Hey Everyone! Thanks to all who left me a review, subscribed or alerted me! I am sorry for the lack of updates :/ Usually these authors' notes are long, but I really can't think of anything witty to say, so let's get onto the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Yeah! I own NCIS...What? sarcasm you say? Me? NEVER!

Ziva blanched momentarily before realising what Carrie had just said – reaching across to her bedside table, Ziva fumbled around to find the small notepad and pen that often sat inside the drawer.

Pressing the phone to her ear with her shoulder, Ziva flipped open to a blank page before speaking to the girl.

'Did you see anyone?' she asked now wide awake.

Carrie gulped on the other side of the phone 'I-I don't really know. I only saw my living room wall with blood trailing down it' she whispered, her voice getting if possible, lower by the end of the sentence.

Ziva grimaced slightly, remembering the exact wall from yesterday. Ziva heard a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the phone 'I shouldn't have called...this isn't useful at all, is it?' she said
shakily.

'Everything is useful, Carrie. You did the right thing' Ziva assured her before flipping the notepad shut again.

'This is so frustrating...it's like there is an imaginary wall between me and my memories!' Carrie continued, obviously ignoring her previous words of comfort.

'Carrie. Rest, it has only been 24 hours since you woke up – we do not expect all of your memories to come back overnight' Ziva said with ease.

Carrie huffed 'I hate hospitals' this made Ziva smile slightly, she knew first hand that the painfully crisp white walls of a hospital were not very appealing.

'Hospitals are not very high on my favourite places list either' Ziva replied with slight bitterness.

Carrie sighed slightly 'Ziva? When am I getting out of here?' she asked shakily sounding much younger than her 16 year old self for a moment.

'I do not know. We will speak to your doctor tomorrow alright?'

'Okay...thanks' she whispered.

Ziva heard the call disconnect and ran a hand over her face warily before pressing speed dial #2.

'Gibbs.'

'It is Ziva. I did not expect you to answer' she said with slight surprise.

'I'm working on my boat, what's going on Ziver?' he asked with a hint of impatience.

'Carrie called me. She had a flashback' Ziva said cutting to the chase.

Gibbs remained silent on the other line, obviously expecting for her to elaborate which she did, after explaining the contents of Carrie's dream she waited.

'It's a start. We will look into it in the morning' Gibbs said his voice slightly quieter from lack of use.

After exchanging goodbyes, Ziva shut the lid of her phone and leant back onto her pillows – this case is going to be extremely difficult she mused before trying to get comfortable again; sleep did not want to return in a hurry it seemed.

'I want out!' Carrie exclaimed stubbornly to Nurse Marilyn who merely went about her routine of checking her IV drip and the various cuts and bruises that were sustained only 48 hours previously.

'Yes so does everyone else on this ward!' she said sharply, her patience running thin 'These things take time! You have to give yourself time to recover before we will even consider you walking out of this ward!' she continued in a motherly tone.

Carrie scowled and pushed some of the hair out of her face 'I'm not a kid' she said lowly while trying to reach the cup of water that resided on the table next to her.

Nurse Marilyn handed it to her with a small sigh 'I am quite aware, despite having the temperament of one you are a young lady – maybe try cooperating and see where it leads you, hm?' she offered
before casting her attention toward the door where a dull knock could be heard.

Nurse Marilyn sent one last glance at Carrie before walking over to the door, where Gibbs and Ziva were standing patiently, 'How's she doing?' he asked.

The nurse moved out of the doorway and shut it promptly before speaking 'She is still being painfully stubborn – but she is showing promising signs in recovery'

'and her memory?' Ziva continued.

'Well, it is still unclear how long it will take for her memory to return fully' she replied thoughtfully before looking down at her pager with a frown 'I'm sorry, one of the patients need to be prepared for surgery. You can question her, but don't expect a lot' Nurse Marilyn said quickly before turning on her heel and moving down the hallway.

Gibbs and Ziva exchanged glances before opening the door to the room, a curious pair of eyes meeting the agents a moment later.

'Oh thank God' she groaned 'Please tell me you have found a way to get me out of this place!' Gibbs shrugged and took the seat beside the bed.

'Gotta play your cards right if you want to get out of here' Gibbs said matter-of-factly.

Carrie looked at Ziva with a small smile of gratitude 'Thank you... again'

Ziva nodded 'Do you remember anything else?' she asked after a moment. Carrie closed her eyes briefly and bit her lip 'Nothing. It would help if I wasn't stuck here...I need a trigger' she said sitting up straighter in the bed with a wince.

Ziva looked confused and looked at Gibbs who looked at Carrie knowingly 'You need something to connect to' he elaborated.

Carrie nodded 'Exactly. Isn't there something you can do?' she asked hopefully.

Gibbs chuckled slightly 'We can try'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop!' Tony exclaimed, holding a hand up to stop McGee and Abby from continuing their "Theory" discussion/argument which had started only a few minutes previously.

'You don't have to stay here Tony!' Abby told him sternly 'Let me squash McGee's theories in peace!' McGee glared slightly at the last comment 'Hey! I could be the one squashing your ideas!'

Tony whistled loudly, the sound echoing throughout the confines of Abby's Lab resulting in complete silence.

Tony took a deep breath and stood in between them 'Okay McHothead, mistress of the night – anymore of this arguing and my head is going to explode!' he said with a hint of sarcasm.

'We don't argue Tony!' Abby began.

'We debate!'

'That is the same thing McGee!'

Tony gritted his teeth 'Okay, I wasn't kidding about the exploding head thing – do I really need to put you two in a time out?'

Abby's eyes widened 'I think you mean implode – it is kind of hard for your head to explode, both are bad but only one is really logical' Abby said quietly.

Tony ignored her 'So, let me get this straight – you guys don't think that this is the only copy of Sophie Arnolds' information?' he asked, hoping to change the subject and save his throbbing head Why the hell didn't I go with Gibbs and Ziva? He mused bitterly while waiting for Abby to answer.

'It can't be the original, we both agree on that' McGee said impatiently 'there are obvious signs of tampering, but hopefully we should be able to crack the code and try and restore and recover the real files if they even exist'

Abby shook her head 'No, this is where my theory comes in – I think that Sophie had the copy and the real information is somewhere else! If this is so top secret, which I think it is – all of it should be under lock and key with motion laser sensors and a big burly security guard called Knuckles' Abby said with a huff 'McGee's theory means they copied a copy! These guys are playing us'

Tony heard McGee mumble something quietly but chose to ignore it 'Come on, you need to work together on this! Crack the code, if there is nothing there go on to Abby's plan! If everything goes well then we will have the real owners of the Information!' Tony said with ease.

Abby rushed over and enveloped him in a bone crushing hug 'You know what Tony? You are so much smarter than some people give you credit for' she mumbled before relinquishing her hold on Tony so she could face McGee again who was watching their interaction amusedly.

'Okay McGee! We can't argue about this - that is exactly what they want us to do, turn against each other!' Abby exclaimed as if she had just solved the entire case in one amazing train of thought.

Tony froze momentarily when his phone buzzed, and like a chain reaction Abby and McGee fell silent.

'Hope you two are good liars because it's Gibbs – and we've got nothing' Tony moaned before flipping the phone open the face the music.

'DiNozzo. Do we have anything useful?' Gibbs asked leaning against the wall beside the entrance to Carrie's room.

'Boss! How's it going?' Tony asked with a false cheeriness which Gibbs noticed in a second.

'Waiting for the doctor to finish his examination'

'Oh, you trying to get her out?' Tony continued, obviously trying to divert the subject.

'Yeah – Look DiNozzo, this wasn't a social call. Do you have anything?' he hissed – from the corner of his eye, Gibbs could see Ziva smirking slightly.

'Uh, me? Not really, Abby and McArgue have been trying to crack the computer and – OW ABBY!' Gibbs heard shuffling for a moment before Abby's voice could be heard.

'Hi Gibbs! Usually you call me when I have something – at the moment I don't have...much' she said, her perkiness disappearing.

Gibbs sighed and looked impatiently into the room again, the curtains were drawn.

'What do you have Abby?' Gibbs heard a gasp and then a shout -

'Oh my god – MCGEE! You CRACKED it! Okay, Gibbs you are magic!'

Gibbs smirked slightly and heard the phone click to loudspeaker 'Boss! It was a perfect number like 1 plus 2 plus 3 equals 6...'

'McGee!'

'Sorry Boss. Yeah, it looks like Abby was right, they corrupted the files – the original was never here. We were played' McGee groaned.

'Bastards were trying to throw us off' Gibbs growled before slamming the lid of the phone shut.

Ziva frowned 'We need to talk to the Director, Gibbs. We need permission from Navy Intelligence to get this file' Ziva said quietly.

Gibbs shook his head and watched as Ziva twirled a pen in her fingers thoughtfully 'The Arnolds refused to tell them the location of the file, they kill them. The Arnolds cannot be the only people who
know about this file Gibbs! Who knows, there could be a mole' she theorised.

Gibbs was about to reply when the Doctor emerged from Carrie's room, a clipboard clasped in his hands.

'Come in Agent Gibbs, Agent David' he said in a business like tone.

'What's the verdict?' Gibbs asked, looking over at Carrie who was glaring at the doctor.

The doctor cleared his throat 'She is recovering steadily; her concussion and the cut on her head are healing well'

'So that means I can go?' Carrie questioned.

The doctor frowned 'I am not overjoyed with the idea. It is better for you in the long run if you stayed here' the doctor said pointedly.

Carrie shook her head 'I will be fine! I know it is not going to be easy, but I can't just sit here while my parents' killers are out there!' she said angrily, tears beginning the track down her cheeks 'I am the only one that can help! I was there!' she whispered.

The doctor sighed 'This is what I am worried about, flashbacks can be confronting and horrifying, especially in your situation Carrie'

Ziva felt Gibbs' eyes on her but she ignored it 'We will look after her, we have a Medical Examiner on base and we will not push her'

The doctor hesitated 'If we are going to go through with this, I want reports – when she has a flashback I want to know about it. If she goes into shock I want her here Agent Gibbs' he said seriously.

Gibbs nodded 'You got it. Ducky will send you a report'

The Doctor looked down at his clipboard for a moment 'I'll get the papers' he announced before leaving the room.

Gibbs looked over at Carrie who looked back with a mixture of pleased and frightened.

'I-is it really going to be that bad?' she asked shakily.

Ziva looked at Gibbs knowingly and spoke up 'It is different for everyone. Flashbacks can feel like reality, but we will be there every step of the way' Ziva said quietly.

'You've had flashbacks?' Carrie asked, the colour draining from her face. Ziva watched as Gibbs signed the release papers before looking back to her.

'Time to go' she replied distractedly.

Gibbs returned to the beside and handed her a bag of clothes 'Picked these up from your house' he said with a small smile of reassurance.

Carrie mumbled a thank you, still analysing Ziva's reaction to her question.

'Where are we going?' Carrie asked as Gibbs pulled out of the hospital car park. Gibbs handed his phone to Ziva 'Call McGee and Tony and tell them to meet us at the scene' he instructed. Ziva quickly tapped in the number and waited for an answer.

'The scene...that's my house' Carrie said slowly, taking it all in.

Gibbs looked back at her through the rear-view mirror 'Uh huh. You don't have to come in, we just need to do one more sweep' Gibbs told her.

Carrie's jaw clenched 'I am coming. I want to help' she said finally.

20 minutes later, Gibbs pulled up at the Arnolds' house, McGee and Tony waiting by the door. Carrie stepped out silently and looked at the place she once called home.

Ziva stepped forward 'Are you sure?' she pressed.

Carrie took a breath and nodded walking up to the house as if in a trance. Gibbs looked at Carrie briefly 'This is Agent McGee. You remember DiNozzo' Gibbs said as McGee raised a hand in greeting.

'Nice to meet you' Carrie said with a small smile 'Yeah, Tony told me to eat my pudding'

Tony grinned 'What? That pudding is the only good thing about hospital!' Ziva rolled her eyes and followed Carrie through the door.

Carrie walked through the door and looked around at the main entrance which was eerily quiet. She could feel her heart pumping in her chest and as if on command, her feet began moving toward the living room.

The first thing Carrie saw was the yellow police numbers that marked evidence, and then a familiar blood splattered wall. Carrie exhaled shakily and took a small step in, not knowing what a trigger would feel like or when it would happen making it even more difficult.

Carrie looked straight ahead and noticed the fireplace that her mother adored, and that's when it happened.

Oh I am SO mean...I really shouldn't have done that but I did give you a long chapter :P I am sorry again for the update, I do hope this makes up for it. Reviews are appreciated and cherished – even if you do want to have a go at me for giving you yet another cliffhanger...

I just realised that the Arnolds died in the living room - oh irony!

I love you all :)