THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS, YOU TRUELY DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO ME :) ON WITH THE STORY!
DISCLAIMER: IF I ACTUALLY OWNES NCIS, I WOULDN'T FEEL THE NEED TO HIT SOMETHING RIGHT NOW. (BECAUSE OF THE LAST EPISODE) BUT SADLY I MUST GO ON WITH IMAGINED TIVA FLUFF. R&R. :)
Anita's Notes So Far: I am very interested in the group led by L.J. Gibbs. The connections between the individual members of the group are unusually intense. After today's session (which I believe to be the longest ever) I think I am really starting to pinpoint what I need to discuss with the, professionally and personally.
THE SESSION (In the Anita's p.o.v.):
"Okay," Ralph restarted the session, "let's start again at the beginning of the session yesterday, and analyze and discuss you're comments. Hmm... let's see, it seems to me yesterday we started with Jenny's reasoning for bringing you all here. Jenny, you said there are "complications" at work, what did you mean by that?"
Jenny thought for a minute, staring at the floor with her chin on her hands, before she answered, "We at NCIS have a dangerous job. Our lives are at risk every moment. Dealing with this is hard at some points, and can cause tension among us, not only field agents, but also those who have to stay at the agency while everyone else is out, possibly risking their lives. Working together so closely causes us to form unusually tight bonds," at this I couldn't help but notice a few eyes dart towards Tony and Ziva, who were deliberately looking anywhere but at each other, "which, at times can add to the complications even more."
"How so?" I prompted, making a note to question Tony and Ziva about their personal relationship the next day in the private sessions.
This time it was Gibbs who answered. "When we are out in the field we can't let that... closeness get in the way of our work. Personal lives can't effect our professional lives."
This confused me for a second. "Wouldn't a relationship that close make the job easier? For two people to be so close they wouldn't have to try to read what the other is thinking, they would just know?"
"Or they would let personal feelings cloud their judgment." Gibbs countered shortly. I could tell by the look he was giving me this was the end of the conversation... for now.
Ralph cleared his throat, and kept us moving along, keeping us the original topic and away from relationships. "What did you mean, Jenny, that your lives are constantly at risk, certainly not all the time..."
"Well, no, but during cases we have to track down people associated with murders, robberies, terroris..." I saw her pause for a split second, glance around, and quickly finish her sentence, "and that is usually dangerous. So no not all the time but..." I could see her try to finish up on this topic as fast as she could, but I couldn't have that. What was with that glance?
"Wait, wait wait, just a second, what was that. You paused for a second when you mentioned terrorists, what happened there?" Dead silence followed. Tony looked at the floor, Ziva began muttering in what sounded to be some kind of Arab language, and everyone suddenly became tense. Nobody said anything. I was worried about prompting them, since something had obviously happened, and I didn't what to say anything inappropriate that would make the, uncomfortably.
The awkward silence continued for a few seconds before Tony finally said one word, "Kate."
There was silence again. Gibbs looked at Tony, but Tony's eyes hadn't moved from the floor, so he hadn't seen the glance. Abby looked like she was about to cry. I finally decided I wouldn't get anything out of them unless I said something, "Anybody want to talk about it?" I prompted.
Finally Jenny spoke up. "Caitlin Todd was a field Agent for two years before I was appointed Director of NCIS. She was a great asset to the team, but was killed by a Humas terrorist we were trying to catch. It was during the investigation of the terrorist that Ziva and I joined NCIS."
I was silent, I didn't really know what to say to that. I finally came up with "I am sorry." But it didn't seem to be sufficient. Ralph, silent for the last few minutes, came to my rescue.
"How did this effect the team? I can tell by your reactions that you were close. And how about Ziva's replacement of Kate effected you professi..."
"Ziva didn't replace Kate." Tony said angrily. Every one looked over at him. He had finally looked up from the ground, to glare at Ralph. "No one ever could."
This shocked me, and apparently the rest of the people in the room as well. Maybe I was wrong about Tony and Ziva's relationship. Maybe Tony was closer to this Kate person, and Ziva was just another girl to him.
Ziva looked over at Tony, shock and hurt in her eyes. Tony felt her gaze and looked over at her, meeting her gaze for the first time that evening. He could tell he had hurt her feelings. His face softened, and he addressed Ziva directly, "Ziva, you did not replace Kate, you replaced an agent. No one could replace Kate, just like now no one could replace you." He gave her a kind of half smile and put an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, closing the space they had put between themselves when they had first walked in. I noticed how tentatively this was done. Just yesterday he was touching and teasing her without a second thought. What had happened between them?
Well, at least I can go back to my original theory. There is definitely something going on between them. They seemed to be lost in each others eyes. It almost looked like they were staring into each other's souls, seeing thing about each other no one else would ever know. I could feel the temperature of the room shoot up twenty degrees. All sound outside seemed to seace. Everything was about them.
It was like we were in a movie, in one of those romance scenes in which the two main characters see each other for the first time, and everything else in the room gets out of focus, like love at first sight. Except they were so obvious about it it was like we had been sucked into the moment with them.
The responses to this 'moment' captivated my attention. Jenny rolled her eyes, Abby looked like she couldn't have been happier, McGee looked a little lost... no more like he didn't want to know anything about what he was seeing, and Gibbs glared at them until Ziva looked away, ruining the moment.
As quickly as this exchange had taken place it was over. The temperature of the room went back down to a comfortable sixty-eight degrees, and everything came back into focus. Not wanting them to know we had all seen the way they looked at each other Ralph continued the conversation, "Okay, and it was also said yesterday there is tension amongst the members of the team. You all seemed to think it centered around Tony. Let's discuss that assumption some more. McGee, you seemed to have a lot to say on the subject. Why so you think Tony causes so much tension?" Ralph had successfully diverted the attention away from Tony and Ziva to McGee. I was the only one to notice that Ziva was paying a little too much attention to the conversation to be believable, and Tony couldn't seem to pull his eyes away from Ziva's face. It was really cute, I thought. So I jotted down a quick note and returned my attention to the answer to the question.
"Let me change my opinion on that. It's not really tension that he causes... more just distractions... which then leads to tension. So it's more of an indirect thing, really."
"What kind of distractions?"
"Throwing paper balls, making sexual jokes, invading our personal space, making movie references to everything, talking, procrastinating, complaining, talking about his personal life... most of which involves girls... pretty much anything but work."
I chuckled nervously, "Well, that's quite some list you got there. Tony, what do you have to say about this."
"I do not agree with the... negative connotation being put on my... activities during the work day. I take pride in my ability to create a light, fun, enjoyable working atmosphere." Tony said, throwing me a huge smile, which I had to admit was quite breathtaking.
"Does anybody else have anything to say on the matter?"
"I agree with McGee." Ziva said, smirking up at Tony. There was a chorus of agreement from the others, except for a disgruntled 'humph' coming from Abby. Everybody turned to stare at her.
"I like Tony just the way he is. You guy's are mean."
Tony grinned largely at Abby, glaring at everyone else. "Thank you Abby, I'm glad someone around here appreciates me. It's why I love you the best." I couldn't help but notice McGee glance angrily at Tony for these words. Jealousy? Hmm. There were a lot of unresolved issues here. I couldn't wait to see where it ended.
HEHE. WELL, I GUESS I'M UPDATING THERE. AND NOW I DON'T HAVE EXCUSES NOT TO WRITE, SINCE IT IS SUMMER (YAY!) SO EXPECT MORE FREQUENT UPDATES... I HOPE. THANKS FOR BEING PATIENT AND REVIEW PLEASE.