I don't have rights to much of anything. Especially not NCIS or affiliating characters.
Woah! Guys slow down! I did mean this wasn't a death fic! Promise it's not going to be one either! Thank you for the honest reviews out there I did not perceive them as b***h-ey or anything but helpful so thanks a million!
Wow more than three weeks since my last update I am so sorry! I have some pretty good excuses but I won't bore you. Next week I can't update I'll be lost in the wilderness with no CPU anywhere so :,( oh wait that was last week! Gotta get on this!
Anyone know if this Cote de Pablo thing is going to blow over? If not, I'll be devastated. :'( Are they just trying to get publicity? Please say it is a mean, mean, MEAN publicity stunt...
Now to the story!
In the silence that followed the doctor into the room, came a schoolgirl like giggle behind everyone. The doctor's face changed from sympathy to confusion and surprise. The entire room turned to see Ziva giggle again, high pitched, bubbly and completely unnatural. She twirled her hair around her finger, smiling at everyone like she had a huge surprise. Gibbs stared, his gut churning. Ziva hiccupped eliciting another fit of giggles.
"David!" Gibbs tried to quiet her and she clamped a hand over her mouth, keeping the sound inside. Gibbs refocused his attention to the doctor.
"Mr. Dinozzo is expected to pull through. His excursion today pulled some stitches but he is going to be perfectly fine. Wounds in the placement of his are usually very disconcerting, the loss of vision was actually due to a panic attack Mr. Dinozzo was experiencing from the sensation of his pulled stitches. This time around he should make a full recovery as long as he remains in complete bed rest until his stitches are completely healed." No sooner had the doctor finished speaking than Ziva's hand fell off her mouth and she outright laughed, causing Gibbs to spin. Her head was thrown back and she had no control whatsoever over her actions. McGee approached her from the other side.
"Ziva? Are you OK?" He proceeded with trepidation, like poking a bear with a stick. Ziva continued to laugh but she was staring right over his head.
"McGee you have fairies flying over your head!" She burst into more giggles. McGee stopped and looked questioningly at Gibbs who merely shrugged. The doctor however seemed to be concerned, picking up her chart and scanning it. He walked over to her I.V. line and read the prescription on the bag.
"How long has Ms. David been on this dosage of painkillers?"
"Since yesterday."
"It seems as though she is having a slight overdose. Lemme get on fixing that." He turned to leave.
"No! I am fine! Leave me alone!" Ziva screamed after him. Her eyes wild her skin pale and hair flying every which way giving her the appearance of a crazy lady. Gibbs looked back at her alarmed. Once the doctor was out of sight she calmed a little. She gazed drowsily at Gibbs.
"Gibbsssss. Your tho nice thoo me." She slurred at lisped her words. Her eyes were blinking incredibly slowly.
"You are thoo McGee." She beamed up at him. Upon seeing Abby she giggled again.
"Hey Abby, geth thoogether with McGee yeth?" She giggled after, Abby's face turned crimson and so did McGee's."You're so in lofe guths." She eyed them. Then looking away at Gibbs.
"I lofe all you guths so much." Tears started to well up in her eyes. No one moved in the room. The strangeness of what was unfolding in front of them was appalling. Gibbs patted her shoulder awkwardly.
"How long have you been high Zivers?" He chuckled slightly under his breath. Ziva, high, this was a funny concept she was sure not to live down. Big eyes looked up at him.
"I am noth sure Gibbssss. I felth whizzy yethterday. Am I high?" Tears were left forgotten on the cheeks as she was silent in deep thought.
"My thongue feelths thwollen." Ziva said lost in thought again her fingers absent-mindedly touching and prodding her tongue. Everyone in the room looked on with curiosity and complete amazement. She giggled again and waved at McGee.
"The fairies are sitting on your head McGee!" Her speech returned to somewhat clear, normal speech but still had underlying changes in it. The doctor returned to the room carrying another bag of painkillers and swapping them out.
"Don't be surprised if she stays 'high' for sometime longer, her body is not ridding itself of the drug like it should, so I switched her to a different medication which should not produce the same side effects." He left the room without another word, Ziva glaring after him.
"I do not like him." She whined to Gibbs who sat in the chair next to her, slumped and beaten. For the next hour Ziva's speech drifted in and out of being slurred to normal and she even broke out in song a couple times. By the time Tony was wheeled back into the room, she was twirling a paper clip in her fingers. By this time Vance had returned to HQ and McGee had taken Abby down for some dinner. Ziva had finally lapsed into silence, the start of withdrawal exhausting her features.
Tony opened his eyes to see a silent Gibbs watching Ziva twirl a paper clip in her fingers.
"You aren't going to do anything with that are you?" He mumbled, his voice feeling sore. Both heads snapped up and Ziva bent the paper clip open.
"What? With this?" She said, smiling maliciously. He cringed. Gibbs stood, walking over to Tony.
"How-ya feelin?"
"I'm not dead?" Tony looked astonished and completely 100% honest. Ziva burst out laughing yet again, apparently not all drugs had yet left her body,
"You thought you were dead! You're so over-actormatic Tony."
"Dramatic Ziva it's over-dramatic." Tony said, relieved that he was indeed not dead. They sat in silence for a moment, before the doctors busied themselves checking vitals and other necessary things, leaving Gibbs and Ziva to watch. When the room cleared, Tony mumbled something about being tired and promptly fell asleep. Ziva felt her body pulling in the same direction but resisted for a moment.
"Make sure he-he is OK Gibbs?" Her reply was a curt nod followed by a step towards her but beyond that she was unsure because her eyes fluttered shut and she was asleep.
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In the morning, Ziva completely returned to her sober, hardened state and was demanding updates on the case. She apparently had no recollection of more than the past twenty-four hours, since she was emitted to be precise and was not only confused but very, very annoyed. Gibbs wiped his eyes; she had been interrogating him for hours now.
"He's not gonna roll Zi. We don't even have enough to pin it on him."
"Then give him something he wants!" Ziva was almost yelling, nurses repeatedly telling them to be quiet because it was unhealthy for Ms. David to get so worked up, but she just could not let it go. "It's one of those mutualistic relationships where you give him something to gain his trust." She was pulling at straws and she knew it. "What's the only thing in the world that will turn him?" She pondered for a moment.
"You, Zivers. He wants you dead and that just can't happen." Gibbs's voice was quiet and firm. They sat in silence for a moment.
"What if we theatered it so they thought they were going to successfully kill me but then you catch them in the act before anything actually happens." Ziva gave Gibbs big eyes, and as much as he hated to admit it, she had a valid point.
"No, not gonna happen. First, the word is staged, and secondly, we don't need a repeat of two days ago." He tried to be stern and dissuade her but his voice had the unmistakable waver that Ziva had learned meant that he wasn't completely solid on his argument. Feeling this, she pushed a little harder.
"It is either this or they walk." Ziva said and Gibbs knew she was right. Even if Abby connected the residue on the hair to Ziva's bomb, there was still an organization that was after blood, Ziva's blood and that wasn't going to happen. "And besides, if you plan it you can intervene whereas a surprise, you have no control." Gibbs was falling fast. He hated the idea but he understood it was the only way to tag these guys to the murder and bombing. He sighed.
"Nothing is going to happen." She said it so confidently that Gibbs was almost inclined to believe her. Then he realized how he could use this to his advantage.
"You can't do anything until you are discharged, by a doctor, when they say it is OK, not you." This comment evoked a dirty look from Ziva. But beggars can't be choosers right? She contemplated it for a long moment.
"Deal." He smiled; satisfied that she had actually obeyed his order. The two hours of questioning now left her completely pale and spent, exhaustion pooling under her eyes.
"You have got to be kidding me!" They heard a voice from the other side of the room piqué up. "She is not going to be lead to her death as we watch; you can't seriously be considering this Gibbs!" Tony hadn't spoken a word all morning and quite frankly they thought he was still asleep.
"You won't be watching Dinozzo; you'll be staying right here." Tony opened his mouth to object but closed it abruptly as Gibbs gave him an icy stare.
"She's been through enough Gibbs, don't let her do this." Tony said as he tipped his head back, resting his eyes closed.
"I like it as much as you do; it is seriously the only way."
"I can't let you do this..." Tony attempted to swing his legs out of bed, his eyes squished tightly together, his teeth clenched, and a sharp intake of air clearly telling everyone in the room how incapable he was of this particular task. His movements were short and choppy, moving very little. Gibbs was instantly right beside him.
"Get your ass in bed Dinozzo." Tony shook his head and continued to crawl out of bed snail's pace. Gibbs held his ground forcing the agent to stop, unable to move around him. Tony kept trying to wiggle to a place where he could move freely to no avail. His sighed in frustration after a few moments.
"Get out of my way."
"Why?"
"'Cause I need to stop you." Tony said almost smirking at how funny that sounded. Just then a nurse decided to walk in.
"What are you doing Mr. Dinozzo?" She rushed over starting to lift his feet and swing them in the bed.
"I think this man needs to be sedated, he won't sit still and has already ripped his stitches once from getting up too early." Gibbs looked hard at Tony. Tony's eyes bulged. He looked incredulously between Gibbs and the nurse.
"No! No I'm good!" He rested his head back. "See? I'm relaxed!" Tony looked fearful that Gibbs would actually sedate him.
"Sedation might be a little extreme as we only use it as a last resort, but we can cuff him. The restraints are cloth, Velcro to be exact, and are minimally invasive. The only way he could do real damage was to pull for hours on end." The nurse explained to Gibbs. He nodded, looking at Tony, all the while Tony was trying to prove that he was calm.
"See? I'm not moving." He at stiff and straight like a kid playing robot. "Calm as a cucumber! We do not need restraints! I am totally fine! Not going anywhere! Nope! I am good! Perfectly happy right here!" He flashed an award winning smile.
"Yeah let's try that." Gibbs bore his eyes into Tony's. Tony huffed and crossed his arms.
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Today was the day Ziva was leaving the hospital. She would go back to her house and live appealingly by herself. A surveillance van would be posted a block down keeping tabs 24/7 and she would sit and wait. Gibbs would regularly visit her. At a predictable time every day. And create as much ease for her attackers as possible. Gibbs also planned on spending long amounts of time at Ziva's, busing himself enough to take up time and not be obvious. This would narrow the time Mr. Alan's crew would have to snag her and heighten the reaction time of Gibbs team. Gibbs sat and went over all the facts and safety implements in place, and still felt uneasy. Ziva walked out of the bathroom and over to Gibbs, tying her hair in a high ponytail at the same time.
"I am ready to go home now." She said. Finalizing the tie around her curls. Gibbs eyes her skeptically.
"You sure you're ok with this? It's not too late to go back." Gibbs tried. He really did.
"Not going to happen Gibbs." Ziva smiled at him and walked over to Tony who was icily silent.
"See you 3:00 Thursday." She placed a gentle kiss on the top of his head. Another odd act for Ziva but neither Gibbs nor Tony acknowledged it. Tony nodded, glaring at the wall. Ziva sighed and walked back over to Gibbs by the door.
"Do not worry Tony. Nothing is going to happen." Upon having no response, Ziva glanced at Gibbs and left the room.
NcisNcisNcisNcisNcisNcisNcisNcis
Gibbs helped Ziva back into her own apartment, unpacking the many things that had been temporarily moved into the hospital. Once finished, Gibbs returned to the kitchen to find a pale exhausted Ziva nursing an icy glass of water, condensation dripping down the side ad pooling in a ring unnoticed at the table. Her fingers were sliding rhythmically up and down, while she constantly turned the glass ever so slightly.
"Nervous?" Gibbs asked, filling his own glass at the sink. His voice startled Ziva out of her trance like state.
"What? Oh no. Just lost in thought..." She trailed off, watching Gibbs proceed around the table and sit across from her.
"So when do you think they're going to make their move?" Ziva asked. Gibbs could see that her shoulders were tense.
"I dunno Zivers. When they feel like it I guess." Gibbs tried to keep his voice steady, calm. "When'd you take your Tylenol last?" She glared at him momentarily.
"Long enough."
"What does that mean?."
"I do not need to take another couple right now." She took another sip of water and Gibbs watched as she held it in her mouth for a few moments before swallowing completely.
"How's the nausea?" He asked softly. She looked up at him caught off guard.
"Nothing I cannot handle Gibbs." She was adamant.
"Never said you couldn't Zivers." Gibbs took a long draw from his glass of water. Her face turned a slight pink and she looked down. She fiddled with her glass some more.
"I should probably get some rest." Ziva felt the comforting call of her bed she had not slept on for weeks. Gibbs nodded, staying where he was at the table. Almost forgetting, he grabbed her arm.
"Don't forget." He pressed a small needle like GPS into her hand.
"Right under the hairline no?" Ziva asked. Gibbs nodded.
"Good night Zivers." He called after her. She turned surprised.
"Good night Gibbs." Once in her bedroom, Ziva sighed and took the pin, sliding it in to her skin right above her hairline on the back of her neck. She didn't even wince when the tracker pierced her skin.
Ok so I didn't update because I didn't think it was long enough and then I transferred it to word as was like WOAH… So if you like it GREAT! But if this is very OOC PLEASE TELL ME! REVIEW PLEASE!