Hello lovely people! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone out here. I hope you´re doing fine. I wanted to thank each and everyone for all your lovely reviews, the really mean so much to me. I really hope that I can be more active the next weeks and months *fingers crossed* but for now, just enjoy this new chapter :)

The warm water that splashed on her body visibly did her good for the first time in a long time. Even if the nausea still tore her from sleep and almost completely knocked out the morning, she had to admit to herself that at this moment she felt better than ever. I wonder if it was the tea, she thought, and closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the last few seconds to herself before turning off the tap.

After drying her hair with the towel, slipping into her purple négligée and tying a loose knot in her kimono; she left the bathroom. The warm steam followed her out into the hallway. With bare feet she ran down the stairs, wanting to get water from the kitchen, so she wouldn't have to drag her body all the way to the kitchen the next morning. She didn't get much farther than the landing, though, because her doorbell stopped what she was doing.

"Ziva.", she said, sounding surprised.

"I know it's late, and you've had a pretty hard day, but I need to talk to you."

After a brief nod, the redhead took a step to the side to let her friend in. Quietly, the wooden door fell into the lock and both women walked into the large kitchen of the beautiful city mansion.

"Do you want something to drink?", she asked, leaning against the kitchen counter, but her guest declined, shaking her head.

Silently, the young woman sat in front of her, not quite knowing how to explain to her friend that she couldn't start working at NCIS and certainly not at Gibbs. For the last few hours, she had been thinking very hard about it, wondering if she should really make this decision; now she had made up her mind. She could have just waited until tomorrow morning, but what good would it have done? Her decision would still have been the same tomorrow.

"Ziva?"

"I know what you did for me, so I could work here in America at NCIS, and I came to tell you that I can´t accept this offer."

Questioningly, Jen looked at her. Reject the job offer? Why?

"Ziva, you..."

"I can't work under Agent Gibbs, not after everything that's happened. He and the others will never accept me."

That Gibbs didn't take too kindly to her Israeli friend, the entire NCIS knew. He didn't have to like everyone either, but that her partner at the time made his anger at Ziva so clear was highly suspect to her. Why? What had happened? Since Jethro freed her from Ari, he hadn't said a word about what happened that day and that Ziva now wanted to quit before starting work could only have to do with this case.

"Where is she?", he asked dangerously quietly, slamming the door to the room. He stood close to her chair and leaned down to her.

"Who?"

"You know who I mean. Where did your brother take her?"

The Israeli Mossad officer fell silent.

"Talk!", he shouted, slamming his hand on the table.

Ziva flinched barely noticeably, but kept her expression.

"Kate. Abby. Jenny.", he emphasized each name individually, always pausing briefly between them. "Your brother is targeting the women I work with, and if you want to prove to me you're on our side, you'll tell me now where her brother is."

"I don't know.", she muttered. "

Wrong answer."

"Look, I really don't know. I have no contact with Ari, can't reach him myself.", she answered louder, looking deep into his eyes.

"Since you arrived, you've been trying to convince us that Ari wouldn't have killed Kate, and you've managed to make Jenny think the same way. You used her and Jenny is too blind to see that."

"I'm not using her!"

"Prove it to me, help me find her before Ari kills her."

"I had to help him, so I did.", she said composedly. "I shot Ari and still he doesn't trust me."

Jenny recognized the tears and pain in Ziva's eyes. She had shot her half-brother to build a trust with Gibbs, when family is all that mattered in life. Ziva had little family left, her mother as well as her sister had passed away and her father... He was an important person in her life and yet their relationship was more work oriented than the Mossad officer might have liked. That's why the redhead was quite surprised that Director David approved the transfer to Washington.

"This morning I wanted to talk to you, I asked about you and all he said to me was; that he wouldn't leave me alone with you."

"Ziva... I didn't know that."

She smiled sadly. "How could you? He still blames me for what Ari did to you... For the scar on your head." "

But you're not to blame, Gibbs knows that too, and I can't accept your rejection. I want you here, want you to learn here and feel welcome; Gibbs just has to accept that."

"But he won't."

"He has to, there's no discussion about that at all because after all, it's not his decision to make, it's mine.", she said, looking sternly at Ziva, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"The team? Abby?"

"Ziva, we'll figure this out, just trust me a little."

Early in the morning, with the sun just rising and the first birds chirping, Gibbs walked down the stone path to Jen's front door. In his hand he held not only a mug of peppermint tea, but breakfast for the redhead. He knew that the nausea tormented her especially the first half of the day but still she had to eat something — her circulation would thank her.

After Jen had given him a key to her house yesterday, so he wouldn't have to ring the doorbell, and she wouldn't have to drag herself down the stairs, he saw this as the first step back to her. Their conversation yesterday had been very long and a lot had been cleared up that was still unresolved, but it had to be done because it was long overdue. Trust needed to be built, but he assured her — whenever she called — to come and be there for her; after all, he was not entirely innocent in her pregnancy. She just needed to know that he liked to care.

Quietly, he opened the front door and closed it just the same; after all, he wasn't one hundred percent sure if she was asleep or back in the bathroom. If she was asleep, he didn't want to wake her up. Slowly, he went up step by step and slowly opened the bedroom door that was ajar. As expected, the big bed was empty and a deep sigh came from the bathroom. He placed the paper bag and the paper cup on the nightstand before he went into the bathroom.

Like a heap of misery, he found her sitting on the floor, her head resting in his arms.

"Hey.", he whispered softly as he gently lifted her up in his arms. "How are you?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Make sure how you are, and I brought something to eat.", he replied as he gently laid her down on the soft bed, tucked her in and sat next to her.

Disgusted she contorted her face, food was exactly, the last thing she wanted right now, but the mug on her bedside table; which looked suspiciously like coffee, rather met her taste. Slowly she turned her head straight again and looked at him.

"What´s that?"

"Probably not what you think." With an apologetic look, he saw her and couldn't help but smirk a little. But it was a good sign, she had an appetite, only for coffee but that counted as much as anything else.

"I'll get you one later."

"Sounds good.", she mumbled softly, swallowing hard.

"Do you think you can have some?", he asked cautiously, receiving a weak nod in response.

Slowly she sat up, ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath to get the nausea at least a little under control. She hated not being in control of herself and then also being so willfully at the mercy of her hormones. Ahead of her lay, hopefully, five more weeks of nausea and six months of pregnancy. How could she stand it? A pleasant tingling sensation spread through her belly as he touched her skin, stroked individual strands of hair behind her ear and stroked her cheek with his thumb. Green eyes met ice blue ones and once again, as so often when they looked into each other's eyes, the world stopped. No one in the world could take that feeling away from them, not even the ringing of his phone.

"Yeah, Gibbs?", he picked up, but didn't take his gaze from her eyes. "I'm coming."

He hung up.

"Let me guess, dead patty officer in Norfolk?"

Silently, he stood up and put his phone away again. The look in his eyes was answer enough for her, and now it was the redhead who couldn't help but smirk.

"Drink this and try to eat something, I'll bring you a coffee for that too."

Due to the nausea, Jennifer Shepard left her house later than usual. This whole situation stressed her out, and that stress was not good for her unborn child. The fact that she was now going to work later than usual also meant that she was going to be late for her morning meeting, which in turn meant that the SecNav wasn't thrilled about it and then the other directors would have one more reason to question her promotion. It was all just hard, she thought, trying to focus on her file again.

Tired, she leaned her head against the headrest and closed her eyes for a moment. She could forget about working, she couldn't manage to concentrate properly. Her nausea was returning after all, slowly, but it was coming back and there was still almost ten minutes of driving ahead of her — would she be able to endure it?

"Everything´s all right, ma'am?", asked Stan.

With a tentative nod she answered him and opened the window a small crack. Fresh air! She desperately needed some fresh air before the nausea got control again. Unconsciously, she put a hand over her stomach, thinking it would reduce that sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Which month?"

Now Jen opened her eyes again. What had he said?

"My wife...we're having our baby in a few weeks."

"Ninth week.", she muttered, trying to concentrate on breathing in the fresh air.

"What are you eating and drinking?"

"Eating? Nothing at all, and drinking more like water and some peppermint tea."

Stan nodded and couldn't help but grin. His wife was also plagued by severe nausea, had about the same eating and drinking pattern as his superior. He already knew what would help her get through this time reasonably well. Especially in the ninth week pregnant women reached the peak of discomfort and there one was quite grateful for any aid.

"How do you sleep? Probably not at all, looking at you."

It was one of the priorities Stan enjoyed. He was allowed to speak openly with her, but that was probably due to the many years they had known each other. Stan did not use this for his own advantage, but he knew that Jenny took his words to heart in certain situations.

"I try as hard as I can when I get home in the evening to lay down as soon as possible to get at least a few hours of sleep. Early in the morning, the nausea wakes me up and leaves me alone by noon at the latest."

"I'll give you something later that should quell the nausea at least a little.", he said, refocusing on the road.

They were getting closer and closer to the NCIS Headquarters, and he took one last checking look behind before the car turned back onto the main road; which led directly to the office. It had gotten so quiet and judging by the look on her face, she needed a break.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No.", she murmured softly, massaging her temple with one hand.

"Are you sure?", he echoed.

"Yes."

Moments later, he was already navigating the vast NCIS grounds, stopping the car in the director's parking lot. With a water bottle in hand, he got out and opened the back door. A small breeze came her way; it visibly did her good, that cool breeze.

"Drink it."

"I can't.", she whispered, taking a deep breath. "Not now."

"Have you eaten anything today?"

The look on Jen's face in response to his question said it all. So don't.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but you need to eat something. I know smells aren't welcome right now, but by you eating so little it's hurting the child's development, and it's another reason for her nausea."

She just nodded, knowing it herself but couldn't. It was not possible, every smell she perceived turned her stomach and made the nausea come up in her. She didn't want to harm this child inside her, that it might not develop well, but what did she get out of eating something only to have to rush to the bathroom again the next minute? Nothing!

"Eat small things instead of three meals a day, just keep eating in between. Water, you need to drink lots of water to make up for the fluid loss, sleep a lot; work less and most of all, tell Agent Gibbs to massage you — foot massages."

"How?"

"I'm not blind, anyone with a brain and eyes in their head can put one and one together.", he smiled warmly at the redhead.

Was it that obvious? Did the entire NCIS know that she and Gibbs...? What did they actually have? They weren't in a relationship, had slept together once since her return, and kissed on the same night of her promotion at the compound — had anyone noticed?

"Get some rest, put your feet up and go home earlier than usual. I'll drive you whenever you want."

"Thanks Stan.", she whispered more hotly.

Your thoughts about this one? :)