Still Day 2 - Nighttime, turns into Day 3
Just want to say that Ziva's middle name is pronounced with a long "I" not the "ee" sound. It will make more sense later on in the chapter. Also, 'Ima' is the Hebrew translation of mother. Again, will make sense in the chapter.

A/N: I decided to post a little early because NCIS is a repeat tonight. I've been having a little trouble getting my Muse around lately, but she does like reviews so maybe ya'll can entice her back.

VillageVoice

"We're not really going to spend the next two days lying in bed are we?" Abby pleaded, wearing the saddest, most irresistible pouty face she could manage.

Ziva chuckled and looked out the window. The full moon was rising its way up the star-studded sky. "It is nearly midnight, Abby."

"And your point?"

"I suppose that . . ." Ziva looked back at Abby. A little darkness would only encourage her mistress of the dark. "I do not have one."

Abby smiled, drawing her index finger over Ziva's jawbone, down to her chin, ending by tracing the outline of her mouth. "Not that I don't love staying in bed with you for hours - that thing you do with your…" She wiggled her eyebrows. "…is the stuff of legends and if I didn't have you right here they would keep my fantasies going for months, years even, but-"

"You know for someone who loves being underground in a lab all day, you are surprisingly uncomfortable being bound within the limits of walls." Ziva interrupted.

"I get bored sitting around here all day."

"I do not recall being here all day and I especially do not recall sitting." Ziva joked. "What do you have in mind?"

"We," Abby sat up for added effect. "Should go to a club."

Ziva raised an eyebrow. "A club?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Abby wasn't expecting that. She closed her mouth and did a double take on Ziva. "Why?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Why not?" Abby never recalled having a reason for going to a club – with the exception of when she, Ziva and Agent Lee went undercover as Thom E. Gemcity's hookers to get into a club, but that was for a case so it didn't count.

"I do not know that is why I asked you. You claim to not be happy staying within the four walls of this room and yet you want to a club where you will be bound within another set of walls. It does not make sense to me."

Abby pouted. "You look too deep into the English language. Sometimes it's not meant to be so literal."

Ziva pulled Abby over and wrapped her arms around her. Taking time to use the fact that Abby's hair was down to her advantage as she nuzzled her nose within the dark locks. "I am sorry. We will do anything you want to do."

"Anything?"

"Yes. . . But no puppy."

"Aw come on Zi. They're so cute." She looked up at Ziva, batting her eyelashes.

Ziva looked deep into Abby's eyes. If she looked deep enough she could see right through the cuteness. Eyes really were the windows to the soul. "No. When do we have time for a puppy Abby? We are at work all day, sometimes for several days at a time. It is not fair to leave a small animal alone for that long."

"I could bring her to work. I'll say she's in training to be a detection dog or something and what better way to train her than raising her around the very things she will be detecting?" Ziva shook her head. "We could actually train her. She could sniff for drugs or explosives or guns or bodies…" She trained off seeing Ziva staring blankly at her. "She could be a police dog? When Gibbs doesn't work one look at her and confessions will come pouring out of even the most..." She sighed and relaxed into Ziva's embrace, laying her hands over Ziva's and lacing their fingers together. "I guess you're right."

Ziva nodded and tightened her arms around the taller woman, placing a kiss on her cheek. "So, what are we going to do?"

Abby swung her leg over Ziva so that she was straddling the Israeli. "Suddenly," She began. "I'm not so interested in going out anymore."

"No?" Ziva laughed as she pulled Abby's hands from her face. "But now I am."

"You know, I'm thinking that this probably isn't one of the best ideas I've ever had." Abby said as she looked around the nearly pitch-black park.

Ziva picked a flower out of the ground and tucked it behind Abby's ear. "It is actually pretty romantic." She said, lying back against the blanket they had laid out on the damp grass.

"Really?"

"Yes." Ziva smiled up at Abby, pulling the Goth woman down with her. "It is dark, yes?"

Abby nodded and wrapped her arm around Ziva, snuggling into her embrace.

"It is quiet, yes?"

Abby nodded. "Except for the crickets."

Ziva listened for a minute. "They add something . . ."

"Special?" Abby offered.

"Magical." Ziva looked down at Abby and they shared a loving smile. "It is perfect."

Abby leaned up and placed a soft, loving kiss on Ziva's lips before snuggling back down. She saw something flickering above them just under the tree branches. "Fireflies."

"Firebugs?"

Abby pointed above them to a bunch of flickering lights. "Fireflies."

Ziva looked up and her dark eyes grew as she watched these little bugs play. She had never seen anything like them. Little flashes of light there one minute and gone the next. It was amazing. She was sure there was some complicated process that went on for the tiny bugs to create such sights and Abby would more than likely explain it to her in great detail if she asked, but laying there watching them flicker on and off with Abby was enough.

"Okay we're going to play a game." Abby stated, breaking the silence.

"I want to watch the firebugs."

"They're called fireflies."

"I like firebugs better."

Abby chuckled. "You can still watch the firebugs."

Ziva looked down at Abby for a second before turning back to the flickering bugs. "Fine I will play your game."

Abby smiled and placed a kiss on Ziva's cheek. "Okay, so I ask you a question and you answer and then you can ask me a question and I answer."

"That is not a game. It is an interrogation." Abby feigned hurt and punched Ziva's arm. She tried to sit up, but Ziva tightened her arms around the Goth and refused to let her. "I will play your interrogation game."

Abby settled back down and snuggled close up against Ziva. It was getting colder by the minute. "It's not an interrogation game." She protested. "And to show you that it's not I will let you ask the first question."

"What kind of question?"

"Anything you can think of. But no lying. I know your crazy, super ninja spy Mossad training made it so that you can pass a polygraph without an ounce of effort, but I am the human polygraph. Nothing gets past me."

Ziva paused to think for a minute. She had to make the question a good one because Abby generally shared all the important details of her life with her anyway. But she also had to make it innocent enough so that if Abby turned the question back to her she could actually answer it without putting the Goth in danger or having to lie to her. Despite the amazing lie-detecting skills Abby claimed to have, Ziva could make anyone believe anything that came out of her mouth. Mossad training, both a blessing and a curse. "What is your middle name?"

Abby rolled her eyes. "Is that seriously your question?" She looked up to see Ziva looking at her expectantly. "You're a boring question asker." She sighed. "Brooke."

"Abigail Brooke Sciuto." Ziva said, drawing the words out and seeing how it felt to know one more piece of the puzzle that was Abby Sciuto-Abigail Brooke Sciuto. "Your initials are your nickname, yes?"

"Some people lack creativity." Abby nodded. "What's your middle name?"

Ziva resisted saying how much creativity was lacked by simply mirroring her own question, but she was rather hoping that was what Abby would do so she restrained herself. "Aniah."

"Aniah." Abby repeated. "That's pretty. Is it Hebrew?" Abby asked, propping herself on her elbow so she could watch Ziva as they talked, still keeping her other arm draped over the Israeli's toned stomach.

"It is . . . sort of. It is based off of Anah, but it is a tradition in our family to have each one of our names have an 'i' in it, so my parents changed it. It means 'answer' in Hebrew."

Abby smirked. "Does that mean you have all the answers?"

"No." Ziva shook her head. "Now it is my turn to ask another question, yes?"

"Yes."

"What is it with you and puppies?"

Abby laughed.

"I do not understand."

"What is there to understand Zi? They're cute, they're cuddly, they're there for you unconditionally, they love you unconditionally. They don't judge you and they don't care what you do for a living or how much money you make. They never want anything from you, they don't demand anything and if anyone gets near you they'll rip their throats out. All they know is when you have a bad day, if they stay by your side as you eat pint after pint of Ben and Jerry's . . . that you'll be okay."

"What is a 'Ben and Jerry'?"

"It's not your turn." Abby chuckled. "The only guys a girl can trust, aside from Gibbs. I'll introduce you later."

Ziva nodded and wrapped her arms tighter around Abby as she felt the older woman shiver. It was getting cold, but neither woman had any desire to be anywhere else. She momentarily pulled away from Abby to grab the blanket they had set off to the side. Once it was spread out over them she looked down at Abby. She was so beautiful. She was beautiful all the time, but there was something glowy about her at night. The darkness lit up her eyes. She was totally in her element.

Abby smiled and opened her arms to Ziva. "Lay back down."

Ziva smiled and nestled into Abby's arms. "Your turn now, yes?" She asked as she fixed the blanket over their shoulders.

"Okay, my question is . . ." She thought for a minute. "Have you ever thought about having kids?"

Ziva sighed. "Thought about, yes."

"Do you want kids?"

"That is two questions."

"My game." Abby shrugged. "Sue me."

"I have always wanted to have a child, but a part of me knows better. It is complicated."

Abby reached over and started twirling a curl of Ziva's hair with her fingers. "We've got time."

Ziva took a deep breath. "I used to have this dream when I was younger, while I was in Mossad. I would shoot this shadow from a distance and when I got close enough to see the shadow is it is a little girl. She's two or three years old with these bright eyes and soft dark curls and she always had this little stuffed lamb in her hands. When I get to her she is bleeding out from the shot I put in the center of her forehead. She looks up with tears in her eyes, hands me the lamb and says, 'Ima, why?'" Ziva shook her head. "Not why did I shoot, but why did I bring her into this mess."

"What mess?"

"My life."

Abby planted a kiss on the top of Ziva's head and tightened her arms around her. "I think you'd make a great Mom."

Ziva smiled sadly. "We will never know." Neither knew what to say after that so they just laid there together and watched the bug show overhead. Ziva heard something to her left, but relaxed when she saw it was only a pair of frisky squirrels. "My question." She thought for a minute and a smile spread across her face. "How old are you?"

Abby blushed and looked away. Probably one of the world's best kept secrets was her age and she liked it that way. "Older than you." She replied in a whisper. She even hacked into the NCIS database and erased the year she was born from her record.

"That is not answering the question."

Abby pulled the blankets up over her face and hid.

"You made the rules Abby. I believe one of the rules is 'no lying.'"

Abby sighed and pulled the blankets down away from her face. "Fine, but you cannot tell anyone, and I mean anyone." Ziva put her hand over her heart and nodded. The forensic scientist looked around into the darkness to make sure no one was around before answering. She cupped her hand around Ziva's ear and whispered the secret age into her ear so low Ziva almost didn't hear her.

Ziva switched their positions and wrapped her arms around Abby. "You look good for your age."

Abby groaned. "I will skip my next question as long as this conversation can be over."

Ziva chuckled and planted a loving kiss on Abby's temple. "Okay my turn then, yes?"

"No."

"No? But you said-"

"No. You ask boring questions. My turn. Your family?" She felt Ziva tense within her arms. "Ziva you can tell me anything." She ran her fingers lightly back and forth over Ziva's arm until she felt the muscles relax. "I promise."

Ziva looked up at Abby for a long while before finally answering. She never told Abby about Ari. Gibbs was the only one who knew they were related. He was her brother and she killed him. She had to carry that around with her, but she had no idea how Abby would feel about her connection to Ari. Ari killed Kate. Kate and Abby were best friends. It could go one of two ways. One, Abby would bolt. She would want to get as far away from Ziva as fast as she could. Two, it didn't bother her nearly as much as Ziva thought it would and she'd get over it in a minute or so. Ari killed Kate and Ari was Ziva's brother. She almost hoped it was the first case. It would eliminate her having to break Abby's heart. She would rather Abby hate her than to have to see a single tear slide down her pale cheek.

Abby brought her hand to Ziva's cheek and gently turned her face so she could look into her eyes, breaking when she saw redness creeping into Ziva's chocolate orbs. She pulled the Israeli in for a kiss. "Nothing you can tell me will make me love you any less."

Ziva scoffed. "You do not know what I know."

"But I want to."

Ziva smiled at Abby and nodded. She would do anything to make Abby smile. "My father is Director of Mossad. He was Deputy Director for most of my childhood and was promoted while I was here with NCIS and is not letting me forget that I was not there to see him promoted. My mother was killed when I was fifteen. I was considered an adult then, but my Aunt Nettie came to live with us to help raise my little sister, Tali. I told her that I would raise Tali myself, but she wanted me to have a childhood." Ziva laughed sadly. "She was not happy when I joined Mossad. But she knew that it was my decision."

"I've never heard you talk about a sister."

"She was four years younger than I. She died in a Hamas suicide bombing when she was sixteen."

"Oh Ziva."

"We were very close. I never trusted many people, so Tali was my best friend. Her death made me a great assassin my father said. It hardened me." She brought a hand to the pendant hanging from her neck. "This was her necklace."

"I can imagine. Ziva I am so sorry."

"Do not let Gibbs hear you apologizing."

Abby laughed. "Gibbs would never do anything to me."

"Favorite, yes?"

"Once the favorite, always the favorite. Now finish your answer."

"How do you know I was not finished?"

Abby raised an eyebrow. "Because I know you Ziva David."

Ziva took a deep breath and forged ahead. "I had an older brother – half-brother. He was born before my parents were married." She corrected. "I was his control officer in Mossad and I followed him here. To Gibbs and . . . to Gibbs's basement." She looked straight ahead, not being able to handle the look in Abby's eyes. "I shot him just seconds before he would have pulled the trigger on Gibbs. Officially Gibbs fired the shot."

"Ar . . ." Abby felt all the air leave her body. "Ari Haswari was . . . your brother?"

Ziva nodded. "Yes." Abby didn't pull away, she didn't look away, she didn't speak. Ziva lied still, not knowing what she should do. "Abby? . . Abby are you ..?"

"Give me a minute." Ziva nodded and turned to move away, but Abby stopped her. "That doesn't mean that I don't still want you here."

"But, Ari was-"

"Your half-brother. You killed your own brother to save a man you barely knew. That alone proves that you are nothing like him Ziva."

"I am sorry that I did not stop him before he killed Kate. I know she was very important to you."

Abby nodded. "She was my best friend and I will miss her every day of my life . . . but I believe there is a reason for everything, I have to believe that there was a reason for her death." She reached down and laced her fingers with Ziva's. "She brought you to me. She always wanted me to be happy. Now I am."

Ziva smiled. Her father would pay for this. Never before had she hated him so much. She would make sure he paid. She might die doing it, but he would pay.

"Ah Ziva?"

Ziva shook herself out of her reverie. "Yes?"

"It's getting a little chilly out."

"Chilly?"

"Cold."

"Why did you not just say 'cold'?"

Abby rolled her eyes and sat up. "How about when I say, 'let's go home so I can ravish every inch of your body and make you feel like a goddess.'" She purred. "What do you say about that Officer David?"

Ziva smiled and turned over so that she was straddling her Mistress of the Dark. "I say . . . why wait."

Abby brought her lips up to Ziva's ear. "I like your style, David."