A/N: Hello readers! This two-part series is packed with emotions. Tony and Ziva experience a sudden tragedy the likes of which they never had thought would happen to them. Will the DiNozzo family fall apart? Will they make it through together? Will Tony and Ziva make it through this or one of them split? Be prepared, have a box of tissues in hand! I want credit the seed for this story to this awesome TivaFanFic writer, one of best writing buddies, Jen. Thank you, Jen.
Chapter 9 Part 1
As Ziva sat at the kitchen table pouring over the weekly schedule on her laptop, she looked out the window, taking in the drab grey morning view. Sure looks cold out there, she thought to herself. Her eyes looked down at the planner, on the month of October 2038. As she peered through her reading glasses at the busy schedule, she heard footsteps making their way to the kitchen. She looked up and smiled as Tony entered. "Good morning, Tony."
Tony walked toward to Ziva and bent over to kiss her. "Hi Ziva, good morning." He stood back up and stretched out. "I did not realize I slept hard. Woke up, you weren't there, so I got up because I figured you would be here." Tony looked down and smiled at Ziva, leaning over and giving her a kiss before walking to get cup of coffee.
Ziva smiled then turn back to her laptop. "The quiet helps me to think. I thought I would let you sleep for a bit." Ziva fell silent for a moment, looking at the weekly planner. "You do realize we got a full week, right?" Ziva waved her hands in the air, looking up at Tony as he walked back to the kitchen table.
Tony set his coffee mug down on the table, then pulled out the chair and sat by Ziva. He fished for his reading glasses in the top pocket of his robe. "Let me see now." He pulled the laptop closer to him so he could look at the schedule. He then turned back to Ziva. "Wow, you're right. Busy week, indeed. What's the doctor's appointment for?" He pointed toward Ethan's name in the schedule, noting the name of the audiologist.
Ziva looked at Tony. "Mapping appointment. Also, Ethan says he thinks his sound processors aren't working right. Cutting in and out sometimes, he said. We'll see what's going on tomorrow."
Tony nodded. "Yeah, he did say something about it. He said sometimes if he just moves his head a certain way one sound processor cuts out, and then when he moves another way the other one cuts out. Dunno what to make of it. He's getting a little frustrated with it."
"I see. Good to know more of how the processors are behaving." Ziva turned back to her laptop, perusing the schedule, thoughtful. She had sensed something in Tony, but she couldn't put a finger on it.
Tony took a sip of coffee, looking at Ziva. When she didn't expand further on what she had said, Tony leaned over and looked closer at Ziva. "Hey, are you alright?"
Ziva snapped out of her thoughts. She looked up at Tony, reaching up to scratch her head. "I'm not sure. Can't put a finger on it." She looked around the room and sighed. "Sure is quiet here. Can't believe that AJ has his own apartment now in Alexandria."
Tony smiled. "Yeah. Astrophysics? Good major, I'd say. He sure loved looking at the stars, that's for sure."
Ziva chuckled lightly. "Oh, did you know he's possibly seeing a girl?" She smiled. "He's been seeing a Channah. Seems to be a sweet girl, from what he says." She smiled and batted her eyes at Tony. "They might be a thing, who knows?"
Tony chuckled. "Oh really? That's nice." He then tilted his head, and his expression changed to that of curiosity. "And now we have Becky and the twins."
Ziva nodded once. "Won't be long before Becky goes off on her own. Makes sense right now for her to stay while she's going to school in Alexandria and being close to John." Ziva started to knead her hands in thought, an undercurrent of anxiety just starting to creep up. She shook her head to herself, ever so imperceptibly.
Tony must have seen it, for he moved closer and held Ziva's hands. "Ziva, they'll be alright. Even though they're not here much, or at all now, they're only a half hour away." Tony smiled at her reassuringly. "They'll be just fine."
Ziva looked at Tony. "Don't forget, we have the twins. Five more years with them." She smiled.
Tony nodded and smiled. "Yes. We also are grandparents, so we have them as well. Tali'll come over and visit from time to time. Did Adam and Ethan ever tell you what their goals were?"
"Oh yeah, Adam mentioned something to me about wanting to be an audiologist." Ziva raised her eyebrows. "I think he saw what Ethan has gone through with his implants, and how they have helped him tremendously. Honestly, I think that is wonderful. Right up his alley." She smiled.
Tony's eyes brightened and he smiled at the thought of having a son being a doctor. "Dr. Adam DiNozzo, please come to the Audiology department, there's someone who's unable to hear instructions and his wife's getting frustrated here." He mimicked talking into a PA system paging a doctor.
Ziva tilted her eyes and rolled her eyes, but her eyes were smiling along with the smirk on her lips. "Very funny. Honestly, I think that's very admirable of Adam to want this."
Tony nodded with a chuckle, "Oh yeah, if that is what he wants, we'll be behind him every step of the way, right?" Tony looked at Ziva with a chuckle.
Ziva looked up at Tony, "I don't see why he wouldn't excel in his major. Imagine, Adam helping his own brother with his hearing."
Before Tony could say something, Ethan walked into the kitchen, then as soon as he saw them, he smiled at Ziva and Tony. "Good morning, Ima and Dad," he said, while he signed "Good morning" in conjunction.
Ziva looked up at Ethan and smiled. "Good morning. Good rest last night?" Ziva tilted her head, placing her chin in her fists, using her arms as a tripod on the kitchen table.
Ethan nodded, but before he could say something in reply, Adam walked into the kitchen and as he passed around Tony and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good morning everybody!"
"Good morning," Tony said automatically.
Ziva pinned Adam's eyes with a look of her own and shook her head once. "Were you up late playing videogames last night? Thought I was dreaming video-game sounds in my sleep until I woke up to go to the bathroom last night."
Adam chuckled and turned to Ziva. "Yeah, I played some video game with Ethan last night because I couldn't sleep."
Ethan signed "Yes" in the air, as he said, "Yeah, he woke me up and we blasted a bunch of space aliens into oblivion."
Ziva chuckled. "Well, it sounded like you were having fun last night, from the game sounds I was hearing. So, who won?" She chuckled.
"Adam!" Ethan pointed to Adam.
Simultaneously, Adam pointed to Ethan. "Ethan!"
Tony looked at the boys and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you both got tied?" Tony looked askance at the boys, as if in disbelief, but not in a serious manner.
The boys laughed at Tony's disbelieving look at them and then they looked at each other. Their eyes said volumes between each other. They both then looked back at Tony and Ziva and Adam said, "Well, maybe if we had a couple of rounds and we won one each."
Ziva and Tony looked at each other, then chuckled as they looked at the boys. Ziva sighed then said, "Alright you boys. What do you say, after breakfast, you both help your father with raking the leaves and fixing that gate in the back? I'll be out in a bit after I finish doing some things on my laptop."
Ethan and Adam looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders slightly. "Yeah, I don't mind helping out," Ethan said.
Adam nodded. "Teamwork, right? Makes things go quicker."
Ethan smiled. "Definitely."
After breakfast, the boys headed out with Tony to the backyard. Ziva returned to her laptop, her cellphone next to the laptop. As she made some phone calls, she looked out the window from time to time, watching the progress as the guys worked on fixing the broken gate, and watching as the small pile of leaves grew larger and larger as she made her own progress with the scheduling and phone calls.
Once Ziva had completed all of her business, she sighed and closed the laptop and got up and walked over to the window to see where the guys were. Locating where they were, she smiled to herself as she walked through the back door outside. She walked over to Tony, who was leaning on his rake as he was catching his breath. "Good size pile of leaves you got there." She turned to look at Tony. "Alright there?"
Tony turned around to Ziva and chuckled lightly. "Yeah. Just about done. They're finishing up the leaves." He nodded his head toward the twins who had just disappeared behind the monstrous pile of leaves.
Ziva saw them disappear behind the leaf pile. "What do you say, we sneak up on them?" She winked and smiled as she whispered to Tony.
Tony let out a small quiet chuckle. "I had the feeling you'd say that. Let's go have a little fun." Tony smiled as he took Ziva's hand and started slowly walking toward the leaf pile.
Ziva grinned, then made a show of looking around for the boys. "Oh, where are the boys?" Ziva wondered out loud, walking slowly toward the leaf pile. "I could have sworn I saw 'em standing there, and they just disappeared on us!"
Tony sniggered slightly, stifling a giggle. "Yes, vanished into thin air! Wow!" He slowly walked toward the leaf pile, zig-zagging his way toward it.
The couple could hear slight giggling sounds from the leaf pile. They sounded like they were coming from inside the leaf pile. Ziva's eyes twinkled with a smile in them as she looked toward Tony.
Tony glanced at Ziva, and their eyes met for just a moment, but it was enough for them to 'talk' to each other with their looks. Their eyes said volumes: that they knew the boys were plotting on a little surprise, and so they were able to act mock-surprised as the boys exploded out of the leaf pile, sending leaves flying all over.
"Got you both!" Adam yelled as Adam and Ethan jumped out of the pile toward Tony and Ziva.
Ziva squealed in laughter as she caught some of the leaves and threw them back at the boys. "Oh! You got us alright!"
Tony laughed and grabbed a handful of leaves and shoved them down the back of Adam's shirt. "Got you back!" Tony tripped and fell into the leaf pile, landing with a very soft poof!
Ethan threw a bunch of leaves up into the air, making it rain leaves. "Make it rain! Make it rain!" He kept making a rainfall of leaves for a few moments, enveloping all of them in a cloud of leaves.
Adam jumped up laughing, pulling leaves out of the back of his shirt and throwing them in all directions. He took a few quick steps out of the pile and grabbed his phone out of his pocket to snap a couple of quick pictures of them all having fun in the leaves.
Later that afternoon, they headed out to a pizzeria, where they met up with McGee and John. As they waited to be seated, AJ and Becky showed up. "Good time to get out, eh?" Tony turned to McGee, then back to Ziva.
"Yup. Always loved Leo's." McGee looked around briefly, taking in the scents of the wood-fired pizza that the pizzeria served. "Nobody does wood-fired pizza better than Leo's."
Just then, the waitress ushered them back to a large round table and seated everyone. As everyone was taking their seats, Tony's eyes scanned around the room, before they settled onto everyone around him. He reached out and held Ziva's hand and looked at her. He sighed and smiled. "Yup, good to have everybody out here, enjoying a good time."
"Oh yes. Not the same without my Ima, Tali, Ben, and their beautiful babies being here, though." Ziva sighed and smiled. "I miss them. It feels more complete when they are with us, right?" Ziva looked up at Tony, smiling gently.
"Oh yeah, but the holidays are coming soon enough. They're all coming over, so it'll feel normal again. More complete, I mean." Tony squeezed her hand gently in a reassuring manner. "Those little squirts sure are growing up, can you believe it?"
Ziva nodded with a smile, thinking about the grand-babies as she looked at their adult children laughing as they was ribbing with each other. She turned to look at Tony. "Look at them. Amazing how well they get along with each other. Like brothers and sisters." She laughed at some of the antics that was happening in front of them.
Tony chuckled along with Ziva. "Well, you realize all this is the ElfLord's fault." Tony raised his hands in air, looking at McGee with a mock-serious look, then bursting out in laughter.
Ziva looked at McGee, raising an eyebrow. "That's right, look. You got your son taking over the ElfLord role over there and teaching our kids the ElfLord discipleship."
"Well, I am not sure if they'll be able to be full-time ElfLords if they had other things to do, like earn money?" McGee muttered with a chuckle, almost to himself.
Something in his voice caused Tony to turn to McGee. "Other things like what?"
Before McGee could reply, AJ spoke up. "Uncle Tim, what if I could be the ElfLord on my day shift, and I look at the stars and do my astrophysics thing at night?" AJ tilted his head and smiled. "You know, you only see the stars at night time?"
Tony chuckled as McGee's face changed. "He got you there, McGeek."
McGee realized that AJ had just caught him off guard. He hadn't thought about how astronomers and astrophysicists made their living: mostly by working the night shift, observing the skies, studying the workings of outer space. "Hmm, you do have a valid point there. I just didn't think about that. So used to the day life."
Ziva shook her head, laughing. "Oh you boys wracking each other's minds." She glanced over at McGee, whose face said it all.
Becky giggled. "They're something, aren't they, Ima?"
Ziva smiled. "The monkey squad is out in full force."
John got up and imitated a monkey, making hooting sounds, as he walked past them to the salad bar. "Let us monkeys have fun and eat, right?"
Ziva chuckled as she picked up her fork and moved her salad around a bit. "It's all your fault for roping me into this, Tony." She reached out and stroked his cheek. "But I loved every minute of it."
Everyone giggled as they looked at Ziva and Tony's sweet ribbing at each other then McGee spoke up, "Just like old times," McGee pondered with a smile as he looked at the teens having fun with each other.
"Oh yeah, it never gets old right?" Ziva looked sidelong at McGee.
"Nope, never gets old. Loving every minute of it." McGee nodded with a smile.
Tony turned to McGee. "Oh, hey. Just remembered something. I might need your magic McGeek touch to get my laptop to work again. You busy tomorrow?"
"Again? What are you putting on there now, Tony? More unnecessary stuff?" McGee ribbed Tony. He knew that Tony knew better, but he still liked to tease Tony every so often because he knew technology wasn't necessarily Tony's strong suit.
AJ looked up, hearing Tony ask about some help with the laptop. "Yeah, Uncle Tim, his laptop's acting wonky again. Something to do with the video display flipping itself backward every so often."
McGee looked at AJ. "What'd you do to try to fix it?"
"I tried everything I could think of short of a sledgehammer adjustment. I think it's the video chip going bad." AJ sighed and shrugged. "Kind of hard to duplicate the problem at will, it's random.
John nodded. "Video flipping back and forth, gotta be a bad video chip. Of course if you run 'em too hot they do that as well."
AJ nodded, "Tell me about it" AJ raised his eyebrow, "Like I said, I tried to help Dad with it, but you're much better at this than I am." AJ shrugged and raised his hands in the air as he looked at McGee.
Ziva chuckled, then spoke up. "Tony, you're talking about the old laptop from work? The one we had to replace after the lab rat spilling her awful concoction on it?"
Tony winced slightly at the memory. "Yeah, that lab squirrel." He shook his head slightly, then turned to Ziva. "Yeah, I'm using it for now, because I'm trying to get my stuff over to the new laptop, but it's not working right." He turned to McGee. "I was going to let the kids have it once I got all the data moved over and cleaned off the laptop."
McGee raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "Sure, I can come over and see what's up with the laptop. Hopefully it's just a video driver problem." He turned to John. "Got anything planned tomorrow, John?"
John sipped his drink then put it down, looking at his father, "Nope, no plans tomorrow. I do know Becky's got class tomorrow, right?" John turned to Becky as he said the last word.
Becky nodded. "I need to be there early tomorrow morning, I need to drive to Alexandria. Just doing my general ed classes this year, remember?" Becky tilted her head toward John, smiles.
Before John could answer, AJ spoke up. "I got classes all day long, so I'll be stuck in Alexandria until much later."
Adam looked crestfallen as he heard AJ had said. "But, Anthony! You promised me and Ethan that we'd go riding our bikes together out on the back country road, please?" Adam tilted his head toward AJ, with a slight frown on his face.
Ethan clapped AJ on his shoulder. "Yeah, AJ, you told us earlier before we came here, that you'll hang with us tomorrow. But now you say you're having classes all day long?"
AJ looked at the twins. "Yes, but that was before I realized that I had my schedule mixed up. Thought I was having chem class today, but I checked. It's tomorrow. Still getting used to the new schedule." He patted Adam on his arm. "I promise you, tomorrow after classes."
Adam slumped in his chair. "Yeah, right. You've been doing that lately."
Ethan nodded. "Classes and your girlfriend."
AJ scoffed. "She's not my girlfriend." He made air-quotes around the word girlfriend. "She's just a friend of mine from the astronomy club."
"Okay!" Ziva raised her hands in the air, to forestall any further argument from the boys. "You boys, not here." She sighed and looked intently into their eyes. "Look, I'll tell you the plan for tomorrow, because tomorrow's going to be busy for all of us."
"Whoa, now." Tony held up his hands, looking at Ziva, signaling with his eyes that he's got her back. He then looked at AJ. "He's right," he pointed to Ethan, and then pointing to Ziva, "and she's also right. Look, don't make promises to your brothers and sisters when you don't have a guarantee that you're going to be able to keep it."
AJ muttered his assent.
Tony glanced at Ziva, then looked back at AJ. "We've got a full plate tomorrow, but you've still got time to spend with Ethan and Adam when you get out from class. You're only half an hour away." Tony raised an eyebrow at AJ.
"Ethan's got an ear doctor appointment tomorrow morning. We should be back before you know it." She turned to Adam. "McGee and John will be coming over tomorrow anyway, because Uncle Tim's got to work on your dad's laptop. While John's waiting for Becky, he can hang out with you and go for a bike ride with you. Then when we get back, we'll all ride together. How's that sound?" Ziva smiled at Adam.
Ethan looked at Ziva with a questioning look on his face. "Oh, a doctor's appointment for me? To fix my sound processors?" He sat up further. "That's right, I forgot about that."
AJ sat up suddenly, an idea in his head. "I'll tell you what. The last class I got is just a flex class, I can skip it tomorrow and come over a little earlier and spend some time with you all."
Becky looked at her brothers. "You know what, I've got an idea. When I get back, maybe John and I can take you boys on a bike ride wherever you guys want to go." Becky smiled at them, trying to cheer them up.
John spoke up. "She's right. We could go for a bike ride together, spend some time together, just you and me, until Bec' gets back." John smiled at Adam. "When Ethan gets back, we can all go out for an ice cream or something, meet up with AJ."
Adam's face lit up. "Oh, yeah! That sounds like a good idea. We can do that, when you get back, right, Ethan?" Adam held out a fist for a fist-bump from Ethan.
John and AJ held out their fists for a fist-bump from the twins. "Right on, elf-lets." John chuckled.
Becky laughed and shook her head with a smile on her face. "Boom." She put her fist-bump into the mix.
Tony and Ziva sighed out a sigh of relief as they looked at each other. They loved it when the problem worked itself out in front of their eyes. Ziva turned to Tony. "I think we did good," she whispered to Tony.
Tony looked at her out of the corner of his eyes and nodded slightly. "Yeah. Very close, now. Just a dash of seasoning."
Ziva chuckled. "I think it'll all work out tomorrow in the end."
Next morning, while Ziva and Tony went about their getting-ready routine, she could hear the boys chatting across the room. She glanced up at them and smiled. She then looked over at Tony. "Love hearing them talk. Just the sound of their voices." Ziva chuckles as she looked on the boys.
"Yeah. So alike, yet so different." Tony wrinkled his face in puzzlement. "Almost like there's two worlds apart living together and so in peace."
Ziva looked into Tony's eyes. "What do you mean?"
Tony sighed. "Well, you've got Adam, who's got perfect hearing." He held out one hand. "Then you've got Ethan, with no hearing without his sound processors." He held out another hand, then slowly brought them together. "And yet, they're, like the yin and yang." He smiled. "I've never really understood what made that tick. But I love seeing it just the same."
Ziva smiled. "They're twins, you're not supposed to understand how the bond between twins work to begin with. Especially identical twins."
Tony sat up. "So maybe that twins thing gets in the way of Ethan's audiology appointment." Tony was referring to how they always had their inside jokes where they would spontaneously laugh at each other.
Ziva nodded, "Oh yes. You know how Adam is when Ethan's trying to focus on his mapping sessions. This time, Ethan wanted to go alone because of his sound processors. Remember, they're not working right." Ziva blinked at Tony, then let out a short sigh. "I don't like taking him without Adam, but I do understand this time." She looked out at the boys, then back up at Tony.
Tony nodded. "Hey, it's only a couple of hours or so, right?"
Ziva nodded. "We'll be back before they know it. It shouldn't take too long." She smiled at Tony reassuringly, then stroked his cheek. They then looked out to the living room.
Adam and Ethan stood facing each other in the living room. "Ethan, I hope it all goes well with mapping appointment. I think it'll go real well and you'll pass with flying colors." Adam giggled.
"Oh yeah, I hope they can at least fix it. Be nice to get new ones, though. If it can be fixed, hopefully it's something easy to fix." Ethan nodded as he pondered the possibilities with regard to his sound processors.
Adam nodded gently. "Maybe a software update. Who knows, you might get an upgrade to the new sound processor that they just came out with." He smiled. "You hear about that one?"
"I did hear about it. Sounds cool that I could connect to whatever sound system with just a glance at whatever device I want, and the sound processor just connects. I might go with a different color this time. Not red." Ethan perked up with a smile.
Adam nodded with a thumb up in air. "Going for pink this time?"
Ethan erupted into laughter. "No way! You ain't gonna catch me dead with a pink sound processor." He tweaked his voice to sound more girlish. "Hello, Barbie, do you like my new sound processors? Oh, yes! They're beautiful!" Ethan shook his head and reverted back to his normal voice. "Nope. Not happening."
"Okay, what color are you gonna see about adding to your collection?" Adam asked, suppressing a chuckle.
Ethan smiled and looked at Adam. "What color should I pick this time?
Adam looked at Ethan and smiled back. "Hopefully you can get neon green similar to my bike." Adam giggled.
Ethan raised his eyebrow, "Hmm, I don't think I have that color. I'll see what they can do. I am sure Dad and Ima will agree with you. It'll be very noticeable when I ride my bike. It'll stand out just like my bike."
"I think that color would offset that neon orange and black on your bike just right. You'd be one badass neon Star Trek bike rider with that thing making your head glow like a radioactive dump from miles away." Adam signed beams of glowing radiation shooting out from both sides of his head. "Aircraft'll have to divert around you just to make sure they don't run into you." Adam chuckled while patting Ethan on the shoulder.
Ethan burst out into laughter at the image of radiation shooting out from his head. "Yeah, blind people, even, it'd be so bright neon." He took a pause to catch a breath. Before he could say anything further to Adam, Ziva walked into the room toward them and reached out her arms to Ethan and Adam and encircled them into her hug. Tony stood, watching Ziva, observing how she cherished the twins so. He sighed wistfully, wondering how she had that bond with the twins, whereas he had his own internal little struggles.
Adam looked up at Ziva and smiled. "Ima, it'll be alright. I'll still be here when you all get back." Adam sensed a slight undercurrent of worry in Ziva's eyes. "I'll hang out with John, like we said."
Ziva nodded, "I know you'll be alright. We'll make it up later today." Ziva smiled and stroked Adam's cheek, then kissed him on the top of his head.
Tony walked up to Adam and smiled. "Your Ima's right. We'll be in touch when we're out and about, okay?" He clapped Adam on the shoulder. "I love you my little man, just the same as Ethan." Tony raised his eyebrow, smiling at Adam, giving him a great hug.
Ethan turned his head and looked out the window, for something had caught his eye. He suddenly ran to the window. "Looks like Uncle Tim's here!"
Adam turned to look out the window. "Oh, and look, John just got here, too." He pointed out the window at John's car pulling up beside McGee's.
They all went out of the entryway to meet up with McGee and John. As they stepped out of the doorway, John and McGee both got out of their cars with smiles on their faces. "Good morning to you all!" McGee called out.
A chorus of "Good morning!" reached his and John's ears. "Ready for the day? John asked.
Ethan piped up. "Yup! On my way to the audiologist now!" He ran past John, giving him a high-five on the way to the family SUV.
"Rock on!" John said to him, holding out the rock-on sign.
As Ethan clambered into the rear seat of the SUV, Adam ran up to the SUV, meeting it as the door closed. Using sign language, Adam said, "Neon green, right?"
Tony and Ziva could see into the SUV as they walked toward it; Ethan was signing something to Adam that they couldn't quite catch due to the angle of view.
"Hope you can get his laptop back up and running so he can continue transferring all his stuff over to the new one." Ziva smiled at McGee. "It's been long enough that he put it off now."
McGee chuckled. "Not enough time in the day, right? Or little elflets taking the laptop from time to time?"
McGee shifted his stance slightly and tilted his head. "So, when exactly did the problem start with the laptop?"
"Huh?" Tony turned his head toward McGee. "Oh, like three-four days ago, I think? Adam came to me saying he was getting a little frustrated with that thing, because it was spitting out some weird error message every time he was trying to do something with it. Photo editing, I guess, trying to help Ethan with a project he had."
McGee raised an eyebrow. "Hm. Okay, I'll see what's what with the laptop. I might want to use your new one to help transfer all the data over just in case."
"Would you? Oh, that'd be great." Tony sighed. "You'd probably get it done much faster than I could."
Ziva looked over at the SUV, where Adam and Ethan were still talking. All of a sudden, she had a slight sense of unease, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She sighed internally and shook her head imperceptibly. "Tony, ready to go?" She turned to Tony.
"Oh, yeah. Better hit the road. If that laptop gives you a hard time, you're welcome to take the hard drive out, copy whatever you can over, and then introduce it to the sledgehammer in the garage." Tony chuckled and walked off to the SUV and got in, and Ziva followed behind.
McGee laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Hope you have better luck than Tony." Ziva called out just before she got into the car.
McGee waved back at them and smiled. "I'll try my best."
Ziva heard a tapping on the window behind her. She turned around and caught in her peripheral vision Adam signing the ILY sign to Ethan and Ethan returning it to him. "Ready, Ethan?"
"Yup!" Ethan said from the back seat.
Ziva turned back and stopped at the passenger window to look at Adam. She smiled and signed ILY to Adam. "We'll be back soon," she said through the rolled-down window.
"I love you. I'll be fine with John. We'll be careful on the bikes," he said, signing the word "bikes". He smiled at Ziva, then reached through the window to hug her goodbye.
Ziva replied, "See you soon."
Tony called out. "Hey, little man! Ride safe, you hear? We'll go out afterwards, have a good time, all of us." He waved goodbye, then put the SUV in gear and started backing out. Little did they know what would happen later that day.
McGee smiled and went back into the DiNozzo residence, followed by John and Adam. He paused in the living room and looked around. "Alright, where's the laptop?"
Adam walked past McGee and pointed toward the kitchen table. "It's over here, all ready for you. Let's go in the garage and get the bikes out, John." He waved John along to follow him.
"Ah, there it is. Hey, Adam?" McGee called out.
Adam's head poked back through the garage entryway. "Yeah?"
McGee looked up from opening up the laptop. "Where's the new one, just in case?"
"Oh, yeah." Adam walked back to the office and returned with the new laptop as McGee settled in to work on the old laptop, making sure it was hooked up to wall power.
"Thanks, Adam." McGee smiled.
Adam smiled and nodded. "Not a problem." He led John back out to the garage.
"Okay, let's see where they are." John flipped on the garage light, and spotted the bikes leaning against the far side of the garage. "Ah, there they are."
Adam stopped midway. "Oh, that's right, I forgot." He turned to get Tony's toolbox and set it in the middle of the garage floor. "I gotta fix the bike. Flat tire, broken chain."
John chuckled. "Oh, yeah, you've been putting it off for a while?"
Adam laughed. "Yeah, pro tip: don't try taking flying lessons off the hill like I did. Faceplant territory right there."
"Yeah, no!" John laughed. "Sure gave your parents a scare that day when you went headlong over those handlebars."
Adam got his bike off the wall, brought it over, and turned it upside down and took the wheels off. "Yeah, and it wasn't even my fault. If it wasn't for that dog -"
"Right. I hate strays getting loose." John shook his head. "Always getting into people's way. I just wish people'd keep their pets under control, y'know, keep 'em from getting loose all the time." He sighed and opened the toolbox.
"Now I gotta replace the chain. See – it's all bent out of line." Adam pointed out the kink in the chain. He got the chain-breaker out of the toolbox and started driving a pin out of the chain with the tool to break the chain link.
"Got a new chain?" John looked up at the bench.
Adam looked up. "Yeah, it's up on the bench. Left side, near the organizer bins." He pointed toward the hardware organizer bins.
"Oh – I see it." John walked over to get it.
Meanwhile, Tony, Ziva and Ethan had arrived at the audiologist's office. After they had checked in at the waiting room, Ethan took a seat in the waiting room and took out his phone and started doing something on his phone. As Tony and Ziva sat down across from him, Tony looked at Ziva. "Ziva, you doing alright?" Tony whispered to Ziva as he leaned closer to Ziva's ear.
Ziva looked up at Tony. "Not sure. Just a sense." She sighed and slumped in her chair slightly. "Couldn't sleep well last night for some reason. Something's off and I don't know what it is," she whispered quietly.
Tony inhaled then, slowly exhaled while he nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that you were flopping around like a fish out of water all night. Are you sure you're okay?" Tony shifted himself slightly toward Ziva. "Did the cuddling help?"
Ziva nodded, "Some. The cuddling always helps in some way or another." She smiled for a moment. "But it's not that." She looked at Tony. Her eyes said it all to Tony: that she was worried that something might happen to her family. She sighed, dropping her gaze after a moment and leaning her head on Tony's shoulder.
Tony sighed and mulled over what she just said for a moment, then put his arm around Ziva and held her. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's no big deal." He shrugged. "I'm sure everything will turn out just fine with this appointment."
But Ziva wasn't thinking about the appointment. Her senses told her otherwise, but she put her thoughts aside for now. "You're right. I think it'll be fine." She smiled at Tony.
Ethan noticed his parents leaning on each other. "Dad, Ima, you all good?" He smiled slightly, looking at the two.
Ziva sat up straight, looking at Ethan. "Yeah. Just a little tired, but no big deal. Maybe a lunch after this will wake me up, sounds good?" Ziva smiled at Ethan.
Ethan nodded with a smile. "Yeah sounds good." He returned to his phone.
Tony looked at Ethan, then slowly looked back at Ziva. He didn't speak, but his eyes said, "Kids do sense feelings, you know."
Ziva's formed a small, wry grin as she nodded. Her eyes conveyed that she knew. She swallowed the lump in her throat that had suddenly formed. An undercurrent of anxiety crept up under the surface, and she pursed her lips and exhaled slowly.
Tony rubbed Ziva's back. "Hey. It'll be alright." He whispered into her ear.
"DiNozzo?" Three heads popped up toward the door that led toward the examination rooms, where a nurse stood.
"Yeah, that's us." Tony said as he, Ziva, and Ethan stood up and walked toward the nurse.
Back at the Rose Hill house, McGee had just finished working on the laptop when John and Adam walked back into the house from the garage. McGee looked up at them. "Well. That went better than expected, even though the video adapter on the old laptop went kaput."
John stopped and looked at the two laptops. "Yeah? Old laptop give up the ghost?"
"Yup." McGee raised an eyebrow. "Still, I got all the pictures, work files, banking info, all that important stuff transferred over to the new laptop." He smiled. "I was working on the setup and configuration files when the hard drive went -" McGee made a grinding sound and his hand mimicked gears grinding themselves to destruction.
Adam let out a short chuckle. "Like the click of death?"
John smiled, but shook his head. "Slightly different, but worse. Basically, these older hard drives, when they die, you can't get anything off them again – ever."
McGee looked at John and laughed. "Man, this laptop. Surprised it's lasted this long, to be honest." He sighed. "This wasn't even the original laptop that we got Tony."
"Oh?" John looked at McGee, suddenly interested. "How come?"
Adam ran his hand across the now-dead laptop. "What's the story behind that?"
McGee took a deep breath. "Well, it was your dad's work laptop, and one day there was a liquid mishap, not of his own fault. So, we had to get a new laptop and move the hard drive from that laptop to the new one. That one." He chuckled. "He didn't know we had replaced it, until much later."
John and Adam laughed. "Ohh, so you snuck him a new laptop because you spilled something on it?" John raised an eyebrow.
"No, it was a coworker. That over-excited lab rat, er, I mean lab squirrel." McGee smiled. "She just had to wear those tall boots and come running in with that Caf-POW drink and trip all over herself and get it all over the laptop."
"Ahah, how'd he find out?" Adam chortled.
"Well, he sat down the next day and started typing and immediately noticed the difference in the key response." McGee's face was blank for a moment, then he paused in putting his tools away and leaned over a bit. "I swear, his fingers don't miss much on keyboards." He stage-whispered.
"That's funny. He could actually feel the difference?" John chuckled.
McGee smiled at John. "Swear to God. We did a blind test later on. He could tell the difference between an older model keyboard and a Chinese near-exact copy. I'm impressed."
Adam smiled. "So what did he say?"
McGee smiled. "First few letters he typed, then he said, 'Wow, the key weighting feels... different.' Then he looked up at me and asked me what did I do to his laptop. I just pointed to your Ima, and she pointed to me."
The boys laughed. John said, "Did he find out eventually?"
"No, yeah, we told him then. He wasn't too appreciative of that lab squirrel, but was happy that he got a better than new laptop out of the whole deal. Took a little extra work to make it 'better than new', especially considering that I had to swap hard drives."
"That makes sense that you and Ima got him a new laptop then," Adam looked up to John. "We ready to go out for a ride out on the back country road while we wait for everyone to come home?"
McGee looked up at Adam and John as he snapped his computer toolkit shut. "Yup. Since I'm done here, I'm gonna head home. I'll take the dead laptop for disposal on the way home. It shouldn't be long before Becky gets back, I think." McGee smiled. "Just be careful around the forested area. There's been some idiotic drivers over there recently." McGee stood up and smiled. "You both have fun, alright? Keep in touch."
John nodded as they walked out to McGee's car. "I'll be careful out there. I'll keep an eye on Adam as well."
McGee nodded as he got into his car. "See you in a while." He smiled as he put his car into gear and backed out of the driveway.
John and Adam smiled at the retreating car, then went back to the garage. "Okay, let's see if the tires held any air." Adam felt his tires. Still rock solid. "Good, my patch job held. How's your tires?" He looked up at John.
"Front's flat." He got the pump and put air into the tire, then waited for a few moments. There was a quiet hissing sound, and he looked for the sound, stopping at the valve stem. "Oh, that thing." He tightened the valve stem, and it stopped leaking. "Now we're good."
Just then, they heard the sound of ringing, and John suddenly looked down at his pocket and pulled his cellphone out and answered it. "Hello?" After a moment, his face brightened. "Oh, hi, Bec'! Yes, we're about to go for a bike ride." He listened for a few moments, then said, "Yup, see you then." He smiled as he hung up the phone.
"Becky?" Adam asked.
"Yup. We got about, oh, half an hour to 45 minutes until she gets home." John smiled and got on his bike.
Before Adam could get on his bike, his phone dinged. "Oh!" Adam pulled his phone out and looked at the display. It was Ethan Face-Timing Adam. "It's Ethan calling." Adam's face brightened into a smile.
"Go ahead, answer it." John encouraged him, smiling. "See what he's got to say."
Adam answered the phone. Ethan's face popped up on the screen. He was smiling. "Adam, we just got done with the appointment. Hearing test passed with flying colors!"
"Alright, rock on! Did they fix the sound processor?" Adam asked, smiling.
Ethan shook his head with a bummed look. "Nope. Wasn't fixable." His face suddenly brightened. "But! Guess what. Look at this!" He turned his head, to reveal a bright neon green sound processor and headpiece.
"Oh, you got the new one! And in neon green, too!" Adam said excitedly.
"Yup! Now I can rock on!" Ethan smiled and held out the rock-on sign on screen.
John and Adam laughed on-screen, and their voices could be heard. "Alright, Ethan, we're getting ready to head out for a bike ride. Catch you later." Adam waved. "You on your way home now?"
Ethan nodded. "Yeah I think we are coming home," Ethan said as he looked up toward Tony and Ziva. "Right?"
Ziva turned around and spoke up. "Yeah, we're on our way home. See you when we get home." She smiled.
"Right, bye." Adam's face dissolved from Ethan's display as he hung up.
Ethan smiled as he put his phone away. "See you later, brother," he muttered to himself as he looked at Tony and Ziva. He then sat back in his seat and watched out the window and drifted off to sleep.
Adam smiled and slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Now I'm ready." He walked the bike out of the garage, and as John followed behind with his bike, he hit the door-close button to let the garage door close.
"Let's go." John got on his bike with a smile on his face and then pushed off.
A few moments later, as they were riding down a deserted country road, they stopped for a moment to take in the sounds, enjoying the cool day. They could see cars and trucks rumbling by on the distant highway, hear the occasional tractor or ATV closer by. "Nice day to be out, right?" John called back to Adam, who just pulled up.
"Yeah, it's just right out. Not too hot, not too cold." A small cloud of moisture formed in Adam's breath; it was in the mid-50s in the sun, mid-40s in the shade.
John nodded. "Perfect day to get our blood pumping." He set off on his bike.
Adam pushed off on his bike, keeping close pace with John. "Yup!"
A moment later, the sound of loud music reached their ears, slowly increasing in volume. They both took a quick glance backward, to see a dirty yellow car catching up to them, weaving slightly.
"Adam, stay close!" John looked back front, to make sure he didn't go off the road, then glanced back again. He breathed a sigh of relief as Adam moved closer to the shoulder and the car moved to the other side farther away from them.
Adam let out a short sharp breath as he felt the wind from the car as it sped past them. "Hey, slow down, you crazy driver!" He yelled at the car, cursing in Hebrew.
John raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "I don't know what he was on, but he's dangerous." He looked back at Adam, who had just caught up with him. "What did you say to him back there?"
Adam laughed. "Oh, some ancient Hebrew curses, nothing serious."
John laughed. They continued on riding.
A few minutes later, they reached a street that led to a T-intersection. They stopped for a moment, to admire the wide open view of fields and few trees. "Well, I think we need to start heading back home, right?" John looked at Adam.
Adam looked in the general direction of their house. "Yeah, it's about that time we need to be heading back." He pushed off on his bike and started riding down toward the T-intersection.
John took off after Adam, catching up to him, and riding double file. "I think we got enough time to get there before everybody else." He dropped back to ride single-file behind Adam.
Adam looked briefly at John and flashed a smile. "Yeah, and then we can talk with Ethan about his new sound processors and all that." He looked back to the road ahead.
Moments later, the same loud music drifted to their ears, and they rolled their eyes.
"Not again," John muttered to himself. He looked back. The car was driving in fits and starts and weaving erratically. He quickly looked ahead to Adam. "Adam, go! He's drunk!" He put all his effort into making his bike go faster.
Adam quickly glanced backwards. "Oh, shit!" He pedaled harder, looking forward again.
But it was too late. The dirty yellow car's engine clattered as it brushed John, knocking him to the ground, opening up a gash on his forehead. "Adaaaaam!" He screamed as the car struck him and sent him flying through the air. Stars filled John's head as he heard the rending sound of metal on metal as the car ran over Adam's bike.
Adam's body fell onto the ground next to the road with a sickening thud.
"Nooo!" John tried to get up, but fell down, dizzy from the impact. He crawled to Adam and held him in his arms.
As Tony was driving the SUV, he was mulling over today's appointment at the audiologist, thinking of how excited Ethan was with his new sound processors, and all the new features that would help enhance his hearing and connectivity, he glanced over at Ziva. She looked deep in thought, slight anxiety lines criss-crossing her forehead. He glanced over again. "You okay, babe?"
Ziva shook her head. "I'm sure it's nothing." She glanced in the mirror looking behind her. She noticed something in Ethan's face, but before she could say something, Ethan jerked slightly. She gasped and turned around quickly to look at Ethan. His face looked very still, unmoving. "Tony! Pull over!" She sat back and looked at him.
Tony abruptly pulled the car over to the shoulder and stood on the brake, slowing the SUV down reasonably quickly, causing Ethan to jerk awake. "You alright back there, bud?" He spun in his seat, looking at Ethan.
Ethan looked disoriented. "Yeah, what happened?"
Ziva looked back toward Ethan. "You gave us a scare there. Are you alright?"
Ethan shook his head and grew real still. His face showed signs of being sick. Ziva opened the door. "Let me sit in back with him!"
"Yup." Tony nodded.
"Do you need Dad to be with you?"
Ethan nodded gently. "Maybe," he whispered, rubbing his stomach.
Tony got out of his seat and walked back to the rear door and opened it to see Ethan. Just as he opened the door, Ethan turned around to Tony. "Daddy, I think I am going to -" He couldn't finish the sentence before throwing up all over Tony.
Ziva gasped. "Oh, no!" She steadied Ethan as he threw up.
Tony stood there, speechless for a moment, looking down at the stain down the front of his shirt and pants. He then looked back up at Ethan. "You feel better now?"
Slight beads of sweat formed on Ethan's forehead. "I think I'm fine now." He sat back, breathing raspily.
Ziva shushed Ethan, comforting him. "It'll be alright." She wiped away the sweat.
Tony sighed, then walked toward the rear of the SUV and opened it and got out a spare shirt he had in the back. He walked around to the passenger side and stripped his stained shirt off, and used it to wipe the vomit off his pants before stuffing it into a plastic bag. He then put the spare shirt on, not realizing that it was inside-out. He then walked around back, tossing the tied-up bag into the back and closing it. He sighed as he reached the rear door. He looked inside. "Hey, little man." He reached out and patted Ethan gently. "Rest on your Ima's lap. We're heading home now."
Ziva smiled strainedly. "I think that's a good idea, Tony."
Tony nodded as he put the SUV in gear, and pulled out into the flow of traffic, merging at the right time. "Yup. Let's hope that it was all from the excitement from getting the new sound processor." He smiled into the rear-view mirror at Ziva.
Ziva frowned. She looked down at Ethan, who looked like he was okay again, but sleeping. Suddenly, Ethan's arms jerked and started convulsing. She screamed. "Tony! He's seizing!"
Tony quickly looked back at Ziva and Ethan, then back up front. "Hold on, I'm taking him in to the hospital. It's not that far!" He hit the hazard lights, and stomped on the throttle, weaving his way through traffic, pointing the SUV toward the hospital.
"Careful!" Ziva called out; Tony almost slammed into a patrol car that was merging into traffic.
The sound of sirens sounded behind them and lights flashed in his rear-view mirror. "Shit, the cops!" He rolled down the window and slowed down beside the cop, who was speeding up beside him.
"Pull over!" The officer screamed out his window.
"My son's seizing! I need the hospital now!" Tony screamed back before looking ahead of him.
"Tony!" Ethan had gone limp in Ziva's arm; he was now breathing normally again. Pools of sweat lined his collar and stained his underarms. "He's stopped seizing, but is still breathing." Ziva glanced at the time on the radio. It had been five minutes or so since he had seized. 1:27. She noted the time that Ethan had stopped seizing.
The cop nodded. "I'll give you an escort!" He sped up ahead of him and kept his lights and sirens blaring as he cleared a path toward the hospital.
"Right!" He fell in behind the cop and raced toward the hospital.
Moments after they arrived at emergency department, a few nurses ran out to meet the SUV and opened the door and scooped Ethan up, put him on the stretcher, and rushed him into the ER. Ziva got out and ran after him while Tony drove off to park the SUV.
"How's he doing now?" The attending nurse asked as he pushed Ethan down the hallway and into the closest emergency bay.
"He got sick, we pulled over, he threw up, then started seizing." Ziva took a breath. "Lasted five minutes, stopped at 1:27." She looked down at Ethan, surrounded by nurses doing a rapid head-to-toe exam.
The nurse looked up. "Any history?"
"No – yes, I mean, not since he was two." Ziva sighed. "Meningitis-related."
"Okay, that would explain the implants." The nurse nodded. "Went deaf from it?"
Ziva nodded. "Yes, he hasn't had a seizure since, until now. I just assumed that it was due to the fever."
The nurse nodded. "You're right, it does happen. What brought this on, do you know?"
Just then, Tony walked into the room. "Oh, good, here you are."
Ziva glanced at Tony, then back at the nurse. "No, actually, he was just a happy boy, excited about his new sound processors that he got." She looked back at Tony. "Did you notice anything unusual about him?"
Tony shrugged his shoulder. "Nope. This was totally out of the blue."
"Hm. Well, we might want to keep him overnight, just to be sure." The nurse closed the chart. "Why don't you step out into the waiting room for a few minutes, and I'll have the doctor come and find you. Shouldn't be too long."
"Alright, sounds good. What kind of tests would be run on him?" Tony looked around the room.
The nurse looked at him. "The doctor will come in and look at him, determine what tests need to be run on him."
Just then, Tony's phone rang. He looked down at his pocket.
"Go, Tony. I'll stay with him. Answer it." Ziva waved Tony out of the room.
Tony chuckled and stepped out of the room and walked toward the waiting room as he pulled his phone out and answered it. "Hello?"
"About time you answered! I've been trying to get ahold of you." McGee's voice filtered through the speaker. His voice was tinged with urgency.
"Why, what's going on?" Tony stopped mid-stride in the waiting room. "Is everything alright?"
"No, I'm just now entering the emergency room," McGee said. "Where are you?"
"Standing in the middle of the waiting room... watching you enter." His eyes saw McGee entering the waiting room, and his hand dropped to the side, letting the phone clatter to the ground.
McGee took a couple steps and looked up and stopped dead in his tracks as soon as his eyes caught sight of Tony. He lowered his phone hand. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same of you. Had to bring Ethan in, he got real sick." Tony bent over to pick up his phone, then walked over to McGee. "Just got a call and was told to come here by some nurse, that there's been some sort of accident."
"No! Are they okay?" Tony gasped.
McGee walked over to the intake nurse. "That's what I'm about to find out." He turned to the intake nurse. "Timothy McGee here, I was told to come here?"
"One moment." The intake nurse typed in a couple of things onto her terminal. After a moment, the terminal beeped in affirmation. "Yes, is your son John McGee?"
"Yes, that's him, why, is he okay?" McGee asked.
The intake nurse stood up. "Let me take you back to see him." She guided McGee through the doorways.
"Hey, where's Adam?" Tony called out after McGee.
McGee stopped in the middle of the double doorways with a pale look on his face. "He was with John... oh, shit." He ran into the emergency department.
Tony ran back into the emergency department where Ethan lay, now with an IV running into one of his hands. He stopped at the foot of the bed, his face ashen.
Ziva looked up and gasped when she saw Tony's face. "What is it?"
Tony gulped, looking at Ethan. He looked back at Ziva. "There's been an accident, McGee's here. I think they brought John in just now."
Ziva gasped, her anxiety shrilling in her ears, and she mustered all her mental strength into trying to relax, using her breathing exercises, but failing somewhat. A tear leaked out of her eye. Tony rushed over to hold her in an effort to calm her. "Adam?" Ziva's eyes flashed with an undercurrent of emotion. They telegraphed her desire to know more. "Find out, will you?"
Tony nodded. "I'll go see where McGee is." He stepped out of the room and looked for McGee, finding him just a couple bays away.
McGee quickly stood up at the sight of Tony. "They took him in for a scan, he just came back. Now, I'm just waiting to hear the results." McGee's phone dinged. Irritatedly, he pulled his phone out, jabbed at the screen, then shoved it back into his pocket.
Tony looked at McGee's phone. "Problem?"
McGee sighed. "Yeah, a Delilah problem. She won't shut up." He glanced over at John. "Thank goodness he's sleeping now. They gave him something to knock him out, he was in real bad pain with that gash on his head."
Tony grabbed McGee by the shoulders. "Did they say anything about Adam?"
McGee stopped himself, looking slightly dazed. "No, they didn't. I asked, they wouldn't say anything either way."
"Well, damn." Tony sighed. "Let's you and me go and find out." He grabbed McGee by the arm and pulled him out of the room, but they didn't get very far.
"You Tony DiNozzo?" A doctor stopped them and pointed to Tony.
Tony stopped short. "Uhh, yeah, that's me."
The doctor nodded once. His voice rasped across the hallway to Tony. "I need to talk with you."
Tony gulped visibly. McGee stood by Tony. "I'm a friend of the family."
"Okay, follow me." The doctor waved them along, and he led them a short distance down the hall past the emergency department. Tony's eyes clicked upward at the directional signs where the doctor was taking them. He gulped as he saw the word MORGUE on the sign. "Oh, no," he muttered to himself.
"Hey, I got you." McGee muttered back at Tony.
Just before they entered, the doctor stopped them. "Now, I warn you, this may not be easy to see. But, we need you to identify the body, Mr. DiNozzo. To confirm who it is."
"Right, let's get it over with." Tony's whisper sounded raspy through the quiet air. He stepped into the room and pulled back the sheet -
"Adam! Noo-o-o-o-!" Tony wailed as tears gushed forth.
McGee ran into the room and held Tony tightly. "Hey, buddy, I got ya. I got ya." He held on as Tony sank to his knees, his legs giving out.
McGee put the sheet back over Adam's body, and pulled Tony up to a standing position and walked him out of the room and held him outside the door and let him sob on his shoulder. He felt Tony's wracking shoulders as he held him. "Hey, it's okay, I got ya." Tears flowed from McGee's eyes as well.
"My Adam's gone!" Tony blubbered. "How'm I going to tell Ziva?" He drew in a great shuddering breath.
"We'll do it together," McGee said, patting Tony on the back as he hugged Tony for support.
Tony nodded and wiped his tears away. He made hand motions in the air, unable to speak for a few seconds. He gave up, the effort too great.
McGee nodded and guided Tony toward the emergency department. After a few long minutes of slow walking while Tony was sobbing uncontrollably, they finally made it into the emergency department.
Ziva's ears picked up the sound of crying, and she looked up toward the door. Her face scrunched up slightly in puzzlement, so she got up. She looked down briefly at Ethan, who was resting peacefully. Satisfied that he was going to be okay where he was, she stepped out of the room and turned toward the sound of crying. She saw Tony and McGee slowly walking toward her, tears streaming down their faces.
"What happened?" She sprinted the short distance toward them, reaching them at the nurses' station.
Tony blubbered for a few moments. "H-h-h-he's gone..."
Ziva skidded to a stop, her head shaking. Her voice came out as a moan. "No... no, not Adam!" She collapsed to the floor, wailing in Hebrew.
Tony sank to the floor crying. "Adam's gone..."
A/N: Hi readers, This will be picked up on the following chapter 10 part 2, coming up soon. Thank you for your Tweets, Messages and Kudos.