Hi readers : ) I'm sorry there wasn't an update last week. I was just suddenly inspired to start doing some writing for a future project I'm planning, and I just couldn't focus on this until I got that out the way with, but I'm back now : )
Anyway, thank you to those that reviewed the last chapter or PMed me regarding it. Your support has been brilliant so please keep it up : )
Please remember that NCIS is not mine, and I hope you enjoy this chapter : )
Kill Ari - Part 3
Kate chewed on the end of her pen distractedly. When that didn't help her pull her thoughts together, she absentmindedly tapped it against her desk in an annoying tune. When that failed to help, she began wiggling it between her fingers. That didn't help either. Scowling, Kate threw the pen down on her desk in frustration.
Tony, who was sat at his own desk, looked over at her in amusement.
"Having trouble, Katie?" he asked, smirking.
Kate glowered at him.
"No, everything's fine over here" she said, not about to let him suck her into his games, "And don't call me that".
"Aww, what's wrong?" Tony playfully pouted.
Kate let out a sigh. She might as well tell him, because she knew he wouldn't stop bugging her until she caved in anyway. Sighing again, she beckoned him over to her desk.
"I'm going through this old archive footage" Kate explained as Tony walked over to her desk and stood behind her, looking at the CCTV footage playing on her computer screen.
Tony frowned at what he saw before him.
It was footage of when Ari had infiltrated NCIS and taken Kate, Ducky, and Gerald Jackson, (Ducky's old assistant), hostage in the autopsy suite.
"Why?" Tony demanded, eyes flashing darkly.
Being held hostage wasn't easy on anyone, so the fact that Kate was watching this and hadn't said anything... it worried him. He didn't want her to get upset by all this again. She had been moody enough the first time.
"I'm trying to create a more detailed psychological profile of Ari so I can try and figure out what his next move will be" Kate explained, "I tried getting his records sent over from Israel, but they stonewalled me. Never mind the fact that he's a terrorist!"
"Doesn't surprise me" Tony scowled.
Nobody ever seemed to want to help NCIS after all.
"Then I tried getting all the information that the FBI has about him" Kate continued bitterly, "Needless to say, they point-blanked refused".
"Which you knew they would before you even tried" Tony smirked at her.
"Well, to be honest, I was trying my best to get out of having to watch this footage" Kate admitted, sighing tiredly, "It was bad enough living through it the first time without having to watch it happen all over again".
"I'm surprised those archive dweebs even let you have this" Tony commented thoughtfully, "I mean... you know all the red-tape regarding stuff like this. 'Emotional involvement' and all the rest of that crap".
"Well... err..." Kate looked flustered.
Tony immediately picked up on her change in demeanour, and a smile overtook his face.
"Kate, what did you do?" he asked playfully.
Kate blushed.
"Kate?" he insisted, grinning.
Kate caved, unable to resist that playful quality in his voice.
"I... may have... sent the archivist to go find something that doesn't exist and then I... took this whilst he wasn't there to stop me" Kate admitted, blushing.
Tony let out a theatrical gasp.
"Special Agent Todd, I am surprised, no, I'm shocked... that you would do such a thing" Tony playfully shook his head in mock disapproval.
Kate groaned, but she was grinning.
"I know! I know! Before I met you and Gibbs I would never have even considered pulling such a stunt. Although I did sign the log book, so technically, I didn't break the chain of evidence".
"Just the rule about emotional involvement, huh?" Tony winked smugly.
"Well... I'm not using this footage for my own personal gain or to go freelance" Kate defended, "I mean, Ari is a person of interest in our case, so this is work-related. And Gibbs did say I can work the case".
"Even if it should be someone else going through the footage?" Tony smirked at her knowingly.
"Well, out of everyone here at NCIS, I've had the most contact with him" Kate shrugged, making a valid point, "I know him better than anyone, so I know what to look out for on the footage".
"Fair enough, even if I hate the fact you've had the most contact with him" Tony grumbled.
"You and me both" Kate agreed, sighing.
"By the way... I haven't had chance to say it, but... I'm glad... about... you know" Tony said, suddenly very awkward and self-conscious, as he glanced at the tiny graze on Kate's temple.
Kate looked up at him, a soft smile on her face.
"I know" she nodded knowingly.
"I have no idea what I'd have done if that bullet had hit" Tony swallowed anxiously.
"Well... it didn't" Kate reminded him gently, "I'm still here, and I don't plan on going anywhere".
"Good, because I really don't know how I'd handle Gibbs without you" he joked to lighten the mood.
Kate laughed, still smiling. Tony smiled back. For a moment, neither of them said anything. They just stared deeply into each other's eyes, each seeing something... new sparkling within them.
Then they remembered where they were.
"So" Tony loudly cleared his throat, whilst Kate looked away, confused about why she suddenly had the urge to blush, "Making any headway with this footage?"
Kate was grateful for the change of subject. She couldn't help but be confused about what had just happened though. Shaking it off, she turned back to her monitor.
"Not really... I keep getting so far into it and then I just... need to stop for a while" she admitted.
"You want me to take over?" Tony offered kindly.
Kate heard the concern for her in his voice, and felt touched he was bothering himself with her feelings. She shook her head though. She was tough enough to handle this after all.
"I'm alright" she assured him, "It's just difficult, going over all this again. I'll be fine though".
"Well, if you change your mind, just ask and we can switch" Tony patted her on the shoulder, before going back to his own desk.
"Thanks Tony" she smiled softly.
He really was such a great friend when he wasn't invading her privacy and annoying the life out of her. Even when he was though, she still couldn't imagine life at work without him.
Nor did she ever want too.
Gibbs had spent nearly an hour talking with Jenny in MTAC.
They had been catching up with each other, and Gibbs had been filling her in on the details regarding his current investigation. He had listed everything he had so far, but Jenny still looked unconvinced by the end of their chat. They were just leaving MTAC as she voiced these thoughts.
"You have no physical evidence linking Ari to the shootings" Jenny commented as they headed towards the stairs, "No wonder agencies here and abroad have doubts".
"This bastard has already tried to kill three of my people, and I don't think he's finished yet. He won't stop until he's killed someone, and I'm not about to let that happen" Gibbs growled angrily, "And I'll tell you something else, no suit with a tight sphincter is getting in my way, and that includes you, Jen".
He jogged down a few of the stairs, Jenny glaring after him.
She may respect Gibbs more than she respected any other agent she had ever worked with, but she was the Director of NCIS now. She wasn't going to tolerate such rudeness and disrespect for her authority.
It could cause anarchy if she did.
"Special Agent Gibbs!" she shouted angrily after him.
Gibbs scowled, but turned around and took a few steps back up towards her.
"On the job, it is 'Director Shepard' or 'Ma'am'" she glared at him, a challenging glint burning in her eyes.
Gibbs smirked, and Jenny scowled in annoyance
"Okay, what about off the job?" Gibbs asked her cheekily.
Jenny glared at him darkly.
"There won't be any 'off the job,' Agent Gibbs" Jenny stated firmly.
"That's too bad" Gibbs said, conceding to her wishes, "I missed you, Jen".
Jenny visibly flinched. God, she had missed him so much too.
"Don't make this difficult, Jethro" Jenny pleaded.
"Fair enough" Gibbs shrugged, and Jenny looked relieved, "Won't happen again. Director".
They began walking down the stairs again.
"We can continue this conversation in private" Jenny offered as they went.
"I've gotta change my clothes; we can talk in my car on the way to the house" Gibbs said as they reached the ground floor.
"Gibbs!" Jenny protested in annoyance.
Some things never changed and Gibbs' inability to sit around and wait was one of them. Still, it was nice to know that after six years, he was still the same deep down.
"Hey, I got a sniper on the loose and he's after my people" Gibbs reminded her, "I do not have ten minutes to spare".
Jenny scowled at him, loathed to admit he had a point.
He led her into the bullpen, where Tony and Kate were both present. He noticed them both looking at Jenny curiously, probably wondering who she was, and why she was there. It still hadn't been officially announced that Morrow had left and that Jenny was his replacement after all.
"Tony, Kate, where are we?" he asked them.
"McGee and Abby are working firearms analysis" Tony replied, peering at Jenny over the top of the paperwork he was looking at, "I'm trying to match those tire tracks to a specific vehicle, and Kate's err... Kate's..." he glanced at Kate uncertainly, "Maybe you should explain?"
Kate flinched unwillingly. How was Gibbs going to take it when he found out she was breaking the rules... sort of?
"Kate?" Gibbs turned to her expectantly.
Jenny also looked at her curiously.
"Err... I'm putting together a more detailed profile of Ari..." Kate began nervously.
Gibbs immediately noticed the anxiety in her tone.
"And that makes you nervous, because...?" he probed.
"Because... I'm using the footage from autopsy to build it" Kate said the words quickly, visibly cringing away, bracing herself for Gibbs' reaction.
Gibbs narrowed his eyes.
"Let me get this straight" Gibbs shook his head, "You're watching footage of when you were taken hostage. You signed out a piece of evidence, despite knowing the rules about emotional attachment?"
"...Yes?" Kate winced.
She was sure he was about to errupt with anger.
"And you're using it now, making it have a bearing on our current investigation?" Gibbs wanted to be sure.
"...Yes" Kate whispered fearfully.
When Gibbs didn't immediately reply, Kate stopped cringing, and looked up at him from her desk curiously. He was smiling down at her.
"Brave girl" he said casually.
Kate almost fell out of her chair in relief. Across from her, Tony was smirking in amusement.
"Getting anywhere?" Gibbs asked curiously.
Kate, pulling herself together now that she knew Gibbs wasn't pissed at her, let out a low sigh.
"It's slowly coming together" she informed her boss, "It's hard Gibbs, but I think I might be able to predict Ari's next move with some accuracy once I'm done".
Jenny looked impressed by her creativity.
"Keep on it" Gibbs nodded, pleased with her idea, "I need to head out. No one is to leave the building. McGee's on protection detail with Abby. Tony, you stick to her like glue".
He pointed at Kate as he said this.
"Gibbs!" Kate protested. She didn't like it when any of the men thought she couldn't handle herself just as well, if not better, than any of them.
"No arguments Kate. Tony, like glue" Gibbs said, turning away from his agents and heading towards the elevator, Jenny following him, "I'll be back in an hour".
"I wonder if that includes the women's bathroom" Tony smirked smugly.
He wasn't looking at Kate though. Instead, he was staring after Gibbs and the mysterious red-haired lady that had been with him. His eyes roamed down to her rather lovely legs, and a wolfish grin lit up his face.
Kate scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Your mother should have washed your mind out with soap" she laughed at him.
"Relax Kate, I'm not going to follow you into the bathroom" Tony said, watching as Gibbs and Jenny entered the elevator, "Not after you threw a wet sponge at my face the last time".
"Well you deserved it" Kate smirked at the memory, "But that wasn't what I meant".
"Oh" Tony blinked, finally looking at her, "What did you mean then?"
"Gibbs leaves with a woman, and your only thought is - 'Nooner' - it's just such a typical response from you" Kate fondly shook her head.
"I wasn't thinking that!" Tony protested, even if he was lying. He had totally been thinking that.
"Was too" Kate smirked at him, "I always know what you're thinking, Tony, never forget that".
"Really?" Tony grinned at her, a clear challenge, "Can you tell what I'm thinking right now?"
His eyes roamed up and down Kate's body. Kate scoffed in disbelief.
"Yes I can" she playfully narrowed her eyes at him, "And I can tell you, that that is never going to happen DiNozzo".
"I do love a challenge" Tony winked at her.
Neither of them had noticed that another woman had approached the bullpen, and was watching their little sparring match in amusement.
"Trust me Tony, hell will turn to ice before I let that happen" Kate told him seriously.
"Twenty bucks says you're wrong" Tony winked.
"Fifty says I'm right" Kate bounced his challenge right back at him.
"You are on!" Tony playfully pointed at her.
The woman smirked, and decided that it was time to alert them both to her presence.
"Ah! The making of all good, professional, working relationships" she said in her distinct Israeli accent, "Placing bets on whether you'll end up sleeping together or not".
Kate and Tony both jumped like they'd received electric shocks. Both of them looked rather caught out. They looked at each other, back at the woman, then at each other again.
Tony was the first to recover.
Making Kate jump in the process, Tony hammered on a random button on his phone in a desperate attempt to appear like he had been on a phone call and not making lewd bets with his partner.
"I'll call you back" he said, pretending it was on speaker-phone.
Kate scoffed in amusement.
Did he really believe that this woman, or anybody, would actually fall for that?
"Yeah - Tony - I don't think that's gonna work" Kate stage-whispered to him.
Tony narrowed his eyes at her and grunted in annoyance.
"She is correct" the woman piped up, looking amused, "I heard exactly what you two were doing, so there's no point in trying to convince me you were having phone sex".
Tony's jaw dropped.
Kate burst out laughing at the expression on his face.
"P-phone sex?" Tony gawked at her, completely caught off guard, "No, no! I was... err... playing charades".
"That's the best you can come up with?" Kate snorted.
"Shush!" Tony glowered at her.
Kate smirked, biting her lip.
"Charades?" the woman said disbelievingly, "Like, uh…" she mimed running an old-fashioned video camera.
Tony grinned, obviously hoping that she'd fallen for it. Kate rolled her eyes in disbelief at him. The woman would have to be pretty stupid to swallow that excuse.
"You've played" Tony exclaimed, tone playfully accusing.
"Never on the telephone" the woman smiled.
'Yeah, my partner and I" he gestured between himself and Kate, who rolled her eyes fondly, "Were coming up with quotes for Saturday night" he quickly realised he'd been pretending to be on the phone, so he added - "With our friend down in the legal department... Phoebe!"
"Phoebe?" Kate blinked in confusion. She was fairly sure that nobody at NCIS was called Phoebe.
"Yeah... Buffay. Phoebe Buffay" Tony nodded at Kate, a silent indicator for her to play along, whilst Kate rolled her eyes. Of course he'd pluck a random television character out of thin air.
Typical Tony.
The mystery woman stared at Tony like he'd grown a second head for a second, before turning to Kate sceptically.
"You play charades with him on Saturday nights?" she asked, looking Kate up and down.
Kate bristled at being sized up by this complete stranger, but forced herself to be polite as she tried to think of a reply.
"Err..." Kate so cleverly came out with.
"Sure she does! She's very lonely, so I play with her to kill time before I go clubbing, whilst she goes off to knitting class" Tony said before Kate could call him out on his lying.
Kate scowled and glared at him. Way to make her sound old, boring, and kinda desperate all in one remark! The idiot. Tony merely smirked at her, prompting Kate to stick out her tongue, before he turned his attention back onto the mystery woman.
"But enough about us" he said pleasantly, "Who are you, and why are you here?"
"Ziva David, Mossad" the woman, Ziva, introduced herself, flashing her ID badge.
"You're Israeli?" Tony immediately assumed.
Kate narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Why did she have a sinking feeling that this Ziva person's visit had something to do with a certain terrorist they were trying to locate? Like Gibbs always said, there was no such thing as a coincidence.
Well, whoever the hell this woman was, she had better just keep out of the way, because Kate was determined to bring Ari down this time.
And if Ziva was to think that she was bad, which she would once she realised just how badly Kate wanted Ari to be dead, just wait until she met Gibbs. There'd be no stopping him.
That was a certainty.
"Very good, the way you made that connection: Mossad, Israeli" Ziva smirked at Tony.
She walked away from the two of them, coming to a stop in the centre of the bullpen, looking around with interest. There was something about that that Kate didn't like.
"Is there something we can help you with, Miss David?" Kate asked her.
Ziva turned her focus onto Kate, somewhat taken aback by the slightly cool tone with which she spoke. She wondered if this agent had already worked out what she was doing here.
She immediately doubted it.
Nobody was that clever, and even if she had figured it out, she likely didn't realise the full extent of exactly what was going on here. There was no way that woman could know her true relationship with Ari, if she'd even guessed that he was the reason she was there at all.
Forcing a polite smile for the woman, Ziva shook her head.
"I'm afraid not" she told Kate, tone the epitome of politeness, "You see, I'm here to see Special Agent Gibbs".
"How do you know I'm not Gibbs?" Tony pouted indignantly.
Kate scoffed loudly.
Ziva and Tony both glanced over at her expectantly.
"Oh please" she smirked, highly amused, "Anybody that comes looking for Gibbs is bound to have heard a thing or two... or a hundred... things about him. Do you really think that anybody thinks that you could possibly be Gibbs after a two minute conversation with you?"
Tony looked extremely put out.
"I could be Gibbs" he grumbled petulantly.
"Could not" Kate laughed.
"Could so" Tony pouted.
Ziva, sensing they were about to get into one of their... whatever it was they had with each other, spoke up before they could get started.
"Is he Gibbs?" she asked impatiently.
"Most definitely not" Kate shook her head.
Ziva let out a fake-suffering sigh, before slouching down into the chair behind McGee's desk, as if she had every right to be there.
"Can I ask when he'll be back?" Ziva asked.
"In an hour" Tony said, still pouting whilst throwing wounded looks at Kate, who was smirking in amusement at him, "Are you sure that neither of us can't help you?"
Ziva tutted playfully.
Kate stared at the woman, somewhat thrown. If she had some connection to Ari Haswari like Kate suspected, she wasn't exactly acting in a manner that Kate would expect. Unless of course this was the act.
But Kate couldn't be sure.
As a profiler, Kate could usually pick things up about people. Things they didn't want advertising. It was part of her job, and Kate was extremely good at it. She didn't think Ziva was acting... but she was definitely hiding something.
And it made Kate very uneasy.
The timing of Ziva's visit was a little too coincidental for this to not have something to do with Ari after all. Kate wondered what the deal was, and if Gibbs would be able to figure it out when he arrived back at headquarters. Tony on the other hand seemed intrigued by Ziva, and not suspicious of her like Kate was, so he forced a smile for Ziva's benefit as he approached where she was sitting.
"We got off to a bad start" he said, clearing his throat, "I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo and this is my partner, Special Agent Caitlin Todd. You can call us Tony and Kate. And we don't play charades, we were just... trying to have a little fun after what's been a difficult couple of weeks".
"Sexual fun?" Ziva asked casually.
Kate's jaw dropped wide open.
"My god! No!" she cried, sounding rather insulted.
Tony, who felt insulted by the fact that Kate felt so insulted over the idea of sleeping with him, forced himself to ignore his partner for the moment so he could set things straight with Ziva.
"We aren't really going to place a bet on us having sex, we were just kidding" he informed her.
Ziva glanced at Kate, who nodded in agreement with Tony's words.
"Sounded pretty genuine to me" Ziva shrugged, and Tony and Kate both looked horrified, "But I suppose you two know what you are talking about".
"Glad you agree" Kate said frostily.
This woman seemed... far too forward about sex and stuff, for Kate's taste.
"Anyway" Tony said, determined to put the conversation on a different path, "You can sit there and slouch provocatively for an hour if you'd like Miss David, or you can tell us what you need, and maybe one of us can help".
Ziva smiled but shook her head.
"You can't help because I'm here to stop Special Agent Gibbs from killing a Mossad officer" Ziva informed them.
Kate narrowed her eyes at her. She knew all along that she was right. Well, Ziva would have another thing coming. Because no matter how hard she tried to stop it, Ari Haswari was going to die.
One way or another.
"Ari Haswari?" Tony guessed, eyes wide with realisation.
Kate rolled her eyes. Finally, he had caught up with the rest of them.
"Yes" Ziva nodded.
"Well good luck with that, because you'll need it" Kate told her, tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Meaning?" Ziva looked at her. Her voice was beginning to show the first signs of frustration.
"Meaning that Special Agent Gibbs isn't the only person around here that wants that bastard dead" Kate informed her gleefully.
"She's right" Tony agreed with her, and Ziva stared at him, "We both want him dead too".
Ziva's face fell.
She had thought that Gibbs was the only one that truly wanted Ari dead. But these two clearly wanted that awful scenario to happen as well. She immediately wondered if these two could be swayed into believing that Ari was innocent, but her gut was telling her that it would be futile.
It appeared she alone was in Ari's corner.
Ziva frowned, thinking hard about how she should proceed with the conversation now. They'd both made their feelings on the matter perfectly clear. It would be a waste of time pleading Ari's case to them right now. She decided that, for now, she would change the subject. Then, if she had the chance to get one of them on their own, she could try to talk them into believing that Ari was innocent, or at least sow some seeds of doubt. After all, if she could get one of them on-side, then she was sure that Ari would walk away from this.
Divide and conquer, Ziva thought brightly to herself.
Plastering a smile on her face, Ziva turned to Tony, who had gone back over to his desk and was now sitting behind a mountain of paperwork.
"You're from a wealthy family" Ziva casually observed.
Kate frowned, trying to figure out her game.
Tony seemed suspicious of her too now.
"Really?" Tony scoffed.
"Born and raised on the East Coast" Ziva continued, supressing a smirk, "New England boarding school. Spent some time in the Midwest and Philadelphia".
She knew all that of course, she had studied everyone at NCIS she was likely to run into, but she hoped that Tony would just assume that she was making astute guesses.
Kate, on the other hand, knew better.
Nobody could guess something so accurately. It was obvious that Ziva had made, or at least read, a profile about Tony. Kate guessed that Ziva probably knew her background too, and was trying to distract them for some reason. She never got chance to call Ziva out on it though.
Tony replied before she could.
"How would you know that?" he demanded to know.
Ziva just smiled secretly at him, evading his question.
Kate narrowed her eyes angrily. She really didn't trust this woman now, and couldn't wait to see her attempt to stop Gibbs in his quest for vengeance fail. Before anybody could continue the conversation, the elevator doors opened behind them, and Gibbs and Jenny came striding out, both looking rather annoyed.
When Jenny spotted Ziva however, her face brightened into a warm smile. Ziva grinned when she noticed the redhead too.
Kate immediately noticed, and again wondered who the redhead was, and if she was in on Ziva's plan to stop them from killing Ari.
"Shalom Jenny" Ziva smiled at Jenny.
"Shalom Ziva" Jenny replied as the two woman French kissed.
"Did I miss it?" Ziva asked anxiously.
"Yes, you did. But we didn't" Jenny nodded seriously.
Kate and Tony were both wondering what 'it' was, and both of them were curious to exactly who the redhead was, and what she had been doing with Gibbs all this time. They glanced at each other and shared a nod. Kate slowly stood up from behind her desk, Tony mirroring the action, and they both approached Gibbs' desk, where the man in question was sat.
"You two first" Gibbs whispered before either Kate or Tony could open their mouths.
"Ziva David. Mossad" Tony muttered quietly.
"She's here to prevent you from killing Ari" Kate hissed under her breath so that Ziva and Jenny wouldn't hear.
"Yours?" Tony inquired.
"Director Jenny Shepard. Same mission" Gibbs whispered back to them.
Kate's eyebrows rose up her forehead as she looked back over to the woman conversing with Ziva. So that woman was a director, which meant that her authority would trump Gibbs' if it came to a standoff. Kate smirked, glad that she had an umbrella, because if this Shepard woman tried to stop Gibbs, there was going to be one hell of a pissing match.
"What agency is she from?" Tony asked the next obvious question.
Gibbs' answer was what really surprised Kate though.
"Ours" he said softly.
Kate scoffed and Tony chuckled, both of them thinking it was a joke. After all, if Morrow had left, there would have been an announcement to wish him luck and to welcome the new director. When they saw that Gibbs wasn't joking, the smiles faded from Kate's and Tony's faces.
"'Yeah?' Tony asked with a raised eyebrow.
Gibbs nodded in confirmation.
"What about Morrow?" Kate asked him in a whisper.
"Resigned" Gibbs told her simply, "He was offered a Deputy Director's position at Homeland Security. He took it".
Kate and Tony were both shocked.
"Wow" Kate breathed, being the first to recover, "I never expected Morrow to just... leave, like that. I always figured he'd die whilst still in the chair".
"And then Ducky would do his autopsy, of course" Tony joked.
Kate sniggered and even Gibbs cracked a smile. Neither of them had a chance to comment though, for at that moment, Ziva and Jenny approached them, evidently done with their own conversation.
"Special Agent Gibbs" Jenny said, smiling, "I'd like you to meet Ziva David. She's with Mossad".
Gibbs offered her a polite but reserved smile.
Kate smirked, able to tell that Gibbs was already suspicious of this woman, and she'd yet to even open her mouth.
"Call me Ziva" Ziva returned his smile warmly, "Director Shepard has spoken often of you".
"Really?" he seemed surprised.
Gibbs turned to Jenny, hoping that she hadn't spared some of the more… intimate moments of their partnership. Tony would never shut up about it if she had and he found out.
Well, not until he slapped the boy around the head a couple of dozen times anyway.
"Ziva and I worked anti-terrorist ops since 9/11" Jenny explained to him, "You saw one today in MTAC".
"That was yours?" Gibbs turned back to Ziva.
"I only acquired the intel" Ziva shrugged with a sly smile.
Kate narrowed her eyes at her for what felt like the tenth time since meeting her. She didn't know what it was, but something about Ziva just... unnerved her. As soon as she could though, Kate was going to find out more about this mysterious Ziva woman, and that was a promise.
And the first thing she planned on uncovering was what her connection to Ari was.
Kate was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of a phone ringing. Looking at the others, she realised it was Ziva's. The woman in question reached into her purse, and removed her ringing cellphone.
"Excuse me" she said politely to the other four.
She strode away towards the windows, obviously hoping for some privacy.
Getting an idea, Kate, as subtly as possible, went back to her desk, took her seat, and sneakily took a notepad out from her draw. Straining her ear, Kate smirked when she heard Ziva flip open her phone, and begin talking into it. It was lucky the office was so quiet, because Kate was able to hear her as clearly as if Ziva was stood right next to her.
Kate began jotting down exactly what Ziva was saying.
It was difficult though, because the woman was talking in a different language. Obviously she didn't want anyone overhearing to understand what she was saying. Kate had ways around that though. So doing her best to spell the words as accurately as she could - which was no easy task considering she had idea what they meant or how to pronounce half of them - Kate transcribed Ziva's half of the entire conversation.
She nervously hid her notepad when Jenny and Gibbs, obviously done with their own conversation, walked past her desk, but sighed in relief when neither of them paid the slightest bit of attention to her.
She quickly resumed her task of eavesdropping. Tony walked back over to his own desk, frowning at his partner's curious behaviour.
"What are y...?" he managed to get out.
"Later" Kate hissed at him.
Normally Tony would have protested against Kate silencing him like that, but something in her voice told him this was very important, so he let it go and fell silent.
He didn't take his eyes off her as she worked though.
Ziva continued talking on the phone for several minutes, whilst Kate wrote down every word she said. The agent doubted that any of her spelling assumptions were correct, but that didn't matter. She wanted to know what Ziva was up to and this was an opportunity she couldn't pass up on.
Finally, Ziva hung up her call and turned around.
Kate hastily stuffed her notepad back into her desk draw. Ziva noticed Kate looking in her direction, so she offered the female agent a polite, albeit forced, smile which Kate returned, her's borderline mocking.
When Ziva had walked off, Kate smirked, retrieving her notepad from the drawer.
"You want to explain what all that was about, Special Agent Todd?" Tony asked sarcastically.
"Oh..." Kate grinned slyly at him, before turning to her computer, "You'll see my friend".
Tony stared at her, utterly bewildered. Kate ignored his confusion though, and brought up the internet on her computer.
It was time for a bit of translation.
And there we are : )
So, long chapter I know, but there was a lot to cover.
I really hope you guys like the introduction of Ziva, and Kate's impression of her. She's very suspicious of Ziva right now and doesn't trust her at all. Rest assured though, Kate's not going to be a bitch to Ziva in this, and they will become fast friends, I just felt that, with this rewrite, Kate's first opinion of Ziva would be very different from the original version considering she met Ziva under very different circumstances this time around. So yeah, for this episode and the next episode, Kate won't trust or even like Ziva all that much, but she isn't going to turn into a cow over it, as I don't realistically think its necessary to make them fight. Once Ziva joins the team, they'll warm up to each other pretty fast though : )
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'd love to hear your thoughts in reviews about Kate's initial impression of Ziva, since it is very different from the original version of this story : )
Until the next time, keep on reading : )