Chapter 1

She never slept through anything, ever. Even as a child she heard every sound, every peep spoken, every night sound. Nothing slipped by her. Her eyes popped open when she heard the front door close and the quiet footfalls in the hallway. She knew there were four men coming and she knew, without a doubt, who they were.

She lay in her bed with her eyes closed, waiting for them. Two of the men opened her bedroom door and crept to her bedside. One reached for her, grabbed her arm and tried to quiet her with a hand over her mouth. He saw nothing as he hit the floor. The other signaled to another. He struggled with her and felt his arm snap. He backed up as the other two grabbed her arms and feet. Both felt the brunt of her power. They held on and took her from her bed and the house, never once checking for anything else.

Adam Eshal waited at the café for her. She never called. If she wasn't coming she'd call. He began to worry. He called her. The phone rang over and over again. His concern began to grow. She'd have answered her cell phone no matter what. He paid his bill, called his office and ran to his car.

His first stop was her apartment here in Tel Aviv. He knew that she was out of town but wanted to check it anyway. He arrived to find it thoroughly searched. All the time Adam drove he thought of her. What had happened? Where did she go? He knew she didn't leave to go back to Washington, D.C. even though he felt she belonged there. He kept driving.

Adam arrived in Be'er Sheva and drove to her home. Her family owned this house for generations and she lived there now. There was no movement in or around the house. He could always tell if she was home or not. Only the wind in the olive trees could be heard and it made Adam uncomfortable. Stepping from the car his apprehension grew manifest. He pulled his weapon from his holster and crept slowly from the vehicle to the doorway. The creaking of a door left ajar brought his awareness level up. He entered the house and took it slower, pistol ready. As he entered he noticed over turned furniture, searched dressers and desks. He heard no sounds of people. He continued searching room by room. He came to her bedroom and noticed signs of a struggle and a body that he knew. He left the room and continued down the hall to another bedroom. Adam hoped that she had left on her own but doubted it. He called Mossad and asked to speak to the director. When she answered Adam told her what he had found. She said that she would get back to him but to call in the local police. A small cry came from a bedroom. Adam opened the door to find a baby. He knew how Ziva left and it wasn't voluntary.

Chapter 2

Three o'clock in the morning came and went and Tony still hadn't fallen asleep. For the past year he suffered from an active case of insomnia. Many dreams he lived through were of leaving her behind, both times in Israel. He saw her in nightmares of Somalia and carried her home again. He thought it would become her home forever. Then she went back to Israel and he went to hunt her down again. He found her after four months and told her how he felt. She felt the same but her guilt made her stay there: guilt of what she felt she had done to others and what she had become because of her job. He dreamt of her often and most of the dreams were dark.

Exhaustion caught up with Tony every once in a while and he hoped that he could fall asleep tonight but no. The day had been long and busy. The dirt bags kept moving and the Boss drove them even harder because of it. Tony felt as if he were living in a cloud. Thoughts fizzled and disappeared. Coffee was beginning not to work. He needed sleep.

Tony began to drift off when the phone rang. He thought about ignoring it but remembered Gibb's rule: never be unavailable. He looked at the caller ID and breathed a sigh of relief, it wasn't Gibbs. The code in front of the number was familiar. He should know it; he called it enough, Israel. Maybe she was calling him, but no, not her number.

He hit the talk button. "Hello, Tony DiNozzo, how can I help you?"

"Tony." It was a male voice. It was one that Tony recognized.

"Adam, it is …three in the morning? Some people like to sleep." Tony knew he should be sleeping. "What can I do for Shin Bet this early in the morning?"

"Tony, it is 11:00 AM in Tel Aviv. Sorry to wake you. It is… important." He stressed the word "important."

Tony's Spidey sense, as he called it, came into play. "What do you need my help with?

Adam hesitated but didn't mince his words when he did speak. "Ziva is missing."

Tony just stared off into the dark. Many things about Ziva went through his mind, but most of all their parting at the airport. He never wanted to leave her there, but she insisted she needed to fix her life by herself. He understood her need to make things right in her world before living in theirs.

Adam thought he had lost the connection. "Tony, are you still there?"

Tony started, "Yeah Adam, I am. What have you got?"

Adam began listing things about her disappearance.

She is not in her apartment in Tel Aviv. We had a standing coffee meet every week. She did not show or call. I went looking. No one was there.

She did not return any of my calls. That is not like her.

When I went to Be'er Sheva to check on her, the house had been well searched.

The director of the Mossad is now looking for her and that is never a good thing.

Tony sat on the edge of the bed and was beginning to get concerned. "I'll see what I can do from here. Probably won't be much. She's not Navy or in the Marines. Gibbs probably won't jump on it.

Tony's response was surprising to Adam. "She is your friend is she not?

The depths of anguish at her leaving hit Tony hard. The waves of pain washed over him again and again making his answer to Adam more poignant. "She used to be my partner. I thought that meant more to her.

Adam wasn't buying that line. He remembered how Tony searched for months for Ziva and then just as abruptly went home. He had assumed they would return to Washington together. She had stayed in Israel. "I'll talk to you later. Think on it, Tony."

Tony got out of bed and went into the living room. He paced the length of the room, back and forth for twenty minutes before a voice asked a question. "Tony, what's going on?"

Margo Ferrara was the newest woman in Tony's life. She worked as a high power lawyer in one of Washington's most powerful legal offices. It was rumored that she would be a partner soon. Tony and Margo met during a case. She lost the case because of Tony's statement on the stand.

Tony looked at Margo and then out the window. There were two ways to answer that question and one of them was to lie. He would be protecting Margo and himself from hurt. The other was to tell the truth. It might hurt but the truth would be out there. Tony opted for the truth. "That's a colleague in Israel. He called to tell me my ex-partner is missing. He would like my help. I have to think long and hard on this." He turned back to the window.

Margo came to stand next to him and look directly in his eyes. She felt that to look into someone's eyes gave her most direct answers to her questions. Margo placed her hand on his arm and made him look at her. She didn't like what she saw in his eyes; evidence of pain, and something else: love. So, instead she asked about another aspect. "What do you think Gibbs will do or let you do?"

Tony reflected on that question. Working with Gibbs had been difficult after Ziva. He tip toed around Ziva like talking about her would not help. After Kate, they acknowledged her death and had gone on with business. Ziva still hung in the background and no one acknowledged her. The grieving process never happened. Jethro had taken his time replacing Zee with Bishop. Bishop was shaping up and while she would never be Ziva but she brought something else to the team. Tony looked back at Margo. "Not too sure about that. He probably won't go and will not want Tim and me to go either. I'm trying to figure it out." He smiled at Margo. "Go back to bed. I'll be back in a few." Tony knew his night of sleep was over.