Tony reached out to her, seemingly to pull her into an embrace, but thought better of it and just grabbed her shoulder instead. "I'll keep you safe. Don't worry, nothing's gonna get you."

The car ride down to Washington was silent and awkward. At one point, Gia nodded off with her head against the cool window, and Tony allowed his memories to take over his conscious. Once upon a time, he loved this girl as much as any brother could love his sister. But the family love he had for her wasn't enough to battle the hatred he felt towards his father and his life at home. He sighed as he drove… Things could've turned out much differently if I wasn't such an ass, he thought.

He looked over at her sleeping figure. Her torso was twisted away from him and her forehead was against the rain-splattered window. Her left arm was draped across her stomach with the seatbelt hooked in the seatbelt, pulling it down so it wouldn't aggravate her neck. How many times had he driven her around? How many times had she fallen asleep on him? How many times had he been her rock? Each of them, countless.

Tony continued to think as the rain began to fall heavier. Sure, he had always been there when she needed him, but unknowingly, she had helped him more than she could ever imagine. She had provided him the love that his parents were never able to give him. She always brought a smile to his face, no matter if she herself was smiling.

She must have changed a lot if she got into Columbia… he continued to think. He wondered if she still danced. She always was an amazing dancer, being very advanced at her young age. He chuckled to himself, remembering how mesmerized he was watching her dance at stage, thinking how ironic it was that the same, phenomenal dancer he saw on stage could hardly walk over flat surfaces without tripping over an invisible pebble.

His thoughts and memories continued to fill his mind while she slept on for the next few hours, until they pulled into the parking lot of NCIS. By this time, it was a little after midnight. He parked the car and turned it off, and gently turned to her and shook her shoulder.

"Gia, we're here. Welcome back to NCIS." He said. As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he hadn't said anything at all and mentally kicked himself.

The last time she had been at NCIS was about a week before her parents murders. Her mother Dalya had brought her into work one day just to visit. Tony didn't know much about it, but reminding her of her mother's former work place was probably not a good idea.

But Gia didn't say anything. She looked ahead at the building, sighed, and nodded. She opened the car door and stepped out before Tony could say anything else. He got out, locked his car, and the pair of them walked silently into NCIS headquarters.

~*~

"I don't understand why we're staying this late," Ziva complained quietly to herself.

"Once Tony gets back with the girl, we're all staying. I'm not letting this girl out of my sight until we catch the bastards that killed her parents and are now after her," Gibbs explained roughly.

From what they'd pieced together from the two murders, there was definitely suspected terrorism going on. Prior to his murder, Chief Petty Officer Conti had been part of a secret program that was enabling him and his higher ranking officials to catch suspected terrorists and traitors from joining the Navy. Whoever killed him and his wife were most likely trying to stop this from happening.

The murders of the Conti's and the murder of the college girl, however, were not similar at all. The Conti's had their throats slit, which caused a huge mess around the family's home. It also caused them a lot of suffering for the few hours they were left to die. The girl, however, was shot point-blank to the head. A quick and painless death, Ducky had called it. It appeared the girl had been sleeping and probably never even awoke as she was killed.

The only similarity between the two murders was the same, identical partial finger print left at both scenes. Not a full print, hair follicle, or any piece of evidence was left at either scene to prove who committed these hateful acts. Of course, there was the obvious connection too. The Conti's were killed because of their involvement in stopping terrorism. Now they, whoever they are, were after their daughter.

Gibbs looked down at his watch. Quarter after midnight. DiNozzo and the girl should be coming back soon. He hated waiting. Gibbs was a man of action, not patience. He much rather would be doing something productive instead of just sitting at his desk, waiting. He knew Ziva felt the same way. McGee, on the other hand, was very content at sitting at his computer, pulling up random files and learning all that he could on the two murders, attempting to draw more connections together.

He looked at his two agents and laughed silently to himself. He thought of one of Kelly's favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz. For some reason, he was able to apply the three friends to his agents. Ziva was certainly the courage of the group. Her bravery came from her Mossad training of course, but Gibbs could hardly see her as any other person even without her Mossad training. Gibbs' gut told him that she was most likely a tomboy at a very young age and would be extremely brave and strong anyway.

McGee was certainly the brains of the group. His intellect for computers was unmatched by anyone Gibbs knew, and probably anyone he'd ever meet, even Abby. Of course, he would never admit that in front of her, but that didn't change the facts. McGee was extremely smart and could comprehend the most complex technology, while Gibbs could hardly handle his cell phone.

So that left Tony as the heart of the group. Many people thought that Tony was a self centered, arrogant bastard. And those people would be right… sometimes. Most of the time, though, Tony was compassionate. His heart was into everything he did, especially when people he cared for were in the picture. Gibbs knew that Tony would do anything for anyone on the team, and probably most people he knew and cared about.

Gibbs stole a glance at Ziva. She was staring gloomily at Tony's empty desk, waiting for him to return. Of course, Gibbs knew who really held Tony's heart. His heart was damaged, though, and he put it behind all these walls to hide it away from pain. Once in a while, he would allow it to peek out and receive some off-color comments from Ziva, but he would always tuck it away again.

He sighed again, thinking of Ziva and Tony. Of course he knew something was going on between the two, even though he attempted to shove Rule 12 down their throats. But he couldn't do anything about that if the two of them didn't even realize their feelings for each other. He had a gut feeling that Ziva knew, but was in denial. From where she grew up and was trained, loving someone was a sign of weakness. You were supposed to find someone you were compatible with, someone that would take care of you and who you could take care of. Most of the time, it seemed that Tony and Ziva were the most incompatible people on the face of the earth, but Gibbs knew better. Every argument, every sexual joke, every longing or hating glance, that was just their way of saying, "I love you."

The elevator dinged, and the three agents looked up to see Tony and the young woman walk in, side by side, but not touching. Gibbs stood right away, McGee following his lead. Ziva, however, remained seated, looking at the girl as if taking her all in, making mental comparisons and judgments of her. She felt Gibbs staring at her and stood up along with him.

Gibbs stepped out from behind his desk and walked up to his agent and the girl. She looked down at her feet as though she was attempting to just wish herself away from here. He felt a rush of sympathy towards her. Her life had been all but taken away from her when her parents were killed, and from what he read of her know, she had built up a new life of her own. Now it seemed that it would be taken away from her…

Tony cleared his throat. "Gibbs, this is Gianina Conti. Gia, this is Special Agent Gibbs."

Gia looked up at him. Her eyes contained so many emotions, it was hard to tell which was the most predominant one. Gibbs saw confusion, pain, and strength. She must have really built herself up over the past few years. Maybe she and DiNozzo weren't so different after all.

"Hi Gia," He said slowly, and tried to put a comforting smile on his face. "Just call me Gibbs. This is McGee and Ziva. We're here to take care of you. Nothing's going to happen when we're around."

Gia let out a little snort and looked back down at her shoes. She was smiling at least now. "That's exactly what Tony said."

Gibbs looked at Tony, who was also looking away. He had a feeling the car ride did not go that great. "Tony's a smart guy, and he's right. You're going to be fine."