Title: Once Upon a Summertime

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on NCIS, I'm just borrowing them for the story.

A/N: So, here is chapter 20. I hope you enjoy it and please have patience with me updating so slowly. I've had a lot to do lately with two courses and a job and training so my progress with my writing has been slow for a while. Right now I have taken time off from one of my courses though, so I'm planning on devoting some of that free time to this story. I'm already working on the next chapter. Please send me a review after you've read this so I know people are still reading. It makes writing so much more fun, knowing if people like it.

CHAPTER 20

THE RESCUE

"Gibbs! Gibbs!"

Gibbs spun around just in time to see the four children he had been out looking for the past half hour come out of Mrs. Tapps garden. He started towards them but didn't have to walk far before they had reached him.

Abby flung herself at him and the other three stopped in front of him. They all looked a little shameful, except for Abby who mostly just seemed overjoyed.

As Abby flung herself at him he lifted her up in the air to his eye level.

"Gibbs! Do you know what's happened? I almost got eaten by Simone, Atlas and Alcmene but guess what? "not giving him the chance to answer she continued. "Madame White saved me! She lives right here on this street. And gosh does she make good cookies. And guess what she has in her living room! A tree! Oh, and a parrot too! But we didn't get to meet him. His name is Quincy. And…"

Gibbs nodded, "Uh huh, but Abby…"

"And Tony started bleeding! There was blood, Gibbs, and…"

Gently but determinedly Gibbs put a hand over Abby's babbling mouth to quiet her.

"It seems like the four of you have had quite an adventure this afternoon while just taking a short stroll around the neighborhood." He said a little acidly. "I've been out looking for you for some time now."

Tony and Tim studied their shoes and then his face, unable to decide where their gazes should rest. Ziva looked him right in the eye.

"Yes, we are sorry, Gibbs. We did not plan to stay at Mrs. Tapps house for so long."

Gibbs placed Abby on the ground next to Ziva. He relaxed his grim features and allowed the kids to see he wasn't really that upset with them.

"It's alright. My guess was you had taken shelter somewhere from the rain and thunder. Just next time try not to be so long without letting us know first." He put one hand on Tony's back and the other on Tim's and started walking them all towards the house.

Casting a glance at Abby's disappointed face at his lack of interest in her story he added, "And, Abby, I know how fascinating Mrs. Tapps house can be. It's sometimes hard to leave once you've entered. Not to mention her social skills. She doesn't exactly pull away from company."

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Tony's POV:

Later that evening, after we were finished telling Gibbs and Jenny everything about the dogs' attack and how Mrs. Tapps had rescued us, the four of us were sitting by the fire place. Gibbs had finally agreed to light a fire because it was raining outside again. It was cozy to sit there on the floor on the sheep skin rug in front of the sparkling fire. Jenny had given each of us a stick and a bag of marshmallows to fry over the fire. I helped Abby with hers, since she wasn't big enough to fry her own that close to the fire.

Jenny had explained to Abby that she should never ever approach dogs she didn't know the way she had again. She agreed, even though she still maintained they weren't bad dogs deep down.

Gibbs and Jenny didn't understand why Abby was ranting on and on about someone called Madame White, and luckily she didn't explain herself that well either, because I didn't really feel like explaining all that to them at the moment. They did however say they knew Mrs. Tapps to be a remarkable old lady who took care of everything herself even though she was blind. No one on the street understood how she did it. But she did and wouldn't hear of having any sort of person hired to come help her out in her home. We asked them how it could be possible that Mrs. Tapps could tell time and never even stumbled over anything, but they didn't have an answer for that. They just said some people just have an amazing will and strength. And I had to say I agreed with that.

When it became time for bed we didn't object. We were all exhausted after the day's events. Who could think we'd run into a snake and two snarling beast dogs at the same day. I was planning on making tomorrow slightly less exciting. At least in the animal category.

Ziva's POV:

It took a little while for Abby to fall asleep but after a while of impatient waiting she finally did. This evening I was actually tired, as opposed to the night before when I had snuck out, so I decided not to wait as long as I had then. The down side was that Gibbs and Jenny would still be up but I made sure to arrange my bed so it would seem just like I was still sleeping in it in case they decided to check on us before going to bed.

I put on a pair of pants and grabbed my suspenders that were thrown over the back of the armchair.

I opened the windows and climbed out onto the roof outside our window and went down the trellis. I landed on the soft grass with a thud and remained seated in the grass while making sure no one was around. The light was still on in the living room downstairs and the door to the porch stood wide open. I could hear Gibbs and Jenny talking in there. I would have to sneak by to get to the gate. Carefully and stealthily I trudged over to the porch and there I dropped to my stomach and continued to stay low by crawling forward.

Then I froze. I had just heard it break. It was a twig in the grass that my right elbow had somehow managed to find. I cursed in my mind as I lay there listening and waiting to see if I was to be discovered. That was when I heard footsteps out on the wooden floor above my head. I held my breath and tilted my head up. It was Jenny. She was leaning on the railing looking out over the backyard with a cup of coffee in her hand. I could smell it from my position on the ground. She stirred with the spoon in the cup making aringing sound.

"It's not that, Gibbs. But we promised each other no work this summer for the kids' sake since they're going to be staying here with us. I want them to have our full attention."

I listened, realizing I had obviously jumped into the middle of a conversation.

"I agree, Jen." I heard Gibbs say, his voice coming from over by the door out of my view. "That's what I told the Director. Don't worry, okay. Ducky is just coming over to have some tea and get my opinion on the break in at his neighbors' house."

"Yes, I heard it was a strange one."

"Yeah, you could say that. There was no sign of forced entry. No broken windows or locks, nothing broken inside the house. Somehow they managed to take the jewelry inside the safe and leave. "

Gibbs sipped his coffee.

"It sounds like they had a key."

"My thoughts too."

I heard the door squeak as Gibbs opened it and stepped inside the kitchen. I did not dare move yet, not having heard Jenny's footsteps. I glanced up and there she still was, looking like she was studying the star filled evening sky for a while. She remained a few minutes and then finally followed after Gibbs.

I did not hear her close the door all the way so I was real careful as I crawled forward, past the porch so they would not hear me moving out there on the lawn. Good thing they did not neglect cutting the grass or I might have made more involuntary sounds.

I cursed myself in my head for breaking that twig. It had been sloppy of me. Usually I was a lot stealthier than that.

When I reached the gate I was careful for it not to squeak as I opened it. I walked out into the street. I took a big breath and then exhaled for the first time since the porch. It felt good to breathe the fresh evening air. There was no breeze tonight but at least it was a bit cooler than the day time. But again, this was nothing compared to my home Israel.

I started running up Pineroad. I had been waiting impatiently all evening for the chance to sneak out and go to the pond again. There was something hiding in the bushes there. Something that intrigued me but also frightened me a little. It could not be a ghost, because I did not believe in ghosts or werewolves or anything similar. Things like that were not real. They were simply made up to scare people. No, whatever this was it was real and my curiosity would not leave me alone. I had to find out what it was. Strangely I also felt like I missed it. Like it was a friend I had not seen for a while and wanted to be reunited with. I just hoped it felt the same way or I might find myself in trouble.

I ran faster and faster and then as fast as I could. The houses, yards, lamps, fences all flew by. I was a fast runner, I knew that. But I had to admit that Tony was just a little faster than me. He had proven that at the airport. This was as good a time as any to practice so I could beat him.

When I reached the bushes that hid the stone stairs I pushed my way through until I reached the stairs leading down the hill side. I hurried down, holding onto the railing until I reached the grass down below. An owl howled from a tree nearby, making me feel at ease as I walked on. It was a beautiful evening.

As I approached the bushes where that strange noise had come from the night before, I listened closely for it. This time I heard nothing though. All was quiet except for the owl in the tree. Strange, I thought. I could have sworn these were the same bushes.

"Hello," I said in a semi quiet tone. "It is just me."

No answer.

I walked away from the bushes and over to the white painted bridge next to the pond instead. The bridge hung over a small stream leading away from the pond and into the lush area with trees and bushes. I leaned over the railing, looking down into the clear blue water below. For a moment I became curious what could be down below the bridge and contemplated finding a way down there. But it was a long way down and also rocks in the water so I decided not to do it in the dark. I climbed up on the railing and sat there swinging my legs back and forth for a while. I stopped moving my legs when I heard a man's voice call out.

"Fang! Fang come here! Fang!"

I listened to the voice. It sounded like it was coming closer. For a second I did not see why I should care. But then I remembered that it might be a neighbor who knew Gibbs and Jenny and if he saw me they might later find out I had been out here. I wanted to avoid that so they may not make it harder for me to sneak out of the house. The confrontation was actually not something I would look forward to either.

"HERE! NOW! Or I will beat you to death you miserable creature!" the voice yelled.

Now I heard footsteps on the gravel path, coming my way. I quickly looked around for a place to hide. He sounded really close now. I would not make it to the bushes without him spotting me first so instead I climbed to the outside of the bridge railing. There I climbed as far down as I could come and grabbed the board at the bottom and then felt around with my feet for a place to rest my legs underneath the bridge. I could not see under there but luckily I soon felt a board to glue my feet to while I held on with my arms. I gulped when I looked down. It looked like a hard landing if I should fall.

The man walked onto the bridge and stopped there. He wore heavy black boots and black worn down jeans and a long dark coat. I kept hoping he would continue on any second but for some reason he seemed pleased with standing there peering about in the dark. I pulled myself up a little so I could take a quick look at his face. He was wearing a hat that hid some of his face. All I could see was that he had a mustache and a slim mouth, that looked more like a line someone had drawn. He also had a little stubble.

Suddenly his boots turned their tips my direction and I dropped down again. He looked out over the pond. I prayed he would not take a look below him at the stream running there because then my goose would be cooked. Instead he chose the moment to once again bellow;

"Fang! Come here!"

I jumped and almost slipped but managed not to make a sound down there with my head so close to his boots. He remained for maybe a minute and I heard him flick a lighter. I could smell the difference between cigars and cigarettes so I knew it was a cigar he had just lit. I hoped he was not one of those people who preferred to stand still while smoking. Luckily for me he was not because the next moment he was indeed moving again, away from the bridge. I peaked up and grabbed hold of the next board to pull myself up a little higher. I could see him walking away, still yelling for Fang. I wondered what that was all about when something white all of a sudden sprang from the bushes he was walking by. It ran right past him and he yelled out a curse as it almost knocked him off his boot covered feet.

"Come back here you damned creature!" he yelled after the white streak and took off after it.

I quickly realized those were the bushes that my mystery animal had hid in last night. I knew I had to help it. That man was no white animal's friend. Hurrying to grab hold of the railing to get back up I made the mistake of not checking it was solid before relying on it to hold my entire weight. I felt it go loose and gasped as me and the railing headed backwards down again.

"Aaah!" I yelled as I felt myself topple backwards. I heard the sound of the clattering of wood hitting stone down there as parts of the railing hit the rocks. I expected myself to fall all the way down but I never hit the ground. I opened my eyes and saw that one of my suspenders had gotten caught on a plank that was sticking out and I was dangling below the bridge. The small stream below was rippling.

"Oh no. This is not good," I told myself as I struggled to focus on finding a way out of my situation and not feel the fear I felt was on its way. I raised my arms above my head and felt around for something to grab. I found a wooden edge and tried to pull myself up. I pulled with all my strength but without anything to put my feet against I could not do it. I needed the strength in my legs because using only my arms I was not strong enough. I remained hanging in the air, helpless, while frantically trying to figure out a plan.

"At least things cannot get any worse now," I said to myself in the dark. Glancing down I saw the moon reflected in the water and somewhere a cricket was playing. Interrupting the beautiful song of the cricket was the sound of the plank creaking.

"Oh, no, no, no, please do not break," I begged it and tried not to kick my legs and give it cause to snap even faster. I decided I had to give pulling myself up another try if I did not want to fall all the way down and break my neck. I was usually not afraid of heights, but that was when I had control, this time I did not.

Suddenly my body jerked a little as I felt someone tug on my suspender. I looked up and looked straight into two big, gentle brown eyes surrounded by fur as white as snow. It was a dog and it had my suspender in its mouth. It had its head stuck out between two bars that still remained below the fallen railing.

"Shalom…I mean uh, hello," I spoke nervously at being at the mercy of the animal with the gentle brown eyes above my head. "What are you…oh," I realized," You are trying to pull me up. To help me."

Careful not to poke the dog in one of its eyes I reached my hands up and grabbed that edge again and put all my strength into pulling myself up, with the help of my savior. The dog gave a little whine with my suspender in its mouth.

"Yes, I know. I am trying to."

The dog was not strong enough to pull me all the way up, but it was strong enough to raise me up so much that I could grab the edge to the floor of the bridge and get one knee up there. It continued to pull until we had managed to get me all the way up and I lay there exhausted and panting.

"Wow, that was close," I panted all winded while feeling like I had just run a marathon. My head rested against the floor of the bridge and my arms were at my sides while I stared at the sky. I felt something wet touch my arm and turned my head to see the white furred dog licking my arm.

"You saved me," I said and met its stare. "Thank you."

The dog remained silent and seated as it watched me. I sat up slowly with my legs stretched out in front of me. "Who are you?" I asked and glanced in the direction the man had run in. "Yes, that is right. You must have belonged to him."

The dog whined a little and licked one of its paws. It sure was a beautiful dog with its white sparkling fur and eyes so brown. I could easily tell she was a girl just by looking at her. I did not know exactly how I knew, I just knew. She resembled a wolf only the ears were not as pointy as the ears of a wolf. They were more like a teddy bear's ears. She had a dark nose and wavy, long tail.

"I cannot believe anyone would want to hurt you. You are so beautiful."

I reached out my hand to stroke her fur but to my surprise she jerked back with a whine. I pulled my hand back and sat down on my knees instead.

"What is it? Are you afraid to be touched?"

The dog listened intently to my words and cocked her head to the side. She lay down and rested her head on the floor.

"You are afraid," I concluded. "I guess that man has not been so nice to you, huh?"

The dog whined again and licked her paw. That was when I saw blood in the fur on her paw.

"Oh no, you are injured."

Carefully I began to scoot over to her to examine her paw. I was not sure she would let me but I did not think she would bite me. Looking into her gentle brown eyes I could not imagine her suddenly turning to attack me. Especially not after she had rescued me the way that she did. I paused in my movement now and then and just sat, gazing out over the pond with her, and then I started to move towards her again. She looked a bit skeptical at times but she remained where she was. Before I knew it I was sitting next to her. I moved my hand up to pat her head. She flinched and instead I rested it on the floor next to her paw. She was looking at my hand but then looked at me and again gave a soft whine. That was when I moved my hand up to her head and patted her. This time she did not flinch, she just closed her eyes and tilted her head towards me.

"Good girl… that's it. I will not hurt you, you know. I am not that man," I assured her as I gently patted her head and stroked her fur all the way from her head down her fluffy back to her tail.

"May I look at your paw now?" I asked and was surprisingly rewarded with a wet lick on my cheek. "Hey!" I exclaimed. "No, what are you doing?" I laughed as she showered me with licks all over my face as she saw I started laughing. I giggled and tried to turn away from her, but she jumped to the other side and continued anyway. When she finally stopped she lay down next to me and rested her head in my lap.

"Wow," I whispered. "You are so affectionate."

I picked up her paw in my hand and separated the fur some with my fingers. I could see she had cut herself there. Probably on a nail on the bridge. It was not deep though and I could easily fix her up myself by cleaning it and adding a bandage. Realizing I would need to get her back to the little house up on Pineroad I got to my feet. She did the same and stood at my side.

"Come on, let's go."

To be continued. Please send a review.