TIVA FANFIC: Broken Years, Rivers of Tears (NCIS)

Back to the Old Days

A few days passed by uneventfully. Ziva slept at Tony's place and then in the morning, they would hurry into work together. She tried to avoid Bishop as much as she could, and fortunately, Jake did not appear again.

It took an entire week before a case was finally called in, and the NCIS team had to sprint into action again.

Even after two years away from NCIS, Ziva still remembered the gist. It always started with Gibbs sneaking up on them, catching Tony in particularly awkward situations. Smiling, she recalled as Gibbs had caught him reading his magazines.

"You know," Tony pondered, pulling Ziva back into the present, "I've always wondered what Gibbs was like in high school."

Tony picked up his pen and spun it around craftily in his fingers, then placed it behind his ear.

Ziva looked up, smirking slightly.

"Did he belong to the jocks, or the nerds, perhaps?" Tony debated, "Ziver? Whaddya think?"

Ziva stopped typing and turned around to look for Gibbs before cupping her hands around her mouth and whispering with a smile to him.

"I think Gibbs was a jock," she admitted, raising her eyebrows shiftily.

Tony exclaimed. "Ms. David! You didn't just say that!"

"I see him more as a hippie," Bishop contemplated, chiming in.

McGee looked up. "Yeah, Gibbs would've rocked the neon, the peace sunglasses, the dreadlocks..."

"Hmm, the dreadlocks," Bishop agreed.

Ziva snickered, but covered her mouth quickly at the sight of an approaching Gibbs, who stealthily walked down the stairs behind Tony listening with intruiged interest. McGee and Bishop saw him too, and quickly shut up.

Tony didn't seem to notice him approaching, and obliviously continued talking.

"You know, I can actually see him in a football jersey surrounded by blonde chicks, he probably slept with ha-"

Tony cut off abruptly, the head slap catching him off completely off guard.

Turning, Tony cursed under his breath, and whirled around to face an amused Gibbs.

"Boss," he started, rubbing the back of his tender head. "I can explain," he followed up, "I was just telling Ziva about your high school days surrounded by blonde chickens, and how you-" he spun.

"No time," Gibbs commented, walking towards his desk drawer to grab his gun.

Ziva looked at him puzzled.

"Dead marine," he proclaimed, "Grab your gear."

And even though she had been on countless investigations before, an exhilarating shiver traveled down her spine.

She had missed Gibbs' gruff abrupt manner, and found it refreshing.

"Back to the old days and the old ways," Ziva thought to herself, smiling, as the entire team filed out and piled into the elevator.