So, just to let you all know, I'm at a loss as to where I want the story to go from here. I had an idea when I started writing, but the story took itself away from my plot. I normally let the story write itself, and that normally works. For some reason though, I'm stuck, so the next few chapters will be me trying to find where to take it. Please, if anyone has any suggestions, I'm very open to them right now.
Second Chances?
The months had dragged by for Tony since his partner and best friend had left. He felt like he was lost, like a vital part of him was missing. He just chalked it up to losing his partner and nothing more than that. He tried to focus on work, but he felt like he was never doing anything quite right. Gibbs hadn't yelled at him in a while, but Tony still felt that he was taking too long to find the leads, to track down the killer. He just wished he had his partner back.
Gibbs was more than impressed with the new Tony. He felt that it might be a subconscious thing. Maybe Tony felt that if he worked harder that he would somehow get her back. That he would be able to find her again. His team was different. Less childish. Tony had grown up, and Gibbs knew it was due to the loss of yet another partner, different than the last loss, but just as painful.
McGee had grown a lot too. Gibbs didn't really understand what had happened to his team. They worked harder and better than they ever had, but they were lacking a zeal for their job. McGee had taken Ziva's last words to him to heart, the first time Tony had made a crack about him not being a good agent, McGee had gone off on him. Gibbs had sat silently at his desk and watched. He knew they were both hurting, but he had no idea how to fix it.
Tony didn't want to go to work that day. Something felt off, like he shouldn't go in. He called Gibbs and simply told him he wasn't coming in. Gibbs wasn't pleased but he knew this was a personal day Tony should have taken a long time ago.
The park seemed like the only place Tony could think of for some peace. He had been here so many times with Ziva for runs, that he felt like she was there with him. Little did he know she was.
Ziva David knew she shouldn't be out in the open like she was, but something had told her to go to the park that day. An undeniable urge had driven her to leave the safe house and head to the park. Once there she started down the familiar paths she used to take on runs. That was when she saw him.
She couldn't breath when she first saw him. It had been almost eight months. He looked different. Not necessarily physically, but a part of his personality was different and it showed. She quickly moved off to the side, just out of where she knew he would be looking. For the next few moments she just studied him.
Older. That's how she finally decided that he looked. Older and more mature. She could see that some part of him had died. It seemed like the part of him that was always smiling. Watching him, she saw someone that was more aware of the world and his surroundings. She had a feeling that he had finally become the agent she had always known he could be. For a fleeting moment she wished that she had been there to see this change take place, but she buried that feeling, knowing that wishing made her weak.
Tony started to get the feeling that he was being watched. He could tell it wasn't a dangerous situation, but more like someone was just observing him. Slowly, he began to casually look around to see if he could find who it was. There were so many people in the park that day, he knew it could be anyone. The only thing he wondered was, who looked like they had a reason to be watching him.
He spotted a group of younger women looking at him, but he knew it wasn't them. He didn't have the feeling that someone was looking at him lustfully, but carefully. He gave a small smile to the women and continued to look. That's when he saw her.
Ziva had finally given in to the desire to speak to him. To let him know that she was okay and to see if he was. She stepped out right into his line of vision and waited for him to look at her. When he finally did, the wind was knocked right out of her.
The look on his face made her regret ever leaving in the first place. He seemed at a loss for words, but in a good way. She knew he wasn't mad, he was just happy to finally see her after all this time. She felt the same way.
Their eyes were locked yet neither one made a move. They simply stood there and waited for who knew what. Ziva knew she should do something. Just as she began to make the first step, someone accidentally ran into Tony. The moment his eyes lost hers, the moment was lost, and she realized what a bad idea this had been.
When Tony looked back up at where she had been standing, she was gone. Vanished into thin air. He frantically searched around, hoping for a quick view of where she was, but he couldn't find her anywhere. After wandering aimlessly around the park for another hour, Tony knew there was only one place he could go to get help.
Gibbs knew the second Tony stepped off the elevator that something was up. The look on Tony's face was a determination that Gibbs hadn't seen in a while.
"Boss."
Tony walked right up to Gibbs desk, he didn't speak at first, he just looked at Gibbs.
"What do you want, DiNozzo?"
"Ziva's here."
Gibbs looked up at him, not quite knowing if he should believe him.
"What?"
"Ziva is here, boss. I saw her in the park today. She's here. She saw me. She let me see her."
"Then where is she now, DiNozzo?"
"I don't know, boss. She just disappeared. One minute I was looking at her, then someone ran into me, when I looked back up, she was gone."
"That means she doesn't want to be found."
Tony wouldn't take that as any sort of explanation.
"We need to find her."
"What do you expect me to do, Tony? She's a Mossad agent. If she doesn't want to be found, we won't find her."
Just then Gibbs phone rang. After he finished talking to whoever was on the other end, he looked up at Tony and McGee.
"Gear up. Dead Marine. In the park."
Tony looked at Gibbs for a second and then his agent side kicked in. He grabbed his gear and followed McGee and Gibbs to the elevator.
When they pulled up to the scene they saw that the police had already tapped off the area and were keeping people at a distance. They flashed their badges and got to work.
"DiNozzo, photos and sketch. McGee, bag and tag."
A response of 'Yes, boss', was heard and Gibbs got to work on the witness statements. When Ziva had left Gibbs had refused to take another team member, and for once Vance honored that. Now, there was a little extra work for everyone, but they all didn't seem to mind. It just kept them working harder and didn't really give them much time to miss Ziva when they were working on a case.
By the end of the day, they were no closer to finding out what happened than they had been before they found the body. McGee and Tony were sitting in the squad room trying to look at things from a different point of view.
McGee was going through all online information he could find on the marine, Sgt. Mark Jacobs.
"Tony, how long ago did you say he was deployed to Iraq?"
Tony grabbed his file and looked through it quickly.
"Six months. No one even knew he was back in the States. Not really sure how he pulled that off. His CO says Jacobs was supposed to be on a recon mission for another week or so. They haven't had any word from the group, because they are in too deep to risk contact at the moment."
McGee began to type furiously and then looked over at Tony.
"I think we could have a problem."
Tony walked over to McGee's desk and looked at the screen.
"I'll get the boss."
A few minutes later, when Gibbs had joined them, McGee put his findings up on the plasma. Gibbs just stared at it for a minute, then turned with an expectant look at McGee.
"What am I looking at, McGee?"
"Right, sorry boss. Well, we know from his file that Jacobs shipped out to Iraq six months ago, and that he doesn't have any living relatives here in the states. Starting about four months ago, regular deposits were made to an offshore account in Jacobs name. As you can see from the amount of these deposits, there is no way it was simply his regular pay."
Tony jumped in at that point.
"We think he was involved with the black market in Iraq, boss. Not sure what though, could be weapons, information, medicine, we really have no way to tell right now. Although, this gives us a good place to start trying to figure out what happened."
Gibbs looked at both of them.
"Good work, McGee. Now, both of you. Find me the killer."
With that Gibbs turned and walked out. Tony and McGee both stood there looking at each other for a moment, before they sat back down at their desks and got to work again. Gibbs had been just slightly easier on them since Ziva left, but they both knew he was still Gibbs, and if he wanted the killer, they better get it for him.
