All This Time, Chapter One

Dec 13, 2009 22:09

Title: All This Time
Chapter: Chapter One
Characters/Pairings: Tony/Ziva, McGee/Ziva
Spoilers/Warning: R
Summary: "He wants to scream at her until his voice is raw; to shake her and make her understand the depth of her betrayal..." - Tony/Ziva/McGee love triangle
Disclaimer: NCIS and all it's characters belong to CBS and Donald Bellsario.
Author's Note: This chapter took me FOREVER because it's the third draft. The first one came out too fluffy and I killed too many people in the second one so I tried to come up with a happy medium. Not sure how well I did though so I'll need you folks to let me know. Also... I NEED A BETA. I think a Beta will keep me organized and stop me from giving up too easily when I have a little writer's block. Plus, it's always nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of. If you're interested, please PM me with your information. :D

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It’s been over a week since Tony’s top-secret mission ended in a blaze of not-so-glory. He’d been shot in the shoulder very early on in the gun battle and only a few seconds after the fight had gone hand-to-hand the barrel of a shotgun was smashed into the base of his skull. He’s still not quite sure what happened and with only Beckett’s patchy memory to go by he’s not sure if he’ll ever know what really went down after he’d been knocked out.

What he is sure of, however, is that he left Syria with two less agents than he’d arrived with.

Snow is just beginning to fall as Tony pulls the rental car into his old, trusty parking space. Usually he would be cursing the first snowflakes of the season but, after three months under the hot Syrian sun, watching the snow fall is like greeting an old friend. It’s all he can do to not jump out of the Cherokee, throw his arms into the air, and twirl around in circles like he did when he was a child.

Ah hell, he thinks and hops out of the jeep without even turning off the ignition. The cold air hits him like a brick wall but it doesn’t faze him at all. With a grin, Tony extends his arms and throws back his head, savoring the way the small flakes sting his cheeks. He sighs, content, before dropping his arms to his sides. It may not be the Arctic, but it’s still cold outside and he’d much rather be inside right now.

He steps into the bullpen five minutes later and, thankfully, finds it to be much the same as he left it. The walls are still that hideous shade of orange he detests (though he suddenly finds them to be much more appealing) and the desks are still lined up just the way he remembers; Ziva and Gibbs on one side with his and McGee’s opposite. He feels so comfortable in the large space that it’s almost as if he’s stepped into his living room, not his place of work.

With a contented sigh, Tony slowly steps to Ziva’s desk and smiles when he finds the desk devoid of any personal belongings save a single framed photo of the old team and, to Tony’s utter delight, his Mighty Mouse stapler. It’s so completely Ziva (detached and uncluttered, reflective and endearing) and right now he realizes just how much he’s really missed her.

“Agent Dinozzo.”

Tony looks up, startled, at the sound of his name being called. Director Vance is standing on the catwalk, a small smile on his face, as he watches his former agent refamiliarize himself with his surroundings.

“Director Vance,” Tony says, genuinely glad to see the other man.

“Thought you were dead, Dinozzo.”

Tony chuckles softly. “So I hear.”

When they’d been debriefed four days ago, Tony and Beckett were informed that their friends and families had been lead to believe they were killed in action. Not only, their superiors reasoned, would this be an added layer of protection against any retaliation, but it also serve as a clever ruse against their targets. Tony’s pretty sure the bit about protecting their loved ones is total bullshit.

“Well,” Vance jerks his head towards his office, “get up here so we can discuss your reinstatement.”

“Yes Sir,” Tony calls as Vance turns and strides back to his office. Tony glances at Ziva’s one last time before following Vance up to his office. He lets himself in and finds Vance already seated, leafing through a pile of paperwork on the desk in front of him. He gestures to the seat across from him and Tony quickly settles into the chair.

“I see you passed your physical and your psych evaluation,” Vance states, straight to business. He gestures to the sling on Tony’s shoulder. “Your shoulder?”

“Clean shot straight through,” Tony tells him. “No nerve or muscle damage. I’ll be good as new in a few weeks.”

“Good, good.” Vance hesitates a moment before asking as delicately as possible, “Reports show you lost two agents.”

Tony tenses immediately. Besides the one instance during his debriefing, Tony hasn’t talked about Rodriguez or Landers since Beckett broke the news to him four days ago and, though he’s not exactly opposed to seeing the man, the last thing he wants to do is have a heart to heart with Leon Vance. “Yes, Sir.”

Leon sighs softly. “I’m sorry to hear that Dinozzo.”

“Thank you,” Tony says, though it doesn’t come out as much more than a whisper.

“Now, let’s get down to business.” Vance folds his hands in front of him and eyes Tony warily. “It’s been more than two years since you last worked as a field agent for NCIS and if you’re serious about coming back then you’ll need to understand there have been a few changes. The position you once held is no longer available.”

Tony nods. He figured as much.

“There has been, however, a recent opening on your old team,” Vance says matter-of-factly. “You’ll be reporting to Agent McGee now-“

“Probie?!” Tony exclaims before he can help himself. “Probie’s the Senior Field Agent?”

“David is the Senior Field Agent,” Vance tells him, watching closely for his reaction. “Agent McGee has been Team Leader for a little over a year and a half now.”

Tony can’t stop his jaw from dropping.

“Gibbs retired six weeks after your… you left and McGee stepped in to fill his roll until we could find a replacement,” Vance explains. “He did such a great job that I decided to make it a permanent move. You trained him well Dinozzo.”

Tony manages an uncertain, “Thank you.”

Vance stands abruptly, prompting Tony to as well, and leans over to shake the younger agent’s hand. “It’s good to have you back Dinozzo. Now go home and get some rest. I expect to see you tomorrow morning at 0800.”

Tony nods mutely and quickly leaves the office, still stunned by what Vance has told him. He gets that it’s been two years and there were bound to be a few changes in that time but coming back to an NCIS devoid of Gibbs? That, he had not been counting on. And now he would be reporting to Probie and Ziva?

“So it’s true.”

Tony stops at the voice and realizes that he’s made it down to the bull-pen without even knowing it. Furthermore, he’s made it to the bull-pen where his favorite Goth is staring at him in awe, paler than usual. She looks like she’s just seen a ghost. And in a way, Tony thinks, she has.

“Abby,” he says softly as a warm grin begins to spread its way across his face. She’s wearing her chunky platform boots and her black mini with the studded belt and her hair is in pigtails. Oh, how he’s missed the pigtails. Even if Gibbs is gone, he knows he can still count on Abby to be there for him.

“Vance said you were alive but I…” Abby surveys him, eyes wide. “Oh Tony!”

She launches herself at him then and Tony has to brace himself against his old desk as her smaller body collides with his chest. He wraps his good arm around her shoulder and lets her cling to him as she cries into his broad chest. He kisses the top of her head and whispers comforting words into her hair.

Finally, Abby takes a deep breath and pulls away from him, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her black coat as she does so. She looks up at him adoringly, lulling him into a false sense of security, before giving him a quick jab to the ribs.

“Ow!” Tony squawks and rubs his stinging chest. “Geeze, Abs. What was that for?”

“That’s for making us think you were dead,” Abby growls, glaring at him. She points her finger at him accusingly. “That was mean Dinozzo. Very, very mean.”

“It’s not like I had a choice,” Tony defends himself. “You think I wanted to lose two years of my life to some stupid mission?”

“No,” Abby says with a sigh, her expression softening. “I guess not. It’s just been really hard around here since you…”

“Died,” Tony supplies as Abby trails off, a grimace on her face.

“Right,” Abby says slowly.

“Gibbs left.”

Abby nods. “And Ducky had a stroke a few weeks later. He’s fine now but it was touch and go for a while there. He’s still technically lead MI but Vance won’t let him in for more than a few hours a week so Palmer’s really in charge. He’s even got his own assistant. Well, she’s technically Ducky’s assistant but she spends most of her time with Palmer. Name’s Anna Stewart. Real sweet girl.” Abby pauses and laughs at the look on Tony’s face. “Too much?”

“Uh yeah,” Tony says, eyes wide.

Abby smiles. “Maybe you should go home and get some rest. You do have somewhere to go, right?”

“They kept my apartment for me, yes,” Tony tells her. What he doesn’t say, however, is that his apartment is the last place he plans to stay at tonight. “You heading out?”

“Mmhm.”

“I’ll walk with you.”

They walk in silence to Abby’s hearse and Tony waits until she’s in the car and buckled before trudging through the slick snow to his rental.

“Hey, Tony?” Abby calls when he’s a few feet away. “Vance and I are the only ones that know you’re not dead. So if you’re planning on going anywhere other than your apartment tonight, and I suggest you don’t, you may want to keep that in mind.”

Tony nods, slightly unnerved by the shifty look Abby’s sporting. He’s been friends with her long enough to know when she’s keeping something from him and, by the way she’s nervously chewing her bottom lip, it must be something big this time.

“And Tony?”

“Yeah Abs?”

“I’m really happy you’re not dead.”

“Me too, Abby.” Tony can’t help but laugh. “Me too.”

Tony watches as Abby reverses the hearse and drives out of the parking lot, the snow-slicked pavement slowing her progress. When the car is finally out of sight he starts the short trek to the Cherokee all the while wondering what could be the source of Abby’s uneasiness. However, as he begins driving the familiar route to his destination all thoughts of Abby simply fade away into the background.

The snow has picked up by the time he pulls into the complex and turns down the drive to Ziva’s condo. He doesn’t spot her Mini as he pulls into a parking space in front of her building and frowns. Maybe she’s not here?

She could have a new car, Tony reasons. He glances down at his watch. It’s seven o’clock on Tuesday. Or, he realizes, she could be out.

He leans forward over the steering wheel and lets out a relieved sigh when he sees the windows of Ziva’s condo glowing orange. He begins grinning when Ziva herself walks over to the window and yanks the drapes closed. Seeing her for just that second is all the motivation he needs and within seconds he’s out of the car and hurrying along the walkway leading into her building. At the door, he prays that she hasn’t changed the numeric passcode to get into the building. He doesn’t want to spoil the surprise of his sudden reappearance by calling for her to let him in.

Unfortunately, she’s changed the code.

It takes him a few tries, but he’s finally able to crack the code when he punches in the numbers corresponding to Abby’s birthday. He quickly bounds up the steps two at a time and knocks on Ziva’s door without the slightest hesitation.

A few moments later he’s still standing outside the door, frowning. He swears it was her he saw in the window, but he’s starting to doubt his own eyes at this point. She’s probably got a shotgun trained on the door right now, he thinks fondly but takes a cautious step back anyway.

He’s just turning to leave a couple of minutes later when he hears footsteps and Ziva’s muffled voice from the other side of the closed door. As the doorknob turns, Tony’s heart begins to beat wildly in his chest. During the really rough times (like when he was dodging bullets or nursing another knife wound) reuniting with Ziva was the only thing that kept him going. He’s literally dreamed of this day for two years.

“…call you back in a minute. Someone’s at the door.”

“Hey there Sweetcheeks,” Tony says as the door swings open. He notices the astonishment on Ziva’s face just as he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her to him. Whatever he expects, Ziva pushing him away as his lips meet hers is certainly not it.

“No!”Ziva yelps as she springs away from him.

“It’s me,” Tony says quietly and holds his palms in the air in what he hopes is a calming manner. He’s learned over the years that Ziva is like a wild, unbroken animal and the last thing he needs is to spook her any farther. “Ziva, baby, it’s me. It’s Tony.”

“You are dead,” Ziva says, eyes wide. “You died on a mission two years ago.”

“No,” Tony tells her and takes a careful step towards her. “I didn’t die. There was a mission, but I didn’t die. I’m back, Ziva. I’m back and I’m not going anywhere ever again.”

Ziva stares at him; confused and hurt and uncertain.

“Sweetcheeks, you know how these things work,” Tony says softly, slowly inching his way to her. “You know what it’s like to have your cover blown when you’re in deep. You know.”

“You are dead,” Ziva repeats shakily.

“I’m not dead,” Tony reiterates. “I’m right here.”

Tony reaches her just in time to catch her when her knees give out. He secures his arms around her waist as she sags against him, the fabric of his jacket twisted in her small fists. The sound of her choked sobs tears his heart into pieces because, ultimately, it's his fault. I did this, he thinks.

If this is the affect his return has on her, he doesn’t even want to imagine her reaction when she’d been told he was dead.

“I…”

“It’s okay Sweetcheeks,” Tony whispers as her tears begin to subside. Once her breathing has returned to normal, he smoothes back her hair with his hand and smiles down at her. “Everything is okay now. I’m home.”

“What-“ Ziva steps back and shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”

“I’ll explain later,” Tony tells her. “Right now, all I want is to curl up on the couch and watch a movie with you.”

Ziva suddenly looks uncomfortable. “Tony, I-“

But her words are suddenly cut off when a voice calls from within the condo calls, “Bathroom’s all yours Zi. Better hurry if we want to make it to my parents on time for dinner.”

“McGee?” Tony says, stepping around Ziva and into the condo before she has a chance to stop him. Tony grins as he spots McGee standing in Ziva’s living room and he’s already moving forward to greet his friend when he realizes things aren’t quite as they should be.

Tony stops in his tracks and turns to Ziva in disbelief. Her tears are gone now, only to be replaced with that deer-in-headlights look and, considering the fact that Timothy McGee is standing in her living room wearing nothing but a towel draped around his waist and a shocked expression on his face, she has good reason to look stunned.

“Oh. Oh wow,” Tony says slowly as the magnitude of the situation begins to sink in. He looks from Ziva to McGee and back again, his expression darkening with each glance. “I see.”

And with that, Tony turns on his heel and leaves, not hesitating for a second as Ziva calls after him.

pairing: tony/ziva, genre: drama, fanfiction, fandom: ncis, pairing: mcgee/ziva

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