DISCLAIMER: These characters belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. No copyright infringement is intended.
SPOILERS: The end of Season Two and the beginning of Season Three. Specifically episode 3.04 Silver War.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Hell Hath No Fury Like Abby Sciuto
By Jaina
Excerpt from 3.04 Silver War:
GIBBS: Abs?
ABBY: I look like a freak. Well?
MCGEE: See, I... I don't think she really looks that bad.
ZIVA: Is she making a reference to that strange tattoo on her neck?
GIBBS: Why?
ABBY: One of the director's new admin weenies brought me this last night. It's the NCIS dress code. He said I was in violation.
GIBBS: He did, did he?
ABBY: I mean, it's bad enough that I have to wear a monkey suit for court appearances, but every day?
ZIVA: I think you look nice, Abby.
ABBY: Nice? You think I look nice? I look like... like...
TONY: ...Career Girl Barbie.
ABBY: Oh, my God. I do. I can't work like this, Gibbs.
GIBBS: I'll take care of it, Abs.
ABBY: I'm allergic to polyester, it makes me itch. It's a medical condition. I could get a note from the doctor.
GIBBS: Abby, I said I'll take care of it.
Abby squeezes Bert, the hippo that farts
TONY: Don't ask.
GIBBS: Can we get back to work now?
ABBY: Do I have to wear the shoes? The circuit board in the cell phone was damaged, but we managed to get it working again. The battery shut down on October 3, 2004. The last 22 calls were made to 911. None of them went through.
TONY: He was calling from inside the casket.
ABBY: Yep. Cast-iron and buried underground. I don't think anyone's calling plan extends that far, Tony.
GIBBS: What are these last entries here?
MCGEE: Uh, well, he was running low on oxygen, boss. I assume that he was trying to dial another number, hit random keys.
GIBBS: Find out. What'd you pull from the tomb, Abs?
ABBY: Um, there were traces of Staff Sergeant Sorrow's blood inside the cover.
ZIVA: Most likely from when he tried to claw his way out.
ABBY: Since his fingers were shredded, that must have been really hard to figure out...Agent David.
ZIVA: It's pronounced Da-v-eed. Or you can just call me Ziva.
ABBY: I also found two very distinct types of dirt on the outside. One is red clay, which is very common in Virginia. And the other had a high concentration of fertilizer.
GIBBS: What time are you meeting with the construction company that found this?
TONY: 0900.
GIBBS: Take Ziva with you. See if there's anything left of that crime scene.
TONY: On it.
GIBBS: Come on, McGee.
1997...Eight Years Ago
Expressionlessly Ari Hasswari pulled the trigger of the gun in his hand, first once and then again. The silenced rounds made two slightly hollow, wet thuds into the head of the man kneeling in front of him.
Ziva watched him dispassionately. Inside her blood was churning with adrenaline. She felt as if she would jump out of her skin even as she stood motionless, letting only her eyes wander carefully from one corner of the room to the next. She watched methodically, breaking up the room into quadrants and scanning each one carefully, every time her eyes drifted over it. She would miss nothing.
They could afford to miss nothing. It would spell death for both of them and worse, make it harder for Ari to infiltrate this small terrorist cell. He was gaining a reputation and had been slowly developing his cover for the better part of two years. It had only been in the last six months that Ziva had begun to work with him. Together they had made great progress.
This was Ziva's first mission in America, and as Ari's handler. It was a balance they were still struggling to find.
A flicker of motion caught Ziva's eye. It was just a glint of light in the far corner of the room. Ziva crossed the distance quickly, pulling her gun quickly, and bringing it to bear as she searched all of the obvious places quickly, under the tables and behind the chairs, in all of the dark corners.
She was about to dismiss it as merely a trick that her own tightly wound mind had played on her when she saw the thin thread of light that outlined a door that led into the alley at the back of the restaurant.
"We have a problem," she called to Ari in a clipped voice, as she pulled the door open and slipped out into the alley, weapon first.
Ziva heard a muffled curse behind her, and then Ari was beside her, mirroring her steps as she moved through the alley as quickly as she could and still search for their mysterious guest. Ziva had a quick glimpse of long, spiky blond hair before the person turned the corner.
She wasted no time in running after the woman, not waiting for a word from Ari. She was his backup and she could handle this. Bursting out onto the street, Ziva looked around wildly for the woman that she'd seen. She caught a quick glimpse of a red shirt and a short plaid skirt before she lost sight of the woman in a crowd of people.
Ziva tucked her gun into her pants at the small of her back and discretely made sure her jacket was covering it. There were too many people here for her to risk pursuing the woman and making a scene. What they needed was no witness - not more witnesses.
Ari thudded to a halt beside her. Ziva could feel his carefully contained rage boiling off of him like an aura only she could see.
"Find her," he said shortly. "I took care of our mission objective. Now I must meet with our contacts. Find her," he repeated, "And clean up this mess. Make certain that she cannot talk. We do not need any lose ends."
"Freak!"
The derisive yell echoed across the narrow street, followed by drunken laughter. Hidden in shadow Ziva watched as the stumbling frat boy jostled against his buddies and knocked over a trash can as he tried to look back over his shoulder at the woman she was following.
Abigail Sciuto, junior forsenic scientist for NCIS. That was the information that her sources had been able to find for her when she sent them the surveillance footage that she'd pulled from the restaurant. A little bit more research of her own had been necessary to discover what those letters stood for. When she had, it had almost been enough to get Abigail killed immediately. It would have been her death sentence had Ziva shared the information with Ari. She should have passed it a long as soon as she received it. It was what any good control officer would have done.
And yet.
She had hesitated. Ziva needed to know more. To herself it was easy to justify. If Sciuto was there, why was she there? Had she been sent by someone? All questions that would be easier to answer, if Sciuto were alive to give them to Ziva herself.
That was why she was following her down this dark, and now that Ziva considered it, fairly disgusting alley. It was far from the worst place that Ziva had ever been, even in her short career with Mossad, but it didn't seem as if it was a place that this woman would frequent. It made Ziva wonder who she was meeting and for what purpose.
Sciuto stopped walking abruptly and glanced behind her. Ziva knew that there was no way that she could been seen, but she still ceased to breathe for a few moments, waiting until she glanced away again to move closer. Sciuto knocked quickly on the dented door in a rhythmic pattern that was distinctive enough that it caught Ziva's attention.
A moment later the door open and Sciuto smiled and slipped inside. Ziva cursed low, under her breath. She had to decide what to do now. There was every possibility that this place had another exit. It was one of the easiest ways to lose someone who was being followed.
A sound from behind her at the back of the alley made her go still until she saw another woman walk past her. The knock at the door was repeated - the same pattern, Ziva noted - and was quickly let inside.
It was the best break that she'd had so far. A chance that had fallen into her lap and was definitely worth taking. Ziva tugged on the edge of her leather jacket, straightening it as she walked, and put a confident swing into her step. She repeated the knock on the door and waited, with her hand tucked low, just behind the small of her back. If something went wrong, her gun would be in her hand in less than a heartbeat.
The door swung open and Ziva stepped inside. The man watching the door nodded at her, but didn't question her or even seem to pay attention to her. It wouldn't have mattered. Ziva wouldn't have been able to hear him over the music that thudded so loudly in her ears. The place was packed with bodies in frenetic motion, dancing, talking, and drinking. Stumbling across an underground club wasn't what she expected, but it could have been much worse.
People were packed in so closely that it was hard to get a look at any one person. It took her a moment to realize that all of the people were women. It would make finding Sciuto even more difficult. She glanced methodically from side to side as she pushed her way through the crowd. It was nearly impossible. She was only catching half-glimpses of people's faces, and those were covered in shadow. Unless she could determine a better way to do this, the only way that she'd find her target was through shear luck.
Ziva felt the frustration rising within her, choking her. She couldn't have come this far only to fail now. Her fist clenched at her side and she shoved past the next person in front of her with a little bit more force than she'd intended.
"...called me a freak!"
The words caught Ziva's attention even under the pounding of the music. She looked around quickly, struggling to find the person who'd spoken them. Surely it couldn't be a coincidence.
A glimpse of pale blonde hair caught her eye; Ziva focused in on it immediately. She slipped past the woman in front of her and found herself staring at Sciuto. Ziva said the first thing that she could think of.
"I think you look nice." She had to lean close to Sciuto so that she could be heard, practically speaking the words in to her ear.
As she pulled back, she saw a glint of green eyes as Sciuto took her in with a quick measuring glance. Ziva smiled enigmatically at her and held out her hand.
"I'm Sarah."
"Sarah?" Sciuto took her hand with a bemused smile. "Thanks. I'm Abby."
"It's nice to meet you, Abby," she let her smile grow a little bit wider.
Abby's friend said something that Ziva couldn't hear. Abby glanced away and Ziva took the opportunity to slip away. She had accomplished what she needed to for now. She knew where Sciuto was and she had made contact with her. Now she just needed to get close enough to Abby to find out if she knew anything.
Ziva could have stayed and continued their conversation, but she didn't want to blow it by trying too hard. It was a risk, but if she could get Sci- Abby, she had to start thinking of her as Abby - to come to her, it would be much easier to gain her trust.
She slipped back through the crowd more easily this time, until she came to the bar. After she ordered a drink, Ziva let her eyes drift up to the mirror behind the bar. It took her a moment, but she located Abby in the crowd.
Ziva took a deep breath as she considered what she was about to do. She had known about clubs like this in Tel Aviv, but she had never been inside one. For a moment she allowed herself to wonder what her father would think about this when he read the mission report. What she was about to do was forbidden - a sin. If she was successful, what she had done would be forgotten and written off. Killing after all was a sin, as well. That too would be forgotten if she was successful. If she was not...
Ziva forced herself to breathe out and refocus on the mission. A distraction could get her killed. When she glanced up in the mirror and she saw Abby approaching her, she let a smile spread slowly across her lips.
She turned, leaning back against the bar as Abby walked towards her.
"You've been watching me."
Ziva blinked. Her heart jumped into her throat. There was no way Sciuto could have seen her following her.
"In the mirror?" Abby paused. "Oh god. You weren't watching me. Were you watching someone else? I just thought. I mean, you said I looked nice."
Ziva laughed, and caught her arm. "I was watching you, Abigail."
Abby wrinkled her nose. "My friends call me Abby."
"But you do not know me. I'm not your friend." Ziva pointed out.
"True," Abby admitted, "But I think I'd like to get to know you."
Ziva smiled. It wasn't an action that she considered, but simply the way she wished to react. "Would you dance with me?"
"Absolutely," Abby grinned and took her hand.
Ziva shivered at the warmth of Abby's fingers sliding through her own, and let Abby lead her back out onto the dance floor.
They danced through one song and then another and another, getting closer together with each one until finally they were forced to take a break. Abby led them to a booth in a dark corner where the music didn't pound quite so loudly, and pulled Ziva down onto the seat beside her.
Ziva didn't resist. Her blood was pounding, and all thoughts of her mission were pushed far to the back of her mind. She raised one hand slowly and ran it across the spiky blond hair that created a halo around Abby's head. Abby looked up at her from under long dark lashes.
"Sarah?"
Ziva's breath hitched at the unfamiliar name. It hit her in the face like a bucket of ice water.
"Yes, Abigail?"
Abby's hands were slipping down her sides to rest on her hips, pulling her closer.
"Are you going to kiss me? Or were you waiting for an invitation?"
Ziva smiled and bit her lip. She wasn't certain what she'd been waiting for. Confirmation, perhaps, that Abby had been feeling everything that she was feeling. Her heart was racing and her hands - hands that had held live explosives and remained steady - were shaking. Her stomach fluttered uncomfortable and she felt like she might throw up, but in a good way if that was possible.
This was confirmation - everything that she'd been waiting, and hoping for. She leaned in slowly, one hand reaching up to cup the side of Abby's face. Her skin was warm and smooth under Ziva's palm, and she could feel the faint sheen of perspiration that their dancing had created. Her thumb caressed the line of Abby's jaw and she leaned in to place a feather light kiss on the corner of her mouth, and then moved to drop another kiss on the bridge of her nose, and another on her cheek.
Abby whimpered as her kiss moved past her lips for a third time, and wound her hands into Ziva's hair. With determination, she pulled Ziva to her and kissed her firmly, solidly, definitely on the lips. Her lips pulled and teased Ziva's bottom lip, torturing her and laving her with attention until the kiss deepened. Ziva found herself wanting more. She was barely conscious of her own actions as she caught the edges of Abby's jacket and shifted across until she was straddling Abby's lap, all without breaking contact with Abby's lips.
Abby's hands ran up and down her thighs, both holding her in steady and driving her wild. Ziva slipped away and let her lips trail down Abby's jaw and linger on the smooth skin of her neck. She nipped lightly at the point where Abby's pulse beat wildly against her skin.
"Let's get out of here," Abby spoke into her ear.
Ziva rose so quickly that she almost fell, tugging Abby up with her. The part of her brain that was still vaguely thinking about the mission, concluded that all was going very well.
Ziva lay on her back, with her hair splayed out behind her on the pillow, tickling her bare shoulders. She clutched the black sheets in a knot beneath her breasts and focused on slowing her breathing.
"Was that your first time," Abby asked in a low voice, "in a club like that?"
The slight hesitation in between the first part of her question and the second made Ziva catch her breath for an instant. It was obvious that it wasn't the question that Abby had intended to ask. She had been hoping she hadn't done too badly.
When she'd found herself hesitant or faltering, Abby's hands had covered her own, touching her and showing her what felt good. Mossad training had covered many things, but not that.
Ziva rolled over on her side and let her hand play idly up and down Abby's abdomen. "Was it that obvious?" she asked with a wry smile.
"No," Abby shook her head, her hair tossing back and forth and falling further into disarray. "I'm just trained to notice things."
"Oh?" The part of her mind that was concerned about the mission had been switched off up to that moment. Now she was conscious of her purpose here again. She dropped her voice to a low, flirty tone, and leaned over to press a lingering kiss into the base of Abby's neck. "Are you a spy?"
Abby laughed and wrapped her arms around Ziva's waist, pulling her closer. "Nope. I'm a forensic scientist."
"And what does that mean?" She knew the answer to her own question, but anything that will get Abby to talk about her job more would be good.
Abby groaned as Ziva's teeth hit a sensitive spot that she'd discovered earlier. "It means that I get to help the team solve cases. I process evidence, and give them the answers that they need to put the bad guys away." Her love of what she did was obvious in her voice. "It's pretty cool."
Ziva sat back sharply, flipping her hair up over her shoulder as she rose up and straddled Abby's hips. "It sounds it. Are you working on anything major right now?" She allowed her voice to fill with appreciative admiration. Her hands were trembling and she wasn't sure if it was due to her proximity to Abby or how close she was to getting the answer that she desperately needed. If only Abby would say 'no', she would be free to go.
She hid a grimace at the thought of having to leave Abby, but the knowledge of what she would have to do, if she didn't leave, made it seem like a much better option. The thought of having to kill the woman sprawled underneath her - the woman who was driving her wild - was enough to make her sick.
"Yeah." Abby's voice was distracted as she stroked her hands up Ziva's sides, her thumb grazing the underside of Ziva's breast. "We caught a big case today."
Ziva froze, every muscle in her body clenching in anguish.
"A Navy Captain tried to smuggle several million dollars worth of cocaine in from the Caribbean."
Ziva sagged with relief at her statement. It seemed as if Abby truly didn't know anything.
"I'm going to be really busy with the investigation for the next few days, maybe a week," Abby continued, "But I'd really like to see you again after that." She made the statement into a question.
Ziva didn't have to fake her smile or the surge of warmth that she felt at the invitation. "I would like that very much."
Slowly, she locked eyes with Abby, taking in the deep green of her eyes and let the relief that she was feeling show in her own. Ziva leaned in and kissed her slowly, losing herself in the kiss and letting the passion that rose up between them, consume them.
Ziva didn't want to think about the lie that she had told Abby. She would be leaving very early the next morning to return home with Ari. If she was lucky, if they were both lucky, they would never see one another again.
She would have to think carefully about what she would tell Ari. The truth wasn't a possibility, and he would see through a lie. Her answer would have to be so carefully worded and thought out to keep them both safe.
"Sarah." The reverence in Abby's voice pulled her back into the moment and Ziva smiled, even as the false name tugged at her heart. This was something beautiful and wonderful. She would deal with Ari in the morning.
2005 - The end of the first week that Ziva David spent in Washington D.C.
Ziva had to resist the urge to reach out and finger Abby's dark pigtails. It was a completely different look for the forensic scientist, and one that would take some getting used to. She knew better than to try to touch Abby. Their first meeting had told her enough. Abby had recognized her and Abby was angry with her.
That much was obvious, and honestly, Ziva had been expecting it. She had been torn between hoping that Abby remembered her and wishing that she would have forgotten the night that they spent together so many years before. She was simply grateful that Abby hadn't mentioned their previous meeting. Jenny had brought her here, but it was only on Gibbs' sufferance that she was being allowed to stay.
She hadn't been here long, but she was already aware of Gibbs' fondness for his forensic scientist. Knowing that Ziva had hurt Abby and been prepared to kill her once before would do nothing to raise her in Gibbs' estimation. She had a suspicion that it might even get her deported at best. Worst yet, it was still possible that it could get Abby killed.
Her team with Ari had been disbanded after Ari's death, but some secrets were never to be allowed to come to the light. If people began to dig into that death, it would reveal too many other secrets that could not afford to be exposed. That was why she was here.
And perhaps, she was also here to get her heart broken. Because she knew that whatever Abby may have been beginning to feel for her, whatever could have happened between them, she had killed it as certainly as if she had shot Abby. Leaving her that morning, in her own bed, without a word and disappearing without a trace was bad enough. Coming back and exposing the truth of what she had done would be worse.
There was no way that Abby would ever be able to forgive her. Ziva wouldn't expect it from her. She would expect anger and hatred, and she would stand up under it. It was the least that she could do after what she had done to Abby.
"What do you want, Ziva?" Abby's voice was cutting as she brushed by her, jostling her on purpose. "Or should I call you Sarah?"
"You should not call me Sarah." Ziva took a deep breath. "Abby, it would be very dangerous for you if anyone knew that you had met me before, especially under a different name."
"Don't you mean it would be bad for you?" Abby snapped. "I'm not the spy here. It would be your cover getting blown, not mine."
"True. But if certain people suspected that you remembered me from that time, they would also believe that you knew other information that you do not know. They would kill you for that."
Abby froze and turned to glare at Ziva. "You seduced me for information?" Indignation and hurt poured into her voice. Her fists clenched at her sides and a hint of tears showed in her eyes.
Ziva grew very still. She would take one opportunity to plead her case, to wish and hope that Abby could forgive her, and then she would do what she had to.
"I seduced you to find out what you may or may not have known, and I seduced you because I wanted to. Abby, I am sorry for what I did to you." She took a step closer, and then stopped as Abby stepped back. "But if I could not ensure that you knew nothing, I would have had to guarantee that you did not share that information." Her eyes pleaded with Abby to understand what she was not saying. "Therefore I did what I had to."
Abby blinked. "You were going to-" She couldn't finish her sentence. She straightened, and redoubled the strength of her glare. "I'll keep your secret, David." She intentionally mangled Ziva's name for a second time. "But stay away from me. I don't want anything to do with you."
Her words hit Ziva no harder, and no easier than what she had been expecting. They still hurt, but it was a hurt that she could live with. After all it was just one more regret in a sea of failures. Ari's blood stained her hands, at least she could not lay claim to Abby's as well.
The End