Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: Wow everyone really liked Ziva putting Ramirez in his place, I know it's always nice when the characters actually get to knock the bad guys around. Everyone is also getting anxious for Tony to find out about the baby, all I can say is he will when the story allows it but not a moment too soon :-p

I really liked writing this next chap, it has my favorite scene in it so read and enjoy.

Chapter 3: All That Remains

Leon Vance stared at the two agents in front of his desk with and angry and disappointed look, fortunately Ziva and Gibbs were made of stronger stuff, neither of them crumbled though there was a hint of shame in Ziva's eyes.

"Officer David, there are many things an investigator must do, follow chain of evidence, check every lead…not assault a suspect in the squad room," he eyed her angrily, "Apparently you're having problems with the latter."

"I received a call from Corporal Ramirez's lawyer," Vance continued, "it seems he wants to press charges against the agency."

"Corporal Ramirez was moving to attack me," Ziva told him, "I was defending myself."

"I'm aware of what transpired," Vance told her, "I'm also aware that you were having words with Ramirez before he made a move, that you insulted him."

Ziva didn't respond and that spoke volumes of it self, "If this was the first time something like this occurred," Vance explained, "I might have been more lenient, but three years ago you were investigated in the death of another suspect, Brian Dempsey."

"Ducky said he died of natural causes," Ziva reminded him.

"Dr. Mallard did say that," Vance agreed, "but it is only his word."

It was Gibbs' turn to step in, "She was cleared Leon; she hasn't harmed a suspect since."

"Until now," Vance finished.

"I did not hurt Corporal Ramirez," Ziva reminded him, silently she added unfortunately.

"I never said you did."

Gibbs turned to Ziva, "Ziva, why don't you go outside." She gave glanced at Gibbs but one look at his eyes confirmed that he was on her side, and then she followed his orders.

Vance waited till she left the room, "She's too involved with this case."

"Let me worry about that," Gibbs told him, "she's my agent."

"And I'm wondering if you can handle her," Vance explained, "we can't have her attacking suspects for no reason."

"Ziva always has a reason," Gibbs said.

"If you can't keep her under control…"

"Are you questioning my leadership Leon?" Gibbs asked, obviously not happy with Vance's intentions. Gibbs looked him in the eye, "What she did was stupid, but she was defending herself."

Leon leveled his eyes at Gibbs, not particularly happy with the situation or having his hands tied in this manner, "If I ever hear about something like this again…"

"You won't," Gibbs assured him.

"Good," Vance sat back down at his desk as Gibbs walked towards the door, "And find out what's wrong with her."

Gibbs just smiled as he closed the door, "I've got a pretty good idea."

Ducky's morgue was unusually vacant so Dr. Mallard was using the quiet time to catch up on the always high mountain of paperwork. Jimmy wasn't in the room for the moment and that was what Tony was counting on. Ducky looked up from his desk the moment the Autopsy doors opened. "Ah Tony, what brings you down here?"

"Can't a guy just come down to chat with a friend?" Tony asked; he wasn't very good at lying so it wasn't hard for Ducky to see right through that façade.

"What's the matter Tony?" He asked his voice serious; he stood up and walked over to the young Agent.

"Nothing," Tony told him again, he paused for a moment, "It's this case."

"Yes I heard you were trying to find a missing Lance Corporal."

Tony sighed, "That's not the problem…something's wrong with Ziva; she's too involved. Something's bothering her and she won't tell me…and it's getting her in trouble."

"You're referring to her altercation with the suspect upstairs," Ducky inferred.

"I forgot how quickly word travels around here," Tony remarked lightly.

Ducky smiled, "Yes well, it seems to me that Ziva has found some common ground between herself and the missing Lance Corporal. She feels vulnerable, just like Lance Corporal Lambert must have felt when her commanding officer attacked her all those months ago. It's why Ziva fought with him, she wants retribution."

Tony rubbed his eyes, "I know, what I don't know is why. She never met this woman; they have absolutely nothing in common…"

"That you know of," Ducky reminded him, "Ziva has many secrets, perhaps one of those has a connection to Lance Corporal Lambert."

"Like what?!" Tony asked angrily, he shook his head, "no she would have told me about it."

"And why is that?" Ducky asked curiously. He eyed Tony with an intuitive glance, "I had a conversation with Ziva once; she had the same attitude that you have now."

Tony knew what conversation Ducky was referring to, not long after he and Ziva had gotten together they had talked about how long they'd had feelings for each other. When they started realizing their friendly attraction was more than just friendly. Ziva had told him about that tequila night with Ducky before La Grenouille was killed.

"I don't monitor Tony."

"Oh, yes, you do, my dear, like a mother with her toddler"

"That's a good description."

"Or a woman with a wayward lover."

Ducky narrowed his eyes at Tony, "Is something going on between you two?"

Tony forced what he thought sounded like a natural laugh, "That's a good one Ducky, you should talk to McGee, maybe you could help co-author his next book." He tried to change the subject, "Look, I just want to know what's wrong with Ziva, I was hoping that your shrink skills could shed some light on the situation."

Ducky was still studying him, "If you want to know what's bothering Ziva, I suggest you ask her."

Tony gave him an incredulous look, "Ask her? She doesn't usually give me a straight answer…that or she lets me wonder what the answer is."

Ducky smiled, "Yes Tony, Ziva may be a very good liar, but at this moment she is at her most emotional. And it is at times like these when the truth comes out."

When Tony returned to the Squad Room Ziva and Gibbs were sitting at their desks, an awkward silence rested between them. Obviously the conversation with Vance hadn't gone too well, but since Ziva wasn't packing up her things Tony figured she hadn't been asked to leave. He caught her eye for a moment, trying to read what was going on behind them but she looked away quickly. Now she wasn't just avoiding talking with him but eye contact as well, and he thought things couldn't get any worse.

McGee was oblivious to the tension between his teammates; he was too busy following a new lead. If he was right about this then he might be in Gibbs' good graces for a little while and it was always safer to be on his boss' good side, no matter how short a time it might be.

"I think I have something boss," he said finally stepping away from his desk and putting a picture of man's driver's license on the plasma. "Grayson Samuels," McGee continued as Gibbs looked up, "he's a civilian who works for a shipping company in Davison, Virginia."

Gibbs looked at the man on the screen, he had longish brown hair and normal brown eyes; he seemed average in everyway. "What does this have to do with the case McGee?"

"Well I was looking through Lance Corporal Lambert's files and I found that she'd filed a restraining order against Samuels," McGee explained, "she claimed that Samuels approached her at her house and demanded that she drop the charges against Corporal Ramirez. She claimed that Samuels threatened her if she didn't do as he said."

"So you're thinking Samuels took it a step farther," Tony inferred, "all to help his friend out."

"People have done less." McGee remarked.

Ziva shook her head, "No, Ramirez did it."

Gibbs eyed Ziva, "Yes but at NCIS we cover all angles, not just the ones we like." He turned to McGee, "that's good work McGee."

Timmy smiled, "I've got his address in case you want to talk to him."

Gibbs didn't reply, just grabbed his weapon and jacket, "Keep it up McGee, DiNozzo get back to work and go through her phone records, David with me."

Ziva was stunned by his last statement, she would have thought that he would have wanted her doing desk work as a form of punishment for her altercation with Ramirez. She grabbed her own equipment before he changed his mind and ran towards the elevator before the doors closed.

There was a few seconds of renewed awkward silence as the elevator began to move downwards, Ziva choice to break that silence, "I just…I am sorry for what happened earlier Gibbs." She peeked at him from the corner of her eye, he was still staring straight ahead, "I do not know what came over me…I just can not seem to break away from this case."

Gibbs didn't respond, instead he reached over and stopped the elevator. Uh oh, Ziva thought, now it was Gibbs' turn to lecture her on irresponsibility and hampering investigations. Not that she didn't deserve it but if anyone could make her feel worse it was Gibbs. She wasn't prepared for his question.

"How far along are you?"

She felt like every part of her body suddenly became sheathed in ice, she could have sworn her heart stopped for a moment.

He knew.

If there was one thing Mossad taught her besides how to effectively kill it was how to believably lie. So she gave a half-hearted chuckle, "What?" she asked trying to sound amused as well as confused.

When she turned to look at Gibbs he was giving her his famous stare, he meant no-nonsense and he could see right through lies. He always had and he always could. "Ziva," he said calmly with a gentle tone, he said her name to remind her lies were useless, it was the time for the truth.

She looked down at the floor, "I don't know," she admitted, "I only found out about an hour before we were called in," she flipped through the mental calendar in her head, "My best guess is six weeks…maybe eight."

Gibbs nodded his gaze never wavering, he simply spoke, "You haven't told DiNozzo."

She swallowed but wasn't going to give in that easily, "Why would it matter to him?"

"He is the father," it wasn't a question but a statement. He not only knew she was pregnant but that she'd been seeing Tony. How did he know these things?!

"How did you know that?" she asked not hiding the surprise in her voice. Gibbs didn't respond but gave her a look that revealed nothing and everything, "I forgot," she remarked, "you know everything yes?" She looked away shaking her head at her and Tony's now useless attempts to hide their relationship, "You probably know how long we've been seeing each other."

"Six months."

So that was it, everything was out in the open, everything they'd been trying to hide had been unnecessary in the end, and now when he was finally told what he already knew, Gibbs was silent. "So that is it?" Ziva asked, "No head slap, no lectures on becoming involved with your partner and breaking rule twelve?"

"Do you want one?" Gibbs asked with an amused expression.

Ziva leveled her eyes with his, "We care for each other Gibbs, this is more than just sex, it is more than either of us has ever had before."

Gibbs sighed, "Partners dating never works,

"It will this time."

"You're too emotionally involved with each other, if things get messy you won't use your heads and mistakes will be made."

Ziva glared at him, "Tony and I have been together for six months, in that time together have we ever done anything to compromise the integrity of this agency."

He studied her for a long moment; then his eyes softened, "No." He hit the start button and the elevator began to move again.

It was over and Ziva had won that argument, she and Tony may not have Gibbs' blessing but at least he wouldn't use this against them. Gibbs spoke again, "You should tell DiNozzo, he has a right to know."

Ziva shook her head, "I don't know if he's ready for this, I don't know if I am ready for this."

"You'll do fine," Gibbs told her with a smile, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Ziva began to walk through the door but Gibbs grabbed her arm, "One more thing, I should have said this before," his face was unreadable but there was a sparkle in his eyes, "Congratulations."

The two agents arrived at a small shipping facility in Davison; an employee pointed them in the direction of Grayson Samuels. The man in question was busy working near an assembly line, "Grayson Samuels," Gibbs called out.

Samuels looked up, "Yeah?"

Gibbs flashed his badge, "Special Agent Gibbs, Officer David, NCIS."

Samuels looked confused, "What do you want?"

"We're here for Lance Corporal May Lambert," Gibbs explained.

Samuels' eyes flashed anger; he obviously knew that name, "What's that bitch done now?"

"Gone missing," Gibbs told him, "You know anything about it?"

Samuels' mouth shut, his eyes grew wide when he heard the news, "She's missing?" he asked, at Gibbs' nod he shook his head, "I didn't have anything to do with it."

"Really?" Ziva asked, "Then why did she have a restraining order against you?"

Samuels sighed, "Enrique is my friend, I know he's not capable of raping someone," he continued, "Lambert had a thing for him…most of the women on the base did, but she was obsessed!" His anger was rising now, "She cried rape because she couldn't have him, I don't know who got her pregnant, but it wasn't Enrique."

"The charges against him were destroying his career," Samuels continued, "I just wanted to talk to her, to try and get her to stop lying…I lost my temper."

Grayson Samuels waited outside of Lance Corporal Lambert's house, he approached her when she went to get her mail from the mailbox.

"Do you know what you're doing?" He asked angrily, "You're destroying his life with your lies!"

"I don't know you!" Mary shouted turning away, her hand instinctively covering her stomach, protecting her unborn son, "Stay away from me!"

Ziva raised an eyebrow, "Report says you threatened her."

"I'll call the police!"Mary shouted running towards her house.

"I'll kill you, you bitch!"

"I might have said that I'd kill her, but I didn't mean it!" He said quickly, "I was just angry; I just wanted her to stop lying so that Enrique could go on with his life."

"Except now she's missing," Gibbs told him, "that makes you a suspect."

"I didn't do it!"

"Where were you at 2100 yesterday?" Gibbs asked.

Grayson looked confused, "What's 2100?"

"Nine, o'clock," Ziva replied smoothly, "at night."

Samuels smiled, "Well then I'm cleared," he explained, "I was at a bachelor party last night, my brother's getting married. I can show you the pictures."

"You do that," Gibbs told him.

"We will also want the phone numbers of the other people at the party," Ziva piped in, "to corroborate your story."

"No problem."

A few minutes later Ziva and Gibbs made their way back the car, neither of them fully satisfied with the interview but the profilers in them told them that Samuels was telling the truth. Gibbs noticed a look of sadness in Ziva's eyes.

"What's the matter now?" he asked a hint of exasperation in his voice.

Ziva turned to look up at him, "I was just thinking," her eyes strayed to the distance, "Ramirez has his wife, he has Samuels and a dozen other friends all there to testify that he was a good guy…Mary had no one," she explained. "She was not speaking with her mother; most of the people in her unit were men that she was not close to, her phone records show she did not call many people, none for extended periods of time." Ziva pursed her lips, "how desperately she must have wanted that baby, then she would have someone to love her."

She looked back up at Gibbs, "She was alone Gibbs."

Gibbs wasn't a fool; he knew Ziva was relating to this case for more than one reason, not the least of which was her own pregnancy. He knew when she was talking about Lambert…she was thinking about hers own situation as well, "You're not alone Ziva."

Ziva shook her head, "I do not know how much involved Tony will be."

"I wasn't just talking about DiNozzo," Gibbs explained, "Me, Ducky, Abby, McGee and I wouldn't count out DiNozzo…we're all going to be here for you."

Ziva smiled softly, for the first time it reached her eyes, "Thank you Gibbs."

McGee and Tony were still hard at work in the Squad Room when Gibbs and Ziva arrived back from the interview. They both looked up as their two teammates made their way back to their desks, "Samuels had an alibi?" McGee asked.

"Air tight," Gibbs replied sitting back down.

"Did you find anything," Ziva asked hopeful.

"Not unless you count Lambert's obsession with jungle themed baby furniture," Tony answered, "she must have ordered thirty different items off Amazon."

Ziva sighed, "So we have nothing on Ramirez."

"I wouldn't say that just yet," Abby said excited as she ran into the Squad Room, a three hundred mega-watt smile on her face.

"You have something Abs?" Gibbs asked, knowing the answer already.

"I sure do, and you are going to love me."

"We already do Abby," Tony replied with a teasing smiled.

"No this time you are going to mega love me, super love me…is there anything bigger than super? What ever, you are going to so love me!" Abby squealed.

"Just tell us Abs,' Gibbs interrupted before the love fest continued.

"I ran Corporal Ramirez's DNA against the DNA we found on the knife belonging to Lance Corporal Lambert's baby…it's a match. Corporal Ramirez was the father."

"So he did rape her," McGee inferred.

"That or had an affair with her," Tony reminded him.

"It doesn't matter," Gibbs interrupted, "he said he never touched her. He lied…we have enough for a warrant."

Gibbs grabbed his gun and jacket, "Gear up and gas the truck, we're searching Ramirez's house." He stopped long enough to kiss Abby on the cheek, "Great work Abs put a Caf-Pow on my tab."

"Just doing my job," Abby called after him smiling.

Ziva was on Gibbs' heels, "Are we bringing him in for questioning?"

"I'm bringing him in, you will search his house," Gibbs told her, "I don't want you near him."

"Understood," Ziva replied smoothly. But she smiled; they were one step closer to catching this bastard

The NCIS truck pulling up to the Ramirez home sent the neighbors outside to investigate; the team ignored the stares and walked up to the home to speak to their suspect. Again it was Marisol who opened the door, "Mrs. Ramirez," Gibbs spoke with a serious tone, "we have a warrant to search the premises."

"A warrant?" she asked looking at the paper in her hands.

"We would also like to speak to your husband, where is he?" Gibbs asked looking around.

"He is not here," she replied her English a little broken.

Gibbs stepped closer, a full on glare in his eyes, "Where is he?!"

Ziva wasn't watching the altercation; her eyes were looking down the hallway and out the large kitchen windows which framed the backyard…and the smoke rising from a fire pit outside.

"Gibbs!" she called and rushed down the hallway just as the rest of the team caught sight at what caught her eye.

They rushed out the backdoor leaving Marisol alone and confused, Ziva and Gibbs were the first to reach the fire pit but all members smelled the sickening odor of burned flesh long before they saw anything. Smoke tendrils reached from the sky from the charred remains of wood and cardboard boxes…and something else.

Something that on sight made Ziva turn her head away, blinking tears from her eyes.

Something that made Gibbs whisper, "My god."

Because nestled between two pieces of charred firewood blackened skull peered up at them, grinning with the terrifying smile of death.

*foof*

A/N: Call me crazy but I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter, mostly because it deals with bones and I'm a Forensic Anthropology major (yipee bones, I love bones!) but I'll try to keep myself from getting too technical, I doubt anyone else would understand the different scientific terms for metacarpals.

As for this last chap, my favorite scenes were the ones between Ziva and Gibbs, the silver fox always knows everything LOL.