(Ziva David)

As Ziva once told Gibbs, DiNozzo, Ducky and McGee, she had done documents on each of them, from birth to present day. She knew their ages, the schools they had gone to and all the different jobs they had before NCIS. Every now and then, though, there a break in the records, normally for a year or so around university years. For Gibbs though...

Gibbs disappeared for four years - 1974 to 1978. There was no sight or sound from him during all of those years - he simply disappeared from his Marine base one day and reappeared, re-joining his Marine group as though nothing had happened years later. And she had seen the pictures - the before and after pictures of Gibbs - the young boy with a puppy face and bright blue eyes, ready for anything but angry...and then the older man with cold eyes and silver hair - just like the man she worked with, only the man she knew had more wrinkles to his face and a longing in his eye that no one understood.

Ziva once asked - a conversation she always relived yet never wanted to at the same time. It was just as they had met and Gibbs had cleared the room, asking her if she had found out about his wife and daughter.

"What happened in those years before Gibbs?" She asked, point blank, nothing else, just as he was turning to the door. For a second Gibbs stopped, frozen by her question, then he whirled around to stare at her, eyes blaring and wide at the same time.

"What?" He growled, stalking forward, the table between them, and for the first time in ages Ziva held fear bubbling up in her.

"The years, Gibbs. 1974 to 1978" Ziva stated. "You disappeared."

For a moment time seemed to stand still, then Gibbs seemed to shrink, falling into himself, his anger disappearing quickly. A second later Gibbs seemed to be a little boy, almost lost in a way, and tired - so tired.

"Yeah" he widened, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I disappeared in those years." He glanced up, eyes boring into Ziva's, hackles still raised. "Why you want to know?"

"You disappeared Gibbs! Four years and nothing Gibbs! It's like you died. People thought you died!" Ziva shouted at him, annoyed at weeks of research down the pipe. And Gibbs...chuckled.

"You ever died, Ziva David?" He asked, stretching her name out. "Just disappeared? Become someone else? It's wonderful - best four years of my life." And his face fell. "And the worse."

Ziva frowned, not sure what was meant by that but ignored it. "What happened to you in that time Gibbs? I saw the pictures - that is not normal!"

"No, it's not" Gibbs sighed, suddenly sad. "You keep this all to yourself David, or gods help you...got it?"

Ziva nodded, suddenly afraid of the man in front of her - suddenly not a man but a predator. She nodded again, dropping her head to the stare at the lab desk, tracing a finger over the desk as she listened to Gibbs walk from the room, closing the door behind him, allowing Ziva alone with her thoughts.

Half an hour later she walked from the room, the conversation in the back of her mind, to be kept there for years.

Years later, with a husband and a few adopted children, Ziva - now Ziva Mick - opened the door to an older Gibbs and another man.

"Hello Ziva. It seems I use you some long overdue answers."