A Marine's Return
3
Ziva
Gibbs got off the elevator and made his way to his desk and sat down reviewing his case reports before getting up to drop them off with Cynthia to give to Jen; he didn't want to face her right now. After a few hours he needed a coffee break so he got up and made his way to the front elevator, but he stopped at Ziva's desk. She looked up at him when he stopped; as did the others.
"Care to join me?" He asked her simply. She nodded and grabbed her coat before standing up and following him to the front elevator. She got in behind them and he hit the button for the first floor. She half expected him to hit the emergency stop button, but he didn't. They left the elevator and walked out the front door. Five minutes later as they were walking towards the coffee shop; Ziva breaks the silence. "Are you going to talk?"
"I was going to wait until we had our coffee, but I can start now."
"Please do."
"Are you mad at me Ziva?"
"Yes Gibbs, I am mad. You told all of us that you were leaving on your last day, you gave us no time to adjust to the fact that you were leaving us and putting Tony in charge. Why Gibbs; why did you do that?"
"Because I thought that you guys would try to talk me out of it. I know that I don't support the war, but they need more troops over there. And I think that this is something I need to do. But I have a question or you Ziva, and you might see the answer as to why I won't return to NCIS when and if I return stateside."
"Ask your question Gibbs."
"Did Jenny talk about a special someone who did OPS with her in Europe before 9/11, Paris especially?"
"Yes she did, we were celebrating a successful op and I asked why she was drinking bourbon. She told me that an old flame got her hooked and that when she celebrated she wanted to remember the good times with him. She never told me that man's name, but I think that I know that the mystery man was you. Am I correct Gibbs?"
"Yes Ziva. That man was me. We were assigned undercover ops throughout Europe; we posed as a married couple. About six months into the mission we were stationed in a stuffy attic near a pier watching the people who boarded a Lebanese Trawler. The second night we were there we made love, the tension surrounding us since she was assigned to be my team's Probie finally broke and from there on out the only thing that we were pretending was that we were married. I fell in love with her and she with me."
"Then why are you not with her? That is the correct phrase right?"
"Yeah you got the phrase right. And I am not with her because she chose the job over me. Left her coat on the plane that was to return us to the states, she had started shivering waiting for our connecting flight. I went back to the plane and retrieved her coat. When I had gotten back to where we were sitting she was gone; I thought that she had left to use the restroom but she never returned. Finally I looked at the coat and saw a letter in the pocket: it was a letter addressed to me. That kind of letter is called a "Dear John" letter. And folded up inside the envelope was a necklace that I had bought her a few months before our departure. That necklace had nothing to do with our OP; I just wanted to give her something nice."
"And when she returned as Director, Gibbs?"
"She told me that there would be no off the job; I tried to respect that decision, but I couldn't because I realized that I still loved her. I thought that if I left NCIS we might be able to get back what we had and then the letter asking me to return to active service came and I thought that space was what we both needed."
"So you decided to leave NCIS and go to Iraq, yes?"
"Correct Ziva, but I forgot to take into account the rest of my team. And for that I apologize to you Ziva."
"Thank you Gibbs." They had reached the coffee shop and entered; walking over to the counter they placed their orders and Gibbs paid for their drinks and they made their way back to NCIS. Ziva threw her arm around his waist. Gibbs kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"I leave at the end of the month. Until then my door is always open. I know that you are loyal to your Father Ziva, but I think I need to tell you this; America would be lucky to have you as a citizen. When does your lease on your apartment end?"
"Six months; I was going to return to Tel Aviv, but my father has become more Director then my Father so I don't know what to do? I want to see my mother but I want to stay in America."
"If you chose to remain in America; you can stay at my place. I was going to ask the rest of the team to drop in and check on everything but if you want you can stay there. Okay now for the talk I was going to give you. Don't let Tony boss you around too much, keep your head. And do me a favor: watch out for Jenny please."
"I will watch out for her Gibbs, I would have done it had you not asked."
"Thank you Ziva, and you can stop calling me Gibbs; I am no longer your boss. Just call me Jethro.
Meanwhile at NCIS in Director Shepard's office
Jenny Shepard; first female director of an armed federal agency nursed a tumbler of bourbon as she looked out the window. Sipping from the tumbler she observes two familiar figures walking towards the building: Gibbs and Ziva. She smiled knowing that Jethro was a better father figure for all the team; especially Ziva. Her father would always see her as an agent first and daughter second. Jenny hoped that Gibbs' departure would not drive the young Mossad agent back to Isreal; she liked having her "sister" close by. The two figures entered the building and five minutes later she heard the sound of the elevator reaching the bull pen and Gibbs' gruff voice asking if the boys were done with their share of the paperwork yet. The sound of silence coming from the bullpen said that the boys had in fact not completed their paperwork. Jenny sighed and sat back behind her desk pulling a new case file towards her and started to read.