Warnings: Well this time I guess I should warn McGee fans who might be offended by parts of this chapter and also by the next one as well. I guess Ziva fans might also find this AU scenario of her time in captivity offensive too. *Sigh*
Gratuities: As usual I have to thank Arress for wrangling my irritating commas into submission and being a sounding board for the story. This chapter and the next are much indebted to my beta for her suggestions and support. And I guess you know the drill by now...any boo boos are my bad especially since I tweaked this after her beta. I have put breaks in the email addys used in this chapter because while they are fictitious, obviously, FFNet will still block them. Hopefully by breaking them up you will still be able to read them. *fingers crossed*
A/N Thanks to everyone who left feedback, faved or alerted. I appreciate your support.
FYI there are two more chapters to follow this one and as we go along you'll probably notice that I have dropped in a couple of potential story lines that could lead to further stories about Tony in his new profession (at some later date. lol) While I'm always a bit sad to be putting a story to bed, I have plenty of fresh ideas demanding to be freed from my imagination. It's getting way too crowded in there and there is a Senior story clamouring to be told. And for all of you who have been waiting patiently for Jimmy Palmer to put in an appearance, he is in these last three chapters and as per my warning, there is an update on Ziva too. Hope you enjoy :)
What a Difference a Year Makes: 8760 Little Hours
Chapter 9
Terrorist Camp of Saleem Ulman:
Ziva David had spent three months in the company of Saleem Ulman, at least she thought it was three months, and she had to admit that she was seeing her life very differently than how she had when she first arrived. She had begun to think that perhaps Ari was right about their father. And if he was right about Eli David, maybe he and Saleem were right about other stuff, too, like the real path to truth, happiness and peace. Her mother hadn't enjoyed a happy life with her father, even before he'd been unfaithful to her with another Mossad operative. Not to mention, Eli had been with Ari'smother long before Ori had entered the picture. Clearly, he was a hypocrite and a serial adulter, so why should she believe anything he said or did? The only person who had ever mattered to him was Eli David.
When it was all said and done, Saleem was correct; her father had left her here in this camp to rot with a bunch of terrorists without even trying to help her, like an insignificant piece of garbage. When she'd first been captured by the cell that her father had sent her to eliminate, the terrorists had beaten her pretty badly, trying to break her. They'd also used all the usual methods of torture including depriving her of food, water and sleep. Then a couple of weeks ago, Saleem's associates had beaten her badly yet again and had decided that they would violate her, as she was in their words, a Mossad whore. Ziva was resigned to dying since she was determined not to allow them to take this liberty on top of what they already had. That was when Saleem had surprised her, bursting into the cell and commanding that they leave her alone. He'd even ordered that his men bring her rags and fresh water so she could treat her injuries, plus food and water.
As she slowly recovered, he came to check on her every few days, personally bring her clean rags and antibiotic cream, aspirin, food and water. And he had threatened that if any of them touched her, he would slit their throats. He talked to Ziva about Ari and how he'd been used by his own father… her father. How he had used her, too… sending her out without proper backup and then abandoning her when she'd failed at her task rather than lose face with his superiors. Saleem shared some of the conversations he'd had with her brother and how they'd had similar experiences, both being sent to study in an alien Western culture far from friends and family, Ari in Great Britain and Saleem in the US. They also talked about her time in the US and how the so-called friends she'd cultivated in her years working there had abandoned her, too.
The former Israeli liaison officer had already decided she had a serious score to settle with one Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs for not having her six after he'd made such a big deal about it all the time. And what was all that clap about never leaving a man behind? Why had he left her to rot in Somalia? Especially when she'd killed Ari to save his miserable life and he'd professed to be so grateful, the bastard!
Saleem thought Leroy Jethro Gibbs was an evil scourge who needed to be exterminated to save the world, along with her father, and she was having trouble coming up with anything to dispute that view. And although she couldn't remember exactly what specific crimes that the foolish Anthony DiNozzo had committed, she did remember that she hated him and that it was his fault that Gibbs abandoned her, and that everything had gone wrong at NCIS. Ziva decided he also needed to pay for the pain he'd caused her. If he had stayed on the team then none of this clap would have happened and things would have gone on like normal, but he'd had his precious little feelings hurt and had left in a sniff.
Revenge would be sweet! Ulman promised that once she regained her strength that she could join their righteous fight for freedom. Her skills would be very valuable, he assured her. While she wasn't sure about becoming a freedom fighter, she would use Saleem and his froggies to achieve vengeance.
~ What a Difference a Year Makes ~
Tony curled up on the sofa with his arm wrapped around his love, whose head rested on his chest as they watched four hours straight of what Ceinwen assured him was a British comedy classic. Are You Being Served was about a group of comical but dysfunctional people working in a department store. As it had been made in the seventies, the clothes were truly disturbing, plenty of mullets and outrageous sideburns, basically think Mike Myers' Austen Powers to the power of ten, and it was a close enough approximation of the ambiance and a cast of outrageous characters, and it equalled lots of laughs.
The cast included the completely OTT personalities of Mr. Humphries, an overtly camp shop assistant whose catch phrase was 'Are you free?' Then there was Mrs. Slocombe, an aging, overly buxom matron whose hair was a parade of ever changing pastel shades. Her colourful catch phrase involved the constant making of risqué comments about her beloved feline, definitely not something that would have passed the censors in the States at that time, or maybe even now. But Tony immediately fell in love with the haughty, snobbish floorwalker, Captain Peacocke, who purported to be a veteran of the African Campaign in WWII, but in reality never saw combat. Ceinwen's favourites were Young Mr. Grace, the wizened, miserly old owner of Grace Bros who was always falling asleep, and his elder brother, Old Mr. Grace, who replaced him when he retired. After watching seasons 4 and 5, they decided to call it a night and head to bed.
After switching off the plasma and DVD player, Tony twirled Ceiwen's locks around his long nimble fingers, creating ringlets out of her unruly curls. Frowning, he quietly contemplated the comedy they had just watched before speaking up. "Okay, Lovely, apart from now having an overwhelming desire to watch all the Austen Powers movies, Bette Davis in Madame Sin and that TV show It Takes A Thief with Fred Astaire and R.J. Wagner with their bad seventies sideburns and velvet suits, one thing confuses me."
His partner giggled. "Just one thing?" She asked teasingly. "And what would that be, babe?"
"Well, I thought you said that the catch phrase 'You are awful, but I like you' came from the show. But I didn't hear it once, so what gives?"
She grimaced. "Hey, good point. I could have sworn the John Inman's character Mr. Humphries said that on a regular basis, but he didn't… or did he?" He shook his head as she pulled out her cell phone and fired off a text and Tony raised his eyebrows.
"Who ya texting, Lovely?" he drawled, his mouth flirting distance from her ear as his breath tickled her earlobe excruciatingly, almost making her forget her goal.
Quivering from the sensation she turned to eyeball him, smiling, "My Dad. We used to watch all the British comedies on VHS together when I was growing up, and I admit it's been a while since I saw Are You Being Served. So I asked him, cuz he'll know," She declared confidently, such a daddy's girl that the thought that he might be wrong or not know never entered her head.
Tony shook his head fondly. He thought it was cute that Lovely had so much trust in her father, even if he couldn't relate to it himself. He hadn't really minded watching the show. Curled up with Ceinwen on the sofa was hardly a penance; it had been fun, even if he was really glad that the fashions of the seventies hadn't made a comeback. They were disturbing to him on a completely visceral level. Remembering what he had been meaning to ask Ceinwen, he poked her in the midriff gently. "Hey Babe, before I forget to ask, you haven't seen that big jar of crushed walnuts that I had in the pantry, have you? I want to make a chocolate flourless cake for the dinner party tomorrow night. I'm sure I saw it a couple of days ago."
Looking at his partner, who had an oddly guilty expression on her face as she opened her mouth, her phone beeped to alert her to the incoming text and she pulled out her phone and read the text.
"Oops…my bad! Dad says it wasn't John Inman on Are You Being Served. It was Dick Emory who said 'Ooh you are awful… but I like you,' when he was playing one of his characters, a bottle blonde called Mandy."
Tony looked surprised. "You got all that from a text?"
She giggled, "Well, no… he sent me an email, doof."
"I thought he was a spook and your mom was into showbiz?" He quizzed.
"Yeah…but he's British, okay, technically he's Welsh, although he grew up in England, and he is a walking encyclopaedia when it comes to British comedy. Morecombe and Wise, The Goon Show, The Two Ronnie's, The Young Ones, Monty Python, Dave Allen, Black Adder, French and Saunders…" She was interrupted by Tony's hand over her mouth.
"Um, Ceinwen, you do realise I have no idea what you are talking about, right?"
"Sorry, Tony, but it brings back lots of happy memories of growing up with my Dad. Think of it as an opportunity to spend time on the couch with me getting to know who these people are. Dad said that there is a clip of Mandy on You Tube." She slithered out from his embrace and started searching the laptop.
Finding a clip, she downloaded it and they watched it together, both lost in their own little worlds. Ceinwen sighing as she remembered a childhood spent predominantly in London, Tony wistful as he tried to picture her childhood, one he'd only experienced vicariously through make-believe TV families that had kept him company during a lonely childhood. At the end of the clip they were both silent for a while before Tony interrupted the stillness.
"Lovely?"
"Hmm."
"Are you angry at me?" he asked her, his eyes doing that soulful puppy dog thing that no one could pull off like him.
"No, Tony, why would you think that?" She plonked herself on his lap and smiled at him reassuringly.
"Because I didn't rip Gibbs a new one like you expected and you were looking forward to it."
"Not angry… okay, maybe I was a little pissed yesterday. I was kinda hoping you'd rip his arm off and stuff it into an available tight orifice. The man helped ruin your career after all… and he hurt you, but I'm not angry with you. Confused maybe?" She confessed. "Why'd you let him off so easy?"
Tony was silent for a while as he tried to explain what had gone down between them. "Was a lot that got said between us that was non-verbal. I was pretty damned good at having silent conversations with Gibbs because the man seriously is a functional mute. But it hit me that Gibbs is never going to admit that he'd been an ass… a bastard maybe. He revels in that particular role, but he doesn't believe in apologies… to him that would be an acknowledgement that he was wrong, and I think he's incapable of admitting to that. Mostly to himself, I think, and I suddenly realised that Hell would freeze over before I got what I needed, no matter how much I wanted one."
He paused. "But you know what I realised right about the time you tripped him over?"
She smirked, shaking her head. "No…what?" That had been pretty darned funny.
"For all I'd lost, I'm still in the black cuz I have you. And we're happy even if this is a weird left turn that neither of us expected. Gibbs saw it, too. He realised that I'm deliriously head over heels in love with you. That's the best sort of revenge, not getting bitter and twisted like him and making people around me suffer and feel unhappy. So, I decided to focus on us… on the future and enjoy what we have. Count my blessings, and that starts and ends with you."
~ What A Difference a Year Makes ~
From: Tom E. Gemcity tomegemcity idriveporsche. net
To: Carter Johnson carterjohnson realityillusions. com
hi carter
just wanting to touch base with you. been thinking about the casting of agent mcgregor again since he is pivotal to the plot. another possibility to play him would be ryan gosling. he was good in the notebook with lots of emotional depth. was also thinking that eva longoria could also be another option to look at when it comes to the role of officer lisa.
let me know what you think about the draft of the screenplay I sent you. making agent mcgregor the narrator like they did with meredith grey in grey's anatomy is what I envisage so he can make his insightful, witty observations on the rest of the team. should be good!
ttyl
tom e gemcity
From: Carter Johnson carterjohnson realityillusions. com
To: Tom E. Gemcity tomegemcity idriveporsche. net
Cheers Tom,
In receipt of your latest raft of suggestions for the screenplay and have passed them onto other producers for their thoughts. As to the suggestions about casting Agent McGregor the producers feel that Ryan Gosling is not a good fit for their vision of the character. ATM they are considering a former child actor Patrick Labyorteaux who got his first break as Andy in Little House on the Prairie.
As to Eva Longoria… you do realise she is not Israeli? I think her accent might be distracting to the punters.
Good to talk as ever
Carter Johnson
Reality Illusions Production Co
From: Tom E. Gemcity tomegemcity idriveporsche. net
To: Carter Johnson carterjohnson realityillusions. com
hi carter,
yes I know that she's not from israel but I doubt that the audience can tell the difference between one accent and another. and over time during the films she could gradually lose it and become more American as they forget she's supposed to be from israel. not at all sure that patrick labyorteaux could portray agent mcgregor with the requisite ballsy-ness necessary to convey his personality. doesn't he only have one leg? to my thinking he also lacks the physicality for the action scenes. looking forward to your thoughts on the screen play.
regards
tom e. gemcity
From: Carter Johnson carterjohnson realityillusions. com
To: Tom E. Gemcity tomegemcity idriveporsche. net
Cheers Tom,
Have feedback from the other producers re your ideas about narration. They LOVED it. But they decided that Pimmy Jalmer was the obvious choice to make observations since he is something of an outsider. They also decided that an up and coming Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth would be terrific to play Goosey's autopsy assistant. They are thinking that a slight re-write of the character from Polynesian to Aussie would work if we change his name to Jimmy Palmer. He could grow up on the East coast of Australia, perhaps in Coffs Harbour* but come to the US with his family and his father pulls strings to get him a job at the agency.
Thanks for the suggestion. Talk soon
Carter Johnson
Reality Illusions Production Co
~What a Difference a Day Makes ~
Susan Faber smiled happily as she looked at this group of diverse individuals sitting around eating a simple yet sumptuous feast of fish, shrimp and calamari. It was nice to see everyone back together again after more than a year, she thought contentedly. Of course, some of them she saw on a semi regular basis, like Rocky Balboa, Nikki Jardine and to a lesser extent she had seen Cassie Yates although, not being based at the Navy Yard, she'd actually only seen Yates a couple of time in a professional capacity. Once was after sustaining a minor injury in a shootout and another time after she'd been involved in shooting a suspect during a hostage siege. Fortunately, neither occasion had been anything more than routine and she'd let one of her underlings conduct the mandatory interviews.
Of course, she also saw the Lieutenant Commander quite a bit over the last 14 months since they'd become good friends. They often met to have coffee and tried to do lunch a couple of times a month, and Susan knew that Faith's friend, Michelle Lee, was sorely missed by her friend, and even though she hadn't tried to replace her, she let her know she was there if she wanted to talk. They'd also been united in a certain joint quest that she wanted to talk to Tony about tonight, even if it wasn't resolved quite to her satisfaction. She was pleased to see Faith had come, too, because she'd been worried about the JAG officer for quite some time.
As a psychologist, she could see that Faith was a prime candidate for burnout. Between her grief, her guilt over Tony's career imploding and her sense of failure at losing a seemingly unlosable case, she had copped a series of emotional blows that she had yet to recover from. She was working ridiculously gruelling hours and the only respite she was allowing herself was a punishing regime of running, which Susan strongly suspected was actually the point of the exercise. Faith was looking positively heroin-chic thin and if Susan didn't know that JAG Corps, like other branches of the services, drug tested their personnel on a randomly routine basis, she'd be even more concerned about the Lieutenant Commander. She'd also noticed the shocked expressions from some of the other dinner guests who hadn't seen her for a while. Still, she was grateful that Tony had managed to draw her out tonight.
Looking at Jimmy Palmer, who she hadn't seen for over ten months, she was surprised to see the usually awkward, bumbling young man had achieved a certain new assurance and gravitas. Susan was curious about what he'd been up to that had caused it. Judging by the banter between him and Tony, the pair had maintained a close relationship, which she thought was great for both of them. The manner of their departure could have been isolating to both, and she was glad that they had made the effort to be there for each other. While she had initially thought them odd candidates for friendship, their relationship seemed to work, and that was the main thing. She was also pleased to see that Jimmy and Tony also seemed to have been conspiring with Faith about something, if the mutual nudge nudge, wink wink antics of the trio was anything to go by.
Then, of course, along with the group that had been Tony's support system last year they also had a newcomer, an outsider in their midst for the dinner, but everyone seemed a bit shocked to meet her when they arrived. Although she did admit, Tony had hinted that he had a surprise when he'd invited them all over for dinner and a catch-up. He'd tried to stay in contact with them, mostly via emails and the occasional phone call, but this was the first time they'd all been together since he left. Whatever the surprise, Susan hadn't been expecting a girlfriend, knowing that he had been badly hurt in the past.
Yet, if she was any judge, and as a psychologist she was actually pretty damned good at reading people, then Ceinwen, or Lovely as Tony insisted on calling her, had well and truly gotten past his defences. That judgment was partly based on the goofy love-struck way he followed her around with his eyes, and it was somewhat disconcerting to see him so open with his feelings. And annoyingly, there was something frustratingly familiar about her, like Susan had met her before, but she couldn't place her.
Oh, sure, Susan realised she was his publicist; she'd accompanied him as his date to the Golden Globes when he'd won the Best New Talent Award, but she felt like she knew her from somewhere else. And Tony kept throwing amused looks at the attractive woman with her blonde curly hair and a rather unusual accent that sounded like a hybrid combination of British and Bostonian speech, like they could read her confusion. Susan found it intriguing that the pair seemed to be communicating nonverbally, and that spoke to her of a very close, trusting relationship. Curious that he seemed to have found a relationship that somewhat mirrored what other people had described to her in his ability to work with Gibbs once upon a time, back when they were a partnership as opposed later on, being a team.
In her professional estimation, that was probably where the wheels came off the applecart, because as a team of two Tony was able to balance out Gibbs' egotism and anger and also keep his own co-dependency tendencies in check. As a partnership, their strengths and weaknesses complemented each other pretty well. Adding more personalities to the group dynamic had exacerbated Gibbs' narcissistic traits as the balance shifted. Tony's need to be needed by not just his mentor, but the inexperienced junior agents who required his tutelage and protection, awoke the slumbering, destructive behemoth created in his childhood. The fact that he ended up protecting them not only in the field, but from the excesses of Gibbs' personality, simply fed the demon who'd first emerged when he'd shouldered the responsibility of being the adult to a pair of addicts masquerading as his parents.
Trying to juggle so many balls in the air was simply too difficult, and ironically the more he nurtured the newcomers, the more confident they grew to join in the abuse. Soon, the juniors started playing the same manipulative games with their SFA as little Tony had come to view as normal interpersonal interactions learnt at his parents' knees. Treating him as a doormat, a whipping boy for everything that went wrong in their lives, ascribing blame for events that he had no control over and trying to foster their own shaky self-esteem by destroying Tony's; these were all pretty typical mind games for emotionally challenged individuals to play with a co-dependant individual.
As was the despicable ability to convince him his self-value was at best less than theirs; at worst, though, it was minimal, and his professional and personal worth, success and happiness was dependent upon his ability to make others (insert team members/parents' names) happy. Although Tony had never discussed such a painful personal analysis with Susan, she had eyes, ears and a brain, apart from which, Tony's profile was pretty damned classic for a child born of addicts.
While most people would have hit the highway, Tony had, probably significantly, chosen a job where he helped other people who were weaker, hurt or wronged. And as the team dynamic deteriorated, the positive reinforcement he received from helping victims fed his neediness to nurture and protect. More importantly, perhaps it made it more difficult, if not impossible, for him to walk away from extremely unhealthy work relationships with his mentor and team mates.
Frankly, Susan was surprised that he had managed to survive psychologically from walking away from a helping career, knowing how much it meant to him to rescue and protect others. To be honest, she was a bit stunned when he'd popped up as an actor, since she'd heard rumours about the spooks looking to recruit him, and she'd felt sure he would go with that option. Mind, with his record as an undercover operative, Susan reasoned that it wasn't surprising that the man could act, so his success in Hollywood shouldn't come as a surprise to her. And it didn't, just his desire to pursue it.
Although glancing at the smile he flashed the blonde, she didn't think he was engaging in any acting tonight. He seemed remarkably open, which was a nice thing for her to see. Watching Ceinwen with a growing sense of frustration, the psychologist felt she was now staring back at her and she shifted seats to sit down beside her. Obviously, the younger woman had decided to put her out of her misery.
"So, Susan, do you think we should persuade Tony to serenade us with some of his improv? Jazz again tonight, or are you in the mood for something a little more traditional?"
Looking at the woman in the designer jeans and the crisp white linen shirt, it took the psychologist a minute or two to recognise her. She had been togged up in the beautiful Laura Dinnigan lace designer dress at Tom and Lynette Morrow's cultural soiree cum dinner party just after Tony had resigned from NCIS. Clearly, Susan hadn't been the only one that was impressed by his hidden talents that night.
~ What a Difference a Year Makes ~
From: Tom E. Gemcity tomegemcity idriveporsche. net
To: Carter Johnson carterjohnson realityillusions. com
hey there carter
further to our discussions about casting i was thinking that if eva longoria isn't available to play officer lisa we should aim for an up and coming actress sofia vergara. so sexy. attached is my latest draft of the screenplay. i've rewritten the scenes where agent mcgregor is dressed as an elf as I don't really think that it adds anything to the plot. while he is a super cool elflord in cyberspace he wouldn't go around as an agent dressed in tights. was thinking that jake gyllenhaal would also be an excellent choice to play the super cool elflord agent mcgregor.
as ever
tom e gemcity
From: Carter Johnson carterjohnson realityillusions. com
To: Tom E. Gemcity tomegemcity idriveporsche. net
Cheers Tom,
In receipt of your latest draft of suggestions for the screenplay and have to say that everyone loved the idea of Agent McGregor solving crimes in his Elf Lord costume like Ironman or Superman. As to the suggestions about casting Agent McGregor the producers are currently of the opinion that Michael Bellisario* would be a good fit for the part even tho he's a relatively unknown. He does have a manic intensity that we think could bring something extra to the character.
As to Sofia Vergara… you do realise she's not Israeli? I think she is from Colombia and she does have a very distinctive accent.
Good to talk as ever
Carter Johnson
Reality Illusions Production Co
From: Tom E. Gemcity tomegemcity idriveporsche. net
To: Carter Johnson carterjohnson realityillusions. com
hi carter,
yes I know that she's not israeli either but I still doubt that the audience can tell one foreign accent from another. she looks and sounds exotic and that's enough for the average viewer. not familiar with michael bellasario at all. has he done anything noteworthy? looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the screen play, soonest.
regards
tom e. gemcity
End notes:
1. Zivaism's in italics clap = crap, sniff = snit, froggies = toadies.
2. *A certain actor who play's Thom E. Gemcity hails from this idyllic spot.
3. * Michael Bellisario played Charles 'Chip' Sterling who framed Tony in Framed in Season three and is Sean Murray's step brother.