Gibbs slammed his hand down onto Vance's desk. He was not reacting well to the news that Eli David had finagled some sort of diplomatic status before his trip to America.

"I can't believe that after all that man has done to his daughter we are going to just let him go without so much as a slap on the wrist," Gibbs ranted. "You're telling me that we can't even interview him unless he or the embassy agrees to it?"

"The best I can do is to ask the State Department to put pressure on the embassy but I need ammunition to do even that much. Ziva's report is the only thing we have to go on and you know as well as I do that she's leaving some things out."

"She's had enough trauma this past year to last her a lifetime. Can't we just use what she gave us? It seems clear that neither Director David nor Agent Eshel had her best interests at heart."

"Clear to us, but Eli and Eshel are claiming that it was just a father wanting to reconnect with his estranged and unstable daughter, who took things the wrong way and attacked them."

"That's not what happened," Gibbs insisted mulishly.

"You know that and I know that and, personally, I think even the Israeli embassy knows that, but that's their story and, you have to admit, the fact that Ziva disabled the surveillance doesn't look good."

"Maybe it was just an accidental outburst."

Vance didn't even dignify that with a reply, merely cocking an eyebrow and momentarily clamping down on the ever present toothpick in his mouth.

"You're right," said Gibbs, "I don't actually believe that, but can we at least give her a day or two to recover before we brace her with questions?"

Vance sighed. "A day or two at most. Director David has indicated that he might be willing to have an informal chat once he is released from the hospital. I have no doubt he plans on merely reiterating the story he's already told, so we need the whole truth from Ziva before we face him. Make sure that she's ready."

"She will be," Gibbs said as he headed for the door.

Gibbs kept an eye on Ziva for the rest of the afternoon. She worked on her files, chatted in the break room and just generally seemed completely normal. It was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up because usually Ziva was anything but normal. She made none of the biting comments and displayed none of the flashes of temper that he had come to expect from her. She might seem okay to an outsider but things were definitely still not right in her world.

Gibbs tried to catch her alone a few times throughout the day but in each instance she offered some excuse and ducked out of the conversation. Gibbs didn't see how he was going to prepare her to face Vance, and possibly her father, if he couldn't get her to talk. Then he noticed that Tony was watching her just as closely as he was. He waited for a moment when Ziva was out of the bullpen, then he caught Tony's eye and nodded towards the back hallway before leaving his desk and heading in that direction. Moments after he left, Tony rose as well and followed him.

"What do you need, Boss?" Tony asked as soon they were around the corner.

"Saw you watching Ziva."

"Yeah, except it was more like watching "Day of the Dead" since she's been doing a pretty good imitation of a domesticated zombie."

"I know. Tried to talk to her but she keeps avoiding me."

"She's probably afraid the you're going to question her about her report. She left out a few key details," Tony said with a shrug.

"Ya think? The problem is that Vance is gonna want some answers - and soon - but I don't think she's ready to give them. You seemed to do well with her last night, maybe you can make some headway."

Tony flushed with shame as he remembered exactly what had happened last night. It had done the trick but somehow he didn't think an encore would be a good idea. The problem was this wasn't something he wanted to explain to Gibbs.

"I'm not sure I can do any good since she's been treating me like a piece of furniture all day."

They both turned to watch over the stairs as Ziva came back into the bullpen, a fake smile plastered on her face. Gibbs shook his head, worry creasing his brow.

"She's acting like a damn robot. Just give it your best shot Tony, I need her ready and willing to talk by Friday."

"On it, Boss." There was nothing else to do but agree. After all, when Gibbs said jump you asked how high and didn't worry about the fact that you might be plunging off a bridge. Tony just hoped that this time he landed on his feet.