When he returned home it was nearing eight o'clock. He entered, and although was not surprised, he had hoped for a calm, easy scene. A chair had been dragged into the living room and Palmer was tied to it. He looked absolutely relieved to see Gibbs. His ankles were tied to the chair legs, his body to the main thing and his hands to the arms. What the hell had been going on here?

Two and a half hours earlier

As soon as Gibbs stepped out the door, Jimmy should have known what was inevitably to come. She was too sweet, maybe if it had been Abby, then he could have gotten on board with it. Even then...even then he should have suspected something. Perhaps, Ziva would be kind, but not sweet. Anything but sweet.

"So…" He trailed off as she skipped back to the couch, hopping up and returning to her previous position. "Um...are you hungry?"-Ziva flashed him a cheesy smile as she nodded-"Right, food. Food...um…"

"In the kitchen," She smiled in mock-innocent helpfulness. "I think Gibbs left something."

He shuffled into the kitchen, looking around for something Gibbs might have left out. Instead of something thawing in the sink or a note of the fridge about a microwave meal, he found a pile of pamphlets from fast food restaurants. Beside them was a twenty dollar bill. Fair enough.

After ordering a Chinese and enjoying the meal over light conversation, Ziva began her little game. Nobody else would have fallen for it, even Tim, but she felt she could fool Jimmy for a little while. Tony would have been onto her within seconds. She did feel a little sorry for the man, he was only trying to help. Then again, children can smell weakness.

"It's almost seven. If you get a bath and get into your pyjamas you'll be able to stay up until bedtime," He smiled warmly.

This had been the first thing he had said that she actually hadn't liked. Bathtime? Bedtime? It seemed he was caught up in her looking like a four-year-old. He was about to learn a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.

"Ok," another innocent grin. "Can we play a game first? Tony told me 'bout it. It sounds fun. But,"-she looked down disappointedly-"We don't...we don't have to."

She really was playing her innocent-child part well. He fell for it. "No, of course we can,"-he knelt down on front of her and rubbed her shoulders soothingly-"what is it? How do we play?"

She looked up excitedly to meet his eyes. "Cops and robbers."

He smiled warmly. "I played that all the time as a kid, who'd you want to be, cop or robber?"

"Um," she pretended to think for a moment. "Robber."

They set up the game, having a small box as the item to be stolen and a home-base for Ziva to return to. Jimmy pulled in a chair from the kitchen and placed in in the middle of the room with the box slightly behind him but still in view. She grinned evilly as she slipped down into the basement to remove the pieces of rope she had seen under the stairs dozens of times before. These were wrapped around both arms loosely for easy access. If she was still an adult she would feel sorry for him and to be honest she still should have. Somehow, little Ziva couldn't.

Ziva slithered close to the walls, down to the floor and keeping well out of view of Jimmy. He was making it too easy for her-a trained mossad operative-to infiltrate him. Then again, she only looked like a little girl. Far more agile than she had been only a week or so ago, she manouvered herself round and behind him before he had any idea what was going on. She held her breath for a moment, making sure he hadn't noticed her diving behind the couch. He didn't. Standing for a moment, he glanced around the room, double checking the little box before returning back to his seat. As if she was interested in the box. With only a few silent steps she removed a piece of rope and tied it around his middle to the chair. While he was busy fidgeting with the rope, she secured one hand. By this time he realised what was going on. His other hand writhed violently trying to keep it away from the other arm rest. Ziva pressed on a pressure point, temporarily relieving the strain of the movement and secured the second arm. As an after thought she finished up with his ankles tied to the legs of the chair.

When she stepped back to admire her work he began laughing nervously. "Ok, ok, See, you win. Now-now you can let me go, right?"

"No," She replied plainly, shrugged her shoulders absently and turned to walk away.

"Ziva, Ziva, come back here. Come back here now!" That did not make her return.

NCIS-NCIS-NCIS

Her plans for her newfound independence had been few and far between. She had just decided she was going to do it. Going up into her room, she shut the door to try and block out the noise of Jimmy yelling at her. Maybe I should find some duct tape. Instead of that, she pulled herself up on the chest of drawers and looked out the window. Still bright outside, the garden looked lit up. Perhaps she had never noticed the size of it or perhaps it was just because she was small now, but Gibbs had a wonderful garden. There were several trees scattered across it. There was a branch only about five feet away from the window. I can jump that far. The little girl got as far as reaching for the window before releasing the flaw in her ingenious plan. Gibbs had locked the window. One day she would thank him for that but today she was just disappointed and slumped of the chest of drawers to leave the room conventually. When she passed Jimmy making her way to the back door he lit up.

"Oh God, Ziva, I knew you were kidding-hey, hey where are you going!"-and then she was gone. Again.

Outside she found herself at the bottom of the first tree she came across. The first branch was conveniently at least half a foot higher than her head however, with great skill, she managed to pull herself up, struggling a little to get her chest over for leverage on her legs. Still, she made it and the rest of the climb was far simpler. It took her little time to get to the top of it. When she did she stood on tip-toes surveying the scenery of suburban life. She imagined Kelly growing up here, imagined Gibbs and Shannon. With a half disappointed drop, she suddenly realised her being there must be hurting him. He had lost his little girl and now another one was landed on him. No-stop it. Not now. He didn't need to put up with her that much longer. She'd be out of his way. It would only be a little bit and then she wouldn't be hurting him. Climbing down to a lower branch, she stretched her leg over to a close by tree, jumping the last foot or so. It took her a minute to balance herself, almost falling the twice-her-height drop. That wouldn't have been good. That definitely wouldn't have been good. After completing her trial of all the trees in the garden, she returned to the ground and looked around for something else to gain her attention. A quick trudge to the shed found her a collection of gardening tools that could make for an entertaining ten minutes. Stepping in, she went to make for the hedge trimmers. When the room went dark she turned back to the door and tried to re-open it. It didn't work. She was now alone and afraid in a dark, damp garden shed.

Current time

After clicking back into real life, Gibbs surged forward to untie the knots that had just become tighter with Jimmy's struggling. With a quick motion he cut the ropes, leaving them in fragments in the floor. The younger man flew to his feet, rubbing his wrists to remove the pain. Gibbs' glare was overpowering and he couldn't help but blurt out the events of the evening.

"And-and she wanted to play cops and robbers," He stuttered, anxious under his superior's gaze. "I didn't-she's stronger than she looks."

Gibbs saw Jimmy out before searching for the girl. He went through every single room without finding her, bellowing her name after every one was searched. He stood outside and did the same thing. Right before he turned to go back inside he heard a broken kind of voice mumbling his name. His eyes turned straight to the shed and he jogged over, his face contorted in anger. When he opened the door his expression dropped. She was sitting on the floor with a very scuffed looking jumpsuit, her hair a mess and her face red and puffy. He knelt down and opened his arms. Without a second thought she catapulted herself into him, a fresh wave of tears coming. He couldn't help losing all the anger he had felt at her a minute ago. She was so fragile-not a woman-a little girl and he had to remember that. The next thing she said broke his heart.

"It felt like Somalia all over again."

He could feel by the intensity of her grip that she meant it. Imagine experiencing those things as a little girl, knowing you had survived it then but the memories crushing you, knowing only weeks ago you were ok and coping and surviving and now having just the thought of it breaks you all over again. He held her tight. Now wasn't the time to discipline. Bringing her inside, he carried her up the stairs and tried to assess her mental state. She had seemed to sufficiently have calmed down.

"Bath, ok?" He asked gently. She nodded. "Get your pjs then."

One hand reached for them under her pillow while the other reached for Gibbs'. He took it, leading her into the bathroom and ran the bath one-handed while rubbing small circles on the back of her hand. When it was full he kissed her on the forehead and made to leave.

"Don't leave me." She whispered without meeting his eye.

He stroked her hair soothingly. When she striped down he wasn't quite sure where to look. Ziva climbed into the bath and drummed her fingers along the top of the water so a light splashing sound could be heard. He smiled lightly before picking up a sponge and dabbing it along her face to get rid of the dirt. She gave him a large toothy smile which made him grin. Once she was clean again she seemed to have perked up a little.

"You want to play for five minutes?" He asked however his offer was returned with a shake of the head.

Lifting her out the bath, he let her dry herself after his own doggy-towel dry as he reached for her pyjamas. He had to help her get her head through the right hole in the top which caused them both to laugh.

"It is not nine yet," she mumbled, "Can I come down with you until then?"

"No," He shook his head seriously. "You're going to bed after tonight's events. We'll discuss it tomorrow."

She agreed without argument and went to bed quietly. He tucked her in, neither saying a word. While he was stepping to the door he could have sworn she was already halfway to sleep.

"Night kid," He breathed then flicked off the light.

I'm not sure I really liked this chapter. Tell me what you think and please, please, please REVIEW! They keep me ticking over. Thanks :)