Chapter 1
Gibbs stepped off the elevator and lingered back behind the desks of his workers, amused at the topic of conversation.
"Of course ‘Schindler's List' made you cry, Zee-vah, you're Jewish," Tony scoffed. "I want to know what movie actually surprised you by making you cry," he clarified. "Oh, oh, I know," he continued. "I wonder what movie would make Gibbs cry," he suggested.
"I doubt any movie would make him cry, Tony," McGee said. "I wouldn't even want to speculate."
"I bet he has a favorite that brings a tear to his eye; maybe a classic or an old war movie…" Tony continued, deep in thought.
Gibbs smirked and began moving toward DiNozzo to get his attention in the fondest, most direct way he knew when the next words spoken literally froze him in his tracks. His face went white and his breath completely left him. He turned his back to his team and leaned against the wall. Once he had recovered enough to catch his breath, he re-entered the elevator and went back downstairs.
"Earth to Ziva…?" Tony waved his hands to get her attention. "What on earth would make you think that?"
"Never mind," she answered softly. "Excuse me, I need to visit the ladies' room."
---
Ziva glanced at her reflection briefly before pulling her hair back with her hands and twisting it so it would remain behind her shoulders. She splashed cold water on her face, using the sensation to help clear her thoughts. She had seen Gibbs standing there, and had still made the decision to say what she did. As her desk had the unique advantage of facing the elevators, she had witnessed her boss's reaction and it had moved her. Ziva knew that she and Gibbs had bonded in the past over their mutual respect for one another. Family and loyalty meant a lot to both of them, and that's what made the situation with Ari so critical in her relationship with Gibbs. She had always felt she understood him better than others, but normally would have kept her mouth shut. What on earth had possessed her to mention that publicly? She dried her face, smoothed the wrinkles out of her blouse, took a deep breath and then exited the restroom.
---
"Ziva," Gibbs motioned toward the elevator later that day. "Coffee?"
His question was clearly not a request, but an order.
"Sure," she said, dreading the short walk.
"Ziva's in trou-ble" Tony whispered in a sing-song fashion as Ziva joined Gibbs in the elevator.
"Wonder what for?" McGee asked.
"Beats me," Tony said, practically rubbing his hands together in anticipation, craning his neck backward to watch her enter the elevator behind their boss. "She'll tell us later." As long as he wasn't the object of Gibbs' anger, things were all right with the world.
---
Shortly after the elevator began moving, Gibbs stopped it and turned his complete focus to his young Israeli charge.
"Was that in your report?" Gibbs asked gruffly, knowing she knew to what he was referring.
"What?" she asked, taken aback. "No, of course not. Something like that wouldn't have been in a report. Mossad is thorough, but that is a bit extreme, even for Mossad."
Gibbs' face relaxed a bit as he recognized her words as truth.
"So, where did that come from?" he asked.
"It made sense to me. The movie most likely to make you cry would be one that would remind you of Kelly. Thinking of children's movies released early enough to have been watched and rewatched in your home, it was not difficult to settle on ‘The Little Mermaid'. The heroine is a gorgeous redhead and the hero is a handsome man who sails on a boat, yes?" She paused a moment in her reasoning, reading his body language well enough to know he was no longer with her, but in the not so recent past. A trained interrogator, Ziva had great patience, and thus no trouble waiting quietly for her boss to return to the present.
"I suppose a great interrogator needs profiling skills," he said softly.
"Of course," Ziva said with an awkward smile. "I guess I really put my shoe in my mouth that time."
Gibbs smiled. "Your foot," he corrected. "And I doubt they would draw the same conclusions about that movie as you did." He reached over and restarted the elevator, as his hand connected with the back of her head. "Just don't let it happen again."
She laughed out loud and gave him her biggest smile.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Written in response to the NFA Giva fanfiction challenge.