Summary: Gibbs tries his strategy again, this time on his bickering girls.
Author's note: Takes place about 2 months after Twilight, and not quite a year after Chapter 1. The tone of this one is a bit more serious, but has a few moments that may make you smile. I hope!
Ziva sighed. She didn't cry easily, but even so, she felt herself near tears with sheer frustration.
Tony didn't seem to mind her much… most of the time. Tony had his moments, but Ziva didn't know if it was her, or if he was like that with everyone. Well, plenty of time to find out anyway. It didn't look like she was going anywhere anytime soon. For better or for worse, like it or not, she was here to stay.
McGee seemed to have accepted her easily enough, but… maybe too easily. She couldn't decide if he was genuinely glad to have her on the team, or just glad to have someone replace him as the resident newbie. In any case, he treated her well - for that much at least, she was grateful. She had heard stories of how he had been treated when he first arrived on the team. Maybe it was just Tim's way, determined to treat her with more respect than he himself had received. He seemed the type of man to do that.
Ducky, it seemed, had accepted her easily, too. But Ducky was the consummate gentleman, right down to the distinguished English brogue. She wasn't sure if Ducky could be rude to a lady if he wanted to be, unless the situation genuinely called for it. That incident with the anthropologist, her first case with the team, came to mind. Ziva didn't know that a man could be catty, until that case.
Palmer she didn't know much about, but he seemed respectful to those who outranked him… which pretty much took in everyone, including her. Maybe at some point she'd be able to gauge how he felt about her.
Gibbs seemed more grudging to accept her. They still butted heads now and then, but they got along alright otherwise. Ziva knew that she had much to learn, and he was going to be her main teacher. She would learn a lot from Tony, and for once, Tim would be the teacher, and not the student. Ducky seemed full of lessons that she didn't necessarily need, but maybe that was part of the older man's charm.
But then, there was Abby.
Abby seemed to harbour a genuine dislike for her, and Ziva had no idea why.
Maybe Abby was jealous. She had heard, also, how territorial she got with women who had occasion to work with Tim, even during those times when she and McGee weren't… what was that phrase again? Oh, yes. "On again." Abby seemed to be possessive of everything and everyone she cared about. Since she cared about Tim whether they were seeing each other or not, at any given time, she was possessive of him. And her other guys, as well. Tony, like a brother; Gibbs, like a father; Ducky, like a favourite Uncle. Abby guarded them all like a watchdog.
Maybe Abby wasn't ready to accept that Kate was gone, and here was Ziva David, in all her usurper's glory, sitting at Kate's desk and doing the job that Kate used to do.
If that were the case, then maybe it wasn't personal, after all.
But maybe Abby just didn't trust her. What little the team knew, outside of Gibbs, of course, who knew far more than anyone else about her true relationship with Ari Haswari… perhaps that was part of it. If that were the case, then it most definitely was personal.
Ziva was a strong woman, but even she felt tears form at her frustration. When would she start to fit in here? It seemed to be taking so damned long.
Ziva blinked herself back to her current reality.
She looked across the stalled elevator, at Abby, who seemed to be doing a knockout job of ignoring her presence.
"Are you going to just sit there and say nothing?" Ziva finally asked, exasperated. Abby ignored her, merely blinking, and staring off at the ceiling.
"I know you don't like me, Abby, that much is clear. But we have to work together. Can't we call a truce? Please?"
Abby finally broke her gaze with the nothingness above them, and levelled a blank look at her.
"Okay, so it's not me who needs to call a truce. I don't recall being so cold with you. In fact, I've made every effort to be nice to you, and be co-operative with you."
Abby said nothing, continuing her steady blank glare.
Ziva threw up her hands. "Damnit Abby! It's not my fault that I'm not Kate!"
Abby blinked, and her expression changed slightly. Ziva wasn't sure, but she thought she might have heard a crack in Abby's icy demeanor.
"I'm not here to replace her. Nobody can ever do that. But they needed someone to do the job she once did. It was just a manpower thing."
"Womanpower," Abby finally said.
Ziva shook her head, "I'm sorry…?" she asked, confused.
"Womanpower. They have plenty of manpower. It was womanpower they were lacking in." Abby smiled slightly, in spite of her best efforts to remain, at the very least, stoic.
Ziva suddenly understood. Her hand flew to her mouth, and she stifled a giggle. "True. It takes just one woman to do the work of two men, sometimes. That's why there are two of them, and just one of me, plus Gibbs."
Abby smiled, eyebrow raised slightly. Ziva sensed that there had just been a bit of a breakthrough, but she wasn't there yet. Perhaps she'd never really be "there" with Abby. But at this point, all she really wanted was enough acceptance by her to be able to work with her in a productive manner.
Okay… so maybe not exactly. Ziva thought about it honestly, and finally admitted to herself that she really did want a friend around here, but... not necessarily any of the guys. Not the one who was probably just being nice to her because he had to be to avoid getting the back of his head slapped. And not the one of them who was being nice for reasons she couldn't quite put her finger on yet. And not the one who was being nice because that was how a gentleman treated a lady.
She was so new to all of this. A new home, a new job, new surroundings, new culture… new pretty much everything. She had never felt so alone. All she really wanted was someone she could talk to when the day started to get to be too much. Someone she could sit down and talk to, confiding girl things, with some chocolate thrown in for good measure.
So Ziva admitted to herself, she really did want Abby to like her. But she also realized, with sadness and regret, that at the rate things were going, that might never happen. Hell, she'd be lucky if Abby even accepted her enough to be able to work with her without the frosty attitude.
"I know you're probably never going to like me, Abby," Ziva finally said. "I don't know why you don't, so I don't know what I can do to change your mind. This is all so new to me. I feel like a whale out of water."
Abby coughed, trying to hide a small giggle that suddenly erupted from her throat. "Fish, Ziva. Fish out of water, not whale." Ziva blushed slightly. "See? I don't know if I'll ever fit in around here." The fact that Abby had just called her by her first name, for the first time that Ziva could recall, instead of the usual sarcastic, over-emphasized "Officer David," wasn't lost on her.
Abby looked at the floor.
"Trust isn't a given, Ziva. It has to be earned. The same goes for respect."
Ziva sighed. "I know that Abby. I just don't know… I just feel so… unwanted." It killed her to appear so weak, but in spite of her best efforts, she just couldn't help it.
"It's not that you're unwanted, Ziva. It's just that… you were close to Ari. He murdered Kate, he tried to kill McGee, he tried to kill me, he tried to blow the team up, he tried to blow Gibbs up… You can't just come in here with all of us knowing that and be accepted without question. It doesn't work that way. It's been a really rough couple of months since Kate died."
Ziva nodded sadly. "I know. McGee has told me that, and I understand of course. Kate was one of you. And I know what Ari did. I feel betrayed by him, like I never really knew him at all. He betrayed my trust and I will never forgive him for that. I feel so… used by him." Ziva paused a moment, gathering herself before continuing. "Kate was one of you, but I don't think I will ever be."
Abby scrutinized her, watching her, picking up on the subtle details of her mannerisms, her reactions, her expressions. "Maybe someday you will be. But you have to earn your place here. You're here because you've been ordered to be here. And we work with you because we've been ordered to work with you. Trust and respect aren't a given. You have to earn them. That takes time."
"All I really hope for right now is to be able to work with you without feeling like a lisper."
Abby giggled again. "I think you mean leper." Ziva smiled, nodding. "Thank you, Abby. I could learn so much from you, if you were only willing to teach me."
Abby looked at her again. Ziva seemed genuine enough. And even she couldn't squash that slight feeling of sympathy. Ziva really was trying to fit in. Maybe she could cut her a little bit of slack. Just a little bit, mind you.
"Truce." Abby finally said, extending a hand. Ziva started, gasping slightly, and her jaw dropped the tiniest bit. "Really?"
"It's all I can give you right now. Take it or leave it."
Ziva swallowed hard as her throat tightened and her eyes burned slightly.
Finally. Maybe she could finally quit feeling so damned alone all the time.
She nodded. "I'll take it. I won't let you down, Abby. I promise. I won't let any of you down. I know I have a long way to go, but this is a start, yes?"
She extended her hand as well, and clasped Abby's in hers.
Outside, Gibbs stood, listening through the bug that he'd had McGee plant in the elevator. Next to him stood Tony and McGee, grinning at eachother. All three of them looked decidedly satisfied.
It had worked on Tony and Tim, what only seemed a long time ago, at Kate's suggestion, when Gibbs' two bickering boys couldn't seem to get past their differences. Gibbs had tried this little trick on them, too, locking them in the elevator until they'd called a truce.
Tony and Tim glanced at each other now, satisfied, then turned their eyes on their boss.
Gibbs hit the button and the three men watched as the doors slid open.
And there stood their girls, hand in hand, mid-shake... and looking more than a little surprised.
"Gibbs." Abby said, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"What?" Ziva asked, confused. Abby turned to her, still shaking her head. "I'll tell you later." She strode out of the elevator with as much dignity as she could muster, mumbling to Gibbs as she passed him, "That was sneaky and underhanded, Gibbs."
Gibbs noticed that tiny little bit of admiration in Abby's voice though.
He looked at Ziva as she also stepped out. His newest team member seemed… relieved, somehow.
Perhaps this would be the start of their team being complete again.
The first step. Every journey begins with a single step.
Perhaps, Ziva and Abby had just finally taken that first baby step… together.