Chapter 10
A/N: This is going to be a very interesting chapter for all who are keeping up with the story. Very fun to write and I'm so thankful for anyone who takes the time from their day to read my work. Thank you! And please enjoy!~
Ziva shifts a bit.
She feels uncomfortable somehow.
She opens her eyes slowly yet surely to find sunlight streaming into the bullpen. She furrows her brow together as she tries to comprehend where she is and why.
What?
Confusion rocks her brain hard and she blinks a couple of times.
Her face is down upon her desk and she sits up- squinting at the light. Across from her, Tony's disheveled-looking head was planted in his own work, while soft snores slowly arose from the man; his back rising and falling in rhythm.
She frowns harder.
What the heck happened to us?
She then finally turns to McGee who was comfortably leaning back in his chair- though he too was out; his eyes closed peacefully.
Ziva's mind is whirling now.
Did we possibly fall asleep?! On the job?! She couldn't believe this, especially from someone like herself. She raises a hand to her temple and takes a few moments to process her world again.
Had all three of them fallen asleep?
What time is it...? She hurriedly glances to the clock on her computer screen. Her eyes shoot wide awake as she only reads '6:12'.
SIX? The director should be in ANY minute! A-And what about Gibbs?! Her mind practically screams at her through annoyance. She had really fallen asleep on the job; her co-workers only doing the same.
Had she lost it?
No, calm down Ziva. Gibbs usually comes in around 7:00. She tries to reassure herself, for 7:00 AM was the mandatory time that all agents report in for work.
She rises to her feet now with newfound energy. She couldn't believe she had practically fallen asleep while on duty!
She hurriedly vows to herself that it wouldn't happen again before making her way towards Tony DiNozzo.
His soft snoring reaches her ears and she hesitates for a moment before deciding to wake him up. He seemed so at peace..
"Psst! Tony!" She whispers rather gently before placing her hands upon his shoulder to shake him up a bit.
He slowly opens his eyes as her attempts to wake him takes its toll and she snaps her fingers in front of him for his attention-span to sharpen. "Get up, Tony! Hurry!" She breathes, and the man leans up from his desk; his hair wild and pointing in every direction.
She refrains herself from ruffling it a bit before just looking into his eyes. She didn't want him getting into trouble looking like this.
"W-Wha?" he blinks himself fully awake before becoming aware of the new sunlight that lit the room aglow. "W-What happened? Ziva?" He squints at her before frantically searching her eyes for answers and she just sighs. "We fell asleep Tony. Hurry and get up before someone walks in. It is almost six twenty." She informs him before then going to wake McGee.
She approaches the sleeping agent in a rather rushed manner before calling his name. "McGee!"
The Probie stirs instantly before opening his eyes and connecting them with hers. For a few moments he just stares at her before then realizing what is going on.
He jerks awake and almost nearly knocks more of his papers to the floor. He sits up in a fearful process. "Ziva? Ziva, what's going on? Was I asleep?" He begins pouring out the questions.
Ziva only nods. "Yes. We all fell asleep somehow."
At these words, McGee's eyes grow as wide as moons and he runs a hand over his face. "W-Well, like, how?" He stammers, and with this, Tony finally stands to his feet with a groggy look on his face.
"Uggh... I don't know how it happened, but man did it ever." He remarks while messing with his disarranged hair.
Ziva looks at the both of them and tries to calm herself some more. She really didn't know what to tell them; except for the fact that they could get into really big trouble for sleeping while on an important assignment.
"D-Did we all seriously fall asleep?" McGee asks with an unbelieving look on his face.
Tony shrugs and Ziva just nods again. "I think so. I mean, we had been working all day and night." She explains, and McGee then tries wondering what time he had fallen asleep around.
He raises his eyebrows. "Last time I checked the clock last night, it was around three in the morning." he mutters, and both Tony and Ziva give a rather shocked look.
"Three?" Ziva repeats, and Tony just exhales noisily. McGee just nods in confirmation before Ziva then suddenly remembers their toil.
The Paperwork! She hurriedly rushes back to her desk to check and see if she had finished. "H-How much did we even finish before falling asleep?" She asks them as Tony and McGee then go to check their own progress.
Ziva is instantly disheartened though to find that she has one last small sized stack of papers left to complete.
Therefore... she didn't get it all done.
Oh no. What will Gibbs say? She turns to Tony and McGee next.
"I have about twenty papers left. How about you two?" She informs, and Tony lifts his head with a slight glimmer of hope in them. "I have about seven maybe?" He tries recounting his papers but fails at around five; his brain still trying to function from his sleep, while McGee just sighs. "Yeah? I have about forty left."
He groans.
"Probably due to me spending my time alphabetizing my runaway papers from the floor." He mutters, and both Ziva and Tony just look at him.
They had failed. They had not completed their assignment. None of them had. Not even Tony who had come so close.
Ziva casts her gaze to the floor feeling very disappointed in herself. She then just starts making her way out of the bullpen and towards the bathrooms. Tony and McGee just stare after her.
She shoves the door open into the Ladies Room and turns towards the sinks before going to rinse her face. She turns the faucet on and splashes water on her eyes before looking up and into the mirror. She needed to look more presentable this morning... especially when Vance and Gibbs comes in to see to their 'incomplete' assignment.
She sighs irritably at herself before slamming her fist down onto the counter.
She then just dries her face off with a paper towel before heading back out into the squadroom and towards the bullpen.
"You alright, Zi?" Tony's kind voice questions her as she re-enters the room. She tries a small smile at him and simply just nods in response.
She then makes her way back to her desk before taking a slow seat.
McGee is just staring at his forty papers that he didn't manage to complete...
They had all come so close. After everything.
Just then, suddenly the elevator doors open and all heads jerk around to see who it is.
Everyone held their breath as only a cautious-looking Jimmy Palmer comes walking out of the elevator and towards the sulking team.
Tony rolls his eyes at the sight of the autopsy gremlin.
Not this again. He thinks sourly. But at least it wasn't Gibbs.
"H-Hey guys!" Palmer greets with a wave of a quick hand, and McGee raises his head up before straightening his desk a bit. "Oh, hey Palmer." He tries a smile.
"Shalom." Ziva welcomes- with Tony simply staying quiet.
"Thought I'd just stop by..." Palmer then states and the room is silent for a few mere moments. His eyes then fall on each of the agents' work on their desks and at how tired they were looking this morning.
Tony immediately shifts his hands to tighten his tie, while Ziva begins running a hand through her hair. They didn't want Palmer finding out that they had just woken up from snoozing on the job...
"Uh, so, what are you doing here so early?" McGee finally asks, breaking the silence, and Palmer just gives a nervous chuckle. "Oh, you know me, I thought I'd come in early because I had to leave... so.. early... um, yesterday..." He begins stammering badly and Tony just raises an eyebrow at the man.
How could they forget. He had left early to spend more time with Breena; leaving them with Ducky's Autopsy Report papers.
"And? So? How did it go with Breena?" Tony questions through gritted teeth, his hands now moving from his collar to fix his disarrayed hair. He began wondering if they'd have all been finished without Palmer having to leave and give them extra work yesterday.
The autopsy assistant just scuffs his heel on the carpet before shrugging. "it was... experiencing." he replies, and Ziva just tries a smile. "Well, I hope you had a good time." she remarks.
The room then falls silent again- and it were as if Palmer had something on his mind.
Tony finally just presses the matter. "So, what's going on here, Palmer?" He questions with a look, and with this, the assistant just chuckles nervously again. "I-I.. well.." He trails off before clearing his throat. "I just wanted to come by and say... sorry for running out on you guys like I did yesterday." he explains at last, and the agents all just look at him with intrigued expressions.
"You are apologizing? For wanting more time with Breena?" Ziva asks, and McGee just nods. "Yeah, everything's alright with us Palmer."
Jimmy just shrugs at them though. "Well, Dr. Mallard called me yesterday, while I was on my way over to Breena's house, and he told me about how much work you guys had going on." His eyes fall to the floor before he just adds, "So I just thought about you guys for a while and decided I should seriously apologize for it."
At these words, Tony just blinks at the man before him. Palmer was seriously apologizing? At the moment, Tony didn't know what to really think.
"Hey, man, its alright! Its your girl! You need more time with her anyways!" Tony just finally exploits, and McGee gives a vigorous nod in agreement.
"Yes, it is completely fine with us. We are okay with a little extra paperwork." Ziva assures the assistant, as suddenly the elevator doors open again.
All heads turn in unity to see one silver-headed marine come strutting off of the lift and towards their direction; a genuine coffee cup in hand as usual.
Tony swallows hard.
McGee practically gasps.
Ziva shifts into a better posture.
Gibbs.
The moment had finally come.
At the sight of Gibbs, Palmer immediately starts off in the opposite direction. "Oh, gotta run guys! Ducky needs me!" He yelps frantically, before disappearing around the corner. No sooner did he arrive was he gone.
Finally. The time had come for the agents- and unlike Palmer, they couldn't run from what was about to come.
"Mornin' everyone." Gibbs gruffly mutters as he heads for his desk.
Ziva immediately glances to the clock on her computer screen which read 6:47.
He's early... She feels her heart drop; though she also didn't feel too surprised. This was Gibbs.
"H-Hey Boss!" Tony finally breaks the awkward and ominous silence that had begun to settle the room.
Gibbs doesn't even look up at him.
"You all finish that paperwork?" It was then that Gibbs asks the question.
Nobody knew what to say or how to react.
Each agent just lowers their head or either glances at something across the room- as if unable to hear what Gibbs had asked.
At this, the Boss simply begins to notice something is definitely up.
He comes to stand within the center of the bullpen before crossing his arms. He glances towards McGee's neatly alphabetized stack before nodding. "So, is that a yes? You did finish?" He practically growls, trying to help them find their words.
Tony finally just opens his mouth, however, no words come out and he is left with nothing.
Gibbs stares at him with his icy eyes before the senior agent clears his throat to try again. "W-Well uh.. Boss, technically we uh..." He tries to find the perfect words while throwing a pleading a look towards his partner, Ziva.
He didn't want to do this alone, and she didn't want him to neither. Yet, she too had nothing to give.
"Well, we got MORE than expected done. If that is okay..." Tony finally just comes clean and admits defeat. He couldn't lie to his boss, and soon Gibbs would find out soon enough. So why not just tell it like it is?
Gibbs simply takes a sip of his coffee before he contorts his face into a confused look. "You didn't finish your work, DiNozzo?" He almost doesn't even sound surprised.
McGee and Ziva hold their gazes on the senior agent as he struggles yet again for another set of words.
It's not just me! He wants to wail. But he keeps his cool and straightens his suit.
He is about to explain to Gibbs that he has about seven to eight pages left to complete, and that they had been working butt all night- when suddenly another voice sounds from behind them.
All eyes turn towards the staircase that leads up to MTAC to see none-other than the Director himself standing poised and holding an expecting look on his face.
Ziva instantly feels baffled at his appearance.
H-How? I never saw him come in to work today! She then just swallows slowly and wonders if he had come in earlier than the time she had awoken.
Does that mean he saw us all sleeping? And he didn't wake us? She feels astonished and yet rather unknowing of what to expect of this move played by their Director. Didn't he like catching them in the act of doing something wrong?
"Leon." Gibbs acknowledges the man with a very small nod. Tony is just as stiff as stone as he stares up at the man whom he had seen a few mere hours ago at night... or had it been early in the morning then?
"Glad to see you all are awake." Vance rumbles with his deep voice and he gives Gibbs a small look as McGee and Tony both just wince at the remark.
Ziva's suspicions had been proven.
He had seen us sleeping on the job. There goes our badges... She thinks incredulously.
"Awake?" Gibbs repeats now with a new look coming to play within his blue eyes.
McGee feels like disappearing again as Gibbs then just throws his arms out. "Anything you all wanna tell me?" He barks.
Tony runs a hand through his hair before speaking. "Well, we were pretty tired... and we had been working all day?" His voice cracks out of nervousness which causes for Gibbs to give him a hard look. "Tired? My team, tired?" He raises an eyebrow while trying to withhold a small smirk that threatened to escape his lips.
"Yes. Clearly." Vance then cuts in, his voice practically sounding like a lion's roar. "In fact, they were all wiped out when I arrived this morning." He states, and Ziva bites her lip hard.
This was it.
"Hmmm..." Gibbs narrows his eyes at his team while Leon Vance descends the staircase before entering the bullpen himself; his hands behind his back as usual.
"I thought I'd give it to them and let them sleep actually; seeming they had worked all night. But, at least we got all of our work done, correct?" He turns his attention onto Ziva before shifting his gaze onto her last small stack of papers she needed to complete. His expression changes as he realizes.
He thought we had finished... McGee thinks while feeling his hands turn sweaty.
Gibbs is just staring at Leon for what he has to say next. He had known all along that his team didn't finish their paperwork. They couldn't hide it from him.
A/N: I know, cliff hanger! But the chapter was getting too long. Hope you enjoyed it though! The next chapter will be the conclusion at last! We've all been waiting for it and I cannot wait to reveal it!
I've really enjoyed this! Thank you for the reviews! Tell me what you think! Have you liked my story so far? It encourages me to write another!