NCIS One Shots

People Have A Bad Day, I Have A Bad Life.

Pairing: Z/G (Father-daughter Relationship)

TW: Past Childhood Trauma, C-PTSD

Ziva David/Leroy Jethro Gibbs POV (Third Person Omniscient)

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Summary:

Ziva has a talk about life with Gibbs - having a midlife crisis

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They stayed in silence for a long time, the warm dim light from the single light bulb in Gibbs' basement was the only light source in the midnight. Everything was so quiet and the only thing heard was their breathing. It had been a long day.

In silence, Ziva sat on the workbench still in work clothes from this morning, holding the mason jar of bourbon she was offered in her hands as she stared at the liquid like it was the most interesting object in the world. Gibbs on the other hand simply stared at her with a jar of his own, waiting for her to start the conversation and tell him the reason why she came tonight as he leaned against the table by the wall.

The trained assassin was hesitant to say anything as racing thoughts went through her mind, wondering over and over again why she came to Gibbs tonight. Should she or should she not confide in the father figure about the things that were bothering her, that were keeping her up every night in bed?

Gibbs had stopped working the moment Ziva walked down the steps to the basement, concerned for his little girl since she usually was so reserved and rarely came to him unless it was something very important. "Ziver." He said in a calm, low voice, prompting her to say something, anything so he could help her with whatever was bothering her. 

But it didn't work as she mindlessly started spinning the mason jar in her hands around and around and around, fidgeting with it. She was having trouble voicing her problems out loud, to form words to convey her feelings. She was unfocused as her mind wandered without aim.

"Don't worry, take it slow, I won't judge." He assured her the best he could to get her to trust him. He had all night and he wasn't going anywhere. He knew the girl had a rough couple of days, little unfortunate things piled up and everything was not going her way. "What's troubling ya?"

Ziva sighed heavily and rubbed her face harshly with one hand. She was frustrated, she just wanted to bang her head against the wall to relieve some of the distressing emotion, she was not having a good time at all. Something was wrong, but she didn't know what was wrong. "I guess... I am just not feeling great." She finally said after so long as she shrugged her shoulders idly.

"Hey," The father figure said gently and Ziva looked up into his warm blue eyes ever so calming. "Everything's okay." He tried to reassure her in a comforting tone. "It's just a bad day." But the reaction he got puzzled him.

Suddenly, she broke out into a smile and laughed a humorless laugh, almost painfully. "People have a bad day," Then she sneered seriously "I have a bad life." She took a sip from the mason jar filled with amber liquid.

"How's that?" Gibbs questioned, urging the Ex-Mossad officer to continue as his brows furrowed, he too taking a sip of bourbon in his jar, intrigued about where this conversation was going.

"People have a bad day: Spilt coffee, rainy weather, bad hair day... Little insignificant things that ruin their mood for the day; I have a bad life: Everything I do is to follow orders and I never get a say in which way my life goes. I guess I am an obedient soldier blindly obeying what others want, I monitor other's feelings, and I fit into everyone else's needs." She downed the remaining alcohol in the jar in one go and slammed it down on the bench beside her after ranting her long speech.