30 day challenge notes: quantity over quality, limited editing, stand-alone/unrelated stories unless specifically stated otherwise, not always tiva, chronologically randomly set in whatever pre-s11 season seems to fit
A/N: Gibbs and Ziva were in a serious car crash, Tony shows up at the hospital
Prompt: Listening to the sound of thunder with a cup of tea in hand
The torrential downpour was unrelenting, rain pelted against the window, the cool glass against her forehead calming the pain developing behind her eyes. The sudden thunderclap rang in her ears like screeching tires and crushed metal. She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly through her nose, the smell of antiseptic covering the memory of burning fuel and blood and smoke and rain.
As she opened her eyes, she saw his reflection approach in the window. Worry etched on his face, a cup in each hand. She pushed off of the window and turned towards him.
"Any news?" he asked, eyes fixated on hers.
She shook her head, barely.
He handed her one of the cups, then let his eyes wander over her, stopping on the blood stains on her jacket. "Are sure you're okay?"
She nodded. Barely.
He licked his lips, clenched his jaw. "Ziva."
"I am fine." She swallowed hard, turned sideways, away from his penetrating gaze, and leaned her head against the window again. The cold glass against her temple reminded her of the warm drink in her right hand. She took a sip, the tea warming her throat as her eyes followed a stream of raindrops racing down the window pane, like the stream of blood that had raced down Gibbs' face.
She closed her eyes briefly, willing the memory away.
He repeated her name, voice hoarse and heavy with concern,
"Just bruises." She bit her bottom lip. "Gibbs…the driver's side was hit hardest."
"He'll be fine."
"You didn't see him…" She opened and closed her mouth, fearing her voice would break as the image of his pale, bloodied body was lifted into the ambulance.
"Hey," he said confidently, urging her to look at him. "This is Gibbs we're talking about, he's invincible."
"Nobody's invincible, Tony." Thunder rumbled as if to give credence to her statement.
He pursed his lips, and looked at her through narrowed eyes. "Remember when we watched Highlander?"
Ziva let out a frustrated sigh and turned her back to him, just in time to see a bolt of lightning light up the sky, followed by more thunder. She took a long sip of her tea, and watched two people outside run for cover from the storm.
"There can be only one," Tony said in his best Connery impression.
She frowned, then remembered that particular movie, and Tony insisting Gibbs was obviously one of the immortals. The sound that left her lips was somewhere between a chuckle and a whimper, and as she turned towards him, she felt the first glimmer of hope since watching those headlights careen towards their car in the pelting rain.
Another sip. Another rattle of thunder. "Does Abby know?"
He glanced away and took a deep breath. "I wanted to drive straight to the hospital, so I asked McGee and Ducky to go tell her in person."
As his gaze drifted back down her body, hesitated on the bloodstain, and eventually lingered on the right side of her face, which had slammed into the side window, her heart filled with how much he cared about them all. Her phone call to notify him of the accident and Gibbs' condition had been short and straightforward, as usual. Inside she had been reeling.
Moving closer, she placed a hand on his chest. "Thank you," she said, and thought, "for coming here first."
He smiled softly, and gently caressed her left cheek, a thunderstorm brewing in his eyes.
Another crack of thunder made her flinch, and he instinctively gathered her into his arms. She went willingly, left hand grabbing onto the wet fabric of his coat, face buried against his chest, hoping nobody would see the silent tears falling as she fought against the deluge of memories of Gibbs' mangled body being rescued from the car wreck.
Seconds that felt like eternity later, she stepped away from the warm and safe confines of his arm, only to lean back against the cold window. The rain and thunder seemed to be quieting down, as was the adrenaline and anxiety rushing through her. She drank some more tea, and lowered her cup as he briefly placed his left hand on the back of her neck and a kiss on top of her head.
He leaned against the wall next to the window, facing her, and took a gulp of his own tea. "Gonna be a long night."
She smiled softly. "Would have been a lot longer without you here."