A/N: Whoo! There's a secret little plot point in this chapter! Along with a twist...

Love from Ponytails!!

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Tony awoke and rolled his neck stiffly, but he didn't mind that he'd fallen asleep slouched on the couch, with Ziva curled up next to him. She looked so peaceful, snuggled under his arm, her expression more untroubled than he'd seen her in a long time, he thought with a quiet smile. If she was to awake now she would probably make some comment about being too close to his armpit, or about needing deodorant, but for this moment, he closed his eyes again, and was content to just sit there and doze.

A small finger suddenly poked at the back of his head. "You awake?"

Tony turned his head slightly, startled. "Maybe." he grunted.

"Well judging by the time, asleep and late, or awake and barely on time for work are the options...I wonder which is the better choice?" Kazia pondered aloud, still prodding Tony's head.

"Fine." he sighed, opening his eyes and trying to rise from the couch without disturbing Ziva.

She gave a small moan, then settled in with the pillow he put under her head.

"Let her sleep in." Tony advised Kazia. "It's just you and me who have obligations today."

"What the hell am I supposed to use for my school project?" Kazia whined, as Tony tossed a granola bar at her, and she dropped it into her backpack. "We watched movies all weekend!"

Tony groaned. "You had homework to do? Great, Ziva's gonna kill me! And watch the language there short-stuff." he added, handing her a can of soda. "What's the project? Maybe we can come up with a quick solution."

The girl rolled her eyes. "I'm supposed to bring in something sports related–"

Tony's face lit up. "Gotcha covered, kid." He sprinted into the other room and returned shortly with a large trophy in hand. He presented it to Kazia proudly. "My old football trophy. Definitely considered sports-related."

She eyed the trophy as she took it. "Might work." she tapped the base thoughtfully. "Can I call it an antique?"

"Uhh, yeah, if you swear to keep quiet about me letting you watch The Mummy Returns instead of studying!" Tony sighed, exhausted.

"Deal!"

Mondays. They had to be one of the most evil inventions of the universe. Timothy McGee watched as Tony fumbled with a stack of papers; he was obviously tired out from looking after Kazia, and overworked in Ziva's absence, which was also taking a toll of him. Anyone could see that. Once in a while, Tony would glance over at her desk, whether because he had forgotten she was gone, or to remind himself that she would be back at work soon. Either way, her seat was still empty.

Ziva had been lucky though, McGee found that out from the doctors. The bullet that had gone through her, and had missed striking any of her organs. She was also smart enough that she had kept enough pressure on the wound to staunch the bleeding and prevent any major blood-loss.

Tim's phone rang, and he snatched it from the desk. "McGee." he answered.

"Is Gibbs around? I tried his desk phone, but it just went to voice-mail. Is he on coffee break? No– his cell went to voice-mail too. I tried to teach him how to set it on vibrate, but you know how Gibbs is with tech–"

"No Abbs, he's in talking to the Director." his eyes flickered briefly up the staircase.

"Damn it."

McGee sighed. "Do you want me to tell him for you when he comes back, Abby?"

"No, no! Just tell him to get down here as soon as he can, cause this could be really important." she told him urgently.

"Okay," Tim replied, and hung up. "Gibbs!"

Their boss jogged down the stair, his timing spot on, as usual. "What'd Abby find?" he asked McGee.

Tony looked up, curious to any development in the case.

The youngest agent frowned, "She– wait– How did you–?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes, and silently motioned for Tony and McGee to follow him to the lab.

As soon as the elevator doors had slid open downstairs, Abby dragged Gibbs out and into her main lab by the arm.

"This could be majorly bad." She told them, gesturing to the evidence jars lined up on the stainless steel table.

Gibbs bent down so that the collection of bullets was level with his steely blue gaze.

"One of these things is not like the other!" Abby blurted out, her flustered enthusiasm obviously fueled by the overly caffeinated beverage in her hand, but concern tainted her usually cheerful attitude.

As Tony and McGee gave her puzzled looks, she strode over to the table, slammed the drink down, and picked up one of the jars. "This," she told them, matter-of-factly, plucking the second jar from the left from the cold steel surface, "is the bullet that was collected from underneath the vehicle, and these," she nodded towards the ones still on the table, "are the ones that were embedded in various parts of the vehicle."

Tony nodded. "So?" he asked anxiously.

She held the jar up and pointed to the bullet inside. "This one, had traces of blood on it–which upon testing, confirmed that it was the one that hit Ziva, and went straight on through." Abby set the jar down and pulled off her rubber gloves in a frustrated manner.

"The hinky part? It's the only one of that particular caliber out of all the bullets recovered–and the striations are different...the bullet that shot Ziva definitely came from a different gun. Look." she jogged over to her computer and brought an image up on the plasma screen for them to see.

"The striations from the guns aren't the same Gibbs. "

He looked concerned, looking over the bullets again. "We're looking for a second shooter, aren't we? A shooter who wasn't just trying to protect his drug merchandise from a couple of agents who had him cornered."

Abby shook her head. "Nope, this bullet came from a sniper rifle. Our second guy was aiming at a target."

Gibbs looked at Tony. "Where is she?"

The plot thickens::Dramatic music::

Working hard to get this all finished for you!!

::Hugs::

-Ponytails