𝐍𝐎 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒 ━━ 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐳𝐳𝐨

TWELVE | the aisle

"So many questions. My mind is. . .spinning with questions."

Tony, dressed in a fine gray suit, swivels the chair behind Gibbs' desk.

"I mean, have you ever thought about it? He actually came from somewhere. He didn't just appear, you know. He didn't just start Gibbs. He was a boy. And then he grew."

Ziva raises a sarcastic hand. "I thought he was molded from clay, had life breathed into him by a group of mystics."

"That's funny." McGee chuckles under his breath. "I thought he fell to Earth in a capsule after his home planet exploded."

"Really? Because I thought Gibbs just came out as. . .well, Gibbs." A hum vibrates through the back of the throat.

"I'm trying to pose a serious metaphysical question here. You want to be clever? Because I can be clever." Tony grows offended by the whole ordeal.

"Just a matter of time, DiNozzo."

We report back our intel about the two victims, LaCombe and Taylor.

And to Tony's dismay, Gibbs picks Ziva and McGee to join him on the journey to Stillwater, Pennsylvania. . .Gibbs' hometown.

"If you hadn't been so eager, we could be figuring out the Gibbs timeline."

"At least we have the bullpen to ourselves."

In the duration after the three left, Tony had gathered as many snacks as he could from the vending machine, while I configured one of the plasma screens to play movies from a player.

Before Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back can start, our cellphones ring simultaneously.

"McGee?"

"McGee. Ziva?"

"Ziva."

And so we answer the calls.

"Gibbs has a father!"

"Tell me everything!"

It seems the four of us are on the same wavelength at the recent discovery of Gibbs' father actually. . .existing.

Tony and I hold both cellphones between the two of us so we can listen to both members.

"His name is Jackson. He's a good talk. He may have winked at me."

"Gibbs is very different around him."

"Is it good? Is it bad? Tell us!"

"He's like a teenager, sort of."

"Okay, we're coming."

"We're going."

"We're leaving right now."

And so the road trip to Stillwater, Pennsylvania, begins.

"Have you given any thought as to what sort of wedding you want us to have?" Tony's hand hovers over the top of my thigh. "Luxury wedding? A destination wedding?"

"A small wedding, just friends and. . .family." My breath hitches at the last word.

It never occurred to me that I wouldn't have any family at my own wedding. Dad left when I was barely a toddler, Mom died when I became an adult, and Jenny hadn't been dead for six months.

"Ev, what's going on in that head of yours?"

"Nothing, Tony."

"It can't be nothing if you —"