"Come here." Tony said, offering his good arm. Ziva looked startled and glanced at the door. After giving it a few seconds thought, she carefully slid onto the bed, next to Tony.
"Are you ok?" She asked softly.
"I am now." He said. "I know this can't be too comfortable for you, but I wish you would stay here with me."
Ziva chuckled, and then stopped when her chest started to ache. "You are correct. It is comfortable for the moment, but I could not remain this way the whole night. No, I will have to go home, Tony."
"But not yet, right?" He whispered in her hair.
She leaned her head on his shoulder. "No, not yet."
So much unexpected things happened in "Revenge" and "Double Blind" that I was loathe to continue this. So I am jumping ahead to the finale, acknowledging what happened in the two past episodes within the framework of my fiction. Thanks for you continued support and desire for me to continue this story.
Vignette Eleven: Part Twenty-Four
NCIS
Tony sat at his desk, trying to absorb the events of the past few weeks. The unwelcome appearance of one Richard Parsons had wreaked havoc on a team that thought it was on the way back to some sense of normality.
He and Ziva had finally healed from their accident injuries and Ziva from the additional hurts received from her fight with Bodnar. Bodnar. The very name made bile rise in his throat. He now knew that Vance had ordered Ziva to continue with the take-down of Bodnar and Gibbs had supported that decision. When Tony had gone to see Gibbs, to admit to his concern for Ziva; Gibbs had too quickly denied seeing the bruises Ziva had suddenly developed on her knuckles.
He mentally head-slapped himself for not seeing it. He knew how upset she was, and losing those diamonds had been devastating for her. Since the accident, she had insisted on staying alone in her apartment, instead of staying with him. He was becoming increasingly worried that she was rethinking their relationship.
His horror at seeing Bodnar fall from the ship was only slightly buffered by seeing her alive and able to walk. He knew it was physically impossible for her to have picked Bodnar up and throw him off the ship, so he wasn't surprised at her explanation: After sharing multiple blows, Bodnar tried to escape by climbing onto the railing to climb up to another level.
Ziva tried to stop him and he kicked her away. The force of his kick caused him to lose balance and he fell to his death. Ziva managed to get to her feet to see the end result. She was not happy he was dead; although she was relieved he was no longer a threat. She had truly wanted answers from him, wanted to know why he really killed her father, and what he was talking about regarding the killing of Kazmi.
They tried to get past everything, but he was surprised she bought a new car without consulting him. He loved her choice and couldn't wait to give it a spin, but still it was another decision she made without including him. The Mini was a minor detail, but it still stung. He felt like she was creating a void between them, one that would be impossible to repair and he wasn't sure of her motivation in doing this.
Richard Parsons started out as a slight annoyance that quickly became a dangerous adversary. And then came the revelation about Adam Eshel. He was so hurt and angry. They had not been in a relationship at that point, that didn't happen until the case with Khan. So he really couldn't say that she had cheated on him, but it still felt that way and he wasn't sure what, if anything, he should do about that. He still loved her desperately, and still wanted to marry her. But now his confidence was shaken.
And he was really pissed at Adam. He sat with the guy at a café, and there he was, knowing the whole time he had slept with Ziva, probably comparing Tony to himself, wondering probably what Ziva ever saw in him. "Stop it, DiNozzo! You're being paranoid." He berated himself.
He was frustrated at Ziva refusing to see the seriousness of her time with Adam, but he realized that she was probably in denial and trying to forget it ever happened. She never thought Tony would find out about it, so she was not prepared to discuss it and excuse it, much less have to have a lawyer involved.
The Pow-wow in Autopsy filled him with pride and relief as he saw the team rally around Ziva, prepared to do anything to save her name and her career. The evidence of Shmeil being involved in the events of Munich was a shock. Tony knew this old man had a lot of stories in him, but intelligence operations was not one he had considered, whether it was once or on multiple occasions.
He shook his head. He thought it couldn't get worse and although it wasn't good news, the angle that Parsons was really going after Vance brought him a sense of relief. It made him all the more angry that Parsons had used Ziva and made those accusations; all to get a reaction. This man was dangerous and needed to be watched.
Ziva losing her security clearance was also unexpected and troubling, especially in light of the evidence pointing to her not being his target.
When Tony saw Parsons heading for the elevator, he couldn't resist the opportunity. He challenged him and told him to lay off. Parsons again tried to goad him, saying Ziva had "dissed" him. How did this guy know what their relationship was or wasn't at the time? He was starting to feel like Evan, thinking his and Ziva's life had been on display for some unnamed and unknown entity.
When Parsons said to him "what makes you think I'm going after Ziva?" he was truly shocked. After talking to McGee and Ziva, he realized he had been referring to Vance.
He rubbed his face. They had all been wrong, so wrong. Gibbs had been the target all along. Parsons had to have been planning this from the get-go; this wasn't something he stumbled upon during his investigation to "cross the T's and dot the I's".
Tony frowned. He knew that Gibbs was unorthodox, and he allowed the team to operate within sometimes questionable parameters. How many times had McGee been ordered to hack into some database; or how many places had they picked locks rather than getting a court order?
But no one had been hurt and they got their suspect and closed cases. They had a high success rate, and were considered the elite of NCIS. So where was the problem?
Tony didn't know much about Gibbs' time at NCIS before he had joined. He knew he started by working with Mike Franks, and then Franks quit and Gibbs was placed under Riley McAllister. He figured he was the one who paired Gibbs with Jenny, but he didn't know for sure.
He certainly didn't know about any of the cases Gibbs and Jenny had worked. Was there something in one of them?
A sudden noise caught his attention, as men began moving boxes of case files through the bull pen. He looked across at Ziva. "Records being subpoenaed." He watched the cart head to the elevator
She looked worried and distracted. Ziva had stayed with Tony after Gibbs was informed of the investigation being focused on him. This was another low blow: Gibbs was as much or more a father to her than Eli ever was. She couldn't bear the thought of something happening to him.
They had talked about Adam, but it was still a sore subject. Ziva was more concerned about Gibbs at the moment than Tony's fractured feelings, and to be honest, so was Tony. He put aside his own feelings to focus on helping Team Gibbs remain intact.
Tony had tried to convince her that nothing would happen, that Gibbs always came out on top. But this Richard Parsons was a barracuda, dangerous and unpredictable. Plus they really didn't know what he was basing his case on. Was it one thing, or a variety of things?
So they did their own investigation, on the sly. Trying to see what Parsons was seeing in the reports that screamed illegal or inappropriate. Of evidence manipulation and obstruction of justice.
He glanced at Ziva. He supposed their continued efforts to find Bodnar after being told to step aside could be designated as "obstruction of justice" but Vance was behind that as much as Gibbs.
He remembered Gibbs' relentless pursuit of identifying and baiting Ari Haswari. Did they blame him for Kate's death? Tony shook his head at that. It made no sense.
They all had their moments of bending the rules, of making mistakes, and Gibbs was going to be made an example, made to pay the price.
"Not if I have anything to do about it!" Tony stood up. "Campfire in Autopsy in five minutes." He strode to the elevator as Ziva and McGee exchanged knowing glances.
Autopsy
They all stood as they did two days prior, only this time there was one missing from the ranks. Gibbs was with Vance at the moment, meeting with Attorney A.J. Chegwidden, Rear Admiral, Ret. Gibbs had known him from one of their earlier cases together that involved JAG. He was now retired and working in the private sector.
Tony hoped he was working pro bono because he couldn't imagine what his fees would be. He looked around at everyone's solemn faces. He wasn't officially in charge, even though Gibbs was relieved of duty while the investigation was ongoing. He assumed the role naturally and by default.
"Ok, we know what we are up against. Parsons is trying to make Gibbs out to be some out of control vigilante who takes the law into his own hands. We need to make sure this doesn't happen."
Abby raised her hand. "Tony, how can we do that? Parsons has our files. We can't alter them to make them look better. And he is going to take his own interpretation of what was written. He could even accuse us of altering the records to read how we want them to read, instead of what the truth was."
Tony narrowed his eyes at that last statement. "Was Abby referring to something she knew about?" He would have to take her aside, as he didn't want any surprises rearing its ugly head as they tried to save Gibbs'.
Abby knew what she was saying, as she altered the results of her findings in the Pedro Hernandez case, hiding the fact that Gibbs had been the sniper who killed him. To her knowledge only she and Gibbs knew this, but now she wasn't sure.
"You are correct, Abigail. There is nothing we can do about what has already happened. I suggest that we make other things happen that will change the outcome." Ducky responded.
"Such as?" McGee asked.
"Parsons is only going to focus on negative results of what he considers inappropriate behavior. He will conveniently ignore the positive outcomes that have come from our fearless Leader's unorthodox methods." Ducky looked at Tony.
"Are your case files still accessible to you, or has access been denied?"
Tony pursed his lips. "They have removed the physical files. All we have are our reports that we have saved on our computers. Gibbs' computer has been confiscated, so we can't access his files."
"We better check our own, to make sure they have not disappeared. I would not put it past these men to take our own words away from us." Ziva looked grim.
McGee looked up at that. "Can they do that?"
"I don't know McGee, can you hack?" Tony's shoulders sagged. McGee frowned.
They all stared at each other, the tension palpable. "Ok." Tony began. "McGee, Ziva and I will check out files and print out every damn report we ever wrote." He turned to Ducky.
"Ducky, do the same with your autopsy results. They can take your files away as easily as they can take ours." Ducky looked highly affronted at that thought.
"Abby, you do the same with your forensic reports. I'm going up to Vance's office to see what is happening on that front." One by one, they all made their way back to their desks.
McGee and Ziva worked feverishly to locate their files. McGee suggested that rather than printing them all, they put them on a flash drive. It would be quicker to drag the files to the drive, and there wouldn't be the chance of accidently leaving a page or two on the printer. They were relieved to see that it appeared their computers had not been tampered with.
By using the flash drive, they were able to move their files very quickly. Tim suggested they do the same with their personal files and he would remove any that they wanted gone. He then went to Tony's computer and moved his case reports to a flash drive.
Vance's Office
Albert Jethro Chegwidden listened quietly as Vance and Gibbs explained the current situation. He sighed. He knew Gibbs; he had worked with him before and found his methods unorthodox. But illegal?
"I need to know anything and everything you have ever done that could be considered illegal. I think we all know what the obstruction of justice charge is all about." He stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"Bodnar." Gibbs replied, looking at Vance.
"I'm to blame as much or more for that than Gibbs is, A.J. They are making an example out of him." Vance's mouth was a thin line of disapproval.
"Yes, Bodnar. Homeland specifically instructed you to stand down, but you did not. Why?" A.J. was not being judgmental, he was curious.
Vance sighed deeply. "He killed my wife, A.J. He killed Agent David's father. Homeland was dragging their feet and doing nothing, and not giving us any answers."
"Yes, I know all about vengeance. It usually has a way of biting you in the ass."
Gibbs smiled slightly, but became serious again. "Bodnar intimated that he was not responsible for killing the Iranian Arash Kazmi. Then who was? Why was Homeland so intent on getting their hands on him first? They didn't just want us to not bring him in; they didn't want us anywhere near him."
A.J. sat up at that. "Are you suggesting that Homeland was trying to do a cover up, that perhaps someone in their ranks was responsible for that assassination?"
Gibbs cocked his head and looked at Vance. "The thought crossed our minds."
"So in a way, you were investigating Homeland Security. This just keeps getting better and better." A.J. tapped his pen on the table.
"Are you still working this angle, or have you stopped because Bodnar is dead?"
Gibbs looked frustrated. "We really have nothing to go on. Bodnar never revealed what he knew or thought he knew to Ziva." A light bulb went off in his head. "The whole interrogation thing of Ziva may have also been to find out if he had told her anything. Knowing Ziva, she would have thrown it right back into Parson's face. They are satisfied we know nothing of Kazmi, and have dropped their focus on Ziva."
"Still, I suggest you have your team pursue this. It could give us leverage. In the meantime, what do they have on you or what could they get on you that could send you to prison for a long time?" AJ looked directly at Gibbs.
Gibbs shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Well, we do bend the rules: we hack into computers, including the FBI, Homeland, CIA, Mossad…"
AJ's eyes widened at that and he shook his head. "What else?"
"I have taken things from evidence, to use in other cases. One example that comes to mind is I took some money to pay the ransom for a little girl that had been kidnapped." Gibbs rubbed the back of his neck.
"I have also tampered with evidence. I switched out some DNA samples to prevent a career Marine from being dishonorably discharged because he had given up a kidney to a friend."
AJ stopped writing and looked at Gibbs. "Evidence tampering is serious, but I can't fault your reasoning. Anything else."
The silence hung in the room like a wet blanket. AJ frowned. "What is it?"
Gibbs sighed. He looked at Vance, who nodded slightly. Taking a deep breath, he spoke softly.
"I committed first-degree murder."
AJ started, and then leaned back in his chair. "Tell me."
Gibbs shrugged. "I killed the man responsible for the murders of my wife and daughter. I found out who he was, I went down to Mexico and shot him with a long-range sniper's rifle."
"Holy shit." AJ finally responded after several moments of silence. "Who else know this?"
"I do. Mike Franks did." Vance offered.
"Abby knows." Gibbs said quietly, with remorse.
Vance looked up sharply at that. "Her findings on the autopsy?"
Gibbs nodded and looked at AJ. "Abby was sent to Mexico to teach a class on cold cases. The cold case in question just happened to be one Pedro Hernandez."
"The man you killed." AJ commented.
"Yeah. Abby of'course had no idea, and did her thing. She figured it out."
"What did she do about it?" AJ asked, knowing the answer since Gibbs was still sitting in front of him.
"She altered her report. I didn't make her do it, and I wish to God now she hadn't. I don't want Abby dragged down in this." Gibbs looked worried.
AJ shook his head. "We will keep her out of this if possible. It depends on what Parsons knows."
He took a deep breath. "Well, I don't have to tell you that this is very serious. Even if you overlook the fact that you murdered someone, whom they might considering the circumstances; it does present the case that acting on revenge is standard operating procedure for you and by extension your team. That you have a tendency to skirt the law to get what you want, regardless of how favorable the outcome. The case they will present is that you could have gotten the same results without bending the rules; without breaking any laws. They will try to show that you lack judgment and act on feelings rather than facts: a dangerous combination for anyone in law enforcement."
Gibbs looked away. "So what are we looking at here?"
AJ studied his face. "Worst case scenario? They charge, try and convict you of the first-degree murder of Pedro Hernandez, in which case you go to prison for life or maybe even get the death penalty."
Gibbs' face lost all of its color at that pronouncement. Instinctively, he knew it was just. He did commit murder. But he felt justified and even now, knowing what he knew now, he would still do it.
AJ held up his hand. "Having said that, I don't think that is what their end game is. I think they want to serve you up on a silver platter, for all Agencies to see: 'This is what happens when you don't play by the rules.' If you're lucky, you'll get to retire with all of your benefits. If they really want to make a statement, you will be fired and lose not only your pension from the Federal Government but also any benefits you have from the Corps."
Gibbs absorbed what AJ just said. "Fired? Retired?" He looked at his old friend. "Is there any way none of that will play out?"
AJ looked sadly at Gibbs. "The only way we are going to beat them at this is if we can prove they are coming after you and your team to hide something that they are doing: like covering up the assassination of Arash Kazmi."
Gibbs and Vance sat up at that. "Is that what you think is going on?" Vance asked.
AJ shrugged. "The timing is questionable. Other things have happened in the past that could have warranted an investigation. But it was only after the death of Bodnar, someone that they wanted their hands on, that they come knocking at your door. Oh, I think they are definitely hiding something and using you as a scapegoat. Not that you haven't done some really stupid things. You have. But if we can turn the tables on them, we may have a chance. But I can't promise there won't be any casualties."
"What do you mean?" Gibbs asked cautiously.
"Even if it is proven that DOD is using this as a cover up for their own operations, your team has still made some questionable decisions. Someone may have to go. Maybe not go as in 'fired', but maybe off your team."
Gibbs didn't like the sound of that at all. "If someone leaves my team, it should be me. I stand by what I said to Parsons: I take full responsibility for their actions. I won't let anything happen to them."
"And will any of them let something happen to you?" AJ asked.
Gibbs didn't want to think of that, that one of them would sacrifice themselves for his honor. And deep down, he knew who would most likely be willing to do that…Ziva.
Well, that's the start. I will try to do more this weekend, and be finished before the finale. Thanks again for the support for this series.