Ziva frowned as she and Tony were informed that they had to go to the Director's office. Just them. Not McGee or Gibbs. Gibbs had frowned at that but let them go. Which was surprising in itself as Gibbs did have a certain fondness for storming into her office and demanding explanations. Actually, he had been doing less of that recently. Something to ponder about later. They wouldn't want to keep the Director waiting.
"Am I the only one who feels like they got sent to the Headmistress' office for breaking the rules?" Tony asked, straightening his tie nervously.
"Unlike you, I do not have any experience with that particular feeling."
He rolled his eyes at her. "I'm sure young Ziva was the perfect little rule follower. Following orders and all that."
"No." she smirked at him. "Just very good at not getting caught."
"Ever?" Tony asked disbelievingly.
"Never."
Her partner looked quite impressed by that.
"Of course. You have always been a ninja. I should have known."
"Of course."
That was the whole point of sneaking around and getting into mischief 'not getting caught. And she never got caught. Of course, training from a young age tended to make you superior to most of your classmates in that matter.
Cynthia's phone rang, making them both jump.
"You can go in now," the assistant informed them after a brief conversation on the phone.
"After you," Tony said, looking more than a little nervous.
Not that Ziva blamed him - he really didn't have the best experiences with Jenny.
"Tony, Ziva," Jenny greeted.
"Director," the replied politely.
After the usual polite pleasantries were done quickly, Jenny launched into why she had called them up to her.
"I am attending a funeral of an old teammate and NCIS agent, William Decker," she said briskly. "I will need security."
Ziva raised an eyebrow. Why was she informing them of this? Was she going to make them tell Gibbs that she was in charge for the duration of her absence? Because that was a new low, even for her.
"Oh, I heard of this," Tony said. "He worked with you and the Boss back in the day, didn't he?"
Jenny gave him a sharp look but Ziva knew there was nothing sinister in Tony's question. He was just always very nosy when it came to the past between Jenny and Gibbs.
"Indeed," she replied. "He was an old friend. I want you two to be my security."
Tony and Ziva looked at each other
For once, Ziva didn't bother to conceal the shock on her face. That was definitely not something she had been expecting.
"Excuse me, Director," Tony said politely. "Uh, wouldn't Gibbs be a better choice here? I mean, Decker was an old friend of his as well and he'd be going to the funeral anyway-"
"Agent Gibbs has declined to attend the funeral," Jenny responded shortly. "And even if he hadn't, I would not ask him to be my security as he would also be paying his respects."
Well, that made sense. It wouldn't be fair to ask Gibbs to do that. But still, why them?
"I will send you an email of the schedule for the day and what will be required of you," she told them.
It then became apparent that that was their dismissal despite no other details forthcoming. What had just happened?
Ziva was confused. As flattering as it was for her and Tony to be trusted enough to be chosen as her security, well, didn't she have her own security already? Shouldn't she be using them? It wasn't like the Director of a federal agency exactly had a choice on whether or not to use their security. For certain events they had to have them. Like when they were representing the agency. Which Jenny most certainly was when she was attending this funeral of a former agent?
So why her and Tony? They weren't security. Of course, they would be good at it, there was no doubt about that, but that didn't mean that they should be doing it.
"Gibbs is not going to like this," she said out loud.
Tony grimaced. "No, he is not. What, we're basically going to have to miss three days? Four?"
"Three," Ziva corrected. "One to travel, one for the funeral and one for returning."
"Do you think he's going to be pissed at us or her?"
"Hopefully her."
It was awful to think like that but Jenny could handle an angry Gibbs far more than they could. She was his superior, for one and she wasn't (as much as Ziva was loath to admit it) intimidated by him either. In fact, the woman seemed to revel in their encounters. Better her than Ziva.
Gibbs had vanished by the time they returned to their desks, thankfully. That was one less thing to worry about for now. Of course, their emails dinged as soon as they sat down.
"Hey, we get to go to LA," Tony said happily.
McGee perked up at that. "We do?"
"Not you, Probie. Me and Ziva."
McGee huffed and muttered something that Ziva didn't catch, she was too busy rereading her email.
"We will be there for work, not pleasure," she told her partner.
He just grinned at her. "LA is only ever pleasure, Zee-vah."
Rolling her eyes, of course Tony would think that, she clicked the 'send receipt' on her email.
She then realised that the dates that they would be playing security stretched over a scrabble night. Sending off a quick text to Amelia and Amina, Ziva couldn't help but frown. She had been on a good streak there. At least this was a time she could actually tell her friends that she was unavailable for next week's game. That didn't happen often. Cases just tended to spring up.
'No problem, try not to get shot ;)' Amelia immediately sent in reply.
Ziva rolled her eyes. Really? That was not something you should be sending a federal agent.