Song Fic: How to Save a Life - The Fray
AN: Ever since I saw the NCIS episode Aliyah, I knew this had to be written. It just seems to fit.
NOTE: This is told from the eyes of Tony and Ziva. This is right from the episode, so it shouldn't be wrong, but if it is, let me know, and I will fix it :D
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, I don't own NCIS, and I don't own How to Save a Life by The Fray. :(
Note: This is a sad story from a sad episode and a sad song. Don't read if you don't feel up to it. Contains Tiva Smut at the end!
Spoilers for Aliyah
I will write multiple chapters at request! ;)
I drive my red, black, and white MINI Cooper quickly down the street, dodging honking cars and walking pedestrians. I pick up my cell phone, not taking my eyes off the road, and dial a number.
011-973-555-0138
I hit speaker phone as I evaded another car which honks at me.
"Please authenticate," a Israeli male's voice sounds over the phone.
"Ziva David, authentication code Ghayn, Baá, Hàá, Shiin," [AN: I can speak a little Arabic] I say, coming to a short stop at a stop light, my breaks squeaking against the pavement.
"Shalom, Officer David."
"We need a forced extraction," I quickly add, "Now."
"Target?" The man asks from the other end of the line. I pause for a moment before answering. "Michael."
"Rivkin?" he asks, "Have you notified your father?"
"I am notifying you! Who do we have in the area?" I said, I raised my voice, taking on a sterner tone.
"How bad?" He asked, calmly.
"Who do we have?"
"I will handle it."
"He's at my apartment." I said, "I'll make sure he stays there."
"Someone will be sent." He says as I slam my foot on the gas pedal, making a sharp left, and cutting off two cars which almost collided and begin honking at me.
I hang up my phone, slip it into my pocket, and park in front of my apartment building. I open the door and step out into the cool, night air. I close my door and begin walking across the street.
I stop.
Why was Tony's car parked in front of my building?
I hear a muffled crash.
My ears pin-point the noise and my chocolate brown eyes flash the my apartment window.
Two dark figures were fighting.
I rush across the street, into my apartment building, and up the stairs, stopping outside apartment number 234, my apartment.
Four rapid gunshots go off and I quickly pull out my gun. I rush over to my door and whip it open, pointing my gun at the nearest moving object.
Tony DiNozzo was on the floor, gasping for breath, pointing his gun at me.
Michael Rivkin was on the floor across from him, slowly bleeding to death.
I holster my weapon, and Tony drops his.
I immediacy run over to Michael.
Tony rolls over and manages to get off the floor.
I roll Michael over and apply pressure to the gunshot wounds in his chest, his blood flowing onto my hands. "Michael..." I whisper.
He tilts his head up to face me, and wraps a blood hand around my wrist.
He coughs, "Ziva...Ziva, I'm sorry..." he gasps for air.
I turn to Tony. His face was red and he was clutching his throat.
"Call an ambulance!" I added, "Now!"
Tony reaches into his pocket for his cell phone, glaring at me.
I turn back to Michael when a shattered picture frame catches my eyes.
It was a picture of a small girl, he face turned down, away from the camera, with curly brown hair wearing a blue shirt, holding hands and standing next to a taller, smiling, girl with short brown hair that was pulled into pigtails. Beside her, was a boy wearing a red shirt. He was not smiling.
It was the picture of me, Ari, and my younger sister, Tail.
Tears come to my eyes, but I blink them away. I can't, no, I won't lose anyone else. I won't be alone.
I turn back to Michael and press harder on his chest. "Come on..."
Step one you say we need to talk...
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk...
I walk over to the doors of the emergency room. My broken arm has been casted and put in a sling. I look down at my feet. Rivkin was still in surgery. I look to my left away from her. I was thinking.
There was no way that Ziva was going to talk to me.
He smiles politely back at you...
You stare politely right on through...
Tony faces my way. I can see him out of the corner of my eyes. I don't look at him. I don't acknowledge his existence.
I know that if I look at him, he would smile.
He shouldn't.
He should be angry that I took Michael's side over his.
I look down at the blood on the sleeve of my jacket.
Michael's blood.
I close my eyes.
Some sort of window to your right...
As he goes left and you stay right...
I look at Ziva through the glass part door to my right. She just leans against the wall, her eyes closed.
I watch as a female nurse walks up to her.
The nurse talks.
Ziva responds.
The nurse says something.
Ziva's posture slouches and she turns her gaze to her feet. Her face had a sad, yet angry look.
The nurse says something then walks away.
I watched the whole exchange.
Between the lines of fear and blame...
Gibbs walks up to me, and I immediately wipe all traces of sadness off my face. I walk over to Gibbs.
"Rivkin is dead," I bluntly said, "Tony killed him."
I looked over Gibbs's shoulder.
Tony heard me.
You begin to wonder why you came...
She blamed me. Rivkin's death was justified.
I stepped into the apartment to question Ziva, and he attacked me.
It was self defense.
I turn away from the door and walk away.
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life...
The C-130 [AN: My dad works for Boeing] that me, Tony, Director Vance, and Gibbs were on, finally landed in Tel Aviv after twelve hours. Some men who were from the United States Air Force, carried Michael's coffin out onto the airstrip.
I followed it.
On the airstrip were three parked, black, SUVs that belonged to Mossad. Tony and Gibbs followed me, Vance was the last one off.
The men placed Michael's coffin down, stood at attention, turned, and walked back onto the plane. Some men from Mossad spread Israel's flag over Michael's coffin.
The white flag with the blue Star of David on it covered the coffin completely.
Officer Admit Hadar places his hand on the coffin.
"Fsyḩ Jnāt·h, Şdyq..."
He looks up at me.
I ignore him.
He removes his hand and nods. The men carefully pick up the coffin and carry it to one of the SUVs.
Officer Hadar watches as the coffin is placed in the SUV, then he walks over to Vance.
"Director Vance," he says, "Director David will see you shortly," he nods his head, "He is anxious to speak with you."
"As am I." Vance says, as they nod at each other.
Officer Hadar turns to face me. "Officer David," he says, approaching me, "It has been far too long."
He kisses me on both cheeks as a greeting. I do not greet him back.
He pulls away. "Thank you for coming."
"There is no reason to thank me," I start, "My visit has nothing to do with you." I said, being sure to put emphasis on the word 'nothing'.
He nods his head. "Ziva. Always full of fire..."
He gestures to Gibbs, "Should I introduce myself?"
I smile and stand in front of Hadar.
"Officer Admit Hadar," I turn towards Gibbs, "Special Agent Gibbs," I turn to Tony, "Special Agent DiNozzo."
Hadar nods at Gibbs and turns to face Tony.
"Shalom."
"Shalom..." Tony replies.
"Agent DiNozzo," Hadar says, "Please, ride with me."
Let him know that you know best...
Cause after all you do know best...
I walk across the outside of the Mossad building and up the stairs, looking for Officer Hadar. I look around, my pigtail slapping me in the face once. I place my hand on the silver protective wiring that kept people from falling over the metal balcony and look down on the people walking below me.
No Hadar.
I step away from the balcony to search somewhere else. I turned around and noticed him. I walked across the white cement to the stairs, and over to Hadar.
Try to slip past his defense...
Without granting innocence...
He was smoking.
When he finished his cigarette, he rubbed it on the concrete wall, effectivly putting it out. He was smashing it up when I quietly approached him from behind, pulling him into a head lock.
His hands flew to my arms, trying to pull me off him. I tightened my grip.
"Now talk." I said into his ear.
"Ziva," he grunted, "What is this?"
"I said talk." I repeated, emotionlessly.
"You called me, rememb-" I cut him off by tightening my grip. He let out a pained cry.
"To remove Rivkin from harm." I said slowly, anger building up inside of me.
"From who?" He asked, starting to struggle.
"From himself!" I said, my voice getting louder.
"Circumstances have changed."
"Is that your answer?"
"I protect the Mossad!"
"There was nothing to protect!" I exclaimed, releasing him and pushing him away.
He quickly turned around to face me.
Never turn your back to the enemy.
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along...
"I should have know not to trust you!" I yelled, approaching him.
"As if it was my decision?" He said, rubbing his, now red, neck.
"You have my father's ear!" I yelled again, taking on a slightly attackive stance.
"Rivkin was in chaos," Hadar said, removing his hand from his neck, "You knew," he took on a defensive stance, "And yet you chose not to tell your father." he took on a more relaxed stance, "You tried to protect Rivkin, but in truth, you are the reason he's dead."
And pray to God he hears you...
And pray to God he hears you...
That was it.
I lost it.
I threw a punch to his face which he slapped out of the way, I then tried to hit him from the side, but he grabbed my arms and pushed me back. I lurched forward and almost fell on my face.
"Rivkin killed that American agent and still you did not report him!" He said, his face turning red from anger.
"I called you and told you to remove him!" I yelled, defensively.
"Too late! By then we could not get him out of the country," Hadar relaxed his stance again, "All we could do was clean up after him."
I glared at him.
"And you," Hadar looked up at Gibbs who was standing on the steps, "There is no one left to blame." He takes a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to me, "Stop looking."
Hadar walks away.
I unfolded the piece of paper.
He had saved the photo of me, Ari, and Talia from my apartment before he blew it up.
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
I noticed Ziva walking back to the Mossad building. She stopped and looked at her reflection in the glass walls of the building. I was standing behind her.
She turned around to face me. "I had no choice." I said.
"That's a lie." She said, venom oozing from her tone of voice.
"Why would I lie to you Ziva?" I said, using the same tone of voice she was.
She walked towards me. "To save your worthless ass."
"From who?" I asked, walking closer to her, "Vance, Mossad?" I gestured to the building around us.
"You jeopardized your entire career, and for what?" She spat.
I calmed down. "For you." I said, looking her in the eyes for the first time since we had arrived in Israel.
She squinted at me.
"He was playing you, Ziva." I stated.
"And for some reason you felt it was your job to protect me?" She spat, venom gathering again.
I nodded. Why was she being so hostile? "I did what I had to do."
"You. Killed. Him." She stated angrily.
"If I hadn't, you would be having this conversation with him, but maybe that's the way you'd prefer it." I said, not backing down.
"Perhaps I would."
As he begins to raise his voice...
You lower yours and grant him one last choice...
"Okay," Tony steps up to me, "Why don't you just get this out? You wanna take a punch? Take a swing?" His voice was slowly raising, "Get it out of your system!" By now, he was yelling at the top of his lungs, "Go ahead! Do it!"
I stand there for a moment. "Be careful, Tony." I quietly warned, "Because much like Rivkin, I only need one." I said, putting emphasis on 'one'.
Tony nods. "And that's what your really angry about isn't it?" he took a small step closer to me, "That's what's bothering you. It's not that he's dead." His tone was angry again, "It's that your Mossad boyfriend got his ass kicked by a chump like me!"
He was yelling again.
Drive until you lose the road...
Or break with the ones you follow...
"You took advantage of him!" Ziva yelled.
I was yelling back, "What was I supposed to d-", when she punched me in the stomach, knocking me backwards, stuck out her foot, tripped me, and knocked me down onto the concrete floor.
She climbed on top of me and down my shoulders.
"You saw a glass table. You picked him up. You dropped him on it."
Struggling was useless. She was too strong. I gave up the fight.
He will do one of two things...
He will admit to everything...
Or he'll say that he's not the same...
"He was impaled in the side by a shard of glass!" I yelled at Tony, letting all my pent up anger out. "Bloody! Gasping for air!" I yelled.
Tony began to talk from under me. "I guess you read my repor-"
"I memorized it!" I screamed, "You could have left it at that! You could have walked away, but no! You let him up!"
I took my gun out of it holster and pressed it tightly against Tony's chest. "You put four in his chest!
"You weren't there..." Tony calmly said.
I shifted my weight and shoved the gun into his leg.
"You could have put one in his leg!" I screamed again.
"You. Weren't. There..."
"But I should have been!" I sniffed and breathed.
Tony looked up at me. "You loved him..."
And you'll begin to wonder why you came...
"I guess I'll never know..." I said as I calmly put my gun away, got off Tony, and walked towards the Mossad building, leaving Tony on the floor.
"Wait..."
I didn't even turn around. "What?" I grunted out.
"The reason why I protected you, Ziva...Is because I love you, and I can't stand to see you get hurt."
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend…
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life…
She had tears streaming down her face, and her makeup was smeared when she turned around to face me.
She strolled towards me, not bothering to wipe her face off. She knelt down next to me and gave me a hug, silently crying and clinging to my chest. I rubbed her back with my good arm.
"Ziva, I'm sorry..." I said quietly. She shook her head slowly.
"No. You aren't." She mumbled into my chest.
"Yes. I a-" Before I could finished, she had her lips pressed onto mine, her tears hitting my face.
She pulled away and knelt back next to me. "Thank you Tony." Her voice came out as a horse whisper.
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend...
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life...
I helped him up and we snuck back to my room in Mossad. I hadn't stayed in it for years, but my father had kept it the way it was just in case I decided to come back to Mossad.
Once we were both inside, Tony gently pushed me against the door, claiming my lips in a slow, yet passionate kiss which I immediately responded to. He ran his tongue over my bottom lip, asking for permission.
He didn't need to ask.
I opened my mouth, and his tongue slid in, exploring my mouth and dancing with my tongue.
With his good hand, he began to unbutton my white blouse, slowly reveling my white lace bra. I took my hand off his chest and pulled out my hair tie, allowing my silky chocolate waves to cascade down her shoulders, I then helped Tony to remove my shirt.
I was still trying to figure out the easiest way to take off his shirt without hurting his arm. That would be a challenge.
His good hand slid off my shirt and turned me around so he could undo my bra, which was easier said than done.
He ended up having me take it off due to the fact that he could not remove it without ripping it.
His hand went to my right breast while his mouth went to my left. He began pinching and licking and sucking on my nipples and I let out a rather loud moan.
When he was done, he kissed his way up my body to the spot where my neck met my shoulder. He began kissing and sucking and biting on the sensitive flesh, and I bit back another moan. He trailed kisses along my jaw line and back up to my mouth.
I slowly began backing him towards the bed, gaining dominance in our battle.
Had I known how to save a life...
She backed me up until my legs hit the back of the bed. I removed my lips from her's, and she pushed me back onto the bed, crawling on top of me like she did when we were arguing outside.
I watched as she reached across the bed and took a knife off the bedside stand. She slashed my shirt and my jacket, and pulled the remains off my body.
I wasn't complaining
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life...
I was pleasantly surprised when he didn't complain about me ruining his suit.
I smirk and my hands worked my way down his scupper chest and abs down to his belt.
I unbuckled it and threw it across the room while he was trying, and failing, to unbutton my pants.
After I pulled off his pants, mine joined them on the floor along with the rest of our clothes.
I slinked up his body and straddled his waist, and he made a pouty face.
I leaned forward, pressing my body up against his chest and whispered in his ear, "I like it on top..." before I slid down onto his hardened shaft, causing us both to groan in pleasure.
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend…
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life…
All of her pent up anger and energy was thrown into this. What had started as a slow, passionate, love making quickly turned into a rough fuck.
We finished within minutes of each other, me coming with a groan, and her with a loud scream before she collapsed onto my sweaty chest, being careful to avoid my bad arm.
"I love you Tony…"
"Love you too Ziva…"
How to save a life...
"Gibbs!"
"The plane leaves in five minutes, Ziva."
"Not without us it doesn't…I think it is best if I simply speak from the heart."
"Well, yeah, usually is."
"It's Tony. I am still not convinced that he has been entirely truthful about Michael's-Rivkin's shooting."
"He gave you his word."
"I am not sure we can work together. Perhaps it is best if one of us gets transferred to another team."
"Transferred?"
"I need to be able to trust the people that I work with. I know you more than anyone understand that."
How to save a life…