Three Little Words

Chapter 10

Jethro returned to the office much happier than he had left. Life was good he thought and getting better. Allison packed up her briefcase and she and Nathan headed for the car. She didn't notice the late model Toyota that passed by the house as she helped Nathan get settled in his car seat. She smiled at him in the rearview mirror.

"Mommy, daddy said I could get a puppy."

"A what?"

"A puppy. A black Lab like Brandon has."

"Daddy said you could have a black Lab puppy? When did daddy say this?"

Allison was trying to concentrate on her driving but her mind was definitely at least partially thinking of ways to slowly torture her husband.

"On the couch. The other day."

"Well, mommy will talk to daddy about it tonight."

"Okay. We going to see daddy?"

"Yes, but first we have to go to mommy's office then we're going to meet daddy for supper."

"And talk about a puppy."

"Sure. Why not?"

Allison had to smile. Jethro had certainly failed to mention anything about a puppy, black Lab or otherwise. She thought about it for a few minutes and decided it wasn't a bad idea. She loved dogs and thought it would be a good for Nathan to grow up with one. She had always had a dog when she was a kid. Why not indeed?"

At five o'clock Jethro headed to the elevator just as his cell phone buzzed at him. He hoped it wasn't a case; his mouth was watering for some good Italian food.

"Yeah, Gibbs."

"It's Ziva."

"Hello."

"Gibbs I have some news for you about the man Allison called me about. I tried to reach her but they said she had just left and I do not have her cell number. So, I called you."

Jethro paused for just an extra second.

"Are you there, Gibbs?"

"Yes, I'm here. Where are you?"

"Leaving my office. Why?"

"I'm meeting Allison and Nathan at Luigis for supper. Why don't you join us and you can tell us both what you have."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I want you to meet Nathan. Unless it would make you uncomfortable."

"No I would like to see you. And your family. But, listen to me first. You need to be very careful of this man, Jethro. I think he may be close to his breaking point. He called a friend at the Secret Service today and the man told me Mr. Cole sounded very depressed. He told his friend good bye and the man felt it was a forever sort of good bye."

"Okay, thanks. We'll talk about it together. Or maybe after dinner since Nathan will be there. But come join us anyway."

"Yes, I will be there as soon as the traffic allows."

Traffic wasn't too terrible this evening as it was mid-summer and lots of lucky people were out of town. Four people whose lives had intersected so profoundly a few short years ago were all headed to the same place on this beautiful summer evening. Their lives were about to intersect again in dramatic and life changing ways.

A few minutes before five thirty Allison found a parking space on the street just down the block from their favorite Italian place. It was a small, family owned restaurant that she and Jethro had been coming to ever since they started dating. The owners, Carlo and Anna, always had a special table for them and they doted on Nathan, bringing him his favorite breadsticks and a special macaroni and cheese Allison was sure they made especially for him. Allison got Nathan out of his car seat and reminded him to hold her hand while they were walking.

As Allison and Nathan started toward the restaurant Jethro was just a block away looking for a parking place. There was a small lot near the restaurant but it was usually full so he intended to take the first empty spot he could find. Parking here was a pain but as far as Jethro was concerned the food made up for the inconvenience. He saw Allison and Nathan on the sidewalk walking in his direction. He watched as Allison leaned down to say something to Nathan and then he saw a man approach them from behind, quickly step around them and stop right in front of Allison.

Jethro's gut began to churn and he desperately looked for a place to park the car. The man was obviously not someone Allison wanted to talk to and she tried to step around him while keeping Nathan close to her. Jethro could see the man was well dressed; obviously not a street person begging. He was gesturing and appeared to be talking loudly as passersbys were turning to look at him. Jethro felt like the world was moving in slow motion but all this observation had taken only a few seconds. When the man reached out and tried to grab Nathan, Jethro threw the car into an alley, punched on his emergency flashers and jumped out. He saw Allison push the man away and pick Nathan up. She tried to turn away and leave but the man grabbed her and pulled her back.

The rage that was about to explode in Jethro was frightening even to him or it would have been if he had time to recognize it. As it was he was running full speed at the man with every intention of doing him great bodily harm. There were a few other people in the vicinity but no one was paying much attention to Allison and the man accosting her. Jethro reached the man as he was trying to grab Nathan away from his mom. He registered that Nathan was crying, Allison was screaming at the man and the man seemed determined to get the child away from Allison.

Jethro slammed into the man and forced him away from his wife and child. The man stumbled and fell back but Jethro was focused on Allison and his son and paid no mind to the man for the moment.

"Are you okay?"

Jethro put his hand on Nathan's back and kissed him on the head.

"Daddy's here, Nate it's okay."

"I'm fine. Jethro, that's Mr. Cole."

Allison was shaking and fighting back tears. She was beyond relieved that Jethro had shown up when he did as Mr. Cole had seemed crazy focused on taking her child from her. Everything had happened so fast but she felt like it had been forever while Mr. Cole was threatening her.

Jethro was about to turn and arrest the man when he heard Ziva yelling at him. He recognized the tone of her voice and so he instinctively pushed Allison and Nathan away and reached for his Sig. The reaction was as natural as breathing for Jethro; something he had done hundreds of times with split second timing and the accuracy that comes only from thousands of practice rounds on the firing range. This time though the split second he took to protect his wife and child was just that much too long.

He turned with his weapon out but Mr. Cole was already squeezing the trigger on his own gun. Jethro fired as well but his shot was thrown off just slightly when Cole's round impacted his chest knocking him backward and down. Cole was hit but the shot had not gone true to its target. However he went down, dead before he hit the sidewalk because Ziva had fired on him as she shouted her warning to Gibbs. She didn't miss and her shot was true to it's mark, striking Cole in the head and killing him almost instantly. Jethro tried to get up but found he couldn't. He couldn't catch his breath and all he could think about was that Nathan shouldn't be seeing this.

Chaos reigned on the sidewalk but Jethro felt like he was in a dream. He tried again to get up but by this time Ziva was there pushing him down and pressing her jacket against his chest to try and contain the bleeding. The whole thing didn't take much more than three minutes from start to finish and now one man was dead, another very possibly dying and a wife, mother and child were terrorized.

"Jethro, look at me. Stay with me."

He heard her voice and tried to focus on her face. A face he hadn't seen in too long. One he still missed sometimes. Why was she yelling at him? Were those tears on her cheeks? Where was Ali? And Nathan?

Allison was in shock but had the presence to mind to keep Nathan turned away from his father lying on the sidewalk. By this time Carlo and some of his staff had come out to see what was happening. He saw Allison and Nathan and went to them immediately. When he saw Jethro on the ground he reached for Nathan and took him from his mother.

"He cannot see this. We will take him. We called 911 already. Do not worry about Nathan, we will care for him."

Allison was grateful for this kindness. She kissed Nathan and told him to go with Carlo and Anna and get some breadsticks.

"What's the matter with daddy?"

"He got hurt but a doctor is coming to fix him. You go on and mommy will see you soon. I love you Nathan."

"I wanna stay with you."

Nathan began crying and Allison was torn between her son and her husband. But right now Nathan had someone to care for him and she absolutely did not want him to see his father bleeding on the sidewalk.

"Nathan, you have to go now. I'll come get you soon. I promise."

Carlo hugged the boy to him and walked away keeping him from seeing his daddy.

Allison knelt beside Jethro opposite Ziva who was still applying pressure to the wound. The two women locked eyes for just a moment and each communicated their worst fears to the other.

"Jethro, just hold on. Help is coming. If you can hear me blink for me."

Jethro blinked at Allison. She grasped his hand and leaned down so he could hear her.

"You hang on babe. I hear the sirens, you're going to be okay. I love you."

"Nathan?"

Jethro could barely breathe and it was all he could do to mumble his son's name.

"He's with Carlo and Anna. He's okay. Jethro, look at me! Stay with me!"

"Love you Ali."

"I love you Jethro."

Jethro tore his eyes from Allison and looked at Ziva.

"Thanks, Zi."

"You are welcome. I think you will be okay. Looks like a small caliber. Just hang on Gibbs."

"Doesn't feel okay. You got him?"

"Yes. I am sorry I was late but there was someone in my line of sight."

"My fault. Should have put him down harder."

Jethro coughed and gasped for breath. Something was wrong; he couldn't breathe. The pain was becoming unbearable and he was afraid he was dying.

He turned to Allison and reached up to pull her closer.

"Love you. Take care of Nate. Tell him I love him."

The ambulance arrived and paramedics began working on Jethro in an instant. Ziva stepped back and looked down at the man she had loved for so long. She could not imagine Jethro dying. They had been in so many tough circumstances over the years; she couldn't fathom it all ending like this, on a sidewalk in the broad daylight with his wife and child there. Allison was standing, watching and holding herself together somehow. Ziva wanted to say something encouraging but she didn't feel all that encouraged herself. She knew though that Jethro loved Allison and his son very much and she understood the best thing she could do for him now was help them as best she could.

"Allison, go with the ambulance and I will get Nathan after I talk to the police. I will call Ducky to meet you at the hospital and I will call Tony to come help with Nathan since the child knows him. We will come to the hospital."

"Ziva, I…..thank you."

"He will be alright. Stay with him."

Allison was allowed to ride in the ambulance with Jethro. Before he closed the door the driver told Ziva they were going to Washington Trauma Center. Ziva thanked him and pulled out her phone to call Ducky and Tony. The police were approaching her but she asked for a moment to call someone for the victim and they agreed.

"Dr. Mallard here."

"Ducky, Ziva here. Gibbs has been shot and is on his way to Washington Trauma Center."

"What? Ziva slow down and tell me what's happened."

"I do not have much time Ducky. Jethro has been shot. You need to meet Allison at the hospital."

"How bad is it?"

"Not sure. He was awake and able to talk but having trouble breathing. Lost a good amount of blood. I need to go Ducky. I will call Tony."

Ziva hung up and called Tony immediately. When he finally answered she was on the verge of tears.

"Hey, Ziva what's going on?"

"Tony, Gibbs has been shot and I need your help."

"Whoa what the hell did you say?"

"Gibbs was shot by a man who was assaulting Allison. Can you come to Luigi's? I am here but Nathan is here with the owners who he knows but he doesn't know me and we need to take him to his mother at the hospital. I have to talk to the police first. Can you come down here, please?"

"Of course. I'm on my way. May take a while from where I am but I imagine you'll be a while anyway. Don't worry Ziva I'm on my way. Hey, is he going to make it?"

"My guess would be yes but you know things happen in the operating room. Please hurry."

Ziva spent the next hour going over what had happened with the Metro police and an investigator from her agency, the Secret Service. She gave a moment by moment account of what she had seen and told them about Allison's call to her the previous week and what she knew about Mr. Cole's call to her colleague earlier that day. Ziva gave the investigating officer her weapon and Jethro's weapon which was still on the ground where he'd fallen. There were several witnesses who had seen the whole incident and who stayed to talk to the officers and give their accounts of what had happened. Tony arrived while Ziva was finishing with the detectives who would be handling the case. They thanked her for her help and after getting her contact information again told her she was free to go.

Once that was done she went to the restaurant, washed up in the ladies room and went to find Nathan. He was sitting in the back with Tony and the woman Ziva presumed was the owner's wife. Nathan was eating breadsticks and having a glass of milk. Ziva watched the boy and was struck by how much he looked like his father. Except for the hair color which was his mother's, Nathan looked very much like Jethro. Ziva took a deep breath and approached the table.

"Hello Nathan. My name is Ziva and I am a friend of your daddy and Tony. Is it alright if I sit with you?"

"Where's my mom?"

Ziva looked over at Tony who shook his head indicating he hadn't told Nathan anything.

"She went to the hospital with your dad. Now that Tony is here and I'm finished talking to the police we are going there too. Would that be okay?"

"Can I see my daddy?"

"Yes, in a while. I think the doctors are going to be helping your daddy get better so we might have to wait a while. Are those pretty good breadsticks?"

"Yes. You want one?"

"Thank you. I need to talk to Tony for a minute and then we will go okay?"

"Okay."

Ziva and Tony stepped away from the table so Nathan would not overhear their conversation.

"Ziva are you okay?"

"Yes. I should have been quicker but there was someone in my sight line. If I had shot sooner Gibbs would not be in the hospital right now."

"Don't second guess yourself. You got the guy. I called Ducky but he didn't have any news. Boss is in surgery. I called to have his car picked up so a couple of agents are on the way. Tim and Abby will meet us at the hospital and Tim called the director so we're all set."

"Tony do you know Nathan very well?"

"I guess. Boss doesn't bring him around the office. I've been to the house a few times but not a lot. I mean he knows who I am and all that."

"Well, we should get to the hospital maybe Allison has someone she wants to come care for him. Or take him home perhaps."

The two of them collected Nathan and headed for the car. Tony realized they needed a car seat for the little boy.

"Let's check Allison's car and see if she happened to leave it unlocked."

Surprisingly she had left the car unlocked so Tony got the car seat out and put it in his car. Ziva helped Nathan get buckled in and gave him a small smile.

"Everything is going to be alright Nathan. We are going to go see your mom and I bet she will be really happy to see you."

"And my daddy?"

"Yes, I hope we see your daddy too."

"Ride with me Ziva and I'll bring you back to your car."

"Are you sure? I could meet you there."

"No ride with me. I don't mind bringing you back. Come on, we need to get going."

The ride to the hospital was quiet as neither Ziva or Tony knew what to say to Nathan and they didn't really want to talk about what had happened in front of him. The little boy looked like he was about to cry. When they arrived, Ziva got Nathan out of the car and he clung to her for dear life. He had seen what happened to his daddy and he was scared. He didn't know who this lady was but she was nice to him and he needed a friend. He looked at her with his father's eyes and raised his hands silently asking to be picked up.

"Hold me please."

Ziva crouched down to Nathan's level and wrapped him in her arms. He wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his face in her hair. She smelled good and her hair was soft. Nathan began to cry and Ziva rubbed his back and tried her best to comfort him. She began to suspect he might have seen more than they realized.

"Nathan are you scared of something?"

"The man was trying to take me and daddy got mad. The man had a gun and daddy fell down. It was loud and mommy was crying. I want my daddy."

"The man who was trying to take you is gone now Nathan. He cannot hurt you or mommy or daddy. Yes, daddy fell down but he's inside the hospital with the doctors and they are fixing him. Your mom is waiting for you. Tony and I will not let anything happen to you okay?"

"Okay."

Ziva started to put him down but Nathan held on to her like a lifeline so she carried him into the hospital. His face was still buried in her hair but he had stopped crying. His little body seemed to melt into hers and Ziva held him tightly trying to impart some sense of safety to him. When they stepped off the elevator on the surgical floor they saw Ducky pacing in the hallway.

"Hey, Ducky any news?"

Ducky turned at the sound of Tony's voice and saw Ziva holding Jethro's son. For a moment he flashed back to the time before Ziva left. To the time when he was sure she and Jethro were falling in love with each other. He pulled his thoughts back to the present and shook his head.

"Not yet. Allison is in the waiting room just down the hall."

Ziva moved in that direction. When she stopped in the doorway Allison looked up and saw her son wrapped around the woman her husband had given up to be with them. Ziva turned so Nathan could see his mom.

"Look who I found Nathan."

The little boy lifted his head and gave a weak smile.

"Mommy."

Allison stood and took Nathan in her arms. She hugged him and kissed his head over and over. Looking over his shoulder at Ziva she said, "Thank you for taking care of Nathan and bringing him to me. And for saving Jethro."

"You are welcome. I wish I had been quicker. Is there someone we could call for you? Someone to care for Nathan while you wait?"

"I've called Jethro's father already. There isn't anyone else."

"Do you have a nanny or regular sitter that could take Nathan home soon?"

"I want to stay with you mommy."

"I know baby. You can stay for a while. Can you sit down here for just a minute while I talk to Ducky and Tony and Ziva?"

"Don't go mommy."

"I'll be right there in the doorway. You can still see me, okay? I won't leave you I promise."

"Okay."

Nathan snuggled down in the chair keeping his eyes on the doorway.

Ducky and Tony approached and Ziva asked if they had any update. Allison kept her eyes on Nathan while she listened to Ducky.

"The nurse went to get an update for us and will be back in a moment. Allison is there someone to care for Nathan tonight? I know you will want to stay with Jethro."

"I can call Mrs. Green. She stays with Nathan at home during the day and I'm sure she would stay with him tonight. As soon as I know something I'll call her."

The nurse approached and they all turned their attention to her.

"Dr. Simons asked me to let you know they are almost finished. Mrs. Gibbs, your husband has had a difficult time during the surgery but they are confident he is stable at the moment."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"He has coded twice on the table but they were able to revive him. He lost a lot of blood but as I said, he's stable at the moment. Dr. Simons will be out as soon as he can to give you the details."

Ducky spoke up and thanked the nurse for talking to them. Ziva pulled Allison aside and told her what Nathan had said at the car.

"I believe Nathan saw more than you would have liked. He was very afraid when he talked about the bad man. He did see Jethro on the ground. He did not mention seeing blood so maybe he did not see that. I told him the bad man was gone and could not hurt any of you. That seemed to satisfy him at the time but he has asked several times about seeing his father."

Allison's mind was reeling with all that had happened in the last few hours. She had gone from anticipating a quiet dinner with the two people she loved most in the world to praying for one of them to still be alive in an hour. Now her precious child was terrified by a horrible man and by seeing his father shot before his eyes. Not exactly the evening she had planned when she left the house.

"I have no words to thank you Ziva. If you had not yelled at Jethro and then shot Mr. Cole I shudder to think what might have happened."

"There is no need to thank me. I only wish I had been there a few seconds sooner. Jethro has saved me, all of us really, many times so it is only right I could return the favor. I am praying for him now."

"Thank you for taking care of Nathan."

"It was my pleasure. He is a very sweet little boy."

"Will you come sit with us? Nathan seems to have formed an attachment to you and I want him to have all the security he can get tonight."

"Of course."

Ziva and Allison went back to sit down and Nathan crawled into his mother's lap. Soon he was fast asleep so Allison took the opportunity to speak with Ziva.

"Ziva, I am wondering why you were at the restaurant tonight. Not just our lucky day I imagine."

"No, I had tried to call you earlier but you had just left your office so I called Jethro. I had spoken to a co-worker about Mr. Cole after you called me and today he called me back. He said Cole had called him and seemed very depressed. He said Cole told him good bye in a way that seemed very final so he alerted me to his concerns. I called Jethro to warn him, and you, and he suggested I meet you for dinner to tell you what I knew about Cole."

"Well, I'm awfully glad he did and that you came."

Allison pulled her phone out of her purse and called Mrs. Green to see if she could stay with Nathan overnight. She didn't answer and Allison tried to think if she had said she was going out tonight. Then she saw she had a missed call and a message. It was Mrs. Green telling her she might be a bit late the next morning as she was staying the night with a friend who was ill. Allison sighed and put the phone down. Now she didn't know what to do with Nathan. Mrs. Green was really the only person except for Abby who had stayed with Nathan since he was a baby. She knew Abby would want to be at the hospital with the rest of Jethro's team.

Ziva saw the distressed look on Allison's face and wondered what the message had been.

"Is everything alright?"

"Our nanny is not available tonight. I don't have anyone who can stay with Nathan and I hate to have him here all night."

Allison who had been so strong the whole evening was on the verge of crying. She was tired and very afraid and didn't want her little boy to see all that. She knew she would not leave the hospital tonight but what to do with Nathan?

Ziva argued with herself but finally made a decision based on her love for Jethro and what she knew he would want her to do. She wanted to stay at the hospital and make sure he was alright but she knew that wasn't what he would ask her to do if he could. Allison would stay with him and so would Ducky and the rest of his team. That was how it should be and she was no longer a part of the team. She could do something just as important. Or maybe even more important.

"I could take Nathan home and stay with him until your nannay arrives tomorrow. If you think he would be alright with that. Or, I could take him to my place and he could stay with me. I would bring him back to you tomorrow or take him home whichever you thought was best."

"Are you sure Ziva? You barely know Nathan. I hate to put that on you."

"I am sure. You are right I barely know your son but I know you and his father and I want to help. I cannot help Jethro here and he has you here as it should be of course. If I can help by taking Nathan home I am glad to do it. I am not sure he will leave though without seeing his father."

"Thank you Ziva. I agree he will have a fit if he can't at least see his dad. Let me talk to Ducky and see what he says."

"I will get him for you."

Ziva walked over to Ducky in the hallway and told him Allison needed to talk to him. Then she joined Tony, Tim and Abby in milling around the hallway. They were all tired of sitting and yet did not want to leave in case the doctor showed up. Ducky went to sit with Allison.

"What can I do for you my dear?"

"Ducky, Nathan needs to be at home tonight but I'm afraid he will be very upset and worried if he doesn't get to at least see Jethro. What do you think?"

"I think that may depend on how Jethro looks when they get him into ICU. I'm afraid he will tethered to a number of machines and tubes and the ICU itself is a pretty scary place. It may do him more harm than good. You know him best what do you think?"

Allison was fried by this time. Her nerves were shot and she was on the verge of tears again. She really wanted someone to take charge and tell her what to do but she knew that wasn't going to happen. As much as she loved Jethro she knew the people here with her loved him too. And they had all known him for much longer than she had. They were on good terms of course but she was still at least partly an outsider in this group. Ducky watched Allison try to process all that was happening and felt very badly for her. Of course he knew the history between her and Jethro and it had taken a while for him to warm to the idea of them together. Now however he knew his friend was happy and content with his life and of course adored his son. Ducky decided to step in and give Allison some advice.

"My dear I suggest you send Nathan home and not let him see Jethro until he is stable and not connected to as many devices as I expect him to be tonight. In my opinion seeing his father tonight would be a bad idea. If I thought Jethro was not going to survive I would advise differently but I believe you have time to let Nathan wait and see him in a better light so to speak. Of course it is your decision but that is my advice to you."

Allison was relieved to have Ducky tell her what he thought. She felt the same way but having Jethro's oldest and most trusted friend validate that opinion was very helpful.

"Thank you Ducky. I agree. Ziva has offered to take Nathan home with her and either bring him here or take him home in the morning. I am inclined to let her do that. What do you think?"

Ducky was surprised by this but only for a moment. Then he realized that Ziva was offering to care for the person most important to Jethro and by extension to support the woman he loved. How Jethro managed to have two so very different women in love with him was a mystery Ducky would never understand.

"I think Ziva would be a good person to care for Nathan. He seemed to be comfortable with her earlier and she is good with little ones. She will take good care of him you can be sure of that."

Allison looked out into the hallway at Ziva so at ease with the rest of the team. She knew why Ziva was no longer part of that team and she suddenly felt guilty about that.

"I know she loves Jethro or at least she did at one time. And I think maybe he loved her. This is certainly a strange situation, Ducky."

"A bit unusual but not in any bad way I don't think. Jethro is very happy with you Allison. He loves you very much and is happier than I have ever known him to be. Whatever was between him and Ziva is long over. She would never do anything to disrespect Jethro or you. Of that I am very sure."

"No, I know that. I don't worry about that at all, Ducky. Oh, I'm just so frazzled I don't know what I'm feeling or doing. Where is that doctor with some news?"

Ziva walked back over to the couch where Allison was sitting still holding the sleeping Nathan.

"I would like to stay and hear what the doctor has to say and then, if you want me to, I will take Nathan home. Tony will lend me his car with the car seat and we will trade later. By the way, we took the car seat out of your car and locked your car. Two agents came from NCIS and took Gibbs' car back to the Navy Yard."

"Thank you Ziva. Yes I would like you to take Nathan home with you if you're sure it's no trouble. Of course, don't go until we all hear how Jethro is doing. Hopefully that will be soon."

In about five minutes the surgeon finally arrived in the waiting area. He walked over to Allison and pulled a chair up to sit in front of her. He spoke quietly so as not to awaken the child in her arms.

"Mrs. Gibbs your husband is in recovery. He had a difficult time during the surgery but he is stable now and I don't expect any problems. The next few hours are critical of course but he's in good condition generally speaking so I expect he'll do fine. He lost a lot of blood before we got him on the table and the bullet caused a pretty significant amount of damage on its way through your husband's chest and out. As I said he is stable now and will be moved to the ICU once he's out of the recovery room. Should be in about thirty minutes or so. At that time someone will come get you so you can see him."

"Thank you doctor. So you think he's going to be okay?"

"Eventually, yes. The next couple of days we'll keep him pretty sedated so he can rest without pain. He won't be awake much but at this point he needs time to heal more than anything."

"Thank you again, doctor."

"Get some rest Mrs. Gibbs. Your husband is doing well."

After the doctor left everyone gave a collective sigh of relief. It seemed Gibbs would cheat death once again. He hadn't had a serious injury since he and Allison got together but Ducky and the team had been in similar waiting rooms several times before. This was maybe the worst so far and they were all very happy to know the Boss was going to be okay.

Ziva stood and took Nathan from his mother. The little boy barely stirred before laying his head on Ziva's shoulder and going right back to dreamland. Allison kissed Nathan on the cheek and ran her fingers through his hair.

"I'll walk down with you and get a breath of air."

"Good idea."

In the elevator Allison leaned on the wall and closed her eyes.

"He will be okay," Ziva told her quietly.

"I know. I've just never been through this before. I've always feared this happening but certainly not like tonight. Not because of my job."

"This is not your fault, Allison. Jethro was protecting you and Nathan from a crazy man. You could not have predicted this or prevented it for that matter."

"I know. Look Ziva I know this is something of an awkward situation and I truly do appreciate you taking care of Nathan. I know you and Jethro were very close and I …"

"Yes, we were close. I care about Jethro and for me that means I care about the people he loves. I am very glad that you and Jethro are happy together and that you have this precious child. I wanted to hate you but how could I when all you did was have the good sense to fall in love with Jethro? Do not worry about Nathan tonight. I will take good care of him and I will tell him his daddy is getting better and he can see him tomorrow."

They two women arrived at the parking lot and still Nathan was asleep. Allison realized she had nothing of Nathan's to give Ziva. She had left his bag of extra clothes and treats and toys in her car. Allison expertly put her sleeping son in the car seat and buckled him in.

"I don't have any of his things to give you."

"Tony grabbed his bag from your car so I think we will be fine. Go on back and see Jethro. Here is my card with all my numbers. Just call me tomorrow and let me know what to do with Nathan."

Allison gave Ziva a quick hug then headed back to wait for Jethro to wake up. She could not get over the irony of the woman she almost lost Jethro to driving away with her son.

TBC