Mission: Interrupted

PART TWO (Ziva's Arrival) : Chapter 34 - Cold November Rain

Norman sat inside the warm limousine listening to the tapping of the rain on the moon roof above him. He dreaded the 50 yard walk waiting on him and the questions that would inevitably be asked. To this point he'd been able to avoid it because the entertainment media and his fans were giving him plenty of time to grieve, but it was November 1st and the night of the Season 6 premiere. It was also 6 months since Meg's death and their patience with him was wearing thin. Time to show the world his face again.

With a sigh he pushed open the door and began the walk, stopping every few steps to pose for pictures and say a few words about the new season of The Walking Dead. He was asked several times how he was doing, and he'd never been more in tune with his character, as he answered in grunts and non-committal shrugs. As he neared the door he saw the one journalist he didn't want to see, the one who'd done a segment on Meg's death. They'd dug into Meg's life, even going so far as to stalking her parents and showing them leaving the funeral with Norman. In the segment, it was strongly suggested that Norman and Meg were on the path to marriage.

"Norman! Over here, Norman," the blonde, whose name was something like Britney or Tiffany, called out. He stopped and stared at her from behind his ray-bans.

"Norman, thank you for stopping to talk; our viewers are most interested in hearing from you tonight. Our twitter page is filled with questions for you, but above all else the fans want to know that you're doing okay."

He closed his eyes and dipped his head as he thought of the woman who'd entered his life like a whirlwind. The woman he'd never see again, and just like that the emotions he'd thought were under control washed over him again. The reporter's eyes went round as she saw the tears sneaking down his cheeks from behind his sunglasses.

"I appreciate the concern that's been shown by all the awesome fans out there. I'd like to say I'm fine, but I'm not. Her presence in my life destroyed me, but in the most unbelievably beautiful way. When she left it was like the aftermath of a storm... all my pieces are here, but I don't even know how to start putting them back together."

The woman looked stunned, and her eyes filled with tears briefly before she gathered herself and said, "I'm so sorry, Norman. It was such a tragedy." She laid a hand on his arm. "I know I speak for the viewers and fans when I say that I sincerely hope you'll find happiness again... someday."

He looked at her for a few seconds before giving a brief nod and walking away.

Once inside the theatre Norman was quickly surrounded by several of the cast and crew. They didn't ask questions or give him pitying looks, they just made sure that he wasn't alone and their chatter and excitement about the show kept his mind busy. When they were seated, he found himself between Melissa and Jeffery, two of his best friends on the show. They each took a hand and squeezed it, letting him know they were there for him.

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After the show, Norman was approached by two of the show's producers, Scott and Denise. "Norm, it's good to see you. You been filming Ride the last few months?"

"Yeah, just wrapped... we got kind of a late start, so we had to jam a bunch of filming into just a couple of months."

Denise flashed a look at Scott. They'd both been surprised that Norman had managed to film the last few episodes after the tragedy, but it had turned out he was just delaying his grief. There'd been about 3 months where Norman Reedus had disappeared off the face of the earth.

"Does that mean you have the holidays off?" Denise inquired.

"Yeah..." he chewed on his thumb for a second before catching himself. "Yeah, uh, Mingus and I are going to spend about a month in Colorado at Me... uh, our place out there."

"That sounds great. I hope you two have a great time." She leaned in and kissed his cheek.

Scott nodded his agreement. "We have a cast meeting scheduled in January to go over the new season. We'll have some new characters to introduce, and some new technical experts." He stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked a little on his heels. Scott was always a little awkward in social situations. Denise started to pull him away, but then he stopped as he remembered something.

"Almost forgot, Norman; your friend at the CIA? Bob? He recommended a really terrific weapons expert to us. The new season brings lots of new weapons from the Saviors so we needed someone very versed in weapons of war. Thanks for the introduction, it worked out great for us."

Norman had gone very still and put every bit of acting ability he had into keeping his face neutral. "I'm glad it worked out. Did you already hire this person?"

"Yeah... well, not formally, but we've got a verbal agreement. She's planning to be in Senoia in January to begin working with the prop department and the writers."

"She?"

"Yep," Denise answered and was clearly excited about the hire. "She's ex-Mossad, which is like the Israeli CIA. She was pretty high up on their ranks and her credentials are spotless. Bob told us that, even after losing her leg she'd be able to take out a small town by herself."

Norman swallowed hard and put so much effort into appearing uninterested that his face actually hurt. "Well, I look forward to meeting her."

Late hour be-damned, Norman called Bob as soon as he was alone in the car back to the hotel. He was sweating and his heart was beating hard.

"Norman..." Bob answered.

"Why didn't you tell me you got her a job on the show?"

"Actually it was their idea to not tell you."

"What?" Norman was stunned into silence.

"It's not what you're thinking Norm. Scott and his team were afraid that if they came right out and told you that it was Meg's cousin that you'd refuse to work with her."

"Why would they think that?" Norman was bewildered at this crazy turn of events. "And by the way, when did this whole 'working on the show' idea come up? How can she be ready for this already?"

"Let's see if I can answer all those questions in order... I may have told them that you were upset that Meg's cousin, who didn't make it to her funeral, was planning to show up and claim her inheritance. The idea of working on the show was hers and as for the third question... c'mon Norm, you know her. Did you really think it would take her the full year to be ready?"

"But it's only been 6 months..."

"It'll be 9 before she has to be on set, and that'll just be to go over the scripts and advise on the weapons and their capabilities. She won't be working with staff for a month after that."

Norman ran his hand through his hair and groaned. "When can I see her, Bob? I'm going crazy here, man." He whispered the last statement.

"I don't know if it'll help or make it worse, but you should know that she feels the same. In all the years I've known her I've never seen her cry... and it's all she seems to do these days. But... you both have to be just a little more patient. As far as the world is concerned, Ziva is still in Israel."

"Yeah, yeah... promise me you'll tell her I love her, even though I'm pissed she damn near got herself killed."

"I will. You know she loves you too. Someday I'll be able to show you the videos of the torture she's going through in order to be able to pull this off; all to be able to have a life with you." Bob swallowed the tears that rose as he heard the screams of pain echoing through his head. "Please, for the love of God Norman, make it all worth it."