Title: song
Pairing: None.
Rating: FR13
Genre: Gen
Cat: Drama, Suspense
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: it is too quiet in their hell.
Author's Note: Written for the amazing KayleighBough for her birthday earlier this year. I figured I may as well upload some other stuff while I was writing the next Tower chapter, yeah? :)


it is too quiet in their hell.

the room is dark, not even
shadows to catch their fear;
the only sound dripping
from a faucet,
each drop a flinch
to remind them they're alive.

they cannot see each other.
they cannot see anything
but black - the absence
of light, the absence
of heat to bring a chill
to their exposed skin.

stripped, bound by wrists
and ankles to rusty pipes,
left to suffocate in silence.

and then . . . an idea.

they have been abandoned
(stupid is as stupid does)
without a single strip
of tape, or a rag wrapped
around their heads, to keep
them from crying out.
and she knows . . .

he is stronger than her.
he could escape and go.
but he will not.
not without her.

it is what makes him a marine.

so she clears her mind,
opens her mouth,
and begins to sing.

the song is nothing he would recognize -
a simple rhyme from her youth -
but what she sings does not matter,
as long as he hears her voice.

the melody is calm, the opposite
of how she feels inside her chest;
the words a reminder to
them both that innocence exists.
her voice is soft and beautiful,
only slightly tinged with fear,
and she continues singing
until he gives a sign that he hears.

suddenly, she feels a weight -
a hand upon her shoulder.
she freezes in her song,
worried that their captors
have returned.
but then, the voice . . .

it's okay, ziva.
you're safe with me.

and he is right.

they will survive.

end