A/N – I've decided in order to keep the story moving forward more I will not reflect back on any background that we already know about, I will only do that if I have something I want to add about their pasts that we never knew before. Thanks again for all of you who reviewed! Wow I can't get over how awesome your reviews all are and how many new faces I am seeing so to speak. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Sorry for any missed errors, I always fix them eventually. This chapter isn't too long since I know some people seem to prefer them to be around this size. ~Enjoy~

~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~

Previously on: "A Matter Of Life And Death" . . .

"Miss David I don't know what kind of game you're playing or if you just have some strange sense of humor, but trust me – I do not find you amusing. The term 'Senior' agent has nothing to do anyone's age so let's get that straight. Now what do you mean you're following orders? Do you always follow orders from people you don't actually work for?"

Ziva became rather uncomfortable upon hearing his last question, but knowing that she had to answer the man.

"Perhaps it would be best if you contact Miss Shepard Agent Gibbs. As far as I know, I do work for her."

~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~

A Matter Of Life Or Death

Part XIV

Hallway Outside Tony's ICU Room . . .

"Perhaps it would be best if you contact Miss Shepard Agent Gibbs. As far as I know, I do work for her." The Israeli beauty's words caught Gibbs by surprise. She was not only bordering on insubordination with her demanding tone, but she had also shocked him a little with the context of the statement and he found it hard to even absorb her explanation. She worked for Jenny?

After shooting her a burning glare he silently took out his cell phone and quickly hit speed dial 5 to call his former partner. 'Screw hospital policy regarding no cell phone usage allowed!' he thought defiantly as he waited for her to pick up.

Meanwhile ~ Just Outside The Waiting Room . . .

Jenny had just turned down the hallway that would take her to the waiting room, her mind wasn't as focused on where she was going as much as it was on a multitude of other things she had on her mind. How much worse Tony looked than she had expected, how worried Jethro seemed, how flirtatious the doctor was acting towards him and . . . "Oh crap!" she suddenly exclaimed outloud.

Suddenly it dawned on her that she had completely forgotten about the visitor she had just picked up at the airport less than an hour ago. She had been in such a hurry to get to ICU to see how Tony was doing but also to check on Gibbs after hearing about the latest attack and then her mind further clouded by everything that happened once she got there. Seeing Tony struggling, then the tube and – it had all been too much to take in, too much to handle all at once. She hadn't even gotten a chance to make sure that Jethro was truly okay or to find out from him - what had happened with Ari! And now, she had also left her friend waiting outside the hospital in the car that had brought them there after promising to be back to bring her in as soon as she informed Gibbs of her arrival.

That conversation hadn't happened either! On one hand she wanted to slap herself in the back of her own head as Jethro did to his team, but on the other hand their priority really was Tony anyway so if his waking up and needing that tube removed had pulled Jenny's train of thought slightly off track – not to mention threw her agenda out the door, then so be it. She would simply go get Ziva now and bring her to Tony's room and deal with Gibbs when they got there. Just as she turned to head towards the parking lot, she would have to forego updating the team until after informing Gibbs of the new semi-permanent addition to his team – her cell phone vibrated against her hip, pulsating through the thin material of her small handbag.

Seeing Gibbs showing up in her caller ID she instantly worried something had gone wrong where Tony was concerned. "What is it Gibbs? Is Tony alright?"

"Yes Madam Di-RECtor he's fine. But would you care to tell me why I am standing in the hall way outside of his room staring at a woman whom is claiming to work for you?"

After a long pause he finally received an answer, "Oh, that. I would apologize but we all know how you feel about that! I meant to tell you earlier, I guess in all of the commotion and worry over Tony's health, I forgot. She's good Jethro – the best. I worked with her before and I know what she is capable of. You will not find a better - or more lethally trained guard than Ziva. She was trained by Mossad."

Again Gibbs face reflected his surprise and his facial muscles went lax from surprise. Mossad? Did she just say, Mossad?

"You're gonna have to do better than that Jenny. You can't expect me to just trust what you tell me when I have nothing else to go on."

"I understand that Jethro, that's why I have her file for you to review. I was already planning on giving it to you so you can see her background firsthand as well as see what kind of training this girl has. If it will make you feel more comfortable then – why don't you keep the current guard there to watch the room along with Ziva until I get back over there?"

Gibbs simply disconnected the call leaving Jenny to assume he was in agreement. At least she hoped that was the case. She ordered her driver to get her to the hospital faster just in case.

"Okay here's how we're going to do this. You - . . ." he said pointing to Ziva and handing her passport back to her, ". . . - can stay out here under one condition – that he stays too. Until Jen- the Director gets here with your file, then she and I will . . . re-evaluate the arrangement." then turning on his heel he went back into Tony's room leaving Ziva and the guard staring awkwardly at each other.

Eventually they each turned away and assumed their individual posts on taking up positions on either side of Tony's door, both of them looking straight ahead at the wall across from them and neither of them speaking.

Inside Tony's Room . . .

"Whassall the como-sshnn?"

Gibbs as usual hadn't even made a sound when he came back into the room and slowly made his way back towards Tony' s bed when he heard his weakly voiced question.

"Nothin' you need to worry your pretty little head about DiNozzo. Go back t' sleep!" ribbing his agent on purpose trying to make light of the situation so that Tony wouldn't be concerned. He only needed Tony to focus on healing and nothing more.

"Mm-hmm. You ssa-ay it was nothin' - but that sscow-wll on yer face . . . sayszz it wasssomethin'." Tony pointed out, staring at his boss through glassy and slightly unfocused eyes, his words slightly slurred by medication and his sentences coming out more slowly that his usual upbeat manner. "Sssokay, I'll play along . . . frankly - 'm too tired t' really care." he admitted with his eyes remaining closed the entire time. He still felt so light headed and groggy that it almost seemed as if his brain was literally floating on a cloud of drugs.

Gibbs smiled lazily in relief and amusement, happy that Tony at least had sense enough to listen to his body for a change AND had the sense not to push the subject any further.. 'Maybe he got hit in the head harder than I thought!' He chuckled to himself, taking his usual seat and bringing his feet up to rest on the rail of Tony's bed just as he always did all of the other unfortunate times Tony's lack of self preservation landed in this same type of setting. He would just wait for Jenny to come back in and explain more about the woman in the hallway, but there was no sense in being uncomfortable while he waited.

He hadn't realized he had started to doze off himself, tired from all of the activity and worry he had been forced to endure over the past few weeks, stemming back to when his top agent unknowingly opened an envelope filled with a powder of potential death. His hyper alert senses detected someone coming into the room a full minute before the door actually opened revealing Jenny Shepard in the door frame.

The curtains were still pulled over all of the glass walls so they had privacy from people in the hallway. "Jethro, I feel terrible about forgetting to inform you of my bringing Ziva here to help. I really meant to tell you but when I came in here last time – I – I was so caught off guard at seeing Tony . . . he – he just looked so fragile and in pain and . . . then there was the whole tube in the throat thing and I - . . ."

"Jen, stop. It's fine - I understand. Now just tell me what the hell is going on." he kept his voice at a whisper so as not to disturb Tony who finally seemed to be sleeping comfortably for the time being.

"Okay well, the file I have for you is still out in the car. I'll see that you get it later. But I worked with Ziva during a past mission and I was just very impressed with everything about her. Her instincts, her ability to fight no matter what we were up against, her photographic memory, her unsuspecting beauty and her intelligence."

"Sounds an awful lot like you Jen." Gibbs remarked with a half grin appearing on his face.

"Yes, well I guess that explains why I was so taken with her Jeth-ro." Jenny joked back, secretly flattered by his comparison. "Anyway I was able to convince the SecNav into letting me bring her over on a semi-permanent basis to act as a Liason Officer. Um, think of it like . . . an exchange student – or agent rather. I planned to increase your team by one."

At that news Gibbs was up and out of his chair in a flash moving quickly to stand with his face just inches from the Director's. "Just where the hell do you get off doing anything with my team without even asking me? As you just said yourself – it's my team!"

"Now Jethro just calm down! The last thing we need to be doing is fighting right next to Tony! He's been through hell and he does not deserve to have to deal with our bullshit on top of everything else! But need I remind you that I oversee you and your team so I do not need to ask your per-MISsion for anything!"

Gibbs was steaming! 'Damn this woman can infuriate me like no other!' he thought, '. . . well except maybe two of my ex-wives.' he realized silently. Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down and keep his blood pressure from rising any further he looked back towards Tony to make sure they hadn't disturbed him and thanks to all of the drugs still being pumped through his body he was down for the count.

"Jethro look, I know you are angry and I understant that. I should have run it by you first just out of professional courtesy if nothing else and I'm sorry."

"As you said earlier Jen - you know how I feel about apologies. But in this case, I'll make an acception because franly - you should apologize. Now here's how it's gonna be. I will allow Miss David to remain here for probationary period of 10 days – long enough for her to assist in guarding Tony until he's at least able to somewhat take care of himself in the event there are any more attacks. Then and only then will I re-evaluate this and decide whether she can stay."

"Okay – fair enough."

Gibbs was not expecting her to give in so quickly but he knew she also had a soft side and that she was most likely doing it so that Gibbs could go back to focusing on his critically injured agent as well as the rest of his team – and in catching Ari.

"Go-ood . . . no-oww pleassse - c'n you two jus kisssnnmm-akeup alreadyy? There's 'n in-juurred man ovv-err here tryin' t' get s'm sslleeep."

Both of their heads turned towards Tony's bed as they realized they had woken him up. Both of them felt like head slapping each other for not taking their selfish and petty argument elsewhere. Even drugged stupid and slurring like he'd been on an all night binger – Tony still managed to be funny, purposely attempting to put everyone else at ease as usual, knowing his boss and his bosses' boss would feel bad for waking him up.

Smiling Jenny glanced guiltily over towards Gibbs before responding. "Oh, sorry Tony. Look – I'll leave now and you have my word - this won't happen again." Jenny promised him while walking over to his bedside where she reached down and gently squeezed his hand, noticing that he still hadn't opened his eyes and seemed close to falling back under. In just a few seconds his face became completely lax letting the bickering agents know that he was safe in the of arms of slumber once again though his face still bore the hint of a smile..

TBC . . .

I hope you enjoy - pls review and I have updates coming for my "Mistaken Identity", "Consequences" and Phobia" stories next hopefully in that order. :-)