I go back to NCIS with Gibbs after the ship sets sail…I can't bare to be alone right now and neither can he.
"Is there anything I can do to make myself useful around here?" I say noting the piles of files dotted around. Gibbs takes a look around the squad room. It already looks very different without the team there.
"No, my new team doesn't start until tomorrow" he says.
"So…what's your plan to get everyone back?" I ask.
"They've not even been gone a day! Give me a chance…I have several ideas up my sleeve" he whispers in my ear. I smile trusting him with my life. He's all I've got now, next to him and Dan…I'm all alone. Not forgetting Abby and McGee though; they're still close by.
I think of Ziva, wondering if she has arrived at Tel Aviv yet. I look at the clock.
"She won't have arrived yet" Gibbs says. I don't think I'll ever be able to work out how he does that.
"Oh" I say, just to avoid silence falling across the squad room.
"What do you want to do?" he asks me. I genuinely have no idea.
" I don't know, really…I should really go home and do some practise" I say, it is true but no matter how much I need to do it, I just don't feel like it.
"Ok" he says.
"Will you be at home if I need you?" I ask him.
"Yeah, probably, I can't stand the sight of this place at the moment…might do some work on the boat if you want to give me a hand…I'll get some pizza and we can…talk, you're getting pretty good at sanding down that thing!" he says. He must have been a great father to Kelly when she was alive. I know I'm very lucky to have a man like Gibbs to protect me when my father isn't around.
***
I do a couple of hours practise until I cannot stand the lonely apartment anymore and I head over the Gibbs' place. When I get there the pizza is already there and waiting in the basement.
"Hey!" I say descending down into the basement where he is already.
"I thought you were going to stand me up" He smiles "Pizzas' getting cold" he says opening the box and pulling out a slice.
***
It's been nearly four months since Vance split my father's team up and things haven't been what I was expecting. I wasn't expecting them to be just as they were but it's like Ziva and my father have disappeared off the face of the planet.
No one has heard from Ziva like she said, but an occasional transmission through MTAC would have settled my mind. I've spoken to my dad a few times but not much…he doesn't really have much time. It's alright though, as long as he's safe.
Gibbs has been taking great care of me…I think he quite enjoys having someone to take care of other than himself for a change.
It's two weeks until my graduation and although Gibbs has promised me that he will be there for me, my father cannot make such a promise and as for Ziva…she could be god knows where.
***
I'm sitting at home watching the news on TV, it's a rare occurrence that I have time to this but here I am. The reporter informs the nation about a suicide explosion at a bar/restaurant in Morocco. I swear for a second I see Ziva amongst the crowd of wounded. I try to shrug it off. There are millions of women in the world with long dark hair like Ziva's…it may not be her. I can't stop thinking about it though. The sooner Gibbs works out a plan the better. I need Ziva and my father here; where I can keep an eye on them.
There's a knock at the door, it's Dan. I open the door to him and he hands me a bag of Chinese.
"Aw gee, Thanks…you really know how to treat a girl" I laugh, letting him in.
"You know me!" he says laughing.
"I feel like I haven't seen you for ages" I say. He leans over and kisses me on the cheek.
"That's because you haven't, you've been practising too hard the last couple of days" he says unpacking the food.
"I've got to" I argue, I know he understands but like everyone else he's been worried about me ever since my dad left on his assignment.
"Anyway, I managed to get some tickets for Avenue Q on Broadway next weekend if you're up for it?" he asks flashing two tickets in front of my eyes.
"Oh My God! Thank you!" I say taking them from him.
"I'll take that as a yes then?" he smiles.
"I love this musical…it's hysterical, musical genius!" I say.
"I know, that's why I got them" he said.
There's another knock at the door. I look through the peep hole to check who it is before I open the door, it's Gibbs…baring more food!
"Quick Dan, it's Gibbs…hide the take-out…I don't want him to feel bad" I say. Dan scans the kitchen for a tea towel and throws it over the containers.
"Ah, the famous Gibbs I've heard so much about!" he says with a smile. I turn back to the door and open it wide.
"Gibbs!" I say.
"Hey, you hungry?" he says holding up the take-out. I smile trying to suppress my laughter at the situation.
"Yeah, come on in…Dan's over if that's ok?" I ask. This is the first time Gibbs has met Dan, if he's going to be anything like my father was, poor Dan is in for the long haul.
"I'm not disturbing you am I?" he says. I shake my head.
"Of course not" I say ushering him in and closing the door behind him. Gibbs places the bag on the coffee table and eyes Dan suspiciously and protectively. Dan knows the drill.
"I've heard a lot about you, Special Agent Gibbs" he says nervously extending his hand.
"Really?" Gibbs says turning to look at me accusingly.
"Yeah, I'm Daniel Cunningham, sir" he says. Gibbs laughs at his politeness.
"No sir! Just Gibbs will do" he says ignoring Dan's extended hand and giving him a manly pat on the shoulder. Result!
"I'll just get some plates" I say to them.
"Bethany tells me you were in the Marines" I hear him say…shoot, should have told him not to bring that up. I wait for Gibbs to turn all cold but he doesn't.
"Yes, a long time ago, mind you!" he says.
"My father is in the Marines, serving in Sudan" Dan says, I look at Gibbs who seems thoroughly impressed.
"Are you going to follow his footsteps?" Gibbs asks unpacking the food. Dan shakes his head.
"I'm afraid not, sir…" he says, Gibbs corrects him.
"It's Gibbs, please" he says with a smile.
"Gibbs, I'm going to study medicine after my graduation" he tells Gibbs.
"I've seen you in the orchestra, you play…French horn, don't you?" Gibbs says. Dan nods. I return over to them with plates and cutlery.
"Here we are…dad's going to kill you Gibbs when he finds out how much fast food you've been feeding me!" I say setting the plates down with a clatter.
"He's not going to find out is he?" Gibbs hints. "oh, whilst we're on the topic of you're father. I think I might have found a way to cut his assignment short" Gibbs explains.
"Oh?" I say excitedly.
"I was going through some cold case files and found one that was linked to the ship he's on at the moment. I was going to call the commander in the morning" he finishes.
"That's great!" I say but then something occurs to me. "What about Ziva?" I ask
"I actually convinced the director of Mossad to speak to me today which is a first" he begins, I can't help but get my hopes up.
"Yes?" I say.
"He said she's on an undercover mission, wouldn't say what or where. He said as soon as she has completed her task he may consider letting us have her back because apparently she has been almost impossible to live with recently" Gibbs says spooning a pile of noodles onto my plate.
"He can't stop her if this is where she really wants to be" I say.
"Well, that's true. But considering we sent her back there in the first place he is a little confused as to why we have supposedly changed our minds"
"Why did Vance split you up?" Dan pipes up, hoping to be more included in the conversation. I should have reminded him not to bring that up either.
"Jenny…" I say. He suddenly goes a bright shade of red.
"Oh, sorry Gibbs" he says. Gibbs shrugs.
"What's done is done…the sooner I get my team back the better" he says.
"I told you he'd get my dad's team back together again…" I tell Dan proudly.
"Hey, it's not your dad's team-it's my team!" Gibbs says…we all laugh.
***
The evening goes well. We watch some x-files DVDs; I gave every single episode on DVD. I watched one episode once and told my dad I liked it…so guess what I got the following Christmas?
Dan has to head back after a little to baby-sit his kid sister while his mom goes to work, she's a nurse and with his dad away it gets awfully hard for them both. I understand. We understand each other…both our dads are away because of their careers…so we look after each other. Soon it's just me and Gibbs.
"I like him, he's a good kid" he says whilst helping me wash up.
"Good, you took a lot less convincing then dad did" I say, smiling…I wish he was here.
"I can imagine…you're his daughter, it must be hard for him to accept that he's not the only man in your life now" he says. I shake my head.
"That's never been true…you and McGee and Ducky…you're all really close to me" I say.
"Yeah, but not in that way!" he says, immaturely emphasising the that.
"I know what you mean…he's cool about it now though, he's had to be cool about it…I mean, he'd be hypocritical if he didn't, I was, is, cool about him and Ziva…" I say. Gibbs pauses.
"What?" I say sensing his unease.
"I don't know what to do about them" he says. I'm confused…I don't know what he means.
"What are you talking about?" I ask. He sighs.
"Well, the human in me is thinking it's the best thing that could happen to them both, I'm really pleased they finally worked it out…" he stops.
"But?" I say, in conversation with Gibbs, there is ALWAYS a but.
"I made rule 12 for a reason" he says sounding like a broken record.
"We've had this conversation before…they know about rule 12, it won't interfere with NCIS, they wouldn't compromise the team…they know how much it means to you…hell, why did you think it took them this long?" I say. He agrees with me, I know he does…but he is their boss after all and he has to stand ground.
"I could just pretend that I never saw what happened in the airport" he says.
"what happened in the airport?" I say smiling, going along with his plan…he doesn't get it at first but does eventually and laughs.
"You'd make a good agent, you know…you're really smart, you'd do well" he starts, not him too.
"This is also a conversation we've had before…my dad wants me to go into science and forensics like Abby like on CSI or something like that…but it's just NOT what I want to do…Music is too big a part of my life…it's also a lot safer" I try to make my point as clear as possible. "I'm going to the conservatoire and no one, not even you is going to change my mind" I finish.
"Ok…" he says and we speak no more of it.
"But I expect to get decent seats to all your big concerts!" he chirps. I elbow him in the ribs.
His cell phone rings and he wonders off back into the lounge.
"Yes" I hear him say. I'm oblivious to his conversation until I heard a name"
"Director David? What right now? I'll be there in 10" he hangs up immediately and speeds back into the kitchen, I act like I haven't heard.
"Come on, we're going to NCIS" He says grabbing me by the arm, causing me to abandon the washing up.
"Why, what's wrong?" I ask. The tone in his voice concerns me.
"That was Vance, Director David is on a transmission in MTAC…he needs to speak with me urgently" he says giving me my coat as we leave.
"Is it something to do with Ziva?" I ask dumbly.
"Of course it is, why else would he call at this our…in Israel it's probably about 6 in the morning…he wouldn't tell Vance" he says not looking at me. Deep down in my gut something tells me something bad has happened.
Our journey is silent. As soon as we get to NCIS we jump from the car leaving it unlawfully parked on the sidewalk. I don't think I've ever got to NCIS this quickly before, not even with Ziva's driving.
***
Vance is waiting for us. He puts out an arm to stop me from going into MTAC.
"You can't go in there, authorised personnel only" Vance grabs me by the arm. Gibbs pushes him off.
"She's been here a lot longer than you have, Vance. She has MY permission!" he spits at Vance, who backs off. He goes to follow us into MTAC but Gibbs bars him.
"I believe Director David wanted to speak to ME!" Gibbs snapped. Vance frowned and stormed off in a sulk. Gibbs shut the door behind us, we turned to see the large screen depicting Ziva's father to us.
"I heard you wanted to speak to me" Gibbs said, cutting to the chase.
"Who is that with you" the Director asked, meaning me.
"She's a friend of Ziva's" Gibbs says.
"Where is she? Are you sending her back?" I ask frantically before I can stop myself.
"My daughter is dead, Gibbs" he said showing no emotion whatsoever.
"What!" Gibbs said, all emotion draining from his face. No, not Ziva. My head was spinning, after everything…I can't loose her too.
"I'm very sorry Special Agent Gibbs" he says. I can't believe what is happening.
"What the hell happened?" Gibbs says angrily.
"She was killed whilst working undercover" he says.
"Undercover where?" Gibbs orders. I'm so close to crying. Ziva cannot be dead…what am I going to tell my father.
"I cannot tell you that" he says calmly.
"Her body?" Gibbs stammers
"Not recovered…she was killed in an explosion, she would never have made it out alive I can tell you" the Director said.
"You're lying!" I shout. The director looks at me in disgust.
"Bethany" Gibbs tried to hush me.
"No, no Ziva wouldn't die like that! She would have escaped! She's alive…she must have just escaped and ran away!" I say, I have already lost too many women close to me…I just cannot loose her, not now.
"I'm sorry, young lady…but we would have found her if that be the case, besides, she knows better than to run away from Mossad" he says. Gibbs shakes his head.
"Would she though?" Gibbs said. "If she was so desperate to get away from it?" he asks. The Director doesn't respond.
"She didn't die under cover" Gibbs accused. The director looks uncomfortable.
"You found out about what happened to Ari…didn't you? Did she tell you?" Gibbs shouts at the screen before him.
"I am very forgiving, Special Agent Gibbs…I would not kill my own daughter. I have already lost one daughter and now Ziva too…but know of all people would know about loosing a child, what it is like to loose someone so young, so innocent." The director says, before abruptly terminating the transmission.
"No! No!" I say, crumbling in tears. Gibbs close to tears too.
"I'm so sorry…Bethany, Bethany listen to me" he says trying to hold me but I pull away from him.
"He's lying, Ziva is still alive, I can feel it! Are you just gonna sit back and believe whatever he says?" I say.
"We should call your father, get him back here, now on emergency leave" he tells me getting up in order to make the call. As soon as his back is turned and run as fast as I can out of MTAC. Gibbs shouts after me but I fly down the stairs out of the squad room, out of NCIS. Gibbs yelling after me to come back. I run and run until I can't hear him any more.
I run all the way to Ziva's apartment. I scramble for her spare key she gave me for emergencies and stifle through all her things…anything that might help me find her. In my act of rage I ransack her home looking and searching for any sign to show me the way.
I pause for a breath and my eye catches on a photograph beside a lamp on a coffee table. I'd never noticed it before all the times I'd been over there but now it had become very significant.
It was a photograph of Ziva with an older man and woman and also another girl, a little younger than Ziva. Ziva looked about the age I am now. I carefully removed from picture from it's golden frame and turned it over.
Home with Aba and Ima, Tel Aviv, 1992.
I was surprised that it was written in English but glad all the same. Was it their home? Was it still their home? I wasn't sure of anything but it worth a try. I ran all the way home back to my apartment and into my fathers room. I emptied his sock draw and pulled out several "emergency" credit cards.
"This does call for an emergency" I say to myself before grabbing the phone by the side of the bed.
"Er, hello? I need 1 ticket to Tel Aviv, Israel? No, I need it tonight…first class? Is that all you have? Fine, I'll take it! $750 dollars? Is that return? What? Er yes, sorry, I'll take it, can I pay there? Great, Thanks" I say slamming the door. I run out of the house with nothing but my passport and my dad's credit cards…he's going to kill me when he gets back.
Right now, I'm not thinking straight. Within a couple of hours I'm sitting on a plane in first class to Israel…it suddenly dawns on me what I have just done.
"Oh" Is all I can say. Gibbs is going to kill before my dad even gets back!
***