Chapter Nineteen- "Hang On"
"So you are telling me" Vance started to say. It had been only about two hours since she had finished her session with Dr. Bronco; she had made up her mind. So she went to see Vance to inform him of her decision.
"That I will not be coming back" Ziva said to him. "I want to thank you for everything you have done for me. I just don't think there is anything left for me now."
"Are you sure about this?" Vance questioned her.
"I am sure" Ziva said to him. "I have been thinking about this for a while and I think it is best if things are left the way it is.
"If you are sure then and there is nothing I can say or do that can change your mind" Vance started t say to her. "Then I am sorry to see you go, but know if you ever change your mind you always have a place here."
"I wish that was true but too much as changed" Ziva said to him.
"Ziva you can't expect things to fix themselves over night" Vance said to her. "We were both in this and had a part. Things will work themselves out in the end."
"You sound like Gibbs" Ziva said to him. "Only he does not forgive me either and I do not blame him."
"I won't try to convince you of something you clearly have your mind set on" Vance said to her. "I will take your resignation and hope maybe you'll change your mind."
"I won't" Ziva said to him. "It seems though that your new agent has fit right into the team."
"Ziva you know it was only to make it look like you no longer work here" Vance said to her.
"Wither that is true or not, she seems to work very well with them team" Ziva said to him. "She seems nice and everyone seems to really like her."
"You know that that is the truth" Vance said to her. "Like I said if this is what you want, then this is what it is."
"Thank you" Ziva said to him, before heading out of his office. She knew things would not go over well with Tony and Gibbs, but things were not well start with. She walked down the stairs and headed to the elevator. As she made her to the bullpen she notice that Melissa was the only one around. Ziva thought about it for a minutes and then walked into the bullpen and over to her old desk. "You will not find better people, you should be lucky to have met them."
"I am" Melissa said. She looked up at Ziva. "But they care about you too. No matter what they said they do care about you."
"Even if that is so, to much has happened to move past it now" Ziva said to her. "I can see they are happy with you and I hope you are happy with them."
"I am, this team is one of the best and it has been a pleasure to be a part of it." Melissa said to her.
"Do not count yourself out yet" Ziva said to her. "You never know what life might throw your way" Ziva said before walking away. She got on the elevator and headed out of the building, knowing this was the last time she'd be here.
"She has been through a lot Anthony" Ducky said to him. After their visit from Malachi they had headed down to talk to Ducky. It had been Tony, McGee, Gibbs and they had grabbed Abby on the way. They figured since this effect the team; they would talk as a team.
"This doesn't change what she had done" Tony said in response. "She walked away from the team as if we didn't matter anymore. She comes back two years later expecting things to be the same as they used to be."
"But you have to remember all she has been through Tony" McGee said.
"So that excuses that she just walked away from us, from the team?" Tony questioned not really looking for an answer.
"She did what she did because she needed a solid cover. If we were in her shoes we would have done the same" Gibbs said.
"No the difference is that I would have trusted my team to have my back and to understand why I was doing what I was doing. She just lied to us all and expected us not to have an issue with it." Tony said.
"So did you once upon a time" McGee said to him.
"Really you are going to bring that up?" Tony snapped at McGee. "I didn't woke away, and the difference once I lied about some things, not everything. Ziva lied about everything."
"She didn't" Abby started to say once Tony stopped talking. She raised her hand, as if to let them know she had something to say or she was counting herself in on something. "Lie to us all."
"Of course not, her and Vance were buddy buddy on this" Tony snapped.
"No not just Vance" Abby said.
"What do you mean Abby" Gibbs said.
"Before Ziva left she asked me for my help" Abby started to say. "She asked me to help her make it look like she spilt with NCIS on bad terms. She didn't go into much detail but she just needed things to look like We turned on backs on her so she was turning her back on NCIS."
"Why didn't you mention this to any of us?" Tony questioned.
"She asked me not to say this to anyone, not even Director Vance." Abby said to them. "I think she wanted him to believe one thing and who ever she was trying to convince believe another."
"It worked" Tony said bitterly.
"How can you know that for sure?" Abby questioned.
"Because she told me" Tony said. "She said she was going after a terrorist group that her father wanted her to take down. That she made it seem like she left NCIS and we moved on so she could rejoin Mossad and gain access to the group. From there she waited till they trusted her enough to give her the information she needed. Once she had it she let her father know and he took them out."
"Once they were taken care of she returned home" Gibbs said finishing the story Tony was telling.
"She told you too?" Tony questioned but didn't wait for an answer to speak again. "Did she tell you they were targeting the Navy Yard?"
"She did not" Gibbs said to him.
"Clearly she was doing this to protect us" Abby said.
"Otherwise she wouldn't have done it" McGee said.
"Why are you so quick to defend her Tim? She walked away from you too" Tony said.
"Because she's still my co-worker and my friend" McGee said. "She has been there for me when I have needed her and I will stand by for her when she needs it. I am not going to walk away"
"Like she did?" Tony snapped.
"Enough" Ducky said. "Clearly something else is going on here. Anthony are you mad at her more because she walked away without a word? Or because she didn't stay when you told her how you felt?"
"That doesn't matter Ducky, It never mattered" Tony said to him. Which clearly meant that he was mad at her more because she walked away when he put his heart on the line and didn't say anything in return.
"It seems it does" Ducky said. "You need to remember she is not like us Anthony" Ducky went on to say. "She grew up in a different world then we did. She does things because that was how she was brought up, just like you do thing because that is how you were brought up."
"Ducky is right" Gibbs said.
"She is only reacting to what has happen to her in her life the only way she knows how" Ducky said to him. "She is shutting herself down from herself and from us. She knows she can trust us, but she doesn't feel she can trust herself. That is mostly what is driving her to do all these things."
"So your saying it's not a matter of does she trust us, but a matter of she doesn't trust herself so she's pushing us away to protect us?" McGee questioned Ducky.
"Yes. She sees this as a way to protect you, keep you from getting hurt. Yes she has hurt you, but in her mind she feels that if she stays she'll hurt you more then this. She sees this as a way to keep you safe for the demons that she faces." Ducky was explaining to them. "Poor Ziva must be facing a lot of demons, between her time in the desert and the whole thing with her friend Lilly and Matthew. You have to remember Anthony even to someone like you and me or Abby these are things you do not just get over easily."
"Even if that is true Ducky, it does not make it right that she just walked away…" Tony started to say.
"I never said it made it right, I just explained why she had done it." Ducky said to him. "It's justifiable."
"Like hell it is" Tony snapped. "You all want to forgive her for what she's done, then go ahead, but I can't. I won't" Tony said before storming out of autopsy.
"Should someone go after him?" Abby question.
"No let him be, he is clearly mad at her for something more then just walking away from the team" Ducky said to her. Abby bowed her head unsure of what to do. Before anyone could get another word in Gibbs grabbed his phone from his waist and brought it up to his ear.
"I'll be right there" Gibbs said before hanging up the phone. He then headed out of autopsy and everyone just kind of looked at each other.
"Could you close the door" Vance said to Melissa. She walked over and closed the door, before walking back over to Vance's desk. "I called you in here because I need to discuss with you your position on Gibbs team."
"I'm being moved back to my team aren't I?" Melissa said. Two years ago she would have been okay with it, but now she didn't want to go anywhere.
"Actually no, your temporary status is no longer temporary. I would like to congratulate you on becoming an officially member of Team Gibbs" Vance said to her. "Gibbs will be here shortly to share in the news."
"But I thought I was only here to fill the spot Ziva had left behind and now that she was back, I didn't think I would be sticking around?" Melissa questioned.
"I can't not discuss that, but things have changed and there is an opening on Gibbs team" Vance started to say. "Since you have been filling the empty chair, it's only fair to offer it to you."
"I don't know what to say" Melissa said.
"You can say no" a voice said. Both turned their ends to see Gibbs standing in the doorway.
"Agent Gibbs thank you for joining us" Vance said. Gibbs walked to Melissa and in front of Vance's desk. "I was just congratulating Agent Daniels here on being the newest part of team Gibbs."
"So you are writing Ziva off?" Gibbs said.
"This is not the time or place for this" Vance said to him.
"Welcome to the team" Gibbs said to Melissa.
"I'm going to excuse myself now" Melissa said before she walked over to the door and out of Vance's office.
"I am not writing Ziva off Agent Gibbs" Vance said once Melissa had left. "She has chosen not to return. This is her discussion."
"Just like the last time, it was her discussion?" Gibbs snapped at him.
"That was different" Vance said. He stood up from his chair.
"Are you sending her on another undercover mission?" Gibbs said.
"This was her discussion Gibbs. She believes that you and the team don't want her to return" Vance said to him. "That it is better to just walk away. I am respecting her discussion and that means Melissa is now part of your team."
"She will not replace Ziva" Gibbs said to him.
"I know that it not possible" Vance said to him. "This is what she wants."
"Looks like you are stuck with me" Melissa said as she walked into the bullpen.
"What?" McGee said.
"The Director just told me I now officially apart of this team" Melissa said as she walked over to her desk.
"Weren't you always a part of this team?" McGee said questioning what she said.
"Well yes" Melissa said. "But I always thought at some point I would be sent back to my old team. Now that isn't going to happen."
"It's been two years, I don't think she's coming back" McGee said to her.
"I guess it's true now" Melissa said. "You thought she'd come back didn't you?"
"I'm not going to lie to you Melissa I did. I understood why she did what she did" McGee started to say to her. "It was unexpected and I was mad at her at first, but once I knew she wasn't completely gone it started to make sense. She's not just my co-worker, she's my friend and after everything she's been through she's entitled to some times when she just need to do what she needs to do or just disappear for a while."
"I hope someday you'll be my friend the way you are with Ziva" Melissa said.
"I've just known her for a long time" McGee told her. "And we've been through a lot together. Saved each others lives a couple times."
"Well she's lucky to have you" Melissa said to him.
"Who's lucky?" Tony said as he walked into the bullpen.
"No one" Melissa said.
"Clearly you were talking about someone specific" Tony said to her.
"Okay we were talking about Tim's date tonight, with Abby" Melissa said. "She's a lucky girl to get to go out with hm." Melissa lipped 'I'm sorry'.
"Another date, alone?" Tony question.
"Yeah" McGee said. "I just didn't tell you because I know how you can be."
"I happened to over hear a conversation between them" Melissa said trying to come up with a good cover story. "He didn't think anyone was around, clearly he was to into his conversation."
"Agent Daniels" The team heard a voice say. They turned to see Gibbs walking into the bullpen and over to Melissa. "I want you to know.."
"You don't really want me here?" Melissa said interrupting Gibbs.
"No" Gibbs said to her. "You are a good agent, no one can take that from you. I have been lucky to have you on my team for these past two years, but…"
"Ziva. Your loyalties lay with her" Melissa said once again interrupting Gibbs.
"She has been a big part of this team, someone I have come to trust. I can't and will not write her off" Gibbs said to her. "It is not that I don't want you on the team, it's just not easy watching another walk away."
"Understandable, I mean after what this team did for her" Melissa said. "I can tell him I won't take the job. I'll go back to my old team."
"No you earned this" Gibbs said to her. Gibbs then turned to face all his agents. "Melissa is now a permanent member of our team. I expect nothing less then what I've gotten the last two years."
"I don't understand?" Tony said.
"Ziva resigned, she's no longer an NCIS agent" Gibbs said to him.
An: I had another plan, but the story kind of fell this way and it works out. So the story is almost finished, and we are working towards a happy ending. So read, review let me know.