This was the first time Ziva had really talked about her parents.The memory obviously a positive and happy one.
The girl was healing.Slowly but surely.
“What shows did you and your parents like best?”Kira asked.
“I forget its name but it was one with a doctor who traveled all over time.”
“Jin loved that one too.”
Ziva’s grin showed her delight at sharing something in common with Jin and Kira.She chattered nonstop after that, telling Kira all about the shows she and her parents liked as they made their way below the bedrock upon which the fortress stood.There was one about a robot who liberated himself from the program controlling him, but rather than go on a rampage, he spent all his time watching holovids.Another about a human astronaut who gets sucked through a wormhole and then had to survive on a ship filled with dangerous alien prisoners.
Eventually, Ziva wound down as they found themselves in a very old part of the fortress.
“Where are we?”Ziva asked, looking around.
“A House as old as Roake has its secrets.”
This particular one existed in a forgotten section of the Fortress that only Harlow and his most trusted knew about.
When they’d needed temporary housing for the Tuann/hybrid children they’d rescued, it had been the obvious choice.Somewhere close but still separate.
The children required intensive care.Both physical and mental.What had been done to them had left them heavily traumatized.They’d almost definitely suffered some form of brainwashing, the extent of which was impossible to know without study.Until then, they were walking time bombs just in need of the right trigger.
Still, there had never been any question of abandoning them.
Whatever the circumstances behind their birth, they were Elise’s.That made them Kira’s and Raider’s too.And by extension, Roake’s.
Kira led Ziva toward the oshota guarding the children’s chambers.
Of the two, Kira knew Zoella better.Tavas was a quiet man who rarely spoke, making his existence easy to overlook.He often faded into the background, gathering intelligence for later use.
“Your seon’yer will be glad of your return,” Zoella said, offering Kira a sweet smile.
“He’s okay then?”
Zoella’s features softened.“He is.”
The weight Kira had been carrying since witnessing the explosion drifted away as Zoella’s gaze shifted to Ziva.
“And who is this young one?”
Ziva puffed out her chest.“I’m Kira’s yer’se.”
Zoella looked at Kira askance.“Is that so?”
Kira ignored her look and frowned at Ziva.“Do you have to tell everyone we come across?”
Ziva blinked her pretty blue eyes.“It’s best to cut down on any confusion.”
Patience, Kira silently told herself.
“Can you get hold of Luatha’s Overlord?”Kira asked the oshota.
Zoella nodded.“It might take a while though.”
“That’s fine.Ziva’s not going anywhere.Unfortunately.”
As if proud of that fact, Ziva preened.
