Breathe Again

Prologue

Summary: Ziva was the one that everyone knew could take care of herself, but when her world is turned upside down can she accept help? And what does their current case have to do with it?

Characters: Ziva David, Tony DiNozzo, Jethro Gibbs, Tim McGee, Abby Sciuto, Donald Mallard, Leon Vance, Jimmy Palmer, Maybe more

Disclaimer:I do not own NCIS or its characters.

Rating: Not sure. PG-13/R to be on the safe side.

Chapter One - "Let The Rain"

Ziva walked off the elevator; it seemed weird to be back in the bullpen, she knew it had only been a couple month, but it still seemed weird. She looked around and it seemed like things didn't change much while she was gone. Almost seemed like they stayed the same, but she knew that wasn't true. Things had changed and they weren't for the good. As she walked over to her desk, she noticed no one else seemed to be around. She was glad she was the only one there, for now at least. She wasn't ready to face everyone right now, at least not yet. She just needed to get used to being back in the bullpen after being gone for so long. She was just glad she was able to get the time off, if not she wasn't sure how she would have handled this. As she looked over at Tony's and McGee's desk she knew she'd have to face them sooner or later, but she rather it be later. Ziva then heard a noise and instinctively pulled her gun from its holster, turned around and pointed it at the direction of the noise, only to find Tony standing there.

"Woah Ziva" Tony said putting his arms up.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed DiNozzo?" Ziva said to him almost with a shaky voice. She then lowered her gun and put it back in its holster. She knew this was not have she wanted to start her day, and knew that just maybe she was coming back too soon. She just wasn't going to let them know that one.

"I wasn't trying to sneak up on you." Tony said to her, giving her a weird look. "I saw you at your desk, figured I'd just say welcome back and see how you were. Why did you point your gun at me?"

"I...I…I reacted badly, I am sorry" Ziva said to him. She knew if she was going to prove to them she was ready to be back at work, she was going to have to make sure she could focus and little things would not set her off.

"It's okay, you've been gone a couple months it's understandable" Tony said as he walked over to his desk. He placed his bag on the ground behind his desk, before removing his gun from the holster and his badge from his belt and placed them on his desk.

"What have you heard?" Ziva said a little worried, about what was being said around.

"What you've told us." Tony answered not sure how to really react to that question. "Your friend was murdered in your apartment building and you were taking some time off. " Tony said to her, as he sat down at his desk.

"Right" Ziva said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I have since moved on."

"Like I told you before, I am sorry about your friend." Tony said to her sincerely. Ziva gave him a small half smile.

"No, no, no, you said they could fix it and have it ready for me tomorrow." Tony and Ziva heard McGee's voice say. They turned to see McGee on the phone as he walked into the bullpen. "I need my car tomorrow. You said it would be ready and it needs to be ready." McGee said before hanging up. He then looked up to see Ziva at her desk. "Welcome back Ziva." Tim said with a smile. "Tony over here wouldn't stop complaining about you being gone the whole time."

"That is not true" Tony quickly said

"Yes it is" Gibbs said as he entered the bullpen. "We have a dead Petty Officer, Norfolk."

"Same as the other ones?" Tony asked him, as he got up and grabbed his gun and badge.

"Yup. Grab your gear" Gibbs said and grabbed his stuff before headed towards the elevator. "Welcome back David" He said as he walked back.

"But that's like the third one this month" Tony said as he was walking towards the elevator, McGee and Ziva following behind.

"That's why they are called serial killers DiNozzo" Gibbs said to him as the elevator doors closed.

Once they got to the crime scene, they all got out of the truck, Gibbs walked over to talk to the person in charge, as Tony, McGee and Ziva heading to the back of the truck to grab their stuff. As soon as they had grabbed everything they needed, they headed down to the crime scene and as soon as Ziva saw the body, she stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn't help but noticed how alike the Petty Officer looked like her friend; it was almost like they could have been twin. Ziva just stood there frozen, staring at the body. Tony and McGee were walking down to the crime scenes and Tony happened to say something, they both knew Ziva would comment on, but when she said nothing, they both stopped and turned to see she wasn't following behind them. She was standing a few feet away staring intensely at the body, looking as pale as a ghost. Tony and McGee both wanted to go over to her, but Tony stopped McGee and motioned for him to continue on. McGee continued to the crime scene, while Tony walked over to Ziva.

"Ziva, you okay?" Tony asked her. As soon as he had spoken, Ziva shook her head and looked at Tony.

"I am fine Tony" Ziva said a little shaky.

"Are you sure? You looked like you just saw a ghost" Tony said to her, with worry in his voice. "Do you recognize the victim?"

"No, she just looks like Lillian" Ziva said. She looked up at Tony as tears started to form in her eyes. She quickly regained her self and looked back at the boys. "But she is gone and there is work to be done." Without another Ziva continued to walk to the crime scene, Tony let out a sigh and followed after her. As they were joining McGee, Tony gave him a look of what just happened. McGee walked over to Ziva, who was trying to just focus on the work at hand.

"Ziva maybe you should take another couple of days off?" McGee said to her. Ziva stopped what she was doing and turned to face McGee.

"I am fine, McGee" Ziva said to him with a half fake smile. "I will be fine"

"Okay." McGee said not truly believing it. Tony walked over and joined them holding the camera in his hands.

"Ziva why don't you take pictures" Tony said as he held out the camera.

"I am fine Tony" Ziva said to him a little aggravated, before walking off.

~~~~xxxx~~~~

"What do you got Duck" Gibbs said to Ducky, after he had finished talking to the person in change and the witness who had found the body. Ducky and Palmer had arrived just shortly before Gibbs and the team did, so Gibbs was hoping Ducky could give him something.

"I've barely been here, Jethro" Ducky responded to him, never looking up once.

"What can you tell me?" Gibbs asked him.

"Our Petty Officer was killed the same way the other victims were." Ducky started to say. "A slash to the throat, and by the lack of pooling, means she wasn't…"

"Killed here" Gibbs said finishing Ducky's sentence.

~~~~xxxx~~~~

Once they got back to the squad room, there was no talk; Gibbs had went off to brief Director Vance about the killer, while Tony, McGee and Ziva were to find all they could. They were to try and connect the victims, any other cases or anything else they could connect to these murders. Gibbs wanted to know if there was a pattern between all the victims or if there were anymore they had missed. Abby was sent all the evidence they had collected, along with the photos. Hoping she could find anything that could lead them to who the killer was and hoping to find him before he killed again. Before long, Ziva got up from her desk and walked out of the bullpen. Tony watched as she left and once she was gone got up from his desk and moved over to McGee's.

"She's hiding something" Tony said to him. Tony could see from the moment she pointed her gun in his face till now something was wrong and it really worried him. He had seen when Ziva was just acting out of reflex, but this was different, she was a lot more jumpy. It just wasn't the Ziva he knew.

"Tony her friend was murder, maybe she's just taking it harder than any of us thought." McGee said, trying to come up with a logical reason, to her behavior.

"No, that's not it at all and even if that was the case McGee she doesn't freeze at a crime scene" Tony said to him. "Something else is going on."

"She did mention that the victim looked like her friend Lillian." McGee said, he then thought of something. "Maybe there is a connection? You think she knows anything about the killer?" McGee asked.

"Could be" Tony said, not believing that could be a possibility. "But something is wrong." Tony said quietly to himself as he walked back over to his desk.

~~~~xxxx~~~~

Ziva walked into the bathroom and closed the door. She quickly checked to make sure no one was in the stalls, before locking the door and walking over to the sink. She turned on the water, letting it run for a few minutes. She placed her hands under the running water then brought her face down and splashed water on her face. She then placed her hands on the edge of the sink, before bring her head up and looking into the mirror.

"Fancy seeing you here" The women said with a smile, as she walked over to another women sitting at a bar.

"I told you, I would be here, Lily" The women at the bar said, not really grasping it was a little joke.

"Of course you did Ziva, I was teasing" Lillian said to her with a laugh. "I ask you out for drinks, because I wanted you to meet someone." She said and then turned and waved her hand, for someone to come over. Then a man walked over to them. "Ziva this is my boyfriend Matthew. Matthew this is Ziva, my friend I was telling you about."

"It's nice to meet you Ziva" Matthew said to her as he held out his hand, with a smile on his face.

"You too Matthew" Ziva said as she took his hand and they shook.

"We live across from each other; I meet Ziva when I was moving in. She offered to help me since I was all alone." Lillian started to go on. "I didn't have a big strong man in my life then to help me out. But she helped me get all the boxes into the apartment, and we totally clicked from there. She's been teaching me a lot, the last two years."

"That's really nice." Matthew said. "It's good you have a friend who lives so close."

"It is. Lily is a wonderful person" Ziva said to him. She wasn't sure way, but she wasn't getting the best felling from him. Maybe it was because she didn't trust people, or rather men so easy, but she just felt uneasy with him.

"She is" Matthew said. "So what do you do?"

"I work for NCIS" Ziva said to him. She tried to watch him to see if she could see if he'd have any of the telltale sign, that she was lying or just wasn't who he said he was. Or something to maybe tell her she was being crazy.

"So you're a Navy cop" Matthew said. Ziva just smiled, not sure she really wanted to answer that.

"Federal Agent" Ziva said, just wanting to correct him. She then slowly got up from her chair, she knew things weren't going to end well, and needed to leave. "I am sorry Lily, but before you go her I got a cold. I actually have to head back in the office so I should be going."

"But we just got here" Matthew said.

"Okay Ziva. I'm really glad you got to meet him" Lillian said with nothing but smiles.

"Me too" Ziva said, as she pulled some money out of her pocket and placed it on the bar. She then turned to face Lily. "I will talk to you later" Ziva said, with a smile half smile. She then grabbed her coat and headed out of the bar, she could tell he was watching her leave. She could just feel his eyes on her.

AN: still slightly unsure of this story, so posting this as a tester chapter to see how you like it. Before moving forward.