Pivotal Moments
Okay, folks, at this point in the season of tags I had to decide whether or not to follow canon exactly, and give you something that might be insightful but was unsurprising, or try to reinterpret the events of the last handful of episodes. I went with the latter. This chapter will seem decidedly AU, but I think I can fit it all into canon in the end. See what you think...
Chapter 12 is a tag for Hide and Seek—Ziva tells Tony what caused her to back into a stone wall.
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Previously, in Chapter 4:
"Director David asked me, while I'm in America, to keep an eye on you. To monitor your loyalties," Michael said.
Ziva wasn't sure what she felt in that first moment, processing Michael's words, but she was sure it wasn't surprise. She knew her father was bothered by her ties to NCIS, knew that if she weren't his daughter she would never have been reassigned where someone else held such influence over her. She nodded slowly. "He asked me to do the same."
"What?" Michael was startled.
"He asked me to watch you, gauge your commitment to MOSSAD."
"When? Why didn't you tell me?" Michael burst out before reigning in his emotions.
Ziva watched him closely, answered slowly. "The last morning, before I left to return to the States. Not," she emphasized, "before Morocco. I have not relayed any of our communication to him—I didn't tell you because there didn't seem a reason to. If you'd been too concerned about watching your words, they would have suspected you all the more."
Michael nodded acceptance, but he held himself rigidly upright in unconsciously military posture, and Ziva could tell he was still bothered.
"I told you now," she pointed out.
"So what do we do?" Michael asked softly. "Trust each other or guard ourselves against the slightest slip of the tongue?"
"Well, I've got your back," she said softly.
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March 2009
As she slammed the door and reached to buckle her seat-belt, Ziva's phone rang. She flipped it open without looking to see who was calling. "David."
"Ah, Agent David," Michael said warmly.
"Michael! Shalom," Ziva answered, surprised. She slid the key into the ignition, hoping this would be quick.
"Do you have a minute?" Michael asked seriously.
Ziva pulled the key back out. "Sure."
Michael sighed.
"Well?" she asked.
"Ziva, I fear I am becoming too close to this mission."
She tensed. "What do you mean?"
"The men in this cell, they are misled, but not entirely wrong. And the girl I am close to--"
"It is an operation, Michael," Ziva snapped.
"Ziva, I cannot help having feelings!" He raised his voice in turn.
"Michael," Ziva said tightly, "you are an officer of the Mossad. You are metsada. Whether or not you are trusted, you must complete your mission properly."
"Or what?" Michael asked.
Ziva froze. Or what? What could she do about it? "Why did you call?" she tried to sound calmer. "Why did you tell me this?"
He paused before answering. "I wanted your support, your sympathy," he said slowly. "I love you, Ziva."
She fought an emotional reaction. "You are on dangerous ground, Michael," she answered, her tone even but firm.
"Fine, then. We can talk about this later." He hung up.
Ziva found her hands shaking as she twisted the key in the ignition. Without looking, she slammed the car into reverse and hit the gas.
Thump. She was jolted in her seat as the car hit a wall. Ziva swore repeatedly in Hebrew, French, English—all the words that came to mind, angry not just at the car, fighting back fear as she pushed the car into drive and took off toward NCIS.
***
"Ziva, tough time at the pawn shop?" Tony asked lightly as she entered the bullpen, still moving too quickly.
"I hit a stone wall," she said shortly.
"Brick wall," Tony answered.
"No, it was a stone wall, I backed up too quickly," she snapped and turned to Gibbs to report in.
Tony studied her a moment, noting the tension that was holding her body taut and the absence of her usual calm. Something was up. But for the moment, he focused on the case.
***
"So, Ziva." Tony leaned over the partition next to her desk late that evening, after the bullpen had emptied for the night.
"Yes, Tony?"
"You drove into a stone wall."
"You wish to torment me about my poor driving?"
"No. Nope. I wanted to ask what made you get in an accident. Cause that hasn't happened in a while now."
She paused while she considered. Her anger at Michael was still just beneath the surface of her thoughts, making her reckless. Surely Tony would understand if anyone could.
"I got a phone call that aggravated me," she began slowly.
"From whom?" Tony demanded.
"There is a man I have been seeing, a Mossad agent."
Tony contained his reaction, but she was well trained and could still see the jerk of his head, the flare of his nostrils.
"My father is suspicious of him, and also of me. We agreed to—to watch each others rears."
"Backs, Ziva. Or asses."
"Anyway, he is on an undercover mission, in a terrorist cell. And he called earlier to confess that he has feelings for the girl he has been seducing." She looked up at him defensively.
"Bringing back bad memories?" There was a hint of a joke in Tony's tone, to cover how serious he was.
"Tony, I was not as bothered as you seem to think that you slept with some other woman undercover," Ziva snapped.
"Even though I loved her?" he asked softly.
"Tony," she took a deep breath, "my brother betrayed me in every way possible. So yes, I was very worried when you began acting suspiciously, but that is because you are my partner and my friend." Her irritation was quickly transferring to Tony.
Tony looked chagrined. "But hey, Ziva, at least he told you."
"Yes, but now his mission is compromised. It turns out he is as reckless as my father feared."
"And you'd hate for Daddy to be right." He was sarcastic.
She glared at him.
"So why not just tell on him? It's not like him re-accusing you is going to seem believable if there's evidence of his disloyalty."
"Mossad isn't NCIS, Tony. He wouldn't get reassigned to a desk job for screwing up his op, he'd get sent on a suicide mission!"
"So you are defending him?"
She stood to put them on the same level, but then looked away as she spoke. "Tony, we are...close."
He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "He's not in DC, is he?"
"No," she admitted.
Tony shook his head, thinking. "Back in Colombia, you talked about following orders. Have you changed your mind?"
Ziva looked at him, stricken. That was the question. "I still follow Gibbs'."
"And your father's?" He raised his eyebrows.
She hesitated and he nodded understanding.
"So what are you going to do about Mr. Mossad?"
She glared at him for the nickname. "There is nothing I can do, Tony."
He looked at her thoughtfully. "That's almost never true, Ziva."
She shook her head, angrier than before. "Just forget it, Tony. Forget I said anything." She grabbed up her coat and stormed off. At the elevator she hazarded a peek back toward their desks. Tony hadn't moved from where she left him, and as she stepped inside and the doors shut behind her, Ziva wondered if she'd just made a huge mistake.
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Let me know what you think!