HIIIIIII! I love fanfictions about Ziva, she is one of my favorite characters, and I admire her so much. Please forgive me, I wrote this at 2:00 in the morning, but oh well, please enjoy! There are a few Tiva mentions, but it isn't part of the plot. As always, reviews are really helpful, and if anyone has suggestions or critiques please don't hesitate, I love to get a bunch of different opinions. :3
TW, mentions of Self-harm and mental health concerns
Disclaimer- I do not own NCIS or any of the characters (though I wish I did)
Ziva David flung herself out of bed, lunging towards the bathroom. Holding herself over the toilet she threw up whatever was making her ill…maybe.
Sitting back on her knees, she crossed her arms over her stomach, trying to remember what had happened the night before. Ziva struggled a lot with depression, anxiety, and sometimes self-harm, this often led to her laying in her bed in the dark crying. One thing Ziva never, ever did, was get drunk.
Yet she had either gotten drunk, or drugged, and she was too cautious for anyone to slip her toxins. Sighing, she pulled herself to her feet, last night was still a blank, but she was feeling horrible.
"Are hangovers always this bad?" Ziva wondered aloud, "Maybe I'm sick or something too." Well it didn't matter to her, she was going to work like any normal day, and no one would know about her problems.
After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Ziva was ready for work. Her head throbbed, and her vision was slightly black around the edges, which concerned her. She was still nauseous, and couldn't stop shivering, but she started her car, and began the frenzy of speeding, swerving, and running red lights that it took to get to work.
Ziva stepped into the elevator, which turned out to be a terrible idea, the movement made her stomach churn, and as soon as the doors opened ran to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, Ziva sat down at her desk, waiting for her coworkers to arrive. Her computer flicked on, and she started to scan through cold case reports, but her brain wouldn't focus, her head was aching, her heart was racing, she was having trouble breathing, she was cold and shaky, and her stomach hurt. This can't be normal, how do people put up with this? She thought to herself.
Just then, Ziva was pulled from her thoughts when the elevator doors slid open, a very loud and joyous Tony stepping out, on time for once. He was singing to himself, and the noise was making Ziva's headache even worse, she tried not to cover her ears.
"Hey sweet cheeks! How are you this fine morning?" Tony grinned, "Guess who had dinner with a beautiful young maiden?"
Ziva sighed, "You?"
"Right you are, her name was Angela, beautiful blonde, she had these really bright blue eyes, and…"
Ziva stopped paying attention, frankly, she had stopped caring about Tony's love life, she honestly wished he could just settle down with someone. He could always settle down with me…She pushed the thought away, blushing.
Ziva was desperately trying to get her shit together, and didn't notice McGee walk in, giving her a concerned look.
"Hey Ziva, you okay?" McGee asked, watching her.
She jerked her head up, startled, "What?"
"I asked if your doing alright"
"I'm fine."
"O-okay"
Ziva takes a deep breath, she has to stay at the top of her game, she wasn't going to drop her mask just because she was stupid and went out drinking the night before. I hope we don't get a case today…
"Grab your gear." Gibbs called, storming into the room, then towards the elevator.
Just my luck. Sighing, Ziva grabbed her bag, dreading getting back in the elevator, then straight in the car.
As Ziva stepped into the elevator, she immediately felt like she was going to puke. Backing into the corner, she crossed her arms over her stomach, trying to keep her face neutral and emotionless. The elevator started its descent, and Ziva took a few steadying breaths, determined to hide her unease.
The elevator stopped, and her team stepped out, she followed, hoping to keep it together, but he felt her stomach cramp. Dashing out of sight, she threw up in a bush, thinking she was alone.
"Ziva…" A voice said cautiously from behind her.
She froze, then wiped her mouth, and slowly turned around. McGee was standing awkwardly behind her.
She walked past him, "Nothing happened. If you want to keep your head, nothing happened."
McGee reached out and grabbed her sleeve, "Ziva, you- you shouldn't be at work today, I won't say anything, but- if you don't feel good you should stay home and rest."
Ripping her arm out of McGee's grasp, she stated firmly, "I am FINE McGee." But even as she said this, her head spun, threatening to knock her off her feet. "We have to go." She tried desperately to keep the tremor from her voice.
"No Ziva. Gibbs and Tony are taking care of it, I can drive you home."
"No McGee, you don't understand." Ziva turned away, fighting the tears that pricked the corners of her eyes.
"I don't, you're right. But you can tell me, I'll listen. We are partners, I can help."
"I DO NOT NEED YOUR HELP MCGEE" Ziva snapped, but even so, she began to cry. I can't take this anymore, pretending I'm fine, fighting alone. It's usually okay at work, but every night I get home and I want to die. Maybe, just this once… Ziva battled herself for a few seconds, then gave in.
She turned around and wrapped her arms around McGee, "I'm sorry." She sobbed, "I can't do this. Please…"
McGee tensed, unsure of what to do. The coolest, most kick-ass ninja, emotionless assassin, and strongest person he knew, was clinging to him and crying her brains out. Cautiously, he set his hand on her back, then began to rub comforting circles.
McGee's phone rang, and he looked at the caller, it was his boss. "Hi boss-"
"Where the hell are you McGee!? And where is Ziva?"
"Oh…um… about that…"
"Spit it out McGee"
"I'm taking Ziva home, she's sick."
"Good luck McGee." Then he hung up.
He sighed, "Ziva, let's get in the car okay?"
She pulled herself off McGee, took a few steps, then blacked out.
McGee shot forward, wrapping his arms around her stomach and lowering her to the ground. He brushed her hair out of her face, and laid her head on his lap. "Ziva…"
Slowly, Ziva opened her eyes, "Wha-"
"Shh, you blacked out, but it's fine now."
"I-" She gave up, "Let's just get to the car."
As they parked in front of the house, Ziva opened the door and stepped out of the car, "What's wrong with me?"
"..." McGee hesitated, "Were you out drinking last night?"
"Yes."
"Okay come here," He grabbed her keys, opened the door and sat her on the couch, "How often do you drink?"
"Almost never, I don't think I've ever gotten properly drunk before."
"Okay, I am going to say that you have an abnormal allergy to alcohol, this means that you have a much stronger reaction, and you can feel sick for longer. So it's probably not a good idea for you to drink very often."
"Okay."
McGee stayed the rest of the night, and Ziva felt much better the next day, she went back to work.
Sorry it's so short, I had this idea, but it didn't take me very far. I promise that my other stories will be longer, I just kinda had to get this one out. I hope it was a good read, no matter it's length, and I'll publish my better story in a little. Thanks for reading!