Chapter 7
AN: Thank you so much for the support. PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW.
HUGE THANK YOU TO: RMK1983 who is my beta.
Within a couple of weeks, Tony, Ziva and Tali moved into their new house and after a rough patch Tali finally started to sleep in her own room. Their big move was not the only major change in the lives of the NCIS family. Ziva's pregnancy was progressing and she began to show even more, but in typical Ziva fashion, she hasn't let that affect anything, at least when she has had a chance in the matter. Secondly, Ducky officially resigned as NCIS Chief Medical Examiner and is now NCIS's historian, a position created just for him.
About mid-day Ziva is alone in the office, far from happy at being stuck at the desk while the rest of the team is in the field. However, the case involves hazardous chemicals and thus not safe for pregnant women to be around, so she completely understands being sidelined.
As she works Ziva sees Jack up on the catwalk, pacing back and forth. Since Ziva knows Jack so well she knows that Jack is reminding herself that she is not a prisoner, she is reminding herself that she is free, which means that there is something truly bothering her friend.
Ziva, abandoning her busy work, heads upstairs to check on her friend. Once upstairs, Ziva purposely stands so as not blocking the way downstairs or Jack's way at all as she doesn't want to make Jack feel like she is trapped.
"Jack?" Ziva asks, watching her friend carefully.
"Ziva." Jack responds, continuing to pace back and forth.
"I will go back downstairs if that is what you want, but I am also here if you would like to talk." Ziva says, as she wracks her brain trying to figure out what is going on, and to her relief Jack stops pacing and looks straight at her.
"Not here." Jack requests.
"Okay, where?" Ziva asks, and Jack just gives her a look to follow and the two of them head off of the catwalk.
A few moments after they left the catwalk Jack and Ziva arrive at Jack's office. Jack walks in first and Ziva closes the door behind them, before purposely moving so that she is not blocking the door.
"Thank you." Jack says, recognizing what Ziva did. Ziva just nods as she sits down on the chair, clearly telling Jack that whenever Jack wants to talk she will listen, "There's a lot about my past I don't talk about." Jack admits.
"I have noticed." Ziva admits, "And I understand."
"I know you do." Jack admits, as she knows that Ziva can understand her in a way very few others can, "But I don't know if you're gonna understand this."
"I will do my best." Ziva tells her friend, becoming more concerned, "Jack. What is going on?"
"I… I was pregnant once," Jack reveals. "It wasn't a good time in my life and finding out I was pregnant actually helped me to realise how bad things were."
"What happened?" Ziva asks.
"I was in a relationship, with…. with a Marine. Everyone thought he was great, I though he was great, except when there was no one around," Jack admits. "He…. didn't like it when I did better than him, didn't like it when I went I went out with my friends, and no one liked him when he drunk." Jack explains.
"He was abusive." Ziva realises, not needing Jack to give anymore of an explanation.
"I couldn't see it at first." Jack admits, as she turns away from her friend. It was clear to Ziva that Jack felt guilty about that, even though she has no reason to. "I made excuses for his behaviour, for what he did, but then I got pregnant, and it was like a vail lifted and I saw the truth, and I couldn't make excuses anymore."
"Jack?" Ziva asks, after almost a minute of silence. "You do not have to tell me the rest if you do not want to."
"I have to," Jack says. "I reported him. I had evidence and medical records, so he was arrested, and because of all the charges he was sent to Leavenworth for fifteen years." Jack explains, giving Ziva an idea about just how bad of a situation Jack went through. "I survived the court martial, felt like I lost respect from everyone in my unit, but I was in pieces. I knew that I couldn't be the mother my daughter deserved, not when I was in the state I was in." Jack reveals, her voice breaking slightly.
"You gave her up for adoption." Ziva realises.
"It was the best choice." Jack admits, "She was perfect. When I held her, I knew that the best thing I could do for her is give her the best life and that life wasn't with me." Jack quickly wipes her eyes. While she knows Ziva won't judge her, she doesn't think she can afford to break down now. "She has good parents, amazing parents. I keep track of her, she's college now, not that far from here." Jack reveals, as she turns to look at Ziva, "Ziva, she's missing."
"What do you need?" Ziva asks, standing up, there being no question that she will do whatever it is that Jack needs.
"I need to know what's going on, but I don't know if I can do it alone," Jack admits. "I need help, Ziva."
"You've got it," Ziva responds. "I'll drive."
"Thank you," Jack says, as she picks up her bag. "I don't want Leon to know everything that's going on, but we're gonna have to tell him we're going."
"Whatever you want," Ziva says and the two of them head out of Jack's office.
A few minutes later Jack and Ziva walk into Vance's office where he is sitting at his desk working.
"Jack? David?" Vance asks, as he looks between them, "What's going on?"
"There's something we've got to look into, something personal," Jack reveals. "We need a couple of hours, and some leeway."
Looking between Jack and Ziva, Vance is torn. Part of him feels like, especially as director, that he should know what is going on between his agents, people he considers friends. Another part of him knows that if there is something going on involving Jack and Ziva, that is causing them to look as serious as they currently do, then it may be better not to know the details.
"Two hours," Vance says, as he looks between his agents. "I'll give you two hours and then I want details." Vance says.
"Thank you, Director," Ziva says, and she and Jack head out of Vance's office.
As Jack and Ziva leave his office all of Vance's instincts are telling him to get more details, but another, louder part of him tells him that giving Jack and Ziva some latitude is best, he just has to make sure he is there when, and if, they need him.
Not long after they left Vance's office, Jack and Ziva are in Ziva's car driving towards Georgetown University where Jack's daughter attends college. For the entire time, they have been driving Ziva has noticed that Jack has been, unsurprisingly, quiet.
"I assume you want details," Jack finally says, speaking for the first time.
"Only if you want to give them," Ziva admits. "I will follow your lead."
"Her name is Faith Tolliver," Jack reveals. "She's a freshman at Georgetown. She's declared a double major in Psychology and Women's and Gender studies. I'm not sure what her area of concentration is." Jack explains, a noticeable level of pride in her voice. "She has the life I wanted her to have," Jack admits.
"How long has she been missing?" Ziva asks.
"From what I could tell from her social media, and her friends posts, about twelve hours," Jack explains. She had dug deeper than she should have and saw a couple of familiar names when she was doing so, but she needed to know what the facts were, "And you don't have to say what that means, I already know."
"I know you do," Ziva says. "But, I also know that being logical is difficult when something is personal, and everything we learn in this job can make dealing with this situation worse."
"I don't want to lose it," Jack admits. "Ziva, I need you to help me keep it together." She knows she is asking a lot, but she needs the stability. "I need to be able to think, to profile, to do what I do best; I can't do that if I lose it," Jack explains.
"I will do what I can," Ziva promises her friend, looking at her.
"Thank you," Jack says sincerely.
Jack and Ziva arrive at Georgetown University, finding Metro PD already outside Faith's dormroom.
"This is a crime scene, I am going to have to task you ladies to move on," the detective says. As he speaks, Ziva notices Jack looking around, taking notice of everything except for the fact that the detective spoke.
"I'm NCIS Special Agent Ziva David, this is Special Agent Jack Sloane." Ziva says, showing her badge.
"Why do NCIS care about a missing college girl?" The Detective asks.
"We think this could be connected to a current NCIS Case, Detective..?" Ziva asks, as she realises that Jack isn't going to.
"Hamilton." Detective Hamilton answers, "What NCIS case?"
"We are not able to talk about it at the moment," Ziva lies. "What do you know about Faith Tolliver?"
"The last time she was seen was with friends last night. Her roommate hasn't seen her today." Detective Hamilton explains, "There was a sign of a struggle in the dorm room," Detective Hamilton says, and those words seem to get through to Jack.
"Any sign that Faith has been injured?" Jack asks. Ziva is reasonably sure that she is the only one out of the three of them that can detect the worry in Jack's voice.
"There was a small amount of blood, it is being tested to see if it matches Miss Tolliver's," Detective Hamilton answers.
"Do you have any leads?" Ziva asks, watching Jack out of the corner of her eye.
"Students have noticed a man hanging around the dorms the last few days. We have security footage of him, but also don't know if it is connected," Detective Hamilton explains.
"May we see the footage?" Ziva asks.
"Of course." Detective Hamilton says, and he gestures to Ziva and Jack to follow him.
The three of them walk into the dorm room belonging to Faith where there is another detective.
"Detective Granger, can you show these NCIS agents the security footage we have," Detective Hamilton requests.
"Sure Boss," Detective Granger says, and he walks over to Ziva and Jack with a tablet.
Once Detective Granger is close enough to Ziva and Jack, he opens a tablet and presses play on a video. As the video plays, Ziva watches Jack for signs of recognition, and she sees one.
"Does this mean something to you two? Is it connected to your case?" Detective Hamilton asks, looking between Jack and Ziva.
"Give us a moment," Ziva requests.
"Of course, we'll be outside." Detective Hamilton says. He and Detective Granger leave the room, closing the door behind them.
"Jack?" Ziva asks her friend, "You told me to make sure you do not lose it, so do not lose it." Ziva says, her last words being forceful. "You recognized the man." Ziva says.
"Yeah." Jack confirms.
"Is it…?" Ziva starts to ask.
"No." Jack answers, "It is not her…. him." Jack says, not being able to bring herself to say the word father.
"Then who is he?" Ziva asks.
"His brother," Jack reveals. "A current active duty Marine," Jack explains. "Which means…."
"It can be our case… if we want." Ziva realises, pulling out her phone. "Do you want me to make the call?" Ziva asks. From the look on Jack's face Ziva is pretty sure that her friend will not be able to make the call herself.
"I want her found, Ziva," Jack admits.
"Okay." Ziva responds. She opens her phone to make the call. Jack looks around the room belonging to the one person she thinks about every day, that this is the closest she has been to Faith since the day she was born, but she has never felt so very far away.