Before Gibbs even parked he saw Ziva's car parallel parked right by the coffee shop. He quickly parked in the spot behind her and got out of his car.

He made his way to her car and opened it with ease. He found it odd that it was unlocked, but didn't spend too much time dwelling on it.

After visually checking the car and seeing nothing wrong with it, he made his way into the coffee shop.

Walking past the line of people, he went up to the front. A few people gave him looks and said some rather rude words to him, but he ignored them and got out his badge.

"Sir, you're going to have to get in the back of-" The young man behind the counter stopped when he saw Gibbs' badge.

"NCIS. I have a question."

"Yes, Sir."

"That car," Gibbs began, pointing back to it, "Did you see anyone come out of it and come into here?"

He shook his head. "No, Sir, but it has been pretty busy. What did this person look like?"

"Israeli, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, accent, white shirt and olive green pants."

"No, I haven't seen anyone like that. Let me ask the others."

The boy went over to the two other workers and asked them. Gibbs watched as they shook their heads.

"I'm sorry. They haven't," He said as he came back over to Gibbs.

Gibbs nodded. "Care if I ask around?" He asked, even though he would have done it whether the answer was yes or no.

"Go ahead."

Gibbs turned around, looking out at the small crowd of people sitting and standing around. He lifted up his badge to show to everyone. "I'm Special Agent Gibbs from NCIS!" He announced, "I need to know if any of you have seen the woman who came out of that black car, right out front!"

Everyone inside looked back at the car, then either continued with their own conversations or looked back at Gibbs and shook their heads… except for one little, blond pigtailed girl sitting at a small table with her mom. She raised her little arm up, asking for permission to speak.

Gibbs noticed and walked over to her. "What's your name?" He asked, bending down beside her.

"Taylor."

"Did you see something, Taylor?"

She nodded. "The lady who came out of the car. She had dark hair and dark skin."

"That's her. Did you see where she went?"

Taylor nodded again. "She got out of the car and another woman came up to her. They talked, then," She pointed down the sidewalk, "they started walking that way."

"Did either of them look mad or scared?"

"No. The blond lady came up to the dark haired lady and she told her something. She pointed down the road and then they walked down there together."

"You have a very good memory, Taylor. How old are you?"

"Four. But I'll be five soon."

Gibbs turned to her mom. He knew he should have spoken to her first, but he didn't want to waste any time. "Do you mind coming down to NCIS? She might be able to provide information for our sketch artist to give us a description."

"What's going on?" She asked curiously. "Did the lady do something?"

"The blond one did. She most likely kidnapped two NCIS agents."

"Oh my God. Of course I'll take her."

"Do you know where the building is?"

She nodded, "Yes, I do. I'll take her right away."

"Okay. I'll call one of my agents… my agent… and have him waiting in the lobby for you."

"Yes, Sir."

The woman and her daughter left, then Gibbs called Tony to have him meet them in the lobby. After that, Gibbs made his way down the sidewalk, where Taylor had pointed out, looking for any clues.

He continued until he reached the alley. He knew that if someone wanted to take Ziva, or anyone really, in public, this would be the perfect spot to do so. There wasn't a lot of people, if there was a van or SUV parked on the side of the road then you couldn't see down there, and there was no other way out.

With that in mind, he walked down the alley, keeping his eyes to the ground. Ziva was a fighter, so if anyone was going to take her they'd have to work for it… or drug her. He looked for signs of blood… or signs of anything really.

He walked all the way down the alley and was making his way back up when he spotted something. A cap for the needle of a syringe.

He pulled a hanky out of his jacket pocket and picked it up. Finding nothing else, he headed back to NCIS.


Tony was in a separate area of NCIS, with Taylor and her mother, when Gibbs arrived. He walked into the bullpen, sat at his desk, opened his desk drawer, and pulled out an evidence bag- never even taking a glance at Tim.

Tim would glance at Gibbs, however, trying to be as discreet as possible. He watched as Gibbs put the cap into the bag, then got out a pen and started writing on the bag.

He didn't want to ask questions, but curiosity- and worry for his former co-worker- took over. "Did you find her?" Tim asked, trying to sound as though he didn't really care.

"Yeah, she's invisible now."

Tim sighed. "I was just asking."

Gibbs got up and began to leave. "She was taken," He said. "If Tony comes back, tell him I've gone down to Abby."

"She was taken." That's all Tim got to know. No details. Nothing about what the heck was going on. Just "She was taken." Tim wondered if Gibbs forgot that he and Ziva used to be friends… It seemed as though none of them were his friends anymore. Well, maybe Abby… but she was friendly to everyone, so he couldn't be sure.

Not letting himself continue with these thoughts, Tim got back to work.


Gibbs entered the lab, his mind filled with so many different thoughts that it was hard to keep them all straight. He was concerned for Ziva, concerned for Ben, mad at Tim, hoping the little girl could make a description, and hoping Abby wouldn't freak out too much when she found out Ziva was missing too.

"Hey, Gibbs!" Abby said as she turned around and spotted him. She picked up her stereo remote and turned the music down. "What do you got for me?"

Gibbs handed her the bagged cap. "I found this at an alley where-"

"An alley?" Abby interrupted, her eyebrows furrowed. "I thought Ben was taken at his house. Does this have to do with something else? You wouldn't work on another case when a part of the team is missing would you? I mean-"

She stopped as Gibbs put his hands on her shoulders.

"What is it, Gibbs? What's wrong?"

"Ziva's missing, Abby."

"What!" She exclaimed, her eyes widening. "No she's not! She was just here! I saw her earlier today."

"She went to go get coffee, and a woman came up to her and they walked off together. She hasn't been seen since."

"Oh my God," Abby said, her eyes looking down at the floor. "Why is this happening?" She looked back up at Gibbs, "What's going on, Gibbs?"

Gibbs shook his head. "I don't know, Abbs. But we need to find them, soon."

Abby nodded. "I'll start running tests on the cap."

Gibbs gave Abby a kiss on the forehead, then turned and began to leave.

"Gibbs!" She called out to him.

He turned back. "Yeah, Abbs?"

"Was Tim drunk earlier?"

Gibbs paused before answering. "He had been drinking."

Abby let out a deep, sad breath. "I knew it… I'm worried about him, too, Gibbs."

Gibbs nodded, then turned and headed for the elevator. "So am I."


This has been one of my favorite stories to write. I'm not sure why, but maybe it's because I have a clear direction on how I want this all to go.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. No action, but a lot happened. Let me know what you think!