"I want to talk to him."
"Ziva-"
"No Gibbs! He may have more information that he isn't sharing! I can get an answer."
"Uh huh. Or end up in jail yourself for intimidation or murder."
Vance interrupted the two before Ziva could argue it further. "Agent David, we are taking every precaution to verify the information presented to us. But the intel we got from Stankic is consistent with the reports we are getting from Major Jackson and our people in Kosovo. Crncevic Junior could care less if Stankic is tied to Zupan's murder, or how that affects his father's case. I see the threat against Talia as nearly nonexistent; the Osams have more reason at this point to go after Stankic. But I promise you we're certainly not done investigating the matter. We'll keep some measure of reasonable protection in place until the final pieces and players are accounted for."
"Reasonable? Is that your way of saying that NCIS can't afford to expend any more resources on keeping her safe?" Gibbs shot her a warning look and she swallowed down the rest of her retort.
Vance's mouth pressed into a hard line. "It means that we'll use protection and manpower proportional to the remaining threat, Agent David. I can spare three agents of your choosing to rotate in on eight hour shifts, keeping an eye on Talia at your apartment. Am I understood?"
Ziva's mouth opened again, but it was Gibbs who nodded quickly. "Thank you Director." He grabbed Ziva by the arm, steering her quickly out the door.
"Gibbs, I -"
"Vance has to play the political penny-pincher, Ziva. We don't. The four of us can keep her safe."
She paused on the stairs and twisted her arm away from his grip. "I have a bad feeling Gibbs. My gut tells me this isn't over."
He opened his mouth (to call her a paranoid and neurotic she presumed) but then laughter floated up the stairs from the bullpen, drawing both of their gazes. Talia was perched on Ziva's desk, and if the look on Tony's face was any indication, she had just stolen a large bite from his sandwich. Tim was sitting at his own desk with his back to Ziva and Gibbs, but they could see his shoulders shaking with poorly suppressed laughter.
Ziva leaned against the railing and tried to take comfort from the carefree scene below her. "I am worried," she whispered. From the corner of her eye, she saw Gibbs mirror her position. "And I think you are too."
"Well right now I'm worried about a lot of things, Ziver. Not the least of which is you." She scowled, but just continued to watch as Tony handed the sandwich over to Talia and grabbed another one from inside a white bag on his desk. Gibbs sighed, pushing away from the railing. "We'll follow your lead. We won't stop until you're satisfied the threat has passed. Okay?"
She took several moments before standing up straight and turning to meet his steely gaze.
"Okay."
"Oh! Are you doing a coffee run Agent Gibbs?"
Three pairs of eyes glanced up, taking in Talia's hopeful expression as she stared at Gibbs. She had been working at the extra desk at the end of the bullpen, updating her resume and reestablishing contact with several publishing firms in New York. The day was wearing long on all of them though, and she looked just as in need of caffeine as the boss at the moment. "Mind if I tag along?"
Ziva was surprised at Tali's enthusiastic request, and admittedly even more surprised when Gibbs nodded his head towards the elevator. She grabbed her purse and hurried to catch up to him, Tony chuckling as she passed. "Twenty bucks says she crashes and burns trying to weasel any information outta the master…"
Ziva grinned, leaning back in her chair and studied Tony. "Tali versus Gibbs? I wouldn't touch that bet with a nine foot stick…"
Tim listened as far as Tony's exasperated "Ten foot pole, honestly Ziva why…" before effectively tuning them both out.
[]
"You were a Marine, yes?" Talia said conversationally, studying Gibbs from the corner of her eye. His gait was relaxed, as was his face, but in a way that usually encouraged silence over small talk. Unfortunately for him, Talia shared her sister's proclivity for pushed personal boundaries.
"Once a Marine-"
"Always a Marine, yes I know. Tomas used to say that all the time."
Gibbs nodded, holding open the front door as they stepped out in the cool autumnal day. "From all his reports and evals, Staff Sergeant Zupan was a good man."
Her expression was regretful. "He was...the very best. Thank you, for not giving up until you caught his killers."
"It's what we do, Talia."
She smiled. "I know. But I still get to be grateful for it."
They walked the rest of the way to the coffee kiosk in comfortable silence. As they took their place at the end of the long line however, Talia seized the opportunity for further conversation. She turned towards him, rubbing her hands briskly over her arms to warm up. "Agent Gibbs…"
"Just Gibbs."
"Alright, Gibbs. We haven't had a chance to really talk yet," She met his raised eyebrow and grinned charmingly in return. "And yes, I get the sense you're not a chatterbox. But I just wanted to also thank you for taking such good care of Ziva all these years. I know I've missed a lot, but she's filled me in on some of it and the rest I can see for myself. She's well cared for here, loved. And you seem to really get her, which is no easy task, trust me."
Gibbs smiled in spite of himself; he certainly knew that. Something in his expression must have piqued Talia's interest, and she cocked her head to study him. "Do you have kids, Gibbs?"
The smile faded, and Talia immediately regretted the invasive question.
"Had." The answer was simple, unmistakable, and unfortunately too-familiar rolling off Gibbs' lips.
"A daughter," Talia said softly, not needing further confirmation. She stared distractedly at the trees, watching as the wind shook crimson leaves from their boughs. "Makes sense…" she said in a quiet voice. "An abandoned daughter finds a grieving father...both patching a small piece of the gaping void."
She shook her head quickly, as if just realizing she had spoken aloud and then blushed to match the falling foliage. "I'm so sorry! It's the story-lover in me that latches onto themes...that was rude..."
Gibbs just shrugged. "Never apologize-"
"It's a sign of weakness, Ziva told me that rule already," Talia nodded quickly.
The small smirk returned to Gibbs' face. "That too, but no sense in apologizing when you're right."
Talia looked relieved for not offending him, but the close-call still did nothing to stop her from speaking yet again. "It's only been a few days, but I can already tell you are a better father to Ziva than ours ever was…" It was a realization that came with equal parts comfort and sadness for both those who cared for her. She watched Gibbs for a further reaction, but his face was locked down now. Her window of opportunity closed as the person in front of them signed his receipt, and so she smiled in resignation and squinted up at the drink board.
"Shall we order for the others? They can probably use the caffeine. Ziva would want…"
"Jasmine tea with a little honey," Gibbs finished quietly, meeting Talia's gaze.
"Yeah...yeah exactly..."
[]
The drinks were delivered to a thankful team. Gibbs paused in front of Tony's desk, snapping his fingers at the bewildered Senior Field Agent until the younger man groaned, digging twenty dollars out of his pocket and handing it to Gibbs. He immediately turned it over to a confused Talia and shot a look at Ziva.
"Nine foot stick or not, coulda been twenty dollars richer David…"
Ziva could tell she was being watched - Ziva could always tell when eyes lingered on her for longer than a fleeting glance. Gibbs and McGee were down in Abby's lab and Tony was up in MTAC, which meant only one other set of eyes remained in the bullpen at this late hour. She ignored it for several minutes, reading a page and half of yet another report on Nula Osam before mingled curiosity and annoyance got the better of her.
"You are staring a hole in my head, sheli," she warned, not looking away from the screen.
"I am just wondering what finally gave you faith…" Talia said in a contemplative and offhand voice. Ziva looked up sharply, surprised by the unexpected statement, and found Talia staring at her neck. As she often did, Ziva had been playing absentmindedly with her necklace as she read.
"I noticed it a few days ago and didn't know how to bring it up," Talia leaned forward in Gibbs' chair, resting her elbows on the desk and her chin in her hands. "Was it after your rescue in Somalia?" She asked softly.
Ziva shook her head quickly and answered honestly without thinking about it. "No. Faith is something I still struggle with most days. I don't know that I will ever find it."
Talia jerked her chin at the necklace. "Then why?"
This answer came less readily than the much more spiritual and personal question before it. And it came with a pang in her heart and a sting at the back of her neck where the ghost of a breaking chain scratched against her skin.
"When you supposedly died, Eli gave me your necklace."
Talia's eyes widened, her hands dropping to the desk as she sat up straighter. "Bubbe David's Star? I thought I lost it that day!" She said it wistfully and with such longing for her lost treasure that Ziva filed the expression away under the ever-growing list of reasons to hate her father.
"No Tali, it was not lost. He gave it to me and told me to always remember what we were fighting for. I spent an hour washing the bloodstains from it and years trying to scrub away the memory of them." Ziva grew more pensive, leaning back in the chair and fingering the small golden pendant as her eyes grew distant. "I suppose in the end it represented faith to me as well, but a devotion very different from yours. I carried it as my talisman, my reminder to do whatever it took to continue in the war that stole you away from us."
"What happened to it?" Talia prompted after Ziva, lost in thought, was silent for nearly a minute.
"It was taken from me, in Somalia," Ziva whispered, her eyes still far away. "In some ways, its loss stung more than my other wounds. I failed. I lost my focus, my drive for vengeance. And I lost you all over again."
Talia stood, moving swiftly to sit on the edge of Ziva's desk, taking one of her sister's hands. Ziva's troubled gaze shifted slowly back to the present, an apologetic smile crossing her lips as the tension slid from her face.
"But like I said, I survived, and I found my home here. I had never told anyone else the significance of our necklace. All they knew is that it was important to me, and that it was lost. And so, last year, I received this as a Hanukkah gift," she said, tapping the Star.
"From?" Talia asked before she could stop herself.
Ziva just smiled softly, shaking her head. "That is my secret, but it honestly doesn't matter Talia. At the end of the day, it is my own symbol of what they all represent to me and my life here: family and love and security…"
Talia gave her hand a squeeze and returned to Gibbs' chair after another minute, wisely sensing not to press the issue further. Ziva meanwhile studied the small gold object between her fingers. It suited her; he had known that when he chose it. It was clearly different than her old necklace: more delicate, not as heavy around her neck. And not for the first time she wondered if it was in fact physically lighter or if it simply carried fewer ghosts and expectations than its predecessor.
This chapter may feel a bit random, but this is where the entire story started, and I just couldn't bring myself to cut it out. I wrote a tag eons ago as my own completely different take on Ziva's necklace. This was just supposed to be a dream sequence of her talking to her sister, but I enjoyed writing Talia so much that I wanted to find a way to build a fic around her.
That said, this chapter was also a nightmare...I rewrote the Gibbs/Talia scene no less than five times. The good news is that I kept getting frustrated and skipping over it, so the next chapter is almost completely done and should post in the next day or two. Plus it has some real hard hitting moments with Eli, Ari, and a very twisty surprise!
Don't let the imminent update stop you from leaving a note though please! The reviews help immensely with ideas and feedback! :)