Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, if I did, things would be different :-)
This part of the story takes place around Silver War, right when Ziva joins the team. The next few chapters will be a year later, right after Hiatus, but without Gibbs retiring to Mexico.
Author's Note: This is my first published fic, so be nice, please!
Gibbs walked into NCIS early, it was barely 0600. He stepped out of the elevator, and reprimanded himself for being shocked. He had just gotten used to Kate's desk being empty, and now it held an Israeli, who was currently sitting in the chair holding a photo, but he couldn't see of what. She gently stroked one of the faces, the creases evident as to how old the paper was.
"Morning, Ziva," he said quietly walking by her desk. He was shocked when she looked up and quickly hid the photo. Standing, she followed him to his desk.
"Gibbs, I was not expecting anyone to come in yet," she stuttered. Gibbs thought for a moment, then handed her a coffee. He always got two in the morning so that he wouldn't have to get a refill so soon, but his newest team member looked like she could use it.
"Yeah, I had some work to get done. Why are you here so early?" he asked, curious about the photo.
"Plane lag," she said, and he chuckled.
"Jet lag?" he asked. She nodded. "What was that photograph you were looking at?"
She turned her head so that her hair covered her face. "It was nothing."
"Looked like something," he noted.
"It does not matter," she said quietly, turning to go back to her desk. He followed her.
"You sure about that?" he asked, in the tone that generally got him the response he was looking for. And it worked again this time.
Ziva sighed. She hadn't wanted the team to see the photo, for obvious reasons, but Gibbs was the only person who would understand. She pulled it out and smoothed it, handing it to him.
Gibbs accepted the paper, and was taken aback. It was three Israeli children. One was clearly Ziva, she had the same look in her eyes, even then. But the other two? "Ari? And?" he asked.
"Yes, it is Ari. And that's my little sister Tali. She was killed in a Hamas suicide bombing, oh, many years ago," she said, still not looking at her boss.
His heart ached for the woman in front of him. Less than half his age, and she had lost so much. Her childhood, her sister, her brother. And now to give up the only life she knows and become part of a team, taking the place of the woman her brother had killed. It took more courage than anyone he had met.
"I'm sorry, Gibbs, I should not have been looking at it here," she whispered, gently taking the photo and slipping it into a book that went into her purse.
"Why do you say that?" he asked.
"Because of Kate. Is it right of me to miss the person who killed your teammate?" she asked, showing the vulnerability he had seen that night several weeks ago.
"Ziva, he was your brother. This team may not seem upset about his death, but that doesn't mean that you can't mourn him in your own way. I'm sure at one time he was a very good brother."
"He used to be, before both of us just became Mossad officers. No one gets through the Metsada training unscathed."
Gibbs looked at the clock. The others would be coming in soon, but he wanted to make a quick point, in case someone came in early. It was true that he was shedding no tears over Ari's death. But this woman had had to kill her brother to save someone she didn't know, and to top it off, everyone around her was celebrating his death. "Ziva, you are a wonderful woman. Never doubt that. You are coming into this team and helping us heal, all the while having to hide your grief for the sake of everyone else. You shouldn't be ashamed that you have to go through the grieving process as much as the rest of us." That was the most he had spoken to anyone in a long time, but she had looked like she needed it. And he knew that there was no one else she could talk to, who understood the burden she held. To NCIS, she was just Ari's C.O., not his sister, and to both NCIS and Mossad she hadn't killed him.
Ziva smiled slightly at her boss. Taking a sip of the coffee, she said, "Thank you, Gibbs. I appreciate the hep talk."
Gibbs laughed again. "You mean pep talk," he stated.
"Yes, that, too," she said with a chuckle.
"Do you have any other photos of him?" he asked, wanting to keep the smile on her face.
She looked cautiously at him, then nodded. Bringing the book out again, she pulled out one more photo. "This is the only other one that I have," she said, handing it to him. "It was taken a few years ago."
Gibbs took it, and, though he felt a small fire of anger towards this man just by looking at him, he didn't see the hardened killer. He simply saw a brother and sister smiling and laughing in front of a structure. He grinned. "Paris," he stated, recognizing the landmarks.
Before she could respond, the elevator dinged, and Tony and McGee walked in. Gibbs looked at Ziva, who had paled, and grabbed the photo out of his hand and shoved it into the book, the book into her purse, and her purse into her desk. Gibbs went and sat down, feeling bad for the Israeli. Two pictures, and some pretty shitty memories. That was all she had left of her older brother. He hoped that she would find what she was looking for at NCIS.