Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the show.
A/N: I'm on a roll guys! I have all these ideas so I had to get them down before I forgot them! Chapter 14 up and running, so hopefully soon we'll get a bit of an idea as to where the hell I'm taking this! Trust me, I don't know either, which is a bit frightening since I'm the one writing it! xxoo
Chapter 14
Ziva opened her eyes, jumping up suddenly. She felt her hands bound together and her right arm hurt like hell. She sat there for a minute while she remembered where she was and what had happened.
Ziva sat up, moving carefully, testing her limbs and joints, trying not to cause any more damage. She tried to assess whatever damage her body might have sustained from the electric shock. Her insides felt like they had been fried and every movement caused great pain.
She turned her head to where Tony previously lay, only to find a red stain on the floor, a deep coppery smell coming from it – blood. A lot of it too, it scared the hell out of her to think that all that came from a wound on the back of Tony's head. She had gone off to investigate a noise while Tony was attacked from behind. The coward of a man had attacked him without any warning then turned on an innocent nine-year-old girl.
Ziva pushed herself up against the wall, her right arm throbbing where the taser had been pressed into her. She looked around for her Sig but it was nowhere to be seen. The thought that the man had taken her gun, and taken Tony hostage gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She lifted up her hands to try to push her sleeve up, but it was no use, the handcuffs restricted her from too much movement. Not to mention the throbbing pain she felt.
The door creaked suddenly, opening a touch. Ziva saw a shadow bearing upon the door as the figure entered.
Grace slowly poked her head in the door, her dark curls hanging over her face. Ziva breathed a sigh of relief as the little girl came in, slowly walking up to her, her dirty white nightgown dangling across the floor, a large tear in the side of it.
"Grace." Ziva called out softly, the little girl's head popping up. She walked up to Ziva, obviously trusting her somewhat. She sat down next to Ziva, still clutching Kate's red jumper.
"Are you okay?" Ziva asked her. Grace nodded, her eyes filling up with tears, "Don't cry…" Ziva said softly, the little girl's tears stopping. She looked down at the silver handcuffs that had been so hurriedly forced onto Ziva's wrists.
"Grace, can you reach my pocket?" she asked Grace, motioning towards the pocket on her jacket. Grace nodded as she pulled out a set of keys. She looked up at Ziva as if saying, 'what now?' Ziva held up her wrists and asked her to undo them; she did do swiftly and easily. Ziva took the cuffs off, rubbing them where the medal had scraped against her skin.
"Thanks," she said to Grace, looking at the little girl as she looked up at Ziva with her dark eyes, "That was you that screamed out for Tony to look out, wasn't it?"
Grace looked down at the ground and nodded. "I was told you couldn't speak."
The little girl looked up at Ziva and frowned, shaking her head. "So you can speak?" Ziva asked, urging her on. She nodded, opening her mouth to speak.
"He…" she began. Ziva smiled, "'He' who?" she asked.
"Your friend, he's hurt." Grace said, almost in a whisper so that Ziva had to lean into hear her.
"Yes he is. Do you know who that man was?" Ziva asked her quietly. Grace frowned, looking down at the ground again and nervously fiddling with Kate's red jumper in her hands.
Ziva didn't think she was going to answer anytime soon, and time was of the essence. She tried another approach, "Can you think of where the man would have taken Tony?"
Grace looked up in surprise at the mention of Tony's name and nodded, "I don't know how to get there though."
"That's alright. What about you? Are you hurt?" Ziva asked her. Grace shook her head slowly, "I'm okay. He didn't get me."
Ziva rubbed her arm once more, wincing. She pulled up the sleeve of her jacket slowly, uncovering a painful red lesion. It was a small burn but it hurt like hell, Ziva's throbbing head not doing anything to make her feel better.
"You're hurt!" Grace cried out. She got up and ran from the room before Ziva could object, but came back in no time with a clean white cloth and another, damp one. She knelt down next to Ziva and placed the damp one on her arm. Ziva winced as the nine-year-old dabbed at her burn then picked up the other cloth, wrapping it around Ziva's arm. She fastened it at the back neatly then looked up at Ziva again.
"What's your name?" she asked as Ziva rolled down her sleeve.
"Ziva David," she replied, "and thankyou for that, you've done this before, haven't you?"
Grace nodded, "I learnt first aid from my mother."
Ziva tried to stand up, her head throbbing and her ribs suddenly started aching. She waited a few minutes until she regained her strength, pulling herself tenderly up. Ziva stood up, holding out her hand for Grace. She accepted as Ziva pulled the little girl to her feet. "I'm going to call a friend of mine who can look after you; you'll be safe with him."
"Promise?" Grace asked.
Ziva smiled, "Promise."
The little girl held onto Ziva's hand as she walked her to the door. "Then you'll find Tony?"
Ziva looked down at Grace then knelt down, "Don't worry Grace, he'll be fine. I'm not going to let anything happen to him, okay?"
Grace smiled, "I know you won't."
A/N: I know it's yet another short chapter, but I wanted to set up my evil little plan… mwa ha ha! Grace talks again, and yes I've researched people who are mute, it can come back just like that, with no warning. They'll be lots of back story about Grace, and who the man is, and what the hell he's done with Tony! All in good time, my pretties:::cackles evilly: