Chapter Text
Tony DiNozzo clipped his black banded badge onto his belt as he passed through security. As his fingers slid over the ribbon, he sighed internally and thought about lost chances and missed opportunities. So much had happened in the past few weeks, Tony felt overwhelmed by the grief, one after another.
First came Director Shepard’s kidnapping and grisly death. The pursuant investigation by the FBI had shaken them all and Gibbs was not dealing with his grief in any rational kind of manner. Most of those at NCIS had no idea why it was hitting him so hard, and not being able to participate in the hunt for her killer or for the leak who gave Dempsey inside information had not helped his mood.
Tony understood though. After being burned by Danny, Tony hadn’t been quite as willing to trust his instincts about people, at least people who weren’t suspects or witnesses. People he let into his life. Between the time Gibbs had pointed him toward the NCIS Human Resources office and his start at FLETC, Tony had done some research into one Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and had discovered the great tragedy in his life, the deaths of his wife and his young daughter at the hands of a drug dealer. It wasn’t really buried deeply. There had been numerous articles in the papers about the case when it happened. But he had quickly learned that Gibbs didn’t talk about his late family, that very few people at NCIS knew about them, not even Ducky or Abby. So, Tony had kept his mouth shut, something that would probably shock McGee’s little computerized heart, that Tony was able to keep a secret. Not even Gibbs himself knew that Tony knew about Shannon and Kelly Gibbs.
Ari had done his homework on Gibbs as well. Or, more accurately, Ziva had done Ari’s homework for him. She hadn’t gone in depth on the rest of them, but Gibbs, it really wasn’t hard information to dig up. So, Ari had targeted Kate, then Abby, then possibly Director Shepard. Kate had been the only fatality, or even injury, of that period.
Only this time Gibbs wasn’t able to take out his grief by chasing down the bad guys. He was sidelined and even worse, put on desk work, cold cases for the entire MCRT until Dempsey and the leak were caught. And with a three man team until Ziva was cleared for her role in Brian Dempsey’s death. If she was cleared and not charged. Tony was pretty sure she had killed the guy, possibly accidentally, but her threats had always been close to the surface and her skill set was lethal.
But the investigation was ongoing and Gibbs was on cold cases with Tony and McGee and none of them were heating up again. Tony had solved two, both with suspects who were now dead (and had been for years) and McGee had been able to find some new computer evidence on another but it hadn’t led anywhere new. Then James Dempsey had been killed by the FBI during his apprehension and the leak was discovered to be the very man Gibbs had brushed off as unimportant when he went to talk to Cynthia about the Director’s kidnapping.
More time on cold cases as Gibbs and Cynthia were under investigation into their actions which led to the man, Dempsey’s lawyer, having information about Shepard’s kidnapping and Brian Dempsey’s death, just when it was all wrapping up and hope was rising that the team would be back on rotation, another major blow, for the agency and for Tony personally.
A case that should have been given to the MCRT was taken by another team, a team led by Tony’s old flame, Paula Cassidy. A ship, the Bakir Kahmir , had come into port carrying an undercover NCIS agent. Paula’s job was supposed to be to check all of the sailors on the ship and take the undercover into custody on a phony charge. But something had gone horrifically wrong along the way and the man had run, according to witnesses, with Paula giving chase. Then, from what Abby and Ducky had been able to piece together from the evidence, she had cornered him in a laundry room where the man had set off a bomb, killing her. It was suspected he had been trying to fake his own death, having already killed the actual undercover and placing his body in the drum that held the bomb.
But Paula’s team was sharp. They had been prepared for anything and rather than monitoring from the car, they had hidden on the docks. Agent James Nelson had heard the explosion and approached the ship from cover. He saw the terrorist jump over the side of the ship and gave chase, alerting a nearby Coast Guard ship of his location. The ship herded the swimmer to shore where the man came at Nelson with a knife. Nelson took the shot and killed him, avenging Paula in the process and stopping whatever sinister plot the terrorist, since identified as Pinpin Pula, had in motion.
Tony had been having difficult feelings since Paula’s death. He had truly cared deeply for the other agent at one time but he had let Gibbs’ disapproval of relationships between NCIS agents, his vaunted Rule Twelve, push them apart. And if they had been able to keep Jenny Shepard safe, it would have been Tony’s team to take the mission on the ship, Tony’s team to face off against the terrorist, most likely Gibbs in the explosion, or possibly, though less likely, Tony himself. He felt guilty for being glad that the MCRT had been off rotation, for being glad Gibbs wasn’t dead, that he himself wasn’t dead.
Tony knew and understood the psychology. Tony knew he wasn’t glad Paula was dead, he was just glad it wasn’t someone he was currently close to. He was struggling with survivor's guilt. Paula had been a good person, a hardass and tough as nails inside a beautiful shell. And now she was gone, killed in the line of duty, a hero.
Tony sighed internally once more as he shoved his feelings deep into the box inside his heart until he could afford to deal with them. He stepped off the elevator and into the bullpen. Gibbs was at his desk, a quick glance showing two coffee cups already in the trashcan and another steaming on his desk. So, he was just back from a coffee run and was well caffeinated and had obviously been in for a few hours. McGee was at his desk, typing away at his computer at lightning-fast speed, likely cruising the information superhighway looking for info on the fraud cold case he was working on.
“Morning, Gibbs. Morning, McGee.”
Gibbs grunted and McGee stopped typing to stare at Tony for a moment, likely shocked that Tony hadn’t mangled his name. But there was method to his madness, Tony mused to himself. He had news.
“SecNav’s in the building.” McGee’s eyes widened and Gibbs looked up at him. Tony continued, “I saw his car out front as I was parking. Something’s finally coming down. Not sure I like the fact that it’s SecNav and not someone else, like Vance.”
McGee swallowed visibly. “He - he could be just here to - um - introduce the new Director formally, after - um - everything, a full ceremonial thing…”
Tony raised an eyebrow. “Possibly but not likely. He’s never done it before. Well, this is his first rodeo as SecNav, but none of them have done it before. It was always a fairly low key handoff, like when Morrow left.”
McGee straightened. “Yeah, but that’s just it. He’s a new SecNav. Maybe he wants to do things differently. Put on a show. You know, for morale after, well, after what’s happened lately.”
Gibbs grunted and shook his head. “No press. SecNav’s not going to do a big hoopla with no press around. He’s a politician.”
Tony nodded. “That’s what I figured. So, this bodes ominously. If he was just appointing Vance or someone else like always, he would’ve done it from his office. He wouldn’t have come here like a supplicant. The new Director would have been the supplicant. SecNav would have wanted to show he had the power, not Vance. Or whoever gets the job.”
McGee cocked his head. “Vance is next in line.”
Tony huffed a laugh. “Good for him. But he hasn’t been in his deputy position long. Morrow promoted him to the spot about three months before he left. So, he’s only been a Deputy Director for a year and change. And after everything, I don’t know that SecNav would want another relatively inexperienced, relatively young Director.”
“Vance isn’t young, Tony!” objected McGee.
Tony rolled his eyes. “I said relatively, McGee. Relatively young. He’s the same age as Director Shepard was. And she didn’t have a whole lot of experience in management when she became Director, either.”
“But-”
Tony sighed. “Look, McGee, getting promoted up the ranks is great and to aspire to the spot is a nice dream. But it doesn’t always work. They may bring someone in from the outside or they may promote someone over Vance who has more life experience. And frankly, Vance already has a big black eye from the whole - from the - after Paula’s death. So, somehow, I don’t think it’s going to be same old, same old, McGee. Or it would have been a quiet handoff, through memos and email. Vance is already in the office as interim. So, no, something’s up. And I may not have Gibbs’ gut but my life experience is telling me that it isn’t going to be overly pleasant. For some, maybe, but not for everyone. We might want to batten down the hatches, Boss.”
“Nothing we can do, DiNozzo. Whatever’s been decided is out of our hands. For now, FBI still hasn’t finished their investigation into Ziva and Brian Dempsey. Damn Fibbies dragging their useless feet. And now, SecNav’s here, we ain’t going back on rotation ‘til this afternoon, at the earliest.”
Tony nodded. “Back to cold cases and paperwork, got it, Boss.”
Two hours later Tony was seated in the large conference room on the first floor, waiting for Gibbs to arrive from his private meeting with SecNav. Gibbs had been called up about twenty minutes after Tony had arrived in the bullpen and fifteen minutes after that a general urgent notification had gone out to all Team Leads and Senior Field Agents for this meeting.
Looking around, Tony saw agents from SVU, Fraud, Cyber Crimes, Counter Intelligence/Counter Terrorism, and Drug Enforcement, all from the Navy Yard divisions. But he also saw agents from several nearby Resident Agencies and two agents that he knew were Agents Afloat from ships currently in port in Norfolk. Vance was present front and center, but facing the podium, not the audience. There were also several screens in place around the room which were coming online filled with split screen images of other Resident Agencies and Resident Units, both in the US and overseas.
Whatever was coming down the pike was going to be huge. This wasn’t a setup for a simple introduction of a new director, even if it wasn’t going to be Vance. This was more like a major shakeup.
From the corner of his eye, Tony saw Ducky slide into the room and take a chair to the opposite side just ahead of SecNav’s own entrance. A quick look around assured Tony that he hadn’t missed Gibbs’ entrance. The meeting was about to start and Gibbs was absent. The sinking feeling Tony had in his gut flared to vicious life and he knew his instincts hadn’t been off. This was going to be bad. Bad and huge . Changes were coming in like a hurricane and he hoped those he cared about at NCIS would be able to weather the upheaval, though he was pretty sure Gibbs had already become the first casualty of Director Shepard’s death and the ensuing investigation.
As Secretary Davenport approached the podium at the front of the room, conversations stilled and the agents and staff straightened their postures from the relaxed but wary ones that had been present until that moment. He turned to face the men and women in the chain of command of NCIS and smiled grimly.
“I’m not going to beat around the bush about what I’ve come here to tell you all today. You’re grown-ups and shouldn't need your hands held or news sugar coated to handle this. When Director Shepard was murdered by James Dempsey and her body dumped live on ZNN, we believed it would be an open and shut case once the bastard and his accomplices were caught. Tragic, but an honorable death in the line of duty. To the public, that is exactly the party line. I don’t want to hear whispers of anything else. But as the FBI investigated, more and more foul ups were found in this agency. This investigation went all the way to the President’s ear and to be frank, the only reason I’m still the Secretary of the Navy is because I wasn’t the one who appointed Shepard.
“The President and the Secretary of Defense have made it clear, with input from a large number of sources, that NCIS is a clusterfuck of monumental proportions. It is stuck in the dark ages of federal law enforcement in many ways and that isn’t acceptable. So they intend for that to change. This is a new era, ladies and gentlemen, and we can’t have agents acting like cowboys. We have to follow the law and work with our sister agencies to protect this country and the men and women who serve in the armed forces who protect us in turn.
“As such, from this day forward, as signed by the President of the United States, NCIS will have a large increase in the management structure. Team structures will remain fairly the same, for now, but it has been determined that there was a decided lack of oversight of the leadership of this agency. As such, NCIS will be brought under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security, jointly with the Office of Secretary of the Navy. The top of the chain of command will be as follows: POTUS, SecDef, SecNav, Deputy Director of Homeland Security in charge of NCIS, informally known as Director of NCIS, Deputy Director of NCIS, followed by an Executive Assistant Director, of which there are seven broken down by geography.
Agents in Charge of Operations, who will be present at any locale which has more than four teams or departments, are numerous and also broken down by geography. Departments include medical and forensics, and they will have their own Team Leads if the department has more than one member at a location. Investigative teams will include Team Leads, Senior Field Agents, Field Agents, and Probationary Field agents.
“As a side note, Probationary Field Agents will retain that status until they have completed two full years of field work. If the probationary agent is a transfer from another agency or a department with appropriate background, the status can be shortened to six months at the minimum. However, just because an agent worked for another agency does not automatically mean they have the requisite background for this shortening of probationary status. Appropriate backgrounds include: Military police, civilian police or detectives, and federal agents from a criminal investigation unit that is in the field at least sixty percent of the time. Any other background will be handled on a case by case basis by the area’s Agent in Charge of Operations in conjunction with the area’s Executive Assistant Director. The Team Lead will not make this determination. This comes directly from the Secretary of Defense, ladies and gentlemen. And he discussed it with the President.”
Tony thought back to Kate Todd and her incredibly short probation period for someone with no investigative background and the trouble it had caused. He’d loved Kate like an annoying cousin and missed her, but Tony had always felt Gibbs had mishandled her arrival on the team. And Tony would bet his movie collection her case was at least one of those which had led to this change. Or rather, this enforcement of the current rules.
Secretary Davenport continued, “The Deputy Director of Homeland Security in charge of NCIS will be based out of DC. This office is currently held by Tom Morrow, the former Director of NCIS. The Deputy Director of NCIS will be stationed here at the Navy Yard and will be Leon Vance, the current interim Director. There are two Executive Assistant Directors here in the area. One will be stationed with Director Morrow in DC and will head the DC, Gitmo, and Atlantic divisions. This is Richard Owens. The other will be stationed here at the Navy Yard and will oversee the Navy Yard base and the East Coast operations, from Canada to Florida, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi. This is Owen Granger. The other Executive Assistant Directors will handle the West Coast, from the Mississippi west and be based in Los Angeles; Europe based in Spain; the Middle East based in Saudi Arabia; Asia and the Pacific which includes Pearl Harbor where the Director will be stationed; and Central/South America stationed in Chile. For information on those appointed to these positions, there will be smaller conferences for those in each area.
“A breakdown of each position and their duties is in the briefing packet you have each received. I don’t want to hear any whining about this. NCIS was a mess and you will all put on your big boy and big girl pants and suck it up! And make sure your teams and those under your purview do the same. New agents come out of FLETC all the time and there will be very little acceptance of mutiny on this subject. Change is here and it will stay. NCIS will be a more modern agency and you will learn to work within it, ladies and gentlemen, or you will get left behind and locked out.”
Davenport left the room and after a few moments of shock, people broke into chatter. All but Tony. He frowned at his shoes and sighed, getting to his feet. He had been informed he had another meeting to attend, a one-on-one with Davenport himself.
Tony got the nod from Cynthia to go into the Director’s office for his meeting, though he supposed now it was actually the Deputy Director’s office. He didn’t flirt with the executive assistant as he normally would have before heading in. He wasn’t exactly feeling like his normal light-hearted self and he knew Cynthia had come in for some serious flak regarding her mistakes around the leak during the kidnapping. So it was all very professional, though he did give her a warm and sympathetic smile and got a brief grin in return.
Neither of them were actually interested in the other but Cynthia liked Tony’s normal flirtatiousness since she told him it made her feel more secure in her femininity without feeling creeped on. He flattered her but didn’t rake his eyes over her form like he was mentally undressing her or push her for anything she didn’t want. And all the women in the building, except, ironically his female teammates, realized he would back off if they seriously told him to stop or didn’t return the jabs (a la Kate or Ziva).
Upon entering the office, Tony saw SecNav seated at the head of the conference table and Vance at his right hand. At Davenport’s left hand sat Agent Stan Burley, a sight that caused Tony’s eyebrow to twitch upward momentarily. He realized Stan must be the Agent in Charge of Operations at the Navy Yard. He hoped the man could handle it with his history of ulcers and stress-related (Gibbs stress related) issues. Then again, he had lasted five years with Gibbs before his health couldn’t take it anymore. So he was tough. And had earned his stripes.
Tony took the seat to Stan’s left and sat at near attention in the chair. He wasn’t sure what this meeting was about, but he worried over Gibbs’ continued absence and what Stan’s presence said about it. Tony had hoped Gibbs had been given a promotion which would have explained his not attending the meeting. The promotion would have been fairly foolish on the brass’ end, putting Gibbs riding a desk and paperwork, but it could have happened. He was approaching that age of mandatory retirement from field status soon.
But now, Tony feared the worst. And he didn’t know what it meant for him, though the fact that this meeting followed rather than preceded the main meeting was somewhat encouraging. If he was being forced out of NCIS, he wouldn’t have needed to understand the new command structure.
Secretary Davenport sat forward and crossed his hands over a folder on the table. “Agent DiNozzo, it is a pleasure to meet you in person. I’ve learned quite a bit about you over the past few weeks.”
Tony smiled lightly, a bit shocked and worried. “The pleasure is mine, Mister Secretary.”
“Hmm. Perhaps so. There are changes coming, Agent DiNozzo.”
“Yes, sir.”
“More than the ones I already outlined for everyone. There are major changes coming for the MCRT and this will greatly affect you, son.”
“I suspected something, sir.”
“Oh?”
Tony decided to drop the dumb frat boy mask, it would be a hindrance here and Tony wasn’t stupid. “Yes, sir. First, your very presence here at the Navy Yard this morning suggested heavily that this transition after Director Shepard’s death wouldn’t be the normal low key change. And then when Gibbs didn’t show up at the meeting earlier, and he isn’t here now, I suspect he’s no longer with NCIS. The cowboy agent comment in the meeting rather strongly pointed to Gibbs’ style.”
The Secretary smiled. “Not only Gibbs. There are a number of agents with those tendencies around, but yes, he was one of the worst and certainly the most high profile who hasn’t already retired. And yes, you’re correct, Jethro Gibbs is no longer Lead Agent for the MCRT. After hearing quite a bit about his style of leadership and other things, the Secretary of Defense refused to stand for it. He’ll be fine but he’s not going to be investigating crimes any longer.”
Tony inclined his head, having suspected that Gibbs’ luck had finally run out and his markers had been insufficient to keep his job. Having favors from the upper echelons only works when those directly in charge will bow to the pressure of those favors owed by others. And Gibbs knew plenty of secrets but Tony suspected Gibbs had several secrets of his own that were held over Gibbs’ head as Gibbs held the ones he knew over others’ heads. And now the mutual blackmail wasn’t enough. Tony figured the new SecDef knew something about Gibbs and Gibbs didn’t have dirt in return this time.
“So, Agent DiNozzo, having looked over your full file and talked to several people about - let’s say both your ethics and your out of the box thinking - with Gibbs’ departure, that leaves an opening and with the full backing of everyone who had input, you are being given the Lead Agent position of the MCRT. Not on an interim basis, but straight out. The job is yours. It’s your team now. Agent McGee will remain, for now, as the team’s junior field agent, though I have something I’m going to dump in your lap that needs to be addressed regarding his actions.”
“And Officer David?”
“You tell me, Agent DiNozzo.”
Tony nodded. “All right, sir. Based on what I know and have heard, Ziva is in trouble. I’m not the biggest fan of the FBI but even I know that it wouldn’t take them this long to either clear or charge Ziva for her role, whether direct or indirect, in Brian Dempsey’s death. So, my educated guess is that above and beyond the Dempsey matter, in the investigation things came to light about Ziva’s motivations and actions here in the US and in NCIS specifically, leading back to Mossad and Israel.
“I know that I’ve always been wary of her place on the team. Director Shepard’s forced appointment of her to the MCRT so soon after Agent Todd's death was always odd to me. Ziva has no background of any kind in law enforcement. She’s a spy, an assassin, an undercover operative, and a handler of other spies, like her brother Ari. I might have been able to understand granting her a place in the CI/CT unit but the MCRT was one of the worst fits imaginable. And her status as a liaison was - murky. I was never clear on her appropriate level of involvement in cases and evidence handling but I tried my best to keep her out of chain of evidence. She didn’t attend FLETC and there wasn’t a clear way to show her status in a case. Not to mention her disregard of American laws, from traffic laws to breaking and entering with lockpicks. But I had no leg to stand on to object directly. I noted my concerns in my paperwork, but both Director Shepard and eventually Agent Gibbs, wanted her on the team.”
Davenport smiled and even Vance looked impressed. “Very good, Agent DiNozzo. Yes, Officer David was one of the worst mistakes the late director made. Shepard had her reasons, personal ones which I won’t get into, but good eye. And I read your notes and I concur. Not that it matters at this point. Officer David will not be returning to NCIS. Nor will she be returning to the US. Given your new clearance level I can tell you David is on the hook for major espionage and spying and passing US government intelligence to a foreign agency. Possibly, hopefully , Mossad. Depending on the outcome of this investigation into her actions and who received the intelligence she stole, she will either be deported and kept out or jailed in Guantanamo Bay.”
Tony’s eyes had widened the more that he heard. “I wouldn’t be too shocked if she had given intel to Mossad, sir. She was constantly flaunting what she perceived to be Mossad’s superiority over NCIS. But, sir, you think she might have been a double agent like her brother?”
“We aren’t sure yet, Agent DiNozzo. But the whole thing stinks to high heaven. She’s not your problem. Agent McGee is still much too green to be a Senior Field Agent, so I have a short list of candidates for you to choose from. And here’s where the major change in the structure of the MCRT is coming. All of these agents are close to being able to head their own teams - they need a year or eighteen months in a place like the MCRT and they’ll be ready. So, that's what will happen, Agent DiNozzo. You’ll be Team Lead and the stable position on the MCRT. The SFA will change every year to eighteen months and once you’ve settled, in a few weeks, you’ll get a rotating probationary field agent, changed every eight to fourteen months, depending on various factors. The MCRT’s solve rate, and it was pointed out to me, their conviction rate, went up significantly when you joined and barely fluctuated with others who came and went. I grant that Gibbs had a hand in it but you were the superstar, Agent DiNozzo. I want to give you a chance to pass on your skills to a many agents as possible and then they can pass them on when they move to a new team.”
“But I’ll keep Agent McGee?”
Davenport sighed. “Two issues came up in regards to Agent McGee. The first goes along with Gibbs’ cowboy style and I expect you to rein him in: his hacking. To be precise, his illegal hacking of government and private servers. Without warrants. I commend his computer skills but hacking is only acceptable when you have legal permission. So, pull him up, Agent DiNozzo, or you’ll both be in hot water.”
Tony nodded not surprised. “Yes, sir.”
“The other issue is - did you know your junior agent was an aspiring novelist?”
Tony nodded with a little smile. “He writes on an old fashioned typewriter, sir, and chews on an unlit pipe.”
Davenport snorted. “Good for him. I don’t care what the boy does in his free time, as long as it’s legal, but the problem is the novel he finished. It is - let me just - the thing comes out very soon and is going to be a huge black eye for NCIS. It’s called Deep Six: The Continuing Adventures of LJ Tibbs. It features Agent Tommy, Officer Lisa, Agent McGregor, forensic specialist Amy Sutton, medical examiner Doctor Moulard nicknamed Goosey, and his assistant, a Polynesian named Pimmy Jalmer who has necrophiliac fantasies about the corpses he works with.”
Tony’s hand went to his face, an almost totally involuntary response. “Oh my God. He didn’t?!? Oh God, what was he thinking?”
“If you read it, it’s worse, trust me. It is practically true crime. You need to meet with legal and then with Agent McGee about this. It has to be heavily edited or he’s going to get sued. And that’s if he is lucky. A lawyer told me we might have to lock him up for revealing secrets. If you care about him at all, Agent DiNozzo, talk to him. Soon.”
“I will, sir, trust me. I will.”
Davenport pushed a copy of the book to him and he nodded. “Read it ASAP. It’s due to be released in under three weeks. If that thing is going to be stopped, it has to be very, very soon.”
Tony nodded. Davenport stood up and reached a hand out. Tony rose to his feet and shook the hand and picked up the folder and novel from the table. “Mister Secretary, Deputy Director, Agent Burley, thank you for your faith in me. I’ll do my very best.”
“We know you will, son, or you wouldn’t have the job. You’ll be back on rotation as soon as you choose an SFA and they arrive. Assuming McGee doesn’t get arrested due to his - novel.”
Tony nodded, shook hands with the other men and left the office, sighing and smiling sickly grin at Cynthia. “It’s a new day, Cynthia.”
“And are you greeting the dawn with purpose, Agent DiNozzo?”
“I’d rather roll over, pull the covers up, and go back to sleep but needs must so I soldier on. Or sailor on, I suppose.”
Her giggles followed him as he left the office, lifting his spirits a tad. It was going to be a long week but change had come and he was still standing.
