TAGS

Season 4, canon divergence AU, canon deaths, undercover, Gibbs returns from Mexico, angst, men in love, established relationship, hurt/comfort, Director Shepard out for revenge, Tony as lead agent.

Timothy McGee, Abby Sciuto, Ziva David, Ducky Mallard, La Grenouille, Jeanne Benoit, Trent Kort, Jenny Shepard, Mike Franks

NOTES for readers:

Takes place in early season 4. I have compressed some canon events and skimmed over (or ignored) others. Takes off on an AU tangent.

Any deaths are canon to the show, though not necessarily under the same circumstances or timeline. None of the primary characters are unduly hurt.

Some dialog from the show has been integrated into this story.

A partial list of what my recipient asked for: Smart competent Tony, maybe he's thinking of leaving NCIS, or with his own team, some h/c.

THE TIDE WILL TURN

"When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you till it seems you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."

– Harriet Beecher Stowe

Tide Turns
by Phish

You don't have to be alone,
I'll still always be here for you.
Together we can make it through,
We've got time, yes we do.

I'll wait with you till the tide turns,
Yes I will.
I'll wait with you till the tide turns,
I'll wait with you till the tide turns,
'Til the tide turns...

CHAPTER 1

ooOoo

Going undercover at the same time you were running the MCRT was a lot to ask of anyone, but that's exactly what Director Shepard was expecting of him. Actually, she didn't ask. Instead, she leaned across her desk, exhibiting a generous amount of cleavage, and informed Tony she had some special undercover work for him to do. And she said it in a way that made it clear she wasn't about to take 'no' for an answer.

"I want you to do a job for me, Special Agent DiNozzo. You'll be going undercover. There's a man I need you to track down."

The way the director posed it, the success of this op would be a great boost to his career. She had chosen him specially, she said. He was the only person she could trust to get in and do the job right. "I want you to take down an international arms dealer," she said. "He's known by the name la Grenouille."

"Grenouille? Like a frog? And you want me to…do what with him?" Tony asked cautiously.

The director gave a small derisive laugh and shook her head. "As much as I want the Frog dead and buried, we need to interrogate him first. It's impossible to get close to him though. His people handle everything for him so he can keep his hands clean. Nobody can pin anything on him."

La Grenouille had been playing all sides, she went on to say, arranging major heists and selling heavy arms to Abu Sayyaf, Hizballah, the Palestinians, and the Columbians. The latest intel said he was making deals on U.S. soil, and all the alphabet agencies were after him.

"I want to get him first. Your number one priority is to locate la Grenouille, and when you do, I'll give you further orders," said Shepard.

"Who's my backup?"

"You're on your own, but I'm here as support," she said firmly. "It's important this is kept strictly between us, Special Agent."

This was a matter for more than one man. Obviously the arms dealer was dangerous and had to be brought to justice, so why not get a team together to work on it? It sounded like this assignment was personal to the director. Tony had a bad feeling about the director's request, and he considered turning it down. On the other hand, if NCIS could catch this Frog… Damn, this was one of those times he needed someone to talk to, and with Gibbs still recuperating in Mexico, there was nobody he could turn to.

Mentioning Gibbs' name to the director was like waving a red rag in front of a bull, but Tony had to do it anyway. "Why don't we get Gibbs back here, to work with us on this? We could really use the extra hand on deck," he reasoned. Not that he was at all sure Gibbs was willing to come back anytime soon. It was already late August. He'd been gone for almost four months, and they were starting to worry that he had retired for real.

"Gibbs? No! He isn't here. I am. You are," Shepard said, raising her voice. "I'm giving you this job, DiNozzo. You've proven yourself to be one of my best agents, and this is right up your alley. I don't understand – I was counting on you. Unless you think you can't handle it…?"

As much as Tony would have liked to have Gibbs there, it wasn't like he had to have him on his six. Tony sighed. Right now it seemed as if Director Shepard was the only person in the western hemisphere who believed in his abilities. He was tired of expecting Gibbs to turn up and oust him from his temporary position as supervisory special agent. Tony had been trying to live up to Gibbs' reputation, to do what Gibbs would do, but it had been a difficult road. He'd been itching to prove himself for a while, and he'd be more in his element when out in the field, so after a brief inner struggle he said, "I can handle it, Director. Sign me up."

The director looked pleased by his response, and Tony caught a glimpse of relief, too. She nodded and said, "Good. I've been watching you closely, Agent DiNozzo, and you've been running the MCRT exceptionally well these past few months. You've maintained a good closure rate, too. And I've noticed that your leadership skills have improved. You had some difficulty handling Liaison Officer David and Special Agent McGee at first, but I'm pleased to see you've managed to rein them in."

"I believe we've reached an understanding," Tony said, wondering if she knew the half of what had gone on between him and the team since Gibbs had gone. Right from the start, Ziva and McGee had dragged their heels, making it clear they wanted Gibbs to come back, and that they weren't taking orders from Tony.

Ziva had been blunt: "You can not stand in Gibbs' shoes!"

Tony had been just as blunt in return: "Gibbs gave me the team. The director confirmed it. If you don't like it, you can leave."

It wasn't long before Tony had had enough of their antics, and he'd come down hard on them. They'd learned to work with him instead of against him, but it had been a struggle.

Director Shepard unlocked a filing cabinet and pulled out a sizable file. "You will continue to work on MCRT cases while you're on this assignment, Special Agent DiNozzo."

"At the same time?" Undercover required you immerse yourself in the work, to become the person you were playing. Anything less than total immersion was bound to be a distraction.

"Is there some kind of problem?" Shepard asked sweetly.

Tony explained his concerns, but the director waved them away, pointing out she'd done her fair share of undercover work, and she knew he could handle doing both simultaneously. It wasn't as if the outside job would be full-time, she added. "You will report directly to me. I don't want to see any paper trail. And remember, it's of vital importance that nobody knows you're doing this extra-curricular work for me." Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Especially not Gibbs."

That stopped Tony in his tracks. He couldn't lie to Gibbs, even if it was by omission. Not that it was likely he'd have the opportunity to tell his boss anything, considering they'd had no communication since he'd walked out on them back in May. Abby had tracked Gibbs to Mike Franks' place in Baja, but none of them had heard a peep from him since he'd left. Tony had written one long letter, c/o Mike Franks, but had never received any reply. Still, he could never keep anything secret from Gibbs, and if the boss returned and found out he was doing the director's bidding, there would be a heap of trouble.

Tony took a deep breath and asked, "How should I approach la Grenouille?"

Shepard slid the heavy file across her desk to Tony. "You're not going to approach la Grenouille directly. Instead, you're going to get close to a woman named Jeanne Benoit."

"Close to her?" Tony opened the file and found a photo of lovely young woman smiling at the camera. "Pretty eyes," he commented.

Shepard said dryly, "Don't let her pretty eyes fool you, Agent DiNozzo. La Grenouille is her father. His real name is René Benoit. His daughter is a doctor, and works in emergency medicine at Monroe University Hospital."

"Here in DC?"

"Yes, so you'll be on familiar ground. You need to find out how she contacts her father. If she calls him, or goes to see him, I want to know immediately. She's the best hope we have right now of locating him."

"She knows her father's whereabouts?" Tony looked over the accompanying notes. "This says her parents divorced years ago, and there's no indication that she's ever been seen with her father. Does she even know what Daddy does for a living?"

"I have no doubt she does. She's a daddy's girl," the director said with a slight sneer. "It will be your job to confirm it."

"What about the ex-wife?"

"The FBI are watching her," Shepard said dismissively.

Tony turned over the photo of the smiling doctor, and flipped through several pages of a dossier on la Grenouille. He stopped at a bunch of photos: the aftermath of a bombing at Cairo airport, rubble and bodies everywhere; another photo of several dead US soldiers on a street in Damascus; and a set FBI crime photos from an Army colonel's suicide, dated ten years ago. Tony turned over a head shot of the colonel in uniform, and saw that the deceased was one Col. Jasper Shepard.

Tony quickly looked up at the director, but she was staring out the window. He skimmed over an attached report that said that Col. Shepard, then working at the Pentagon, had committed suicide after being accused of taking bribes. Apparently the colonel had officially verified that a large quantity of weapons had been destroyed, but soon after they ended up back in circulation in the hands of terrorists in the Middle East.

"Director? Is this… your father?" Tony asked, holding up the colonel's headshot. He could tell from the look on Shepard's face that his assumption was correct.

"He was murdered ten years ago, killed by that bastard, la Grenouille. They had the gall to accuse my father of taking a bribe and selling the weapons back to terrorists." When Shepard spoke, it was as if every word she uttered was painful.

Aware of how difficult it must be for her, Tony said gently, "According to this, the FBI concluded that he committed suicide…"

Shepard made a sharp motion with her hand, silencing Tony. "It's a lie. My father was brave and honorable. A patriot. He would never take his own life. It was murder and I know that la Grenouille had something to do with it."

"But…"

"Just catch the bastard for me, Agent DiNozzo! I want la Grenouille located, by any means necessary." The director took a deep breath and collected herself. She plastered a smile on her face, and said softly, "I'm sure you can get close to Dr. Benoit without any problem. Take her out to dinner, take her dancing, take her to bed, but make sure you bug her phone, listen to her messages, look through her laptop. You know the drill, and handle all surveillance yourself. Is that clear?"

Tony was pretty sure he knew what 'any means necessary' meant. "Yes ma'am. Crystal clear." For now he'd do the job, but he had no intention of being the director's fall guy if she decided to take the law into her own hands.

Director Shepard was all business as she continued, "Don't underestimate la Grenouille. He's as slippery as his nickname, always jumping from one country to another, and he's dangerous. Intel indicates he's behind the theft of weapons and explosives from Fort Lee back in March. The ATF and FBI haven't been able to keep up with him, much less question him. If the CIA has any idea where he is, and I suspect they do, they're not about to tell us. We're on our own," the director told him.

"And the SecNav?" Tony prodded, wanting to confirm that the man at the top was being kept in the loop.

"I'll take care of Secretary Davenport. Just report to me, DiNozzo, and everything will be fine."

Shit, it sounded like Director Shepard wasn't informing SecNav about her personal op – and that meant it was unsanctioned. If things went south, there wouldn't be anyone around to back Tony up. He had gone into deep cover alone a couple of times before, but there had always been one of his own people monitoring his movements, and they'd had check-ins and set up extraction plans, just in case. Juggling his work with an undercover identity, going back and forth on a daily basis, increased the chance of making a mistake, possibly a deadly one. Tony couldn't enlist his teammates for help, or even tell them what he was doing. Like the rule said, if you want to keep a secret, you don't tell a third or a fourth person.

"Just think," Shepard said. "When we catch the bastard, we…this agency will get the recognition it deserves…" Her voice trailed off, her eyes focused on something far away. "I'll get the truth out of him so I can restore my father's good name."

Tony asked, "Director… Are you sure we don't want to get Gibbs back for this?" From the way Director Shepard glared at him, he knew he was skating on thin ice, but he wasn't going to give up easily. "We could work together, just the two of us…"

Shepard's tone was chilly as she eyed Tony. "Special Agent Gibbs is on extended sick leave, and is unlikely to return."

That was the first Tony had heard that Gibbs wasn't coming back. It sounded like wishful thinking on Shepard's part. "But Gibbs has a home here, and friends who're his family. He will be back," Tony said, as if he knew it for a fact.

"It doesn't matter if he does or not, Special Agent. Gibbs has been erratic, going off on his own like a lone wolf. I've known him for years, and I can see the change in him. He's become secretive and closed off. And ever since his latest injuries, the amnesia, losing time, well, we've been concerned about his stability."

Tony wondered who she was trying to convince, because even though Gibbs was badly injured in the massive explosion of the Bakir Kamir back in May, and yes, he'd lost a chunk of his memory, but he wasn't crazy. As far as him being secretive and closed off, Gibbs had never been that way with him. In fact, they'd spent a lot of time together before the Bakir incident. He knew Gibbs far better than the director ever would, no matter what she said.

The director was going on about how Gibbs often bent rules, if not outright broke them. The higher-ups did not like any of those things, and his high-handed ways reflected badly on NCIS, and on her. "Gibbs is a dinosaur," she said derisively. "You do understand that as a reward for being instrumental in the capture of la Grenouille, you'll earn a promotion: Gibbs' job."

That was a carrot he wasn't interested in. "I appreciate your confidence in me ma'am, but I don't want Gibbs' job. I mean, he'll be back; he'll expect his job back," Tony said, making it clear he was confident that his boss would return.

"What Gibbs expects or wants doesn't matter. I don't understand your reluctance, Agent DiNozzo. Maybe you prefer to be a field agent for the rest of your career? Dumpster-diving for evidence? Dragging in scumbags who've murdered some poor soldier's family? I'd have thought you would have had more ambition." Shepard scrutinized Tony, assessing him. "You're how old? Thurty-five? You know that there has never been anyone so young supervising the MCRT before. It would put you in line for the director's chair, and God knows, I won't remain here for more than two or three more years. Believe me, this seat is only a stepping stone to better things for me. This is your chance, Agent DiNozzo… or perhaps I misjudged you…" She raised an eyebrow and left the sentence hanging.

As the director talked, Tony got more and more steamed. She had no clue as to what he wanted. And how dare she casually demean both his and other special agents' work? If it wasn't for the field agents, none of their cases would be solved. She was shoving Gibbs aside as if he was nothing! Tony took a deep breath and managed to speak evenly, despite a deep anger simmering below the surface. "I'm grateful you would consider me for a promotion, director. But as far as this op goes, I believe we would benefit from having a qualified team working around the clock, watching each other's backs–"

The director spoke as if she hadn't heard a word Tony had said. "Of course, I could recruit Agent McGee to do your job. I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to prove himself, and he's a smart young man. I'm not sure he could convince Dr. Benoit he's boyfriend material, but I might be able to pull some strings and get him into a position where he could get close to la Grenouille. Maybe a missile targeting system designer. It would be dangerous though; Agent McGee is a bit green."

That sounded like a threat, and Tony did not like anyone threatening his people. No way should McGee go undercover. He might be unusually skilled with technology, but he had barely any experience at covert missions, and she knew it. At that moment, it sunk in just how manipulative the director was, and he understood why Gibbs had a thinly veiled disdain for her authority. Conceding that he was going to have to step up to the plate, Tony said, "No need for that. Like I said, I'm in. I'll make nice with the good doctor, and find out what she knows." He didn't say, 'and that's all I'll do,' but he could tell Shepard got his message.

"Good. And as soon as la Grenouille is sitting, handcuffed, in an NCIS interview room, I'll make an official announcement that you're being promoted to Gibbs' position, permanently."

Going after an international arms dealer didn't faze Tony half so much as taking over Gibbs' job. Those were big shoes to fill. He'd have a hard time being the authority figure the team needed; he doubted they'd ever totally accept him. He didn't think he had the same drive as Gibbs, the relentless pursuit of justice, and the deep need to make things right, no matter what. What puzzled Tony was: why was the director so sure that Gibbs wasn't coming back?

He could do this undercover thing in his sleep. That wasn't the issue. But did he really want to be given Gibbs' job? Not by default, he didn't. It didn't feel right, taking advantage of Gibbs' absence to assume the coveted leadership spot on the team. And it definitely felt wrong to let the director use him to find la Grenouille so she could get the revenge she craved. It crossed his mind that once la Grenouille had been interrogated to her satisfaction, the arms dealer would be as good as dead. Tony had no doubt that he'd be found hanged in a holding cell the next morning, a sheet tied around his neck, if the director had her way.

Despite the way Gibbs treated him at times, Tony wished heartily his boss would come back, and for everything to return to normal. Of course their version of normal was more like Abby-normal, he thought wryly, but that was how they operated, like one big dysfunctional family. If, at that very moment, Gibbs were to suddenly appear in front of him, suntanned and unkempt from living like a beach bum, Tony would throw his arms around his neck and greet him with a big hug and a kiss. The hell with what everyone would think!

Shaking his head and telling himself a get a grip, Tony said in a strong voice, "I'm the best at undercover work. I'll find this arms dealer for you, Director."

Shepard smiled, looking smug. She put another file in front of Tony. "And just think, you can have a bit of fun at the same time. His daughter is not only very attractive, but apparently has a thing for old TV shows, which sounds right up your alley. That's why the cover identity I've set up for you is of a film professor… one Tony DiNardo."

ooOoo