A/N: Hey guys. This chapter is gonna rock your world, and Ziva's.
Did you hear the latest spoilers? Daaaaang. I'm not sure what to think! I'm so confused and excited, but like others, I don't think my heart can take much more of this!
Beep… beep… beep… beep… beep…
Ziva lay in a white hospital bed in a white hospital room. Her eyes fluttered open as she realized the ache in her chest. She looked over to see a man sitting beside her bed. She moaned just a little as she tried turning over to her side.
"Hey, don't try and move," He said gently. "Do you remember what happened?" English.
"No," Ziva shook her head. "I don't remember anything,"
"Do you know who you are?"
"No," She began to panic internally.
"Do you remember who I am?"
Ziva stared at him for a moment, scrapping her mind for any piece of information, any clue. "No,"
Tim walked into the room quietly. "Your name is Ziva David. You are an Israeli Mossad officer," Gibbs said. "Do you remember Israel?"
"I do not remember anything… I can speak English?"
Tim smiled. "You know five languages,"
"Impressive… What happened to me?" Ziva asked tentatively.
They two men spent the half hour filling her in on who she was, the team, and what had happened two days ago.
"Why can't I remember anything?"
"You hit your head pretty hard on the edge of my desk. Doctors said to expect some memory loss,"
"Is it permanent?" She asked after a moment.
"We don't know yet," Gibbs answered.
"So why are you still here?" She finally asked. Her mind was exploding with this new information.
"The media found out. He knows you're alive. He'll come after you again. I'm not losing another agent,"
"Another agent?" Tim and Gibbs exchanged a glance.
"You rest. Tim will stay here with you. You don't leave her, you understand?" He said, ignoring her question.
Tim nodded. "I'll be right here,"
Suddenly the door opened, and an ecstatic forensic scientist ran into the room.
"Ziva!" Abby cried.
"Abby, quiet down. There are other patients in this hospital," McGee reminded her.
Abby went over. "Would a hug hurt too much?" She asked with a tentative smile.
"I'm afraid so," Ziva said.
"Well then these will have to do," Abby set down a vase of black roses on the nightstand.
"Thank you… Abby," Ziva said, looking strangely at the flowers.
Abby looked at her, confused by her reaction. "Abby, we have to talk," Gibbs said as he put an arm around her, leading her outside.
Later that night McGee drove Ziva home.
"Gibbs wants me to stay the night. I'll be out here on the couch if you need me,"
Ziva nodded as she looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings.
"Would you like some tea?" He asked.
"Um…"
"I can make it. You keep your favorite kind over there in the cabinet. Why don't you go lie down for a bit and I'll bring it into you when it's done?"
"Alright," Ziva said, walking down the hallway to the only bedroom in the apartment.
She walked into the room. She set down her phone on the nightstand and coat on a chair, unsure of what to do. It was a nice room, but simple. Ziva sat down on her bed carefully, trying not to disturb her recovering wound.
Her phone began to buzz silently and she picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Ziva," The voice on the other said quietly. It was a man.
"Who is this?"
"An old friend,"
"How do I know you are not the person who is trying to kill me?"
"I couldn't do that to you," He said. He sounded sort of sad, like it was hard to get out the words.
"Then who are you?"
"Someone you once knew… I heard you got shot,"
"Yes. It barely missed my heart,"
"I also hear you don't remember anything,"
She was silent for a moment. "No, I do not,"
"I miss you," He finally said. When she didn't answer, he added, "Don't worry. You don't have to tell me you miss me. You have good reason not to remember,"
"I am sure Ziva misses you," She said. "I feel like I am someone else. I do not know who I am. I feel like an… an outsider,"
"That sucks," He said after a moment. His voice was weak and even quieter than before.
"Yes, it does," She agreed.
"I have to go,"
"Alright… goodbye,"
"Bye," He hung up.
Ziva sat quietly on her bed, more confused than ever. McGee walked in, holding a coffee cup and a small bottle of pills.
"Here's your tea and your meds. You need to take two of these every four hours, got it?"
She nodded. "I'll be out in the living room if you need anything. Just keep the curtains drawn and lights low,"
"Thank you, Agent McGee,"
He smiled sadly. "You're welcome,"
Ziva awoke the next morning to the soft sound of rain. It was 4:30 am, but she couldn't fall asleep. She pulled herself out of bed before walking out slowly to the kitchen. Gibbs sat in her dining room drinking coffee.
"Morning, Ziva,"
"Good morning, Agent Gibbs," His heart fell a little. He had hoped that some rest would cure her clouded head. "Where is Agent McGee?"
"I told him to go home and sleep,"
"Oh," Ziva said as she searched the cabinets for her tea.
"It's the one above the sink, on the right," Gibbs said.
"Thank you," She said, turning on the heat below the teapot that sat on the stove. "Are you always up this early?"
"Every day for the past nineteen years,"
She was quiet for a moment. "Am I always up this early?"
"Every day for your morning run,"
"But I guess that's out of question today,"
Gibbs took another sip of coffee."Oh yeah,"
"Do you always drink so much coffee?"
"Mmmhmmm. A few cups,"
"Wow,"
"A few cups each morning. The rest of the day I guess I drink a couple gallons,"
"Ha," She said as she turned off the gasoline beneath the squealing teapot. "Shouldn't you be investigating who did this?" Ziva asked.
"Right now the most important thing to for me to do is to make sure that you were safe,"
"Oh," she said again, settling down at the table with her mug. "I have so many questions,"
"I know," He replied, followed by another sip.
"You do?"
"I lost my memory once too. Almost got blown up. I was in a coma for a few days. When I woke up, I thought it was still 1991,"
"How did you get out of it?" She asked quietly.
He looked over at her. "You,"
"Me?"
He nodded before taking a sip. "You made me give you a head-slap. You told me about your brother, Ari,"
"How would that help you remember?"
"Ari killed Kate,"
"Who was she?"
"One of my agents," He paused.
"Go on,"
"You killed Ari,"
"I what?" Tears stung her eyes. "Why? Why would I do that?"
"To protect me,"
She began to cry. "I killed my brother to protect you?" Gibbs nodded. "Why?"
"Ari was going to kill me,"
"Agent Gibbs," She whispered through her tears. "What kind of a person am I? Killing my own brother? I'm not even a person, I am a monster,"
Gibbs walked over to her, knelt, and held her hand. "You look at me. You are not a monster. You were protecting me and following orders. You did the right thing,"
"You are only saying that because it is not you who died,"
Gibbs sighed. "Ziva, there's something else. Ari… Ari was a Hamas terrorist. He held Kate and Ducky hostage and killed countless others,"
Ziva looked down. "I think I will go back to bed," She whispered as she walked backed to her room.
"Come back soon, Ziva," Gibbs said quietly as he followed her with his eyes.
She closed the door behind her and sat on the edge of the bed. Ziva was lost. She had all of her instincts, her habits; she just didn't have her memories. But judging by the little she knew about herself, she didn't want to. She couldn't decide between knowing who she was and being ignorant for the rest of her life.
Tony lay in his bunk quietly, head resting on his hands, staring up at the bunk above him. The past weeks had been hell.
He had never meant to hurt the team. But he had to die. He had to disappear, to protect himself. To protect them. To protect her. Tony rolled over and pulled out a photo of her from his pillow. It was the only thing he had saved from his like as Tony DiNozzo. It was one he had taken when in LA the previous summer. She was smiling at him like the she did, her eyes both suspicious and flirtatious as she looked up from her book. Tony remembered the smile.
"Sergeant Ryan," a commanding voice called. Quickly Tony threw down the photo and stood, awaiting orders.