Disclaimers disclaimed.

Chapter XXVII - Love Kept Them Alive


Twenty minutes into sitting by his bedside, Tali froze as she realized the 19 year old soldier was finally starting to wake up again from his earlier sedation. What would she say? She had no idea, but she hoped he wouldn't explode on her as he had apparently done with the doctors before. Her fingers were intertwined with his and, when she felt him squeeze gently, she smiled while finally letting out the breath that she had been holding in upon his first movement.

Hunter opened his eyes slowly and looked towards her. His face contorted in confusion when his eyes locked on hers. There was some part of him that knew she was familiar but another part that really didn't recognize her at all.

"Who are you", he asked in a groggy tone, still trying to fully wake up.

She smiled sweetly, "I'm just a concerned friend."

Hunter tried to sit up but then realized his fingers were laced with hers. He looked down at both their bruised hands then back up at her, "just a friend? You're pretty cute, you sure you're not my girlfriend? Pretty sure you're my type."

Tali giggled at his confused confession, "I'm sure that I'm just a friend. My name is Tali DiNozzo ... I know you probably don't remember me but I remember you and what you did for me."

"What I did", his confusion grew more by the second but there was something in her touch that made him stay calm. "What exactly did I do?"

"You risked your own life to try to keep me safe", she explained. "I owe you ... more than you know."

Hunter shook his head, "I barely remember anything ... why can't I remember?"

"You were hurt pretty badly", Tali sighed. "It might be hard, but can you tell me what you do remember? Maybe I can help you fill in the blanks."

He was silent for a moment. Trying to process what he did remember and trying even harder to keep his cool as he was starting to get angry with himself for not remembering. He let go of her hand to rub his face. After a few more moments he finally spoke, "I remember flying to the States to prepare for my first mission. I had to learn about an agency and help put together some contract ... maybe something for peace or allyship ... not really sure. There was this guy that wasn't happy with me being on the assignment, but I don't know why. After that, things just get choppy in my head."

"So you remember being on assignment? That means you atleast remember who you are, right?"

Hunter nodded with confidence, "yes, I am Officer Hunter Amadi of the South African Secret Service."

"Good, and the assignment you were on, do you know the name of the agency you had to work with?"

"Um, something to do with the Navy .. Naval something something Service."

Tali giggled again. "It's okay, no one ever really remembers the name. Not even Americans", she joked which made him smile slightly. "It's NCIS- Naval Criminal Investigative Service."

"Yeah that", Hunter chuckled. "So, do you work there? Were we on assignment together?"

She shook her head fervently, "Nope! I'm too young for one and my parents would NEVER let me go into law enforcement."

"Your parents", he raised his eyebrow while studying her face. DiNozzo? Something clicked in his head, "your father is the guy that didn't want me to be part of the assignment. He's the director!"

"Yes", Tali exclaimed excitedly. "See, you're starting to remember!"

"I think the contract preparation lasted for about six months ... the whole point was to ... was to um", he paused as his brain got cloudy again. Then his mood shifted and he let out an angry grunt that made Tali flinch. "Dammit, I don't know", he yelled in frustration.

His outburst made the two agents that stood outside enter the room. Tali shooded them away immediately, "everything is fine, you can go back outside." They stood for a moment to really be sure. "GO AWAY", she ordered while almost sounding like Ziva. Her new tone making them swiftly retreat back outside.

Tali turned her attention back to Hunter and carefully rested her hand on his shoulder, "It's okay Hunter, you don't need to remember everything right away. There's no pressure, we're both going to be here for a little anyway. We have time."

Something in her touch again calmed him down. Her voice too was soothing. He was secretly grateful for it and her patience. Deciding that his lack of memory only made him angry, he chose to switch the subject. "So, Tali, that's Hebrew right? Meaning the dew from Heaven?"

Tali smiled shyly and nodded as she welcomed his change of topic, "Yes, I almost forgot you knew Hebrew."

"Yeah, me too", he said jokingly. "You are American though, so how did you come to bare a Hebrew name?"

"Well, actually, I was born Israeli. My mother is from Israel and my father is Italian, although he is American born. As for how I got my name, my mother's younger sister was killed in a bombing when she was very young. To honor her short legacy, being my mother's first born she named me after my aunt. Now that I'm older, I take pride in baring the name of the woman my mother always says was a beautiful soul."

"Wow, that's a beautiful honor and I can see why she named you after her. You are definitely a beautiful soul as well."

Tali couldn't hide the instant blush that rose on her cheeks. Is he flirting with me? This little chat was giving her butterflies for some strange reason and she was rendered speechless by how Hunter had just made her feel.

A comfortable silence fell between them as they both inadvertently got lost in each other's eyes. The moment became too intense for Hunter, however, after a few minutes and he looked away to the clock on the wall.

"I missed Salah twice today", he spoke in a hushed tone absently.

Tali looked at him curiously, "Salah? You're Muslim? That's something you've never told me."

He turned to look back at her, his face resembling her own curious look. "Really? I take great pride in my religion, I'm not sure how that has never come up." He paused to scratch his head, "exactly how long have we known each other?"

"Almost two weeks and, considering the circumstances of how we met, I can understand why it never came up."

"I don't understand, how did we meet?" He noticed the panicked look on Tali's face. "I'm going to assume it wasn't under good circumstances?" She shook her head 'no'. Hunter sighed and took her hand back in his, "it's okay, you can tell me. Promise, I won't get mad."

"You won't be able to keep that promise", she whispered as she looked down at the floor to hide her own pain that was starting to surface. "It's painful, for both of us. I don't know if I'm ready to really talk about it with you."

"Ana nissa Tali."

Tali's head shot up at the use of her native tongue, just as it did that day in their cell when he pleaded with her to eat. The calm that washed over her was evident, and too familiar, to Hunter. His view of her changhed as he tiltled his head.

"I've said that to you before, haven't I?"

"Yeah", she responded quietly, "you have."

He tentatively ran his hand down the side of her face and let it land gently on her shoulder. Finding his confidence again when she smiled, he gave her a reassuring squeeze and repeated his plea, "ana nissa".

Tali took a deep breath and began telling their story, "we were kidnapped. This guy who called himself Lucifer took us. First you and then me. The day we met was my first day in the cell that he named 'Hell'. You had already been beaten up pretty badly and I ..."

"You used part of your shirt to wrap my head because it was bleeding", Hunter finished as the image flashed through his head when he closed his eyes.

"Yes. We were tortured together after that. He made us watch each other's beatings. Yours were worse than mine", she paused when Hunter opened his eyes again and she saw the same sorrowful look he had given her the first time their captor was physical with her.

"I think mine may have started out worse, but what he did to you ... that's why you said I risked my life trying to keep you safe ... what he did", suddenly Hunter started to cry.

The involuntary tears angering him but Tali noticed it quickly and started to console him, "shh, its okay. You don't need to cry or be angry Hunter. It wasn't your fault."

"Ugh", he grunted then winced in pain as he tried to shift in the bed. "I should have done more", he cried out in agony. "I should of never let him focus on you ... I'm so sorry."

Hunter was breaking down and all Tali could do was wipe his tears as he went through the process of everything flooding back to his memory. His eyes snapped shut as he saw the images unfold as if it were reality again. His breathing became labored and rage started to rise within him.

The monitors that kept track of his vitals started to signal the elevation in his heart rate. Tali knew she had to quickly get him to calm down or else his doctors would come back and sedate him again.

She stood and, without hesitation, took him in her arms as best she could without making his injuries worse. Gently, she began rocking him and started to sing one of her favorite Hebrew lullabies. Instantly, he started to ease his breathing and settle into her embrace.

Neither of them had noticed that Ziva was standing in the doorway and had signalled to the doctors that everything was fine. She watched on, with something resembling pride, as her little girl didn't look to be so little anymore. She loves him.

After a few moments, she quietly left and went back to the floor where Tony and McGee were waiting in the family's private room. Upon her return, the laughter between the two men ceased.

Tony cleared his throat, "so, how much trouble am I in?"

Ziva glared at him for a second then her resolve changed. She smiled and lightly chuckled, "none."

"Excuse me, none?" Tony looked at McGee who shrugged and then turned back to his wife, "I expected to see my little ninja come in with her blade drawn."

"Maybe I am losing my touch ... just this one time though. The next time you allow her to pull a stunt like this, I will castrate you."

"Hey hey! That's a little much don't ya think!"

Ziva rolled her eyes and kissed his lips sweetly, "maybe it is, but I refuse to admit that you were right, so threatening you seems to be my only weapon right now."

Tony flashed his biggest smile, "Aha! So you think I was right to let her go?"

"No, I still think you are an idiot ..."

"Buuuttttt", he coaxed her on.

"But you may have been right", she mumbled quietly as she rolled her eyes.

Tony laughed, "I will take that Mrs. DiNozzo!"

McGee couldn't help but laugh as well. His two best friends had always brought him joy, this moment was no different. He did, however, feel a little concern about what was happening on the floor below them. "So, what is actually going on between Tali and Hunter?"

"Uhh, Probee, you're kind of making it sound like my little girl is dating the young spy boy", Tony joked.

"They may actually be dating soon", Ziva said seriously.

"WHAT!?" Tony and McGee both shouted in unison as their eyes darted towards Ziva.

"You both heard me very well. I will not repeat myself", she responded sternly as she finally took a seat next to McGee by Tony's bed.

"Wait", McGee started, "I never meant to make it sound like they were dating, but you seem very serious Zi."

"Yeah, a little too serious", Tony agreed.

"You did not see how they reacted to each other when Tali drew Hunter's memory back about what happened to them", she explained. "We have to accept that Tali will be 18 in another year and certain traumas bring two people closer together. Maybe even draw them to love. Just like ours did."

Tony nodded in agreement, "hmph, I get it now. I don't agree with her dating anyone but I do get your point."

"Yeah", McGee agreed as well as he looked between the two lovers. He knew their story all too well. It was something he admired the most about them. That in the intense struggles and traumatic moments they shared through life, love was born and love kept them alive.


Okay so this wasn't really the chapter I had prepared for today BUT it just felt right to have some lesser drama filled moments. The next chapter will be packed with A LOT ..

1. Orli gets her shot.

2. Hunter remembers the truth about his father.

3. Tony gets out of the hospital.

BONUS: Classic Gibbs content!

Review! Review! REVIEW!

Later!