Ziva groaned as she rolled out of bed. It was 0400 and she wanted to be at the navy yard by 0500. She stood up and looked at her reflection in the mirror, tracing all the bruises and cuts with her fingers. The bruises were healing and the cuts drying up, but still all she could think of was how ugly it all looked. She had never thought of herself as ugly before, granted she didn't think herself as beautiful either, but it wasn't until now that she realised that things had to change, and fast.
She slowly got dressed, making a mental note to buy a scale off the internet when she was at her computer. Gibbs and his team had no idea that she had struggled with an eating disorder for the last 12 years. She had hidden it well, and since she remained at a fat healthy BMI there was no reason for anyone to be concerned. She had seen and still continued to see a doctor, psychologist and psychiatrist out of work hours, telling the team that she just needed some quiet time or that she was going out for a run. This way it usually kept them off her case as they all knew that Ziva was a pretty private person.
She arrived at the navy yard at 0459, she loved arriving early as it usually meant she could be alone for an hour until Gibbs arrived at 0600, although sometimes when they were stuck on a particular hard case Gibbs would sometimes be there at 0500 as well.
She pulled out a notebook and started drawing up plans and weight goals. Remembering she didn't yet have a scale, and as such had no idea of what she weighed she looked online until she found one that she wanted, it would tell her what her weight was and nothing else, but that was okay. She could download apps onto her phone that would tell her BMI.
Gibbs walked out of the elevator and Ziva quickly closed her screen. There was no way that Gibbs could find out what she was up to. Not yet anyway.
Gibbs shook his head, but was in no way surprised that Ziva was so early. What concerned him more was that he didn't think that Ziva had taken enough time off from her ordeal with Saleem. But he knew that trying to convince her to take any more time off, would be fruitless.
After a brief hello, the pair continued to work in silence waiting for the rest of the team. At exactly 0700 McGee arrived and at 0705 Tony burst through the elevator.
"Hi Ziva, wasn't expecting you back so soon" McGee said with notable concern in his voice.
"Well probie our little ninja here doesn't take time off for anything" was Tony's explanation.
"Thank you McGee, and Tony if you must know I would prefer to be here doing something than sitting around at home." Ziva said in a tone of voice that warned Tony not to mess around with her. Not today anyway.
Gibbs watched his teams bickering, but was concerned at Ziva's reaction. Yes the two of them often were at loggerheads with each other, but it was not like Ziva to be so short with Tony within the first 5 minutes. He made a mental note to keep an eye on her, at least for the next couple of days.