Chapter 2
Ziva settled into the bed, and immediately turned her back to Abby. She was unaccustomed to having someone watch her sleep, and it was very unsettling. Abby pulled a chair over beside the bed and sat near Ziva.
"Now close your eyes and relax," Abby said on a long breath. Ziva rolled her eyes, and then closed them. Immediately she began feeling peaceful waves of sleep roll over her body, as if she were lying on the beach. The waves washed over her, making her giggle and lulling her into the most amazing sleep she had ever experienced. Abby smiled. People are always skeptical until it's their turn.
---
"Hello?" McGee mumbled into the phone, trying to shake off the last fragments of sleep and the amazing dream Abby had sent him.
"McGee?" Gibbs greeted him in frustration. "Give me Abby," he ordered. McGee looked around and noticed that not only was Abby not there, she hadn't been to bed at all.
"Ummm… I don't think she's here, Boss," Tim answered groggily.
"Not what I need to hear, McGee," Gibbs said gruffly. "She's not answering her cell," he added, disconnecting.
"Great," Tim muttered, rubbing a heavy hand across his hooded eyes. He padded into the other room, searching for a sign of where Abby could have gone. Finding nothing, but knowing what his girlfriend had been prattling on incessantly about for the past 24 hours, he pulled on his jeans and an MIT t-shirt, grabbed his wallet and keys and headed toward Ziva's place.
---
Ziva floated on the edge of consciousness, her mind whirling with a mix of pleasant images. Her emotions began to settle into perfect calm, and she slipped deeper and deeper into her Abby-induced sleep. Suddenly she was standing at edge of a cliff, overlooking a craggy beach. The waves deadened all other sound. So lost was she in the immense beauty of the scene, she almost didn't notice his approach. Almost.
She didn't turn to face him, or even speak. She acknowledged his presence only by the slow smile on her face and tilt of her chin.
"Ziva," Noah said quietly, coming to stand just behind her.
"I wondered when you would get here," Ziva answered.
"Bored?" he asked.
"Hardly," she responded.
The dark haired vampire placed his hands gently on her shoulders and stepped closer to her. When she didn't protest, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, embracing her. Ziva sniffed as a single tear escaped her eye. She gently pulled away from him.
"Don't touch me, Noah," she chided. "It only makes the longing that much more."
"But it isn't real, Ziva," he explained. "It's a dream. You could kill me right now and we would awaken just the same."
"That doesn't change how it feels in here," Ziva said, turning to face him, her hand on her heart. "Or other places," she added with a smirk.
His responding laughter made her smile fully, realizing exactly how much she had missed him.
"I miss you, Ziva" he said quietly.
"Are you reading my mind again," she asked skeptically.
He smiled confidently. "So you're saying you do miss me."
"Now you are jumping on conclusions," she rejected his assumption with a grin.
"Jumping to conclusions," he corrected. "And I know you miss me, whether or not you say the words." He reached down and pulled her hand into his. "Ziva, that I care very deeply for you is no secret."
She pulled away from him again, moving a few steps away.
"Stop saying things like that to me. I'm angry with you," she stated simply.
"Why?" Noah asked incredulously.
"He's dead because of you, right?" Ziva accused, bitterness coloring her tone.
"That depends on your perspective," he defended. "Technically, no. But if you're referring to the fact that he would die to save me, then yes, I suppose you could say he made that sacrifice. But it was his choice," Noah explained. "And it wasn't to save me."
"Tell me what happened," she demanded, her tone soft, but steely with determination.
"Roy could have survived the explosion," Noah said, stating the obvious. "But he used all his power to protect Director Shepard. When the bomb detonated, Roy placed a telekinetic shield around her so she wouldn't be hurt. He could have saved both her and himself, but was still too new to fully understand the range of his abilities."
"So, he died to protect her," Ziva reiterated. "Why was he even there?"
"I was having dinner with a traitor operative, an undercover op for the Director, when he saw me. He assumed I was being unfaithful to my pledge to you and came to call me on it. When Jenny feared the operation was being compromised, she came into the restaurant. I ordered Roy to take her back outside and to keep her safe," he finished his explanation.
"So, he died because you told him to protect the Director," she said caustically.
"Ziva, I had no idea there would be a bomb in that car. I would never hurt one of my own, not even for a woman I love," Noah responded.
Seeing the truth in his eyes, Ziva was temporarily taken aback. "You love me?" she asked him.
"Of course," he said sincerely. "How could you doubt?" He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.
"Noah, I really don't think I should just give in," she said, moving to rest her cheek against his chest.
"You wouldn't be giving in," Noah justified. "This is a dream, remember? It's not real," he smiled seductively. "You can't be held accountable for anything that happens here."
"Good point," Ziva said, finally fully surrendering to him.
---
Abby rose from her chair to answer the knock on the door.
"Tim?" she asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Gibbs is looking for you," McGee answered, pulling her into his arms for a quick hug. "He said you aren't answering your cell phone?" he suggested.
"Oh crap!" Abby said. "I honestly forgot to take it off silent after we finished bowling. The ringing bothers the nuns," she continued explaining.
"Well, make the call, Abs, before he gets really pissed," he suggested.
Abby made a disappointed face and motioned toward Ziva, who was still sleeping peacefully. "We were just getting to the good part," she wagged her eyebrows at him.
"Abby!" McGee scolded her in a loud whisper. "You don't have to eavesdrop on a dream to make it happen."
"Well I know that," she said with a knowing look. "But sometimes it's fun."
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