A/N Alrighty. I have nothing witty to say for my disclaimer so I'm just going to leave it at, I do not own NCIS. Dang. Oh, and I might have a wee bit of explaining to do but so as not to spoil anything I've placed it at the very end of the chapter. Also, most of this story is T rated. But since I do enjoy including a good tiva sex scene now and then it's M, but that's the only reason why. I must say, sorry to be slow. But this is that light bulb moment I was talking about. Here you go. Enjoy. Jeanne
X
The world was black.
Ziva.
He felt the sofa cushions sink under his weight as a set of strong hands lay him down.
Is.
He smelled cat pee as the hands slid his shirt over his head. The hands removed his pants and slid on a pair of boxers.
Pregnant.
Voices buzzed in the background. Low. Hushed. Angry. Fighting.
Don't hurt her. Don't hurt her baby.
"Unh." He grunted. The mute darkness swam into blurry reality. Ziva's face surfaced. Her head didn't seem to be attached to her body. He blinked, trying to focus. Her face wouldn't hold still. It shifted from left to right. "Ziva, there are two of you."
"Not exactly," said the Ziva on left. "Just how hard did you hit him?"
"Apparently harder than I thought." Said the Ziva on the right.
The Ziva on the right looked a little off. Her liquid brown eyes crinkled at the corners as she stared at him. A thin C shaped scar connected the edge of her nose and her mouth. She noticed him staring and she traced the arc of it with her finger. She smiled and the corner of her lip did not turn up. "Tony DiNozzo. My daughter always did have good taste."
"Mrs. David?" he choked.
"Ms. Chevral." She said. "But please. Call me Sarah."
"Sarah." He sat up. "What were you doing in the bushes?"
"I saw you run around the back of the house. Forgive me, if I assumed the worst."
He rubbed the back of his head, the clogging elephant in snowshoes dancing in his skull slowly faded into the background. "Let me rephrase that. You're not here just to visit, now are you?"
"Unfortunately no." Sarah pulled a memory card from her bag. "Anyway to take a look at this?"
"The plasma in our bedroom." Ziva said.
He pulled Ziva aside as Sarah swung down the short hall ahead of them. "Please tell me you're the one who undressed me."
"If it makes you feel better she had her eyes closed." Ziva said.
"Hmp."
"What?"
"I can't decided if that's good kinky or bad kinky."
"Good kinky, I think."
In their bedroom Sarah Chevral gestured to the photo on the screen. Two middle aged men marched side by side through the maze like street of a congested souq. "This was taken two weeks ago Khan El Khalili, Cairo." She pointed at them. "Giles St. Aubin and Gavin Gaffnee. They're wanted in the intelligence circuit by a dozen countries the world over, including yours and ours. But I'm more interested in her."
Her finger emphatically stabbed the woman who walked a few paces behind St. Aubin. An amorphous cloud of black robes, her face was twisted away from the camera and partially obscured by her veil.
Sarah's face was solemn. "We've been on the look out ever since…"
Ziva's eyes locked on the woman's face. Her mother's words sounded hollow and far away as the past tumbled into the present. Go ahead and say it mother. Ever since my sister in law, former best friend, confidant, shot me? Ever since she made me lose my child?
"….it… happened." Sarah said. "Then four days ago she showed up in Granada." She changed the picture. A woman sat at a small café table, her face partially obscured by large sunglasses. She smiled at her companion, cup of coffee half way to her mouth.
Sarah turned to them both, her voice stony. "Hannah Haswari is back from the dead."
"Maybe you made a mistake? We should have Abby run facial recognition software on her to be sure." Ziva said. She hoped she didn't sound as frantic as she felt.
"Did it." Sarah squeezed her daughter's hand briefly before letting it drop. "It is. She's traveling under the name Gila Khoury. She boarded a private jet that took off from Algiers thirty-six hours ago. Hannah has a long memory. She's patient and cold-blooded and she hates you. If I were her…"
"You'd kill me." Ziva finished the thought.
Sarah switched into Hebrew. "Make it public you're pregnant. Word will get back to her soon enough. She won't be able to resist. This time we'll be waiting and we'll get her."
Ziva nodded yes. This time. I will. I'll turn her into so many pieces no one will ever be able to make her whole again.
"No." Tony said. "The baby stays out of this."
"I thought you didn't speak Hebrew. I'm impressed." Sarah smiled her half-smile at him.
"I don't but I know that look on her face. She's not going to be bait for a mad woman. Not now."
"Would you prefer to wait until after the baby's born? Think that's going to be any safer?" Sarah said angrily.
"There's got to be another way." Now I see where Ziva gets it. "Send someone to track her down. Isn't that what you do?"
Sarah stiffened. "It's what I do."
"Ziva." He said. "Tell me you aren't stupid enough to go looking for revenge."
"This is not about revenge."
The steely glint in her eyes betrayed her. "Like hell it's not."
"I'll let you two talk it over." Sarah walked towards the door.
"I'll get you some blankets." Ziva said. "You can sleep on the sofa."
Sarah paused, her hand on the doorjamb. She turned to them. "No need. I won't be sleeping tonight. Evil doesn't die. It just changes shape."
X
Tony stifled a yawn. It was now shortly after one a.m. They'd fought until he was hoarse and had no choice but to concede. Ziva would always do what she thought right. He could either watch her or help her. And this time she was going to need all the help she could get.
Ziva yawned and pulled her nightgown over her head. "My mother likes you." She said, her voice scratchy from the 'discussion.'
He pulled on his pajama bottoms. "Because she didn't kill me?"
She shook her head no. "Because I love you and she trusts me."
"So you love me." He'd meant the statement to sound teasing. But instead it sounded like an accusation.
"Some days I can't think of why but I do." She slipped under the covers and rolled onto her side, facing him as he joined her in bed "It's French by the way. Everyone always asks."
"What is?"
"Chevral. Mother's last name. Her father was French. Catholic actually. Converted when he met my grandmother."
"That's not what you want to talk about is it?"
"No. But if we start talking about Hannah again I'm going to deck you and you might not wake up so soon."
He pulled her closer. "I'm worried too." Scared shitless actually but it's going to be a cold day in hell before I tell you that.
She pushed her body into his and laid her head on his shoulder. Her hand slipped beneath the waistband of his boxers and she groaned in disappointment. "I can fix this for you. It seems to be broken."
He felt her frustration as the warmth of her touch failed to have its usual effect on him. "Is this because my mother's in the next room? I can be quiet. I do have a lot of practice being quiet while mom and dad are in the next room." She kissed his neck just behind his ear.
"Stop Ziva." He pulled away and sat up. She looked utterly wounded but he continued. "When were you going to tell me you're pregnant?"
She rolled away from him. "Soon. I just hadn't thought of how."
"You say, 'Tony I'm pregnant' is how. Or is there a reason you didn't want to tell me?"
She drew her knees up to her chest. "It's not what you think."
"And what is it that I think?" Anger flooded his voice.
She wrapped her arms around her knees. Her voice was flat, emotionless, "That I'm not going to go through with it. I am."
"That wasn't what I was thinking sweet cheeks. Whose is it?"
Silence.
He grabbed his pillow and blanket from the foot of the bed "I guess that's my answer."
In the living room Sarah peered through the curtains, gun in hand, silently keeping watch as her daughter slept. She nodded at the sofa. "Don't worry. I'm not going to shoot you in your sleep."
Fantastic. Great. Thanks. I hadn't thought of that until now. "Okay." He lay down, his feet hanging over the arm. The sofa seemed harder than he remembered. He tossed and turned and forced himself not to watch the clock as the hours ticked by.
In the predawn he crept back into their room. He shook her shoulder gently. The barrel of her Sig made contact with the space between his eyes before he could remove his hand. Great DiNozzo. When are you going to learn? Call her name first. "Ziva?"
"What!?" The word sliced through him.
"I have to talk to you."
"Can it wait?" She returned the gun to under her pillow. "It's getting light out and I just fell asleep."
"No. Ziva. It can't."
She flicked on the bedside lamp. Her eyes were cold as she glared at him.
"The baby." He said as he sat on the edge of the bed. "It doesn't matter whose it is, I love you and I still want to stay together if you do."
She smiled and he thought she'd never looked more beautiful. "That's all I wanted to know." He felt her shake as she kissed him, slowly twining her tongue around his.
He broke off. "I can't say I don't wish it were mine."
She laughed low in her throat. "Who said it wasn't?"
X
I wasn't fibbing when I said you don't need to have read or remember either 'Pack Your Gear' or "Beyond' because I'll make the long story short. Hannah Haswari. I sorta kinda made her up but not quite. If you haven't seen Kill Ari pt 1 this is a bit spoilery-The woman that Ziva's swimming with in the pool? Well, in this particular world I've created she's Ari's wife. And she's a bad, bad, bad woman. She kidnaps Ziva and Tony. Shoots Ziva. (who happened to be pregnant) and is apparently killed herself although her body never is found.
Cripes! Someone pass out the chocolate and the popcorn. I've got a 'NCIS the Soap Opera' going on here.
As always. I really do appreciate reviews. Thank You for reading and Thank You Thank you to those who read and review. Jeanne
