A/N: Hey guys! Happy 2011! I hope everyone had a great New Years! I myself spent it with my cousins who I do not see enough and we went snowboarding and it was a blast! I meant to write this chapter like, weeks ago, and I've tried to sit down and write it a few times, but it just didn't come to me. But I sat down this time and it finally came out! Of course, my fingers are freezing and I can barely feel them because my room is like 50 degrees (not lying), but it was all worth it.
Please review for this, guys! Reviews inspire me to write more! If anybody has any suggestions about where they want it to go from here, feel free to leave any requests!
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything else recognizable in this fic. I do, however, own this story line, Rachel and Max Shane, and anything else that is not on the show!
This chapter is for my beta, gibby101, who pesters me about getting this fic update almost as much as I pester her about updating hers. You're the best! This fic would probably be a train wreck without you! No, that's a lie, it would be a train wreck without you! 3
The drive home did not feel like it took the forty five minutes it did. Tony insisted on driving now that we had the kids in the car with us and we did not need to be anywhere soon. We called Gibbs on the way and told him to expect us sooner or later. He didn't have much to say, as per usual, but he said he was glad the kids were okay.
When we got back to DC, we stopped at a Chinese restaurant to grab some food and brought it back with us to NCIS.
When we got upstairs, Abby, Gibbs, McGee, and Ducky were all waiting for us in the Bull Pen. As soon as we stepped off the elevator, Abby came running over and enveloped Rachel in a huge hug, which Rachel reciprocated.
"Rachel! Oh my God! I missed you so much! Gibbs told me that you and Max were back, but he didn't tell me why! You know what, I don't care. I'm just so happy you're back!" Abby exclaimed loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I missed you too, Abby!" Rachel said.
"And Max!" Abby said, releasing Rachel to look at the six year old. "Look at you! Have you grown since the last time I saw you?" she asked him, smiling and knelt to hug him too.
"Hi, Abby!" Max said.
Rachel gravitated back towards me while Abby was hugging Max and the rest of the team hung back for a minute, unsure of what to do. Gibbs had told Ducky what had happened and McGee knew because he had been there when we had gotten the call, but they had not wanted to upset Abby, so they hadn't told her yet. Rachel pulled me off to the side a bit.
"Do they know?" she asked me, looking saddened.
"Gibbs, McGee, and Ducky do. They did not want to upset Abby," I told her.
"Are you going to tell her? She's gonna find out eventually anyway. You might as well tell her," Rachel said, resigning herself to the fact that almost everybody knew what had happened. "I'm sorry, Ziva," she told me.
"Sorry for what, Tatelah?" I asked her, unsure of what she was apologizing for.
"For causing all this. I just wanted to go to the nurse and get some Advil or something, but my teacher wouldn't let it go, so I showed Ms. Lucas what happened, but I didn't think she'd call you, but there was nobody else. It's my fault that all of this happened. It's my fault that you had to come and get us," she said.
I sighed. Somehow, I knew this was coming. I saw so much of myself in here and I knew, if I was being honest with myself, that I would have said the same thing, had I been in her shoes. But I was different now.
I looked her in the eye. "Rachel, I want you to listen to me very carefully," I said and she nodded. "Tony and I would do anything for you. You are like my daughter, and we do anything we can for family. I just wish we knew about this sooner. I am so sorry you had to suffer for that long," I told her. I pulled her into a hug, my heart aching for her.
"Thank you," she said.
"Any time," I promised her.
When we stepped back into the group, everyone was all in a bunch, Max giving hugs to all the members of the team, Tony and Gibbs talking when they knew Abby wouldn't overhear, McGee smiling at Max while the boy told him and Abby a funny story. They were a big, dysfunctional family, and they were all mine.
Rachel and I joined them, falling effortlessly into place; me by Tony's side and Rachel near us. Tony's fingers intertwined with mine and I smiled at him.
"Hey, gorgeous. I'm starving. What about you?" Tony asked, leaning down so his head was level with mine.
"I am as well. Let us go sit down ," I said, starting to walk towards the desks.
Everybody gravitated over there with us, Rachel sitting down at my desk and Max on Tony's lap at Tony's desk across from mine. I stood near my desk and watched everything. Abby was going to stay until Gibbs kicked her out of the Bull Pen, but Ducky had to go back to the lab since Jimmy was not in today.
Abby went over and sat on McGee's desk in front of him and he leaned back in his chair as they talked. McGee was trapped and he knew it; he was just waiting for her to ask the unanswerable question, and it came all too soon.
"Timmy, I know that you know why the kids are back. Not that I'm objecting, I just like to know all the facts. Why are they back?" Abby asked Tim, giving him her usual stare as if trying to telepathically pick the answer out of his brain.
"Abby, I can't tell you that. It's up to Tony and Ziva," McGee told her. "I'm sorry."
"It's that bad?" Abby asked him, her heart sinking.
"Worse," McGee told her.
Abby turned her head towards us and looked scared, then she got off Tim's desk and came over to me on the other side of the Bull Pen.
"Hey, Ziva, can I ask you something? In private?" Abby asked me.
I looked at Rachel, both of us knowing what Abby would want to know. Rachel nodded, giving me permission to tell her. As Rachel had said, Abby would find out soon enough. "Sure, Abby," I told her.
The two of us walked around the corner, to the other side of the stairs where there was an empty space and then Abby turned to me. "What's up? Gibbs and Tony were acting suspicious and the kids are just magically back? Don't get me wrong, Ziva, I'm so insanely happy that they're back and I get to be Aunt Abby again, not that they ever called me that, but why now? Something's up and I want to know what it is!" she said.
"Had it been my choice, you would have known from the start," I started before hitting her with the heavy stuff. "Tony and I got a call from Rachel a few hours ago, right after I came up from the lab. She was calling from school because, long story short, she was being abused by her foster parents." I stopped and took a breath so that my voice would not squeak, no crack, when I said the next sentence, but it did anyway. "Her stomach is covered in bruises and I fear there may be more internal damage."
Abby gasped and moved just enough so that she could see Rachel, still sitting at my desk. Abby turned back to me with tears in her eyes. "Oh my God…" she said.
"Yes, it is quite horrifying. I could not believe it myself, that there are people in this world that could do that to a child, especially one like Rachel, who does not deserve any of it," I told her.
"What about Max?" Abby asked.
"Max is untouched, as far as I know. They told Rachel they would not harm Max if she kept her mouth shut. I am pretty certain they kept their word on that," I said.
Abby pulled me into a hug, something I desperately needed at that point. I felt like I was grieving for Rachel, even though I knew she was sitting just around the corner at my desk, safe and alive. But I felt like it was my fault for putting her though all of that. Tony and I had not done adequate background checks on the family they had been staying with. There must have been something that we missed.
"This isn't your fault, Ziva," Abby told me.
"How did you know that I am blaming myself right now?" I asked her.
"Because I'd be doing the same thing, even though I knew it was crazy. I know you must think, deep down, that this can't be your fault. It wasn't you and Tony who hit Rachel. It wasn't you and Tony who forced Rachel to live a lie and not tell anyone. It was you and Tony that saved her. Don't forget that. She needs you to be strong right now so that she doesn't have to be. You can do that much for her," Abby said.
I looked at her, knowing she was right, about everything that she'd said. "You are right, Abby. Thank you," I told her.
"I know you'd do the same for me, if the roles were reversed," Abby said. "Let's get back in there."
We only stayed at NCIS until dinnertime, and then Gibbs let us go. It had been a stressful day for everyone and he knew Tony and I were anxious to get the kids home and settled in again.
When we got there, we all collapsed in the living room, Rachel and I on the couch, Tony in his arm chair, and Max in Tony's lap. Max had gotten more attached to Tony then he had been before, I noticed. But it must be natural to him, having grown up with only his father.
Tony was the first one to break the peaceful silence in the room. "You have no idea how good it feels to have everyone back," he said to the room aloud.
"It's good to be back," Rachel said, examining the room, though it hadn't changed that much since she'd last seen it months ago. The only things that had changed were that Tony's DVD collection took up the wall across from the windows and that a few pictures had been added to the walls here and there around the room.
The four of us had dinner and watched movies and caught up for the rest of the night. It was so good to just have them back, it didn't matter what we did. We were a family. Not divided anymore.
A/N: So, what did everybody think? Was it worth reviewing? I hope so! Please review, guys! I know this wasn't my best chapter and it was really short, but I'm pressed for time these days! School keeps me busy and I have to babysit my little brother and sister after school every day after school because my mom's working again.
Please review and tell me what you think! Anybody have a favorite line? Give me something, guys! I promise the next chapter will be longer!
The Lovely Beta piping in stating her favorite line was the very last two "We were a family. Not divided anymore."
:D
