Chapter 4
DISCLAIMER: However much I wish it was so, I do not own these characters. I'm going to simply let them play for a little bit and then put them back a little happier.
WARNING: Slash story - you have been informed!
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Gibbs paid the cabdriver and watched the car drive off before he turned and contemplated the dark, silent house. He saw no evidence that Tony was here or had been recently. He took a deep breath and picked up his duffle that was sitting on the ground by his feet.
Suck it up, Marine. He thought to himself as he finally made his way onto the porch and to his front door.
His hand shook a little as he unlocked the door and stepped inside. He left his duffle by the little table in the foyer as he closed the door. He stood for a minute taking the measure of the house. Nothing moved, there were no sounds. The air had a stale quality that he equated with an old person's home who never opened a window to air it out. There was a fine layer of dust on the foyer table. None of these things boded well for him.
He finally stepped into the living room and turned on the light switch inside the arch. The lamp by the window sprang to life to illuminate that the worst of his fears was now a reality. The room was stark and empty. The only things in it were the items that had been here before Tony had moved most of his things over. His lumpy couch, the end tables, coffee table and a few lamps were back in their original spots. Tony had brought over some tables and chairs and a few lamps when he had moved in.
Tony's TV, personal items, any furniture he had, were now all gone.
He moved further into the room and saw the empty bookcase under the window that he had made especially for Tony's DVDs. He felt a knot tightening in his chest as he recalled flinging Tony's movies around the room. He moved further into the kitchen, but he knew what he would find.
All of Tony's cooking pots, pans and utensils were gone. The only thing on the counter was his coffee maker with three months worth of dust on it. He turned to look at the spot on the floor where he had destroyed the cappuccino maker he had given to Tony last Christmas. He could make out a few scuffs on the hardwood floor. Probably from the metal pieces of the machine as he had smashed it. Not a piece of it was left. Not a cog or screw to be seen. Tony had swept every little bit of it up and away, as if it had never been there.
He opened cupboards that had once been full to overflowing with ingredients Tony used to cook the most wonderful meals for them, now empty of everything but a few cans of soup and bags of coffee.
The ache in his chest grew as he turned to take in the emptiness all around him. He had lived in this fashion for many years before Tony. Silently grieving his girls, and denying himself any comfort or cheer as penance for not being able to save them. Tony had taken that loneliness away and brought light and love back into his life. Everything seemed to have faded back to black and white again. Tony had taken the bright colors of the world with him when he left.
He may not have been thinking clearly, but just as he had done on the entire flight home, he kicked himself for not waiting at least until the morning before he had run away. Tony would have come home and they could have talked and maybe he would have remembered sooner. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Tony, either at the hospital or at NCIS. Ziva had snuck in to see him at the hospital and he had flashes then of her and a sense that she was like a daughter to him.
Mulling her over on the plane ride here, he now knew that was a false assumption. He remembered her hurting Tony on purpose (something about a dinner) and thinking she may have been up to no good. He remembered a brief flash of threatening her in a stairwell and a feeling of satisfaction when he saw the fear in her eyes. He had a lot to do with Tony leaving him, but he doubted Ziva had shared his contact info with anyone. She was probably thrilled he was gone and he was sure she had not made it easy for Tony.
He went back to the foyer to retrieve his duffle and take it upstairs. He knew what he would find up there, but the reality of it still hurt and caused the knot in his chest to grow even bigger. Everything of Tony was also gone from their bedroom and the master bath. He thought guiltily that Tony's bath products were probably unusable after his rampage and he had probably just tossed them out. He stood looking at his empty closet and knew the bureau drawers were just as devoid of Tony as the rest of the house was.
He made his way down the hall to Kelly's room and went in, to again sit on her bed, as he had that last day. He noted this room was also dusty, as was the bedspread that had been clean on that day and a final heart wrenching memory surfaced: Tony had been the one who had always kept this room clean!
He knew Gibbs would come in here to be closer to his girls, so he had made it comfortable for him. He would launder the linens once a week and then re-make the bed, putting her stuffed animals right back in their proper places. He dusted while the laundry was washing and made sure the room was aired out to keep it fresh. He would even wash Kelly's clothes and put them back into her closet and bureau once a month. He sat on the bed and finally let his tears fall.
This room was just as stale and lifeless as the rest of the house. It was just a house again, a place to keep his few things. It would never be a home without Tony in it, and Tony had taken every last trace of himself out if it. Every bit of color, life and love had gone from here when Tony departed. His tears came harder as the crushing loneliness clamped down on him. He lay down on the bed and curled into a ball, crying himself to sleep.
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Ziva awoke the next morning to her phone alarm. This was not an alarm to wake her though, this alarm told her that Gibbs had come back to DC. Right after he had left, she had utilized her Mexican contacts to keep track of him and they had let her know he left on a flight to DC yesterday. She was a bit ticked off that they had taken so long to contact her, but she hoped she could get to him first to assess the situation.
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Gibbs woke up to find himself curled into a ball on his daughter's bed. He had not moved an inch after falling asleep. He sat up and stretched a bit to ease the stiffness his sleeping position had caused. The more aware he became, the more depressed he got.
Tony was gone and he may have lost him forever.
Disgusted with himself, he got up to shower and dress. It was a little after 4am, but he was up for the day now. The only times he had lingered in bed was when Tony was laying next to him. He recalled some of Tony's more creative ways of waking him and a small smile ghosted his lips.
He would get him back, failure was not an option!
He took his clothes from his duffle bag and threw them into the washer. He didn't have anything for breakfast to eat, but at least he could have coffee. He was rinsing out the coffee carafe when he heard his front door open.
Was Tony here?! His heart sped up a little at the thought, but he discounted that possibility when he recognized a very light footfall. A woman, but which one?
"Gibbs?" Ziva! She must have been watching for when he came back. He turned to face her with a smile on his face.
"Ziver! Good to see you," He held out his arms to embrace her and she walked hesitantly into his embrace.
"How are you feeling? I did not think you would ever come back." She asked him after stepping back.
"Better. A few things are pretty fuzzy, but I've accepted that some things are never going to come back." He answered her as he leaned back against the counter. He was acutely aware that he only had his belt knife as a weapon as he noticed her calculating his answer. He set the carafe on the counter right next to his hand in case he would need it in a pinch. He waited to see what would happen.
He watched her analyzing his answer while he wore that same benign half-smile and stood in as non-threatening a way as possible. Damn! Why hadn't he gotten his back-up piece out of the safe? He saw her relax her stance a little and realized she had bought his answer. Glad, Tony's not the only one good at undercover. He thought to himself.
"That must be frustrating for you." She said as she moved to sit at the kitchen table.
"Nothing I can do about it." He replied. "Want coffee?" He asked her while holding up the carafe again.
"Yes, please. That would be lovely." She answered while sitting primly at the table with her hands crossed on the table in front of her.
He forced the tension out of his shoulders as he turned back to the sink to finish washing the carafe. It was very difficult to turn his back on her, he expected a knife between his shoulder blades any minute, but he had to do this if he wanted to catch her off-guard and get information out of her.
Ziva took in her surroundings when Gibbs turned around again to make the coffee. She was very happy to see no trace of Tony and no indication that Gibbs was missing him. It looked like Tony was one of those pieces that may never come back. Perhaps my mission is not as blown as I thought it was. she thought, smugly.
Gibbs had also washed a mug for her and turned back around to set it on the table in front of her. She quickly schooled her expression to not show the internal glee she was feeling. Watching the slow, methodical movements Gibbs made, she was confident it would be no problem manipulating him to do her bidding.
Gibbs finished washing the carafe and started the machine to brew the coffee, while listening for anything threatening coming from Ziva. It appeared she was only looking around. She was probably trying to assess if Tony was still in his life, so she would be fishing to see what he remembered. He would have to very careful with what he said and did. He found a dusty mug in the cupboard and rinsed it for her use. As he turned to place the mug in front of her, he caught a smug, calculating look on her face which she quickly hid.
Hmm…He recalled Tony telling him that villains in movies always liked to brag and usually tipped their hand. He decided to take a page out of Tony's book and let Ziva underestimate him to see what he could find out. He slowed down his actions and was very deliberate in setting out the sugar cubes and the powdered creamer he found in the cupboard. He remembered he had bought the creamer for Tony, but he preferred the liquid creamer so he rarely touched it.
He wanted Ziva to think he was not up to par. He knew she would take advantage of any weakness she perceived in him. He turned back to get his mug and the freshly brewed coffee before sitting down across from her at the table. Here we go…he thought.
"Have you spoken to anyone else on the team since you've been back?" she asked in an innocent tone.
Meaning: Have you talked to Tony yet? he thought as he took a sip of coffee.
"No. You're the first. How is everyone?" He asked with a mildly curious look on his face.
Time to start laying the foundation she thought.
"Well, I guess everyone is alright. Some people have changed quite a bit though." She said demurely as she looked down at her mug.
"How so?" He asked, looking puzzled.
"Well, I don't know if I should say…"
"Ziva, if something happened, I trust you to tell me!" Yeah, I trust you to throw your co-workers under the bus! he thought.
"Well, I cannot say exactly what has happened, but from what I have seen and what I have heard, I believe Tony and the Director have a more, intimate relationship than may be appropriate." she reluctantly said,
What! "What!" he exclaimed while setting his cup down forcefully on the table.
"I have not seen any overt displays between them, but they are definitely more familiar with each other than before you left." she insinuated.
"I would not bring this up normally, (Yeah, right! He thought.) but this new relationship between them has affected the team." she added.
"How?" he asked her while effectively conveying disapproval of this new development.
I have him! she thought.
Gotcha! he thought.
"Tony has been almost unbearable to work with. He has been throwing his weight around and letting everyone know who is boss now! Every time Tim or myself have pointed out that his position is only temporary until you come back, he would get angry and force us to do extra work that he should be completing! He has now started to hint that he would like a new team and that we may find ourselves reassigned soon and he had the ear of the one who would make it happen!" she let a little of her actual anger seep into this to give it a little authenticity.
Hmm.. Knowing Tony, I seriously doubt that unless you two have really screwed up! he thought. He then let his anger at her attempt at manipulating him color his response.
"He threatened you!" he roared. "How long has this been going on?" he slapped his right hand on the table, causing her to jump. He almost smirked at that, but managed to hold it in.
"Nearly since the day you left, but the last few weeks have been much worse." she told him, with seeming reluctance.
This will be easier than I thought! she crowed to herself.
Now for the big finale. He thought as he stood and deliberately threw his coffee mug against the wall behind her. He felt a deep satisfaction as she flinched and lost some color at the level of his rage. It's good I finished the coffee! He thought as the mug shattered on impact. He then ran his fingers angrily through his hair as he started pacing on his side of the table.
"What about Rule 12?! They BOTH know that's unethical! I'll have both their jobs for messing with my team!" he ranted as he paced back and forth.
"What about in the field?" he stopped pacing and gave her a penetrating gaze. "Has he left you without back-up?" "Is the Director interfering with the cases?"
Oh, this is better than I could have hoped for! she thought gleefully.
"Well, he really doesn't go out with us anymore. He spends a lot of his time with the Director in her office." she said meekly as she lowered her eyes.
Oh God, what a load of crap! he thought. She wouldn't be bad undercover if she could learn not to telegraph her emotions. Don't look so happy about my anger! Boy, she's really bad at this spy thing!
"I WILL take care of this Ziva!" he said as he leaned down on the table to look her in the eye. "It may take a few days though, can you make sure you and Tim stay safe until this is straightened out?" he asked.
"That should not be a problem. Tony convinced the Director to have Tim and I go back over all the cases we have worked since you have left while he takes some time off. We are not in the field until those are done." she answered him wearily.
"WHAT!" Boy, you two must have really screwed up! "What a waste of time!" his anger seemed to ratchet up a notch.
"As a matter of fact, I must go now." she said as she checked her watch and stood up. "Both Tim and I have been docked a week's pay for being a few minutes late and I don't want to lose anything else!" she added to further enrage him. It had the desired effect.
He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself as he walked her to the door.
He placed his hand on her arm and leaned down to kiss her temple before she left.
"I'm going to fix this as soon as I can, you hang in there until I do."
"But, Gibbs, how can you fix this if the Director is involved?" she asked in an innocent tone.
He almost gagged at the sweetness she was projecting.
"I have a lot of friends, Ziva. Just because I don't play the politics game, doesn't mean I don't know how to!" he replied with an evil smirk.
She smiled back and reached up to kiss him on the cheek.
"I'm so happy you're back, Gibbs!" she said.
"Me too." he replied. "Keep that fact to yourself though, I want to surprise them." he added.
"Of course." she smirked.
He closed and locked the door behind her and watched her get into her car and drive away.
Oh Yes, my dear, he thought, you thought Tony and Jenny were bad - wait until I get done with you!
Having a clear purpose and destination, Gibbs grabbed his keys and left wearing a smile that Ziva would have been very afraid to see.
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