Ziva stumbled through the elevator doors, bruised, battered, with dull, sunken eyes.
Abby felt her heart drop. Something snapped inside her at the sight of her limping into NCIS after months of worrying, at the sight of the equally battered Tony, Gibbs, and McGee protectively surrounding her.
Without realizing she had begun moving, she found herself running towards the group. She caught herself as she approached, remembered herself when the flash of movement startled her exhausted teamates.
Her heart pounding painfully, aching, Abby paced the last couple steps to Ziva. As the woman's eyes drifted upward, blankly, Abby slowly reached out, pausing to let the other woman recognize the motion. Then she tenderly rested her fingers on the woman's cheek. Ziva's eyes flickered and they found Abby's.
Abby wrapped her arms around Ziva and held her closely; she felt the agent's arms hold her gently, as though Abby would break if she held on too hard.
With nowhere to go, Ziva had been firmly told to stay with one of the NCIS agents that night, for her safety. Abby had offered her home, and Ziva accepted.
With a final turn, Abby pulled into her townhouse driveway. She had reached out during the drive - Ziva, the proud, fierce warrior looked so displaced, so worn and frail, Abby's heart had panged. Halfway through the drive she reached out and touched the agent's hand. Like before, Ziva's eyes had focused on the present and softly turned to hers, before settling back on the passing cityscape, her hand softly closing around Abby's.
Abby gave her hand a light squeeze, then pulled away, and got out of the car. They made their way inside, and Abby helped her place the toiletries they'd picked up in the bathroom.
Ziva then turned to Abby, too exhausted to feel embarrassed. "I'm so sorry to ask this, Abby, but I... I'm going to need help getting clean."
Abby eyes widened in understanding, taking in the bruises evident on the agent's visible skin.
"It's okay, Abby - they saw to me before we got back, but -"
"No! I totally get it. Whatever you need, I'm there -"
With a tired twitch of her lips, Ziva mumbled thanks.
The two walked to the bathroom, and Abby began the careful task of undressing the other woman. Ziva didn't gasp or yelp, but Abby felt her wince and twitch as they removed the different pieces of clothing. When Ziva had stripped down, Abby guided her carefully down into the tub, and helped her sit, then filled the tub with warm water, and began washing the other woman's hair.
She felt Ziva nod off as she drained and filled the tub several times. Ziva was too exhausted to wash herself, so Abby sponged the easily accessible arms, neck and shoulders, then let the warm water cycles gently wash away the rest. For now, it would do.
She gently roused Ziva from her half slumber, dressed her in Abby's soft bathrobe, then lead Ziva to the small guest bedroom.
As Abby helped her into bed, Ziva stirred from her exhaustion a little and met Abby's eyes. "Abby, please put a doorstop outside the bedroom door and leave a note on the inside telling me where I am. It's been - I ... want you to be safe when I wake up, I need to know I'm safe when I wake up."
Abby nodded. "I - "
Ziva drew her gently close, lifted her good arm to cradle Abby's neck, and tugged the scientist a hair's breadth away. Then with a glance at Abby's eyes, she leaned in and touched her lips to Abby's softly. She felt Abby sigh, and felt a tear trickle down her cheek - she didn't know if it was hers or Abby's.
Ziva broke the kiss, her eyes still closed, then felt the other woman, gently kiss her forehead. As Ziva lay down, she felt something soft being tucked in her arms, with Abby's quiet, "to keep you safe and snuggled through the night."
By the time Abby taped the reminder to the door, and placed a door stop in the cracked open door, Ziva was snoring softly, her arms wrapped tightly around a worn, brown teddy bear.