Reverse Psychology - NCIS Story

Breakthrough

Chapter 15 - Breakthrough

Jenny and Tony were sat on the sofa. Having finished his shower, Tony had dressed in his pyjamas and headed downstairs. Flicking on the television absentmindedly, he found some documentary on sea life. When, after leaving Gibbs to deal with Ziva, Jenny joined him on the couch, he didn't really acknowledge her but continued to stare blankly at the screen.

"Cricket was fun today wasn't it?" began Jenny, trying to make conversation.

Tony replied with a non-committal, "Yeah."

"You know, cricket was my Father's favourite sport," continued Jenny lightheartedly "We used to sit and watch it on the television when I was younger. I don't think I've ever played it though. Well certainly not with Ducky's rules."

She laughed. Tony continued staring blankly at the television.

Giving up on trying to coax Tony to talk with general chit chat, Jenny turned to face him.

"It's been a pretty tough week for you hasn't it," she said, feeling like she was stating the obvious.

He nodded.

"I don't know how I would be handling it if something like this happened to me," she continued. "I know you've got Gibbs to talk to, but if you ever want to talk to someone else, you can always ..."

Her words were interrupted by the sudden outburst of crying from Ziva. Fear shot to Tony's eyes and he sat up straight in the chair, his whole body tense.

"Tony," began Jenny placing her hand on his knee. "You know Gibbs would never really hurt her don't you?"

He didn't respond.

"Look, from what Gibbs had told me and from what I saw today, Ziva's been pushing the boundaries a lot lately. She needs to learn that Gibbs means what he says. It will be alright."

"She's gonna hate me," said Tony. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"Why did you say something?" asked Jenny. Now that Tony was talking she wanted to encourage him to continue.

"I didn't want her to get into trouble," he replied. "And I knew Gibbs would find out. He always finds out."

Jenny smirked. Yep, she thought, Gibbs did seem to have a sixth sense when it came to that sort of thing.

"So, you did it for her own good," replied Jenny. "You did it to help her."

As she spoke, the sounds of Ziva's cries were becoming louder. They heard the side door open and Gibbs strode in. He carried Ziva on his hip, her face was buried into his shoulder muffling her cries. Tony jumped to his feet and was immediately by Gibbs' side.

"What happened? Is Ziva ok?" he asked anxiously.

Gibbs reached out his hand and stroked Tony's hair.

"She's fine Tony," he replied gently. "We're just going to go upstairs and Ziva's going to have a bath. Then we'll be back down soon and we can all watch a movie together after dinner. OK?"

"Ok," said Tony.

He tentatively reached out his hand and rubbed Ziva on the back. She squirmed in Gibbs' arms and tried to pull away, placing her head on his other shoulder facing away from Tony. He looked up at Gibbs anxiously.

"She's fine Tony. Please don't worry," he reassured.

Tony watched as Gibbs took Ziva upstairs, then flung himself into the chair.

"See! I told you!" he said accusingly. "She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you," assured Jenny. "She's just upset. She's had a big day and she's very tired. And to top it off she waged a battle of wills against Gibbs and she lost. She just needs time to process everything that's happened. I bet in half an hour she'll come bounding down those stairs and you'll wonder what all the fuss was about."