Disclaimer: I don't claim to own NCIS.
He opened his eyes slowly, acutely aware of two things. One, his arm was killing him, and two, Ziva was hovering over him in an extremely awkward position. He was sitting in the front seat of the car, his arm lying beside him. Apparently Ziva hadn't been able to work on it easily enough from the other seat so she'd taken it upon herself to straddle him as she worked. For a few moments he watched as she began to bandage his arm using the supplies from the first aid kit. She was very methodical, purposeful. It was clear she had done this before.
He cleared his throat. "You know I usually make a point of buying a girl a drink before we get into this position."
"Liar," she said immediately, completely deadpan, surprising him. Then she looked up from what she was doing and smiled slightly. "You are awake." She cocked her head to one side. "Pity. I think I like you better when you cannot talk. Or move."
"Hey!" he said, indignant. "Be nice. I'm injured, remember?"
Her hands continued to work deftly, carefully lifting his arm as she wound the bandage around. Her touch was far softer than any ER doctor he'd had. How ironic, he thought absently. Hers were the hands of a killer; who'd have thought they'd be so skilful at healing?
"I am also injured," she said, not looking up from her work. "Am I to expect that you will be on your best behaviour?"
He gave an expression of mock hurt. "I am always on my best behaviour!"
She ignored him.
"So what happened?" he asked. "The last I remember you were telling me you were sorry or something."
She hesitated. She didn't want to think about this. "I, uh, snapped your arm back into place," she said. "Well, as 'in place' as I knew how to."
"Then?"
She looked him in the face and gave a wry smile. "You screamed like a little girl and passed on."
"Out," he corrected automatically. Then he realised what she'd said. "Hey! DiNozzos do not scream."
"Apparently DiNozzos do scream," she said. "My ears are still ringing."
He ignored that.
After a few minutes, she put down his arm and surveyed her work. Then, apparently satisfied, she climbed off him. He resisted the urge to make a comment.
"Stay here. I will be back in a few minutes," she said, moving to the door.
"What? Where are you going?" he asked, mildly alarmed.
"I have to get two sticks to brace your arm. You are a big boy. You will be fine," she said condescendingly.
He glared at her and bit back a retort. His arm was beginning to really hurt now, but he wouldn't let on. Whatever relief the painkillers had brought was apparently wearing off. He watched as Ziva pulled on the door handle and pushed.
The door didn't budge.
She tried again, harder this time.
Same result.
"Fantastic," she muttered, thoroughly pissed. "Just great."
"Problems, David?" Tony asked lightly.
Her response was to grab her discarded sweater, wrap it around her boot, and kick it through the window, all in one swift motion.
"What the hell?" Tony exclaimed as the glass shattered.
She smiled self satisfactorily. "Sorry. I must have slipped." She then proceeded to remove the rest of the glass from the frame and climb out. She stuck her head back through the window. "Wait here." And then she was gone.
Tony just looked down at his prone arm and let out a breath. "Yeah, like I could go anywhere," he muttered, sitting back and trying to ignore the growing pain.
Ten minutes later she was back with two fairly straight sticks.
"You have to get out of the car," she said. "It will make this much easier."
"Can you get my side door open?" he asked.
She tried. Nothing.
"You are going to have to climb out of the window."
"With this arm?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "That's never going to work. Not without it splinted."
She heaved a sigh. "Alright. Hang on, I am coming back in. But after this you are going to have to get out anyway. I do not wish to spend the rest of my life stuck in this car with you."
He smiled. "Oh, I think you'd enjoy it more than you're letting on."
"You only think that because you have an ego the size of a small island," she said, maneuvering back through the window. He didn't miss her wince as she lifted her injured leg.
"Just a small one?" he asked. His tone was light, but he was watching her carefully for signs that her wound was worse than she'd let on.
"For now," she said absently, crouching on the passenger seat. Glass cracked beneath her boots. "Here, hold these," she said, handing him the sticks. He took them. "Now, I need bandages, tape..." she muttered, looking through the kit and pulling out the necessary items. As she came across the painkillers she pulled them out too.
"Okay," she said and swung her leg over his body so she was once again straddling him. He opened his mouth to make a comment, but she put up her hand. "Not. A. Word."
He shut his mouth.
"Give me the sticks."
He did.
"Now." She put two of the pills into her hand and offered them to him. "Take these."
He shook his head. "No. I feel fine. Not in pain-"
She poked his arm lightly. He cringed, but forced out the last two words,
"-at all."
"Bullshit," she said and once again offered him the pills. "Do I need to force feed you these again?"
"It is a simple splinting, Ziva," he tried. "I'll be fine."
"You are in pain, DiNozzo," she said. "Take the damn pills."
"I won't. I don't need them." He clamped his mouth shut.
She rolled her eyes exasperated. "Fine. Whatever. Your loss."
He smiled, but it faded quickly. The pain really was quite bad. To occupy his mind, he watched as she splinted his arm carefully and was once again surprised by how good she was at it. Suddenly, something else caught his eye.
"I can see down your shirt right now." He could, too. And the fact that she was straddling him only made the situation better. Horrific arm injuries totally worth it, he thought. There was a tug of pain. Well maybe not totally worth it.
She smirked slightly, but did not look at him. "See anything good?"
His mind flashed back to the time she was alluding to, when they were in the warehouse, disarming a bomb.
"Yeah," he said, playing along. "Real good."
She fastened the bandage with a bit of tape, leaned back, and slapped his cheek lightly. "I know this one," she said. "Not worth dying over, right?"
He raised an eyebrow and gave a lopsided smile. "Oh, I don't know about that..."
She just rolled her eyes and began to fashion a sling out of a triangular bandage. Once satisfied, she lifted his arm carefully. "Bend your elbow. Slowly."
He did, trying to ignore the immense pain. When it was at ninety degrees she instructed him to hold it up with his other arm.
"Okay, lean forward." She too leant forward and put her arms around his neck to fasten the sling.
"Oh god, Ziva," he muttered, staring at her chest, the curve of her neck, her thighs around his...
She pulled away. "Oh pull it together, DiNozzo," she said, though she was secretly proud that she had managed to cause such a reaction. "Now, we just need to slowly slide your arm into the sling. Good."
Once supported by the sling and splint his arm started to feel a lot better. "Thank you," he said sincerely.
"Sure," she said, packing up the kit and moving back to the passenger seat. "Come on, we need to get you out of here."
He nodded. "No complaints from me."
She got out first, taking with her the first aid kit and a couple of water bottles. Very carefully, and in extreme pain, he managed to get out too. For the first time since the accident, he looked around. Ziva was right- they really were in the middle of nowhere. They already knew their cellphones had no reception, but the complete lack of civilization was strangely eerie. To the right of the road was paddock after paddock. To the left, the side they had crashed on, the beginnings of a woodland. He turned back to Ziva.
"So what now?" he asked. "We just hang here until someone else drives along this road?"
She stared at him incredulously. "Actually," she said, "I think that is the worst thing we can do. If anyone does come it is likely to be our friends that shot me."
He saw her point, but didn't like it. "So what do you suggest?"
She arched an eyebrow and turned to the woods. "Ready for a hike?"
He balked. "There is no way you can walk with your leg in that condition."
"I do not see any other option. It should not be too far. On the other side of these woods is a town- we stopped at it on the way up."
"Oh yeah..."
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
He took a breath. "This has got to be the stupidest thing anyone has ever done..."
They began toward the dense, dark woods...
A/N: So.. shall I continue? What can be fixed? Any writing tips?
Tell me your favourite lines 'cause that makes me happy.
Review. :)