Work Text:
Decisions
Tony had gotten in the habit of self-recording when going undercover wherever possible and not just relying on the tech team (or the backup team if he was honest with himself) actually keeping track of the recording being made when he was undercover.
This came about after many blown jobs where the recordings came out badly, but no one had let him know that his back up couldn’t hear him. Thus, he hadn’t had a good backup for when things went bad, as they often did.
The other reason was for his own protection to make sure the techs didn’t “accidentally” erase any of the recording that made others look bad. And now he even had permission from the OIG to do so in case there were problems down the line that they may have to step in for. Case in point, his current backup, one SSA Gibbs, coming into the pawn shop with his gun up to arrest the clerk and the clerk having her gun on Tony saying she would shoot him if Gibbs wouldn’t back off. Then Gibbs saying, “Go ahead.”
Thanks, a lot boss. He had really wanted to be in the middle of the OK Corall when the shooting started.
Turned out the clerk was supposedly with the ATF with Gibbs agreeing without even checking because his brain was still on his whale instead of the case. The Gibbs, before his White Whale, would have insisted the tech out in the van listening to everything, check out her badge and name and picture. So, Tony did it for him while standing back against a table as Gibbs flirted with the so-called agent who came as legally one but on probation as she was being watched for problems.
Tony kept himself involved enough with the conversation to be ignored as he “played” games on his phone but was texting the current crop of TDAs (Temporary Duty Agents) to do a full out background check on the agent they had just called about and all those she was known to hang around with. He further stated that if she was being watched, where was her watcher in her undercover? And furthermore, where was the backup she would have had if she was actually undercover to catch gun runners?
Getting acknowledgements from the TDAs, he texted a friend over at the local precinct to do a drive by to check on any suspicious vehicles just hanging about the area. Then he sent a notice to another TDA that he wanted a warrant for the cameras recording on the street from every business ASAP.
Gibbs was making nice-nice with the pretty lady as the cop car slowly went by to text him that there was no other vehicle like his van anywhere in the area. But they would keep their eyes posted to be sure.
Gibbs finished his “discussion” with the agent, and Tony bowed his head to her as he followed his SSA out the door, the cop car waiting for him to get in, much to Gibbs displeasure. But he noticed these rent-a-laws had their hands on their unclasps pistols, so he let it go with just a warning to keep him up to date instead of smacking him like he wanted too. Getting into the van and heading off while Tony and his buddies waited across the street for the warrant and for the TDAs to get back to him with full background checks.
As he waited, he typed up his notes on what he had so far on the case on his phone. Keeping an eye on the shop and seeing the agent close up shop then get into a car that had been parked out front. Getting a snapshot of the plate he sent that in the check it out. As did the cops. Then he sent them into the TDAs to get a warrant for the pawn shop and an added one for their security cameras.
End result, while Gibbs and the rest of the team were playing with the agent, Tony had the evidence he had collected gone over by the techs in the agency IT office to find out it was the agent and her supposed watcher who were the gun runners. Not only that but the cameras all showed she had been the one in the shop when their victim had been there and the one to kill him. So, she was also a murderer. Her partner in crime and watcher from IA was also a conspirator in the murder after the fact as he had helped get rid of the body as shown in the other businesses cameras.
Gibbs was getting his flirtation on to get further information from the agent/murderer/perp when the agents from the OIG’s office showed up to arrest her as Tony had properly turned everything over to them since it involved the Internal Investigations Agent that was to be watching her. Who had already been picked up.
Tony’s notes and reports on the case had already been written up including his notes and self-recording of the fact that his SSA was going to allow an unsub to shoot him in order to shoot her back. As such Gibbs was also picked up for questioning on his actions during the case. Leaving Kate and McGee hanging in the wind for Morrow to take care of while Gibbs served his Detent…. Suspension for Crimes Unbecoming. Tony was taking time off for mental health reasons now that Gibbs was out of the way and couldn’t stop him from heading off to mourn the friend he had lost in Pacci the previous week.
Kate ended up under her own suspension when she mouthed off over Tony kissing the perp who killed the beloved Pacci and was physically banned from returning to the yard by Morrow, when every single person right down to the newest mail person and janitor refused to come into work if she was there. All because of her comments on the death of the agent who was murdered by a perp he was chasing so she could put someone else down.
She ended up fired for cause and blacklisted from ever holding a job that required a federal background and the probie was transferred to another team to learn how to properly be a field agent after that.
Tony, as an apology for what had happened, was finally allowed out of the shadows of Gibbs and allowed to take Pacci’s spot while Gibbs was transferred to cold cases for a year as punishment for his recent attitude. Then retired before he was permanently put on desk duty due to his aging out of field duty.
Fini
1/19/2026
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1/25/2026