Hey readers - Here we are with the next chapter : )
I don't have an awful lot to say this time, other than that I'm VERY excited to finally be getting to Ziva' official joining of the NCIS team ; ) I think it's gonna be very fun to see her relationship develop with Kate as time goes on, and I think I've come up with an angle that'll hopefully prove quite interesting : )
Aside from that however, I would like to say an GIGANTIC thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited and followed this story. The support you guys have shown to it continuously blows me away, and I really appreciate it, so please keep it up : )
Please remember that NCIS does not belong to me : )
I hope you enjoy this chapter : )
Silver War - Part 2
Several days had passed since that most unexpected meeting with Director Shepherd, and to be perfectly honest, Kate was still reeling from the bombshell that the other woman had dropped on her. It was almost as though the information that she had been given with too much for her mind to fully absorb, and yet she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she had heard said information correctly. That didn't make it any easier to take in the full implications of it however. Ziva David was coming to the U.S.A on a seemingly permanent basis and would be joining their team here at NCIS. Ziva David. The sister of the monster that had almost murdered her. Kate was going to be working with her on a daily basis starting any day now. Needless to say it was a rather chilling prospect for poor Kate.
Now don't get it wrong. Kate didn't hold Ari's despicable actions against the beautiful Mossad operative in any way, shape or form. It wasn't Ziva's fault that the bastard had taken the path that he had chosen in the end after all. It was just... having the woman join their team would make her a permanent reminder of the terrible events that Gibbs and the rest of them had just barely overcome, of what the team had almost lost, and what Ari had almost stolen from Kate directly.
Kate honestly wasn't sure whether the knowledge of that would weigh more heavily upon her own shoulders or on the Israeli woman's.
So no, Kate wasn't going to hold Ari's actions against Ziva when the two of them finally crossed paths once more. And in terms of the beautiful Israeli woman's own actions during the whole fiasco, well... Kate could begrudgingly admit that she could see where the other woman had been coming from. Right or wrongly so, Ziva had genuinely believed that Ari was innocent of the crimes that Gibbs and Kate herself had been accusing him of. She had only done what any loving sibling would have done under the circumstances, not to mention the fact that it was actually the woman's job as a Mossad Operative to ensure that Ari escaped the U.S.A with his life. So as much as Kate might have initially wanted to hate the woman for her actions in almost letting that bastard escape, she also knew that that was unfair. That didn't exactly make the whole situation any easier to accept though.
As such, Kate had somewhat been left in a state of limbo, one where she didn't necessarily know how she felt. It was starting to drive her a little crazy.
It didn't exactly help that she had also been instructed to keep all of this a secret. Perhaps if she had been able to discuss this with Tony or Abby - or even Gibbs now that her silver haired boss was slightly more open with her these days - it would have made it easier to unravel her own feelings on the matter. But keeping the sensitive subject to herself for the time being was not only making it seemingly impossible to come to terms with, it also made Kate feel like something of a fraud. All week long all of the other members of the team had been staring at her, almost as if they knew that she was keeping something important from them. Kate knew that the guilt she felt about that was ridiculous considering that her boss' boss had literally ordered her not to tell them, but it nevertheless made it hard to work with them all without feeling as if she was guilty of some great betrayal. She honestly almost wished that the new director hadn't said anything to her about this. Then she wouldn't feel the burden of the secret upon her shoulders, but realistically, Kate knew that that was an unfair outlook on the situation as well. Director Shepherd had only told her out of common kindness due to all of the trauma that Ari had put her through personally. And she could hardly hold kindness against her new boss, now could she? Still, that didn't exactly make it any easier to deal with having Gibbs staring at you with those piercing blue eyes, as if he knew that you were keeping secrets and that he was determined to uncover what they might be. Hell... Kate was beginning to understand first-hand why all their suspects always folded under the man.
That was why it almost came as a honest-to-God relief when on the fourth day since learning the information - exactly one week from when she had been kidnapped by Adam O'Neill, and roughly seven weeks overall since the last time anyone on the team had seen the beautiful Israeli woman - did things finally come to a head.
Ding!
The elevator at the NCIS headquarters building came to a stop and the doors slid open. Kate, now devoid of the protective sling that she had been forced to wear as Ducky had thankfully deemed her wrist recovered enough to be able to remove it yesterday, stepped out. It was only as the dark haired young woman started walking towards the bullpen that her keen eyes noticed the presence of someone already there. Somebody that was not yet a member of their team, and was standing directly in the middle of the four desks that stood there, waiting patiently. Almost against her own will, Kate couldn't help it when the smile she'd been wearing up until this point faded from her face.
Ziva.
The person standing in the middle of the bullpen was none over than Ziva David, the very same woman who had been occupying Kate's thoughts for the best part of four days now. A deep sigh forced its way past Kate's lips, although whether it was from apprehension about everything coming to ahead, or from sheer relief that the secret was about to come out, the female federal agent couldn't be sure. As such, it was with mixed feelings that the young woman continued walking forwards, slowly approaching her own desk whilst her eyes never once left the newcomer, almost as if Kate was studying her intently, without necessarily being aware of that fact. When Ziva didn't appear to notice her presence immediately, the female federal agent took a few extra seconds to gather her courage, before she eventually cleared her throat loudly.
The effect was instantaneous.
Ziva, not necessarily spooked by the fact that someone had managed to walk up behind her without her noticing but more taken aback by the fact, whirled on the spot to face the person behind her. Her dark eyes widened almost comically, her face turning a little pale. It was immediately clear to a trained profiler such as Kate that the other woman felt just as uneasy and nervous, if not more so, about this encounter as she herself had been feeling for several days now. Oh, Ziva was able to superbly cover it up quickly, but Kate had still seen it. The beautiful Israeli woman was definitely nervous to face her. Kate almost sighed again.
At least they were on an even playing field if nothing else.
For several long moments, neither of the two women uttered so much as a single syllable. They just stood there, simply staring at one another, almost as if stunned that the other actually existed. When it became increasingly obvious that neither one of them wanted to be the one to break the almost suffocating silence however, Kate allowed another long-suffering sigh to slip past her lips before she decided that she ought to be the one to bite the bullet so to speak, no pun intended. After all, this was where Kate had worked for the past two years now, so it only made logical sense that she would be more comfortable than Ziva, who not only would be starting a new job today, but one which she had also just moved to a different country for, for crying on loud. It was understandable that despite how much she obviously wanted to hide it that the Israeli woman would be very nervous, especially given her history with this team. For that reason alone, Kate decided to be the bigger woman and take pity on her.
"Err... hi?" Kate said in a whisper that was barely audible, mentally cringing as soon as the words had left her mouth. 'Err... hi?' Was that seriously the best she could have come up with?
Ziva didn't seem to notice, and instead just looked grateful that Kate had been the one to try and break through the awkwardness first.
"Special Agent Todd" the Mossad operative dipped her head politely in greeting, and seeming to struggle to find anything else to say, she hesitantly cleared her throat and asked, "How... how have you been doing?"
"Good" Kate immediately latched onto the question with an air of unmistakable gratitude since it saved her from coming up with anything herself in an attempt to move this conversation along, which honestly felt like it was becoming more and more painful as each second slowly crept on, "I've been good. Well, I got kidnapped last week but apart from that... good".
Again, the female federal agent had to work very hard not to cringe at her own words. As if talking about being kidnapped by a copycat serial killer was a good way to break the ice here! Honestly, what on Earth was she thinking?
Ziva's eyes widened at the little titbit that Kate had accidentally dropped, but before the beautiful Israeli woman could comment on it, Kate hastily pressed on.
"And yourself? Have you been okay? You know, what with the...err..." Kate swallowed hard, not for the first time since this conversation had begun wishing that she would think ahead before opening her mouth. Unable to backtrack now however, the female federal agent begrudgingly continued with her question, "Err... the funeral, and... well, you know, everything?"
God this was awkward! Kate honestly wished that the ground would just swallow her up right now!
Ziva looked slightly pained for a moment, obviously not wanting to think about the funeral and what had led to it, how her own actions had contributed to it. She still made the effort to answer the question however, which Kate found herself to appreciate.
"It went as well as could be expected, given the less than ideal circumstances that led up to it" the beautiful Mossad operative gave Kate a tiny strained smile, one which the dark haired female federal agent just barely managed to return, "Thank you for asking. It is good of you considering all of the... horrible things that my brother put you through".
Kate found herself swallowing hard again. Well at least Ziva wasn't shying away from acknowledging all of the awful atrocities that Ari had committed during his nightmarish rein of terror. That still didn't make it any easier for the female federal agent to discuss that turbulent time of her life however.
Another awkward silence fell over the two women.
"Look. I think it might be best if..." Kate couldn't refrain from blurting out when the silence that was looming over the bullpen reached almost suffocating levels.
"I believe it may be a good idea for..." Ziva started to say at the exact same moment as Kate began speaking.
Surprised, the two women both cut themselves off, glanced at each other, then chuckled. With her smile becoming slightly less forced, Kate silently but politely gestured for the other woman to continue. Ziva nodded gratefully, before she resumed what she had been about to say.
"I was just going to say that I believe it may be a good idea for the two of us to sit down and have a proper discussion about what happened between myself and this team in the past" the beautiful Israeli woman suggested, and when she saw Kate's eyebrows raise up her forehead in clear surprise, she quickly elaborated, "I know that it may be potentially awkward at first, but if I am to be working with you and the rest of the MCRT team on a regular basis moving forward, I would really prefer it if this wasn't hanging between us. I would like for us to have a healthy working relationship if at all possible".
Kate couldn't help the surprise in her expression, but realising how Ziva may have misconstrued the look, the female federal agent was quick to offer the other woman a genuine smile.
"I was just about to suggest the same thing myself" the pretty young woman admitted, and whilst Ziva was the one who also looked surprised this time, there was no denying that the Israeli woman also held a great amount of relief in her beautiful facial features, "But I'm not sure that right now is the best moment for it. Trust me, the first day at NCIS is always a roller coaster, so how about this? You get settled in here for your first day, and provided we don't get a case which prevents us from doing so, we can go to a nearby coffee shop after we've finished for the day. I'd like to properly clear the air between us as well".
Ziva felt very relieved that on the surface at least, Kate didn't seem to hold any bitter feelings towards her, and eagerly nodded her head at the offer that the other woman had just posed to her.
"That sounds perfect" Ziva smiled grateful, feeling comfortable with the arrangement, "And thank you... you know, for not flat-out rejecting me straight away. Many other people would have in your situation".
Kate opened her mouth to reply, to tell her that there was no need to thank her and that in her book everybody deserved a fair chance based on their own merit and not who their family happened to be, but sadly she never got to be opportunity to offer up any such words of comfort. For at that exact moment, almost as if knowing that it was interrupting a still somewhat tense conversation, the tell-tale sound of the elevator arriving at their floor echoed throughout the bullpen.
Ding!
Kate instinctively turned to look over her shoulder at the sound of approaching footsteps, but ended up having to do a double-take. Once she was certain that her eyes were not playing tricks on her as she had in fact first suspected, the female federal agent's jaw literally fell wide open in sheer disbelief. The new arrival was none other than Tony, which in and of itself wasn't what had thrown Kate so much. Rather, that achievement went to the state that her partner was currently in.
Namely, he looked utterly shambolic.
His hair completely in disarray and half a beard on his chin, Tony honesty looked like he to transformed from a handsome federal agent into a homeless wreck overnight. He was wearing blue jeans and a light grey jacket which was distinctly rumpled, and when he shrugged it off as he practically crawled over to his desk, Kate saw that he was wearing a white tank top underneath. His eyes had a slightly glazed-over look to them when he actually managed to open them, and he carried the distinct smell of cheap alcohol around with him. Needless to say, it was not a good look.
It took Kate a couple of moments to shake herself out of the stunned state her partner's dishevelled appearance had put her into, and by the time she found her voice again, Tony had managed to shuffle the distance between the elevator and his desk. She opened her mouth, no doubt a sarcastic comment on the very tip of her tongue, but before Kate could utter so much as a single syllable, Tony began speaking. Well, more accurately he began groaning under his breath to himself. To the female federal agent's utterly amazement, he hadn't actually even noticed either her own or Ziva's presence in the bullpen. Kate couldn't help but crinkle her nose in distain. Just how hungover was her partner?!
Tony, still utterly oblivious to the presence of the two women behind him, started rummaging around in the drawers behind his desk, all the while still muttering away to himself.
"I friggin' hate Mondays" the usually handsome Italian man grunted to himself, obviously still under the impression that he was alone in the bullpen, "Friggin' Fat Al's All-you-can-eat Burrito Shack?" More like Fat Al's bacteria shack!"
Kate and Ziva could do little more than just stare at the man incredulously, scarcely able to believe that he was so hungover that he hadn't even noticed them yet.
"Come on..." Tony moaned pitifully to himself as he tried to get his brain going. Clumsily, the man began pulling several items out of his desk drawer, including a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, a small bottle of water, and a coffee mug. He poured some of the water into the coffee mug before he used it to dampen his toothbrush. Soon enough, he was applying in the paste to the brush, "I shouldn't have come into work today. Gibbs sees me like this..."
The senior field agent shuddered at the thought of what his boss' reaction would be for a moment, before he quickly stuck his toothbrush into his mouth and began brushing his teeth. Across the room from him, Kate and Ziva were both appalled by the sheer unprofessionalism he was currently displaying. Whilst they both understood that with their busy lifestyles sometimes it was necessary to make one's self presentable whilst already being at work, Tony could have at least gone to the men's restroom to tidy himself up rather than doing it on full display in the middle of the office floor. Shuddering with disgust, and honestly needing something else to focus on, Ziva decided to finish off the thought that Tony had unknowingly left hanging in the air.
"He'll probably be as horrified as both myself and Agent Todd currently are, Agent DiNozzo" the beautiful Israeli woman piped up teasingly.
Kate's lips curled into an amused smile when Tony immediately froze. She watched, just barely resisting the urge to laugh, as her partner slowly turned around and took notice of them both for the first time since arriving. The handsome Italian man stared at Kate, then at Ziva, and then at Kate again. Almost on autopilot, the dumbfounded federal agent managed to lower his toothbrush and spit the paste in his mouth into his coffee mug, before he returned to merely gaping incredulously at the two women before him.
"Not only horrified, but I imagine he'll properly feel a fair amount of repulsion and disgust as well" Kate teased her partner as well, in that playfully mocking sweet tone she often reserved just for him.
The power of speech apparently lost to him for the moment, Tony just continued staring at them in obvious disbelief.
"You working undercover as a hobo?" Ziva chimed in again, her dark and beautiful eyes rolling over Tony's dishevelled appearance, clear amusement twinkling from deep within them.
Apparently the light mocking was finally enough to snap Tony out of his dazed state, and soon enough the handsome Italian man began demanding some answers.
"Would one of you ladies mind explaining just what's going on here?" the senior field agent glanced between his partner and the Mossad Operative that they hadn't seen in almost two months now, "What are you doing back here Ziva?"
Still in something of a teasing mood apparently, Ziva struck an overly exaggerated mock-thinking expression as she replied
"Um... waiting" she replied simply, answering Tony's question without really answering it at all. Kate couldn't help but smirk to herself. She couldn't help but always find it hilarious whenever someone was beating Tony at his own game.
"For what?" Tony demanded to know, frustration beginning to creep into his tone.
"To start work" once again Ziva kept her response short and simple, before she decided to ask a question of her own, "Does everyone always come in this late?"
At the honest inquiry, Tony found his jaw dropping wipe open once more. From her position at Ziva's side, even Kate found herself staring incredulously at the beautiful Israeli woman standing next to her. After all, most people would consider starting work at seven o'clock in the morning rather obnoxiously early.
"It's zero seven hundred!" the Italian federal agent exclaimed, both his tone and expression still highly incredulous. Ziva merely shrugged her shoulders in the face of his shock.
"At Mossad we start at zero five hundred" she told the two federal agents simply.
Kate couldn't help but pull a face at the information she had just learned. While she was usually an early riser and didn't have much trouble getting out of bed in the mornings, getting into work for five o'clock in the morning every day would be positively grotesque. She also had no qualms about letting that viewpoint be known.
"Well here at NCIS, unless there's an emergency during the early hours that requires us to come in, the only time you're ever need to be here at zero five hundred is if you've pulled an all-nighter from the day before" the pretty federal agent explained to the beautiful Mossad Operative that would soon be joining their team.
"I see" Ziva nodded her head in understanding.
The Israeli woman opened her mouth again, no doubt about to ask Kate some more questions about how things were done at NCIS. Before she had a chance to utter so much as a single syllable however, Tony, who evidently was growing more frustrated the longer he understood nothing about the situation playing out in front of him, bluntly interrupted the two women's conversation.
"Okay!" the Italian man said in a raised voice, holding up his hands to stop the two women from talking, "We're drifting off topic here so I'm gonna get us back on track by rephrasing the original question. What the hell are you doing here, Ziva?"
Evidently realising that the man was through playing games, Ziva decided to take pity on him and fully explain just what was going on. At her side, Kate mentally braced herself, wondering how her partner was going to react once the truth was revealed to him.
"I see" Ziva nodded to herself, seemingly coming to a realisation, "Forgive me. When Agent Todd here didn't seem too surprised by my appearance I assumed that you all knew I was coming. I take it that Gibbs didn't tell you?"
Tony frowned at the beautiful Israeli woman. He didn't much like what she had just implied. That Gibbs had been holding out on him and him alone.
"Tell me what?" the senior field agent demanded impatiently, before he apparently gave up on questioning Ziva as a lost cause and turned his attention on to his partner, who, he couldn't help but notice, was pointedly refusing to meet his gaze, "Kate? What is this?! You knew she was coming here? Gibbs told you, but neither one of you saw fit to inform me about this?! I mean I'm not being funny but I do have seniority to you in the ranking of this team!"
Kate swallowed hard, but forced herself to meet her partner's angry and... hurt? eyes.
"No Tony" the female federal agent knew that she needed to set the record on this matter straight before things could get out of hand and blow all out of proportion. The last thing she wanted was for her partner and friend to believe that there had been some kind of major conspiracy against him. And even more importantly than that, Kate knew that this needed clearing up before Gibbs arrived at the office, or else the whole misunderstanding would be made a million times worse, "I promise it wasn't like that!"
Still fuming at what he perceived to be something of a betrayal, Tony wanted further clarification.
"So what was it like, Kate?" he bit out angrily.
Kate forced herself to take a deep breath, even if it was emotionally difficult for her to feel the depths of her partner's anger with her right now. Whilst it was common knowledge around NCIS that the two of them normally wound each other up to the point where it had practically become an art form for them, Kate had always felt that she and Tony had had a great work in relationship in the past, aside from the incident with the tuna fish sandwich. They didn't talk about the tuna fish sandwich. Nevertheless, Kate sincerely hoped that being forced by their new director to keep this information a secret from him hadn't damaged her relationship with her partner in any way, and that once he learned the truth of the situation, the handsome Italian man that Kate had grown to call a very close friend would be in a more forgiving and amicable mood.
"Mossad has assigned Ziva to NCIS as a liaison officer. We're going to be working with her on a daily basis moving forwards. And before you say anything else, Gibbs isn't the one that told me that Ziva would be coming to join our team" Kate decided that the best way to approach this situation was to simply cut straight to the heart of the matter, "In fact, I don't even know if Gibbs himself knows about this yet. But I promise, I promise you Tony, me and Gibbs haven't spoken a word about this to each other, and the only reason I didn't tell you, the only one, is because I would specifically ordered not to tell anyone".
In the face of such a passionate defence, Tony couldn't help but feel compelled to see the truth in both Kate's words and expression. The man sighed deeply, before he begrudgingly nodded his head just once.
"I believe you" he confirmed verbally, and his partner's shoulders visibly slumped in obvious relief.
"If it helps at all, I don't think for a moment that this was how you were supposed to find out" Kate assure her partner gently, who nodded again as he slowly absorbed what he was saying, "I think the original plan was for Gibbs to find out relatively soon after I did, and then he was going to tell you and McGee at the same time".
Tony nodded his head in understanding once again, although there was still a question or two he felt hadn't been answered fully just yet.
"Perhaps some of this is my doing" Ziva broke back into the conversation, a regretful expression plastered all over her beautiful face. It was clear that the Mossad Operative felt very awkward witnessing the scene playing out before her, not to mention somewhat guilty for being the subject matter of the minor spat between Tony and Kate. She hoped that her words would be enough to undo some of the damage she had unknowingly caused, "I have after all arrived several days earlier then originally intended. Perhaps you were meant to be informed over the next few days, Agent DiNozzo, and I accidentally beat your superior officers to it?"
"That's consistent with the impression of how things were supposed to roll that I was given" Kate mused aloud, nodding in agreement with the other woman's assessment.
Again, Tony found himself sighing. Loathed though he was to ever admit that he was wrong in an argument, he could see now that he had made a mistake.
"Okay, okay..." the Italian man groaned, still feeling the full effects of his hangover, as he held up his hands in what he hoped with a pacifying manner, "I'm sorry Kate. I didn't mean to fly off the handle, it's just... well, keeping secrets when you work as part of a team is never a good idea if you ask me".
Kate quickly nodded her head, wholeheartedly agreeing with him.
"True. That's true, but you also know how I work as an agent Tony. If I'm given a direct order by my superior officer you know full well that I would only ever disobey that under exceptional circumstances" the dark haired young woman reminded her partner, who could begrudgingly see the point she was making, "And I'm sorry if you disagree, but I didn't think that this qualified as exceptional, especially considering that you were supposed to find out yourself just a few days after I did".
Tony sighed again, all the fight now gone out of him.
"Alright. I believe that you didn't do it out of malice and I'm sorry for reacting as though you had" Tony apologised sincerely, and Kate smiled at him warmly, glad that things had been resolved quickly.
"And for what it's worth Tony, I'm sorry too" Kate kindly returned the sentiments, and this time it was Tony who was smiling, "I didn't enjoy keeping this from any of you. In fact I hated it. And just so you know, if any of you had directly asked me, I wasn't going to lie to you. I made that perfectly clear when I was first informed about this".
It was only as he processed those last few words did Tony realise that he actually had another question for his partner, his trust in whom had quickly been restored.
"Come to think of it, how did you find out?" Tony asked her, not out of anger but of genuine curiosity.
"Yes" Ziva chimed in, partly just to remind the two federal agents that she was still present, "I was actually wondering about that myself, Agent Todd".
Seeing no point in beating about the bush and deciding that the best thing to do was to simply answer all their questions so that they could all move on with their lives, Kate quickly set about doing just that.
"Director Shepard" the female federal agent replied simply, and seeing the identical slightly confused expressions in front of her, she quickly elaborated, "She called me into her office for a meeting a couple of days ago. It was the day that me and Abby went out to lunch with Paula. You, McGee and Gibbs were all out after getting a lead on an old case at the time".
Tony nodded his head in understanding, remembering the time that she was talking about.
"But why you?" Ziva was the one who asked the question this time, an eyebrow raised across her forehead inquisitively, "I mean, at Mossad there is a certain chain of command when it comes to situations like this, so I presumed there would be a similar kind of thing here at NCIS. Is it customary for regular agents to learn important information before their superior officers here?"
Coming from anyone else, Kate may have found the wording of the question to be slightly sarcastic. It was only the genuine curiosity in Ziva's tone which made it clear that the other woman wasn't being mocking or condescending right now.
"Of course not" Kate quickly shook her head, not wanting to give the beautiful Israeli woman a false impression of how things were run around here, "But this was a pretty unique case. I guess Director Shepard simply thought that it was the most professional and kindest way of dealing with the situation. Telling me herself, I mean, and giving me time to be mentally prepared. Not to be rude Ziva, but the circumstances under which we met last time... well let's just say they left a lot to be desired".
Ziva heaved a great sigh, but slowly nodded her head.
"It's fine" the beautiful Mossad Operative waved off the other woman's concerns, "It is only the truth after all. I guess it makes sense that Jenny would wish to warn you specifically prior to my arrival. It would be pretty cruel just to drop it on you, considering all of the events that you endured at Ari's hand prior to his death".
The guilt and sadness in Ziva's voice was pretty palpable, and Kate couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Despite everything that Ari had put their team through, he was still Ziva's brother after all. This couldn't be easy on her either. Obviously in need of a change of topic, Kate began glancing around the bullpen in the hopes that she would be able to provide the other woman with one. Her concerns went unfounded however, for a moment later Ziva glanced in the direction of Tony, and her lips quirked into a amused smile. It was more than a little obvious that the beautiful Israeli woman had found such a distraction all on her own.
"You may wish to resume your personal grooming before Agent Gibbs arrives to work, Agent DiNozzo. And if you do, I would recommend doing something about your hair" the new Mossad Liaison Officer told him with a chuckle, and Kate couldn't help but grin as the other woman successfully alleviated some of the awkwardness that had been hanging over the three of them. Tony on the other hand just scowled, but was willing to be the butt of the joke if it resolved some of the tension currently in the bullpen, "It's sticking up like a pork-u-swine. Wrong word. Like a pork-u-pig? The little animal with the little spikies, yes?"
Eyes glimmering in amusement as Ziva tripped over the word, Kate quickly decided to help her out. The pretty federal agent was caught by surprise however when another voice spoke out at exactly the same time that she did.
"Porcupine" Kate supplied, along with a new voice as it chimed into their conversation.
Kate, Tony and Ziva all glanced around upon hearing the familiar voice to see that McGee had arrived and was walking into the bullpen. He was carrying a small cardboard carton with three coffee cups in it, and staring at Ziva with obvious confusion playing across his features. The beautiful Israeli woman didn't seem to notice however as she turned to him and greeted him warmly.
"Porcupine!" the new Liaison Officer practically cheered, before she eagerly swiped one of the coffee cups in his carton - clearly none of them had been intended for her - and beamed at him, "Thank you, Special Agent McGee".
Obviously too thrown and perplexed by her presence not only in the country but back at their place of work, McGee just numbly nodded his head.
"Err... sure" the junior field agent said slowly.
He then glanced over at Tony and Kate, obviously in the hopes of some kind of explanation, but Tony just shook his head at him with a disgruntled expression, and Kate, not wanting to go through the whole ordeal of explaining this delicate situation again, mirrored the action. Looking lost and curious, poor McGee just turned back to stare at Ziva.
"Hmm" Ziva licked her lips after taking a big slurp of the coffee she had swiped before she turned to the other three people in the room with a hopeful expression, "So, is there a spare desk here I may be able to use or...?"
"Why would you need to use a desk?" McGee was looking and sounding more and more perplexed with each passing second. Ziva just looked at him as though he were some kind of halfwit, making the young man feel a little bit stupid.
"Because, Agent McGee, if I'm going to be a part of your team I would love to..." that was as far as Ziva got before an incredulous voice cut over her.
"WHOA!" McGee exclaimed in shock, his eyes growing almost comically wide and his voice almost sounding panicked, he was so thrown by the revelation that the beautiful Israeli woman had just dropped on him without any kind of preamble whatsoever, "You're part of our team?!"
Again, Ziva merely stared at him as though he'd just dribbled on his shirt.
"Yes" she nodded and rolled her eyes, very much hoping that another uncomfortable scene wasn't about unfold. She'd had quite enough of those for one morning, thank you very much.
McGee all-but rounded on Tony and Kate, his expression still riddled with pure and unadulterated shock.
"Did Gibbs tell either of you two about this?" the junior field agent wanted to know, looking a little put-out at the notion that the rest of the team had all left him in the dark.
"Not me" Tony shook his head, before he instinctively glanced over at Kate and winced, knowing that he had inadvertently just given her secret away. McGee followed the other man's gaze, and his eyes grew wide once more as the realisation dawned on him.
"You knew?!" the young man cried in shock. Sighing, and really hoping she wasn't about to have to go through the same conversation all over again, Kate warily nodded her head.
"Director Shepard thought it best to inform me personally, given everything that happened last time Ziva was here" the female federal agent gave McGee the short and concise version of the story, "None of us are sure whether or not Gibbs actually knows yet. The director told me that she planned on telling him herself, which is why she ordered me not to say anything".
McGee nodded his head in understanding, but before he had a chance to say anything, Ziva chimed back into the conversation and held up an official looking document.
"We believe it is possible that either Director Shepherd or Gibbs hasn't had a chance to relay the news yet, since I have arrived several days earlier than originally intended" the beautiful Israeli woman explained, before she gestured with the papers she had clutched in her hand, "Here are my orders. Signed by Director Shepard".
She handed for documents to McGee so that he could read them for himself, but before the junior field agent could even cast his eyes downwards, Tony had snatched the papers out of his hand and was reading them for himself. Off to the side, Kate couldn't quite refrain from rolling her eyes at the action. It was just so typical of Tony to do that.
"And we have no idea whether or not Gibbs actually knows?" McGee bit his lip nervously, prompting Ziva to let out a small sigh.
"It would seem not" the new Mossad Liaison Officer wearily shook her head, "Although I'm very much hoping that he does and just hasn't had a chance to inform the rest of you yet. After all, my personal possessions are all currently being shipped from Tel Aviv to Washington".
Kate couldn't help but throw the other woman a sympathetic look upon hearing that particular revelation. While she was definitely still struggling to properly assess exactly how she was feeling about having Ziva join their team, even after having the foreknowledge that the others hadn't been granted for several days now, Kate wouldn't wish that kind of logistical nightmare on even her worst enemy. And try though she might to think the best of the man that was both her boss and friend, Kate couldn't help but think that Gibbs wouldn't be above sending Ziva back to Israel with her tail between her legs. Much to her own surprise, Kate very much hoped that that wouldn't prove to be the case. She wasn't exactly sure why that was though...
"I'd hold off on unpacking the waffle iron until you talk to him, Ziva" Tony's response to the beautiful Israeli woman was enough to pull Kate out of her inner musings, and back to the conversation at hand.
"When's he come in?" Ziva asked the next most logical question.
Ding!
"Now" Tony replied softly, whilst in the background, Kate heard the distinct tell-tale sound of the elevator arriving at their floor again. Glancing over in that direction, the four of them all saw the seasoned silver haired federal agent sweeping across the office floor, a cup of coffee clutched in his hand as he made his way towards them. At first he appeared to be in a relatively calm mood that day, at least by Gibbs' usual standards.
Then his eyes landed on Ziva, and they almost instantly hardened.
A dark expression, a very ugly look indeed, flickered across the older agent's face, before he turned his attention to the three agents that made up his team. First to Tony, then to McGee. It was only when his eyes came to rest upon Kate did understanding finally dawn on him. Why she had been acting so strange the past few days. Why she had seemed constantly on edge and almost worried about talking to any of them. Like a switch had been flicked in his mind, it suddenly all made sense to Gibbs now. If at all possible, his eyes grew even darker.
Kate couldn't help but blanch, swallowing hard as the realisation hit her too.
Gibbs knew.
Oh, not that Ziva was coming back to NCIS and would be joining their team on a seemingly permanent basis. No. The silver haired man didn't know about that. But it was more than a little obvious that he had just pieced together the fact that Kate did. He knew that Kate had known all along and hadn't said a word. The young woman couldn't help but swallow hard once again, lowering her gaze to the ground in shame as her boss and friend stared at her in unmistakable righteous anger.
It would appear that Hurricane Leroy Jethro Gibbs had well and truly landed...
And there we have it : )
Yay! Ziva is finally in the building : ) Now I know a couple of you were hoping that I'd make the initial meeting between Kate and Ziva somewhat hostile, but I really sat down and thought about where I wanted to take their relationship, and that just wasn't a route that made sense to me. After all, unlikely the other characters asides from Gibbs, Kate was actually there when Ziva helped her to take down Ari in my version of events, plus she knows of the relationship between them. Plus, I really just think Kate's too mature to hold the actions of Ari against Ziva, just because she's related to him. I also thought it would be a fun ironic twist to have Kate be one of the few people at NCIS to give the new team member a fair chance, so yeah... that's why I had Jenny warn her in the previous chapter. Their not gonna be best friends right from the off, but I'm excited to see how things go ; )
And I think that's just about it from me for this week, so thank you for reading this chapter and my story in general, and I really hope you're enjoying it. Please also consider leaving a review as I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback on how I'm doing so far, and like I said before, please also keep those suggestions coming in as well : )
Until the next time, keep on reading : )