The basement door slammed open as Gibbs stormed through it, pounding down the wooden stairs to confront the slender woman who was already waiting for him. Her own stance was tense, ready for the confrontation she had been expecting for the past twelve hours.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Gibbs growled, stepping dangerously within Ziva's reach. "I told you to not resist. I told you to stand down!"
"You also told us that they would be using live rounds!" Ziva fired back, unfazed by his explosion. "You told us they did not know we were coming! You told us that we were infiltrating a secure military facility!"
"And for all intents and purposes, they were, they didn't, and you were!" Blue eyes flashed dangerously. "You disobeyed a direct order, David."
"I acted on instinct, Gibbs! I was protecting my partner! I saw loaded weapons being pointed in our direction and I acted accordingly!"
"And if they had been using live rounds, both of you would have been shot!"
"And the entire situation would have been avoided had you simply been honest with us!" Even in the shadows of the basement, Gibbs could see the flash of hurt and betrayal in her eyes.
"I did what I had to."
"And again you lie to me." Ziva's expression hardened. "I thought you did not like Vance. I thought it was he you did not trust."
"I don't—"
"And yet is he who you conspire with, leaving the rest of your team in the dark," she accused angrily. "You have been distrustful of him since he took over as Director, because you are afraid he will abuse his position as Jenny did. You hated what she did to the team by making Tony her key to La Grenouille."
"Jenny had nothing to do—"
"She has everything to do with this! She turned Tony into her puppet, and nearly broke him in the process!"
"Ziva—"
"No, Gibbs! You were not the one who had to pick up the pieces after that woman left him!" Ziva paused, daring him to contradict her. When he didn't, she continued. "Now, tell me, Gibbs: your doubts about Vance in those first few months, your suspicions of him using his position as Director to cloak some hidden agenda… How is any of that different from what you did? From how you lied to us for no reason?"
"You accusing me of something, David?" Gibbs' voice was dangerously low, but Ziva was unfazed.
"Yes, I am! I am accusing you of withholding vital information during a sensitive case. You claim that it was to keep Lee out of the loop, but to be perfectly frank I find it insulting that you think that we would accept that as an excuse for your behavior!" Gibbs' hackles rose angrily, but Ziva didn't give him a chance to speak. "Because if that were the case, then it means you doubted our loyalty! That we would tip off Michelle, and allow Domino to slip into the wrong hands. That we would risk the safety of both your country and mine simply because we had spent a few short months with her on the team while you went off to play house with Mike Franks!"
"Watch yourself, David—"
"No, Gibbs, you are the one who needs to watch yourself. You are the one who lied to us, and risked our lives. You lied to Ducky, you lied to Tony, to McGee. You lied to me, Gibbs." Her voice was suddenly hurt, the anger draining from her posture. "Did you really think I could not handle the truth? If I had known that they were not using live fire, I would have responded differently." She paused. "Maybe. I will not deny that my actions were mostly an instinctual reflex."
"Ziva…" Gibbs also felt the fight drain out of him. The burning rage that had been roiling in his gut ever since he heard her fighting the Marines over the audio feed melted away, and he felt the vestiges of guilt creeping up on him.
"I have more than enough experience to justify being briefed in. And even though Tony crossed a line with Jeanne Benoit, it does not negate the fact that he did get to La Granouille in the end. Even McGee would have been able to handle the truth. There is no explanation you could give that could make your decision the right one."
"Zi—"
"And then you order me to meet you down here, only to berate me for fighting to defend myself and my partner." The anger returned to her glare. "Well, guess what, Gibbs? I do not care what your damn orders were. I would do the exact same thing if I had the chance to do it again."
Gibbs' jaw tightened at her blatant insubordination. His pride wouldn't let him simply let it go, even though he knew that her words rang true. His decision, as unpopular as it was, had gotten the job done. Michelle Lee was unveiled as the mole who had been leaking government secrets to the highest bidder. As Brent Langer's murderer.
He understood her frustration; he had felt the same bitterness when he had discovered Jenny's machinations in regards to The Frog. It was this understanding that forced him to tamp his anger down, to return to the reason he had been pissed in the first place. The dim light of the basement was enough for him to see the angry swelling of her upper lip. His mind flashed back to facility, seeing her approach with Tony, a smear of blood trailing from her nose. A brief scan at the time had revealed scuffed knuckles as well, betraying her skill in hand-to-hand combat, but now it was the clotted tear marring her delicate skin that captured his attention.
He reached out to gently caress her bruised cheek, but never got that far. His wrist was caught in a vice-like grip, the motion of his arm halted by slender bruising fingers. The aggression surprised him, as did the fierce distrust he saw in her gaze when he looked into her eyes.
"It is a two-way street, Gibbs," she bit out coldly. She pushed his hand forcefully into his chest, shoving past him to move towards the stairs. Her steps were barely audible on the creaky wooden stairs, as if a silent testament to the training she boasted of mere moments ago—the training he had disregarded in favor of careful secrecy. "I will see you at work."
And then she was gone, leaving Gibbs standing alone with his boat in the middle of a dark basement.