Thanks to all those who took the time to review it's much appreciated. I once again thank Surferdude for beta-reading this. If there are still any language mistakes in it it's all mine because I added some, lost some and …ah well just read. Chapter 3 should be up this weekend.

Chapter 2

Finding out the reason

The following morning they all met in the Bullpen of the NCIS: Los Angeles headquarters. Ziva introduced herself to the others and sat down on the couch, waiting for Hetty to give instructions. Shortly after they all were complete, Callen entered the bullpen with a tray full of beverages.

'Here you go, one jasmine tea with a little bit of honey.' He placed the cup of tea in front of Ziva, but she didn't make a move or even acknowledged his gesture. Hetty and Kensi noticed the tea remained standing there untouched until it was cold and was thrown away by Callen.

'Sam,' Hetty called Sam to her office with a flick of her head. 'What's going on between those two? Agent David is trying very hard to completely ignore Callen.'

'A lot of history, Hetty, a lot. And to be honest, she has every right to treat him like that,' Sam explained.

'What do you mean, Mister Hanna?'

'They were married, Hetty and it wasn't because they had to for a mission, but they were truly married. Callen told me she was his first real love.'

'That explains a lot, but it still doesn't explain her downright hostility against him. Did he cheat on her?' Hetty asked him.

Sam shook his head. 'No, she got pregnant and he left her.'

Hetty turned around and was looking at Callen from a distance. 'He left a pregnant woman all alone?'

'Yup.'

'No, wonder she treats him the way that she does. So Agent Callen has a child somewhere…' Hetty said, contemplating the fact that her parentless agent was a parent.

'Don't know, she hasn't said anything about it and, as far as I know, she's never been in the company of a child during her time here in the States and no mother who is in her right mind would leave her child voluntarily.' While Sam was saying this, his mind began spinning and he could see Hetty's mind went the same route. What happened to the child?

Hetty assigned Agent David to Sam and Callen and they went their way. Ziva was civilized throughout the day, but she never once addressed Callen. She gave them a foot in the door with the Jewish community and, as a result, the case got along just fine. They found some good witnesses and one of those witnesses had even agreed to talk to a sketch artist under two conditions Ziva had to be present during the entire time and the sketch artist had to be a woman. Ziva agreed to come back later that day with the sketch artist.

Around lunchtime, Ziva's stomach gave a loud growl to indicate that she was hungry. They decided to get some lunch and for the first time Ziva responded to Callen's question on what she wanted to eat. Sam saw a big grin appearing on his friend's face. Maybe they were getting somewhere after all.

All three of them ate in silence. Sam not knowing what to say or do, Callen not willing to anger Ziva after her first acknowledgement of him, and Ziva not willing to open up to Callen.

Callen's phone rang. Hetty wanted him to come back to the office, so Sam and Ziva were left to their own devices. Sam found out pretty soon that Ziva was an enjoyable person to be around when she wasn't ignoring Callen and she adapted quickly to his investigation skills. She was a lot like Kensi, except maybe she was a little more of a lady, but he knew she was so much more deadly when it came down to it.

When they were on their way back to pick up the sketch artist, Sam thought: now or never. 'He told me,' he said to Ziva.

'Told you what?' she asked him, knowing he meant Callen, but not knowing what he would have told Sam.

'You and him,' Sam explained.

'He did?' She turned to him. 'He told you he ran when I was six months pregnant?'

Sam nodded. 'He's ashamed.'

'He should be,' Ziva said.

'Yeah, he should,' Sam said.

Silence engulfed the car.

'Maybe you two should talk,' Sam said after the silence had begun to be too much.

'No, I passed that station when I got no response to the second letter I wrote him after Zach was born,' Ziva said angrily.

'Zach?' Sam asked.

Ziva smiled a sad smile. 'Yes, Zachary Callen David. A beautiful baby boy, 6 pounds, 7 ounces and 18 inches.'

'He told me he got the letters, but he was too ashamed of what he had done that he didn't dare to contact you,' Sam told her.

Ziva turned to face him. 'So he did get the letters?'

'Yes, he did,' Sam said.

'So that means he also got my second letter?' she questioned.

'Yes, but he didn't open it. He figured you and the baby were much better off on your own without him and that if he opened the letter he would be compelled to contact you,' he said.

'The second letter I wrote was to tell him Zach had died,' Ziva said. Sam was baffled into silence with the new information. He'd figured she'd left the kid in Israel or something.

They arrived back at the LA headquarters and Ziva practically ran out of the car, leaving Sam sitting in the car. After a short while he got out and followed Ziva into building.

'Where is he?' Ziva demanded from Deeks when she got inside.

'Who?' he asked, confused.

'Callen.'

'In the gym,' Deeks told her and pointed in the general direction of the room.

Ziva ran towards the gym. She found Kensi and Callen sparring. She jumped in between and started to yell at Callen in Hebrew.

'You didn't even open the second letter, you selfish bastard! We needed you more than anything in the world and you didn't even bother to open up the second letter!'

Ziva decked him and began pounding into him. Kensi wanted to get in between them, but Sam held her back. Callen didn't fight back, he didn't make a move. Sam was hurting inside to see his friend like that but he knew this was something between the two of them.

'Why don't you fight back, coward!'

Ziva stopped hitting him. He had a bloody nose and his eyebrow was split, but he didn't do anything back. He just took it all without any complaint. He knew he deserved it all or at least that's what he thought.

TBC…