Rifiuto: Non Mirena

A/N: A little update on Zani: I'm sure most of you know what happened and the struggle we've been having with her. But she's doing better. There was a brief period, a few weeks ago, where she stopped eating for no apparent reason (that we could figure out) and so consequently, she dropped fifty pounds. Mind you, my sister-in-law's only 115 lbs anyway, so for her, that's a drastic change. But she's started eating again, and though she's still not speaking vocally, she is starting to talk to us again through ASL; holding short conversations and the like, which is something we couldn't even get her to do six months ago. They're both minor steps towards improvement, but it is improvement. Continue to keep her and Ev in your thoughts, and thank you for all your support.- Licia

Thanks to JohnnyP86, Reader, JPElles, mark, mark gibbs, Saissa and Buddy5647 for reviewing 9.

"She's my sister, Leon. She's my little sister."

The former director chuckled, watching as the younger man took a sip of his beer. The day had ended with a major blowup between Sarah and Gibbs- the woman couldn't keep her mouth shut- that had resulted in her being sent to Tim's office, more so Gibbs wouldn't kill her. Instead, Sarah got the scolding of her life from her brother, which resulted in its own screaming match between the siblings that had reached new heights when Sarah- Irish temper flaring- had stormed out of his office, accusing him of babying her. Tim of course, had followed, stopping her on the catwalk and whispering softly to her one simple phrase,

"Is minic a bhris béal duine a shrón."

Many a time a man's mouth broke his nose.

Sarah had paled at the familiar saying, for their mother had often spoken it to them as children. Though American-born, their Mother was full Northern Irish- hailing from Belfast, a survivor of the Troubles in the seventies and eighties, who'd fled to America for university, and ended up staying, marrying John McGee three weeks after her twenty-first birthday. John, at twenty-three, had been a rising star in the Navy at the time, and the two had settled in Boston; despite what McGee often said, he'd actually been born in Boston- it was Sarah, born in Alameda, four years after Tim. Somehow, someway, their birthplaces had gotten switched- saying that Sarah was born in Boston and Tim in Alameda; over time, both siblings had accepted the switch, and even made jokes with each other in regards to their birthplaces.

"She'll be a good agent, Tim. You just need to give her a chance... well you do. Don't look at me like that."

"I think it's wonderful that Sarah has joined NCIS. It's always good to have family close by; besides, another McGee in the agency will do NCIS good." Tim rolled his eyes at Jackie- it wasn't uncommon for the two couples to get together for dinner; in fact, it was almost... required, it seemed, since Tim had taken over Leon's position. It had started out as an occasional dinner between the couples- celebrating Ziva's citizenship, or Vance's retirement; Kayla's birthday or Jared's winning the science fair- because both Ziva and Tim had become close with the Vance children over the years. And then, it'd progressed to weekends and then weekly.

Ziva joined the trio as they sat on the porch, slipping into Tim's lap and sliding an arm around his neck. She kissed his quickly as Leon chuckled and Jackie grinned at the young couple. When she pulled away, Tim held the bottle out to her; she glanced at the other couple, before slowly taking the offered drink with a shaky smile. "One sip could not hurt, right?"

"Why would it hurt, Zi?"

She shook her head. "No reason."

"I think I know what's going on." The Israeli's head snapped up as Jackie joined her at the sink.

"What are you talking about, Jackie?" The older woman raised an eyebrow, leaning against the counter and folding her arms.

"I wore the same apprehension, Ziva. 'One little sip' used to worry me too. Especially in the first few weeks."

The agent sighed, leaning against the counter, head down and eyes closed. "We have been so careful. And then... this morning... he told me, 'accidents can happen' and... I have spent all day worrying about it."

"How long have you been feeling this way?"

Ziva thought back, doing quick calculations in her head. "... four weeks, maybe five. But, there is no way-"

"Do you think there's no way?" Jackie watched a myriad of emotions flash across the normally stoic agent's face, and she realized that she'd struck a chord. "Ziva," She stepped closer, meeting the woman's gaze. "have you taken a test to be sure?" A quick shake of the head told her the truth. "Do you have a test?" Another shake. "Okay. Go get your coat."

"What?"

"You heard me. Go get your coat. We'll make a quick run to the drug store. I'll go tell the boys that we have a quick errand to run." Then, without a word, she left the younger woman, heading back out to let Leon and Tim know.

To say she felt uncomfortable, shopping with her former boss's wife for a test would be the understatement of the year.

With so many to choose from, she had no idea where to start-

But Jackie did. "It's always good to have a couple instead of one, just in case of false positives."

She nodded, her gaze moving over the colorful boxes with the images of tests on them, the bold lettering reaching out to her- First Response, e.p.t, To Life- all making her head spin. What if she was? How would Tim react? How would she react?

"Ziva." Her head snapped up, glancing briefly at the boxes that had been placed in the basket over Jackie's arm. "Come on, let's pay for these and get home so we can put your mind at rest. Don't think I can't see the wheels turning in your head."