Hey guys,
as I promised, here is the next chapter of this story. Thank you very much for your wonderful reviews, they really make me very happy. I have finals next week and on Thursday I'm leaving home for Christmas, but I promise I'll try to update before I leave, but you can be sure that there will be a chapter Friday the latest.
Read and please review, but more importantly enjoy.
xoxo LT.
I don't own NCIS or the characters, I only own a very temperamental laptop and a twisted imagination :))
I don't like you very much
He wanted to flirt with her, annoy her, and even let her kill him only so he would be able to get a response out of her. He had been working with her for the past four years, and Anthony DiNozzo recognized now when something was wrong with his partner. She was sitting on her desk, a distant look on her face, but every time she snapped back out of her trance, he would notice something disturbing in her eyes. Ziva's eyes were like pools of perfect dark chocolate, a glint of mischief present in them almost all the time. Yet today she was far away with her thoughts and he didn't know what to do get her back. For the past twenty minutes he had been staring at her, hoping that she would feel his gaze and then yell at him. Yet his efforts were in vain, and he was starting to get concerned.
In the mean time, McGee had been studying Tony intensely. Normally it would have taken DiNozzo, a few minutes to feel that somebody was looking at him, but now, he was so immerged in studying Ziva's features that he didn't notice McGee's gaze. His eyes glided towards the elevator to see if Gibbs would be storming in any minute and yell at him that he was not done with his paper work.
When he couldn't notice Gibbs' presence he let his gaze wander towards Ziva. He could see now why Tony was so concerned with her. Ziva's eyes were glassy and McGee feared that her thoughts had glided back to Somalia. He knew that there were days when she was anxious and not comfortable in her own skin, but lately it seemed that she was doing better. However he suspected that the last case had affected her more then she wanted to admit.
It had been a particularly hard week for them and McGee was glad that it was Friday and he would get to rest a little bit. On Tuesday they had found the body of a young lieutenant in a park impaled to a tree by a rusty old iron bar. While they were talking to suspects, two more bodies showed up, both killed in the same manner. There was no obvious connection between the three victims and the team had been struggling for two days to pin point a lead. Thursday morning all three agents had started to get desperate and Gibbs increasingly annoyed with their lack of results. Then the fourth body had showed up along with the killer's first mistake. He had sexually assaulted the victim, a young naval academy graduate, and impaled her to a tree in the Francis Scott Key Park. The semen found on the victim helped the team to identify the killer.
Ziva had twitched faintly when Ducky had told them that she had been raped repentantly before the murderer had taken her out of her misery. He also told them that she had fought her attacker, but he had injured her multiple times until she had lost consciousness. Although Ziva had never told them the full story of what had happened in Somalia, McGee was beginning to understand that her capturers had not resumed to only beatings and starvation.
Abby had been working continuously to provide them with a name and in the end she had been successful. Scott Branson, a 28 year old construction worker and a former student of the naval academy that had been kicked out of the academy two months before his graduation due to sexual assault on a fellow student, had killed the fourth victim out of jealousy. It seemed that the first three men had had brief contact with the fourth victim at a seminar two years prior to the murders. From what McGee had been able to find out, all three men had spoken to Leya, the fourth victim, while she worked as a volunteer at the seminar. It was the only time that the four had met, but it was enough for Scott to imagine all sorts of things. Branson, who had been in love with Leya but never had to courage to tell her, believed that she had been sleeping with each victim and decided to take revenge on them, while leaving Leya to be his final fatality.
After the case had been solved, Gibbs had given his three agents the day off so they could get some well deserved sleep, yet he demanded that they should return to headquarters the next morning and finish up their paper work. Yet somehow, when Gibbs walked into the bull pen with the ever present cup of coffee he could clearly see that his agents were far away from doing any proper work. One good look at DiNozzo and he knew that something was bothering him deeply. Tony was a goof ball in essence but at the same time he took his job very seriously, even if it meant paper work. From where he was standing Gibbs couldn't see at what exactly Tony was looking at, yet when he came closer he saw that McGee was doing any work either. The IT expert's eyes were pointing at the same direction as Tony's were, and he could see that both McGee's and Tony's brows were furrowed and a deep line creased their foreheads. A bad feeling washed over him, and he was pretty sure that he will not like what he would see. Quietly he walked into the bull pen causing both McGee and DiNozzo to raise their eyes. When they saw the older agent walk in, they began to busy themselves, but when Gibbs turned towards Ziva's he could see that his suspicion was right. He sighted , knowing all too well that she wasn't ok, that she was far away and it scared him. It seemed that every time her mind went back to Somalia it became increasingly harder to get her back. Her "trips" back to the time spent in captivity weren't that frequent as they used to be in the beginning but it didn't mean that it was easier to get her back to reality. It worried him to see her like that, and he didn't know what to do to help her. Ziva was a focused agent, but sometimes small events triggered such flashbacks, and he had a pretty good idea what had caused it this time.
When they had rescued Ziva from Saleem's hand they had brought her back to NCIS first. Back then he had insisted that a doctor should see her, but she had refused, allowing only Ducky to consult her. Later that night, after Ziva had checked into the NCIS dormitory, Ducky had come over to his house with a bottle of bourbon. The medical examiner had been extremely distressed and it took a lot of convincing and two glasses of bourbon to get him to talk. After Ducky had left, Gibbs had gone down to the basement and had smashed his boat with a sledge hammer. The words severe torture, brutal fractures, multiple rape and burn marks in the pubic area had brought him to the brink of a break down. He had let anger and guilt wash over him, while trying to forget Ducky's words by drinking another bottle of bourbon. The night brought horrible nightmares, all of them filled with her pale and bruised face, while Ducky's words continued to echo in his head. He had told no one of the extent of her injuries, and he was pretty sure that she hadn't told anyone either. Gibbs knew that if Tony would had known what she had gone through he would have been capable of going back to Somalia only resurrect and kill Saleem all over again.
The grey haired agent sat down at his desk, putting his coffee on the table, while looking at a file. He could hear typing, but he was pretty sure that their minds were not on the job. His gazed moved from the report, which was sitting in front of him to his agents. McGee was reading now something, but every couple of seconds he would peek at Ziva from behind his computer, while DiNozzo continued to have a grim expression on his face. Ziva was still staring at her computer screen but her eyes were as lifeless as at the moment he walked into the office. He sighted and stood up from his chair, walking in the middle of the bullpen. He could feel McGee's and Tony's gaze on him.
"Get your stuff and go grab lunch. I see none of you is getting any work done." He said, looking at them.
Slowly Ziva seemed to be returning to reality and she looked at Gibbs, confusion on her beautiful features.
"Hey Zi, want to grab some lunch at the Chinese place?" Tony asked and her eyes focused on him.
She seemed to put a lot of thought in her answer, and the silence started to become uncomfortable, so McGee joined in the conversation.
"Yeah Ziva, that would be great. I'll give Abby a call, I'm pretty sure she would love to join us."
"Thank you for the invitation Tony, but I'm not hungry. Thank you too Tim, but I need to finish my report." She stated weakly looking down on her paper work.
"Ziva a word, in my office." Gibbs spoke while the tow other agents looked at their boss and their co-worker. She only nodded and was about to move towards the elevator.
Right at that moment a soft sound was hear and the elevator doors slid open reveling officer Bashan followed by a slender woman dressed in khaki pants and a green tank top with a white unbuttoned shirt. They were heading towards Gibbs and Ziva with grave expressions. The slender woman and officer Bashan stopped in front of Ziva's desk, while she was still standing next to her chair looking at the two figures in front of her.
"Shalom Ziva! I hope you are well." Michael Bashan spoke, scanning Ziva from head to toe.
"Shalom Michael. I am fine, thank you. How may I assist you?" She asked, moving her gaze from her acquaintance to look at the young woman.
"Officer Harhi and I need to speak to you urgently Officer David. Privately, please." The man trailed away.
"It is agent David, officer Bashan, and you can speak freely in front of the team." She spoke, her tone harsher then intended.
"Ziva, this is a highly delicate matter that does concern you alone, not agent Gibbs, DiNozzo or McGee." Michael trailed away, annoyed by the lack of cooperation from Ziva's side.
"Officer Bashan, we can go up the conference room, but if Ziva wishes that the team stays nearby, then we don't intent to leave her side." Gibbs explained, while McGee and DiNozzo rose from their chairs.
The Mossad agent looked at the group gathered around Ziva and let out a breath that he did not know he was holding.
"Very well! Agent David would you lead us to your conference room." He spoke. As soon as the word left his lips he could feel the woman's eyes on him.
"Michael! This does not concern them! It only concerns her! I will not tolerate this!" she yelled, outraged with officer Bashan' consent.
Ziva peeled her eyes from Bashan' face so she could look at the angry woman.
"Who are you and what is your business with me?" ZIva asked sharply.
"I will not discuss this matter in front of them." She said pointing at the three men who were inching closer to Ziva.
"Well if you want to speak to Ziva you have to say in front of us because we're not going anywhere." Tony spoke, positioning himself that he would be almost standing in front of his partner.
"You listen to me American…" the slender woman began.
"Enough! Officer Harhi, we do not have time for this. Agent Gibbs would you please show us the conference room?" Officer Bashan spoke.
Gibbs only nodded leading the way towards the conference room. By now most of the office was watching the small gathering, waiting to see what will happen next.
Tony reluctantly stepped towards Gibbs, but gave Ziva a glare, smiling reassuringly. She smiled back faintly, communicating silently. The interaction between the two partners did not go unnoticed and Mili snorted disapprovingly.
"Do you have something to say to me, officer Harhi?" Ziva asked in Hebrew.
"You became soft agent David. I wonder what your father would say if he would get to witness such behavior at the office? And you call yourself metsada!" Mili replied in the same language.
"Do not provoke me. I can still break every bone in your body if I want to." Ziva warned, stepping closer to the woman.
"David, enough!" Gibbs barked and she stepped away from the woman.
Once inside the conference room, the four agents invited Mili and officer Bashan to sit down.
"You all probably wonder why we came to. This is a highly complicated matter, and no one knows that we are here. Mili has fled Israel because she was asked to leave, and I am honoring a request based on an old debt. What I and officer Harhi will tell you will not leave this room. The only two people, beside myself, that know of Mili's presence in America are my wife and daughter. They are waiting for us in the car; no one will ever know that we have contacted you, Ziva. Mili, would you explain to agent David what this is all about?" Bashan asked turning in his seat so he could see the blond Israeli woman. She on the other hand only nodded and turned towards Ziva.
"Firstly agent David, I must tell you that I am not happy of being here. I do not like you and I have never given my full consent to this, further more I do not consider you as being the appropriate person for this task. Yet I have been asked to be here and by doing so I am honoring the last request of two people very dear to me, people that I call friends." She explained giving Ziva a poisons look.
Ziva on the other hand decided to ignore the look and waited patiently for what Mili still had to tell her.
"Ziva, two weeks ago Caleb and Becka had been sent on a mission very close to Zale in Lebanon. They had taken Noah, their son, with them and I accompanied them. Their mission was to eliminate a major terrorist cell, but they had gone in without back up. You may not know, but I owe Becka and Caleb my life, so when they asked me to go with them on this mission I agreed. Little did I know that the only reason they took me with them was so I could get Noah safely out of there, and later on out of Israel. But we will get to that later on. Like I was saying, once we had identified the cell, our task was to eliminate a man called Mushat and his whole cell. All along I was certain that back up was on the way, but when we were cornered near an abandoned warehouse, Caleb told me that they were sent on this mission to die, that no back up was on the way. When our pursuers started another round of shooting, I took Noah and ran, while Caleb and Becka covered my back. From the little intel that I could gathered I have found that both of them had been killed. I do not know if the bodies had been sent back to Mossad or not." Mili explained.
"YOU LET THEM DIE THERE????????? How dare you? How dare you call yourself their friend! What a coward you are. You just took Noah and ran away, without helping them. If you have stayed there, maybe they would have stood a chance. Now they are dead and you speak so calmly of it." Ziva yelled, outrage about the tale she was listening to. Her breathing was heretical and she had jumped from her seat. Her instincts were telling her to hurt the woman in front of her, the woman that had deserted her best friend and her husband.
"Do you think this was easy for me? You believe I wanted this? I told them I would stay with them and fight but they forced me to leave, telling me I was Noah's only chance. I did not want this to happen; I wanted to stay with them." Mili yelled back
"You should have tried harder officer Harhi." Ziva replied coldly.
Mili clenched her jaw, trying to get her temper under control. She knew that she had no way of explaining to the NCIS agent that her intention had always been to stay with the people she loved so much. The only thing that she could do was complete the mission she was given, so she continued with her story.
"They had given me instructions to take Noah out of there and then back to the safe house near Haifa. In Haifa a man was waiting for us with a plane and he took us to America. Becka and Caleb had prepared two passports and money for the journey and they had left a letter with instructions. They had contacted officer Bashan before the mission and announced that I would be arriving with Noah, so he had been waiting for us at the airport, from where he took us during the night. His task would be to get us safely to you. Becka has told me that you are Noah's godmother and that you have promised that you would take care of her son if there is ever such a need." She finished, sipping from a glass of water.
A soft knock was heard and young woman entered the room. She was holding a small boy on her left arm and pulling a large suitcase with her right hand.
"Thank you Ahava. Please return to the car and wait for us." Officer Bashan said and Ahava moved closer, putting the small boy on a chair and the suitcase next to him.
Once inside the room, Noah looked around with his big brown eyes, scanning the unfamiliar faces. Mili jumped from her seat, reaching for the boy, but he pulled away, causing Ziva to furrow her brow. Mili sat back down, annoyed by the boy's reaction. Noah's eyes then fixated Ziva's features stretching his arms out and calling out: "Dodah Iva!"
Ziva stood up carefully from her seat and walked towards the chair where Noah was sitting. She was studying him intensely and being so close to him, he could find Becka's fine and elegant features in his childish face. Her fingers caressed his forehead, while the boy scooted over so he could reach her better.
"I am here tateleh, Dodah is here, don't you worry." She spoke softly.
At that moment, Noah lunged into her arms and began sobbing. Ziva rubbed his back soothingly, holding him closer to her.
"Dodah, i..i…ima and aba come not back, dodah. Bad men hurt ima." He cried in the crock of her neck.
She could feel the sting of her unshed tears, so she held the crying boy tighter, while burying her face in his tinny body.
