Disclaimer: i do not own NCIS or the characters.
A/N: ok so here is the sequel people wanted. it's a little rough but i hope you enjoy.
Ziva's P.O.V.
He sticks the tip of the blade into my shoulder. The zigzag pattern is slicing into me and making the cut even bigger. He slowly begins to slide the blade down to my elbow. The slice is deep and he rips the knife out violently to cause more pain.
"We have a present for you Princess" he tells me, smiling down at me. A man brings in the person I have wanted to see the most, Tony.
"Tony!" I scream from the table. Before he can speak, the man pushes him to his knees and they rip off his shirt.
"Now Ziva, you don't want poor Tony here hurt. Do you?" Haidar asks with a mocking tone in his voice. Haidar begins to run the knife across Tony's skin. I have never seen Tony so frightened before.
"Ziva… If you answer, Tony here will not be harmed. But if you don't, I am afraid I cannot say he will make it out of here alive.
"Please… You do not have to do this. Tony is not of importance to you. Why do you have to bring him into this?" I ask, trying to save the only person who has always had my back.
"Because he is precious to you" he snickers.
"So what's it going to be?" he asks sliding the blade down Tony's cheek.
"Tony… I…" I can't bring myself to say anything. I want Tony to live, but yet I cannot give away any information.
"That's not an answer" Haidar says, slicing open Tony's cheek.
"Last chance" he warns, holding the knife at Tony's neck.
"Tony please-" Before I can say or do anything else, the man swipes the blade across Tony's neck, almost removing his head completely. As his lifeless body drops to the floor, I break down screaming and sobbing.
I wake up in a cold sweat with tears streaming down my face. I quickly grab my phone off the end table and hit the second number on speed dial.
"Hello." Just the sound of his voice begins to calm my nerves, but I am still a little too shaken up to say anything.
"Zi? Is that you?" he asks, his voice still groggy from just waking up.
"I am sorry I woke you" I respond, trying to hide my shaky voice.
"Ziva, is everything ok? Why are you crying?" he asks frantically, sounding much more awake than he was just a few seconds ago.
"I am fine, Tony. Please just go back to sleep. I will see you tomorrow for work" I tell him, clicking the end button on my cell. I place my phone back on the end table and lay back down in my bed. Why do I keep having these nightmares? It has been 2 months since I have been back. I guess no matter how long it's been since I have been away from that camp, the nightmares will not stop. It looks like I will just have to live every night without sleep.
I look over to the clock on my nightstand to see what time this one struck tonight. 1:34 AM. Great… it has only been 3 hours. There is no way I am going back to sleep. I just do what I do every time I am plagued with the horrors of that camp: I'll shower and then head to the NCIS gym.
Feeling the hot water from the shower run down my body and over every scar is not enough to wash away their touch.
"Come on baby, scream. Scream like you mean it." His hands are all over me, ripping my clothes from my body. I can feel him griping my skin, pulling me closer… his lips grazing my skin, wanting a taste.
"There's that beautiful skin I love so much."
I hear his whisper in my ear. It's almost like he is standing right beside me in the shower. His touch is still so vivid it is like his hands are around me right now. No matter how many showers I take, I still cannot get rid of the taint of his touch. I still feel dirty, even after I step out of the shower. I look up into the mirror and my eyes are drawnto the scars all over my body; from the bite marks on my shoulders to the rope burns on my ankles. The most visible scars are the ones on my stomach and back. The crisscross pattern of thick white lines on my back are the ones that will stay visible for my entire life. The small circular burns are clearly noticeable as well; especially the one just above my navel.
"Let us see if I can make this better, shall we?"
I can still remember what it felt like to have him blowing air onto my stomach. As I run my hand over my stomach, I can feel all the other scars along that area. My torso was his favorite spot to target;as well as my thighs.
I have to stop. I cannot keep thinking about him. If I let this monster continue to invade my thoughts, I will never get better. I am still a wreck as it is. I flinch at the slightest touch. I hide it at work, but I am pretty sure they all see it. I grab my towel, dry myself off, and dress as quickly possible. I quickly head to my car and drive as fast as I can to NCIS.
The second I arrive at NCIS, I walk inside the elevator and hit the button to the first floor. The elevator dings and the door begins to close. I can't help but shake uncontrollably. What is wrong with me? It is a freaking elevator, for god sake. I tell myself this every time I am in here, but nothing ever changes. I still panic. Thankfully, the gym is on the first floor and the elevator ride is not long.
I head directly over to the punching bad area of the gym. Throwing my fist into the bag recklessly calms my nerves from being in the elevator.I will keep this up until I am too exhausted to think about him.
Tony's P.O.V.
I pull the phone away from my ear to look at the screen. How could she just hang up like that? If she didn't want to talk, why did she call in the first place? I have to talk to her… But what if she gets angry and we get into a fight? Things are just getting back to normal with us again; I don't want to jeopardize our friendship. I can't go through that again. I can't call her. She clearly doesn't want to talk about it, so I should respect her privacy.
As I try to go back to sleep, my mind is taken over with images of Ziva sitting on her bed, crying into her knees, all alone. I can't let her be like that. I am her partner. I am supposed to have her back no matter what. And I being here while she is at her apartment crying is not having her back. I quickly climb out of bed, throw on the first clothes I come across, grab my keys, and run out to my car. I have to get to Ziva.
I arrive at her apartment building and rush up to her room.
"Ziva…Ziva, open up. Come on it's me, Tony. Come on Zi. I know you're in there" I say, softly but briskly knocking on the door. If she is in her room, then she will not be able to hear the soft knock. I pound louder on the door, hoping she'll hear it. I don't want to yell considering it's late. She would never not answer, knowing it was me at the door. She's clearly not here. But if she's not here, then where would she be? If she is feeling insecure or vulnerable, she would want to be somewhere safe where she could blow off steam; to be able to take her frustration out on something.
"I'm so stupid!" I yell while turning to leave the building.
"Excuse me, can you keep It…oh Tony. How are you?" Ziva's neighbor steps out into the hallway. She's a sweet old lady and she normally watches Ziva's apartment when we are on stakeouts.
"Hello Mrs. Sohma. I am sorry, I didn't mean to wake you" I apologize.
"Dear… I have told you before, it's Maggie. And if you are looking for Ziva, she left quite a while ago. I am not sure where she went, but I heard her storming out of here like she was in a hurry" she tells me.
"I was looking for her. Thank you. Goodnight Mrs. Sohma… I mean Maggie" I say as I start to walk away. Before I turn the corner, I hear Maggie say a farewell as she closes the door. I know exactly where Ziva went. She's gone to a place where she could feel powerful again. The NCIS gym is the safest place she could most likely think of. I have to reach Ziva. I have to find out if she's ok.
I enter the gym and she is exactly where I thought she would be; punching the bag as it swings back and forth. It looks like she has been here a while. Her hair is pulled back and underneath the gym lights I can see the sweat glistening off her skin. She has not noticed that I am here. Her ninja senses must not be working.
"Ziva?" I say softly, hoping not to startle her that much. She jumps at the sound of my voice. What's with her? She's normally not this jumpy?
Ziva's P.O.V.
"Ziva?" the sound of a voice behind me startles me. My body's natural reaction takes over and I jump. I turn around swiftly; ready to fight whoever is behind me. I drop my guard slightly at the sight of my partner.
"Tony? What are doing here?" I ask trying to control my breath so I do not seem weak and worn out.
"I… I couldn't sleep." He's lying. I can always tell when he's lying. Clearly he does not want to tell me why he is here.
"I just figured I would come here to get a little exercise and stuff. Get a good morning workout" he says, rubbing his hand through his hair as he walks closer to me. He steps behind the bag I was just recently punching and grabs ahold of it.
"Keep going… I'll hold it in place for you" He says sending a smile my way. I do not really want anyone around me, but I cannot let him know that. I have to keep guarded. No one can know what I am feeling. It will only result in me getting hurt…just like before. I can never show anything anymore. They took advantage of that and I will not let it happen again. Plus, I am not worth their sympathy.
Picturing his face on the punching bag, once more I throw punch after punch, knocking the bag backwards. If Tony was not holding it in place,I am sure the bag would be swinging violently.
"Ziva. What's going on?" he asks. I ignore his question. He does not need to know. Why can he not just stay out of my business? I am not worth his worry. He should just leave me alone. I am damaged beyond repair. I can feel his eyes on me. I glance up to see if he is staring at me or just staring in general.
"Nothing is wrong, Tony. Nothing! So can you please just fly out of my business?" I snap. Why does he care so much? Why does he want to know everything about me?
"First off…it's 'but-out' not 'fly'. And second of all… don't lie to me. I know you better than that." His hand reaches out and catches my fist before it connects with the bag. His hand completely covers mine. No. this cannot be happening. Not again. I will not be over-powered again.
Once his hand makes contact with mine, his touch feels just like Saleem's. I pull him forward to get the upper hand. I twist his arm behind his back and throw him downward, slamming his face to the ground.
"Ziva what are you doing! It's me! Tony! Stop! Ziva!" That's not Saleem's voice. Oh god… What have I done? I let go of Tony and run out of the gym. I have to get away. I have to run. I cannot do this. Why did he have to touch me? Why did he have to grab my hand like that? But it's not his fault. He does not know that I cannot handle being touched by men. He does not know that I am haunted by Saleem and his men every night. He knows nothing. Tony will never hurt me, so why? Why can I not get over this? I am safe here; no one here will hurt me like that. Why can I not feel safe?