Hi all,

This is my latest NCIS story. It's not completely written yet (I haven't even finished fleshing out the story line completely) but this plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone. I'm still mostly focused on my Mark/Addison Grey's Anatomy story, so updates on this will be sporadic at best. Nevertheless, I'd love to hear your thoughts!


Prologue – August 2002

"She is so small," the young girl's voice was full of awe as she took in the baby sleeping in her sister's partner's arms.

"I think you were smaller," her older sister teased, ruffling her hair in a gesture that had the fourteen-year-old roll her eyes.

"Don't listen to Ziva, Tali," her brother chimed in, "she was even smaller," Ari added as he pointed a finger at their sister.

They all grinned at each other for a second before their gaze found the American woman with her newborn again. "She looks like the three of you," Jenny said warmly without looking up from the baby. She seemed completely in love with her daughter, but Ziva and Ari could still sense her unresolved feelings on the whole situation.

"Are you still going to call her Arielle, even if she doesn't have red hair like you?" Tali wanted to know as she sat down next to her friend on the hospital bed. Jenny Shepard was the closest thing she'd had to a maternal figure in recent years, and she had been more involved in the redhead's pregnancy than her siblings. The young girl smiled and reached out carefully, caressing the baby's cheek with just the very tip of her pointer finger.

"Don't you think we have plenty of Ari's around here already?" Jenny asked backed, adding a quick, "no offense," in Ari's direction.

"None taken," he answered with a laugh as Tali still stared at the child.

"I think it suits her," she asserted quietly. "Arielle means Lion of God in Hebrew, and we don't have to call her Ari either, that might get confusing. We could call her Elle, or Allie," the teenager pleaded her case.

Jenny seemed uncertain for a moment as she looked at her daughter, taking in her olive skin and the beginning of dark, unruly curls on the top of her head. Just her eyes were of the familiar emerald green she saw on her own reflection in the mirror. She looked around the room, trying to gage the reaction of the other two. Ziva gave her an uncertain smile whilst Ari just shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright," she said finally, letting out a slow breath. "We'll call her Arielle. Arielle Emma Shephard," she tried the name out in her mouth, giving the middle name a French inflection.

"Why Emma?" Ziva asked.

Jenny shrugged a little self-consciously, an almost embarrassed smile playing on her lips. "I was stationed in Paris, France, with my partner at NCIS," she revealed. "Our safe house was on this cute little street in one of the southern arrondissements, and there were lots of families living all around us. There was this girl in the house next to us – she was maybe five or six – and she was just unbelievably cute, she'd smile at me and wave every time I saw her. Her name was Mila, and I always thought I'd call my daughter that. I might have started daydreaming a little, what it would be like to live in that house, on that street, maybe have a couple of kids running around –" she broke off, shaking off her imaginations of '99. If they hadn't been an impossibility after she'd left her partner with just a letter and a coat, they sure were now.

"Anyways, Mila doesn't go very well with Arielle, but Mila's younger sister's name was Emma, and that seems to suit the little madame," she finished softly, pressing a tender kiss to her daughter's head.

Tali beamed at her, reaching out to caress the baby's cheek again.

"Do you want to hold her?" Jenny asked, beckoning the teenager closer to her.

Tali looked at her, her eyes wide. "May I?"

The redhead nodded, carefully holding Arielle in the crook of one arm whilst she opened the other to Tali. "I can keep my arms around you, then you don't have to worry."

Without hesitation, the youngest David moved up towards the headboard of the bed, leaning into the embrace of the woman behind her. Jenny transferred the baby from her arms into Tali's, pressing a quick kiss to the crown of the girl's head.

"She is so small," Tali repeated, this time even more in awe. "I almost can't believe that a human being can be this tiny."

Jenny laughed as Ziva and Ari smirked silently, clearly amused by their sister's wonderment.

"Is Aba coming?" Tali asked then, too wrapped up in the newborn in her arms to realize how the expressions of the others around her hardened.

"Deputy Director David is taking part in an important video conference, he will not be able to join us today," Ziva replied icily. Tali nodded, a defeated look in her eyes. "Come on, Tali, we should let Jenny and Arielle get some rest," Ziva continued more gently. "We can come back tomorrow," she promised after a quick look at the redhead, catching her nod.

Tali pouted but shifted out of Jenny's embrace, handing the baby back over to her before she reached out to hug Jenny.

"I'm glad you're here with us," the teenager whispered. Jenny just nodded, hugging her back a little more fiercely. "Bye-bye, little Ari," she said with a smile as she looked back at her half-sister.

The redhead smiled at them before her attention was once again captured by the little bundle in her arms. She might never have the children she'd dreamed of having with Jethro, but that didn't mean that she loved this child any less.


Thanks for reading!

By the way, I have been searching for an author named IluvMonkeys who used to publish Jibbs fanfiction back in the day. I couldn't find their account anymore, but if anybody knows if they published their work on another side, I would appreciate any hints. Thank you!