Thanks to all the reviewers - Troubled-Angel-26, Hippiechic81, Tamara, DS2010, and Rhi. :D Special thanks to my advisory committee of one, Miss "Quinta" fiftyshadeswritergal. Be on the lookout - there will be a Fourth of July story "popping" out to add some "sparkle" to your lives that we "conspired" together. :D It will be a party, so make sure to join in starting on June 27th if all goes well!

Be forewarned - I am no medial field worker and if my details in this chapter are incorrect please forgive me (and let me know so that I can fix it!).

For now, please enjoy this next chapter of "Echoes". Poor Ziva - I hope that they can help her!

...

"I just got a text from the Director. They found Ziva. She's in an empty storage room down the hall from the old interrogation room five," Tim alerted Tony and Abby who he had intersected paths with twenty seconds earlier.

"Is she okay?" Abby demanded.

"It doesn't say." Tim pushed his phone back into his pocket.

"What are we waiting for? Come on," Tony ordered. The three musketeers raced to the elevator, concerned for their injured friend. Another text buzzed on Tim's phone so he checked.

"Oh, they are saying to wait at the end of the hall. Ziva's still not talking to them yet."

...

Ziva let out he smallest whimper possible.

"Ziva, will you come out, darling?" Jenny requested.

Ziva squeezed her eyes closed tightly. The tiniest trace of a tear wet her eyelashes.

I don't know what to do. I don't know.

There was quiet for a few minutes as Ziva struggled within herself.

I just wish that someone else could take control. But ... but I do not know if I could trust anyone.

A small rustle outside the door alerted Ziva to the fact that someone was entering the room. She jerked her head up and saw Jenny and Gibbs at the door frame.

...

Ziva's beautiful brown eyes were filled with fear, the pupils dilated. Her wild curls were sticking to her face from a mixture of sweat and tears. Jenny and Gibbs could see that her hands so tightly holding her legs to her chest were trembling wildly.

"Hey, Ziver," Gibbs spoke calmly, as if trying not to spook a wild animal.

Ziva let out a gasp.

Jenny cautiously took a step forward before crouching down a few feet away.

"Ziva, honey, can I come closer?"

Ziva jerked her head in a little nod. Jenny knelt down and very cautiously reached out to her. Ziva shivered and Jenny stopped reaching out, but remained holding out her hand.

"Okay, okay," Jenny repeated under her breath, creating a calming hum. She attempted to reach out again and this time Ziva permitted the touch.

Gibbs crouched down across from Ziva as well, leaving enough distance that whatever had set her off earlier would be manageable. He did not say a word, understanding better than anyone that the silence would be more comforting than a deluge of questions. He put aside his worry for his girl and focused on being totally calm. There would be time to fuss over her later. For now she would need someone to anchor off of and he might be able to give her that gift to compensate for scaring her earlier.

There it was - her eyes locked with his. Gibbs focused his hardest on remaining solid and calm, trying to convey with only his eyes his boundless love and compassion for this dear girl.

He must have been able to communicate something. Her eyes focused on him, the tenseness of her face relaxed. She let out a long breath, then slowly closed her eyes. Half a minute later she slowly slumped forward.

"Jen!"

"Got her," Jenny replied, cradling Ziva in her arms. "Get Ducky."

...

"How long has she been out?" Ducky asked, entering the room followed closely by an anxious Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Two minutes," Jenny responded quickly. "She's been mumbling some stuff under her breath but it does not make any sense. Is she okay, Ducky?"

Ducky quickly checked her vitals, then smiled with relief.

"She did not faint. She just fell asleep."

"Asleep?"

"Look at the dark circles under her eyes. She has not been sleeping well for the last two weeks, at the very least. I meant to address that with her today. With all of the running and strenuous exercise today, besides the obvious emotional turmoil, it is no wonder that she would fall asleep. From the sounds of it she has had a difficult morning."

"She's ... sleeping?"

"Listen to her - she's starting to snore. She's relaxed, her vitals are fine. It sounds like she was just falling asleep and slurring her words while trying to talk to you. Trust me, Director, she is fine."

"But what about the bleeding?" Gibbs insisted,

"Oh, she has been bleeding but nothing too dangerous. I will know better when I see it, but there is not enough blood after this amount of time to truly worry me. But even so, why would she not come see me?" he asked, slowly lifting the hem of Ziva's blouse to reveal the cut.

"Oh, it looks like she tried to bandage it on her own. I'll just unwrap this. Definitely a knife wound, but shallow and more of a deep scratch that a cut. That is good for her ... oh. Oh dear."

"What?!" Jenny and Gibbs demanded in unison.

"I believe that I might know the reason why she did not want me to treat her."

"Why?"

Ducky swallowed hard before answering.

"All over her stomach there are scars."

...

"Did he say scars?" Abby whispered to the guys as all three stood pressed against the wall, trying to hear any sound from inside. There was no way that they were staying at the end of the hall when Gibbs ran past with Ducky with a single hand motion. As Abby had argued, perhaps it was a "come" motion rather than "stay".

Tim gulped and turned pale. Tony placed his arm around a teary-eyed, horrified Abby before responding in a muted voice, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did."

...

Jenny and Gibbs leaned forward to look at the marks Ducky was clearing from blood streaks. The tiny crisscross marks - some old and barely noticeable, some fresher and still in stages of pink from a year ago - marred Ziva's delicate skin, telling the stories that she had been so desperate to hide. Horror crossed Jenny's face, righteous anger filled Gibbs'.

Ziva, her exhausted body finally have enough strength to allow her to awaken, saw their faces immediately as she blinked her heavy eyelids. Even half-dead with exhaustion, she could tell that they had discovered part of her secret.

"No!" she tried to yell, but it came out as more of a squeak. She fought against the kind hands attempting to restrain her. Her inner fiery personality aided her to her feet.

"Ziva, dear, let me fix your cut," Ducky tried to reason.

"No!" she shouted, this time managing to actually make noise. "You ... you ...!"

"We are trying to help you," Ducky told her, holding Gibbs and Jenny back with a motion of his hand. If anyone could reach through Ziva's frenzied thinking, it should be the doctor.

Unfortunately, nothing would get through to Ziva.

"What did you want to see?" she yelled angrily, betrayal thick in her voice. She fumbled with her buttons. "So you wanted to see my injuries?" she accused. Her impatience with the buttons ran out just as Abby, Tony, and Tim peeked around the door. She tore her shirt, sending the buttons skittering to the floor. Everyone froze. Many were the marks on her body, crisscrossing her chest and her stomach. She turned, exposing her back. Even Tony payed no attention to the fact that Ziva was topless. There was nothing alluring about the pain emanating from her eyes. All that anyone could see was a thousand pains and crimes against such a young woman.

"There!" she sobbed. "There are all my secrets. Are you satisfied?"

And with that, she collapsed.

Ducky, being the nearest, caught her.

"She has most definitely fainted this time. Someone call an ambulance!"

...

Please review! What do you think will happen?!