Fighting the Darkness

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Hey, there! I took a little detour but here is the next chapter! Enjoy!

Oh, and I'm really grateful for the reviews! You are great!

Chapter 9: Bad Day (Part 1)

Gibbs woke up early, very early, and he definitely wasn't a happy camper. It wasn't bad enough that he had to sleep on the couch but he had to sleep there alone. As a marine he could fall asleep technically anywhere and under any conditions. That night, however, was the longest night he had in a very long time. He missed his wife and his back was killing him.

He was sure that it would take at least two mugs of coffee, before he could communicate with anybody without biting their heads off.

Three mugs of coffee later he was standing in front of the oven making pancakes for the girls. Despite his still quite grumpy mood, Gibbs had to smile when he heard the drumming of feet coming down the stairs and his smile just got wider when he laid eyes on the three figures standing in the kitchen door. They looked so adorably cute all wrinkled freshly out of bed, with sleepy eyes and tousled hair.

"Morning." He greeted the little commission cheerfully. His mood considerably improved as soon as the girls joined him in the kitchen, plus he always made great efforts to be as jolly as possible in the morning. He simply loved his wife's reaction to it. As it could have been predicted, Ziva threw a dirty look in his direction – because he did know how annoying she found anybody who could be so chipper in the morning – and with a grouchy 'I need coffee' she made her way to the coffee pot. Gibbs still found it amusing that his wife, who always seemed to be alert at any given time of the day, was actually not a morning person and it really took her serious efforts to leave the bed. That's it given that there was no imminent danger or something like that. In that case she could be up and awake as if she hadn't been sleeping at all.

Little Abby settled down by the table with a huge yawn and Abby stayed rooted to the spot. She looked too pale for her own good, Gibbs noted.

"You know, Gibbs, if the smell of the pancakes didn't make me feel so terribly sick, I would find it really amusing that you're standing in the kitchen in your boxers making breakfast." She frowned then turned on her heels and ran to the bathroom. Gibbs looked at his wife worried.

"Is she alright?"

Ziva just shrugged clinging to her mug as if her life had depended on it. "She will be." She told him and Gibbs turned back to the pancakes. After Ziva had drunk her coffee and she felt up to begin the day, she put a mug of tea in front of little Abby, kissed her head then stood behind Gibbs circling his waist and burying her head into his back. "Good morning, my love." She murmured and Gibbs turned around to kiss his wife good morning. "Morning." He whispered into her ear then pulled her closer into his embrace.

"You are quite clingy, yes?" Ziva chuckled.

"I spent the night alone on the couch so I have every right to be clingy."

"I love you, too, my big bad marine." Ziva grinned as she patted his cheek affectionately then Gibbs leant down to kiss her again. And it wasn't just a chaste kiss…

"You know there are just so many things my delicate stomach can take at the moment, plus, there is an underage in the room." Abby interrupted them. She looked considerably better than before, Gibbs noted with satisfaction, however his expression was visibly annoyed at the interruption. He gave her his best 'Are you kidding me?'-look.

"I slept on the couch, you know that right?" He hadn't slept on the couch for a long time and he definitely hadn't slept without his wife… well, since they got engaged. And his back was still hurting.

"Jethro, can you remember those mornings…" Ziva began looking up at her husband with a theatrically wistful expression then she slowly turned away from him and walked towards the table where their friend was seated with little Abby. "...which we spent all alone in this kitchen without any interruption…" Here she looked pointedly at Abby and despite trying very hard to look annoyed, there was a smile threatening to erupt on her face and her eyes were shining with mirth as she stopped behind little Abby and put her hands on her ears before continuing in a sweet voice looking directly at the Goth but addressing her husband. "…you know, honey, just you and me screwing against that fridge…" Seeing the scandalized look on Abby's face, Ziva lost it and laughed out heartily.

"Gibbs…" Abby turned to the now laughing man with narrowed eyes. "Your wife has a dirty, dirty mind."

"Oh, you have no idea." Gibbs smirked.

After breakfast Abby offered to get little Abby dressed which Ziva accepted gladly, relieved that her friend seemed to be over her first shock about her pregnancy. She herself quickly got dressed then went to the bathroom to get the cloths, which she had left there the previous evening, out of the washing machine and to hang them out to dry. She smiled when little Abby's sweater got into her hand. It was such a cute little piece and suddenly she envied Abby for having a baby. Maybe someday, she thought…

She furrowed her brows when she noticed that something was left in the pocket of the sweater. She reached into it and pulled it out. Suddenly the room began to spin around her. In her hand there was a worn little purple gorilla. She didn't have any time to react, though, because Gibbs' voice came up to her.

"Move your butt, Ziva. We're leaving." With a trembling hand, she quickly stuffed the little toy into her own pocket then left the bathroom. "Abs? Take care of Abigail, will you?"

"Of course, Gibbs."

Ziva stopped short at the top of the stairs and looked at little Abby, who was standing nearby with Abby, as if she had seen a ghost. If she hadn't been so shocked at her discovery she would surely found it amazing how that English expression could have been used at her situation literally. She was indeed seeing a ghost.

"Where are we going, Jethro?" Ziva slowly tore her eyes away from the little girl and started down the stairs.

"Dinozzo's." Gibbs replied curtly and opened the door for Ziva. "I'll explain it in the car." If Ziva had paid more attention to her husband's body language, she would have noticed that his posture had become tense and his expression had changed into that unreadable mask that he usually wore during work. But her mind was wandering somewhere else…

The car ride to Tony's was a blur for Ziva. She could faintly remember Gibbs telling her something about Lora's father, being drunk, panicking and an ambulance but her mind was so preoccupied with that little purple gorilla and the implications of that little toy that she just couldn't focus on anything else. How could that be? It was a question she didn't have an answer for. The rational side of her mind was screaming at her… she had buried her daughter after all… and the fact that Abigail had a little purple gorilla didn't necessarily mean that she was Avigail… but the other side of her, the mother in her, oh, how she wished that it were true…

She was still deep in her thoughts when Gibbs pulled up in front of Tony's house. He took a quick worried glance at Ziva then got out of the car with a schooled expression. Ziva followed suit on autopilot but was stopped short by the sight that greeted her. Her eyes quickly became focused as she took in her environment. Gibbs also noted this change in her demeanor so he proceeded wordlessly towards the ambulance where Tony was standing visibly worried out of his mind.

The two agents stopped in front of their colleague and only then did Ziva realize that it was little Lora who was in need of medical attention.

"What the hell happened here, Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked looking at his agent.

"Oh, hey, Boss. Ziva." Tony acknowledges their presence but he was too occupied with the toddler sitting on the gurney to pay too much attention to them.

Fortunately it seemed that, apart from being flushed from crying, the girl was unharmed. She was currently occupied by the stethoscope, which was hung around her neck, and she was happy to show Ziva how it worked. When the Israeli woman settled down next to her on the gurney, Gibbs managed to pull Tony apart but the younger agent needed a well placed Gibbs-slap on the back of his head to turn his attention away from the girl.

"She's alright, Dinozzo." Gibbs told the younger agent. "But it can't be told about you if you don't begin to explain to me this whole mess."

"Yeah, about that…" Tony looked around sheepishly. Several police officers were still wandering around the perimeter and the whole commission with the police cars and ambulance had attracted quite an audience. "It's not a big deal, really." He told Gibbs who just stared at him. "Alright… but it certainly looks worse than it really is…" He tried to explain the situation while nervously rubbed the back of his neck but Gibbs interrupted him impatiently.

"Why?"

"That bastard came back for Lora." Tony stated and Gibbs narrowed his eyes when he noticed the change in Tony's posture and saw the anger in his eyes. "He came here totally wasted, began shouting all around claiming that nobody can take away his daughter from him, I tried to calm him down but he just got worked up even more and he managed to scare Lora to death and she got a panic attack or something so I called 911…well, that's all between seven thirty and eight."

"And the man, Dinozzo?"

"What man?"

"The girl's father?" Gibbs was beginning to lose his patience.

"Oh, that scumbag. He's trying to sleep it off in that car." Tony pointed towards a police car. "I might have knocked him out." He added as an afterthought.

When they returned to the ambulance, they found the girls giggling, as Lora was listening to Ziva's heartbeat. The girl's merriment made the two men's mood lift, too. Tony could finally believe that indeed there was nothing serious to worry about concerning his little ward and Gibbs was relieved that Ziva was feeling better, too.

"Dinozzo, you meet us in the Navy Yard, Ziva and I will take care of Carpino." Gibbs stated when the ambulance had finally left. Tony nodded then took Lora inside while Gibbs and Ziva started towards the last remaining police car to collect their suspect.

The ride to the Navy Yard was silent once again. Carpino had fallen back to sleep once again and he was currently snoring on the backseat while Ziva had fallen back to her previous reverie and was staring out of the window wordlessly. It worried Gibbs. Not the sitting in silence part. They spent much time together without saying a word but the present silence was filled with something he couldn't put his fingers on.

"Ziva." After checking the rearview mirror that Carpino was still asleep, Gibbs spoke up gently. It startled Ziva nonetheless. "Talk to me."

"What do you want to talk about?" She asked confused not really understanding his sudden need for a conversation.

Gibbs rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to talk, Ziver. I want you to talk. Something's bothering you and I want to know what. So please, tell me what it is."

"Nothing is bothering me." Ziva just shrugged then turned to look out the window.

"Well, something obviously is because you're acting strangely. What happened in the bathroom? You found somebody else's bra there?" He was obviously going for a smile here and he wasn't disappointed. Ziva turned back to him.

"Oh, you would not dare."

"That's very true." Gibbs agreed then after a short pause, he added. "And why would I, anyway?" He leant a little bit close as if sharing a secret with her. "I've already got the best."

"And that is also very true." She patted his tight.

"Ziver? You can talk to me, you know that, right?" It was obvious that Ziva wouldn't talk to him just yet but he hoped that she knew he would be there whenever she was ready.

"I know it, my love." She knew that she had been acting somewhat strangely in the last few days and she knew, too, that Gibbs was worried about her. But she didn't know what to tell her husband. How would some one tell her husband that the girl, they had taken in, might be her own daughter whom she had believed dead for years and about whom she had never talked before? It was indeed a difficult question but strangely enough, it wasn't the main reason Ziva was so reluctant to mention her daughter or her suspicion about Abigail. No, she knew and trusted Gibbs well enough not to worry about his reaction. But bringing up that part of her past would surely raise other questions as well, questions she didn't have the courage to answer. And most of all, she wasn't ready to admit to the man she loved with everything she had that the only other man in her life, whom she had loved the same way she loved him, had been killed by her own hand. How could he possibly trust her after that?

TBC

So, now I think you can have a fairly good guess about little Abby... :-)

Thanks for reading!