Disclaimer: NCIS isn't mine.
Prologue
Something tells her that she is not alone. She turns from the desk, one hand going to the rifle at her hip, muscles rigid. "Who's there?"
The air before her shimmers, and suddenly she is facing a woman who only looks a few years older than she. The stranger has straight dark hair and soft brown eyes. She is wearing a simple dark gray business suit, and she doesn't seem the least bit nervous to have a gun barrel hovering mere inches from her face. "Hello, Ziva."
The Mossad officer tenses up even more, finger tightening on the trigger. "Who are you? How do you know me?" she demands.
"My name is Caitlin Todd. I used to work here," the woman says calmly. Ziva steps back, eyes widening slightly with fear.
"Why are you here? Because my brother killed you? I had nothing to do with—"
"No," Kate says gently. "I'm here to ask you a favor."
"A...favor." Ziva lowers her gun a little. "What kind of favor?"
She isn't sure, but Kate looks like she's crying a little. "Take care of Tony and McGee for me. Tony acts like an immature teenager, but there's so much more to him than what meets the eye. And McGee..." Kate laughs shakily. "McGee's a puppy. He needs someone to look after him."
"...I will," Ziva replies quietly as she slips her rifle back into its holster. Kate smiles gratefully and turns to go, but Ziva calls her name. She looks back, giving the Israeli a questioning glance. Ziva takes a deep breath. "Kate...I am sorry about what happened to you."
"It wasn't your fault." The older woman hesitates, seeming to deliberate whether to speak again before doing so. "Ziva, I had the chance to kill Ari and I didn't. I saw his eyes, and there was something in them that...I couldn't do it. Whatever he may have been, he wasn't evil. And he loved you."
Ziva's throat is closed, preventing her from speaking, so she just nods. Kate smiles, and then she is gone like mist in the sun.