"Tony, shut the computer down, now!" he barked. Tony jumped, and moved to obey. He looked at the screen, then at Gibbs and Ziva, confused, but carried out his orders.
Gibbs swung the chair round to face him, kneeling down so he was eye to eye with Ziva.
"Ziva! Come on, look at me! Ziva!", his voice was commanding, but gentle, an underlying tenderness that along with his next words had Tony staring at him in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, I forgot what day it was. Maybe I could have ... I don't know. Come on, Ziva, come back. You're strong, you can do this."
Ducky bustled into the room, with his medical bag.
"What seems to be the problem, McGee wasn't very clear." He noticed Ziva then, still ashen, unmoving, but her eyes now locked on Gibbs. "Oh, my dear, what has happened to you?"
"I think she's in shock, Ducky. A flashback."
Gibbs started to move aside so Ducky could examine her, when her hand shot out and held onto his. There was finally some sign of lucidity in her eyes, although she was still as pale as ever and tiny tremors were running through her body.
"It's OK, my dear. He doesn't have to move away, just over to the side, so I can have a look at you." Ducky said soothingly, motioning Gibbs to remain and merely swinging the chair round slightly for access. "Now, Jethro says you had a flashback, nasty things aren't they. I remember one of my classmates at uni, when he came back from the war, he used to get them. Funny thing was, well, I'll tell you all about it later. Don't you worry, we'll have you right as rain in no time. Let me just check your pulse, ah yes, there you go. Now if one of these young gentlemen could get you a glass of water." He looked meaningfully over at Tim and Tony, and Tim handed him one. "Thank you. Now, my dear girl, you take this and drink the water, just small sips, no, you don't have to let go of his hand. Just you hang onto him, breathe as slowly as you can. It's OK, you're safe here."
She was now visibly struggling to pull herself together, fighting the tremors still coursing through her. Her grip on Gibbs was her lifeline, grounding her, pulling her out of the memories. His eyes were an anchor, a focus as she fought her way back to reality, allowing Ducky's rambling to wash over her, soothing her as she never would have expected.
As soon as Ducky signalled he was finished, Gibbs pulled her into his arms. Still shocky, she was also rapidly becoming embarrassed as she realized what had happened. She had broken down in front of everyone, her, Ziva, who was always cool, calm, collected, always in control.
As if he could read her mind, Gibbs whispered, "It's fine, Ziva. You're OK. And no-one here thinks less of you. They're worried, that's all. It's OK, it's gonna be OK."
The warmth of his body surrounding her was melting away the cold that had seeped into her bones, and finally the tremors had subsided to the occasional shiver. Suddenly she found herself so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. She barely noticed Gibbs' quiet orders, Ducky's list of instructions, or the way the guys jumped to obey, casting worried glances her way now and then, and by the time he picked her up and carried her out to the car, her only response was to snuggle into his chest.