Disclaimer : Still own nothing. Just having fun.
Author's Note : Thanks for taking the time to read. Love seeing the alerts and reviews.
Things are going to start getting a bit stickier for Tony...starting now.
To answer the PMs here : we go undercover in chapter 12.
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12:07pm – Bullpen – NCIS Headquarters, Washington, DC –
Arms crossed as he waits by the plasma, Gibbs listens to the quiet click of Ziva and Tim's keyboards while they compile their reports; they clearly follow his order to take extra time on their work prior to submission. Since the forensic and autopsy reports are already on his desk, he knows it will just be a matter of time before the Director asks him to sign out the investigation.
He doesn't need to read them to know they reached the same conclusion he did at the scene.
While the case itself is clearly open and shut, the amount of circumstantial evidence gives Gibbs pause. He just can't pick up a pen to close the case out until he makes sense of the minute details : the girl's identity, the men with the tattoos of the Angel Caido, the strange interview with Quinn and Tony's unsettling reaction.
It all leaves his gut burning.
If Fornell doesn't bring me something good, I'll need more than bourbon to sleep tonight.
He pulls a swig of his coffee, rolling his shoulders while he waits. When he notices several agents moving past the bullpen with their lunchbags, he wonders whether Tony's finished interviewing Chase's co-workers yet. He starts after his cell, ready to bark orders at his senior agent, yet he stops short at the memory of the anguished glint in the younger man's eyes while they discussed his undercover stint with the Angel Caido until dawn. Although he doesn't know everything, Gibbs figures he can justify lateness once in Tony's career.
The minute slowly tick by as he studies the images on the plasma.
When the elevator finally dings, Gibbs doesn't know how long he's been standing here, trying to make sense of nothing. There's a pause in Tim's typing while he peers over the partition for a glance at Tony.
When Fornell and an older female agent round the corner, Tim leans back into his chair, obviously deflated. Gibbs' gut bubbles at their arrival. Before he can ask for an explanation, Fornell shakes his head. The woman heads into the bullpen, apprising Gibbs' team.
She rakes her hand through her loose, grey curls. "I thought you said he'd be here, Tobias."
Aggravation lights on Fornell's face.
"Well, its normal business hours and he works here, so I assumed - "
"You know what happens when you assume."
She smiles politely at Tim's furrowed brow and Ziva's expressionless face.
"Wanna tell me what's going on?" Gibbs asks.
"Associate Deputy Director of the Inspection Division, Veera Colvin." The woman offers her hand to him, adjusting the lapel of her suit coat when he ignores the gesture. "I take it you're Agent Gibbs. Your reputation precedes you."
"Never hearda you."
"I wouldn't expect you to," Colvin replies. "I tend to be a bit more behind the scenes than you're probably used to. But I can assure you that I'm just as effective as you at my job. I found out recently we have some…mutual interests."
"Oh yeah?"
"You're familiar with the Angel Caido?" Gibbs stares blankly at her while she moves through the bullpen. "Rumor has it that they're moving down this way from Baltimore."
"And what's this have to do with us?"
"Anthony Masterson." She grins when Gibbs doesn't react. "You're one hell of a poker player, Agent Gibbs. I'm sure you already figured out by now that your agent went undercover with them when he was in Baltimore. I need him to go back in."
"Not gonna happen."
When Gibbs shakes his head, she moves down the length of the bullpen, hips swaying. Gibbs glances at Fornell to find him studying the top of his shoes. She runs her hand along Tim's desk, smiling predatorily back at Gibbs.
"I suppose this youngling here happens to be Agent McGee, correct? Degrees in computer forensics from MIT and biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins. Talk about the best of the absolute best, Agent Gibbs. All those smarts and all these computers, he probably tends to get a bit bored with gathering evidence the traditional way, huh?" She leans forward, inches from Tim's face, and he inhales sharply. "You look like you'd enjoy a challenge, Agent McGee. You been in our database lately?"
Tim's cheeks blaze as he turns back to his computer, fingers smashing against the keyboard. While Colvin's lips stretch into an amused smile, she turns her attention to Ziva's desk. Hand gripped tightly around the letter opener she uses to threaten Tony, the Israeli glowers at her.
"Well, that makes you the infamous Ziva David then. The only woman on a man's team, and a Mossad liaison as well. I'm still not sure how you fit in the agency and which international rules Director Shepard bends to keep you. That's not important though. I did hear that you like to get a little violent, right? But then again I wouldn't expect anything less from the daughter of Eli David. Is it true that you killed your own brother?"
Ziva's knuckles turn white around the letter opener.
"What the hell do you want?" Gibbs growls.
"I need Agent DiNozzo to help us infiltrate the Angel Caido again. I expect - "
"Already told you, that's not my call."
"That's where you're wrong, Agent Gibbs. I know your demons, too. If you want to keep them buried, I suggest you talk to your agent."
When he closes his eyes, he clenches his jaw so tightly that it pops.
The heat of the noon sun beats on his back while the rocks on the hillside grind into his stomach. Eye pressed against the sight of the rifle that's become his savior, he waits for the truck to pass. As he sees the face of the man who killed his family, Gibbs exerts just enough pressure to deploy a round from his weapon. The crack of the shot sends birds flying and he rolls against the hill, squinting at the sun.
The act that motivated him for so long leaves him surprisingly hollow.
His girls are still dead.
"I can't help you," he rasps.
"While you might mind going to answering for your sins, I doubt Officer David would appreciate being deported or that Agent McGee would fare well in prison."
Tim's audible swallow twists Gibbs gut.
"I've watched the cartel run amok in Baltimore," Colvin says, eyes fixed on Gibbs. "Drugs pour into that city every day and no one can stop them. They're considered to be untouchable after that debacle with Agent Losko. If he hadn't interrupted Agent DiNozzo's undercover work, Enrico Carreras would be in prison by now. Since we've heard chatter that they're heading to DC, there's no telling what they can do down here. It's only a matter of time before they bribe the right officials and – "
"That's not really my problem."
"Look, Jethro - " Fornell shifts his weight slightly " - DiNozzo's the only one who's been able to infiltrate those guys without raising any suspicions. Most cops who've tried to follow in his footsteps have ended up with an emergency extraction or in the morgue. Hell, the last agent we sent in is missing and presumed dead."
Colvin flinches visibly.
"Given Agent DiNozzo's history and that his cover's intact, I find it prudent to send him back into the cartel to gather information we need to prosecute them."
"You're not sending him anywhere on my watch."
"Fine, have it your way," she shrugs. "Our secure server was accessed several weeks ago and we were able to trace the source of the intrusion to this agency. Based on Agent McGee's credentials and the nature of the material accessed, I'd like him taken into custody. Tobias, if you will."
"Boss?" Tim yelps, his voice barely a whisper.
While Fornell approaches the junior agent's desk, Gibbs watches shock wash over the younger man's face. Shooting out of her desk chair, Ziva moves to intercept him.
A tired voice stops Fornell in his tracks.
"That's enough." Features twisted in anger, Tony guards at the entrance to the bullpen.
"Agent DiNozzo, I take it," Colvin says.
"Thanks for the heads up." He nods at Fornell. "What can I do for you today, Associate Deputy Director Colvin?"
"How much did you - "
"Enough to know that I'm heading back to the Angel Caido."