Second chapter today. I still don't have a beta, so again sorry for all the mistakes.

Chapter 2

- The Kid in the Alley -

About ten minutes after Gibbs' phone call, Tony parked his car in front of a narrow alley, just between the NCIS truck and the ambulance. The crime scene was already very crowded. A mass of curious passer-by and three media vans had invaded the street what brought on quite some agitation.

Tony and Ziva got out of the car at the same time.

"I think we missed the party." Tony exclaimed as the cops were trying to keep the too curious onlookers from crossing the yellow police line.

They stepped into the alley where Gibbs, McGee, Ducky and Palmer were grouped near a phone box.

Seeing them approaching, Gibbs looked up and rolled his eyes. "Ziva! I thought it was petty clear; no field assignment before next week. What are you doing here?"

"I know, but it's just a combination of circumstances. I was with Tony in the car when you called." She answered.

As soon as the words came out of Ziva's mouth Tony realized she just told everyone that they were together in the same car and he was afraid they would suspect their little secret. "I was supposed to drop her off at work today, what I hadn't time to do as you asked me 'to bring my ass here and fast' and those are your own words." He specified hoping it would be enough to cover them.

"And my arm is perfectly fine. There's no reason to wait one more week." Ziva added folding and unfolding her arms to prove her point.

"So you're a doctor now? Because your doctor, a real doctor, doesn't seem to agree with you. But now that you're here, you can stay. I just don't want to see you touching anything." Gibbs warned her.

Disappointed, Ziva moved back and leaned against the red brick wall. Watching them investigating the crime scene without being able to help was quite unpleasant, but she didn't complain. The good side of it was that she wouldn't feel dismissed as she would have all the details of the case on live.

Gibbs opened his notebook and took the pen hanging on his shirt pocket. "What have we got Ducky?" He looked down at the corpse lying on the phone box floor.

"The only visible wound is that gunshot in his abdomen." Ducky placed one hand under the dead body and with Palmer's help, rolled it over. "The size of orifice in his back indicates that it's the entry wound."

"It seems he wasn't killed here, am I wrong?" Tony asked.

"No, the low amount of blood near the body indeed leads to suppose that we're not at the initial crime scene." Ducky confirmed Tony's intuition. "As for the time of death, the temperature places it yesterday between 11 and 12 pm." While giving his explanations he removed the thermometer that was until now planted in the victim's liver.

"An ID?" Gibbs asked talking to nobody in particular.

Palmer stepped aside and picked up a paper bag from the ground. "Here are all his personal effects." He handed the bag to Tony.

Tony took a wallet out of it and opened it. "Petty Officer Second Class William Walker, 31, based on Norfolk." He stated before putting the wallet back in the bag.

In the meantime, Ducky and Palmer had bagged the victim and were now about to draw him up on the stretcher. A few seconds later they put it in the morgue truck.

The body now out of their way, they could start inspecting the scene. While Tony was taking some pictures, McGee stepped in the phone box. "The handset receiver is unhooked and covered with blood. There's also blood on the keypad, on the numbers 1…and 9. He certainly tried to call for help."

Gibbs wrote the information down and turned to Tony. "We'll have to check that."

"Noted." Tony replied between two shots.

Ziva, who had remained inactive on the wall like Gibbs had asked her, moved closed to the group. "There're bloody footsteps going in this direction." She said pointing at the end the blind alley. Gibbs started to stare at her with an unhappy look. "What? I didn't touch anything." She justified raising her hands up.

"A phone box in a blind alley." Tony pointed out and laughed. "Am I the only one to find it weird?" But no one paid attention to him.

"The traces lead to that Ford over there. It might be Petty Officer's car. Is there something else among his effects?" Gibbs asked Tony.

Tony put the camera down on the ground and widely opened the bag again. He dipped his hand in it and got it out holding a bunch of keys. "Something like that?" He shook them to make them jingle.

"Go check if it's his car as you seem to have what's needed." Gibbs said with a smirk.

Tony looked up at the distance that separated him from car. He totally could have walked that short distance but messing with McGee sounded more fun. "McGee!" He called him out and tossed him the keys. "Go check if it's his car as you seem to have what's needed." He then showed a satisfied smile.

McGee turned towards Gibbs looking for some support, but Gibbs didn't help him, on the contrary. "Go." He emphasized his words with a hand gestures.

McGee obeyed and walked away mumbling into his sleeve.

Gibbs then looked at Tony. He had backed him with sending McGee to the car, but he also had disapproved his behavior and his look was explicit.

Tony saw it and felt uncomfortable. "I should better call the emergencies now." He said already dialling the number on his cell phone.

"Yes, you should better do that." Gibbs approved this time and moved to Ziva. "Bored Ziva?"

"Nope,…yes. I have to admit that I didn't picture that my first day would be that calm and…" Piercing screams covered her last words.

At the exact same time the three of them turned around and looked in the direction of the screams. McGee was walking towards them holding in his arms a struggling child.

"It was indeed his car and that's what I found in it." McGee had to yell louder than the child to make himself understandable. "She was lying on the backseat."

He was firmly holding her against him and had a hard time controlling her as she was screaming and hitting him with hands and feet. Suddenly the little girl's left foot violently hit McGee right between his legs. His breathe was cut short and he started to wince in pain. Slowly he let the kid slide along his body until she reached the ground and let her go.

"Ouch!" Tony exclaimed wincing too at the obvious pain McGee was feeling right now. They all watched him walk to the wall and lean against it.

Now free, the little girl had stopped screaming. She was still breathless from all the efforts she had made to make McGee let her go. She was standing exactly where he had dropped her. She couldn't see much through her hair hanging over her face but she noticed how dark the alley was, how loud the sounds coming from the street were and how unfamiliar the faces who were watching her were. Everything was so scary to her that she couldn't move. She didn't know what to do.

Gibbs, very slowly, moved closer the child. "Hey!" He said in a very, very soft voice. "Everything's gonna be alright, we're from the police, we're here to help you." His words didn't seem to have calmed her.

She moved a back until McGee stopped her by putting his arm on her small shoulder. She got scared and started running towards the only thing that seemed reassuring at that moment; Ziva. Ziva stayed still and watched the girl as she wrapped her little arms around her leg and squeezed it as hard as she could. Ziva wasn't comfortable with children but the girl seemed so lost and scared that she had to do something. She placed her hands on the girl's shoulders to make her release her leg and then kneeled so she could face her. Now that she had a better look at the child she realized that it wasn't a girl, it was a little boy. It was probably his long black hair that got McGee confused. He was younger than she had thought first; he couldn't be older than two years. It was a baby. Ziva's heart suddenly felt heavy seeing in what shape he was. His hair was dirty, oily and sticky. His was wearing a completely torn-down red sleeper covered with stains and way too tiny for him. The sleeves came up to his elbows and someone had cut the feet so he could pass his legs through. With her hand she removed a lock from his face. His whole face was gray from the dirt except for two lines on his cheeks that where cleaned by his tears.

What kind of people can do that to a child? She thought. "It's ok now, you're with the police, you're safe." Ziva said as she took one end of her shirt and gently wiped the little boy's tears. "What's your name?...Can you tell me your name?" She asked. The boy didn't respond, he just kept staring at her.

"We should get her examined by the paramedics." Gibbs said.

"Him." Ziva corrected. "We should get HIM examined by the paramedics." She added standing up.

"Oh." Gibbs exclaimed surprised. "Tony, bring him to the ambulance."

Tony walked towards Ziva and the boy and offered his hand to the kid's who instantly started whimpering and hid himself behind Ziva's legs.

"I guess you just got yourself something to do after all." Gibbs said to Ziva.

"Oh, ok, I'll bring him." She answered surprised that Gibbs changed his mind. She took the boy's left hand in hers and they both walked towards the ambulance.

"Let's see if we can find something else in that car." Gibbs said.

Tony followed him and passed McGee who was still trying to get his breath back. "I think McNuts needs more time boss."

"No, I'm fine." He lied and followed them with a funny gait.

They hadn't reached the car yet that Ziva joined them running. "They want to bring the kid to the hospital for a complete exam."

"What are you waiting for then?" Gibbs asked her as she was standing with her hands resting on her waist.

Ziva gave him a questioning look, obviously she didn't get him.

"Go…Go with him and gather everything you can about that kid."

She didn't wait for him to finish before running back to the ambulance before it leaves.

TBC…

Reviews are very welcome. I really need to know if I should continue this or not.

Thanks.