Completed - Behavioural Analysis - NCIS/Criminal Minds, Tibbs,

Chapter 8

'Well, we wondered if you knew what was going on with him.'

'No, why would I know.' Palmer replied innocently.

The two agents both knew that Paler couldn't lie. So if he wasn't sticking up for him, then he might join them in their plan. The plan was to make DiNozzo look incompetent. That way they were sure that they would get their own statuses back. The young ME wannabe would be perfect. He could walk around and not be noticed. Everyone generally ignored him when he was around. They did.

'We thought you might like to join us?' Ziva smiled at him.

'Join you in what?' Palmer didn't like the sound of this, and it was obviously going to be about Tony.

'Well, we,' McGee waved a hand between him and Ziva, 'don't like how things have changed.'

'What things?' Palmer didn't spend a lot of time upstairs with the team. He hadn't noticed any significant changes.

'The change in how Tony has suddenly become the golden boy of NCIS. He doesn't joke, flirt or act inappropriately. That means Gibbs isn't head-slapping him. He actually wants us to treat him if he's our superior.' Ziva laughed as if it had been the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

Palmer waited he knew that there was going to be more. He didn't understand why they seemed surprised how Tony was treated. He was the senior field agent. Palmer wanted to hear the rest of what they were going to say, and what they wanted to do. He got the feeling that things were going to get a lot worse.

'It's ridiculous.' McGee agreed.

The two of them were too busy laughing to notice the angry look on Palmer's face. He managed to shake it off before they turned back to him. He was a lot better at playing innocent and lying than they knew.

'He's only the SFA because we weren't around. Gibbs always treated me better than Tony. He could see that I was a better agent.' Ziva preened as she spoke.

Palmer managed to stop himself from snorting. He couldn't understand how she thought that. He was confused by the both of them, and how they viewed themselves, and of course Tony.

'Then there was the director Ziva. You heard him saying that I was a better agent that DiNozzo. Now that's changed. I need Vance to go back to how he used to feel about me. That means I have a better chance of promotion to SFA. With Gibbs helping me, it's clear that is what he is leading towards.'

Palmer was tired of listening to his, and his anger was starting to boil over. He needed to find out what they were plotting before erupted.

'So what are you thinking of doing?'

'We need to bring DiNozzo down. We want to show Gibbs and the director obvious mistakes that could become dangerous, and that he lied about them?' McGee explained excitedly.

'But he hasn't, has he?

'No, but when we're finished it will look that way. Then when he says that he is innocent it will look like he lied and make things worse.'

'I really don't think you should do this.' Palmer had to say something.

'We know it's a lot to take in Palmer. You bottling up all that anger at him it's not a good thing. Think of all the times he's called you autopsy gremlin. I feel the same when he calls me probie. After were finished NCIS won't want, neither will the BAU. He won't even be able to get a job as a beat cop.' McGee spat out at the end. He seemed excited about doing this to Tony. It was also clear he thought to be a beat cop was the lowest place you could go. Who did McGee think went out to protect ordinary, everyday people?

'Think about it tonight, we'll talk again tomorrow Palmer.' McGee and Ziva walked off.

Palmer couldn't believe what they were trying to do. The scary thing was that they saw nothing wrong in what they were planning to do. Not only were they trying to ruin Tony's life due to their self-importance, and jealousy. They would also destroy a case. Someone could be hurt or die, a guilty person could be let free and of course and innocent man convicted.

He didn't understand why McGee thought being called an autopsy gremlin or probie was an insult. They were just nicknames. It made Palmer feel like part of the team. Tony didn't do that to many people, practically none. To him it was a compliment.

Palmer was going to be meeting Abby soon. He knew to wait a couple of more minutes after the elevator ding. Then he would go and see her. He hoped she would have any idea what to do. It would probably end up with them telling Gibbs and the director. This could and probably would end badly for whoever was dragged into this horrible plan. Palmer hoped that everyone would believe him.

XXXXX

McGee and Ziva were in the elevator heading back up to their floor.

'Palmer is so gullible. We could make it look like it was all his idea.' Ziva's face was alight with excitement. This was something she missed from doing work for the Mossad. She loved to be able to play someone and then set them up. It made her heart pound, and the blood rush through her, it was thrilling.

McGee just stared at her. 'I don't want Palmer to get into trouble.'

Ziva turned to look at him and placed her hands on his shoulders. He was also someone she found it easy to play. She flattered him and agreed with everything he said. Now, he would follow her anywhere. No, McGee wouldn't be second in command; the person Gibbs would rely on would be her. Then she would change how he saw her. Ziva had played the daughter card to get closer to him. He wouldn't have let her close otherwise. She didn't want him to look at her like that. Leroy Jethro Gibbs was an attractive man. He was a strong man. Gibbs had the mentality a lot like hers. He would do what he felt needed to be done. It turned Ziva on when he was interrogating. There was no doubt about it, Gibbs would be hers. T

The main problem at the moment was McGee and his sudden attack of conscience. That had to be stopped immediately. Hopefully, some common sense and a healthy dose of self-preservation would help.

'We need someone to be blamed if it comes to light. If we have him blamed for it, they won't look any further. Look at him, and how Tony treats him. They won't look into in very deeply.' Not that she would be blamed for anything, her father was after all the director of Mossad, and the director did believe that McGee or people him were the future. Then you added on the top that he was a famous author.

'I guess you're right.' McGee didn't want any of this to come back to him. If that would happen not only would it stop any chance of promotion, but he would be fired. He loved the attention that being an agent got him; add to that being an author women now threw themselves at him. Who he really wanted, the woman he loved was Abby. When Tony got blamed for this Abby would be upset and she would turn to him. He would then build on that.

Ziva wasn't worried if McGee lost his job; it wasn't like he was going to be destitute. If that happened, he would be able to concentrate on his writing. In her mind he was a better author than he was an agent, barely. She shuddered at the thought of how he had portrayed her in those books. Now that the conscience thing had been sorted out they could get back on with their planning.

The two co-conspirators looked at each other and started to laugh. Things were going to turn out the way they wanted. The way she actually wanted actually.

TBC