Disclaimer: no legal rights to NCIS, no money being made.
NOT BETA'D, EACH AND EVERY MISTAKE IS MINE, SORRY!
Warnings: same as Chapter One, also not for Ziva fans, nor Tiva fans. Therefore, read at your own risk you have been warned.
DETERMINED TO HOLD
Chapter Twenty Three getting ahead
By helicopter they made it to the transport plane and boarded it without incidence. Agent Jim Charstairs who had been DiNozzo's contact in that dismal town had taken a bullet to the chest in OK Corral reminiscence. He was taken off the helicopter and rushed to the hospital for treatment of his gunshot wound. They managed to stop the bleeding and barring unforeseen circumstances the special agent would make it.
Medics examined Tony's ankle before the plane took off and told him to get an X-ray when he got home but right now it appeared bruised but not broken. "Like stirred but not shaken," contributed Beatty as he held out a pan of water for Tony to wash his hands of Charstairs blood and a bottle of water to drink during the flight.
Tony just eyed the young man wearily as he sat back in the uncomfortable seat and rested his leg on a crate. "Who's your Bond friend, McGee?" Tony asked as he leaned back and closed his eyes.
"Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, meet Special Agent Hansen Beatty, newest member on Gibbs' team."
DiNozzo didn't open his eyes. "Nice to meet you. Can I call him Probie, McGee?"
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The plane landed smoothly but it still shook Tony awake from a restless sleep. He looked out the window groggily but didn't recognize…anything.
"Where the heck are we, McGee?"
There had been no time to tell Tony anything before the plane took off and there was too much noise once the plane got airborne and Tony had fallen asleep anyway.
So McGee used the technique Gibbs had used on him. "Trust me on this for a little while longer, Tony, and you'll find out about everything that's been going on?" Tim was taking a chance because at this point there was no reason for DiNozzo to trust him if he believed Ziva's lie and thought he had left him without backup.
They locked eyes but Tim couldn't read Tony's. The man looked different. Like a pirate. Not the make believe fantasy movie version with makeup and props but the real thing like a picture he'd seen from an ancient photo. He sported an unkempt mustache and beard and he had dark almost black eyes. His hair, mustache and beard were no longer sandy brown but dark and slick and McGee wondered irrelevantly how he could keep it that way, what was he using for hair dye?
His tan from living in the desert for so long was monumental, something elitist would sit in a salon under a death lamp and literally die for…of skin cancer. He'd lost weight in his months of real-time play acting and he even had the peg leg. And you couldn't tell if he still had his pearly whites because he never smiled. No, he couldn't read DiNozzo's eyes anymore if there was even a message there for him, so he had to rely on his words.
"Sure, I'll wait but only for a little while, McGee, because I'd really like to know what's going on."
Okay, McGee thought, DiNozzo would play along but not for long. And he hadn't really said he trusted him.
Let's get off this plane, then."
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A car with armed driver took them to their final destination, a log cabin in the woods. Another car followed them there with three Agents and once they arrived, the guards took off to search the cabin and grounds in the dark. They determined it was safe enough and all four left in one car leaving them with the second car.
It was dark but the cabin and surroundings looked familiar. "This is Gibbs' place, right?"
"Hey, this is neat. I bet Gibbs built this place himself the way he likes to saw on wood. Have you seen the boat in his basement?" Beatty asked as they entered the cabin.
"Yes," answered Tony struggling not to yell at him to stop talking. Something about this guy irritated his psyche and he hadn't had time to psych himself up to care to be nice to him. He was still trying to adjust to being out of that camp and out of the sullen, suspicious, unfriendly persona he had been masquerading as. That didn't happen overnight and especially if someone was always talking his thoughts out loud. And anyway, this kid was young, probably never shot a gun much less shot a person. What was he doing here, anyway?
But the kid continued seemingly unaware of DiNozzo's annoyance. "I haven't seen the boat, matter of fact, I haven't been invited to his house to see the boat so…"
"Beatty, would you fix coffee and make a few sandwiches," interrupted Tim. "I'm going to get some firewood."
When Beatty hurried to the well stocked kitchen to carry out his mission, McGee gave a frowning Tony some metaphorical advice. "Don't judge a book by its cover, Tony, he's a good agent," And he left a silent Tony sitting on the couch with his leg elevated on the coffee table.
McGee came back with the wood and quickly started a fire. He checked to make sure the windows and door were secure just as Beatty arrived with the food and a Costco size bag of chocolate cookies. Tony's favorite.
While they ate the sandwiches and drank the coffee, McGee told the story of what had been happening at NCIS during Tony's absence.
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"And Vance was suspicious of Ziva because it was Israel's weapon that was stolen and there's a mole in the building," said McGee. "I was mandated by Vance to slink out of there, which was fine because I'd been sleuthing around all morning from my desk and learning nothing. I met up with Beatty here, rode in a rickety plane and armed helicopter that felt like I was a sardine in a tin can, and here I am. So that's it, that's what's been going on. That's why we're reconnoitering here. I was able to get in touch with Vance and Gibbs is still missing and they still don't know why they're after you."
"Holy shit!" cried DiNozzo sounding a little more normal, "This is insane!" He facetiously reached in his pants pockets and checked his shoes, even patted down his body before admitting that, "Nope, no device here. I definitely don't have it."
Beatty snickered behind his hand but McGee wasn't amused. "Cut it out Tony. This is serious stuff."
"I know, I know it is, plus Gibbs is still missing. Not to worry though," he said as he patted his gun at his side, "I've still got reliable and faithful here at my hip to solve any problems." And McGee wondered what film had him distracted and what actor was he quoting.
Of course, Beatty knew, "hey, isn't that from the movie"…
But Tony rolled right over him as though he was a falling tree in the forest no one could hear.
"My problem is, I don't think it's necessarily a good thing to be hanging out here hiding on vacation when we should be back in DC looking for him. Do you, Acting Senior Field Agent McGee?"
There was no malice in Tony's voice just curiosity about what he thought they should be doing.
"No, but for right now, our only option is to stay here, at least for another day to let your ankle heal up a little so you can outrun the bad guys chasing you just in case ole trusty on your hip there is out of bullets when you need them and the cavalry is a no-show."
McGee wasn't kidding but it was still a little funny and they chuckled, even Tony, over the truism that what could go wrong, would go wrong, easing somewhat the tension in the room.
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No one went to bed that night even though there were a couple of comfortable looking bunk beds in the one bedroom. Instead McGee and Tony cleared up a few things and tried to come up with a plan. Beatty didn't go to bed either.
"Really, someone was sitting on the toilet in the bathroom when Ziva delivered her big lying whoppers? Okay, who was it? Had to be a guy because she's the only woman in the building that prefers the stinky mens urinals over the boudoir-sy women's accommodations."
"Big secret and I left anyway before I could find out. But about what she said, Tony, it never happened, you have my word on that. She called it a prank, ha ha, a big joke and I resent the fact that she felt the need to include me in her lies."
"Thanks for telling me that, Tim. I'll admit, I get it now, but for a moment…well maybe many moments, months more like it, I wondered if you had, in fact, gone along with her in turning off or turning down the sound and…"
"Well, I didn't and neither did she. Abby said the equipment was working perfectly and your voice was heard the whole time. And I've been trying to come up with a reason, any reason, she would have to say something like that and call it a joke and the things I've come up with aren't very nice. You know John Hewitt got an anonymous note that there would be no backup coming to help him if he got in trouble because he was gay, and he subsequently attempted suicide."
"No! Hewitt on Moore's team attempted suicide? Is he okay?"
"He's okay they got to him in time but he's receiving psychiatric treatment for the incident. He loved working at NCIS even putting his life on the line for it. Now he's in line to lose his job, not for being gay but for people messing with his mind. And there was a real determined effort to find those people. Come to find out it was a field agent from the Hialeah office where Hewitt had been transferred from who was jealous he hadn't gotten the coveted position he imagined Hewitt had stolen from him.
"And you know, that's the first thing that came to Abby's mind, that what she had done had caused you to feel so bad you would commit suicide over it. She was a mess and the cold shoulder she's given Ziva since, has her lab supernaturally freezing over whenever Ziva's name is mentioned."
"Yeah, well I wouldn't commit suicide over it but some might jump to the conclusion that going undercover into a band of cutthroats and killers does show a propensity for the death wish."
Conversation ebbed and flowed after that but DiNozzo's, "Thanks, McGee. I admit to feeling a little helpless and hopeless when I thought that both you and Abby hated me so much. It's a relief that I still have my charm," he joked rather than sobbed. "I took that undercover assignment because I had no proof strong enough to convince anyone that Ziva was guilty of criminal activities like spying, and staying around was more likely to get me killed than taking the assignment was."
"So you left because of Ziva's so-called joke?"
"Well, yes, partially, I guess you could say that. Vances' needing proof and Gibbs' disinterest and then you and Abby, well, it all got to be too much. I felt like I was coming across like a whining baby but all my concerns were legit. I'd just had enough."
"After she wasn't fired, Ziva was in her element and Gibbs didn't even try to haul her in. It's not that she didn't obey his orders but she came across like she was head honcho of not just Gibbs' team but all of NCIS."
"And she got away with that?"
"Heck no, nobody put up with her shit, excuse me, crap, but she still tried giving orders to those she thought beneath her. When Beatty came along he didn't put up with it either and she couldn't stand him for that."
"Good for you Beatty."
"Thanks. She thought my middle name was 'dumb-as-a-rock', you know the kind of gal that asks, 'you're not too smart, are you'?"
"I do know that kind of gal because she'll always say, 'dumb-as-a-rock, oooh, I like that in a man'."
It was really late or early almost light. McGee figured no one had gotten any sleep and that's why his companions were talking nonsense.
"I'm going to ask but I probably shouldn't but what are you two talking about?"
"Kathleen Turner in Body Heat, 1981," said DiNozzo and Beatty in unison.
"I should've known," groaned McGee, "A Movie."
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The lights were out, the old fashion shades were down and the room was lit by the burning embers in the fireplace. Beatty got up to use the bathroom and McGee stacked the plates and cups in the kitchen sink.
When Beatty came back, DiNozzo with his eyes closed and McGee checking his phone were slumped quietly on each end of the sofa.
"Guys," Beatty whispered. "When I was in the bathroom I was flushing the toilet…"
"TMI Beatty, TMI," said McGee.
"No, right before I flushed, I heard a footstep, from outside…"
That got everyone's attention as both men sat up from their slouch.
"A footstep, you mean one footstep?" Said DiNozzo, softly.
"Yes, and then I flushed the toilet and didn't hear anything else."
"Just some wild animal, Beatty, maybe a brown bear or…"
"Do bears wear shoes?"
"What do you mean, Beatty," said DiNozzo becoming even more alert.
"The foot had a shoe attached. I could tell because it makes a different sound than a bare foot on dirt." He would know, he was a country boy.
Tony and Tim looked at each other. Nothing was said or needed to be said and no one panicked. Tim swiftly got up and grabbed the jackets hanging from the coat tree and threw them at the others. DiNozzo had his shoes on and was standing as he put on his jacket and Beatty was checking his weapon. McGee grabbed the car keys and motioned for them to follow him to the kitchen. There was no back door but Gibbs had a sneaky mindset and always thought ahead had put in something better anticipating the need to have to flee quickly and silently.
Tim pulled up the oval area rug that was placed in front of the sink and opened the trap door that led down to the root cellar. Except it wasn't a root cellar as Gibbs had told him but led directly to the outside from under the house. They were under a house again.
They scurried down the hole and closed the trap door behind them. The area rug attached to the trap door fell back into place.
They had just reached the far end of the house on hands and knees when there was the sound of glass breaking then an explosion. "Probably a gas grenade," whispered DiNozzo, which meant they wanted them unconscious not dead. They slipped out from under the house and beelined towards the tree line. DiNozzo seemed to be managing okay with his sore ankle as they skittered into the forest greens and ran. They knew they had to get as far away as they could as fast as they could.
There was no sense in trying to get back to the car, it was probably made inoperative by now anyway. They could hear faint yelling back at the cabin, probably the solders or mercenaries or Mossad operatives, whoever they were, had finally entered the cabin and found the three of them missing. Hopefully they had enough of a head start…thought McGee, because Beatty had done it again. The warning he had given them gave them some extra time to get out of the cabin and run for their lives.
"Our exit route is due north," said Tony on the run. "Gibbs exact words were, 'there's a body of water, a boat and some oars, and a map.' Let's hope they're still there."
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From the author: Okay, I'll be back next week with more tales of Tony, Tim and Hansen.
