Disclaimers: NCIS, the rights to the show and its characters do not belong to me.
Spoilers:
S9's Engaged Pt 2
Pairing: Gibbs/Ziva father-daughter relationship

Found it.


"Hey Ziver." Gibbs said. Ziva raised her eyes from her backpack where she was trying to stuff her book back into it. She hadn't done much reading on the flight, but it had given her an excuse to keep her eyes down and let her be alone with her thoughts. Now they were getting ready to leave for the camp where Flores' unit was and she found Gibbs to be all ready to go.

With a frown, she eyed the Kevlar vest her boss was holding out for her.

"You gonna take it?" he rolled his eyes, seeing her hesitation.

"Are there no others?" she asked, returning to snapping her backpack shut.

"What's wrong with this one?" Gibbs wondered, following her gaze when she glanced at the vest again and finding the source of her concern. "That bother you?" he asked, tapping the small American flag.

Ziva turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. "Doesn't it bother you? I don't think the other Marines will be-"

"Ziva." Gibbs interrupted her and reached over to her backpack, pulling out her passport and holding it up. "That's yours."

"I know that-"

"You're an American, Ziva." he reminded her. Her dark eyes widened slightly and she stared at her passport, slowly reaching out and taking it from Gibbs' hands. "And I know how hard you worked to get here. You're an American and an NCIS agent. You got every right to be sporting this flag."

He watched her swallow thickly before she gave a short nod. He waited until she had put her passport away again and helped her put the vest on. When she was done, she looked up at him, her arms extended slightly to her sides, as if waiting to hear what he thought. Gibbs nodded once, grabbed her hat and put it on her.

"Now gimme that damn book and then we'll get out of here." he said, snatching the book up and leaving to go grab his own backpack, leaving Ziva to stare after him before a smile broke out on her face and she shook her head, hoisted up her backpack and marched after him.

fin.