INTERLUDE

A/N: Just a thought on what may have happened on the trip from Somalia back to D.C. Realistically, they would have stopped in Germany to see to not only Ziva's wounds, but Tony's and Tim's, yet Ziva could only be the most severe, and not only on the outside. I brought Abby and Ducky over to Germany because it served the short. This is complete.

"No. please, No!" Ziva cried. Squirming under her blankets. Her German hospital staff members had no idea on how to handle her. They scared her beyond belief. She scared them beyond belief. But this was the first step before bringing Ziva home to Bethseda.

Suddenly, she screamed at the top of her lungs and thrashed so violently that Ducky feared new broken bones. Her ribs were already broken, her left wrist completely broken and so much of her so damaged or so very broken or severely scarred, not to mention the many wounds she bore and the stitches were ripping open as she breathed... she couldn't... Her screams echoed down the corridors. The team had barely arrived as she was sent ahead with Ducky, and Ziva was terrified and unable to be calmed. She had slept fitfully on the flight from Somalia, plagued with terrible nightmares until she was sedated.

She screamed again, ripping more stitches and tearing a hole in Ducky's soul, knowing that he could not awaken her from her nightmare.

"Get the Hell away from me! Do not touch me! Go away!" She screamed at unseen assailants. Ducky did what he could and gathered his dear and broken friend (a granddaughter in his heart) in his gentle arms to try and soothe her.

"Sweetheart, you're safe now. No one will hurt you. Listen to me. It's Ducky. We have long talks over tea in autopsy," he felt her relax slightly. "That's right, my dear girl, think about a nice, soothing cup of tea."

Arriving and hearing her screams, the team ran to her room to aid her. They were terrified to find her so broken.

"Hush, Ziva, Hush dear child. You're safe now, " he whispered to her. She still struggled against him. She pushed against his gentle arms.

Suddenly, she let out blood-curdling scream. "I am dead. I must be dead because I will never see you again. I must be dead. I am dead...I am dead...I am dead. I will never see you! I am dead!"

Ducky drew her in more securely, sending pleading looks at Gibbs, DiNozzo, McGee and Abby. "You are most assuredly not dead, Ziva". Ducky relinquished her to the gentle ministrations to Abby.

Abby followed the pain and embraced Ziva, despite the painful thrashing. "No, You're not dead. You don't get out of this without knowing you're loved. Thrash away. I love you."

Ziva screamed in pain again and burrowed herself in Abby's embrace. Suddenly Abby pulled Ziva in, mindful of her injuries. She looked back at the men as the woman in her arms wept with abandon. She understood entirely. "Sometimes it's just a girl thing and you boys need to go golfing or bowling or something. It's Germany. Go on a beer crawl and have some for us. Go away. I got this. Don't be afraid. She's going to need all of us to get through this. You rescued her body. Now we need to rescue her soul."

Abby held Ziva through the terrified torrent, soothing her and assuring her that Ziva was indeed, alive and safe again. She told her that they were in Germany at the military hospital so Ziva's wounds could be seen to.

Ziva finally calmed. She lifted her left arm, heavy in a blindingly white cast. "He broke my arm?"

"Saleem? No not really. He damaged it so badly that the slightest tug would break it. Tony broke it getting you out of the camp. He feels terrible and promises to do everything for you when we get home. Don't be mad at him," Abby said, glad the Ziva had now calmed. She stroked Ziva's still filthy hair, as she hadn't been bathed yet. "We are going home just as soon as the doctors release you. I promise, Ziva. You need to come home to us."

Ziva's eyes welled with tears. In her mind's eye she did not envision Israel, but Washington D.C. as home; her place in Georgetown...that was blown up. "My home blew up. I have no home now. I have no home."

Abby was adamant. "No, no, no! Gibbs said that you could stay with him and McGee and Tony and I will be happy to let you stay until you find a place of your own. We don't turn our family out on the street, Ziva. You are family! And Ducky has that big old house! He said you could move right on in! We love you, don't you get that? Why the hell did the boys go to Somalia and risk their lives to get you? We love you and you belong to our family. We love you, Ziva."

Ziva looked into Abby's loving emerald eyes and felt herself collapse again. Abby held her up and held her through the physical pain that wracked her slender frame as she cried, yet again. Yes, this was a different Ziva from the one that left the Marine transport one short. She was no less deadly and determined, but a little broken, a little softer. She'd still threaten DiNozzo with 18 different deaths from a paperclip and tease McGee and even challenge Gibbs as she always did when she thought it right. She'd still take tea with Ducky and go to the Korean Spa with Abby, but she had been changed and she would need time to discover this new Ziva without letting totally go of the old one. Her family would be there through it all.