Afterlife

by Tiva-for-life

Set after S17E02 - Tony finds out Ziva isn't dead. Go through the motions with him and the team as everything processes her return. This is not a TIVA romance story, the genre is friendship, because occasionally I like to write something a little different. Don't read if you're just going to come for me in the comments.

1. Chapter 1

Gibbs was having a hard enough time trying to process the events of the last few days. Never, not in a million years, did he expect to see Ziva again - but there she was, alive and well. But she was different than the Ziva he remembered... she was scarred beyond repair; battling newer, stronger demons. He was standing in the apartment she had used as an after-hours office - apparently for many years - trying to explain to her why he didn't come looking for her.

"I would have lost you a thousand times... if that's what it took." Her voice was filled with emotion - something that only occurred occasionally, when she allowed herself to let down her guard. "I waited for you, Gibbs. I waited, and I waited, and I waited. And you never came."

The truth stung him more than he thought it could. Her eyes, filling with tears, stared deep into his own and in that moment he understood that he had failed her.

"I made a mistake." was all he could manage to say. It was too late now, he couldn't go back and change these events, how things unfolded and how he had reacted. All he could do now was support her in any way she would allow him. "Where to now, Ziva?"

"There's one more thing I have to do before I can put all this behind me. And, this time, I have to do it alone." He wiped away her tears and she tapped his nose with the tip of her finger, smiling softly. Before he could say anything, his phone began to ring - he looked at the caller ID before holding it up so she could read the screen.

"I called him after you went missing, and left a message."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. He should hear it from you."

"And he will." She turned and walked away, not letting him know when she would tell DiNozzo that she was, in fact, alive.

He let the phone ring out - he could not lie to Tony, or have a casual conversation with him knowing this information. After a few minutes had passed, he dialled the number for his voicemail.

[Hey Boss, sorry I missed your call. Is everything alright? You seem... I don't know. Just, uh, call me back when you can, I guess.]

He would have to trust, for now, that Ziva would reach out to Tony sooner, rather than later.