Okay I know slow update and it's not the end which I said I'd post but I kinda had writers block I still kinda do so if you have ideas tell me in a PM or a review. I hope you like the chapter. I dont own anything etc. Please review, I am still getting lots of favourite story which is awesome but reviews really make me feel happy! I hope you enjoy this chapter, Jules.
"Wow Ziva, you look like you've been hit by a truck!" Tony said as Ziva ran in late, Kiara in tow.
"Why thankyou Tony, that makes me feel so much better." She replied angrily getting right up close so he could really feel the anger and frustration radiating off of her.
"DiNozzo, David. You better have something for me." Gibbs said grumpily, striding through the bull-pen to his desk, slapping Tony on the head along the way, which made Kiara giggle.
"They don't, but I do boss." McGee said proudly walking up to his computer and opening his email. There was a security camera out the back of one of the bars, they didn't film the killing but we got a pretty good look at a potential suspect. Walter Mathews- he was out in the alleyway an hour before Kiara's mum's death but then walks out of frame. He walks back out nearly half an hour later, takes a look at the camera and then ducks out of sight. Looks like we've got our killer boss."
McGee looked at Gibbs, a big smile on his face, waiting for the praise he wanted.
"Why didn't you find this sooner McGee? You're with me, Tony you and Ziva are on protection duty with Kiara and look through those tapes to make sure we haven't missed anything." McGee was slightly crestfallen at the reply he'd got about solving, well maybe solving the case.
"Good job McGee." Gibbs said with a knowing smile before stepping into the waiting elevator.
"I need to go and see Abby. Can you watch Kiara for a second?" Ziva asked Tony, turning to him as soon as McGee and Gibbs were safely behind the closed doors of the elevator.
"Okay.' He replied, looking deep into her eyes to see if he could find out why she was keeping it from Gibbs but all he saw was the walls she had managed to build up after last night and after she felt Tony had been staring at her too long, she walked towards the elevator and went down to Abby's lab.
"Hey Kiddo!" Tony said excitedly, picking the little girl up and walking behind his desk. "Did you have a good sleep?" He asked, sitting down on his chair and placing Kiara on his lap.
She looked at him. Ziva trusted him, he had come over and had pizza with them and danced, he had made her and Ziva laugh and then he made sure she didn't fall when they were dancing slow. She could trust him, couldn't she?
"I had a bad dream, and then I couldn't get back to sleep. Ziva was screaming and making noises, she said she had a scary dream to but it was okay now. When I heard Ziva though I went and stayed in her bed to try and fix it. She called me Tali." The little girl added, confusion etched in her face.
Tony was in shock. Ziva was screaming in her sleep, having dreams about Tali, her little sister. He wasn't sure if anyone else knew, but he was almost sure he was the only one. Ziva only opened up to him because she thought she would never see him again, so when she knew she was staying, he presumed she kept it locked up. Maybe Tali had something to do with the crazed look he could see whenever he looked into her eyes. Maybe that was what was haunting her.
"Abby?" Ziva asked quietly from the Forensic Scientist's lab door. "Do you remember when you said that I could talk to you if I needed? Well I need to talk now."
Abby didn't hesitate and pulled Ziva into a big hug, squeezing her tightly as if she could squeeze the pain away.
"It's Kiara isn't it?" Abby asked, pulling out of the hug and looking at Ziva.
"Yes." She said tersely, not meeting Abby's eye. "I can't let her go." When she realised Abby wasn't going to say anything, she mentally hit herself for being so weak and letting her problem, she couldn't afford that luxury. She started walking out when a voice stopped her.
"Ziva," Abby said, just above a whisper, right as she was about to walk out the door.
Ziva stopped. Abby sounded so much like Kiara then, hushed with a slightly scared tone, it sounded so familiar she turned around, shock evident on her face.
Ziva knew she had to let Kiara go, she wouldn't be able to stay with her forever. Ziva couldn't keep her safe forever, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't get the image of herself shooting Kiara in the head, the bullet ripping through her tiny skull, killing her instantly, couldn't stop thinking maybe she was the thing Kiara should be protected from. She was a killer, a machine build perfectly for killing, lying and torturing. Maybe it would be better if Kiara stayed away.
"Ziva!" A small voice interrupted her thoughts.
Kiara ran into the lab, closely followed by Tony who was chasing her, huge smiles on both their faces.
"Say hello to Abby Perach Katan." Ziva said sternly but with a hint of a smile on her anxious features.
"Hello Abby." Kiara said shyly, half hiding behind Ziva from the stranger. Curious but afraid.
"Hey Kiara! It's so great to finally meet you! Coz Gibb's was telling me about you and Tony told me about you and then Ziva told me about you and Timmy doesn't really know what's going on so I had to tell him stuff which is kinda funny seeing as he's met you and I haven't but I know more about you than him and…" Abby rambled on for a while, skipping around her lab. She had obviously had extra Caff-Pows today and was trying to burn off the energy. Kiara looked around Ziva's leg. Abby's energy was infectious and soon Kiara was skipping around the lab too, stopping and dancing to Abby's loud music every now and then.
Ziva was going to miss this. She was going to miss Kiara and her bright light that seemed to get inside of everyone who met her. The light had made Ziva dance around like she didn't have a care in the world, had made Tony dance seriously with Ziva, holding both her and Kiara closer than he had anyone in a long time, had made McGee sit at his desk unable to take his eyes away from her when he was supposed to be doing work, had made the ice in Gibbs's eyes that had been there since Jenny had died melt a tiny bit, and it had made Abby's own light even brighter and the effect was almost blinding as the two danced around the lab.
"Hey Abby, Gibb's told us to watch the security tapes to see if there was anything McGee missed, can you put them on the plasma?" Tony asked, his tone bored at the thought at watching hours and hours of people walking thought the alley, and that was the interesting bits.
After half an hour of watching, Tony had fallen asleep three times but every time he started to drift off, Ziva would poke him hard and fast in the side and he jump up then get back to watching the TV. After Ziva had nearly fallen asleep for the second time she got up and walked over to where Kiara was watching her own movie on one of Abby's computers with Abby. Beauty and the Beast. Damn her, Ziva would much rather have been watching that than what she and Tony had to watch.
She made her way slowly back to the plasma, wanting to get out of watching as much footage as possible.
"Zee-vaah." Tony whined, drawing out her name annoyingly. As if watching the stupid video wasn't enough, she had to watch it with Tony. Sure they used to watch movies together. Years ago, before Jeanne, before Jenny died and before he was out as an agent afloat. Before all their troubles, before the nightmares and before being apart. She hadn't watched a movie with him for a long time now and strangely enough she found herself wanting to so much. She wanted to fall back into the routine of 'movie nights' every Wednesday, with dinner, popcorn, beer, ice-cream and Tony.
She had just sat down when the phone rang and with a groan she got back up and answered it.
"Forensics."
"Get DiNozzo and come up now. Case is solved, the guy admitted on scene." Sometimes cases were like that. Boring. Easy. And she hadn't even gotten a chance to interrogate the bastard.
"Gibbs wants us upstairs. The guy confessed." Ziva stated getting her things together before she realised that Tony was well and truly asleep, his mouth hanging open, slumped against the chair. Ziva smiled gently and moved across the room to wake him up. She had only known him to fall asleep in one movie, not that this was much of a movie but anyway, and it was Beauty and the Beast. Not because he thought it was boring, on the contrary he actually enjoyed even though he didn't think so when she suggested it. It was because of the case they had just been working on. A hard one on all of them but Tony had taken it really hard and he had fallen asleep on Ziva's lap, snoring quietly until she woke him up and help him to his bed before she turned off the TV and went home.
"Tony." She whispered quietly, but he didn't wake up. Now was her chance.
Sure she'd done it successfully once and another three unsuccessfully but it was still way too much fun to pass up. Getting one of Abby's water bottles from the fridge, walked up behind him and tipped nearly all of the iced water over his head.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm GUNNA KILL YOU ZIVA!" He screamed, jumping out of the chair and chasing her all the way to the elevator where she was madly trying to press the button for the doors to close.
They wouldn't close fast enough though and Tony slipped in beside her, a furious expression on his face and an almost scared one on hers. Almost.
The elevator doors shut and Tony leant over, using his height as an advantage as he moved next to her.
Just when she was closing her eyes, expecting to be tortured or tickled, or both; but then Tony started talking and it was gentler than she had ever heard it, even more so than last night when they were dancing.
"Ziva, you need to tell me what's wrong."