You'll be in My Heart

When destiny calls you

You must be strong

I may not be with you

But you've got to hold on

It felt like the worst hangover she had ever had. Ziva clutched her head between her hands, fighting back the urge to scream until the world finally stopped vibrating and things began to settle into focus. She was inside a tent. Somewhere so hot and humid she could barely breathe. Or was the reason for that her horrifyingly foofy dress that was so out of place in the middle of a jungle?

Jungle.

Ziva shoved aside the tent flap and marched outside. The first thing she saw was her little sister, staring through a telescope into the not-so-distant trees. She paused to grin silently at her sister, then returned to her observations. Her mother and father were hunched over a table, debating the location of something on the map. Under an awning behind them, sat Ari.

Cleaning a rifle.

Ziva ducked behind the tent before Ari spotted her. Heart pounding she closed her eyes and struggled to remember what had happened at the end of their magic battle. To be honest, she had no idea how she had done it or how she had known she could. Her will had been to meet him on equal ground, both of them equal in a fight without powers…only fists.

The fact that he had a gun while she was stuck in some kind of princess dress was not part of that plan. And where were the others?

Pushing down a panic attack, Ziva grabbed the only available weapon—an umbrella, and snuck free of the camp. It wasn't far to the trees, but she didn't feel truly safe until she was several miles into the jungle. And thoroughly lost.

Giggling to herself, Ziva sat down on a hollow log and pulled a flask from the holster on her hip. She tossed it back, cringing when she found whisky instead of water. Then, shrugging, she raised the flask in salute to wherever Kate's presence had gone…and downed its entire contents. It certainly didn't help the planning process, but at this point it couldn't make it much worse.

Then it started to rain. Another semi-hysterical laugh escaped her as Ziva opened her umbrella—her would be weapon—and waited for the rain to stop.

It was ridiculous. So beautifully, whimsically Kate.

As suddenly as the rain began, it stopped, and the sun emerged. The warmth felt good on her face after so long in the dark. Ziva leaned into the light.

"Alright, Kate," Ziva whispered. "Time to end this."

Reaching down, Ziva tore away the unnecessary frills and ruffles until she was left with little more than a glorified slip that barely hid her modesty. It didn't matter what she looked like, but she had to be able to move. The whisky took its affect as she ran through her old military drills and combat training exercises. As she slid through each form, combining elements of techniques from all across the globe, she allowed the savage calm of a predator blank her mind. She would destroy Ari. Once and for all.

"Ziva should have been Tarzan, you know," McGee said, now carrying the exhausted, sweaty ape-man on his back. "You don't have a savage bone in your body, Tony."

"Really? I thought I was just oozing with that cave-man essence," Tony grumbled.

"You certainly smell like it," Abby said.

"I thought we'd been through the worst this stupid place had to offer. Kate going mad, Ari taking over." McGee shook his head. "Carrying your stinky butt around and having the largest nose of any animal. This is borderline inhumane."

"Fine! I'll walk." Tony slipped from the elephant's back.

"Are we there yet?" Abby asked.

"Not far now. I can smell the smoke from the camp," McGee said.

Ziva stuffed the remnants of her petticoat and discarded ruffles with the debris along the jungle floor until she'd made a passable decoy. She placed it at the edge of the trees, hiding the face it was missing a head by carefully positioning the umbrella. Tearing off a bit of vine with her teeth, Ziva added one more tie to secure the umbrella in the decoy's 'arm.' Then, for good measure, she took off her necklace and tied it to the dress. At this angle, it would surely catch the light and draw Ari in.

The decoy was crude. It wouldn't fool him once he got closer, but it wouldn't have to. She just needed to convince him to wander into the jungle.

Satisfied, Ziva climbed one of the nearby trees and bided her time by making a spear. She'd found a few suitable rocks for the head. Using a heavier stone, she slowly chipped and ground away the edges of a nearly flat oval until it formed a keen edge.

"You had to give him a gun?" Ziva grumbled aloud as she worked. "Why? Why give him a weapon of any kind? Better yet…why give me liquor instead of something I can use to kill Ari?"

Unless the whisky had been poisoned…oh, that would make for a pleasant experience, wouldn't it?

No sooner had she secured the spearhead to a suitable shaft than she heard the report of a gun. Looking down, she saw that her decoy had collapsed. Mannequin down! Ziva thought, chuckling to herself.

"You won't fool me, Ziva," Ari said, stepping into the jungle with his gun at the ready. "And I know you are limited on resources out here, but really…you could not do better than that?"

He side stepped a crude snare, a net of leaves covering a pit, and a well-camouflaged trip-line. The amused expression on his face became more pronounced with each find. Ari's face twisted into something more like that clinically insane villain in the clown make up. What was that creature's name? Joker?

Tightening her grip on her spear, Ziva wished she was sitting on a couch watching a stupid superhero movie with her partner instead of…

Ari stepped into range, and Ziva leapt from the tree with a primal scream. He raised his gun at her, but not fast enough. She knocked it away with her spear. The gun fired as it slipped free of his fingers. Ziva's fist plowed into her brother's face and Ari fell back, through the net of leaves and into the spike-lined pit he had so smugly avoided before.

Ziva picked up the gun. She turned it over and over in her hands, unsure of what she meant to do with it. Unsure what its significance might be. Then, her fingertips found a rough spot along the butt of the rifle. Looking down, she saw it was a small engraving. Ragnarok? The magic Ari was using to bolster his own. Somehow he must have held onto it.

"Why am I still here?" Ari screamed.

Sighing, Ziva carried the gun to the side of the pit and crouched beside it. Ari was impaled in so many places…but none of them a fatal injury.

"You do not have any magic left, Ari. I made sure of that," Ziva said. "Your time in Limbo is over. You cannot respawn. Let go. You must move on."

"I…cannot," Ari said.

"You are still trying to fight it, or you would be gone already," Ziva said. "Accept your fate, Ari. Or spend the rest of your existence in that pit. It is your choice. It was always your choice."

"Help me, Ziva. Ragnarok…" Ari pointed to the gun.

The wind shifted, lightly pulling at her hair and the rags of her dress. Ziva smiled at the gun. It dissolved and faded away.

"No!" Ari screamed.

"I said it is over, Ari!" Ziva yelled back. "I am not falling for any more tricks. Be gone from this place! Find your peace."

A look of pure hatred crossed his face. Then, gradually, Ari laid back his head and the worries fled from his face. His body faded away.