Strange Happenings

Disclaimer - I Own Nothing

A/N - Thanks so much to all who reviewed and for the amount of alerts I have got already :)

Chapter Two - Breakdown

Ziva opened her eyes and blinked a few times to clear the fuzzy feeling in her head. She frowned as she stuggled to remember what had happened. She looked around her and gasped as she realised she was lying on an autopsy table. She sat up slowly and scanned the room - she was alone. Then she noticed the body bag lying on the next table and everything came flooding back to her. Fear shot through her heart as she jumped down from the table and made her way across the room. She took a deep breath and undid the zip of the body bag. She opened it enough to see the man's face. The brother of the man who had captured and tortured her for 3 long months. His face was so similar, she could almost feel him laughing at her. Memories started to swirl around her. Cigarette burns, whips, punches, kicks. It seemed so real again, that Ziva began to back away from the table. She was lost in her own thoughts,
tears streaming down her face, and she continued to back away until she hit something. Ziva spun around and let out a small scream as her eyes focused on Gibbs. Ziva wanted to run and hide, but Gibbs placed his hands on her shoulders, to keep her still.

"Ziver, calm down. You're ok"

"I am sorry Gibbs. I do not know what has come over me. Today, has been a bit of a shock I suppose"

"You know there's no need to apologise. How are you feeling now? You were out of it for a long time"

"My head feels a bit fizzy, but I guess that is expected, yes?"

"Fuzzy Ziva. Let's get you upstairs, away from autopsy"

"Why is this happening Gibbs? It has been two years"

"I don't know Ziver, but we are going to do everything we can to catch whoever is threatening you. No-one threatens my team and gets away with it"

Gibbs placed a gentle kiss on Ziva's temple and lead her away from autopsy. Ziva followed his lead, but couldn't help but have one last glance at Saleem's brother.

A few hours later and Gibbs looked around at his team. McGee was furiously tapping away at his keyboard, trying to find a lead. Dinozzo was on the phone to several contacts in Africa, but by the frown on his face, he wasn't getting anywhere. He slammed the phone down and sighed. Ziva was staring at her computer screen, but Gibbs could tell that she wasn't focusing on it. She looked pale and tired, in fact the whole team looked tired.

"Alright, lets call it a day, be back here at 07:00 tomorrow" Gibbs stood up and barked across the ballpen. He grabbed his bag and walked over to Tony's desk.

"Take her home and don't leave her alone" Gibbs whispered in Dinozzo's ear.

"Sure thing Boss" Tony looked across the ballpen and his heart sank at Ziva's appearance. He could tell she was struggling to hold it all together, but her pride was stopping her from breaking down completely. Tony said good-bye as McGee left, and then made his way over to her desk.

"Hey, let's go home" Tony said gently.

"I want to finish this first. There is no need to wait for me"

"Ziva, you have been staring at the same screen for an hour, let's go home, get some dinner, and relax"

"Relax? You really think I can relax Tony? There is someone after me, there is no time for relaxing" Ziva started to shake with anger.

"Hey, calm down. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I just want to look after you ok?" Tony replied. For the last few months, Tony had been spending a lot of time with Ziva. Nothing 'romantic' had ever happened, but they simply had a good time together, and it was comfortable.

"I am sorry too, I guess I am not feeling quite myself at the moment. There are too many bad memories being dragged up for me, and I am not sure how to deal with them"

"I can help with that. Come on, lets get you home"

Tony and Ziva made there way down to the parking lot.

"My car or yours?" Tony asked.

"Mine"

They made their way to Ziva's car. A box had been placed on the bonnet. Ziva frowned and opened the box. She gasped and dropped to her knees, crying. Tony looked in the box. Inside was a mannequin head which had been made to look like Ziva. There was a bullet embedded in the forehead and a note attached. Tony read the note.

"Getting closer to you Ziva, watch your back. No-one close to you is safe"

Tony threw the box down and sat on the floor next to Ziva who was rocking, sobs exploding from her chest. All he could do was hold her, and whisper four words, "It will be alright", over and over again. If only he knew that was the truth.