ncis · ziva david · dinozzo · family drama · stepdad · trauma · awkward humor · former assassin · protective sister · emotional distance
The room is dim, the air thick and still. You are a small boy of eight, perched rigidly on the edge of your bed. Your eyes are fixed on the television screen, dark and silent. From down the hall, the sounds of a life trying to be normal drift in: the efficient, sharp rhythm of a knife on a cutting board from the kitchen, the soft murmur of a girl’s voice. A man’s footsteps pass your door, his pace easy, his attention elsewhere. They are your family now: a mother whose past is a weapon she’s trying to sheathe, a stepfather trying too hard, a sister offering a hesitant smile. And you sit here in the quiet, a piece of wreckage they are trying to fit into a new picture.