Epilogue

Gibbs returned to work weeks before Tony was allowed to even sit behind a desk. It gave him time to straighten Abby out, although it wasn't easy. After some intense talks in the lab, Gibbs had finally got Abby to understand that her trying to guilt Tony into dropping charges against Ziva wasn't going to happen and would only impair their friendship.

He also told her what had happened to Tony when they were in Tel Aviv. That had been the final straw for Abby. Despite understanding that Ziva was mourning her lover's death at the time, she was too aware just how dangerous using a gun as a blunt weapon could be while keeping a finger on the trigger.

Merilee Davis was an American citizen and not Israeli nor Jewish, so she had been charged with espionage. She was unable to make a deal because, as Gibbs had said, she had nothing to trade. Her trial was currently under way. She was lucky enough that the death penalty was not on the table. Best guess from the federal prosecutors was she would get 15 years maximum in a federal prison.

Officer Ziva David underwent psychiatric evaluation and was found to be in the middle of a breakdown. She was found guilty, but mentally ill, of assault on Tony. She was to be committed to a psychiatric hospital for an indeterminate time. Once declared competent, she would be deported from the United States back to Israel and placed on permanent ban from ever returning. The Israeli government were still considering filing charges against her for the assault on Tony there as well as any other crimes she committed at the behest of her father.

Former Mossad Director Eli David had committed suicide while in custody in Tel Aviv. The investigation into how he managed to obtain a weapon was still ongoing. It was discovered that he had been paying people in other agencies throughout the world to pass information on to him. NCIS was the only agency to have discovered this and were getting points among the world's investigatory agencies. Ziva's doctor had decided to not tell her of her father's death until she was better able to handle the news.

Director Leon Vance had tried to convince Gibbs to take on one of his candidates for the fourth position on the MCRT, but finally gave it up as a waste of time. For the current few weeks, they would work with TADs who might need more exposure to both D.C. and major crime investigations.

Tony decided that he would begin to pass some of his SFA paperwork on to Tim as a way of training the competent young man in the duties of a Senior Field Agent. Tony was still doing most of Gibbs' paperwork, so this would help relieve his work load considerably. It was expected that he would be on desk duty for no more than two weeks, but Gibbs knew it would more likely be a week before Tony would con his doctor into releasing him from any and all restrictions.

While standing in MTAC watching an operation taking down some of Al Qaeda's key people, Tony leaned closer to Gibbs. "I think we'll be good, boss."

Gibbs nodded, a slight smile slipping across his face.