Far Away

Team

Speed-walked ten minutes across campus to buy a bagel, figured I might as well stay here longer than two minutes. Solution: work on today's update for a few minutes.

Also, parts of this are going to draw heavily on the Agent Afloat episode.

*****

Another man overboard.

Tony stared down at the neatly folded uniform, the dogtags placed on top.

It was a little too neat.

Suspicious.

He just hoped that this would bring them into port sooner. He needed to talk to Gibbs.

He gave the other officers instructions and then hurried inside to talk to the big man.

***

She couldn't help but stare at his empty desk. It made it seem so much more real to have it right there in front of her, not that it was any less real going weeks without seeing him.

"Nice morning," McGee commented.

"Beautiful morning."

"How's your tea?"

"Fine. Your coffee?"

"It's good. Good coffee."

They sit in silence for a few minutes, until finally Ziva said, "Quiet day."

"Quiet week."

They both looked up, desperate for something to do, when Gibbs strode into the bullpen. "DiNozzo called. They had a jumper. The wife lives here in DC. They'd like us to pay her a visit."

"Don't they have people to do that?" McGee asked.

Gibbs gave him a stare, and McGee dropped his gaze to his computer.

"Let's go."

***

It didn't escape McGee's notice that Ziva kept bringing every conversation back to Tony. Heck, he was talking about how hard it must be for the wife, and Ziva went on like she thought they were talking about Tony.

He had half a mind to ask her if she was doing okay, after what happened in LA, and the whole separation, and then the incident in Morocco, but he felt Gibbs's presence behind him and didn't particularly feel like being slapped upside the head.

He knocked on the door again, still no answer. He turned to look at the driveway. "Her truck is here..."

Ziva peeked into the living room window. "So is she."

What? McGee joined her at the window, and his eyes were instantly drawn to the blood. "Hey, Gibbs..."

***

Gibbs watched with mild amusement as Abby went on and on about how she had a feeling Tony was coming back very soon.

She shoved the mouse stapler in his face. "Gibbs, he's coming back. I know it." She set the stapler on the empty desk, as if that made everything set in stone. He knew better than to try to argue with her.

He trotted up the stairs to the director's office. He barged in without waiting for an invite.

"Agent Gibbs," Vance said, looking somewhat exasperated. 

"I need DiNozzo back."

"Special Agent DiNozzo still has three months left."

Gibbs tried the famous stare on the director, but it got him nowhere.

Vance nudged two personnel files across the desk. "Two perfectly good agents."

He wanted to say that DiNozzo was more than good enough for him, but he wasn't a child. Whining wasn't going to get him anywhere.

So he took the files, but he had no plans to read them.

***

Ziva didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she heard Tony's name and was pulled into high alert. Her pulse jumped as she heard "DiNozzo" and "MTAC" in the same sentence.

When Gibbs turned away from Abby and started headed toward the stairs, she bolted from her seat, and was hot on his heels.

He stopped and spun around to give her that blue stare.

"Tony is in MTAC?" she asked.

The only answer she got was more staring.

She got the message, like it or not (she did not), and reluctantly returned to her desk. She watched Gibbs until he was out of sight, locked into MTAC.

"What do you think that is about?" she asked McGee and Abby.

Abby shrugged, but McGee said, "Probably the jumper case."

"Oh. Right."

***

Everything was moving so quickly. One minute he was telling Gibbs about the jumper, then the next second Vance overheard him ranting about his assignment as an agent afloat, and then next thing he knew, he heard a familiar voice, and he turned around, and there they were.

He smiled when he saw Gibbs, but his smile grew when he laid eyes on Ziva. 

She looked as perfect as ever and was, thankfully, alive.

Aside from a faint mark on her forehead, she looked like not a single day had passed since they last talked face-to-face.

She gave him her own smile, and he wondered how on earth he was going to say goodbye to her again.

*****

Time to get ready for class.

More Tiva tomorrow.

Vote and comment!