Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Written 2008.- Licia

Tim and Sarah shared a glance. Twins? She had to be mistaken.

There was no way in hell they were twins- they were two years apart in age, for crying out loud! Clearly, there wasn't something right in her-

"Um... actually, you're wrong. We're not twins." Sarah replied, and Avianna turned her gaze to the young college student.

"O' course, ye don' remember." A soft sigh escaped her throat, and she pulled away, gaze dropping to her own hands. She reached up, trying unsuccessfully to tuck several strands of her wild dark red hair behind her ear.

"Remember?" Tim raised an eyebrow.

"Yer lives b'fore ye were taken from me." She took a seat on the curb, and after a moment, Tim and Sarah joined her, sitting down on either side. "'tis a long story, an' I wouldn't even know where t' begin."

"The beginning is always good." Sarah replied. "Right, Timmy?"

He sighed, glancing back at the house. "I have a feeling we're going to need coffee."

"I don't like this, John. She's getting too close."

"She's their mother, Kathleen." He winced at the glare his wife sent his way. "Their birth mother." He amended, and she turned back to her cup. "She's allowed to get close."

"But we can't trust her, we don't know her except what she tells us-"

"You think she's lying?" He took a seat beside her, reaching out and taking her hand, squeezing gently.

"Don't you?"

He shook his head, sipping his coffee. "On the contrary. I think she's been telling the truth all along."

His wife snorted and shook her head, getting up, even as the door opened and the trio came back into the house. "I thought you were heading back to Silver Spring, Timmy?" The agent sighed.

"She has something to tell us." He nodded to Avianna. "Fix another pot of coffee, Mom? You and Dad should hear this too."

Ziva set the folder on her kitchen table. She'd gone home instead of returning to NCIS, needing space to sort out what she'd just witnessed at the McGee house. There was no way what she'd seen had been real, but then again, she'd been trained to believe in things that might be of the supernatural spectrum, she just wasn't expecting her partner and his little sister to fall into that category. She'd known Tim for at least two years, and in that time, nothing- absolutely nothing- about him had screamed 'Magic!' If anything, Tim was fairly unassuming...

But evidently, as Kathleen said, it was something he and Sarah had kept hidden for years. Which meant they'd obviously had their... powers... from the time they were most likely children. And clearly, they'd learned to harness them pretty well-

Ziva stopped fixing a cup of tea, something flashing in her head.

The plasma sparking and then exploding.

But why? There was nothing wrong with the TV. Sure, it was a couple years old, but other than that-

Sarah.

"Son of a-" Suddenly, it made sense. Sarah had been standing right next to the plasma when it short circuited and exploded. And she'd been obviously angry at her brother about something. Setting her cup down, she grabbed her keys and her coat, and left the apartment.

She suddenly found herself the center of attention. Nervously, she reached up, grabbing a strand of hair and twisting it around her finger nervously. Kathleen watched her, noting how young she looked; she couldn't have been older than sixteen, eighteen at most. Eighteen-years-old and she's already had two children. What a lucky little b- A frantic knock at the door pulled the paramedic from her thoughts, and she went to answer it, surprised to see Ziva on the other side. "Ziva, what are you-"

"I know what happened this afternoon in the bullpen. Can I come in?" Confused, Kathleen stepped aside.

"I don't understa- did something happen at work?" Ziva turned to her.

"The plasma exploded."

"Ziva, what are you doing here? I told you to go." Tim stood, coming out of the kitchen towards his partner. She turned to him.

"Today in the bullpen, when you and Sarah were arguing, the plasma exploded. Remember?" It took a moment, but eventually Tim nodded. "Sarah did it, didn't she?" She poked her head around Tim to look at Sarah, who hadn't moved from the table. "She lost her temper and made the plasma explode."

"I didn't do it on purpose." Tim turned back to his little sister, who had pulled her knees up to her chest on her chair and wrapped her arms around them. The agent sighed, turning back to his partner.

"You can't be here, Ziva."

"You have always had magic, haven't you?" She asked, moving close and taking his hand. "Yet you are not like Harry Potter; you do not use wands. It comes from your hands." She studied his hand, gaze going over the lines within his palm before moving to his fingers. Those long, slender fingers she would watch dance over a keyboard with ease- fingers she silently wished would tangle in her hair or wrap around her waist. "Why do you hide it, Tim? I know why you hide it from the public, but why do you hide it from Gibbs and Tony and me?"

"Like they would believe us." Sarah spat, tangling a hand in her hair and sniffling. "Why do you believe us, Ziva?"

The Israeli glanced at Kathleen and Tim before making her way to the college student., She knelt so she was level with Sarah's gaze. "In Mossad, part of the training is to be open to things you cannot see, or even understand."

"The supernatural." The girl whispered.

Ziva shrugged. "Call it what you want, not everything can be explained by the laws of the natural world." She reached up, brushing a tear off Sarah's cheek before standing.

"You believe in ghosts, Ziva?" Sarah asked, causing the agent to turn back. She thought a moment.

"I do not not believe in ghosts... or demons... or monsters." She glanced between the siblings. "Or magic."

Tim glanced at his sister, before turning to Kathleen. She sighed, wrapping an arm around her son's waist and squeezing. "It's your decision, Tim. Your father and I can't make it for you. It's your choice, if you want to let Ziva in. Don't you think it would a little easier to carry if someone else knew?" He met her gaze.

"You trust Ziva?"

She shrugged. "Not completely, but she's willing to be open about it. That's more than I can say for the rest of your team." She reached up, brushing an eyelash off her son's cheek. "Besides, I think she likes you." He raised an eyebrow.

"Ziva? Like me?"

His mother nodded. "I think she's got a tiny crush on you. Which, compared to some of the women you've brought home in the last few years, Ziva's a big improvement." She glanced at the eyelash, balanced on the ball of her finger. "Make a wish, baby boy."

He gazed at it, before shaking his head. "No, you, Mama."

Kathleen grinned; it was the first real smile her son had seen since this whole thing started. Maybe she was finally getting some of her old self back. At least, Tim hoped she was. Kathleen closed her eyes briefly before blowing. Tim watched the eyelash float off her finger, and then wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"I hope your wish comes true, Mama."