Tony and Ziva begin to feel as though someone has found them, and they make plans to leave their little cabin.

The sound was so out of the ordinary that Ziva almost didn't register it right away, but she bolted up in the bed when she realized what it was that she was hearing.

A helicopter. A helicopter that sounded as though it was close – and drawing even closer to their home.

Oh god.

"Tony, wake up," Ziva said, nudging him and trying to contain the panic that was rising in her throat, a lump forming and her heart beginning to pound wildly. Tony sat up, at first looking disoriented, but soon recognized the sound, his eyes widening with fear.

"Shit," he muttered, throwing the covers off of himself and sliding out of the bed, worrying about what would happen if this was the moment, if this was the night that Widow would finally find them.

"They can't see us, right? You made sure that we camouflaged this place, right?" His voice began to increase in volume as he spoke, forgetting momentarily that both of the girls were fast asleep, though if Widow were to come knocking on their door, that would hardly matter.

"I do not believe they will be able to see us, no, but it is also night time, so… oh God," she breathed, her hand involuntarily lifting to her mouth to cover the gasp she couldn't contain.

"What?"

"What if they have heat sensing equipment? Tony," she gasped again, her anxiety rising to the point where she felt as though she was beginning to tremble. Ziva had always relied on adrenaline to get her through difficult fights, but this was no ordinary fight. There was so much more at stake now, and if this was the day that their battle with Widow was to be held, then she would fight with everything she had.

Tony didn't respond. He knew exactly what they had to do, and so he merely picked up the weapons and handed Ziva her bow and arrows, watching as she strapped them to her body as he slung the crossbow over his. He then grabbed Ziva's satchel and started putting food and water inside it, gathering what he could in his urgency and slinging it over his shoulder. Carefully and as quickly as possible, he picked up Tali from her bed, hoping that this would not cause her to start wailing, alerting any and all predators to their location.

At the same time, Ziva bent down and pulled Ashina up, gathering her in her arms and arranging her in the sling. It was dark, and there was no moonlight with which to see where they were going, but soon Tony and Ziva were out of their house and heading quickly down the path they'd memorized to the nearby cave, hoping that its thick stone walls would somehow obscure any heat sensors from locating their bodies. The rock above the cave was thick, but it might not be thick enough. The depth of rock and other surfaces through which heat-vision could still detect variations in temperature was not something Ziva had ever taken the time to learn.

They could still hear the helicopter flying closer as they reached the cave, sliding quickly inside and heading as far back as they dared. It was pitch black inside, which meant that anything could be waiting for them, and of course they didn't have a flashlight or even a match. Anything that could light their way would be a beacon to their location. They were walking in blind.

As they ventured further into the cave, the sound from the helicopter began to fade, though Tony wasn't sure if that was because the thick stone walls or because the helicopter was heading in another direction. Feeling along the side of the cave, his eyes finally adjusting enough to barely make out Ziva's form, he wondered how long they'd stay here.

Honestly, if Widow was here and they happened to come down right in their backyard, there would be no hiding that people had been living in their shelter. All of their belongings were in there and everything was kept neat – no overgrowth or abundance of brush. They would know that its occupants weren't far.

The cave was well hidden, but there were plenty of ways that they could be discovered. Even with their weapons, they'd be sitting ducks in here. "Ziva," he whispered, surprised that neither of the girls had woken up yet.

"Shh," she instructed, tilting her head toward the sky as if listening for the sound of the helicopter. Tony couldn't hear it, either, but he wasn't sure if it was safe to head back to the house yet. Or if it would ever be safe to head back.

"Is it them?"

"Shh," she said again, more insistently this time, and that was the moment that Ashina chose to wake up, her pitiful wails echoing throughout the cave. Ziva quickly maneuvered her so that she would settle on her breast, knowing that one surefire way to keep a baby quiet was to occupy its mouth, and Ashina was no different. She was immediately set on eating, soft whimpers escaping as she ate greedily. "I don't know," she finally whispered in response to his question. They'd heard planes and choppers before, of course, but none that sounded so close to the ground as this one had. It could be Widow, but it might not be. Low-flying helicopters were not terribly abnormal in most parts of the world.

Tony watched her closely, his eyes not quite able to make out her expression. "What do we do?"

"We wait," was the only response, and Tony didn't say anything for several long moments. How long before Ziva would consider it safe to venture back to the house? Would they have to make the decision to leave – to pack up everything they'd amassed and head somewhere else? To come to the conclusion that they'd been found, and that it would be safer to start over in another part of the world? How would they even manage that if they did need to leave?

"For how long?" was all he asked after minutes of silence.

"As long as it would take for a team of terrorists to come down, check the place out, scout around the area, and determine that we aren't here," she replied, though she didn't specify exactly how long that was. Best guess was that they'd be here at least an hour, maybe more than that. He leaned against the stone wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor, hoping that it wasn't damp. Satisfied that it wasn't, he leaned his head back, straining to hear anything from outside the cave and failing.

The next thing he was aware of was Ziva shaking him slightly, causing him to jerk awake. Tali was still knocked out in his arms, and Ashina appeared to be fast asleep in Ziva's, though it was so dark that he couldn't really tell. His back was sore, but he felt oddly well rested.

"I have crept toward the opening of the cave, and I hear no signs of the helicopter. I believe it is safe for us to venture back to the house."

"Do you think it was them? How long was I asleep?"

"I don't know if it was them," she replied, and he could hear the doubt in her voice despite it being barely above a whisper. "And you've been asleep for hours. There was no need for you to be awake."

"What if it's an ambush?"

"We have the weapons," she reminded him, though she had to admit that she hadn't thought of that. It was certainly possible that they'd dropped a couple of operatives off to lie in wait for them. They could certainly fight off a pair of assassins with the weaponry they had, and they'd be gone before any more of them could show up to attempt to finish the job. "I do not think they would leave a few men behind. They will not take the chance of those men being killed, because Widow will know that if we dispose of their advance team that we will leave this place immediately, and they will have to continue to hunt us. That's the last thing they will want."

Tony didn't respond, so she continued. "They will more than likely send about a dozen men at once. They will want to severely outnumber us. They will not allow us to pick them off one at a time."

"Do you think we should pack up and leave anyway?"

"It might not have been them. And it's not just us anymore," she rationalized, her hand lovingly caressing Ashina's head as she dozed against her mother's skin. "We will not be able to make nearly enough ground to distance ourselves from this spot, not with the babies."

"Would we have been able to make that much ground if it had been just us?"

"Probably not, but we'd have had a better chance." She didn't want to be on the run, not anymore. She and Tony had settled here comfortably, thinking that it was so highly unlikely that they'd be found out here, but now it appeared that they might have been. And even if this helicopter had merely been a fluke, someone having fun flying over the jungle, how could they take the chance? It would not be smart to stay here if there was even a tiny chance they'd been compromised.

Tony seemed to be thinking along those same lines. "I still think we should leave. You said it yourself. You think it might have been them. If we're compromised, we can't stay here, even though we both know it will be difficult to make much ground with the girls in tow."

Ziva sighed, but she knew that he was right. "We have amassed so much more stuff since we first came out here. I do not know how we can hope to carry it all."

"We won't be able to. We'll have to decide what's a necessity and what isn't, and pack accordingly."

Ziva seemed lost in thought for several minutes, staring out into sliver of light indicating their re-entry into forest. When she finally spoke, it was in a quiet, resigned tone. "Well, shall we head back then?"

Tony didn't respond other than to nod, and soon they were slowly making their way back to their house. It was no longer dark, that much they knew, but they didn't know how long it had been day. The forest was eerily quiet save for their steps on crunching leaves, and they didn't speak as they carefully walked through the jungle.

When they reached the house, Ashina was starting to wake again, so Tony set about getting Tali settled in her crib and Ziva sat down at the bench and began to nurse her. She was still lost in thought, staring forward as Ashina quietly fed, and Tony knew better than to disturb her in this state.

The house didn't appear to be disturbed, which meant that if the helicopter that had flown over had been full of people looking for them, then it was unlikely they'd be back, but they couldn't take the chance. Her thoughts kept repeating that phrase over and over again, and despite this being the home they'd made for themselves, a place where they'd lived comfortably for quite some time now, it would be foolish to get attached to the detriment of their safety.

The day seemed to go by too quickly for all they needed to do, especially considering the fact that they needed to stop what they were doing much more frequently because of the children. Tony had busied himself with cleaning all of their clothing and hanging it to dry at first, and when most if it had dried, Ziva helped him fold it tightly and stuff it into the huge backpack he'd really hoped he would never need to carry again.

They both worked on filling up every water bottle they had that was still usable, finding that almost all of them were in fair shape despite the length of time they'd been out here. They would need as many of them as they could possibly get, because even though they could follow the stream for a little while, they'd certainly have to leave it behind eventually. Keeping the bottles intact would be best.

Ziva reached into her backpack and located the huge wad of cash she'd kept stashed there. She hadn't needed it in quite some time, but she had known better than to get rid of it, knowing that it might come in handy at some point.

Tony looked at her holding the money. "You think we'll need that?"

"Once we get out of this jungle we will," she said. "We will not be able to stay in this part of the world for long. The good thing is that they won't be expecting to look for people with two young children, but that presents another problem. If we want to take commercial airlines, then we need to have documentation for these two, and neither of us have the means to make that happen."

"You mean we're not going to just steal an aircraft and take to the skies?" he joked, and Ziva laughed lightly at him.

"It crossed my mind," she said, her eyes gleaming, and it was his turn to laugh. He wouldn't be surprised if, on top of everything else, Ziva knew how to fly a plane.

"So what do we do then?" he asked, wondering what her plan was, now that she had to adjust it to accommodate two young ones.

Ziva stopped what she was doing and looked at him, folding her hands in her lap. "We start by leaving the jungle. It will not be an easy or a fast trip, and we'll be back to putting up the tent every night. If we can find heavy coverage like the cave, that would be better, as we're less likely to be visible to heat sensors and other imagery equipment." She paused, taking a sip of her water. "Then we will need to find a place to stay. A motel, perhaps. Depending on where we end up – and we can never really ask anyone where we are if we do not wish to arouse suspicion – it will most likely fall on me to communicate, though I do not speak Portuguese."

"Neither do I," he said, rather unnecessarily.

"Once there, we lay low for a few days, and I do mean a few days. We will need to forge documentation for the girls, which will not be easy, especially considering I do not have my usual tools. We may need to pay someone to do these things for us, which opens us up to unnecessary risk, obviously. We will figure that part out. But we cannot stay in one place for long, which will make it much more difficult–"

"Why don't we just contact the team?"

"That will lead Widow right to us."

"But I mean, if they're already here, what difference does it make? Let's get a head start out of this jungle, run to some small town, make a discreet phone call to the emergency phone – I know you still know the number, because I do, too – and let NCIS help us get the hell out of here."

Ziva sighed, but she recognized that his idea might be worth considering. If they didn't have the kids, they could simply fly somewhere else, as she still had both of their fake passports in her bag. But with the kids in tow, they'd have to stay still for an undetermined amount of time, which would increase their risk. "You may be right, Tony, but I still feel like contacting the agency at all is too big a risk to take."

"But with the girls, do we really have a choice? I mean what are you going to do? Pick up a computer and a printer and download some program to help you forge birth certificates and passports? Because I know that if you had that stuff on your computer at home that you didn't just find it on the internet somewhere, and that's not something that's readily accessible. There's no way you'll be able to get that stuff done here without something flagging. Everything people do online is tracked."

She pursed her lips together but didn't say anything, taking in everything he had to say. He was right, she knew that. "And furthermore, finding someone to do that stuff for us? How do you find someone you trust enough to do that and who won't immediately go screaming to whoever will listen that he just made a couple of fake IDs for some Americans and their kids? Are we gonna get those done then kill the guy? Because there's no way to do that without leaving a trace, either."

Ziva sighed in annoyance, but again, she had to admit it: "You're right," she said, reaching to touch his hand. "Calling NCIS is risky, but every other option we have is just as risky as that. They may be our best bet to get out of here, and perhaps they can put us up in a safe house, or even use us to draw Widow out. But even if we call them, they're not coming for us that second, Tony. They're going to take a few days to track us down and get to us. And in that time we may need to skip town again."

"So we skip town again, Ziva, and we call again. They'll track every phone call we make to them and they'll piece together where we're going. Gibbs and McGee are the best there is, and they'll find us if they have to tear down heaven and earth if they know that we want them to." Again he was right, and this time she didn't voice it, nodding instead.

"Well let's just focus on getting out of here, Tony. Count the days we've marked for the girls so we can keep track as we go. I'm not letting us lose track even if we have to run for our lives."

"I know one thing," he said, glancing over at their sleeping children as he spoke. Ziva raised her eyebrows, urging him to continue. "We need to buy a stroller whenever we get back to civilization."

Ziva chuckled at that, but she agreed. They'd have to switch off carrying the children, as Ashina could be carried hands-free in the sling but Tali would need to be carried by hand. They'd have to stop often enough to let her run around, and it may even be beneficial to keep moving forward – albeit slowly – and allowing her to walk some of the way. At least that way, they'd still be moving.

"Take a long look around, Tony," she said finally, her eyes scanning the room. "Because you will probably never see this place again after today."

It was weird for him to feel wistful about anything really, but he found himself getting a bit somber at the realization. They'd built a life out here from the ground up. Both of their kids had been born here. They'd fallen in love here and made a vow to love each other for a lifetime here. It was hard to imagine letting go of all that. Everywhere he looked, he had a good memory to match it.

Unfortunately though, they didn't have a choice in the matter. There was no way to be absolutely certain that Widow had located them, but the helicopter that had flown over this morning had been far too close for it to have been a random flyover.

And if it was Widow, then how in the hell had they found this place? "Do you think it was them? Why wouldn't they have come back yet?"

She shrugged, letting out a small sigh as she answered. "If it was them, it was probably a small advance team of about three or four men who had come to scout the place. They will go back to a base somewhere and sketch out what they saw. They'll strategize. Then when their entire team shows up, they can make quick work of us."

"It feels like they were in here, doesn't it?" He had always tried to trust his gut, but this time he couldn't really tell if it was really telling him something or if he was just nervous. Ever since he'd been awakened by the sound of the helicopter flying overhead, his stomach had felt as though it was completely tied up in knots. It was hard to trust his gut instinct when his gut felt as though a hamster was inside of it running on a spinning wheel.

"There was no physical sign of them anywhere, but yes, it does feel as though there was – is – a presence here that wasn't before. I cannot explain it, I just…"

"Feel it," he finished, and she nodded.

"Is there anything else we need to pack, or that we should try to pack? I mean, aside from the sleeping bag," he said, looking over at the rumpled item in question. They'd be using it to sleep tonight, and then in the morning they would roll it up tightly and bring with them, securing it to the top of one of their backpacks instead of inside, since space was now an issue with all of the new belongings they'd amassed.

"I think we have everything ready to go. We will leave at first light – sooner than that, if we are able. Ashina is still waking up ridiculously early. I think after I've gotten her fed then we need to get going. Tali will likely still be asleep at that point so we should be able to move fairly swiftly."

"Do you remember which direction heads back to the town we came from?" He hadn't been the one to keep the compass, so he had absolutely no idea which way led to civilization, but he also didn't know if they'd be heading back the way they came.

"Yes, but we are not going that way," she replied, answering his unasked question. When he didn't say anything else, clearly waiting for her to speak, she added, "We will travel upstream, which is essentially in the opposite direction we came. We will have to be very careful not to make it obvious which way we've traveled, so you're going to have to watch your step. Once we get far enough away, it won't matter as much, but in the immediate several kilometers from our house we cannot disturb so much as a leaf on the ground."

"Could they bring dogs?" Ziva looked up at the question, and Tony realized that she hadn't considered that a possibility.

"They could, but they won't bring them when they come back looking to kill us. When they see that we've taken off – and surely they must assume that we will – they will go back. They may then find some dogs and try to pick up our scent. We have almost always gone downstream to hunt, which means that our scent will be stronger over there. We will have to hope that it is enough to send them looking in that direction." She stood up then, walking toward the bed and sitting down on the edge of it, toeing her shoes off and putting her feet up, sitting with her legs crossed and massaging her toes.

Tony watched her for a moment, then asked, "Why not just hope for rain?"

"Contrary to popular belief, rain doesn't really wash away the scent of humans," she answered, switching her hands to her other foot and massaging that as well before wiggling her toes and sliding them under the cover. "Come to bed, Tony, we will need to be up early to get a head start, and I do not want either of us to be tired tomorrow."

"Should we have gotten a start today?"

"Probably," she responded, looking at the bag that was now full to the brim and ready. "But we didn't have a bag ready to go and we cannot travel at night. We must have spent half the day hiding out in the cave." She sighed, then continued. "We really should have been prepared to leave at a moment's notice." Her expression clouded over and she was lost in thought for several minutes. "We got complacent," she finally said, and Tony got up, crossing the room to sit beside her on the bed, wrapping his arm around her.

"We didn't come into this expecting to be in constant motion. From the moment we got here and you said we'd build a house, I knew it would be a more permanent situation. You thought we'd stay here as long as it took for Widow to give up and for Gibbs to come looking for us, and that made sense for us." He reached for an errant strand of her hair, pushing it behind her ear, then reached for her chin and tilted it up, helping her to gaze into his eyes. "We couldn't have lived out of a bag forever anyway. Especially after Tali was born. Don't blame yourself for this."

"We could have left this afternoon though, instead of tomorrow," she pointed out, and Tony had to admit that she had a point.

"But you said that they'd go back for their reinforcements. We have a little breathing room. We'll leave as soon as you get Ashina fed and we'll be long gone before Widow gets here."

"It's just too close for comfort," she said, heaving a sigh, and Tony took her in his arms, pulling her to his chest and rubbing her back. If he was being honest with himself, he was worried, too, because they really didn't have a lot of time to get a head start on Widow's team. They'd probably spend time in the air looking for them for a few days before they actually left the area and brought dogs or other search equipment. They might even leave a few men behind just to follow their trail, if they thought they had one.

Still, it was the only hope they had, and unless they wanted to stay and fight, which was the least appealing option, they'd have to run and hope that they could get to a place where they could alert Gibbs and McGee to the fact that they were alive and needed assistance.

Tony began to laugh slightly then as something crossed his mind and Ziva drew back, looking at him quizzically. "What?" she asked, suspicious at his amusement.

"I just had a random thought," he began, pausing to laugh at his own thoughts again. "We're gonna call Gibbs for assistance, and what if we just told him that we needed diapers but nothing else?"

Ziva shook her head, groaning, "Oh my god," but she started to smile despite everything. Gibbs would have more than a few questions when they finally saw him again, and the thought of asking him only for diapers when they called the emergency line was ridiculous to the point of absurdity.

"Let's get some rest, Tony," she said, leaning forward to kiss him before lying down in the bed, drawing the sleeping bag over her shoulder when he followed, lying down beside her. "We're going to need it."

Have they been found? Will they get away in time? You'll have to wait until Sunday to find out! Thank you again for all of the lovely feedback.