Nuclear Family

12

He didn't even notice right away that she was awake.

He looked up from his phone, a text update from McGee, and found her watching him.

A mix of emotions flooded him.

He had half a mind to demand what the hell happened at the office building, but then he saw the exhaustion in her eyes. He couldn't help but pity her.

"You were there," she whispered.

He nodded.

"You tracked me."

"You bugged McGee's computer."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "I want Tali. I just want Tali."

He shifted in his chair, and the handcuffs in his pocket cut into his thigh. "You know you're in a lot of trouble right now, right?" It was only pity that kept him from handcuffing her to the bed.

"I had to," she said, her eyes pleading with him to understand.

The problem was, he wasn't sure what exactly she was confessing to.

"No, you didn't," he said. The familiar anger surged through him.

"You don't understand. The sacrifices I made. What I had to do. For Tali. To keep her safe. The fire." Her eyes glazed over. "The heat... I still remember the flames, how they sounded, licking at the walls, eating the house. Consuming everything." She shuddered. "It was too much... So much..."

"Why didn't you just ask for help?"

"Tali," she said again. "To keep her safe. She was safest with you. And you would not be safe if you were dragged in."

"And now?"

She closed her eyes. "He found out about her. He..." Pain washed over her face.

Tony could only stand it for so long. He pressed the button for the PCA pump, even as Ziva grabbed his wrist in protest.

Her grip slackened. She glared at him through the haze of painkillers, but her expression eased.

She was asleep again before he could ask about Rechter again.

He brushed her hair away from her face and then, taking care with her bruised skin, he handcuffed her wrist to the bedframe.

***

McGee didn't want to answer.

"What do we know?" Tony repeated. He came to a stop in front of McGee's desk.

The younger agent had no choice but to give in.

"Abby reran the prints on the pistol. They're Ziva's. We don't know who shut off the cameras, but since they shut off right as she got there... Well, it's possible she shut them off. Bomb squad recovered most of the bomb. From what they can tell, it went off early. Like maybe she wasn't supposed to be that close when it went off."

"You're suggesting Ziva set the bomb. After killing Kadish."

"That's what the evidence suggests. Not me."

"And what about Rechter?"

McGee shrugged. "Not a sign of him."

"So what the hell was the point of the bomb?"

"I dunno. Bomb squad said maybe it was to get us. Or maybe just to get rid of Kadish's body."

"Boss said Kadish was way up on the seventh floor. The damage didn't extend nearly that far."