Sorry for the long wait for the update. Thank you for all the reviews they made me feel a lot better. Still got a cold but hey life goes on! Keep up the reviews 3

Tony sat at his desk in the bull pen staring off into space, he just didn't understand it. Having found Ziva no longer at her apartment because she wasn't keeping up with the rent worried him. She had been dismissed from NCIS soon after her arrival back in the states and she wouldn't have had a chance to find a place.

'What if she's homeless' he thought 'and she doesn't even have a job!'

"HEY DINOZZO" McGee's shout cut through his panicked thoughts

"WHAT?" he yelled back

"I've been trying to get you attention for five minutes"

"What do you want?" Tony snapped. McGee's face tightened and Tony sighed

"I'm sorry I'm stressed, what is it?"

"I was going to ask if you'd spoken to Ziva recently"

"No" Tony replied shortly and then sighed again "I went to her apartment last night and it turns out she no longer lives there, something about rent"

"That's weird"

"You think McGee!" ignoring Tony's sarcasm McGee continued

"Where would she be, she doesn't know anyone other than us and" he paused as the possible reality of Ziva's situation crashed upon him "and she doesn't have a job" Tony nodded as Gibbs walked into the bull pen

"Gibbs we may have a problem" McGee announced, Gibbs just looked at him expectantly

"Today McGee"

"It's Ziva"

Ziva looked out of the diner window and watched as the world went passed. Absentmindedly her hand drifted down to her rounded stomach and stroked it softly and smiling when she felt the gentle kick greet her movements. It had become something of a comfort to her whenever the day got tough which was often. Her shifts in the diner were long despite the breaks and her feet got sore to match her aching back and she wasn't even too big yet.

She sighed as she gazed up at the NCIS building in the distance, her family were all there probably working on a case. With Gibbs drinking the world's supply of coffee, Abby being as eccentric as possible, Ducky talking to the body and Tony annoying McGee as though there was no tomorrow. Tony.

'He probably wouldn't even give me a second look now' Ziva thought miserably 'I am damaged goods, I come with too much baggage' her shoulders slumped. For some reason which she was unable to place she felt like she was being watched but she knew there was just John and Tyler the other waiter who would soon be starting his shift. Deciding her senses were just working in overdrive thanks to a stream of awful nightmares followed by sleepless nights she hauled herself up and began to clear away some tables trying not to cringe at the smell of the left overs. Her pregnancy seemed to have heightened her sense of smell which was not good for her new line of work.

'It probably would not have helped when dealing with dead bodies either' she thought trying to stay positive. She was so deep in thought she turned too fast and bumped into Tyler.

"Woah, Sorry" the dishes clattered to the floor and Ziva grabbed the table to steady herself. After regaining her balance she realised that Tyler had a hold of her upper body in what she gathered was an attempt to steady her but there was something off about his grip.

"You ok?" His voice was low and gravelly; Ziva looked and met his eyes which seemed completely black.

"Yes I am sorry I was not paying attention"

"Don't worry" he shrugged off with a smile which didn't quite reach his eyes and then bent down to start clearing up the mess. An awkward silence settled over the pair and Ziva stuggled to meet is eyes.

"Well I better be getting back" Ziva gestured awkwardly

"Yeah" Tyler nodded though continued looking at her as she backed off into the kitchen to collect her things. As Ziva walked she could feel his eyes on her and it was making her uneasy. Before Somalia and the baby she would not have had any worry about her capabilities to defend herself but after being so easily subjected to torture and also carrying another life inside her made her feel very on edge. Shaking it off as her pregnancy hormones she shook the feeling off and left the diner, if she had turned round she would have seen the malicious pair of eyes burning a hole in the back of her head from inside the diner.

Abby was freaking out. It wasn't her normal 'I've overdosed on caffeine in a stressful situation' freak out either it was bordering on full blown hysteria. She paced four steps in her lab back and forth continuously as she tried her hardest not to yell too loud.

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault" she repeated over and over praying that if she said it enough everything would get better and the past couple of months would just rewind and she could start again.

McGee walked out of the elevator with his normally calm face set in a deep frown. He was worried about Ziva because, if he was completely honest with himself, ever since she had been dismissed from NCIS she had been a nagging worry at the back of his mind that he hadn't really been able to address properly. He paused in the doorway to Abby's lab and watched her pace in distress. His heart felt heavier all of a sudden as he remembered how cold Abby had been towards Zva after the initial hug.

Abby was so stressed she didn't even see McGee watching her.

"Abby!" McGee called over her chanting. Her head snapped up and her gaze pierced McGee's eyes and her bottom lip started to wobble. In three quick strides he was encompassing her in a tight hug which she returned full force both drawing comfort from the other.

They stood that way for a while and it wasn't long before Tim noticed a slight damp appearing on his shoulder but it didn't bother him, she needed this as much as he did.

"Why didn't we think before we just let her go McGee?" Abby whispered "Why?" McGee was torn between two answers, if only for a second, the truth and what she wanted to hear.

"Because we forgot just what she'd been through because she had hurt Tony" and as much as they both wanted it to be for some other reason they knew it was the truth.

As the night drew in a shadowed figure stood at the back of a dark alley pulling out his phone. To the untrained eye he would have been practically invisible which suited his purpose well. He dialed a number with a practiced ease and raised the phone to his ear. A muffled 'speak' on the other end of the line greeted him and he almost whispered his reply.

"It's definetly her"

"You're sure" the muffled voice sounded excited

"I'm certain"

"You know what to do, she's had this coming to her for a long time"

"Too long" the man agreed and hung up. As he pocketed his phone a evil sneer graced his features. 'Yes' he thought 'She has had this coming to her for far to long'

I could give you some long winded, not entirely truthful explanation for the lack of updates but it would not be a good idea. How about you review and tell me how much you hate me and jus slide in a little bit of what you thought about the story? :)