So, the first chapter was clearly just to set the scene. Here comes my contribution... enjoy.
Several weeks had passed since Ziva's return. She had left a phone number with Gibbs, in case if an emergency - but he knew better than to use it if not absolutely necessary. They had eliminated the threat - Sahar was dead - and yet Ziva was still off the grid, scared of something. But that wasn't something for him to concern himself with right now. Ziva had said, whatever she was doing right now was something she needed to do alone. And she wasn't hiding from him anymore, so he was sure that if she did need his help, she would reach out to him.
He looked at the folder on his desk in front of him. He was finding it hard to concentrate on anything right now. Must be the lack of caffeine coursing through his veins. He closed his eyes for a moment, before opening and attempting to refocus them on the words in front of him. Yep, definitely not enough caffeine. He was about to get up and get himself another cup, when his agent's excitement caught his attention.
"Tony?!" Agent McGee said in disbelief as his former team member exited the elevator and walked toward his old desk, where McGee now sat.
"Hey Timmy." He said lovingly. It had been a while since the two had last spoken. Although they annoyed each other, they had bonded like brothers over the years and shared a deep and mutual connection. McGee rose from his desk and gave Tony a heartfelt hug.
"Hey boss." Tony said when he pulled away from McGee.
"I'm not your boss anymore, DiNozzo." Gibbs smiled, before hugging the agent he had seen as a son for many years now. The embrace was not something they did often, but it never felt forced or awkward - in fact, it was something that they both found comfort in.
"What are you doing here?" McGee asked. "And where is Tali?"
"What is this. A game of 21 questions?" Tony joked, before returning his attention to Gibbs. "I was worried about you. I mean, you called me and said you needed to talk, but then you avoid my calls? What's going on?"
McGee looked at his boss anxiously. They both knew that Ziva was planning on being the one to Tell Tony she was still alive... had she not been able to find him? Or had something happened to her? What if she wasn't okay?
"I didn't mean to worry you. I'm sorry you felt the need to fly here to check up on me."
"Now you're apologising? That doesn't really reassure me that everything is fine, boss." Tony searched Gibbs' eyes for answers, despite the fact he had never been able to do so in the past. His boss' cold stare had never faltered. Giving up, he turned to McGee - who was generally much easier to read. His friend avoided eye contact, choosing to settle his glance on his own shoes, instead. "Seriously, guys?"
"McGee," Gibbs opened the top drawer of his desk, pulling out a small piece of paper and holding it out in the direction of his agent, "call... find out how long it would take to get here. Explain the situation."
McGee nodded, walking out from behind the safety of his desk and moving past a very confused Tony. He grabbed the paper off of Gibbs, mumbling a 'yes boss' before walking out of the room.
"How is Tali?"
"She is well." Tony accepted the fact that he was clearly going to have to wait for the answers he had travelled all this way for. "Senior is with her. I didn't want to drag her away from her home unless I had to, you know? It's a long flight for a child."
"Her birthday is soon, right?"
"Yeah, she will be six in just a few months."
"Maybe she can visit, for her birthday?"
"I'm not trying to keep her away. If I had known you wanted a visit, I would have brought her here with me. It's just..." Tony paused for a moment, not knowing how he wanted to proceed with this thought. "It's just hard to be here. Overwhelming, I guess."
"I get that." Gibbs responded. His head was screaming you just wait! But he had to proceed with caution. This was an unusual situation, to say the least. DiNozzo was overwhelmed simply by the memory of Ziva David... how was he going to handle seeing her again? Her death was something that took him a long time to come to terms with. This was going to be messy, and Gibbs did not like messy. "I made her something." He walked toward the elevator, giving Tony a 'follow me' gesture. Tony followed without hesitation.
They arrived at their destination after a short drive - Gibbs' house. In the years Tony had been gone, it had not changed at all. That fact seemed to calm Tony, until he walked closer and noticed some small markings along the homes facade.
"It's a long story." Gibbs started, noticing Tony studying what was - until just days ago - bullet holes in the wooden boards of his home. "Nothing out of the usual, though." He had a point, this house did seem to be a hub for all's things bad. Tony had lost count of how many people had been shot here. They walked through the house, down to the basement.
"This seems slightly more than the usual." Tony noted the markings stretched through every room of Gibbs's house - something big went down here.
"The good guys made it out alive."
"I'm not a huge fan of cryptic Gibbs, just so you know."
"I know." Once they were at the bottom of the basement stairs, Gibbs motioned for Tony to sit near the bench, then moved to the end of the room and began digging behind some old boxes. After a few moments he pulled a wooden dollhouse out. It was simple, but stunning. Gibbs had obviously put a lot of time and effort into making this - that thought alone warmed Tony's heart.
"She will love it."
"I was going to get it shipped to you, but it's heavy so it's going to cost... you can probably buy one for less." He placed the house on the workbench, where Tony could examine it more closely.
"I'll pay. I don't care what it costs, this is better than anything I could get her in a store. Thank you, boss."
Gibbs' phone began to ring. He looked at the caller ID - McGee. "Yeah."
Tony couldn't quite hear the other side of the conversation, and his former boss' occasional 'yeah' and 'okay' really didn't give him much information.
"Meet at mine." Gibbs hung up the phone and returned his attention to Tony. "Drink?" He asked, before walking over to the bottle of whiskey he kept under his workbench.
"If you think I'll need it." Gibbs smiled and poured two glasses.
Roughly fifteen minutes had passed before they heard someone enter the house above them. Tony looked at the figure as they came to the top of the basement stairs. He did not recognise this person.
"DiNozzo, this is Jack Sloane. Jack, meet DiNozzo."
As the figure walked down the stairs, she held out a hand to greet Tony. "Hi. It's nice to finally meet you." She smiled, big. Tony was not used to this kind of enthusiasm in Gibbs' basement. This was a solemn place, didn't she know? Of course she knew... Tony may have left NCIS before she came but he had heard all about Sloane and just how close she and Gibbs had become. He reached out, shaking her hand.
"It is nice to meet you too."
"I'm not staying. I just wanted to introduce myself." She gave Gibbs a look that, apparently, exchanged a lot of information. Gibbs nodded his head, yes he understood the message. Loud and clear, as they say. The front door opened again.
"Looks like you're here for the show." Gibbs said, before adjusting on his stool. He instantly became notably uncomfortable.
"Boss, we're here." McGee called from the top of the stairs. He began walking down, smiling awkwardly at Tony. He was about halfway down when another figure approached. Tony's attention shifted to the person at the top of the stairs - and he stared with disbelief as that person began their descent to the basement.