Earlier

Tony sat at this desk, watching Ziva with growing worry. Things had been going pretty well lately. After catching Khan and playing their little cat and bird game with him, the whole team was riding on a high.

Tony and Ziva had a big part in that ruse, and they really needed to blow off steam once they got back to NCIS with Khan. Since it was snowing, Tony suggested they go back to his place to celebrate their great "tag-team role playing", but Ziva had surprised him by suggesting her place instead, since it was closer.

Once they got inside her apartment, Tony grabbed Ziva and swung her around laughing. "That was…awesome! You were amazing; he never knew what hit him."

Ziva was at first taken aback at Tony grabbing her, but his exuberance was intoxicating. She felt great about the outcome as well and it was nice to celebrate for once. She started laughing as well, his excitement and happiness infectious.

When he stopped, his hands were at her waist and her arms around his neck, and they stared at each other for a few moments. "This is nice." Tony finally said. Ziva slid her arms down and placed her hands on his chest.

"Yes, it is…" She murmured, looking at Tony's face. Tony pushed a stray curl behind her ear. She didn't seem to mind, so Tony felt emboldened.

"Ziva…" Tony began, but Ziva placed her fingertip on his lips. He surprised her by kissing it. She trailed her hand across his jawline and did not pull back when he lowered his mouth to hers.

Tony stared at Ziva sitting at her desk, thinking about that night, the beginning of everything they had been denying and ignoring for the past eight years. They were finally on the same page.

They were careful of'course. They kept it out of work, and made sure they were even more efficient if that was possible, anything to keep Gibbs from getting suspicious.

And everything had been going great, so great in fact that Tony was going to talk to Ziva about getting a place together. Neither of their places was large enough for two people.

But in the last two weeks, Ziva had been…different, distant. Tony knew the signs: they were classic "Ziva on a mission" actions, and he was very worried about exactly what her mission was.

There had been chatter recently, possible Intel regarding Bodnar and Ziva had instantly become alert and taken notice. Tony had tried to talk to her about it, but she just waved him off. "I am fine, Tony." There was nothing more worrisome than to hear those words from her.

Tony became so worried, he found himself in Gibbs' basement one late March evening after work. He found his boss working on…something. Tony couldn't quite figure out what it was, but that wasn't why he was there.

"What's on your mind, DiNozzo?" Gibbs continued sanding the wood he was working on.

"It's Ziva, I'm worried about her." Tony began.

Gibbs looked up. He put down his sanding block and walked over to his bench. He blew out a second jar and poured Tony two fingers of bourbon, his own drink already sitting on the table.

"Tell me." Gibbs said.

Tony took a sip and sighed. "I think she is making her own plans to go after Bodnar."

Gibbs sat up straight at that. "Has she said something?"

Tony shook her head. "She's been unusually quiet lately."

"And this is why you're convinced she's planning something?"

Tony looked at Gibbs. "Ziva's been doing really well since, well since January. She's been happy. She's talked about Israel and her father. She seemed to be moving on with her life."

Tony took another sip. "But now, she's withdrawing and just not talking about…anything. It's reminding me of the whole Rivkin thing." Tony shuddered.

If Gibbs was worried before, Tony bringing up Rivkin and how Ziva concealed important information from them made him downright scared.

"Do you think she knows something we don't?" Gibbs eyed his Senior Special Agent, watching his reaction carefully.

Tony shook his head. "I don't think so. But I think all this new stuff that's coming in has brought it back to her that she needs to exact revenge on this man. That's what she wants, Boss. She doesn't want justice. She wants Bodnar to pay for what he did. No, I'm worried she's going to get enough information to draw her own conclusions and take off on her own."

"Shit!" Gibbs took a swallow. "Have you tried to talk to her?"

Tony pointed to himself. "Several times. 'I'm fine, Tony' is all she says." Tony looked disgusted with himself.

Gibbs looked carefully at Tony before he spoke again. He had seen how content Ziva had been the past few months and had his own idea of what was behind it, but didn't comment on his suspicions. "Tony, we didn't have this conversation, but I want you to listen to me carefully."

Tony looked confused, but nodded. "Ok, I'm listening to what you aren't about to say to me."

Gibbs sighed. "I know Ziva has been searching for Bodnar. In fact, Homeland Security knows it as well. She's been labeled a threat to National Security."

"What?" Tony stared at his boss in disbelief. "How do you know this? And why would Homeland think Ziva's a threat?"

Gibbs looked at Tony with pity. "Vance has been called, twice. Ziva has been trying to contact Bodnar. Her internet searches have been monitored. Vance has kept them at bay, but this is getting serious, Tony."

Tony sat down, stunned. "Wouldn't our security clearance keep Homeland off of our backs? I still don't understand why they think Ziva is a threat." Tony was clearly confused and worried.

"She's not using her work computer and clearance, Tony. She's acting like Joe Citizen. And by using certain key words, her internet use has come under surveillance. We need to find out where she is holding up, and warn her. Otherwise, Homeland is taking her in."

"Dammit!" Tony exclaimed. He looked at Gibbs, confused. "Why didn't you say something sooner, Boss? We could have been looking for Ziva."

Gibbs acknowledge the validity of Tony's question. "I'm waiting to hear back from McGee. He's trying to track Ziva down as well. When he gets a hit on her computer, he's going to let me know where she is."

Tony's eyes narrowed. "Let me get this straight: you told McGee to hunt for Ziva's computer and told me nothing?" Tony has incredulous, and a little bit hurt.

Gibbs held up his hand. "When this went down, you weren't in the bullpen. In fact, you had already left. I was going to tell you when there was something to tell, DiNozzo."

Tony nodded slowly, feeling slightly better. Just then, Gibbs' phone rang. "Yeah, McGee, what have you got?" Gibbs looked at Tony.

"Ok, I'll send DiNozzo. Yeah, he's here. Ok." Gibbs hung up. "She's at the Wayfarer Apartments in Woodbridge. Know where that is?" Gibbs eyed Tony.

Tony nodded, frowning. "Yeah, it's a real dump, usually frequented by drug users, prostitutes and squatters." Tony didn't like to think of Ziva being in that setting, but he realized in her years at Mossad she had probably been in much worse.

"That's the one. When you get there, call McGee. He can narrow down your search so you don't have to knock on every door."

"Thanks, Boss." Tony smiled sardonically.

"DiNozzo, you need to keep convince Ziva that she doesn't have to do this on her own. Hell: she can't do it on her own. She's no longer Mossad. You need to remind her she's an American Citizen and an NCIS Special Agent. She can't just take off on her own private mission." Tony nodded grimly, his worry bordering on fear.

"Keep your eye on Ziva, Tony. You cannot let her take off on her own. You need to do whatever it takes to protect her. If she takes off on her own, we may never get her back. You need to make sure we get her back, that you get her back, Tony. You need to take care of her. Promise me, DiNozzo. Promise me you will have her back."

Tony looked really confused, not really sure what Gibbs was telling him to do or not do, but understood his last statement. "I'll always have her back, Boss. I promise."

Gibbs stared at Tony, holding his eyes to make sure he felt assured, and then nodded.

"Ok, Boss. I'm taking off. I'll be in touch." Tony finished his drink and left.

Tony's Apartment- May 2013

Gibbs and McGee walked around Tony's apartment. "No sign of a struggle, Boss. Same as Ziva's." Tim looked around the living room.

They had gone to Ziva's apartment first. They didn't find anything out of place, but they didn't find Ziva either. If she had packed a bag and left town, she didn't take much with her, as her closet was full of clothes. But her refrigerator was bare. That told Gibbs that she had left. She didn't want anything to spoil, so she cleaned it out.

Gibbs looked inside Tony's fridge and found it bare as well. Like Ziva, he didn't take many clothes. Gibbs didn't like poking around his Agent's homes, but they had gone off the grid and he needed to know exactly what was going on before he made his report.

"Boss?" McGee interrupted Gibbs' musings.

"Yeah, McGee." Gibbs sounded tired.

"Tony left his laptop. I can look to see, you know…maybe he sent an email to Ziva or maybe…" Tim was clearly uncomfortable looking at Tony's private stuff.

"Do it, McGee. Can you look at his bank records?" Gibbs walked over to where McGee was sitting with the laptop.

"Uh…let me see." McGee began typing and quickly got into Tony's email, since he had it password saved. Tim shook his head, but was happy he didn't have to really hack into his email.

"Let's see. Nothing special on Friday. In fact, nothing since Thursday…" McGee stopped.

"What is it McGee?" Gibbs asked.

Tim looked at Gibbs, startled. "Tony purchased two round-trip train tickets to New York, leaving Friday night at 7 p.m., returning Sunday at 2 p.m."

Gibbs paced and thought about it. "Any other purchases?" He asked.

McGee kept searching. "Yes! Two tickets for the Met Opera for Saturday night. That's it, Boss! Tony went with a woman to NY and took her to the Opera."

Gibbs glared at McGee. "And who do you think that woman was, McGee?"

Tim opened his mouth, but then closed it. "Well, I guess since she's missing too, he took Ziva. But that doesn't make sense, unless Tony was just trying to make Ziva feel better. She's been kind of stressed lately."

"Yeah, I know. Well, clearly they didn't come back on Sunday, at least to their apartments." Gibbs held up his finger. He pulled out his cell phone.

He waited about sixty seconds before his call was answered. "Mr. DiNozzo! Special Agent Gibbs. Yeah, yeah, I know. Listen, have you talked to your son lately?"

Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. smiled in delight at the unexpected call from Agent Gibbs. "Gibbs! What a nice surprise! It's been an eventful weekend. What can I do for you?" He listened to Gibbs' question.

"As a matter of fact, he and Ziva just spent a delightful weekend here with me. Well, they weren't with me the entire time, but they stayed here with me at my place. Isn't he with you now? They left Sunday."

Gibbs nodded at McGee. "No, I guess they missed their train. You didn't happen to see them board the train did you?"

"Sorry, Gibbs. They took a cab from my place. Insisted on it, wouldn't let me see them off. But if they missed the train they should have come back or at least given me a call. Maybe they decided to rent a car and drive back?" Tony's dad did not sound overly concerned.

Gibbs considered that, but thought it unlikely. "You're right, A.D." He lied. "I'll bet that's what they did."

"Well, I don't need to tell you how to do your business, but maybe if you just call him, Tony will tell you exactly where they are." DiNozzo, Sr. added helpfully. Gibbs' silence was enough to wipe the smile off his face.

"Should I be worried, Gibbs?" Tony's dad finally started to get the feeling that all was not as it should be.

"I can't really say, but can you get down to D.C.? I'll make it worth your while." Gibbs said seriously.

"Ok, now you have my attention. Something has happened to Tony and Ziva hasn't it? Am I in danger?" Tony's dad was looking around his apartment as if some assassin might pop out at any moment.

"I'd rather not say any more over the phone. Can you come, please?" Gibbs didn't want to say it, but he actually was concerned about DiNozzo, Sr's. safety; especially if Tony and Ziva were on the hunt for Bodnar. He had no illusions that Ilan Bodnar knew all about Tony from Eli David and whatever dossier they had on him, including information about his father. It was time to take precautions.

"I'll take the first flight out." Sr. answered.

"Good, call and give me the flight info and we will pick you up. I'll talk more with you later." Gibbs hung up.

McGee had been listening to Gibbs' side of the conversation, trying to piece together what was going on. He gathered that Tony and Ziva had seen his father this weekend, which surprised the hell out of him. That smacked of bringing the girlfriend home to meet the parents, although in this case, Ziva already knew Tony's dad and Tim was pretty sure that they were not in a relationship.

"Did you get that?" Gibbs asked.

Tim nodded slowly. "Tony and Ziva saw his father this weekend in New York and now Mr. DiNozzo is flying down to DC?"

"Can you get into Tony's bank records, McGee?" Gibbs turned his attention back to the laptop.

McGee looked startled at the sudden change, but looked at the keyboard. He hunted around on the desktop and found a short-cut to Tony's bank. He was quickly able to get in, as Tony again had his username and password saved. He opened up his accounts, plural. His eyes opened wide.

"What is it, McGee?" Gibbs saw McGee's change in demeanor.

"Boss, Tony cleaned out his account. He took everything." Gibbs looked alarmed at that. His worst fears were realized.

Hope you like it. I have a lot in my brain; I just need to organize it into cohesive parts that make sense. Let me know what you think with lots of reviews!

*Addendum: I changed some things to reflect the promo that was finally shown. I think now that Ziva will take her research to Vance and Gibbs and the flight to Berlin will be authorized, but we'll see!