Reveal the Truth

Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Summary: After one of their team is taken from them, Gibbs faces the new challenge of filling the vacant desk. So when Director Shepard brings in the new Mossad liaison at attaches her to Gibbs' team, they have no idea the connection she has to Tim, or how complicated things are about to get.

A/N: In this, Kate is still alive.

Caitlan Todd, former Secret Service, looked up from her sketchpad as Timothy McGee entered the bullpen. "Hey Tim." He set a cup of steaming coffee on her desk, and she gave him a quick smile as he headed to his desk and dropped his gear behind it. Their boss, Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs had yet to arrive, leaving his two remaining agents to themselves. When Tim had first arrived at NCIS, three years earlier as a probationary agent, his desk had been closest to the elevator, while Kate's desk was on the other side of the plasma that sat between the two, and Tony's had been directly across from Tim's and next to Gibbs', who sat across from the former Secret Service Agent.

"Hey Kate."

But now, that desk was empty; thanks to an assassin's bullet.

Even though it had been a week since a bullet had sliced through the Senior Field Agent's head, it felt like it was only yesterday. And despite what they all said, they were still reeling from the unsolved murder. Tim had a few leads that he'd been following, but so far, nothing had panned out. As he took a seat at his desk, he noticed something was off. There was something on Tony's desk.

He got up, just as the elevator opened and someone walked out. As he got closer, he realized it was a cell phone. His curiosity piqued, he picked the phone up, flipping it open.

"That is where I left my phone." Tim's head snapped up at the familiar voice. They sounded an awful lot like someone he'd grown up around. Slowly, he turned as the person entered the bullpen, and he couldn't believe who he was seeing. It... it couldn't be...

The last time he'd seen her, they'd been kids in Israel, running through the olive groves near her house, playing in the dried up creek bed near the school, chasing stray dogs and playing Hide and Seek in the house with her little sister, Tali, while her older brother Ari watched over them as he worked on his homework. The last time he'd seen her, she'd been covered in dirt, with a scrape on her chin, her long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. The last time he'd seen her, they'd been ten-years-old, and saying goodbye at the airport.

And now, here they were fifteen years later, facing each other in the bullpen at NCIS, equal expressions of shock on their faces. Kate looked up at the silence, only to find her partner gaping open-mouthed at the strange woman in the khaki tans and headscarf. "Close your mouth unless you want to start eating flies, McGee." When he didn't reply, her hackels rose, and she stood, dropping her sketchpad on the desk. "McGee? Tim?" As she came out from around her desk, it was to see McGee facing a striking young woman- of either Italian or Mexican descent. "Tim? What's wrong?"

Finally, he turned to Kate, blinking, as if seeing her for the first time. "Sorry? You say something, Kate?" The other woman started, surprised by her partner's response.

"Um... what's going on? Something I should know about?" When neither spoke, she tried again. "Tim, do you know her?" She nodded towards the woman. Tim turned back to the exotic beauty, nodding.

"Yeah, I do. Shalom, Ziva." And he leaned in, gently pressing a kiss to her cheek. Gibbs chose this moment to enter the bullpen. He stopped, halfway to his desk.

"Kate, did I just see what I think I saw?" The woman nodded. A moment passed, before Gibbs turned back to see his agent pulling away from the strange woman in tan.

"Shalom, Tim." She whispered in response, as Gibbs cleared his throat.

"McGee." Tim quickly turned from his old friend, facing his boss. Kate watched as her mild-mannered Probie seemed to step in front of the woman, protecting her. "Who is this?" As Tim opened his mouth, the woman stepped forward, holding out a hand.

"Ziva David. Mossad. It is nice to meet you, Agent Gibbs." She said, as he took her hand and shook. He glanced from her to McGee and back.

"What are you doing here, Officer David?" He asked, turning his gaze back to McGee.

"She's here to catch Ari Haswari." Everyone turned to Director Jenny Shepard, who'd watched and listened to the entire exchange. "And return him to Israel, where he awaits trial and execution for becoming a mole." Officer David turned on Jenny, dark eyes blazing.

"Ari Haswari is not a terrorist, Jenny! You know as well as I do that he is not! I am his probation officer, I have kept track of him! He is not a mole nor is he a terrorist!"

"And... who's balls get removed if it turns out Ari Haswari is indeed a terrorist, Officer David?" Gibbs asked, going to his desk, leaving his two remaining agents standing in the middle of the bullpen, facing the Mossad officer and Director Shepard. Ziva sighed.

"Mine, I suppose. But he is not. I know-"

"Question, first." Kate interrupted turning to Director Shepard. "Why is she here?" Jenny gave her a small smile.

"Officer David is going to be working with your team, Special Agent Gibbs, because we need this alliance. Ziva volunteered. The Deputy Director and I discussed it, and we agreed that she would be a good fit for your team, Gibbs. So, she is a Mossad liaison, attached to your team. You are to use her to your advantage, Gibbs. Understood?" Shepard asked, before turning on her heel and heading up to her office. Once she was gone, Tim turned back to Ziva. He held out his hand.

"It's good to see you again, Ziva." He said, as she took his hand.

"And you, Tim." She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, but he pulled away, feeling Gibbs' eyes on them. As he returned to his desk, Gibbs glanced from one to the other. Ziva watched her childhood friend, confusion in her eyes before she turned to face Gibbs, who beckoned her towards the elevator.

Once inside, he flicked the emergency switch, throwing them into darkness. "What is the real reason you're here, Officer David?" She swallowed, taking a deep breath.

"I had to get away from Mossad for a while." She replied, looking up at him. He studied her face, before leaning closer, whispering,

"And what, exactly, is your connection to one of my agents?" Her breath hitched, a reaction Gibbs didn't miss. "What, exactly, Officer David, is your connection to Agent McGee?" A moment passed, as she swallowed, glancing back at the doors before returning her gaze to his.

"We... we are... were childhood friends. Best friends. We grew up in Israel together, until he left when we were ten. I have not seen him since, but I have never forgotten him." Gibbs searched her gaze, finding joy and pain reflected within; feelings she wanted to act on, but was afraid to. A moment passed, before he nodded. "Tim is my best friend, Agent Gibbs. I had him when I had no one else. I have loved him, for as long as I can remember. And a part of me... has been searching for him from the moment he left Israel. And now I have found him, and I will not let him go."

Gibbs nodded once, before leaning closer. "But you dare think of compromising this agency or even a case in any way for him, and I will personally-"

"Kick my butt." She replied, sighing. He rolled his eyes, pulling away as he flicked the switch, sending the elevator back to life.

"I don't kick butt." He muttered, reaching up and smacking her gently on the back of the head. She choked out a gasp, turning to meet his gaze, and he grinned, before the doors opened and he led her back to the bullpen. As she set her things at Tony's former desk, Gibbs spoke up, grabbing her things and dropping them at the desk that was only slightly separated from the others by a slender partition, "Officer David is going to be working with us-"

He turned back, in time to see Ziva go to Tim, who'd gotten up to head to the copier at the back of the floor, behind the other bullpens, and reach up, taking his face in her hands. She stared at him for a moment, searching his face before rising on her toes and pressing a kiss to his lips.