Chapter 1
Ziva David tossed and turned in her sleep, if you could call what she did at night sleeping. It certainly wasn't rest. Although she had not been present at the time of the explosion, her imagination had filled in the blanks. It had been four days since the accident, and she had not experienced a moment of peace since.
Abby had informed her, along with the rest of the team, that Roy Sanders had been killed in the explosion, along with Sonya Harvey. Noah had survived, along with Director Shepard. Noah hadn't supplied Abby with any details as to injuries sustained. He hadn't told her how Director Shepard had managed to survive an impossible situation, while Roy had unnecessarily perished. He had spirited Director Shepard away, and begun the official cover-up for the NPID from an undisclosed location.
The remains of Sanders and Harvey had been turned over to NCIS for investigation. Although the FBI had a more vested interest, NPID had intervened due to the nature of Roy's involvement, pulled some strings and handed the reins to Agent Gibbs.
All Ziva knew was that she was miserable. The lines on her face and bags under her eyes clearly attested to that fact. Roy was gone, again. Noah was incommunicado. Gibbs wasn't being Gibbs. He was trusting Noah completely with Jenny's care and the cover-up, as if delegating to his agents was normal for him. Ziva wondered what else could possibly happen to turn her world upside-down.
---
A knock at her door put her out of her misery. Finished pretending to rest, Ziva made her way to answer the door, hardly even noting the time was 0300 hours. She confirmed who was outside by peering through the peephole, and then opened the door.
"Abby?" Ziva asked as she opened the door to allow the beautiful, dark-haired girl to enter. "Is everything okay," she asked.
"No it's not okay," Abby responded frantically, already beginning to pace the floor. "Noah will not let me sleep. He is driving me crazy. Ziva, you have to help me," she turned to the Israeli woman, grasping her arms in her hands. "Please."
"Abby, I don't know what you're talking about," Ziva looked deeply into the eyes of her visitor, co-worker and friend.
"Ziva, I'm afraid it's really bad," Abby leveled with her. "He hasn't given me permission to tell all the details, but it isn't good. He is miserable. If you could just let me send you to him, then I think everything would be okay," she explained.
"Send me to him?" Ziva asked confused. "Gibbs ordered us to stay away. I can't even try to…"
"Not a problem," Abby interrupted.
"I know Gibbs treats you differently, Abby, but I don't think you can disregard his direct orders," Ziva noted.
"You don't have to go anywhere," Abby said.
"I haven't had any sleep in days and you aren't making any sense," Ziva said, exhaustion coloring her features.
"Awwww…" Abby said sweetly, pulling the other woman into an awkward embrace. She stroked Ziva's hair with her hand, wanting to comfort her.
Ziva pulled away from Abby with a strained expression.
"Sorry," Abby responded, lowering her eyes. "I just want to help," she explained.
"It's okay," Ziva said with a smile. "I'm not trying to be rude. I'm not sure why you're here," she explained.
"Think, Ziva!" Abby ordered, her enthusiasm back to its normal level. "Noah is out there hurting, and you are the best person to help him. I am your only means of getting to him without pissing Gibbs off."
At Ziva's blank expression, Abby sighed and then continued, "Go to sleep, Ziva." She gave her a knowing look.
Ziva scoffed, "Easier said than done."
"That's why I'm here," Abby said with a grin.
"I thought you couldn't get into Noah's dream without his permission?" Ziva asked.
"Of course not," Abby said. "But he opened himself to me for that when he first came to work at NCIS. So did Maggie."
"Oh," Ziva replied, still not quite understanding what was about to happen to her.
"Now, go," Abby said, pointing to the bed.
Ziva shook her head in defeat, and climbed under the covers. What was she getting herself into?
---
Blinding heat and hard asphalt assaulted Gibbs, as the recoil from the explosion sent him prostrate ten feet from where he originally stood. He glanced around to see that Maggie and Tobias had also been spared from the brunt of the blast, and then jogged toward the burning vehicle.
"Jenny!" he shouted. "Noah!" Maggie came to join him, placing a hand on his arm. He pushed her hand off his arm and walked a perimeter around the vehicle, searching for some sign of life.
"Jethro, don't forget there are unimaginable things that could have happened there. Don't jump to any conclusions. If you've learned anything over the past year, it's that things aren't always what they seemed," Maggie intoned, trying to get through to him. He turned to look at her, the unshed tears in the blue eyes a sharp contrast to his strong, masculine features.
"I'm sorry," he said to her, pulling her into his arms. "I didn't mean to react that way when you touched me," he explained.
"It's okay," she assured him with an understanding smile.
Gibbs pulled away and immediately switched into case mode.
"You're right, Sullivan," he said gruffly. "We don't know what happened yet. Page everyone; get them down here NOW," he ordered.
"On it, boss," Maggie said with a smirk, as she ran to the car to retrieve her cell phone.
"You know the FBI will need to take the lead on this case," Fornell began.
"Can it, Tobias," Gibbs barked. "I'm taking this over your head." Gibbs stepped out of Fornell's range of hearing and called NPID Director Thom Murphy.
"Jethro," Maggie nudged him awake. "It's a dream," she promised earnestly. "Wake up."
Gibbs shook away the remnants of the nightmare he had been experiencing every night since the incident and sat up in bed, sweat pouring down his face. Maggie pulled him into her embrace.
"There's nothing you could have done," she said soothingly.
"I know," he said quietly. "But there's something I can do now."
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sequel to A Walk on the Wild Side