Chapter 5: Arguments

His people were those he spent the majority of his time with. Whether on, or rarely off the clock, Special Agent Gibbs used a large amount of time with his team. He took it upon himself to protect them from any outsiders that might want to hurt or kill them.

Unfortunately when it came to their inner-demons, he failed them.

DiNozzo's development of self-hate was growing more apparent each time he stumbled while chewing a piece of gum. It was an instant give-away to his indulgence in drinking, but it never did effect his ability to do his job…

Until recently.

With Abby upstairs getting ready for bed, Gibbs gathers his materials to work on the tiny wooden toys he has recently taken an interest in. At the very moment the familiar footsteps still his hands on his hand tools, and he turns to face the staircase.

"Get down here DiNozzo."

Sighing, Tony makes his way quickly down the steps while hoping that whatever pain he will experience from Gibbs will be over quickly--so on his way he can go.

"What ya workin' on, boss?" He tries for light conversation, but the silence that answers his question silences him as well.

"We got a problem."

"Yeah I know--Abby and her choice in boyfriends is even more bizarre than my--"

"No--DiNozzo, you're the problem!" He takes his hands off the bundle of hand tools. "Drinking--while on call?"

Tony looks to his feet, but does not even try to say anything. He can feel his shame creeping back into place.

"Abby was in trouble. I called you."

"I--"

"You got there drunk!" Gibbs inhales sharply. "Abby could have been hurt."

Memories flood Tony's mind; about Ziva and about her troubles in the past as well as troubles she can be facing at the very moment.

"Same can be said for Ziva." Tony finally manages to find his strength. "She's somewhere--out there, dead or alive, we don't know!"

"DO NOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" The Marine's patience is slipping for the first time in quite some time.

"You can't stop me." Tony takes a step towards Gibbs. "…can ya?"

"Abby is here--Ziva is not."

"So we're supposed to pretend like she doesn't even exist?"

"She could be dead!" Gibbs snaps, but soon realizes the error he has made. "…damn it DiNozzo, you said it. You said she could be dead."

"…and that doesn't bother you?"

"It bothers me." Gibbs does not take kindly to Tony's question. "So does Abby's deranged boyfriend."

"Yeah." Tony's tone is filled with disbelief. "Of course you're going to do everything in your power to help Abby--to be there for her." He crosses his arms over his chest. "You're going to take this personally."

"Kind of hard not to, DiNozzo." His voice low.

"That same determination could have served Ziva well."

"Bullshit, DiNozzo." Gibbs's sharp attitude is right back in place. "You're the one she ran to--all I got was a fucking letter. You could have taken it upon yourself to tell me about it--to give me a fucking clue, but instead you kept it entirely to yourself in fear you'd fuck up a fake relationship you had with an arms dealer's daughter." Gibbs shook his head in misery. "All warning I gave you about the Director completely went through one ear and right out the other."

The mention of his 'relationship' with Jeanne stabs his already bleeding heart.

"I am your team leader--you are to listen to me!" Gibbs wishes he can quickly reach a bottle of bourbon, but he is entirely out of stock.

"Don't let your bitterness over receiving a letter instead of a visitation from Ziva be your reason to talk out of your ass." Tony warns him darkly. "If you ever gave Ziva a real chance after her return, she would have gone to you." He unfolds his arms. "She came to you privately and she told you everything that she failed to tell me--about her father wanting her dead."

"So she played the both of us."

"She didn't play us--she was being selective with us--to protect us." He grows angrier at Gibbs' bitter laugh. "She couldn't just bare her soul to either of us, Gibbs."

"She tell you that, DiNozzo?" The jealously clear in Gibbs' tone.

"I figured it out for myself."

"And what--I am lucky to have you share it with me?" Gibbs fans him away as if he will instantly leave his basement. "I don't need your figuring out, DiNozzo."

"It ought to be top-notch, 'boss'. That's what you are to me--right? My 'boss'. My superior. I listen to you. I do as you want me to. I play your Probie--"

"While you use McGee as your own Probie."

"The chain of command I follow starts from the one at the top." Tony is threading lightly and even he knows it, but his pain pushes him further. "Don't think for a minute I don't sense the connection between you and the Director--"

"That was a long time ago, DiNozzo." Gibbs can feel his muscles going tense.

"…and so it speaks for itself…" Tony smiles; cruelly. "You're jealous."

The wheels in Gibbs head screech to a halt.

"I didn't sleep with Jenny, Gibbs."

Tony's words makes Gibbs shake his head as he wonders if Tony has had a drink or two before he had called him and ordered him to meet him in his basement.

"This isn't about Jenny." Gibbs looks at him finally. "This isn't about who the Director chooses to sleep with. This isn't about me being jealous--which I am 'not'. This is about you getting in way over your head--and fucking up."

"Oh and like you've never fucked up?" Tony laughs openly. "Mr. I-Can't-Keep-Track-Of-How-Many-Redheads-I-Have-Married?" He laughs harder; the sound even more cruel. "You're never going to find another Shannon."

The mention of Shannon's name begins a running reel of endearing memories of the loving family he once had.

"Just because I let on to my past during my accident doesn't give you the right to use it during an attack."

"YOU CALLED ME HERE!" Tony shouts.

"BECAUSE OF LAST NIGHT!"

Tony shuts his eyes to calm himself down. "I get it--I fucked up last night. I really, honestly fucked up--but I apologized." Tony pauses. "People apologize, Gibbs--whether you like it or not--we're all human…even if you have a hard time coming to terms with that." Tony ends quietly.

Gibbs begins an inner battle. One side of him knows Tony is right, but the other wants to be the one in control.

"So…what's next, DiNozzo?"

Tony pulls a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. Opening it, he hangs it out for Gibbs to take and read. When he does, Tony wait's a few moments before speaking.

"What's this?"

"I spoke to Abby--privately, before coming here." He puts his hands on his waist. "Her attacker might have not been her boyfriend." Gibbs quickly looks at him for confirmation. "She's been trying to break it off with this other guy--and what you're reading is a compilation of quick emails he managed to send her from the last several weeks."

"Why didn't she come to us?" He pauses, then asks himself lowly, "…to me?"

Tony hears, but decides it is best not to address it. "She didn't come to any of us because she wanted to handle it by herself. Think about it Gibbs--would any of us want someone handling the joining and breaking of our personal relationships?" Gibbs sighs and slightly nods. "She was just trying to handle things like an adult."

Gibbs knows he can not fault her, but he can not help the need to crush whoever this bastard is either. "Wish I knew about this sooner."

"Let it go." Tony says somewhat kindly because he knows more as to why Abby did not run straight to Gibbs when the problems began, but promised he would never tell him or anyone. "It happened--you can only go from here…'we' can only go from here."

Gibbs catches how Tony said 'we' and agrees completely before pulling out his cell phone and calling McGee. While he is on the phone, Tony contacts Agent Huntington to inform her of in-progress planning for the protection of Abby.

They both end their phone calls at the same time and it is then that Tony hears a familiar voice scream his name.

"TONY!" She nearly falls down the stairs as she rushes to give him a powerful hug.

"Abs!" Gibbs' voice is stern. "When were you gonna tell me about this?" He holds the paper out for her to see. She looks at him sheepishly as she slowly removes her arms from around Tony's neck. "S'okay, Abs…" He offers her a small grin. "I know I've taught you how to handle any situation pretty damn well…" He looks to DiNozzo with meaningful eyes. "…all of you…"

Tony blinks, then slightly nods his head to show that despite everything that is stewing, he accepts the compliment and that is does mean something to him.

Gibbs orders his two team members upstairs to wait for McGee and Huntington while he takes a moment for himself.

Inside his head, Gibbs remembers a time before; where his team was properly intact and the only important thing missing from his life was the family he had lost so very long ago.

A time where Ziva David was a Liaison Officer for Mossad and for NCIS.

Her intense training and her strength to further her knowledge as an officer of the law--any law, were admirable. When she spoke of her own country it never went forgotten and it never went without any respect. Her interest in the American culture was something to be cherished even with her errors in popular American sayings; which were always tried through care and respect.

Ziva David wanted to learn. She was an unfinished book; empty pages begging for words to be written on. She was her own author while Team Gibbs were her sources; her citations. She absorbed from each of them; her private selection of American customs and Americans--in every sense of the word.

And they each had failed her. They each presented themselves as finished books--stuffed to the literal end with enough words to last them the rest of their lives, because she was Mossad. She was a killer--and they simply did not have the time nor the room to take her culture and her upbringing into any consideration unless they needed to prove her wrong or belittle her.

They were Team Gibbs…an elite group of Special Agents who were in-training to be the best, as was she at one time, except they each had more years within the team. They were already embedded into the foundation--they were the cracks to Gibbs' intimidating tower.

Ziva hadn't even made her way into that single empty crack, then the nightmare happened.

It was true--Ziva Daivd wanted to learn everything; especially how to 'forget' the Americans she had such a pleasure of working closely with.