Unforeseen Consequences

AN: I had kind of decided that I would not write another 'Dead Air' related episode. But I was watching it again the other day, and I think I came up with a new angle. I hope you enjoy. Jackie

Tony had ridden the whole way back to NCIS in silence. What Ziva and Tim had joked to him about couldn't be true. They would not have turned down the radio on him. They were supposed to have his six. They were supposed to look after him. But something in their tone, something about the way they said it. It made him think that it could be possible. That they could have actually done what they had so thoughtlessly joked about when he had returned to the car.

The wounds were deep and the pain was real, the anger and the betrayal he felt. The two people in the front seat of the car, people he used to consider his friends, were oblivious to the injury, the wounds, they had inflicted on him.

"Just tell me, is it true?" Tony demanded when he cornered Tim in the back hall. He had waited for a moment to get Tim alone.

"Is what true?" Tim asked, not knowing what Tony was asking.

"Did you turn the radio down?" Tony asked.

"Tony, I…."

"…simple question, Tim. It only needs a simple yes or no answer." Tony demanded.

Tim looked at Tony for a moment. Tim could swear he saw Tony's pain and betrayal as Tony waited for him to answer.

"No, "Tim said hesitatingly. "…I didn't." He replied. The fact was that he had, jokingly, suggested it. And the fact that he had not protested when Ziva had actually done it, that didn't need to be brought to light right now.

Tony looked at Tim for just a moment. He knew Tim was not telling him the whole truth, but he would let it go, for now. Tony nodded and headed back to his desk. Tim returned to his a few moments later.

Tony looked across the way at her partner for just a moment before he returned to his work. He knew Ziva would be much, much harder to get information from.

Ziva was aware of her partner's scrutiny. And it made her uncomfortable. She knew what she had done was wrong. She should have never turned down the radio with her partner out in the field. It was against procedure, first of all. And second of all, Tony would have never even entertained the idea of doing that to her. He just wouldn't. He would have listened to her talk for two days if he had had to. And she couldn't even take 2 hours. She shook her head and sighed as she returned to typing her report.

Tony was still fuming. Tim's hesitation and then finally denial was, to Tony, a sure sign of his guilt. He had seen suspects act just that way before, as a cop, when they had done something wrong or had had knowledge of a wrong doing. And in this case, he was pretty sure who had committed the offense. And he was also just as sure, he would most likely never get her to admit it. She had been Mossad, after all, and she could probably still handle an interrogation with the best of them.

Tim found a moment to slip away from his desk, he thought, unnoticed after Ziva had gotten up. But Tony had noticed both of them leaving their desks. He followed them to the back hall and found a place to stand out of sight, but within earshot.

"…never should have happened, Ziva." Tim was saying.

"It was a joke, McGee." Ziva replied. "Was it not?"

"It was…but…." McGee admitted.

"Tony did not get injured?" Ziva inquired.

McGee shook his head.

"We have done nothing wrong." Ziva reasoned. "Tony did not get injured and…."

"But he could have been." McGee stated. "He could have been. We left him out there…for two hours, Ziva…two hours without backup."

Tony felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach. He was having trouble breathing…two hours. They had left him out there, alone, for two hours?!

Tim's and Ziva's conversation continued, but Tony barely heard it. The knives they had stuck in his back and his heart caused an aching in his chest and tears to flood his vision. He silently left his hiding place and made a stop by the restroom before he returned to his desk.

"It did not happen, Tim." Ziva replied. "That is the important thing in all this Tony was not hurt. Therefore, no one needs to know."

McGee nodded, though he really didn't feel right about it. "I guess you're right."

Ziva nodded. "I am. There is no good reason for us to jeopardize our jobs over something that did not occur."

Tony looked up when they returned to their desks, acting as if he had been there the whole time. He kept his anger and hurt in check. He balled his hand into a tight ball and squeezing as hard as he could. He pounded his fist against his leg, under his desk. It was all he could do to keep from pounding his fists on his desk, and screaming at the two of them. He kept his eyes on the paperwork on his desk, even though he was not even seeing the words written on the page. He didn't want to give away any clue of the hurt and anger he was feeling inside.

When Tony was finally able to look up, after a moment or two, what he saw angered him more. They both were acting as though nothing had occurred. They just sat at their desks writing their reports. As if they had never decided that it was perfectly okay to violate agency procedure, and that, in fact, they were justified in doing so.

A few days went by after Tony had talked to Tim about what had happened with the radio. Tim and Ziva believed that the crises had passed and the situation had resolved itself.

"You know…" Tony said as the team was working a crime scene. "…it really amazes me what some people find funny, what some people call a joke." He said, seemingly to no one in particular.

In that moment, Ziva and Tim exchanged glances. They knew Tony had followed them and had heard their conversation.

"It's just amazing." Tony said, shaking his head. He was smiling, but there was no joy in it.

Gibbs looked at his senior field agent. He knew Tony was not making a joke and whatever was going on here was far from funny. Gibbs was going to call Tony over, but he had the feeling then and there was not the place to do it. Gibbs made a mental note to check in with Tony later.

The team had been back to NCIS only a few moments before Gibbs heard Tony approach his desk. He handed Gibbs a piece of paper.

"What's this?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm requesting a transfer, effective immediately." Tony replied.

Ziva and Tim both looked up at Tony's announcement, stunned. They both stared at him. They couldn't speak for a moment.

Ziva started. "Tony, we did not mean…."

"Tony!" Tim pleaded.

Both Gibbs and Tony ignored them, and they fell silent.

"Tony? DiNozzo?! What…?" Gibbs tried to reply, but was at a loss for words.

"I can't work with people I don't trust." Tony replied.

"Tony, I don't understand…." Gibbs started, truly confused by Tony's actions.

"I won't work with people I don't trust." Tony repeated, with a slight modification.

"What's going on, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Talk to your team, Gibbs." Tony said as he picked up his jacket and put it on. "It's not my story to tell."

Gibbs watched him leave, too in shock to stop him.

THE END?

END NOTES: I'm willing to write an epilogue, if anyone's interested.

Epilogue

Part 1

AN: Wow! The response to this story has been phenomenal. I don't think I have ever gotten so many responses in one day to ANY story I've written, so THANK YOU! And, also, a special thank you to those of you who have me on your alerts and favorites. It really means a lot that you all read and like my stuff. I believe I am going to have, at least, a 2-part epilogue. I want to get everybody's reaction, mainly because I have not done that before, in my other versions. And I want to explore more of the emotion involved, from everybody's POV. I also have not done that in past stories. I, most likely, will not address the punishment in great detail. It is important, but, in this instance, I want it to be secondary to the emotional damage inflicted. So, YES, you most likely will need, at least, one tissue. But go ahead and grab the whole box. Enjoy! Jackie

Gibbs still held the paper, Tony's transfer request, in his hands as he stood and watched Tony enter the elevator. He looked back at the two people now on their feet also.

"What did Tony mean by that?" Gibbs asked. "What is not his story to tell?" Gibbs waited or a response.

Tim and Ziva looked at one another but didn't speak.

Gibbs repeated his questions.

Tim and Ziva still did not respond.

"Why doesn't he trust the two of you?" Gibbs asked, hoping to have more luck with this question.

Gibbs looked at his team members, growing increasingly impatient.

"Answer the question!" Gibbs demanded. The looks they were exchanging not going unnoticed.

Tim opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated.

"What Tony said this morning…at the crime scene…." Gibbs implored. "What did that mean? What was funny? What joke?"

"Somebody had better start talking. NOW!" Gibbs said, the last word was not yelled, but only because he didn't want to draw attention from the rest of the floor as to what was happening in the bullpen.

Gibbs stood seething, waiting for an answer. "Look, you can tell me here, now! Or you can tell me in front of Director Vance. And trust me, ALL I will have to say for Vance to know something is seriously wrong is that DiNozzo walked out. Tony would never walk out on his job! He would never walk out on me! And…" Gibbs remembered the paper in his hand. "…he would never, ever ask to leave my team." Gibbs paused, his anger showing. "So…do we want to try…this…again?" He said, emphasizing the last three words.

Gibbs glared at them both when they still refused to speak. "Upstairs…director's office…now! Go!"

"We'll…" Tim started he didn't want to have to see the director's face when he confessed.

Gibbs shook head. "No, it too late!" He guided them towards the stairs and went up after them.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Gibbs paced the entire time Tim told the story. He told them everything, even how Tony had come to know what they had done.

Gibbs glared at the both of them when Tim had finished.

"Agent David, is what Agent McGee stated here true." Gibbs asked.

She could not speak, she only nodded.

"A fellow agent's life is a joke to you?" Director Vance asked, putting the question to them both.

"Tony was not injured." Ziva offered, weakly.

"That makes it okay?" Vance asked. "Procedures and protocol can be ignored when not one gets hurt. Is that …?" Vance paused when he notice the look on Gibbs' face.

"Maybe that is how you did things back in Israel." Gibbs stated, barely concealing his anger. "Maybe your father condoned that. But I don't. You cannot smile to your partner's face while you plunge the knife in his chest!"

"I…Tony is constantly 'joking' with us." Tim offered.

Gibbs stared at Tim for a moment. "Yes, Agent McGee, Tony is a joker, a prankster. But he never, ever put you in a situation where you could die."

"That nasty water…." Tim replied, recalling a case a while back.

Gibbs remembered it also. "Was there a possible terrorist in the water…waiting for you when you stepped in?" Gibbs knew it sounded ridiculous, but he needed to prove his point.

Tim shook his head.

Vance was having trouble believing the actions of the two agents sitting in front of him.

Meanwhile, Gibbs had finally calmed down enough to sit. He was sitting at the conference table in the back of the room.

"Agent Gibbs…what do you…?" Vance asked.

"Siberia…Antarctica…does NCIS have a field office in Hell?" Gibbs stated. "I, honestly, truly, do not give a damn. I just want them off my team! Immediately!" He stood and left Vance's office, slamming the door behind him.

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Gibbs immediately left NCIS after he exited Director Vance's office. He needed to find Tony. That was his primary concern; the director could do what he liked with McGee and David.

Gibbs immediately began to drive. The first place he thought Tony might be was at his house. Gibbs pulled into his driveway. He sat in the car for a moment, trying to decide if he needed to give Tony some time, or if he needed to go on in.

Gibbs had some questions of his own only Tony could answer. Gibbs wanted to know why Tony didn't come to him. He wanted to know why Tony waited so long before he said anything to Tim or Ziva. He needed to know these things, but more than that he needed to know that Tony was alright.

Gibbs went into his home and immediately headed downstairs. But, to his surprise, Tony was not there. Gibbs was not one to panic, but he was beginning be concerned. He had been so certain Tony would be there, waiting for him. He took a deep breath and looked around his house once more before he headed to his car. A few moments later, Gibbs pulled up in front of Tony's apartment building. He jumped out of the car and took the stairs two at a time. He didn't bother with knocking, using his key to open the door. He found Tony in his bedroom, throwing clothes into a bag.

Tony was not at all surprised to see Gibbs in his bedroom. He momentarily ignored his boss as he continued to pack his bag. He then rounded his bed and headed for the bathroom to get the other items he would need.

Gibbs stopped him as he walked past, gently grabbing his arm. He could see the streaks from the dried tears on Tony's face. His eyes were still red. "Where ya goin' DiNozzo?"

Tony turned his head and looked at him. "I need some time, Gibbs. I just…."

Gibbs nodded and let go of his arm. "I know."

Tony turned to face him. "What do you know?"

"Everything." Gibbs replied. "I know everything."

"I gotta tell you, Boss." Tony said as he headed to the bathroom, Gibbs followed. "My co-workers both have incredible senses of humor."

"…your former co-workers."

"Agents David and McGee explained their actions to both me and Director Vance. He is dealing with them." Gibbs explained.

"What does that mean, exactly?" Tony asked.

Gibbs shrugged. "I don't know. But I did make some suggestions."

Tony looked at his boss for a moment. Ideas of what those 'suggestions' might be running through his head. "I'm sure you did." Tony couldn't help but smile.

"I mentioned Siberia and Antarctica, I think, they have summer seasons. It might even get above 0â—¦F." Gibbs paused. "And there COULD be an NCIS branch office in Hell."

"Gibbs…" Tony stammered. "…you didn't…you didn't say those things to Vance."

"I did. And I meant every word. I don't care what he does with them…as long as they are no longer on my team."

Tony finished packing his bag. He zipped it up and then sat down on the bed.

"I need this, Gibbs." Tony replied. "I need some time." When Tony looked at Gibbs again, there were tears in his eyes.

Gibbs nodded. He sat down on the bed beside Tony. He put his hand on Tony's back, trying to comfort his son. They sat that way for a few moments.

Gibbs sighed. "I know you do, Tony. I know. But you have to call me. You have to let me know where you are so I'll know that you're okay." Gibbs paused. "Will you do that…for me?"

Tony nodded.

TBC

END NOTES: I hope you liked it. But it's not done. Next you get the Tony's confrontation with both Tim and Ziva, and it will not be what you expect. Also, you will get Abby's, Ducky's and Jimmy's reactions. There will be some surprises there, also, and maybe some OOC moments.