<span style="font-family:Fredericka the Great">Ziva held her arm out in front of Tony to keep him from leaving, once the elevator doors opened, after they had reached their floor. "Okay, so if you are not angry at Jenny, then you are angry at Gibbs. You did not ask for my opinion, but I am going to give it anyway. Be careful what you say to people, Tony. You are angry with Gibbs for leaving like he did, and you are even more angry at him for coming back. But the truth is, whatever happened between Jenny and Gibbs, it is not our business."<br/>
<br/>
"I do not want to have to pick sides. I do not want to feel like I can not even trust my own friends anymore. In Israel, there were only two people that I trusted. Schmiel and Ari. And now Ari's dead, and Schmiel too. And the only family that I have left, the only people I trust left, are my friends here at NCIS, and I refuse to let anyone screw that up. So, whatever your problem with Gibbs is, maybe you should go and talk to him. You and I can always reschedule. It is not like I am going anyway."<br/>
<br/>
"So, go. Go to Gibbs's house and tell him what you think. Yell if you need to yell, rant if you need to rant. Just.. you need to work through whatever your issue with Gibbs is, before it impacts the work. When that happens, it becomes a true problem and we can't risk having that happen. When that happens, it means there is always a chance there will be trouble in the field. And I do not want your issues with Gibbs to be something that gets you hurt or killed. So, we will go our separate ways."<br/>
<br/>
"Talk to Gibbs, work through your issues. And if you finish up before 2 am, then you can come by my place. I am going to leave my door unlocked until 2 am. After that, I am going to sleep. Good night, Tony.." She said and exited the elevator after she had removed her hand from in front of him. The young woman started across the parking garage and headed for her car a few moments later.<br/>
<br/>
_____________<br/>
<br/>
Gibbs was seated in his basement with a bottle of Scotch on the table next to him. He had a glass in hand that he had filled to the top and was slowly drinking from. He was taking a break from working on his new boat, as he thought over everything he had said to Jenny that day. He knew that they both still had feelings for each other, but he was hesitant to do anything about it. They had a long history together, and there was no way that it wouldn't get constantly dragged up.<br/>
<br/>
He didn't want to have to defend himself in a relationship. He just wanted to be with the person he cared about, without being afraid of pass screw-ups, messing everything up. He also didn't want to have to feel like he had to hide his girl's. They had been his life, and they still were. Most days, knowing how upset and disappointed Shannon and Kelly would be if he ate his gun, was the only thing that kept him from actually doing so. That, and the fact that his team still needed him. <br/>
<br/>
Well, they weren't just his team anymore, but his family, too. And he knew that DiNozzo was pissed at him. He hated that, because Tony had always been on his side, since the younger man had joined NCIS. And now, it felt like his second in command was on Jenny's side and he didn't like it. He was well aware that he'd screwed up when he left, but he'd needed a break and some time to get his head together. No one needed to know just how fucked up he had been. <br/>
<br/>
But, if it meant that it would clear things up between him and Tony, then he'd apologize to the younger man tomorrow. They all needed to be on the same side, and have each other's backs.</span>