[Reviews - 0]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony has McGee's six, and they've all got Ziva's. If you don't know what I mean, read the chapter for yourself!
Los Angelesâ€"OSP Headquarters

“She’s not going anywhere, Leon!” Gibbs growled at the director.
“I’m afraid that’s not your decision to make, Agent Gibbs.”
The Los Angeles team were all growing uncomfortable. This argument had been going on for almost ten minutes, and it wasn’t going anywhere. Even Hetty was at a loss for words.
“Now, can we please just try to calm down?” she asked again.
“Hetty, it’s not working. I’ve got this,” Callen said, deciding to intervene. “Hey! In case you forgot, we’re still working on a case. Gibbs, I’m sorry, but it is Agent David’s decision. But that doesn’t mean we can’t influence it, Director. Maybe her father isn’t behind it. We just need to get back to work so we can figure things out.”
“G’s right,” Sam said, having his partner’s back. “We just need to take this thing one step at a time. Right now, we need to support our people, which we can’t do when we’re in here arguing.”
At that, Gibbs turned to leave. “Come on, then. We’ve got work to do.”
Sam and Callen hesitated for a second, shocked at his leaving before the director had dismissed him.
“Excuse us, Director,” Callen said, following Gibbs. Sam nodded to Vance and left also.
“Humph!” the director huffed. He was not pleased about the way Gibbs had ended their conversation. “I guess we’ll have to talk about this more when he gets here. Don’t forget, Hettyâ€"”
“I never forget, Leon. We will all be ready for our flight tomorrow morning.”
“All right then. See you tomorrow.”
“Goodbye, Director Vance.”
Eric closed the communication and let out a long sigh.
“Is everything all right, Mr. Beal?”
“Yeah… That was pretty different.”
“I believe, Mr. Beal, that Gibbs himself is ‘different.’ But if that’s what solves cases, I suppose we cant complain. Eric…”
“Yeah, Hetty?”
“Could you try to find something more… professional to wear in Washington? There will be people there to impress.”
“Oh. Uh, yeah, Hetty. I’ll see what I can do.” He was embarrassed. She had just insulted his choice in clothesâ€"again. Luckily, no one else had been there to hear it. If Abby or McGee had been there…
“Hmm,” she said, most likely doubting that he had anything nicer than khaki shorts and flip-flops to wear. “Well, do try, Mr. Beal. With Agent McGee around, you’re going to have to try much harder.”
She left, leaving Eric gaping after her.

Los Angelesâ€"OSP Bullpen

“Thanks, Tony!” Abby exclaimed as soon as Ziva was out of earshot.
He exhaled dramatically and sank into a chair. “I think you owe me another cookie, Abs! I barely made it out of there alive!” As usual, he was using humor to downplay the situation.
“Did she hit you?” McGee asked.
Tony was up like a shot. He strode over to McGee and smacked his head, hard. “No, Tim, she didn’t. But she could have. I would have, if I was her. Could you imagine the choice she’s forced to make? She can stay here, safe, and have the blood of these vics on her hands. Or, she can go back to Israel, pleasing her father and maybe saving some lives, while facing whatever punishment he’s got in store for her. And with her daddy-dearest, that could be torture; even death. And the worst part is, she’s dead set on choosing option number two. And after what happened last time, we won’tâ€"can’tâ€"let that happen again. Where’s Gibbs? I need to talk to him.”
“Right here, DiNozzo.”
Turning around to face the former marine, he asked, “Can we go down to the lab, Boss?” It was the one place he knew would be deserted.
“Let’s go.”

Los Angelesâ€"OSP Lab

“Boss, we cant let her go back to Israel,” Tony began.
“Ya think, DiNozzo?”
“Well, Boss, when I was talking to her, she seemed like she was determined to go back. We have to figure out a way to keep her here.”
Gibbs’ face and voice softened at the worried tone of his senior field agent. “Tony, I know.”
“And if they’re already killing, what’s stopping them from kidnapping her?”
“We are,” Gibbs said forcefully.
Tony nodded blankly. “Okay… But we’re not doing enough.”
“Then what do you suggest we do?”
“You really want my opinion, Boss?”
The question was meant to be rhetorical, but with an agent’s life at stake, he was more open-minded than he would normally be. “Why not? I want her here just as much as you do.”
I doubt that, Tony thought. “All right, Boss. I think she should be with at least two agents at any given time, and, when we get back to the city, she should sleep at a different pace every night until we catch this dirtbag. But there’s a flaw in my plan.”
Gibbs didn’t think so. In fact, he was thinking along the same lines. “What would that be, DiNozzo?”
“She’ll never go for it. Boss, she’ll never admit she’s scared, let alone ask for help. We need a different plan.”
“Let me worry about that. Don’t you have something you need to do?”
“I don’t think so…” Tony thought hard.
“Maybe a phone call or a meeting that needs to be made before we go back to DC?” Gibbs prompted.
“Oh, right. Jeanne. I forgot about that. On it, Boss.”

Los Angelesâ€"OSP Bullpen

“Where’d Gibbs go?” Callen asked as he walked into the bullpen.
“Agent DiNozzo took him to the lab to talk,” Kensi answered.
“What about?” Sam inquired.
“Probably about how and where to keep Ziva so she doesn’t go back to Israel,” Abby chimed in matter-of-factly.
At the stares from the Los Angeles team, McGee jumped to her rescue with a nervous laugh. “She doesn’t mean they’ll tie her up.”
“If that’s what it takes!”
“Abby…”
“Okay, arguing will get us nowhere. We need a subject change,” Kensi began, turning to her senior field agents. “Callen, who do you think would win in a fight between Sam and Agent David?”
“Ziva,” he said without hesitation.
Abby and McGee grinned triumphantly.
“G! I’m your partner! Have some faith!”
Callen sighed. “All right. With or without weapons?”
“Without,” Abby answered.
“Don’t worry, buddy, you’d put up a pretty good fight.”
“What are you talking about, G? You don’t think I could beat her in hand to hand combat? I’m twice her size!”
Callen turned to look at his partner. “Sam, she’s Mossad.”
“And I’m a SEAL,” Sam shot back. Callen shrugged. “What if we had weapons?”
“Depends on the weapon.”
“Guns?”
Callen laughed. “You’d be dead in two seconds.”
“All right, all right. Knives?”
“I’d give it about a minute.”
Abby laughed. “That long?” McGee grinned. They both stopped smiling, however, when Sam turned to glare at them.
“Wow,” McGee muttered to Abby. “You’d think he learned that from Gibbs.” This earned him a smack in the head as his boss passed behind him.
“What was that, Elf Lord?”
“Nothing, Boss.”
Tony walked in as the LA team started laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“Elf Lord?” Dom asked.
Ordinarily, Tony would have joined the fun, teasing McGee to no end. Instead, after a look at Tim’s miserable face, and seeing Hetty walking out of the communications room upstairs, meaning that Eric would soon follow, he strode forward and gave Dom a Gibbs-smack.
“You think that’s funny?” he asked. “Nice doll.” He flicked the alien bobble head Dom kept on his desk.
Kensi and Abby gasped, and everyone else with the exception of Dom gaped. Dom started babbling, “Itâ€"It’s not a doll; it’s a bobble head…”
Tony turned to gauge Gibbs’ reaction. He didn’t feel bad; he hadn’t hit him that hard, and he did it for his friend. Surely Gibbs would understand that. Besides, Vance had said they were all one team now. That’s how probies got treated on his team. But even with all of those excuses and explanations in his arsenal, Tony did not want to disappoint Gibbs.
He had nothing to worry about, however. Gibbs smiled and nodded his approval. Tony was ecstatic, though he covered it up quickly with years of undercover training. He was so happy he almost forgot about Ziva.
That is, until Gibbs turned for the stairs, and said, “I’d better go try and talk some sense into Agent David,” leaving everyone still frozen in shock.

Los Angelesâ€" Sam’s Punching Bag

BAM! BAM! BAM!
This is much better than crying in a lab, Ziva thought.
“Why, hello, Agent David.”
Ziva whipped around, fists raised. Hetty held her own hands up defensively.
“Oh! Sorry, Hetty!”
“It’s all right,” Hetty said, waving it off like her life was threatened by emotionally unstable former assassins every day. “…But are you?”
“I will be.”
“Well, I would like to tell you something I’ve noticed about your team, something that happens very rarely.” Ziva waited patiently. “It is like a family. You all have your own roles. They need you and love you very much. And though I would never tell Agent Gibbs,” she added lowering her voice slightly, “You are the toughest one on your team.”
“If you did ever tell me, I’d say, ‘Ya think?’” Gibbs said, grinning as he walked in.
“And I would have said that you know I hate that expression of yours.”
“Aw, come on, Hetty…”
Ziva blinked. Gibbs and Hetty had a past? He talked to her exactly the same way he talked to FBI Agent Tobias Fornell, like he was talking to an old friend. She supposed that she shouldn’t have been surprised, but she was nonetheless.
“Gibbs?” she asked. “Do you need something from me?”
His expression clouded, and some of his usual hardness crept back into his voice. “You bet I do. Hetty…?”
“Of course, Agent Gibbs,” she answered, leaving them alone.
“Gibbs,” Ziva began, “I need toâ€"”
“You need to shut up and listen to me!” he exploded. “I know there was a time when I felt I owed you for killing Ari, especially after I found out he was your brother. But that debt has been repaid several times over, including sending my team to Africa risking their lives, to save you!”
Ziva started getting anger now, too. “I never askedâ€"”
“I know you didn’t! But we came anyway. That’s what a good team does. And whether you want to be or not, you’re a part of that team. MY team. We’ve got your six, and there’s nothing you can do about it!”
“I will do whatever I need to do.”
“No, you won’t You’ll do whatever I tell you to do. And the first thing is to get your head screwed on straight. You may not realize it, but the best thing for this teamâ€"you includedâ€"is that you stay at NCIS.”
“And if I do not think so?”
“Then you’re gonna be awfully unhappy until this all gets sorted out.”
“Why?” she asked suspiciously.
“Because until this thing is over, there’s going to be two agents with eyes on you around the clock, and another two staking out outside.”
She through a furious glare his way, but she knew better than to argue with him. She just whipped around and went back to annihilating Sam’s punching bag. Gibbs took that as a surrender and, with a satisfied expression on his face, left her to it.
You must login (register) to review.