{ NINE }

Klaus no longer wished to chase after Ziva. Realizing he may have done more harm than good, he paced back and forth throughout the foyer, trying to figure out a way to fix this. He was never the type to be too good with damage control. It seemed Elijah was more of the expert at this than himself. All he knew was that his hybrid was keeping secrets, and he may have just ruined any chance of figuring out what they were.

Oblivious to the goings-on at the compound, Elijah and Hayley were just finishing up their lunch. Taking her back to work, the Original smiled to her kind-heartedly. Leaning over, the wolf kissed him deeply before reluctantly pulling away. If she allowed herself to get caught up in yet another kiss with him, she could find herself without a job. Not wanting this to happen, she frowned to him.

"I will miss you," She confessed, feeling as though she were an idiotic, love struck teenager again, even though it was not terribly long ago that she actually was. "Are you still picking me up tonight?"

"Of course," He replied, kissing her cheek. "I shall see you tonight."

Ziva looked between Finn and Rebekah, shaking her head in response to the female's observation.

"Please, no. Don't… do not say it. Do not tell anyone, please. I am begging you!"

The blondes, however, did not acknowledge her words. The merely aided each other in lifting her off the floor and getting her to the bed. Remembering all too well the past life she spent as a nurse, she lifted Ziva's shirt just enough to reveal her bump. It was then when she knew she must have been pregnant for quite a while now.

"I have to see if the baby is all right." Rebekah said to Finn, placing her ear to her friend's stomach.

Closing her eyes, she waited for the tall tell whooshing sound which came from heart beats. However, her eyes flew open when she heard something she had definitely not expected to. There was not just one heart beating within her abdomen. There were two.

"Oh, my God!" The Original exclaimed before swiftly pulling back. "She's carrying twins."

Soon, however, whatever injury the hybrid sustained healed and she felt better. Sitting up, she glared at Rebekah.

"Neither of you can tell anyone! Got it?"

"Yes, but Ziva…" Finn started, though was interrupted.

"No buts… just shut up about this! No more speaking of it, absolutely none!"

After a couple hours, things began to settle down around the compound. This did not take away from the fact that as soon as Klaus entered Ziva's room, a tangible tension began to build. The Israeli shut the book she was reading and moved as far away from her sire as she could without falling off the bed. It was clear that she was unsure of what the man was going to do. Regardless of what he could do, he was not going to hurt her… not anymore.

"Ziva…" He started, stepping just a bit further into the room, which made her get out of the bed as quickly as she possibly could. "Look, I am not here to hurt you. I promise you this. I'm only here to talk to you."

"What else is there for you to say?" She questioned him, her tone making it pretty clear how she felt.

"I am sorry. I keep… I keep forgetting that…"

"That I have feelings? That I am not just some ragdoll for you to toss around whenever you wish? That I am a person, not an inanimate object?" Ziva interjected with quite a bit of hostility.

"Yes."

"Klaus, I am undyingly loyal to you. I have absolutely no choice. So, why is it that you cannot trust me to still be loyal to you and not tell you every little detail of everything I do?"

"I can. I will."

"Okay…" She started, sitting back down on the bed. "I need… I need a little time to myself. So, unless you need anything else… could you leave?"

Silently, he left the room and as soon as he got to his own, he punched a hole in the wall. The sound of Klaus' room's door slamming caused Ziva to jump. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks again. Stubbornly, she wiped them away before falling back onto the bed. The expectant brunette felt as though she were dissolving into nothingness, becoming something she truly was not. This, she hated more than almost everything.

Having planned to talk to Ziva that night, Elijah and Hayley both made their way to her room as soon as they got home. However, Rebekah stopped them. She frowned to them after looking over her shoulder towards the foreign woman's door.

"I would not go in there, tonight. Ziva's had a rough day, and she doesn't wish to see anyone." The Original explained.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Elijah questioned, though he and Hayley both wished to ask this.

"Klaus got far too violent with her, today. I swear he could have snapped her neck if he held onto her harder."

The pair shared a look in response to Rebekah's words, both shocked and appalled by this. Behind that closed and locked door, Ziva was curled up and exhausted. She was starving, but far too depressed to care enough to do something about it. Also, she did not wish to step foot outside her bedroom unless she absolutely had to. Sniffling, she felt herself start to slip into a sleep state. That night, she slept deeper and longer than she had in quite a long time.