Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters – just my imagination!
Recap:
"Tony, I cannot reach. Help me put this front seat down." He complied and Ziva climbed into the back and pulled back a blanket that had been strewn across the back. Their jaws dropped at the sight.
There, under the blood-soaked blanket, was the little 5-year old girl, Sandy.
A/N - Sorry I didn't upload earlier! i was going to but then fanfiction wsn't letting me becaus of maintenance...anyway here it is now :)
She was breathing, and looked unharmed. The blood on the blanket obviously wasn't hers. Ziva sighed a huge sigh of relief and Tony grabbed the blanket, putting into a bag to give to Abby. Ziva took the sleeping little girl and sat in their car with her on her lap while Tony searched the rest of the car. After a few minutes, he walked up to their own car and saw Ziva singing softly to the little girl in Hebrew, stroking her hair gently.
She looks so beautiful with her. I want that. I want to wake up every day and see that gorgeous maternal side of her. And when she's holding a baby, I want to be able to point and say 'those are my girls.' Or boys. Or both. Talk about a Kodak moment.
She is so adorable. I hope her Mom is alright, but…anyway. I love holding her. I never really considered myself to be a maternal person but holding this little girl makes me want to be a mother. I still do not know if it is even feasible. And the father…it would be amazing if it were Tony. To look down at a baby that would be ours, and see his mesmerizing eyes looking up at me. But that scares me. To be 100% – or at least 50% - responsible for another human life…I just do not know.
After a moment Tony slid into the driver's seat next to Ziva.
"Find anything?"
"No. It's clean. Well, except for the blanket."
She nodded. Then Sandy started to wake up and when she didn't see her family anywhere she started to cry. Ziva took immediate action, like a reflex, and pulled her close.
"Shh, it's okay Sandy. I'm Ziva and this is Tony – we're going to take you to see your Daddy. Alright?"
She nodded and soon stopped crying. She turned to Tony. "I'm hungry."
He smiled. "I'm sure you are. Why don't we get you something to eat? What would you like?"
She thought for a minute, playing with her dirty blonde hair. "McDonalds."
He chuckled. "Alright sweetheart. Do you know what happened?"
She immediately buried her face into Ziva's chest. Ziva looked at Tony.
"Just get her some food Tony." He nodded and started the car, driving to the nearest fast-food drive-thru. While he was getting the food, Ziva called Gibbs to let him know what happened. He said that Mr. Liead was thrilled and that they would be both anxiously waiting for their arrival. Soon enough the three arrived at NCIS, with a satisfied five ear old being carried by Tony to the squad room.
Her eyes lit up when she saw her Dad next to Gibbs. "Daddy!" She yelled as Tony put her down and she ran over to him. Kyle hugged his daughter tight, picked her up and twirled her around, kissing her over and over again.
"Oh baby I was so worried about you! Let's go sit down." He took her over to Tony's chair and talked to her while Gibbs approached Tony and Ziva. He talked to them in hushed tones. "You two go down and tell Abby to run that blood ASAP; I'll try to talk to Sandy. McGee is trying to find a link with that man. Let me know as soon as you know anything."
With that they practically ran down to Abby's lab, and Gibbs turned to the little girl. "Hi sweetheart. My name is Gibbs. I'm so glad to meet you. What's your name?"
The girl looked at her dad for reassurance. He smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Sandy."
"Sandy, that's a beautiful name. Just like the color of your hair, like the beach. Can you tell me what happened today?"
She nodded bravely. "After breakfast Daddy left for the store. Me and Mommy were playing and…"
"It's alright. Just take your time. What happened after that?"
She looked up at Gibbs. "After that…there was a noise."
Gibbs nodded. "What kind of noise?"
"It was the door. Somebody came into the house and…and started fighting with Mommy. I hid behind the chair but when they hit Mommy on the head and she fell down they grabbed me and we went in a car."
"Alright, good job sweetheart. What happened next?"
"We went to a house and they hurt Mommy. They had a gun and…and it made a noise. Then she…she…" Sandy looked away. Gibbs looked up at Mr. Liead, who had tears in his eyes. He held his daughter closer.
"Did Mommy fall down?" She could only nod her head in response, burying herself in her Daddy's chest.
Gibbs nodded solemnly. "You did great Sandy." He showed her the picture of James Cofft. "Was this the man who grabbed you and hurt Mommy?" She looked at it for a second, nodded slowly, and burst out crying.
Kyle could barely contain his tears. He held his daughter even tighter to him. He had just lost the love of his life. "Okay, that is enough. Come on baby." Kyle stood up, carrying his daughter. "I need to take my daughter home. Can you call me when…?"
He nodded. "Of course. I'm very sorry sir – I know it doesn't do much, but it's all I've got." Mr. Liead nodded and walked to the elevator, fighting back tears trying to be strong for his daughter who was now bawling into his chest. The elevator opened and Tony and Ziva, who had found out that the blood was Mrs. Liead's already from Abby, were face to face with Kyle and Sandy.
"I am so incredibly sorry for your loss. Not that it does much." Ziva said sadly and rubbed Sandy's back for a moment. She then looked at Kyle. "I know how hard it is to lose someone you love." Kyle looked at her with red eyes and simply nodded.
"Thank you."
"I cannot imagine what you are going through. If there's anything…" Tony trailed off.
Kyle nodded in appreciation. "Thank you, you two. What I've learned…never assume that the moment you are with someone won't be the last one. Because it very well could be." He looked squarely at Tony. "Never forget to tell her-" He glanced at Ziva. "-you love her before you leave for work in the mornings. She might not be there when you get back to tell her goodnight." He looked solemnly at Tony who just nodded.
Kyle and Sandy walked into the elevator and left while Tony and Ziva walked to where Gibbs was.
"The blood matched Barbra's on the blanket. She wasn't killed there though." Ziva informed him gravely.
McGee spoke up. "I know where she was killed Ziva. I finally found a link between James and the Lieads. He had been Kyle's best friend – until they got into a fight over a girl – Barbra. She chose Kyle, and James apparently wanted her so bad that he thought if he couldn't have her, that nobody could. I traced his phone – he's not very smart – to a house about 2 blocks away from the car. I'll send Tony the GPS location."
Tony and Ziva grabbed their stuff and drove to the house, with Gibbs and McGee following close behind. They all pulled up to the house and ran out of their cars.
"McGee, David, you take the front. DiNozzo, you're with me." Gibbs said as he ran quietly to the back of the house, gun poised. McGee and Ziva entered the front of the house while Tony and Gibbs entered the back. McGee went left and Ziva went right.
"Clear."
"Clear."
"Clear."
When nobody heard from Ziva, everybody ran to the right of the house. There they saw James holding Ziva at gunpoint.
"Federal agents, drop your weapon! Let her go!" Gibbs yelled as the three men circled James, ready to shoot to kill. Tony had a death glare at James, his gun trained at his head. If he hurts Ziva, I swear I'll…
James laughed, somewhat nervously. "And why would I do that?"
"Because the second you pull that trigger you'll be dead on the floor in a pool of your own blood." Tony answered harshly.
His face grew paler. Ziva made eye-contact with Gibbs, who understood.
"So why'd you kill her?" Gibbs asked.
"I, uhh, I…"
"What? I didn't hear you!" Tony sneered, catching on to the plan.
"I, well, she…" He stuttered, realizing his odds were decreasing with every second. He looked around nervously, giving Ziva the very opportunity she needed. When he turned away he loosened his grip on her enough for her to reach up with her arm and knock the gun away. She kicked him hard and flipped him over her back, wrestling him to stay on the floor. She smirked as she handcuffed him, with the men's guns still trained on him for backup.
"You were saying?"
"I, uhh, I…" He was quieted by a kick in the ribs from Ziva. He sucked in his breath and he paled.
"That, that was for that little girl's Mommy and the love of a man's life."
After they had put James in the car under Tony's watchful, glaring eye, the rest of the NCIS team had found Mrs. Liead. Ducky had examined the body at the scene and when they got back to base he performed an autopsy, confirming little Sandy's story. Gibbs had called Kyle with the regretful news, and he would be over tomorrow to collect the body to prepare for the funeral.
"Alright, go home. It's been a hard day for everyone."
McGee, Tony, and Ziva nodded and left, with Gibbs close behind them. Soon everybody had made it home safely – by 0500. Ziva had changed into sweatpants and a tank top, tying her hair up in a bun. She was resting on her sofa, trying to comb through her thoughts. What if that was…I couldn't stand it. The look on his face when he realized his wife wasn't going to come home to him…She was interrupted by a knock at her door. She opened it and sure enough, Tony was standing there.
"We need to talk." Ziva nodded and let him in. Tony walked a few steps forward and turned to face Ziva.
"I-" they both started simultaneously.
"You go first." Ziva said. Tony took a deep breath. It's all or nothing DiNozzo…now or never.
"I don't know even where to begin. Let me start at that idea Abby coerced you into."
Ziva just stared at him. "How did-"
He smiled. "I know these things. I am a trained investigator, remember. I didn't know it at the time though. I figured it out after the fact. As soon as Abby asked me that, I knew the answer in my heart. I spat it out before my brain could take control. Anyway, ever since then, when Gibbs put us undercover for a mission that really wasn't necessary I tried to impress you. Since you invited me to dinner and I saw you really laugh and open up to me and we kissed…and then today seeing you with Sandy was so beautiful. When I saw how upset Kyle was today at hearing that the love of his life was shot in front of his 5 year old daughter and what he said to us in the elevator...when James held that gun to you I felt my heart stop at the thought of him hurting you. I realized that I would be bawling my eyes out if something ever happened to you, Zi. I realized that I had really meant it when I said that I couldn't live without you in Somalia. I realized that from the moment we had right before you stepped into that shower that I'm falling for you. Hard. And I don't know how, nor do I want, to stop. It started ever since you asked if I was having phone sex – it just took until now for me to realize it – with everything that's happened in the past few days. I know you're scared, and quite frankly so am I, but after today I…"
Ziva looked up at him and smiled, slightly teary-eyed. She tried to blink them away to no avail. "Tony, I…when Abby talked to me about liking McGee I just blurted out your name. It was a reflex, I did not think twice about it. Ever since I have said it out loud, it has only grown stronger. And as much as I would like to be able to simply deny it like we have all these years, I cannot anymore. When we were undercover, I loved the way you called me Mrs. DiNozzo and the way you made me feel when you touched me in that way only you can. I loved the way we 'fought' at dinner and our kiss this morning. And when I walked up to the shower what I saw in your eyes and what I felt in mine scared me. I tried to just write it off and say I was crazy – it did not work. Today, when I was holding Sandy I thought that, if I would ever be a mother, that I would want to be looking down at a baby that had your eyes, that was half you. When Mr. liead lost his wife I saw how badly it hurt him and how he was so lost without her I realized that I would feel the exact same way if anything ever hapenned to you. And then when I was trapped at gunpoint and I saw you there I felt…safe. I knew you would protect me and not let anything happen to me. I…I am falling for you too, Anthony DiNozzo. And I also, do not know how, nor want, to stop. I am just scared. I…"
She was cut off by Tony's lips on hers. It was different than their passionate, desperate kiss this morning. This was more gentle and loving. He cupped her cheek and she pulled him closer to her by his collar. After a minute he broke away and took her face in both of his.
"Ziva David, don't be scared. You know I will never intentionally hurt you and that I will protect you with everything I have and everything I am." She nodded. "Will you be my girlfriend – my partner on and off the field?"
She smiled. "Yes Tony. I am afraid you are stuck with me now."
He smiled back and laughed, pulling her into another deep, passionate kiss.