Once again thx to my betareader Vicky most of the language mistakes are delt with if there are any left it's all mine. I am getting confused, I thought I had allready published chapter 4 but I couldn't find it so here it is. Enjoy, leave a comment.

Running on Empty

Chapter 4

It took Ziva quite a while to pick up the courage to go back to NCIS. She had left in a hurry, grabbing her backpack on her way out of NCIS.

It was two o'clock when she returned to find the bullpen empty. She decided to scan through the crime scene photo's to see if they had missed anything. She continued clicking through the photo's when all of a sudden the clicker was snatched from her hands and Gibbs appeared in her vision.

He put the clicker on his desk and lifted both of her hands. He turned them over and had a good look at her fingertips. He did this without saying a word.

"How many times"

" Seven"

He let go of her hands, growled and walked off. He needed some space to digest this information.

After a while he came back with coffee and tea. He handed her the tea and started to drink his own coffee. Ziva looked at her tea like it was the 8th wonder of the world. It was Jasmine tea and as she took a sip she tasted the honey.

"You shouldn't bring me tea, they will notice."

"I will bring you tea when, where and whenever I want too"

"I don't want them to know. I don't want their pity."

Gibbs turned to face Ziva, but both Tony and McGee were just barging in. The entire incident in the morgue was not mentioned again during the afternoon.

The evening Ziva went over to Gibbs' house. She didn't even bother to knock on his front door and proceeded straight to his basement.

'Gibbs'

'Ziver'

' I need some time off tomorrow morning'

'Why?'

' I need to go to the dentist'

'Why?'

Could the man possibly say more than one word sentences she thought angrily.

'Like I said I am going to the dentist'

'Why?'

'To have my teeth checked out. Is there any other reason I would go to a dentist? I thought it was pretty obvious, if you go the dentist you go and get your teeth checked out, or am I missing something'

She was getting angry. She didn't want to inform him about her missing molars. She turned around and was heading back up the stairs when she heard him move. Before she realized it, he was already next to her on the stairs. He had taken her by the arm.

'What?' She barked

'I talked to Ducky'

'Oh'

Now she understood. He knew about the missing or broken molars and teeth in the victim's mouth and because she had similar things done to her he had put 2 and 2 together and figured out why she had to visit the dentist.

He raised his eyebrows. She sighed.

' I had my teeth checked when I still was recovering from ….everything. The dentist at the hospital I stayed in pulled some of them because they were too damaged from me biting on the hard piece of rubber they put in my mouth when they were electrocuting me. Now the gum in my mouth has healed enough to have it checked and maybe replace some of them.'

Gibbs nodded.

'Alright, when do you have your appointment'

'First thing in the morning eight o'clock so I should be at work around nine maybe ten.'

'Ok, I'll see you then'

The following morning Ziva was indeed missing and when Tony and McGee noticed Gibbs just mentioned that she had a dentist appointment and left it at that which was the truth after all.

Around 9.30 Gibbs received a call from the dentist office informing him that Ziva had left her coat in the waiting room when she left in a hurry. Gibbs frowned that meant she could have been here around 09.00 than why hadn't she.

Ziva arrived at ten o'clock at her desk. She was only there for a few seconds when Gibbs came around. He moved behind her and whispered in her ear that her dentist called with the message that she had left her coat behind when she left at 08.30. She turned bright red…..busted.

Gibbs wanted to know what happened, he had an idea but he needed to be sure. So when the opportunity presented itself he made sure Ziva was the one who escorted him in the outside world. When they were driving to a potential witness's house he confronted her.

'Your dentist said you left in rather a hurry without him finishing his exam'

Ziva just stared out the car window.

'Ziver'

'What' She looked at him with eyes that were filled with tears but she wouldn't let him see her cry.

'Talk to me'

'He went and put that awful paste in my mouth and I had a flashback that's what happened. I had a flashback of Saleem putting the rubber piece in my mouth before…they…' She couldn't finish the sentence.

They drove in silence.

'How about if I go with you'

Ziva turned around and looked at Gibbs.

'I am not a little girl that needs her fath…you to go with me'

She wanted to say father but she remembered the conversation she had with him in his basement. He never really acknowledged her saying that to him, he had just said OK at the time but that was it. They never talked about that conversation ever again. It was left in the dark place of her life where she had come from. This was now.

' I am not saying that, I just want to be there to let you know you're safe'

All during the time they were at the witnesses house she thought about it. She needed to get the dental work done that was for sure. She just wanted to eat a good meal without pain in her mouth, when some of that food started to hurt her gums.

On the way back she had made up her mind.

'Ok, I'll make another appointment if you go with me'

'Ok'

TBC…