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.
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