Okay, I know I haven't updated for quite a long time, but I just had no ideas for this story and so I worked on another one. No, that's not right, I had ideas, I just couldn't figure out how to put them into the story. I'll try to update faster next time, but unfortunately I can't promise anything.
Gibbs gestured for Ziva to follow him and led her away from the body.
"I am fine, Gibbs," she assured him when he said nothing. He just looked at her, his eyes implying he was worried.
He shook his head. "No, you're not."
"Yes, I am," she insisted, getting a little angry at Gibbs. Why was she led away like a child? Why didn't Gibbs let her do her job?
"You knew her. From what I hear she was your friend."
"Yes," she almost hissed. "I knew Ari too. She being my friend does not change anything."
Gibbs was stunned. He wouldn't have expected her to bring that up now. "Ziva," he started, "you're not the same as five years ago."
When she answered her voice was cold. "What is different then?"
That surprised Gibbs. "I saw your reaction when you saw her there." He pointed at the body Ducky was currently examining. "I saw your eyes."
"And what did you saw there?" she asked calmly, face perfectly composed.
Gibbs looked at her for just a moment. "Pain."
Ziva pondered what to say. "She was Rachel's nanny," she finally said.
Gibbs didn't say a word.
"She likes her. How am I going to tell a four-year-old that her good friend is never coming back?"
Gibbs still didn't say anything. Ziva looked at him expectantly.
"You saying you don't care about her? Rach does, but you don't?" he finally asked.
"She is just another person whom I know who has died," she told Gibbs. "I have known a lot of people who are dead now. This is no different."
Gibbs finally looked like she'd convinced him, so he led her back to the body. McGee met her eyes quizzically, his eyes asking "What was that about?"
Ziva answered with a dangerous glare, which technically said "Say anything and die."
McGee quickly looked away.
"Whoa."
They all turned to look at the owner of the voice. They saw Tony staring at Maggie, surprise written all over his face.
"You okay, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, making no move to lead Tony away from there, which infuriated Ziva. Did Gibbs consider her weak now? She might be a mother now, but her main essence was still the same.
"Yeah…" Tony said, "that's um… that's our nanny, boss."
"I know, DiNozzo," he said, glancing at Ziva.
"What?" she demanded when they all looked at her with weird faces.
They looked back to the body.
"Guess now we know why she didn't show this morning," Tony said, his face somewhat sad. "Did you kill her, Ziva?" he suddenly asked her with a half-smile. "You had that face in the morning like you were gonna murder her if she showed up."
Before Ziva could defend herself, they heard Ducky chuckle.
"This poor girl died almost two days ago. It makes me wonder why no one saw her before."
"Maybe she was brought here," McGee suggested.
"Yes, maybe," Ducky replied. "I can tell you the cause of death after I've done the autopsy."
"Hey, boss," Tony said as Gibbs walked into the bullpen, this time without a coffee. He turned to look at his Senior Agent, raising his eyebrow at him as a notification for him to say whatever he was going to.
"Maggie's husband is here," Tony exclaimed, pointing to the catwalk. "He's up in the conference room."
McGee put the husband's data up on the plasma for Gibbs to see.
"Navy Lieutenant Frank Mortensen," he informed Gibbs.
When he said nothing else Gibbs turned to him with slight annoyance. "You gonna continue, McGee?"
McGee looked back at the screen, feeling a little uncomfortable. "Actually, there's not much to continue with. He's been in the US for his whole life, hasn't gotten any awards or medals. Lives his life quietly."
"Very quietly, boss," Tony continued. "He's never done anything to gain a criminal record. Hell, the man hasn't even gotten a ticket, can you imagine that."
Gibbs gave Tony a half-smile. "Do you have a criminal record, DiNozzo?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Tony looked sheepish. "Well, we broke into that police yard with McGee, remember?"
Gibbs chuckled. "Oh, yeah, I remember, DiNozzo." He headed up the stairs.
Gibbs entered the conference room and found a man standing by the window, his hands in his pockets.
"Special Agent Gibbs," he introduced himself. The man turned around.
"Lieutenant Frank Mortensen, sir." They shook hands and Gibbs gestured for him to sit down.
"When did you last see your wife?" Gibbs asked him.
"Maggie?" he asked. Gibbs nodded. "Friday, when she came back from work," he answered, looking a little confused.
Gibbs wrote it down into a little pad.
"Is something happened to my wife, Agent Gibbs?" the Lieutenant asked.
Gibbs looked down, then straight into his eyes. "She was found dead this morning. I'm very sorry."
The man put his hand over his mouth. "Oh my God," he breathed, staring at the table, his eyes glazed over.
"Did she have any enemies?" Gibbs asked him quietly when he seemed to have pulled himself together enough.
"Maggie was such a nice woman," he replied, shaking his head sadly. "Everybody liked her."
Gibbs nodded. That was what people often said about their loved ones.
"Why didn't you report her missing?"
The husband shrugged. "She said she was going to her parents' place for the weekend. I didn't consider her missing."
Gibbs nodded again. "Why didn't you go with her?"
He looked at Gibbs incredulously. "Are you kidding me? The last time I went with her her mother threw me out. Literally."
Gibbs chuckled. "What'd you do?"
The Lieutenant looked a little offended by Gibbs' amusement. "I accidentally dropped a vase that had belonged to her grandmother. Not Maggie's grandmother, but Maggie's mother's grandmother."
"Yeah, that tends to piss them off."
He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, big time."
They were silent for a while.
"Lieutenant," Gibbs said after a moment. "I must ask, did you know your wife worked as a babysitter for one of my agent?" Gibbs said "one of my agent" on purpose. He didn't want that man to know he had a married couple in his team.
Lieutenant Mortensen shook his head. "I knew she worked as a babysitter, but for your agent? No, I didn't know that." He was thoughtful for a while, then seemed to decide that he could trust Gibbs.
"Maggie couldn't have children of her own," he explained. "So she looked after that little girl every day. She loved her like she were her own child."
Gibbs wrote this down.
"We considered adopting," he went on. "I guess now it doesn't matter anymore."
Gibbs turned his eyes on the husband. He looked about ready to cry. Gibbs stood up and headed for the door. "I'll have someone escort you out," he told him. He paused for a second, then went on. "I'm very sorry for your loss. I know what you're feeling." With those words he stepped out and closed the door after him.
Okay, this is turning into too much of a casefic, but it was never my intention to make it one. This case-talk is just a space-filler, it will get more family-centric soon. There will also be some Tiva romance. I sincerely hope you can wait that long.
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