A/N: Apologies for the obscene delay in updating this story. This chapter is 'flashback' focused so the italics is the main flashback with the bold italics being the flashback within that and then the underlined bold italics is within that. I have never written such a layered flashback before but I thought it was necessary and well it kind of wrote itself.
The ageing man thrust the photograph into her hand, "Here", he growled, "This is your next target".
Sarah took the image from the man, not that she had much of a choice of course, before looking at the image carefully, "Who is she?", the 13-year-old child questioned quietly.
"You know not to ask questions", Eli stated fiercely as he stepped forward menacingly in a way that meant he was towering over her in a way that he intended to intimidate her into submission.
"Yes sir", she mumbled softly as she bowed her head in order to look down at the dusty floor instead of directly at the intimidating man in front of her, she did not see him as a loving grandfather, but instead as a dictator who forced her to train and to kill, both of which she did not want to do and never did. Not that anyone asked her what she wanted to do anymore. Ever since Thalia had died everything had rapidly gone downhill and her childhood was no longer anywhere to be seen.
"No, go!", the Yisraeli man barked, "Plane leaves in ten minutes so you better be ready by then and if this mission isn't a success then you know what will happen".
Sarah tried not to gulp in fear at his threat but she knew what it meant, she knew it was bad, and she knew that she didn't want to go back into that basement. The young girl quickly nodded and ran to get herself ready to leave, she always had a bag packed ready for times like this. It was no longer uncommon that she was given only minutes to prepare for a mission where she was being sent abroad somewhere or to another part of the country.
"Ima", five-year-old Sarah said softly, "Where will we go?".
Thalia knelt down in front of her, "I don't know my little Princess", she said as she cupped the child's cheek lovingly, "I just know that we're going to go somewhere safe and then as soon as we get chance we'll go to America".
"America", the little one repeated.
"Yes, America", the Yisraeli woman said with a smile, "Where we can be free, and you can play with other children your age, and go to school with other children".
"I'll get to go to school?", Sarah questioned with disbelief, "Really?".
Thalia felt sad at the idea of how something that should be so normal to a child was the source of such excitement, she loved the little girl but she had been forced to keep her hidden from the world and raise her as her own.
"But she is Ziva's child", Thalia stated as she cradled a bundle of white blankets in her arms where the baby lay wrapped inside having now stopped crying, "Why will you not let her raise her own child?".
Eli slapped his daughter across the cheek harshly, "You will not ask questions Thalia", he growled furiously, "You will obey and you will raise her until the time that she is needed".
Thalia did not dare ask what that meant but she knew that when the time came that she would need to run with the child, run somewhere safe, run somewhere that her niece would have a chance at being safe.
Once he had left the room, she sat down with the infant in her arms, "I will protect you", she whispered, "I will do everything I can to get you back to your mother, no matter what it takes". "I love you little Princess", she said as she pressed a soft kiss to the child's forehead.
"Yes Princess", Thalia replied, "You will get to go to school when we get to America".
Sarah grinned happily, "And we will be safe and happy".
Thalia nodded and wrapped her arms around the child securely in a tight embrace, "Are you ready to go?".
The girl nodded, "I'm ready", she said with a small backpack on her back and a doll in her arms, "Dolly is ready too".
"That's good", Thalia said with a smile, "Let's go, we have to walk for a little bit but if you get too tired then I shall carry you for a while".
"Okay", Sarah replied with a smile before they began to walk. They were often allowed to leave the premises but only because Thalia was now trusted to return with the child after building up that trust over the five years that she had been raising her niece.
After an hour of walking the little one had grown weary and pouted, "I'm tired now, can we take a sit down?", she asked as she stopped and looked up at her aunt.
Thalia felt bad for the little one who had done so well walking such a way, "I am afraid that we can not stop but I will carry you, it is not far now and when we get there a car is waiting for us".
"A car?", Sarah asked, "So no more walking?".
The woman chuckled a little, "That's right, no more walking", she said softly as she knelt down to pick the child up and carry her the rest of the way.
"I love you Ima", she said with a smile as she snuggled up to her with her head leaning against her shoulder.
"I love you too my little Princess", she responded before pressing a kiss to her forehead and holding her slightly tighter in a protective motion. She would protect the child, no matter what.
It was another half an hour before they reached the street where they needed to get to in order to get the car and Sarah had been walking for approximately ten minutes after having her break of being carried in Thalia's arms.
"Up", Thalia said softly as she knelt down to pick the child up, the place was quite busy and she did not want to lose her in the crowd although she was glad that the other end of the street was quite empty as it was away from the stores and cafes.
Sarah quite happily went into Thalia's arms, she liked being carried by the woman because it meant that she had more hugs from her and that was always a good thing as Thalia was the only element of positivity in her life and the only source of love that she had ever known.
Thalia walked towards the car with the child securely held within her embrace and she kept looking around at her environment, she was ready to flee with the child at any point. As she got closer to the car she put the key in the lock and twisted it but then she heard a noise that she recognised but should not have heard. She knew that she did not have time to run from it so instead she turned away from it, curling her body over as much as she could in order to shield the child as the car exploded. "I love you", she whispered quickly to the little one that she was holding in her arms.
The people turned and looked towards the explosion, some gasping and other screaming whilst some simply ran or hid.
Three teens who were stood nearby on the footpath on the other side of the car were killed in the blast whilst two were severely injured, and one had minor injuries.
Thalia, however, was not as lucky as the three that were simply injured, her eyes were closed as if she were simply sleeping and you might have thought that if it were not for the piece of the car door that was embedded into her back and the glass scattered in her body.
Sarah lay unconscious beneath her body whilst people avoided coming close. When she did manage to wake up she tried to get her aunt to wake up so that she could move, "Ima", she said softly, "Ima you have to get up, you can't sleep here⦠you are squishing me".
The woman did not move and nobody stepped in to help.
"Please, Ima?", she questioned, trying again, in vain, to get her aunt to lay beside her instead. "Please wake up", she begged, "Please, please Ima". Sarah sobbed, tears streaming down her face as she lay in pain from her impact with the floor, "I love you", she said kissing her aunt's body which pressed her into the floor, "Please wake up, I beg you, just wake up".
People watched on from the side of the street, they seemed too scared to intervene other than to call emergency services.
"Ima", she begged, "Ima", her whispers went unheard, "I love you". "You have to wake up so that we can go, remember? You said no breaks and I can't carry you".
Blood surrounded them and saturated the little one's long curly brunette hair along with her clothing. She was wearing a light blue dress with white socks and light blue ballet pump shoes whilst in her hair was a matching blue ribbon that Thalia had tied in a bow herself.
The little girl lay there crying with her aunt's body pinning her to the harsh floor of the city street, "I love you Ima", she said softly before repeating the words that Thalia always said to her, "No matter what, I will always love you".
Thirteen-year-old Sarah picked up the doll from her bed and stared at it for a moment, it had been given to her by Thalia when she was a young child. "I'm finally getting to go to America Thalia, just like you wanted us to", she whispered to the photo frame in her hand that she had picked up from her bedside table, a photo that went everywhere with her "No matter what, I will always love you". She placed the photo frame into her bag and touched the Star of David around her neck, Thalia had given it to her a long time ago. She kissed the Star and picked up her bag from the bed before she left the room in order to make her way over the airstrip as quickly as she could.
A/N: I am so sorry for the extreme delay in updating this story, I have no clue what happened there other than the fact that every time I attempted to write it my mind just went 'no'. I will, however, be aiming to finish this story within the next couple of months and it will go up to 10 chapters. I will also be aiming to finish the 'I Understand' (NCIS) story which will also be 10 chapters, and the 'Jane's Girl' (Rizzoli & Isles) story which will be 60 chapters in total.
Thank you for your patience.
(It has taken the whole weekend to try and post this! FF has been refusing to cooperate)
