Back to Work

Several days later, Sarah McGee stood in front of Ziva, her eyes wide as the nervous mom shot off several instructions.

"Kelly eats at around noon and then I put her down for her nap. I usually feed Chaim while she's sleeping. If you put Dexter outside, make sure the gate is shut all the way. Chaim isn't allowed to be outside by himself unless Dexter is with him, any questions?" Ziva spouted. Sarah shook her head.

"No, I think we'll be just fine, Ziva," Sarah said.

"Thank you so much, Sarah," Ziva said as she slung her bag over her shoulder and made sure her Sig was on her hip with her badge. Chaim came running into the hallway and Ziva picked him up.

"You be good for Sarah, okay?" Ziva said as she kissed her sons cheek. Ziva turned around for one last look and then headed out the door.

Twenty minutes later, Ziva arrived at work. Tony and McGee were already there and Gibbs's glasses were lying on a stack of files, leaving Ziva to believe that he was there as well.

"Hey," Tony said when he saw his wife step off the elevator.

"Hey yourself," Ziva said.

"Welcome back," McGee said, looking up from his computer.

"Thank you," Ziva said as she sat down at her desk. "Where's Gibbs?"

"Coffee," Tony replied. Just then, Gibbs came around the corner with two cup of coffee in his hand.

"Gas the truck, DiNozzo. We've got a dead marine wife at Quantico," Gibbs said as he handed the other cup in his hand to Ziva.

"Hey," Tony protested, "why does she get coffee?"

"Because, DiNozzo, she's a mother," Gibbs said, glaring at Tony.

"Well, I'm a dad," Tony said.

"Actually Tony, Ziva wins because she is the mother. Were you pregnant with Kelly?" McGee said. Tony walked over to McGee and slapped him.

"Did I ask for your opinion?" Tony said menacingly.

"Enough," Gibbs said, slapping Tony on the head. "Didn't I tell you to gas the truck?"

"On it, Boss," Tony said, rubbing his head. All Ziva could do was smile. It was good to be back.

Once they were at the crime scene, Tony, Ziva, and McGee hopped out of the truck and walked over to where Gibbs was waiting.

"Tony, I want you to bag and tag, McGee shoot and sketch. Ziva, I want you to talk to the children. The older one is the one who found his mother and called 911." They all nodded and took off in their separate directions. Ziva approached the police car where the children were sitting. The oldest looked to be about seven and he was holding his younger sister, who looked to be about two. Ziva knelt down in front of them and took out her notepad.

"Hi, my name is Ziva, what's yours?" Ziva asked gently.

"I'm Tyler and this is my sister Chloe," the little boy replied. Ziva looked at the children, and that was when she noticed the bruises. Chloe's wrists were a black and blue mess and Tyler's cheek was slightly darkened and he had a split lip and a cut above his eye.

"Where did you get those bruises?" Ziva asked.

"We fall a lot," Tyler said quickly. Ziva knew that they were lying but didn't say anything.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Ziva said. Tyler bit his lip for a minute, and then started to speak.

"Mommy and Daddy were arguing last night. Chloe came into my room crying so I let her sleep with me, she doesn't like it when they fight. Then, we heard a door slam and Daddy left. We didn't hear anything after that and I figured that Mommy went to bed. When I woke up this morning, I went to the kitchen and found her lying on the floor. She was covered in blood so I called 911," Tyler said quickly.

"Well, you did the right thing," Ziva said softly. Tyler once again bit his lip.

"Mommy's not coming back, is she?" Tyler asked, tears collecting in his eyes.

"No, I'm sorry," Ziva said. Tyler looked like he was about to cry, but he somehow managed to hold back the tears. "Why don't you stay here for a minute while I go talk to my boss, and then I'll be right back, okay?" Tyler nodded his head. Ziva stood up and headed over to Gibbs.

"What did the kids say?" Gibbs asked.

"The boy said that he heard his parents arguing last night and when he came down this morning, he found his mother lying on the floor in a pool of blood," Ziva said. "Gibbs, those two kids are covered in bruises."

"Do you think they were abused?" Gibbs said.

"The boy definitely," Ziva said. "The little girl has bruises on her wrist, similar to those you would receive if you were being held down."

"Do you think she was molested?" Gibbs asked.

"It is possible," Ziva replied, turning to look back at the children.

"Alright, take them back to NCIS. Have Abby do a rape kit on the girl. Don't let the boy know," Gibbs said. Ziva nodded and then turned back to the children.

"Guess what, you guys are going to come with me," Ziva said, kneeling back down in front of the children.

"We can't, Chloe needs to be in her car seat and you don't have one," Tyler said. He was obviously used to being responsible for his sister's well being.

"Well, tell you what, why don't you tell me where your mommy keeps Chloe's car seat and I'll go get it," Ziva said. Tyler bit his lip once again.

"It's in the car in the garage," Tyler said. Ziva stood up and walked over to the garage and opened the door. Inside she found a black 2008 Chevy Suburban. She opened the door behind the driver's seat and found Chloe's car seat. She unbuckled it and hauled it out to the Charger and strapped it inside. Then she went back to Tyler and Chloe.

"We're all set," Ziva said as Tony over and handed her a diaper bag.

"I love you," Tony whispered into her ear, causing her to smile.

"Here, Tyler, why don't you let me carry Chloe?" Ziva said, bending over and holding out her arms.

"Okay, but she doesn't like to held on the hip," Tyler said, reluctantly letting go of his sister. Ziva picked Chloe up and was surprised. Chaim was six months younger than Chloe and she had to be at least ten pounds lighter. Ziva held Chloe over her shoulder and then held out her hand for Tyler.

A/N: So, sorry it took so long, I was having problems with writers block that was exclusive to this story, but I think I've got it all sorted out now. Please review and tell me what you thought. Also, this chapter was written for Cable Addict, hope you enjoyed it!