Being Part of the NCIS Family

Four

Ziva POV
The waiting room at Bethesda was starting to feel horribly familiar.

"This slurps." I said.

"Sucks, Ziva. This sucks. And yeah, it does." Tony said. I shook my head.

"Whatever. I hate how often we've been here. All for Liv, too." Tony nodded in agreement.

"Whatever happens," Gibbs broke in, "we'll all be there for her." he finished, looking at each of us.

"Gibbs?" Abby asked. "Will Liv be okay?" Gibbs nodded.

"We sure hope so."

"Family of Commander Reynolds?" a nurse asked, approaching us. We all nodded and stood. "You may go in to see the Command- er, former Commander. This way, please." she said, walking towards a hallway. She led us to a door and pushed it open, letting us go in. Gibbs was the last one to enter, and I heard him whisper to the nurse.

"No such thing as an ex-Marine." he said, and then straightened up and smirked. She smiled.

"I know." she said, lifting her pants leg to reveal a metal prosthetic leg. She grinned and closed the door behind Gibbs. Liv was still asleep, so we gathered quietly around her, sitting in chairs or on the end of her bed. Her throat was bruised and her shoulder had a splint and a new sling, seeing as the old one was still at the Navy Yard in the bullpen. She was stubborn, that one.

"Oi, is dóigh liom briste i ngach áit ." I feel broken everywhere. Liv groaned, trying to push herself up. Gibbs pushed her down gently.

"Just relax, okay? You remember anything?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I have a new set of stitches and bruises to show for it, too." Liv said wryly. "And a new sling to dump as soon as I get back to the bullpen later." Liv said rather hoarsely.

"Whoa, tiger, you'll be out of commission for a while, you know that, right?" Gibbs asked.

Gibbs POV
"But Gibbs! I'm just brui-" Liv tried to protest, but was cut off by a coughing fit. "Just bruised. I think. Nobody will tell me how bad I'm hurt." I looked at the team. We knew, but should we tell her? Yes. I wouldn't want to be kept in the dark.

"Liv, clearly you've got a lot of pain meds in your system. Andrew shattered your left shoulder. You'll not be able to so much as twitch for a few months." Liv went white and looked down at her shoulder. Sure enough, her eyes widened when she saw the splint.

"Ah, cacamas." crap Liv muttered. "Can't I do desk work?" she asked.

"No," I said, "because you'll get impatient that you're forced to type like DiNozzo over here and try to pull that sling off."

"I'm going to have a guardian 24/7 for the next couple months, aren't I." Liv said. I nodded, grinning. "Y'know, this whole scene looks a whole lot like the day I met y'all"

"I'm still getting used to the Southern phrases in an Irish accent." McGee said, chuckling. Liv smiled.

"I've been told it's a little unsettling." Liv said, grinning. Then she lapsed into another coughing fit. "I-" she tried to say, and started hacking again. That gave me an idea. I decided to see if she knew sign language, because I knew that my team knew sign language, although how, I have no idea. Even Abby, Jimmy, and Ducky know ASL. I signed You know Irish, but do you know sign? and Liv's face lit up. Everyone else smiled, too, and soon we were all signing away, even though Liv was the only one who shouldn't be talking. Signing is just so much fun, especially when you're in a group that's as close as we are.

DiNozzo POV
About a month after the assault, Liv was released from the hospital. She had been right about the guardian thing, though. Gibbs made sure that one of us was with her at all times. Abby, Jimmy, and Ducky rotated shifts after work hours, and McGee, Ziva, Gibbs, and I rotated during the day. Liv didn't want to admit it, but I think she liked the company. Her apartment was almost bigger than mine, and that had to get lonely sometimes. She had a pitbull named Mason, but still. Not like he can talk back to Liv.

That dog, though. He's the sweetest guy ever, even though he has got to be the biggest pitbull I ever saw. He comes up to my waist! He looks even bigger next to Olivia, though, because of her small everything. One morning I walked into the kitchen to find them dancing! Mason had his paws on Liv's shoulders, and her arms were around his middle. A song I didn't recognize was playing from Liv's iPod, and they were grinning, Liv her adorable smile that we rarely saw, and Mason that big doggy grin that we saw whenever he was with Olivia. On his hind legs, Mason came to my height, which was a little over a head taller than Liv. That dog is massive.

Liv looked over at me and grinned. She gave Mason a kiss, and he returned the favor and then she helped him down off her shoulders. Wait.

"Liv! Your shoulder!"

"I-" she tried, and then reverted to signing. I'm fine. I promise. Doc said that my shoulder was healing well!

"That doesn't mean you get to put a gigantic dog that must weigh a hundred pounds on it!" I said. "Really, Liv. I care about you. We all do. We miss you, Liv. You need to get back to the bullpen soon. We can't have you making your recovery time longer, now, can we?" I asked, grinning. I motioned for Liv to come to me, and I gently folded her into a hug. Mason soon joined us, squishing himself between our legs. Liv and I laughed and pulled away, leaning down to give Mason some loving, although even I didn't have to bend very far.

Riing! Riing! Liv's home phone rang. She squinted, confused.

"Not even my doctor uses my home phone." Then her eyes widened. "But the military base my brothers are stationed at does."