Title: When Two Worlds Collide
Rating: PG-13
Category: Case fic
Genre: Gen
Pairing: None currently
Summary: Gibbs is due to retire but first he has to get through one last case.
Disclaimer: The characters herein belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.
Once again Ziva accompanied Gibbs to the car; Tony and McGee were making their way out of the lift as Ziva suddenly froze, flinging her arm out to her side to halt Gibbs, she listened intently in the silence before turning and grabbing Gibbs's hand, "Move!"
She dragged him back towards the lift, pulling him back behind a pillar and crouching over him protectively. She flinched as the car exploded filling the underground lot with deadly shrapnel and acrid smoke. Covering her mouth with her sleeve she moved away, coughing and allowed Gibbs to stand. He took one look at the burning car and ushered all three of them back into the lift with him, "No one is going anywhere tonight…"
The four of them walked back into the bullpen, Gibbs and McGee sat at their desks while Tony pulled up a chair and Ziva perched on the end of Gibbs' desk. She looked thoughtfully at her soot covered hands, "This is not a good sign, we are trained to kill by subtle means, and nothing about a car bomb is subtle…"
Tony spoke up, "He's getting desperate…"
Ziva nodded, "And that's a very bad thing. There is no way of predicting what he will attempt next… "
Gibbs nodded, "Then we stay here tonight and in the morning we go back to hunting him down." Ziva opened her mouth to protest but Gibbs shut her down, "You need to sleep Ziva, agents are currently searching the Navy Yard though I suspect Nahir is long gone. They can carry on without us until the morning."
He ushered them all down to Abby's lab and ordered Ziva onto the futon, she was so tired that she fell asleep almost before her head hit the pillow, Gibbs smiled and placed a cover over her, gently tucking her in before turning to the other two men, "She hardly got any sleep last night and she didn't get any sleep today despite me telling her to, so tonight she sleeps through…"
Both men nodded more than happy to take a little of the burden for their former colleague who had looked out for both of them time and time again. Gibbs nodded in approval, "We'll each take three hour watches, that gives the other two six hours sleep at a time. I can't see him making it onto the yard again tonight, security will be even tighter following the car bomb but we're not taking any chances."
As Gibbs had suspected the night passed without incident, he was sat watching his team sleep as Ziva awoke. Sitting up she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and reacquainted herself with her surroundings. She smiled as she saw Gibbs sitting a few feet from her; he crossed to her side and crouched beside her, "Hello sleeping beauty…"
She hid a yawn behind her hand, "Boker Tov yakiri, so we all survived another night."
He nodded, "Yes we did"
She grumbled as light flooded the room and Abby bounded into the lab, "Gibbs! Ziva are you okay?! I got here this morning and they wouldn't let me put the hearse in the underground lot, I like to park it in there, the sunlight fades the paint, anyway they said there had been a car bomb, in your car!"
"We are fine Abby, all of us..." Ziva grumbled, "I need coffee…"
Tony leaned into McGee and whispered, "She's turned into Gibbs…"
Abby looked down at the cup in her hand, "Oh I only brought a cup for Gibbs…"
Gibbs took the cup from Abby and removed the lid; reaching a mug from the side he emptied half of it into it before handing it to Ziva.
Once again Tony and McGee looked towards one another in shock, and McGee whispered to Tony, "But Gibbs doesn't share his coffee…"
Ziva glared over the rim of her mug at them, "I can hear you…"
Gibbs looked over at their panicked faces and barely managed to hide his smirk by taking another sip of his coffee.
Ziva swiftly finished her own share, "I need another cup…" She put the mug down on the side and headed for the door, pausing as she heard DiNozzo call out, "not on your own…"
She waited as no one made a move towards her before growling, "One of you hurry up then…"
Gibbs took a step forward, covering the ground between them he put a hand on her waist and gently steered her out of the room. Walking towards the coffee shop he looked at her, "You never used to be this cranky in the morning…"
"Last time we spent any real amount of time together in the morning I hadn't spent the night sleeping on what was basically the floor, and I wasn't trying to stop my cousin from killing you…"
He opened the door of the store for her, "Fair enough…"
She made her way to the counter and ordered two large cups of coffee, she paid and handed one to Gibbs. She sighed and visibly relaxed as she took a sip. She ran her hand through her hair, "I need a shower…"
Gibbs nodded, "You can use the ones back at the office..."
They stepped out of the coffee shop together and were walking back towards the office when from the corner of his eye he saw the sunlight glint off something in the park across the street. Instantly recognising it as the sight of a sniper rifle he grabbed Ziva and pulled her down behind a car as shots began to ring out over the early morning quiet. Automatically he covered her body with his, shielding her as glass from the car windows shattered over them. He remained crouched over her as he heard a car door slam and tires screech away.
Moving off her he straightened up hearing shards of glass drop from his back as he did so. He leant back against the car breathing deeply, looking up he saw DiNozzo and McGee running towards them, guns in hand. Tony reached them first, "Are you two alright?"
Gibbs nodded, "We're both fine DiNozzo…"
Ziva glared, "You spilt my coffee…"
The three men all laughed and Ziva looked to them, Gibbs was the only one brave enough to speak, "We were almost shot dead and your only complaint is that your coffee got spilt…"
Seeing the funny side she joined in the laughter; McGee disappeared into the coffee shop and returned with four fresh cups of coffee just as Director Vance arrived on the scene with several agents, "Three attempts on your life Agent Gibbs, any chance he's going to give up any time soon?"
He looked back at the director, "I doubt it."
"Agent Gibbs this is no time to be flippant…"
"Then I suggest you let me get on with my job so we can end this…"
He began to walk back towards the office and without a word the other three agents began to follow him. "Director David, a word please."
Ziva paused and turned to him, "Director Vance."
"This rogue agent of yours is unacceptable; he is now putting American citizens at risk. American civilians…"
Ziva glared, "With all due respect Director I am very much aware of the problems Officer David is creating here in Washington. It may have escaped your attention but I have been present at all three attempts on Agent Gibbs's life. I am sure it would please my father's supporters if I were accidently terminated in the process. Please rest assured that we will find Officer David and when we do he will be dealt with. Now as Agent Gibbs mentioned I suggest you let us get on with our jobs and I am sure that relations between my agency and yours will remain strong."
She turned and walked away passing the men she paused, "Are you coming or not?"