“So that’s why Auntie Abby refuses to work with anyone.” Maya realised.
“Yep. And we all agree and understand. She works better alone.”
“She likes me helping her though.” Maya pointed out.
“Of course she does.”
“Anyway…what happened with Megan? After you left her in the bullpen?”
“Well…
It took half an hour to calm Abby down and then Gibbs put McGee on protection detail before storming off to see the director to tell her about Chip and demand that Abby now worked alone. Once he left Abby in McGee’s capable hands, Tony rushed back up to the bullpen to find it empty apart from Megan sitting at his desk idly fiddling with a pen.
“Hey.” He greeted her leaning on the front of his desk.
“Hi. How’s Abby?” She asked.
“Good…You were right she can look after herself.”
“I’m glad.”
“Yeah…anyway since you got me out of jail then helped me solve the case would you like to have dinner with me?”
She grinned. “Sure. What did you have in mind?”
“Have you ever been to a little place I like to call Valentino’s?”
“Isn’t Valentino’s where you took Ziva after Auntie Alex couldn’t go?” Maya asked.
“Yes it is. Remember it is my favourite restaurant.”
“Did Sasha visit? While you were in custody?” Megan asked as she took another bite of her pasta.
Tony almost chocked on his food. “...No...She’s staring in someone else’s diary now.”
“Oh…She did mention...but I thought maybe...well. How are you Tony? You and Ziva seem kinda close...”
“You’ve seen her? Never mind I don't wanna know...anyway I’m okay glad to be a free man. Prison is nothing like what it is in the movies. Yeah we are we have to be, being partners and all.”
Megan raised her eyebrows. “Partners? In what way?” She asked him as she smiled coyly.
“Oh nothing like that we work together is all.”
She pouted playfully. “Oh boo, here I was thinking I could get myself into a threesome.”
Tony grinned. “That could be arranged.”
“And how do you plan on getting Ziva to join us without your boss murdering you, naughty boy.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Indeed I would.” She said as she rubbed her foot against his leg under the table.
Tony cleared his throat. “Why don't I get the check and we take a walk?”
She laughed. “Where are we going?”
“There’s a park not far from here.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “...ok... why not?”
* * *
“Did you always want to be a lawyer?” Tony asked Megan as they walked through the park.
“No. until I was 16, I wanted to be an actress. I wanted to sing on Broadway.”
“Wow. Really?”
“Yeah, really, is that so hard to believe?”
“Well, aren’t actresses needy and emotional and, you know, insecure? That sort of thing.”
“What are you saying? That I don’t need? That I don’t have emotions? I’m an incredibly needy person.”
“I’m not saying that.” Tony defended himself.
“I’m a very needy person.”
They reached a park bench and Tony sat down. “You know what I’m saying? I’m saying I would really like to hear a song.”
Megan gulped. “I’m sorry.”
“Give us a song.” Tony insisted.
“You want me to sing you a song?” She asked nervously.
“Why not? You have a favourite?”
Megan nodded.
“You do?”
“Yeah.”
She handed him her bag. “Okay” she cleared her throat
‘How glad the many millions,
Of Anthony’s and Williams-”
“I’m an Anthony.”
“Don’t interrupt.”
‘Would be to capture me
But you had such persistence, you wore down my resistance
I fell and it was swell.
I’m your big and brave and handsome Romeo
How I won you I shall never never know
It’s not that you’re attractive
But, oh, my heart grew active
When you came into view
I’ve got a crush on you, sweetie pie
All the day and night-time give me sigh
I never had the least notion that
I could fall with so much emotion
Could you coo, could you care
For a cunning cottage we could share
The world will pardon my mush
Cause I have got a crush on you
Could you coo, could you care
For a cunning cottage
That we could share
The world will pardon my mush
Cause I have got a crush, my baby, on you.”
As she finished the song Tony pulled her into a deep passionate kiss.
“So you started dating Megan?” Maya asked.
“Yes and we may have had a sleepover that night and I felt happier with Megan then I had in a long time, but for reason I was reluctant to tell Ziva about Megan and I.”
“But you and Ziva were close! You were partners and partners tell each other everything!
He sighed. She was smart enough to see things he hadn’t but he wasn’t willing to tell her that. “Anyway as Megan and I started to get to know each other a little better that week your Uncle Probie got himself into some serious trouble and needed my help.”
“Oh My God!” Maya exclaimed. Why, what happened? Was Uncle Probie okay?”
“Yeah we were on duty and he shot a suspect who we discovered was an undercover police officer.”
“Oh no.”
“Yeah and then things got worse when the Director approved the investigation into whether it was self-defence or whether McGee shot him without reason. So I decided to go over to McGee’s apartment that night to cheer him up.
“C’mon Probie I know you’re in there. Open up.”
McGee finally opened the door and Tony was surprised to see his normally clean well-dressed workmate standing there looking like he hadn’t slept in days and in an old pair of sweatpants.
“I’m not in the mood for your jokes today.”
“Just let me in.”
McGee sighed and stepped aside. Tony gasped he had been in McGee’s apartment before but he didn’t remember it like this. There was leftover food lying on the bench, his normally tidy study had papers everywhere and even though Tony knew there was a desk buried underneath he could see it.
“Now that you’re in what do you want?” McGee asked impatiently.
“I’m taking you out.” Tony told him simply as he made his way into McGee’s bedroom.
“Where?”
“When the going gets tough, the tough go clubbing.” Tony said. “We have got to get you dressed.”
“I just want to be alone tonight, okay?”
“No, you don’t.” Tony insisted as he picked up the papers lying on the bed. “Still working on the novel, I see, huh?”
“Tony, I swear don’t hassle me tonight.”
“Would I be me if I didn’t?” Tony asked sarcastically as he started sorting through McGee’s wardrobe. “Have you got any party clothes?”
“Tony!” McGee warned.
Tony ignored him and continued sorting through the wardrobe. “Probie, you’re not going to be scoring in any of this stuff.”
“Hey, would you stop! I’m not going anywhere!” McGee shouted at him.
Tony stopped and turned around to face the young agent. “Hey listen, man, I’m sorry. I just wanted to…”
McGee sighed. “I know. I know. I know you’re just trying to help. Tony, I’m not like you guys. You were trained as a cop. Gibbs was a Marine sniper. Sasha protected the President of the United States. God only knows what Ziva did for Mossad. My background is biomedical engineering and computer forensics. I don’t think I’m cut out to be a field agent.”
“The first time I shot at someone…. I wet my pants.” Tony admitted.
“Really?” McGee asked shocked.
“Really.” Tony nodded and headed towards the kitchen. “If you tell anyone that I will slap you silly. Ooh, do you have anything to eat? I know it’s bad. I’ve been where you are. But a week from now this will all be behind you. Just a bad memory.”
* * *
“Aren’t you supposed to be doing work?” Megan asked Tony when he called while he tried to search for the registration of the SUV that McGee said fired at him.
“I am.” He replied. “It’s called multitasking.”
“Men can’t multitask.”
“DiNozzo men can.”
“I’ll have to test that.”
“How will you do that?”
“You’ll see.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Maybe you should.” Megan said seductively.
Tony was about to answer when he felt a pair of eyes watching him. “I gotta go. I’ll see you later tonight.” He said quickly to Megan before hanging up on her when she was mid-sentence.
He turned around and came face to face with Ziva. Her face was literally inches from his.
“Who was that?” She asked.
“No one.” He lied. He still didn’t want her to know about Megan. He didn’t exactly know why he didn’t want her to know about his new girlfriend just that she couldn’t know.
“You spent 15 minutes on the phone to no one?” She asked him curiously.
“Yep.” He replied. She glared at him and he glared back neither one of them giving up or wanting to. At least until Gibbs and a very anxious McGee walked into the bullpen and Gibbs head slapped Tony as he walked past.
Gibbs then uncharacteristically went over to the young agent who had slumped down at his desk and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I let you down.”
McGee looked at his boss in shock as did his co-workers. “Boss, I think it’s the other way around.”
“I should have gone with you to Metro.” Gibbs explained.
“I don’t think it would have made a difference. I panicked. I thought he had a weapon in his hand. I need to face it. I shot a good cop making an arrest.” McGee said slumping in his seat again.
“What cop makes a drug bust without a weapon?” Gibbs wondered aloud.
“None!” Abby exclaimed as she rushed out of the elevator and over to McGee’s desk. “Rule Number Eight is going to save you, McGee!”
“Never date a co-worker?” Tony wondered as he went over to lean on McGee’s desk.
“Never go anywhere without your knife.” Ziva corrected.
“I thought that was nine.” Tony argued.
“Never take anything for granted.” Gibbs told them.
“Never take anything for granted.” Maya exclaimed as she had grown up around Gibbs and memorised all his rules.
“Correcto, Jefe. But then again, you did make up the rules so-” Abby started to ramble before Gibbs stopped her.
“Get to the point, Abs.”
“I didn’t do forensics on the jacket because we knew what happened. Then I remembered Rule Numero Ocho.”
“Gunshot residue.” Tony realised.
The Goth nodded. “Based on the density and the pattern of the stippling and the sooting, one of the slugs in Lieutenant Benedict was fired from only one foot away.”
“One of my shots missed?” McGee realised and Tony noticed a little more colour went into the Probie’s face.
Tony grinned. “I knew you weren’t that good, Probie. Three for three at twenty five meters? I don’t think so.”
“Halligan shot him from behind the wheel.” Gibbs explained.
“Wrong, Boss!” Tony exclaimed.
“Slap him, Ziva.” Gibbs ordered her as he was too far away to reach Tony and Ziva who was standing next to Tony obeyed and hit him harder than Tony thought was really necessary.
Tony glared at her as he rubbed his head before turning to his boss. “If Halligan was behind the wheel then he was five or six feet away. I pulled the registration from the Range Rover. It was brought into DMV for an inspection because it was imported from Ireland. Right hand drive. British like Ducky’s Morgan. Steering wheels on the right hand side.” He reported.
“The person I saw arguing with Benedict was a passenger.” McGee realised.
“There was a third man.” Gibbs agreed.
“That’s a great movie. Joseph Cotton. Orson Welles.” Tony joked.
* * *
“If you ever Gibbs-slap me again I will slap you back harder!” Tony warned Ziva as they searched for the missing bullet.
“I was following orders.” She reminded him.
“The dutiful Mossad agent.” Tony teased her. “You miss the spy game? It must have been exciting.”
“You have seen too many James Bond movies. It’s not all about car chases and sex.” She explained as they knelt down to look for the bullet.
“It wasn’t?”
“Well, there was a lot of sex.” Ziva admitted as Tony’s cell phone rang.
He grinned as he looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Megan. “Hey, can I call you back now is not a great time. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Still no one?” Ziva asked curiously.
“Ah, it’s nothing.” He lied.
She raised her eyebrows. “You get these calls all day and it is nothing?”
“Drop it.” Tony warned.
“I do not know why you are so insistent on lying to me.”
“I’m not.”
“I am Mossad I know when someone is lying.”
“Let’s focus on finding the bullet.” Tony said trying to change the subject.
“Don’t have to.” She replied as she held up the bullet for him to see.
“Oooh so Ziva is like a human lie detector?” Maya asked.
“Yeah and you’re not the first one to say that either.” Tony replied.
“Hmm interesting…So what happened with Uncle Probie did he shoot him? Because I don’t think he did.”
“We discovered that McGee shot after someone inside the car shot at him. And the dead cop suspected his partner was working with the criminal he was trying to catch and he could’ve been in the back seat and shot the driver.”
“What do you mean could’ve?”
“Even though Abs did all she could there was no way to tell who fired the kill shot.” Tony explained.
Author's Chapter Notes:
While on duty, McGee kills a man who is later discovered to be an undercover police officer. When Jenny decides to approve the investigation on McGee, the NCIS team is forced to prove that McGee is not guilty, pushing Gibbs' relationship with Jen to the limit. Meanwhile, Tony is troubled by his past. Tony begins dating Megan Ryan but doesn’t tell Ziva.