Ziva POV
I felt the gun dig into the back of my head and tensed, my muscles clenching tight.
"Turn around," a female voice hissed into my ear. I felt my breath catch in my throat; I knew that voice, I had been taking care of her ever since she was born.
I shook my head, making the thoughts shrink away. It wasn't possible, I thought silently, she couldn't be alive; I had seen her body crumpled in the suicide bombing, saw the blood poor from her wounds and her pale face bright with sweat.
"I said turn around!" She yelled, forcing me to turn to face her. There was desperation in her voice, and a harsh edge to it that was never there before.
Suddenly, I was staring into a pair of brown eyes, completely identical to mine, with short brown hair framing her heart shaped face. My eyes searched hers, looking for some sort of recognition that was suppose to go off a few seconds ago. To my absolute horror, her eyes were cold and calculating, her face expressionless.
"Tali, it is me, Zivaleh," I whispered, my voice soft and gentle, hoping to find the little girl that had once idolized me.
Her gun hand clenched again, her finger poised on the trigger, the gun point resting on the center of my forehead.
"Yes, I know, but we do not care who you are," she hissed again, her eyes narrowed. She thrust a walkie-talkie into my hand and I looked at it, curious.
"What is this for?" I asked her, hiding my emotions again.
"Your walkie-talkie, a man has been calling for you, I answered for you. I do a very convincing impression of my older sister, so I am told," she told me, the point pressing harder against my forehead.
I looked at her, my eyes narrowing, "What has happened to you, Tali, you would rather kill your own sister who has killed the men that supposedly 'killed' you, rather than just let her go?"
Her eyes, if possible, became colder, "If you had fought against Eli David than you would have realized that I was very much alive, but you were too busy running away from the whole scene."
I gaped at her, she couldn't be serious! A piece of me had died when I saw her fall, when I saw the blood on the already red earth I wanted to kill myself right then and there.
"Tali! Our father forcibly dragged me away from you! I fought against him but he did not pay any attention to my protests!"
She laughed, "Well, it is too late to discuss the past. Now, I will not make the same mistake as you; I will make sure that you die."
She cocked the gun and my eyes opened wide. I swiftly dodged out of the way, the bullet sliding so close against me that I felt a blast of wind whip past me. I blocked out her face, quickly grabbing her arm and flipping her over onto her back. She grabbed me and pulled me down, the gun flying from her hand and sliding off into the shadows.
"Tali do not make me do this," I hissed, desperation lightly edging my tone.
She tried to pry herself from underneath me but I wouldn't have it; I punched her twice in the face, wincing each time my fist came into contact with her flesh. I couldn't help but let my mind drift off to when we were children, how I would have protected her at all costs, taking her beatings, and yet, the irony was that I was the one dealing them out now.
Suddenly, I stopped and my body went limp, my mind finally catching up with my body, realizing that I was punching my little sister, my sweet Tali, my sweet girl. I looked into her eyes, shaking my head once, and got off of her.
"I cannot hurt you, Tali, I love you too much," I sighed, tears in my eyes.
She laughed, getting up as well and walking up to me, her face only a few centimeters away from mine. Her hand fly up so fast that I didn't see it, and she slapped me across the face with so much force that my neck cracked from the impact.
"You have always tried to protect me, Ziva, but I never needed your protection. I have grown stronger where as you have grown weak. I should have eliminated you whilst you did not expect it. You see, I wanted our father to favor me more, but he would never do that as long as you were around. I am here to finish the job," she paused to take a breath, "but after tonight, no one will even be able to find your body, let alone give you a proper burial."
Her words were like knives cutting into my skin, each one cutting deeper then the last. When she finished her little speech, I felt my anger rising and I pulled out the gun I had in my jacket pocket and pointed it straight into her chest.
"I am sorry I ever mourned for you, Tali, I am sorry our father never saw how extraordinary you are, and I am most sorry for how Hamas has changed you and morphed you into someone that you were clearly not while we were growing up," I whispered, pulling the trigger twice, my eyes on her face the whole time.
I saw the life drain out of her face, her tan complexion paling into a pasty white, and her eyes, oh how I will never forget the way they looked at me, filled with such hatred, when at a time, those brown chocolate orbs were filled with adoration for myself and our brother.
Her body dropped into the snow, the blood from the wound staining my top and the pure white snow beneath her. I crumpled down beside her, pulling her dead body into my arms, sobs racking through my body.
To find out that your baby sister was killed in a suicide bombing, and then finding out she is alive and then in turn, having to kill her, was tearing me apart. I felt my body shake and shudder with sobs as I held her lifeless body, letting her blood stain my clothes.
I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see a man, his silhouette covered by a black shroud of the night. The only thing that I could make out were his blue eyes, bright with tears that were running freely down his cheeks.
He suddenly stopped, his face crumpling with pain again, "Oh god dammit! Don't do this to me," he hissed, ramming his fist into the nearest wall and creating a whole the size of a baseball.
I looked at him, surprised at his sudden burst of anger. I thought he would be relieved to see me, if anything.
"Gibbs, what is wrong?" I asked, my voice husky and cracked from crying.
He turned to look at me, shaking his head, "Stop it, OK? You've had your fun. I found your badge; you're dead, so tell your damned bastards to stop terrorizing me already!"
I stopped breathing for a second, he thought I was dead? I shook my head slowly, letting Tali's body fall into the snow and slowly walked over to him, dropping my gun and slowly pulling out the knife I had hidden in my shirt, dropping it into the snow as well.
"Gibbs, it is me, Ziva, I am not dead," I whispered. It took all I had to not give into my shaking legs and crumpling back into the snow.
I saw the lines of pain and grief etched into his face, the same emotions I had only seen once in my life; when Kate Todd had died and I was there to take her place. I reached out to him, my hand wavering and shaking.
He looked at me, and took a few steps closer, until we were simply a few inches apart. His blue eyes searched mine and I felt my heart lurch. How I longed for him to wrap his arms around me and tell me that I was safe now, that we were both safe, and that everything would be ok.
My hand was still in the air, quivering, hoping against all odds that he would trust me and take it. I pleaded him with my eyes, conveying to him every emotion that I could no longer base into words. He nodded once, and grasped my hand in his, pulling me against him.
He let me cry, let my tears stain his already worn shirt and soak through. I cried for many reasons, one of them being that I had to kill my sister in order to save my life and the other being that I could never truly have custody over the man that now held me in his arms. We would most likely never come into contact like this ever again, and I had to deal with that.
"Ziva, I thought you were dead," he whispered, his voice husky. I felt his lips move against my hair and felt him press a kiss to my temple.
In turn, I felt something wet on my cheek and looked up to see a single tear come out of his clear blue eyes. I shook my head, nothing can take me away from you, I wanted to tell him, but was unable to open my mouth.
I snuggled deeper into his chest, letting his warmth soak into my skin, memorizing his scent and the feel of his arms around mine.
I looked up into his face once again, finally finding my voice, I told him in a deathly quiet tone, "Tali, she was alive. I thought she died in the suicide bombing, but it was not so."
I paused for a second and continued on, "I had to kill her, Gibbs, I had to kill my little sister," my voice cracked and what I had just done seemed to hit me with a newly formed wave of pain.
"Shh, it's going to be alright, Ziver," he whispered into my ear, tugging me closer against him.
Just having his presence in the dark alley seemed to make me feel that much better. Finally, after what felt like only a few short minutes but was really an hour, I pulled away from him and surveyed the scene around me.
"We should go back to Melinda; she's talking to the captain. We leave for Amsterdam in the morning. We should also contact your father; tell him what the hell his daughter's been up to, and I'm sure Vance will want to hear about some of the info, but you don't have to worry about that right now, just follow me and stay close," he told me, taking my hang and guiding me out of the alley.
I nodded my mind like a blank canvas. I couldn't think clearly and the only emotions I felt were grief and remorse. I shifted the weight of the backpack onto both shoulders and followed him out, leaving my sister's body behind.
Gibbs POV
I took her hand in mine, and led her out of her own personal hell, my eyes never leaving her face. I was so relieved that she was alive, even though she was extremely broken. I rubbed circles into the back of her hand with my thumb, guiding her down the street and back to the Abraham.
I saw Melinda talking animatedly with the captain and decided to drop her hand, instead I shrugged off my jacket despite the weather and draped it over her shoulders. She was shivering and the shock of everything had already set in.
She turned at the sound of my footsteps and practically threw herself at me, clinging onto me with all her strength.
"Oh my god I was so worried! I thought you were both dead!" She exclaimed.
I cautiously patted her on the back and gently detached her arms from around my neck. I looked to my right to see that Ziva was staring off into the distance, focusing on nothing in particular.
"Is she alright?" Melinda asked quietly, her voice soft with worry.
I nodded, "She will be. Just give her time and she'll be fine."
At least that's what I hoped. I turned to the captain, trying to ignore the ever present feeling of wanting to comfort her and began asking about our next stop.
"So, Amsterdam, what are the details on that stop?" I asked him, my eyes searching his for a specific answer.
He paused for a moment, as if deep in thought and said, "Well, Amsterdam has activity, I'll tell you that, but we don't have much information on it. You might want to check with your director about your mission there."
I nodded, walking away from him, whispering into Ziva's ear, "I'll be right back, I'm gonna call up Vance."
I waited for her response and finally she gave me a slight nod. I sighed quietly and turned away from her, my phone in hand. I dialed the directors number and waited, tapping my foot impatiently.
"Vance," he answered.
"Alright, now you tell me why the hell didn't we know that Tali David was still alive?" I hissed into the phone, my anger boiling onto the surface.
There was a short pause, "We didn't know what was going to happen in Paris, Gibbs, we were all in the dark! We only got the footage Melinda sent us and it really wasn't much; so if you would so kindly as to place cameras in your rooms in Amsterdam and wear an earwig than next time I'll be able to help you."
"Wait, what exactly did Melinda send you?" I asked quietly, turning ever so slightly to see Melinda talking to the captain again and taking notes.
"She sent us a few snippets of what happened. She didn't tell us you were under attack almost every damn day and she most certainly never told us how many bodies you guys left! Do you know how many times I've had to go to MTAC this past week?" He asked, his voice sounding clearly above frustrated.
"No, Leon, I don't because I'm too damn worried about keeping both myself and my agents safe! Now, if you would be so kind as to tell me what the hell we're looking for in Amsterdam, and I won't shove that toothpick up your ass," I hissed into the phone.
"What you're looking for you won't find because he's going to find you. He's going to ask you to make a deal. You guys are completely different people in Amsterdam, that's why you need to wear the damn ear wigs so DiNozzo can communicate with you."
"Alright, so what the hell are we?" I asked, turning back again to check on Ziva. To my disappointment she hadn't even moved an inch from where she was standing. She was still staring off into the distance, the wind gently tussling her hair.
"Assassins. Hotel Inner is where they'll contact you."
To my frustration, the line went dead.
"Well dammit!" I mumbled, shoving my phone into my pocket.
I walked back to where Ziva and Melinda were and stood in front of them, my expression showing my frustration.
"When the hell does our flight leave?" I asked Melinda, turning to face her.
She looked at her watch, "It should be leaving at 10:00 am. We can get some sleep on the boat, the captain said he would be delighted to have us.
I nodded, nudging Ziva with my hand, cracking her out of her daze. She blinked once, and then again, her eyes focusing onto mine.
"We're sleepin' on the boat tonight, Ziver, come on, before you catch a cold," I whispered and she nodded, obediently following me up the steps and bellow the deck.
We were lead to a small cabin with two bunk beds stacked next to each other. I quietly walked in, my hands gently sliding the backpack from her shoulders.
"Get some rest, Ziver, you need it," I whispered into her ear, not daring to raise my voice with her; not now.
She slowly walked up to the bottom bunk and let her body collapse onto the mattress, her hands folded over her abdomen. She turned to face me as I got in next to her on the other bed, her brown eyes bright with unshed tears.
"Thank you, Gibbs," she whispered, her voice soft.
"For what?" I asked, not understanding what she meant.
"For being there for me when I needed you," she clarified. I watched as her eyes closed and listened to her breathing go from strained to deep and even.
That night, I fell asleep with a smile on my face and my love by my side.