Chapter 10

The twelve-hour flight to West Virginia was over as soon as it started. Ziva slept most of the way and cried when she wasn't sleeping. The last 4 hours of the flight were spent studying English and English phrases.

Ziva, being very intelligent, already knew a lot of English by watching television and reading books in English since she was 2.

The little Israeli was very nervous about her new life and meeting her cousin.

Abraham hadn't seen his cousin since she was 6 months old. He was hopeful for her.

In his fatigues and shaved head, he held up a sign with the words- 'Welcome To America, Ziva!'

Ziva looked around carefully, clutching her mother's necklace on her neck. She saw the sign with her name on it and walked towards it.

Abraham saw her approaching and knelt down to her level.

"Is that my sweet Ziva?" the tan handsome man asked.

Ziva smiled slightly. "Shalom cousin Abraham." He embraced her.

Abraham stood up, "Where are the rest of your bags, child?"

She looked down, "Ima only packed one."

Abraham chuckled, "That explains why that suitcase is as tall as you! Here, allow me." He carefully grabbed her suitcase in one hand and took Ziva's tiny hand in the other.

The taxi took them back to the Nelson Naval Base, where Abraham resided.

The dark tall man opened the car door for Ziva and took her hand to help her get out.

Ziva looked around, there were men with guns strapped to their backs, which scared her a bit. They walked around, protecting the base.

Abraham took Ziva to his bunker. It looked like a small cabin on the outside; it was about the size of a trailer. She hoped he lived alone so she would have her own room.

Abraham had a weight room on the ground floor that he had converted to a bedroom as soon as Rivka told him of her potential plan. It was small, but comfortable.

"This will be your room Ziva. I know it looks plain but we'll decorate it once you get settled, okay?" Ziva nodded.

Abraham plopped her suitcase on the bed; his cellphone rang. "Meltzer." He answered. "Yeah, hold on a sec." He put his hand over the speaker and said quietly, "Why don't you start unpacking? I'll be back in a minute, okay?" He winked and smiled. "Yeah, what's up?" he said as he left the room.

Ziva started to unpack, putting away her sweaters and skirts. She turned around quickly to grab more items from her suitcase when she bumped into someone's leg.

Ziva gasped, "Sorry, sir! I didn't mean—"

He cut her off, "Hey, it's okay! I was in your space." He knelt down so he could look at her face to face. Her eye was black and blue and her gold necklace shone in the light from the hallway. He could see the pain in the young girl's eyes.

"You must be Mel's—uh Abraham's cousin. I'm Jethro, Gibbs. What's your name, little one?" The man smiled, his bright blue eyes looked kind and comforting.

She looked shyly at the handsome silver haired man in front of her. "Ziva David."

He held out his hand for her to shake it, "Nice to meet you, Ziva David."

She shook his hand. There was something so warm about this man, like he could protect her from everything.

Abraham walked back in, "Oh, great, you two have met. Sorry, Gibbs, I didn't let her know about you yet."

Ziva smiled up at Gibbs, almost giddily. "Aww that's okay, we were just getting to know eachother, weren't we Miss David?" He patted her on the head.

"Mm-hm." She said, never taking her eyes off of him, she felt like she'd drown in those pools of blue.

"I'll let you finish unpacking. It was nice to meet you, Ziva."

Ziva said dreamily, "Nice to meet you too Mr. Gibbs."

"Please, just Gibbs, or Jethro, if you'd like." He smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Gibbs." She said, almost in a whisper.

"Likewise. Mel, I'll uh, be upstairs, if you need anything." Gibbs left the room and headed to his room on the second floor.

Abraham sighed, "So, Ziva, you hungry?" he hoped, she would eat something now that she was out of that hospital.

Ziva shrugged. "Well, I'm going to make dinner for Gibbs and I, if you want some, feel free to sit with us." Abraham went to leave.

"Abraham? Why does Gibbs call you Mel?" He turned back around. "It's a nickname for my last name, Meltzer." He chuckled.

"Oh, that makes sense…" He turned to leave again. "Abraham?"

"Hmm?" He turned around again. "Can you sleep down here tonight? Just…for tonight?"

He approached her and ruffled her frizzy hair, "Oh course my Zivaleh. I'll stay down here as long as you need me to."

She smiled genuinely. "Thanks Abraham."