Ch. 3 McGee
McGee breathed in the night air. It used to be a source of refreshment for him. When his mind was too worked up to write anything worth keeping, he went on walks, taking Jethro for company. He'd grown immensely fond of the German Shepard and rather enjoyed the company on his walks. Now though, instead of clearing his mind, his walks and deep breaths brought into sharp focus the calamity of the world surrounding him.
Ziva was gone, and McGee hated it. He'd never realized how important she was to his team. To an outsider it may have looked as though Tony and Gibbs were the most shaken. McGee thought the outsiders looking in would be right; it did look that way. But in reality, McGee missed her terribly. He missed her differently than Gibbs and Tony though: they were in Israel, they knew what happened, or at least what appeared to happen. They were sorrowful because in addition to missing her, they were the most hurt by whatever happened in Tel Aviv. McGee was sad because a friend left and didn't tell anyone why. He knew there had been a reason supplied; he didn't care. He knew that nothing was ever as it seemed, especially when Mossad was involved. Ziva accused of treason taught him that.
Most of all McGee missed the dynamic that Ziva brought to the team. The temporary agent was dull, spending most of his time making sure he followed Gibbs' rules and staying out of Tony's way. Even McGee couldn't find it in him to comfort the guy. He missed Ziva too much.
McGee was shaken out of his thoughts when something warm and let touched his hand.
"Jethro, don't lick." mutter McGee, too focused on his surroundings to really reprimand the dog. He was in front of Ziva's apartment building. The investigator in him wanted desperately to see the apartment before it went up in flames. It put Ziva's case for innocence at a complete disadvantage. McGee sat at a bench on the sidewalk facing the building. His mind wandered to his badly placed joke about the laptop. Rivkin's laptop. The laptop always seemed to come to the top of his thoughts when he let his mind linger about the team's situation. Something about it bugged him He couldn't place it, but something felt wrong. Part of him felt he was fishing for evidence to completely remove any blemish from Ziva's name. Another part, though, felt that Ziva herself was not as in tune to the entire situation surrounding Rivkin as she appeared to be. Rivkin's laptop.
Did Ziva even know that Rivkin was hiding it there?
If so, did she know that it wasn't Rivkin's laptop, but Abin Tabil's?
Why was Rivkin really here and at Abin Tabel's place?
Did Ziva know the true reason for Micheal's being there?
Is there more to this North African terrorist camp?
Why didn't she say goodbye?
McGee shook his head in an effort to clear it.
They told me what I need to know. We don't know why Rivkin was here, but that's Mossad's business. If it had anything to do with NCIS Ziva would have told us. Talking to Rivkin doesn't incriminate her. Ishe would have said something if had to do with NCIS. They told me what I need to know. Ziva's in Israel. Her home. Working with Mossad again. They told me what I needed to know.
Jethro began to butt his head into McGee's knee and whine like a puppy. McGee looked at the dog, who seemed to complaining about something.
"Well, there's plenty to complain about Jethro. They told what I need to know. I miss Ziva, but I can't change it." He paused, sighed in frustration, throwing his head back. "Why does that laptop bother me so much!?!" McGee stared up at Ziva's shell of an apartment. Suddenly Gibbs' voice filled his head.
Rule Number 3:Don't believe what you're told. Double check.
A grin spread across McGee's face. His gut was sending off red flags about that laptop, and for once, he was going to pull a Gibbs, and follow his gut, no matter what the rules said.