Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
This was written at 3 in the morning. I'll write the second chapter if anybody wants it.
Not beta'd, if anybody wants fix this chapter just e-mail me and I'll love you forever.
Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo was sound asleep when his cell phone rang. After fumbling for it on his bedside table for a few moments, he checked the caller id – Ziva.
"Any particular reason you decided to call so early, Ziva?" He dryly asks.
"Director Vance has decided that I need to attend one last session with my psychologist before I am re-instated."
"... That it?"
"No...Because of the...Um....Problems we have had recently, Director Vance believes it to be...prudent for you to attend this session with me." Tony is unable to form words for a moment. "Gibbs has signed off on it so we do not need to come into NCIS until 1100 today"
"This day just keeps getting better doesn't it?" He asks rhetorically.
After jotting down the address Tony flopped back into bed trying not to think about the day ahead of him.
Tony shifted uneasily his seat in the room. He never liked shrinks. Yes, he had some issues, but everybody did. He figured that the only reason this was seen as so important was that it was interfering with work.
As Ziva entered the waiting room she motioned for Tony to follow. Rounding a corner she turned on him. "Look, we both know that we can deal with this on our own, right?"
"Definitely sweet cheeks."
Ziva scowled for a moment. "I dislike the fact that we have to discuss this with a doctor, but I believe that the questions he asks may have some merit."
"I don't follow."
"Despite the fact that we both hate shrivels"
"Shrinks. Ziva"
Glaring daggers at Tony, she continued, "We both hate shrinks, then, I think that the questions he asks may be useful in repairing our friendship. However, I am not comfortable with telling a complete stranger all my secrets, and neither are you." It was not a question. "So I believe that we should answer truthfully to anything we are comfortable with telling him, and for those things we are not, we lie and make a small physical gesture to tell the other that."
"I'm fine with that."
"After this session, on the way back to work, we will stop in the conference room, and we must tell the truth about any of the answers we lied about."
Tony winced, "I really am going to regret this, but, fine."
Walking into the room, Tony felt strangely confident, knowing that he wouldn't really have to tell the shrink anything.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Richards, feel free to call me Sandy or Sandra. I already know Ziva, and if Leon was telling the truth, you must be Special Agent DiNozzo." Tony nodded. "As I understand it, Leon asked you to attend this session because he believes that the two of you have trust issues?"
"That is correct." Ziva replied.
"Well, as I have been reminded more than a few times by both Leon and Agent Gibbs, this is merely a one-time session. So we need to cut right to the heart of the matter. Ziva, as I understand it, you stated a when you left NCIS that you were couldn't trust your partner anymore. Why was this?"
"At the time I was involved with a man who was another Mossad officer, who had been stateside to complete a mission. Tony came to my apartment with concerns about the man, Michael, and his intentions. Unfortunately, when Tony arrived at my home to discuss this with me, I was attending to other matters and the only one in my apartment was Michael. A struggle ensued, and Tony was forced to kill Michael in self-defence."
"Okay, in our previous sessions I got the impression that you trusted Tony again. What lead to this?"
"It is fine details are classified, but suffice it to say that Tony had well proved that he only has my best interests at heart."
After a few moments of taking notes on her clipboard, Sandy turned to Tony. "Agent DiNozzo."
"Tony, please."
"Tony, Ziva has shared her side of the story, would you like to tell us yours?"
"I'll give it a shot; however I don't think you will understand." He warned
"And why is that?"
"The relationship between partners is far different to that of two mere friends or co-workers. Having to rely on one person day in, day out, to watches your back, in a job as dangerous as this, gives a much deeper relationship than any of those"
Jotting down a few notes, Sandy motioned for him to continue. "I'll try to keep up."
"Through the course of an investigation we discovered that Michael was responsible for the death of a naval officer on US soil. Later he was linked to the 'disappearance' of some terrorists who were under surveillance. Our boss, Agent Gibbs told him to leave the country. As I was still suspicious about what Michael had planned, I asked our lab technician, Abby, to search plane records for his whereabouts. His flight was one to Tel Aviv with a stopover in D.C. He didn't show up for the plane to Tel Aviv. Concerned about her safety I went to Ziva's apartment to warn her that I believed that he had gone rogue. When I arrived he was there, and during the ensuing struggle I was forced into a situation where it was kill or be killed."
"How did this lead to Ziva returning to Israel?"
"Well, after Michael was pronounced dead, Eli David, Director of Mossad demanded an investigation into his death. It was after this investigation, as our plane was leaving the airstrip in Tel Aviv, that our Boss informed us that Ziva had elected to stay there."
"I don't understand how the trust has been regained then..."
"Almost three months after this, what could be considered a rescue was conducted." Ziva answered cryptically.
"So you were forced to work together to rescue hostages then...?"
"That is a very loose interpretation of what actually occurred."
Sandy made a dissatisfied noise, and scribbled something on her notepad.
"There are some questions that I want to ask you to try and help you better understand the other's perspective. Is that alright?"
Tony and Ziva nodded simultaneously.
"Alright, Tony, what would you say keeps you from leaving the team you are currently a part of?"
"The team I am working with, well, was working with up until around the incident with Michael, I have complete confidence in. I actually have been offered a different position at NCIS before, but I didn't want to take it. Despite what this," he gestured to the room around him, "May lead you to believe, I completely trust all members of my team."
"Including Ziva?"
"With my life."
"Ziva, what would you say you want most in life?"
Before answering, Ziva took a second to scratch the side of her nose. "I do not know, had you asked me a month ago, or a year ago, I would easily have been able to give you answers, but I'm not even sure anymore."
"Tony?" Sandy asked.
Rubbing his eyes with his palms, Tony replied, "That is a very vague question, does it have to be plausible? Cause if not I would go for world peace."
"It has to be plausible, but it does not have to be tangible."
"Okay then," He ran his hand through his hair, "To have our team back in the way it was."
"Understandable."
"And, I know it's not Ziva's fault."
"Yours?"
At this he began to scratch his foot, subtly using the sign for lie, "No."
"Alright then."
"Tony, why do you get out of bed in the morning, what makes you keep going?"
Still scratching his foot, "I guess...The same reason that I became a cop in the first place...To put away scumbags and get justice for victims."
The questions continued for a while, however for the rest neither Tony nor Ziva felt the need to lie.