Chapter 3

They spent the next two hours in silence, and when the plane touched down Tatyana noticed he still held her hand. She looked at him, a small smile touched her lips, and she squeezed his hand softly. He squeezed back and winked, "Okay, we're not leaving this plane. Got it?"

"Of course, Jethro."

"My team will be here-"

Before Gibbs could finish Tony DiNozzo came strutting in, followed closely by Ziva and McGee. "Right now, Boss! Hello there, very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo at your service. These are agents..."

Tatyana cut him off, "McGee and David and if I'm not mistaken Miss Sciuto is also here."

"Tony, get over here and help me secure this guy!"

"On it, Boss!"

Ziva came forward and offered her hand. "It is good to meet you, Miss Romanskia."

Tatyana smiled and answered in Hebrew, "Shalom, Agent David. I am honored to meet you."

Ziva smiled; she rarely spoke Hebrew anymore. Since leaving Israel for good and becoming an American citizen, it seemed like she would never get the chance again. At times she still became desperately homesick for the culture she had left behind. It felt good to hear and respond in her native language. "Shalom, your accent is impeccable."

"I had a wonderful teacher."

"Ziva!" Gibbs called, "Over here."

Ziva sighed, and switched back to English. "We will speak later, yes."

"I need the practice. Hebrew isn't a language I get to use often."

As Ziva went to Gibbs, McGee approached her. "Hello, Miss Romanskia. I'm Tim, or you can call me McGee everyone does."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Agent McGee. I've been studying your work for some time. It is quite impressive. I hope your weekend plans aren't destroyed by being here."

"Oh no, we're always happy to back up the boss. I'm sorry your trip here hasn't gone smoothly."

For the first time since Nicolai had attacked her, Tatyana began to feel calm. She liked Timothy McGee immensely. "All's well that ends well. Shakespeare knew what he was talking about when he wrote that."

McGee smiled, "He did."

"Speaking of great authors, I must say I was very disappointed when you stopped writing your novels. I had such great fun reading them."

He looked down at floor and smiled shyly. "Thank you. However, some fans are truly fanatics. I'm not sure I ever want to stir that up again."

"That's understandable, but I had such high hopes for McGregor and Amy Sutton."

"Oh my god!" came a high-pitched voice. "Not you too! Can't anyone see that if McGregor and Sutton got together it would ruin his life?"

Tim blushed and turned to the other woman now coming toward them. "Abby, calm down, it was a compliment."

"I realize that, and I agree with Miss Romanskia that you should definitely start writing again. But seriously, Amy and McGregor cannot happen. She is not good enough for him. You need to create someone who is."

"Abbs..."

Tatyana raised her hands in surrender, "I didn't mean to start any disagreements. I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your work, Agent McGee."

"It's fine, Abby and I just see things differently." Tim replied brushing away the conflict with a flick of his hand, his voice filled with resignation.

Abby put both her hands on his shoulders and gazed at him with those wide sincere eyes. "I only want what's best for you, McGee, in everything."

He smiled the same shy half-smile that had warmed her heart from the day they

first met in person. "I know, Abby."

Abby turned to Tatyana, saw her trembling hands and wrapped her up in a hug. "Oh where are my manners! I'm Abby Sciuto, but you already knew that because you told Tony I was here. That means you must have read our files, although I'm not sure why you'd need too, and you probably can't tell me, so I'm not asking. I'm sorry your trip to the States has been so rotten, but Gibbs is the very best there is, he won't let anything get to you. G. Callen is awesome! He saved my life from a serial killer, well Sam helped, but Callen is almost as good as Gibbs is. Once you're in LA he'll keep you safe. I'm rambling; I should stop now, sorry."

Tatyana gasped from the force of the squeeze, "I am very glad to meet you, Miss Sciuto."

Abby took a deep breath and calmed down enough to take a good look at her. "I love your outfit, and those shoes are amazing."

"Nobody does shoes better than Manolo Blanik," Tatyana replied.

Gibbs came in and reached for another bottle of water. "Everybody sit down, we're going to take off. Abby, you want to tell me what you're doing here?"

"Well, it's like this... I've overloaded on vacation time, sick leave, and overtime. I'm in violation of a whole mess of federal work laws. Leon was going to force me to take a three-month vacation. I begged him to let me come with you all to LA as some of the vacation time. Here I am!"

"Abby, the last time you were in LA a serial killer got you."

She put her hands on her hips, and jutted her chin out at a stubborn angle. "Callen, Sam, and Eric saved me. I want to see them and have some fun.

Besides, you'll be there and nothing can happen to me when you're there."

"I'm busy, Abbs I can't be worried about you."

"You won't be."

"McGee!" he snapped.

"Yeah, Boss."

"As soon as we escort Miss Romanskia to Hetty you're to stick by Abby. You don't let her out of your sight until we get back to DC. I don't want her in the line of fire." He unconsciously clenched and unclenched his fists. His body tensed ready for unknown enemies to strike.

"Got it, Boss."

"Now everyone sit down."

Everyone sat down and the plane began its journey to the runway. Tony took out a pack of chewing gum. "Anyone want any? It's good for the ears."

His team refused by shaking their heads, but Tatyana didn't want silence right now. "No thank you, Agent DiNozzo. I find humming works better for me."

Tony wiggled his eyebrows, "What do you like to hum, Miss Ro-man-ski-a?"

Her eyes narrowed at the way he drew out the syllables of her name, but she decided to ignore it. "Cole Porter always works extraordinarily well."

A wide smile broke out on his face, "Ah yes... especially when done by Frank Sinatra."

"Perhaps it's the English in me but I was always partial to Peter Lawford."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Eh, he didn't have half of Frank's cool."

"Yet when it came to women he had a sweetness that Frank was completely without."

"Oh come on!" Tony scoffed.

The corners of her lips twitched and a wry tone filled her voice, "Agent DiNozzo, this may shock you; but not every woman finds men who automatically believe that, it's only a matter of time before she succumbs to them, attractive."

Ziva smiled and threw up her hands with joy. "Thank you! Tony has needed to taste his own medicine for a very long time. He thinks that eventually any woman he wants will be his."

Tony scowled at his partner, "Well, Zi-va that approach obviously worked for the men that grab at your heart, so there has to be some merit."

"You know nothing about my heart, Tony!" she snapped.

Tony locked his dark green eyes onto her chocolate brown ones, and stared hard. "Are you sure about that? Maybe, I know much more about your heart than you do."

"Your heart goes in so many directions, that you cannot possibly keep track of mine!" she hissed.

Tatyana's eyes widened, she had wanted lots of conversation to keep her memories at bay, but all she seemed to be doing was causing conflicts between a very close knit-group. She was just about to apologize, when Gibbs slapped both of them on the back of the head. "Behave, or I'll stick you both with Nicolai!" he growled.

"It's my fault, Jethro," she whispered.

"Nope, they get like that all the time."

The plane lurched in its assent into the skies, and Tatyana breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure what she should do, Tony and Ziva, were still glaring at each other. Jethro had his head back and his eyes appeared closed although she doubted that. McGee worked on something with his iPad, and Abby stared out the window.

"Jethro, would you mind if I sat in the seat up front?"

"Why?"

"I'm feeling a bit claustrophobic. The sedative should work for another thirteen hours. There is no real danger, especially with your team here."

Gibbs knew that two seats forward made no difference. Put a claustrophobic on an airplane, eventually panic starts. He could see it fill her eyes. Moving might help her enough to make it through the last leg of the journey, and he had no real reason to refuse her. If Louise was also a traitor, she could only come from one direction past the team, to get to Tatyana. The only reason he had called in the team was that his gut told him they'd need backup once they landed. "Go on."

Tatyana quietly moved to her new seat, and Abby kicked both Tony and Ziva. "You guys are awful!" she hissed softly.

"What did we do, Abbs?" Tony yelped.

She took a deep breath and forced herself not to yell, "the petty bickering and jealousy, made her feel like she'd done something wrong. She's going through a nightmare, and you two are acting like spoiled children!"

Ziva blushed furiously with shame. "Abby, we did not mean to-," she stammered.

"No, but you did start it! She needs to feel safe, and right now she's trapped with a bunch of strangers who aren't being very nice to each other," she replied, turning her sharp green eyes onto Ziva.

McGee looked up from his iPad with guilt heavy in his green eyes. "Abby's right."

Tony snorted, "Of course, Mc-Suck Up!"

Gibbs glared at his senior agent, "Do you want me to lock you in with Nicolai?"

Tony slouched down low in the seat, "Sorry, Boss."

Abby put her hand on Tim's arm and rubbed it softly, "I'm sorry for snapping about Amy and McGregor, Tim."

He smiled softly and put his hand on top of hers, and squeezed it. "It's nothing, Abby. Stop worrying."

Abby gave him a big smile and a light kiss of the cheek. "I'm going to sit with her. Maybe I can convince her that we can be civilized human beings."

Gibbs nodded but before she could stand he grabbed her hand and stared at her hard. "Rule 12, Abbs."

"I'm on vacation, Gibbs. No rules for me." Since Tatyana had heard everything, Abby just sat right down. "We don't have to talk if you don't want too. I just want you to know that the bickering doesn't mean anything."

Tatyana tried to smile, but the strain showed on her face. "I have to admit, I am a little overwhelmed."

Abby nodded in sympathy. "You're stuck with us, with no way out. Don't worry,

we'll all behave better. I promise. Besides, I'm entirely too sensitive over Tim's books."

"I meant it when I said I love them," Tatyana replied.

"I know. I'm so proud of him for writing them. Although it was hard at first, knowing that he used so much of his real life for inspiration."

Tatyana's eyebrows furrowed together in thought, "Is that why you object to Amy and McGregor?"

Abby pale skin flushed bright pink. Normally, she would not discuss their past relationship with a perfect stranger, especially not with Tim three feet away, but something inside needed to get out. "Sometimes no matter how much you care, you have to accept that it can't work."

The sadness in Abby's voice pulled hard at Tatyana's heart. She knew all about 'Rule 12:' from Jenny, and wasn't sure how it was supposed to work. Not acting on feelings, did not stop them from being there. Covert Ops encouraged relationships between co-workers. From her point of view, it was the natural way to deal with these situations. Still, it wasn't up to her to pass judgment on people she didn't know. Despite their somewhat overwhelming personalities, she liked them.

She smiled softly at Abby. "The bad thing about life is that it can't be neatly tied up like in books. However, I think it might have made a nice story if McGregor had been able to choose for himself."

Abby swallowed hard, and suddenly she couldn't think about books anymore. "The sad thing is, he would never think about what's best for him."

Tatyana put her hand on Abby's shoulder, "The best stories are always rooted in what is real. I think that in general, people rarely want what others would say is best for them. Who can truly know that except them?"

Abby stared at the other woman hard, eyes bright with determination. "The people who know and love them best. The people who can see things they can't; the people who would do anything for them."

Tatyana bowed her head slightly to acknowledge the point. "I haven't had that kind of love in my life for a very long time; but I remember it."

The soft confession made Abby hurt a little for Tatyana. She thought that she seemed like a good person, good people deserved to be loved like that. "It hurts sometimes, but I hope you find it again."

"Thank you, Miss Sciuto."

"Please call me Abby."

"Then please call me Tatyana," then she turned to speak over her seat, "That goes for everyone else, if you want to."

Abby smiled more brightly than is usually believed to be humanly possible, "I'm glad we're past last names."

"So am I. Tell me, does Agent DiNozzo always over enunciate names?"

Abby began to giggle and the 'girl talk' began to flow like a river during a flood...

Gibbs relaxed a bit when he saw that Abby had worked her magic, and Tatyana's spirits were climbing again. He was resolutely ignoring McGee, and his death grip on the contraption he was tapping. He'd made Rule: 12 for a reason, and if it hadn't been broken before the young man joined his team, things would be a lot different. Still, he had to admit that he was proud at how they handled the mess. They were doing a lot better than he had ever done with Jenny.

Tony and Ziva, on the other hand, worried him more than usual. The usual sparring increasingly vicious. It didn't make sense; they had been doing better for quite a while. Tony actually handled Ray's proposal like an adult. Now that the relationship had imploded, they were back to square one. He just hoped they both stopped sulking soon.

Tony sat up straighter, his eyes flashing with glee that signaled he was going to try stirring up some mischief. "So Boss, she calls you Jethro?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes; he knew Tony wouldn't be quiet about that for long. "So?"

His smile brightened. "Nothing. It's just weird. I mean, she can't be any higher than a Probie."

Ziva huffed, at his obliviousness. "It is obvious that Tatyana is not an NCIS agent, Tony. How many NCIS agents do you know who would use a hat pin as a weapon?"

"I wasn't talking to you, Zi-va," he snapped. "Still you make a valid point. So who is she, Boss?"

"Right now, she's working with us."

Tony sighed in disappointment, "Well, the Jedi have nothing on you when it comes to being cryptic. I just hope she isn't CIA."

Tim didn't bother to look up from his tapping. "What would you know about Jedi, Tony?"

A smug grin broke out on his face, "Every true film buff knows Star Wars, Mc-Nerdy."

"That means absolutely nothing, Tony," Tim replied, rolling his eyes.

"Can it, Mc-Snob!" He turned back to Gibbs, "Hey Boss, I've never seen that shade of red hair before. It can't be natural."

Ziva chuckled, "Well, that is something I never thought I would hear. You do not know a shade of a woman's hair."

"Have you ever seen hair like that, Da-vid?"

"No, but it is not a dye job."

Tatyana had heard the exchange and smirked, "Thank you, Ziva."

Ziva smiled, "I will join them now. You boys have fun." The sound of Abby clapping made Ziva smile, while her partner's piercing eyes remained on the back of her head until she sat down.

Tony moved to Ziva's seat next to Gibbs, "I've never seen hair like that before."

Gibbs came close to head-slapping the younger man again. He would have to find out what was eating at him, and very soon. "My grandmother had hair like that. Read one of your magazines Tony, or go play with the TV."

Tony could see that Gibbs was fed up, so he took out a magazine, but he couldn't resist muttering, "There's something hinky about that girl."

Gibbs slapped him harder than usual.