Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A.N.: Thank you to Twilight Trekky, alix33, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, Huddly, LadyJibbs, MissJayne and HesMines for reviewing!
Jenny watched Fornell calm Emily for a few more moments and then decided the poor doctor Emily attacked was owed an explanation. She caught Tobias' eye and pointed to the door. He nodded and then she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. The doctor was still there, he turned to look at her as she approached him, his expression confused and now it had a glimmer of anger. Jenny felt bad for him; the hospital staff did get a lot of abuse from patients.
"I really must apologise for what happened in there, she was afraid, she overreacted." She said to him, her voice gentle and soothing, and her smile disarming. The doctor relaxed his posture almost immediately in response, an answering smile appearing on his face.
"I really can't imagine why, she's a little spitfire." He said admiringly, as if he hadn't just been fuming over her attack on him mere moments ago.
"Yes, well. She's been through a very traumatic time and her father was injured as a result." Jenny explained, gesturing behind her to the room Fornell and Emily were in. "I know you might not think so, but it's actually a good sign that she stood up for herself." He nodded and looked her over thoughtfully, before gesturing to Fornell's room.
"Well I do need to get back in there to treat her father. Could she be removed from the room while I do so?" he asked, unwilling to be attacked again. Jenny nodded, thinking it through. They had been here for nearly an hour, it was time to go home, and maybe she could call Cynthia and find out what was going on at work.
"It's time I took her home anyway. Thank you for your understanding." She said to him, a bright smile breaking out on her face when he lowered his head and waved off her thanks. Flattery seemed to work very well on this doctor, she noted, filing the information away for future reference. If there were ever any accidents involving her Agents she would more than likely be able to get all of their information from him.
"Its fine, she wasn't really hurting me. I'll just check up on your husband now." he said, throwing a sly glance in her direction as he emphasised the word 'husband'. Jenny smothered her grin, not wanting the harmless flirting to look like she was seriously considering dating him. She recalled how easily Doctor Gelfand had gotten out of hand when he thought she was interested in him. The flowers had been lovely, but no means no.
"He isn't my husband." She said, carefully trying to make her voice sound casual instead of enticing. She really had no intention of picking up a man; she just liked the attention sometimes. Besides, he was quite young, and though she didn't doubt she could easily get away with dating him without being called nasty names, she just didn't have the drive to do such a thing. The only man she wanted was off limits to her, and even if she did get him back, what would she say to him when he found out about Rosie? She couldn't bear the thought of having to recount those terrible events ever again. Only Ziva and herself knew what had happened, and she wanted it to stay that way.
"Oh really? So you're unattached…?" he asked, moving closer to her and looking over her hands for a wedding ring. At least he was one of those guys that actually looked for it. His smile widened when he didn't find one.
"Goodbye Doctor." She said, amused and turned away from him, signalling that she really wasn't interested in him. Perhaps he wouldn't be the best source of information. She entered Fornell's room and closed the door behind her, not really wanting the doctor to follow her in. Tobias and Emily were snuggled up on the bed, Emily's head tucked under his chin. He looked up from Emily's hair when Jenny entered and she smiled at him.
"The doctor understands that it was an accident. How are you feeling?" she asked when his eyes met hers.
"I've been better." He answered shortly and shrugged, then sighed at her raised eyebrow and serious expression and gave her a real answer. "My leg will take a while to heal because I'm not as young as I used to be, so I'll be here for at least a week. The FBI has suspended me for taking my case to NCIS and I may be subject to a disciplinary tribunal." He groused heatedly. Jenny nodded thoughtfully.
"I'll go see your Director; see if I can take some of the heat off of you. I could make Gibbs come." It was Tobias' turn to raise an eyebrow, so she glared at him and then quickly retracted her statement. "I'll ask Gibbs if he's willing to go with me to FBI headquarters, and to be the excuse to get you out of trouble. He was married to Diane too, after all, so he may get away with having an excuse to bring the case to the attention of NCIS." She explained, and Tobias nodded, wondering if that would be enough to get him back in the good books.
"If he doesn't go?" Fornell asked, resuming stroking Emily's hair. Jenny shrugged indifferently.
"I'll get your Director to come to NCIS. Gibbs can run, but he can't escape me forever." She said, winking in jest. Tobias chuckled and then kissed Emily's hair.
"Thanks Jenny." he said and Jenny held up a hand.
"Don't thank me yet, your Director is uncommonly obstinate. He may not go for it. I hope he values you." she said gravely and Fornell nodded thoughtfully. He was a good Agent, but he was getting old. Would his Director bother trying to help him? Or would he just let him go and get some younger recruits to replace the personnel shift his departure would create? For Emily's sake he had to hope he would get to keep his job. He wasn't exactly poor, but Emily was used to two parents and the expenses that entailed. It would be a tough adjustment to only having one parent paying for her dance lessons and other activities.
"Emily, it's time to go back home with Jenny." he said softly to his young daughter, and she shook her head, tightening her hold on him.
"I don't want to leave you daddy." She said brokenly, making both adults wince at the thought of separating her from her father, but they had to. The doctor had been patient so far, but that wouldn't hold out for much longer. They really had to leave.
"Go on Emily, you can't stay in the hospital with me. You have to go home with Jenny. I'll be out soon." he said to her, looking into her eyes so she knew he meant it. Emily snuffled loudly and wiped her eyes.
"Promise?" she asked, and he smiled at her, nodding.
"I promise Angel." He whispered to her, kissing her forehead and then gently nudging her to the edge of the bed, where Jenny lifted her into her arms and hugged her, hoping that she would feel more at ease with her again when she recalled how she had looked after her. Emily hugged her back and then Jenny set her down on her feet, took her hand and walked to the door.
"I love you daddy." Emily said over her shoulder, and Tobias nodded, a lump appearing in his throat. He hadn't liked watching her being taken away the first time, and he hated it this time. He had a lot to work out where Emily was concerned, and he may as well do some of that now while he had nothing to do but lounge around. Jenny and Emily walked out of the door and waved the doctor in.
Ducky stared at the floor indicator in the lift without really seeing it. He was lost in his mind, trying to piece together everything Jennifer had told him and everything he had inferred from her actions, body language and what Jethro had said. It wasn't painting the prettiest picture for him, in fact it was quite a harrowing picture that all of that brought to mind and he wasn't sure anymore if he should pry any further.
Jennifer needed to open up to someone, and unless he'd missed his guess, she needed to talk to Jethro about it too. He had a right to know what was going on with her, but Ducky wanted to make sure there was something worth upsetting them both over before he locked them in a room together. There wasn't much of a chance that he was wrong, but even a small chance was potentially detrimental to them.
The lift stopped at the squad room floor and the doors opened, allowing Ducky to step out. He had one more person to speak to about what was going on, and he didn't want to do it in the bullpen. They would need privacy to converse on this subject, if he could get her to speak. He approached Ziva's desk, glad to see she was there, and he stopped in front of it. Ziva's eyes flickered up to him when he didn't move on for a few moments and then she sat up in pleasant surprise.
"Ducky, Gibbs just left for autopsy to look for you." she said amused. Ducky chuckled, he knew what Jethro wanted, but he needed to talk to Ziva first. He leaned over her desk and spoke in a low voice, trying very hard to not be overheard.
"I actually need to speak with you in private, if you have a moment?" he asked. Ziva drew her eyebrows together curiously and nodded, standing up and rounding her desk. Ducky gestured for her to follow him and she nodded again, smiling at his antics, following him around the corner of the stairs. He turned to her and then thought about the best way to broach a subject that she would more than likely not want to talk about.
"What is this about Ducky?" she asked, her voice lilting in suppressed laughter. He smiled back and then decided to ask about the things she could tell him, and then move onto the things that weren't hers to say.
"I just heard that while you and Jennifer were in Cairo, you saved her life. I just wondered what her injuries were, since I found no mention of any such accident in her file." He said, playing the part of the concerned doctor. Ziva stiffened for a moment, her expression becoming wary. "I just want to know if she's hiding any problems from me." He reassured her quickly. Ziva thought it over and then nodded.
"Jenny was incapacitated for a time, but the injuries she sustained were mostly superficial bruising." She reported, carefully not giving anything about what happened away. Ducky frowned; this would be a little more difficult than he had first thought.
"Thank you Ziva, now what about you?" he asked slyly, smothering a grin when she nodded absently and replied to him.
"Again superficial bruising."
"And Rosie?" he asked, putting no emphasis on the name and hoping Ziva wouldn't notice until it was too late.
"She-" Ziva cut off, realising her mistake almost immediately, and gave Ducky a wounded glare. "I will not say anymore."
"Ziva, I need to know what happened." He insisted, attempting to give his voice a superior edge. Ziva was undaunted however.
"Why?" she asked practically growling the word. Ducky decided to just tell her, she may be more inclined to help when she knew the full story. He sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily.
"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Jennifer is having problems, drinking problems. I think it is connected to whatever happened to this Rosie, and quite possibly, the Arms dealer she has been chasing after for the last ten years." He told her, laying down the gist of what had put him on the trail of this largely unknown period of Jennifer's life. Ziva nodded, looking thoughtful but then waved away his concern.
"I have noticed, but this problem is recent, Rosie is not." She replied to him, unconvinced she should break her confidence with Jenny, and the trust she had in her.
"Then don't tell me anything, just confirm or deny my suspicions." He asked, coming as close to begging as he would ever allow himself to get. Whatever happened to Rosie was eating Jenny up inside, and he wanted it to stop.
"Alright, but this never happened. I do not want to lose Jenny's friendship." She stipulated to him, and Ducky nodded eagerly, wanting to be underway as quickly as possible.
"Agreed. Rosie was her daughter, wasn't she?" he began, asking the question that he thought of as a starting point that would lead nicely into the other questions he had.
"Yes."
"She was pregnant when she transferred to European operations?"
"As far as I am aware, yes."
"Gibbs is Rosie's father?"
"Was. I believe so."
"Rosie was born alive?"
"Yes." She said a look of remorse and a little happiness appearing on her face as she remembered the young girl that had been a part of her life so long ago, only to be taken away.
"She was put in danger?" he asked, and this time Ziva didn't reply, merely cocked her head to one side and waited for the next guess.
"Was she kidnapped?" he asked the only other thing that made sense.
"Yes." She said quietly, crossing her arms defensively and leaning back against the wall.
"And murdered?" he prodded gently.
"Yes." She whispered.
"Thank you Ziva. Now do you know where that Arms dealer fits into all of this?" he asked, coming up with his own ideas about that. Jennifer was very driven to find that man. Why? It explained at least why she had let him go with Gibbs to find Emily.
"No, I am sorry." Ziva shook her head. She didn't know, but then they hadn't known much about what had prompted the attack on Rosie.
"How did you save Jennifer's life?" he asked curiously.
"It was a warehouse, where they were keeping Rosie. Jenny left without backup to find her daughter, but she was already dead. I followed her, but when I got there, she was holding her daughter's body, unaware of the fact she was alone. They had set a bomb in the warehouse. I had to practically drag Jenny out of there, and even then we almost did not make it." she recounted the tale softly, the day still burned into her memory. The anguished crying of Jenny over her daughter's body, the distress she felt for her friend, the helplessness of knowing there was nothing she could do, but still needing to do something.
"Rosie's body?" Ducky enquired, and Ziva closed her eyes for a moment.
"She never let go of it. Rosie is interred in her family plot, along with Jenny's mother." She said quickly, unwilling to talk of it anymore. It was painful to remember. She had been there at Rosie's birth, though she hadn't wanted to be, and Jenny hadn't known her enough to want her there, but their choices had been irrelevant when Rosie had decided to be born in thick of a fire fight. It had brought them closer and she had spent a lot of her time with Jenny and Rosie. Her death had nearly broken her and Jenny apart, but they had come to depend on each other and their friendship had survived and become stronger.
"Thank you Ziva, that was very informative." Ducky said softly, placing a hand on her arm comfortingly. It was how he had suspected; now his only problem was telling Gibbs he had lost another daughter.
"It sure was. I think your phone is dead Duck, I had to come looking for you." Ducky and Ziva both froze and looked around the corner of the stairs, where the voice of Gibbs had emanated from. He spared them the effort and walked around the corner himself, so they were face to face with him. He didn't look amused.