Chapter 4 : 'Progress'

'Aaaaargh. What's wrong with me?' Ziva grabbed her head and growled.

"Everything all right?" Tony asked from the other side of the room. Ziva just grumbled under her breath and typed something on her computer.

"Ziva?" Tony asked again while he advanced her. Him infiltrating her personal space seemed to irritate her even more and she snarled at him.

"I just can't find the address of that filthy pig!" She smashed her computer screen and then made some wild gestures at the sight of a few missing pixels. Great! She had just ruined her computer screen. How was she supposed to find the officer now? Fact was that she could have found the address she'd been searching for long time ago if only she'd been able to concentrate. But her thoughts kept drifting away.

"How's it going?" It was Gibbs who entered the bullpen with a big cup of coffee in his hand. Ziva threw her head in her hands and buried her face in her hair. He was the last thing she needed today. He was the reason she couldn't keep focused on her work.

"Great, boss." McGee piped from behind his desk which was filled with newly found evidence in paper form.

"You could have just uploaded it on a USB-stick, McGee." Gibbs suggested with a cheeky smile. McGee ruffled through the papers with a dull expression on his face.

"Quite right, boss. I have been telling him that all day." Tony exclaimed teasingly while he went over to McGee's desk and with that finally left Ziva's personal bubble. She sighed and with this grabbed Gibbs' attention.

"It would have saved us a lot of trees, Probie." Tony teased in the background.

Ziva felt that someone was watching her; she felt the heat of piercing eyes and quickly stood up from her desk. "I'll be right back." She barely whispered and then quickly left the room. Gibbs sighed heavily and walked up to Tony whom he gave a friendly smack on the head with his free hand.

"Boss." He whined whilst rubbing the back of his head.

"So how's it all going?" Gibbs asked. His eyes drifted over the two men in front of him.

"Good, like I said." McGee dared to say but then he gave a warning look to Tony who answered him with a broad smile.

"Yes," Tony added. "We've had contact with almost all of the attending officers and we've found out that the ex-boyfriend in fact was a lesbian girl." Tony's eyes filled with sparkles and stars as a happy and gleaming expression crept upon his face and Gibbs had to hit him hard on the head again.

"Good. Have you brought the newfound information and evidence to Abby yet?" He pointed towards the papers in front of McGee who immediately began to gather them.

"In a minute, boss." He answered.

"Here, use this." Gibbs tossed him a USB-Stick and McGee smiled happily.

"Oh dear, Probie is in geek heaven." Tony smiled at his boss.

Gibbs turned around, ready to leave, but then he seemed to remind something. "Anything else?" His low voice echoed through the air.

"No other evidence yet, boss." Tony answered as he could see how Gibbs looked at him over his shoulder, a pensive expression on his face.

"Ziva was the first to arrive here, just like yesterday. But she hasn't been able to find the last address on the list."

Gibbs stopped in his tracks.

"I think she overestimates herself. Couldn't you just tell her to relax a bit more? She's working too much." Tony tried, a worried look in his eyes.

"And yet she hasn't found anything useful yet." Gibbs replied in a low voice before he left the bullpen. When he made it to the next corridor he checked his surroundings and, once he was convinced there was no one in sight, he hit his fists against the wall en growled in frustration.

"Ziva." He groaned.

Ever since their last mission he hadn't been able to dream of anything else but her. He got that strange feeling again in the pit of his stomach, a feeling he had had before with his first wife. The feeling that Ziva was hiding more than one secret. And it frustrated him enormously that she kept avoiding him and the subject of their mission.

"Ducky."

"Yes dear?" His eyes were filled with expectation and another emotion that she couldn't quite place. Why was everyone trying to infiltrate her personal space today?

Ziva growled softly in frustration.

"Oh, I'm so terribly sorry. I shall step aside." Ducky made a real gentleman gesture and stepped aside as promised. Ziva had practically run out of the bullpen and once again had run into Ducky. Why was this building so crowded anyway? She needed some time alone. She needed some privacy.

"Thanks, Ducky." Before she could step past him he already tucked at one of her sleeves.

"Ah, nice, cashmere." Ducky seemed to admire her sweater and Ziva couldn't be as rude as to just ignore him.

"Ah, well, I bought it last week." She replied.

'It stretches.' She automatically thought and wanted to smack her head at this. 'Perhaps that's why they all intrude my space. Do they know? Do they see that something is different about me?' Ziva was in heavy doubt. She had been feeling strange after the mission but she hadn't had any confirmation.

"So tell me, Ziva." It was as if Ducky read her mind and immediately changed the subject. "How are you feeling today?" Or perhaps he wasn't.

She sighed heavily before she looked him in the eye. "I'm fine, Ducky."

He seemed to contemplate something before he looked at her with a frown. "You were ill a few days ago. Don't overwork yourself, dear."

She laughed softly at this. Why was the man so worried about her? Not that it displeased her. At least he was a real friend. Back in Israel she had few people who cared about her. Here she had real friends who seemed to care for her a lot.

"I'm feeling better now." She assured the older male.

"That's good to hear." Ducky said while he folded his arms in front of his chest. "So how's work going?"

She shrugged. "Ah, the usual."

Ducky smiled at her. "Still working on the case of the dead marine wife?"

Ziva smiled back at him. "Yeah."

Then suddenly something in Ducky's behaviour changed and he raised an eyebrow.

"So did Gibbs pass you the new information about the case?"

Ziva almost stumbled backwards and wanted to grab her head.

'Great.' She thought. 'Just as I'm thinking I can have a normal friendly conversation with a 'friend' of mine he has to bring up that name!' However, she didn't stumble or grab her head. She just shot him an evil glare that was vanquished within seconds but didn't go unnoticed by Ducky.

"I believe not." She hastily said in a bit of a threatening voice. "I'm sorry Ducky, work waits, yes?" And so she brushed past him and left the hallway.

Ducky sighed. "You're right Gibbs. Something did happen."

"Anything new?" Gibbs threw some documents on the desk next to him while he entered the room.

Abby swirled around and seemed to study him for a moment. Ducky was standing next to her. Luckily enough there was no sign of Jimmy meaning that they could talk openly.

"Nothing new." Said Abby with a worried expression on her face. "Apart from everything Tony already told you earlier today."

Gibbs nodded his head and smirked. "So nothing new then." He eyed the two meaningful and it took a while before Ducky cleared his throat.

"I must say she shot me the most bothered glare in all my life." He finally said.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at this. "You mean Ziva?" he asked, his voice huskily and his throat dry.

"Yes, when I asked her about work and if you had passed the new information to her." Ducky nodded his head whilst saying this and Abby looked at him worriedly before she turned her attention on Gibbs.

"You mentioned my name?" He wanted to know eagerly.

"Oh, yes, Jethro." Gibbs eyes shone with worry and his gaze met Abby who was returning his look. Then suddenly her eyes began to shine brightly again and she gave him a soft smile.

"Don't break your head about it, Gibbs." She comforted him. "You will find out the truth eventually."

Gibbs nodded his head.

"I will, Abby, I know I will."

He crossed the room and came to a halt next to Ducky.

Abby, who saw the worry in his eyes wanted to make him feel better and threw her arms around Ducky and Gibbs, bringing them in a group hug position.

"Yes, Jethro. And whatever happened it couldn't have been that bad. After al, she still showed up at work." Ducky said.

Gibbs closed his eyes for a moment, happy with the support of his friends.

"You're right." He murmured. "So right."