From their first introduction at the golf course Hollis Mann set Ziva's teeth on edge. She was dismissive of Ziva and entirely too flirtatious with Gibbs. And Ziva didn't realize that Gibbs had heard her when she had said sarcastically to Tony that Gibbs had met his fourth ex-wife. Little did she know that it was all Gibbs could do to keep a straight face, his little assassin was jealous, and he finally allowed himself a chuckle over it. Which turned out to be a mistake as Hollis thought he was flirting back.
Later that night he waited for Ziva to show up at his house, but she didn't. And as he worked on the lettering on the boat he wondered exactly how long he should let her stew in her jealously. He was leaning up against his workbench, taking a long pull off his beer and he smiled, thinking about how just a couple of days ago she helped him solve a dilemma. He had been sitting on an overturned five gallon pail just staring at the back end of the boat when she had come down and stood behind him and listened to his troubles as she massaged his shoulders; he didn't know what to name this one. When he was done telling her his woes, she laughed, simply laughed at him. And then she ruffled his hair playfully and told him that he had named other boats after girls in his life that had left him, and that maybe he should name this one after the girl in his life that was with him always. As he looked at the upside-down stencil spelling out his daughter's name, he knew she was right.
He heard footsteps in the house, and he raised a brow as they made their way to the basement steps, they were not Ziva's footsteps. Hollis. They sparred verbally for a while, and he could tell she was looking for him to give her an in, to let her know that he was interested. And maybe, if he were honest with himself, in different time and place, he would have been, but not now. He kept the conversation on the case, avoiding her attempts to pull him out. And he really got closed mouth when she started questioning about who Kelly was.
It just felt wrong for Hollis to say that name, wrong on so many levels. And yet he would share things about Kelly and Shannon with Ziva, and he knew it was because of many reasons. Ziva understood the pain of senseless loss, she grew up in world where friends and family were lost in the blink of an eye as they shopped for fruit in the market. And Ziva never begrudged him his grief and his pain for them, especially as raw and exposed as it was after his coma. She just did her best to comfort him when he needed it or gave him space to fight those demons on his own, whichever he needed. And Ziva never tried to compare herself to Shannon, she was confident in herself as woman and was not intimidated by his memory of a woman long since laid to rest.
Gibbs finally managed to evict Hollis, glad in a way that Ziva hadn't shown up in the middle of that particular conversation, he suspected it would have been unpleasant, mostly for him. And later after he had showered and crawled into bed, he rolled over on his side and looked at the empty side of the bed with a sigh. He rested his hand on her pillow and tried in vain to sleep, but it just wouldn't come. She was supposed to be with him, and he frowned in the dark wondering exactly how this had all escalated to this point.
Ziva was not sleeping either. She had paced her apartment more times than she cared to count and gave up on television hours ago. She had finally just taken out her throwing knife and time after time threw it expertly across the living room to embed in the door jam to her bedroom. The damage would probably cost her her security deposit but she did not care. Her mind was analyzing the situation over and over, and kept coming to the conclusion that the Colonel was ultimately a better match for Gibbs than she was. They had many things in common, with their service records and jobs. They were closer in age and cultural upbringing. And most likely even religion. And with each thunk of the knife she tried to tell herself that she knew this day was coming, that the thing between them was not permanent, they were not married, and that they had not even said “I love you” to each other, not once.
Eventually Ziva's arm felt like mush from throwing and she took a shower and tried to find a comfortable position in bed that would not remind her that he was not with her. It did not work, and she was lying there watching the numbers change on her clock when her cell phone rang. The caller id simply showed “Gibbs”. He told her he just called to say good night. Their conversation was light, and completely avoided the topic they really needed to talk about. When they hung up, Ziva wanted to throw the phone across the room. Gibbs actually did.
The next couple of days were tense. They managed to keep it out of the job, but the rest of the team knew that something was up. And it was Abby of all people that recognized that the problem was Colonel Mann. Even before she had found out about Ziva and Gibbs, the Colonel would have been way too Gibbs clingy for Abby, and since she did know about them it was even worse in her eyes.
When Gibbs found out that Ziva had climbed up into the rafters to disarm that bomb he thought he was going to be physically ill. And he was so angry with her he almost didn't trust himself to speak. In the end he put on a stony mask and threatened her in front of everyone in his normal gruff manor, but inside he was still reeling that she would so recklessly put herself in danger.
And she was able to throw his words back at him when he needed her to disarm the bomb on the promenade. When she succeeded, not that there was a question in his mind that she would, he was inordinately proud of her and found himself wanted to crow that she was his.
Thankfully with the case closed for the time being, Mann returned to her own office and things started getting back to normal. Normal except for the fact that they hadn't been alone together in a week until they found themselves on the elevator as they headed home. His fingers itched to hit the emergency stop and shake some sense into her, but he didn't. He walked Ziva to her car in silence and as she opened the door asked if he was going to see her later. As others walked by them in the parking lot she simply shrugged and got into her car and left.
Suddenly very tired, Gibbs got in his own car and after stewing for a couple of minutes, pulled out of the lot. He reached the spot where if he turned one way he was going home and if he turned the other way he headed towards Ziva's apartment, almost of its own volition the car turned towards the latter. Ziva wasn't surprised to see him. She let him in and his gentle “talk to me, Ziva” was genuine and heartfelt. And in words that she had rehearsed to herself again and again, told him that she did not want to be in the way and that if he were uncomfortable that she would have the Director reassign her. He listened to the words coming out of her mouth that did not even remotely match what he saw in her eyes. Gibbs was at a loss and when his mouth offered up “Ziva, I love you but I have no idea what's going on in that head of yours” it stopped her dead in her tracks.
To say that Ziva was shocked would have been an understatement and she desperately wanted him to verify that she had heard him correctly and the “what did you say?” was out before she could stop it. When he repeated the bit about not knowing what was going in her head, she shook her head and demanded the other part.
Sheepishly he looked down at his shoes for a moment, the room quiet enough he could hear both of them breathing. He looked up and met her eyes and very deliberately and leaving no room for misinterpretation told her he loved her.
Ziva was kissing him fiercely a heartbeat later. And as he folded her in the embrace she adored she told him she loved him too.
The next morning he was padding around her kitchen in his boxer shorts making them coffee, and on his way back to the bedroom he noticed something that he hadn't the night before, although it was understandable as they had been a little busy as they stumbled their way out of their clothes on the way to the bedroom. But now in the light of morning he could clearly see the damaged wood of the door jam and he knew instantly what it was from. Chuckling to himself he put the mugs down on the nightstand and leaned in to kiss her and promised that he would fix the door jam for her.
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tbc...
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