Eleanor Bishop had learned over the years that some things were better staying hidden. Some things were better left unsaid and most secrets were better left unshared; that way they couldn't cause people pain that they didn't need to feel, and open up old wounds that were better left closed. Occasionally these secrets were desires, but more often they were feelings and memories. The NSA analyst turned NCIS field agent had grown exceptionally good at hiding both of these things, and in her line of work, she had to be.
For example, every single day in her working life at NCIS, she managed to suppress a huge secret, one that was a mix of all three of the above. It was a secret that if told would tear up old wounds that ran so deep, she didn't think the bleeding would ever stop.
And that secret was the truth about the bond between her and the two women that had come before her. The bond that had once been the symbol of one of the strongest friendships Ellie had ever had.
That 'unbreakable' bond had formed over a decade ago in probably the most unlikely situation ever.
Young analyst-in-training Ellie Bishop crept around the outskirts of the club, her brain on full alert as she dodged around dancers, drinkers and kissing couples to try and outsmart her pursuer.
Generally, no funny business went down in this building- even though it was a club, it was a federal hotspot for need to know information transactions and conversations, dozens of agents from different agencies meeting everyday to exchange data. However, tonight was different: ever since she had stepped through the door, she'd had the sense that she was being watched, and now she knew for a fact that someone was following her.
A curly haired agent watched as the young blonde woman scampered around the outside of the club, pushing people aside apologetically as she did so, knowing that someone was watching and stalking her, hopelessly trying to outwit them.
Ziva had noticed from the observing the woman for some time that she had not one, but three men chasing her, and had no hope at all of escaping them alone. Not taking her eyes off the distressed blonde, she drew a large knife from her belt, and was about to go and assist when a voice stopped her in her tracks.
"You want some company?"
Ziva whirled around, hand still on the hilt of her knife and saw a US federal agent stood in front of her. Well, she assumed that she was a US agent due to the accent and the formality in her stance.
The woman had chocolate brown hair that reached her shoulders in loose waves. She was short, though still an inch taller than her, and most definitely fierce and well respected in her line of work. She was a woman that Ziva could imagine plenty of guys drooling over.
"Relax," she smiled, jerking her head in the direction of the blonde. "I've noticed too."
Ziva nodded, "I was just about to go and help," she smirked, "care to join?"
The fed drew a hidden sig from her belt, a dark grin forming across her face. "It would be a pleasure."
Ziva held out her other hand and her makeshift partner shook it. "Mossad," she stated as a short introduction.
"Secret Service," the other agent replied.
Ellie gasped in terror as she found herself completely cornered. It was then that she realised (to her horror) that there were three men after her, and none of them were feds.
She whimpered in pain and fear as the obvious ring leader of the three slammed her up against the wall, her arms pinned at her sides mercilessly.
"Alright beautiful?" He sneered, his voice harsh and cocky and British, his face inches from hers. "My friends and I are a little bored- we could use some entertainment."
"You found some."
Ellie's attacker released her ever so slightly, allowing her to free her arms and stare at her rescuers- two small brunette women who were glaring at the three men intensely, obviously feds. One of them had long wild curly chestnut hair and bright brown eyes, while the one that had just spoken had wavy mid-length chocolate locks and hazel eyes.
"Hello ladies," he winked, "I'm sure we could fit you two into our busy sched…"
His last word was cut off by a yelp of surprise as the woman who'd originally spoken grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back and slammed him face first into the wall in an instant. She stood there behind him, pinning him to the wall harshly. Ellie couldn't help but marvel at her strength. The man's two companions stepped forward in an attempt to help him, but abruptly came to a halt as the second woman- the curly haired one, drew a gun with on hand, pointing it at their helpless ring-leader while twirling a threatening knife between her thumb and forefinger.
"Now," she stage whispered in his ear, shoving him even further into the wall, "you will leave this club and this woman alone and never come back; because I tell you what, if you don't, things are going to get messy real quick." Then, she backed away, leaving the guy rubbing his sore arm. For a moment, Ellie thought he was going to start a fight, but instead, he began to walk away.
"Come on guys," he snapped at his mates, "let's go."
The three men stormed towards the door of the club without giving the girls a second glance, shoving anyone who crossed their path out of the way angrily. Kate, Ziva and Ellie watched them as they exited.
"Thank you so much," Ellie grinned gratefully at her two saviours, "I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't stepped in."
"Don't mention it," her two rescuers chorused, before looking at each other and sharing a high-five.
"Ellie Bishop," she shook hands with both of the women one by one, "training for NSA."
"Ziva David," the curly haired, fierce looking one smirked, "Mossad Control Officer."
"Kate Todd," finished Kate, "US Secret Service Agent."
After the first introductions, Ziva had then taken it upon herself to buy all three of them a drink and an immediate three-way friendship had been struck. It was only months later that Ellie had learnt the fact that her two best friends hadn't even known each other when they'd come to her aid. It was a story that the three of them had all laughed over later: the idea that two random strangers would come together just to help one person in need.
Months after that bond had been created, Kate, Ziva and Ellie found themselves spending more and more time together by the day, whether that be in person or over the phone or video call. The three ladies had discovered that they got on really well, and enjoyed hearing about each other's different lifestyles, from Kate's constant travelling due to the Secret Service, Ziva's dangerous missions through uncharted Mossad territory and Ellie's continued analyst training after being denied from joining another federal agency.
In late September 2003, one of Ziva's projects had brought her to the United States, and because it wasn't an incredibly urgent matter, she was staying with Kate at her apartment in Washington, D.C, spending time with her best friends while she was around to do so. Consequently, the three friends had decided to have a girl's night, where they chilled, ate junk food and gossiped about whatever came to mind. It was on this day that Kate broke a piece of news that Ellie never knew would affect her so much until years later.
"I have some good news, and some bad news," Kate smirked nervously.
Ziva, who was snuggled into the couch pillows, hiding under a fluffy blanket, was the one who replied, "Go on then, let's hear the bad news."
Kate took a deep breath. "I resigned from the Secret Service."
Ellie choked on her glass of wine that she was sipping in shock. It took a single wack on the back from Ziva to stop the fit. "What, why?"
"It…" Kate sighed "…It was the right thing to do: I broke the rules, and it's really not the right thing for me anymore. I need a fresh start, and to do something I enjoy."
"So," Ziva pushed curiously, "what are you going to do?"
Kate's smirk grew wider, but also more nervous. "That's the good news! I've been offered a job…" she glanced at Ellie guiltily, "At the Naval Criminal Investigative Service."
Ellie couldn't help it, her heart sunk. NCIS was the agency that she'd applied for and been turned away from, the one agency that she would've dropped everything analyst related for just to become a field agent. However, she plastered a smile onto her face as Kate continued to talk.
"I worked a case with them a couple of days ago, and they're honestly so underrated: the agents are great, the forensic and medical people are so friendly, the team I've been offered a space on works so well together even though there's only two of them. The case was open one day, closed the next, and I was practically given a place as soon as it was."
One second her heart was sinking, the next it was flying with glee, because Ellie knew that there was more to this story than Kate was letting on. "Oh come on Kate, all three of us know that there's someone cute involved here, what's his name?"
Ziva waggled her eyebrows excessively, causing Kate to blush a bright red.
"Come on Kate, spill!"
"There's this guy, on the team at NCIS- a right idiot, definitely a playboy, not my usual type at all, but somehow he intrigues me."
"Ooh," Ziva cooed, giggling as she skilfully caught a pillow that had flown across the room towards her from Kate's direction. "What's his name?"
"DiNozzo. Tony DiNozzo."
"Italiano!" Ziva smirked, "Nice."
Of course, at this point, they didn't know that at some point, all three of them would have this very man as their partner in the field. Or, that two of them would have them as their lover.
After months of late night three-way phone calls, photographed experiences and talk sessions about guys, work and more, a tiny, seemingly insignificant tether in the apparently unbreakable bond snapped.
March of 2004 came, and so did a bucket load of drama between Kate and Ziva. Ziva's half brother Ari had broken into the NCIS morgue and taken Kate and two of her colleagues hostage, before shooting one of them in the shoulder joint, hitting on her relentlessly and shutting them in autopsy draws.
"I have no control over my brother's actions Kate!" Ziva yelled.
"Aren't you supposed to be his control officer? Isn't it your job to know where he is and what he's up to?" Kate retorted.
"Yes, his control officer, not his baby sitter!"
"That would explain why your sister is no longer with us!" Kate spat, pure anger boiling in her veins, not caring what she was saying but knowing that she would probably regret it later.
"You did not just bring Tali into this, Special Agent Todd!" Ziva screamed.
"Oh I'm sorry; being felt up by a psychopathic terrorist tends to do that to me, Officer David!"
"So now my brother's a psychopathic terrorist?"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Ellie shouted above the noise, stepping between the two feuding friends to prevent the fight from going any further or worse, getting physical. "Today's been a stressful day for all of us," it was true-she'd spent the whole day worrying for the both of them, Kate for being in the situation, and Ziva for having to deal with it, "I think we all just need to take a step back and calm down."
With a loud sigh, Kate snatched up her coat and stormed out of the apartment, leaving an awkward silence and a fuming Mossad ninja behind her.
Of course, the two friends had hugged and made up later on, but from that day on, something had definitely changed between the pair. Nobody ever bought it up- in fact, the incident was never mentioned by Ellie, Kate or Ziva, but it was obvious that something tiny in their bond had snapped.
And it would never be repaired.
6 months later, Ari visited Kate again, this time kidnapping her and trying to get information on Marine 1 flight patterns and presidential protection detail. This time, Kate didn't get angry, and didn't lash out at Ziva, she just completely broke down into tears, crying into both of their embraces while Ziva murmured words of apology over and over again, and she let all of her frustration and fear out.
After another six months, Kate told her two companions that despite her boss having rules against it, she and the previously mentioned Tony DiNozzo had begun dating secretly. Kate was wary, as she'd resigned from her previous job because of being involved with a co-worker, but Ziva and Ellie could both tell that her feelings for this guy were incredibly strong, as she never stopped talking about him, or showing them pictures of them together.
A couple of months after that, Ziva announced that she would be spending a lot more time in the USA on her father's orders. All three friends were extremely excited at the prospect at being able to spend more time together and grow even closer.
In February, Ellie's NSA analyst training was finally completed, leaving her fully qualified. The trio went on a night out on the town to celebrate, and she had met this guy named Jake. They'd quickly exchanged numbers, and had chatted for weeks and weeks afterwards, causing endless amounts of playful teasing from her two friends to be endured.
On May 24th 2005, Kate was murdered in action on a warehouse roof by the same man who'd previously held her hostage and kidnapped her, Ari Haswari, Ziva's half brother. A single gunshot was what killed her. One bullet through the brain, no chance of survival. The news ripped through the Ellie like a hurricane, and she soon sobbing into Ziva's shoulder, praying for the event not to be true, and clinging onto her for dear life. The Mossad Agent had remained emotionless with shock. After that, Ziva was called in by her father to convince everyone that Mossad and Ari had nothing to do with her best friend's murder. This alone destroyed Ziva, as she knew that it was a complete lie, and Kate would never have wanted her to lie.
The Mossad officer had then been forced to kill her own brother in the same way that he'd killed her best friend, and was inconsolable for weeks after their deaths, until one day she'd broken down completely, the walls she'd built around her heart crashing down entirely.
"This is all my fault El," Ziva had wept into her as Ellie had held her tight, "I should've listened to Kate when Ari had first visited her, I should've acted on it and none of this would've happened."
Neither of the pair had gone to Kate's funeral- it was just too painful for them, but a few days afterwards, Ellie had gone to visit the grave. However, when she'd got there, rain pouring down as she clutched a bunch of drenched flowers, there was already someone else sat in front of the grave, tears gleaming clearly on their cheeks despite the downpour, mouthing words as if he was talking to Kate herself.
Ellie could only stare as Tony DiNozzo leaned up against his lover's gravestone, his clothes becoming soaked through with rainwater as he had no waterproof. She wanted to go and comfort the guy, but as she watched him smile and laugh before continuing to talk, she decided that if she did, she'd be interrupting something important in his recovery from losing Kate. She'd returned early the next day instead.
Only a week later, Ziva was made the new Mossad-NCIS liaison officer, assigned to the same team that Kate had been, sitting at her desk and working alongside her colleagues. Though she didn't let on, being her friends 'replacement' affected her greatly, causing Ziva to become more and more isolated by the day, shutting her remaining friend out gradually. It was clear to both of them that their bond was now broken, but they both tried to deny it as much as possible. By 2 months after Kate's death, the two were barely speaking in person, but still emailed regularly.
Because of this, Ellie knew when the team truly accepted her, not as Kate's replacement, but as the fantastic agent and person that she was.
She knew when Ziva finally began to feel at home, and became a US citizen.
She knew when Ziva started to develop a romantic interest in Kate's former partner, Anthony DiNozzo, and fully supported the interest, as she knew that Kate would've wanted it.
She knew when Ziva handed in her NCIS badge to the Director and ran off back to Israel after being followed by a terrorist group, and she knew when Tony was the one that finally found her.
Ellie knew first when Ziva revealed that she was pregnant with her first daughter: Tali.
To: elliebishop
From: zivadavid02
Ellie,
Sorry for not communicating with you in such a long time: being out here alone is extremely risky, and sorry in advance for the message I am about to give you.
I'm not going to give you a long explanation, so here's the news: I'm pregnant. I'm positive it's a girl (call it a gut feeling), and when she's born, I shall name her Tali, after my late sister. You're one of the smartest people I know, so you've probably already guessed: Anthony DiNozzo is the father, and no, he doesn't know. That is the way I intend to keep it. As for godparents, there will be no godfather, but I like to think that if he could know, Gibbs would be one of the best. I am asking you, my best friend to be the godmother, and I'm praying right now from the bottom of my heart that you will accept. My daughter already has a guardian angel watching over her- that angel told me so in a dream that I had recently. If Kate was still alive, I know that she would still protect my Tali with her life, no matter what, and I thank her over and over again for that every day.
Now onto the more serious matter El. I'm afraid that there can no longer be any type of communication between us, ever. It's excruciatingly hard for me to tell you this, but it's the only way that my daughter and I can ever be completely safe, just in case someone finds our emails and traces them.
I believe that everything happens in life for a reason, and whatever the reason was that I met two strangers in a club years ago I'll never know. However, those strangers and I formed a bond, and came to know each other as best friends until we were as close as sisters, and I am thankful for the reason we did so every second. Though one of us is no longer living, and we may never speak again, that bond will never break between us. With you Ellie, and Kate, I found home in an unfamiliar place, made so many memories that will last me a lifetime and laughed so much that I don't think I'll ever recover from the ecstasy of it. You two are possibly the two greatest people I have ever met. Thank you.
Please, there is one last thing I must ask you. If you ever meet my NCIS (and I know that at some point, you will), please don't mention that you knew Kate or I to them. They will not be able to cope with it, and it will send them into turmoil.
Goodbye Eleanor Bishop, I shall never forget you.
Z.
Months after Ziva's final message, NCIS' Special Agent Gibbs came to find her while working a case on something she specialised in. Instantly, she was aware of whom he was due to pictures and stories, but of course, she said nothing.
Weeks later, she found herself sat at the same desk as her two best friends before her, a now fully fledged NCIS agent. Obviously, she didn't mention anything about her tight bond with her predecessors. NCIS was the perfect new job for her, from the cases to the office to the people, and she didn't want to ruin it.
Then there was Tony, the man who'd stolen both Kate and Ziva's hearts. He didn't know it, but she saw him take photos of her former friends out of his desk draws after hours and stare at them lovingly, stroking Kate's shiny hair and Ziva's rosy cheeks. These were the times where the urge to break her silence became almost unbearable, but she managed to control it, knowing that most of what Ziva had said was utterly true. The only part that wasn't was that their bond would never break: it still existed, but did so in pieces, cracking when Kate and Ziva first fought, and shattering when Ziva had become so solitary that they didn't speak anymore. However, she liked to think that it was still strong, and that it would bring the three of them back together in the end. Despite the negative moments that remained, Ellie tried to cut out the worst of them, leaving only the good ones in her mind.
Because some memories are better left untouched, and some secrets are better left unsaid. Ellie kept her trio's secret every day that she sat at Kate/Ziva's desk and stood in their place during fieldwork.
Some stories are better when untold, and the story of three strangers that became closer than sisters was one of them.
A/N: Hey! Sorry for being so absent! Enjoy this oneshot about the three ladies of NCIS and a friendship that I made up for them because lets face it: we all want them to meet each other!
Louise :)