Once the transport plane landed, even Gibbs was ready to disembark. While the others were carried off to waiting ambulances, Tony led Gibbs to a waiting sedan.
Leaning into the passenger window, Tony gave a weary smile. "Hey, Gremlin. Thanks for picking us up."
Jimmy Palmer handed Gibbs a cup of hot coffee and roasted chicken sandwich once he was settled in the back seat. "I thought you might be hungry. I brought you a sandwich as well, Tony. No coffee for you, just hot chocolate instead."
Tony dropped into the front seat after checking Gibbs out. He wanted his boss to have room to spread out, although he knew Gibbs probably wouldn't, not willing to show weakness in front of Jimmy. He took the cup, prying the lid off and inhaling deeply. One sip brought a hiss from the heat and a moan of delight from the taste. "Jim, will you have my baby?"
"Doesn't work that way, Tony, but thanks for the offer."
"You're a medical genius, you could figure something out." Another sip.
"What's new, Palmer?"
"Not that much, Agent Gibbs. Senator Callaghan is starting to get involved in his son's case."
"Crap." Tony put his sandwich down. "His son is gonna get away with everything."
"Maybe not. According to what I heard from Agent McGee, DeWitt wasn't the only one with secret files. They found boxes and boxes in Roberts' attic."
"Thank God for paranoid bad guys!" Tony resumed eating.
"And a lot of the evidence was video recordings, so even if the Senator and his son try to deny his involvement, there'll be something to refute it."
"Hmm," came Tony's response.
Jimmy looked over to see Tony asleep. Luckily the hot chocolate was in a cup holder, but the sandwich was barely held in a lax hand. He reached over, removing the sandwich carefully. Gibbs reached forward, taking it and the wrapping, fixing it for later.
"He trusts you."
Jimmy was startled. "Agent Gibbs?"
"DiNozzo's been on alert since he retrieved me from the camp. He hasn't slept as much as catnapped. Going to deep sleep like this means he trusts you, Jim."
A proud smile appeared on Jimmy's face.
"Want to tell me how you found all that out?"
"People talk in front of me. They don't even notice I'm there most of the time. I'm just part of the furniture."
"Not DiNozzo."
"No, not Tony. He teases me, talks to me, listens to me. He treats me like a member of his team."
"You are. And you're there when he needs somebody to listen to him. Thank you."
The shy young man blushed.
"What else?" Gibbs met Jimmy's eyes in the rear view mirror. "You're holding something back."
"I didn't want to worry him the moment he stepped off the plane."
"Worry me."
"I don't think..."
"Spill, Palmer!" Gibbs barked, glancing at Tony to verify he didn't wake.
"It's Ziva. Something...well, hinky to use Abby's word. She's been trying to make friends with the other team leards."
"That doesn't seem bad."
"Friendly and Ziva don't normally belong in the same sentence."
"I understand DiNozzo had a talk with her before he left."
"As did McGee and Director Vance. Even Agent Balboa, after the attempt to be friendly. I don't trust her." Jimmy flushed, realizing who he was talking to. "Sorry, Agent Gibbs, I forgot."
"Don't apologize. You tell the truth as you see it. And why don't you just call me Gibbs."
"Thank you, Ag...Gibbs."
"What else is bothering you about Ziva?"
"Nothing concrete, but there's something off. She's still disappearing suddenly and then reappearing without an explanation."
"We'll look into it, Palmer. You don't have to worry."
The drive back to Gibbs' house continued in comfortable silence. Tony slept all the way, Gibbs keeping his thoughts to himself.
~NCIS~
Unaware that Gibbs and Tony had returned, Ziva continued to try to fulfill her father's orders. Her overtures to other team leaders and senior field agents continued to be rebuffed or ignored. Now she tried to find out who could possibly take Gibbs' place. If it were any of the people working at the Navy Yard, Ziva would be on the next flight to Israel.
"Tim." She bit her lip as she watched her teammate polishing his report of the shooting.
"Hmm?" He barely glanced past his monitor. "Sorry. What did you say, Ziva?"
"I was wondering. If Gibbs hadn't...if Tony had not found Gibbs, who would have been given this team?"
Tim's attention now focused on her, Ziva wished she hadn't asked, but she couldn't go to Vance with such a question. A friend of her father he might have been, but Leon Vance was no fool. He would be suspicious immediately. "I am...I was simply wondering. Never mind."
"Well, I imagine it would be posted for people who were interested to apply. Then the Director, and possibly SecNav, would select the new SSA."
"Why would it not be you? Are you not next in line?"
"It doesn't work that way."
"It was not done that way when Gibbs left to stay with Mike Franks in Mexico."
"No, it wasn't. But I don't think anyone thought Gibbs would really retire for good. Shepard apparently put Gibbs on sick leave, never filing his retirement package. She put Tony temporarily in charge."
"And you as SFA."
"Which I shouldn't have been. I didn't have the work experience, not to mention the fact that I hadn't completed my two years of probation." Tim sighed. "I know you and Shepard were friends, but she really did a number on all of us. She used our inexperience as a way of hiding what she made Tony do."
"We are not inexperienced, McGee."
"As investigators, we were, Ziva. Hell, we never picked up on Tony's undercover activities. We never noticed how exhausted he looked. I mean, he's good, even brilliant at undercover work. But we were too busy trying to tear him down to notice what Shepard was putting him through."
Ziva doesn't like what she's hearing, despite a little voice deep inside that not only agreed with McGee, but said that as a Mossad agent, she should've picked up on the signs herself. After all, wasn't she undercover herself?
"Luckily for everyone, we don't need to concern ourselves. Both Gibbs and DiNozzo are safely back in the country." Vance caught Ziva unaware.
"They're back?" Tim was thrilled. He didn't like the two men being so far away, too far for him to be able to help if needed.
"Dr. Mallard will be verifying Gibb's physical condition. Otherwise he will be recovering from the injuries reported by DiNozzo." Vance started to leave, then paused at the staircase. "Neither of you, nor Ms. Sciuto, are to visit them tonight. I imagine both men are exhausted after the extremely long flight."
He waited for their nods of acknowledgment before proceeding up the stairs to his office.
"What do we do?" Tim asked. "If we tell Abby they're back, she'll head straight to the boss' house. But if we don't tell her until tomorrow, she'll kill us."
"Leave. Pretend we do not know," Ziva suggested.
"What are you pretending you don't know?" Abby, much like Gibbs, appeared behind Ziva suddenly and without the usual warning of her heavy elevated boots.
"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"
"Oh, I thought it might be that Tony and Gibbs are finally home. And you didn't want me to know."
"Abby, how did you know?" Ziva asked. "You overheard Director Vance?"
"Vance knows? Of course he knows, he arranged their flight home. No, Tony texted me as soon as they got to Gibbs' house."
"What? I didn't know he's been in touch with you. All this time?"
"Sure. He didn't want me to worry. I"d get a short text everyday that let me know they were both alive. I couldn't text back, that was too dangerous. But it was enough."
"You're not going over there, are you?"
"The Director has ordered us to stay away," Ziva added.
"Not tonight. They've got to be tired. Especially my Silver Fox. I'll see them tomorrow when they come in to check up on us and the case." With a cheerful wave, Abby clumped off to the elevator.