Auron/Ziva; CA!Verse

[penguinknitter]

She was running. Chasing after a red cloaked figure who was walking ahead of her. No matter how fast she ran, she couldn’t catch up to him. After a moment, he disappeared into the forest they were in, and she panicked, a feeling that she wouldn’t see him again overtaking her. She started running again, soon finding herself outside of the forest, and into the ruins of a temple. The red cloaked figure was there, with two others, fighting what could, and should, have been a beautiful woman, but something had corrupted her. A flash, light, she watched them fall, screaming ‘NO’ as it happened.

The woman looked at her, then black.

Ziva sat up in bed, gasping for breath. Another night, another dream gone wrong. Breathing heavily, she looked around her room, trying to calm herself enough to sleep again. It didn’t help, and she sighed, shifting to get out of her bed to do something. She slid on a sweatshirt, grabbed her keys and left the building, figuring that a walk to clear her head would help… maybe even a trip to the dojo.

The campus was beautiful, and calming, at night. She wandered across it, watching fireflies drift around, and a small smile came to her face. Adrenaline was still pumping through her veins, but, wandering around this place helped keep her jumpiness down. It was nights like this that made her remember why she left NCIS and came to become a teacher.

Reaching the dojo, she unlocked the door and walked in, closing it after she went in. Grabbing a practice sword, she went into the main room, and stripping off her sweatshirt, she began going through motions on a dummy she and Auron kept set up at the end of the room. She was so focused on what she was doing, she didn’t hear the door open and shut again, and when she finally heard the other person walking behind her…they were close.

Instinct caused her to grab the knife from behind her back and spin with it in an attack stance. She stopped when she saw who it was, and the knife went down to her side.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

“No.” Simple answer. She turned back to the dummy and stared at it. She heard the other person walk up behind her and he reached out and took the practice sword from her.

“Nightmares?”

“Yes.” She heard footsteps walking away, a thud from setting the sword back in the rack, then the footsteps coming back. A hand on her arm pulling her back, and sitting her on a bench. He sat next to her, waiting for her to talk. She glanced around the room before leaning against his shoulder, feeling his hand rest on top of hers.

“I was chasing a man in red. There was a battle… he and his friends lost. The woman they were fighting turned on me. I woke up. I have no idea who it was. I just… I know…” She stopped. Her partner wasn’t talking, he was just looking across the room while listening. Ziva closed her eyes, she hadn’t been sleeping much the last few days. She felt him shift, and opened her eyes again.

“You haven’t been sleeping.”

“Obvious, huh?” She heard him chuckle, then move to stand up. She watched him as he held out a hand to her.

“Come back to my place.” He said, and she saw a hint of a smile on his face. He must have seen the confusion on her face. “Change of scenery.” She took his hand and he pulled her up and to his side, not letting go of her hand. After a quiet and lonely walk across the campus, they reached the staff dorm again and walked to his room.

“Come.” She followed him to his bedroom. Getting in, he grabbed her arm and pulled her in with him. She let him, curling up against him and feeling him wrap an arm around her.

“Auron…” She heard him make a sound as she was falling asleep, “remind me to ask you tomorrow how you knew where to find me.” A chuckle, and things soon went black again, and this time, she slept with no dreams.