As Gibbs left, Ziva watched him go, then turned to pick up her things. "I am going to get some drinks. Are you coming?"
The three of them arrived at the bar around the same time as each other. Each took a seat at the bar, ordering their drink of choice. Ziva was the first to speak, "I can not believe it."
"None of us can." Tony swallowed another sip.
"It won't be the same down there." McGee propped his head on his hand and stared at the floor.
Tony slammed his empty glass on the table, "I thought it was rough losing Kate. This is…"
"Torture." Ziva finished for him.
"Bad day?" The bartender refilled their glasses, and looked at the three of them.
"We lost Abby."
"Oh man." The bartender shook his head, "She'll be missed."
Tony stood, "I'm going home. Take a personal day if you need to. I'll be at work.." They nodded. McGee shrugged paid the bartender and left, leaving Ziva alone.
She had been programmed from birth to reject emotions, when her sister had died, she had cried once and been thoroughly chastised for it. Tonight was different, tonight she wouldn't be able to ignore the sadness washing through her. Going home was not an option, she was in danger of losing it completely and she needed someone to hold her while she cried. There was no question of who she needed to see, but would he let her in?
It took twenty minutes to get to his apartment. She parked the car and walked up the stairs, taking her time. The sadness was paralyzing and by the time she made it to his door, she could barely stand. She knocked on the door, and sank to the floor, back against the door, chest heaving with twenty-eight years of tears. The door behind her opened, "Ziva?"
She stood and looked at him, he was a mess. "I…"
He reached out for her and she couldn't help the tears that began flowing as she stepped into his arms. He hugged her and pulled her into his apartment. He closed and locked the door, then pulled her into his bedroom. He laid on the bed next to her, holding her, letting her cry.
Tony didn't fall asleep until long after she had fallen asleep. The moonlight came in through the window, lighting up her face. She looked restful now, almost as if she had never had any troubles. He smiled to himself and pulled her closer to him and fell asleep.
Gibbs woke in the morning with a minor headache and back pain from sleeping slumped over. He stood and stretched, debating on taking a shower. It would ease the pain from his back, but he decided against it, he needed to go in, to talk to Vance, inform him of his resignation.
Tony could handle the team, he had before, and he would do it again. Gibbs couldn't take losing people anymore. Maybe he would go to Mexico, buy a little hut on the beach, live a quiet life. He couldn't think of a better way to spend the rest of life, Mike Franks knew how to live good.
As he started up the stairs, he heard a knock on the door. It would be Ducky, here to check on him, to make sure that he hadn't killed himself during the night. He opened the door and was unsurprised to see the doctor standing there.
"Duck."
"Morning Jethro. I assume you'll be going in today?"
"I'm not staying."
"I know."
"I can't."
"You've endured far more than you should have had to. We'll miss you. You will tell them goodbye, won't you?"
Gibbs nodded, "I owe them that." And more.
"It's not your fault Jethro."
Gibbs just stared at him.
"I see." The doctor turned to walk back to his car, "I'll see you in a bit then."
Gibbs grabbed his keys and left the house, not even bothering to change his clothes. Someone was going to have to tell Abby's mother.
Ziva woke up, wondering where she was. She could feel the weight of Tony's arm over her and she remembered instantly.
"Are you awake?" She turned to look at Tony.
He was staring over her, a distant look in his eyes.
"Tony."
His eyes focused again and he looked down at her.
"You're awake."
"Yes. We should go."
He moved his arm and sat up, looking at her. She realized he was worried about her, "You do not think I'm okay."
"I think you're upset about Abby, like I am."
She nodded, getting out of the bed. She caught sight of herself in the mirror, "I look bad." Tony nodded, "I'm sorry."
She looked sharply at him, "Why?"
"Because it makes me sad to see you feeling bad."
Ziva frowned slightly, "You are concerned about me?"
He frowned, "Ziva, I've always been concerned about you."
"Why?"
"A girl like you needs someone to worry about her."
He extended his hand, "Let's go."
She pushed past him and walked to her car. It was too much to take in. She knew that the team at NCIS cared for her, but to hear it confused her. Only her mother had ever cared for her, and that was from a distance.
She drove to the office, trying to ignore the look she had seen in Tony's eyes when she had pushed him away.
When the rest of the team walked in, Ducky was talking to Gibbs and no one made a sound but instead stood near, listening.
"I have asked a trusted friend to fly in from Scotland, he'll be able to do it." Ducky was saying.
Gibbs nodded tersely, "Fine."
"He'll be here tomorrow, I spoke to him last night. He'll need someone to pick him up. Her body is being delivered as soon as he signs off for it." Ducky looked at the rest of the team, "None of us can see her until he's done. Is that clear?"
Slowly they nodded.
Gibbs spoke, "Gear up, we've got a crime scene to comb."
Ziva spoke haltingly, "The other team already.."
"We're redoing it. Now. McGee, you get to down to the lab and process the evidence from yesterday's crime scene. Abby was shot while were there. I don't believe in coincidences."
"Gibbs?" Ziva called, crossing the grass. "Who did you say processed the crime scene?"
Gibbs turned to see her holding up a bag of bullet casings.
"Secondary team. And I guess they're secondary for a reason. Good job."
Gibb's phone rang. "McGee. Got something?"
"Uh, yeah, the bullets from the crime scene yesterday are from a Russian Dragunov SVD, it's a sniper rifle, made during the fifties and used about three decades after that."
Gibbs waved at Ziva, "Ziva! Tell me what kind of bullets those are!"
She looked down at them and then back up, "We need to test them to make sure, but these are Russian, probably from the SVD. It is a good gun."
"I was right." Gibbs was looking up at the building Ziva had found the bullet casings on. "This isn't a coincidence."
Upon returning to the building, Tony and Ziva helped Tim with the evidence that they had collected. Vance said nothing, knowing that his words wouldn't make a difference.
"No fingerprints on the shells, or on anything else. Whoever this is, is smart." Tony looked disgruntled, but Ziva smiled slightly.
"Not as smart as they think they are. It should be easy to track any Russian SVD's that are in the area, not many American's seem to like this gun. All we have to do is find a record of all the visas given to Russians in the past year."
Tony rolled his eyes, "That's all? Do you know how many people that is?"
"With the three of us working on it, it will not take long at all. Especially if we rule out those who returned to their country before last week."
By the time they had gone through nearly three quarters of the visa list, it was after five and Tony was hungry.
"We need food. Ziva, you're with me. Probie, you stay here and keep working. We'll call and ask for your order."
"Okay." Tim replied agreeably.
As Tony and Ziva made their way to his car, Ziva spoke quietly, "Gibbs is going to leave."
Tony nodded once. "I know."
"He'll tell us, I am sure. But he won't stay." Ziva cast a glance at Tony, "That will make you team leader. I am sure you will do well."
Tony shrugged, "I'm not sure I'll take it. I don't think I want to stay either. I want to do something less exciting. Something with a normal schedule."
"What will you do?"
"I don't know. Maybe I could teach at Quantico."
Ziva nodded, causing one of her earrings to drop to the ground. She frowned, "This is the third time today! I am never wearing these ones again." When Tony stopped to wait, she waved him on, "I will catch up."
Tony inserted his key into the lock on his door and turned it and Ziva froze, listening intensely. "Tony!" He turned to look at her, and she launched herself up at him, grabbing him and pulling him down to the pavement as fast as she could, turning her face to the side and using her arm to cover it.
Behind them, Tony's car exploded into the air.
Alarms went off around the parking lot as debris rained down around them. When Ziva could no longer feel anything pelting her back, she started to get up, only to hear another explosion, causing her to lay back down on the ground.
"What the hell is going on?" Tony shouted, trying to get up. Ziva kept her left hand on the back of his neck, not letting him move.
By this time, Gibbs and the rest of the team were outside, with fire trucks blaring towards the parking lot.
Ziva let Tony up and carefully sat up herself. Her back was sore from the raining debris, but she was alive.
"What happened?" Gibbs was looking at the wreckage.
"Tony unlocked his car door and armed a bomb that was somewhere on the car."
Tony turned to look at Ziva, "I don't know how you heard that. I didn't even hear it."
Ziva shrugged slightly, "I am trained to hear it."
"Well," Said Gibbs, "We know Tony isn't the target of the killer."
Tony's mouth gaped open, "But, boss, I was nearly killed!"
"Exactly. If you were the target, you'd be the last to die." Gibbs looked over at Ziva and Tim, "So unless Tim has been making enemies, it's either about me or Ziva. Let's figure out who."
Sorry I just now got this up! Pure laziness on my part. I should have the next chapter up much sooner. Thanks for all the reviews and adds to story alert!