Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Spots appeared in front of Tim's eyes as he slowly climbed to his feet. Somehow, he'd ended up sprawled out in the hallway- as he stood, everything came rushing back. Ziva's labor progressing, the phone call from Gibbs, stepping out so as not to worry Ziva. Something about Daisy...

He reached back, but his fingers came back clean; no blood, meaning he wasn't hit hard. He shook his head; he'd gone down the hall to take Gibb's call, when he'd been knocked out from behind. As he stumbled back to Ziva's room, what Gibbs had said came back full force.

Daisy. Daisy had killed those women. Daisy had left behind a trail of murder victims to distract the NCIS team while she plotted on stealing Ziva's baby.

No, their baby.

That bitch was planning on taking their daughter from them. Somehow, some way; if she didn't slice open Ziva's womb and remove her while Ziva was still in labor, or- and Tim concluded this was the more likely scenario- wait until Ziva had gone through the whole process of labor and delivery and then take the baby. Tim took a deep breath. If he were a betting man, he'd place money on the second choice.

Holding his breath, he slipped up to the door, watching through the slight gap as Daisy lifted a scalpel and ran her thumb along the edge. He had to plan this accordingly; he'd been with Gibbs long enough to know that a full-on attack was never a good thing; it just made the suspect quicker to respond in the worst way possible. He could see Ziva, in the throes of labor, and with each cry, his heart clenched tighter. He reached for his gun, and then, realized that he didn't have it with him. He'd been so focused on getting Ziva to the birthing center, that he'd left his gun at the apartment. Just as he reached for the door handle, Ziva's voice stopped him. She looked up, one hand cradling her belly.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, taking a deep breath as another contraction hit. Daisy stepped closer, unaware that Tim had pushed the door open and was silently, matching her movement for movement, staying behind her, out of her line of vision. Ziva, even through her pain, noticed however, and he held a finger to his lips for her to keep quiet. She did as told, turning back to the blonde.

"I've waited a long time for this, Agent David. This is the only thing I've ever wanted, a baby, a family. But one careless night in high school stole it all away. I caught chylamidia, and became infertile. I can't have children."

"You killed those women." Ziva whispered, laying a hand on her belly, closing her eyes as another contraction hit. Once the contraction passed, she said, "So you killed those women and plan on stealing my baby because you can't have children of your own." Daisy nodded, quite proud of her string of murders.

"Each in various stages of pregnancy. I killed them for you, you know. They all put up a fight, begging, pleading for me to spare them so they could have their babies, but they had to go. Why should they get to have their families when I can't have mine? When I will never get to be pregnant, never get to go through childbirth, never get to hold my baby after it's first born? No, they all had to go. And I had to get your attention." She sighed, stepping closer. "You see, when I found out you were pregnant, Agent David, I knew you'd be the perfect victim. An NCIS agent, and a pregnant one at that. I just needed a way to keep you occupied. What better way than a string of murders?"

"You could adopt." Ziva said, gulping in air. Daisy shook her head.

"And raise someone else's child? A kid, no less? No, I want to raise a baby. The whole experience I was denied." She glanced at the scalpel in her hand, and then set it back on the tray; Tim's gaze flicked to the scalpel she'd set down, and silently, he reached out, grabbing it and slipping it into his pocket. "And yours will do just fine."

It took Ziva a moment, but eventually, she glanced around, brow furrowed. "Where is Eleanor?" She choked out, meeting Daisy's eyes. The woman shrugged, watching as another contraction ripped through Ziva's small body. Essentially, she was helpless, unable to do anything but keep the woman distracted so Tim could make his move. He could see in her dark eyes that, despite the pain, she wanted to kick Daisy's ass, but her current state was preventing her from doing so. Tim took a deep breath. Just because Ziva couldn't didn't mean that he shouldn't. "What did you do with her?"

"I took care of her a long time ago." Daisy said. "She won't be delivering any babies for a while, especially not yours." The woman gave her a small, malicious smile, taking a seat beside her, facing the Israeli beauty. A moment passed, as she reached out, laying a hand on Ziva's belly lovingly. Ziva pushed her away.

"Do not touch me." She growled. But Daisy grabbed the front of Ziva's shirt, pulling her close, until they were nose to nose.

"You listen to me carefully, Agent David. You are currently in labor, meaning in your current state, you are helpless. You can do nothing but what your body tells you to do- which is give birth. You are going to give birth, and then, you are going to give her to me. You will tell the rest of your team that she died during birth, and I will disappear with my baby daughter. And none will be the wiser. Is that clear?"

After a moment, Ziva nodded, crying out as another contraction took hold. She didn't see Tim grab Daisy from behind.