Chapter Sixteen - "Past Moments"

Gibbs walked down the stairs to his basement. He knew when he got down there; she would be there, just like it happened two years ago. Only this time he wasn't going to let her walk through that door again. That was his first mistake, second was not looking for her. Once he reached the bottom, he walked over to his tool bench and grabbed the bottle of bourbon and cleaned out a glass. He poured himself some, and then just stopped.

"A part of me did not think I should have come" Ziva said as she stepped out of the shadows. Gibbs just stayed with his back turned to her. "I did not think you would want to see me."

"Two Years" Gibbs finally spoke, not moving from his spot.

"It was not an easy decision" Ziva said to him.

"Two Years Ziva" Gibbs said finally turning around to face her. "And not a single word."

"I could not contact you" Ziva said to him.

"Why?" Gibbs questioned her.

"It would ruin things" Ziva said to him. "I had come so far, I needed to end it."

"End what?" Gibbs said to her.

"That is not important. It is over and it is done. I am not proud of it, but it is what it is" Ziva said to him.

"What was it?" Gibbs asked her.

"It is not important. It is between Director Vance and I" Ziva said slipping up in saying Vance knew.

"Vance knew all along you weren't leaving" Gibbs said to him.

"Gibbs" Ziva said trying to say something.

"The both of you played me for a fool" Gibbs said. He cared about Ziva, but he couldn't take being lied to. He trusted Ziva and she knew that, He forgave her for lying to him about Ari, but he wasn't sure he could forgive her for this.

"Gibbs, I hated what I had to do" Ziva said to him, as tears started to form in her eyes. "But if you did not believe I walked away from NCIS, then they would not believe it either. You and Tony had to believe it or things would not go as planned."

"Why?" Gibbs asked her.

"Vance came to me two weeks before Lily's death. He told me my father had given him information that lead to a terrorists group planning a new attack. My father asked Vance, in his way of asking, that I was the only person that could help stop this group. Vance told me and I wanted no part of my father or his business." Ziva started to explain to him. "But when everything happened with Lily and Matthew I really thought about it and if anyone one was going to believe I left, it would be because of this. So I told Vance I would do it. He did not think it was a good idea, but I had my mind set" Ziva said continuing to explain. "All I had to do was wait for my father to contact me. After about two months, my father called telling me to return home now that the Americans have abandoned me. I returned to Tell Aviv and worked my way back into my father's followers. After months of working with my father and on this mission, I finally was able to gain the trust of the group." Ziva looked down at the ground.

"Ziva" Gibbs said to her, a bit worried.

"I did what needed to be done" Ziva said to him. She looked back up at him. "It is what my father wanted and it was what was going to happen. I gained their trust and waited it out till I got the information I needed. Once I had that I reported back to my father, who told Vance and ordered it to be stopped" Ziva continued to explain to him. "Once the dust had settled I told my father I was to return to D.C. and he was not to contact me again. When I returned, I still have some things to do, before I came back." Ziva told him. "I can see you have a new member of your team."

"I had no control over that" Gibbs said to her.

"Vance thought it would help with believing I was no longer part of the team" Ziva said to him. "If you still had that empty chair, you would be waiting for me to return. Whereas if you had someone to take my place it would mean you had moved on."

"No one could take your place Ziva" Gibbs said to her. "I thought you knew that by now."

"I guess others do not think the same" Ziva softly, but still loud enough that Gibbs heard it.

"He's just angry. You need to talk to him" Gibbs said to her.

"I hurt him Gibbs, I hurt you all" Ziva said to him. "I don't think he even wants to see me again."

"Talk to him" Gibbs said to her. "If you want back on the team, you are going to need to talk to him."

"That is what I am afraid of" Ziva said to him.

"If I say I'll buy all the alcohol then will you forgive me?" Melissa said to Tony. It had only been an hour or so since Gibbs had left, all still waiting on word from Gibbs about this missing Agent being found. None of them heard anything about an agent gone missing, or they would have been working the case already. Now it was just up to them to occupy their time while Gibbs was away.

"How about this, never mention her name again or the fact I don't want you here, and I'll forgive you" Tony said to her.

"Done and done" Melissa said to him. "For the record I was out of line and I was wrong. So I'm sorry"

"Never apologize, it's a sign of weakness" Tony said to her.

"Is that just a Gibbs thing?" Melissa asked.

"Is what, the don't apologize?" Tony questioned her.

"Yeah, is it just Gibbs thing or it is something others would know too" Melissa said.

"That depends" Tony said to her.

"How so?" Melisa asked.

"If you know the movie She Wore a Yellow Dress, then no it's not a Gibbs thing. He borrowed it from the Duke. Otherwise it's a Gibbs thing and having worked with him you'd know all his rules." Tony explained to her.

"Maybe I'm just going crazy" Melissa said.

"What's up Missy?" McGee finally spoke up. He was there, but just letting Melissa and Tony work it out.

"After our fight Tony and I, Abby came by and I started talking to her. I started going on about how I knew my stay on this team was only going to last for so long. Then someone came to talk to Director Vance. I guess I'm just worried I really am leaving" Melissa explained to him.

"Just because someone went to talk to the Director doesn't mean it's for a spot on team Gibbs. We got a good thing going here, I don't think Vance or Gibbs wants to mess that up" McGee said to her.

"Not even for…" Melissa said stopping before she said her name.

"No. She left us. I know Gibbs he doesn't forgive so easily" Tony said to her.

"I guess I'm just freaking out for nothing." Melissa said.

"You have nothing to worry about, we are a team and we stick together" McGee said to her.

"Thanks Tim" Melissa said with a smile.

"My question is what did any of this have to do with Gibbs rules?" Tony asked her, getting back to why she really started questioning them.

"I apologized for asking her questions I clearly had no right to ask. She then said never apologize it's a sign of weakness. So when you said it too, it got me thinking if anyone outside of team Gibbs knew that saying" Melissa said to him.

AN: The path I had for this story took a turn. Not sure if Ziva would really do this on the show, but this is why it's a fan fiction. I assure you, there is a good reason. Hope you like it...