I stood here, leaning against his desk. My strawberry-blonde bangs fell into my emerald eyes. I pursed my red lips together as I waited for her to come.
Hello, my name is Serenity Jameson. I am the daughter of Lt. T.J. Jameson and Petty Officer Cassandra Jameson. I'm sister of John and Sarah Jameson; John's a marine and Sarah's a nurse in Iraq. All of my family is in Iraq, fighting for my safety.
I let my cool fingertips rub my ice arms. I was cold, but I reminded myself that my family was probably colder wherever they were. My eyes traveled up as I felt someone's gaze on me. I quickly spotted a woman standing on the silver balcony that looked over the bullpen. Her ruby hair was pulled up in a messy bun and her chocolate eyes inspected me in sadness.
I continued to rub circles up my arms, waiting for the heat to come. No matter what I did, my arms remained cold. The friction hurt between my fingertips and arm, but I was still cold. I didn't even realize that my arm had started to bleed and my flesh was raw.
The woman closed her eyes and turned away from me. What was wrong, I didn't care, I wanted to feel the warmth return to my body. I suddenly snapped out of my little trance by a baby's cries. I turned to see everyone crowded around a woman holding a baby girl. The baby was wailing and everyone was trying to quiet her. I walked over to the woman holding the wailing infant and reached out my arms. Hesitantly, she handed me the baby. I cooed softly to the infant before I started to sing.
"All night, all day
Angels watchin' over me, my lord
All night, all day
Angels watchin' over me -
Now I lay me down to sleep
Angels watchin' over me, my lord
Pray the Lord my soul to keep
Angels watchin' over me -
All night, all day
Angels watchin' over me, my lord
All night, all day
Angels watchin' over me
Bless this precious earth we share
Angels watchin' over me, my lord
Land and water, plants and air
Angels watchin' over me -
Bless each home and family
Angels watchin' over me, my lord
Help us all sleep peacefully
Angels watchin' over me
All night, all day
Angels watchin' over me, my lord
All night, all day
Angels watchin' over me," my voice was soft and mellow as the baby girl smiled up at me. She snuggled into my chest and closed her lilac eyes. I gently rocked her, forgetting about everyone else staring at me.
The little girl lay in my arms, fast asleep. Though she could no longer hear me, I continued to sing the song over and over again. No one made any move to take the child from me. They just watched me as I shifted my weight from side to side. I looked up as I felt a gaze on me, and not the baby. I looked up, past the people, to see the ruby haired woman beckoning me over. I nodded and let my voice fade out. I turned to the woman who'd held the baby before me and handed her the young princess.
"Treasure her," I whispered as I turned and walked to the medal staircase. My fingers wrapped around the cool medal and I ascended the steps.
"Did you see those bruises on her legs?" a woman with bushy hair asked.
"Yes Ziva, we did," the silver haired man said as they watched me walk up the stairs.
0-o-o-o
I sat in the red haired woman's office. She was watching me closely. I just blinked as I listened in my head to her words.
"I'm so sorry to tell you that your family died from a bombing…" The words echoed in my ears. I wanted to scream and shout and break things, but I didn't. I felt like my insides had been ripped to shreds. I wanted to cry, I wanted to kill their murderers. I tried hard to keep my head level.
"Where do I go?" I asked her. I tilted my head to the side slightly watched her.
"You will be left in the care of an NCIS agent till social services can find you a home. I'm waiting to hear back from a few agents to see who you'll be staying with." She looked at me kindly, but I couldn't handle her stare. I wanted to be yelled at, or hit, or better yet, woken up, but I knew this was reality. I got up and walked for the door. I let my fingers slid around the silver doorknob and pulled it open.
As I walked from her office the breeze caught my hair, and tears started to make wet paths down my face. I walked down the metal steps, my eyes closed. I wanted to open them and find my parents and siblings in front of me. But of course, when I did, I continued to see the orange walls.
I didn't dry my tears, I just let them run. What good would it do to dry them? I thought of my baby sister as I saw the people crowded around Ziva and her daughter again. I watched as the silver haired man kissed her cheek and held onto his daughter's chubby arm. He kissed the infant's little fingers. I walked over to Special Agent Lee, who was watching over my baby sister. I picked up the cooing infant into my arms. I walked, I wasn't sure where I was going, but I walked, letting my legs carry me.
Tony's POV o-o-o-o
It had been two hours since the teenager went missing. We were looking everywhere. I was down in autopsy, searching for the missing child. I finally found her, though I almost wish I hadn't. She was pressed against a wall, between the desk and the wall to be exact. Her eyes were glassy, and glazed over; she had a far away look in her eye. In her arms was the infant. Serenity's fingers were absentmindedly playing with the child's little arms.
"Serenity?" I asked, kneeling before the teenager. I could barley stand it, she looked so helpless, so dead.
"They're gone," she whispered. "Every last one of them." My heart cracked a bit as she talked. The teenager's family was her life. "They left me alone. I have nothing left, nothing to live for." My heart broke completely as she spoke those horrible words. "They promised they'd never leave," she whispered, turning to me for the first time. "And now they're gone, all of them." I closed my eyes, trying not to listen to the pain in her voice. She was broken; she didn't know what to do. "I understood when they told me they had to go protect their country. I took beating after beating from my guardians so they could "protect" me. I read their letters on Christmas, telling me they wished me a merry Christmas and to hope for a better year to come, but it never got better." She looked back into space, like she'd forgotten I was even there. "I did everything I could to make my little sister's world perfect. I never let them lay a hand on her. I was forced to become a grownup and raise her. And she's perfect," she whispered, stroking the baby's hair. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Gibbs, Ziva (her daughter was with Lee), McGee, Abby, Ducky, Palmer, and Jenny.
"We need to get you warmed up Serenity," I whispered to her.
"Can you do me a favor?" she asked. I nodded. "Hold her, give her a good home for me," she whispered. She slipped the baby into my hands. Her hands shuck as she did so. I furrowed my eyebrows as she got up. She turned so her back was to me. She picked something off the desk. It all happened so fast, the next thing I knew, she was on the floor, blood spilling from her throat. I looked down at the little girl in my arms.
I found a good home for her sister. It's with a wonderful couple who couldn't have a baby, but every night, as I crawl into bed with my wife, Layla, I think of Serenity's face. She'd lost all hope. I go to sleep every night, feeling her blood on my arms.
Ziva's POV 15 years later
I sat at my desk, organizing things when a girl with blonde hair walked in. I looked over towards my husband, then back at her. She walked over to us, wearing her hair up in a bun and a dress suit, and way to much red lipstick.
"Hi, I'm Angel Chacity," she told me.
"Ziva Gibbs, how can I help you?" I asked.
"I'm the sister of Serenity Jameson. I found this, and I think she'd have wanted you guys to have it," she said handing me a golden package. I unwrapped it to see a picture; it was about the size of a computer screen. In the picture were two teens smiling at the camera, parents, holding coffee mugs and watching them open their kid's gifts. And a little girl was holding up a book to the camera.
"That was the last Christmas they spent together. Here is also her journal," Angel said, handing me a pink butterfly book. "I want you to give that to that agent that found her." Angel turned to leave, but not before saying, "Merry Christmas!" over her shoulder.
As I looked up, I could have sworn I saw Serenity leaning against the wall. She smiled at me and waved. Then she disappeared. I opened the diary, what caught my eye was the signature at the end.
Love,
Silent Words
A/N Well, I hope you liked it. Review please!