Chapter 8: You Will Handle This
It took more than two hours for Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, McGee, Palmer, and Ducky to get to Jackie Worthington's body, collect evidence, and get back to the naval yard. It was almost eight o'clock when they returned, and just beginning to get dark.
"I'll run this stuff down to Abby," said McGee when they stepped out of the elevator, cutting through the bullpen and making his way down to the lab, evidence in hand. Gibbs moved in the direction of Director Vance's office, and Tony and Ziva went to their respective desks.
When Tony reached his desk, he was surprised to see a Starbucks cup on his desk, a note underneath it. Removing the coffee, he picked up the note, scanning it.
Special Agent DiNozzo,
You were gone when I dropped in. I'll catch you later. Good luck on whatever it is you're working on.
Marcella
Tony, though somewhat surprised that she had shown up at all-she had seemed so unsure as she left last week-was even more troubled by the fact that she addressed him as "Special Agent DiNozzo". He was her father, for Pete's sake-shouldn't she at least call him Tony, for now? Tony was still pondering this as he put the coffee lid to his lips.
"Pthpthpthpthpthpthhh!" Tony sputtered as he blew the coffee out of his mouth, gagging.
Ziva jumped a little, glaring at him. "Tony! What in the hell is the matter?"
"Cold coffee," Tony said, pointing to the cup.
"So?"
"So?" Tony said. "Cold coffee is disgusting, Ziva. What planet were you raised on?"
"Clearly the farthest one from you," she replied quietly.
Gibbs came back down the stairs then, disheveled, as usual, from his report with Director Vance.
"The damn thing's half full! I wonder if she-"
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs said, louder than usual.
"Yes, sir?" Tony said quickly, snapping the lid back on the cup and turning to face his boss.
"Director Vance is disappointed on how little information my team has on the Worthington case."
"Boss, we have three Manila folders full," Tony said, bending down over his desk. "Here's his personal records and background check, here's his family history, here's his-"
"DiNozzo, I need more," Gibbs said.
"I-" Tony was very confused. He thought he'd been keeping up with his job well. He tried his absolute hardest to make sure nothing came before his work.
Gibbs leaned in and lowered his voice. "You're fine, DiNozzo. Vance is attending a press conference soon and wants this to be resolved by then."
"Oh," Tony said, nodding.
"Also, his office door's open," Gibbs added, smiling a little. "Had to yell a little."
"Ah," DiNozzo said, smiling.
Gibbs half-smiled, then headed toward the elevators. Tony and Ziva began gathering their things, ready to follow.
"You two stay here. Get more info," Gibbs shouted back at them.
Tony looked up, confused. "But, Boss-"
Gibbs was gone.
"Tony, it is two in the morning. I think we have exhausted all of our resources for the night."
"Ziva," Tony said, pressing a button on the TV remote, "the boss wants more info."
"He does not, the director does!"
"Your point, Agent David?"
"The director left three hours ago, Tony!"
Tony turned to Ziva. "Do you value your ass, Miss David?"
Ziva just looked at him. "What-?"
"Because I do," Tony said. "And I would like to keep mine. Which is why I am here, in the middle of the night, working on this case."
Ziva sighed. Tony turned back to the screen, and after a few seconds, she threw her hands up. "This is ridiculous! I am going home!"
"Fine," Tony said.
Ziva began to gather her things, clearly frustrated. However, when she looked back at Tony, and the stony way he was standing, the way he was not shifting his weight playfully from one foot to the other as he usually did, she felt an ache in her chest, and knew she had to stay. As much as Tony annoyed her, she couldn't bear to leave him alone now…she knew he had a lot to worry about, more than he probably ever had. So far, fatherhood was not treating him well.
"Did the neighbors notice anything suspicious going on around the house in the days before Corporal Worthington's death?" she said, dropping her bag and walking back to him.
Tony, glancing at her once out of the corner of his eye, said, "They said they didn't, but their neighbors on the right seemed awfully jumpy when McGoo and I interviewed him on Thursday. We're planning on going back there to-"
Ring. Ring. Tony jumped as the phone on the desk began ringing. Walking right up to it, he yanked it up to his ear and said, "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."
"Tony!" Abby screamed in his ear, so loudly that Ziva could hear her. "Come down here!" "Got something, Abs?" Tony said, smirking.
"You know I hate it when you do that, Tony! Of course I have something, or else I wouldn't have called! I swear, you just go out of your way to annoy me. In fact, I think I'll ask Gibbs to-"
"Be down in a sec, Abs," Tony said, hanging up. Motioning to Ziva with his index finger, he headed out of the bullpen, and they began walking toward Abby's lab.
"What was that all about, Tony?" Ziva asked as they walked.
"You know how sensitive Abby is," Tony said, smiling out of fondness for her.
Ziva chuckled. "Yes."
When Ziva and Tony stepped into Abby's lab, they were affronted by the sound of synthesizers, guitars, drums. Just another night in the Abby Lab. However, Abby was nowhere in sight.
"Abby!" Tony shouted, walking to her computer. "Abs!"
"Abby," Ziva called, softer.
"Haven't you learned anything in your six years here, David?" Tony asked. "You have to yell in here!"
"ABBY!"
Tony cringed. "Good job," he said, though he grimaced as he gave her a thumbs-up.
"Abby!" they both called, a few more times.
"I can call louder, if you wish, DiNozzo," Ziva finally said.
"No. Ziva, please-"
"ABBY!"
"Tim!"
Ziva and Tony jerked their heads in the direction of Abby's office, where they hadn't seen her slumped over her desk, clutching Bert.
"Tim?" Tony mused, as Ziva walked over to where Abby was regaining her balance.
"Are you okay?" Ziva asked, helping to steady Abby.
"Yeah," Abby said, shaking her head. Her pigtails flapped wildly. "Fine. Just needed a little cat nap."
"Tim?" Tony said again, as Abby turned down her music with a remote.
"Yeah. Sorry. Having a dream. Been…reminiscing a lot lately."
"Reminiscing?" Then, gagging as he remembered Abby and McGee's past, he followed Ziva and Abby to the main computer.
"What did you find, Abby?" Ziva asked, rubbing her hand across her eyes. "Okay," Abby said. "It isn't much, but it'll help you narrow your search." Abby tapped a few keys, and a picture of a knife came up on the screen. "Do you know what this is?"
"Um…a knife?" Tony said sarcastically, still fighting to work the picture of Abby and McGee out of his head.
"Not just any knife, Tony," Abby said. Pointing to the picture, she turned to them and said, "This is a Water Slicer. It's a knife that is given only to Marines. It just came out this past June."
"Do we know of any Marines who carry that knife?" Ziva asked.
"Well…no," Abby said reluctantly. As Ziva's shoulders sagged a bit, she added, "But…these are just testers. They were given only to one specific regiment of the Marines."
"Worthington's regiment?" Tony asked.
"Correct!" Abby said, pointing at him.
"Good job, Abs," Tony said, and headed back upstairs.
"Thanks, Tony!" Abby called, turning back to her laptop. "You know, I really wish you guys were Gibbs. I could really use a Caf-Pow right now. Gee, I wonder if a certain ex-Mossad would go get me a-?"
Abby turned. Ziva had gone upstairs, too.
Now lonely, Abby went back to her office in search of Bert.
"Are you going home, Tony?" Ziva asked when she caught up with him.
"Gotta finish up some paperwork," Tony said.
"Tony, it is…" Ziva looked at her watch. "Two-thirty a.m.! You have to get some sleep!"
"I'm fine, Ziva." Tony smirked. "I'm used to late nights."
Ziva tried not to gag. "You are a disgusting, chauvinist beast."
"Thanks," Tony said flatly, sitting down at his desk.
Ziva watched him for a moment. Tony, though she hated to admit it, was amazing at paperwork. Even better than she. So she knew for sure now that something was wrong when he couldn't even put the tip of his pen on the paper. Sure enough, he soon dropped the pen and put his hand over his eyes.
"God," he whispered.
"Tony."
"Ziva, what am I going to do?"
She just looked at him, knowing that he was referring to the Marcella situation. After a moment, she said, "Well…you are…you are going to…"
"Exactly, Ziva," Tony said, jerking his head to look up at her. "There's no easy answer. I have missed the first sixteen years of my daughter's life. I don't know what I can do."
She walked closer, putting her hands on his desk. Her face was close to his.
"Listen, Tony," she whispered. "I do not know how this will work out. But whatever happens…you will handle it the way you handle most hard personal situations."
Tony just stared. "And how's that?"
Ziva sighed. "You will feel bad for awhile…then you will come back to work, make an irreverent joke about a woman-or McGee-and life will go on."
Tony sighed. "I don't know if I can go on if this ends badly, Ziva. She's my daughter."
Ziva put her fingers under his chin, tilted his face up so that he was staring into her eyes, and said, "Then do not let it end badly."
Tony was about to respond when, suddenly, Ziva put her hands on either side of his head, stood up a bit straighter, and kissed him on his forehead. Then, grabbing her bag and jacket from behind her desk, she walked to the elevator, stepped in, and was gone.
Oooh! A kiss!
I felt like at 10,000+ words in that a kiss would be appropriate. I tried to make it realistic. I think that, in serious situations like this one, it's in character for Ziva to kiss him somewhere other than on the lips (remember: "You have always had my back..."). Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed, and it's only getting juicier from here on out.
Anyway, if you liked it, please review. If you hated it, please review. If you're on the fence about it, please review. If you're a three-eyed purple chicken, please review. And don't review about that previous comment.
Love you all!
-Beckie
