Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, I wish I did because I would love to meet Micheal Weatherly, he's cute.

A/N: hey guys sorry about the wait but I had about four tests to study for since I'm a college student. I wish I could have written fanfiction instead of study but if I did that then I woudl fail my clases, get kicked out of college and I would be very sad. To make up for the wait this chapter is twice as long as the last one. On another note, there is some spanish in this chapter, Spanish is not my major or minor to me it is just a headache so if I did anything wrong with the grammer or words, please don't shoot me.

I'm really proud of the this chapter especially the interrogation scene, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Chapter 2: Baby Blues

"Lance Corporal Mary Lambert was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio," Tony announced as he clicked an image of Lambert onto the plasma, "she signed up for the Marines right out of high school and when to basic training in North Carolina. Eight months ago she claims she was raped by this man," another image popped on the screen, "Corporal Enrique Ramirez, her CO."

He turned to look at Gibbs, "I talked to the NCIS agents in charge of the rape case, Lambert waited three days to report it so there wasn't any physical evidence and Ramirez has always denied that any sexual allegations took place between them, and there wasn't any proof."

"Until Mary turned up pregnant," Ziva finished.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" Tony shouted like Chuck Woolery, "suddenly the case was wide open, they might not be able to prove rape but it would certainly damage Ramirez's credibility. A paternity test was to be scheduled as soon as Lambert had given birth and a hearing was to be held pending the results of the test, according to the agents in charge it was doubtful rape charges would have stuck but at least Ramriez might have gotten a DOD."

"But all of this hinges on the paternity test," McGee piped in, "without it there's no case."

"And without a baby, there's no paternity test," Tony agreed, "and now Lambert's missing, so is the baby."

"And it all comes back to Ramirez," Ziva finished, "He's got motive."

"And opportunity," McGee explained, "He lives on the same base as Lambert."

Ziva nodded her understanding, "We need to talk to him."

"You think David?" Gibbs asked from behind his desk, he stood up and grabbed his jacket, "Gear up."

"Agent Gibbs?!" He looked up to see a middle-aged woman with long blond hair graying at the temples, stepping off of the elevator. Her brown eyes bespoke pain and defeat, "Agent Gibbs?" she asked again.

"Yes ma'am?" he asked and she hurried to the team's place in the squad room.

"You're Agent Gibbs," she stated, "the team looking for my daughter?"

"You're Lance Corporal Lambert's mother?"

She nodded, "I'm Susan Lambert. I was staying at a friend's outside the base when Corporal Jennings told me Mary was missing."

Gibbs noted the emotions behind her words, "You weren't staying with your daughter?"

Susan looked at the ground, her eyes now told of shame, "Mary and I have…problems, she didn't even know I was here." She looked back up at Gibbs with tears in her eyes, "Agent Gibbs, is there anything you can tell me? Anything at all?"

He looked into her eyes sincerely, "Ma'am all I can do is promise you that I will do everything in my power to find your daughter, meanwhile you could help us by telling us everything you can about her." He turned to his team, "Ziva," Gibbs called to the Mossad officer and pulling her out of earshot of Susan, "talk to Mrs. Lambert, find out as much as you can."

"Gibbs I'm not good with mothers," Ziva reminded him, the last thing she wanted to do was to talk to a weeping woman, especially if she might miss out on smashing Enrique Ramriez's face in.

"Excuse me but may I ask who is team leader?"

Ziva sighed knowing she'd dug her own grave, "You."

"That's right and since I'm team leader that means I give out orders and you command them," He looked at her sternly, "do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," Ziva replied clearly not happy with the outcome.

Gibbs gave her one last look, for a fleeting second Ziva feared that he might see straight into her, like he could read her thoughts and see where her strange mood was stemming from. It wasn't a ridiculous train of thought, it was Gibbs. But he turned away, "Come on," he told the two remaining team members. Ziva watched them walk away and into the waiting elevator.

Susan Lambert was not a fool, Ziva decided after a few minutes in the older woman's presence. They had moved to a small conference room often reserved for questioning, not interrogations. Susan had been quiet and frank, first explaining small parts of Mary's life, nothing entirely helpful but enough to keep Ziva's interest in the missing woman. But she needed to get to the point, "Mrs. Lambert, you said your daughter didn't know that you were here?"

Susan pursed her lips and shook her head sadly, "Mary and I have a…difficult relationship. Everything was fine when she was a child but when she grew older and unruly we just couldn't seem to agree on anything anymore," she looked away from Ziva, "you couldn't understand."

Ziva shook her head, "I do," she replied truthfully. Her thoughts flew to her father and their own strained relationship. They were still barely speaking, he only knew as much as he did about her life because he sent spies to inform him of her every move. It was going to be a nightmare when he found out about the baby. No she couldn't think that way; she had a missing Lance Corporal to find.

Mrs. Lambert smiled at Ziva a little, "Then you know how easy it is to fall into this hole you've been making only to be trapped with no way out. That was what happened, Mary left after she graduated high school for the Marines; to get away I guess. I refused to contact her because of that…that was my mistake."

Now she started to cry, "Six months ago I found out Mary had been raped, I only found out because that bastard's lawyer called me to try and get me to testify against her. My baby, he hurt her and I wasn't there for her. She couldn't even call me because I shut her out…and then it was too late." She wiped the tears from her eyes, "I tried to contact her, to help her with the baby and the hearing but she didn't want to talk to me."

She looked up at the ceiling in anguish, "And now this happens."

Ziva kept her eyes on her notes in front of her; she couldn't bear to look at the degenerate woman before her, the tears that slid down her cheeks and the remorse that was displayed on her features. The relationship between mother and daughter was too similar to her own between her and her father, it left her wondering if he shared the same regrets Susan was now facing. How would he feel if something happened to her? How would he feel about the situation she was now facing, his first grandchild on the way?

Susan's voice broke through her thoughts, "Do you have any kids?"

Ziva raised her head, startled by the question. She opened her mouth but no words came out, how could she answer that? Was it yes or no? Could she even confess her secret now? Would it be right to lay her own problems on this already overburdened woman? She finally settled for neutrality, "Not yet."

Mrs. Lambert nodded, "When you do, don't make the same mistakes I made. Don't push them away…don't wait too long to reach out…or it will be too late."

The Mossad officer's heart went out to the older woman, "Mrs. Lambert, none of this is your fault."

"I should have been here…"

"You couldn't have known anything like this would happen," Ziva interrupted, "The only person at fault is the one who has taken your daughter," She leveled her eyes with the woman, "and I promise I'll bring her and her baby back."

Corporal Enrique Ramirez lived in the family district on the base, the three male members of the team made good time getting there since Gibbs was driving and he tended to disregard small matters like speed limits, especially if traffic was a concern. It was pretty hard to talk when Gibbs had his 'no nonsense' expression on so Tony and McGee wisely retreated to their own thoughts; Tony was trying to figure out what was wrong with Ziva. For days she'd been pretty quiet, which was unusual since usually she enjoyed teasing him or playing pranks on McGee. Lately she'd been unusually moody, snapping at him whenever he'd tried to cajole her out of her funk. Her behavior was starting to worry him; did she want out of their relationship?

The thought made his blood run cold. That was the last thing he wanted. He hadn't been this happy since Jeanne; actually it wasn't a stretch to say he had never been this happy. With Jeanne their relationship was clouded by the fact that he knew it would end badly, with Ziva everything seemed to fit into place like a perfect jigsaw puzzle. Was he the only one who felt that way? Up until a couple of days ago he would have said no, Ziva had seemed as happy as he was, but now…

The arrival at Ramirez's home pulled Tony from his thoughts, but that didn't mean he wasn't still curious, "Hey McGee," he said casually, best not let Tom E. Gemcity catch on and inadvertently give him more ammunition for Tommy and Lisa, the last thing he wanted to do was give McGee another bestseller, "do you think Ziva's been acting a little strange? Well I mean stranger than normal?"

McGee shrugged, "She's been quiet lately; maybe she's got something on her mind."

Uh oh, Tony thought, "Has she talked to you about anything…boyfriends...is she in a relationship that she's tired of…?"

"Hey!" Gibbs called, "Are we investigating a missing person or are we discussing scuttle-butt?"

"On it boss," McGee replied quickly and he and Tony caught up with Gibbs. He glared at the two agents as he rang the door bell. The sound of soft footsteps soon made their way to the door which was opened by young woman of obvious Mexican descent. When she was younger she'd probably been considered beautiful, but stress and problems rather than years had aged her considerably. She looked much older than her twenty-nine years, more like thirty-five or maybe even pushing forty. Her brown eyes were tired, as if she'd been caring a heavy burden only to find out that more weight was to be added.

"Mrs. Ramirez," Gibbs assumed, "NCIS, I'm Special Agent Gibbs, Special Agents DiNozzo and McGee," he gestured to his two teammates, "We need to speak to your husband."

"Enrique, agentes federales a su," Marisol Ramirez called for her husband in rapid Spanish. It didn't take long for Enrique to arrive.

Where his wife was losing her youthful beauty it was apparent the Enrique was still in his prime, he had finely chiseled features with dark military cropped hair and chocolate eyes. It wasn't hard to see why some might find it easier to believe Lance Corporal Lambert was a scorned lover, Corporal Ramirez had the looks that turned women's heads…and the uniform didn't hurt.

"Corporal Ramirez," Gibbs remarked as soon as the young man appeared, "NCIS," he flashed his badge, "We here to talk about Lance Corporal Mary Lambert."

Enrique didn't respond to the name with anything more than a slight eyebrow twitch. He turned to his wife, "Marisol, nos dejan y llame a nuestro abogado" His tone was sharp and Marisol quickly left the group to call his lawyer per her husband's orders. Gibbs got the feeling that her husband addressed orders a lot.

The Corporal turned back to Gibbs, "What has that bitch said about me now?"

Tony's eyebrows shot to his hairline at Ramirez's sharp words, "What makes you think she's accused you of anything."

"You're here aren't you?" Ramirez replied, "What have I done now, trespassed on her property? Shot her dog? Do you know what that puta has done to me because of her ridiculous accusations?"

"Rape doesn't sound too ridiculous to me," Tony remarked.

"She's loco," Ramirez continued to spew venom, "she was always trying to get me alone, trying to start something…"

"Interesting," Gibbs interrupted, "You said that you never had an altercation with her."

"I'm happily married," he continued, "I would never have an affair; I was not interested in Lance Corporal Lambert. So whatever she's said about me is mierda!"

"Lance Corporal Lambert hasn't accused you of anything new," Gibbs interrupted.

Ramirez glared at the NCIS agent, "Then why are you here."

"She's missing."

The Corporal seemed surprised by that information at first, then his features relaxed a bit, "She's probably run away because she know that when that paternity test comes back negative everyone will know she's lying."

"Did she give you any reason to think she'd run away?"

"She wasn't the most reliable of Marines," Ramirez told them, "and she was always a lunatic, ask her mother. She'll tell you what a psycho that puta mentira was."

Gibbs was getting annoyed with Ramirez's remarks, his gut was telling him something was up, "Where were you at 2100 yesterday?"

"I was here," Ramriez explained, "I can't go off base without permission because of the charges."

"Who was with you?"

"My wife."

"Anyone else who can verify that?"

Ramirez was getting angrier, "No!" He leveled his eyes with Gibbs, "Are we done here?"

Gibbs nodded, "Yeah sure," Ramirez moved to close the door, "We're done here," he continued, "but we'll finish this conversation at NCIS."

Ziva was sitting in the squad room alone as the rest of the team had not yet come back from questioning Ramirez. She couldn't deny that she was jealous; she had wanted a chance to meet the bastard face to face. What if he'd tried to run away or better yet tried to fight back, she smiled at the thought of being able to turn her gun on Mary's rapist. A shame the boys got all the fun.

Her fingers trailed idly against the cover of the book on her desk, she'd taken Mary's book of baby names in the hopes that maybe something was hidden in the pages. There was, a list on simple notebook paper of names Mary had like. Joshua, Matthew, Conner, Aaron…the list continued with the meanings next to the names and other information. Some had been crossed out, others like Joshua and Conner and been starred, obviously denoting which ones she liked more.

Ziva smiled at the names, she'd always wanted to name her son Joshua, but she also liked Calev, fitting since she was a spy like the namesake. She'd always wanted to name her daughter after Tali, a fitting tribute to the sister she lost. A Hebrew name would be needed for her child but perhaps Tony would prefer a more American name, she didn't mind but…

She shook her head, no those thoughts were silly to think about at the moment, she shouldn't allow herself to think this way. For all she knew the minute she told Tony she was pregnant he would disappear in a cloud of smoke like those cartoons she saw while flipping threw the channels on Saturday morning.

The elevator dinged and Ziva was greeted by the sounds of her co-workers arguing over what was apparently fast-food take out. It was then that the smell of charbroiled meat and greasy french-fries hit her like a battering ram. Bile rose up in her throat as her normally iron stomach churned, she moaned and placed her now clammy forehead against the cool desk. If she vomited she would never hear the end of it.

"You alright there Ziva?" Tony asked taking a big bite out of his hamburger.

She tried to swallow back the nausea, "I'm fine Tony," she tried to talk without breathing through her nose, anything to stop smelling the food her co-workers had. "I found some files on Marisol Ramirez when she went to the hospital; it was suspected her husband had beaten her."

Tony nodded, "Make sure Gibbs gets them; he'll want them for interrogation."

"He's bringing Corporal Ramirez here?!"

"Yep, Gibbs is letting him simmer in Interrogation, give him an hour and he'll be ready like a tasty stew."

Ziva groaned again at the food references, the smell was getting worse. "What have you got there Ziva?" McGee asked noticing the book on her desk.

"Mary's…list of…baby names," Ziva choked out. Don't vomit, don't vomit she kept repeating to herself silently begging any deity above to end her nausea.

"Mary? Since when did you call Lance Corporal Lambert, Mary?" Tony asked stepping in front of her desk. He took another bite of hamburger right in front of Ziva and that sent her over the edge. Chime rose from her stomach and Ziva could feel it sneaking up her throat, with a gagging sound she flew from her chair and was across the room heading for the ladies room.

Unfortunately for her Gibbs caught saw her fleeing, "What's wrong with David?"

"It looks like she's on the losing end of a stomach virus," Tony remarked, a little worry edging his voice.

"I've never seen her turn green like that before," McGee remarked, he saw Tony's expression, "but it's probably nothing," he quickly agreed.

Gibbs didn't say anything; he just looked at Ziva's now empty desk with an unreadable expression on his face.

Rock music blasted through the doors of Abby's lab. The Goth forensic scientist was hunched over the table in her lab, looking at the set of knives taken from Mary Lambert's home. She picked up a small piece of plastic caught in the grip of the handle, "Hello, what have we here?"

"What?"

Abby jumped and whirled around to see Gibbs' smiling face, "That's it I'm putting a bell around your neck."

Gibbs grinned, "It won't work."

She laughed knowing full well that he was right, "So what can I do for you Gibbs?"

"Tell me what you have."

"What makes you think I have something?"

He gave her a knowing look and revealed a Caf-Pow which he dangled over her head, Abby lunged for it but he pulled it out of her reach, "No fair Gibbs."

"Results then reward."

She smiled, "Alright, I got the results on the blood in the bathtub, a match to Lance Corporal Lambert. There was a lot of it so I don't think she cut herself shaving her legs."

"What else."

Abby walked quickly over to the knives on the table and Gibbs followed, "I looked at the knives you guys brought from her house, what intrigued me was that some of them were wet, a little unusual since from the pictures Ziva took I know her dishes were still in the sink."

"That's not much."

"I'm not done yet," Abby continued, "there was nothing on the blades but when I took off the handles I found this," she showed him two handle-less knives, both had reddish brown stains. "I took a sample and found three different donors, one belonged to Lance Corporal Lambert, the other two are unknowns."

"Her killers?"

"One might be," Abby admitted, "but the second is definitely not. How do you know that you ask? Well I'll tell you Gibbs, there are seven common alleles with one of the samples to Lance Corporal Lambert and the DNA belongs to a male so that means it is either her father, or her brother or her…"

"Son," Gibbs interrupted looking at the DNA profile, "They killed her and her baby."

"Looks like it," Abby admitted, "I'm still running the DNA of the unknown. I'll tell you if I get a hit."

"That's good work Abs, run the baby's DNA against Corporal Ramirez, I want to know if he really is the father."

"There's more," Abby said quickly, "before you snuck in here like the master spy you are, I was taking one more look at knives and found this stuck in the grip," she showed him a small piece of plastic underneath the microscope, "I haven't tested it but I'm pretty certain it's your everyday variety garbage bag, a little unusual to be stuck in knife grip so I'm thinking they wrapped her body in a garbage bag."

He pressed the Caf-Pow in her hand and kissed her on the cheek, "Thanks Abs."

"Always here to help my sexy silver fox!" She called afterwards and took a sip of her Caf-Pow.

Heaven.

"You think the guy really raped Lance Corporal Lambert?" McGee asked Tony, they were standing in the observation room watching as Ramirez conversed with his attorney in Interrogation.

"Absolutely."

"Really? There wasn't much evidence," McGee pointed out, "what makes you think he's guilty."

"Look at the guy, he has on Gucci shoes with tassels, an Armani tie, I bet that lapel pin is solid gold," Tony explained.

McGee was confused, "Corporal Ramirez isn't wearing a tie!"

Tony smacked him on the back of the head, "I wasn't talking about Ramirez I was talking about his lawyer, that suit has to cost three thousand bucks, he's dripping with money."

"What does this have to do with whether or not Ramirez is innocent?"

"The more expensive the lawyer the more guilty the suspect," Tony explained, "It's a linear thing." He stared hard at Ramirez, "This is going to be good. Gibbs hates lawyers and this guy is scum, I bet Gibbs pulls out his sig."

McGee didn't get a chance to reply; Gibbs walked through the door into Interrogation and took a seat across from Ramirez and his lawyer James Goodman.

"I've advised my client to remain silent," Goodman told Gibbs.

"Your client has been charged with rape and is now suspected in a missing person's case," Gibbs explained, "I think he'd better talk."

"I didn't do anything!" Ramirez exclaimed.

"Enrique," Goodman told his client, "he wants you to get angry."

Gibbs didn't say anything, just studies Ramirez for a long moment. "She was beautiful wasn't she, Lance Corporal Mary Lambert. She was young, good figure, blonde hair, blue eyes; it wasn't hard watching her work I'm sure." Ramirez was still silent but he was clearly uncomfortable with Gibbs' words, "She was under your command, day in and day out you watched her, you listened as the other men in your command talked about her, made lewd references, did you join in? Did you fantasize about her?"

Gibbs shrugged "It's understandable, healthy even. She was beautiful and we both know your wife isn't as young as she used to be, she isn't as cooperative as you might like, and that makes you angry." He pulled open a file and laid some pictures in front of Ramirez, "Is that why you hit her? Did it make you feel in control because you couldn't control your urges anymore?"

One by one pictures of Marisol Ramirez, black eyes and cut lip, were shown to Ramirez. He looked at the pictures with disgust and disinterest. He looked up at Gibbs, "I didn't hit my wife, she fell down the stairs."

Gibbs kept his face blank, "That's what she said."

Goodman intervened, "No charges were laid against my client, there was no evidence to indicate spousal abuse and this has no bearing on Lance Corporal Lambert."

Gibbs didn't even look at Goodman, his eyes remained on Ramirez, "What was it? What did Lance Corporal Lambert do that sent you over the edge? Did she bend down to pick up something? Was her uniform just a little too low? Was another Marine's comment too explicit?" Gibbs shook his head, "It doesn't matter what it was, but you just had to have her. You followed her home, no one was around, you were her CO so you were in charge; you were in control. Did she fight you? Did that make it more exciting?"

"That's enough Agent Gibbs." Goodman interrupted.

"You must have been so smug, you frightened her enough. She had nothing on you, it must have stopped you cold when you found out she was pregnant," Gibbs continued with his monologue.

"Agent Gibbs…"

"Every day crept closer and closer to the due date, you're less sure, you're lies are starting to show. The only way to be absolutely certain is to make that baby disappear." Gibbs turned his cold blue eyes on Ramirez, "You know that absolute control of someone is not rape…it's murder. Did you like that feeling when you killed Lance Corporal Lambert."

"We're done here Agent Gibbs," Goodman said standing up, "we came here to provide information not to be interrogated by your assumptions." He turned to his client, "Come on Enrique, we're leaving."

Ramirez didn't move to leave for a moment, just continued to glare daggers at Gibbs. "You'll be in here again Corporal," Gibbs told him, "I'm certain."

Ramirez stood up quickly and followed his lawyer out the door.

Ziva was humiliated; her inability to control her stomach had resulted in her lying on the bathroom floor after vomiting for what seemed like an hour. Now that she'd emptied anything she'd had in her, Ziva was trying to keep some crackers down with a little ginger ale. It was a good thing Tony wasn't there, he'd probably be making a silly comment and she wasn't sure she could restrain herself from stabbing him with his letter opener today. She didn't know how many times she'd cursed Tony in between bouts of vomiting.

But she couldn't blame him for her bad mood entirely, Abby had told her about what she'd found in the evidence from Mary's home. She hadn't really doubted the blood in the shower drain was Mary's, more like she'd hoped it wasn't. But what she hadn't been prepared for was the baby's DNA being found on the knives. For once she'd been glad to be alone when she heard that information; she didn't want anyone to see her tears.

It was horrible to kill an innocent woman. It was unimaginable to kill a baby who hadn't even begun to live. Mary had wanted that baby, she'd had a room ready, was picking out names, she was already imagining holding him in her arms. All of it cut short before it had even begun.

Unconsciously Ziva pressed a hand to her stomach, I want you, she spoke to the baby in her mind; I can't deny that anymore. I don't know how I'll do this but I will…even if it has to be alone.

She looked up to see two men coming from the direction of Interrogation, one she didn't recognize but his expensive dress and unhappy expression made her certain he was a lawyer, and the fact that Corporal Ramirez was following him implied he was Ramirez's lawyer. She couldn't help but stare at the man she considered the most vile thing on the planet.

Ramirez obviously noticed her; a sly grin came over his face and his eyes trailed up and down her body. She was well aware what he was doing, it made her sick to her stomach and that wasn't just morning sickness. She glared at him, "You like what you see?"

He stopped and smiled obviously thinking she was flirting, "Yes."

She stood up and walked towards him with a cold expression, "Did you like what you saw when you were with Mary Lambert?"

Enrique froze, he hadn't thought she was involved with his case, Ziva's smile dropped a few degrees colder, "Is that what you did with her, flirt? And she rejected you; I'll bet that made you feel…what's the word? Emasculated?" she smiled wider, "We'll see how emasculated you feel when you're doing twenty-five to life at Bethesda, the men there will let you know how Mary felt when you raped her…unless of course you like it."

Ramirez obviously didn't like being put in those terms, "Mujer loco estúpido," he insulted her cruelly.

She glared back at him, "I feel sorry for Mary's son, to share genes with a cerdo maloliente."

Apparently comparing him to a pig was the worst insult she could give, Ramirez charged forward and tried to take swing at her. She easily grabbed his arm and pulled him back up against the desk, not being gentle at all.

All chaos broke loose as Gibbs, Tony and McGee rushed forward once the confrontation took place, Goodman was shouting and other NCIS agents pointed shouted at the fight. Ziva leaned in close to Ramirez, "I am not Mary, you cannot control me!"

"Let him go Ziva!" Gibbs shouted at her, "let him go!"

Tony came up and grabbed her shoulder, "Ziva," he told her quietly. She glared at Tony but finally released Ramirez. The Corporal glared at Ziva maliciously and began swearing rapidly in Spanish, his lawyer stepped forward, "I ought to press charges against your agent Gibbs."

"Get him out of here before we charge him with attempting to assault a federal agent!" Gibbs shot back. Goodman wisely led his client away but not without sending another withering look at Ziva.

Her eyes remained on Tony, the only person who knew how to keep her calm. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry; she wanted to rip Ramirez's face off. No one knew why she was so involved; no one could see how she could barely keep herself together. She wasn't a fool she knew she'd screwed up.

Gibbs stepped forward, "If you ever assault a suspect…"

"He was going to…"

"I don't care!" Gibbs shouted, ", if you ever interfere with an investigation like that again I will send you back to Israel. Is that understood?!"

Ziva leveled her eyes at him, "Yes."

*foof*

A/N: What did you think? Again I'm sorry for the Spanish if it's wrong, if it's right then thank Google Translate LOL. New chapter will come soon unless my professors decide to be mean again.