When Ziva finally arrived at NCIS, the area of the bullpen usually occupied by Gibbs' team was empty. It will make it that much easier to write up my letter of resignation, she thought, ignoring the small stab of regret that lanced through her mind. I was *not* hoping they would be here to talk me out of it, she told herself, I have no choice but to do this.
She sat down at her desk, flicked on her computer, took a deep breath, and got to work. She found herself unable to concentrate, though. In the prickling of the hairs on the back of her neck, she could feel the stares of the other agents in the room, and when she looked around, their eyes did that telltale slide that let her know she was right. They had been watching her but didn't want her to know. She felt like some sort of exotic, caged animal, put on display to titillate and horrify a crowd. Damn it, Tony, she thought, when I told you to tell my story, I didn't mean for you to tell it to everyone. Still, what did it matter, in a few hours she would be gone and the staff would have to satisfy themselves with gossip alone. "Killer Ziva" would no longer be available for viewing. She pressed her fingers to the corners of her eyes to staunch the tears that were threatening to fall and bent back to her task.
The words, however, refused to come. Instead what flitted through her mind were images of all the times, good and bad, she had spent with the people she had come to consider her family. From Gibbs' first, gentle headslap in the elevator to his whisper in the interrogation room when he told her she had come home, from Tim's spluttering embarrassment at her many risque comments to Abby's slow thaw into friendship, even Ducky's wordy but wise advice, all of these images crowded into her head. But first and foremost, over and over, there was Tony. Aggravating her, teasing her, helping her, rescuing her, and finally, kissing her. Even her anger at him for telling everyone her secret could not prevent her from seeing his face.
Just when Ziva thought she was about to succumb to her emotions, she was startled by the sound of Ducky's voice. "Ziva, my dear, I did not expect to see you in here today." He peered at her computer monitor. "May I be so bold as to ask what you are working on?"
"My resignation," she said flatly.
"My dear girl, whatever for?"
"I cannot believe you need to ask after what Tony must have told you."
"He told us only that you did not yet feel up to work. Which, under the circumstances, seems only reasonable," Ducky replied, a confused look on his face.
"Then why is everyone staring at me?"
"I imagine it is because they are surprised to see you, and perhaps wondering what you will do given that your father is here as well."
Ziva wasn't sure she believed Ducky's explanation, but all her worries about her secret disappeared with the news of her father's presence. "Where is he," she demanded.
"In interrogation, but I do not think-"
"I need to see this."
"-it would be a good idea for you to witness it," finished Ducky lamely, as he watched Ziva vanish down the hallway. "Oh dear," he said to himself, "this might be a good time to warn Jethro."
McGee and Abby were sequestered behind the one way mirror observing with interest as Vance, Gibbs, and Tony finally came face to face with Director Eli David. Director David was seated at the table, doing his best to look unruffled, but his appearance of composure was marred by the bulk of the bandage under his shirt and the lines of stress apparent around his eyes. Across from him was Director Vance, who had insisted on taking the lead in the interrogation of his one time friend and counterpart. Gibbs was slouched nonchalantly against the mirror, his lackadaisical pose in contradiction to the intensity of the gaze he was directing at Eli. Tony occupied a chair in the corner. He was present at Vance's insistence, but the faraway look in his eyes made it apparent that his mind was elsewhere.
"He doesn't look evil," Abby said as she peered through the one way glass. "He looks like a ... like a grandfather."
"Not much chance of that with the way he keeps treating his offspring," McGee said with a sarcasm he rarely demonstrated.
"How can anyone do what he's done, especially to their own children and still look so normal?"
"I dunno, Abby, but maybe if you'd keep quiet we'd be able to hear and find out." McGee's biting words made Abby shoot him a hurt glance, but she did stop talking, aware that his rudeness was the product of his worries for their teammate and not indicative of any real ire directed at her.
Back in the interrogation room, Vance was going through the formalities. He informed Eli that the interview would be recorded, reiterated that he had agreed to the meeting without coercion, and asked him to sign some paperwork to that effect. That accomplished, he sat back and regarded the man he had once trusted through narrowed eyes.
"Eli, I never thought it would come to this, but you have to know that you finally overstepped your bounds," Vance said with hints of both steel and sadness in his voice.
"What bounds?" Eli asked. "Does America have some law against a father trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter? Because, if so, I must plead ignorance of them."
"Seems like you went through a lot of trouble just to reconnect," Gibbs observed dryly.
Director David shrugged. "As you know, Ziva can be recalcitrant at times."
McGee and Abby did not get to hear Gibbs' response because at that very moment, the door to the observation room opened with a crash and Ziva barged in. Abby took one look at Ziva's anguished face and threw herself at her in a hug.
"Oh, Ziva, I'm so sorry, Are you okay?" she queried with her face buried in Ziva's shoulder.
"I am fine, Abby, let me go, I want to see what my father has to say."
McGee could tell that Ziva was far from okay, but he didn't know what to do so he settled for trying to help her extract herself from Abby's limpet grasp. "Abs, maybe you should leave her alone. You can hug her after the interview, I'm sure she'll need it then."
Abby didn't appear convinced but she allowed herself to be pulled away and all three of them turned their attention back to the interrogation. So far, Vance had been unable to ruffle Eli. Instead, he took the approach of letting him tell his side of the story in the hope of lulling him into a false sense of security. It was unlikely that his tale would match up with Ziva's account or even with what little surveillance they had, allowing his questioners to use that information to trip him up.
Eli recounted how, after her return to the States, Ziva had refused to reply to any of his direct overtures, so he had used Officer Eshel to contact her. He confessed that he had used the ruse of ill health to play on her sympathies and disarm her suspicions. He claimed that he had suggested the warehouse for a meeting in case she wished to hide their contact from NCIS. Up to this point, his story coincided with what the team knew. He was surely lying about his intentions, but at least so far, his account of his actions was true. Unfortunately, once he moved on to the events in the warehouse his story started to diverge.
"Even once I showed myself, she remained unreceptive," he told Vance. "In fact, when she learned that the story of my illness was intended to draw her out, she became enraged and abusive. Still, I did my best to calm her. I truly believed it was in her best interests to come home, but I will admit that I was perhaps influenced by my desire to have my one remaining child at my side. You are a father, Leon; surely you can understand that."
"And the 'stronger measures' you threatened her with. Those don't sound like the words of a loving father," Gibbs pointed out.
"I understand your protectiveness, Agent Gibbs, I even thank you for it because Ziva is a damaged, violent woman who needs our care. That was what I was referring to when I said that. Her behavior led me to believe that psychiatric care might be necessary. In the interest of protecting her reputation, I chose to whisper this to her rather than say it outright. That was when her anger overwhelmed her and she destroyed your surveillance equipment." Eli stopped talking when a sudden thump and an indistinguishable yell were heard from behind the mirror.
In the observation room, McGee and Abby were staring at Ziva with worry filled eyes. When she heard her fathers assertion that she was in need of psychiatric help, she had slammed a fist into the one way glass.
"Liar," she snarled. And then again, much louder, "liar!" Her fists clenched at her sides, she stormed out of the room.
"Where's she going?" Abby asked.
"I don't know, but I doubt it'll be good," McGee replied.
They didn't have to wait long to find out. Only seconds after she left the room, Ziva threw open the door to interrogation and strode over to her father, her eyes dark with fury.
Vance tried to protest. "Agent David, this is not the time-"
"I want him to say it again, but this time while looking me in the face. Tell me again how I am damaged and violent and ... and ... insane."
"See what I mean," Eli said to the others with a shrug. "She becomes unhinged."
Tony finally came up off his chair and got right up in Eli's face. "No, I don't see what you mean. After the way you've treated her, not just now, but nearly all her life, I think it's a reasonable reaction. Hell, just listening to your lies has made even me a bit 'unhinged.'"
"Ah, yes, Agent DiNozzo - her knight in shining armor," Eli said, then he got a crafty look on his face. "Has she told you what she is really like - what she has done? Somehow I doubt she has. She is not so innocent, you know."
"She told me everything, Eli."
Ziva gave Tony a sharp look. "And he has told everyone else," she gritted out between her teeth. Then she seemed to deflate, her anger seeping out and leaving her limp and hopeless. "I will have to live with what I have done, but you, Papa, how could you be like this. You made me what I am and then, when it backfired, you left me in Africa. And when I finally find the strength to change, you try to drag me back. Why, Papa, why?"
"For Israel. Perhaps if you would, for once, think of something other than yourself, you would understand that," Eli snarled out his answer. His face was red with rage and frustration and there was little chance of anyone mistaking him for a grandfather now.
"You left me in Africa ... for Israel," Ziva said in disbelief. "How did abandoning your own daughter to terrorists help Israel? Or was it just easier to have me gone? Fewer questions about Michael and the American op that way. I think you left me there because it was ... convenient."
"I left you there in the hope that you would finish the mission - that you would kill Saleem. Do you know who he was? Do you? He was the son of the man who killed your sister. The only son of the man who escaped me thanks to your reckless actions all those years ago. He took my daughter ... my baby, he even took my wife. I couldn't kill him but I could take his son."
"And lose another daughter in the process. Papa, do you know what that man did to me? Do you even care?" Ziva said through the tears streaming down her face. Tony laid a hand on her shoulder, wanting to comfort her, but she shrugged him off. Then unable to take any more, she turned and fled.
Tony started to follow her, only to be stopped by Vance. "DiNozzo, leave her. We're not finished here yet."
Gibbs came to his rescue after Tony directed a pleading look in his direction. "Let him go,Vance. Director David is doing a good job of incriminating himself. Ziva needs Tony more than we do."
Vance didn't seem to agree, but he made a dismissive noise in the back of his throat and waved Tony out the door. Tony didn't need to be told twice, he left so fast he nearly ran into McGee and Abby, who were now hovering outside in the hallway.
"Where did she go," Tony demanded.
Abby pointed down the hall towards the stairwell, her concern for her friend leaving her uncharacteristically wordless.
"Thanks," Tony tossed back over his shoulder as he headed off in pursuit.
"Good luck," Abby whispered to him as he disappeared around the corner.
"I think he's gonna need it," McGee added before he slung an arm around Abby and hugged her to his side in consolation.