"Goodnight, Ariah. Sleep tight." Ziva said as she shut off the lights to her daughter's bedroom.
Tony, who was coming up the stairs, heard her and added, "Don't let the bed bugs bite!"
"What are bed bugs, daddy?" Ariah hollered from her bed.
Tony came up beside Ziva and slid his arm around her thin waist, barely caressing the tiny amount of skin peeking out from her tank top. She looked up at him and smiled.
Ziva replied to her daughter for Tony, "Bed bugs do not exist, sweetheart. It is just a saying. Daddy is trying to mess with you."
"Something you would say." Tony observed, smiling at his wife. Ziva shook her head, but smiled as she broke from his embrace and headed towards her and Tony's bedroom. Tony followed her after saying goodnight to his daughter himself.
As they settled into bed, Tony glanced at Ziva and she noticed him broadcast a swift smile before whirling his head to turn on the television.
"What, Tony?" She questioned.
Tony shrugged. "Ten years old and already like her mother." He spoke of Ariah, simultaneously altering his gaze to Ziva's face. Her soft brown eyes brought a half smile to his perfectly smooth lips.
"She is like you too, you know. Her sense of humor, her love for movies and cars, she loves pizza more than you do-" Ziva explained, being cut off by Tony.
"Correction. Nobody loves pizza more than I do." He smiled at her once again. Ziva laughed softly, but enough to cease the topic and focus on the television screen.
"Indiana Jones," Ziva noticed, "how expected. Anything else on?"
"Doubt it. Typical Friday night." Tony laughed subtly to himself, and so did Ziva. It was almost an inside joke, the lack of interesting programs on television on weeknights. Even weekend nights for that matter, but they were, for the most part, working then.
"Well, goodnight Tony." Ziva said, not seeing a point in watching the broadcast for the twentieth time. She rolled on her side, her back facing him.
"Goodnight, Zeev." He repeated, turning off the TV then doing the same.
About an hour and a half later, a sound came from down the hall. It was a discreet sound of glass shattering. Ziva barely heard it, but she heard it nonetheless.
"Tony?" Ziva muttered, half asleep. She sat up slowly and exercised her eyes so she could see precisely in the dark.
"Hmm?' He replied groggily, having been woken up by Ziva's call. Noticing Ziva hat sat up, Tony mimicked her motion.
"Did you hear something?" Ziva questioned, her face scrunching in as If trying to distinguish where it was that the noise had come from.
"No," Tony replied, "did you?"
"Yeah," Ziva answered, "I am going to go check on Ariah. I will be right back."
Tony watched her walk out and gradually began to worry if what Ziva heard was legit. Whatever it was, authentic or not, it woke her up, which was legit enough for him. If something, or someone, was there, he wasn't going to let Ziva go alone, even if he knew she could take care of herself.
He was halfway out the door when his pace increased at the sound of Ziva screaming his name.
"TONY!"
Ziva's eyes enlarged more with every inch of the room her eyes scanned. Her hands grasped her mouth and water began filling in her eyes. She knew where the sound came from as soon as she noticed the broken window. On the floor, glass glistened from the moonlight of the night. The glass shards were arrogantly spread across the carpet in Ariah's room, as if they owned the place. The shards seemed to simply lie there in an exuberant manner, flattered by the fact that they were no longer a part of the thick window they once called home, and as if they undeniably believed they were welcome on that floor. Welcome, however, was something they unquestionably were not.
A squeal erupted from Ziva's mouth as she fixed her eyes on Ariah's bed. Ariah's empty bed.
Tony finally made it to her side, standing by her in the doorway of their daughter's room. He, too, took in the room inch by inch, absorbing the devastating sight that stood before him. Acting on instinct, Tony wrapped his arms around Ziva and squeezed her as tight as he could without hurting her. Ziva closed her eyes as her breathing grew more intense. Tony felt her chest move more rapidly under his skin, to which he responded by squeezing even tighter. He bit his bottom lip to keep himself from crying.
"Tony, the bed... She," Ziva managed, "she is gone." The words stung the both of them, tensing them, angering them. Ziva's stated what neither wanted to utter.
Slowly, Ziva staggered towards the broken window. Tony swayed towards the messy bed. The two remained dazed as they walked, still taking in the scene. Under the window, a shining color of red caught Ziva's eye.
"Tony…" She gasped as she reached for a red colored glass shard lying still on the carpet. Tony walked over, and, seeing what her intentions were, grabbed her arm.
"Fingerprints, Zeev. As much as it kills me to say this," Tony gulped, "this is a crime scene."
Ziva's breath caught at his words, and her eyes slammed shut. She knew he was right.
"Call Gibbs." Ziva regretfully ordered. Though they were both full of agony and despondency, somehow her voice remained calm as she spoke. Tony's hand cupped her face. His thumb gently stroked her cheek, and then he moved his hand back to run his fingers through her silky hair. Their eyes locked for a long moment, broken by a delicate kiss.
Breaking away, they smiled at each other, their gaze lingering for a moment before Tony picked up his cell phone to call their Boss.
About ten minutes later, another sound emerged from somewhere downstairs, alerting Tony and Ziva.
On impulse, Tony pulled Ziva against his chest and left one of his arms lingering on the small of her back, the other was placed on top of her head, stroking her hair.
"Where's your gun?" Ziva whispered sideways against his shirt.
"Bedroom. Where's yours?" Tony whispered back, his mouth against her scalp. Ziva cussed under her breath for leaving her weapon under her pillow. The one time…
She scanned the room for any solid object, still against Tony's chest. A bat in the corner caught Ziva's eye, and, parting from Tony's embrace, she lunged for it, and proceeded to creep out the door.
"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tony whispered, gripping her arm and pulling her back.
"I am going to fix our computer, Gibbs style. What does it look like I am doing?" Ziva answered sarcastically with a joyous expression on her face, which was somewhat troubling.
Tony glared at her, waiting for her to change her mind. Ziva did not change her mind, however, she just grabbed another bat and tossed it to Tony, who caught it and slowly smiled in response.
"You win. Let's go." Tony nodded in the direction of the door.
"Tony, Ziva?" A voice called from a few feet away just as Tony and Ziva were sneaking up behind the dark figure.
"Aww, Gibbs. We thought you were somebody else." Tony pouted as they lowered their bats.
"Bats? Really?" Gibbs noticed.
"Quick fix, boss. No guns." Tony assured. Gibbs nodded and looked them both over. He could tell they were worn and dejected. It was expected, though, considering…
"I called McGee. He'll be here soon. Show me the cr-" Gibbs stopped himself, knowing how the two would feel about the words 'crime scene', "show me her room." He finished.
Tony and Ziva looked at each other, eyes again full of sorrow.
Carrying the bats with them, they sluggishly led Gibbs to Ariah's room.
