NCIS, Anthony DiNozzo, Michele Lee

thundever (Registered User) left the following comment on Three in the Morning:
I wonder if Michelle Lee had spoken to Tony at the beginning of her problems could her sister have been saved and Michelle have had a happy ending

Fate’s Saving
Chapter 1

Unmarked time, date, and dimension had the NCIS agent, Michele Lee laying on the pavement, dying of wounds received during the rescue of her sister from her kidnappers. Kidnappers and hostage takers who took the young girl to hold over Agent Lee to get her to betray her country for the safety of her family and sister. Now Agent Lee lay dying and only knowing her sister was traumatized but safe and the afterlife awaited her. Wishing she could have a do-over so her sister wouldn’t have been so traumatized.

Closing her eyes one last time in that time, date, and dimension, she opened them again to see the letter in her hands from the kidnappers stating that they had her sister and she would live only if she betrayed her country.
The date on her watch said she had gone back to the very day she had originally received the letter that had condemned her and her sister. The same day she had been ordered back to legal as the mighty Gibbs had returned to work.

She gently closed the paper and put it in a Ziplock bag with the envelope it came with, took a deep breath and then grabbed her badge and purse to head out of her apartment to head into work early. Her orders were to get information on current matters that she had access to in legal. But first she had to do a stop to talk to an old mentor and a man she hoped was still a friend. She also knew the two so-called teammates were abusers who were going to be a problem as was the Labtech whose Jesus figure in Gibbs form had returned. Personally, Lee felt he was more of a Manson or a Jim Jones than a Savior. Leading each of his followers to kill then sacrifice themselves for him. A hell of a murder/suicide pact.

She clocked in early and went over to check the legality of Jim Jones Gibbs’ return and whether he had ALL of his I’s dotted and t’s crossed, his doctors signatures beyond the ME’s including a psych exam beyond the one usually given by the psych profiler Ducky.
Crossing that to see if Mallard had retested for his updated credentials in all of his duties as an ME and not just the profiler. Though she checked that as well. And checked the certificates of those associated with Manson Gibbs. Including his. Sending notices up the chain to JAG that no one outside of SSA DiNozzo had been bothering to recertify since Morrow left, and Officer Daveed wasn’t legally certified in any agency foreign or in the US to handle evidence as she was from a spy agency who still refused to take the courses.
Plus there was no paperwork showing just why SSA DiNozzo was now serving under a man who had yet to show he had past his medical or psych to be back to work. Nor had he requalified enough to show the paperwork for that. Why was there no legal paperwork showing SSA DiNozzo being downgraded back to SFAC. Where were his write ups? Where were his suspensions? Why was he still working 24/7 on cases assigned by the director if SHE felt he was qualified? Why then, wasn’t he qualified to be a SSA?
All these questions and accompanying paperwork were sent up to JAG, and the Head of IA and the Office of Inspector General. A final notice at the end showing he was only getting straight pay for being on the clock as working 24/7/365 since SSA Gibbs was wounded in the terrorist attack. He hadn’t even been given the PTO time accrued by order of the Director who kept him on duty. And showed Jenny’s signature under each order.

All sent by legal courier that each file had to be signed for as received and the receipts copied with the copy going to the head of IA and JAG.

Only then did she pull copies of those files she was asked to get by the kidnappers and put them in binders and from there a shoulder bag over her left shoulder. Her purse with the bag over her right. From there she called up to her old mentor to meet her over in the Deputy Director of HR’s office to fill out the proper paperwork for his new position. Tell the old reprobate and Director, they can take it up with legal and JAG for just dropping everything on them like they did if they give him any problems. If pushed tell them his FULL file including ALL, the hours he had been working since Gibbs went on vacation were sent to the Admiral for him to sign off on as well since HE was ultimately in charge of legal.
She heard him repeat that word for word and sudden silence from the peanut gallery in the background, then the dismissal from his bosses. Both of them, so Jenny must have been there hitting on her love interest, Gibbs again.

Chapter 2:

Once in Bromstead’s office, Lee hands the spread out sheet of paper in the Ziplock bag to Tony to read, while explaining what she had been ordered to give over to her family’s kidnappers. Handing the binders over to Delores.
Both Tony and Delores agreed they must be compromised enough that getting the letter examined there was out of the question so Tony called in a favor to an old friend, FBI Agent Booth Seeley who worked with a lab that could get the work done.

Delores, meanwhile, copied to copy of the files that she had in her own files and those she edited quickly so certain confidential information wouldn’t be let out. Then printed that copy out on the legal paperwork and binding that up in the binders Lee brought. The original files were taken out to be refiled were they belonged later.
Tony called Gibbs to let him know it was going to be a bit as his file needed to be seriously updated. Gibbs just bitched him out and told him he was to call the victims marks when he got back to his desk. That McGee had gotten a copy of everyone she conned and what she had done so he was to do that. Clicking off the phone that Tony knew would have been slammed if it had been a landline.

Agent Seeley came to talk to Tony about a joint case, all the while he had brought an evidence bag to put both bags in and had Tony sign off on the paperwork for chain of evidence. They actually correlated on a joint scene they both had been called on that Tony’s team never showed up on, which would also explain why Lee was still in Delores’ office as all three finished off that bit of paperwork for her to sign off on. Copy for Lee to pass over to legal, then both Lee and Booth left, and fifteen minutes later Tony left as well. Calling up a TDA to make the calls Gibbs had left him with as he followed up on the kidnapping of Lee’s sister while Booth followed up on his end.

Gibbs wasn’t happy that Tony had called in two TDA’s who had everything taken care of by the time the team returned from both the scene and lunch. Tony just called over to Delores and put her on speaker, then counted the times both Tim and Gibbs winced as she reamed them out for keeping SSA DiNozzo from finishing up on a joint case with the FBI that neither of those Gibbs deemed as WORTHY of him and HIS team had bothered to show up for. JUNOUR Agent McGee had a prior engagement at a book signing on Agency time. And OFFICER Daveed’s phone showed she never left the Embassy. As such, both of them were being penalized hy having that investigational time’s pay docked from their paycheck. Too bad that was the ENTIRE check of the pay period as they NEVER showed up for ANY investigation going on that they called in for by the logs during that time period. And SHE slammed the phone down as she used the landline in her office.

Gibbs broke another phone by throwing it through his monitor so that, too, had to be replaced. Then stomped off for coffee. Ziva went on the phone immediately to get her Embassy to intervene, and McGee went down to Abby’s lab to complain.
Tony was looking at white company vans that said Pest Control on them outside the apartment building of the Lee’s that had a large machine taken out on the right date and approximate time. Followed it via traffic cams and traced to plate to find it stolen as well as the van.
He went back and used the computer to enhance the shots to bring up the faces and sent those off to Booth while sending them through the facial recognition software. He knew Booth would be doing the same thing through his own computers.

Meanwhile the cameras showed the van stopping at the waterfront where Lee’s sister was placed in a car and that took off. Again, a facial recognition on the driver with the picture sent off to Booth. This along with the make, model, and plate number of the new car.
The car found to be registered to the Saudi Embassy which Tony sent off to Booth as his computers had better access to those files of who had come in under the Embassy paperwork.

By this time Gibbs was back and demanding McGee find their perp…. NOW! And Ziva quit trying to get information from DiNozzo on what he was doing. Just do her own FUCKING JOB AND FIND THE INFORMATION HE WANTED!

Booth had the names from the incoming passports under the Embassy’s paperwork as working directly for the Ambassador as liaison to Arabic businesses in the US. And no, none of them had diplomatic immunity. BTW, neither did Daveed as she was officially listed as a simple liaison.
Tony sent the recordings of where the sister had been left and who was currently guarding the building. Booth acknowledged it and told him he was contacting HRT did he want in?
Tony sent a “Hell yeah.” Got up and grabbed his vest, weapons, and cap.
Gibbs got up as well, but Tony waved him down and just told him the case was reaching an end, and he and Agent Seeley were going to get the bad guys with HRT. Headed for the stairs, Gibbs right behind him, as were Ziva and McGee. All three struggling to get their vests on.
Since Tony knew where they were going, he took the sedan with Gibb following in the other. Lights and sirens going.

Reaching there just as HRT breached the doors and windows shooting flash-bangs and gas. They joined at the end to hear gun fire in the building, then the yelling of “Clear!” Coming here and there, then the words “We have injured hostages.”

The team cleared their areas before joining where the hostages were to find three dead middle eastern males near where the hostages had been. Tony obviously recognized one as he knelt beside her and comforted her as he palmed his phone, dialing one handed. Listening, then placing his phone to the young girls head to talk to whoever was on the other end.

Epilogue:

The Embassy and their home country disavowed those found to have been involved with taking hostages to receive government information from various workers in key places.
Each of the enemy agents that survived was taken to black sites to questioned as terrorists and enemy agents trying to work in the country. The hostages were returned to their families, and those who had been blackmailed to give information just lost their jobs due to the circumstances it happened, nothing else was done to them.
The Lee’s were put into witness protection and sent far away, though Tony had made sure the little one had a bit of an education trust to get her through what would happen in the future.

Tony and Seeley were both awarded medals for going above and beyond the call of duty, with Tony pulled from Gibbs team to lead his own by order of the Secretary of State and her ultimate boss. That boss also over road Jenny on having him run the undercover op to bring down a CIA asset. She was penalized for what she tried by being removed from office while still on her probationary period and the recently retired Admiral of JAG was placed in her spot.
Ziva, for her actions against those in the agency, was sent back to her father and told her she was never allowed back to the US.
McGee was forced to go back to Cyber as a lowly tech 1 as he had refused to upgrade what he had learned in school with everything new coming out. The new kids coming out of school now knew more than he did about the craft he had been so proud of. Hence his lowly position.
Gibbs was medically retired as he couldn’t pass the needed medicals to go back to work. He ended up going back down to live with Franks and being forgotten by all the new agents coming in.
Abby and Ducky were forced out for refusing to do their actual job to the detriment of the victims whose cases were overturned because the lab and Abby were not certified. They both lost their lab qualifications, and neither could work any lab or medical position again.

Tony took back over MRTC with a new team and ran it for several years before being promoted to AIC, the AD before his own retirement.
He and Booth and sometimes Gremlin and his family would get together for parties.
Fate looked on and nodded, it was sometimes much better to give a re-do wish to people who needed it.