Chapter 3: Breakthroughs Aren't Necessary

"Hi, baby girl." Ziva murmured as she picked up Rylin. By now, the infant was wide awake and looking around the room, before staring at her mother.

"Hi, princess." Ziva cooed.

Rylin tentatively reached up and touched her mother's wet face.

Ziva attempted to wipe away her tears, but could not as they kept falling. She sat on the bed, tears falling onto her daughter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She whispered. Rylin continued to stare up at her mother, before her bottom lip began to quiver.

"The last thing I want is for you to cry."

"You need to leave." Gibbs ordered. The woman stood up, "I don't think so. We just had a breakthrough, if anything, I need to stay and continue."

"If you continue, my agent might do something rash!"

"Like what?" Dr. Cranston asked.

"What's the only thing reminding her of Somalia? What's the only thing reminding her of what happened to her!" He was now furious and he wanted her out now.

The doctor's face fell, "Her child." She gasped.

Gibbs picked the lock quickly before pushing the door open; her head lay on a pillow, Rylin lay on a blanket next to her, and she was cleaning her gun, slowly and silently. "Ziva," Gibbs said cautiously.

He stepped closer to the bed, "Ziva," he said again. "Gibbs, I don't want this!" she cried.

"I don't want to be reminded of Somalia!" Gibbs sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand by her knee, not quite touching it.

"I know, I know, it was horrible. I know you hated it there. But you're here now, and you won. Saleem is dead, you're not, and now you have a beautiful daughter."

"A daughter that will always be a sign of my rape." She muttered.

Gibbs shook his head, "She's a sign of survival, she's what…she's Honor. Your honor."

Ziva looked up at him, tears around the rims of her eyes, "What Honor? What Honor exactly have I brought to my family? To you?"

Gibbs didn't answer.

"Exactly, all I have brought is shame."

Gibbs licked his lips, "You have not brought shame. At all, we are your family now. We don't think you've shamed yourself, we're just glad you're alive. We just want to do what's best for you and Rylin…now, just, give it to me. Please, for your daughter." He commanded gently.

Ziva looked down at the gun, and then over at her daughter. She pushed the gun away and cuddled her daughter to her chest, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Gibbs took out the bullets from the gun before handing them to the therapist. He wrapped his arms tightly around Ziva careful not crush Rylin.

"Don't worry, we're gonna help you."

He lightly rubbed her hair, "Sh, Sh, it's okay, we're gonna get you some help."

"Help?" Ziva questioned through tears. "Help is what got me in this mess! I don't want help, I just want…I want…"

Gibbs cupped her head and layed it on his shoulder,

"You don't know what you want, and that's okay. That's okay for right now, you just…need to relax and start getting back to being Ziva." He murmured as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I'll just…" Dr. Cranston said as she gently set down the gun on the end table, Gibbs looked over at her, "Yeah, I think you should too."

Dr. Cranston gave an apologetic smile before shutting the door behind her.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and continued stroking Ziva's head.

"Hey, how about I take Rylin for a little bit and you get some sleep?" He questioned.

Ziva sighed and nodded, "Okay."

She wiped a tear from her cheek before gently passing Rylin into Gibbs's waiting arms.

Gibbs lightly ran a finger over Rylin's curls before placing a kiss on Ziva's forehead.

"Come on, get some, sleep. I'll wake you if she needs anything, promise." He said as he tucked Ziva in tightly.

Ziva looked at him hesitantly,

"Just get some sleep, while I go kick Vance's…" He glanced down at Rylin before finishing his sentence, "Butt."

Ziva gave a small, soft smile before turning over and pulling the covers over her head.

Gibbs slowly walked over and placed Rylin on a blanket before returning to the room and removing all the weapons and anything else that could become harmful.

He then pulled out a safety deposit box and placed all the items inside and locked it tight, before placing it up on the highest shelf in the closet.

Once he was finished he hurried back over to the couch and scooped Rylin up as she became fussy.

"Sh, Sh, it's okay. Come on, let's let mommy sleep, okay?" he whispered as he shut Ziva's bedroom door.

Rylin looked up at him in wonder, her little hand reaching up to try and touch his chin.

Gibbs smiled and grabbed all the necessities for a diaper change before setting Rylin back down on the blanket for a quick diaper change.

He gave Rylin the pacifier Abby had given her, to keep her occupied. Instead of keeping it in her mouth, she repeatedly took it out and played with it in her hands.

Gibbs chuckled at the sight as he finished up, "So, you're gonna be a talker now?"

Rylin giggled and kicked her feet up at him.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said as he picked her up.

He cradled her in his arms and rocked her soothingly, but Rylin wasn't having it.

She was already up, and wasn't planning on going to sleep any time soon.

He smiled and picked up the TV remote and turned it to Nickelodeon, which was showing Dora the Explorer.

He looked down at Rylin, who looked at the TV before back at him, her eyes asking,

'Do we have to watch this?'

He chuckled and flipped the channels, "Yeah, Fornell's daughter wasn't really interested in that either."

He stopped on the boating channel; he kicked his feet up and shifted Rylin in his arms.

"Now this is the learning channel."

Tony unlocked the door quickly and walked inside. He walked further into the living room and saw his boss asleep on the couch.

His arms crossed against his chest and a blanket was draped over his body.

He turned toward the bedroom, where his partner… X-partner was probably sleeping. He quietly opened the door and stepped in and quickly shut the door so the light wouldn't slip in from the living room.

The room was almost pitch black, but he could still see Ziva's body wrapped up in the covers and he could hear her snoring, but it wasn't as loud as he remembered.

He used his other senses to find his way to Rylin's crib. Once he found it he could still, in the darkness, see her big blue eyes staring up at him.

He smiled and picked her up in his arms and held her closely to his chest, "Hey, mommy's snoring keeping you up too?" he whispered.

Rylin simply looked up at him, as if he were a new wonder to her.

"Yeah, we gotta get mommy some breathing strips so she doesn't-"

"Who's there?" Ziva called.

Tony turned around and looked at Ziva.

This wasn't the Ziva he knew. This Ziva, her eyes were dark and cloudy, her face seemed dead. She just seemed scared and dead.

"It's just me, Tony, calm down." He said calmly as he stepped closer to the bed.

"Why do you have my daughter?" Ziva questioned.

"I, I, just picked her up. She looked like she was getting fussy, I figure she was hungry." He explained.

Ziva beckoned him over, he sat on the edge of the bed and she reached over and took Rylin from him.

Lucky for both of them, the room was darker on Ziva's side, so she didn't feel as uncomfortable.

"I could leave, you know." Tony said cautiously, he was just truly saying that for Ziva's sake, he wanted to help her.

Make her come alive again.

Ziva flipped on a light, fully exposing herself to him.

"How did you find me?" she asked.

"What?" Tony asked.

"How did you find me?" Ziva asked again, more authority in her voice this time.

"Um, Abby helped us. She tracked down Sa-…his um, supplies that he ordered, more specifically, his Caf-Pow, and then we found his camp." Tony explained.

Ziva pursed her lips and nodded slightly, "But…why?"

"Why what?" Tony asked.

"Why…why did you come?" Ziva murmured.

Tony licked his lips, "I…I couldn't live without you, I guess." He couldn't look at Ziva when he said it, so he looked at Rylin.

Ziva looked at Tony guardedly, "Why?"

Tony gave a small shrug, "Life…didn't really have a meaning when you weren't there I guess."

"Thank You," she murmured. "From me and my daughter."

Tony nodded, "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Ziva leaned over and hugged him tightly, one arm around his shoulder, the other clinging to her daughter.

Tony wrapped his arms around her put his head on his shoulder. They sat on the bed for a long period of time, comforting each other in a sense.

That was until Rylin latched off, "Here, let me take her," Tony said as he gently pulled her into his arms.

"You can go take a shower, and then let's go get something to eat." He said.

"Tony, I don't know…"

"Come on, you gotta be hungry, pizza. Especially the pizza Gibbs orders isn't gonna fill you up." Tony said and added a hint of humor to the mix.

"What restaurant would be open at eleven o'clock?" Ziva asked as she buttoned her shirt.

"There's a twenty-four hour diner down the street. Just throw on some new clothes, I'll try and put together that stroller. I'll even make a few bottles, so you can fully enjoy the meal."

"Alright," Ziva sighed. "I'll go take a quick shower, just be gentle with her please."

Tony nodded and stood up, "Treat her as if she was my own." He murmured under breath.

"What?" Ziva asked.

Tony turned around and looked at her, "I said, maybe you should take a longer shower, so you won't have to see me miserably fail at that stroller."

Ziva gave a small laugh, "Fine, a little longer, but only five extra minutes, I do not want to miss anything too funny."

Tony looked down at Rylin and smiled, "I'm sure she'll rat me out."

Ziva smiled as she stood up and walked toward the bathroom door,

"Trust me, you have no idea."