A/N – Chapter 10! We're getting somewhere today with this story! But, we're not going very far, I guess.
Disclaimer – I don't own NCIS or the characters.
Chapter 10
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Gibbs awoke, again, to the sound of Ziva throwing up in the bathroom. He sighed heavily. There was nothing he could do to help the poor thing. She seemed to have a very bad case of morning sickness. As a matter of fact, he was rather surprised that Jenny was sleeping through all that! The walls were not exactly sound-proof!
The other agents were now coming down the stairs. Trent Kort would be joining them in the safe-house tonight, which made things a little worse for everyone. Abby looked around, confused for a moment.
"Where are they Gibbs?" she asked. "Tony and Ziva are always the first ones to breakfast. Oo! Did they get caught up again?"
"Don't think so, Abby," he said with a slight smile on his face. "We would know about it if they did. We can hear everything down here. Got to give them props though, they're trying to keep quiet."
"Trying and failing," Jenny said quietly still lying with her eyes closed on the couch.
Everyone was startled by her voice. They turned around to look at her. They had all thought she was asleep.
"Which one of them is spilling their guts?" she asked, still without opening her eyes. "By the way, I can breathe today, but I do feel like I've been hit by a bus."
"That's good and bad," Gibbs said without answering her other question.
"You ignored my question," she pointed out with a sigh.
"Don't know," he said simply with a shrug. "Hope whoever it is, is well enough to work."
Meanwhile in the bathroom, Ziva was sitting on the floor, curled in a ball, with Tony next to her. She was too afraid to leave the bathroom at this point. She had been in there since four in the morning. She was dry heaving now and that was all. She really needed water. Tony looked a little scared. He had joined her in the bathroom and sat by her side and held her hair when she needed it.
"You okay?" he asked, looking at a pale Ziva.
"I am thirsty," she said quietly. "And hungry. But, what the hell do I eat to change this?"
"I have no idea. Toast. Crackers," he suggested logically.
"I will eat toast then," she said quietly, allowing Tony to help her up. She swayed a little on the spot and Tony steadied her.
"Perhaps we ought to have you call out today," he suggested handing her the crutches that she had left leaning against the wall of the bathroom.
"It's not like it's going to get any better any time soon, Tony," Ziva stated quietly. "I am only seven weeks along. I still have at least another five of this to go, maybe six."
He frowned. Then, he pulled Ziva into a hug. She accepted his hug and held herself tightly there. Morning sickness, they both thought. Only if it was just mornings! More like whole-day sickness!
"Come on," he said quietly as he led her from the bathroom.
The others were already out in the kitchen area. Abby had made omelets. Ziva took one look at them and made a face and turned to Tony. He nodded in understanding and had her sit down with the others.
"I guess that answers my question from earlier," Jenny said quietly. "You look like hell, Ziva. You coming down with something?"
"Probably," she whispered quietly and put her head down on the table, already exhausted from her interrupted sleep and not falling asleep so easily last night.
"Omelet, Ziva?" Abby asked.
She shook her head, looking a little green along with her pale coloring, which looked so out of place on her cheeks.
"Toast," she muttered, almost whined.
Everyone gave her a very curious look. Ziva turning down omelets was curious enough, but whining was a whole other matter. Their curious looks went unanswered as Abby handed her some toast.
"Jenny's right, you look awful," Abby said sympathetically.
"Thanks," Ziva said sarcastically. "Can none of you be nice just to spare me a little?"
There were tears in her eyes as she said this, causing them all to look a little more curious. This was so far from normal Ziva that they were genuinely confused.
"You need to call it a day already, Ziva?" Gibbs asked. "If you want, you can stay here. FBI will be here all day. I can leave Tony here too, so there's an agent inside that is unharmed."
"I'll be fine, Gibbs," Ziva said quietly, taking the smallest of nibbles from her toast and making a face at it. Nothing was appealing to her right now. She was starving and loosing weight and unhappy about it. She was supposed to be busy getting fat, not skinnier.
"Okay," he said, giving her a look, to which she nodded. "Cars leave in twenty minutes. I expect everyone to be in them."
They scattered and got dressed. However, they were delayed again, by Ziva getting sick. Everyone winced as they heard the sound of it while they waited. Gibbs looked as though he were in pain from it and Jen looked positively confused by it. Ziva never got sick. This was something entirely new to all of them. Except that Gibbs looked like he knew what was going on with her, which was so strange.
They loaded into the cars and got on their way. When they arrived, Vance was waiting in the squad room for them.
"I need Tony DiNozzo, Ziva DiNozzo, and Jennifer Gibbs upstairs in my office now," he said. "Gibbs, call A.J. Chegwidden. We have a minor issue."
"What's the issue?" he asked.
"Parsons," Vance said with a grimace on his face. "He's here to question our people, again. Poking his nose in where it doesn't belong. Fornell is here with him. I'm assuming Fornell gave him the reports."
"I should have stayed home today," Ziva whined. "What are the chances that Parsons will allow me to run out when I do not feel well."
"Slim to none, Zi," Tony whispered in her ear.
Everyone shot a look to these two, who were oddly closer than normal for office behavior and oddly quieter than normal. They were used to light banters and bouts of flirting, but this was something new entirely. Ziva put her head down on Tony's shoulder as they got into the elevator with Jen Gibbs, who was staring at Ziva with curiosity, though now was obviously not the time to ask her anything.
They got up on the catwalk and Ziva looked positively green. She nodded toward the bathroom and Tony got the door for her.
"Tell him we'll be in a moment, but Ziva isn't feeling well," Tony said as he followed her into the bathroom.
Jen continued walking, while shaking her head to clear it of the confusion she was feeling. This just wasn't Ziva. She never got sick. Never. That was how things were. Ziva's immune system was like Super Man's, except Kryptonite was not her weakness. Jen didn't know what it was, but she had obviously encountered it.
She walked into Vance's office to find Parsons sitting in one of the chairs. She pulled hers out with one arm and sat down.
"Where are the other two?" he asked.
"Ziva's in the bathroom. She isn't feeling well this morning," Jen said, using Tony's words. "They'll be in, in just a moment."
He nodded and waited. They only waited a few minutes and then Ziva and Tony were walking in, hand-in-hand and Tony pulled out her chair for her and they sat down. Ziva looked a little better this time. Jen looked even more confused. She threw up and felt better. Though she looked exhausted.
"We're not talking until our lawyer is here," Tony said quietly.
Ziva put her head down on the conference room table and fell asleep that way. Tony left his hand on her back, so that way when it was time to wake her up he wouldn't startle her. Parsons sat watching the two as Tony sat staring at Ziva with a loving expression and Jen watched her two coworkers with awe and confusion.
Finally, the door opened and Chegwidden walked in, with two that they had never met before. A man and a woman standing next to each other on Chegwidden's left side. They came in and sat across from the three NCIS agents.
"Parsons, this is Captain Harmon Rabb and Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie," Chegwidden said. "They've been updated. They are joining me in the defense of these three. We need a few minutes to speak to our clients."
"A team of lawyers. Interesting," Parsons said making a note and stepping out of the office with a smirk on his face.
"Is she sleeping, DiNozzo?" Chegwidden asked Tony curiously.
"Ziva?" Tony said lightly in her ear.
She stirred. "Sorry. What did I miss?"
"Harm," said the man.
"Mac," said the woman.
"They worked with me at the JAG Corps," Chegwidden said. "They are two of the best. They are joining me in your defense. Agent Fornell tells us that things are looking up for you two. Either, you've collaborated your stories really well, or you two honestly love each other."
"Duh!" Ziva said, slapping her forehead as though this were obvious. It was so far from normal Ziva that even Chegwidden looked confused. He had heard and seen enough of her to know that this was not normal behavior for her.
"Anyway," he said. "If there are any surprises that we need to know about, now is the time to tell us. Jen, you first."
"None, told you my entire history from start to finish," Jen said quietly.
"Ziva?"
"I'm sure there's nothing you haven't heard already," she said quietly.
"The thing with your half-brother?"
"Was when I was an Israeli citizen," she said darkly. "He already brought that up and I already told you what really happened, despite what the report says."
"DiNozzo?"
"Which one," Ziva said narrowing her eyes.
"Tony," he sighed out heavily. "Any secrets?"
"Nope," he said quietly. "You already know why I went to Somalia. That was the biggest secret."
"I think I'm starting to believe it too, based on Fornell's reports. Okay, here is what we know, Sarah, do the honors and take over," Chegwidden said.
"I have dealt with Parsons in the past and I have done extensive research on the man. He was not always called Richard Parsons. His given name at birth was Richard Johnson. Why he changed his last name we can only guess at, at this point. We stopped downstairs to get background on his former name. You should have that by the end of today or tomorrow at the latest. Now, Parsons is a weasel. He's going to milk this for all it's worth. He knows that Gibbs has cleared his own name and he knows that you all helped him with something. He also knows that Jen is pregnant and Isaac is MIA. He knows that you two are married, but refused to believe that it's real. He knows that something is going on throughout your MCRT. He knows that two of you have been shot and two others have been shot at. He knows that whatever you did over the summer involved the CIA, and that doesn't look good to him. Perhaps you could tell us what happened?"
"Classified," Jen said immediately. "Can't talk about it. He can't dig it up and we can't talk about it."
"Great," Harm said quietly. "That doesn't look good. I know the rules of classified missions, but he's going to try to use that to his advantage, just so you're aware. Mrs. DiNozzo, is there a reason you look so green today?"
"Stomach bug," she said quietly.
"Good," Jen said. "That's just what I need to be around."
"Don't worry so much Jen," Ziva said quietly. "I do not think you will catch this stomach bug. You don't get sick."
"Neither do you, Ziva, and look at you! You are the perfect shade of green right now. I think you match Tony's tie!" Jen said with a lightness and a darkness to her looks. "Can we just get Parsons in here and get this over with?"
"Sure thing," Chegwidden said quietly as he got up and called to Parsons like a dog.
A moment later the door opened with Parsons and Fornell entering along with Vance and the Commandant of the Marine Corps.
"Okay. I'm here about the cases that have gone wrong," Parsons said. "International espionage is a serious crime for a Federal Agent. You are all accused with it from the time you were in Berlin. Now, I need to know what happened in Berlin."
"We went, we found Bodnar and we arrested him and came home," Ziva said quietly.
"You had contact with Adam Eschel during that time?" he asked.
Ziva flinched and so did Tony. "Yes, we did," Tony said. "He gave us some information on the whereabouts of Bodnar and what he knew. We work with Mossad often to help with our international cases that involve Israel or any of their suspects. It is a wonderful partnership between the two agencies."
"You contacted Eschel?" Parsons asked.
"No, I did," Ziva said, swaying slightly in her seat as everyone looked at her curiously. "Does anyone have crackers, before I vomit on the table?"
Tony pulled some crackers out of his pocket. Ziva looked at him appreciatively and then returned her gaze to Parsons.
"I'm told that Jennifer Gibbs has immunity on that, so Jennifer, you are free to go from here. But we will talk about the summer at some point. Right now there are a few questions I have for these two," he said quietly.
Jen got up and left the amusement she was going to have for the day.
"Now, you were in contact with Adam Eschel during the time of your mission, yet you slept together on that mission?" he asked them.
"After the arrest," Tony said. "Our job was done and he was in the American Embassy at the time and in safe hands. Our work life and our personal lives do not mingle and did not that day either, if that is what you are asking."
"That was not what I was asking. I was just confused by that. With her so clearly wanting Adam and all."
"That situation is not at all what you seem to think it is," Ziva said quietly, in an almost mousey tone. Everyone looked at her. She had not even told Tony that secret, though she had told Chegwidden when he first took over for their case against Parsons. Chegwidden had filled in Harm and Mac to the best of his ability, based on what he had seen with these two.
"Then, tell, me, Mrs. DiNozzo, what is it?" he asked.
"Not what you seem to think it is," she repeated. "I really do not wish to talk about it further. Speak to my lawyer. He can tell you."
"Okay. I see you two got married and have had plenty of time to coordinate your stories. I want you to know, I will break you," he said quietly. "I have every intention of doing so as soon as we are done with the basic questions."