As far as he was concerned, Michael Rivkin had seen through Eli David's scheme of pairing him up with his daughter. They had known each other for a long time, and before she had went to the US as Ari's control officer, they had been contemplating crossing the friendship line. But then Ari got killed, and Ziva had changed a lot. The years she spent in America had changed her. And Michael was glad of Shepard's close brush with death and Ziva having to go back to Israel. He had missed her terribly, and working with her again had caused the old feelings of love and longing to resurface. Morocco had been terrible for him, seeing her wounded and knowing that he could have lost her that night... He swore that he would not let another day pass without telling her how he felt. And while she had been reluctant at first, their relationship had grown. Even after she had returned to the US, they had kept in contact, meeting in Israel before he had gotten his undercover assignment.
And now Ziva was in deep trouble. And for once, he was glad that he was already in Washington. He did not like the US too much; the people here were shallow, hypocritical and often too emotional, but the chance to be there for her was worth it. Even though he would be very glad when this assignment was over.
Ziva had mentioned Kadira briefly when they had first been partners during their early missions. He had gotten the feeling that she cared for the girl and wanted to help her, but did not know how. And he did not really understand it. They were not related, and Kadira had a father that was looking after her. She did not need to worry for someone that was not part of her family. And now the girl she cared about was trying to kill her. That was not the Ziva he knew, his Ziva would not resign her liasion position, his Ziva would fight for her life and take out those who threatened it.
Then again, he had never seen her when her life was threatened by someone that was family. And he was not sure he wanted to. As much as he liked the image of her being a strong warrior, he knew she cared deeply for people once they managed to sneak past her defenses. And while he was glad that he was apparently one of them, it posed a problem right now.
When he reached the safe house, he did not see any signs of a car. Entering it with his gun drawn, he found Ziva sitting on the couch in the living room, her face in her hands. When she heard him, she turned around, reaching for her weapon. Recognizing him, tears started to form in her eyes, and she flung herself at him, crying and sobbing into his chest. Michael droped his gun and hugged her tight, stroking her hair and softly kissing her forehead, whispering words of comfort, affection and love. And he felt a hate for the Hamas terrorist that had resolved the strong woman he knew into a sobbing bundle in his arms. And Michael Rivkin swore that he would do everything to make the pain end for Ziva. Even more so if it meant taking down a member of Hamas.
TBC