-1I should not be posting this. I really shouldn't. I don't have the time to add another story to my list of 'need to update's. But if I don't get some incentive, this will never go anywhere, and it's my first Tiva story - not to mention my first story with Ziva as a main. So, all I can ask is that everyone be patient with me, 'cause now I've got four major stories going, and honestly, this one's low on my list 'cause I don't have it planned as fully as the others. But please review to let me know you're reading, and give me encouragement/ideas to keep me writing so I can get out more chapters, faster. Thanks!

Prologue

She should have known better. She really should have. First, coming into the basement alone was not her smartest move. Yes, she and Tony had cleared the house, but then he'd gone to look around outside, while she'd stayed to check the inside. She should have called him when she found the trapdoor under the rug. She really should have called him when she found the door unlocked and easily opened. And she definitely should have called him when she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw what the old basement held. But she hadn't. And she should have known better.

But, in her defense, she'd handled tougher situations. She'd disarmed two bombs in the space of a week, only a few months ago. And the timer on this one did say she had over five minutes to work. Plenty of time. But still, she should have known better.

In retrospect, the timer should have tipped her off. Five minutes was WAY too long for one to overshoot when setting a timer, even if they had expected it to take a bit longer for someone to locate the trapdoor. It was too easy, too convenient; even the placement of the bomb made it almost ridiculously easy to reach, right over a file cabinet which was next to a desk, two easy steps. She should have thought to look around. She should have known better.

If she took the time to think about it, she felt even more foolish. A fake timer linked to a trip wire was an old trick. Maybe she'd just gotten cocky, not to think of that, not to take a closer look around before stepping towards the ticking object, not to be more careful. And now she was paying for that carelessness. As her world exploded with sound and heat and light, one thought kept running through Ziva's mind: she really should have known better.