Interlude

Chapter 3

There had been no nightmares; no monsters and Ziva woke to her head still pillowed on Gibbs' chest, his arm still securely around her. For the first time in four months she was blissfully comfortable. No, that wasn't it. She searched her thoughts for exactly the right word. She felt...safe. She found herself reveling in that fact and snuggled in a little deeper.

"You're awake," came Gibbs' gravelly voice.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

Gibbs hugged her a little. "Don't worry about the time."

Ziva opened her eyes and looked up to the man that was the closest thing to a father she had in the world. Eli David sent her on a virtual suicide mission into the Somalian desert and when she missed her check in time, he sent no one to find out if she lived or died. He sent no one to extract her. The man that held her as she shivered and had chased away the nightmares that she knew would plague her, not only did he care whether she even existed, but sent in Tony and McGee and even came himself to extract her. He didn't care about any intel she had gathered; he cared about her. "But I do. You must have something to do other than sit around here with me."

"Nope."

"Well how long did I sleep?" she asked again, a little more insistent this time.

"Ya really want to know, Ziver?"

"I do."

Gibbs sighed a little. Ya been out for sixteen hours. Before you panic, I got shut eye, too. I needed it and you needed it."

Ziva was aghast. "Sixteen hours? Why did you allow me to sleep that long?"

"Ya needed it."

Ziva let that sink in for a few moments. "I do not think I actually slept that amount of time in Saleem's camp. I was never allowed to sleep more than an hour or two at a time unless there was something going on and Saleem needed to pull too many men. I would maybe get three or four hours before they would kick me awake. Sometimes they'd punch me or pull me by my hair...and sometimes they'd be more...creative." She let out an involuntary shiver.

"Don't go there just yet, Ziver; not if you don't want to," Gibbs said, feeling that shiver run through her. He couldn't tell if it was because of the memory or because she was still cold. He could clearly guess what horrible things those men did to her. DiNozzo and McGee had to carry her out of the building and she couldn't walk at all, even though she put up a weak protest. Gibbs remembered how light she was when he handed his Kate off to DiNozzo to carry as he hefted Ziva in his arms. She was never a heavy woman, to begin with, but now she felt almost child-like. She lost a good deal of weight. Even now, with her leaning on him for so many hours, she was no burden. "You don't have to say anything about it."

She closed her eyes and sighed softly. "I am ready to. Just a little, please, Gibbs. If I do not talk a little I think I might go mad."

"Ziva-"

"Let me begin. It is now or never. I will start with me captured and brought into the camp," Ziva began, her voice soft but strong. "They had jumped me, ambushed me, and beaten me unconscious. When I awoke, I had a cloth bag over my head and my hands were bound. I hurt everywhere. I suppose they kept beating me after I lost consciousness because I hurt in places that I do not remember being hit while I was awake.

"Saleem had me thrown into my cell, head still in the bag and left to become afraid. I do not know how long I laid there. There was no accounting for time. I do not even how long he held me. What is today's date?"

Gibbs kissed her hair. "September 24, 2009."

Another, stronger shudder wracked her frame. "Oh, God. He had me almost four months. Oh, God." She buried her face in Gibbs' chest and flinched when he gently began to stroke her hair.

"Ya don't need to say anymore," he said in a whisper.

She lifted her head. "No, it was just a shock knowing how long I had been there. I can continue. After I do not know how long, Saleem had me dragged into his interrogation room and tied to a chair. He tore the bag off my head and then demanded something I had no idea he would ever ask. He did not want to know about my father, Mossad or Mossad operations in North Africa. He wanted to know all about NCIS. I refused him, of course and he had one of his men beat me until I nearly lost consciousness again. He shot me full of adrenaline and brought me around. He had ripped my Star of David necklace off of me, threw it on the ground and stepped on it." Ziva paused, feeling herself close to tears. After a moment, she continued. "Eli gave me that pendant for my Bat Mitzvah and it meant the world to me. He spit in my face and called me a Jewish sow and asked me again to tell him about NCIS. When I would not, he had me thrown back into that tiny, airless room for a period of time."

Gibbs could see how this telling was affecting her. She looked close to tears and he didn't want to cause her more pain. "That's enough for now, Ziver. Ya don't need to go on. What ya need is some food and more rest. Let me see to that food. I'll be right back," he said, gently sliding out from under Ziva's slight weight. She looked so thin.

Gibbs went into the hall and down to the nurses station. "She's awake and probably have something to eat."

A plump red-headed nurse named Megan looked at the chart governing the patient in 203. "I can get that for you, Agent Gibbs. She's to be on soft foods for a while and in gradually increasing amounts. She's rather malnourished right now. We've been feeding her nutrients through the IV line, but she still has a way to go."

"When can we get her home to Bethesda?" Gibbs asked in his usual brusque manner.

"As long as we can finish our examinations to rule out any more severe trauma and complete the preliminary tests, Dr. Werner says we can release her in a couple of days so you can take her home. She has another battery of x-rays to clarify certain injuries. We had to let the swelling go down in them and then she will need a SAE kit done. Agent Gibbs, you know that she was held in a camp of thirty men and she, their prisoner, and only woman for kilometers. They needed to break her so you know what they did to her. We need to see the extent of her injuries there. We need to send a comprehensive evaluation to Bethesda so they can help her heal further. She's one of the strongest people ever brought in here, Agent Gibbs. She will survive," Megan said, giving Gibbs extra hope that his broken loved one wasn't as broken as he had feared. It would take time, he knew.

"Thank you, Megan. What's on the menu for today so she can start regaining her strength?" he asked, digesting what she had just told him. She had just alluded to...he did not want to let his mind dwell at that violation, but he knew, his gut knew that it happened.

"Well, we're trying some small amount of milky, loose oatmeal today and some toast and jam with tea and water," Megan said.

"Make that oatmeal sweet and not so loose and the tea almost Turkish or it won't get past Ziva sense of smell. If you don't get past that, she won't touch it. If she tosses it up, at least something good got into her," Gibbs said, knowingly.

"The Doctor's orders are-"

"Ziva had the flu at it's worst last year. She was out of work for almost two whole weeks. The only things that would stay put were milky, sweet, thick oatmeal, Turkish tea and McDonald's french fries. She lived on that for a week and a half," Gibbs said, cutting her off. "Where's the nearest McDonald's?"