Meeting Officer David
"This is…beautiful" Emily says to her partner, who just looks at her and rolls his eyes. "I know you've been here more times than you can remember but still" Both of them were standing in the middle of nowhere, almost an hour away from Tel Aviv
Lopez smiles at her "Yeah Prentiss, it's still beautiful…it's a shame we're here on assignment otherwise I would've show you around"
Emily sighs "Why are we here again?"
"Classified for you, but don't worry joined operations with Mossad usually go smoothly, your only task is to be a mediator between us and Officer David…when you move higher you'll know it all" He winks at her before leaving the tent, knowing that it will happen sooner than she thinks
She's glad for being the only woman among the 8 Interpol agents that were sent to Tel Aviv, when her boss told her she was selected she couldn't believe it… she's the youngest of all of them and doesn't have security clearance high enough to even know what this is about, hell she's only been an agent for a year! But, she was chosen to be a full time liaison between both agencies and, as always, she'll do her best. Being the only woman means she gets her own tent, and she's more than grateful for the solitude…"Prentiss? Can I come in?" Emily hears Anderson's voice, "Yes"
"Hey, boss called…you have a meeting with Officer David tomorrow at 7" He says amused
Emily smiles "Good, I'll be in the city during the morning but I should be able to make it back in time" She really wants to walk around Tel Aviv before leaving, but they're an hour away from it
This time Anderson laughs "7 am Prentiss… the Officer will be waiting for you"
"Damn, I'll be there Anderson…and please, stop laughing" She says pissed
He laughs harder "The officer is serious and very young, but brilliant and efficient so don't make us look bad…after all we're known for being punctual"
Emily rolls her eyes "And I thought we were the cocky ones"
"You love England anyway… and yes, Americans are the cocky ones… it's annoying you know?"
"Oh? I've been giving you nothing but love since I arrived and this is how you pay me?" She jokes
He takes her hand "You're not annoying Prentiss and you should be more cocky, you're great"
She blushes "Thanks…I guess"
"Nonsense, it's the truth… I'll leave you alone now" Anderson says before kissing her cheek
Emily watches him go, he's been like a brother for her during this year and she couldn't be happier for that…Working in the biggest boys club in the world hasn't been exactly easy, but her dreams are coming true and that's all it matters.
During the rest of the day she hears all kind of things about the mysterious Officer David, who she assumes it's a guy because nobody told her the opposite; how he always gets the job done no matter what, the numerous languages he speaks and how everyone trusts his ways of doing things. She laughs because this are all stories that the agents have heard, in reality only Mossad agents have contact with him…this is the first time he will be making contact with them "You're so lucky Emily Prentiss" one of her colleagues says. She's curious about this guy, but at the same time worried she won't be good enough for the task…
~~Friends from the Past~~
The next morning she wakes up excited, from what she knows Anderson it's the only one that has been in touch with the officer, but he's not sharing with her "You'll be surprised" he says to her before she leaves
She walks with her head held high, not wanting to seem weak in front of the officer, and after what felt like hours walking she stands outside his tent "I'm looking for Officer David" she says and the guard nods…
"You are the first agent that pronounces my name correctly" Ziva David says to the shocked agent in front of her, and truth be told she's shocked too "And the first woman I see here, congratulations Agent Prentiss… this means you are one of the best"
Emily now understand why Anderson told her she would be surprised, "Thanks… good morning Officer David, I've heard a lot about you" They shake hands
"Only tales Prentiss, I bet you thought I was a guy" For the first time Ziva laughs in front of another agent, "Please, sit down"
Emily nods and sits "Actually yes, don't get me wrong but…"
"Mossad is a huge boys club too" she says "This just means we worked hard enough to be where we are now… my name is Ziva, by the way"
"I'm Emily" she says
Ziva smiles, "Let's get this over with" she takes out a couple of papers "Here are all the stuff your people needs to know, we will be moving in 3 days and hopefully we will be done that same day"
Emily nods "Good, I bet they will be happy to know that and to meet you…" she chuckles
"Oh no, I do not participate directly… as a control officer I only have to take care everyone does its job"
"Guess we will be the only ones here on Monday"
"You will?" Ziva asks surprised, she thought Emily would be involved
"Yeah, my security clearance isn't high enough… but I've been thinking about spending the day in the city" Emily says excited, she really wants to visit Tel Aviv before leaving
Ziva's eyes light up hearing this; she has never seen any interest in other agents to know her city "I could give you a tour"
"Really?" Emily says, surprised the young officer has time to walk around with her
Ziva nods "I would love to do it"
"Won't you be needed for the operation?"
"I trust my people, they'll do everything right" Ziva says proudly
Emily smiles again "Well then, I'll see you on Monday" she says standing up "It's good to finally meet you Ziva"
"You too Emily, I will see you on Monday" Ziva stands up and gives the agent a hug. She watches Emily leave her tent with a smile on her face, for some reason she feels close to the black haired American
~~Friends from the Past~~
Emily is happy, Anderson was right; she was in for a huge surprise. For some reason she already feels close to Ziva, maybe because they're both around the same age…she can't tell for sure but she definitely has 'something' that makes Emily trust her.
Anderson is waiting for her, "Surprise" he says laughing and she just smiles at him
"Surprise indeed but it was nice, she's nice" Emily says, giving her the papers Ziva gave her this morning "She sent you this"
"I'm glad to hear that, and thanks for bringing this… when do we start?"
"Monday, she said she's confident about this and you will probably be done the same day" She steps back to take off her shoes
Anderson nods "Then we probably will… that's all?"
"She offered to accompany me during my visit to Tel Aviv"
He's surprised "Wow, you're really one of the good ones Prentiss… nobody has ever seen a smile on her face and you managed to get that and a personal tour"
"Well… I don't know what it is but I feel like I know her and I think she thinks the same" Emily lets her friend know
"Trust your instinct then" Anderson tells her before taking his papers again "I got to go and talk with the others, get some rest… and remember you need to keep training"
Emily rolls her eyes "I know, believe me… while you're all out there I'll be sweating"
"Don't let the guys see you, they might be scared" He chuckles and Emily smiles, "Bye Emily and thanks for everything"
"Just doing my work…let me know if you need something else" He nods and leaves, Emily decides to change and just lay on her bed, after all she needs to do it if she wants to be at her 100% all the time. She still can't believe she's here, finally making her dreams true…sure, like her mother says it's a weird dream for a girl but who cares what others may think? ... Take Ziva, for example, if she cared about others would she be where she is right now? Does her family approve it? Do them feel proud?. She promises herself she will try her best to not make assumptions about people again.
Ziva David stands tall among her subordinates, and after ordering them to go and get some rest she decides to walk to the Interpol camp… she must admit she's very intrigued by Emily, since it's the very first time she comes across a woman in her line of work, sure she knows it's not that difficult to find them around the world, but still…she won't let this opportunity pass her by. She clears her throat, even though she already had the attention of most of the men in the camp "…I'm looking for Agent Prentiss" she says loud and clear
Anderson smiles "Officer David, it's nice to see you again" he says before shaking hands, "I'll lead you to Emily's tent" He tries not to laugh watching the others' faces
"How have you been Agent?" She asks politely
"Very good, thank you… I'm glad we're working together again" He says before calling his friend "Emily? Someone is here to see you"
"Come in" Emily says
Ziva hugs Agent Anderson "Let's hope it will not be the last one" She enters slowly "Shalom Emily"
"Ziva! What brings you here?" Emily hugs her "please sit"
Ziva sits and observes everything that surrounds her, clearly Emily is always learning, she can see books in Russian, Spanish, French "Te gustan los idiomas?" (Do you like languages?)
Emily's eyes light up hearing her "Si! Me encantan, ¿cuantos hablas?" (yes, I love them, how many do you speak?) She asks switching quickly to Spanish
Ziva smiles "Almost 7" she switches again, "I still have some problems with English, but I'm learning Russian, German and Italian now"
"That's a lot, I speak 6 fluently and right now I'm struggling with Arabic… but I could help you with your English or Russian or Italian" Emily chuckles "I speak Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Greek and well English"
"I speak Hebrew, Arabic, Pashto, Turkish, French, Spanish and English" Ziva says proudly "Abba is always saying how important is to be able to communicate with the world…"
Emily rolls her eyes "Parents… mother is always telling me the same"
Both women are surprised at how easy is to speak with the other, soon enough they have a good impression of who the other is… "And you lived in all those countries?" Ziva says surprised, she has traveled a lot but she's never stayed anywhere for more than a couple of months
Emily nods "Yeah, it's very exhausting and lonely… since we never stayed for more than 2 or 3 years I became tired of saying good bye so I never made any friends, well except when I was in Italy…" She stops, she didn't realize she was about to reveal her biggest secret
Ziva takes her hand and a deep breath "My little sister died a few years ago, everything's been dark since then" a lonely tear rolls down her cheek
Emily looks away, "I've never told anybody but… I had an abortion when I was 15, mother didn't let me keep the baby" Acting on pure instinct she hugs Ziva as tight as she can "You know what? Here's my cell phone and address, whenever you feel like you're surrounded by darkness or you just need to talk…" She wipes her tears and writes her number
"We won't say good bye ok? From now on, I'm your friend" Ziva smiles and hugs Emily again, before writing her number too
~~Friends from the Past~~
"I can't believe you do this every day Zi" Emily says, Ziva woke her at 5 am for a run before they go to Tel Aviv
Ziva laughs "Mossad training is though Ems, but this was nothing"
Emily laughs too "I don't want to know… I'll never complain about Interpol again" she says before drinking the last bit of water in her bottle
"Let's go to my tent, I have breakfast waiting for us and clothes for you" Ziva says and Emily follows her. The camp is full of people running from one side to the other, getting ready for the mission, but as soon as Ziva arrives everyone is staring at them "I trust you're all more than capable of handling this, don't disappoint me" she looks at Ari while saying this, which doesn't go unnoticed by Emily, but Ari winks at her and Ziva knows he got her message.
Emily waits until they're inside "something going on?"
"What do you mean?" Ziva says
"You and that guy out there… it feels like you don't trust him" She says before sitting
Ziva sighs "He's my half brother, Ari…" She sits and starts eating, but then she realizes Emily is waiting for more "It's complicated Ems, I … I want to trust him but something inside me is telling me to be careful"
"You should listen to your gut Zi"
Ziva chuckles "That's the weirdest thing I've heard…" Emily winks and she continues "I love him, he's my brother and…"
"You don't want him to do anything he could regret, I understand" They keep eating in silence, both secretly hoping everything is right for all the agents
Ziva finishes her tea "Ready for Tel Aviv? A car will be taking us there"
"Of course! Thank you for coming with me again"
"Nonsense Ems, it's my city so I will show it to you… like you will show me the best of London when I go"
Both friends laugh and go outside, the sun is finally high in the sky and Emily feels happier than ever… she's not only starting what it will be an amazing career, she also has a new friend by her side
~~Friends from the Past~~
Hello again!
I hope you like this prequel; I'm going to be adding bits and pieces of the story every now and then… all the one shots here will be from the past, the future ones will be on another post called "Sometimes Future"
I'll be writing more soon, probably one piece to open Sometimes future and go on from there…
Kisses,
Cami