Work Text:
In the face of pain there are no heroes
Tuesday, January 10th, 2007: Late afternoon: NCIS Naval Yard Bull Pen:
Tony came off the elevator and onto the floor, he had changed from the clothes he wore at the scene to some he had in his trunk. But with his coat on with only one sleeve, as the other arm was in the doctor mandated sling. Ric’s second, Judy Brown, came off with him on his bad side. Almost as though she was protecting it. And while Tony was thankful for the thought, he had already told the monitoring station in security to watch the floor and their part of the pen carefully. And be prepared to send people up to intervene if things looked to be getting painful on his end. No matter what Gibbs rank in the order of things were, or his orders to the contrary.
After he and Zi…No, Officer Dav’id was rescued from the crate by Gibbs and company, and Officer Dav’id had told the off-truth or newspeak of his injury, he had had it. And had volunteered to stay behind for the scene techs to come and process both scenes. As well as the shooting board people. Which got a grimace from Gibbs and a questioning look from Dav’id that turned into a full out temper tantrum, when Tony took a large bag from his pack and demanded the weapon(s) she fired at both scenes for the shooting review boards to go over.
He saw Gibbs wavering and barked out the Admiral Wiggens would have Gibbs before his own review board if he allowed her to ignore it and the Admiral would call in the Head of State over her trying to flaunt the US’ laws yet again.
And then he looked at both of them and quoted an old classic; “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
“The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better.
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
“Which is more important to you Gibbs, Happiness? Or Freedom? I choose Four.” And here he looked at the crate, “And not three or five.”
In the end, he left Officer Dav’id wondering just what party he was referring too and who gave what command. And of course, two plus two equaled four, everyone knew that. But saw Gibbs was stunned by what the idiot had said. So much so, that it wasn’t the conciliatory Gibbs she had wrapped around her finger, but soldier and AIC Gibbs who called at her to unarm and turn all guns over to the idiot for the shooting review.
Tony watched as the two of them walked off with Officer Dav’id whining the whole way, and phoned, first, the techies to come and process both scenes. Then, Ric to send his team to come and supervise as he really couldn’t without it contaminating the case as he was involved. And have someone ready to take his statement debrief while they take him in for stitches as well as documenting the wounds he had.
And as he walked purposely onto the pen floor, his right arm in a sling and ribs wrapped. Both injuries were caused by ricochets from Officer Dav’id’s weapon.
Gibbs was watching everyone from what Abby called their “family” talking at Officer Dav’id’s desk, with a thoughtful look on his face. And as Tony got closer, he could hear everyone saying wonderful things about Dav’id’s party the night before.
Gibbs looked at Tony as he came up next to his desk and had his hand out for the paperwork from the doctor, and looked it over, before putting it on his desk. Then tilted his head at the group in question.
Tony looked at them, then back at Gibbs and mouthed five at him. Getting a sigh and a nod. He went to open his mouth to say something, but Tony beat him to it, causing everyone else to jump as they hadn’t realized he was back. “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.
“The consequences of every act are included in the act itself.
“The object of terrorism is terrorism. The object of oppression is oppression. The object of torture is torture. The object of murder is murder. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?” Everyone looked like he had lost his marbles as they did not recognize he was quoting something. But Gibbs not only did but recognized where it was from.
“We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them.
“To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself — that was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word ‘ doublethink ’ involved the use of doublethink.
“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously and accepting both of them.
“If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened—that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death.
“Who controls the past… controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
“The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.”
“War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
“So, Officer Dav’id what is the Party line we are supposed to follow now? Are we,” he paused to sweep his left, uninjured arm around the bull pen, then point to each member of the group in person, “supposed to be at war with Eastasia? Or Eurasia this week?
Personally, I still say two plus two equals four rather than your doublespeak of five and a half.
“If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable – what then?
“For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable – what then?
“Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one. Perhaps I’m your Winston, He was a lonely ghost uttering a truth that nobody would ever hear. But so long as he uttered it, in some obscure way the continuity was not broken. It was not by making yourself heard but by staying sane that you carried on the human heritage.
“In the face of pain there are no heroes.”
Everyone was shocked into silence, so much so, that when the heater kicked it and started to quietly hum, it caught people by surprise. Until the sound of a hand hitting flesh was heard, and all eyes went from Tony to Abby and a red faced Dav’id. By the time he started on the quote about doublethink she knew he was quoting and from where and it was like a cloud had lifted from her mind. She despised Big Brother and refused to be part of the party.
“Four legs good, two legs better! All Animals Are Equal. But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others.
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
“Between pigs and human beings there was not and there need not be any clash of interest whatever.
“Well Ziva, I don’t follow sheep or pigs who insist on following Napoleon, and I will no longer allow those who do in my lab or to contact me for anything other than for official business.” She looked at Agent McGee, “And as long as they are followers of Napoleon, all discussions will remain business as well.” And stomped off with a confused Tim wondering what happened. While Dav’id got the reference that Abby put her in mind of a disgusting pig, which she would never have anything to do with as it wasn’t even kosher. And looked over at Gibbs, who out and out told her to give the correct report. To send it to him and not the idiot. In English. In proper form. And exactly as it happened so as to match up with the review board or she would find herself on a plane to Israel with no ticket back.
What happened? Where had it gone wrong?
Fini.