Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


Chapter One

Caitlin Todd sighed as she unlocked her apartment door. It had been three weeks since she was kidnapped by the man the NCIS team now knew as Mossad Officer Ari Haswari and Gibbs had finally seen it fit to let her out of his sight. After nearly a month in a house that smelled strongly of sawdust, and Old Spice, she was eager to sleep in her own bed. Hopefully the familiar surroundings would finally suppress the nightmares that had plagued her as she slept in her boss' spare bedroom.

But before she attempted to get a good night's sleep, she was going to dress up and spend the night out on the town. She was not normally a party girl but after her recent experience she had decided she deserved to have an exciting weekend.

She fetched her cell phone out of her purse. Flipping it open she paused before dialing. Abigail Scuito was her best friend and she loved her dearly but today she was not in the mood for the Gothic club Abby would want to go to. Instead she pressed in another memorized number.

After three rings her friend Galit Goldberg answered cheerfully. They had met while Kate was first entering the Secret Service. Galit had already been in the service for a few years and had shown her the ropes and taught her how to survive as a woman in a man's world. A few years ago she had been stationed in the Nevada office. She had just recently come back and they had soon become closer than ever.

“Hey, Kate, where have you been? You have not called me in forever. What happened?”

“Oh, it's a long story,” Kate mumbled. She sensed that her often oblivious friend had not taken the hint and not wanting to worry her by telling her the events of the past month, she quickly said the only words guaranteed to divert any further prying questions.

“Hey, do you want to go out tonight?”

******

Kate sat cross-legged on Galit's bed absentmindedly fiddling with a small stuffed lion that had been perched on the headboard. When Galit had seen the one dancing dress Kate owned, a modest and simple black gown, she had shook her head and declared that it was not fit for clubbing. She had dragged Kate to her house insisting that she had something perfect. Now she was rustling around in the her large walk-in closet.

Finally after nearly three minutes Galit came out proudly holding up a dress. It was blood red and fit perfectly. She twirled around experimentally, admiring the way it fluttered gracefully around her knees. "Wow, where did you get this? It's perfect."

Galit just grinned, "I refuse to reveal my sources. I have been meaning to give it to you actually. I bought it for you, but I kept on forgetting." She smoothed down her own dress, it was a bright sapphire color that matched her eyes.

After fooling around with each other's hair and makeup for a while they declared themselves satisfied with their appearances and left Galit's house. As Kate opened the door of Galit's car she shivered and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She had the distinct feeling she was being watched and she froze, scanning the area surreptitiously scanning the area for any sign of a watcher. But she didn't see anything.

"Come on Kate, you do not want to miss any fun, do you?"

She shook her head, she must be getting paranoid. "Right, I'm coming."

Chapter Two

Kate laughed gleefully as she moved to the beat of the music in the packed nightclub. “This is insane!” she yelled. Even though Galit was dancing only a couple of feet away from her she had to yell to be heard over the music.

“I know! It is great, yes?” she shouted back.

A different song began to play and they moved to stand against the club wall. They were neither foolish nor drunk enough to attempt to dance to the more complex beat of the new song meant for skilled dancers. Most of the crowd had decided against dancing as well, and Galit had to shove aside an amorous couple to make a space for them.

Galit whistled quietly as they watched the more talented people on the dance floor. Her eyes darted around, and then settled on one dancer in particular. Seeing that Kate was distracted by a rather handsome man standing nearby, she recaptured her attention with a well placed poke.

“Ow, Galit,” Kate wailed as she rubbed her shoulder blade, “That really hurt.”

Ignoring her complaints and shooing away the disgruntled man, Galit pointed towards the dance floor. “Look at her,” she demanded.

Kate just glared at her. Sometimes, old friend or not, Galit's pushiness drove her insane.

“Okay, I am sorry," there was no hint of remorse in her voice, "Now look at that dancer."

Kate sighed and rolled her eyes but turned towards the dance floor anyway. Soon she spotted the dancer her friend had pointed out.

“Wow, she’s amazing,” Kate murmured in awe.

The young woman they were watching was dominating the attention of almost everyone in the club. She seemed oblivious to their existence though, as she performed complex steps, leaps and twirls, completely wrapped in the music. Her slinky black dress accentuated her figure and seemed to make her olive skin glow. Her long brown hair was piled on her head and a few strands rebelled against the strict up-do to curl around her heart-shaped face.

As the music began to come to a close she performed a final elaborate twirl. The applause of the many onlookers seemed to jolt her from the enraptured state the music had put her in. She looked startled for a moment but then a smile spread across her face. She bowed slightly before she began to move off, dodging various proposals from both men and women with a quickly teasing smile and a shake of her head.

Though most people soon lost interest in the woman as a new song began to play Kate’s eyes remained on her. She tracked her progress through the club carefully, frustrated by a thought, an image, that seemed extremely important but remained tantalizingly out of the grasp of her conscious mind. She’d almost grabbed it when Galit’s voice distracted her. She reflexively turned towards the petite brunette standing next to her.

“What did you say?”

Galit smiled impishly. “I said, ‘she sure caught your attention, huh?’”

Kate narrowed her eyes, not liking what her friend was implying. “I was just thinking, that’s all.”

“I am sure you were.”

Kate didn’t bother replying. Sometimes her friend had an annoying tendency to act like a miniature, female DiNozzo. Instead, she turned back around and searched the crowds. But the mysterious woman had vanished, and when she racked her brain she found the mental image she’d been trying to reach had disappeared as well. All that was left was a vague impression that the exotic beauty was very important somehow.

As she resignedly began to turn back to Galit, who was now watching a man on the dance floor, she once again got the strong impression she was being watched and a shiver crawled down her back. This time, though, the feeling was accompanied by a hand covering her mouth and strong arms pulling her into the shadows of the club.

Kate struggled against the strong arms as they dragged her away from the dance floor to a less occupied area of the club. Pushing down the fear that was threatening to bubble up from her stomach and become a scream, Kate bit down on the hand covering her mouth as hard as she could. A harsh laugh filled her ears and she was pushed onto something soft.

Kate tried her best not to let the fear show on her face as she gathered her bearings. She saw that she had been dragged to a booth in a dark corner of the club and struggled to arrange herself into a more dignified sitting position to face her assailant. She gasped in shock when she looked up to see the culprit.

“You...,” Kate cleared her throat, shocked at the undignified squeak that had come out of her mouth. “You're that dancer. The one we were looking at earlier.”

The woman, girl, Kate amended, she couldn't be much over twenty, didn't look at her. She was silently examining the hand that Kate had bitten. Kate almost smiled, pleased to see that she had drawn blood. However when she saw the feral smile on her captor's face the pride diminished and fear resurfaced.

“Why-? What do you want with me?' she choked out, ashamed to hear that she was still squeaking.

That finally drew the girl’s attention from her hand. Her captor, looking at Kate, gave another sharply biting laugh. “Caitlin, Caitlin. Relax, I merely wanted to meet you,” she purred. The feral look on her face had turned into a smug smile. “My brother has told me a great deal about you.”

“Your bro...?” Kate trailed off as suddenly something clicked. The Middle Eastern accent combined with a British syntax, the way she used Kate's full name, those dark brown eyes that seemed to burn into her soul but that still showed a capacity for kindness. And that smirk, so irritatingly smug but still so alluring. They were all too similar to his.

“You... you’re Haswari's sister?” she shouted as she was hit full force by the images she had been desperately trying to grasp when she first saw the woman.

“Very good, Caitlin,” her tone was patronizing, as if she were praising a small child for finding a shiny rock.

“You still haven't told me your name, or what you want from me,” Kate shot back, stubbornly resisting the overwhelming urge to curl up in a ball and sob her heart out in terror. She would not give this woman the pleasure. She would not show how afraid she truly was.

The younger woman's smug smirk though, showed Kate that she could see right through her facade of courage. “Of course, how terribly rude of me; I must, of course, tell you, else wise our little chat will be of no point, is that right?”

Kate glared at her, “Well I’d hate to state the obvious but you skipped the part where you tell me your name and what you want,” she tried to match her abductor's condescending tone with this remark.

This only seemed to amuse her even further. “I did, did I?” She was grinning widely now and Kate got the impression this was all just a kind of twisted game to her attacker.

“Well,” Kate snapped now as frustrated as she was terrified, “Who are you and what do you want with me?”

“You just have to spoil my fun, yes?” she sighed, mock pouting.

Kate just glared at her, once again desperately pushing down her fear with frustration and anger.

"Oh, very well,” she said loftily, “If you insist.”

She jumped down from her perch on the table across from Kate. Suddenly the almost playfully taunting look on her face was one of calm that seemed to belie a fearful rage. Strolling over she pulled out a knife that was concealed at her waist. She chuckled softly at Kate's flinch at this movement.

Leaning over, she pushed the sharp steel of the blade against her throat. Kate gasped, closed her eyes and began to silently recite her last rites, certain that she was going to die by this woman's hands, afraid she would leave this life for no reason except a girl's whims. She gasped in relief as the pressure left her neck only to cry out in pain as the blade was drawn across the top of her right hand.

“Blood for blood,” the woman whispered as the scarlet liquid flowed hot, thick, and sticky from the fresh wound. Kate let out a small whimper as she pressed her left hand against the wound, desperately trying to stem the flow of blood.

The taller girl leaned in even further towards Kate so her lips were pressed against her left ear. Kate squeezed her eyes tightly closed again and couldn't hold down a gasping sob as her assailant began to whisper in her ear. “I am Ziva David. Remember that name as you remember that of my half-brother. We are always watching and we will be meeting again."

When Kate finally got the courage to open her eyes again, Ziva David had disappeared. Alone in the dark with only the pounding music to comfort her, and blood now trickling down her arm, Caitlin Marie Todd, former Secret Service Agent, NCIS Special Agent, the girl who always insisted on playing with the big boys, the woman who always refused to show any weakness, curled into a ball and began to sob.