Sooo...this has been sitting on google docs FOREVER and I couldn't seem to work out an ending. At all. So I left it like this. It would go on forever if I wanted to tie the chapter up in nice pretty bows. But no, so it's kind of messy like this. Thank you for all your support and reviews and questions and words of advice! I love hearing from you so never hesitate!
It had been a week since they had first heard the chatter. A week and then nothing. The chatter ended as quickly as it began. Tim sat hunched over his computer scouring every end of the internet for anything. And all he got was silence. Mossad silence. CIA silence. FBI silence. Dead silence. Running his fingers through his hair, Tim looked away from his screen and sighed heavily. One week. Glancing over at Abby who was dozing on the couch. Their lives had boiled down to going to work, bringing work home and making sure that Tony and the kids were alright and so far they were batting 0.00 on all accounts. He closed his laptop and glanced over as he saw a flash of green. Daniela froze and stared at him. "'M just getting water." She whispered softly.
Tim nodded silently and watched as she opened the fridge and poured herself a glass of water. She hadn't been sleeping, he and Abby both knew it. She could only blame the concussion for so much. "How are you doing?" He asked as she sat down on the edge of the couch.
"Have you found Mummy?" She asked softly, tucking her feet underneath her.
"No, but we're all working really hard." Tim said quietly. He inched towards the cerulean eyed girl and gently placed his hand on her knee. "I promise you that we are doing everything in our power to find her."
She sipped her water silently and stared down at her hands for a long time before looking back at Tim. "If Mummy is dead...when do we start sitting Shiva?" She asked softly.
Tim swallowed hard and rubbed his eyes.
"Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam, dayan ha-emet." Daniela mumbled softly before getting up. "I will see you in the morning, McGee." She said quietly as she walked back to her room. The glow under the door stayed on until the wee hours of the morning. It took Tim a few hours before he realized that Daniela whispered a Hebrew prayer for the dead.
Pain. Flashing of white pain. Ziva tried to blink, but her eyelids were swollen shut. She tasted blood in her mouth, her tongue gently running across her teeth. The hanging had stopped, mainly because she couldn't run away anymore. After her futile attempt at escape, they used steel pipes over the bottom of her feet to ensure she couldn't try again.
She couldn't tell time, but she knew they came more often at night. Sometimes it was one at a time, the most was six. If it had been earlier, if it had been a few years ago, if she had been younger she knew the easiest way out of this situation. But not now. Not knowing that Tony, Daniela and Jacob were all at home waiting for her.
Sometimes the pain was unbearable. It was like they were tearing her apart. Their voices were harsh and patronizing. Leaning against the side of the wall she felt herself slip back into unconsciousness.
"Gibbs and Jenny won't be coming." Abby said as she closed her phone. "Chemo was pretty rough on her today."
Tony nodded silently and picked up Jacob who was playing on the floor with his Lego. He pressed a kiss to his son's soft hair and rubbed his back gently.
"We've got penne with sausage and peppers." Tim said with a flourish he didn't feel. "And we even have cake for dessert."
Jacob grinned and pocketed a few Lego pieces. "Imma go get Daniela." He announced getting up and rushing over towards her room. He opened it and peered around before walking back out. "Papa?" He asked quietly. "Daniela's not in 'er room."
"What?" Tony got to his feet and ran over, throwing the door open. The curtains were flapping in the wind, her backpack, iPad and shoes missing.
Sometimes genetics have nothing to do with how a child grew up. Gibbs had been in the basement for about 40 minutes when he heard the basement door creak open. He was about to tell Jenny to head back to bed and he would bring her whatever she needed when he heard the footsteps. They were almost silent, but he felt a presence in the room.
"Daniela." He said quietly without looking up.
The little girl padded down until the bottom step where she sat down and watched him sand the boat for a few minutes.
Gibbs remembered the times Ziva did the same thing, her silent footsteps down his wooden stairs, sitting at the bottom step watching his movements. Damn ninja skills.
"Does Tony know where you are?"
She silently cocked an eyebrow and shook her head.
Walking over to his workbench, Gibbs grabbed his cellphone and threw it to her. "Call him. He's probably going nuts."
Daniela picked up the phone and punched in her number. "Papa." She said softly into the phone. "Mmm hmmm. I'm fine. I'm with Gibbs. Kay." She passed the phone back to Gibbs. "He wants to talk to you."
The older man sighed and put the phone to his ear. "Yeah, DiNozzo."
"I'm coming to get her." Tony said quickly. "I don't know what I'm going to do with her, I mean she just decides that she wants to run away and after that fight on the basketball court, Boss, I can barely get her to eat anything or to sleep, hell she says less than 10 words to me a day…" He rambled barely taking a breath.
"Give her space, DiNozzo." Gibbs said watching the girl who had gotten up and was walking around the boat, gingerly running her finger over it the wood. "I'll call you when she's ready." Hanging up, Gibbs stayed silent until Daniela made her lap around the boat. She sat on the stool of the workbench and swung her feet silently.
"Is Papa mad?" She whispered staring at her hands.
"Well, he's not happy that you ran away."
"Didn't run 'way." She muttered. "I took the bus. I didn't wanna get Papa mad." Daniela swallowed hard and looked up at Gibbs. "Have you found Mummy yet?"
Sitting down beside Daniela, Gibbs took her hand. "No. We haven't." He told her honestly. "But we're still looking. We're always looking."
The little girl opened her backpack and pulled out her iPad. "I've been trying ta find Mummy." She said quietly. Opening a social media website, Daniela punched in a few things and handed it to Gibbs. "There are some girls that live in Syria and they use Tumblr. It's a place where people blog. Like write things about their lives." Daniela explained. "They're part of ISIS." She passed it over to Gibbs. "They don't say anything about Mummy, but...they're in Syria." Tears welled up in her eyes. "Maybe they can help."
Wrapping his arm around the girl, Gibbs pressed his lips to her wild curls. "I'll give it to Abby and McGee." He said softly. Daniela curled into his side and he soon felt her hot tears soaking into his shirt. After a few minutes she pulled away and hiccuped softly. "Why don't you go upstairs and lie down with Jenny?"
Daniela rubbed her eyes and shook her head. "No. I don't wanna wake Jenny up."
"When was the last time you slept?"
"I am fine."
Like mother, like daughter. Gibbs sighed and helped the girl off the stool. "March kiddo. You're gonna lie down with Jenny and I'll call DiNozzo."
Daniela silently started to walk upstairs, Gibbs behind her. She left her backpack by the front door and made her way to where Jenny was sleeping. Toeing off her shoes, Daniela crawled in beside the former director. "It's okay Jenny, it's just me." She whispered closing her eyes and snuggling in tight.
The former director hummed softly but didn't open her eyes. The chemo was especially hard today.
"I'll take care of you Jenny." Daniela whispered as Gibbs pulled the door until it was only open a crack.
Gibbs walked down the hallway and down the stairs to the basement. He grabbed the cellphone and informed DiNozzo that Daniela was spending the night. Closing the phone, he grabbed a mason jar and dumped out the fistful of nails and poured three fingers worth of bourbon into it. He swallowed it in a matter of a few gulps before leaning back against his boat. "Damn it, Ziver...where are you?" He muttered to himself.
He must've fallen asleep on the couch after he finished his second glass of bourbon. The glaring light of the refrigerator light startled him awake and he found himself staring at an 8 year old girl in his oversized NIS shirt and a pair of Shannon's old sweats that were rolled up at the waist.
"Sorry." She whispered shutting the door and silently walking over and perching on the edge of the chair like a little bird. It was hard to notice how small she was. She had a slight build, with narrow shoulders and long legs. Tiny little arms and legs. Blue eyes that bore into your soul. Dark curls usually pulled back in a severe ponytail or braids. And a smile that could light up a room, though it was rarely seen. The little girl tucked her feet under her legs and she sipped her water silently.
"You should go back to bed after you finish your water."
Daniela shrugged. "Prolly won't sleep." She admitted.
Gibbs watched the girl finish her water and lean down against the couch. "How long?"
Shrugging, Daniela blinked slowly. "How long since Mummy's been gone?" She asked softly.
The silence hung heavy in the air until Daniela pulled herself up from the couch and padded off to the washroom. As she was washing up, she spotted a razor on the edge of the sink. Silently she opened the medicine cabinet and spotted a package of more. She eased one out of the package and into the pocket of the pants. Just as silently, she padded back to the family room and curled up on the couch. She stared into the darkness until she fell into a restless sleep. Gibbs watched her sleep and went and pulled a blanket over her small body. He settled on the armchair beside her and let her sleep. She was gone when he woke up a few hours later. "Ziver must be givin' her damn ninja lessons." He grumbled pulling himself up off the chair.
Daniela was sitting in bed, rubbing Jenny's arm as she read to her softly. The ex-director was propped up, her blue eyes closed. In another lifetime he hoped that Kelly and Daniela would've been friends. Kelly was much softer, quieter than the Israeli girl. Sheltered. But they had so many things in common. They were both kind and generous. Soft-spoken with a laughter that broke all walls, though he rarely heard the dark haired girl laugh. They were smart, athletic...in another lifetime they would've been friends. When Daniela glanced up at him, he gave her a weak smile in return.
"We're okay. Maybe Jenny would like some gingerale, yes?" She asked Jenny who nodded slowly.
Gibbs walked over and kissed each of their heads before heading downstairs to gather the mentioned drink. A few hours later, when it was a more appropriate hour, he called DiNozzo to come over and pick up Daniela. When his senior field agent arrived, her grabbed the younger man and led him down to the basement.
"Your wife was teaching your daughter her damn ninja tricks." Gibbs muttered sitting Tony down on the sawhorse. "She hasn't been sleepin'." He said softy. "She was up at least twice here, God knows how much she's been up at your place." Gibbs shook his head. "Didn't even hear her until she opened the fridge." He let the silence hang while he ran his hand down the sanded area of his boat. "DiNozzo, I'm not gonna tell you what to do. I know finding Ziva is your main concern right now...but maybe you should let us worry about it for a bit, and you do something with the kids. Like the zoo. You gotta get out."
Staring at the older man, Tony exhaled loudly. "M..Maybe just for a day."
Gibbs nodded. "That's all I'm sayin'. Now go get your ninja daughter. She scared the hell outta me when I woke up and she was at the fridge. Might hafta start locking my door."
Daniela sat in the back of the Charger like a suspect ready to go to the police precinct. Tony was speaking with Gibbs and Jenny, the later of the two bundled up in a heavy robe leaning on the other. When Tony finally slid into the car, she stared out the window in silence.
"Why did you run away, Daniela?" Tony asked as they pulled away from the curb.
"Didn't. Took the bus." She retorted quietly. "I hadda talk to Gibbs." Rubbing her eyes, she sighed and stared out the window again.
"Tomorrow, you, me and Jake, we'll go out and do something fun. Maybe go watersliding and order pizza." He offered. Her silence was unnerving.
The little girl shrugged. "I gave Gibbs some stuff to maybe help find Mummy. Can we make sure that McGee and Abby get it?" She asked softly, chewing on the fleshing part of her hand between her thumb and index finger.
Sighing, Tony drove back home and informed Abby and McGee of his plans for tomorrow. Daniela picked at her fingernails until her cuticles bled as she paced behind McGee and Abby.
Abby finally got to her feet and wrapped the small girl in her arms and just held her. Her heart beat rapidly, like a terrified animal, and Abby wondered if this was the state that the poor child was in constantly. "It's going to be okay, Daniela." She whispered. Slowly, Daniela wrapped her arms around Abby. Sure, she had cried. Well, more she had teared up and the tears escaped, but sobbing, she had not. She kept her calm and kept her feelings under lock and key. She had to be the strong one. She saw how it was grating on her Dad, and she had to protect Jacob. Sniffling she swallowed hard and nodded. She just hoped they were right.