Okay. School's officially finished for the summer, and I got Impetus published and out of my head so it's no longer bugging me.
Let's get this finished up so I can start on another idea I have.
- This one will continue into the next chapter.
Don't be shy and leave a review!
jae
Thirteen
Gibbs arrives unexpectedly that evening just after dinner had been cleared and cleaned up. Tony greets him at the door, and the man appears more or less serene. His agent leads him down the hall toward the sound of voices echoing through the house. Coming to a halt before the dining room, Tony leans against the wall, folding his arms and smiling at the scene before him. Gibbs mirrors his stance, and observes quietly, a smile stretching across his own face. Ziva and Piper are sitting at the table, photo albums and pictures spread out before them, giggling here and there as Piper continues to excitedly thrust pictures into Ziva's hands.
Gibbs is relieved to see that Ziva looks relatively relaxed, the strain that had been present on her face since the accident all but vanished from her features. Her expression morphs into one of surprise as it takes in the newest photograph Piper thrusted into her hands. A troubled look spreads across her face, and she raises her head to no doubt ask Tony about the origin of the photograph. Her question is forgotten, however, once she notices Gibbs standing beside him.
"Shalom, Gibbs." she exclaims, surprised. Piper's head pops up from her exploration in one of the many photo albums, and a grin stretches across her face widely. She jumps up in her chair, planting her hands on the table as she leans across excitedly.
"Gampa! Sh'lom!" she makes the mistake of trying to wave, and her arm almost gives out from her weight when Ziva quickly jerks to catch her and push her back into her seat.
"Careful, tateleh." she chastises. Piper mumbles a quick apology before she becomes distracted by another pile of photographs. Ziva looks up to share an exasperated smile with Tony, while Piper reaches for another photograph and flourishes it wildly in front of her mother's face.
"Tistakli!" she exclaims, reclaiming Ziva's attention.
The two men chuckle quietly, and Gibbs turns his attention to Tony.
"So, things goin' okay?" He asks and Tony's smile curves into a lopsided smirk.
"For the most part. She's definitely doing better than I expected. Little things are coming back to her; mostly habits and random bits and pieces of stuff."
Gibbs smiled and turned his attention back to both mother and daughter.
"That'a girl." he murmured appreciatively.
Tony grinned in agreement before continuing. "We've just been going through some old photo albums to see if they bring back anything for her." he pauses, and his expression grows troubled. "It's been about two weeks now, boss. Feels like things should have come back to her by now."
Gibbs gazed thoughtfully in the girls' direction before he turned his attention back to Tony.
"There's no specific recovery plan for head injuries, DiNozzo. And God knows how many concussions and trauma she's had to her head before she came to work for us. Hell, she's had a few of them since she's been here. Give it time." his tone remained untroubled, and Tony relaxed as he considered that.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I just . . . wish things could get back to normal."
Gibbs snorted under his breath.
"Ya, DiNozzo, like you two were ever normal."
Tony shot him an exaggerated wounded look, but his eyes were all amusement.
"Why are you in my house, again?" he threw at him sarcastically.
Gibbs chuckled, and straightened from leaning against the wall.
"Well, figured I'd give ya guys a night off. Watchin' Todd tonight for the other two and he could use some company, and thought you could use it since you'll have to be back at work in a day or two."
Tony's look of surprise quickly vanished as his expression filled with gratitude.
"Wow . . . that's . . . thanks, Boss." He finished, lamely.
Pushing himself off the wall, he strolled into the room and announced excitedly, "Mio Principesa, looks like you're helping Grandpa with his boat tonight."
Gibbs rolled his eyes, and filed into the room after his Senior Field Agent.
oOo
About an hour later, Tony shuts the door behind his boss and daughter, dead bolting and turning the lock until it's secure. He ambles back down the darkening hall, not bothering to flip the light switches on his way, and makes his way toward the dining room Ziva has yet to vacate.
He finds her at the table still, attempting to file all the photographs her and Piper had gotten out away, the mess almost cleared. He shuffles over, pulling out a chair across from her and takes a seat with a sigh. Her mouth pulls up in a smirk but she doesn't bother to meet his stare she can feel trained on her. He brings one arm up to rest his chin, and watches her thoughtfully as she carefully and meticulously handles each photograph. Tony only breaks the silence after a minute or so of watching her.
"Find anything interesting?" he asks curiously.
Her lips quirk up at the double meaning, and she knows he wishes she'd be able to suddenly remember everything by simply going through old photographs. She slips the last of the photographs into one of the several albums, closing it lightly and pushing it off to the side. She looks up at him then, and he sees that something she found clearly sparked her curiosity. Her face is thoughtful, and her mouth is set in the way it adopts when she's thinking deeply
She drums her fingers lightly on the table's surface, gazing thoughtfully at the wall behind him, before she turns her attention to the cluster of albums and photographs and pulls a small photo box toward her. She opens it, delicately thumbing the first photograph on top, and slides it across the table to him. He picks it up, examining it curiously. The picture is one he's familiar with. It holds no people, but the front of a tall and elegant stone structure, french writing just barely discernible on a plaque near the archway. She finally speaks while he looks at it.
"This picture, I think I may have. . . had a dream about this." she tells him, sounding unsure.
He coughs, and the heat he feels crawl up his neck has little to do with the room temperature.
She raises her eyebrows at his reaction, watching a faint tinge color his face. Clearing his throat, he puts the photo down on the table, tapping it lightly with his finger.
"Do you remember where this was?" he asks her.
She shifts in her chair uncomfortably.
"It is very. . . foggy?" she tries, and when he nods, she continues, "But it is significant though, is it not? It has been annoying me the entire afternoon."
He stares down at the picture again, a small, intimate smile on his face.
"Well, sweetcheeks, this picture was taken while we were in Paris. Actually, this is the hotel we stayed the night in."
He looks up, eying her reaction. She looks troubled, and her eyes are clouded. Her gaze eventually focus on him, and she takes the picture back, looking at it more closely.
"Paris. . . ?" She questions.
"We had an assignment," he supplied, "Only required us to be there a night. A little while after Somalia." he finishes cautiously. Her face is myriad of thoughts as she struggled to place whatever she was remembering.
Pushing his chair back suddenly, she snaps her head up to look at him. Tony gets up, groaning quietly at his protesting joints. He pushed his chair under the table and jerked his head to the hallway.
"C'mon." he told her.
Puzzled, she gets up as well, abandoning the picture on the table. She rushes after Tony quickly, who had already made it halfway down the hall.
oOo
They end up in their bedroom, Tony flipping on the light while she falls on top of their bed gracefully, stretching out on her side and resting her head in her hand. Tony shuffles over to the closet, disappearing for a few moments. He returns from it's depths, crossing over to the bed and flopping down next to her
She eyes the paper pocket in his hands curiously. Opening it, he pulls out a substantial stack of 4x6 pictures, handing them over to her.
"Not sure how much they'll help ya, evidently I'm not much of a photographer." he grins at her, nudging her shoulder with his.
Her smile is intimate when she flips to the first picture in the stack, for which he responds.
"This one was my favorite picture, and the only one with someone in it."
She turned her face to look at his, only a foot away from her on the bed, watching her with an expression that made her throat become suddenly tight. Her cheeks warmed, and she hastily tried to focus.
"Are you going to tell me why these pictures, this trip, were so important?" She chides him, playfully. He laughs, averting his eyes and rubbing his neck nervously. She decides not to push, and turns her attention back to the pictures.
They spend the rest of the night laughing and talking, pouring over the pictures with Tony commentating. He supplied the simplified story of their trip, and a few of her questions about that year; filling her head with some of the many stories about their partnership she couldn't quite yet remember.
Parisian tales and other adventures dance through her thoughts when she finally drifts off, resting comfortably in her partner's arms.