Chapter 4

Tony and Ziva had been searching through backgrounds for several hours, apart from the occasional phone call they sat in silence, the hours had rolled by, it had gotten dark and NCIS headquarters was empty. Ziva glanced at Tony, he was staring at his screen and had a mournful look on his face. Ziva quietly stood up and walked towards Tony, curiosity written all over her face. She approached his desk and looked at his screen. There was a picture of Special Agent Caitlin Todd. She was at a crime scene oddly wearing a tailored skirt suit, her NCIS cap and some rather camo looking boots. Ziva was a little confused by this look, but she'd never met Caitlin so assumed it was just her style, she'd never seen anyone who dressed like Abby before she came to NCIS either.

"She was a good agent." Tony said quietly "and a damn good friend. This was her first case, a marine was murdered during a training jump, his parachute was sabotaged. She'd worn heals and Gibbs had made her put boots on." Ziva now understood the outfit, though questioned why any woman would wear heals like that when she's trying to be taken seriously in such a man-dominated field.

"I am sorry Tony."

"You know, she would have loved Katie." Tony paused for a second "she found the best in everyone, even me... you know I don't think I'll ever understand what she saw in Ari's eyes though. Even in a cold blooded killer she still managed to find some good. Why couldn't she just have killed him." It was as if Tony had forgotten who he was talking to. Ziva just bowed her head; she had often looked into Ari's eyes and seen kindness and compassion from her half brother. Ziva started to move back to her desk. "Ziva, I…"

"No Tony, don't say it, what ever you are thinking, I can not listen to it."

"He was a bastard Ziva, he went after Caitlin. He could have gone after any of us, but he went after Kate. He went after the woman on Gibb's team, just to hit Gibbs where it would hurt the most, knowing all about Shannon and Kelly. If it weren't for him Caitlin would still be here." Ari's knew about Leroy's family because of Ziva, she had found out information that not even his closest friends who had known him for over a decade knew. What if she hadn't been so comprehensive in her background search? Would Kate still be alive? She hated thinking about Ari like this. She now knew that he was a Hamas Terrorist but he had been there for her when her heart was first broken by a boy, when her father had scolded her and most importantly, when Tali was killed, he'd helped trained her to be an excellent Mossad officer and he'd saved her neck on countless missions.

"STOP, just… stop. He was my brother. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here. He saved my life many times. I am sorry for what he did, but I did what I had to do to fix it. I loved him Tony, but I…" Ziva stopped, she was on the brink of an emotional breakdown. The only thing she could do to get through this moment her pride in tact was to emersed herself in her work, she knew Gibbs was right, in some way she felt it would help her guilt about Kate's death if she made sure Katie got home safely. She had to take Gibb's advice and use her emotions to help power through and seek justice.

Tony didn't know what to think. He couldn't imagine his life without Ziva, but surely he wasn't grateful to Ari. That would just throw his world completely off it's axis. He'd always assumed that everyone hated Ari, that he was nothing more then a killer, he'd never considered him as a loving, supportive brother.

Tony ran through what Ziva had said, trying desperately to comprehend it. Before he could ask her a myriad of questions Ziva pulled him from his thoughts.

"That's interesting, Harry Spree served with Llyod Michaels when they were much younger. It looks like his wife left him a year ago and his bank statements don't look to wealthy."

"Healthy, his bank statements don't look to healthy."

"Wealthy makes more sense."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Has he committed any felonies?"

"He was caught holding narcotics 6 months ago, the police felt he may have been dealing, but they couldn't prove it."

"Arh-ha, that could be a lead, if it wasn't for the fact that I've found the real kidnapper. Michaels CO said he'd witnessed an argument between him and a guy he knew as Brad Newland, his …" but before Tony could finish that sentence Ziva's phone rang, she picked it out, it was obvious it was Gibbs, Tony jumped over to her desk and hit the speaker button.

Gibbs explained about the phone call, and Katie's much beloved stuffed pig she called Reeny, and in turn Tony told him about the conversation he'd had with the CO.

"Good work Tony, have you got an address for this guy?"

"On it boss." In the meantime Ziva had pulled Brad Newland up on the computer.

"Arh, Tony, that's all very well and good, but Newlands committed suicide a month ago."

"Could it be a relative who blames Michaels for his death and is trying to get revenge?" Tony suggested.

"They wouldn't be looking for monetary revenge, they'd want blood DiNozzo."

"Good point boss." Tony replied to Gibbs.

Ziva went on to explain about Spree, all the background she had on him.

"Boss, how did he know we were involved?" McGee puzzled. "We've kept a low profile but he still knew we were involved. Katie didn't sound scared either."

"If she knew the kidnapper it wouldn't" Tony stated the obvious.

"and none of the other mothers saw anything unusual at the park. She would have happily walked away with someone she knew as well as Spree." Ziva stated.

"Didn't he tell you he was leaving town? It would make it a clean get away." Ziva asked.

"It's possible she doesn't even realise she's been kidnapped."

"Ziva, keep finding out anything you can about Spree, Tony, McGee and I will meet you at Spree's. Do not do anything till we get there though."

Tony grabbed his stuff and left, Ziva remained at her computer trying to find anything else that would help the team get Katie back. This case had brought too many memories flooding back for Ziva. She had never really thought about how Tony felt about her brother, and how that reflected on her. She knew the entire team missed Kate, she couldn't help but feel she was, in some weird and distant way, partially responsible. This was becoming too hard. She loved Ari, how could she ever even think about becoming serious with someone who hated her brother so much. She had never really connected with her father, and after loosing Tali she treasured Ari with all her heart, it had almost killed Ziva when he died, how could Tony not understand how she was feeling? Could she ever be with anyone who felt that way about someone she loved so much?