Chapter 1

Ziva David felt confident as she waited for Gibbs to come home to his basement. She had what she thought was a good talk with Tony. Not that he had any say in whether or not she would return to the team, but having him in her back pocket would make things easier for her.

That was the least he owed her.

When Gibbs came down his basement stairs, he was not surprised to see Ziva. She had made her rounds and hadn't encountered much negative feedback from anyone except for himself and Director Vance. For most people, having the Director of an agency and your own Team Leader hesitant to restore your position would be discouraging. But Ziva seemed to take it in stride, believing that showing a small amount of humility would be enough to sway any doubts. Well, he was about to burst her bubble.

"We need to talk." Ziva demanded.

Gibbs held his hard gaze as he moved a sawhorse for her to sit on while he pulled out one for himself.

"I thought I had made it clear that I wanted to return to the team but you seem to still have doubts." she stated. She remained standing. The look on Gibbs' face was making her nervous.

"I don't know where your loyalty lies Ziva." Gibbs also remained standing.

Ziva looked insulted. "My loyalty lies with the team and you Gibbs. I am done with Mossad, Eli is dead to me."

"Your mission was to kill Ari to gain my trust. You've been lying to me since day one. You were never loyal to me, only the mission your father sent you on." His voice rose with each sentence as the reality of how long Ziva had played him hit.

She couldn't hide her surprise that Gibbs knew about her original mission. How could he have known about this? She needed to let him know that was no longer her mission. That had ended long ago when she realized that working with Gibbs made her want some things for herself.

"Ari was my brother Gibbs. I was not lying to you when I told you I believed he was innocent. You had challenged him and he reacted badly. My father wanted Ari neutralized but I ... I wanted to know for sure. So I followed him here. I heard him admit to killing Agent Todd, but he was also going to kill you Gibbs. I could not allow that to happen."

Gibbs watched her as she tried to explain her deception. He tried to contain his anger when she implied that it was his fault that Ari killed Kate. Her disaster with Rivkin and the experience in Somalia did nothing to change her skewed view of things. She was still not willing to take responsibility for her actions and bad judgement.

"When did you let your father know you were no longer following his orders?"

Ziva stiffened at the question. She had never in her life told her father that she would not do what he asked. She knew her father was deceptive and a manipulator, but she really wanted to believe that being his daughter meant that she was treated better than the others. Even when he had blatantly lied to her about Michael, she still followed his orders without question. That had left her trapped in Somalia with a crazy man while everyone thought she was dead. During that time, she thought about what had happened with Michael and her father's role in it. His betrayal had stung, but Michael should not be dead. That betrayal was worse and the person who committed the act should have to face steep consequences. Yes, even now, she did not think she could ever truly cut ties with her father.

"It is not that simple Gibbs." was the quiet response.

Just as he had suspected, she never made any effort to get out of the mission. When Vance told him the real reason Ziva had killed Ari, he couldn't believe how hurt he was that she had been so deceptive. Then he started to wonder why it had been so important that she work with Gibbs. What did Director David gain by having his daughter on the team? What kind of information was she relaying back to him? It made Vance furious that Jenny Shepard made some deal that could have put NCIS at risk for a number of years. It worried Gibbs that he himself had no clue.

"You need to leave my house Ziva." Gibbs turned away from her hoping she would make a quick exit.

"Gibbs! He is not a part of my life anymore. You are more of a father to me than he ever was." Ziva pleaded.

"I will not ask you again." Gibbs stated. He couldn't look at the woman right now.

Ziva let out a sigh. How did things go so wrong? She was so sure that Gibbs would understand and fight for her. As she climbed the basement stairs, she held back tears and tried not to give in to her growing frustration. She made a vow to prove herself to Gibbs again and to make the right person pay for all of her distress.

Gibbs waited a few minutes after he heard the front door close to come up the stairs. He took out his phone from his jacket and hit the speed dial number for the only person he could really trust right now.

"DiNozzo, get your ass over here now. Bring dinner and know that you are not leaving here until I get the truth out of you."