Title: Fifteen Minutes of Fame
Author: Ihave207Bones, SplishySplash
Characters: Tony, Ziva, Abby, McGee, Gibbs
Pairing: Tony/Ziva
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Summary: Tony and Ziva become overnight celebrities
McGee looked up from his computer as the elevator door opened with a loud ping and he expected to see a mess coming off the elevator, but to his surprise Ziva had a small smile that only Tony could bring to her face as he excitedly spoke about movie. They parted and sat at their respective desks before they noticed him watching them. "Hello McGee." Ziva said.
"Hi Ziva." He responded and looked to Tony who shot him a look that indicated that she didn't know that McGee had stopped by his apartment. McGee opened his mouth and closed it, not sure of what to say but he didn't have to as Gibbs brushed past them and placed his cup on the desk.
"Good of you to finally join us, DiNozzo." He said, not looking up from rifling through his papers. "David you are with me in the conference room." She jumped up and waited for him to lead the way to the conference room but he didn't move. "Meet me outside the door."
She nodded and took the familiar path away from the squad room. Gibbs scribbled an address on a post-it note and shoved it into Tony's hand as he followed Ziva. Tony didn't question it as he saw an address written on it, it was on the Navy base and not too far from where they were now. "Come on McGee we got to go pick up somebody."
Ziva waited patiently and she knew who was on the other side of the door. It was the father of the infant she saved and she didn't know what to expect, Gibbs didn't give any detail to Tony or it wasn't passed onto her. She startled as Gibbs appeared behind her, he placed a cup into her hand when she turned around and forced a smile to her lips. "Are you okay?" He asked.
She nodded again, not trusting her voice to betray her edginess. He opened the door and on the other side revealed a well dressed man, who sat with a straight posture and his hands on the table. He looked up and it couldn't be denied that the infant had his nose. In front of him was a collection of articles off all the events from the last couple of days but they scattered all over the table when he jumped up. "You are the woman who saved my daughter." He stated as she walked in the door she was enveloped into a hug from the strange man and she tensed.
"This is Special Agent Ziva David." Gibbs said as she was released from the hug and they all took a seat in the leather chairs. "This is Shawn Moore, the baby's father."
Ziva cleared her throat and stood up because her nerves didn't allow for her to sit still and she was silent, but before Gibbs could take the lead she spoke. "What is her name?" She asked just above a whisper.
"McKenzie Renee." He answered emotionally. "She was born November 25, 2009 at 4:30 in the afternoon."
Gibbs watched Ziva for a moment before he turned his attention to the father in front of him. "You reported her missing four days ago. . ." Gibbs started before the man interrupted.
"You don't think that I have anything to do with this do you?" He cried and Gibbs handed him the box of tissues. "Shelley wanted to take her to see her mother five days ago and when I called her mother, she never visited her so I filled out the missing persons report the day after."
Gibbs' eyebrow rose. "Just on your daughter?" Gibbs asked.
He nodded his head and fought to remain in control of his emotions. "Shelley was always flighty and would be gone for days at a time before McKenzie was born, but she stopped and we hadn't had a problem since she was born."
"You do not have a TV?" Ziva asked from her spot near the window forcing him to turn around. "This has been in the news since the moment it happened two days ago."
"I did see it on the news." He snapped with a slight watery glare. "Forgive me for not automatically thinking my wife was the one who pushed our daughter off a pier to drown. They didn't exactly give any information on the woman or the baby, I didn't even consider it until Agent Gibbs showed up at my door saying that my DNA was matched to her." Ziva rolled her eyes and Gibbs caught it, sending her a glare and she sobered up.
"Why didn't you report your wife missing again?" Gibbs asked.
The man sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Things were a bit rocky between us for the last few days." He said nervously.
Ziva frowned. "Rocky?"
He took a deep breath and looked at Ziva. "We had a fight the night she left." His gaze left hers and he looked into his lap.
"Did you hit her?" Gibbs asked.
He gave a humorless laugh and brushed his hair off his forehead to reveal a cut on his forehead. "She hit me with her grandmother's china plate before she left."
"Why?" Gibbs asked sitting back in his chair and Shawn gave him a confused look. "Women don't usually throw the good china unless they have a reason too."
He shook his head. "She was supposed to go back to work next week and she said that she wasn't ready, but we can't afford for her to not go back." He answered and looked away. "With the Navy she gets benefits and my insurance wouldn't cover her medications."
Gibbs reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a notepad as Ziva's eyebrow shot upward, surprised that Gibbs already knew that she worked for the Navy and made this their jurisdiction. "What kind of medications." He asked, prepared to write the names that he began to list off and when he finished, Gibbs handed Ziva the paper. "Run this to Ducky."
Ziva left without question, voting to take the stairs down to autopsy to avoid the scientist at all cost. The doors opened and she stepped inside as the doctor was hosting another lecture and was surrounded by new agents. ". . . Isn't the heart the most beautiful organ? The Greeks believed. . . " He looked up and saw Ziva in the back. "Hello Agent David." She was greeted by fifteen pairs of eyes who welcomed the distraction.
She waved slightly as the room began to fill with whispers. "Do you have a moment, Doctor Mallard?" She asked formally, uncomfortable under the gazes of his students.
Ducky looked at the clock on the wall which read near three "Why don't we take a ten minute break." He announced to the class and they all left as soon as the words left his mouth. A warm chuckle escaped his lips as he removed his gloves and face shield. "What can I do for you dear?"
She handed him the slip with the list of medications and he placed his glasses higher on his nose. "Can you tell me what these are?" She asked with a smile, Ducky gave her the once over and turned his attention back to the list.
"Of course." He said with a smile, but it fell as his eyes scanned the sheet. "These are very powerful drugs."
"Are they powerful enough for insurance companies to not to cover?" She asked.
Ducky pulled the glasses from his face, resting the ear piece at the corner of his mouth. "You would be very lucky to find one that does cover them." He answered as he took a seat on his high backed chair. "Most of them are standard anti-depressants, generics mostly but one of them is a very powerful anti psychotic drug allowed in the US. Whose medication list is this?" Ziva licked her lips and shook her head, anger swelling through her. "This isn't the baby's mother is it?"
Ziva nodded and Ducky squinted. "We found a DNA match to her father." Ziva answered and Ducky turned to grab his phone.
"I am going to make some phone calls, there is something wrong here." Ducky said dialing the phone and pressing it to his ear. "I will let you know what I find out. . . Dr. Timothy, its Dr Donald Mallard. . ."
Ziva turned to leave and made her way slowly up the stairs, taking a seat on a step to allow herself a chance to compose herself. If she was missing for three days, it meant she wasn't probably wasn't thinking clearly when she let the stroller fall into the ocean, but why was she on the antipsychotics?
Footsteps came from above and she didn't look up as someone took a seat next to her. She knew the smell and figure well and knew that she didn't have to say anything to him. "Are you okay?"
It took a moment before she looked up and Tony smile encouragingly. "I am fine." She answered sitting up straight. "I just have a lot on my mind."
"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked with a smile.
She was a sucker for his smile, not that she would ever let him know that. "I do not know what is on my mind right now, but as soon as I sort through it, you will be the first to know." She said with a smile, resting her head against his shoulder for a moment and he placed a warm hand on her back, it made her feel better.
They sat in silence for a moment longer and slowly she got up. "I am going to hold you to that." He whispered, pulling her into his arms in a quick hug. She broke the embrace and he headed down the stairs while she went up and back into the conference room where Gibbs was writing something down and Shawn Moore talked about his daughter.
He stopped talking as Ziva took a seat across from him. "Did you know why she took the medications?" She asked folding her arms lightly on the hardwood table.
Shawn shrugged his shoulders. "Depression I think, she spent some time in a mental ward because she attempted suicide in 2006." He said, fiddling with a piece a string on his jacket. "She was good until she had McKenzie, but then she suffered from post partum depression and they gave her something for that a couple of weeks ago."
Gibbs looked over at Ziva, giving her the once over before he spoke. "Can you think of any place your wife would go?" He asked.
"I don't know, she isn't at her mother's house and she hasn't seen Shelley all week." He said, resting his head in his hand. "Oh god, this will just kill Evelyn, that's her mother who is the only other person Shelley's got."
"Does she know that she is missing?" Ziva asked, reaching out to place a comforting hand on his arm.
He looked up and a ghost of a smile crossed his lips. "No. When I called her two days ago, I told her that she lost her cell phone and I swung by a time or two to see if her car was there." The room fell into silence and his breathing hitched as he tried to control his emotions. "When can I see my daughter?"
"We need to check a couple of things and then we will have somebody escort you to the hospital." Gibbs said and he opened his mouth to argue. "She has to stay in our custody for awhile longer and as soon as everything is cleared up, she will be released to you."
He nodded without complaint as Gibbs got up and Ziva followed, shutting the door with a slight click of the latch. He stopped and so did she, but her gaze went to the floor to take a deep breath, his look of concern was overwhelming and she needed the length of a breath of collect herself. "I will . . ."
Gibbs shook his head. "What are you thinking?" He asked in his 'Nice Gibbs' voice that Tony coined. She looked up and opened her mouth to speak when they were interrupted by Ducky, who appeared breathlessly next to her. "Something wrong, Ducky?"
"I just got off the phone with a friend of mine and I asked him about the prescription cocktail that this woman was given." He said between breaths, he turned to the stairs and glared. "I need to go to the gym more often."
"Ducky." Gibbs said in his 'focus' voice.
"It was a very risky cocktail for someone suffering from postpartum depression or for anybody for that matter and is only given to people with schizophrenia."
"He didn't say anything about schizophrenia." Gibbs comment, folding his arms across his chest. This case was becoming more and more entangled by the minute and he hadn't had nearly enough coffee to handle it yet.
Ziva took a deep breath and she connected the pieces. "She had been missing for a day before he filled out the missing persons report four days ago, she hasn't taken her medication in two days or possibly three days when she was on the pier, could it have been some kind of psychotic episode from not taking her medications?"
Ducky frowned and bit his lip as he considered her words. "It's possible, highly possible." He said proudly as a smile broke on his face. "I will have to get a hold of her medical records and she will need a medical evaluation once we find her."
"I will find her medical records." Ziva said and turning on her feet, towards her desk leaving the older men standing in the hallway without allowing them another word in edge wise because she didn't want them to ask her what was wrong or if she was okay.
The men watched her and Gibbs frowned. "You're worried about her?" Ducky asked.
Gibbs nodded. "She's . . ." He couldn't find the words to describe what was going through her mind. The emotional roller coaster was slowly getting out of control.
"An emotional wreck." Stated Duck and they shared a nod. "Hopefully this case will close soon and things will get back to normal."
Gibbs shook his head she wasn't even this bad when they saved her from Somalia. "I am not so sure about that." He said as his cell phone rang, it was the director. "Yeah Gibbs, I'm on my way."
They shared a look as Gibbs headed up the stairs towards the director's office and Ducky sighed as he turned to take the elevator back to autopsy. He caught a glance of the squad room to see Ziva with a phone pressed to her ear and she was typing on her computer furiously and her partner sat at his desk, with the phone pressed to his own ear and a glance towards her. It took a moment before she looked up to meet his gaze and Ziva released a small smile, before glaring at her computer screen and giving it a swift whack with her hand. "I think everything will be fine." He said to himself as the silver box opened for him to enter.
