Many thanks to all those who left reviews on Chapter 1! I've never written this pairing before, so it's good to know some of you Zibbs shippers are liking this story. Chapter 2 is set during 9x09 "Engaged: Part 2," and follows it pretty closely. (So obviously, spoilers for that episode.) This chapter is quite less flirty and more angsty than the last one, but I think that's fitting for the episode.
He decides to take Ziva with him immediately, as soon as Commander Ellison tells him when the plane leaves, and Gibbs understands that they're sending him to Afghanistan to find Lieutenant Flores and bring her home. "Don't come back without her," Ellison adds, just in case he didn't make himself clear enough.
Gibbs hits the one button on his cell phone on his way downstairs from Vance's office, and Ziva picks up after the first ring. She goes into all-business mode as he briefs her on the op, never protesting or objecting or asking any obvious questions. Despite the circumstances, Gibbs has to smile against his phone at how she takes it all in stride. That's his Ziver. When he tells her that their plane leaves at 0500, Ziva just says, "On it, Gibbs," as if this were any routine assignment.
He's grateful that no one will be suspicious of anything because he's taking Ziva with him. She makes the most sense, as the only team member besides Gibbs with military training, and her gift for languages, besides.
Under different circumstances, whisking Ziva away on a plane ride to some hot, sandy country would be a dream come true. But they're flying to a war zone in Afghanistan to rescue a captured Marine. The op is much too dangerous for either of them to get distracted, even for a moment. They might be tempted – especially away from the prying eyes of their team – but they both know better than to act on their impulses.
After all, they did this for a living once, both of them. They've been soldiers before. It's just one more reason why they understand each other so well.
xXx
"Smooth ride?" Captain Quincy asks after they climb out of the transporter.
"Till someone started shooting at us," Gibbs answers nonchalantly, and that makes Ziva smile at him as she falls into a loose, easy stride at his side. She's relaxed for a war zone, comfortable despite the heat and the heavy fatigues, and Gibbs is glad that she's there with him. They have each others' backs.
She tells Quincy that they'll need to see the girls Flores saved, and the captain looks at her with obvious doubt in his eyes. "As long as you're prepared for what you'll see," he tells her grimly, and it's clear he doesn't think she can handle this. Maybe he's even wondering why Gibbs brought her with him. But this man doesn't know Ziva. He has no idea what she's seen.
Still, Gibbs notices how her eyes widen when the two little Afghan girls climb out of the truck. He's just close enough to hear her low gasp when she sees the wounds, fresh and raw, and the bandages. And that's when he feels a sudden, cold regret run through him, for bringing Ziva along. But it's too late, she's here, and all he can do now is just hope to God that this doesn't rip open any old wounds or stir up any bad memories for her.
She smiles and chats with the little girls until they're at ease, but Gibbs notices how her eyes linger on the bruises and burns on the younger girl's arms. Ziva still has faded scars and old marks from cigarette burns on her own body. She never talks about them, but Gibbs has seen them. Most of them are in places that only he sees.
He kisses both of those little girls when they're done talking with them – because he wants so badly for them to know that they're stronger for what they've gone through, that they can still be happy and loved, that the world isn't going to stop caring about them because of their scars. He's half-temped to kiss Ziva, too.
xXx
Quincy gets shot in the neck early in and goes down hard, his life bleeding out onto the hot sand. A few moments later, after the shooting's over, Ziva kneels down next to him and tells him, "You're doing great, Captain, just hold on." Gibbs wants to grab her by the arm and pull her away. He wants to protect her from this, because it's obvious that Quincy isn't doing great, and Gibbs knows all too well what it's like to be that close when someone dies. What it's like afterwards. He knows that you never stop seeing that last desperate look in their eyes. You never stop hearing those final gasping breaths.
Agent Lee on the floor of that bus...
Quincy makes a strangled, rattling sound, and it's Ziva's name. "Don't go, David..." And so she doesn't. She stays by his side even when the medic tells her to stand back. Gibbs keeps his distance, but his heart burns as he watches Ziva with Quincy. God, this isn't fair to her. Ziva hardly even knew Quincy, but after this, she's going to have a piece of him with her forever, like a tiny, jagged slice of glass buried inside her.
They're a lot alike, but this isn't something Gibbs ever wanted Ziva to have in common with him.
xXx
He doesn't know which took more out of her – talking to the two little girls, or watching Quincy die. The job doesn't wait, but after the mission is over, the bad guys caught, Lieutenant Flores rescued, and they're all on the plane flying home – Ziva can't pretend that it hasn't effected her anymore. Gibbs can't pretend not to notice.
Even with the dim lighting in the plane, he can see the ghosts of her past chasing each other across her dark eyes, haunting her. Gibbs checks his watch. Their plane has only been in the air for an hour or so. They've still long way to go before they land in DC, and Ziva's exhausted from everything that's happened, but Gibbs can tell that she isn't going to be able to get any sleep, not in this condition.
When he reaches out and touches her hand with his, Ziva flinches a bit, surprised, and jerks her head around sharply to look at him. Her hand is shaking in his, and her skin is hot to the touch. Gibbs can feel her wild pulse. He just squeezes her hand gently until the shaking stops and her heartbeat goes back to normal. Then he pats his thigh with his free hand, inviting.
And for once, his Ziva doesn't play the part of the tough assassin who never needs comforting. She doesn't say that she's fine or brush off his offer. Instead, she gives him a tiny, grateful smile and takes him up on it. Five minutes later, she's lying on her side on the narrow bench, her head in Gibbs's lap as he slowly strokes her hair. In another five minutes, she's fast asleep.
The two of them stay like that for almost the rest of the ride back to DC. Gibbs dozes on and off, leaning back against the wall of the plane. He's careful not to wake Ziva, though, even when the light weight of her head on his thigh causes his entire left leg to fall asleep. He just purses his lips and keeps stroking Ziva's hair as the painful sensation of prickly pins and needles runs from his toes to his waist. It's worth it when he shakes her awake just before they land, and she sits up, stretches, and smiles at him, looking rested and refreshed. That terrible haunted look is gone from her eyes.
Just before she stands up and goes to the bathroom, she puts her hand on his thigh - right where she had rested her head - leans in, and gives him a quick kiss on the lips. One of the medics on the plane notices and gives them a strange look, but for once, Gibbs doesn't care. They can't pretend forever.
xXx
"No rest for the weary," he tells her later, when they're back in the familiar comfort of the bullpen, and Afghanistan feels far away. He says it because it's what he would say to DiNozzo or McGee, if one of them complained that he was tired, and he doesn't want to give Ziva any special treatment and make the guys more suspicious than they probably already are.
But even as the words leave his lips, he remembers the light weight of her head in his lap on the plane ride home. He remembers watching her chest rise and fall in time with her calm, even breathing. And for a second, he wants nothing more in the world than to let Ziva curl up against him and get the rest she needs, while he runs his hand through her hair.