A/N: I'd like to thank you all for sticking around so far. It's about to get more interesting from here…hehehe.

Chapter 3- Memory

By Monday, everything seemed to have returned to normal. Or had it? Over the course of the week, Kate observed not only the behavior of Abby, but McGee too. They avoided each other so effectively and completely you'd think they were enemies. But Kate knew better, so she decided to kick up her investigation a notch. She went straight into Abby's lab Friday morning. Abby looked strange. Her eyes seemed off focus as she worked.

"Oh, hello," she muttered, taking a sip of Caf-Pow. "Tell Gibbs I'm getting started on the new case," Kate nodded.

"I'm not here about the case," she said hesitantly, watching her friend carefully. What could McGee have possibly done other than break up with her to cause her to be like this?

"I have nothing else to tell you that you could possibly be interested to hear," Abby replied lightly, looking carefully over the evidence. "Why the persistence, anyway?" Kate shrugged, trying to remain casual.

"Just…concerned," she said slowly. "You don't seem like yourself," At this, Abby gave her a look that seemed uncharacteristically angry and annoyed.

"Well, I'm sorry that I can't bee the person everyone expects me to be all the time," she snapped. "If you aren't here about the case, I suggest you leave at once," Kate backed out of the lab, afraid to anger her further.

"Is there a problem?" Ziva asked.

"Only that Abby is starting to act a lot like you," she muttered, heading back to her desk. Curious, she decided to check on Abby. But the door was locked tight. She knocked lightly. Abby turned up the music. Wait a minute…music. Her CD player was on! But…why was she ignoring Ziva?

"I'm a little busy right now," Abby shouted over the music without looking at her. Ziva sighed and just left. She didn't want to get involved with whatever that was.

McGee's apartment

"Leave me alone," McGee whispered, staring at the phone like it was going to attack him at any second.

"Just-just go away!" The phone rang. It was her again.

"No!" he screamed, slamming it shut and crawling into a corner. For the longest time, he sat there and stared fearfully at the device. It did not ring again. Shuddering, he returned to work as if nothing had happened. He had no idea how long this had been going on. Weeks, maybe. Or possibly...months. When he was at his desk again, a very angry Gibbs was standing there to greet him.

"Learn to answer you phone, probie," he said, glaring furiously. He strode into the Director's office and slammed the door shut. McGee's cell phone rang again. He groaned, putting his head on the desk.

"Something wrong, McGee?" Ziva asked. He just moaned again. The dreaded phone sat innocently on his desk, mocking him. Ziva tentatively approached him and picked up his phone. She took a look at the screen.

12 missed calls

"Who's calling you so much?" she wondered aloud. He said nothing, but kept his head down. She pressed a button and discovered all the calls were from the same person. She vaguely remembered the girlfriend McGee broke up shortly before he went out with Abby, but was too preoccupied at the time he told her that she didn't think much of it. Now, she was able to bring up the memory at will.

Flashback- Five months ago

Ziva lounged lazily at McGee's desk. It was a slow day today with the case quickly wrapping up and nobody having anything to do other than wait around for the next order from Gibbs. And even he didn't have much to do. Summer sometimes did that to people. McGee returned from Abby's lab and found Ziva there.

"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, putting his hands on his hips.

"Sitting, playing darts with Tony, what about you?" she responded, aiming the next dart over his head and at the wall. She threw it at the bulls'-eye, and he ducked in panic. It made the mark exactly for the third time in a row.

"No fair," Tony complained. "You get an advantage for having been a Mossad," She shrugged and went to go retrieve her dart. When she got back, McGee was staring at a photo on his desk.

"Who's that?" she asked curiously, pointing at the picture frame.

"My ex-girlfriend," he answered without looking up. "I told her a week ago it was over between us, but she doesn't believe it. She continues to call me every night…" Ziva shrugged.

"It'll pass," she said, not concerned. "I'm sure all will blow over within a week or so," He shook his head.

"It's been a week," he stressed, seeming determined. "So what do I do?"

"Certainly don't panic," she said, chuckling. "She must be in shock. Just calmly explain to her why you ended things with her and I'm sure she'll understand and eventually leave you alone, McGee,"

"Thanks, Ziva," Tony threw another dart at the wall, missing the target by centimeters.

"How do you do this?" Tony complained loudly. "You don't even seem to aim at the target, you just throw the dart like a javelin," Ziva laughed and went over to him with her dart in hand.

"Here," she said, putting the dart into Tony's hand. "You have to really feel it, and then thrust it like a knife, and then…" She took the dart back and demonstrated. It hit the bulls'-eye with no trouble, as if there were a magnet attracting it to its goal. McGee watched with a mild amused interest.

"What was your girlfriend's name, buy the way?" she asked him.

"Oh, it was-"

Of everything that had happened, Ziva couldn't remember what happened after that. She could never be bothered with details like that. She tried again.

Resume Flashback

McGee got interrupted by the Director coming out to inspect things. Tony hurriedly put away the darts and the target before she could see them. McGee shoved his phone into his pocket. The only one who didn't do anything was Ziva. During this whole occurrence, Kate was quietly working in the background. Now she looked up at the Director and smiled.

"Good afternoon, Director," she said. "How are things?" Director Sheppard ignored her, resuming her inspection.

"Anything to report?" she asked wearily. Everyone shook their heads and went on with their activities. Tony searched through his drawers for another game. McGee got out his personal laptop and worked on a new novel. Ziva picked up her favorite novel and began to read.

"Must be a slow day…" she commented, observing the team. The only one who was productive was Kate. She printed something out and handed it to the Director.

"Oh, thank you. I'll be sure to examine this…" The Director went into her office and shut the door behind her. As soon as she was gone, Ziva put the book down went over to McGee's desk. He closed his laptop and looked up.

"Okay, her name is Victoria Rakia. This is what she looks like," He held the picture up. Ziva examined it critically. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and green eyes so brilliant they unnerved her slightly. She had an average tan and a smallish button nose in the exact center of her face. Her mouth was also small, and the corners were turned up in a secretive smile. But those eyes…Ziva shuddered and replaced the photo. She wouldn't trust that girl for anything, not even to go to the vending machine and get the right candy bar. Not because she looked dumb, but because she looked so innocent. Too innocent. Ziva knew from experience just from looking into people's eyes to know whether they were trustworthy or not. And this Victoria person…the bright green that gazed into her soul straight on was definitely not trustable.

"I see why you broke up with her," she said finally.

"I…so, this Victoria is still after you?" she asked hesitantly. He didn't say anything. Ziva scrolled through his call history, and gasped in surprise.

"Oh my God…" she said, staring at the number of missed calls and voicemails in just the past the past five months.

Victoria- Speed Dial #4

Missed calls: 47

Voicemails: 22

Sometimes she wondered if her flawless memory was a good thing. Those green eyes seemed to gleam up at her through the phone right at that moment. She staggered back, dropping his phone. McGee wearily got up to retrieve it. Kate was over at her desk, completing the image of what everything looked like all summer. The only thing missing was Tony, but he was out in the field with Gibbs. She sighed and went to go talk to Kate. They managed to keep the conversation casual, and didn't mention Abby even once. But then Kate said something that reminded her that she should be worried.

"Haven't you noticed anything different about everyone here?" she asked. "It seems like the summer changed a lot of people. You, me, McGee, Abby…Who knew that Paris could-" She was cut off by Gibbs coming out of the elevator with Tony.

"Abby's got something," he shouted, heading over. "Turns out Hernandez had an accomplice. New lead is a Canadian solider. Ziva killed a hit man who had a hit man after him. And this new guy is a hit man close to the guy who got the hit man,"

"I…got none of that," Kate said, a confused look on her face.

"McGee, Dinozzo, you're with me," he continued, pointing at each of them. They followed him out, with McGee leading the way this time.