Title: Here In This Man's Arms
Author: CJ aka WritinginCT
Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Gibbs/Ziva
Rating: FR18
Warnings: Season 5 spoilers
Categories: Drama, Angst, Romance
Feedback: Love it? Hate it?
Disclaimer: I don’t own the recognizable characters I’m just inspired by them. Hopefully they’ve had fun playing in my sandbox.
Note: Written for the Gimme Giva... Maybe and Tearjerker Challenges on the NFA
Summary: Ziva found a home in Jethro's arms and sacrificed everything to stay with him, but will their world crumble to dust when an old enemy kidnaps Ziva and their newborn son?
Status: WIP
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Ziva looked over at the man stretched out on the bed, the sheet riding low on his waist. He had his hand resting lightly on his stomach and she caught the glint of his wedding band in the late morning light streaming into the bedroom. She leaned down and kissed him deeply and reminded him, “I am having lunch with my father today.”
He reached up and toyed with one of her curls, he loved it when she left it to its own devices after her shower. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No. Not today. Today I must handle by myself.” Her words were strong, but he knew there was a daughter's insecurity behind them.
He sat up and pulled her into a tight embrace, offering silent strength.
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To say that Ziva's father was angry was an understatement. “You are going to turn your back on your home, your country, your family for this man? I won't stand for it. You may consider yourself recalled Officer David. I will have the embassy arrange your transportation back to Israel immediately. And then I will find you a proper husband.”
Ziva stood gracefully, and said sadly, “I'm sorry, Father, I will not be returning to Israel. “This man” as you call him is my family. There are bonds between us that you would never understand. And you will not have to trouble yourself to find me a “proper husband”, thank you. I already have one. We were married three weeks ago. I am sorry, Father, but this is my home now.”
She dropped her napkin on the table and walked away before he could reply, controlling her tears until she reached the car, where she let them fall freely.
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She drove home on autopilot, her thoughts taking her many places and she was home before she knew it. And she smiled as she parked on the street that was becoming more and more familiar since she officially moved into his home a month ago.
He was sitting on the front steps with one of his favorite coffee mugs in hand waiting for her. He stood to greet her as she strode up the walk, putting his cup carefully out of harms way. He took one look at her face and just opened his arms wide and folded her petite frame in them.
He kissed the top of her head and asked gently, “Should I even ask how it went?”
Ziva turned her head and rested her cheek on his chest, and played with one of the buttons on the pocket of the denim shirt he had on over his t-shirt. “Badly. But honestly I did not expect it to go any other way. My father is very stubborn and used to getting his own way.”
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, allowing the smell of coffee and wood shavings and something that was just distinctly Jethro to work it's calming magic on her like it always did. And Gibbs knew as she snuggled closer to him that words weren't what she needed, so he just held her tight.
It was that ability to be quiet and still that was ingrained in both of them that worked so well for them. There was no inane chatter, no random talks about their feelings, no verbal coddling, and no ridiculously juvenile declarations. But they did argue, and did hash things out, and when they did talk about what they were feeling, the other paid careful attention, because it was important. And when “I love you” was said, it was never taken for granted, it was gift and an affirmation every single time.
Ziva let her mind wander, wander back to the first time she had his arms around her, it was after the Tanner case. After Gibbs spent time looking after a child that wasn't his own. And when little Zach had been reunited with his father and Gibbs was alone again, she was the only one that knew the pain he was revisiting. And sure enough that night when she crept into his house quietly, but not stealthily because that had the potential to be unhealthy, she found him in his basement with more than a little bourbon in him, sanding that boat furiously as if to erase the memory of the faces of his lost wife and daughter. He hadn't been surprised to see her, and when she took the sanding block gently out of his hands and wrapped her arms around his waist without a word said, he knew that the odd bond that had been forged between them with Ari's death was growing. Growing into what neither of them knew.
They slept together for the first time the night of the Marine Corps Ball. Mentally and physically tired she had gone creeping into his basement after leaving Tony to Abby and McGee's tender ministrations. She wanted to feel safe, and not have to be impassive and strong. Playing the part of the pregnant paid assassin trying to escape the life just hit too close to home for her. She just wanted... wanted him to hold her and tell her that everything was okay. And after taking one good look at her, he did just that. And then, he took her upstairs and tucked her into his bed and continued to hold her as they both tried to sleep. As he lie there with her head on his chest, stroking her hair as she slept he knew things were getting complicated. But as she snuggled closer to him as he pulled the blanket up around her a little more, he decided he didn't care.
They had sex and then made love for the first time after she and Tony had gotten locked in that cargo container. Gibbs had found himself worried about her, almost to the point of not thinking clearly, the only way he could was to promise himself that he would see her again, would hold her again, all else be damned. And that night, after she had cooked a make-up dinner for Tony she again slipped in his front door with a covered bowl, knowing somehow that he hadn't eaten anything. No words were spoken as he took the bowl from her hand and put it on the workbench before pulling her into his arms and kissing her with intent. The first time was raw with need and fear as they moved together fast and frantically on a sheet of plywood under the spine of the boat with a lack of grace and finesse unusual to either of them. When their sweat had cooled they retrieved the bowl from the workbench and lay side by side back under the boat, a simple sawdust laden drop cloth pulled up to cover them, and fed each other bits of marinated beef and little potatoes from the bowl with their fingers. And when the giggling and playful teasing echoed in the basement, they knew that the thing between them really was something, something they had both been searching for, for a very long time. And when their bodies melded together a second time, it was slow and gentle and made each of them feel alive, and oh so human. And as Ziva drifted off to sleep she realized that she was home, here in this man's arms she had found a home, a place she belonged.
It wasn't a regular thing for them, nor was it permanent, they both knew and accepted it. Just like they knew and accepted that no one at NCIS could ever know, and truth be told the sneaking around aspect of it all was a little bit of a turn of for both of them. It went on for months that way, until he changed things a little. She had arrived and slipped down the stairs after leaving her knapsack of clean clothes on the couch like she always did. He was fiddling with something on the workbench as she plastered herself to his back and slipped her arms around him. When he finally turned into her embrace so they were face to face she saw what was on the bench, it was a drawer from his bedroom dresser, with a single strand of pink curling ribbon tied in a simple bow. The drawer was a gift for her, he was giving her a space in his home, in his life, and given their circumstance it was all he could give her. When she realized what it was and what it signified she took his face in her hands and ravished his mouth. And the next morning when she pulled her clean underwear out of her drawer in his bedroom she smiled. And she kept the bow.
Their clandestine meetings worked for both of them, at least until a bomb in a drum aboard a Turkish freighter landed Gibbs in a coma and stole the memory of her from him.
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tbc...
Author's Chapter Notes:
Ziva found a home in Jethro's arms and sacrificed everything to stay with him, but will their world crumble to dust when an old enemy kidnaps Ziva and their newborn son?
Written for the Gimme Giva... Maybe and Tearjerker Challenges on the NFA
Written for the Gimme Giva... Maybe and Tearjerker Challenges on the NFA