Not long after his meeting with Ziva, Harris works on his preliminary report in Conference Room Three. What Vance assured him would be an easy case quickly evolved into one the likes of which he thought he'd never encounter during his career. He sits in front of his laptop, hands poised over the keyboard as he considers the correct word.
A knock comes at the door, so quiet he barely notices. When he turns around, Golden's head pokes through the door. Her suit jacket is missing, revealing a teal blue tank top. She looks tired, but she wears a wry smile as she watches him work.
"Oh hey." Harris paused for a moment before adding: "Iggy."
Golden grins. "Right back at ya, Harry."
That earns her a tired smile. Golden heads closer to the table where Harris works on his report. He closes the laptop because there is still information about Ziva's interview he shouldn't share. He can't find the right words to describe exactly what happened, but maybe a short break will help him think. Whatever he expected to find here, it certainly wasn't a sanctioned mission to a foreign country and an agent threatening another and…espionage. A simple assault, Vance assured him, and some misconduct.
"How did the interview with David go?" she asks.
He shrugs with one shoulder. "It was like you thought."
And that's the most he'll be able to tell her about a classified interview. The fact Golden is thinking hard is clear across her face, but in the end, she comes up empty.
She points a finger at him, laughing.
While she watched him work on Tim's jump drive earlier, she wandered around the conference room, spitballing and spinning tales that sounded like movie scripts. More elaborate than movie scripts. There was one outlandish theory after the other. Once, she postulated Tim and Ziva were lovers. That made Harris stop, tilt his head and ask, "Are you serious?" before he burst out laughing. After that, Golden stuck to more mundane ideas as to why Ziva would threaten Tim. Harris listened, but he never said a word. He just worked on the jump drive and his report until Tim and Tony showed up.
She waggles that finger at him. "I had a lot of theories."
"And one of them was right."
She stays quiet until Harris moves back to his notepad. If he can't type his report, he'll just write it down instead. The scratching of his pen fills the space between them. When she clears her throat, he glances up. She looks more tired than he feels.
"I stopped by to let you know I'm going to head over to McGee's apartment." She crosses her arms. "DiNozzo managed to get out of him that Ziva trashed his place last night. Good news for us is that he never cleaned up. Think of all that evidence." She rubs her hands together, almost gleeful.
"And you're going because?" Harris hates to admit he might miss her.
"Someone needs to keep an eye on the FBI." Her face pinches as though she ate a lemon. "I can't believe we had to put those yahoos on your investigation. They're a huge pain in my ass. Even bigger than you. How are you handling them stealing your case?"
Harris purses his lips. "It's…"
"I know, I know. Not something you can talk about."
Placing his pen on the table, Harris shakes his head. "Honestly, it's more than I can handle solo."
"Oh yeah, where is your partner anyway? I thought Internal Affairs traveled in packs."
Golden glances around the room as though she realized Harris has been alone the entire time. He clicks his pen, once, twice. Goes to do it again, but she clears her throat. He looks up, sheepish.
"My partner had a heart attack the day we were supposed to leave." He shrugs. "Director Vance didn't want to delay the investigation while we got a TAD. He thought I could handle it on my own."
That makes Golden's eyebrows jump. "And you think?"
"That my partner is recovering just fine, but I'm in way over my head." He gestures at the case files and laptop and notepads. "Hence, why I don't mind that the FBI is pinch hitting hit for me."
Golden half-smiles. "Well, I'll make sure the FBI doesn't screw it up either. You didn't do half-bad."
He chuckles. "Thanks."
"See you around, Harry."
"I would like to say it's been fun, but..."
Laughing, she turns to leave the room. As she goes, she throws a wave over her shoulder.
Harris clears his throat. "Actually Golden, I have one more thing."
She pivots, hand on her hip and eyebrows raised. "Oh yeah, what's that?"
"I wanted to apologize for not being here earlier." Her eyebrows jump further, causing Harris to nod carefully. "I'm sorry that I missed you and Agent McGee first thing this morning. I was getting coffee, but it took longer than expected." He turns into a chagrined expression. "It was highly unprofessional."
Golden is silent for a half-beat as the understanding slips across his face. When she catches it, her mouth pulls into a little o. She points to the security camera above the door.
"Do you know what're you doing, Schuyler?" she whispers.
He shakes his head. "I know exactly what I'm doing. That was only operational for David's interview. It's not turned on right now. I didn't want someone watching me work."
She stares at him, dumbfounded into silence.
He continues: "I'm glad you came back later with the jump drive. It really helped Agent McGee's case. I mean, him talking to me really clinched it. But that helped."
"If it gets out, they'll fire you..."
Leaning back in his chair, Harris merely shrugs. Whatever is at play here has roots deeper than he could understand right now. As deep as he is digging, there is still something more. He doesn't want to let an agent be fired for something he doesn't understand yet.
If I'd just reported the bug to someone else, David wouldn't have gotten to McGee at his place.
"Sorry, I took so long getting coffee," Harris repeats.
Golden clips a nod. "And you didn't even get us anything."
He shrugs. "Maybe next time."
Golden laughs humorlessly before she raises her chin to Harris. They share a long stare, both of them knowing their time here is done, but there is still more that they may never understand. There's a fire in Golden's eyes as though she won't let this go quietly. She would've been a great agent.
"Don't you have to harass the FBI?" Harris asks.
"Yeah, it's their turn now." She smirks. "Maybe I'll run into that agent who always pinched my cases. Fornell. He's one grade A son of a bitch. Almost as bad as you, Harry."
"Thanks," Harris replies drily.
On her way out, she throws another wave over her shoulder. She pauses by the door, one hand on the frame, but she doesn't turn back.
"You know, Harry, I think I was wrong about you. You're not as bad as I thought."
Harris half-smiles. "It's like I said, Iggy. I'm quite pleasant when you get to know me."
She laughs. "Yeah, you're a g-damned peach."
-oooooooo-ooooooooo-ooooooooo-
Schuyler Harris slowly takes the stairs to Vance's office. His laptop bag is slung across his body, the case files clutched against his chest. His preliminary report is completed, ready to be sent to his superior. There are still details to work out. Forensics needs to compare the codes on Tim McGee's computer to make sure he was the one who wrote them. They still need to track the bug from his room to make any connection. But as far as he is concerned, he learned as much as he could from the interviews. Now, there is a more important conversation he needs to have with his boss.
Could Director Vance be swept up in this at all?
That is a question he will have to ask the right people after more difficult conversations.
Ziva David was the one to threaten Tim into doing her bidding. She is still a Mossad operative, a wolf in sheep's clothing, stalking the halls of NCIS. The web Harris found himself tangled in was stranger than any of the cases he worked on before.
The entire case leaves him feeling wrecked, emotionally and physically. The hours and the discussions, the revelations and watching capable and good agents unravel in front of him. Working Internal Affairs grants Harris a strange window into the inner workings of the agency. Over the years, he witnessed the darkest depths of what agents will do with power, agents doing bad things for good reasons, and everything in between.
This case is in a class all its own.
He watched, what once was, a closeknit team rip apart at the seams after a terrible decision. Managed to uncover an agent being threatened into submission. And foiled an agent spying.
Espionage, that was a new one.
Harris doubts he'll ever see a case like this one again. And for that, he'll be remarkably grateful.
Hopefully, after his discussion with the director, he'll be cleared to head back to Chicago. He needs to speak with his boss as soon as possible. In person with closed doors.
As Harris heads past Vance's secretary, she doesn't even look up. He walked past her so many times that she doesn't bother to greet him anymore. At this point, he might as well be a piece of furniture. When he heads inside the office, Vance is already on the phone. His eyebrows lift at the sight of Harris.
"I'll call you back," he barks.
Placing the phone back on the cradle, Vance invites Harris to take a chair. Harris places the files on Vance's desk, then puts his preliminary report on top. He unslings his laptop bag and folds himself into one of the uncomfortable chairs.
"I see you're returning the case files, Agent Harris," Vance says. "I trust you've finished the investigation." The way investigation rolls off his tongue, it almost sounds like a curse.
Harris nods. Then, he explains in detail exactly what transpired during his investigation. How Ziva turned the microphone off prior to Tim's assault. How she threatened Tim into turning it off while Tony was undercover. How Tim wrote a code to try and keep Tony safe. How Ziva has been threatening Tim since they returned to Somalia. How he came into possession of the documents from Ziva's desk.
"How'd you get those?" Vance asks.
Harris presses his lip together. "I have a source."
"Agent DiNozzo?"
"No, it wasn't him," Harris lies.
Vance throws him a baleful look. Then, he asks: "Did you get them translated yet?"
"Not yet, sir. I have a request out for a Hebrew translator." Leaning back in the chair, he wears a resigned smile. "You know how it is to find someone to translate the lesser spoken languages. I hope to have someone by next week."
Vance nods carefully, brow furrowed. "Even without them, you feel that you have enough information to make recommendations."
"I do, sir. Despite a few unclear details, I believe there is enough to render a preliminary decision."
Vance steeples his hands, tilting his head as if to say Go ahead.
Harris fishes around in his laptop to retrieve his notepad before flicking to the appropriate page. "In relation to Agent McGee's assault, I found no wrongdoing by either Agent DiNozzo or Agent McGee. While Agent DiNozzo did exit the vehicle, he was not at fault for the events that later transpired." He inhales deeply. "The actions by Agent David, however, require immediate termination."
Vance steeples his fingers against his chin. "But that's not all you have?"
Harris leans back in the chair. "There were really two cases at play here, sir. The one that ended with the assault on Agent McGee and the one where the microphone was interrupted during Agent DiNozzo's undercover time. My recommendations for Agent David still stand in that case as well."
"Termination?" Vance drawls.
"As well as blacklisting from future federal work." Harris keeps his good eye on his notepad. "It is my recommendation that we report the acts of espionage to the correct authorities."
Vance inhales sharply, nostrils flaring. "I'd rather handle this in-house, Agent Harris. She was just continuing the work she did when she was a liaison for Mossad."
Harris' good eye snaps up to Vance. "But sir, that agreement was voided when she became a federal agent. She took an oath."
"That would complicate our already tenuous relationship with Mossad," Vance replies.
"With all due respect, Agent David is still technically a foreign agent, but she isn't registered as one. She never surrendered her Israeli citizenship. She is still actively communication with Mossad." Harris pauses for effect to watch Vance, but he gives nothing away. "We should be more worried about having a spy in our ranks than our relations with a foreign agency. A foreign spy agency."
"I'll take it under advisement," Vance says coolly.
Making a face, Harris looks away. Based on Vance's tone, Harris already knows nothing will come out of it. Vance will try to sweep the whole thing under the rug because he is trying not to upset a foreign leader. At least Ziva will be terminated, but she might be able to weasel her way into another agency. Maybe she'll fabricate a story about why she was terminated or have her father call in another favor. All Harris knows is that it won't be long before she repeats her actions and if the new agency is lucky, they won't have a dead agent on their hands.
I'm glad Plan B is already in motion.
Vance shifts in his chair, elbows on his desk and sights lasered on Harris.
"What are your thoughts on Agent McGee and his involvement with Agent David?" he asks.
Harris swallows hard. "Agent McGee's situation is one of the more complicated ones I have dealt with. He acted under duress for most of his transgressions, but he attempted to follow protocol to the best of his abilities. I'm still working to confirm his story with the forensics department at Great Lakes. Preliminary findings show he did, in fact, send Agent DiNozzo's audio to his personal earwig."
Vance looks unconvinced.
"I would recommend," Harris continues, "a period of unpaid suspension. Then, desk duty until he completes a series of remediation classes. If he performs as I believe he will, I recommend eventual reinstatement to Agent Gibbs' team. He should have reported Agent David's threats when they first began, but I understand why he didn't."
"To be clear, you aren't recommending a demotion." Vance tilts his head. "Or termination."
"I leave that up to your discretion, Director," Harris offers. "I would advise against it considering his assault and the targeted harassment by Agent David." He raises his hand, almost in a shrug. "If you wish to keep things in-house, termination would play out badly in my opinion."
Raising his chin, Vance steeples and unsteeples his fingers. He locks eyes on Harris as if it could force the IA agent to make the decision for him. Vance appears to be a man who wants the whole thing to vanish with the snap of his fingers. With how deep this ran, this case is going to be lingering for years.
"And that brings us to Agent DiNozzo," Vance says.
Harris nods. "I'd recommend his immediate reinstatement to Agent Gibbs' team."
"At least we're on the same page for once."
Harris closes his notepad. "I was sent to gather evidence and make recommendations. My boss told me that all decisions were to be left up to your discretion." He throws Vance a hard look. "It isn't how Internal Affairs handles things. But you are the director, and we do report to you. Sir."
Those words make Vance bristle. His eyes narrow at Harris, who doesn't back down. Harris already made his recommendations, and he should be the one to discuss the case with his superior officer. He knew the rules he was playing by when he took the case, but he didn't know just what he was getting into.
I doubt Vance will listen to my recommendations. I need follow up with my boss as soon as my plane lands.
"When do you plan on leaving, Agent Harris?" Vance asks.
"I'm on the the last flight tonight," he replies. "I've concluded my investigation. I'm no longer needed here."
Vance smirks. "Yes, you are."
"Excuse me?" Harris asks, tilting his head.
"I expect you to stick around long enough to watch me fire Agent David."