Saleem swings the door open and reenters the room, this time dragging a body with him. I can barely identify its gender, and his or her head is covered with a sack. He shoves the unknown person roughly into the chair opposite me, glaring.
"One of you is going to reveal to me everything about each of your members of NCIS." With a flourish Saleem rips the bag off of the undisclosed human and it's-
oh
my
god.
Ziva's alive.
Ziva. Alive.
"And the other one is going to die."
The door slams for the umpteenth time and Ziva and I stare at each other for what seems like an eternity. She looks terrible. Her clothes are torn and dirty beyond belief, and there are streaks of mud and some crap across her face. Her hair is knotted and tangled in every which way and her eyes read, This is someone who has suffered and is prepared to die. There's the sadness, regret, tiredness. The exhaustion that causes her eyelids to droop. But a sheen of shock is visible, surprise that it's me.
"Of all the people in the world who could've found me...it had to be you." Ziva's voice is hoarse, thickened with the desert dust, and it slices the silence like a dull knife. She brings her gaze up to me and looking into her eyes feels like relief. Undeniable relief, that Ziva, my Ziva, my perfect perfect Ziva, is alive and here and talking and breathing and so close to death but still fighting.
"Are you glad to see me?" I reply softly, still looking at her and dreading the reply.
"You shouldn't have come." Of course, Ziva, I tell her telepathically. Of course you say that. But you don't know how I feel. You don't know why I really came. You don't know that I honestly believed you gone yet couldn't help but hope. You don't know how badly I wanted for you to be alive and now that I'm here with you it's a breath of fresh air in this shithole.
"All right, then. It was nice catching up, I guess I'll be going now..." I sigh and attempt to stand up but merely fall back into the chair. My bonds are uncomfortably tight.
"Wait, I forgot...taken prisoner." Ziva looks at me hopelessly. Still looking at me she asks,
"Are you all right, McGee?" I see his beaten body shift slightly in the shadows as he cranes his neck to try and see Ziva for himself.
"Just glad you're alive," He replies shakily, and I can't help but agree.
"You thought I was dead." It's not a question, it's a statement, and a true one at that. I shrug and glance at the floor before answering.
"Yes." Ziva's expression is puzzled, her grimy eyebrows narrowing in confusion.
"Then why are you here?" Oh, god, no. I can't answer that...I want to say, Because, Ziva. A life without you is a life not worth living. You're the reason I breathe, Ziva. You're why I'm here now, and why, even though I feel like a damned piece of shit in this hellhole, I'm eternally thankful to see your face one last time before I die. It's more than I could have asked for.
I don't. Rather, I start babbling.
"Well, I mean, McGee-McGee didn't think you were dead, so we just came together, and-"
"Tony. Why are you here?" And there's no getting out of this one now. Ziva's cornered me and the least I can do is tell her the truth, now, with both of us teetering on the edge of life and death. Nothing to lose.
"Couldn't live without you, I guess." The only truth in it for both of us. The faintest whiff of a smile tugs at the corner of Ziva's cracked lips.
"So you will die with me?" I say nothing, hoping my answer will be evident in the momentary silence.
"You should have left me here." Okay, Ziva. That's it.
"Tried. Couldn't. Listen, I've taken a truth serum, so if there's anything you wanna ask me and get the right answer, now would be the time to do it." A hush falls over the cell, so deep, so quiet, I feel myself drowning in it. I try and embrace the absence of words, of Ziva's words, try to ignore McGee lying a few feet away, and focus on Ziva and her beautiful eyes which are currently looking at the floor. Noises can be heard from outside but here it is complete and utter silence. Without meeting my gaze she whispers so quietly that I almost miss it,
"Tony...you wanted to die, didn't you?" She stares at me as I nod slowly. A wave of pain passes over her and I want to get up, to wrap my arms around my Ziva, and comfort her, hold her, tell her it'll be okay. I nod again. A tear leaks out of the corner of Ziva's eye and ambles down the length of her cheek, leaving a clear stain on her browned skin. The door bangs open and Saleem reenters.
"Oh, hey Saleem, what's up, man? What's the commotion?" I try and make small talk, try and buy us any time we might have before Gibbs can make his move.
"We're moving out." His voice is brittle, sharp, and it hits me like a needle.
"That's a relief. I was getting kind of tired with this place, anyway." Saleem ignores me and strides over to the window.
"No-you're not done yet." He crosses over to Ziva in two steps and yanks her head back, holding a knife to her throat. I want to scream, No, bastard! Not yet, she doesn't know yet, please, just let me tell her-
"When they don't check in their people will come looking for them-" Ziva thinks quickly but it's no use.
"Ziva, shut up."
"Kill me, Saleem. It's them you need."
"Ziva, no!"
"I don't make bargains." Saleem leers at me and brings the knife closer to Ziva's neck.
"Do you make pizza?" I'm using each of my stored tactics to get us just a few more minutes for Gibbs to get in position and fire. Saleem and Ziva both look at me; Saleem with utter confusion and Ziva with a glare. And perfect-McGee kicks Saleem who trips, and lets go of the knife and for a split second I think McGee has got him but no; Saleem is smarter than that. He pulls out his gun and aims it directly at McGee's chest.
"Stop! There's something I haven't told you yet," I scream to Saleem who pauses and stands up, regains himself, and walks over to me, and at this point it's pure desperation. Even Ziva is at a loss.
"I've told you about the brain, I've told you about the guts, I've told you about the muscle," I go on talking, not even sure where I'm going.
"Scientist, politician, leader...But I haven't told you about me-the part I play."
"Which is?" Saleem's eyes are cold and hard, harder than granite, and my heart stutters at the mere sight.
"I'm the wild card. I'm the guy who looks at reality and chooses to accept it. Like now-" I pause to steal a quick glance at Ziva.
"Like now, I should be scared, but I'm not." Not entirely true.
"You're still bound. You're lying, you're scared out of your guts!"
"I can't lie, Saleem, remember? I still have the truth serum in me. And I never said I would be the one to kill you. Remember when I told you my boss was a sniper?"
It takes two seconds for that message to sink in with Saleem, and I watch as his face transforms from menace, to confusion, to terror. A shot rings out and is followed by the bullet, racing through the glass and knocking Saleem over. He's dead before he hits the ground. I silently thank the gods for Lethroy Gibbs and allow McGee to cut my bonds before releasing Ziva as well.
"I'm gonna go find Gibbs and clear out the way so we can leave," McGee scampers off, leaving Ziva and I alone with Saleem's dead body. She staggers and I immediately am by her side. She steadies herself on my shoulder, and I grasp her hands in mine.
"Ziva-Ziva, look at me," I say, and I know she can sense the urgency in my voice. Ziva, we could have died, I want to say. We could have both died and I wouldn't have told you how I felt. But we're alive-hell, you're alive, and I'm here, and I can't live without you knowing that I love you. In fact, I can't live without you, period. Ziva, my Ziva, I love you.
Rather, I look at her and say,
"You got your one honest answer from me. I want an honest answer from you. If I don't ask you I'll regret it forever, but I need to know: Ziva David. Do you love me?" I push my voice to a whisper.
"Do you love me like I love you? I'd go to the ends of the earth and back for you, Ziva, like I did today. I came here to die simply because I believed you were dead too. And without you-" Ziva cuts off my speech and brings one mottled finger to my cheek. Her eyes are filled with wonder, all traces of hunger and exhaustion gone. She doesn't speak, doesn't say a single word. Ziva traces my skin lightly with her thumb, breathing heavily, before tracing her way to my neck and bringing me down to her. Our foreheads meet in affection and I gaze at her one last time before latching onto her lips with mine.
It all changes in an instant. The dirty cell is gone, the chairs, Saleem, the cracked window. It's just Ziva, just me, just us together in this embrace, this kiss we've been waiting for for much too long.
Ziva tastes dusty and sweet beneath me, as our mouths open and close around each other. Slow, deep, pure. The only real thing in the world. She feeds the words from the small gap between my mouth and hers.
"Tony, I-I thought you weren't coming. I thought I was going to die without telling you..." Her voice trails off as my lips enclose hers, our noses bumping slightly.
"You know, for someone who's been tortured and kept prisoner for this long, you are exceptionally talented at this," I mutter to Ziva, and I can feel her smile. We pull apart and I hug her tightly, feeling the way she responds, wrapping my arms around her lean and ragged frame, as we rock back and forth for a few eternities. At last I break away and hold Ziva out at arm's length, examining her roughened face. She smiles at me and I smile back.
"Shall we go?" She gestures to the door and I extend an arm over her shoulder and hers rests on my hips.
"Yes," I reply simply, as together we walk out of the room, leaving Saleem and his personal hell at peace. We walk out together, arm in arm, gazing at each other, and I think, It can't get better than this. This is what they mean by pure happiness. With Ziva, my Ziva, my perfect perfect Ziva.
"Let's go home."