Beauty and the Beast
Certain as the Sun
Rising in the East
Tale as Old as Time
Song as Old as Rhyme
Beauty and the Beast
Ziva's nose twitched. When she woke, the first thing she noticed was a pile of berries lying in front of her. She snapped up a mouthful before sniffing the air again. She couldn't see Tony and she smelled the tantalizing aroma of cooking meat. Horrified, she jumped to her feet, promptly doing a face plant in the berries because she'd forgotten about her injured leg. Then, shaking herself, she stood up successfully this time and bleated for Tony in alarm. A few moments later, he appeared with a skewered rabbit in his right hand. It'd been properly skinned and roasted to perfection. It looked delicious.
"I don't suppose it's still kosher if I stole it from a rabbi?" Tony made a face.
Ziva blinked stupidly at him. "You stole a rabbit from a rabbi?"
"No, I was just kidding. I found some coins in my pants and figured I'd pay him for it, make sure it's all properly fixed for you and everything. I'm not sure how it works exactly," he admitted and offered her the rabbit. "But I would have stole it!"
"That's…very sweet of you, Tony." She chomped down on it, taking half the bunny in one bite.
"Wow. Maybe I should go back and get another dozen or so." Tony's eyes widened.
"Did you want some?"
"I think I'm good. You need it more than I do." He shrugged. "And I don't really care if my meat's kosher or not."
"I think under the circumstances, God would forgive me." Ziva laughed. "I'm not the strictest Jewish woman in the world, Tony."
"Then why did you turn down those pickled pigs feet?" Tony smirked. "You said it was because they weren't kosher!"
"You still remember that?"
"I still remember a lot of things, now answer the question, Miss David."
"There are some things that just shouldn't be eaten." She made a face and finished off the rabbit. "Under any circumstances."
"As long as we're on the same page with that one." He grinned. "So…are you feeling any better this morning?"
"Not much." She shook her head. "But I think we should keep moving. That thing in the castle is much stronger than I am, even when I'm in fighting condition. We should get as far away from it as possible."
"Then let's steer back towards the village. There's a farm just outside where the others are waiting for us." Tony pointed in the general direction they should take.
Ziva sighed. "I suppose we should. It's too dangerous to stay here anymore."
"Things have really been that bad in Israel?" Tony murmured.
"There are things you don't know about me, Tony." Ziva shook her head. "The farther away I am from Mossad, the safer I am. Before Vahn split us up…I was even considering staying in America on a permanent basis. There's nothing left for me in Israel. My family's gone."
"Everyone? Even your father?"
"He's not dead but…Tony, I just don't know. I'm afraid that if he knew…he'd sign my death warrant without a second thought."
"My family's not real supportive either." He shrugged. Part of him wanted to ask her the rather obvious why but the other part knew that there was no point in asking. She was a secretive woman, and digging would only stem the tide of information not encourage it to continue. "They disowned me. I don't think I'm that bad of a guy either, am I?"
"No, not right now you aren't." She chuckled. "But you do have your moments."
"God, I've missed you, Ziva." He grew quiet and turned away from her. "This time apart hasn't been easy on me either."
"I'm sorry about before." She mumbled. "You know that."
"You couldn't help it, I know. It's okay." He nodded. "But…that resentment still had to come from somewhere. And…I think I'm the one who should be apologizing for that."
"Let's find the others." Ziva began walking in the direction he'd indicated earlier. "Maybe when we get back to the real world…we'll be able to get back to NCIS."
"To our real family." He patted her on the back. "And we can do stuff together again. Bring back movie night and have a few drinks…you could try to teach me piano again, that was a real hoot…and I could help you study for your citizenship test if you did decide to stay in the states."
"Well, I don't know about the rest." She gave him a look as they began crossing a frozen lake. "But…I think I'd have to take you up on that drink after all this."
"Hey look!" Tony grabbed her and pointed across the ice. "I think that's them coming toward us."
"Is McGee the horse?" Ziva laughed.
Gibbs waved. "There you are! I told you not to leave the village, Tony!"
"But I found her!" Tony glared. "And we're alive, aren't we?"
"If you two ever pull a stunt like that again-!" Gibbs never got a chance to finish his threat. As soon as the two groups converged into one again, the ice shattered and they fell into the dark waters of the lake.