So as I began writing this chapter, I became really sad. It's the closing chapter...gotta wrap up all the loose ends and bring the story to a satisfying close. But it feels like saying goodbye—and I find myself prolonging the process in hesitation. Yeah I can always do a sequel, but I think this story's been stretched out as far as it can be. Time for me to suck it up, wrap it up, and move on to the next one. So I hope this ending does the story justice and not disappointment, for all the readers and reviewers who have kept me going with your kind words...read on!
**Ziva's eyes grew wide under the debris that covered her...**
Ziva snapped what seemed like her hundredth crime scene photo of the day. She looked over at McGee who was bagging evidence after her, then at Gibbs who was speaking with the witness. "Tony gets out tonight, doesn't he?" McGee asked her.
Tony had voluntarily admitted himself back into Bethesda as a precaution, and for the sanity of his team, nearly a week ago. "Yes," she grinned, and began helping him.
"Think he'll like what we did to the apartment?"
"I think he will approve."
"We all set here?" Gibbs asked as he approached them.
"Just about," McGee answered. "Looks like an open and shut case, Boss." Gibbs nodded.
"An eye-witness, plenty of supporting evidence, and a confession," Gibbs said.
"It's about time we got an easy case," McGee stood.
"Dinozzo gets out tonight, right?" Gibbs asked Ziva.
"With a clean bill of health," she answered. Gibbs smirked.
"That's good news," he was more than relieved. "McGee, you ride back with Ducky," he said. The agent decided against questioning him, and headed towards the van. Gibbs and Ziva walked to the car. They got in and shut the doors. Ziva sat, waiting for Gibbs to speak, as it was obvious to her that he'd wanted to. But he was silent for a long moment after he started the car.
"Is everything okay, Gibbs?" she asked.
"Yeah," he answered as he pulled the car onto the road. But he remained silent.
"It just seems like maybe you wanted to talk?" she tried again. He cocked his head.
"I'm thinkin'," he said. She started to get nervous.
"Forgive me, but if I have to sit here wondering what you going to say, I will go out of my mind."
"Relax, Ziva," he smirked. "I was thinkin' about askin' you and Dinozzo over for dinner tomorrow. But I think I only have one T-bone in the fridge." Ziva grinned, relieved and surprised.
"I will extend the invitation..."
Ziva wrapped a towel around her as after drying herself off from her shower, and made her way to the bedroom when she heard the front door being opened. At first, she panicked, going for her gun, but then she heard the voice.
"Ziva?" She heard from the living room.
"Tony!" she ran from the bedroom as he walked in setting down his bag on the floor. "I didn't think you'd be here this early," she said as he scooped her up into a hug.
"They let me out for good behavior," he joked as her kissed her. "God I missed you."
"I missed you too. I am glad you are back." He grinned when he realized she was just in a towel.
"I really...really missed you," he smiled deviously as he moved her backward toward the bedroom, kissing her with each step. She laughed through her nose.
"I was going to take you to dinner," she said as his mouth moved to her neck. He loosened the towel and it fell to the floor, his hands grazing over her skin as he nipped at the sensitive skin behind her ear, making her eyes drift closed. "Or...we can stay in," she breathed as the heat began to pool between them.
Their mouths met again as she assisted Tony in removing his shirt. The back of her knees hit the foot of the bed and it sent them both falling onto the mattress. She giggled at the surprised look on his face, then spun him onto his back, straddling him and giving him a sultry look.
Her mouth went down to his shoulder, then to his chest, making a trail of hot kisses that traveled lower and lower... She heard him groan before he flipped her onto her back again, crushing his mouth down on hers.
Then just as suddenly, he pulled his face away and looked at her.
"What's wrong?" she asked him when she saw the seriousness on his face.
"Nothing," he said, brushing the damp hair from her face. "I love you," he said, looking deeply into her eyes. She smiled, reaching up to stroke his cheek.
"I love you, too, Tony," her eyes darted back and forth between his, trying to read his thoughts. "What are you thinking about?" she asked him, the corner of her mouth turning up as she gently lifted her hips off of the bed to press against his, "Besides the obvious..."
He grinned at her playfulness, shaking his head, "Just you..."
"What about me?" she said as he rolled over next to her, turning her to face him.
"Nothing in particular," he said, "I was thinking a lot about you while I was in the hospital. And the image that kept popping up in my mind was you in the shower...with your wet hair," he smirked as he played with the damp strands around her face.
A devilish grin appeared on her face then, "That is funny," she said, pulling her hand from the side of his waist and settling it on his chest, "Because every time I get in the shower now, I think about you..." His eyes squinted for a moment as images rushed into his head.
"Oh?" is all he could manage to squeak out. She moved closer to him.
"That sounds a bit like my reaction," she said as she playfully nipped at his chin, her hand moving lower on his belly. The picture she'd painted for him made the blood rush from his head to his groin.
"Feel like taking another shower?"
"I had a feeling this was way too easy," McGee said as he joined Gibbs and Abby in the lab. She had discovered through careful examination of the evidence they'd collection at the crime scene the day before, that something wasn't holding up with the confession.
"Your feeling was right," Abby said as she pulled up pictures from the scene onto the screen. "I ran all the blood samples pulled from the room, and they all belonged to the Petty Officer...except for one," she pulled up a photo of blood splatter. "The blood you took from the wall doesn't match our victim's."
"Eye witness?" McGee asked.
"I ran the DNA sample you took from him. It doesn't match his either. I'm running it through CODIS now, but without narrowing it down, it could take a while..." she tapered off as she glanced over at Tim's attire. "What's with the bolo tie, McGee?" she raised a brow. Gibbs glanced over at what Abby had pointed out.
"It came with the boots," he defended, and she and Gibbs looked down at his feet.
"Going for a new look?" she asked as she looked back at his face.
"These are Ariat Bronc stompers, Abby. They're three hundred dollar boots..."
"The boots are nice. I'm just not so sure about the tie..."
"Look, I ordered the boots in preparation from the Rodeo show in D.C today. I was getting ready to head out of my driveway when I was called in."
"Aw," Abby said, cocking her head sympathetically. "I didn't know you were a rodeo fan?"
"I'm not really...bought the tickets a while ago. It's a fundraiser. But it's all good...my date canceled anyway."
"You have a new girl? Why didn't you tell me?" she asked with a grin.
"She's not my girlfriend, really-just a friend-"
"You mind if we get back to the case?" Gibbs interrupted.
"Sorry, Boss..."
"Got anything else, Abs?"
"Other than this seeming similar to the Lansworth case? No. And Petty Officer Daniels was single...never married."
"The amount blood splatter was too significant to be a simple defensive wound," McGee said. "Which is why we assumed it was from Daniels."
"You think there was a second victim?" Gibbs turned to him.
"There were no indications of a body being dragged out," he responded.
"Maybe they weren't dead when they left."
"Could be a kidnapping...which would mean the Petty Officer wasn't the target," McGee concluded.
"But the neighbor, Alan Carter, confessed to the murder," Abby said, "And the eye witness, Harold Willis, said Daniels lived alone and no one else was there."
"They coulda been compromised," Gibbs said then turned to McGee, "Arrange for Carter to be brought to interrogation," he told him and McGee nodded and exited the lab to go up to the bullpen. Gibbs turned back toward Abby and set a Caf-Pow down in front of her.
"Thanks, Gibbs," she smiled as her turned to walk out.
"Good work," he said before he turned the corner.
"Hey, Ziva," McGee said when he entered the bullpen and went to his desk.
"Hello, McGee," she stood from her desk and walked to him, eying his bolo tie, "You may want to take that thing off before Tony has a field day."
"He's here?"
"Upstairs. The director wanted to talk with him."
"Well, I don't care what he has to say about the tie," he said picking up the phone, "I've gotta call and get Carter into interrogation." Ziva smirked as she headed back to her desk. McGee turned in his chair, quickly removing the bolo tie and slipping it into his desk drawer.
"Bet you're wondering why I called you in here," Vance said as Tony sat in the chair in front of the director's desk.
"I have a couple of ideas..."
"I went over your medical reports from Bethesda," he said, picking up a folder slightly off the desktop. Tony put on his best poker face in order to hide the nervousness that churned in his gut. "Everything seems to check out. What I wanna know is, do you thing you're ready to be back?"
"Wouldn't be here if I didn't," he said, confidently.
"Gibbs told me you'd say something like that," he said. Tony squinted at the remark, unsure of what he meant by it. Then Vance looked down as he opened a drawer and reached in to retrieve something. "Welcome back, Agent Dinozzo," he said as he slid Tony's badge and gun over to him. "I don't wanna see these in my desk again."
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_
Tony descended the staircase and entered the bullpen to find Ziva and Tim looking at the big screen. "What are we lookin' at, Probie?" he said as he walked up to stand between them.
"Information on a Mr. Alan Carter," McGee explained. "Confessed to murdering a Petty Officer in a case we were working yesterday...Good to see you back, by the way."
"Thanks, Cowboy," he responded. Tim squinted at him, though his partner was looking at the screen. "So, why were we called in on a Saturday if this case is wrapped up?"
"It's not, apparently," McGee said, turning back to the screen and pulling up the blood spatter picture. "There's a third person unaccounted for. Our eye-witness said he didn't see anyone else at the house that day."
"Dinozzo," Gibbs said as he walked into the bullpen behind them.
"Boss," he greeted him.
"You see Vance yet?"
"Yeah. Just now, actually." Gibbs nodded.
"Welcome back," he told him as he sat at his desk.
"Thanks, Boss. McGee was just filling me in on the case...I'm thinkin' the eye witness may know a little more than what he let on." Gibbs looked up in thought for just a moment.
"Ziva," he said, "Take Dinozzo... Pick up Willis and bring him in for questioning. Maybe some time in interrogation will jog his memory." The two agents hurriedly grabbed their things and headed toward the elevator. Gibbs turned to McGee.
"Carter is waiting there for you in interrogation now, Boss," he said, and Gibbs stood, motioning for McGee to follow him.
"You didn't kill Petty Officer Daniels," Gibbs said to Carter, who sat nervously on the other side of the table.
"Yes, I did," he responded. "I confessed. What else do you want from me?"
"I want the truth. And I don't think you're giving it to me."
"What makes you think I'm not telling you the truth?" there was obvious concern on the man's face.
"We found evidence that suggests there was someone else at in the house. You didn't tell us anything about that. Who are you protecting?" he asked calmly. The man remained silent.
*~.~*
McGee's cell rang as he watched the interrogation in the observation room. "What's up, Abby?" he answered.
"I was looking at the DNA sequence from the blood splatter we couldn't identify, and I found something you might find interesting. While CODIS couldn't find a match, it brought up the next best thing. The third person you're looking for...is a relative of Alan Carter. Possibly his brother."
"I'll tell Gibbs."
*~.~*
Gibbs' phone vibrated in his pocket, and he reached for it, slightly annoyed. He opened the text message then looked back up at Carter. "You protecting your brother?" he asked. Carter's head immediately shot up. "Are you trying to take the fall for a murder your brother committed?"
"No! No, Mikey wouldn't kill a fly. He's my baby brother...you got it all wrong."
"Well then tell me what really happened, or we'll have to bring him in as well."
"You won't find him," he answered as his face looked down at the table in dismay.
"Why not?" Gibbs squinted at him.
"Look, they're gonna kill him if I tell you..." he looked back up at the agent. Gibbs' mind started making connections.
"Who took your brother?" he asked him, "What happened in that house?" Carter looked at him as he breathed, deciding whether or not he could trust this man.
"Mike called me a few days ago," he started, "Told me him and his buddy, Daniels, got themselves into some trouble. Daniels bought some drugs from this guy...bought them for my brother. I was pissed when I heard that. My brother's been clean for over a year. But that's not why he needed my help. Guy he bought the drugs from was blackmailing Daniels...threatening to turn him in and get him thrown out of the Navy if he didn't pay him fifty grand."
"So I went down there...couldn't help them with the money—I don't have it. I was just gonna go knock some sense into the asshole, but when I got to Daniels' house...he was there. Somehow he found out Mikey called me. He killed Daniels and told me to take the fall, or he'd kill Mikey."
"Who?" Gibbs asked.
"Your witness...Harold Willis." Gibbs flinched as he realized two of his agents were on their way to pick him up....
"I hate dead zones," Tony said as he held his cell over his head trying to get a signal.
"I believe McGee said the same thing yesterday," she said as they walked up to Willis' home. "The signal gets better after you get off of this street." She knocked on the door.
"Rule number three, Zee...never be unreachable." She gave him a small laugh from her nose as the door opened a crack, the chain still on.
"What do you want?" Willis asked.
"NCIS," Tony answered, holding up his ID. "We need to ask you some questions."
"I already talked to you people. I've got nothing more to say."
"See, our Boss thinks you do. Our orders are to bring you in for questioning," he told him. They heard a loud crash come from somewhere inside the house and the door was suddenly slammed shut.
Ziva and Tony shared a brief glance before pulling out their weapons. "Ladies first," Tony smirked as he motioned to the door. She kicked it in with minimal effort and they both entered the house. "Mr. Willis?" Tony yelled.
"Tony," Ziva called to him when she saw Mike Carter tied up in a chair that had fallen over and knocked over a shelf filled with dishes.
"He ran out the back!" Mike told them.
"Help him out, Ziva," Tony said as he made his way out the back door.
He heard an engine start up and his head shot over to an old Chevy pick-up. Willis was in the driver seat, looking behind him as he started to back up.
"Stop the car, Willis!" Tony yelled as he aimed his weapon. Willis spun his head around and pulled out a gun, shooting aimlessly at Dinozzo. Tony dodged back into the door of the house, waiting for the sound of changing gears before looking out the door and taking a shot at the tire.
He hit the back wheel as the truck took off. Tony ran out and around the side of the house to aim at the truck again. He took another shot, noticing Gibbs' car pulling up the street and skidding sideways to block the truck from leaving.
When Tony saw the truck speed up in effort to ram Gibbs' car, he fired again, taking out the other back tire, and Willis started to spin out. He ran up toward the truck as Gibbs and McGee got out of the car and aimed their weapons.
Unexpectedly, Willis got out of the truck, protecting himself with the door and aimed the gun at Gibbs, ready to fire. Tony didn't hesitate as he pulled the trigger... and watched Willis fall lifeless to the ground.
Gibbs straightened up, holstering his weapon as he made his way over to Tony, "Where's Ziva?" he asked. Tony turned toward the house as she walked out with Carter. Relieved, Gibbs turned to Tony and nodded before heading back toward his car.
"When I told Gibbs we would pick something up on the way, I do not think he was expecting pizza," Ziva told Tony as they walked up towards the door.
"I've been craving it since I got home from the hospital, Ziva," he made a face at her. "Besides, are you sure he even remembered inviting us? There's no lights on in the house," he said as he looked over at the windows.
"Maybe he's in the basement?" she responded and rang the doorbell.
"He was still at work when we left...maybe we should call him," he said as he picked up his phone to dial.
"Yeah," Gibbs answered after a moment.
"You home, Boss?"
"Yeah, come on in," he replied and the call ended.
"He's here," he told Ziva as he reached out and opened the door. "You trying to save on electricity, Boss?" he called out as he flipped the switch.
As light poured into the room, he was received with an uproar of "Surprise!". There was a big banner up on the wall that said, 'Welcome back, Tony', and Abby, Ducky, Palmer, McGee and Gibbs stood beneath it.
Tony turned to Ziva, and she shrugged to indicate she'd also had no idea of the plan. "It was Abigail's idea," Ducky said as he walked over to Tony, taking the pizzas from him and patting him on the arm. Tony smiled as Abby ran up to him and gave him a big hug.
"Welcome back, Tony," she squeezed.
"Thanks, Abs," he squeaked from the pressure before she let go. McGee headed toward him with a box wrapped in a simple ribbon. "McGee, you uh...got me a...toaster?" he questioned as Tim handed it to him.
"It's a housewarming gift," he said.
"But I already have a toaster..."
"Yeah...well, I kinda...dropped it," he said. Tony squinted at him.
"Thanks, Probie," he said as he set the box down on the coffee table and made his way over to the kitchen where Abby had set up some trays of party food. They were all crowded around it, filling their plates with various items.
"Mind if I grab some of your pizza?" Jimmy asked Tony.
"Have at it, Palmer," he replied. "But don't hog all the pepperoni."
Gibbs walked over and handed him a beer as he opened his own. "Can't believe you volunteered you house for a party," Tony told him. He smirked and cocked his head.
"Abby didn't really give me a choice," he replied.
"And no one bothered to tell me," Ziva remarked, "Even though I was part of the plan involuntarily."
"Thought you'd give it away," Gibbs smirked. The corner of her mouth turned up at him as she remembered something Gibbs had told her once. "Never cover for me, Ziva".
"I would not have ruined the surprise," she said. "But I would have worn something a bit more...festive."
"I think you look great, Ziva," Abby said as she had overheard the conversation.
"Thank you, Abby," she said.
"I was just gonna say that," Tony squinted at Abby.
"I said it first," she shrugged and made her way to the living room. Tony glanced over at Ziva as she laughed from her nose, and he took a swig from his beer.
"I meant to tell you earlier," Gibbs said as the two of them looked over at him, "You did a good job out there today."
"You mean other then me killing the suspect?"
"He had his gun aimed at my head, and I didn't have a clear shot. You didn't second-guess yourself. You reacted. And you saved my life..." he looked up for a moment in thoughtful recollection, "Again."
"I was just doin' my job, Boss," he said with complete modesty.
"Yeah," he nodded. "That's my point." Tony understood. He looked down at his beer, then up at his friends who were nearby in the living room. Then at Ziva who had wandered over to talk with Abby. He smiled to himself as he looked down at his beer again. Everything seemed to be perfect.
Suddenly there was a crash from the other room and they were startled. "Oh my god, Ziva!" they heard Abby say, and Gibbs and Tony quickly made their way to the living room. Ziva was on the floor, covered in what used to be Tony's 'Welcome Back' cake. "I am...so...sorry," Abby said, but couldn't hold back the laughter any longer.
To everyone's surprise, Ziva began to laugh as well, picturing how silly she must look covered from head to toe in frosting and crumbs. She wiped the goo from her eyes as she saw Tony move toward her.
"Here, let me help you up," he said as he took her hand. But he'd stepped in some of the mess, and as her began to pull her, his foot slipped out from under him and he fell to the floor as well. This refueled the laughter in the room. "Ow," Tony squeaked.
"Oh, Tony," Ziva laughed, then put on a more serious face. "No pain, no gain?"
He looked at her in disbelief. "You watched it without me?" She shrugged as the corner of her mouth turned up.
"I could not wait," she replied. He grinned at her response.
"I'll go get some towels," Ducky said as his laughter died down.
"Hear that, Boss?" Tony said looking over at Gibbs who stood mere feet away from them, "She used my own movie quotes against me." Gibbs smirked.
"Something tells me it won't be the last time that happens." Ziva laughed again through her nose as she made a smug face at Tony. Tony returned the face, then looked down. His grin turned devious as picked up a large chunk of the ruined cake and looked back at her.
"Do not even think about it," she said. But the grin remained and he didn't back down. "Tony..."
**Her eyes grew wide under the debris of cake that covered her as Tony aimed...**
Geez I can't believe it's over … I hope this last chapter met your expectations! I wasn't sure how to end it exactly, but I knew I wanted it to be a happy ending. Let me know what you think :)