We're so sorry that this is such a short chapter – don't worry, this won't become a regular occurrence. But this one time it had to be done. And don't worry, the next chapter after this will be nice and long. :) All of the credit for this chapter goes to jessisparks2315.
So please enjoy and review! (seriously, review. Don't make me go fishing again. Because I will. You know I will :)
Once again, enjoy "Brick By Boring Brick"
Go get your shovel, and we'll dig a deep hole to bury the castle.
Maybe he was safe. He'd gotten her message, he'd heard her. She was dead. Drowned, never to be recovered.
The Man struck her across the face and she was jolted into reality. One eye was swollen too badly to open, but the other revealed that she was in a different room. No windows. The other had had windows.
Reality settled a bit more and her previous train of thought was suddenly, painfully ridiculous. Talking to Tony in dreams. Wearing a white dress, on a marble balcony.
A fairy tale in her abused mind, and he was her knight in shining armor.
The Man left her, slamming the door so that she was in total blackness.
Ziva licked dry lips and closed her eyes again. Everything hurt, but she was somehow more alert and awake than she had been in... God knew how long. Her head, her body... her chest ached and even now she flinched to call it "heartache," (a heart whose existence is frequently called into question should not ache under any circumstances) but that was what it seemed to be. The feeling of being irrevocably separated from everything she knew. The hollow cavity in her ribs ached for a hug from Abby, the feel of the carpet in the bullpen under her feet, Gibbs' strength to lean on, even McGee's unintentionally complicated explanations. And Tony's protective stare.
Breathing hurt.
She focused on the pain, bringing it into perspective, controlling it by letting it go, allowing the adrenaline brought on by injury to keep her awake, alert, and here. For the sake of her own sanity she couldn't allow herself to return to that fantasy land.
That life was gone.
Dead and buried.
Go get your shovel, and we'll dig a deep hole to bury the castle.