*Gibbs POV*
Gibbs shook his head as he watched the door shut behind Tony. What was wrong with these people? Tony's dad, Kort's... well, whoever had done whatever to Kort... He glanced at Ziva. Her father... Gibbs shook his head. He had to stop this. Dwelling on the past wasn't going to change anything. He scrubbed both hands over his face trying to banish the thoughts. Finally he he blinked a few times and turned to face Ziva. The odd prickling sensation returned.
"Are you alright?"
He thought about her question. Was he alright? He was pissed, was what what he was. Other than that? He shook his head again and ignored her question. He and answered with one of his own instead. "What's up David?"
She hesitated before answering and Gibbs would have missed it if he hadn't been paying close attention. He shook his head before she could speak and pointed. "Basement."
*Ziva POV*
Following Gibbs down the stairs Ziva pondered everything. She felt like an intruder. What had she interrupted? Was it important or merely personal? Was Tony okay? He had looked... off... when she had arrived. He had recovered quickly but still something nagged at her. Was it anything to do with Abby?
"Bourbon?"
Ziva blinked a few times to clear her mind. Gibbs was holding out a mason jar with a few shots of bourbon in it. She took it and bit her lip as she thought about where to begin. Gibbs sat down on chair and was inspecting her. She felt decidedly uncomfortable under his gaze.
"So what's up?"
*Gibbs POV*
In many ways Tony was easier. Even if he didn't know all of Tony's past he knew how to help him. Ziva was more unpredictable; better at hiding what she was feeling from him than Tony was. Mossad, he reminded himself. Seemingly from nowhere anger at Ziva's father began to fill him. He blinked a few times trying not to let the anger show.
Gibbs raised an eyebrow as she took the glass but didn't say anything. You didn't push Ziva if wanted any information. She told you precisely what she wanted to and nothing she didn't. The more you pushed, the less you'd get. He retrieved a dusty saw-horse and casually wiped it off. He gave Ziva a small nod as he went to retrieve another for himself. He didn't bother dusting it before sitting.
"So what's up?"
Ziva hesitated again. He got the impression she didn't know where she wanted to begin. Gibbs inspected his own bourbon while he thought. It was times like this when he wished he was 'magic', like Abby insisted. It'd make things a hell of a lot easier, he thought to himself.
"Bad case," he commented while specifically not looking at her.
"Indeed."
"Makes you appreciate those close to you all the more."
No response. Gibbs frowned. He risked a glance out of the corner of his eyes. Ziva was still inspecting her drink.
"Been a while since you've been here," he prompted her.
There was a small nod. He doubted the nod was even for him. She seemed lost in her own world.
"It has been a long time," she said quietly.
He grunted to knowledge her response, cautiously keeping an eye on her.
"Perhaps too long," she stated distracted.
He resisted the urge to look at her more directly and took a swing of his drink.
The very air seemed to change. Still tense but there was forced lightness to it now. He frowned trying to interpret it.
"I think it might be nice to spend time outside of work." He finally looked at her more directly. She waved a hand dismissively.
"I mean, maybe we should spend outside of work as a... unit. All of us."
She finally turned to look at him more directly.
Gibbs mind worked furiously trying to decipher the meaning and the reasons behind such a statement.
"Sounds like you have ideas already," he said buying time to process everything.
"Nothing concrete yet. I was just thinking... It might be nice... You know..."
He grunted in acknowledgement again buying more time to figure things out.
I'm missing something important here, he thought. Dammit. He'd been so wrapped up in the case he hadn't thought about how the team might need him to be there for them. Tony should have been his first clue. If Ziva made a point to show up here then she had to have some bigger reason than spending time. And suddenly he wanted to head-slap himself. He was team leader, they were his responsibility. He should have known... It was part of the job. Dammit.
"I was thinking we need to do... things... together. So we reinforce that we can trust each other. I mean... You know..." Ziva growled, apparently at a loss for words.
Gibbs pondered the clues he had. Team. Trust. Together. Reinforce... what exactly? And suddenly it hit him. Closeness. Togetherness. Family. Gibbs almost growled. Someone should definitely head-slapped him.
"You know you can talk to me about anything if you need to," he asked quietly.
No response. Dammit. Yep, he definitely deserved a head-slap.
"Ziva." He waited until she looked at him. "I... We..." He faltered and ran a hand through his hair as he shook his head. "We care. We are family. You know that, right?"
Hesitation. She covered it fast but it had been there. He should have noticed sooner. The demons she carried wouldn't go away any quicker than the ones Tony carried would. She hid hers better and he'd been lulled into a false sense of security by her defenses. And he had known better too. Fuck. And suddenly he realized the basement where she'd killed her own brother was probably not the place he should have recommended for this conversation. Fuck.
*Ziva POV*
She did her best to ignore her senses. The sawdust was the same. The vague varnish scent. The smell of some kind of adhesive. Her mind drifted to another time she had been here. Images of Ari flashed through her mind. She almost growled out loud. Not. Now. I can't think of that right now. Later, she assuaged herself.
"We care. We are family. You know that, right?"
She hesitated. She knew she did. She did her best to cover it.
"Up."
She looked at Gibbs questioningly. He had his hand out to help her up. She ignored his hand and stood on her own.
"Upstairs. Now."
Ziva crossed her arms over her chest.
"Dammit, Ziva."
Something had change, what she didn't know.
"Please?"
She narrowed her eyes. She was confused but Gibbs seemed insistant that they leave the basement. Ziva was at a loss as to why and unwilling to co-operate at this time without a valid reason. "No," she told him simply. "Why?"
*Gibbs POV*
Gibbs shook his head. She was being stubborn... When is she ever any other way? He shook his head again. Ziva was nothing if she wasn't... well, Ziva. He knew a losing battle when he saw one. Sitting back down he motioned for her to do the same. She complied.
Gibbs ran his hand through his hair again. "You know we're your family, too, right?"
She nodded. Once.
Gibbs almost shook his head again. Why didn't I see this before? It's my job to know these things...
"What are you thinking?"
He turned to Ziva, honestly surprised by the question and unwilling to answer it.
"Just thinking living room might be more comfortable."
"Bull. If you do not want to tell me then say that. Do not lie to me Gibbs. My father did that."
He winced. He couldn't help it, she was was right. She deserved the truth.
"I was thinking asking you to open up in a place where you shot your brother was wrong," he told her honestly.
*Ziva POV*
Ziva blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected Gibbs to be so forthcoming in his answer. Truth be told Ari was exactly what she was thinking about. What she thought about everytime she came down here. How much did Gibbs know and how much did he suspect?
"I'd be dead if you hadn't acted when you did."
She pushed the emotions away like she had been trained and sat up straighter. "I did what had to be done."
"Don't, Ziva."
"Don't what," she asked him honestly confused.
"Don't push it aside like it didn't happen. He was your brother."
"He was not my brother Gibbs. My brother would not do what he had done."
"Yes. He would have. No matter what happened he was your brother first."
Ziva shrugged. "He did what he thought was right, I did what I thought was right."
*Gibbs POV*
Gibbs shook his head slowly. He really didn't want to be having this conversation. He was saved from discussing it any further by Ziva suddenly changing topics.
"I was just thinking it might be nice to do things outside of work."
Gibbs ran his hands over his face. As much as he wanted to he couldn't just drop it. If she was serious about getting everyone together outside of work that conversation could wait. They had to get through this first.
*Abby POV*
Abby trudged out of the elevator and down the hall towards her lab. She hated knowing there were people that hurt children that badly. She hated not being able to talk to anyone about anything. She hated the wounded look on Tony's face when she hadn't been able to tell him anything because of her promise to Kort. She hated keeping secrets. Mostly she hated not being able to fix anything.
Abby stopped suddenly. This wasn't right. Tony was always here before her. She glanced both directions. Nope, still no Tony. Slightly let down Abby began walking to her lab again. She liked routine. Liked knowing what to expect. Maybe Tony was just running late. That's probably it, she assured herself.
She stopped as soon as she reached the door. A white, nondescript envelope was taped to the door. Abby frowned before carefully removing the envelope. Opening it cautiously she pulled out two rectangles of paper and a folded note. Concert tickets. To Plastic Death. Her mouth dropped open briefly before she smiled. She stopped almost as soon as she began. Who left the tickets? She opend the note and read it as she opened the door to her lab.
She shook her head lightly. Of course they were from Tony. She had to thank him when she saw him. Tony was... Abby stopped short as she entered. Tony was... here.
"Uh, hi," she said surprised.
*Tony POV*
Tony stood the second he heard the door open. Now or never, he told himself, now or never. Get this right, DiNozzo. He watched quietly as Abby entered the lab. She was too busy reading his note to notice him. Tony did he best to push the nervousness away while he waited for Abby to look up.
"Uh, hi."
Now or never, he reminded himself. Is it too late to pick never? "Hey." Smooth, real smooth there...
"Um..."
Get it together, DiNozzo. He took a deep breath and plastered on one of his best smiles. Walking foward he took one of her hands and bowed deeply. "My beautiful lady, if you have no other plans for this weekend would greatly appreciate the honor of your company."
"You are so weird Tony."
"Um, okay. Not quite what I was going for but... I guess..." Weird? Was that good? Bad?
Abby smiled. "Yes, weird. In a good way, though."
Tony almost sighed in relief.
Abby's smile faltered briefly.
"About the other day at the hospital..."
"You don't have to explain anything Abbs."
Abby shook her head and held a hand up. "I made a promise. That's why I couldn't talk to you. I wanted to Tony. I still want to, I just can't."
"Hey, no worries. It's fine Abbs. You don't have to explain."
"Yes, Tony, I do. If not for you then for me. I hate secrets but I can't break my promise either."
Tony put an arm around Abby and pulled her into a hug. "You tell me whatever you can and it'll be fine, promise." Comfort Abby... This he could do... He was good at this. Was he curious about what had happened at the hospital? Of course. Was he still pissed at Kort? Definitely. Right now, though, Abby took precedence. Abby leaned against him and hugged him back.
"You really are my favorite DiNozzo. You know that, right?"
"I'm your only DiNozzo," he reminded her.
"All the more reason you should be my favorite."
Tony smiled. He took a deep breath and pulled away from Abby slightly until he could see her face. "Actually, I was kind of wondering if, maybe, you might want to make it a date."
One of Abby's eyebrows rose as she watched him. He resisted the urge to ramble or explain it away with some kind of humorous remark. Have to take the leap sometime, he told himself...
*Tim POV*
Tim smiled slightly as he placed the thank you card on Ziva's desk. It was nice of her to go to so much effort on such short notice. He had wanted to do something for her in return but hadn't been able to come up with any ideas. Reese finally suggested an open-ended gift card for a full day at the spa. Without a specific 'use by' date Ziva could use it whenever she wanted and if anything came up the gift card wouldn't be wasted. Satisfied, Tim sat at his desk and waited for the rest of the team to show.
*Ziva POV*
Ziva strode into the bullpen, the same as she did every morning. The conversation with Gibbs last night had been... 'difficult'. A lot of painful memories better left buried had been brought up. She had to admit the talk had made her feel a little better. Still, she really didn't want to be here right now. She wasn't in the mood to act like everything was fine and well when she felt like this.
She walked to her desk, nodded once at McGee and sat. As she reached to turn her computer on she noticed a card on her desk and stared at it quizzically. Picking it up she inspected it before finally opening it. As she read the card she began to smile. Ziva placed the card on the bulletin board by her desk. It was actually the first 'thank you' card she had ever gotten. She realized, despite her best efforts to keep everyone out, maybe she had failed. And maybe, just maybe, that was alright this time.
Gibbs words replayed in her head. 'We care. We are family. You know that, right?' She had not thought of the team as 'family' before. Family had meant something different to her than the team meant. Perhaps she was finally starting to understand that not all families were the same. Family, she tested it. Yes, she thought, maybe they were a family after all.
*Gibbs POV*
Gibbs paused on the stairs examining his team. Tim was typing at his computer with a faint smile. Ziva looked like she was doing better. Gibbs turned when the elevator binged and watch Tony walking to his desk. The smile on Tony's face told Gibbs Tony's trip to Abby this morning had gone well. Maybe, just maybe, things might work out.
Were they still troubled? Probably. Was there still a lot to work out? You bet ya. Would they make it through everything? You're damn right they would. Troubled they might be, but they were also his. His team. One corner of Gibbs mouth quirked upward in a half-smile briefly before he finally descended.
*Kort POV*
He stared at the card in his hand for a long time before looking back up at the building in front of him. He could leave again... He'd been by here twice over the last three days. It had taken him almost a week after she'd given him the card before he even decided to try this. So far he just couldn't force himself to do it. What was the harm in going in to inspect the place? He could always turn around and leave...
"Damn it," Kort muttered under his breath.
He'd talked to Abby only once since that ill fated night. It was easier that it had been the first time but still not great. He still wasn't sure he was ready to open up to anyone else but he'd promised her. She'd kept her promises to him and fair was fair... He rolled his eyes. Fair? Since when did fair matter... Still...
Could open up to a complete stranger? What was the alternative? Continue with the way things were now? Nope. Something had to give somewhere. With a heavy sigh Kort finally got out of the car, hesitated once more, then headed for the building before he could change his mind again.
A/N: Questions, comments, and as always, reviews are very welcome. I have this very quiet plot bunny pestering me to continue this with another story but nothing's really solid yet. Since I'm still mid-story of 12 other stories I'm going to try to push it off a little. But usually it's whichever story has the loudest plot bunny so who knows? *shrug*