After the new bottle had been heated up properly, Rahma made sure to check that this one wasnt corrupt like the other one. Satisfied, she screwed the top on with one hand and held up to the mouth of her still fussing infant, cradled in her left arm. Abia took the sustenance and quieted down immediately, her small hands reaching out to touch the bottle as she drank from it.
There was a distant thud, and then both of the older children rushed into the kitchen, making quite the ruckus. Asahd was swinging a foam bat at his sister while Adala tried to tackle his legs. Rahma frowned at them. "Go outside," she ordered. "Play that outside. Mind the bottles, though. The freshest is still corrupt. Oh, and take knives."
Still giggling, both Asahd and Adala each grabbed a small defensive knife from one of the kitchen drawers and tucked them into their mini utility belts that Rahma had designed for them. Ahmir was still looking at her expectantly, so she nodded towards the small wood desk in the small space that resembled a living room. Ahmir understood of course he did and withdrew drawing utensils and paper from one of the drawers, occupying himself with that.
Now that Rahma was actually able to pay attention to Jasper, besides feeding Abia, of course, she absorbed all of what he had said, looking at him skeptically. She didn't trust him. In reality, she didn't trust anyone, but especially not him. He had come out of nowhere and nearly broken down her door, and then insisted she and her family needed protection. But here he was talking about safety, as if he knew anything about it. He had meat on his bones. Enough so, anyway, to indicate that he ate regularly. He had been so on edge when her weapon was pointed at him. No. He had grown up in luxury. He didnt know what true safety was.
"I have been safe enough for twenty-four years. My children are safe. Who is to say, if these people approach me, I do not just shoot them in the heads? Or take my family and teleport away? I cannot just get up and go to wherever your headquarters may be, especially not on the word of a man who is hiding something. I am waiting for my husband to return. Then, and only then, will I leave."
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 5/9/2019 at 12:36 AM
Post #482
It didn't take a genius to see that Jasper wasn't making any real progress with Rahma, though considering things had started with him having a rifle pointed at his head he considered it an accomplishment that he'd been invited inside. He munched further on his peanut butter sandwich, which was difficult because he didn't particularly like peanut butter, but he didn't want to be rude, and tried to mentally list his options. This woman was clearly stubborn, not to mention paranoid, and he was beginning to suspect that there was more about her that he should know, but didn't dare ask.
Being a part of the recruitment department had been what Jasper wanted to do as soon as he'd gotten to the Resistance. He wanted to be involved, he wanted to be hands on, and he absolutely didn't want to get stuck behind a desk feeling caged and useless. Of course, the perception he gave people didn't exactly endear him to Spirit as a potential recruiter. He'd had to go above her head to make his argument to Strength about exactly why his particular talents could be useful in the field in this capacity, and by the skin of his teeth he'd gotten approval from their leader, and Spirit could say nothing.
However, Spirit still controlled mission assignments, and she had systematically come up with every excuse under the sun to send other recruiters out besides Jasper, which had only added to their personal tension. This assignment had only come to him because there had been no one else available, and the last thing he wanted to do was to come back a failure. Of course, it was sort of an unspoken rule that not bringing back to target you'd been sent to acquire didn't qualify as failing, because they were not in the business of forcing people against their will. That was Mantis's job.
However, that didn't mean that Jasper wasn't fully aware he was unlikely to ever be allowed back in the field again if he didn't somehow get Rahma and her children back to headquarters in one piece, even though he wasn't sure how he was going to pull that off. The momentary disruption caused by two of said children made him jump a little, but watching them rush back outside with knives stuffed into their belts...well, that gave him a renewed sense of purpose and confidence. This was no life for this family, and he knew that if Mantis got ahold of them it would be so much worse.
"Alright," he said, swallowing his bite of food and then setting the sandwich down as he fixed her with a serious, steely look, "You're clearly not a stupid person, so I'll level with you. These bad people I'm talking about, they're part of an organization called Mantis. These people don't care about what they have to do to collect as many people with abilities as possible so that they can learn how to control us. Some get sent to island compounds where they're imprisoned and experimented on there. Some get sent straight to a lab where they are pulled apart bit by bit for the scientists to try and understand how their abilities work. Then there are those who get the absolute worst of it, and are sent to a facility where they are tortured using specially designed methods linked to their abilities. They are put through unimaginable pain and trauma." He paused, just long enough to let that information sink in. "This is what is in store for you and your family if you don't come with me. Mantis has hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people with abilities that they have bent to their will, and these are the people they will send after you. It won't simply be a matter of shooting someone in the head if you can't see them because they're invisible or camouflaged. You won't simply be able to teleport you and your family away if they can get into your mind and control your actions. What I'm offering is a chance for you to give your children the best chance at survival, the best chance at staying as far away from the Mantis's ever growing hands as possible." He stopped, taking off his glasses, which were still collecting a film of dust even inside, and cleaning them before putting them back on.
"As far as your husband goes," he added, "We can leave methods in place for him to be able to contact us as soon as he returns and we can come back for him then." This wasn't actually something that he knew for sure was possible, but he knew that they had enough resources that he didn't see any reason it couldn't be done.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
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Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 5/9/2019 at 4:48 PM
Post #483
Rahma's heart had sped up considerably by the end of Jasper's speech, and she wasn't quite sure whether she was more inclined to teleport away or stab him. Instead, she didn't do anything at first, only glared at him. She had been bouncing Abia, but had stopped. The infant had also decided, at some point during the tirade, that she was done.
He's lying to you. He wants to steal your secrets. They're coming. Your secrets. He can't protect you anymore. You need to run. You need to go. You freak. Theyre coming. Unimaginable pain. Your pain. Your secrets. He's not coming back. He must. You'll find him. He'll find you. He's lying to you. He's the only truth. Run.
"Ahmir," she snapped without breaking her stone cold gaze away from Jasper. The toddler left his drawing and came up to her. 'Yes, Umi?' Rahma didnt bother to glance down at him, but she did reach down and lightly brush his curly head with her hand. "Watch him. Tell me if anything happens." 'Yes, Umi.'
She turned towards the connected living room, where the simple faded red sleeper sat. She bent down, gently placing Abia inside, but then hesitated before standing back up. Her fingers brushed lightly along the edge of the sleeper as she struggled to breathe. Azhar had made this, back when they were expecting Asahd. They had been young, him sixteen and her seventeen, and they had had no idea what they were doing. You still don't She sighed. That one was her own voice.
Glancing back at Ahmir, she reflected on what Jasper had said. Unimaginable pain. He was only two He wasn't old enough to know how to protect himself. For the time being, that was her job. Shaking her head a little to clear her thoughts, she fished a pacifier out of a pocket on the sleeper and offered it to Abia before standing and walking, rather than teleporting, to one of the two bedrooms in the meager house. She grabbed the two worn bags she owned and began to pack them with a few articles of clothing for her and her children, including her other hijab, as she wore one of them now.
Feeling the hair on the back of her neck prickle, she moved past the broken mirror on the wall towards the boarded-up window. She stared for a moment through a small hole in the rotting wood, noticing a familiar, yet detestable, man named Mis'id ruffling through the car that Jasper had arrived in. He discovered something bright and pink in the back, under a tarp. Rahma took her favorite rifle in hand and teleported to the roof, crawling on her belly to the edge. "Yeah, youre gonna sell a pretty penny" Mis'id was cackling as he wrapped his hands around the neck of what seemed to be a flamingo. The thing was distressed, but keeping quiet, as if it were under orders not to attract attention. Rahma pointed her rifle at the despicable man and sent two bullets into his skull without a second thought.
She returned to the bedroom and packed the rest of the clothing and a few toys, as well as every gun in the house though the rifles stuck out, and her favorite was slung over her torso by its strap. Carrying the two bags and weapons, she returned to the kitchen, where Asahd and Adala had also returned to after hearing the gunshots. They looked at her with wide, expectant eyes, all of their earlier mirth gone.
"Someone was trying to take a bird from your car," she told Jasper emotionlessly. "Now, where is your headquarters? Do you have a picture?"
-
The last week had been... Well, different, Ziva thought. And she couldn't really tell how she felt about all of it, only that she was still a little scared, and surely, she... Well. She felt kind of happy. Happier than usual. She had taken to sleeping in Diego's bed, and it was somehow far more comfortable than her own lonely thing. She still kept her clothes and her stuff in her own room, but at night, she'd cuddle up next to Diego and absorb his warmth.
It had all been so different. She was still miserable most of the days, but it was slightly more bearable with Diego there. Only slightly, though, because Diego proved to be extremely overwhelming sometimes. She didnt mind when he'd put his arm around her - in fact, she liked that. The smiles he gave her, she liked those. And sometimes, sometimes, his optimism was bearable. What wasn't, however, was the ways in which he would open doors for her, as if she was somehow crippled, throw her trash away as if she couldn't do so herself, and generally try to keep her off of her feet. She wanted to snap at him, sometimes, that being pregnant did not mean she was disabled.
"Diego, I swear to whoever will listen, if you put that food in front of me one more time, I will throw up on you."
He had coaxed her out of the dorm building today. She had felt so rotten upon waking up that it was an effort on both accounts to get her up and moving; in reality, all she wanted to do was shove her head under a pillow and curl up with Diego's arms around her as she waited out the nausea. But Diego had coaxed her out today, and was currently trying to get her to eat something that, mind him, Ziva knew would likely only cause her to vomit.
She pushed the plate away for the umpteenth time, pettily scooting a little farther away from him on the bench. Her arms were folded down across her stomach, and she was currently refusing to look at Diego, lest she see his sweet 'pretty-please' puppy-dog eyes that he liked to use on her quite often, even though, she found, it wasn't as effective now as it once was, likely because of the baby's dominating presence.
Edited By Creativity on 5/9/2019 at 10:38 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 5/9/2019 at 11:30 PM
Post #484
Success was imminent, Jasper was relieved to take note of, seeing the signs of many thoughts cross over Rahma's face. The fact that she was not simply ordering him from her home, or shooting him for that matter, after hearing his spiel meant that she was considering what he had told her. It relieved him more than he could have imagined it would. He knew that part of being a good recruiter was really caring about the people you were trying to recruit, because in this world recruit was synonymous with save, but this woman and her family had already left a bigger impression on him than he'd expected.
When Rahma left the kitchen, leaving the toddler with instructions to keep an eye on him, Jasper thought about cracking a joke, or even protesting. However, he had quickly thought better of it, since despite the opinions of his colleagues he could in fact control himself, and because he didn't want to ruin the progress he had already made with Rahma. Instead, he gave Ahmir a very serious, respectful look as though he were an adult guard. The way these kids had been raised, not that he was judging, the kid might actually be able to hurt him.
"I'm Jasper," he told the boy conversationally when the silence became too much for him, not even sure the boy understood English or could even talk at all yet, "Sorry about the sandwich thing earlier." It felt somewhat ridiculous to him to be talking to such a small child like this.
Truly, Jasper had never really been comfortable around kids of any age. He had an older sister, and he knew he had a niece and nephew, but he'd never met them thanks to the family feud that had been why he'd left New Zealand in the first place. He just had no experience with children, they seemed so fragile and they were even more unpredictable than adults, which is also why he didn't get on well with them. It wasn't necessarily that he didn't like them, but he knew it probably came off that way to people, which was fine with him.
For a few moments after Rahma came back into the kitchen with the bags that were practically bursting with guns, Jasper couldn't quite grasp what she as saying because he was too busy ogling the weapons practically spilling from her luggage. Then the word "bird" got through to his brain.
"Oh man, Butch!" he said worriedly, rushing over to a window to look across the street at the truck and feeling his body flood with relief when he saw his flamingo friend with his beak resting on the on rolled down window, giving Jasper an alarmed look but looking to be in one piece, "Thanks, I...thanks." He'd faltered upon seeing the freshly dead body lying in the street near the truck. His stomach seemed to do a squeamish roll at the sight of death, but...his familiar had been in danger.
"Right," he said very firmly, turning back to Rahma and Ahmir, who had been joined by the two older children, pulling his phone out and without hesitation looked up the address to the hotel on Google Maps, flipping through until he found a picture of the outside as well as the lobby from back when it was a functioning business and not a cover for their headquarters, "Here you go." He held out his phone to show Rahma the picture, but not before shooting a quick text message to Spirit.
Incoming, target acquired, don't be alarmed. There, that was vague enough to hopefully teach her a lesson when Jasper came teleporting into the lobby with this woman and her bags of guns.
-----
Everything had changed this week for Diego, like literally everything. His best friend didn't hate him, in fact said best friend was in love with him the same way he realized he'd been in love with her, and as if that wasn't enough change he'd found out he was going to be a father. This would normally be absolutely thrilling news, and to him it still was, but there was still the problem of them being trapped on this island. It was a lot to process, and if he was being honest with himself he thought he was holding up quite well.
Though, lets face it, Diego was getting to spend every night with his arms wrapped around Ziva and enjoying the comfort of her body heat, so what was there not to like?
"Z, you know you have to eat," he implored for what felt like the hundredth time, holding out the very simplistic cheese sandwich he had filched from the kitchen area with Necro's help, "Your body is working twice as hard to make enough nutrients for you and the baby, you need to help it out even if it makes you want to puke." He set the plate down and sighed when she pushed it away.
Staring at the at her back as Ziva turned away from him, Diego tried to figure out what to do. A few days ago he had been poking around in the library thinking he might find a book of names or something, anything that might make Ziva more interested in the baby as a person rather than a parasite (a different kind of "p" word if you will). He hadn't found exactly what he was looking for, but what he had found was a pregnancy book. There hadn't seemed any real reason for it to be there, but he remembered hearing someone say that most of the books had seemed like the type of random assortment usually donated to secondhand stores. The scientists and doctors and other people who ran this compound probably weren't even aware of everything that was in here.
Too bad there aren't any books on how to escape a deserted island, Diego remembered thinking at the time, and after checking to make sure no one was watching him, he had slipped it into his bag. He'd spent the entire night reading it while Ziva had slept, cover to cover in fact, a feat which she would probably have been proud of him for if he had any intention of telling her he'd read it yet. The fact was, Ziva was still very on the fence about this baby thing, and she probably wouldn't react well to him reading a pregnancy book.
However, the book had been extremely helpful and informative. Especially about things like trying to feed the mother simple, bland food when they were feeling poorly because it was easier to get those past the morning sickness.
"Alright," he said, getting up and sitting himself in front of her while she tried ignoring him, "If you won't eat, why don't we go on a walk? You need to keep your circulation up, too." He was starting to wonder if he was going to end up giving himself away...
Edited By Britters on 5/10/2019 at 1:23 PM.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 5/10/2019 at 5:19 PM
Post #485
When Jasper pulled up a location on his device - a phone, something that Rahma had never actually owned in her life, but knew plenty about from the Americans who taught her when she was younger - her heart skipped a beat. The headquarters, they were in America. She glanced down at Ahmir, smoothing his curls with one hand. Her and Azhar had dreamed of moving to America, once they had enough to properly move. She could easily teleport them, sure, but they didn't want to be illegal immigrants. Jasper didn't seem to be giving her any choice, though...
Her arms and torso covered with everything she owned that she cared to keep, Rahma went to pick Abia back up, pausing again at the sleeper. She couldn't fit that in a bag... Maybe she could come back for it later...
"We're leaving," she told her children emotionlessly, taking Ahmir's hand with her free arm, the other cradling the content four month-old. Asahd opened his mouth to say something, but sassy Adala closed it with her small hand before he could. They took each other's hands, and then Asahd placed his free one on his mother's arm. Adala reached over to touch Jasper's leg, so that all of them were connected.
It wasn't difficult to teleport. It was perhaps the one thing Rahma was really very good at. However, teleporting a group of people was a little tiring. She used the picture that Jasper had shown her of what looked like a hotel lobby and, trying to quiet the unwelcome voices in her head telling her that this was not a good idea but she needed to go to protect her secrets, she teleported them there.
The place was modest, a homey-looking hotel lobby. There was a girl at the front desk who was reading a book. She gave a rather large jump when they suddenly appeared, but then her eyes laid on Jasper and she relaxed. Standing beside the desk was a dignified woman with her most of her hair up in a ponytail, the rest of it forming bangs on the right side of her face, obscuring it.
-
Today was meetings day. That is, one of the only days that Spirit had off of work, but still super busy because of endless meetings - for the council, for recruitment, for orientation. Half of them, she was sure, weren't even really important. But she was in a position of power, the Head of Recruitment, so it was important that she attended all of them.
However, in her break in between meetings, where she normally would be eating lunch and then hanging out with Patrick and Jojo, she had received a rather vague text from the bane of her existence. 'Incoming, target acquired, don't be alarmed.' That's what Jasper had said. Immediately, Spirit had headed down towards the lobby, hoping that's where he meant.
She hadn't heard from him since she'd deployed him on the urgent mission to Afghanistan. If she could have sent anyone else, anyone at all... She would have. But Mantis was on another craze, gathering new Ability people for their island sections, and every single member on her team was out in the field. She would be, too, except she was still trying to take care of Digit, and unable to get more time off of work for another mission. She didn't like it when Jasper was in the field. In fact, she didn't really like Jasper at all, didn't want him on her team at all. The way he'd deflect with humor, and grin that stupid, cocky grin... It made her reminiscent. He was just like the most important person in her life, and she hated it.
Not knowing much about the Afghani he was sent to recruit - she had been high on Mantis' list, and all Spirit knew was that she had four children, and she couldn't let those children me motherless - she had remembered to cover up the right side of her face by pulling some hair out of her ponytail and using it as bangs.
"I wasn't expecting you to actually return, you know," she stated as soon as Jasper arrived, connected by children to the woman who must be Rahma. Spirit stepped forward and smiled politely. "I'm Spirit, Head of Recruitment, and also Augur's boss."
-
Ziva almost immediately felt bad for being so harsh with Diego, and she hated herself for both being harsh with him and for feeling sorry about it. She knew he was just trying to keep her and the baby healthy, but she didn't know if he really understood what it was like to feel so nauseous some days that she couldn't eat at all. She wanted to snap at him because the food didn't make her want to puke. It made her actually puke. She closed her eyes briefly against a wave of nausea, looking even farther away from Diego until she could compose herself.
When he sat down in front of her, so she had to look at him, she shot him a pathetic look, not listening to what he said earlier about her body working harder because quite frankly, she didn't want to know that. She didn't want to know anything about the baby. She still didn't really want it, and she hated herself for that, too, since she knew that Diego was actually excited about it, even though he thankfully wasn't overwhelming about that.
Pushing her glasses further on her face, Ziva gave a small sigh, knowing that Diego was right, even if she didn't know how he seemed to know so much about what she needed and what was going on. She stood up beside him, hesitantly slipping her hand into his. She didn't speak as they started exploring the compound again, merely walked close to him and tried to fight the baby's absolute wrath.
Her gaze landed on the infirmary as they passed by it, and all of a sudden, she remembered the doppler. She stopped dead in her tracks, staring at it. Today was Reach's day off - something that Ziva had forced the older girl to take at least once a week. There should be no one in there... And she knew that Diego would love to hear that speedy, faint little heartbeat that she had heard before. She suddenly felt as if she owed it to him, since he had endured her mood swings for weeks, and her fatigue for longer, and the nausea for this past week. He was being supportive, absolutely supportive, and he deserved something more, some proof...
"I-I have to show you something," she told him suddenly, turning to glance at him with pleading eyes. "It's important." Without waiting for a response, she tightened her hand's grip on his and began pulling him in the direction of the infirmary.
Edited By Creativity on 5/10/2019 at 5:25 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 5/10/2019 at 10:26 PM
Post #486
A lot of things had started to happen at once, and Jasper was struggling just slightly to try and keep it all together. The relationship that existed between a "variant" and a familiar was different for each pair, but the connection existed no matter what. Thinking about the danger Butch had been in made him shudder while he stood in that Afghani home with Rahma and her children. He shoved it down, like he did so many other things, taking comfort in the fact that his flamingo was alright, and focusing on the small hand which latched onto his leg.
There was...there was something about that hand that made some locked away part of Jasper's heart clench painfully, perhaps because he was thinking of a different, small hand on a different, much bigger leg, but there was no time to dwell on it. Teleporting, at least the way Rahma was able to do it, was apparently very fast no matter where she was actually teleporting. Within a blink of an eye it seemed they were already standing in the lobby of the hotel, the whole group of them, and he was unsurprised to see Spirit already there waiting for them, looking much the same as she ever did and not batting an eyelash at his cargo.
"Ta-da!" he said, with a small flourish of his hands, as though he were the one who had just done something spectacular, and grinning broadly, "Welcome to America! Please don't feed the pigeons and try not to worry about what the hot dogs are made of, because trust me you don't want to know." Always the jokester...
It felt good to be back at the Resistance headquarters, if Jasper was being completely honest with himself. As much as he had longed to be out in the field, this place was his home. He wasn't the only one who felt that way, he knew, since most of them had come here out of desperation. They had formed a family here, albeit a dysfunctional one, and despite all of the head-butting and growling at each other, it was a feeling shared by all of then. Even Spirit, deep down and despite her comment about not expecting him to come back, truly cared about everyone here.
Though, Jasper could have done without her mentioning his "island name" as they called them, in solidarity of those people still trapped on the island compounds. As soon as the word left her lips he was gripped by another vision like the one he'd had back in Afghanistan.
"Crap," he muttered loudly, holding his arms up and away from his body just in time for Rahma to level her rifle at him...again.
-----
There was something rather surreal about feeling this happy in a place like this, but Diego was not about look a gift horse in the mouth. It felt like he had squandered the last fours years of his life by not allowing himself to see beyond his friendship with Ziva to what his feelings had begun to evolve into. He knew he was dense, a a dumb jock by anyone's standards, but he still couldn't believe he could have been so blind, so ignorant. It was both humbling and humiliating, really, but was it worth it to worry about the past?
Even to a dumb jock, the answer seemed pretty obvious. There was nothing left to do but for Diego to keep his promise to Ziva. I will never leave you again, and he never would. She was everything to him, everything he could have ever imagined wanting, and now she was his to care for. The fact that he had gained not one but two people to cherish for the rest of his life was something that hung between them like a cloud, though he was determined that it would not remain for long.
Exactly how he was going to do that was something Diego hadn't figured out yet, for he knew his Ziva had a stubborn streak that could go on forever if she chose. Just another in a long list of reasons that made him love her, that made him realize just how much he always had. He was relieved when she chose to go on a walk with him, and his heart was soaring as they just walked around, hand-in-hand, enjoying each other and the day. Then Ziva had stopped suddenly, and turned to him with eyes that pleaded with him. It pained him that she thought she would ever need to plea with him still.
"Of course," he told her immediately, reaching up to absently tuck some of his thick black hair behind her ear and out of her face, "Lead the way, bella doncella." His 'fair maiden', like he was her knight, her Don Quixote, following her wherever she went. When they seemed to be heading for the infirmary, however, he had to wonder...
Edited By Britters on 5/10/2019 at 11:48 PM.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 5/11/2019 at 1:57 AM
Post #487
Over the past four years, Ziva's relationship with Diego had been shadowed by the silly crush she had developed on him during their first meeting (though she didn't know it until the third!), and it felt absolutely surreal to not have it darken things, but rather, make them a little brighter. She wasn't yearning for Diego because it kind of felt like she had him. As much as she could, anyway, she thought. Deep down, she knew, once Diego came to his senses and realized that they simply couldn't do this, he'd leave her, like everyone else, but for now... For now, she could enjoy it, before the reality hit his thick, beautiful skull.
She shuddered at his touch when he brushed her hair back, and then called her such a sweet name that she was so undeserving of. She felt tears choke her and prick at her eyes, and she silently cursed the baby once more for causing it. She quickly looked away so Diego wouldn't see the darn things suddenly threatening to spill over her cheeks. Taking a deep breath, she tried to steel herself for the moment when Diego would hear the heartbeat. She could handle this...
Lightly pulling Diego by the hand, she led him into the infirmary. Once inside, Scabbers poked his head out of her pocket and then climbed onto the main desk. Ziva paused a moment to watch him as he scampered across the surface happily. Odd creature. He really seemed to love the infirmary. Giving her head a small shake, she let go of Diego's hand and entered the now-organized closet. She found the simple doppler machine in the box where she had left it and took the thing with an iron grip.
Walking out to where Diego still stood in the main room of the infirmary, Ziva felt her heart speed up again and her stomach twist uncomfortably with butterflies. She paused, trying to fight the sudden anxiety, but then she reminded herself that he deserved to hear it. She hopped up onto one of the exam tables, hesitating again before lifting her shirt slightly, just enough to show her stomach, but nothing more.
She handed the cord with the earbuds to Diego, her hand shaking slightly. "You can listen," she told him simply, her voice quiet and unsure. She was unable to meet his eyes. Parts of her told her that he would be elated, that he'd love it, and that's what drove her to show it to him, but the rest of her was convinced that he'd be freaked out by it, that he'd stomp on her and abandon her, somehow find a way to escape on his own and leave her in her misery.
Swallowing hard, she closed her eyes, unable to deal with his presence. She just pretended she was all alone, like she was before when she used the doppler, and she placed the flat machine end where she knew the heartbeat had been before, where it should still be.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 5/11/2019 at 5:14 AM
Post #488
The one major blight on Diego's nearly perfect world, was just how fragile he knew that Ziva was. Sure, she could be stubborn as a mule, but he knew that he had done damage to her self-esteem, which he also knew hadn't been very high to begin with thanks to her childhood. There was nothing he could ever do, nothing she could ever say, that would allow him to forgive himself. He may not have realized it at the time but he had abandoned her, time after time, and all just to keep up with his popular jock image.
And yet...Ziva had always let Diego back in, had let him get away with it. How could he ever earn her trust back? How could he ever feel like he deserved her?
"Are we there yet?" he asked, his voice full of playful sarcasm as he allowed himself to be pulled along like a ragdoll, "Seriously, doc, I don't feel sick." His grey eyes sparkled and his grin widened, even when she left him alone in the main infirmary room.
Looking around, Diego could see all the changes that had been made since Ziva had begun helping out. He could remember quite clearly how much everything had been in disarray here when they'd first arrived, like barely organized chaos. With Ziva's help, things seemed to be falling into much proper places, and even he had to glow with pride a little bit. Then she came back into the room and his whole demeanor changed as soon as he saw the look on her face.
Then he saw what she had in her hands and, thanks to his new book, he knew exactly what it was.
As though he had suddenly lost the ability to speak, Diego watched mutely as Ziva got herself up onto one of the exam tables. His mouth dry, and his heart racing, he approached her as she lifted up her shirt ever so slightly. He heard her speak, but it was only sound, the words never reached his brain. Nothing existed for a moment besides Ziva and the ear buds she held out to him. He took them, able to think clearly ling enough to be grateful his hands weren't shaking, and with a deep breath, he put one in each ear.
At first...there was nothing, and Diego felt a rush of panic threaten to sweep through him, but then Ziva shifted the flat end just a few centimeters...and there it was. A different kind of feeling crashed over him like a wave, so intense and so raw that for a moment he couldn't decide if it was pleasant or not, but it didn't take long for him to come to a conclusion. He looked up at Ziva's face then, could see her fear and uncertainty.
Without stopping to think about, Diego took one ear bud out of his ear and sat down on the edge of the bed so he could place it next to her ear. Still listening to that beautiful, thriving heartbeat, he kept his eyes right on her face.
"This is ours, Z," he told her softly, almost breathing the words out so as not to dominate the harmonic thumping coming through the ear buds, "It's a part of both of us, and that makes it beautiful." He reached out out hand and placed it over the hand Ziva was using to hold to machine to her back stomach, ignoring the somersault his stomach did when his skin brushed her abdomen. He needed her to see it, he needed her to believe it, but most of all he knew that he needed her, now and forever.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,902
Posted: 5/11/2019 at 2:26 PM
Post #489
The woman standing tall, who introduced herself as Spirit, was sort of setting Rahma off. Perhaps it was because of the hair covering her face, proving that she must be hiding something. A million warning signs went off in Rahma's head and she subconsciously took a step backward, glancing at Jasper warily as he announced a welcome with some dramatic sort of flourish. Her heart was doing double time, and she was flitting desperately between teleporting back to Afganistan and shooting the blonde woman, Spirit, in her eyes.
It all shifted when she registered what Spirit had called Jasper - that is, not Jasper.
He lied. She's lying. He's lying. They want to steal your secrets. They're Mantis. Unbearable pain. You have to save Ahmir. You have to protect him. Rule number four. Protection doesn't last. He lied. You don't know him. You don't know any of them. Run. Fight. Shoot. They lied. They lie. Everyone. Everyone lies. Rule number seven. Get away. Kill them. They lie.
She cursed under her breath, feeling vulnerable for having come to believe he may actually be telling a bit of truth. She quickly handed Abia over to Asahd and immediately drew the rifle slung around her chest, raising it back to Jasper's head.
"Who are you?" she snapped at him, her hands steady as she pointed the rifle at him, taking another small step back to obtain optimal distance for putting two bullets in his head. "You lied about your name. Who are you!?"
Beside her, her children's eyes had widened in something like fear, she supposed. 'I liked him, Umi...' She faltered slightly, but then her grip tightened again. She couldn't let the voices get to her. She needed to protect herself. She needed to survive, and she needed her children to survive.
-
When Jasper stepped forward and acted as dramatic as he normally did, welcoming the family in the way only he really seemed to know how, Spirit couldn't help but glare at him. The idiot... Didn't he understand that he couldn't act that way? It... It wasn't allowed. Behind his glasses, his sparkling, proud (000) eyes reminded her far too much of those playful blue ones that would adopt the same twinkle as their owner would tell her about a prank idea, or rave about botany - the idiot - or even talk so fervently about an idea, a flier he had found recruiting volunteers for the war in England...
Think about it, Thorbjorg. Think about the difference we could make.'
She was drawn out of her memory when Rahma suddenly raised a rifle at Jasper, and Spirit actually noticed the piles of weapons she carried with her now, having been too distracted by Jasper and the children to really notice them before. Now, though, she noticed them, and she also noticed the looks on the children's faces. They weren't surprised, but they weren't really comfortable with the situation either.
Spirit inhaled sharply when she realized that her referral to Jasper by his given 'Mantis Name' was what caused the sudden shift. She stepped forward, holding her hands out in front of her in surrender. "No, no, no, I'm sure he didn't lie to you," she covered up quickly. "Augur is a code name. Jasper is his actual name."
Shooting Jasper a look, Spirit swallowed hard, hoping the Afghani would perhaps see some reason. Judging by the weapons she and her bags were drowned in, though, and the fact that the children didn't really seem very surprised by her sudden shift, Spirit would wager a bet that Rahma wasn't the most stable person.
-
It was clear that Diego recognized the doppler machine as Ziva approached with it. She didn't know if that calmed or irritated her nerves even more; her heart was already in overdrive, and her stomach already twisting around itself uncomfortably on top of the residual nausea, which had, in fact, gone down a bit, as if the baby recognized the closeness of its father as the doppler was placed right over its steadfast heartbeat. At that thought, her own heart skipped a beat.
She saw the elation slowly rise on Diego's face. He didn't jump, though, and he didn't run. He didn't attack her, or hurt her, or envelop her. He merely stared right into her eyes with the most pure, raw emotion she thought she'd ever seen on his face, and then tried to share his sensation with her.. She was unable to suppress another shudder at the word 'ours', floating over that gentle thumping in the background. He seemed so mature, so different than the dumb, brainless jock he'd always present himself as at school.
Of course, she had always known this part of him - she had known the Diego that could be serious, that could discuss things, the Diego that thought and enjoyed books (when read to him). The Diego that scared off bullies who were trying to shove her into a locker on her first day at their high school merely because she was small and didn't know any Spanish, something that he had done completely altruistically. That was the Diego she had fallen in love with.
She saw his confidence, pure and plain and so beautifully him, and it only made her stomach twist even more because his idealism, his stupid, wonderful idealism, wouldn't let him actually see anything - only hear. She blinked back tears that threatened to spill once again, tightening her grip on the doppler. With her free hand, she reached up to grab his that was holding the earbud up to her ear. Slowly, she took it away, closing her eyes briefly and trying to ignore the clenching in her chest as the heartbeat of her baby went away.
When she opened her eyes again, there were tears shining in them, and she looked at Diego imploringly, trying to make him understand. When she spoke, her voice was barely more than a whisper. "We can't... We can't do this, Diego... I don't know the first thing about being a... a mother... Y-you know how... How neglectful my parents were... You came from a good family... you know what it's like... I-I don't..." She couldn't breathe, struggling to suck air into her lungs in between trying to make Diego simply understand what she already knew.
Edited By Creativity on 5/11/2019 at 2:50 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 5/11/2019 at 5:53 PM
Post #490
There was a rather disconcerting pattern emerging here, but having a rifle pointed at your skull was definitely good for getting your adrenaline pumping. It was probably a good thing Jasper was kind of a thrill junkie, though most people didn't know that he used his ability to be able to take those risks without any real threat of death. However, the gun aimed at him was definitely a clear and present threat, but thankfully he had just had experience in how to talk to Rahma successfully.
Of course, that was back in her own home where she at least felt semi-secure, and now she had just teleported her and her entire family to America. This would certainly not be easy.
"Think you helped enough, boss," he said to Spirit, not taking his amber colored eyes off of Rahma as he spoke, "I've got this under control." He wasn't sure how true that was...but he knew that he didn't need Spirit to get any closer to the lady holding the rifle.
The fact was, despite their disagreements, Spirit was still part of Jasper's family. He had been ostracized by his family in New Zealand after the issues surrounding his grandfather's death, and so he had traveled for a little while, trying to find himself again his grandfather would have said, before the Resistance contacted him. He had agreed to join up almost immediately, wanting...no needing something to give his life direction. Now he was here, had been for a number of years now, and these people were his family, which included Spirit.
"Spirit is right, Rahma," he said, his voice and gaze still steady as he addressed her, "My name is Jasper Green, just like I told you. Augur is like a nickname, but we all have them here because its important to us. When you're taken by Mantis you are reduced to nothing but a numbered code and a name that only refers to your ability. Its their way of stripping people of their identity and making them feel like they're nobody. Those of us at the Resistance who haven't ever had to suffer through imprisonment at one of their facilities also adopt codenames, like a show of support for those of us that are still locked up and those we weren't able to save." It was probably the most he'd ever said at one time in front of Spirit, at least it was certainly the most serious.
After a moment, Jasper took a deep breath, and slowly...painfully slowly, he lowered his arms, eyes still unwavering on Rahma. He needed to try and get this woman to believe him, to trust him even though he knew how improbable that likely was, and honestly he didn't really know why. He had done his job, he'd brought her and the kids to headquarters, so by all rights his job should be finished. It just didn't feel finished.
"You can keep the gun, but why don't you go ahead and lower it a bit, hm?" he said to her, this time risking a quick glance at Spirit that hopefully told her not to argue about this, "We can take the kids upstairs and see about finding you guys rooms, alright? I haven't lied to you yet, Rahma...just let me have another chance to show you."
-----
Once again, all Diego could think to himself about was just how much he needed to make up to Ziva. All of the times he'd cancelled their plans, or pretended to not be as much of her friend as he was when he was in front of his other so-called friends, and just everything that he had ever done to further lower her self-value. Even if she ever did forgive him, he was pretty positive he could never give himself that same luxury. He would content himself with spending the rest of his life earning her forgiveness and love.
It was obvious to Diego that Ziva was very seriously struggling with this whole baby thing, and there was no way he could possibly blame her. Anyone who had been brought up in her situation would likely feel that way. However, she had him, and he would make her change her mind, he knew he could. Nevermind that they were trapped on his island, that was almost totally immaterial to him right now. He just wanted Ziva to understand that this baby was a gift, that new life was not bad news.
Looking at Ziva as she made her sudden stammering outburst after she pushed the earbud in his hand away, Diego's hurt squeezed painfully in his chest. She was so desperate, like she was drowning in everything that was happening, and he couldn't help but move himself closer to her on the exam table. Ziva was a damsel in distress, and Diego her knight in shining armor (quite literally, in fact...). It was his job to be her strength, her confidence...her armor, while he worked to help build her back up from the inside.
"Hey, hey," he said softly, letting the earbuds fall out of his hand onto the table, so he could reach both of them up to cup her face in his hands and brush her tears away lightly with his thumbs, "You know I hate seeing you cry, Z." While he kept his grey eyes on her face, he gently took the doppler from her hand and set it down before taking her hand and pressing it flat against her stomach, his still over the top of hers. "Its all going to be alright. We're going to be fine, you are going to be fine because you're not along anymore. We can show you what its like to have a family." To emphasize the 'we', he applied the tiniest amount of pressure on top of the hand on her stomach. He leaned forward, so that their foreheads touched.
"Besides, can you blame me for loving the idea of this baby when I'm so in love with you?"
Edited By Britters on 5/11/2019 at 6:38 PM.
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