Sorry for the HUGE delay. My dad had open heart surgery so I became full time caretaker along with my job...and then my best friend's dad had the same surgery and passed away - so I had to deal with that. But Here's the next chapter! I hope everyone enjoys!

The sound of his two children breathing heavily filled the warm night air. Tony silently rolled out of bed and tiptoed out of the room. Both Daniela and Jacob had started sleeping in the bed with him, and he wasn't going to complain. Shutting the door behind him, he padded over to the fridge and grabbed a beer and sat down on the couch in front of his laptop. Abby and McGee were working on tracking Ziva's location - but so was he. He stared at the jumpy footage from the footage in Aruba. Tony had watched it so often, he knew each move by heart.

"Ziva, just come back." He whispered, closing his eyes. He sat in front of the computer, reading through files and intel until his eyes burned and tears leaked from his eyes from exhaustion. Crawling back to bed, he watched Daniela and Jacob sleep. The girl flinched in her sleep and Tony knew what was coming. He gently reached out and rubbed her back silently as she moved in her sleep, finally calming down. Tony laid back on the pillows he had piled and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure if he was going to sleep, to be honest he could count the hours of sleep he had gotten lately on two hands. He dozed off as the sun began to breech over the horizon, the small broken family slept fitfully tangled in sheets and their own nightmares.

The sand stuck to everything. It was in her hair, dragged across her skin, stuck to her eyes, wedged down her throat. The niqab did nothing to help the situation, cutting off her peripheral vision, making her feel stifled and suffocated. Ziva walked down the dusty street, following the three men. The call to prayer sounded in front of them and they walked toward the sound. She followed behind silently, like a shadow. It was expected in this society, women to be not only not seen, but not heard. She nodded silently at them and headed to the mosque, following a large group of men. She split off, heading towards the pastry shop down the street. Her eyes were kept downcast as she walked, her sandaled feet kicking up clouds of dust. Waiting until the end of Duhr prayer, she slipped into the pastry shop and looked around.

The small group of women caught her eye and she walked towards them. Her dark eyes searched the surroundings before one of the women nodded and the group rose and headed for a back room. Once there, they sat on hard chairs and benches, each woman slowly untying their veils.

"Rabbia."

"Amina."

"Warda."

"Zainab."

"Maryam."

Ziva nodded at each name, trying to memorize each.

"Aisha." Ziva said softly. "My name is Aisha." She slowly undid her veil and fisted it in her hand. The women were all different ages, and Ziva could tell from their accents that they were from all over. A Libyan. A native Syrian. A Moroccan. A Tunisian. She kept her eyes downcast, unsure why they were meeting.

The oldest of the women, Rabbia, spoke first. "Why are you here, Amina? Did your husband bring you to join ISIS?"

Ziva played the material of her veil, playing up the young naive wife. "His brothers. My husband wanted to make sure that they would be okay." She sighed heavily.

"You are lucky you have a husband." One of the women stated. Ziva kept her eyes downcast, staring at her hands. "No husband, bad things."

"Things here, they are getting bad for everyone."

Ziva glanced up and met the eyes of the women around the table.

"More kidnapping, public executions...and the cubs of the caliphate. Raqqa used to be beautiful. Now…"

There was a collective silence that hung around them.

"There is too much blood. Blood in the streets. ISIS...they say they have come to help. Free us from Al-Assad...but they have brought much death to Raqqa." Warda said wringing her hands. "They took my brother, took my son. We just want peace."

Ziva nodded and swallowed hard. "Peace is what we all want." She listened to the stories that were being told, interjecting when she could.

"Where are your children, dear?" Rabbia asked, as the conversation seemed to break off into smaller facets.

A flash of surprise crossed Ziva's face before the stoic training took over.

Rabbia laughed, and shook her head. "You float away when people mention children, so I made a jump."

Ziva shrugged. "They are staying with their grandparents." She said softly. "I will go back for them."

"Yes, you will. We will all be free from ISIS." Rabbia said giving Ziva a wide smile. "Be thankful your children are not here. I would not wish them to become cubs of the caliphate." Rabbia sipped the strong tea and looked at Ziva over the cup. "Executions are becoming an everyday occurrence." She reached up and adjusted Ziva's hijab. "Make sure that you stay covered." Rabbia said softly. "ISIS, they will find any reason to give punishments."

Nodding, Ziva tucked her hair tightly under the black scarf and tightened it around her chin.

"Who are they executing?" Ziva asked, folding her veil and placing it on the lap of her abaya covered lap.

"Everyone that they feel is against the movement. They have some Kurds they captured, some Yazadi men...the girls and women are sold off as sex slaves."

Swallowing hard, Ziva nodded. Of course everyone in the west had heard about the atrocities that were being carried out by ISIS but it was far different hearing about it from someone who was living it.

"They said they have captured others…" Rabbia shrugged. "But they say a lot of things."

The chatter slowed and footsteps could be heard outside. "Maybe we will see you later, Aisha." One of the women said as she stood up and tied her veil. Ziva followed and waited for the group to exit and she followed behind. The shops were reopening, and Ziva searched around and found Saul. Walking up to him, she placed her hand on his arm, but a sharp slap caused her to pull back.

"He is speaking, woman." A male voice spat at her. He turned to Saul. "Learn to better control your woman."

The slap stung, but the hatred and embarrassment even moreso. Stumbling away, Ziva walked the opposite way from where their safehouse was. She had to get out of this Godforsaken place. Weaving through the streets, she stopped looked around. Her training kicked in as she scanned the streets, if you could call them that. The buildings were torn apart from bomb blasts, the smell of gasoline, natural gas and rancid meat hung heavy in the air. Ziva slowed her footsteps, her eyes darting through the rubble.

"What are you doing here?"

Ziva stopped and turned, spotting three men all heavily armed standing in front of her. She blinked a few times, for once thankful for the veil that covered her face. "I am...lost." She mumbled in soft Arabic, keeping her eyes downcast. "We are new to Raqqa, my husband sent me to get supplies and I took the wrong turn." She felt a strong hand grab her hair and pull her back.

"Tell your HUSBAND that he should not allow you to walk alone. If we were...less pious men…"

Ziva swallowed hard and nodded meekly. She turned to walk away when she felt the man's hand on her breast over her abaya. Trying to pull away, she felt his hot breath in her ear. He pushed against her, his hand roughly squeezing her breast. She twisted away, fighting the urge to toss him onto his ass. Without another word, she started to quickly walk away.

"Missing Navy lieutenant. Gear up."

Tony stood up automatically and tossed his bag his shoulder. His green eyes were dull, rimmed with red the bags heavy under his eyes. He walked quickly behind Gibbs and McGee, sliding into the elevator. He was running on autopilot.

The camera clicked as Tony walked around the proposed crime scene. He sketched it out, his eyebrows rising to a question that McGee asked and shrugged his shoulders in response to Gibbs. The title of functional mute on the team was no longer awarded to Gibbs.

McGee sat in Abby's lab as she combed through evidence His fingers tapped the keys as he searched through intel reports from the Middle East.

"Are you okay, Timmy?" Abby asked softly as she watched the young agent work. He shrugged and looked over at her.

"I'm scared, Abbs." He said softly. "Tony...we're going to lose him too if we can't find Ziva. I mean, I'm terrified for Ziva, but…" Tim's voice trailed off and he ran his fingers through his hair. "I can see Tony slip away bit by bit."

The forensic scientist nodded softly and wrapped her arms around Tim's neck. "How about we go over there tonight? It's Friday and the case is wrapped up...we can give Gibbs and Jenny the night off and we can watch a movie...and you and Tony can just talk."

McGee nodded. "Okay. Just let me finish coming through this intel report." He said with a sigh. "We have eyes and ears in and around Raqqa. I doubt they got that far into Syria, but it never hurts to double check…"

Nodding, Abby started to close things down in the lab. McGee frowned at some of the intel, a woman and three men, internationals were in Raqqa. They all spoke Arabic, their accents untraceable. He made a few notes, along with a note to send them to the director before standing up.

"Ready?"

Abby smiled and gave Tim a soft kiss on the cheek. "Ready. Let's pick up some food before we go. I know pasta is the food of Tony's people, but I'm sure the kids are sick of it by now."

They got ready and drove towards the grocery store and picked up some groceries before heading to Tony and Ziva's place. They pulled into the parking lot and headed up the driveway. McGee knocked on the front door and after a few seconds Tony opened it. He looked at his friends and then at the arms of groceries.

"Hey." He said gravelly.

Pushing through him, Abby kicked off her shoes. "We're going to cook. Well I am, Timmy is going to help." She started as she carried in armfuls of groceries. "I'll make chicken, like chicken fingers but healthy And potatoes. And carrots and salad."

Tony stood in the doorway and watched as the goth rushed into the kitchen. He looked at McGee who gave him a sympathetic look. "How are you doing, Tony?"

The older man shrugged and shut the door behind them. He heard the thundering footsteps of his children coming down the stairs. "I'm okay, Tim." Tony said softly.

They walked into the family room where Tony had his laptop open and he had files spread out over the coffee table. He walked over and closed them, giving McGee a gentle look. The sounds of Daniela and Jacob's laughter, mixing with Abby's flowed into the room.

"You know she's going to come back." McGee said softly. "She's ZIVA. She's a ninja. She loves you and she love Jacob and Daniela...she's going to be back."

Tony sat down on the couch and ran his fingers through his hair. "How can you be so sure? No one has found a trace of her since she left…"

Sitting down beside Tony, McGee gave his best friend a pat on the knee. "I'm sorry, Tony." He said softly. "But you can't give up. We're all looking for her...you have to be here for Daniela and Jacob. I'm….concerned for you Tony." He said softly. The younger man took a deep breath. "You can't stop living because she's gone. She's going to be back and the kids need a parent."

Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I know Tim." He leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of his children. His best friend let him sit in silence and hopefully he could catch a few uninterrupted moments of sleep