So, last night I was listening to what I will, for the time being, call my 'possible wedding songs if I ever can commit to someone long enough to get married' playlist, when I had this overwhelming impulse to write about everything that I don't currently have in life. Great, right? Well, yes... for you it is. Then it was only the decision about what couple to write about, and my mind just settled on Ziva and Abby, because as unlikely as it is, I think they compliment each other nicely.
This upcoming weekend is a long one, and originally I was gonna get started on it then, but I figured 'hell, I don't have that much homework tonight', and it is a holiday of romance, so why not? I mean, it's not like I got anything better to do, just chillin in my dorm room like all the other cool kids who do not have a love life. Whatever.
Anywho, updates will be irregular, because I have a hella busy work/school schedule (as well as two other woefully neglected stories), but there are currently somewhere near 30 songs to go through, so stay tuned! At this point, I think most, if not all, chapters will be independent drabbles, but that's not a bad thing, is it?
Time-line: start of season seven.
You're falling back to me, a star that I can see, I know you're out there, somewhere out there.
Somewhere Out There - Our Lady Peace
Abby stared at the picture on the computer screen. She wasn't quite sure when or where it was taken, but her eyes did not wander. It was such a candid shot, she never got over how incredibly different the Israeli looked.
She had been wearing a thin green sweater, a color that Abby had always secretly thought looked amazing with her tanned skin. Her hair was down in thick curls, not at all unusual for the Israeli, but the relaxed, peaceful smile that she wore was a far cry from her typical coy smirk.
That smile made her look youthful, Abby decided, conceding to the fact that Ziva was quite a bit younger than herself; she had been the baby of the team.
Her brown eyes were shining with such a look of happiness, no matter how often Abby studied the picture, it always threw her for a loop.
It had been more than four months since they had last seen each other. After all that had happened beforehand, the departure had been one of awkwardness and tension - a quick hug and halfhearted smile was all Abby had spared before sending the brunette off, confident that they would see each other again shortly.
But Ziva had not returned with everyone else, and Abby's heart had plummeted to the floor. She managed to hold herself together for a couple of weeks, until the news of the Damocles' destruction reached the NCIS headquarters.
To be more accurate, it was the news of who had been on board of the ship that sent her reeling. After hearing the news, she had retreated to her lab where she promptly had been physically ill, before breaking down into tears, and falling into her own personal bubble of regret and despair.
She had never told the Israeli how much their friendship had meant, how much she had meant. How just a few words, or a single smile of her's could keep Abby going better than ten Caf-Pows could ever. How each day she spent so much time at work, just to increase her chances of interacting with the Israeli, if even for a few moments.
With almost a crazed madness, Abby gathered everything she could on Ziva's last assignment, leaving nothing out. Then she had found it, the one thing that could lead them to who had been responsible for Ziva's death. With that information, Gibbs, McGee and Tony had left once again, off to avenge their former teammate.
As relieved as Abby was, armed with that knowledge, she worried for their health as well. She sat by her office phone constantly, waiting for that outside call that would let her know everything was right again. When it had come, she had jumped out of the seat, talking animatedly as per usual. With McGee's reassurance that the four of them were on their way home, Abby had let out a relieved sigh before it had sunk in.
Four. McGee's revelation that Ziva was alive and, though not well, with them, safe and secure, almost caused Abby to faint with disbelief. She sunk into the computer chair, not believing the field agent at first. Then her heart started to beat, and she had stayed up all night, suddenly too wired to do anything but pace in her lab, long after the rest of the place had gone home.
Not that it was an uncommon occurrence for her.
And there she was again, sitting at her desk, alternating between the imagine on her computer screen and the telephone on her desk, as if her gaze could cause it to ring. Her green eyes returned to the computer screen.
Ziva was coming home. She was alive, and she was coming home.
"I promise you Ziva," Abby started talking to the picture as if she were already there. "I promise you, I'll take care of you. Whatever you need, however long you need, I don't care, I'll be there. For anything. I don't even care if-"
The loud ringing cut her off, and in a flash Abby had picked up the phone and pressed call in one swift motion.
"McGee! What? You're here already? Where? Walking into the main lobby!"
Without considering the situation, Abby hung up the phone, before jumping from her chair and running as fast as possible with her three inch platform boots. Knowing that the elevator would soon be going down, if it already wasn't, she made a beeline straight for the stairs, climbing them up to the bullpen in record time. Ducky was already there, waiting.
His rock-like presence helped to placate some of her anxiety.
For what seemed like hours, Abby stared at the elevator, willing the metal doors to open. The ring of the lift's appearance finally rang throughout the large room, and Abby held her breath. She suppressed her disappointment of seeing Gibbs first, but when Ziva came into view, everything went out of her head.
Simply put, the Israeli looked awful. Gone was her usual golden tan. She was pale from lack of sun, which caused the visible bruises to stand out all the more. Her hair fell around her face in unwashed tangles, as she slowly followed their quiet leader. Her eyes were wary and tired, almost empty.
Abby's heart broke slightly at the picture, finally having an inkling of exactly what the Israeli could have experienced. Slower than Ziva's own pace, as if she were afraid of scaring the other away, Abby walked around Ducky, even as the claps broke out in the room. Hesitantly she raised her hand to cup the brunette's cheek, still in disbelief.
When Ziva did not pull away, Abby wrapped her arms around the smaller woman gently, a far cry from her usual death-grip-like hugs. She felt Ziva relax after a moment, her arms coming around Abby's lower back, just as hesitantly.
It seemed like entirely too short of a time when they pulled apart, but Abby silently escorted the brunette down to autopsy, where Ducky did a thorough medical examination before gently ushering the pair away. Abby was hesitant to leave Ziva alone, but she brought the younger woman to her office, promising that she would be back immediately. Her trip back to the bullpen took less than five minutes as she told Gibbs that Ziva would be with her.
He agreed.
Returning to find that the brunette had not moved even an inch from where Abby had left her, the dark haired girl pulled the smaller into another hug, just as gently as before.
"Come on," she said quietly, before leading Ziva out of NCIS and to her red hearse. Abby helped her into the passenger's seat, before leaving the Navy yard and navigating the streets to her surprisingly spacious two bedroom apartment. After picking out a change of clothes, she let Ziva shower as she made a light dinner of soup and cinnamon-chai tea that she knew the Israeli had always loved.
Silently Ziva consumed the light dinner, which Abby had some suspicions of it being the most food the Israeli had been allowed in a while. When Ziva had finished, Abby ushered her to the guest room, where the double bed was freshly made, covers already pulled back.
It concerned Abby, the brunette's lack of response, but the Goth ignored it as she tucked the other woman in, promising to be just a room away. But Abby could not sleep, her mind whirling at what the day had brought, concern for Ziva not allowing her rest. It was nearly one in the morning when rustling reached her ears. After a few minutes it had not got away, and Abby climbed out of her coffin, before checking on her house guest.
Ziva was quite obviously in the middle of a nightmare as she thrashed around, mumbling a mixture of English, and what Abby rightly guessed to be Arabic.
The forensic scientist froze at the sight, before hurrying across the room. She feel to her knees beside the bed, tentatively reaching out to touch Ziva's shoulder.
The Israeli shoved the hand away, voice raising slightly. Biting her lower lip, Abby tried again, this time touching her cheek like she had earlier.
Like magic, Ziva calmed quickly, though still mumbling in a different language. After a minute Abby pulled away, and several moments later, Ziva was restless again, shifting though she was still asleep.
Replacing her hand, Ziva calmed once more. Two more attempts yielded the same result. Almost reluctantly at how the Israeli could react to her presence, Abby crawled onto the bed, taking Ziva's hand in her own as she pulled the blankets that Ziva had kicked away over them both.
Eventually the muttering stopped completely, and Ziva breathed easily as Abby softly rubbed circles on the back of her hand, not releasing it from her light grip. The younger woman unconsciously huddled closer to the comforting presence, her head finding a place on Abby's shoulder. Abby switched hands, before wrapping her left arm loosely around Ziva, half hugging her.
Abby sat there for a while longer, staring up at the dark ceiling until her companion's soft breathing finally succeeded in luring her to sleep.
