A beautiful day. She tilted her head back a little, the breeze flowing over the car's open top tumbling her long dark hair. Ziva accelerated, keeping pace with the car in front. Such a beautiful day, if only the memory would not intrude, she would be happy.
If only she could not remember. The instrument of her brother's death. Her part. Her Ari, lost forever. Svengali or not, he was still her brother, the big brother that she ran to as a child. She knew his faults, and now she understood, understood what Eli had done. It did not excuse his betrayal, but she was clear why he had. She could even feel his pain, but not his cruelty.
Conflict. Emotions stirred within her. She gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. It was useless to imagine that she could be free of the memory, even if the only memories she wanted of her precious brother where happier and long distant.
Before he became a soulless killer. Before she was forced to take the shot that ended his life.
The lights changed, and she slowed, dropping down the gears to come to rest in front of the crossing.
A tall lean-built man stepped out, something in the tilt of his head, his gait, reminded her. "Ari?" He was in her head and she called out his name without meaning to.
The man turned, and she froze, for a few seconds his dark eyes met hers. Then a look of sheer terror crossed his face, and he turned away and ran.
The percussive blast of memory and the shock of seeing his face… she reached for the gear stick, shunted into gear and accelerated. The sound of the horn exploded, a split second before the truck powered into the little sports car, hurling it sideways. Ziva's head collided with the door, and she saw stars.
She could hear shouts all around her, her head was spinning, but all she could think of was Ari… there in front her… impossible… her brother was dead.
"Miss, miss…."
The jabbering voice in her ear finally penetrated, and Ziva put a hand up to her aching head, turning to face the truck driver.
"I'm alright…" she muttered absently, reaching over, she tried to open the door. His hand was on the door handle, and he was pulling it open, she moved to stand up, and suddenly he seemed curiously far away. Her knees seemed to disappear, and she wobbled. His hand was on her arm, and the sound of sirens in distance were curiously comforting as he guided her to sit back down in the battered little car.
"I am fine." Ziva banked her temper down, shouting at the paramedic would not help; but she wanted to get this over and done with. To slink away and try to get the image of Ari out of her head.
Ari was dead and gone. The man in the street just looked a little like him, and her imagination did the rest.
"Miss." A different voice intruded on her reverie, and Ziva turned her head. The voice was deep, slightly gravelly, attractive. The man removed his sunglasses and tilted his head a little. Studying her. Red hair, a fair complexion and piercing blue eyes; Ziva studied him, this man was a very different prospect from the uniform officer who had already taken her statement.
She shielded her eyes with her hand as she looked up at him, the setting sun catching the lights in his flame red hair. "I have already given your officer my statement."
He smiled, "Lieutenant Horatio Caine, ma'am. This is merely a formality, it isn't everyday that an agent of a government agency has a crash in the street." The piercing blue eyes stared straight into hers and Ziva had the uncomfortable feeling that Horatio Caine would be no more easy to fool than a certain Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and she would be better off not trying.
His blue eyes were kind, like Gibbs, and on this day, with her feelings still raw she was in need of kindness.
"I saw a man who couldn't be there. My brother, Ari."