AN: This is my first fanfiction, so please take it easy on me. This will be a multi-chapter story, so just stick with me. Please review. I really want to know how I am doing.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.
1 week ago
She sits at the bar, nursing a scotch, waiting for the bachelorette party she is crashing to appear. The metallic bandage dress shows off her…assets, and no man in the bar can peel their eyes from her. She pays no heed.
3 months ago
"Couldn't live without you, I guess," he blurts.
Shock, then grief. She doesn't deserve this, never deserved this.
(Why is he here? That answer doesn't cut it; it only left her more confused.)
When they get home, she supposes that he took it back. At least, when she sees the buxom blonde waiting at his desk, she supposes he is taking those unintentional words back.
(It is fitting. She doesn't deserve him, never deserved him.)
"Ziva, this is Sarah. Sarah, Ziva."
With a quick once-over, the blonde crinkles her nose in a look of disgust.
"Ewwwww, you're all dirty. Why are you both sweaty, and dirty, and gross?"
Maybe it's the fact that Somalia put her into a chronic state of shock, she doesn't respond. At least, not how his ninja would respond.
(But he guesses that his ninja was gone the moment that plane took off from Israel without her.)
2 months ago
Shaking with adrenaline from another bout of sparring in the NCIS gym, she turns to retrieve her towel and bottle. Although she is pleased at beating him, it was easier than usual. Something's on his mind. She hears something from behind her.
"When I met you, I was broken. I had just lost a partner, and you rescued me from that. You stuck with me through the hard times, when all I felt was grief and pain. You put up with my need for vengeance and my need to see that terrorist dead. And slowly, I healed with you helping me all the way. When I was in Somalia, all I could think was, if I get out of here, I will complete number 26. Tell her. And I did. I told you I love you as soon as I got back from that place. And it's so true. I would give you the world if I could, but it wouldn't fit in your apartment, so I hope this ring will suffice. Sarah, will you marry me?"
Her breath catches. She thought maybe, just maybe he was talking about her. Maybe the partner was Kate, the terrorist Ari. But it's not meant to be. And it's fitting.
(She doesn't deserve love, never deserved love.)
"So, what do you think, Ziva? Will she like it?"
She turns, offers him a heartbroken (heartbreaking?) smile. Somalia gave her time to think. Too much.
"She'll love it."
6 weeks ago
"Have you told her yet?"
She has to know, needs to know, dies to know. Maybe he changed his mind, picked her instead.
(In her heart, she says no. She doesn't deserve a second chance, never deserved a second chance.)
"No, I was going to do it tonight. Well, as soon as I get out of here."
He smiles, unknowingly crushes her.
"Go then," she offers, not knowing how else to hide the lump in her throat, the horrible pressure in her chest. "Go. Go now."
When he leaves, she lets one tear fall.
(No, she thinks. I don't deserve him. She does, always will.)
For, in the time since they got back, Sarah revealed herself to be completely different. Sweet, kind, caring- even to Ziva once Tony told her about Somalia.
The next day, he walks in, a grin threatening to overtake his face.
She smiles, but inside she cracks.
1 week ago
The drunken partiers come stumbling into the fifth stop on the list of clubs. She waits.
Eventually, the fiancée spots the gorgeous, suspiciously familiar brunette at the bar. She walks over.
"Ziva?"
She forces herself to turn. This is, after all, the reason she is at the bar.
"Sarah. I needed to talk to you."
The fiancée sits down, expression one of expectance.
(She can't do this. She can't talk to the person he will spend the rest of his life with.)
"I just wanted to tell you- no, ask you- to take care of Tony. He is a great guy, as good as they come. Watch his movies, give him a shoulder to cry on when he grieves, grow old with him. Love him as I never had the chance to do. I needed to tell you this. I won't see you again.
She finds that forcing this out of her mouth is the hardest thing she has ever done. Saying she will never see Sarah again is equivalent to saying that she will never see Tony again. That breaks her inside. But no, she is already broken.
"Wait. What are you saying? You have to come to the wedding."
She almost takes it all back. But then, she thinks of her life, having to see him grow with her, stay with her, love her, and she continues.
"No. It will be too hard for me, and, anyways, it is your day. You will be a beautiful bride. I wish you the best of luck in life. Just please, make sure he is happy."
She gets up and walks away without a backward glance, leaving a dumbstruck blonde behind her.
1 day ago
She has been avoiding him all week, only talking to him when it concerns a case. He finds this behavior odd, but is too caught up in preparations for the wedding to say anything. When he looks up at the office for the last time as a single man, he sees her looking at him strangely. He makes nothing of it, and walks away.
She looks down, hoping no one will notice the tears in her lashes.
"Goodbye, Tony."
Today
He is getting married. He doesn't see her.
(But she has to be here. No way would she leave him on his big day.)
His bride walks down the aisle, and all he has eyes for is the empty seat between Gibbs and McGoo where she should be.
He stops the wedding. Delays it for hours.
(Eventually he has to continue, but he maintains it. She is coming.)
He doesn't know that while he was promising forever to the ivory-clad blonde, she was working with another team on another case. That she ran to disarm the bomb inside of the apartment complex. That, after making sure everyone was out, she sat down near the bomb, and waited.
That she thinks of him while he thinks of her.
That, when she dies, he is saying those fateful words to another.
(When he hears the news at the reception, he storms out in tears, leaving a very confused, very hurt blonde alone in the bridal suite on the wedding night. He skips the honeymoon.)
That the blonde finds him nursing a scotch on the floor of her apartment. He doesn't know how she got there. Ziva didn't trust many people.
That she forgives him, and they have a happy (on her end), fake (on his end) marriage.
That, when their child is born, she has chocolate eyes and brown curls, which confuses both of them to no end.
Her name is Ziva David Dinozzo.
(It is very much so against her mother's wishes. Her father doesn't care, because Ziva deserves it.)