A/N: Many special thanks for the new reviews and adds. I truly appreciate each insight and encouragement. For those of you who haven't picked up on it yet, the last chapter contained a restatement of the intro to the story to bring things full circle. Time has caught up with itself in the story. Personally, I love dabbling in psychological thrillers and suspense. Forgive me if it isn't your thing. Also forgive me if I'm unable to meet your posting expectations. I'm a very busy gal, especially this week. As always, I'd appreciate hearing from you. Just drop a review or a message. You're also welcome to find me on facebook: Casmoiraitiel.

~*He gripped his head in his hands, rocking slightly back and forth.*~

Tony carefully adjusted Ziva's body in his arms, reaching for his cell. He first called for an ambulance as he had yet to wake Ziva. With an unsteady hand, he hit the speed dial and brought the phone to his ear, his eyes traveling back to her face.

"Gibbs."

"Boss, I'm at Ziva's."

"What's wrong, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, hearing the strain in his senior agent's voice.

"She's unconscious." He looked around the apartment again. "No signs of a struggle. Shower running. Her clothes are damp. Looks like she was in the shower with her clothes on, boss." He was doing his level best to keep himself calm, unsure of what had happened.

"We'll be there in five."

Tony closed the phone, laying it on the floor as he shifted his full attention back to the woman in his arms. He ran his hand through her hair, gently smoothing it back from her pale face. Gently, he rolled back her sleeves, checking her arms for marks and bruises. There was nothing.

"C'mon, Zee," he murmured, "wake up."

Her skin was very cool to the touch, a testament to the damp clothes she had been laying in since she climbed out of the shower. He rubbed his hands along her arms, attempting to warm her, worry written plainly on his face.

It wasn't long before he heard the paramedics pushing themselves into the apartment, tearing her from his hold, checking her over themselves. Gibbs and McGee were only a minute behind them, rushing into the apartment to find Tony still sitting on the floor, gazing at the men fussing over her. Gibbs moved to his senior field agent as McGee shadowed the EMTs, trying to see if there was anything that had been missed before they transported her to the hospital.

Gibbs offered Tony a hand up, trying to get the younger man to focus enough to start going through the scene. He handed him a kit, nodding toward the bathroom.

"Tony," he said quietly, "Tony!"

"Yeah, boss," he responded, snapping his eyes up to meet Gibbs'. "Bathroom. Got it." His hand tightened around the handle of the evidence collection kit as he made his way into the bathroom, laying the box on the sink as he popped it open, retrieving the gloves from inside and pulling them on.

The three men processed the apartment from top to bottom, coming up empty handed. There had been no one else in her apartment. The bed was made, the coffee pot was empty, and there were no dishes in the sink. They took fingerprint samples, stowing them away as they headed back to NCIS, having Abby run them through the database. They all belonged to Ziva.

"What's wrong with Ziva?" Abby demanded as she ran the final print, turning to face Gibbs.

"We don't know, Abs," he sighed. "Headin' to find out now." He quickly kissed her cheek, jerking his head toward the door to send his team out before him.

They split apart, McGee heading back to his apartment as Gibbs and DiNozzo took separate cars to the hospital, making quick work of the trip through the lighter traffic of the evening. They were greeted at the nurses' station, learning that Ziva was undergoing several tests before they were sent to the waiting room.

The senior field agent paced nervously around the length of the room, his mind racing. He thought back over the past few weeks, the incident in his apartment where she had almost punched him out in her sleep and earlier that day when she had choked on a shot, the haunted look she carried searing into his mind. He had no idea what could have had the former Mossaud agent so scared and no idea what could have happened in her apartment, but he was sure they were connected. He just didn't know how.

Maybe there's someone after her, he thought. Seems like her former life keeps comin' back to bite her on the ass. Wouldn't be a far stretch if someone was after her. He worried the inside of his lip, pausing in his pacing to stare at the wall, his eyes flicking quickly from left to right as if he were reading words on a page. There was no one in her apartment. She showered in her clothes. She threw up. She passed out on the floor. She left the water running. It doesn't make sense.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs murmured, indicating the chair across from him, "park. You're makin' me nervous."

"Sorry, boss." Slowly, he sank into the seat, his eyes coming to rest on the floor in front of him as he leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

"What are ya thinkin', Tony?" he asked, leaning forward to match the man across from him.

"She…came over to my apartment two weeks ago." He paused, glancing up at his boss, then back down at the floor. "Seemed kinda out of it, said she wanted company, so I put in a movie and she fell asleep."

Gibbs listened to him relate the short story in silence, his hands clasped together in front of his knees where he'd normally be cradling a styrofoam cup of black coffee.

"I shoulda tried harder to get her to talk."

"Ziva's a special case, DiNozzo," Gibbs finally offered, coaxing his agent to look up at him with the inflection in his words. "She doesn't talk. We know that."

"Why…why would she shower with her clothes on?" Tony asked, confused. "And what the hell happened in her apartment?"

"She'll have to tell us that when she wakes up."

They lapsed into a mutual silence for a long moment, each lost in their own thoughts, sorting through the events of the day. Tony raggedly ran his hands through his hair, still struggling with the guilt that he felt. There was something nagging at him that he couldn't quite place. He could hear her voice in his head.

"Hey," Gibbs said quietly, standing and looking down at Tony, "it's not your fault."

Tony started at the gentle tap on the back of his head, his head snapping up as it brought him back to the present. Slowly, he nodded, watching his boss move back down the hallway, most likely in search of coffee.

000010000

Ziva struggled against the ties on her wrists and ankles, searching for a weak spot so she could slip free. The bonds, however, were well secured and she ended up simply chaffing her skin, drawing blood that dripped down her hands. Her eyes quickly searched the dark room, sliding over the familiar dirty windows and the familiar thick door that led into the hallways snaking through the compound. For the moment, she was alone, but she knew there would only be minutes before that would change. He would be there.

She redoubled her efforts to free herself, biting on the inside of her lip to keep from making a sound to give away her struggle and her pain. Determined, she swore she wouldn't give an inch. Not this time. She didn't know how long she'd been out or how long she'd been dreaming of being back at NCIS. She had imagined Tony and McGee coming to rescue her. It had obviously been wishful thinking on her part. They weren't looking for her. She'd stayed behind in Tel Aviv. It already seemed so long ago.

Still, that dream had renewed the hope in her, the hope she'd given up. She'd been broken and ashamed, beaten, bloody, and bruised. Carefully, she slid her tongue over her lips, feeling the split that she thought had healed a long while ago. She closed her eyes, trying to force the panic from her mind.

Her eyes snapped open as she heard the squeak of the doorknob as it turned slowly, the door pushing open to reveal the man who stood, framed perfectly in the open portal. His grin sent chills up her spine as he sauntered into the room, moving to kneel in front of her.

"It is…about time you woke, Ziva," Saleem chuckled, running his hands up to rest on her thighs

"Do not touch me," she hissed, her eyes narrowed as she glared down at her captor.

"Oh." He blinked before an amused expression crossed his face. "The defiant Ziva is back. I thought we had…taken care of this." He cupped her cheek, chuckling again as she attempted to turn away. His hand slid around, grasping a handful of her hair and he jerked her head back, slowly standing until he bent over her, his face only inches from hers. "Do not worry, pet. I will fix that…soon enough."

000010000

"There's no drugs in her system, no bruises or defensive wounds. Brain scans show a high level of activity," the doctor stated, looking at the two agents in front of him. "We did what we could, which wasn't really a lot. Brought her body temp back up to an acceptable level."

"Then what's wrong with her?" Gibbs asked, shifting his weight on the balls of his feet.

"Truthfully…nothing. As far as I can tell, there's absolutely no medical reason for Agent David to be in the state she's in."

"And what state is that?" Tony demanded.

The doctor removed his glasses, rubbing the corner of his eye with his fingertips. "Perhaps it's a state of psychosis. I'm not really qualified to say. All I know is that medically, she is sound."

The two agents exchanged heavy looks before turning back to the doctor.

"There's no way of knowing what's going on until she wakes up. Until then, we have her on a fluid drip to keep her hydrated and if she doesn't wake, we might have to look at a…feeding tube. We're not gonna jump to conclusions until we absolutely have no other choice." He paused, fitting the glasses back to his face. "It might be a comfort for her to have family with her. Is there anyone…?"

"We're her family," Gibbs stated simply, sliding his hands in his pockets. "Thanks, doc. We'll take care of it."

The middle-aged man nodded and turned away, retreating down the hallway as he left the two of them alone.

"Head home, DiNozzo. I'll take first watch." He turned to face Tony, looking over his preoccupied face. "What…?"

"Words," Tony interjected slowly, his brow furrowed. "Jumbled together. They don't make sense. Not yet."

"Go home, Tony. You're here tomorrow evening…if there's a need for it." He waited for the responding nod before continuing. "You let me know if you figure out…whatever it is you're thinkin' about."

"Yeah, boss," Tony responded, turning slowly to go.

At DiNozzo's Apartment…

Tony stood at the bathroom sink, his skin still damp from the shower. He ran his hand over the mirror in front of him, clearing off the mist from the glass. Deliberately, he reached for this toothbrush, still sorting through the words in his head. They were spoken in Ziva's voice, only he couldn't remember where or when he'd heard them, or even what exactly had been said.

Sighing, he ran the water, brushing his teeth and finishing up his nightly routine before dragging into the bedroom and throwing himself onto the bed, laying on his back and staring up at the ceiling.

He was beyond exhausted, not having slept much since he'd been released from the hospital. Being alone gave him too much time to think, often reliving the hallucinations he'd had under the drug induced trip he'd been forced to take. Many of those hallucinations had involved watching each of his teammates die repeatedly in gruesome fashion while he stood by, powerless to help.

It wasn't the dreams that bothered him tonight, it was the words that had started to shake the fog from his mind while he'd been recovering at the hospital. It was Ziva. He'd followed her scared, quavering voice back from the darkness he'd been buried in. It hit him like a brick. That had been what Jessica was insisting on. She felt she was standing in their way, his and Ziva's.

"She knew," he breathed. "I thought I had gotten over it." Not after rescuing her. Not after she forgave you. He rolled onto his side, pulling the pillow to a more comfortable position as the thoughts continued to race through his head. What could Jess have told her?

Uneasy and restless, he found himself only drifting in and out of a light sleep, tossing and turning fitfully as he tried to force his thoughts into order.

"I can feel him coming back, Tony, and I do not feel strong enough to stop him without you."

His eyes flew open and he sat up, looking around the room, Ziva's voice fresh in his mind. He blinked. Who was coming back?

"I would not be where I am. I feel as if I am losing my grip on reality."

He looked around the room, feeling as if his mind were playing tricks on him, searching for where the whispered voice had came from. Pained, he gripped his head in his hands, rocking slightly back and forth as the tide carried him away, and he lost himself amidst the memories and thoughts with nothing to pull him free.

~*He clamped his eyes shut, trying to piece things together.*~

tbc...