Siblicide
Disclaimer: I don't own the show or its characters.
Ziva stood in a hallway out of the way of main foot traffic in the NCIS headquarters. Alejandro had been turned over to the police who would take him into custody until jurisdiction could be fully sorted out, but his sobs still echoed in her head.
"There you are," Tony said, trotting up from the bullpen. "Vance is waiting to debrief us, then Gibbs is going to take his dad home. I'm thinking about pizza after that. Maybe a movie. Something involving a beach, pretty girls, tan lines…"
He stopped, looking at her face. "What's wrong?"
She took a deep breath, but didn't feel like playing it off. "When Ari…died, I sat with him for a long time, just…remembering, taking in what had happened. I know he deserved it, and I know Paloma deserved it, but I still feel for Alejandro. Even after what they've done, you just remember the child they were."
Tony nodded. "Yeah. Sorry, I wasn't thinking how that might have affected you today."
"It is the past," Ziva said, looking back at the wall across the hallway. "And today needed to happen to protect Jackson and Abby."
"Still," Tony said, "I'm glad you weren't the one who had to pull the trigger with Ari."
Ziva didn't say anything.
"Look, Vance is waiting. After that, come over and we'll split that pizza. I want to hear about your trip to Miami. Besides," he said, leading her out to the bullpen, "if it makes you feel any better, Alejandro wasn't exactly innocent either."
Neither was I, she thought, following him in silence. Neither was I.