"Mommy, I'm so scared."

These were Rubyjane's words to Abby as they sat together in what Abby deduced to be an office of some kind in an old warehouse. Abby had tried as hard as she could to figure out on the journey over where they were, but she wasn't able to, mostly because she'd been blindfolded and was focused on consoling Rubyjane, who was thoroughly freaked out.

They still had no idea who their kidnapper was, but resourceful person that Abby was, she immediately began looking for a way out the second they were locked in. That didn't last too long, though, because what remaining composure that Rubyjane had had, it was completely gone and she burst into tears, wailing for Abby.

It took the scientist over an hour to calm her daughter down, and by that time, she was feeling just as frightened, but she decided, that for the sake of her children, she had to be strong.

"I've got you, baby." Abby murmured to Rubyjane. They were seated together on some kind of old camp bed, and though it was old and smelly, it was better than sitting on the floor. "I've got you, I won't let anything bad happen to you. I promise."

"F-for why are we here?" asked Rubyjane as she yawned and stretched out.

Abby kissed her on the top of her head. "I wish I had an answer."

Rubyjane settled her head on Abby's shoulder and pressed close to her. "Where's Timmy? I want him."

"So do I, Rubyjane. So do I."

The pair stayed quiet, and settled in to wait for the unknown.


When Gibbs found out from McGee that Abby and Rubyjane had been taken, he was understandably upset, although his frustration manifested in an unusual way.

"Special Agent McGee!"

The man in question jumped and looked up at the sound of his name to see Jenny standing before him at his desk, hands on her hips and eyebrows raised.

"Yes, director?" he asked timidly.

"What are you doing on the floor?"

For McGee was kneeling on the carpet in front of his computer in the space where his chair usually sat.

"Gibbs told me that I don't deserve a chair."

"Oh, really? And how long have you been kneeling?"

"Going on an hour, m'am."

"Well, consider your punishment lifted." Jenny pointed to McGee's chair, sitting in front of the file cabinet. "You can use your chair again."

McGee thanked her and moved his chair back, sitting down gratefully and stretching out his legs.

Jenny walked into the middle of the bullpen and spoke to McGee, Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva at large.

"Does anybody have a lead on whoever took Abby and Ruby?"

"No, director." Tony told her. "We really are at a loss right now, and we've been looking since McGee alerted us."

"This guy also knew where all of the cameras were." Tony added, motioning towards the plasma, where abduction footage was playing on a loop. "He's wearing a lot of things that would throw off a facial recognition program, and we never see him look at the cameras."

"Anything like tattoos visible?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Jenny turned to Ziva. "Anything from the missing persons or Amber Alerts?"

"Nothing yet, m'am. I—"

Ziva was interrupted by McGee's computer suddenly started beeping frantically. She, Jenny, Tony, and Gibbs gathered around his desk.

"What is it, McGee?" asked Jenny.

"I finally got a hit off those fingerprints that Abby couldn't identify earlier!"

Gibbs braked, "Put it up on the plasma!"

McGee did as told and when they all migrated over to the plasma, Jenny immediately felt like she was going to throw up: they were looking at a personnel file of their prime suspect, and she recognized him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jenny saw Ziva stiffen in horror as she also recognized the man. But Jenny knew that for all the flashbacks that she, herself, was being flooded with, Ziva's were far more traumatic.

"What's his name?" Jenny asked through clenched teeth.

McGee reported, "His name is Tariq Al-Mubarak."

That's when Ziva let loose a sound that only Jenny had ever heard from her before—a terrified shriek.

"You told me he was dead!" she accused angrily. "You lied!"

"Ziva, I thought he was dead!" Jenny responded in protest. "Why would I lie?"

Ziva didn't answer, instead pushing her way through Gibbs, Tony, and McGee. There was an unmistakable look of burning rage in her eyes. Jenny hurried after her.

"Ziva, don't you dare! We need him alive!" Jenny called. "No! You stay out of the elevator and the stairway!"

Jenny lived up to her name and began shepherding her former partner towards the break room, talking to her, all the while. As they passed the elevator, it opened to reveal Ducky and Palmer. They'd come up to visit the rest of the team because things were at a complete standstill in Autopsy, and because they were desperate to see how things were moving along in the search for Abby and Ruby. However, the sight of Jenny actively corralling a terrifying angry Ziva away from the exits was enough to confuse them.

Palmer turned to Ducky. "Doctor, is Director Shepard shepherding the assassin?"

"That's a rather blunt and colorful way to put it, Mister Palmer, but it would appear so. Let us go see what's happening."

They walked over to the bullpen to see Gibbs, Tony, and McGee staring towards the main staircase, where Jenny and Ziva were arguing heatedly. Their voices were even carrying.

Palmer spoke in a tone of even further puzzlement. "Since when does the director know Hebrew?"

Upon realizing that Ziva was out for blood, she and the director had gone from using English to using Hebrew to communicate.

"Since she and Ziva go all the way back to Israel." Gibbs replied.

"And how far back is that?"

"I'm not sure, Palmer, but I do know that they are best friends and have been through a lot together. They'd probably die for each other, too."

Cautiously, Ducky said, "And what, praytell, set Ziva off?"

"Him." Gibbs pointed to the picture on the plasma. "This is Tariq Al-Mubarak, an Afghan national, and our new prime suspect. We don't know why just yet, but Ziva and the director know him somehow."

Just as those words were out of his mouth, everyone heard something from Ziva that they were all sure was a Hebrew swear followed by a hasty apology before Ziva turned and left for the break room. Jenny watched her go before beckoning to the other five to join her by the elevator.

"What is it?" Gibbs asked.

Jenny said nothing, but motioned this time for everyone to follow her, this time into the elevator. When they boarded and the doors closed behind them, Jenny flipped the 'stop lift' switch, stopping it and making the lights go down a few levels.

"First off, we are in the elevator because we are all going straight back to our work spaces after this. Going to my office would just take too long." Jenny said when she saw Palmer's raised hand. "Anything else, gentlemen, or are we good?"

There was a tone of general agreement, and Palmer even lowered his hand as they shuffled around as best they could to get comfortable. When all eyes were on Jenny, she began.

"Another lifetime ago, I was Special Agent Gibbs' partner, but to be more precise, I was his probie—that's how we met. Not long after we parted ways, I was assigned to an undercover mission overseas, and a bodyguard was required."

"Where did you go?" McGee asked.

"That's neither here nor there, but after several searches, I was directed to The Mossad where I met Ziva's father, who is the director, and in turn, he introduced me to a teenage Ziva and recommended her for me. She and I became fast friends by the end of that mission, and now, she and I are so close that she's like a mixture of a probie, daughter, little sister, and extremely dear friend. We would do anything for each other, and believe me, the strength of our friendship and loyalty has been put to the test many times over the years because of the nature of our adventures… but there is one time that stands out above all others."

Having heard the story already from Ziva, Tony said nothing, so he watched as Ducky made an inquiry.

"What would that one time be?"

Jenny sighed. "We had a second undercover assignment, but 9/11 happened a week after we were done, and because her father was so impressed with us, he reassigned us as partners to a special task force. It's the mission we had in Kabul that's been giving me pause while I remember it because we were abducted."

Queried Gibbs, "Was Tariq Al-Mubarak your abducter?"

"No, the people who took us weren't that high in the pecking order, but Al-Mubarak definitely ruled the roost. We just didn't know his name until today, and when we escaped, I thought he was dead and I told Ziva that he was because I believed it."

Palmer put his hands in a time-out position. "Did she accuse you of lying to her when you two were having that 'loud chat' in Hebrew?"

"Yes."

"What the hell happened that made Ziva freak out?" McGee blurted.

"Al-Mubarak realized she's an Israeli, and he… he… raped her while I was forced to watch. If I looked away, one of his people would beat me until I looked again."

Gibbs, McGee, Ducky, and Palmer were horrified by the story and said nothing, while Tony, on the other hand, was already thinking of going rogue so he could hunt Tariq Al-Mubarak down. He needed to pay for everything he'd done.

Next to Tony, McGee's heart was filling with fear for the safety of Abby, Rubyjane, and the baby.

McGee forced himself to speak. "How did you guys get out?"

"There was an explosion at the place we were being held because a local gang invaded, looking for trouble. Ziva and I escaped without detection because it was absolute pandemonium, and we eventually made it safely back to Israel. The real shocker didn't come until we were back home at her parents' farm house just outside Tel Aviv."

"What was it?"

"Ziva fell pregnant from he encounter with Tariq Al-Mubarak, and she had a very beautiful baby girl named Sarai. Unfortunately, she had a heart defect and passed away from complications just after her third birthday."

Something clunked into place in Ducky's brain. "But now that yours and Ziva's monster is back, she either wants revenge in some fashion, or else to kill him, but she's also worried for Abigail and Rubyjane."

"You got it." Jenny told him. "I'm about to let us off the lift now, and I'm going to go check on Ziva, but I want the rest of you to start looking into Tariq Al-Mubarak and people related to him."

"We'll find information information about him and what he's up to." said Gibbs, cottoning on. "We'll probably find something about Lieutenant Clarkson if we go down that avenue of investigation."

He turned to Jenny and spoke in a pointed tone.

"Anything else you feel like sharing, director?"

She knew he meant their relationship and the baby, but she just shook her head. "Not at the moment, no."

"Alright, then." Gibbs turned the elevator back on and the doors opened. "Let's go."

Everybody but Ducky and Palmer exited the lift when the doors opened (they stayed on to go back down to Autopsy) and piled out. Gibbs headed back to the bullpen, but Jenny pulled Tony and McGee aside, feeling like a kindergarten teacher as she spoke to them individually.

"Director, are you alright?" Tony asked her. "We're all concerned for Ziva, but nobody's asked about you even though you saw these things happen, too."

Realizing that Ziva had probably only just told him the story from her own perspective, Jenny was moved by Tony's thoughtfulness.

"I'm feeling a little mixed up and worried, but I'll be safe as long as I don't leave NCIS; thanks for asking, Special Agent DiNozzo."

"You're welcome."

Jenny smiled for a second before becoming serious. "Now I have to ask you—are you in love with Ziva, like I think you are?"

To his credit, Tony answered with zero hesitation. "Yes. Yes, I am."

Jenny gave him a real smile. "I'm sure you'll tell her in your own time, but please look after her and make sure that she doesn't do anything stupid… at least not alone. Am I understood?"

"Absolutely, m'am."

"Good man." she patted his arm. "Go back to your desk, please."

Tony bowed himself out of the conversation, leaving just Jenny and McGee. Unlike Tony, however, McGee was not as adept at maintaining his own composure.

Jenny realized this when she heard McGee talk, but it sounded like a long run-on sentence with no spaces.

"Slow down and try again." she encouraged.

Fighting a blush, McGee tried again. "I said that I'm seriously in love with Abby and I have been since the day I met her. I don't feel uncomfortable telling you because you didn't create The Rules."

"If we're laying all the cards on the table, I helped create a few of The Rules, but I'm not as rigid about them as Gibbs is. I am glad you can tell me what you're thinking about what's going on in your life outside of this job, though."

"You are?"

"I am, because I would like to be friends with you. Also, it's about time that you admitted—out loud—that you're in love with Abby." Jenny grinned her distinctive crooked grin at him. "I may not have arrived at NCIS when you did, but one of the first things I realized when I got here is that you are crazy about Abigail Aria Sciuto."

McGee laughed nervously. "Glad we got that out of the way."

Jenny went at the next part of the conversation like a freight train. "Are you scared that Tariq Al-Mubarak is going to hurt our friends?"

"Yes, and I don't know if I'd be able to handle it if something happened to her, or to Ruby, or to the baby."

"We are doing everything we can to find them before anything catastrophic arises."

"Okay…"

Jenny arched an eyebrow. "You want to be a family with them, huh?"

"Am I that transparent, director?"

"Only when it comes to Abby." In a motherly sort of way, Jenny reached up and straightened out McGee's collar where it had folded over. "Do you want my advice about something concerning women's feelings?"

Taken aback because that had to have been the weirdest question she'd ever asked him, McGee's response came out as a question.

"Sure…?"

"Abby and Ruby have both gone through some serious trauma in the last twenty-four hours alone. Before you seriously try wooing Abby, in which I believe you will excel, just focus on helping her and Ruby heal."

"That is very good advice, director. Thank you."

"You're welcome. And Tim?"

"Yes?"

"You are very good for Abby and Rubyjane—the waiting will be worth it."

Despite the darkness of the hour, McGee's heart lightened. "Thank you again—that means a lot."

"I'm glad." Jenny physically steered McGee around and pushed him back towards the bullpen. "Now go figure out how to bring back the missing part of our family while I go check on Ziva."

The two parted ways, and Jenny found Ziva in the break room at the same table where she'd told Tony about Sarai.

This time, Ziva was all cried out and was leaning back in a chair, staring into space, one hand plastered over her midriff. When she realized that Jenny was approaching and sitting with her, she offered her a weak smile.

"I apologize for my behavior, Jen." she said. "It was unbecoming of me to tear you apart, even it was in Hebrew, and you and I were the only ones who understood."

"I accept your apology, and I was as surprised as you were. I really thought that Tariq died in that raid."

"Truly?"

Jenny nodded and then motioned towards her friend's middle. "Ziva, do you see what you're doing?"

Upon realization, Ziva withdrew her hand, but then she made a face like she was about to cry. Jenny immediately moved to a vacant chair beside her old partner.

"Use your words, but don't forget to breathe."

Ziva did as told, grateful for the older woman's patience as she tried a second time. "Where do I begin? I am terrified that Tariq will hurt them, but I also want to kill him for everything we suffered because of him."

"I'm touched—I think—but you know as well as I do that killing Tariq Al-Mubarak would be completely counterproductive."

"So therein lies the rub, does it not? I do not hate often, in spite of the things I have done over the years, but I hate him for having his men hurt you and for taking my virginity, not even because he was a stranger."

"Was it because you weren't married, or because you weren't at the age of consent?"

"Both." Ziva admitted. "He made me feel filthy, and you know how long it took me to heal."

Jenny nodded. "Yes, I do."

Ziva sighed heavily. "At the same time, though, he gave me Sarai."

"He did, and I remember everything about that precious girl, especially the sound of her voice and her delightful giggles. I also remember how peaceful she was, even when she knew she was ill—Sarai would not want you to be angry like you are at the moment."

"And it is for Sarai and the love I had for her because she was my daughter that I will not hurt Tariq."

"That's very mature of you."

"Thanks…"

Her thoughts trailed off, and Jenny noticed.

"Get it off your chest."

"Earlier, I was thinking of how much I want to be a mother again. Spending time with Rubyjane and getting her dressed to come for a visit to NCIS reminded me of getting Sarai ready in the mornings. She was always remarkably cheerful, early riser that she was."

"Motherhood looked wonderful on you, Ziva, and it will again when the time is right."

Ziva gave Jenny an inquisitive look. "Something is up with you. You are gl—"

Jenny smirked, easily picturing Ziva's thought process. "Fiinish the word."

"Glowing. You are glowing!" Ziva lit up. "Jen, are you pregnant?"

"Yes!"

Every last feeling of sadness and hostility that Ziva had been feeling evaporated as she stood and pulled Jenny to her feet.

"Mazel tov, Jenny! Who—"

Ziva made to ask who the father was, but was interrupted.

"There you are, Ziva!"

Gibbs had appeared and was holding out her backpack.

Jenny quipped pointedly, "Speak of the handsome devil."

Ziva crossed the room and took her backpack from Gibbs. "Do we have a new case?"

"Not necessarily. DiNozzo will fill you in."

Ziva put her backpack on and turned to Gibbs and Jenny, smiling. "I wish you and your growing family lots of joy and happiness."

Ziva's friends thanked her, but when she left, Gibbs turned to Jenny. "You told her?"

"Leroy, she figured it out." Jenny took a step back and framed her middle to show off how noticeable the shape was. "Abby and Ziva can keep secrets, but whoever is in here won't be able to for much longer. We have to start telling people."

"Alright." Gibbs agreed, mostly because Jenny had used his actual name. "After this case."

Jenny breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Now go catch up with the rest of out kids before McGee has to stop Ziva from killing Tony over a stupid movie reference or a stupider joke."

Taking leave of his lover, Gibbs headed out into the squad room to see Ziva, Tony, and McGee gathered by the elevator.

"You are kidding!" he heard Ziva say to the others.

"What are we kidding about?" Gibbs asked when he joined them.

His underlings jumped, and Ziva sputtered, "N-nothing!"

"That's what I thought." Gibbs pressed the down elevator button and the door slid open immediately. "Did either of your buddies tell you who our latest victim is yet?"

Ziva nodded as they boarded the lift and the doors closed.

Ziva nodded as they boarded the lift and the doors closed again. "It is Lieutenant Dancy. The plot is thickening, as they say."

"It absolutely is." Gibbs pressed a button on the button panel and the lift started making its journey down to the first floor. "It absolutely is."