Chapter 2
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"What? Happened?" Gibbs asked, his gut churning.
"Mr...Agent Gibbs..." A nurse called, sticking her head out of the ER. "...you're the next of kin. We have forms..."
Gibbs nodded to the nurse. "We WILL talk about this later." Gibbs said before following the nurse.
Tim and Ziva looked at one another. Tim had parked the sedan in the closest lot and he had come into the ER waiting room moments after Ziva and Gibbs and had sat down with them.
"If Gibbs finds out what really happened..." Tim started.
"...we will lose for jobs." Ziva finished the statement.
Tim shook his head. "That's the least of our troubles. This is Tony we are talking about here."
"It was supposed to be a joke." Ziva stated.
"If we had been listening..." Tim replied.
Ziva shook her head. "We cannot dwell on that. When Gibbs talks to Tony..."
"We're finished." Tim said.
"I will have to go back to Israel." Ziva said. "I will not be able to work here." Ziva said, shaking her head.
"You're a U.S. citizen..."
"Citizenship is no good, Tim, if I cannot find a job." Ziva replied. "Gibbs will not give me a recommendation, neither will Director Vance."
"Yeah, I can give up any dream of becoming director." Tim sighed. "But you, you can get your dad to talk to Vance, for you. They're friends, right?"
"I do not know who is or is not my father's ally these days." Ziva stated.
"We...when Tony talks to Gibbs...what are we going to say?" Tim asked.
Ziva looked at him, not comprehending for a moment.
"Look, I don't want to lie to Gibbs either, but what can we do? We both have a lot at stake here." Tim replied.
Ziva nodded. She then looked toward the ER doors to make sure Gibbs wasn't coming out. "We need to straighten our stories."
"It's get our stories straight." Tim corrected. "And you're right, we do."
Ziva leaned in. "Alright, Tony will tell Gibbs we should have heard a gunshot. And we should have."
Tim nodded. "We did. We thought it was a car backfire. Happens all the time in suburbia."
"But, McGee..."
"The windows were rolled up, remember." The car windows were actually rolled up, to help them to be able to hear the wiretap. "The sound was distorted, muffled." Tim thought for a moment. "Or, I'll say I got out of the car and looked around a little, not really thinking it was gunshot. I didn't go far from the car and, I didn't see anything. Meanwhile, you stayed in the car and listened to the tap.
Ziva nodded. "Okay, that sounds good. We DID something, that will make Gibbs happy. But, when Tony got into the car and we told him about the wiretap..."
"THAT..." Tim stated. "...will be much harder to explain away."
"No, not really." Ziva said after she thought for a moment. "Tony was bleeding. He was losing a lot of blood. He was disoriented, dizzy. We both saw it. He...He just misunderstood."
"Yeah, sounds good." Tim said relieved. He got up, went over to the door and looked into the ER itself. He then returned to his seat not having seen Tony or Gibbs.
Ziva looked at him, questioning. Tim shook his head, nothing to tell about Tony.
"Damn!" Tim said, sitting straight up in his chair. "The wiretap."
Ziva just looked at him.
"Tony said the wiretap had static on it, which meant it was working."
Ziva grinned. "Tony was disoriented, remember."
Tim shook his head. "No. That will explain what Tony told US. But, knowing Gibbs, he will send the tap to Abby and have her test it. If she finds out it's in working order...which she will..."
"We are twisted." Ziva concluded.
"The term is screwed, but yes."
"We must destroy the wiretap." Ziva stated.
"No, not destroy it. It needs to be something that will be consistent with what Tony went through. He was shot in the shoulder. That wouldn't have hurt it. He said he tripped and fell that wouldn't have hurt it either."
"A mechanical malfunction, then." Ziva concluded. "But that poses another problem. We do not have the tap."
"No, but Gibbs does." Tim said. "I'll offer to take 'the evidence' to Abby."
"Perfect opportunity." Ziva said. "But..."
"I know, Ziva, I know." Tim said, shaking his head. "But do you want to go back to Israel? The fighting...all that?"
Ziva shook his head.
"This is one isolated incident. Tony is going to be fine. Probably one hundred percent. He will accept our explanation of his misunderstanding. He trusts us." Tim stated. "This is our lives, our careers, our futures, we're talking about here."
Ziva nodded.
"Good, I am not willing to give up a chance at the directorship. Vance really has his eye on me for that. I will not allow that chance to pass me by for...for this."
Ziva nodded again and the plan was in place. Gibbs would come out of the ER with Tony's belongings, including the wiretap. Tim would offer to take the evidence to Abby and 'tamper' with the wiretap before handing it and the other items over to Abby.
Gibbs immerged from the ER moments later, 'evidence' bag in hand.
TBC
Static by jackilee71
Chapter End Notes:
AN: Fair warning: This chapter contains partner betrayal. You could skip this chapter, but the rest of the story probably would not make sense