WARNING: THIS ONE-SHOT CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON 7 PREMIERE. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT YET, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU REFRAIN FROM READING THIS.
A/N: Now that that's out the way... yes, I'm back with a new one-shot for you guys. I finally got around to watching the premiere just a few minutes ago, and was instantly inspired to write this. "The Guardian Suite" by Trevor Rabin also helped inspire this piece as well. Once again, thank you to everyone who's favorited/alerted/commented on this series of one-shots. It makes my day!! The reviews are always much appreciated, as is the constructive criticism!
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or the characters mentioned in this story. They belong to CBS/Donald Bellisario. This was written for entertainment purposes only. No personal profit is derived from this, nor is any copyright infringement intended.
For over three months, she'd been held captive in a foreign land. She was interrogated, beaten, tortured. Everyday, she expected her life to end. And eventually, she made peace with that fact. Even if she died, she knew that they would know nothing. In that, she could take solace.
Her life was strictly controlled, even down to the smallest detail. When and if she could eat, sleep, use the bathroom... she had no influence over that. She felt so weak... so tired. There was no getting out of this.
And then that day came.
They forced a black bag over her head. She'd heard a muffled conversation in the adjacent room, but couldn't make anything out. Rough hands made her stand, and she staggered from the room, stumbling over her own feet. A door opened and she was forced to sit in a chair. Then, they removed the bag from her head...
And there he was. Tony. Sitting there in front of her, dirt and grime across his stunned face. He looked terrible. And McGee, lying on the floor behind her. Was he dead or alive? Why had they come? Was this their idea of a rescue mission?
Her heart broke at the thought of them both dying because of her. What fools they were, coming in on some crazy suicide mission. She was already responsible for the deaths of so many other people. And now, she was to be responsible for theirs.
Tony looked at her, still apparently in shock. She did not understand why he was so surprised to see her. Obviously they'd come out here for a reason, and she was pretty sure she knew that reason.
"So, how was your summer?" He asked.
"Out of everyone in the world who could have found me, it had to be you," she snapped. The hurt was evident on Tony's face, but she didn't care.
"You're welcome."
They spoke briefly, and then Saleem came back into the room. Ziva knew what was best to do. She had to die in order for Tony and McGee to live. So she told him everything that Tony and McGee had just told her. Tony looked horrified, and demanded that she remain quiet. As Saleem continued his interrogation, Tony began a typical rant about movies and himself. That selfish man. Why couldn't he see that they were about to die? Why was he acting so foolish?
"Remember I told you my boss is a sniper?"
Not even a second later, there was the crack of a rifle, and a bullet punched through the window in front of her and made its way into Saleem's head. He dropped to the ground, dead instantly. A small speck of light filtered into the room from the bullet hole in the window. And as Ziva stared at it, she couldn't help but to feel that everything was going to be Ok.
No. She knew everything was going to be Ok.
