A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates. I've been busy studying for my finals. Today is my first half day so I decided to update. Hopefully I'll get a few chapters done before tomorrow since my only finals are Chorus and Orchestra which are really easy…
Ziva
tearfully looked at her father. "What do you mean?" she
asked, terrified of his answer.
Eli David sighed, trying to
control his emotions. "Ziva, your mother is gone. Forever. She
was killed." His voice was hard and he was irritated that she
wouldn't understand.
Ziva bit her lip, trying not to cry. Her
abba hated it when she cried. He said that it made you weak if you
cried. But, how was she not supposed to cry? Her world had been torn
apart because her mother went to the grocery store. She felt her
heart pound in her chest as Eli busied himself with Tali.
She
felt faint as her father comforted the crying child. Tali would not
understand why her mother was gone. Ari put his hand on her shoulder,
quietly comforting her. He led her out of the room and held her close
as she cried. "Hush, Ziva," he told her soothingly. "It'll
all be okay."
All she could do was cry.
NCISNCISNCIS
Ziva
walked into the bullpen and looked for McGee or Tony. Spotting
neither one, she quickly turned on Tony's monitor. On it were the
crime scene photos. A woman with long, dark
hair was dead
in her living room, stabbed to death and then shot twice. Her uniform
hung on the door. The clear plastic covering it was splattered with
blood.
She knew her father hadn't done this. He would never have
left the scene so messy. No. It had to be someone else. But who? She
knew that NCIS would only look for evidence against her father. Her
breath caught in her throat as she noticed something familiar around
the woman's neck: a star of David.
However, it wasn't only a star
of David. It was identical to the one she wore. Identical to Tali's
and her mother's. She forced her breathing back to normal as she
turned off the monitor again. She slipped back to her desk, noticing
the director watching her. She looked away quickly, pretending not to
notice.
NCISNCISNCIS
Director
Jenny Shepard
watched Ziva go through the pictures on Tony's computer. After all,
she had expected no less from the Mossad officer. Some days, she
hated her job. Today was one of them. A director of another
agency-one that they were trying to build a relationship with no
less-was being accused of murder by her people. And, not only was he
a director, but he was the father of one of her closest personal
friends. Ziva had saved her too many times to count.
The elevator
dinged quietly and Jethro stepped out of it. "What did he say?"
Jenny asked, not bothering to turn around.
"He said they were
just close friends. Said he knew her father. Came by for tea and
found her dead."
"Let me guess," she turned to look
at him, "you think they were more then just friends."
"Yep.
A pretty, younger girl with an older guy. Probably a motive of
jealousy."
The pair looked down from the cat-walk to look at
Ziva, who pretended to be doing work. "Well," Jenny broke
the silence after a moment, "I hope for her sake you're wrong.
But I doubt it. Your gut is almost never wrong." They
watched as Ziva grew restless and left, taking the
elevator.
NCISNCISNCIS
Ziva was at the gym, beating a
punching bag with her fists, trying to keep her mind off what she had
seen. Her mother had been 34 when she had died. The dead marine was
34. The two women had the same dark hair, but Ziva's mother had
always kept hers long. The marine's hair wasn't nearly as long. She
continued to assualt the bag with punches as she thought.
The
necklace on the woman's neck hadn't been a coincidence. It was
identical to her own. The bag took the brunt of her anger as she
thought about her. She was much younger than her father, but then
again, her mother had been several years younger then him. The
punches continued to collide with the bag, filling the empty gym with
sound.
She heard the elevator ding and ignored it, refusing to
acknowledge another person's presence. The footsteps approached her,
adding to the percussion of her fists. Yes. Someone was definitely
here and they were walking towards her. When they got closer, Ziva
turned, ready to tell whoever it was to go away.
To her total
shock, it was Tony. She knew something was wrong when he didn't
smile. He always looked at her suggestively when she worked out with
him. The mischevious glint wasn't in his eye and his cheeky grin was
absent. He stopped a respectable distance away and didn't even mock
Ziva for her insane curls.
"Ziva," he began, voice
totally serious. "I have to tell you, it looks bad for your
father."
This was what she had been dreading. "How bad?"
she finally had the courage to ask.
"Bad," was all he
said.
The two stood in silence for a moment as Ziva let the news
sink in. Her father, the last of her family, would probably go away
for life. That wasn't supposed to happen. When she was little, she
had always imagined living with her true love in Tel Aviv. Her sister
and brother would be nearby and her father would always be there to
help her. And her mother, too. But she had been taken away when Ziva
was so young...
"He didn't do this, Tony," she told him
softly, trying to convince herself as much as him.
"I know.
We'll just have to prove it." He said it with such confidence
that Ziva frowned slightly in confusion. "You and I, well,
mainly me since you technically aren't allowed to handle evidence,
will persue other leads." She couldn't help it, she grinned
widely at his complete faith in her father. "Come on, Zee-vah.
Get dressed in some proper clothes so we can go do legwork."
"Thank
you, Tony," she told him sincerely. He merely urged her on,
ignoring her thanks. After all, just seeing her smile was reward
enough. He hated when she wouldn't smile.NCISNCISNCIS
Eli
David remained in the interview room. He sat perfectly still, trying
to relax. He needed to see Ziva. He had to tell her that he didn't do
it. But Gibbs wouldn't let him talk to her. And now he hated Gibbs
even more.
Gibbs had killed his son. Then he had taken Ziva. He
liked having Ziva at NCIS, but he didn't like how Gibbs treated her
like she was his
not just
on loan to him. No. Ziva was definitely his. Gibbs was trying to
torture him by making him sweat. But, Eli David did not sweat. He sat
there and took it like a man.
Eli took a deep breath and tried to
think of anyone who would want to hurt the Lieutenant. So far, he was
drawing a blank. How was he supposed to seek vengence locked up in a
tiny room?
NCISNCISNCIS
The
day of the funeral, Eli David got dressed in his best black suit. He
wore her favorite tie, a silver tie made of silk, and a crisp white
shirt. His shoes were shiny and as black as they could be. He dressed
Tali before himself, putting her in a black dress with black tights
and black Mary-Janes. Ari wore a similar outfit to himself but wore a
black
tie
instead.
His Ziva did not want to wear black. She refused,
telling him that her mom hated when people were sad. And black was a
sad colour. So, she wore her pale blue skirt with a white shirt. Her
mother had loved that outfit. The two of them had gone shopping
together earlier that month and chose the ensemble. She wore her hair
down, trying to be brave.
The four of them attended the funeral,
none of them crying. They sat stoically as the rabbi said prayers for
the dead and she was buried in Tel Aviv. Her headstone was engraved
with a single rose. Her favorite flower.
They returned home and
Eli wasted no time enrolling Ziva in Ari's boarding school. He called
Nettie, their aunt, to take care of Tali until she was old enough to
go to school.
When he told Ziva about the new arrangements, she
refused to speak with him for a week. But there was nothing he could
do. There was no way he could take care of his two little girls on
his own and remain in Mossad. Mossad was his life. Family came
second.
A/N: So, the more reviews I get, the faster I'll update.
