This is unmine.

….

Gibbs calls it his gut. Others call it a sixth sense, or thin-slicing, or even spidey-senses. No matter what one calls it, something was bothering Ziva's honorary family.

As such, over at the NCIS office, it was business as other than usual. McGee was worried. "Ziva's two hours late. I mean, the last time she was this late, the Iranians were trying to frame her for murder." He paused for a moment. "Come on, guys, even for her this is a little-"

Gibbs interrupted. "If you're worried, call her, otherwise… you know, you're right. Shut up, and I will call her." He reached for his cell phone, only to have it ring in his hand. He swore under his breath and opened it.

The subsequent awkward conversation:

"Yeah, Gibbs."

"Sir, I'm a paramedic from Bethesda Naval Hospital, and you're listed as the ICE number for a woman we have here-"

"ICE?"

"In case of emergency-"

"For who?"

"Um, we've identified her as a Ziva David-"

"D* it! Why didn't you just say so?"

"I was going to-"

"What happened? How is she?"

"I don't have her condition; it just says gunshot victim-"

"D* it! Stupid hospitals!"

He slammed the phone shut.

"Grab your gear!"

"Where're we going?"

Gibbs grabbed his gun, walking toward the elevator.

"Ziva's place."

"What happened?" McGee began to realize that his earlier trepidation had not been unfounded.

"Well, that's what we're going to find out."

…...

Yellow plastic crime scene tape crisscrossed the door to Ziva's apartment, eerily reminiscent of a child's room McGee had once encountered. They walked in carefully, clearing the room.

"Boss…" Tony pointed to the window, which had been shattered. "Someone broke in."

"Ya think, DiNozzo?"

When acquiring an animal to guard one's domicile, most would purchase a dog. Ziva, however, must not have been too concerned about convention, however. McGee jumped back with a startled cry as two cats leaped out from a door he had just opened, swiping at his feet.

"What the heck! Attack cats?"

Tony was equally surprised. "I didn't know Ziva had cats… But I have to say, I'm not surprised that they're that vicious. I mean, with a human like Ziva around all the time-"

Gibbs smacked him on his head. "Sedate them, get them to Abby. There's blood on those claws."

Tony and McGee exchanged a worried glance. "Um, Boss, I'm allergic to cats and Tony, well, he's not exactly very good with them… You know, we'll just figure something out."

….

She ran for hours. The pounding of her feet on pavement helped to distract from the stinging scratches on her hands. Bloody cats had to raise the alarm. I just can't believe a bullet through the forehead didn't finish her. That's all it took for her to kill him.

There was nothing else for it. She would just have to get better, and kill her again.

….

"So what happened?"

Gibbs was interviewing a teenage guy from the apartment next to Ziva's.

"I heard this gunshot and then these cats yowling, so I opened the door and-"

"Her door was open?"

"No, she gave me a key, and anyway, I saw someone climb out the window, but I didn't get a good look at them, and then I noticed Miss David lying there on the floor, so I called 911, and they kind of took over…"

"How badly hurt was she? The stupid hospital wouldn't tell me anything."

"I don't know. She had a lot of blood on her face, but I think she was still breathing."

Gibbs nodded, something still bothering him. "She gave you a key to her apartment?"

The teenager confirmed. "She wanted me to take care of her cats, like scoop their litter boxes…"

Gibbs swore under his breath. Don't tell me…

…

Any guesses?