Xxxxxxxx
Ziva continued to cry herself out, still curled in a ball in the corner. She wished the older man would just leave, as she knew later on she would have to punish herself for breaking down in front of the older man, but for now there was nothing she could think of that would help her lessen her sobs.
Ducky watched the young woman, but kept his distance. He was at a complete loss as to how exactly he should approach her since he had never before seen her so upset.
Not wanting her to feel trapped any longer he unlocked the doors and slowly walked out giving her some privacy, and some time for him to think things through. He did not realise however that this was not the right thing to do.
See he's left you, just like everyone else. You broke down, you weak stupid girl, and he has left you. He doesn't care, he's just like everyone else.
Ziva slowly stood up, exiting autopsy and silently running out of the Navy yard as quickly as possible, she would run home as soon as possible, all the while silently praying that someone would try and stop her. Praying that someone would show her that they cared.
Xxxxxxxx
Gibbs walked into interrogation 1, where an ashen faced Dr Mallard was waiting for him. Ducky had called him five minutes ago, quickly explaining that they needed to talk, and mentioned something about an intervention.
"Duck what's going on? And what's this about an intervention?" he asked confusion clearly written across his face
"Ziva is more sick than I first thought Jethro, she is aware of what is going on, but seems to have no intention of getting better and when confronted just tries to run. It's not going to be easy to get through to her." Ducky explained
"Well what do we do Duck? Maybe I should get her to stay with me for a while? This way I could keep an eye on her." Gibbs asked already mentally making a note to clean up a room for her in his house.
"No Jethro, not just yet. I think for now we need to pretend that none of this happened. We need to see exactly what she's doing first. We need proof, otherwise she's just going to keep running. The more you try to control her right now, the more she is going to push back." He said worry still in his voice. Ducky did not want to let her continue to self-destruct any more than Jethro did, but after what he saw in autopsy earlier, now was not the right time to confront the young woman. He was also being slightly hopeful, that maybe after what happened today she might try to change on her own.
Gibbs stood and stared at Ducky for a moment trying to process all the information that was just given to him. He didn't want Ziva to get any worse, but at the same time he had no idea how to handle the situation. For now he decided, he would follow the doctor's order, but if he thought she was getting any worse than it was time to take matters into his own hands.
"And DiNozzo and McGee, what do I tell them?" he asked, knowing that they too had realised something was different about the young woman.
"Simply tell them, that Ziva is still adjusting back to normal life after Somalia. Just explain to them that she needs space" was the answer he received.
Jethro nodded for a moment, fumbling for his phone as it started to ring.
"Uh huh, ok, yep we're on our way" he said before snapping the phone shut.
"Come on Duck, we got a dead marine in Quantico" he barked quickly snapping back into the no nonsense Gibbs that Ducky knew so well.
Both men quickly exited the room to grab both their teams and their gear.
Xxxxxxxx
Ziva sat alone on her couch feeling completely numb.
Tony had txt asking "where the hell are you" to which she had replied "Gone home early just feeling nauseous".
She was surprised she had not received an answer from him, but then again why would she? She was not worth caring about.
Push them away, they can't get too close, they can't get involved.
Ziva held her head in her hands for the second time that day. She was so tired of fighting, everything in her head and it seemed easier to just give into it, and not to fight anymore. She wanted to just self-destruct and to be left alone doing it. When she felt that she had reached her lowest point, then and only then could she ask for the level of support she needed, but she couldn't do that yet.
She knew if people could hear her inner thoughts they would think of what she was doing as a choice. But it wasn't. She wanted to get better, but her head wouldn't allow her too just yet, and her greatest fear was failure. If she recovered now before hitting her end goal, then she would have failed. Again. There would be no more failures, she just couldn't handle anymore.
Ziva stood up, walking into her kitchen to check the clock on the wall. It was 1300, and time seemed to be flying past today. She had an appointment with Katrina at 1700, which she was relieved about. She loved her Drs because everything she said to them was confidential which meant NCIS had no chance of finding out what was going on, and sometimes talking to an outside person could help her see things more clearly. Sometimes it was just more of a relief at getting everything out.
She quickly changed into running clothes, exited her apartment and began to run.