If you don't like Ziva, save some time and just skip this chapter. You've been warned. NCIS is a big elephant, and everyone is feeling their own little piece of the large beastie while blindfolded - so remember that you and I might not be feeling the same leg or tail or whatever. If we were all writing about the same few square inches of elephant, we'd miss the rest of the magnificent animal. In other words, if your part of the elephant feels like TIVA, great. Mine doesn't.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and a few PM'ers with whom I enjoyed batting ideas around. Thanks to Scouse, Binkie, and SASundance especially. Lots of warm, gooey, delicious chocolate brownies on their way to all who reviewed, PM, and enjoyed reading along so far!

Disclaimer: Just borrowing them for a little fun.

Chapter 12

Ziva had been expecting Gibbs, and had a pot of strong coffee ready for him when he appeared at her apartment door. He took the steaming cup and pointed to the dining room table. Settling down across from each other, Ziva jumped in without waiting, "Gibbs, this is ridiculous! Why is everyone so upset over something that happened weeks ago? It is done, nothing happened. It should be best left alone. All it is doing now is causing trouble, yes?" She finished with a dismissive wave of her small hand.

"What's causing me trouble, Special Agent David, is your lack of understanding about how serious what you and McGee did. You abandoned your partner out in the field without backup. And I haven't heard anything yet from you so far that makes any sense about why you did it. Explain."

Shaking her head in exasperation, Ziva tried again, "This happened weeks ago, Gibbs. Nothing happened. It was a quiet neighborhood, a simple assignment. I do not understand what the problem is! How did Internal Affairs find out about it anyway? Tony maybe sent them something secretly rather than come to us? Is not that a little childish?"

Eyes narrowed, Gibbs was having a hard time trying to prioritize everything that needed addressing in what he was hearing. Studying her, he wondered if she questioned her behavior at all. Was she really clueless, or just aggressively avoiding looking at her motives? Or worse, did she simply not care?

"DiNozzo said he didn't, and I believe him. He thought you were joking - he didn't believe you'd really do such a thing. Trusted you. And, even if he had filed a complaint, he was well within his rights to do so. If I'd found out this before IA had, we wouldn't be having this conversation because I'd have fired your ass for doing such a stupid thing! What were you thinking?"

Alarmed, Ziva stared at him. He was serious. "I do not understand. We are all here. Nothing happened. Why is this…?"

Gibbs cut her off, "Don't start with that again, Ziva. You're a fully qualified field agent. Before that, you served your mandatory two years in the Israeli military. The concept of teamwork and protecting your partner should be so deeply ground in you by now that you have no defense for claiming ignorance about what you and McGee did. So cut the b.s. and explain yourself."

Ziva fiddled with the cup in her hands, trying to buy time to come up with something that Gibbs would accept. It was ridiculous that this was coming up so long after it happened. She knew Tony thought it'd been a joke, and she had had no intention of ever correcting him. He had deserved it after going on and on, incessantly rambling on about movies (films, she corrected herself snarkily), characters the residents resembled, actors who played their parts, the comparison between crime dramas and the shooting and the possible motives of the residents who might be involved, the…she realized she was getting angry and upset again just thinking of the non-stop yapping Tony had engaged in that day. Throwing up her hands, she snapped, "He just would not shut up, Gibbs! You know how he is – everything has to be tied to a movie, a plot, a 'metaphor', anything he can come up with just to hear himself talk. It was intolerable! I could not stand to listen to him for one more minute!"

"You did it because he pissed you off?" He rose, moving away from her before he did something he'd regret. Taking a deep breath to calm down, he stopped several feet away from the table and stared angrily at her, "Why didn't you take a break? Offer to switch jobs with him? Why didn't you simply ask him to cut back on the commentary? Why didn't you just suck it up and do your job? Why'd you skip over every option but the one that should never have crossed your mind, much less acted on? Why did you choose that particular action, David?" He was shouting at the end as he thought of what she had done.

Angry, Ziva yelled back, "Because I wanted him to shut up! He never grows up! He is like a…clueless child that has no awareness of what goes on around him, who has no idea how annoying his behavior is. He is selfish and someone needed to…to wake him up and make him see that!"

Gibbs leaned over the table, hands braced on the table top, "And you decided to step up and take care of the matter yourself. Is that it?" He glared at her, madder than he'd been in a long time.

Tipping her chin up in and looking faintly satisfied she said, "Someone had to do it."

Glowering at her, Gibbs wondered if she realized what she had just admitted. Turning away, he refilled his coffee cup, then sat back down across from her. Quietly, he said, "DiNozzo is one of the best agents I've ever worked with. He's a professional down to his core. You see what he wants you to see, and you, after all these years working with him, have never seen past his act? I find that hard to believe. You're too skilled yourself in the arts of deception and camouflage to not recognize it in others. Why are you trying to sell that line of crap to me? "

"He is a federal agent. He should act like one, and not like some idiot. Why does he do it? Why can he not act his age? If he is the professional you say he is, why does he not act like one?"

Leaning forward, he asked her intently, "A better question is why you aren't asking why he feels he needs to play the fool when he's with his teammates?"

Ziva stared at him, flummoxed at the question. "What?"

Raising an eyebrow at her, Gibbs replied cryptically, "Exactly."

Draining the cup of coffee, he set it down on the table. "Apart from throwing a temper-tantrum when you got irritated, you haven't provided me with one reason, good or bad, why you left your partner without backup. You will explain yourself to my satisfaction before I will even consider letting you set foot back in the bullpen and on my team."

Frustrated, Ziva hissed, "I only work with the best, Gibbs, you know that. He hardly measures up to you."

"Because he's a cop? And you were trained by the best Mossad has to offer?" He raised his hand to deliver a head-slap of epic proportions, but she was seated too far away to deliver it. "What makes you think you're even remotely qualified to make that sort of judgment?"

"Mossad training is known to be the best there is, Gibbs."

Correcting her, Gibbs snapped, "Mossad believes its training is the best there is for what Mossad does, which is spying and assassination. Its training in criminal investigation is virtually non-existent. And I am qualified to make that judgment since I trained you." Tapping the table between the two of them, he continued, "A spy or a cop - which of those do you think would be a better fit working for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, David?"

Ziva opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. A spy was supposed to find things out, even better than a cop could with all those ridiculous rules that got cases thrown out if not followed 'just right'. His question wasn't fair.

"Your training and experience as a criminal investigator are no match for DiNozzo's. I've never heard DiNozzo claim even once that his skills and experience are better than yours because he understands that it's a mix of skills, talent, and experience that gets the job done the best way possible. You better think hard about that concept." Leaning forward, he told her, "I don't know where your sense of superiority comes from, Ziva, but you better lose it. A good agent is assertiveness and confident, but not arrogant."

Ziva stared at him with an open mouth, speechless, unable to believe what she was hearing.

Glancing at his watch, and his patience gone, Gibbs decided to make his expectations crystal clear to her, "If I think there's a problem with DiNozzo, I will deal with it. You will not."

"DiNozzo is my Senior Field Agent. I don't have multiple SFAs. If he gives you an order, you will carry it out. Insubordination will not be tolerated. As the team's Senior Field Agent, he does not need to explain himself to you, or justify his orders."

"You made the decision once to force me to choose between DiNozzo and you. You might want to remember what happened as a result. I only pick the best for my team, and you're rapidly moving yourself out of that category. Getting pissed off at your partner and abandoning him without backup is inexcusable. You better come up with something that will convince me you're worth salvaging, or you will find yourself off my team."

Rising, he left the apartment. Ziva stared after him, surprised, incensed, and afraid.

-000-

Gibbs made his way into the exam room with a fresh cup of coffee in hand. "Any results yet?"

Ducky glanced at Tony who had been dozing, and answered, "Preliminary MRI results on his knee should be coming soon. I suspect Anthony will be discharged rather than admitted assuming he has someone to keep an eye on him for the night. There are only minor indicators of a concussion as a result of Abigail striking him, but the doctors want to be cautious. There's a laceration on the side of his head that's been stitched up, and he will have a spectacular shiner by morning. Relieving her of some of the armament the team has provided her for protection while out and about might be prudent, Jethro."

Gibbs nodded while looking Tony over. His agent was stretched out on the exam table with his right leg propped up and a large ice pack mounded over the injured knee. Tony was holding another ice pack to the side of his head while watching the two of them speak. His right eye was swollen almost shut and was already showing signs of the shiner he'd have soon.

"You holding up, DiNozzo?"

With a lopsided smile, Tony gave Gibbs a thumbs up. "Wish the doc would hurry up so I can get out of here."

With nice timing, a new doctor appeared in the doorway. "Mr. DiNozzo?"

Tony waved at him, and the man entered. His scrubs were rumpled, and he looked tired. "Dr. George Hersh, radiologist." The doctor shook hands as Tony introduced Gibbs and Ducky. Leaning against the cabinets along one side of the room, the doctor reported on his findings, "The good news is that the initial MRI scan show the ACL and other ligaments and tendons in the knee area are intact. The kneecap is badly bruised, as is an area about six centimeters across on the lower end of the femur right above the knee joint. There is concurrent soft tissue damage to the entire area as well. As you can tell, bone bruises are quite painful, and they can take a while to heal. I strongly recommend you find a good orthopedic specialist. The area will need to be monitored, and you'll need extensive PT to regain full motion in the knee joint. I can recommend a few specialists if you like."

Ducky asked, "So, no surgery is needed on the knee itself?"

"Not that I can see at this point. Mostly the injury needs rest and the tincture of time," the doctor answered. "A second MRI should be done in a few days to make sure nothing new pops up." Pushing himself up from the cabinet he was leaning on, the doctor asked, "Any questions?"

When no one spoke, the doctor took his leave, saying he'd let the ER doctor know the findings. Ducky followed him out, answering his ringing phone as he went. Relieved, Tony gave a big sigh of relief. "That's the first good news I've heard all day….er, night. Easing himself up, he asked, "Anything new?"

Gibbs only gave a slight head-shake. Sipping his coffee, he sank down on a chair, "No. We're off rotation until Monday. Vance is bringing in a TAD to cover while we figure out where to go with this mess. You'll be following leads and doing the research at your desk on any cases we pick up until you're off medical leave."

Glancing at Gibbs, Tony asked, "Any idea at all how Vance will handle this?"

"Not yet. IA will be looking into the mess Abby got herself into tonight. They'll need a day or two to get that nailed down." He was waiting for Tony to revisit the forensic scientist's current situation, and as soon as he opened his mouth, Gibbs said, "Don't. She dug her hole and jumped in after she was told to have no contact with any of the team. No excuse for what she did, and no excuse for assaulting you." Glaring at Tony, he followed with, "Don't make me repeat myself, DiNozzo."

Swallowing his words, Tony slumped back, momentarily defeated. Lying back down, he groaned inwardly. How had things fallen so completely apart in such a short period of time? He never imagined Abby would lose it as badly as she had. Why hadn't she at least given him a chance to explain? And not believing him - that hurt most of all.

Ducky reappeared, "The nurse will be in shortly with a temporary brace for your knee, Anthony. After the swelling has gone down, you'll need to be fitted with one better sized. I know an excellent orthopedic physician here in town I can put you in touch with would take superb care of you and get you back up on your feet as soon as possible. And, you will need crutches for a while, my dear boy, to take the weight off that joint. The more you fail to follow instructions, the longer you'll be out of commission, so you may want to actually behave yourself this time." He patted Tony's arm affectionately. "The paperwork to discharge you will be in shortly also. You will need to stay with Jethro tonight, or he with you to monitor for a concussion, though you may have gotten lucky this time and escaped without one."

With an uncomfortable expression, Ducky looked at Gibbs, "That was Mr. Palmer calling, Jethro. Apparently, the local constabulary's facilities are overflowing with guests, so they have released several on their own recognizance, including Abigail. She called him for a ride home, since she apparently thinks you would refuse a similar request. I asked him to call and let me know how the girl is doing after he escorts her home." With a frown, he observed, "I do hope she takes time to reflect on how she got herself into her current situation before she does herself another misdeed."

Gibbs ran his hand over his face, wearily, thinking back to the brief exchange he'd had with Abby at the jail facility….