Mission: Interrupted

Chapter 36 - A Clean Slate

Norman shifted in his seat and checked his watch for what felt like the hundredth time. He'd gotten to the lawyer's office early; his eagerness to finally see Ziva had gotten the best of him. He was sitting in the parking lot inside his Jeep watching for her to arrive. He couldn't believe how nervous he was and he tried to talk himself down.

Finally, another vehicle pulled into the parking lot. His mouth went dry as the white SUV parked and the driver's door opened. The woman who stepped out was tall and very thin with deep brown hair; she was wearing loose white pants and a black top. Most of her face was covered by large black sunglasses so he couldn't even be sure it was her. In fact, he'd almost convinced himself it wasn't Ziva until he caught the subtle, but unmistakable, limp and artificial gait of a prosthetic leg. Norman blew out the breath he'd been holding and forced himself out of the Jeep to follow her inside.

The receptionist led him to a small, but comfortable meeting room. Stepping inside, he saw that Ziva was standing with her back to him, looking out the large window at the city square. As he watched, she straightened her spine as she readied herself to turn and face him. Once face to face, they both took several seconds to take in every feature; Ziva drank in the sight of the face that had haunted her dreams for months, noting the exaggerated bags under his eyes and the sadness that seemed to be etched into his features. As Norman scanned every square inch of the woman standing in front of him, he felt like a man that had fallen overboard and was frantically searching for a life raft. Finally, he locked eyes with her and felt himself exhale the breath he was holding. There, in the depths of her green eyes, was the woman he'd fallen in love with.

"Norman," she whispered and her voice cracked on the word. She took a halting step forward, wanting nothing more than to take him into her arms, but of course she couldn't. Instead, she held out her hand which he took between his own. The heat of their skin radiated up their arms and soon both were fighting back tears.

"Aww, hell," Norman growled and pulled Ziva into his arms for a long hug, deciding that anyone looking would see two people who'd lost someone special comforting one another. Soon, they pulled away and took seats on opposite sides of the table as they wiped errant tears from their cheeks. Before they could speak more, the doors opened and the Estate lawyer entered with his assistant.

"Ziva... Norman... thanks for coming in. I've been over all of the paperwork and everything seems to be in order. Ms. MacAndrews was very thorough in her instructions regarding her estate." He pulled a neatly bound portfolio out of a file and flipped through the pages. "Her parents were the beneficiary of one life insurance policy, and Ziva is the beneficiary of all other cash assets including her checking, savings, retirement, and pension. She also inherits the property in Colorado and all the belongings therein, with one exception; she specifically asked that Norman take possession of the 1968 Chevy El Camino." At this point, he stopped speaking and looked between the two people. They had been sneaking looks at one another the whole time he was speaking and he felt a very weird current of emotion flowing through the room, which he hoped wasn't an omen of what was to come. "Are there any questions or objections?"

After a few seconds of silence the woman cleared her throat and sat up straighter. "Would it be okay if I asked for one change?"

"Well, I guess it would depend on what it was and whether Mr. Reedus agrees to it."

Ziva looked over at Norman who was looking down at his hands. She hated the way things were awkward between them, hated the way he seemed to not want to even look at her. A worm of despair was working its way into her brain. "I'd like to transfer ownership of the Colorado property to Mr. Reedus."

Norman's head popped up and he immediately began protesting. "No, no, Meg wanted you to have it..."

Ziva held up a hand and shook her head. "Now listen, the last time I spoke to her she was excited about the fact that you were going to bring your son there to visit. She said it was the perfect place for a father and son to explore and experience nature. Besides, you've been caring for it since she... died." She swallowed hard before continuing, "It only makes since you keep it."

"How about we work out a schedule so that we both can use it for vacations?" Norman offered.

Ziva raised an eyebrow and gave a lopsided smile, and while now the lower lip was as full as the top, the movement was so familiar that Norman felt his body respond to her.

"I can agree with that... only if you let me sign the deed over to you, though."

"I guess having the last word is a MacAndrews trait, huh?"

"You'd probably be surprised at how many traits us MacAndrew girls share, actually."

Norman and Ziva stared intently at each other for a few seconds and the tension in the room became thick. The lawyer suddenly felt like an intruder in his own meeting and cleared his throat. "Okay, well that's settled then. I'll draw up all the papers and get the funds transferred to the account numbers you provided earlier, Ms. MacAndrews."

Once outside, Norman walked Ziva to her vehicle and helped her climb in and shut the door behind her. She rolled down the window and he leaned in, propping his chin on his fists. She felt him taking in every detail and she was overcome with a feeling she'd never had before... insecurity. Her eyes filled with unshed tears and her mouth went dry.

"Hey now, what're you crying for?" Norman's brows furrowed and without thinking he reached up and brushed the tears from eyelashes.

"I'm scared, Norman," she whispered past the lump that had formed in her throat. "I'm so afraid that you can't see me in here, that you won't have the same feelings for me."

"I admit that I've struggled with this, hell I was even mad at you... actually furious with you... for a long time. First because you came so close to actually dying, and then because Ziva got to live and Meg had to die." He rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm an idiot."

"It's a fucked up situation, Norman... you're not an idiot." She laid her head back against the headrest and blew out a long breath. "I couldn't even look at my reflection for almost 6 weeks; I still get a faint feeling when I first catch my reflection, but if I look directly at my eyes I see me in there." Turning her head to look at him she whispered, "I'm still here, Norman... it's still me... and I still love you."

Norman watched as the tears filled her eyes, hanging in suspension until they finally gave in to gravity and tracked their way down to the corners of her mouth. Before he could think better of it, he reached out and ran his thumb over her lower lip. "You're gorgeous, Ziva. You don't even seem real because of how beautiful you are, and I'm very attracted to you... but it's going to take me a little time to adjust. I need to be able to reconcile Meg's eyes with Ziva's face." He stood up straight and pushed away from the door, taking a step backwards. "I still have this deep love for Meg inside of me... I need time to get to where I feel it when I look at you."

Ziva gazed at Norman and swallowed down the tears that had lumped in her throat. Rationally she knew this was a normal reaction, but irrationally she was hurt in a primal way that made her want to lash out. Reaching down into a part of herself that she'd buried away, a compartment opened and she shoved her feelings into the darkness. She pulled her sunglasses on and started the engine of her SUV.

"Thanks for meeting me here, Norman. I'll make sure you get the title to the car and the deed to the property. I'll be heading there this weekend to get the clothing and most of the weapons." She shifted into reverse and gave a small wave. "I'll see you on set in a few weeks."

Norman watched as she pulled out of the parking lot and was overcome with a nauseous feeling. He'd just royally screwed up.