Title: Ziva's Secret
Pairing: eventual McGee/Ziva
Rating: PG-13, to be safe
Genre: Het
Cat: Drama, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Tragedy
Spoilers: Season 6 in general, episodes mentioning "Ziva's secret" (hence the title).
Warnings: None.
Summary: Ziva finds herself caught between two worlds when tragedy unfurls.
Author's Note: Basically, my take on "Ziva's secret," who she's going to see in Israel. Name is based off a spoiler I've read. I don't even know for sure if that's the case. Anyway.

Additional author's note: I have 10 chapters of this completed and it is still very much a WIP. I'll post what I have one chapter every day or so, and then post whenever I finish new chapters. I don't usually post WIPs on here, but this one is just begging to be posted here. And the chapters get longer as the story continues, don't worry.

Ziva smiled to herself as she stepped onto the elevator, gazing at the plane ticket in her hand. She was eager for this trip, for the time away from Tony's prying. She had to roll her eyes at that. He was so juvenile. It was the main reason she hadn't told him whom she was going to visit.

Her smile faded as she thought about how Tony had looked when she left. She felt bad for not telling him about Michael, but she would have told him had he not acted like such a control freak with her life. Ever since she'd returned to NCIS, Tony seemed to be taking extra care to be aware of every detail of her life, not to mention everyone else's, but mostly hers. She supposed it was his way of saying he cared, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

As she climbed into her car, she thought about Michael. Reconnecting with him had been . . . amazing. It had been so long since she'd last seen him . . . but he always had a place in her heart. She had been so thrilled with their reconnection, she had went and mentioned him in her next e-mail to McGee without even thinking. McGee had, of course, wondered who Michael was, not to be nosy (yes, of course he was curious, but it wasn't his main motivation for asking), but because Ziva had mentioned the name without explaining its significance. She couldn't very well lie, saying he was simply a co-worker, because she had used his name with far too much enthusiasm for that. So she told McGee the truth.

He had been relatively surprised, but he was happy for her. She smiled to herself at the thought. It felt good to be able to tell someone about her life in Israel, about what she had left for NCIS.

There had been strife when she had decided to stay in the U.S., and it had created a chasm between herself and Michael, one she never thought she would be able to recover. But just seeing him again, she knew. Their connection would never be severed, no matter how many years or miles separated them.

And now, she was on her way to see him again. She could relax first class on the trip to her homeland, thinking about nothing but throwing her arms around him.

She also didn't need to worry about Tony finding out who her mystery visitor was. McGee was a trustworthy friend and besides, he wouldn't say anything if he wanted to live. She had made that perfectly clear. Not that she would truly go through with it, but he knew better than to defy her wishes.

As Ziva leaned back in her seat, preparing to sleep her way to Israel, she went over the words she would say when she saw Michael again. "I love you" was never discussed, more of an unspoken knowledge between them, and "I missed you" was a given. That left the simplest, most traditional greeting she could think of.

"Shalom . . . brother."