Disclaimer: I own nothing but the typos. If you recognize it, it isn't mine.
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who read, alerted and left a review. Glad to hear you're enjoying it.
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In the end, Fornell doesn't agree to move up the timeline. From where Tim sits, it appears the FBI agent is waiting for some magical moment to call in the reinforcements. Maybe he is waiting for the planets to perfectly align, all nine of them neat and straight in a line. Or for Mercury to get out of retrograde. Or—as Tony keeps saying—for Bob Hope to make another movie.
Tim manages to keep his anxiety under better control. He might've tried the new diet that Michelle Lee suggested and cut back on coffee and runs a few miles every morning. But he won't ever breathe a word to her about that. Nothing is worse than a Probie with a swelled head after she's told she was right.
Not like I was ever there.
To his credit, Tony does better at leading the team. He no longer seems to have Gibbs' ghost hanging over his shoulder, keeping a careful eye on his every move. He starts a weird tradition where they bring their chairs close to the center of the bullpen. Campfires, he calls them. After the first few times, Tim starts bringing the ingredients for S'mores. They might not have a heat source, but the team—Michelle scarfs most of them—has no problem eating them raw.
The summer continues to slip past, slower than Tim expects. Tim continues to track Ziva's digital spying attempts. Spyware ends up on most of the computers, but he blocks it from gathering most information without disabling the program. To Ziva, it looks like it's running, but it isn't getting anything. He feeds her a piece of low-level intel from time to time, just enough so she doesn't get suspicious.
And Tony, he tracks her movements and her contacts while trying to determine where her drop points are. Every time he takes something to Fornell, it isn't quite enough to bring an arrest. It's more evidence, a better case for a longer rope, but if she's going to hang herself, Fornell says, he doesn't want her to wriggle out of it.
And over the months, Ziva grows bolder in her actions. Papers are copied and vanish from the case files, documents and areas of the NCIS database accessed that shouldn't be.
Tim and Tony keep gathering evidence and building a case. Still, Fornell says it might not be enough to keep her from being traded back to Israel.
One day in late August, everything comes to a head. Earlier in the morning, Abby Scuito had sent an e-mail that she was going to be out of the lab due to a doctor's appointment. Tim knows better than to ask about it, after a particularly detailed slide show involving a cosmetology appointment complete with slides of skin and graphs and a spectrometry reading for the type of wax.
All he needed to know was the jump drive with Top Secret defense documents from their dead ensign—Tim still thinks Tony might's planted in the lab—was going to be unguarded in the forensics lab. Sure, he or Tony could've bolted down there to lock it up, but Tony decided it was time to end this on their terms. Tony told him to leave it unsecure. If this jump drive wasn't good enough for Fornell to close his case, nothing ever would be.
Tony shoots Tim a look, eyebrows raised and a quick nod. It's go time.
Tim matches it with his own, half smile and turning back to his computer. On it.
Tony pulls out his cell phone, talking loudly when the person answers. "It looks like we're on for tonight, Yasmin. I'll meet you at the usual spot?" A long pause. "Great." Then, he hangs up.
Tim does his best not to smirk at the conversation Tony just had with Fornell, who despises being called by different Baywatch actresses' names. But it's the only way to make it work for Tony to check in during the middle of the day. And if Tony is making the phone call, he was the one to pick the code names.
Ziva is at her desk, oblivious to the men preparing her takedown. She appears to be working at her computer, but for all Tim knows, she could be letting her contacts know that she'll have information soon. Or she could just be finishing a report for their last case.
When she climbs to her feet at shortly after eleven o'clock, Tony looks at Tim with surprise. He hadn't expected her to move so quickly.
"Isn't it a little early for lunch, Zee-vah?" Tony asks.
She raises her chin. "Only when you do not start your day early. It is not like I am planning my dates when I should be working." When she smirks, Tony works his jaw. "I will be back shortly."
Tony's eyes pinch.
Without letting him reply, she darts out of the bullpen. Tim is already pulling up surveillance cameras to the lab and requesting a car from the garage in case she's moving.
As if on cue, Michelle Lee darts out of her seat. Tim curses inwardly because he forgot she was even here. Based on his expression, Tony must've too. Of all the times for her to embrace Tony's Rule Seven: Probies should be seen and not heard.
"Agent DiNozzo, if I could have a moment," Michelle says.
Tony looks up at her. "Lee, it isn't a good time."
"I have my concerns about Officer David. She has been late – "
"Could you grab me another copy of the autopsy report from Ducky?" he barks out.
Her eyes squint. "Which one, sir?"
"All of them."
"All of them, sir?"
She stares at him, blankly for a long moment. On his computer monitor, Tim watches the security footage. Ziva slips down the stairs as if nothing is amiss, Then, she heads onto the floor with the forensics lab. He watches her walk down the hallway before ducking into the lab.
"Hey Tony, you might want to see this." Tim gestures at the screen.
Tony's eyes whip between Tim and Michelle before he jumps to his feet.
"From every case we've worked together," Tony says. "In duplicate. No wait, make it triplicate and I need them on my desk before I get back."
Michelle just stands there with her mouth gaping.
He closes the distance to Tim's desk, leaning over the younger man's shoulder to watch Ziva grab the jump drive from Abby's lab bench. His hand tightens around Tim's chair as she opens the evidence bag and slips the jump drive into some kind of device. Then, they both hear a cough across the bullpen.
Tony glances up. "Why are you still here, Lee?"
She opens her mouth to speak, but Tony cuts her off.
"I need them. Now!" he snaps.
And that sends her scuttling to the elevator as if she's been electrocuted. If they're lucky, they'll be long gone before she gets back.
Tony glances back to the computer monitor, dipping his head close to Tim's for a better look. He squints his eyes, tilts his chin down as they watch Ziva fumble with something that looks like a cell phone.
"What is she doing?" Tony asks.
Tim points at the screen. "Copying the information from the jump drive onto that device."
Tony blinks. "They can do that now? Without a computer?"
Tim shoots him an incredulous look. "We've been doing it for years."
"Uh huh," Tony mutters. "I knew that."
Tim doesn't call him out on it as they both watch the scene unfold on the screen. Once Ziva is done copying the jump drive, she slides it back into the evidence bag and places it back on the lab bench. The fact that she didn't even try to disable the security camera and her mid-day job a testament to how comfortable she has grown in her position for spying.
And they both watch as she heads out of the forensics lab before moving to the stairs. She doesn't come back to the bullpen, instead heading down in the direction of the employee parking lot.
"Shit," Tony mutters.
That leaves he and Tim scrambling for their gear: weapons and creds and handcuffs. They might've expected her to be bold enough to steal information in the middle of a workday, but take it to a drop-off point? Maybe she's grown cavalier in her spying, believing she truly has been undetected.
They don't need to talk to each other as they bolt for the stairs. Tim leads the way while Tony is on his phone, breathless, as they rush to the garage.
"It's happening now," Tony is saying as they go. "We're headed out for lunch, Yasmin. If you want to come, we've got to go now. I'm thinking the usual place, but you know how I like to switch up."
Based on the loud grumbling coming from Tony's phone, Fornell must not be happy about it. From what Tim remembers, Ziva has four known dead drops that she likes to use with her handler. Tony never told Tim that she had a favorite.
They land in the garage and Tim grabs the keys from the motor pool. On the way to the car, he tosses them at Tony. If anyone has a chance to catch Ziva while she's behind the wheel, it won't be Tim. He drives a car like he lives life, hands at ten and two with his seatbelt fastened and eyes on the road ahead. Tony has started driving like Gibbs used to. Like he has a death wish, but it isn't fast enough to catch him.
From his vantage point, Tim catches Ziva meandering slowly through the employee parking lot. She walks to her car as if she hasn't a care in the world. She is talking on her phone, not paying attention to her surroundings. Tim breathes a sigh of relief as he clucks his tongue to alert Tony. When the older man notices her too, he sighs.
They slide into the car and Tony starts it up. He reverses out of the parking space, throwing the car into drive before it even has a chance to change direction. The gears grind in protest. Tim clicks on his seatbelt and grips onto the door with white knuckles.
Tony's eyes are scanning the parking lot. He must notice the cherry red Mini Cooper come flying out of the parking lot because he guns the engine.
"Where do you think she's heading?" Tim asks through clenched teeth.
"If I had to guess, there's a dead drop at Rock Creek Park she'll use." He clucks his tongue. "It's her favorite. For such a great spy, she sure likes routine."
Tony's eyes are hard, locked on the road in front of them. He maneuvers the car with a mastery to keep up with Ziva's Mini Cooper as it breaks land speed records through the tight city street. When Tony skids around a corner muttering, "Tokyo Drift" under his breath, Tim closes his eyes. Leans his head back against the headrest. Surrenders his body to the movement of the car. If he makes it through this ride, he'll plant his lips on the ground as soon as he's on terra firma.
The car jolts to the side again. Lunch bites at the back of his throat. He swallows it back down.
As it turns out, the only thing worse than riding in a car driven by Ziva David is riding in a car trying to follow her without being seen or losing her vehicle.
Tony skitters around another corner. Tim tightens his grip against the door.
When the Charger suddenly jerks to a stop, Tim hazards a slit-eyed glance. Thankfully, they're in a parking lot on the edge of the forest portion of Rock Creek Park. Stopped and no longer drag racing through DC. It's the same one they use when they're clearing their most recent dead petty officer. Tim hasn't been here since Gibbs left and he feels almost nostalgic for a moment.
Tim wants to ask what the plan is, but after that ride, he doesn't trust his voice. He can't even loosen his grip on the door handle. His heart is still thrumming inside his ribcage.
Across the parking lot, Ziva nonchalantly exits her vehicle. She strides across the gravel lot with a purpose to her step. There is a little path on the far side of the lot that leads into the woods. From his vantage point, Tim notices the device in her hand.
"The Feebees are already here," Tony says, gesturing at the people in the parking lot.
Tim half-nods.
There are a few people in the nearly full parking lot. Two men in running clothes, a woman pushing a stroller, and an elderly man with a morbidly obese dachshund. Based on the look of them, Tim figures the woman and the men in the running clothes are the likely federal agents. Tim recognizes the elderly man as one half of his protection detail. They keep their eyes covertly on Ziva as she continues towards the running path.
"Should we follow her?" Tim asks.
Tony waggles his head as though considering it. Then, he glances at the people in the parking lot. As if noticing something that Tim doesn't, Tony nods resolutely.
"Fornell isn't here," he says. "We'll follow, but Rule Twenty-Seven."
Tim nods again.
Together, they exit the car as quietly as possible. Despite being clear across the parking lot, neither of them wants to take a chance where Ziva could escape. Outside of the car, the sun is already pounding relentlessly down on them. The sky is cloudless, a perfect and cheery blue. The air is hazy, thick with humidity and stifled uncirculated air. Tim is instantly sweating.
If Tony feels it, he doesn't even flinch.
As they move across the lot, the gravel grinds underneath their shoes. The two men in running clothes glance at Tim and Tony and then, they tilt their heads and Tim catches the earwigs. When he checks the woman with the stroller, he notices she has one too. Tony nods at them, informing them he's a federal agent too. They match his nod and settle their attention back to Ziva.
Ziva meanders slowly up the path and that's when Tim notices her destination: a green recycling can.
Without paying attention to her surroundings, Ziva merely slides the device into the trashcan. She doesn't look around, just throws it away and continues her walk. As soon as it leaves her hand, there is an explosion of activity. The men in the running clothes and the woman with the stroller pull out their weapons and run towards her yelling, "FBI!" while several agents sprint down from further up the path.
Tony joins in with an "NCIS!"
Ziva takes one look, almost shocked to find her exits cut off.
Then, she darts into the woods. Right where there isn't anyone to block her.
"Crap," Tony mutters. "McGee, with me!"
"On it, boss!" Tim yelps.
And they fall into those well-rehearsed motions of pulling out their own weapons and darting off after a suspect. Except now, the suspect is one of their own and someone who knows all their secrets.
Tim follows Tony straight into the tree line. Thankfully, the air is cooler under the canopy of the leaves. The ground is thick with overgrowth and jagged roots. They sprint into the trees as fast as they can manage without tripping. Tim's heart is racing, his shoulder hitching as he pants.
When they first enter the woods, there are a few agents nearby. Quickly, they are swallowed by the forest as they fan out to search for Ziva.
Tony holds up a fist to order Tim to stop. When Tim does, he drops into a crouch to examine the dirt for any footprints. Tony stands, head cocked and eyes closed, as he listens to the surrounding woods. Birds chirp and caw, bugs hum and buzz. Beneath it all, there is the quiet din of traffic. It might be peaceful if they weren't in the middle of a manhunt.
There's the sound of a footstep to the left. Someone is trying to be quiet.
Tony holds a finger to his lips. Motions with his head. Let's check it out.
Tim nods. On your six.
Together, they head in the direction of the sound. It's probably just another agent—hopefully, it's just one of Fornell's people—but it still could be Ziva.
In the woods to the left, there's the sound of a snapping twig. Tim catches it and wheels around with his weapon raised. Nothing is there, just empty forest and birdsong.
When Tim turns back, only a view of empty trees remains. Tony is gone.
Crap. How did I lose Tony?
His heart kickstarts again, setting off that unsettling whoosh whoosh in his ears. Adrenaline courses through his veins. He holds his breath, scanning the trees for any movement. The chirping birds are setting his already frayed nerves further on edge. A light breeze blows, shaking the leaves above him. He clenches his teeth. A fly swarms in his face and he nearly shoots it.
It can't be more than a minute or two since he lost Tony, but Tim can't be sure. The isolation and hunting for his teammate is messing with his head. He tries to calm his overloaded brain. Focus on his breathing.
To his right, there is a quiet, barely audible footstep. Whomever draws closer doesn't want him to notice.
He begins to shift towards it, but it's already too late.
"Do not move, McGee," Ziva David says as she rounds a tree.