NCIS
October 19
A/N: When I did the spell-check, not a single word came up. I was so amazed. Normally the whole Australian vs. America spelling gives it a workout but this time zip, nada, nothing (until I wrote nada). Happy reading. Thanks for all the reviews. I appreciate every single one.
Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with NCIS in anyway.
Chapter Eleven
"I am going for a run," Ziva says, tying her hair up with an elastic.
"This late?" Tony asks, looking up briefly from his magazine. "It's dark."
"I can take care of myself," she smiles. She walks over to the bed and drops a kiss on his cheek. He grabs her hand and she chuckles. "Tony, please do not start this."
"You should stay and keep me company," he suggests. Ziva gives him a look and he drops her hand. "Fine then, my ninja. But I'm only letting you go because I value my hand."
"I am going to stop by my apartment later. I am almost out of fresh clothes," she tells him.
"I don't know why you bother having an apartment. You're here all the time anyway," he notes as he flips the page. He is met with silence. He looks up and finds Ziva staring at him, an inscrutable expression on her face.
"Can we speak about this later? I want to go before it gets too late," she replies.
"Yeah, sure. Be safe," he replies. She gives him that smile and narrows her eyes at him. That's how he knows everything is alright.
--=--=--=--=--
"Gibbs."
The name is like a gunshot in the quiet. He had heard the warning footsteps as she ambled down the stairs but in his bourbon haze he misjudged the time her descent would take.
"Ziva," he replies.
"I need to talk to you," she says. It mirrors a conversation or two they've shared in the past. But while this one might end in tears, it at least won't end in a gunshot. She takes the stool without waiting for it to be offered to her.
"What's up?" he wants to know. He wants to get back to his bourbon and his ruminating and he has a feeling (how frequently they come tonight) that this conversation is going to ruin any chance of that.
"I was not completely honest about my relationship with Mara," Ziva answers, her voice slightly stilted. Gibbs watches her and he waits for her to continue. "We were friends. Good friends. And I betrayed her. We kept in contact after she left Mossad. I was the one who led my father and Mossad to her. I regretted it immediately. I was young and I had something to prove. Mara understood. She knew the pressure we were under in our early days. It was more so for me."
"Daughter of the Deputy Director," Gibbs muses.
"On track to becoming a control officer. It came with being a David," Ziva agrees. "But that is not the point. The point is I was friends with Mara up until the time I came to America and then I lost contact."
"Ari?" he asks.
"They were involved. That was why we were close," Ziva explains. "I told her the truth about his...death. I have not talked to her since."
"Do you think she planted the bomb to try and implicate you? She would have known we would trace the bomb back to her," says Gibbs. "She would have known the Mossad connection would raise a red flag."
"No. I do not think so. If Mara wanted revenge, we would not be having this conversation," Ziva replies. "Something about her involvement does not seem right though."
"You knew her, Ziva. People change," Gibbs says. "You said she worked for a mercenary in Cairo. Mercenaries rarely care about lives. Who knows how much she has changed in four years."
"I am not referring to the loss of lives. Mara lost a younger brother and sister in much the same way I lost my Tali. I found it hard at first to believe, having been what she had been through, that she would create bombs that were going to kill civilians. But there are means of convincing people to do anything. She convinced me. Perhaps it was because of what happened to her family. She had a total disregard for human life. She was greedy. She was a horrible human being, the kind that I hate. The kind that profits from other peoples misfortunes The signs were always there. She was never a team player. She was always out for herself, always wondering what she could get out of a situation."
"And yet you loved her."
"Does a father stop loving his son because he is a mass murderer?" she asks. "She was not always that way. This is why I did not tell anyone about our friendship. You can understand a father still loving his son but how could I still love Mara after what she has done? She is continuing the war I am fighting against. Can you imagine what Abby would say if she knew?"
"Can't help how you feel," Gibbs reminds her.
She seems to sink into herself. It's written across her face and in those eyes that, according to Tony, just won't shut up. The admittance that the bomb-maker was her former friend and a potential sister in-law has affected her but it's not the only thing bothering her. Something still isn't right.
"Gibbs, I believe that Mara made the bombs. But I do not think she planted them. In fact the chances are quite high that she did not even know where they were going," Ziva says. He nods. It's plausible. "Do you think my father is behind this? Maybe he is sending me a message."
"What kind of message?" Gibbs asks.
"That I am not safe. That he is never going to leave me alone," she ponders. She shudders. "That he is still calling the shots."
"I don't know," Gibbs replies. But he does know. He's just waiting for Ziva to figure it out by herself. "Do you?"
She thinks about for a few minutes and then she sighs.
"No," she answers finally. "My father may have wanted me dead but I cannot imagine him executing something as evil as this. I do think he knows what's going on."
Gibbs takes a sip of his bourbon and passes the glass to Ziva who takes a big gulp. They sit in silence, him in his old NIS shirt and she in her running gear. The basement is quiet and the smell of sawdust and varnish comforting. Not that either of them feel any comfort tonight.
Gibbs surprises them both by pulling her into his arms and planting a kiss on her forehead.
"We will figure this out, Ziva," he says finally. "But you stay away from your father. If he's involved we'll figure it out but you leave him to me. He is not going to hurt you more than he already has. You belong to us now."
--=--=--=--=--
When Vance enters his office Gibbs is waiting for him. He wordlessly puts his briefcase away, sits down, pulls a new toothpick out of his top drawer and folds his hands on the desk.
"You have a question, Agent Gibbs?" he wonders.
"One or two. When you first told me you wanted to question Ziva you said it was because of her time in Somalia. She figured out pretty quickly that she was just a scapegoat," he starts. "I only let you question her because I knew it would get the other agencies off her back."
"I'm not hearing a question, Gibbs," Vance replies.
"Do you know who planted the bombs, Leon? Because I find it strange that they were built by an ex-Mossad operative and that the only person who has been officially interrogated so far has been another ex-Mossad operative," Gibbs retorts. "Almost as if someone planned it. And you know how I feel about coincidences."
"How could I have known they were built by an ex-Mossad officer?" he answers smoothly. As usual his face gives away nothing. It's impassive and unyielding. "Agent David was questioned before we knew who made the bombs."
"I didn't ask if you knew who built the bombs. I asked if you knew who planted them," counters Gibbs.
Vance looks at Gibbs and chews his toothpick. Finally he lifts one eyebrow then drops it.
"You'd better close the door," he says.
--=--=--=--=--
The phone on Gibbs desk is ringing. The team look at each other warily, each daring the other to pick it up with their eyes. Finally it stops and McGee's phone rings. He answers it and rolls his eyes. He covers the mouthpiece with his hand and says, "It's Abby."
"Ask her if I left my sandwich in her fridge yesterday," Tony demands. He groans as Tim hangs up the phone.
"Ask her yourself. She want to see us in the lab," McGee replies.
"Does she know Gibbs is in with Vance?" asks Ziva. She waits for McGee at the entrance to the bullpen.
"I didn't ask," he admits. "She seemed pretty agitated though."
They make their way down to the lab as quickly as possible and find it full of strange people. Abby is in her office and she waves them in. Her pigtails have gone wild and she has the face to match.
"Whoa. Calm down, Abby. What's going on?" Tony asks.
"Doctor Inman was working on the particles from another of the bombs," she starts. "And when he typed the components into the computer, he came up with something strange."
"Like what?" McGee prods.
"It looks like there was more than one bomber. And you're not going to like who it is."