Disclaimers disclaimed.
Chapter IX - Silence
Tali woke up in a haze, sweating and disoriented. She sat up quickly and in a panic as she realized she was still in that godforsaken cell.
Hunter jumped up at the sound of her whimper and instinctively put an arm around her shoulder. Instantly he regretted the move as Tali jerked away from the contact and let out a small shriek in fear. Hunter cautiously lifted his hands in surrender and spoke in a hushed toned, "Tali, I'm so sorry. Please, I didn't mean to startle you." Tears welled in her eyes as the terror shown on her face began to dissipate when his voice registered in her head. Still, she remained quiet and he continued his plea for forgiveness, "I shouldn't have touched you without asking. I'm sorry. I was only trying to calm you. Please, forgive me."
She looked into his pleading eyes and saw the sincerity that rested there. Slowly she began to find what shred of peace she had left as her breathing began to level out. Feeling as though she was still unclean and too exposed from the assault that Lucifer inflicted on her, she could not look into Hunter's eyes too long. She looked down at her bruised legs then nodded her head as if to acknowledge the young man's apology.
"They dropped more food off while you were sleep earlier", his tone still low, "you should try to eat something. It's been two days and ..." He paused as he watched Tali shake her head 'no' adamantly. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he slowly stood up and gingerly walked over to the door where Lucifer's men had left a small tray of food. Still dealing with his own pain from what seemed to be a few broken ribs, he let out a low groan as he bent over to pick up the tray then walked back over to where Tali sat.
The fact that they were forced to sit on the dirty concrete hadn't helped with their open wounds but Hunter was thankful that, despite the fact that the place resembled a cold dungeon, it was warm as he'd opted to use the shirt he had on to cover Tali's once exposed upper body. Lucifer had not only cut the little clothes she had on in his assault, but he'd also left with every scrap of her apparel except her underwear. No one had returned with anything to cover the young teen when they came two days before to unchain Hunter from the pipe, so while she was still passed out he had carefully removed his shirt and placed it on Tali. Luckily, on her petite frame, it covered her most intimate parts. Tali hadn't asked about it, but she silently thanked him in her mind.
When Hunter finally positioned himself as comfortably as he could in his spot on the floor, he motioned for Tali to take the larger piece of bread and eat. She didn't budge. "You need to eat, for strength", he tried reason. She shook her head 'no' again as it seemed her voice was still lost. "Ana nissa Tali."
Her head shot up at his use of her mother's native tongue and, for all intents and purposes, her native tongue as well. All beit just two words ... please try ... it was enough to make her settle into a strange comfort. She took the bread and broke a piece, stopping momentarily to inwardly say a prayer, and then she ate.
Hunter couldn't help but to smile as he noticed her demeanor soften when she took a bite of the bread. Thank God. They both slowly savored their pieces of bread and the small bottles of water, not knowing exactly when they'd be fed again. A comfortable silence fell between them; within it they were both grateful to at least be in this form of Hell together.
After a little while, Tali had seemingly found her voice and broke the silence. "Where did you learn to speak Hebrew?"
Hunter was surprised to hear her voice after so long. He looked at her then cleared his throat, "um, it's actually one of a few languages my father made me study while I was studying abroad during secondary school. He'd always had plans for me to be an officer at SASS so he wanted me to be well versed in different languages before I turned eighteen."
"So how", Tali paused to take another sip of water then continued, "how did you know that I'd know what you'd said?"
"I didn't really. Just thought I'd try my luck", he shrugged and spoke honestly. "I had to learn almost everything about your father before agreeing to work within NCIS. So, in learning, I found out he had two kids. You and your brother. What intrigued me was that you were born in Israel. Then I got a little background on your mother and saw that she is former Mossad. I honestly just assumed that she'd probably taught you at least some Hebrew."
"I see", the conversation now intriguing Tali, and keeping her mind of their current predicament, she waited in anticipation for him to keep talking. Her eyes encouraging him to tell more of what he knew about her and her family.
He somehow knew what her look meant and obliged. "While I wasn't completely sure if you actually speak Hebrew, I do know that you're in you're senior year of high school and you're the captain of the cheerleading squad. Shockingly, you skipped a grade and you're currently at the top of your class."
"Why is that shocking", Tali interrupted.
"Well, I mean you're ... you're a ...", he fumbled over his words.
Tali raised an eyebrow and finished his statement, "... a cheerleader. And cheerleaders aren't usually the brightest?" Hunter stayed quiet as he couldn't read if she was offended or found his stereotyping to be humorous. "I suppose it is rather oxymoronic", she mused and let out a light chuckle.
"It's good to see you smile a little after everything that bastard did to you", he blurted unconsciously. Idiot. Immediately, he felt stupid for even allowing the words to escape his lips. "I mean ... um ...", his face went flush and he'd suddenly become the one with no voice. Say something Hunter! Anything! Ugh! He shook his head in anger at himself. "Sorry", it was the only word he could seem to form.
Tali stayed quiet for a moment and wiped a lone tear from her eye. "It's okay", she breathed out. And just like that, again, the room was plagued with silence.
Okay, so in the next few chapters things will pick up, get lengthy, and begin to answer questions.
Thanks for sticking with me so far. Please, please, please continue to send feedback.
And, um, yeah ... Chapter X will be up soon!
Later!
